Catch-22

Boom 💥

Wow, surprised these haven’t gone yet 🍿👀

It all happens in a fraction of a second. The moddy overgasses the barrel, forcing a back pressure as already noted. Bet you if you shoot the same load with brake or nothing on the end, you won’t have any sooty cases, other than the ‘sine-wave’ on the necks. With the moddy, you’ll continue getting the sooty cases. If you’ve had the moddy a while but this is the first time it’s started doing this, it could be your mod needs an internal clean, especially around the initial blast chamber and first set of baffles. Maybe there’s a buildup of carbon in there which is aiding the over-gassing??

So you’re saying cases were more sooty with the moderator, less sooty with the brake? That makes sense because the moderator overgasses it a bit. After the shot, some powder residue would flow back into the barrel and the chamber as the gasses in the moderator slowly dissipate. As the brass has already sprung back from the chamber walls, any gas floating back down the barrel from the moddy will make the entire case sooty, not just the neck.

I think it’s very hard to truly diagnose with just two 3x shot groups. I would shoot some more groups (eg 5x groups) but all from the same position, with as little movement as possible and without too much of a delay between each group. So don’t shoot a group, standup and walk around then shoot some more. Stay prone and focussed on target. I bet the problem is position, specifically rear bag stability. Concentrating specifically on shooting technique I think should be the first thing to rule out. If it’s still not obvious, get another shooter behind the gun and again try some more groups. If that’s not resolved the problem, then look at the rifle setup in more detail.

Couldn’t agree more. I enquired into having an STR200 importer here, along with a Vision chassis a while back. Unfortunately no one was willing to export from Scandi and the Vision was still in prototype phase and wasn’t being produced for commercial sale. Went a different route in the end. Still, shortly due to have an Impact 737r in a MPA Comp chassis arrive. 🥳 Good luck with project ‘Scandi Shooter’, sounds like a great future build.

Yeah that’s sort of my point, unless you see a used SSG3000 at a good price, it’s not really feasible. Buying new is v expensive, especially if you want to then rebarrel it into something a bit more exotic than .308w and drop it into a chassis that’s better than the factory stock. Quickly becomes a £4-5k gun. Just a shame the actions aren’t as well marketed/promoted/available here as say the T3 is, which would make a very good, arguably better, rival to the T3s.

It’s a real shame the STR200 isn’t readily available here in the UK, along with the breadth of pre-chambered barrels etc as is available in the Scandi countries. I’ve long wanted one as the basis for building a slick running gun on.

Shame - his loss I suppose.

Personally I think it has a lot to do with the actual stock taking and CMS/CRM systems a lot of online retailers have. Many simply aren’t utilising the latest stock management systems that are able to display real-time stock levels to customers. Whilst frustrating for us the end consumer, I don’t believe many of the retailers are being purposefully underhanded, I think they’re either naive or haven’t the cash to splash on updating their antiquated systems. Most/all of the online retailers I purchase from do either clearly state 0 stock (but can back order) on the product page, or do so within the checkout basket, and reiterate this in the order confirmation email. I think we’ve also got to bare in mind the retailers are beholden to the importers. The importers can only bring as much as they can into the UK, often relying on export licenses from the US and other nations as well as EU quotas. Shipments arrive in bulk 2-4 times per year. Demand is high, supply is low...and expensive. This translates to stock which should be on shelves but simply hasn’t arrived yet.

There’s a chap on here called @Breacher who imports the Fortmeier bipods through his company. Nice chap. You can order whatever type of spigot mount you want along with the bipod itself (12 o’clock - top mounted or 6 o’clock - bottom mounted). http://www.phoenixtactical.co.uk/fortmeier-bipod.html As my rifle has the flexibility to add sections of picatinny rail wherever I like, I opted for 12 o’clock as it provides a more stable shooting position. The walnut grip is made by Nill in Germany. They mostly do top end competition pistol grips but also offer some custom grips for AR10/15, HK PSG-1 and SIG 556. Nice - very comfy and works very well with the thumb shelf on the right side of the lower receiver. https://www.nill-griffe.com/Rifle_Stocks_32.html

I too use the Fortmeier / Phoenix attached in the 12 o’clock position. Owned Harris, Atlas and now this. Harris best for quick deploy (stalking or PRS type shooting) but casually on the range the Fortmeier is rock solid and stable.

