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Where are all the old Benchrest rifles?

Reading this thread and seeing the pictures has really taken me down memory lane. I have an old 700 rem in 30x47, most accurate rifle I have ever shot but it has a lot of recoil, powder shortages, bullet back orders, etc I switched to 6mms awhile back and never went back. It's like us benchrest guys in general "just because it is old doesn't mean it doesn't shoot good."
 
At this years Score Nationals, Mike Bryant and I were discussing that two of the rifles in the top five at 100 yards were shooting 30+ year old actions. One was his, the other mine.

In the past couple of years, I have built rifles on three Bat Neuvo Actions, which are supposed to be one of the latest in whiz bang modern tech.

I cannot make them shoot as well as either of my Farley’s, especially my Varmint for Score 30BR, which is just an antiquated right/left no eject 1996 Farley.

And it’s not for lack of trying.

So to answer the OP’s question, where are all of the older rifles? Many of us are still shooting them.


I have kinda had a theory that some "platforms" are better than others. Some Action-Stock mating's are better than others then there is the barrels ---------
 
Right now, I'm working on the 40XBR which was my father's first BR rifle. It left the factory as a 6mm Rem. Next up, Is a XP100 with a Shilen sleeve. This one was originally a 6x47 which was built by a man who would later mentor me, for my dad.
I like working with the old guns. I feel that they can still shoot but wish I could too. WH
 
Thinking back over the twenty odd years I have been shooting and all the shooters who have come and gone and all the rifles that have been built over that time, Where are all the old Benchrest rifles? There are always a few listed but there must be hundreds languishing somewhere. What prompted this is an ad I saw, someone looking for a Wichita Mini. Never see them for sale and never see them at matches.

Pete
I have a couple Donaldson wasps life is beautiful… 15 plus pounds not a walking varmint rifle
 
I remember the 1st. “Custom” rifle I ever saw it was built on a Mauser 98 action, my uncle had it back in the mid 1960’s Don’t remember much about other than in my eyes the barrel was huge
 
This is a rail gun originally built by Ralph Stolle. It utilizes one of 29 Grizzly actions he built many years ago. The action is huge and is mated to the rail gun bedding blocks, the barrel is free floating. Previously owned by Jef Fowler among others.
 

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This is a rail gun originally built by Ralph Stolle. It utilizes one of 29 Grizzly actions he built many years ago. The action is huge and is mated to the rail gun bedding blocks, the barrel is free floating. Previously owned by Jef Fowler among others.
Wow. The barrel free floats inside the action. That’s wild.
 
I bought this action a while ago. It was made by one of the guys involved with the Houston Tunnel tests. Magnum boltface and what looks like a drop port that fits a 300 Win Mag shell perfectly. I’m thinking of building something with it. Maybe someone will recognize it and chime in.
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Hello Josh, greetings from Lima, Peru
Hey hey!!! Back from the void!!! How the hell are you? Surrounded by cute senoritas treating you like a king? I hope so! I know some other folks living down there. They say an American dollar goes a long way. Fill me in!
Josh
 

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