My new RBros Rifle in 6.5x47 Lapua

[65guys_steve]

My new Rbros Rifle - just picked up last weekend from Hatori Hanzo (Travis). So far I have 50 rounds down the tube and she shoots beautifully. This will be my new practical precision match rifle. Right now I'm running 123 Amax bullets to fireform the 400 virgin Lapua brass cases, then I'm switching my loads to the 130 Berger VLDs. I'm going to take the rifle out this weekend to get some chrono data.

Here's the specs:
• 6.5x47 Lapua
• Rogue Action Gen II, w/integral rail (Designed by Rbros, manufactured by Defiance)
• Broughton 7.1 1-8 RH twist, finished at 24"
• All metal in matte black
• Badger Thruster Break (TBAC 30P-1 purchased and awaiting BATF tax stamp)
• Timney Trigger at 2.5 lbs
• AI AX CHassis System in OD green
• Sphur scope mount
• Schmidt & Bender PMII 5-25x56
• Atlas BT10 bipod
• one 5-round AIAX mag
• Two 10-round AIAW mags (on order, should show up in a few days)

Glamour Shots Below:

 

[PatrickChewing]

Fantastic looking rifle, congrats!

 

[jeff1383]

Beautifully done! What an impressive parts list. Please update with a range report soon!

 

[BenTerrible]

Just started a very similar build yesterday, range report please?

Nice rifle!

 

[blurry6]

Oooohhhh! That's a pretty sweet setup there Steve! VERY nice!

Ry

 

[hunter121]

Yep...thats sexy as hell.

 

[AtOne]

Looks great Steve ! Can't wait to see it at the next match.

 

[JC Steel]

Dang steve, that thing is sweet!

 

[RBros]

Sounds like she was behaving during your first range testing Steve. Since we know what it will do with the 130 load I gave you, I know you will be happy.

Thanks for the compliments.....not sure I can live up to Hattori Hanzo name though. Look forward to seeing you at the match in a few weeks with it.

 

[65guys_steve]

Hey Travis - I couldn't be happier. Although I have 2000 of the 130 Berger VLDs on hand right now, I'm saving them so they'll last most of 2014. I have a bunch of the 123 Amax bullets which are a lot cheaper and used the first round of 50 I loaded to get the initial break in completed that you recommended. I'll be using the 123s for the first few weeks so I can get the new brass form fitted to the chamber and also for short range practice sessions. I will post up the chrono data some time this weekend after I get back from the range.

 

[65guys_steve]

Update - 1st Range Report

I went to the range this morning, despite the ugly weather and the Seahawks game, and got some chrono data on my new Rbros rifle. This was actually the 2nd time to the range. I went a few days ago to go through minor break procedure the RBros Rifles recommended I take the rifle today. I thought you all might be interested in this info so I'm sharing it here.

Here are the environmental statistics I was shooting in today:
* Date: Saturday, January 11, 2014 / Time: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
* Location: Ravensdale Washington (Cascade Shooting Facilities)
* Temp: 48.1 Degrees Farenheit
* Station Pressure: 28.73 inches
* Density Altitude: 629
* Humidity: 68.4
* Moderate Rain (luckily I had plastic tape with me which I used to cover all my targets because it was coming down pretty good)
* Wind: 5-10 MPH
* Distance: All targets at 203 yards (as measured by a Laser Range Finder)

The recommended load that RBros Rifles provided me was 42.2 grains of H4350 Powder, using Berger 130 VLDs, OAL just touching the lans. I wanted to validate for myself the load accuracy and more importantly I wanted to get a baseline of chronograph data so I could create a ballistic drop table. I shot 3 five round shot groups at a paper target posted at 203 yards. Below is a scan of the target - the grid pattern is 1" squares and the green circles are 1", I put an orange birchwood casey sticker in the middle of target. You'll notice a couple of fliers in the groups, most likely due to me jerking the trigger. The Chronograph results said I'm averaging about 2952 FPS out of my 24" barrel (standard deviation of 19 FPS)

