I brought home an RFB yesterday and I really can't wait to take a few deers with it.
It feels like its machined out of a solid chunk of steel. It has no twist, flex or movement(other than the parts that are designed to move). You could really knock out someones teeth with it.
Having played with a Tavor several times the fit and finish of the RFB is superior. Like the articles in gun magazines have said before "this rifle feels like something from Europe". I have a few HK rifles and I would liken the RFB quality to them if not better, IMO.
It shoulders with ease and your cheek and eye can't help but fall into spot without trying. I have walked around the house at the low ready and off hand firing positions for 15 minutes without becoming fatigued, more bored than anything, but I am somewhat built like a brick s**t house. The mag it came with is covered in paint making it a tight fit and therefore doesn't fall freely from the magwell. I can't comment on mag changes because I only have one but I suspect that you will end up hitting the mag release with the loaded mag in your hand. The only part to cycling the action with dummy rounds is you have to use the charging handle like a forward assist but this could also be because it has not yet received its bath of G96. The owners manual is second to none with colour photos, it's better quality than most paperback books.
The trigger was measured with a proper gauge and snapped at 6.75lbs. The trigger pull itself feels like a proper 2 stage match trigger similar to what I have in my DND AR-10. I'm going to estimate the 1st stage is 3mm of pull at a couple of pounds with the second stage being 2mm with the rest of the 6.75lbs. Again I am not a trigger expert but this is a reasonable explanation to what it feels like to me.
I will be heading to the range with my hand loads. FC brass, 168gr Sierra HPBTMK's, 43.4gr's of IMR4064 and CCI Bench rest primers. The scope used will be my range tester scope a Burris Fullfield II 3x9. Shots will be taken from a bag rest.
Being a short flattop with a charging handle just under the rail makes the choice of optics limiting. At the store I put on the new small Eotech and 3x magnifier and I found that my knuckles dragged across the underside of the Eotech, but the AWESOME factor was through the roof and it just felt right. The Burris Fullfield II is mounted on a cheep-o Weaver 3/4" see through risers and is perfect for my face and allows for the charging handle to be accessed without knuckle dragging(this is my standard load testing setup) . As you will see from the picture below anymore scope and it will become longer than the gun.
Range ready
In front of the AR-10 with a 24" barrel. The end of the stocks are perfectly inline.
Whole lot of awesome !!!
RANGE REPORT
This morning before I wiped off the excess G96 and threw the RFB back together I noticed that the copper dummy rounds had scuffed the underside of the slide, copper mark left. It didn't concern me but it's worth mentioning if you are target shooting and end up cycling an unfired round, possible bullet deformation.
The only manufacturing flaw my eyes picked up was in the polymer stock under the barrel where the 2 halves meet. It looks as if a molding tab wasn't polished off.
It was freezing today at the Poco range, -1 it's cold!!!!
I'm sure everyone else in the country is telling me to stop crying, and there was no wind.
I scrubbed off the parkerizing on the mag with emery cloth but that didn't help the mag to fall freely. The mag holds 5 with no room to spare and can't lock in with the action closed.
Right from the start the action cycled like butter with no issues. The only problem I encountered was with chambering the first round of every mag. With the mag locked in and action open the bolt release could not load the first round. A push forward from the charging handle acted as a forward assist, kind of cool. As I reached rounds 50 the force required with the forward assist was minimal and at rounds 56 to 60 the rifle could chamber the first round with just the bolt release. I also adjusted the gas system as per the instructions and found the RFB could cycle the action on the lowest setting (B+1).
As I'm writing this I'm feeling no ill effects of firing off 90 rounds. Being .308 it will always have a kick but it wasn't bad at all. The rifle didn't feel like it was jumping up at the barrel, like SKS/AK, but more of a rocking back and forward motion, like AR/M-16. All my fillings are still intact.
I am still struggling to describe the trigger. Does it feel like a 2 stage or is it just single action with light creep? There's no kidding around with it, it's defiantly crisp. Over all it's usable but could stand to loose several pounds.
