Rimfire Range Day

[Czechnologist]

Big thumbs-up to all who took advantage of some truly great shooting conditions yesterday.

Ever since my first .22 silhouettes match (aka Critters) in June, I've been wanting to get back out and practice some more standing unsupported shooting. I don't do it nearly enough. All my .22's are set-up to shoot off either a bipod or bags but, since I enjoyed shooting silhouettes so much, now I'm kinda in the market for a good rifle to do it on a regular basis. Cowpokey offered to bring his cool stuff down to Frederick for an ultimate .22 range session.

Anschutz 1712
Anschutz 1416
KIdd 10/22 Classic Slipfit

VuDoo Three-60 Apparition, Ace 20" MTU barrel, MPA BA Competition Chassis

Altough, the Vudoo is by no means a rifle anyone would ever use in a silhouette match, I had never shot one before and was eager to see if it was really worth it's $3k+ price tag.

I shot five, 10-round mags thru the VuDoo and I can say, without any reservations, that it's worth every penny of its price. One-hole groups at 50 yards were so effortless it made me wonder what I could do with it at 100+ yards.

Got the Anschutz 1710 out just long enough to re-zero at 50 yards with some SK Pistol Match, which performed well in both the VuDoo and my 1710. Gotta get some more of it!

Next, silhouette practice. I don't know what it is but there's something stupidly gratifying about making one of those little targets fly when you're standing there, doing all you can to hold the rifle steady and work the trigger. I was thinking that i wanted to get a Tikka T1x for this game but, after shooting Cowpokey's Anschutz 1416 and Kidd Classic Slipfit 10/22, I dunno... That 1416 felt perfect and I was able to hit 7 out of 10 turkeys with it, no problem.

The 1416 is considerably smaller and lighter than the 1710, yet the two-stage trigger has nearly an identical feel. If I wanted a rifle to carry out in the woods all day, this would be the one. My guess is that this well-balanced set-up weighs just slightly North of 6 lbs.

The Anschutz 1712 is smack in-between the 1710 and the 1416 in terms of size and weight making it a great choice for silhouette competition. The additional heft makes it easier to hold steady on those Ram targets. I managed to hit 6 consecutively before my first miss with it.

The Kidd 10/22 Classic Slipfit gets my vote as the most fun and yes, for the record, I'll admit that I reached for a bolt handle to reload after taking the first shot. My only problem after that was trying to slow down and take carefully aimed shots because this thing wants to run!

Big thanks to fellow-MDS'er, Cowpokey, for sharing his toys with me. It was range day I won't forget anytime soon!

 

[Alphabrew]

Awesome

 

[Cowpokey]

It was a fun day, glad you enjoyed trying out my rifles. SK Pistol Match is my "go to" for for the Vudoo. I tried a couple different lots of SK Rifle Match and it didn't perform as well as the SKPM does; I have two lots of that...both are better than the SKRM was. For "critters" CCI-SV or Norma TAC-22 are just fine; which is what we shot in the 1416, 1712 and Kidd yesterday.

The 1416AV weighs 6# 12.8oz with scope, it just feels lighter to you because you're used to the 1710HB.

The 1712AV weighs 7# 9.6oz scoped.

The Kidd ULW as configured (no mag) is 5# 8.5oz.

The Vudoo weighs a little north of 16# without a mag...I don't remember exactly what it was on the scale.

 

[jr88]

Wow, Everything is first class. Beautiful rifles and a great range setup, Congrats ! What Range is this ? Private ?

 

[Swaim13]

If you enjoyed all of that, try out NRL22 or MARS. There are some standing stages but the targets vary more. Half the fun is how steady you can get on odd objects.

The Vudoo is essentially designed for the PRS style matches and for ELR rimfire shots (which is definitely more achieveable in this area vs centerfire).

Its a lot of fun when you can hit a target at 400 to 500 yards consistently with a 22.

 

[Cowpokey]

Wow, Everything is first class. Beautiful rifles and a great range setup, Congrats ! What Range is this ? Private ?

Monocacy Pistol Club, Linganore Road, Frederick, MD

 

[Cowpokey]

If you enjoyed all of that, try out NRL22 or MARS. There are some standing stages but the targets vary more. Half the fun is how steady you can get on odd objects.

The Vudoo is essentially designed for the PRS style matches and for ELR rimfire shots (which is definitely more achieveable in this area vs centerfire).

Its a lot of fun when you can hit a target at 400 to 500 yards consistently with a 22.

I've been in a couple MARS matches, shot the Vudoo standing unsupported for a stage...it sucked...let me explain: The rifle is over 16#, parallax only goes down to 25 yards and the 1/2" targets were blurry at 15 yards...I should have cranked the zoom down, but it was my first match, and I was an idiot. In the second match we shot off a barricade to189 yards and 297 yards switching back and forth hit or miss; I hit the 297 yard target 3 out of 6 times (12 round stage). MARS is fun, wish there were more close by.

 

[Swaim13]

I've been in a couple MARS matches, shot the Vudoo standing unsupported for a stage...it sucked...let me explain: The rifle is over 16#, parallax only goes down to 25 yards and the 1/2" targets were blurry at 15 yards...I should have cranked the zoom down, but it was my first match, and I was an idiot. In the second match we shot off a barricade to189 yards and 297 yards switching back and forth hit or miss; I hit the 297 yard target 3 out of 6 times (12 round stage). MARS is fun, wish there were more close by.

