Two buddies and I have ranges, we all run longrange rimfire matches thru the summer. We still shoot the 1000 yard steel plate matches with our centerfires but find shooting rimfires out thru 200 at two of them and 300 yards at DaleT's range as difficult if not more challenging than the 1000 yard steel plate matches. I have the typical Anschutz, Win 52-C, H&R 12, Vostok and Remington rifles to compete with but do love to do it with a twist to keep it fun and also be competitive against the rimfire rifle guys.
I made a custom aluminum stock for my Anschutz Exemplar 10" bolt action pistol and found it would shoot right with the better rifles but I've always loved revolvers and wanted to build something to shoot long range rimfire with. Rifles are fun but after getting them all set up and running well it gets to be a bit ho-hum. I had a plan in mind that I've been thinking of for awhile.
I finally got the mount finished. No plans, just had an idea what I wanted and a picture in my head. Grabbed some aluminum stock I had lying around and started whittling. Picture Jed Clampett whittling on a stick and you'll be close.
But, as my nickname on here (Topstrap) hints to I do love revolvers, making them shoot way beyond what most think they are capable of to me is really challenging. So I finally snatched up a FA 252 10" Silhouette rimfire revolver. I can't leave well enough alone and wanted to improve on it and have another tool in the arsenal to shoot against the rifle guys with next summer.
Had to overcome a few obstacles, had to be able to extract the spent casings, had to be able to get to the screw that holds the cylinder in if I ever clean it and didn't want anything hanging off the barrel. I've heard something about harmonics and such if something rubs, touches or hangs off the barrel so I have that covered. Some may say a true accuracy build needs a tuner but this is a revolver so lets be realistic.
I machined in a 40moa increase on the base so I could dial out to 400 yards just in case..... I put a SWFA 16x Mil-quad fixed power scope on it, they have over 120moa of verticle travel, this is my first try with the mil-quad reticle in one of their fixed power scopes. I have SWFA 5-20 HD scopes on my 1000 yard guns but think the mil-quad reticle on the fixed power is a bit thin. Hope it don't fade out in bright sun, I like the mil-dot versions but dislike the mismatched reticles on them. We'll see how it goes, can always sell it and get the other version.
Tried it out today in the rain, heavy at times and was awfully dark. Took a couple shots to get a 25 yard starting point. Thankfully my calculations and lots of travel in the SWFA scopes it came down to 25 yards with a bit of room to spare at the bottom of the elevation turret.
Used my settings for my Exemplar with WolfMT it ran right out thru the targets out to 197 pretty easily. The little diamonds at 75 yards were a breeze. At 197 with the wind and heavy rain I'd get 3 or 4 hits in a row on the 4" and 3" circles but always have 1 or 2 get blown off. Not sure if it was the weather or just that the gun won't group any better.
I'll do more serious testing on a better day, this was just trying it out and seeing how it liked to be held and making sure everything worked. I have large hands and found the micarta grips are too small to allow my hand to be comfortable with a sandbag under the rear grip. Offhand they may be great but not enough room on a sandbag. I had a spare Pachmayer I just put on which is about a 1/2" longer but haven't tried it yet but it does look like it'll be a big improvement.
Had to add a slight cutout for finger when pushing extractor rod in.
Added grooves for the bi-pod so it wouldn't turn and added some stability.
Had to add access to get to the screw holding the cylinder pin in place.
Fun to make but not being a machinist I struggle to do calculations to make things cut right. More of a trial and error type of whittler but know what I want the final product to look like. Seems to function as intended but won't know if it'll be worth it until more testing is done.
Either way I'll have fun shooting it and it'll sure look good when I pull my jacket back and pull it out of of a holster. Might have to open carry until I can make an in the waist band holster made up. I hate disciplined types of shooting but do love to compete with subpar equipment and still be competitive especially at any type of longrange competition. Luckily we have a lot of these around here.
I still need to take it back apart and clean up some machining marks and make it look a bit less rednecky but definately don't want it too pretty to be afraid to get some scratches on it. Put this up on another site catering mainly to rimfires but thought it might be of interest here just to share my pursuit of accuracy in many different types of firearms.
