|
|
December 5th, 2013
Nesika is back. Now part of the Freedom Group, Nesika has introduced new ‘custom shop’ Sporter, Long Range, and Tactical rifles. All three rifles feature composite stocks (with aluminum bedding blocks), Douglas barrels, and Timney triggers. Nesika provides a 5-shot, One MOA accuracy guarantee for all three rifles. These are all fairly expensive for factory rifles but Nesika claims they are built “one at a time, by hand” in the Nesika Custom Shop. The Sporter runs $3499.00, the Long Range is $3999.00, and the Tactical is a daunting $4499.00. You can buy a very nice true custom for that money.
The green Tactical model has an adjustable cheekpiece and spacer-adjustable buttplate. The Tactical comes with a matte black CeraKote finish, a built-in +15 MOA scope rail, and an AAC Blackout muzzle brake/suppressor adapter on the barrel. The Nesika Tactical is offered in .300 Win Mag (26″ barrel) and .338 Lapua Magnum (28″ barrel), with a 5-round DBM provided.
The Long Range Rifle has Nesika’s stainless, open-top Hunter action, with a CeraKote-finished chrome-moly bolt. The Timney trigger breaks at three pounds. Leupold QRW bases come standard, as does a SS
Oberndorf-style hinged floor plate.
The Sporter features a Nesika stainless tactical action. A wide variety of regular and magnum chamberings are offered, and barrels are 24″ or 26″ depending on chambering. Like the Long Range Rifle, the Sporter offers Leupold QRW bases. The rifle weighs eight pounds without optics — a reasonable weight for a hunting rifle. It looks nicely built, but will it harvest white-tails any better than a $450.00 Savage? Maybe not.
Share the post "Nesika Introduces Three New ‘Custom Shop’ Rifles"
October 18th, 2013
The National Benchrest Shooters Association (NBRSA) has adopted new rules, loosening restrictions on the Sporter Class of benchrest rifles. Now a Sporter fore-arm may be any width (or angle), and the underside of the buttstock can have any angle. Previously, fore-arm width was limited to three inches, and the bottom of the buttstock had to be angled up. (NBRSA Rules will continue to require this “up-angle” geometry for all Light Varmint (LV) and Heavy Varmint (HV) rifles). In addition, the NBRSA opened the Sporter Class to any caliber “no larger than .308 Winchester”.
The idea behind these changes is to allow greater innovation in at least one class of benchrest bag guns, and to avoid “redundancy”. Currently a 10.5-lb Light Varmint can be shot as a Sporter, so long as the LV complies with caliber rules. For practical purposes, that meant Sporter Class was redundant with the Light Varmint Class, and there was no real reason for the Sporter Class to exist anymore.
The Sporter weight limit remains unchanged at 10.5 pounds (including optics). All current LV and Sporter rifles will remain 100% legal under the new rule, so no one is forced to go out and build a new rifle to shoot in Sporter class. But if you want to try a more radical stock design, now you have the opportunity to do so. Here is the text of the new rule:
NBRSA Rule Book (New Sporter Rule)
B. Definitions: 2. Equipment (d) Sporter Rifle
A Sporter Rifle is defined as any rifle having a safe manually and mechanically operated firing Mechanism and must not weigh more than 10.5 lbs, inclusive of sights. The stock can be flat, or convex, but not concave. The Forearm can be any width and have any angle. The butt stock can have any angle including a reverse angle, the barrel shall not be less that 18″ long forward of the bolt face and can be any diameter or configuration including a straight taper or a reverse taper. The Sporter Rifle can be no larger than .308 Winchester. Sporter Rifles do not have to conform to the Varmint Rifles diagram. All sand bag rules apply to the Sporter Rifle.
View NBRSA Rule Book (Includes New Sporter Definition) PDF
| Bukys Explains the Thinking Behind the Sporter Rule Change
 On Benchrest Central, leading benchrest shooter Gene Bukys discussed the new NBRSA Sporter Rule Changes: “[This] does not create a new rifle or an experimental class — it simply removes most of the restrictive rules from the existing Sporter class. Every existing LV rifle and every existing Sporter Rifle in this whole world is still legal, and competitive, under these changes.
