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April 11th, 2010

Skeleton Rifles, 220 Beggs, and Secrets of the West Texas Tunnel

Gene Beggs operates his own 100-yard indoor tunnel and rifle testing facility just outside of Odessa, Texas. Gene provides instruction and “tunnel time” for serious benchresters looking to improve their skills and optimize the accuracy of their rifles. Along with teaching the fine points of short-range benchrest, Gene has been developing two radical new rifles, one chambered in 220 Beggs, a slightly modified 220 Russian, and a second chambered in 6mm Beggs, a necked-up version of the 220 Russian that retains the original body taper and shoulder angle.



Both rifles share a skeleton design which uses the Stiller Cobra or Viper action as a central load-bearing member. Remarkably, there is no conventional fore-arm at all. Gene has bolted, directly to the barrel, a 3″-wide bag-riding aluminum sled. The sled was not designed as a mid-barrel tuner, but it might have some beneficial effects in that regard. However, the tuning functions are handled by two concentric rings threaded to the muzzle. Gene believes that with minor rotations of his front tuning rings, he can dial the gun into tune and the tune can be easily adjusted as conditions warrant.

Do Mr. Beggs’ guns shoot? Absolutely. We had the chance to visit Gene in Odessa. We shot both the 220 Beggs-chambered rifle, and its 6mm Beggs-chambered cousin. Both rifles are nearly identical, though the Heavy Varmint-weight 220 has a longer, 27″ barrel compared to 22″ for the Light Varmint 6mm.

In the tunnel, the 220 HV, with a no-turn-neck 220 Beggs chamber, produced three-shot groups in the low ones and zeros right out of the gate, even before the tuner was optimized. With a barrel with over 1000 rounds through it, after firing 40 rounds without cleaning, Gene produced a tiny 5-shot group in the low ones. The first shot was slightly high (a common occurence in the tunnel according to Beggs). The last 4 shots, rounds 42-45 since the barrel had been cleaned, went into 0.084″. This rig, though radical in the extreme, certainly appears fully competitive with more conventional BR rigs, and it tracked superbly, with no hopping or rocking on the bags.

220 Beggs — Simple, Accurate, Efficient
We were also very impressed with the 220 Beggs cartridge. It’s basically a plain 220 Russian with a sharper radius at the neck-shoulder junction. Gene has commissioned a 220 Beggs reamer with matching seating and full-length sizing dies. The little cartridge achieves 3600+ fps with a 52gr bullet, pushed by Benchmark powder.

From what we could tell during our short visit, the 220 Beggs is easy to load for, and performs exceptionally well with either turned (.250″) or no-turn necks. The recoil was noticeably less than a 6mm PPC, making the gun a joy to shoot. This round, we felt, could also be an outstanding varmint cartridge. The velocity is there, and we don’t think any other 22-caliber varmint cartridge is going to beat it for inherent accuracy.

As for the 6mm version, Gene told us: “The 6mm version of the cartridge performs best with Hodgdon’s H4198 Extreme, but the 220 has proven it will shoot well with just about anything you put in it including N133, H322, Benchmark, 8208, Norma 200 etc. It is the most trouble-free, user friendly cartridge I have ever worked with and will compete heads-up with anything. It’s also very easy on the shoulder.”

How to Learn More
Gene sells components (reamers, dies etc.) for the 220 and 6mm Beggs, and also offers training/testing sessions in his West Texas Tunnel on an appointment basis. For more information, or to schedule a session, email genebeggs [at] cableone.net.

Permalink Gunsmithing, New Product 1 Comment »
April 11th, 2010

Save Thousands on Alaskan Lodge-Based Fishing Holiday

For many folks, a fly-in trip to a remote Alaskan fishing lodge would be a “vacation of a lifetime”. Serious anglers spend $5,000 per week (or more) at some of the exclusive Alaskan lodges.

Macdougall fishing lodge

Macdougall fishing lodgeWhat does this have to do with precision shooting? Well, Shooters’ Forum member Mark W. (aka warrbuk) purchased a $3,200 Alaskan fishing holiday at a Safari Club Int’l (SCI) event, but he’s unable to make the trip this year. Mark wants to trade the trip for a rifle, scope or other shooting gear. Mark posted: “I would like to get $750 out of it, or trade for gear of that value.” If you want to make an offer to Mark, CLICK HERE for Mark’s Forum thread.

So, here’s your chance to get a trip of a lifetime for a fraction of the going price. The trip is a 6-day fully guided fishing holiday at the MacDougall Lodge in Lake Creek, AK. Lake Creek starts at the base of Mt. McKinley and runs 65 miles to the Yentna River. MacDougall Lodge sits approximately 1.5 miles from the mouth of Lake Creek. All five species of Pacific salmon run Lake Creek at different times of the year. Rainbow Trout, Grayling and Northern Pike can be caught year round. MacDougall Lodge was recently featured on the Outdoor Channel (see video below).

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Permalink Hot Deals, Hunting/Varminting No Comments »
April 11th, 2010

Big Prize Money for 1st-Time Female Bianchi Cup Competitors

Bianchi Cup 2010 logoThere’s a big cash incentive for first-time female competitors at this year’s NRA Bianchi Cup, May 26-29, 2010, in Columbia, Missouri. Larry and Brenda Potterfield of MidwayUSA have donated big bucks for first-time female competitors, using a production handgun, who achieve the highest Aggregate score of all four championship events (moving target, falling plate, barricade, and practical). A qualifying production handgun must be “right out of the box”, unmodified, with no customizations.

First Place in the 1st time women’s category will receive $2,500, Second Place $1,500 and Third Place $750. Right now, with six weeks to go before the match, few women registrants meet the requirements to win this first-time shooters’ award. So, ladies, here’s a chance to win serious money. And guys, if you know a skilled female shooter, encourage her to sign up. For more information on the 2010 NRA Bianchi Cup, call 703-267-1451 or email BianchiCup [at] nrahq.org.

Permalink Competition No Comments »