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Perfect 6 PPC Rifle?

Dave Way

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So all you short range PPC shooters out there, if you wanted to build a competitive 6 PPC with no corners cut, what would you choose for an action(type of ejection), stock, barrel/twist, trigger, rings, scope and rest? This would be for 100-300 yard matches.

I shot short range years ago and every once in a while the urge comes back, then I shoot at 1K and it goes away for a while. Next thing I know the itch is back. I know I can look at equipment lists, and I will, but want to hear your recommendations and the reasons for those recommendations.

Thanks in advance,
Dave.
 
Dave
I suggest building one on the same brand of action & port configuration your LR gun is, including trigger. For our area, I took Bordens advise to me and use a fixed 50 March with off-set rings ( you will love those ). Join Chippewa over in Ohio, it is basically a 6ppc club with some real good old-timers and HOF shooters hanging around......Good place to find bullets;).......Have fun.

Regards
Rick
 
I think Kane, Pa. would be close and they still shoot NBRSA and they still hold a match, IBS is on its last legs around here. UBR maybe starting again close but that is score matches. Only one more big match at Kelly's then its done. I would say the only thing that is going strong is ground hog matches..... some have 50 guns at monthly matches and just look at the hog roast the same number on a once a year group match. There have been some very nice guns for sale reasonable, age and health are taking its toll. ask me how I know...... jim
 
My latest is a BAT B action, Krieger HV Contour Barrel in 13.5 twist with a .262 neck, Bigs-N-Andy trigger, Davidson Rings and Bases and a Sightron 40X Scope.

Not sure it was smart, but I do not shoot free recoil and the butt stock is hollowed out and I have a three pound weight that easily goes in or comes out. The rifle qualifies LV and HV depending on if the weight is installed.

Bob
 
Dave,,I do not know you but as a fellow Pa shooter I will give you my opinion to consider. Unless you have nothing else to get rid of some money on, buy a used gun. In the neighborhood of 2000.00 there are guns around for sell that are as good as you can build for half the money. Lots of them are PPCs. I started 20 some years ago with a used PPC. My second year I had one built so I had a heavy gun and a light gun for IBS. Well face facts, IBS is done in PA. If you enjoy competing several times a month, shoot ground hog shoots. Quite a few in Pa. I have won quite a few gh shoots with the PPC but it is getting stretched at 400 and 500 yds. I still shoot some matches with one. But my advice is, by a used PPC on a Panda action, for 75..00 to 100.00 you can get it opened to a regular bolt face and it will still shoot and eject ppc cases. Get an 8 twist 6 BR barrel and your good to go. If you buy one now, shoot it as a ppc till winter, then get the 6 BR change done. I prefer turning necks but lots are shooting no turn barrels and doing well. All you get with an IBS membership in Pa is a card . Yes I belonged for yrs. If you like cards, that's the way to go. If you want to have fun and compete start shooting gh shoots.Oh, you will not win a piece of wood but you will win cash.
 
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Bob White of The Shooter's Corner in New Jersey, usually has a great selection of used 6PPC custom built rifles available used.

Bob
 
They pop up on here weekly. Several great deals on here the last 2 weeks. Also in the classifieds on Benchrest Central. Put an add on Rennug Classifieds. Look for one built by a known smith of which there are quite a few here in Pa.
 
I’ve shot mostly Panda’s in Scoville’s stocks past 4 or 5 years that came from these classifieds got Them at very very reasonable prices considering the stocks are almost unobtainable
I built a Bat DS over the winter in a Scoville stock that came from here.
 
Dave,,I do not know you but as a fellow Pa shooter I will give you my opinion to consider. Unless you have nothing else to get rid of some money on, buy a used gun. In the neighborhood of 2000.00 there are guns around for sell that are as good as you can build for half the money. Lots of them are PPCs. I started 20 some years ago with a used PPC. My second year I had one built so I had a heavy gun and a light gun for IBS. Well face facts, IBS is done in PA. If you enjoy competing several times a month, shoot ground hog shoots. Quite a few in Pa. I have won quite a few gh shoots with the PPC but it is getting stretched at 400 and 500 yds. I still shoot some matches with one. But my advice is, by a used PPC on a Panda action, for 75..00 to 100.00 you can get it opened to a regular bolt face and it will still shoot and eject ppc cases. Get an 8 twist 6 BR barrel and your good to go. If you buy one now, shoot it as a ppc till winter, then get the 6 BR change done. I prefer turning necks but lots are shooting no turn barrels and doing well. All you get with an IBS membership in Pa is a card . Yes I belonged for yrs. If you like cards, that's the way to go. If you want to have fun and compete start shooting gh shoots.Oh, you will not win a piece of wood but you will win cash.