I've posted this on other forums but anyone who likes or would like to try longrange rimfire all three of our ranges are located in East Central Ohio, not too far from the WV border. All targets are swinging steel, varying size and shapes and are quite challenging. Enjoy having others come try them out.
Topstrap
I made a custom aluminum stock for my Anschutz Exemplar 10" bolt action pistol and found it would shoot right with the better rifles but I've always loved revolvers and wanted to build something to shoot long range rimfire with. Rifles are fun but after getting them all set up and running well it gets to be a bit ho-hum. I had a plan in mind that I've been thinking of for awhile.
I finally got the mount finished. No plans, just had an idea what I wanted and a picture in my head. Grabbed some aluminum stock I had lying around and started whittling. Picture Jed Clampett whittling on a stick and you'll be close.
But, as my nickname on here (Topstrap) hints to I do love revolvers, making them shoot way beyond what most think they are capable of to me is really challenging. So I finally snatched up a FA 252 10" Silhouette rimfire revolver. I can't leave well enough alone and wanted to improve on it and have another tool in the arsenal to shoot against the rifle guys with next summer.
Had to overcome a few obstacles, had to be able to extract the spent casings, had to be able to get to the screw that holds the cylinder in if I ever clean it and didn't want anything hanging off the barrel. I've heard something about harmonics and such if something rubs, touches or hangs off the barrel so I have that covered. Some may say a true accuracy build needs a tuner but this is a revolver so lets be realistic.
I machined in a 40moa increase on the base so I could dial out to 400 yards just in case..... I put a SWFA 16x Mil-quad fixed power scope on it, they have over 120moa of verticle travel, this is my first try with the mil-quad reticle in one of their fixed power scopes. I have SWFA 5-20 HD scopes on my 1000 yard guns but think the mil-quad reticle on the fixed power is a bit thin. Hope it don't fade out in bright sun, I like the mil-dot versions but dislike the mismatched reticles on them. We'll see how it goes, can always sell it and get the other version.
Tried it out today in the rain, heavy at times and was awfully dark. Took a couple shots to get a 25 yard starting point. Thankfully my calculations and lots of travel in the SWFA scopes it came down to 25 yards with a bit of room to spare at the bottom of the elevation turret.
Used my settings for my Exemplar with WolfMT it ran right out thru the targets out to 197 pretty easily. The little diamonds at 75 yards were a breeze. At 197 with the wind and heavy rain I'd get 3 or 4 hits in a row on the 4" and 3" circles but always have 1 or 2 get blown off. Not sure if it was the weather or just that the gun won't group any better.
I'll do more serious testing on a better day, this was just trying it out and seeing how it liked to be held and making sure everything worked. I have large hands and found the micarta grips are too small to allow my hand to be comfortable with a sandbag under the rear grip. Offhand they may be great but not enough room on a sandbag. I had a spare Pachmayer I just put on which is about a 1/2" longer but haven't tried it yet but it does look like it'll be a big improvement.
Had to add a slight cutout for finger when pushing extractor rod in.
Added grooves for the bi-pod so it wouldn't turn and added some stability.
Had to add access to get to the screw holding the cylinder pin in place.
Fun to make but not being a machinist I struggle to do calculations to make things cut right. More of a trial and error type of whittler but know what I want the final product to look like. Seems to function as intended but won't know if it'll be worth it until more testing is done.
Either way I'll have fun shooting it and it'll sure look good when I pull my jacket back and pull it out of of a holster. Might have to open carry until I can make an in the waist band holster made up. I hate disciplined types of shooting but do love to compete with subpar equipment and still be competitive especially at any type of longrange competition. Luckily we have a lot of these around here.
I still need to take it back apart and clean up some machining marks and make it look a bit less rednecky but definately don't want it too pretty to be afraid to get some scratches on it. Put this up on another site catering mainly to rimfires but thought it might be of interest here just to share my pursuit of accuracy in many different types of firearms.
I've posted this on other forums but anyone who likes or would like to try longrange rimfire all three of our ranges are located in East Central Ohio, not too far from the WV border. All targets are swinging steel, varying size and shapes and are quite challenging. Enjoy having others come try them out.
Topstrap
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