Trying to target shoot with this tiny rifle was a totally foreign experience due to it's balance and rear weight. IMO it's meant to be fired off hand. It wasn't quite as easy to steady as a 4' long 15lb target rifle.
I ended up resting the rifle on the mag and my left hand cupped the front trigger guard and weight bag. I opted not to rest the front grip on the weight bag as I was unsure if this would affect the shots.
For accuracy, this is truly disappointing!!!! My hand loads for 11.25 twist in a 24" barrel don't work the same in an 11.25 twist 18" barrel
. I consistently printed 3" to 4" wild groups at 100 meters, 1.25" at 50 meters and 1 hole at 25 meters. Unfortunately I didn't think to buy store bought ammo as a baseline. I believe the 168gr Sierras are leaving the barrel too slow which means more powder or faster burning powder, I'll start with the latter choice. I don't believe in anyway that today's results were an accurate reflection of the RFB's ability, just the lack of fore thought of the shooter. It's ashamed I'm not reporting that it shot 1" or better at 100 meters but that will have to wait for another day. I also have no idea what the break-in time for a rifle like this is.
The brass started to dribbled out the front after the 5th round. If you want them any sooner just tip the rifle forward, really neat. All the brass came out in perfect condition, A bonus for reloading.
Off hand shots were so quick and easy it made my head spin, hit the 200 meter gong 3/5. Follow up shot weren't as quick as a Tavor but they were fast.
Over all the RFB was an absolute blast to shoot and handle. The action cycled flawlessly, like butter, even with groups the size of clays you couldn't knock the smile off my face. I didn't have any issues with my face becoming warm on the steel cheek rest, outer side cover, and it didn't sound any louder than other auto-loading .308s. The only warm to the touch parts of the gun was the barrel and slide cover under the back end of the pica-tinny rail.
I am very happy I bought the RFB and have no complaints in regards to the fit/finish, ergonomics or it's operating characteristics.
CLEANING
Cleaning was really easy. Other than cleaning supplies all you need a .308 round or something pointy.
Pins are out.
Push the 2 pins out with a cartridge, the round things above the mag well.
Slide the bolt/firing pin back and pull out the charging handle.
Slap the grip/trigger group forward and butt stock slides out.
G96 and a patch down the barrel and she's done.
Not much muck in the action for 90 rounds.
A single pin at the back of the bolt/firing pin and it all comes out. Reverse the process and it's back together.
The guy that designed this really knew what he was doing. 5 to 10 seconds to pull it apart to clean, can't argue with that!!
ACCURACY TESTING, JANUARY 8th
I went off to the Mission range today. I arrived around noon and thought it would be just cloudy.....and then it started to snow.. I can't win. But hey lot of people want the RFB to be their hunting rifle and last time I checked it snows during hunting season. It wasn't the best of conditions but I want to know what it rifle can do at the bare minimum with off the shelf ammo. The ammo was supplied by Epoxy7 and some new Czech 147gr from Henry Nierychlo, $11 a box to sight in who could argue. I didn't have a ladder load to try out as my crack dealer digital scale broke and I'm now waiting for its replacement.
Lots of snow and different ammo. I was there for 4 hours. There wasn't any real wind to speak of and there was approximately 2" of snow that stuck. The targets turned to wet toilet paper just walking them out to the 100 meter back stop. Needless to say not only did I have the snow to contend with but my fingers froze solid due to lack of gloves, trigger manipulation became very difficult, my back seized up and I began shivering, somebody call me the wahmbulance !!!
100 meter group fired off the mag and a bag under the hand guard, while it was snowing. I fired off 5 round groups over 7 to 10 minutes, average, and ran a bore snake through the barrel after every 5.
Czech military 147gr brass cased
DND ball, don't really know much about this stuff
Federal Fusion 165gr
Federal Match Gold
Winchester 180gr Silvertip
Lapua 167gr Match
Custom 167gr HPBT
Imperial 155gr, the box was marked 1969 and the necks all cracked on the brass after firing.
