93R17 BTVLSS Mini review from a newbe

pickeringchris

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So, Ive wanted this rifle for a while now. It is my second rifle and I wanted something cheaper to plink with. It was a couple months for one to come available and Gagnons ordered it in for me. When I got it I knew I'd be using another DNZ mount (love em!) but I wasn't sure of the glass. This gave me time to tinker a little. The first thing I did was to take the bolt out and knock down all machined edges to soften them a bit. I then worked the bolt a couple hundred times and ended up with a very smooth bolt.

Here is the rifle:
gunn_zps3fdd8011.jpg

Now the barrel is nicely free floated but came from the factory with barrel jammed against one side of the stock. I knew this was just a point of loosening the action screws and centering the barrel the re-tightening. The action screw from the factory were only hand tight. I could loosen them without a hex key. I tried to torque the rear screw to around 12 pounds which was fine but the front action screw was supported by a very thin bottom metal with very little wood backing it up. Way too much wood was removed during the inletting process on the Boyds stock. I assume this is to make one stock to fit many different actions. Anything past 10 lbs of torque on the front action screw would bend the bottom metal. (I cant find my calipers as I write this but the factory bottom metal is less than 1mm thick)
with the front action screw @ 8-9 lbs I found the barrel could shift left to right quite easily. Some time on Rimfirecentral lead me to believe that I was not the only one complaining about a thin BM. There were so many in fact that a Company (DIP) some time ago began having thicker bottom metals manufactured and offer them for sale at a very reasonable price. ($25). Their BM is water cut out of 1/8" (3mm) thick stainless.
Here are pictures of my factory BM (on left) and the DIP BM (on right)
gunnn_zps9ec20bf9.jpg
gunnnn_zps93b3074b.jpg


Before installing the new BM, I decided to kinda bed the action a bit with LPS plastic steel puddy. I also filled in the magazine channel to give more support to the BM. Leaving plenty of room for the magazine.
gunnnnnnn_zps9b9e29d2.jpg

This puddy was used to fill a gap of about 1/8" between the pillar and the wood of the stock so when I torque the action screws it would not compress the wood.
Here is a pic of the new BM installed:
gunnnnn_zps09061056.jpg

These minor changes allowed me to torque the action to 22-25 lbs. This prevented the barrel from shifting back and forth.
So here is my first 11 shots on paper @ 50 meters:
gun_zps036f0fcb.jpg

The bottom target was for sighting in. The top has 6 holes. I had a flier so I shot one more. Not bad considering I am a new shooter. 4 shots touching and all 6 can be covered by a quarter. :)

BTW, The scope is a Bushnell Legend HD 4.5 x 14x44 with a DNZ low mount.

Cheers, thanks for looking.
 
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Why do you need the screws so tight? Factory setting is 15 inch lbs front and rear. Mine are all set to 18 front and 9 rear. Some ppl have the front set a lot less the. 18 as well.
Good start but those groups should be a lot smaller for 50 yards. Those look like 100 yard groups.
Keep working at it I'm sure it will come together
 
Why do you need the screws so tight? Factory setting is 15 inch lbs front and rear. Mine are all set to 18 front and 9 rear. Some ppl have the front set a lot less the. 18 as well.
Good start but those groups should be a lot smaller for 50 yards. Those look like 100 yard groups.
Keep working at it I'm sure it will come together

By any chance, are you a motivational speaker for a living? lol
 
Hey thanks for the thread Chris. Very similar to my 17.

When I ordered my Boyds RVT I decided to just get their trigger guard and bottom metal. Arg I wish I wouldnt of because their BM is garbage. Thinking of making my own out of something a lot thicker. I like what you did to give the BM some more support. Ill be bedding my action so I can do that at the same time.

I have a one piece EGW base ordered from one of the sponsors here, but I think they forgot about me because its been a month now and I havent heard anything. But anyways I was looking at the DMZ mount too. Where did you get yours? I think the best/cheapest place I saw it was bass pro.
 
BP has a few bases but not the one I wanted. Optics planet in the us was cheaper than buying direct from DNZ and delivery was surprisingly fast for a US order. Insist they ship usps. cheers.
Hey thanks for the thread Chris. Very similar to my 17.

When I ordered my Boyds RVT I decided to just get their trigger guard and bottom metal. Arg I wish I wouldnt of because their BM is garbage. Thinking of making my own out of something a lot thicker. I like what you did to give the BM some more support. Ill be bedding my action so I can do that at the same time.

I have a one piece EGW base ordered from one of the sponsors here, but I think they forgot about me because its been a month now and I havent heard anything. But anyways I was looking at the DMZ mount too. Where did you get yours? I think the best/cheapest place I saw it was bass pro.
 
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