Hammerli Force B1 - Finally a cheap, but nice, 22 PRS gun?

MarinePMI

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  • Jun 3, 2010
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    San Diego, Ca
    Oh my...

    Hammerli Force B1.JPG


    M-Lock foreend, uses 10/22 mags with an adapter plate. Toggle bolt design with easily swappable barrels (clever compression bearing barrel nut design). And an MSRP of $650. Jeez. I think these are going to sell like hotcakes.
     
    I’ve got one. Heavy trigger.changed it to Kidd 2 stage ( dropped in just fine). Arken epl4 6x24x50 scope. Can’t get the gun to Shoot under 1 inch at 50 yards ( 5 shoot group ).about 300 rounds down the barrel. Cleaned the barrel ( bore scoped ). Retorqued the scope and action screws. Tried cci standard velocity, sk pistol match, sk rifle match, lapua center x, and Eley match ( black box). Rear bag and sinclare front rest. Anyone having better luck?
     
    Read the American Rifleman review didn’t sound very impressive at all. To me the easy switch barrel screams limited accuracy ( I stand to be corrected if wrong)
    while i admit for the most part accuracy costs money, if you look at middle of the road affordable rifles (CZ or Tikka) they do a pretty good job for the money. The next big jump to rifles a bit more expensive like Bergara shows a small increment of performance improvement ( maybe?) then you get to rim X and vudoo which while they undoubtedly perform better, the question becomes are the small incremental improvements worth the money? For some they are others not so much. I started my PRS /NRL22 journey with a humble savage mark II which no one would ever mistake for a refined much better performing rifle ( which I of course now have) but for what it is, I can take the gun, dial my 300 yard dope on it, and still hit 8/10 at a 300 yard 12” steel. Could I go 10/10 with a higher class rifle? Possibly, but technique errors and wind calls and ammo variation could play in my case a bigger part. I guess what I am saying is you do not need a fancy expensive rifle to enjoy this kind of shooting, and sometimes inexpensive is ok at times.
     
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    Here I thought Hammerli was a decent gun. I have a 215 and a x-esse pistol by them. Great shooting guns. Fantastic triggers out of the box and hold a 10 ring if you do your part. What got me was the tougle action. Kinda like a iszmash biathalon ( I have one). The hammerli action is about 3/4 inch to far forward to work correctly. Easy to fix. The part that holds the barrel in place is kinda like a airquip hose fitting. About the same setup as a anschutz fortner ( biathalon action ). I thought if it locks up the bolt it should lock up the barrel. I have 2 anschutz rifles. A 1600 series ( x barrel ) and a 20 series in an aluminum stock. Both position guns. I have a tikka t1x 22lr also. A 9$ spring for the trigger and it shoots in the 3’s at 50 yards with Eley match ( black box ) maybe I guest got lucky with that one. Maybe someone will make a better barrel for it In the future. I was hoping someone else here would have a range report to share.
     
    After reading the review in the American Rifleman, I would never shoot one. Stating that the rifle can fire out of battery is dangerous. Rifle should never be able to do that. I understand the operator has to make sure the bolt is fully forward, but...... I also don't like the "air hose connector" barrel attachment, just my opinion. Shame a quality company puts their name on something like this.
     
    After reading the review in the American Rifleman, I would never shoot one. Stating that the rifle can fire out of battery is dangerous. Rifle should never be able to do that. I understand the operator has to make sure the bolt is fully forward, but...... I also don't like the "air hose connector" barrel attachment, just my opinion. Shame a quality company puts their name on something like this.
    You can also add that rotary magazine to the negatives. I don.t see much to like about this gun.
     
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    Handled one a buddy bought. Cycling the action reminded me of opening the rear doors of a semi trailer. No smoothness whatsoever compared to an Izhmash 7-2. Multiple shooters tried shooting it with deplorable accuracy. It went down the road quickly.

    Hammerli should be ashamed, it'll fool a lot of people into buying one but anything more than it being a fun pinker with a neat action save your money and find an Izhmash.

    Topstrap
     
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    Well I guess I’m about done with my rifle. I’ve tried everything I can think off to get good groups out of it. The best I could get was .8 at 50 yards (5 shot groups). Maybe I’ll try a Kidd 10/22. No support from hammerli at all. Can’t get magazine adapters or different barrels. This is truly not hammerli quality. Even the bolt handle is in the wrong place to work properly. I’ve got nothing to say good about the rifle. Save your money for a iszmash or fortner action anschutz.
     
    Thank you all; you have just saved me money. I has hoping to find out if the action fits into a 10/22 stock, and how accurate it is...I thought it mike make an interesting SBR project. Now, If I can just convince Volquartsen to make a takedown version of the Summit. That would be a pretty sweet partner for the Magpul Backpacker stock.
     
    I forgot about this thread. Recently took mine out (finally), and aside from the horrid trigger, it seemed to want to shoot. Seemed to like SK Long Range.

    One of these days I'll get around to pulling the trigger apart and seeing what gives. I tried an aftermarket 10/22 trigger group, and it wouldn't fire. Or rather, the hammer would fall, but it would set off a round. I think the Power's trigger in it, has a protuberance on the front side, that is not letting the hammer fully fall.
     
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    Personal opinion - I can understand the need for a switch barrel design on an expensive, 20 pound shooting platform…

    But on a light, affordable gun?

    New barrel means new rifle :ROFLMAO:
     
    Personal opinion - I can understand the need for a switch barrel design on an expensive, 20 pound shooting platform…

    But on a light, affordable gun?

    New barrel means new rifle :ROFLMAO:
    I think it was more intent on the ability to switch (inexpensively) between cartridges (.22WMR/17HMR, and .22LR...maybe even HM2 if that ever has a resurgence).
     
    That makes sense - but still, that’s…

    “…new rifle time!”
    Yeah, a valid point. :)

    I'm curious how their "match" barrel will fit in existing stocks. One of the disappointing things was that the barrel channel on the current model doesn't really allow for a heavier barrel.

    I think with a better trigger and in a chassis, the B1 has the potential to be a decent little shooter.

    Kind of wish KRG would release a Bravo in this inlet. I'd imagine it's largely just a 10/22Magnum inlet (with a change to the barrel channel for the QC barrel mechanism).
     
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