For clarity, Border produced both Cut rifling (under the Border name) and Button rifling (under the Archer name). With the Border collapse, two lads stayed in Dumfries and formed GB Barrels Ltd, offering Cut rifling only. Another two chaps partnered with Sassen Engeering in Birmingham. For a while they offered Button rifling only. Now they’re also offering Cut rifling. I believe GB Barrels have their steel deep drilled by Sassen Engineering (unsure if it’s via their former colleagues or simply the Sassen parent company), then do the actual Cut rifling and lapping process in house.

No problem, we’ve all been there and it can appear to be very daunting, joining a club, getting an FAC, THEN deciding what you want to shoot, reloading etc etc. Fyi, you can always ask the FEO to swap .308w for a 6.5mm. That’s a 1-for-1 variation and won’t cost you anything. Regarding ODRC, there have been issues with email accounts. Make sure you sent it to: odrcmembership@gmail.com Other emails won’t work. Leave it a week or two and check your junk mail. If still nothing, try again or pipe up here and I’ll see if I can speak with him. Tbh, Simon is very busy and there’s often a delay with things. There is a shoot on 19th Oct at Rogiet. I’m hoping to attend but my rifle is currently away having an extra barrel spun up. If it’s back in time then I’ll come along. If you’re there just look for the gun that looks like a pile of scaffold tube. That’ll be me!

My thoughts, for what they’re worth 💩 If you’re joining ODRC (I’m a member - great club and you’ll enjoy shooting with us!) then note the shortest range is 600m (Rogiet and Kingsbury). A lot of the others are between 900m to 1300m. The range locations are such that the winds are a real bugger. Excellent to learn how to read the wind, but a bugger to shoot sometimes. With the above in mind, if you’re planning to shoot often on said ranges, I would look at a good wind bucking calibre, or bullet for calibre, selection. So as mentioned, the 6mm and 6.5mm are good and slippery in the wind. 6.5mm Creedmoor is a good performer, has lots of off the shelf ammunition available (unsure if you reload??) and lots of factory/semi-custom/full-custom rifles kicking around. Really any of the 6.5mm rifles will be a good fit (6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5x47Lapua, .260rem, 6.5x55 Swede). Yes you can by all means shoot a .223rem, but the challenge will be what bullets will be suitable. So most factory rifles in .223rem have very slow twists (eg 1-14”, 1-12”, 1-9” twist). With these, you’ll likely only be able to shoot the 55gn to 69gn bullets accurately before stability falls off. If you want any hope of getting to 600m+, in heavy winds (15-25mph is common) and doing so accurately, you need to shoot the 77gn, 80gn, or 90gn bullets. These are very long and require a barrel with a fast twist, like 1-8” , 1-7” or faster. With that in mind, you’re likely going to need a custom barrel that is throated for those long bullets. This gets expensive for mere plinking and isn’t what I’d recommend...unless you see a second hand custom .223 with fast twist and long throat for sale at a steal. You could go .308w, solid performer and cheapish to feed. Though if you want to push it out to 900m+ accurately, then I think you either push the good lighter bullets (eg 155gn Lapua Scenar) at fast speeds (2900fps+) or shoot the heavier bullets (eg 185gn+) though this again will be dependant on the twist and throat of barrel you have (eg 1-12” should stabilise up to 168gn bullets. If you want to go 185gn+, I’d say you really need 1-10” or faster). With all the above in mind, personally I think a good solid 6.5mm bullet is best. Most of the newer factory rifles in 6.5mm Creedmoor have an appropriate twist and will allow you to shoot the 140gn+ class bullets for which the cartridge was designed to shoot. This will give you great capability, in a mild shooting case, that’s cheapish to reload, all the way out to 1200m...possibly even more. I know a few people who shoot the Sabatti tactical rifles in various calibres, and each one has been an excellent shooter. They’re also incredible value for money. Also don’t discount a Tikka T3 or the newer Tac versions. Also have a good trawl through the Sale section here, some gems appear from time to time. But before you buy, go speak to ODRC members and ask to shoot their rifle. I think most people would be only to happy to let you. I would. That will give you some real experience with different rifles and calibre's. Ask question about what they load, how far the shoot. Watch their targets on the line - who’s getting the v-bull 90% of the time. Go talk to them and ask about their setup. I’m sure that would really help you decide which direction you want to go in. Pop over and say ‘Hi’ when you get your membership! 👍