My purpose in all of this is to make the Sporter class, and the LV rifle, no longer redundant classes, and to have a class where we can have some innovation in Benchrest. If there is a better stock configuration out there or a better barrel profile shouldn’t we benchrest shooters be the leading edge of this innovation? Benchrest used to be the leading edge of virtually all accuracy innovation. I’m not sure if that’s true anymore. I would like that to be… true again.
For right now, I don’t see this as making any huge radical changes to benchrest, but given time and a venue to work in (Sporter Class) there may be some really meaningful innovation that comes about. Let’s have some fun with this.” |
Gene Bukys Commissions New Convertible Sporter/LV Stock by Bob Scoville
Under the new NBRSA Sporter standards, stock designers/fabricators can now experiment with a wider variety of stock shapes and geometry. Gene Bukys commissioned a new stock from Bob Scoville that shows what can be done under the new liberalized Sporter stock rules.
Gene’s latest NBRSA Sporter rifle features a stepped forearm that can fit a 5-inch wide bag rider plate. In the rear, this stock can run different size/shape “keels” (buttstock underbellies). The larger keel, shown attached in the photos, exhibits the flatter angle now allowed under the new NBRSA Sporter rule. (In fact, this keel may have a slight reverse angle, i.e. lower in the front than in the back). At any time, this Scoville stock can be switched back to a 100%-legal Light Varmint configuration by: 1) removing the 5″ front bag-rider plate; and 2) changing to the smaller, up-angled rear keel piece.
CLICK Photos to View Full-Screen Version
Photos and Links provided by Pascal Fischbach.
Share the post "NBRSA Changes Sporter Rules — Bukys Builds to New Standards"
May 27th, 2011
Benchrest Hall of Famer Speedy Gonzalez has prepared a comprehensive Guide to Benchrest Competition. It covers all aspects of the game: gear selection (hardware), reloading methods and tools, plus shooting skills and strategies. All of this is available on the web for free, thanks to Speedy and the Swedish Benchrest Shooters Association (SBRSA).
CLICK HERE to read Speedy’s Guide to Benchrest Shooting.
Speedy’s article is a gold-mine of info on shooting components and specialized reloading tools. It is also richly illustrated with high-quality photos showing gun components and reloading gear. Many of the photos show tools that have been sectioned so you can view the internal components.
Speedy also covers bullet design, and load tuning. There are thoughtful sections on Time Management and Target Management that will benefit all competitive shooters, no matter what their discipline.
Share the post "Speedy’s Guide to Benchrest Competition"
February 17th, 2011
If you have a model 70 or a modern Winchester bolt-action that needs re-stocking, here is a great opportunity to pick up an inletted factory stock for peanuts. Gunsmiths who build customs on model 70 action should also take notice. CDNN Investments has acquired a huge quantity of Winchester factory stocks of all shapes and sizes, wood, laminate, and synthetic. CDNN is selling them off at “fire-sale” prices. For example, a Sporter Walnut Featherweight Blem stock for a post-64 action is just $39.99 including buttpad and swivel studs. A black, checkered, synthetic stock for a post-64 action (with heavy barrel) is just $49.99, including pad and studs. And if you need something fancy for a modern Long Action Winchester, a Grade II/III walnut Sporter stock, checkered, with recoil pad and swivel studs, is $149.99. That’s still cheaper than many uninletted walnut blanks.
These and other stock bargains are contained in CDNN’s latest 2010-6 catalog, on page 138 (shown above). You can view the new CDNN catalog online, or download the catalog as a PDF file.
CLICK HERE for Direct Download of CDNN Catalog 2010-6 (41.3 megabyte PDF).
Share the post "Winchester Factory Rifle Stocks at Huge Discounts"
February 26th, 2010
Jeff Stover, President of the IBS (International Benchrest Shooters) just sent us the final rules and safety guidelines for AR benchrest competition under the IBS. Jeff noted: “Shooters should understand that the ranges and clubs will determine whether to allow AR rifles in their particular IBS benchrest matches.” This program is not mandatory, and each club will decide, based on its own priorities, whether ARs will be allowed to compete. When they ARE “invited”, AR-platform rifles will run in their own separate class.
Click the links below to download two .PDF files:
DOWNLOAD: IBS AR Benchrest Final Rules
DOWNLOAD: IBS AR Benchrest Safety Checklist
Share the post "IBS Issues Final AR Benchrest Competition Rules"
|
