UKBR22 is one set of rules, the NSRA rules differ substantially.

At our club we currently have 17 members actively competing in bench rest - in our case at 20 yards - shooting to NSRA rules.

The highest scoring member uses a S400 action in a home made aluminium box section stock (originally from Darren Petts) and he has a 18x scope on top.

The second highest scoring member uses a Walther, can't recall the model but it's the FT rifle with the long hamster, and he has a Bushnell 6-24 sidewheel scope on top.

I'm in third place with a S400 with the long air cylinder and a Falcon T35 on top.

Last season the Walther guy had the best average 194.2, another chap with a BSA R10 was second 193.9 and I was third (again) 193.2.

So there isn't much in it. Do you need to spend £2k?

For what it's worth, I shot this discipline originally with an EV2 mark 1, changed to a Hammerli and improved my scores, changed to the long S400 and stayed about the same level.