Anschutz 1710 (Picture Links Provided)

[pintosal]

Last night I fitted a Hawke Sidewinder 30 8~32 mag scope and gave the bore a good clean. I used a boresnake sized for .22 and it felt quite tight, and I finished with some Hoppes Elite.

This morning it was down to the shooting club. On the menu today was S&K Rifle Match, which does pretty well in my CZ452 and Brno Model 5.

I sighted up at 50 using a table and a front bag. When I got the feel of the rifle, after a few cards I got this nice 5 shot cloverleaf.

Next I moved on to the 100 yards and after sighting up and some practice I fired 10 shots on this card

So, the rifle itself seems to be very accurate - and I hope to improve to match the rifle's capability.

I think the accuracy comes from 2 features - the barrel and the trigger.

The 1710 comes in 2 barrel flavours, the 1710 D KL and the 1710 D HB. The HB stands for Heavy Barrel which is 23" long and 21mm in diameter, while the 1710 D KL has a 23" barrel and 18mm diameter.

My rifle is the 1710 D KL. Although it does not come with the Heavy Barrel, I would say that it is medium-heavy, and certainly well up to Varmint standards found on CZ and Sako.

This extra weight adds to the stability, and I noticed that it was easier to keep the Anschutz steadier than the lighter CZ452 or Brno.

The second feature is the trigger. My rifle is unusual, having a Double Set Trigger. This takes some getting used to, as it has 2 triggers that perform different functions.
http://i946.photobucket.com/albums/a...710/annie4.jpg

The rear trigger only cocks the front trigger. Squeezing this rear trigger does not fire, but primes the front trigger. This front trigger is quite light, and the manual says it is a hair trigger. Well, it isn't although it can be adjusted to be a hair trigger. But on my rifle it is probably set to about 4 oz, which is light enough to stop it snatching. For huting, when the bolt is cocked, the front trigger alone will fire the rifle, but the pull is about 3 lbs.

This is a 2007 built rifle, and Anschutz no longer offer the Double Set Trigger except on special order.

Next steps for me are to shoot more to get better used to this fine piece of hardware and then to try out some different ammo. I will try Lapua Center-X and Eley Match to see which will group better.

So far, I'm a happy bunny