Thread: Rifle Modifications-Improvement or Victim of Marketing

I read a really interesting article in an american magazine about 20 years ago. The author bought about seven identical Remington 700s and checked the out of box accuracy for each one, following that each rifle was given a single upgrade. Trigger, bore polish, bedding, etc.

After each upgrade the rifles were again tested and a before/after group size noted.

While there could still be un controlled variable in this test, it seemed like a fair stab at finding the truth.

From memory the two things that really made the difference were the trigger and the bore polish. The other upgrades did not make much practical diffrrence.

Originally Posted by longshot

I read a really interesting article in an american magazine about 20 years ago. The author bought about seven identical Remington 700s and checked the out of box accuracy for each one, following that each rifle was given a single upgrade. Trigger, bore polish, bedding, etc.

After each upgrade the rifles were again tested and a before/after group size noted.

While there could still be un controlled variable in this test, it seemed like a fair stab at finding the truth.

From memory the two things that really made the difference were the trigger and the bore polish. The other upgrades did not make much practical diffrrence.

can really believe the trigger - nothing worse than a bad one - dont the best rifle makers do a hand lap final polish - seem to recall Shultz and Larsen do

I've sold my fancy Tikka and kept a ratty old Ruger MK1 that I was given.
The Ruger has cost me $400 to tidy up and it shoots better than I can.

Some people have time, but no money. Others have money, but no time; buying gear can fill the void to some extent for some in this group. There are no rights/wrongs, we're all adults. If you can afford it, where's the harm? That said, I do try to make conscious, logical decisions about purchasing expensive items.

People have an intrest for different reasons. Theres the guys that hunt target guys collectors etc and in those groups are the guys that are happy just to hunt with what ever others can afford the latest fancy thing out some just want a basic bullet proof set up and other like to have every single accesory ever made. Me I tend to lean towards the old school military and odd ball stuff plus I like the social side of it as well.

I haven't actually kept up with this thread since starting it and there has been some really good and interesting replies .

Just thought I'd give a bit of an update on my " Keep it simple " Tikka adventure .

Here's my T3 Lite .223 , I call it a Super Varmint Lite , but it it's nickname is Simo and my 6.5 CM is called Hayha ( those that know Finnish history will understand ) .

T3 Lite in a T3x Super Varmint Stock - Waters Mag - Lighter trigger spring and some Tikka factory spacers to increase length of pull .
No plans to do anything else to it , other than wearing out the barrel .

I sited my nabours jw105 in for him using his preferred and supplied Barnaul
It was beaten to heck and had rope tied around the barrel and a hole drilled for it to go thru the stock, cheap rings/scope and rusty as anything a pig hunter owns. Typical garbage trigger

That thing would stack Barnaul bullets at 100m.
As accurate as anything Iv got easily, with ammo I didn’t think would be capable of that level of accuracy out of anything let alone the worst rifle iv ever fired.


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Originally Posted by Bill999

I sited my nabours jw105 in for him using his preferred and supplied Barnaul
It was beaten to heck and had rope tied around the barrel and a hole drilled for it to go thru the stock, cheap rings/scope and rusty as anything a pig hunter owns. Typical garbage trigger

That thing would stack Barnaul bullets at 100m.
As accurate as anything Iv got easily, with ammo I didn’t think would be capable of that level of accuracy out of anything let alone the worst rifle iv ever fired.


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Sounds like you live next to a certain ex nurse in Christchurch...,nah his isn't quite that bad...no rust or neglected.the norincos can be real surprise,mate had one in 223 that was real tack driver,so they are around.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

Sounds like you live next to a certain ex nurse in Christchurch...,nah his isn't quite that bad...no rust or neglected.the norincos can be real surprise,mate had one in 223 that was real tack driver,so they are around.

hes an old mate iv known for many years, trucks last him about 6months to a year before they are buggered as well

that rifle pisses me off crap everything and just stacks barnaul at 100m

I love it how all these fellas on YouTube or in the magazines are wearing matching camo of all the same brand, including long pants which are the most un practical to hunt in! I wonder if they have matching socks to go with their matching bino harness bag?

Sorry if anyone here is one of those goobers but you don't need that crap to go hunting! You don't even need camo hahaha

Originally Posted by Gkp

I love it how all these fellas on YouTube or in the magazines are wearing matching camo of all the same brand, including long pants which are the most un practical to hunt in! I wonder if they have matching socks to go with their matching bino harness bag?

Sorry if anyone here is one of those goobers but you don't need that crap to go hunting! You don't even need camo hahaha

Iv always being a wool puffer and shorts one colour type of character two, but il give credit where credits due on our last adventure I was watching a mate retrieve a Bull threw Swaro EL TAs about 400 meters away .

He had a Navy long sleeve base layer on and some Kuiu Verde I think is the pattern name long pants threw the binos it looked like a floating torso their must be some clever science behind that pattern to trick the eyes because he was standing against rock in a mainly green based camouflage and buggered if you could make out his legs I was well impressed

Originally Posted by Gkp

I love it how all these fellas on YouTube or in the magazines are wearing matching camo of all the same brand, including long pants which are the most un practical to hunt in! I wonder if they have matching socks to go with their matching bino harness bag?

Sorry if anyone here is one of those goobers but you don't need that crap to go hunting! You don't even need camo hahaha

A lot of it is just marketing by sponsoring the person or people in the youtube channel. They get supplied with all the gear and then wear it in their videos. Can’t really blame them for taking an opportunity to get free gear if they are happy with it.

On a side note I never see much correlation between the likely $value of total fishing gear on amy given fisherman and fishing ability in the Taupo fishery

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Some times they go a bit over board with it but its their choice. Saw a guy recently at the range had full tactical outfit wearing hat and gloves had his duty belt with spare gloves and hat and first aid kit. Nothing against it but looked a bit weird

Originally Posted by blip

Some times they go a bit over board with it but its their choice. Saw a guy recently at the range had full tactical outfit wearing hat and gloves had his duty belt with spare gloves and hat and first aid kit. Nothing against it but looked a bit weird

Lol. Yeah, seems a bit overtop for the range but then again what's that saying? Practice as you would doing the real thing. . . .