SEB Rests has come out with a new, more compact front joystick rest for rimfire and air rifle competition. Designed for benchrest rimfire and air rifle shooting, the new AR250 Rest takes its name from the perfect score of 250 in WRABF competition. Balancing mobility, performance, and cost, this rest features a rigid, extendable central post and two elevation adjustment systems for rapid and smooth height changes. Current price is $620 US dollars, a bargain compared to some other joystick rests.

The new AR250 provides a very stable shooting platform yet is still easily transportable. The versatile design makes it suitable for multiple rimfire and air rifle disciplines. The AR250 joystick travel is designed to be able to cover most target sizes from WRABF to NRA/ARA at 25-100 yards and 25-100 meters. Fitted with an adjustable counterweight system for smooth joystick action, the newly designed top plate secures the custom front bag firmly in place with minimal play. The AR250 rest is offered with three bag options: one 2 1⁄4″-wide bag, one 3″-wide bag, or both sizes.

SEB AR250 rest has very extensive height adjustment range to fit varying rifle styles and target heights.

Initial user reviews have been very positive. Here are comments from customers and testers:

— “I am delighted with the accuracy and smoothness of operation. Brilliant product.”
— “The rest is very compact and lightweight. I recommend for anyone who… has struggled shooting rimfire with oversize pedestals designed for centerfire benchrest.”
— “The joystick feels smooth and precise, and the counterweight makes aiming feel wonderful.”
— “The rest is very solid for as small that it is, and the construction is wonderful.”
— “It transports far easier than any of the rests I have tried so far.”

Included in the box are: AR250 rest and front bag(s), Joystick arm and adjustable counterweight, leveling screws, 3 rest feet with hard neoprene rubber bottoms, spare bolts/accessories, and user manual.

For full product description and more product photos, visit AR250.sebrests.com.

It’s good to see an ammo-maker step up to help the shooting sports. ELEY Ltd. has recently made significant investments in .22LR rimfire benchrest and competition segments within the USA. ELEY has partnered with the American Rimfire Association (ARA) and Professional Shooting League (PSL) to help promote and expand rimfire benchrest shooting, one of the fastest growing .22 LR rimfire competition disciplines worldwide. The ARA and PSL competitions are leading rimfire benchrest organizations within the United States. ELEY’s financial and logistical support will help the ARA and PSL grow the ranks of rimfire benchrest shooters.

Here’s a record-setting rimfire benchrest rifle owned by our friend Joe Friedrich who competes in ARA matches, primarily using ELEY .22 LR Tenex ammo.

ARA was started in April 1998 by a group of .22 LR shooters who wanted an organization for competitive .22 LR benchrest competition. In 2010, ARA started to transition to what it has become today, with the unique goal of continuing the vision of the ARA founders by providing an honest competitive organization that is true to .22LR shooting.

PSL was founded as a benchrest organization for the true precision shooting professional. With the growth of rimfire benchrest, there was a need to have a professional organization to which shooters would be compensated for their hard work, training and competition success.

Image from National Rimfire Benchrest Association of Ireland (NRBAI)

Among .22 LR rimfire disciplines, benchrest shooting represents the “pinnacle of precision” — the very highest level of accuracy is needed to succeed. As such, ELEY has identified the need to help expand this growing sport. “This support by ELEY will help us bring .22 LR benchrest to the forefront of shooting competitions,” says Dan Killough, Director of ARA & PSL. “The expansion of [rimfire] benchrest … gives shooters a platform to enjoy and participate in rimfire competition that previously may not have been available to them,” stated Mike Corkish, ELEY Director of North America Sales.

Our friend and product tester Joe Friedrich is the proud owner of a spectacular Pappas front rest. Built by James Pappas, this rest is used for both air rifle and rimfire benchrest matches. The fancy Pappas front rest is a shortened, front-support-only version of the Pappas one-piece rest, which is popular with rimfire benchresters. Pappas engineered this rest to comply with air rifle benchrest rules which do not allow use of integrated (one-piece) front and rear rests. The end result was a 30.8-lb masterpiece of machining. Sadly, James Pappas passed away in 2014. This beautifully-crafted rest, built in 2011, is one of the finest examples of his work — a fitting legacy.

