Not Sexy But They Work Well – Benchrest Rifles

Basically the most un-operator looking thing you could own… but damn are they accurate:

Vid from YouTuber Taofledermaus… a name which I always end up just copy/pasting because It’s impossible to remember the spelling of, and you guys know how anal I am with the grammar and spelling on here.  Don’t get me started haha ;)

rich-monopoly-manThat’s a niche hobby for rich guys if I’ve ever seen one.  I’m guessing these gents haul all that down to the range to just shoot a handful of rounds, then hang around all day and chill just because they are old, retired, rich.  Arguments would probably erupt here and there over cognac preferences,  tweed, cigars, vintage Bugattis, and summer homes… but all in all they would just love kicking it with each other, feeling like wealth.

If I had an extra few hundred thousand collecting dust I’d build the most badass tactical looking benchrest rifle, then mount a Tracking Point system on it and proceed to split playing cards from miles away.

Thoughts?


Comments

24 responses to “Not Sexy But They Work Well – Benchrest Rifles”

  1. SittingDown Avatar
    SittingDown

    “Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.” :D

  2. cottewmitch Avatar
    cottewmitch

    mechanically, they look simpler than hell. i don’t see why they would be so expensive….

    1. derpmaster Avatar
      derpmaster

      The money is in the mechanical design and custom machining. A rig like that could easily cost $25k+ unless you own a machine shop and are competent with SolidWorks. Plus, as I understand it, these dudes typically only use a barrel for a very short period of time before it is replaced.

      1. Exactly this. Most of these guys are retired machinists who during their entire career strived to work in ten-thousandths. They meticulously machine, build and upgrade their rigs to the point that a gnat’s fart looks like a hurricane. It is ridiculously cool to watch one of the old timers dial one in, but not my cup of tea!

        p.s. Mike, Bugatti should be capitalized! lol.

        1. It also only has one “g” and two “t’s”. Bugattis.

          1. ENDO-Mike Avatar

            haha oops thanks corrected that too

        2. ENDO-Mike Avatar

          hahaha a gnat’s fart.

          Oops thanks I corrected Bugatti. See what I mean.. I’m such a stickler for spelling haha

      2. meh, i will print my own and get it on cnn

    2. The last percent of performance is always 99% of the cost.

  3. Matt in FL Avatar
    Matt in FL

    It’s fascinating for a minute, but ultimately I don’t get it. Probably for the same reason that I don’t see the fascination with TrackingPoint. It’s really cool, but it has nothing whatsoever to do with why and how I shoot.

    1. ENDO-Mike Avatar

      You mean you don’t think this type of rifle is the best for SHTF scenarios? *eye roll* newb. Haha ;)

    2. elephantrider Avatar
      elephantrider

      Most of these are not ‘benchrest rifles’ they are ‘machine rest’ rifles, which is just an extension of traditional bench rest shooting. Machine rest rifles take nearly all of the human error out of the equation. At about 1:50 you see a traditional benchrest gun being fired, where the rifle has an actual stock and the shooter is on the rifle. Note the free recoil technique he is using as the rifle just slides in the front and rear rests. I wouldn’t expect the typical benchrest rifle to get anywhere near the $10-$25k figure he threw out. Machine rest rifles maybe $10k+, but I would guess closer to $5k for a traditional benchrest setup.

  4. Drapetomanius Avatar
    Drapetomanius

    This seems like a sport for the truly obsessive compulsive. Imagine what life must be like for the children of such a diseased mind.

    “I told you to fold your underwear so that it fits under a dollar bill! 2.61 inches wide and 6.14 inches long, dammit! Look at that micrometer! You’re the reason daddy spends 40 hours a week in the basement hand loading .240 Weatherby magnum rounds!”

    Fuck that. I like to shoot my own guns, not let a block of metal do it for me.

    1. ENDO-Mike Avatar

      Ahahaha no doubt

    2. At that point, you’re not shooting, you’re equipment calibrating.

      1. Drapetomanius Avatar
        Drapetomanius

        Right. I have a friend who has done CNC furniture manufacture, but I wouldn’t call him a woodworker.

  5. Mountain Avatar

    Argue over Cognac selections? How absurd! Any respectable man enjoys some Courvoisier or Maxime Trijol as much as some Camus.

    Next you’ll try tell me any given Auchentoshan is peatier than dram of Brora.

    1. True enough, but you really can’t argue that the best Bugattis were made after Ettore finally had to acknowlege the superiority of the twin cam.

    2. ENDO-Mike Avatar

      LOL

  6. Wouldnt the ultimate troll be to show up with a 3d printed version? Lmao

    1. ENDO-Mike Avatar

      And even better if you were real serious about it, and you loaded the cartridge in… pulled the trigger remotely and the thing blew into a million pieces haha

      1. SittingDown Avatar
        SittingDown

        Only if you can get Jack Black and Bruce Willis involved.

  7. Shooter McGavin Avatar
    Shooter McGavin

    Mike, this range is called the Visalia Sportsmens club or (Dale Wimp range). Out of 4 ranges it is the closest to me. It’s fun to watch the Sheriffs dept and S.W.A.T. operate out there but these guys…these old guys with 20k firearms HOG up the damn lanes.

    Not fun to watch and of course, WOULD NOT OPERATE WITH.

  8. Sledgecrowbar Avatar
    Sledgecrowbar

    Impressive? Sure. Respectable? Certainly. Interesting? For a while. But are those old guys insufferable? You betcha.

    I can appreciate this as a class in the sport, and I cherish the sport of shooting, but once you can’t use the gun as a gun anymore, it’s like tractor pulls to me, there’s no real-world analog to it. Nobody is setting up one of these in Afghanistan to take out bad guys. Show me the 1000-yard competitions where the gun has to have a conventional stock, even if it’s 50 pounds, at least I could see that providing some trickle-down technology to the layman.