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New Rimfire Project 2500x/Mullerworks/BnA

padom

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Minuteman
  • Mar 13, 2013
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    Southeastern, Pennsylvania
    I'm finally moving on from the RimX testing. 38 barrels and 25,000+ rounds tested is enough for me. We got some excellent barrel and ammo data on the RimX over the past few yeats and put the RimX through its paces since day 1.

    The RimX exceeded my expectations in every way. With its revolutionary bolt design, making headspace not matter, it went against everything we knew about rimfires up until its release. Accuracy blew me away, shooting lot tested ammo @ 50yd into 50rd 0.1 agg and 100yd sub 0.5" 30rd agg.

    My RimX is one of my favorite guns to shoot and it's not going anywhere. But I'm done testing barrels for it. Lots of great options out there to choose from. Manzella Precision is putting out some RimX tack drivers right now.

    I'm now starting a new Rimfire project to see how much Accuracy and consistency I can pull out of 22lr. And how much more I can pull out compared to my best RimX results.

    I picked up a brand new Holeshot 2500x from KSS and I'm putting together a full Rimfire BR rig.

    I'm going to have 4 or 5 barrels done for it to test. To start, the first 2 in hand that are going out to be cut are a Mullerworks and Green Mountain. Green Mountains aren't used in the rimfire BR world, but I have a few in the shop so why not have one fitted and see how it compares to the MW, Shilens, and Benchmarks of the world. I'm waiting on a Shilen to arrive thats on order and will have an Ace on the way. I'll have those 2 done later on. Most are shooting 0.900 straight barrels in these setups, some shoot 1.2's but 900 are the norm.. I could only get these straights right now so maybe the next two will be 900's. We will see and test.



    Holeshot 2500X
    Bix N Andy Comp 2 Stage
    Murphy Precision SS 20moa base
    Mullerworks 1.2" 8 groove 1-13
    Green Mountain 1.2" 6 Groove 1-16
    22lr Match Eachus chamber
    PWC Randy Owens High stock


    Haven't made my mind up on what scope will live on it. I have a whole bunch of lots of Midas, CenterX, R50, RWS Special Match, SK+, and SK RM to test.

    Stay tuned....











     
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    Can’t wait to see your results with the MW 13 twist.I have one on a vudoo that DI did and have been impressed.Your testing is much appreciated
     
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    I just reached out to Randy Owens @ Rotex Stocks for a full custom 2500X BR stock bedded with bottom metal and action screws ready to drop my barreled action into. See how long the wait is on one of those.



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    I just had him do mine. He did a great job. I’m going to be having Jim Peightal do some flat tops for me soon so I’ll have plenty of work to do on them myself so I had Randy handle this one. You’ll like the 2500

    Nice. Jim Peightal was another stock I was looking at but looked like more finishing on my end and Randy's are just ready to go. I don't have the time to finish a stock right now


    Wish I could find some 900 straight blanks... I may see if I can find someone to turn these 2 down to 0.900...
     
    I’d talk to Paul about turning that one to .900 before doing it. I’ve got a lot of .900s and sporters on order plus a truckload of 1.180s. If I get a surplus .900 I’ll let you know. I also have a bunch of 1” coming from Benchmark soon.

    I'll reach out to Paul Monday. I talked to him a week or two ago and he said he couldn't get me a 0.900 until about May....
     
    Same but I have a 16 twist. Shoots good. Going to try a 13 twist on my rimx if I can ever find one.

    @padom where did you find your MW barrel?

    Greg got 5 or 10 in a few weeks ago. Paul had told me he just sent Greg a shipment. I grabbed the wrong one. He had .900, M24 and 1.2 in stock. They sold out in a day. Grrr


    Depending on what paul says about turning this 1.2 down to 0.900...I may sell it.
     
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    Just got off the phone with Randy to go over specs. He said he does a bunch of stocks for 1.1" and 1.2" barrels. So Im not too worried about these blanks not being 0.900. He said they will be fine.

    Order is in for a fully bedded High Profile Rotex 2500 blue stock with a 1.3" barrel channel. 3 month wait begins.
     
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    Just got off the phone with the wonderful people over at ACE barrels. They really impressed me. I keep hearing good things and said let me give them a call Im intrigued and want to test them out. I know they have been putting out some awesome shooting barrels on Vudoo's for years and have now expanded to much more than just rimfire.

    In talking with them, they have all proprietary in house developed cutters for their barrels. They made their own CNC rifling machine. So they can make any twist you want on a per order basis.

    For their rimfire blanks, they actually have custom cutters that cut a choke/taper into the bore at the length you want to finish and they also finish hand lap them after. They even mark the barrel where you should cut it at the choke point based off what you told them you want your finish length to be when you placed your order. They will even slug the barrel to confirm for an exact mark on the outside.. Really impressive. I dont know anyone else doing that.. Their lead time for barrel orders is currently 9 weeks, so way less than everyone else.

    I was talking with Mike Manzella who cut a few recently and he said they cut excellent and dialed in great. He was really impressed with them.

    I have a 1.0" straight for this 2500x taper/lapped to finish at 22" and a 1.20" straight taper/lapped to also finish at 22" for my RimX and both are 1-16 ordered

    Looking forward to see how they perform!
     
    Picked up a 1.2" Krieger from Northland today. They got 50 that just shipped they will have in hand next week to ship out.