The workmanship on this Pappas front rest is astounding. Accurately described as a “work of art” by Joe Friedrich, this rest, crafted of aircraft-grade aluminum, sets new standards for “Benchrest BLING”. It looks like it should be on display in an art museum. Nearly all components of this rest, including the adjustment controls, have been polished to a mirror finish.

Convenient Rear Windage and Elevation Controls
The Pappas front rest features separate fine-tuning controls for windage and elevation, plus a central gross-elevation control. Normally, once the rest is centered-up on the target, you can make all needed elevation and windage adjustments with the rear (fine-adjustment) controls. In the video below, Joe explains how the controls work as he practices with his modified Theoben Rapid MFR air rifle. (Note: In the last minute of the video, the back-lighting was so intensely bright that we lost detail in the foreground. We apologize for that flaw, but you can still hear the audio.)

Price for this Masterpiece? Don’t Ask…
If you are interested in getting a similar rest, visit PappasRimfireProducts.com, or call (325) 754-5771. Be forewarned — “If you need to ask about the price, you probably can’t afford it.” This is truly the “Rolls-Royce” of front rests, and it will be priced accordingly.

Some folks think you need a new (or nearly-new) barrel to win a benchrest match. That may be true in the centerfire game, but in the world of rimfire benchrest, things are different. Good barrels can remain accurate for a long, long time. That was demonstrated by our friend Joe Friedrich who recently set a new ARA 4-target Aggregate record. Joe was shooting his trusty old “Sweet Pea” rifle with a very well-worn barrel. In fact, Joe’s record-setting Benchmark barrel has logged well over 100,000 rounds. That’s right, a barrel with over 100K rounds shot the best 4-target ARA Agg ever. Will wonders never cease…

In this video, Joe talks about his rifle, the amazing longevity of his Benchmark barrel, and the ELEY ammo he used to shoot two 2500s on the same day (with a 2475 average for four targets):

Here is Joe’s Report on his Rifle and the New ARA Record:

Recently, I managed to shoot a record 4-target Aggregate of 2475. Two out of four 25-shot cards had perfect scores of 2500, and two had scores of 2450, for an Aggregate average of 2475. Out of 100 total shots, just two fell outside the center 100 ring. For American Rimfire Association (ARA) matches, we have “worst edge” scoring — to score 100 points, the bullet hole must be completely contained by the inner-most ring, including the blue line. Here are the two 2500-score targets:

Why does Sweet Pea still shoot so well? Joe says: “I feel the big difference is the combination of how it is now maintained, a new muzzle device (tuner), and of course a good lot of ELEY red box .22 LR ammunition.”

Old Rifle is Still Amazingly Accurate
My rifle, “Sweet Pea”, was built for me eight years ago by one of the top smallbore benchrest gunsmiths in the country, Bill Meyers, who has since passed on to that great machine shop in the sky. The dyed laminated birch stock was made, I believe, by Bruce Baer. Bill finished it, bedding the Turbo action with his own private material and method (that unfortunately passed with him). The original barrel, which shot this record, is a button-rifled Benchmark two-groove, crowned at 24″ and fitted with a muzzle device. A side note: this chamber is a little different than what I’ve seen from other top smiths.

The rifle is not as forgiving as it once was, but obviously I am pleased with its current performance. The original trigger was a Jewell, but it is currently fitted with a Bix ‘N Andy trigger that is set at 1.25 ounces. Sweet Pea sports the original Benchmark barrel now fitted with a customized tuner, a modified RVA device with multiple rings that is threaded for a .575″ I.D. bloop tube. The barrel has been re-crowned. The firing pin and bolt ID have been lightly polished to reduce any inconsistency that could be produced by roughness on those surfaces. I also made the switch from Leupold to a older March 40X and moved it forward a tad so I’m able to put myself more comfortably into the rifle.