Are the groups good, meh. Are they good given the conditions, Yes !
The RFB is not a match target rifle but there are reports that people are getting 1/2 moa. With the proper conditions and a better front rest or tripod setup I believe you could get 3/4 moa with Fed Gold or Lapua match and with hand loads even less, IMO.
The RFB functioned flawlessly again. This time around the mags rivet had been moved down 1/8th" which allowed for the action to cycle from a closed position with a 5 round mag in the well. I think the key to the trigger pull is to treat it like a double action pistol trigger, continuous smooth pull.
Best deer and moose rifle ever !!
I'll get to the ammo ladder test when the rcbs 1500 shows up.
Nigel Powers: My lord! You're a tripod.
Just need a Harris bipod that has the rail mount so I don't have to use the goofy adapter. I'm not really sold on the look but it's just on there for hand load development.
Don't bother with the Magpul AFG !! The RFB is too short and trying to hold on to the AFG really screws up your wrist in a short amount of time, I tried today.
****ACCURACY TESTING, JANUARY 22nd****
I went off to the Mission range today with hand loads and some repeat box ammo to try without snow. By the time I was set up the weather wasn’t the greatest, approximately 3 degrees with no wind. A heavy mist did fill the air but at least it kept me very well hydrated. I didn’t bother taking pictures at the range because the targets were so wet I couldn’t number the holes with a black felt.
The targets were placed at 100 meters and I used a 2-bag combo to elevate the RFB off the table thus eliminating any vibration caused by the magazine acting as a monopod.
The first groups fired were the #1.Czech Ball, #2. Finns crimped stuff (something a friend had at the range), #3. 180gr Winchester White box Sliver tip, #4 168SMK with 43.4gr of IMR 4064(HUGE AWESOME FIREBALL!!!!!). These were the only groups fired with all 5 rounds loaded in the magazine and shot one after another into their respective targets.
**All the hand loads were shot in a single shot round robin consisting of only 3 bullets of the same charge being shot at one target. Approximately 1 minute between shots, 12 shots over 4 targets before target change and the bore was snaked after 4 shots. **
For those who aren’t familiar with a load ladder or my type of load ladder I only use 3 shots of a given charge and the charges are increased at 0.2gr from the minimum to the maximum charge recommended by the manufacturer. This will point out the accuracy nodes and allows for me to return to the reloading bench with 1 or 2 charges to work around, I typically make 15 rounds of the most accurate with 15 of 0.1gr above and 15 of 0.1gr below.
The powder I used for the RFB was Hodgdon H4895, with a charge from 41.0gr to 43.4gr. 168gr Sierra MatchKings, CCI bench rest primers and an overall cartridge length of 2.8” WITH NO CRIMP. I produced 4 cartridges for each charge, 3 for the target and 1 for misfire. I put up 4 targets at a time; numbered, charge marked and the targets also skipped 0.6gr so not to play into the psychology of chasing the group (I read about it in a book). There was a very nice gentleman next to me who had a chronograph so he was able to chrono the best rounds for me, it wasn’t a 5 round average but 1 is better than none.
CHRONOGRAPH Results
13. 43.4gr @ 2654 fps (2650 is the manufactures recommended speed for Sierra MatchKings, as far as I know)
8. 42.8gr @ 2565 fps
5. 41.0gr @ 2485 fps
3. 180gr Winchester Silver Tip 2 @ 2493 & 2467 fps
Thanks to Mr. C for firing some rounds through your chronograph, I can't remember your CGN name.
43.4gr was by far the most accurate. Hodgdon allows for a maximum of 43.5gr behind a 168gr Sierra MK so 43.5gr, 43.4gr and 43.3gr should hopefully yield ¾” MOA.
I’ve lumped all the target photos in order without captions to save on room. The target number is on the top left with the powder charge in the top center with the powder type below it (H4895) and the holes are numbered as they hit the targets. I have a book of notes for each shot taken but I’m not typing them out, it would take me all night.
Target #9 was reused for #13. For whatever reason not a single bullet fired from the 41.2gr charge hit the paper. So instead of tearing it down I just reused it.
