Jonathan,
I just weighed my 457 American that I re-barreled with a Shilen ratchet #5. I used a #5 because after parting off the 1.220 shank & turning the transition radius down to tenon size, I was left with something that's about 1/2lb heavier than the factory bbl, and looks good finished at 23.5", yet only required a manageable enlargement of the bbl channel to fit. But that Turkish walnut American sporter stock is heavy - this rifle weighs 8lb 15oz, with a30mm Athlon 6-24x50 Midas TAC scope in TPS TSR rings on a BScar 25 MOA sloped base. No doubt you could use a lighter scope that would save ounces, but the stock is pretty heavy, and I'm not at all sure it would be possible to make weight even if you bored large holes in the butt. I wasn't at all concerned with rules-mandated max weight when I put the Shilen on it - the OEM hammer forged bbl just didn't shoot worth a hoot, and rather than fool around trying a replacement CZ pencil bbl, I went with gluing in the Shilen. It's probably been a year or more since I last put this rifle on paper; even though it shoots very well compared to the shotgun-like splatters the factory bbl produced, I never really did any serious lot testing with Center-X in it. It's always done well with known good lots of SK Std+. All I was really after was a nice-looking sporter that shot at least as good as it looked, and it's all that, and more.
I'm fairly sure the sporter I built on a Gen 1 V22, with a Krieger #4 sporter blank finished at 22", and put into a Manners EH2 stock, with a similar Athlon scope will consistenly out-shoot the CZ. That rifle - even with a light carbon fiber stock - weighs 9.5lbs. Both these bbls were chambered with my EPS reamer; not sure how that compares to the chamber you will cut, but either of my V22S single shots with Benchmark & Shilen ratchets chambered with a Nevius reamer will out-shoot any of the four Vudoo repeaters I have. Would have to spin up a bbl for one of these repeaters with the Nevius chamber to see how it would compare to the others with EPS chambers.
Have fun building your sporter - looking forward to seeing it when you get it finished, and to hearing how it shoots.
I just weighed my 457 American that I re-barreled with a Shilen ratchet #5. I used a #5 because after parting off the 1.220 shank & turning the transition radius down to tenon size, I was left with something that's about 1/2lb heavier than the factory bbl, and looks good finished at 23.5", yet only required a manageable enlargement of the bbl channel to fit. But that Turkish walnut American sporter stock is heavy - this rifle weighs 8lb 15oz, with a30mm Athlon 6-24x50 Midas TAC scope in TPS TSR rings on a BScar 25 MOA sloped base. No doubt you could use a lighter scope that would save ounces, but the stock is pretty heavy, and I'm not at all sure it would be possible to make weight even if you bored large holes in the butt. I wasn't at all concerned with rules-mandated max weight when I put the Shilen on it - the OEM hammer forged bbl just didn't shoot worth a hoot, and rather than fool around trying a replacement CZ pencil bbl, I went with gluing in the Shilen. It's probably been a year or more since I last put this rifle on paper; even though it shoots very well compared to the shotgun-like splatters the factory bbl produced, I never really did any serious lot testing with Center-X in it. It's always done well with known good lots of SK Std+. All I was really after was a nice-looking sporter that shot at least as good as it looked, and it's all that, and more.
I'm fairly sure the sporter I built on a Gen 1 V22, with a Krieger #4 sporter blank finished at 22", and put into a Manners EH2 stock, with a similar Athlon scope will consistenly out-shoot the CZ. That rifle - even with a light carbon fiber stock - weighs 9.5lbs. Both these bbls were chambered with my EPS reamer; not sure how that compares to the chamber you will cut, but either of my V22S single shots with Benchmark & Shilen ratchets chambered with a Nevius reamer will out-shoot any of the four Vudoo repeaters I have. Would have to spin up a bbl for one of these repeaters with the Nevius chamber to see how it would compare to the others with EPS chambers.
Have fun building your sporter - looking forward to seeing it when you get it finished, and to hearing how it shoots.
