After reading quite a bit about precision trainers on another forum, the availability of 2500XR-based rifles from Euro Optic, another member's personal Stiller 2500XR project, and Mike Bush's repeater conversions of Rem 40X actions, I decided to go with one of the Stiller actions for my own rifle. Since Stiller had these actions in stock, it didn't take long to get one, and I already had a Krieger blank, along with an Ultimate PTG reamer from PTG. There was also an extra Manners T4A stock in the shop, so away we went...
After completing the rifle & shooting a bit with it, I found a surplus Manners Elite T4A on their inventory list, which had been made for the run of trainers from Euro Optic. I had need of the T4A that I'd used for the trainer, so went ahead and bought the Elite stock in GAP camo from Manners. Since Euro Optic had commissioned Seekins Precision to make the bottom metal for their run of 40 rifles, this stock had the bottom inlet for that BM. However, Seekins had entered into a proprietary agreement with EO, and so had made only 40pcs of this BM, which were sent - along with the drawings for it - to EO. In short, there were none of these BMs in captivity. However, once I realized that Seekins' regular DBM for CF rifles had the same outline as the custom RF BM, I bought one of their CF units and milled its magazine box nearly flush to fit into the Manners inlet.
Manners' inlet for the bbl'd action was very close to perfect, but since I'd used a .250" thick tapered recoil lug and needed to inlet for it, I went ahead with bedding the action with Marine Tex. I also had to mill some clearance cuts for the Jewell HVR trigger in both the stock & BM.
I'd originally mounted a Bushnell ET6245FG scope, but after receiving a couple of Athlon Optics Cronus 4.5-29x56 scopes, decided to put one on this rifle and see what I thought of it. Downside to that was that now I've been spoiled by the quality of this scope, and would probably buy another one if I needed it for a CF rifle project instead of going back to the Bushy - which is a perfectly good scope for this application.
My Stiller has been very nearly 100% reliable - basically, any issues with feeding or ejection have been my fault - usually due to short-stoking the bolt.
Accuracy has been all that I could hope for with Wolf, SK, or Lapua match ammo. I played with some sample lots of Eley Tenex & Match EPS purchased several years ago for another project, but found no better accuracy, while having some issues getting the flat-nose EPS-type bullets to feed while the rifle was in the 1st Manners stock with different BM. After bedding the rifle into the Elite T4A with Seekins BM, those feeding issues mostly went away.
After all this, I'm still going to send the older 722-style 40X action to Jonathan Elrod to have it converted into a repeater, as well as to have a Benchmark 22RF bbl blank fitted & chambered. I still think there's a real advantage to using Mike Bush's AICS-type magazines for a 22RF, as they'll facilitate a much faster reload in timed-fire competition. Should have it up & running by around Christmas - will post photos & commentary when I've got some experience with it.
After completing the rifle & shooting a bit with it, I found a surplus Manners Elite T4A on their inventory list, which had been made for the run of trainers from Euro Optic. I had need of the T4A that I'd used for the trainer, so went ahead and bought the Elite stock in GAP camo from Manners. Since Euro Optic had commissioned Seekins Precision to make the bottom metal for their run of 40 rifles, this stock had the bottom inlet for that BM. However, Seekins had entered into a proprietary agreement with EO, and so had made only 40pcs of this BM, which were sent - along with the drawings for it - to EO. In short, there were none of these BMs in captivity. However, once I realized that Seekins' regular DBM for CF rifles had the same outline as the custom RF BM, I bought one of their CF units and milled its magazine box nearly flush to fit into the Manners inlet.
Manners' inlet for the bbl'd action was very close to perfect, but since I'd used a .250" thick tapered recoil lug and needed to inlet for it, I went ahead with bedding the action with Marine Tex. I also had to mill some clearance cuts for the Jewell HVR trigger in both the stock & BM.
I'd originally mounted a Bushnell ET6245FG scope, but after receiving a couple of Athlon Optics Cronus 4.5-29x56 scopes, decided to put one on this rifle and see what I thought of it. Downside to that was that now I've been spoiled by the quality of this scope, and would probably buy another one if I needed it for a CF rifle project instead of going back to the Bushy - which is a perfectly good scope for this application.
My Stiller has been very nearly 100% reliable - basically, any issues with feeding or ejection have been my fault - usually due to short-stoking the bolt.
Accuracy has been all that I could hope for with Wolf, SK, or Lapua match ammo. I played with some sample lots of Eley Tenex & Match EPS purchased several years ago for another project, but found no better accuracy, while having some issues getting the flat-nose EPS-type bullets to feed while the rifle was in the 1st Manners stock with different BM. After bedding the rifle into the Elite T4A with Seekins BM, those feeding issues mostly went away.
After all this, I'm still going to send the older 722-style 40X action to Jonathan Elrod to have it converted into a repeater, as well as to have a Benchmark 22RF bbl blank fitted & chambered. I still think there's a real advantage to using Mike Bush's AICS-type magazines for a 22RF, as they'll facilitate a much faster reload in timed-fire competition. Should have it up & running by around Christmas - will post photos & commentary when I've got some experience with it.