For all the Trolls and Armchair quarterback:
Nowhere in this latest writeup have a said that the H4895 handholds show that the RFB-C is a MOA or Sub-MOA rifle. There are good/very promising results but multiple 5 round groups are what will definitively show the RFB-C accuracy abilities.
****ACCURACY TESTING, JANUARY 31st****
Epoxy7 and I hit the Mission range again yesterday for another kick at the can but this time we took our mobile reloading setup with us.
The bullets stayed the same, 168gr SMKs, but we changed the powder to Varget. There was 2km wind to the west, at times, sunny 0 deg with it dropping to -3 by the time we left at 5:30. To take up less room I'll only post the interesting or good stuff. Prior to hitting the range the RFB was completely pulled apart and cleaned and I only bore snaked once every 20 rounds.
Targets at 100 meters with 5 shot groups, I filled the mag and let her fly. 43.5gr of Varget produced a 1.4 metric MOA group. Target 1 with 43gr was the first 5 shots to confirm scope alignment and the barrel was cold.
***FEBRUARY 14th***
I spoke with a Keltec service rep this morning to get some answers for the RFB's accuracy, he asked the engineers and had to call me back. He gathered the following answers for me:
- 1.5" @ 100m/yd is the standard RFB group, it is a battle rifle not a sniper rifle(it's intended use is QCB 100m or closer)
- the RFB is optimized for 168 to 175gr bullets
- factory tests were conducted with Federal Match Gold
- can become more accurate with more rounds put through the gun (200 or more), groups have been seen to tighten up 1/4" to 1/2"(engineers observations through word of mouth)
- some RFB's are more accurate than others
- is the rail tight ? might need loctite
- gas at lowest setting ?
- close sight aperture makes it difficult to bench shoot(referring to the RFB being so small)
I also asked about the longer barrelled version and if it would be possible to just have the RFB re-barrelled:
- 24"/32" barrels are not being fully produced yet(need a bigger machine)
- your RFB can be sent to the factory to be re-barrelled or an armorers kit can be purchased in addition to the longer barrel and then be taken to your local gunsmith
It feels like its machined out of a solid chunk of steel. It has no twist, flex or movement(other than the parts that are designed to move). You could really knock out someones teeth with it.
Having played with a Tavor several times the fit and finish of the RFB is superior. Like the articles in gun magazines have said before "this rifle feels like something from Europe". I have a few HK rifles and I would liken the RFB quality to them if not better, IMO.
It shoulders with ease and your cheek and eye can't help but fall into spot without trying. I have walked around the house at the low ready and off hand firing positions for 15 minutes without becoming fatigued, more bored than anything, but I am somewhat built like a brick s**t house. The mag it came with is covered in paint making it a tight fit and therefore doesn't fall freely from the magwell. I can't comment on mag changes because I only have one but I suspect that you will end up hitting the mag release with the loaded mag in your hand. The only part to cycling the action with dummy rounds is you have to use the charging handle like a forward assist but this could also be because it has not yet received its bath of G96. The owners manual is second to none with colour photos, it's better quality than most paperback books.
The trigger was measured with a proper gauge and snapped at 6.75lbs. The trigger pull itself feels like a proper 2 stage match trigger similar to what I have in my DND AR-10. I'm going to estimate the 1st stage is 3mm of pull at a couple of pounds with the second stage being 2mm with the rest of the 6.75lbs. Again I am not a trigger expert but this is a reasonable explanation to what it feels like to me.
I will be heading to the range with my hand loads. FC brass, 168gr Sierra HPBTMK's, 43.4gr's of IMR4064 and CCI Bench rest primers. The scope used will be my range tester scope a Burris Fullfield II 3x9. Shots will be taken from a bag rest.
