22lr 1/8" at 50 yards all day

That is a Weatherby XXII, which was made by Anschütz and is a 64 barreled action in a weatherby stock. The OEM barrel was a dud, I could never get it shooting under 1/2" reliably, so I re-barreled it last year with a 1416 D HB take-off barrel from a trusted gunsmith. Ammo wise, I've tried nearly everything available from our various suppliers of match ammo. I'm just dabbling with the tuner on it while I wait for my custom to be finished, then the tuner gets bored out to fit the custom barrel (it just happened to fit on this rifle as-is). This isn't the rifle to be pursuing ultimate accuracy with, but I am pleased with some of the high level results I've been able to squeeze out of it so far without too much trouble. It otherwise serves as my Silhouette rifle where I'm not allowed to use a tuner on it.

What are the details/specs of the custom you're having built? What kind of average are you going to be expecting with your custom?

Some things I've heard others say is that the 64 action uses the sear as the bolt stop, which leads to issues over a loooonnnnng service life. Might not be an issue in the next 10 years or so... but past 30 years... who knows? Here's a thread with some comparative information http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=897202&highlight=64+bolt+stop

At the heart of it, majority of the accuracy is in the barrel, and the 64's are fitted with the same barrels as the 54's so accuracy potential is about equal between the two and subject to the normal variance observed in any factory made product. A 54 action, in and of itself, isn't going to make the rifle more accurate. It is more along the lines of: Do you like the trigger options available with the 54's over the 64's? Do you like the stocks that are only available on 54 rifles? Is durability over a very long service life important to you? Can you manage the extra weight? At the end of the day in rimfire, trying to get the best accuracy once past the 1/2" at 50 yards mark becomes very expensive for exponentially smaller gains, and one might as well go full custom rather than play the odds with a factory built rifle.

While I understand they're both "factory production" rifles, I wonder if the 54 rifle is built with less of a high quantity sacrificing quality mind set. Such as tighter tolerances in the action, chambering+fitting the barrel, and barrel selection. Similar to the way Shilen sells their barrels as match or select match. Does Anschutz hand pick certain qualities of a batch of barrels to go on their 54 rifles... no one would really know, but I wonder. What demands the 3-4x price tag if it's still a roll of the dice without a quantifiable measure(aside from service life) of being the better rifle over a 64. Paying for the legacy of Anschutz and 54 action?

Then there's full custom rifles... a new match 54 is knocking on the price tag of a full custom, where hand picking what gets used is part of the purchase. Still kind of playing lottery on the barrel, but at least tolerances can be more dialed in as per request.
 
While I understand they're both "factory production" rifles, I wonder if the 54 rifle is built with less of a high quantity sacrificing quality mind set. Such as tighter tolerances in the action, chambering+fitting the barrel, and barrel selection. Similar to the way Shilen sells their barrels as match or select match. Does Anschutz hand pick certain qualities of a batch of barrels to go on their 54 rifles... no one would really know, but I wonder. What demands the 3-4x price tag if it's still a roll of the dice without a quantifiable measure(aside from service life) of being the better rifle over a 64. Paying for the legacy of Anschutz and 54 action?

The 54 action is heavier than the 64, which is slimmer. The 64 action locks on the bolt handle while the 54 has two locking lugs and a bolt stop. The 54 bolts are matched to their receivers (by serial number if not by headspace). The stronger 54 action rifles are available with better triggers and better stock options (not the stock market variety), and they have faster lock times, if that matters. Although the barrels are very much the same and are pressed into both actions, the 54 action is better than the 64 and that goes a very long way in explaining why they are more desirable by serious shooters than their less expensive 64 siblings. Individual 64's may outshoot some 54's but in general the latter outshoot the former.
 
Like grauhanen said there are obvious advantages with a 54 action over a 64.The trigger and lock time alone makes a big difference for me. And even bigger variable is your ammo. I have no less than 7 different lot #s of Center X and there is a big spread between the best and worst. I,very had some target 22lrs that I struggled to get under a half inch but using my best lot of Center X always works for me. It's going to be a sad day when it's gone. Going full custom to me would be a no brainer if I lived in the states. Up here in Canada it's a pia. 1/8"@50 is a pipe dream.
 