Yeah, my rifle is probably about the same weight. Th he weight definitely helps on barricades but makes freestanding harder.

There are a few local MARS matches coming up in September including at Mayberry, Hamburg, and BCFG. Maybe I'll see you at one of those.

Zzzzz_man, I have a Tikka T1x you can try for a match if you want.

 

[Czechnologist]

Yeah, my rifle is probably about the same weight. Th he weight definitely helps on barricades but makes freestanding harder.

There are a few local MARS matches coming up in September including at Mayberry, Hamburg, and BCFG. Maybe I'll see you at one of those.

Zzzzz_man, I have a Tikka T1x you can try for a match if you want.

Thanks, I really appreciate that! I have shot a friend's Tikka T1x off a bench and liked it a lot.

 

[Cowpokey]

Yeah, my rifle is probably about the same weight. Th he weight definitely helps on barricades but makes freestanding harder.

There are a few local MARS matches coming up in September including at Mayberry, Hamburg, and BCFG. Maybe I'll see you at one of those.

Zzzzz_man, I have a Tikka T1x you can try for a match if you want.

The Mayberry and Hamburg don't show up on the Practiscore link from the MARS schedule. I'll be out of town on business for the BCGF match...I thought there was another one at York in September, but it's not listed on the schedule.

 

[Swaim13]

The Mayberry and Hamburg don't show up on the Practiscore link from the MARS schedule. I'll be out of town on business for the BCGF match...I thought there was another one at York in September, but it's not listed on the schedule.

They haven't posted the match yet but those clubs typically post about two to three weeks before the match.

York was going to be on the same day as BCGF but was removed from the schedule.

 

[Swaim13]

Mayberry is up now

Home | PractiScore

practiscore.com

 

[Czechnologist]

Rimfire Range Day, Part Deux.

There's something oddly satisfying about seeing a silhouette target go flying after a solid hit...and something LOL funny about how they react to a marginal hit. I've never seen one spin and not fall off but, I got pretty close on Saturday with Cowpokey's Anschutz 1416.



It's hard to see but there was a slightly delayed reaction to my second shot at pigs @ 20 yards. Heard the impact but, it didn't act like it was gonna fall until it did. Teetered back and forth for a split second.

Those of you who have either owned or shot a 1416 already know that it's a fantastic lightweight hunting rifle, capable of match grade accuracy with the right ammo. What you may not know is that Anschutz has discontinued production of it and every model with 64 actions. I think it's a bad move on their part but, I'll save that for another rant. Makes me wish I would've picked-up a 1416 when they were readily available.

Started getting a little warm and had only enough time to squeeze off a few at 50 yards with some Norma red box Tac22. It shot well but, I'd prefer a cooler and less breezy day to give it a good accuracy testing.

 

[Czechnologist]

To celebrate my 63rd yesterday, I thought I'd grab the last box of Lapua Midas + and head to the range. It was part of a three-box purchase from Midway USA earlier this year (limit three per order). I was curious to see how much better, if any, it performed against Lapua Center-X. Lapua Center-X and RWS Rifle Match have been a dead heat when it comes to accuracy, so far. Neither one performs noticeably better than the other but, the RWS is about 50% of the price of Center-X.

It was nice to have some company at the range for a change. Sometimes I'd rather take turns and share than shoot alone and it was so freakin' nice out. Dang. I live for crisp, windless Fall mornings at the range. There's not much better IMHO.

50-yards, Lapua Midas +

Shot 10 in the center from a cold bore and five in each corner. The lower left target made me LOL. That's the kind of group I get whenever the target doesn't have my undivided attention. I was jabbering about silhouettes with a friend and after three shots I was like, crap, it's all over the place! The other groups were pretty good but, is Midas + really that much better than Center-X? Not really. Not enough to justify the price of Midas + in this rifle. I'd like to compare them at 100 yards because at 50, they perform almost the same.

 

[RFBfromDE]

Great report, thanks!

 

[Czechnologist]

Great report, thanks!

You're welcome! Between work, weather and the holidays I've only had a couple of chances to get out to the range since my last report. The last time I was out, though, I took some SK Long Range Match and it shot better than expected.

SKLRM, 50 yards

10 fouling-shots in the center, followed by five in each corner. I was shooting at 22x magnification off a bipod and a rear bag. This one box of SKLRM was part of the same order as some Lapua Center-X and Midas + I purchased from Midway USA back in May. Limit was 3 boxes per order and, of course, all three boxes were from different Lots. The first two boxes shot fairly well. This last box, though, wowzer.

Only RWS Rifle Match and Lapua Center-X have grouped five shots as small, or smaller, at 50-yards than SKLRM. What really impressed me, though, was the 10-shot fouling group on a cold bore. Usually, I get a couple of flyers whenever I switch from one brand of ammo to another.

 

[Russ D]

I have found that with a match chamber it’s just the luck of the draw which ammo shoots better and then it’s lot to lot. I ordered a tuner to see if they live up to the hype and you can essentially tune out the lot differences.

 

[Czechnologist]

I have found that with a match chamber it’s just the luck of the draw which ammo shoots better and then it’s lot to lot. I ordered a tuner to see if they live up to the hype and you can essentially tune out the lot differences.

I agree. It's a total crapshoot when it comes to .22 ammo but, seeing which one works best is definitely part of the fun.

I'm looking forward to hearing how the tuner performs for you.