Being a short flattop with a charging handle just under the rail makes the choice of optics limiting. At the store I put on the new small Eotech and 3x magnifier and I found that my knuckles dragged across the underside of the Eotech, but the AWESOME factor was through the roof and it just felt right. The Burris Fullfield II is mounted on a cheep-o Weaver 3/4" see through risers and is perfect for my face and allows for the charging handle to be accessed without knuckle dragging(this is my standard load testing setup) . As you will see from the picture below anymore scope and it will become longer than the gun.
Range ready
Whole lot of awesome !!!
RANGE REPORT
This morning before I wiped off the excess G96 and threw the RFB back together I noticed that the copper dummy rounds had scuffed the underside of the slide, copper mark left. It didn't concern me but it's worth mentioning if you are target shooting and end up cycling an unfired round, possible bullet deformation.
The only manufacturing flaw my eyes picked up was in the polymer stock under the barrel where the 2 halves meet. It looks as if a molding tab wasn't polished off.
It was freezing today at the Poco range, -1 it's cold!!!!
I'm sure everyone else in the country is telling me to stop crying, and there was no wind.I scrubbed off the parkerizing on the mag with emery cloth but that didn't help the mag to fall freely. The mag holds 5 with no room to spare and can't lock in with the action closed.
Right from the start the action cycled like butter with no issues. The only problem I encountered was with chambering the first round of every mag. With the mag locked in and action open the bolt release could not load the first round. A push forward from the charging handle acted as a forward assist, kind of cool. As I reached rounds 50 the force required with the forward assist was minimal and at rounds 56 to 60 the rifle could chamber the first round with just the bolt release. I also adjusted the gas system as per the instructions and found the RFB could cycle the action on the lowest setting (B+1).
As I'm writing this I'm feeling no ill effects of firing off 90 rounds. Being .308 it will always have a kick but it wasn't bad at all. The rifle didn't feel like it was jumping up at the barrel, like SKS/AK, but more of a rocking back and forward motion, like AR/M-16. All my fillings are still intact.
I am still struggling to describe the trigger. Does it feel like a 2 stage or is it just single action with light creep? There's no kidding around with it, it's defiantly crisp. Over all it's usable but could stand to loose several pounds.
Trying to target shoot with this tiny rifle was a totally foreign experience due to it's balance and rear weight. IMO it's meant to be fired off hand. It wasn't quite as easy to steady as a 4' long 15lb target rifle.
I ended up resting the rifle on the mag and my left hand cupped the front trigger guard and weight bag. I opted not to rest the front grip on the weight bag as I was unsure if this would affect the shots.
For accuracy, this is truly disappointing!!!! My hand loads for 11.25 twist in a 24" barrel don't work the same in an 11.25 twist 18" barrel
. I consistently printed 3" to 4" wild groups at 100 meters, 1.25" at 50 meters and 1 hole at 25 meters. Unfortunately I didn't think to buy store bought ammo as a baseline. I believe the 168gr Sierras are leaving the barrel too slow which means more powder or faster burning powder, I'll start with the latter choice. I don't believe in anyway that today's results were an accurate reflection of the RFB's ability, just the lack of fore thought of the shooter. It's ashamed I'm not reporting that it shot 1" or better at 100 meters but that will have to wait for another day. I also have no idea what the break-in time for a rifle like this is.The brass started to dribbled out the front after the 5th round. If you want them any sooner just tip the rifle forward, really neat. All the brass came out in perfect condition, A bonus for reloading.
Off hand shots were so quick and easy it made my head spin, hit the 200 meter gong 3/5. Follow up shot weren't as quick as a Tavor but they were fast.
Over all the RFB was an absolute blast to shoot and handle. The action cycled flawlessly, like butter, even with groups the size of clays you couldn't knock the smile off my face. I didn't have any issues with my face becoming warm on the steel cheek rest, outer side cover, and it didn't sound any louder than other auto-loading .308s. The only warm to the touch parts of the gun was the barrel and slide cover under the back end of the pica-tinny rail.
I am very happy I bought the RFB and have no complaints in regards to the fit/finish, ergonomics or it's operating characteristics.
CLEANING
Cleaning was really easy. Other than cleaning supplies all you need a .308 round or something pointy.
