Thread: 22lr Benchrest: Rebarrel a 22, preferred gunsmith

I have a Tikka T1x that I use primarily for target shooting, while it shoots pretty well all things considered I'm pretty convinced I want to rebarrel it to a a much longer heavier barrel.

Are there any preferred gun smiths to do rimfire rebarrelling/ accuracy work?
Or has anyone had any luck with a (22lr not centrefire) rebarrel from Trueflight or Hardy?

If money wasn't an object I'd just buy a Vudoo barrelled action, but considering they are $6000 with no trigger or stock, dropping $8000 on a new build seems a little mad if I haven't atleast considered the alternatives.

I can't find much info about rebarrel Tikka T1s other than prefit drop in barrels which are common in the US, and these all get fairy mixed reviews.
Considering how common it is to rebarrel CZ 452/455/457s and get incredibly good results, I can only think Tikka T1s are either:
-too new to the market to have a following in rimfire benchrest
-accurate enough out of the box people don't bother
-have some major flaw that stops them being rebarrelled (certainly not as easy as a CZ455/457)

Cheers

Have shot with a number of guys that use the Trueflite barrels, they swear by them. Grant seems to have the 22LR sussed and his barrels are accurate.

or try a walther barrel?

Wingman........

Buy a new T1X

Originally Posted by Beetroot

I have a Tikka T1x that I use primarily for target shooting, while it shoots pretty well all things considered I'm pretty convinced I want to rebarrel it to a a much longer heavier barrel.

Are there any preferred gun smiths to do rimfire rebarrelling/ accuracy work?
Or has anyone had any luck with a (22lr not centrefire) rebarrel from Trueflight or Hardy?

If money wasn't an object I'd just buy a Vudoo barrelled action, but considering they are $6000 with no trigger or stock, dropping $8000 on a new build seems a little mad if I haven't atleast considered the alternatives.

I can't find much info about rebarrel Tikka T1s other than prefit drop in barrels which are common in the US, and these all get fairy mixed reviews.
Considering how common it is to rebarrel CZ 452/455/457s and get incredibly good results, I can only think Tikka T1s are either:
-too new to the market to have a following in rimfire benchrest
-accurate enough out of the box people don't bother
-have some major flaw that stops them being rebarrelled (certainly not as easy as a CZ455/457)

Cheers

Im following these comments with interest. Been trying to find a .22 cal target rifle for a 13 year old. The old 1408 hes using is just to heavy.
Something like a T1X looks perfect but are target sights available and are they easily fitted. Particularly the foresight
Appreciate any advice or thoughts
and ps, sorry for hijacking the thread

I've already exchanged a few comments with "Beetroot" re the options available to him.

I've re-barrelled a number of 22LR actions (including a couple of Anschutz, Cooper, Weihrauch, Lithgow and even a Savage Mark II). All are excellent shooters but the key is finding a smith who understands rim fire builds - Some outstanding center fire smiths out there but not everyone can build a 22LR.

Re TF barrels, I have Grant's ultra match 22LR blanks on my Anschutz 1761 & Cooper 57M - I also own barrels by some of the best known US manufacturers - TF are the equal of any of them IMO.

Plenty of CZ457 builds floating around that can hang with the 700 foot prints so I see no reason why a build done on a Tikka wouldn't be OK.

Any rim fire, regardless of make, is a roll of the dice. I've been buying 22's all my life and some of the most expensive have turned out to be absolute dogs.

why not a jw action

Im sure your post above was in jest - but Norinco did make target rifles and some of them are very good.

I wouldnt write off a Norinco as the base for a target rifle with a new barrel.

Have you decided on the chamber/reamer you want to be used for the chamber?

Will you be going with a different twist on the new barrel?'

Do you wanna go to a much heavier profile barrel? The design of the action kinda dictates max barrel diameter. Could do a strait like I did on my CZ452.

The T1 is not the the easiest of rimfires to replace the barrel on. A number of prefit barrel manufactures stopped doing barrels for the T1 because of an issue some rifle builders had after removing the factory barrel.

I haven't done a T1 yet but Ive done the research and have decided on how Id go about rebarreling a T1.

True flite barrels? You can support local, the team at TF deluvers a good product. Go Ultra match.

Ive got several of the more popular 22 LR match reamers - Reach out if interested.

Note: It takes longer to finish the build on a rimfire compared to a centrefire - maybe its just me wasting a lot of time testing.

Originally Posted by sportco62

Im sure your post above was in jest - but Norinco did make target rifles and some of them are very good.

I wouldnt write off a Norinco as the base for a target rifle with a new barrel.

With the likes of the EM332 (Also Norinco) this goes double. Also not sure if longer equals better with 22LR.... @mudgripz may have something to add re that topic...

Originally Posted by sportco62

Im sure your post above was in jest - but Norinco did make target rifles and some of them are very good.

I wouldnt write off a Norinco as the base for a target rifle with a new barrel.

it was....how many jws are up there at Olympic or dominating bench rest worldwide out of curiosity?

Probably not many at all.

I'm no expert at building rifles but are the top line rimfires built more around the ammo as your pretty much at the mercy of the ammo for rimfires? rim thickness etc...

Originally Posted by Jaco Goosen

Have you decided on the chamber/reamer you want to be used for the chamber?

Will you be going with a different twist on the new barrel?'

Do you wanna go to a much heavier profile barrel? The design of the action kinda dictates max barrel diameter. Could do a strait like I did on my CZ452.

The T1 is not the the easiest of rimfires to replace the barrel on. A number of prefit barrel manufactures stopped doing barrels for the T1 because of an issue some rifle builders had after removing the factory barrel.

I haven't done a T1 yet but Ive done the research and have decided on how Id go about rebarreling a T1.

True flite barrels? You can support local, the team at TF deluvers a good product. Go Ultra match.

Ive got several of the more popular 22 LR match reamers - Reach out if interested.

Note: It takes longer to finish the build on a rimfire compared to a centrefire - maybe its just me wasting a lot of time testing.

I haven't decided on the chamber, I'm aware there are a ridiculous amount of 22lr reamers available so was going to wait and see what future smith's had available/would recommend.

I'd probably be looking at something like medium Palma, do not stupidly heavy, probably 24" may 26".
Will likely stick with a 1:16 twist, doesn't seem like enough conclusive evidence that the tighter twists are worthwhile.

I have heard the issues with removing the T1 barrels so I was going to do that myself, or atleast attempt to.
It sounds like it's not a fun task but certainly not impossible with enough heat applied.

Barrels blanks I was initially looking at importing a Bartlein but I've since heard a lot of good things about TF rimfire barrels so might just go that route.