Newbie needs help

[Southj]

I am a longtime shotgun shooter who just started shooting benchrest. At this point I'm not interested in competition. I would like to have a rifle built that will shoot better than my capabilities at 100 to 300 yards. Right now I have a Cooper .223 but I want a custom gun. I have learned from my experiences shooting shotgun sports that I would have saved a lot of money if I had just bought top tier equipment at the outset instead of trading my way up.

I want a caliber that I don't have to reload for and does not recoil badly. I may reload later on but I plan to shoot factory ammo initially. I am considering 223 or 6mmBR.....any feedback on these choices would be appreciated.

Read a lot about Panda actions by Kelblys , Krieger barrels, and Jewell triggers which all look like they should be on my wish list. Would it not make sense to have Kelblys build the rifle since I would be using their action?

I have lots of questions that I don't have the experience to answer :

Caliber
LV or HV
Barrel length
Neck size


Any help would be appreciated knowing I just want to shoot 100 to 300 yards for fun but I want the best equipment that I can get.

 

[hogpatrol]

My .02 but I'm sure other more experienced shooters will chime in. Shooting "benchrest" requires reloading. Building a custom gun costing thousands of dollars to shoot factory ammo is analagous to buying a Corvette for short trips to Walmart. Learn the basics of reloading THEN do your research on a custom. Having said all that, .223 will work but 6BR is easier to tune.

 

[Jet]

Looks to me like the Cooper 223 you already have will fit your requirements. If not (and it sounds like it doesn't) you will likely never know if the rifle shoots better than your abilities if you don't reload.

Couple questions need to be answered before you will get specific recommendations.

- "doesn't recoil to badly" is different for every shooter. Is a 308 in a 12LB rifle acceptable?
- How long are you willing to wait to have a rifle built?

I have two recommendations.
1st: Buy a Savage Model 12 F/TR in 223 or a Model 12 in 308 and put quality optics on it like one of the Night Force BR models. If you decide you don't like the gun you can sell it and use the scope on the next rifle you buy. These guns flat out shoot and since you don't reload it may be the best option.

2nd: If you are convinced you want a custom action, give Lester Bruno a call (web site below)

http://www.brunoshooters.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=SFNT

Let him know what you are looking for, ask all your questions and he will give you his advice. He will likely have all the components on hand to build what you are looking for and have a rifle to you in 4-6 months.

Ditto on what Hogpatrol said. You should really take up reloading if you want to get into benchrest, even if you don't want to compete.

Jet

 

[Southj]

I reload handgun and have reloaded rifle in the past.....therefore reloading is an option.

 

[fredhorace77]

If your really wanting to stick with factory ammo the only real option you have is to at least install a barrel tuner and try to purchase all of your factory ammo from the same lot number. it would be similar to shooting rimfire. but like the others said you really need to reload to reap any benefits regardless of the rifle

 

[fredhorace77]

Building a custom gun costing thousands of dollars to shoot factory ammo is analagous to buying a Corvette for short trips to Walmart.

And having the governor on the Corvette set at 35mph

 

[hogpatrol]

Building a custom gun costing thousands of dollars to shoot factory ammo is analagous to buying a Corvette for short trips to Walmart.

And having the governor on the Corvette set at 35mph

Good one Fred! ;D

 

[Southj]

I am primarily a shotgun shooter who shoots clay targets two or three days a week..12 to 18 boxes a week. To feed that habit takes quite a bit of time to reload. I would prefer not to add another hobby that requires reloading but it is not out of the question. I don't see me fire forming brass for PPC or trimming necks. I see me going to the range which is 50 miles away with my buddies once or twice a month and shooting 50+ shells . I would just like a top tier rifle to shoot....to respond to an earlier post if I'm going to Walmart I want to drive there in a Corvette ! ;D

Will Bruno have the patience to give a neophyte some guidance ?

Thanks to everyone for your feedback.....

 

[snert]

You could purchase a 6BR (even a used on from Bob Whites "The List") and initially use factory ammo, Shoot 200-300 rounds, and for not a big investment of time, load all that brass once and have at it all over again. Loading 2-300 rounds, once you get set up, is NOT a time consuming thing...once you are set up with dies and supplies. And unlike trap or skeet, you do not fire 25 rounds in 15 minutes of furious bird blasting, then do it again just to complete a string. You shoot for group, study the wind, breathe deep and enjoy the reality of deep concentration, the trigger breaking at just the right time, and little bitty holes appearing in paper a LONG way off. Kinda makes ya feel like a god, albiet a small one! I have been a skeet shooter and have a bit of time behind nice rifles. i like both. But they are two different games, and reloading is half of rifle shooting. But really, a 6BR is a fine long range rifle, as is you current rifle.

 

[fdshuster]

You can have the finest (and most expensive) custom rifle built, but unless you are willing to load ammo for that particular rifle, you will never realize the full accuracy potential of the rifle.

Factory ammo is "one-size-fits-all", the way it must be to fit the millions of rifles around the world, chambered for that particular cartridge, whatever it may be. Only one of many factors related to accuracy is bullet seating depth, and while you can fine tune seating depth's with handloaded ammo, you have no choice with factory.

For accuracy as a first consideration, the 6BR is a better choice over a 223, very good cartridge that the 223 is. Just not in the same class ( nor was it ever intended to be), as the 6BR. If you could do a side-by-side comparison with your Cooper 223 against an identical Cooper chambered in 6BR, the accuracy advantages of the BR would be very obvious.

 

[Southj]

Where do you see a current inventory for Bob Whites list...the one I found was 5/13 ?

 

[GSPV]

Watch the classifieds here and on www.benchrest.com . Lots of good, used rifles in both places. Lots of people selling this time of year to get into a new rig for next spring.

I've seen a couple that have tempted me and I really don't need anything...

 

[snert]

Look at the LIST and if you see what you like, call Bob or email Edna for availability. Real stand-up folks.

 

[Milo 2.0]

If your not going to compete as you say, I'd be leery of building a dedicated BR rifle. All rifles have some limitations, you don't shoot a hunting rifle at targets all afternoon, barrel heat, you don't take a tactical rifle hunting, very far anyway because of weight,, but a BR rifle is the most limited of all. You need front rest, rear bags, etc..

I built a 6BR for a 7 year old boy, with assumptions we'd compete, never materialized and won't, shot the gun for 3 mos, restocked it in a B&C M40, CNC machine bedded, stuck an Atlas bipod on it. The kid rocks it on steel to 1K So much so I'm thinking of taking the single shot follower out, and letting him ram and jam with a mag feed.

Like I said, "If you're not going to compete".

 

[jonbearman]

If you shoot factory 6BR be prepared to pay 80.00-90.00 a box as it is not a mainstream caliber for hunting or whatnot.Lapua and Norma both make ammo for the 6br.