Push the 2 pins out with a cartridge, the round things above the mag well.
Slap the grip/trigger group forward and butt stock slides out.
Not much muck in the action for 90 rounds.
A single pin at the back of the bolt/firing pin and it all comes out. Reverse the process and it's back together.
The guy that designed this really knew what he was doing. 5 to 10 seconds to pull it apart to clean, can't argue with that!!
ACCURACY TESTING, JANUARY 8th
I went off to the Mission range today. I arrived around noon and thought it would be just cloudy.....and then it started to snow.
. I can't win. But hey lot of people want the RFB to be their hunting rifle and last time I checked it snows during hunting season. It wasn't the best of conditions but I want to know what it rifle can do at the bare minimum with off the shelf ammo. The ammo was supplied by Epoxy7 and some new Czech 147gr from Henry Nierychlo, $11 a box to sight in who could argue. I didn't have a ladder load to try out as my crack dealer digital scale broke and I'm now waiting for its replacement.
Lots of snow and different ammo. I was there for 4 hours. There wasn't any real wind to speak of and there was approximately 2" of snow that stuck. The targets turned to wet toilet paper just walking them out to the 100 meter back stop. Needless to say not only did I have the snow to contend with but my fingers froze solid due to lack of gloves, trigger manipulation became very difficult, my back seized up and I began shivering, somebody call me the wahmbulance !!!
100 meter group fired off the mag and a bag under the hand guard, while it was snowing. I fired off 5 round groups over 7 to 10 minutes, average, and ran a bore snake through the barrel after every 5.
Czech military 147gr brass cased
DND ball, don't really know much about this stuff
Federal Fusion 165gr
Federal Match Gold
Winchester 180gr Silvertip
Lapua 167gr Match
Custom 167gr HPBT
Imperial 155gr, the box was marked 1969 and the necks all cracked on the brass after firing.
Are the groups good, meh. Are they good given the conditions, Yes !
The RFB is not a match target rifle but there are reports that people are getting 1/2 moa. With the proper conditions and a better front rest or tripod setup I believe you could get 3/4 moa with Fed Gold or Lapua match and with hand loads even less, IMO.
The RFB functioned flawlessly again. This time around the mags rivet had been moved down 1/8th" which allowed for the action to cycle from a closed position with a 5 round mag in the well. I think the key to the trigger pull is to treat it like a double action pistol trigger, continuous smooth pull.
Best deer and moose rifle ever !!
I'll get to the ammo ladder test when the rcbs 1500 shows up.
Nigel Powers: My lord! You're a tripod.
Just need a Harris bipod that has the rail mount so I don't have to use the goofy adapter. I'm not really sold on the look but it's just on there for hand load development.
Don't bother with the Magpul AFG !! The RFB is too short and trying to hold on to the AFG really screws up your wrist in a short amount of time, I tried today.
****ACCURACY TESTING, JANUARY 22nd****
I went off to the Mission range today with hand loads and some repeat box ammo to try without snow. By the time I was set up the weather wasn’t the greatest, approximately 3 degrees with no wind. A heavy mist did fill the air but at least it kept me very well hydrated. I didn’t bother taking pictures at the range because the targets were so wet I couldn’t number the holes with a black felt.
The targets were placed at 100 meters and I used a 2-bag combo to elevate the RFB off the table thus eliminating any vibration caused by the magazine acting as a monopod.
The first groups fired were the #1.Czech Ball, #2. Finns crimped stuff (something a friend had at the range), #3. 180gr Winchester White box Sliver tip, #4 168SMK with 43.4gr of IMR 4064(HUGE AWESOME FIREBALL!!!!!). These were the only groups fired with all 5 rounds loaded in the magazine and shot one after another into their respective targets.
