Eley Chambered Rifle

[BigRon]

Will a rifle that was chambered for Eley ammo shoot anything besides Eley? I would love to shoot something like Lapua but I don't want to waste a lot of time on it if it want shoot it. When someone says," it is chambered for eley", does that mean it just want shoot anything else or just want eject it?

 

[Mr.Spradlin]

I have a rifle chambered for Eley and with Lapua it has a harder bolt close.

 

[Boyd L.]

Will a rifle that was chambered for Eley ammo shoot anything besides Eley? I would love to shoot something like Lapua but I don't want to waste a lot of time on it if it want shoot it. When someone says," it is chambered for eley", does that mean it just want shoot anything else or just want eject it?

Possibly what is meant, when someone uses that expression, is that a chamber was cut using a reamer identified as an "Ely" chamber, such as the PTG Ely EPS reamer or something similar by another manufacturer.
Another possibility is that with rimfire BR shooters being a very detailed group, a particular ammo (Ely Black Box, for example) might be the ammo of choice for a particular shooter who mics all the pertinent dimensions of the ammo cartridge case in question and either matches those dimensions to a reamer from a menu of match reamers or specifies what is desired in a custom reamer.

 

[cdiver]

I have a BSA Martini chambered for Eley and I tried Lapua Center x in it, I could not close the chamber.

 

[Kookie]

As long as you can close the action Lapua will work fine. The rims on the Lapua seem to be thicker than Eley so they don't headspace the same. Sometimes it's hard to close the action or bolt if the headspace is tight with an Eley chamber.

It's been a while and memory not so good anymore, but I think the case length may also be a little longer on Lapua and some others, and that could prevent them from working in a tight chamber.

 

[BigRon]

Thanks for the insight. I guess I'll just need to get a box and try it. I can always shoot it in my 1712 Anschutz

 

[flatlander]

I'm just getting started in 22RF bbl fitting & chambering - have only done four to date - one for a Stiller 2500XR, one for a 40X, and a couple for a 40XB. I used a PTG Ultimate EPS on the first two, and a replacement EPS on the last two. Though I've tested a few lots of Eley Tenex & Match EPS, all these barrels (2 Krieger, 1 Benchmark, 1 Lilja) have shot considerably better with Wolf, SK,& Lapua ammunition. Using a PTG go gage results in adequate headspace for easy chambering & very good accuracy with all these Lapua-made brands & grades. If for some reason I was going to set a barrel up for use exclusively with Eley ammo, I'd go .001"-.002" tighter on the headspace. Since all the above rifles are repeaters (both 40Xs converted by Jonathan Elrod for use with Mike Bush's 10rd AI-style mags), I didn't want hard-closing bolts on the Lapua-made ammo, so set headspace accordingly - close easy on the go gage, not close at all on the no go gage.

I shoot Lapua ammo in my Anschutz 2011, and it always requires a bit of extra effort to close the bolt on it, compared to Eley Match EPS.

 

[mongo chicago]

Even match ammo from various rimfire manufacturers will vary slightly. The only way to tell is buy one box of what you want to try and see how it works.

 

[USMCDOC]

In my Turbo, Lapua Center-X and Polar both fall into the chamber.. but a lot of other ammo has a very hard bolt close to it..

 

[patriot]

Experimenting yesterday in a fun match with a Remington 37 prone rifle built by Al Freeland the Eley EPS chambered tight but the Lapua went in smooth. The old gal's CC Johnson barrel performed well at 100 yards. Shooting F Class, not my specialty, she was only 1 X behind those shooting off the benches. The Center X grouped best.

 

[cdiver]

In my Turbo, Lapua Center-X and Polar both fall into the chamber.. but a lot of other ammo has a very hard bolt close to it..

Dito Center X will chamber easy in my Dirio Turbo but will not chamber in my BSA Martini. Eley going into the Martini requires a light push.

 

[Ggmac]

In my Turbo, Lapua Center-X and Polar both fall into the chamber.. but a lot of other ammo has a very hard bolt close to it..

Compare the bullets shape and you will see why .
Have a smith chamber a barrel stub with a win 52 reamer and measure the amount of case protruding , granted its not your barrel but it will show the contact point of dif ammo and dif lots .

 

[USMCDOC]

Compare the bullets shape and you will see why .
Have a smith chamber a barrel stub with a win 52 reamer and measure the amount of case protruding , granted its not your barrel but it will show the contact point of dif ammo and dif lots .

I have a Kenyon chambered barrel that i am told has a "long" Eley chamber in it and that it engraves on the second band. It was originally for a Rem 37, but after doing some checking.. i think that this barrel can be retrofitted to a 10/22 with ease..

 

[Hoot]

Compare the bullets shape and you will see why .
Have a smith chamber a barrel stub with a win 52 reamer and measure the amount of case protruding , granted its not your barrel but it will show the contact point of dif ammo and dif lots .

Is that a bad thing? I ask in ignorance as I had a smith chamber my new barrel this past winter. I told him that I was strictly a Lapua ammo user and could he chamber it with a chamber that favors Lapua. When he emailed me that it was done, he said that he chambered it using a Win 52 Match reamer. It engraves Center X back just short of the second band. Slight resistance closing the bolt on my 40Xb, but not any more than my Cooper 57M TRP which did not like CX. Haven't run any Eley through my 40X. I chambered one Match bullet I had left from the Cooper for engraving comparison. IIRC, it engraved about the same as the Center X did. Go figure...

The 40X shoots Center X really good. Unfortunately, its owner leaves a little to be desired, where reading wind switching is converned.

Hoot

 

[Ggmac]

It's only bad if your gun doesn't like it .
The win 52 reamer engraves the most , of any of the 6-7 22 lr Reamers I have .
It's my favorite reamer for bolt 22s

 

[Tim s]

Is that a bad thing? I ask in ignorance as I had a smith chamber my new barrel this past winter. I told him that I was strictly a Lapua ammo user and could he chamber it with a chamber that favors Lapua. When he emailed me that it was done, he said that he chambered it using a Win 52 Match reamer. It engraves Center X back just short of the second band. Slight resistance closing the bolt on my 40Xb, but not any more than my Cooper 57M TRP which did not like CX. Haven't run any Eley through my 40X. I chambered one Match bullet I had left from the Cooper for engraving comparison. IIRC, it engraved about the same as the Center X did. Go figure...

The 40X shoots Center X really good. Unfortunately, its owner leaves a little to be desired, where reading wind switching is converned.

Hoot

Not for nothing but if you take your stuff to a smith and he gives you a Win 52 chamber then you better find a better smith because a lot has happened since 1965.

 

[USMCDOC]

I found this thread to be rather interesting

http://www.rimfireaccuracy.com/Forums/showthread.php/2266-Testing-chambers-for-Lapua-use

 

[Tim s]

I found this thread to be rather interesting

http://www.rimfireaccuracy.com/Forums/showthread.php/2266-Testing-chambers-for-Lapua-use

That was quite a good conversation, although a fair amount has changed.
I still keep current with Kevin as time permits .

 

[USMCDOC]

That was quite a good conversation, although a fair amount has changed.
I still keep current with Kevin as time permits .

i am quite sure that it has since then.. but learning it all is still quite new to me..

 

[Tim s]

i am quite sure that it has since then.. but learning it all is still quite new to me..

You and me both. You want to think of this as a journey not a destination.