    I think I'm good on barrels to test on this 2500x setup

    So far I have coming:

    Mullerworks 1.2" 13 twist 8MI
    Green Mountain 1.2" 6 groove 1-16
    ACE 1.0" straight 1-16 taper lapped
    Krieger 4G 1.2" Straight 1-16
    Shilen 1.0" Straight Ratchet 1-16
     
    I guess times have changed. When I started BR I was told FCH or FCH w/small dot. Still use small dot.

    That's not a reticle option for NF comp 15-55... or I would have taken that floating center dot with subtensions gladly...

    I'm a floating center dot fan, but the DDR2 is very limited.. thats why I went with this FCR1
     
    That's not a reticle option for NF comp 15-55... or I would have taken that floating center dot with subtensions gladly...

    I'm a floating center dot fan, but the DDR2 is very limited.. thats why I went with this FCR1
    I have that scope and like the cross hair. I am seriously looking into the Atlon Eres Etr UHD 15-60x56 BLR1 SFP IR for my other RIM X this year. I can't find anything better at the price point. This has been getting great reviews.

     
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    I have that scope and like the cross hair. I am seriously looking into the Atlon Eres Etr UHD 15-60x56 BLR1 SFP IR for my other RIM X this year. I can't find anything better at the price point. This has been getting great reviews.


    I've read some recent tall about that Athlon. At $1000 I'm sure it's a decent 50. Not gonna be as clear as a NF, SV, etc... if it's same glass as my Ares ETR 4.5-30 but get the job done.

    I run Athlon Cronus HD Gen2's on my RimX and it's glass is equal or slightly better than my Gen2 Razor with the APRS6 favored floating dot reticle.
     
    I've read some recent tall about that Athlon. At $1000 I'm sure it's a decent 50. Not gonna be as clear as a NF, SV, etc... if it's same glass as my Ares ETR 4.5-30 but get the job done.

    I run Athlon Cronus HD Gen2's on my RimX and it's glass is equal or slightly better than my Gen2 Razor with the APRS6 favored floating dot reticle.

    Hi Padom,

    I could be wrong but I think that this particular ETR 15-60 is basically a G3 Athlon scope. I got one last year for Field Target comps and the very first thing I noticed is that the IQ in it is quite an improvement over the ETR 4.5-30 I had before which has decent IQ but not as nice as this new 15-60 does. In fact it has nicer IQ than my G2 Cronus 4.5-29. I did a side by side of those two scopes and my S&B PM2 5-25 and this 15-60 is right up there with the S&B when both are at 25x.
    Also part of that might be that this ETR is SFP so less lenses but no doubt the lens coatings do a great job.
    Nevertheless I personally know some of the top airgun FT and BR shooters in the country that are amazed at the glass in this scope as compared to their expensive target scopes.

    Also at one point later on I had it next to a Sightron S3 10-50 and the ETR had more contrast.

    Though it only comes in MOA I do appreciate the daylight bright center dot and the half MOA hashes.
     
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    Hi Padom,

    I could be wrong but I think that this particular ETR 15-60 is basically a G3 Athlon scope. I got one last year for Field Target comps and the very first thing I noticed is that the IQ in it is quite an improvement over the ETR 4.5-30 I had before which has decent IQ but not as nice as this new 15-60 does. In fact it has nicer IQ than my G2 Cronus 4.5-29. I did a side by side of those two scopes and my S&B PM2 5-25 and this 15-60 is right up there with the S&B when both are at 25x.
    Also part of that might be that this ETR is SFP so less lenses but no doubt the lens coatings do a great job.
    Nevertheless I personally know some of the top airgun FT and BR shooters in the country that are amazed at the glass in this scope as compared to their expensive target scopes.

    Also at one point later on I had it next to a Sightron S3 10-50 and the ETR had more contrast.

    Though it only comes in MOA I do appreciate the daylight bright center dot and the half MOA hashes.

    That's awesome. I reached out to Doug about grabbing one to test. Although I got this NF mounted up today and threw it on my CF BR rifle to get behind it and man this thing is crystal clear and crisp. Excellent color depth. I'm very impressed, I may just grab another one of these...
     
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    You and me both!

    Will be interesting to also see how a 1.25 straight no tuner vs 1.00 straight and 0.900 straight with tuner compare.

    Lots of testing ahead
    Since you’re a big tester... You might consider doing a tuner test with statistically significant round count and measuring group mean radius. I’m sure you’ve seen the heated debates on if they actually work lol. I personally have not found any benefit of using a tuner on my vudoo.
     
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    Since you’re a big tester... You might consider doing a tuner test with statistically significant round count and measuring group mean radius. I’m sure you’ve seen the heated debates on if they actually work lol. I personally have not found any benefit of using a tuner on my vudoo.

    Initial barrel performance from these barrels with a bunch of lots of Midas and R50 will determine how far down the tuner rabbit hole I'll go, if much at all. Targets don't lie. We will see how things shake out
     
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    You and me both!

    Will be interesting to also see how a 1.25 straight no tuner vs 1.00 straight and 0.900 straight with tuner compare.

    Lots of testing ahead
    I think you’ll find the 1.25” much less picky…I have a V360 and a 1.25” Krieger MCR now can’t wait to get it and do a little testing myself.

    FYI that stock is Fn awesome!! Can you say how much it was?