**All the hand loads were shot in a single shot round robin consisting of only 3 bullets of the same charge being shot at one target. Approximately 1 minute between shots, 12 shots over 4 targets before target change and the bore was snaked after 4 shots. **
For those who aren’t familiar with a load ladder or my type of load ladder I only use 3 shots of a given charge and the charges are increased at 0.2gr from the minimum to the maximum charge recommended by the manufacturer. This will point out the accuracy nodes and allows for me to return to the reloading bench with 1 or 2 charges to work around, I typically make 15 rounds of the most accurate with 15 of 0.1gr above and 15 of 0.1gr below.
The powder I used for the RFB was Hodgdon H4895, with a charge from 41.0gr to 43.4gr. 168gr Sierra MatchKings, CCI bench rest primers and an overall cartridge length of 2.8” WITH NO CRIMP. I produced 4 cartridges for each charge, 3 for the target and 1 for misfire. I put up 4 targets at a time; numbered, charge marked and the targets also skipped 0.6gr so not to play into the psychology of chasing the group (I read about it in a book). There was a very nice gentleman next to me who had a chronograph so he was able to chrono the best rounds for me, it wasn’t a 5 round average but 1 is better than none.
CHRONOGRAPH Results
13. 43.4gr @ 2654 fps (2650 is the manufactures recommended speed for Sierra MatchKings, as far as I know)
8. 42.8gr @ 2565 fps
5. 41.0gr @ 2485 fps
3. 180gr Winchester Silver Tip 2 @ 2493 & 2467 fps
Thanks to Mr. C for firing some rounds through your chronograph, I can't remember your CGN name.
43.4gr was by far the most accurate. Hodgdon allows for a maximum of 43.5gr behind a 168gr Sierra MK so 43.5gr, 43.4gr and 43.3gr should hopefully yield ¾” MOA.
I’ve lumped all the target photos in order without captions to save on room. The target number is on the top left with the powder charge in the top center with the powder type below it (H4895) and the holes are numbered as they hit the targets. I have a book of notes for each shot taken but I’m not typing them out, it would take me all night.
Target #9 was reused for #13. For whatever reason not a single bullet fired from the 41.2gr charge hit the paper. So instead of tearing it down I just reused it.
For all the Trolls and Armchair quarterback:
Nowhere in this latest writeup have a said that the H4895 handholds show that the RFB-C is a MOA or Sub-MOA rifle. There are good/very promising results but multiple 5 round groups are what will definitively show the RFB-C accuracy abilities.
****ACCURACY TESTING, JANUARY 31st****
Epoxy7 and I hit the Mission range again yesterday for another kick at the can but this time we took our mobile reloading setup with us.
The bullets stayed the same, 168gr SMKs, but we changed the powder to Varget. There was 2km wind to the west, at times, sunny 0 deg with it dropping to -3 by the time we left at 5:30. To take up less room I'll only post the interesting or good stuff. Prior to hitting the range the RFB was completely pulled apart and cleaned and I only bore snaked once every 20 rounds.
Targets at 100 meters with 5 shot groups, I filled the mag and let her fly. 43.5gr of Varget produced a 1.4 metric MOA group. Target 1 with 43gr was the first 5 shots to confirm scope alignment and the barrel was cold.
***FEBRUARY 14th***
I spoke with a Keltec service rep this morning to get some answers for the RFB's accuracy, he asked the engineers and had to call me back. He gathered the following answers for me:
- 1.5" @ 100m/yd is the standard RFB group, it is a battle rifle not a sniper rifle(it's intended use is QCB 100m or closer)
- the RFB is optimized for 168 to 175gr bullets
- factory tests were conducted with Federal Match Gold
- can become more accurate with more rounds put through the gun (200 or more), groups have been seen to tighten up 1/4" to 1/2"(engineers observations through word of mouth)
- some RFB's are more accurate than others
- is the rail tight ? might need loctite
- gas at lowest setting ?
- close sight aperture makes it difficult to bench shoot(referring to the RFB being so small)
I also asked about the longer barrelled version and if it would be possible to just have the RFB re-barrelled:
- 24"/32" barrels are not being fully produced yet(need a bigger machine)
- your RFB can be sent to the factory to be re-barrelled or an armorers kit can be purchased in addition to the longer barrel and then be taken to your local gunsmith
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