newbie asking questions please help

[bpost1958]

I just recently found your site. I have been shooting for 40 years including high power competition. Benchrest shooting has me looking hard at a 6 Dasher.

Why is a bolt action so much better for accuracy than a falling block or TC encore type action for BR shooting. It seems that many of the issues a bolt gun faces can be over come by the barrel seating against the solid face of a frame or block. The case is fully encased within the barrel with no weak spots exposed for extractoes or other moving parts.

Any assistance is appreciated.

 

[Rust]

Primary issues:

Barrel/action mounting. A typical short range action is glued into the stock. For long range rifles they may be glued, bedded or use a barrel block. This gives repeatable vibration pattern characteristics. A TC has a big sloppy old hinge action and when the rifle is rested there is no garantee that everything will be the same twice in a row. Same thing with a falling block, the barrel supports everything else when rested.

Lock Time. Not too many hammer actuated guns can approach the speed of a bolt action. Then the striker in a bilt gun is in line while a hammer swings a large arc around a pivot further upsetting things with all that time to upset them.

Chambering - A falling action or hinge action cannot use as tight a chamber or seat as far into the lands as a bolt gun, no camming action.

So while it may be possible to make a falling block or even a Contender shoot fairly well, they will not approach the accuracy of a bolt gun close enough to be competitive. Of course you could spend a lot of time and effort trying to prove otherwise but there is a reason other types of actions fell by the wayside in the pursuit of accuracy, they don't work as well.

 

[Cheechako]

bpost

I'm sure any type of action, given a good barrel, chamber, bullets and load can be made to shoot. IMHO the reasons why bolt actions rule is that they are so easy to tune, and keep in tune.

Ray

 

[BoydAllen]

Good advice,in a new endeavor, is to copy what has been demonstrated to be the most successful. Ask anyone who has tried both. When comparing the very best rifles with two piece stocks and those with one piece stocks, the latter are always going to come out on top. As to the term benchrest, do you mean informal group shooting from the bench, or competition? If you are talking about the latter you need to find a gunsmith who has a demonstrated record of building successful competition rifles and an experience shooter to act as a mentor, and even with both of these and a workable budget, the task of becoming competitive against experienced shooters is a formidable one. I don't say this to discourage you from competing, but so that you will have a better chance of success if you do. Listen to those who have done well, and until you can do what they do, I would advise you not to try to reinvent the wheel. The equipment and techniques in current use have evolved in the truest sense of the word. If on the other hand you mean to do informal group shooting, by all means, use whatever strikes your fancy. Some of my best days at the range were doing just that, great fun, good company and no pressure. In defense of match shooting I will say that you will learn a lot if you try it, and you will never meet a nicer bunch of guys.