I’ve used CDI Precision in the past for a Tilka M595 I had. Very well made, flawless function. Worked with AICS mags. I think they do them for all the usual actions (eg Rem700s etc etc) http://www.cdiprecisiongunworksstore.com/detachable-box-mag-systems-bottom-metal/

Love the above ☝️ Super OCD and organised, love the commitment to orderliness. There’s a big portion of me that would LOVE to do the above. But there’s just a slightly bigger portion that’s just too lazy. But I’m definitely with you in spirit.🤘

Just don’t clean your brass if you’re colour coding segmented brass - the Sharpie will come off in the tumbler (unsure about US cleaning though).

Currently shooting two Bartlein (6.5mm and .338). Have had Bergara in the past, good for the money. About to have a GB cut rifling barrel spun up (former Border Barrels chaps). Awaiting a new rifle from the States complete with a handful of cut rifled PROOF barrels (not the carbon fibre but their all stainless barrels in their ‘competition’ contour). I’ve found the Bartlein’s are easier to clean than the Bergara was.

Offas Dyke Rifle Club (ODRC). Rogiet is a lovely range. Car park is only but 30m from the 600m firing point, though the firing point has a steep-ish (if short) incline to the top of the embankment. There are ‘steps’ cut into the embankment to help with the walk. I doubt you would get a wheelchair up there if needed though (unsure if you have one or not). Rogiet is only shot at 600m, unless you need to shoot a HME test, which is briefly done at 100m. Some of the other ranges (eg Kingsbury A) split the day 300m and 600m. There is a tarmac road going down to the butts and there’s usually a car to help take people down there and back if needed.

Very interesting. Was there a specific reason given for the low opinions? And we’re those opinions related to their buttoned or cut rifled barrels? I’ve a number of Bartlein barrels (chambered and blanks) and they’ve always been great. A few months back I bought a GB cut rifled barrel (direct from them - they were brilliant to deal with) and soon to have it chambered up. The GB barrels have a very good reputation. https://m.facebook.com/GBBarrelsLtd/?ref=page_internal&mt_nav=0

Post above is correct. Forum rules state that you must clearly display a price for the item you wish to sell.

If it’s chambered or threaded then you’ll need to fill out an export form. A chambered/threaded barrel is a firearms component and strict rules exist. The chap will also need to setup an import his side and have documentation (eg FAC) to prove he has authority to acquire. I think you’ll also need to receive copies of his FAC to satisfy your export permit, HMRC handling the export and the exporter doing the shipping. Doing the paperwork yourself is a nightmare as one tiny mistake could land you in legal hell. For that reason, it’s always best to work with a good firearms importer/exporter, like PBS International. There are many others who also specialise in shipping firearms stuff. However, once you add up the cost and effort involved, im almost 100% certain that it’ll be cheaper for the chap to buy a blank and have it chambered locally to him. Shipping alone is likely to be £100. The cost of using a shipping company is likely to be around £50-£100 to handle the paperwork for you. Then there’s taxes to be applied his end for importation. Etc etc

It is precisely for this reason that I own all my reamers.

Walnut shell is better than the corn cob media. Agree that those sold by most gun shops are waaaay, waaaay overpriced. I bought 25kg off eBay a few years back for around £15 delivered. I now ultrasonic clean as the dry tumbling method leaves a fine dust and soot around, evident when handling the cases after tumbling. Your hands and fingers go black with it...that’s all those toxic chemicals and carbon. Horrid. To stop your dies and action from also receiving this film of dust, really you have to wipe your cases down. Above is all a faff when compared to U/S cleaning, so much simpler, quicker and mess free imho!