In the passed couple of years I have bought two Panda's a 1997 and a 2003. Both in good stocks for reasonable prices. They both came with brass, bullets and dies. One had two extra barrels. For what I do they will probably be good enough. If not, they were throw in's and basically cost me nothing.

They were both PPC's when I got them. I had the bolt on one opened up to 308W bolt face
by Kelby's for abour $60.00. The bolt still handles PPC and BR cases. I told them the serial number of the Panda action. They chambered and finished the Krieger 6 BRA (Alex Wheeler reamer, Kelbys calls it a BRI to differentiate from 6 BRA) 8 TW 28" barrel more reasonably than I could get it done in N. California. I did not have to send the action. The barrel just screws in. I am an older club shooter and Pandas work well for me for several reasons. You can have a very reasonable rifle for not much more than you would spend to build a
Savage from the ground up. With both rifles using high quality match barrels.

Jeffrey
 
Both my original PPCs are now 6 BRXs But, I do have another PPC. All 3 are Pandas. Never had any issues. My original 30 BR barrel I shot with rims turned to fit on PPC bolt face. Now that I have the bolt faces opened up they still work fine with the cases as modifed to fit a PPC bolt face. Even the right eject works fine. So going from PPC to a 6br is very easy. Your set from 100 to 1000yds.
 
Many drop ports in short range? I’m kind of partial to BAT drop ports. Third one is on the way and I don’t like odd numbers!

15F31442-70CE-4937-B3F3-A6C0D5F7E565.jpeg

Thanks.
 
I converted my Farley Light Varmint to a drop port.
I wish my Bat Neuvo on my Heavy Varmint and rail Gun was.
I may order a drop port bolt from Bat and cut the bottom port myself.

As for what makes the best Benchrest Rifle now, I would start with either a Panda or a Bat Neuvo action. Krieger or Bartlien barrel, Bix and Andy or Jewel trigge, March High Master 48x scope.

The stock is the big thing. Both Scoville and Scarborough have quite a bit of wait time.

The McMillan Edge is popular, as well as the Bruno And Kelbly. Of the Kelbly’s, I like the Club.
 
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The best one is a nice used piece with a proven track record of shooting well in competition. May not be easy to find, but worth it IMO.
 
Not to disagree with Alex, who certainly knows what he's talking about, but consider something else. There are a number of shooters, usually new to the game, who think that just because they buy the best equipment they will immediately move the the upper ranks at matches. This is simply not the case. I know that in the matches where I compete (UBR-short range score), the overwhelming majority in custom and unlimited class are very capable of winning on a given day. Acquiring the best rifle, optics, bullets etc, is just the beginning of the process. There is no substitute for trigger time and particularly in competition. I have been playing this game for close to twenty years and I can say with some confidence that I have never gotten a "bad" barrel. I have had several exceptionally good barrels, some better than others, but none has been "bad". A few years ago I bought a used benchrest rifle with 4 barrels, all with less than 700 rounds. One only had 200 on it. I subsequently shot all these barrels in matches and won a lot of fake wood with that rifle and the barrels. I eventually sold it, but not because it wouldn't shoot. One brand new shooter shot 4 x's with it at 200 yards in his first match. For the uninformed, there have been many long time shooters that have never done this. The original owner, who had it built, as far as I know never shot well in any match he attended. It wasn't the rifle, it was the shooter. As Jimmy Mac said, you best option is probably to buy a proven winner and don't be too concerned about the barrel. Shoot it and learn until it loses accuracy and get a new barrel or two. Trigger time in competition and if not then, at least always use wind flags will make you competitive. Good luck

Rick
 

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