A James Pappas one-piece rest is used with round pads in the front. The rear section is the sandbag setup James designed for his one-piece rest. This particular rifle is finicky where it sits in the rest, and it is also sensitive to front side pressure. Accordingly, this rifle needs to be gripped lightly when shooting. It is not a pure free recoil rig.

Two years ago when this barrel became inconsistent, I had two new rifles built and fitted with numerous barrels. Although both new rigs shot well, achieving 2500 targets in registered matches, the new rifles could be inconsistent from match to match. They seem to have good days and bad days. Accordingly, I decided to return to the old rifle, Sweet Pea, and its first barrel, (which by this time had well over 100,000 rounds on it) to see if I could revive its previous performance.

While the new rifles were being built, I had Sweet Pea’s barrel re-crowned, and the firing pin reworked by Jim Herrick. Since the old bedding was looking a bit tired, I had Sweet Pea re-bedded by Tom Meredith. All this was done in addition to the trigger change mentioned above. (Right before I got the rifle back from Tom, we spoke on the phone, and he asked if this rifle ever shot well. I asked him “Why do you say that”? He stated that the action was bedded on a slight angle, and mentioned a couple of other technicalities. I told Tom the rifle has shot unreal for the last five years, setting records. He did not know what to say and we both laughed.)

Sweet Pea Is “All Wrong” According to the Experts
Joe joked that his record-breaking rifle is “all wrong” according to some of the rimfire benchrest “experts” who pontificate on the internet. Sweet Pea lacks key features that some folks claim are absolutely essential to rimfire accuracy. Joe’s rifle has an old-fashioned 12 o’clock firing pin, and the bolt-to-action fit is relatively sloppy. The stock does not have the modern straight-line profile advocated for optimal tracking. The chamber is original, and is not the smoothest looking by today’s standards. And of course, the barrel should have given up the ghost long ago. But Sweet Pea is a shooter, for sure. This just proves that there are no “absolutes” in the rimfire game.

Cleaning Methods Helped Restore Accuracy
Joes tells us: “I managed to revive the well-worn barrel by changing how I clean and maintain it. With so many rounds through it, even with careful care, it has become somewhat ‘interesting’ inside, and the changes that that I have made to my procedures and materials have been done to try to deal with the ‘aged’ bore condition.”

Joe’s current cleaning regimen consists of Ballistol, Bore-Tech Carbon Remover (used only in the chamber throat area with a nylon brush). Joe explains: “I clean after two or three cards, depending on how many shots were fired. I have found that the Bore-Tech removes the carbon quickly, as confirmed with a bore scope. I do not use bronze brushes. The Muzzle Device is always removed when it’s time to clean. I do not allow the rod and jag to go any further past the crown than needed to remove the patch. The bore guide was custom made by a fellow shooter for this action. Myers cleaning rods are used.”

Stiller 2500X Rimfire Action

The 2500X is Stiller’s new rear lug rimfire benchrest action. This features an Anschutz-style loading ramp, center recoil slot, side bolt release, and a unique shroud/firing pin system for perfect alignment (and more consistent ignition). Unlike many rimfire actions, the 2500X has a trigger hanger for easy trigger maintenance. The 2500X’s body and bolt are crafted from 416R stainless steel with a nitride finish for smooth and trouble-free operation. The outside is OD ground after nitriding for precise tolerances and a distinctive two-tone look.

Stiller 2500SX Rimfire Sporter Action

The 2500XS is a rear lug rimfire benchrest action for the Sporter Class. The “XS” model features a Sako magazine and easy-to-use loading ramp. Like the 2500X, the “XS” has an advanced shroud/firing pin system, plus a trigger hanger for easy trigger maintenance. The bolt and body are nitrided, 416R stainless OD ground for a dimensionally precise, two-tone finish. This lightweight action is specifically designed for IR50/50 sporter class benchrest. It comes with one (1) magazine.

Proof of Performance — 2500X Action Shoots 250-25X
Mike Kuklis’s new rimfire BR rifle built on a Stiller 2500X action delivered an impressive 250-25X in competition last week. Mike drilled this superb 250-25X card at the Tuckertown BR Barn on the way to a 1000-86X match win. Credit J. Miller for the photos from Benchrest Central.