What are the details/specs of the custom you're having built? What kind of average are you going to be expecting with your custom?

I'm doing a budget custom on a CZ 455 action in a Boyd's Pro-Varmint stock, my cost will come in under Canadiankeeper's new Anschütz 64 MPR Tactical Trainer (after selling factory stock and barrel to recoup some costs). It will have the Fly trigger, reduced power striker spring, upgraded hex head action screws, striker tip tuning and polishing, stock pillared & bedded plus fore end reinforced, Lilja 3-groove straight 0.850" barrel custom machined to a slip fit to be glued in with loctite 680, cone breech for indexing, and fitted with a Harrell tuner. Aside from machining the barrel blank, all other work is DIY by me. I expect it to shoot in the 0.2's on average, and to be able to succeed in the 1/4" club with it. Ammo testing and tuning will see if I can get it to shoot in the 0.1's, but that won't come easy (or maybe it will? I could go for getting lucky). An ultra high-end action is not a requirement for accuracy, but there are certain "luxuries" to them that make them a pleasure to own and shoot over the "lesser" actions. Such a custom should be superior to all but the finest examples of a factory built rifle.

Do note that Anschütz primarily builds rifles for position/biathlon shooting and hunting, and offering a "benchrest" stock for them in recent years doesn't mean they're built to "benchrest" standards. Nowhere can I find any definitive accuracy guarantee from Anschütz with a hard number statement (for example, tell me that they are warrantied to shoot 12mm CTC at 50m for 5 shot groupings). Have a look at Canadiankeeper's Tactical Trainer review thread where the first rifle he got was less than expected in the accuracy department for an Anschütz.... but when sent back to the dealer for testing, their determination was that it's accuracy was "in spec". Fortunately, they offered to swap the barreled action for him and the accuracy is now in line with what we expect an Anschütz to deliver. While Anschütz may be a top tier factory rifle producer who holds tight tolerances, they simply aren't putting in the extra attention to detail that "benchrest" shooters in pursuit of ultimate rimfire accuracy demand.

Are their barrels hand lapped? How do they determine that the lapping is completed to "x" standard? How do they select which end of the blank is to be the muzzle or chamber? How do they locate where to cut the muzzle? There are things that custom barrel makers and gunsmiths do that simply aren't done in a production environment, getting them right is left to chance. I don't intend to make it sound like Anschütz doesn't build a great rifle, since most of what they put out performs quite well, but the nature of factory production demands that certain details be glossed over. This leaves room for the custom makers to come in and go the extra mile to extract that last bit of accuracy, for a much inflated cost of course.

You could always knock the barrel out of a 54 and custom build off of that :d but that would be gosh darn pricey...
 
When it comes to dedicated BR shooters, they will invariably choose a custom build. They are in the business of optimizing each and every part of the shooting process and do not "settle" for off-the-shelf alternatives when some degree of customizing will make it (perhaps) a little bit "better". As a result, Anschutz BR rifles are not the BR rifles of choice for the super serious .22LR BR shooters. The rifles of choice are custom built with whatever action, barrel, stock, bedding technique (the action glued in, for example) are believed to be best at that particular time. These shooters seek out certain BR rifle builders to build or put together their custom rifles. You may note when looking at BR competition results that the builder of the rifle is included.

And the build doesn't end here entirely. It is incomplete without the top-of-the-line optics which often cost more than an off-the-shelf Anschutz BR rifle married to the rifle with the best rings/scope mounting system in vogue. Add to that a one or two piece shooting rest system that is usually custom built as well -- and these can cost more than the proverbial arm and leg.

Still all this would not guarantee competitive success. At this level, there is no substitute for a lot of practice, not to forget ammo selection.

All this requires very deep pockets indeed. For those of us with more modest means and goals, an Anschutz BR rifle or a DIY custom rifle with the best components that are both affordable and available are our best options for trying to shoot the small groups referred to in the title of this thread. In the end, as savagecanuck notes, shooting .125" groups all day long is a pipe dream. We will get them on occasion but not consistently.
 
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