As I mentioned in my first post, I'm planning to use the 123 grain Hornady A-Max bullets I have as my inexpensive 'training' loads and also to fire form the virgin Lapua brass I have. I ran a round-robin, Optimal Charge Weight (OCW) as prescribed by Dan Newberry using 5 shot groups for each charge weight to see if I could identify an optimal load for the rifle. Below you can see the results on the targets and the projectile velocities I was getting. The best group I got was at 40.2 grains but you can see a couple of other potential accuracy nodes. Some of the groups have obvious fliers, either due to the unpredictable wind as well as my own inadequate abilities in shooting off the bench. Let me know if any of you think I should go with a different charge weight.

 

[blurry6]

Lookin' GOOD Steve! Yeah, that 40.2gr is best of the bunch, but that 40.8gr group isn't bad either. You might want to confirm that 40.5gr group - you might have thrown a flyer in there. It just seems that since those two groups (40.2 and 40.8) are so close to each other, the 40.5gr might be right in the center of a good node that will shoot well no matter temp shifts. Just a thought.

Ry

 

[JC Steel]

I like that 41.4 steve.

RBros likes the 130 gainers at 42.2 but the rifle they built for me in 6.5x47 ran really good at 41.7.
I was getting 2930 fps and it did not run hot like I see some time with the 42.2 loads.

And the added velocity from the 42.2 gr loads is really insignificant when it comes to the dope. Difference of just a couple inches at 1000 yards. Wind didn't really change.

 

[AtOne]

Honestly the 42.2 is the ticket with the 130's, Those 5 round groups with the exception of one shot at 200 yards can't be more than 3/4" max center to center that coupled with the fact that it was blowing like a son of a bitch at least around the puget sound with plenty of gusts in the 30 to 40 mph range.
I know I started my morning off spending an hour moving a downed tree and getting blown all over the road on the highway.

 

[BGE541]

Looks great, those skins need some Kyptek Raid

 

[Unknown]

Very nice looking rifle!! If your magazines don't show up in time for the February match at UNSC, I have a couple of 10 round AIAW magazines, and one 5 round AIAE magazine I can bring out for you to use.

 

[[email protected]]

I used to like doing OCW at 200, but I honestly think now it's better to do it at 100, those flyers make it hard to translocate your groups, it's always a lot easier for me to see the POI at 100 yards when things get close to the node. Only saying this to be constructive and to say what helped me out.

 

[KevinD]

Nice looking rifle Steve! Can't wait to see how it shoots.

 

[Known]

I shot with Steve on Saturday and the rifle is a laser. I could even hit stuff with it! Steve also mentioned how Travis got the double stack AI mags to work. If you need a rifle look no further than Rbros.

 

[nexusfire]

Clean looking gun

Sent from my SM-T310 using Tapatalk

 

[Acer76]

I am very intrigued with builds by Travis. I highly respect his earned reputation and I aspire to commission a build from him soon. The passion, skill, and connection in his craft are just things I want to have in a rifle. Something nearly perfect. Something that is unique. Something built on tradition. Something American; there ain’t much out there more American than a custom gun from a master gunsmith.

I would appreciate some insight as to benefits realized in this specific case, where Steve has chosen the AICS for his RBros build.

I will have an AI. And I hope to have an RBros build too. My dilemma is which to pursue first?

For my application, an RBros in an MPA Chassis makes sense. This will be a match shooter and a long range steel ringer. On the other hand, AIAT is very appealing. Match performance with military toughness AND all the versatility in switching barrels and calibers is a damned fine set of circumstances. Is AI really that much tougher?

It may be as simple as AICS just works for Steve but somehow the AIAT is not good enough for his application. By this logic, the RBros build is better for him than an AI. I guess that makes sense but I want to understand more, because I’m not made of money so I can’t experiment as much as I want.

So if we compared Steve’s gun with the AI equivalent, where are the pros and cons, strictly objectively speaking. Precision, performance, durability, mfr support, components. How would these systems stack up if compared in this way?