New CZ 457 24" 1.180 Match Barrel from L3i

Mark_Dorman · Nov 25, 2024

Alright, we made it out to the range yesterday and got all our data compiled last night.

*Since I get this question all the time: Yes, I shoot at the same range as F-Class John. No, I don't know him, but hopefully will get to meet him one day.

Honestly the barrel didn't seem to hate anything we threw at it. I though we had more Eley left to test than we actually did so the test had a bit less variety than I hoped originally. However, still a decent spread with good data. SD's were very acceptable for most of the ammo and groups were also quite acceptable. The barrel was definitely a huge improvement over the original MTR barrel and we are very happy with the purchase.

Only issue we had was 18/30 rounds of Norma Match-22 fail to eject. Nothing else had Ejecting issues and nothing was hard to feed. I've heard from others that Match-22 can be hard to chamber in some rifles so it might just not be a good ammo candidate for the L3i barrel. The Vudoo didn't like it either and also had FTE issues with it.

Anyways, enough jabbering, here are the results - Conditions: 40 deg F, 2-4mph winds, and rainy.

Ammo Brand	Ammo Series	Lot #	50 Yard Avg (in)	Avg MV (FPS)	Avg SD	Avg ES	Best Group	50 Yard Group 1	50 Yard Group 2	50 Yard Group 3	50 Yard Group 4	50 Yard Group 5
Norma	TAC-22	x	0.299	1062.35	8.9	42.1	0.186	0.345	0.186	0.311	0.26	0.393
ELEY	Tenex	4076	0.305	1104.51	7.5	27.1	0.242	0.365	0.309	0.242
SK	Pistol Match Special	x	0.376	1084.32	9.3	41.3	0.21	0.405	0.412	0.21	0.395	0.458
SK	Standard Plus	21774	0.398	1044.5	7.7	36.5	0.308	0.459	0.32	0.488	0.415	0.308
SK	Standard Plus	24312	0.405	1055.05	9.9	47.3	0.267	0.522	0.267	0.408	0.315	0.513
SK	Standard Plus	21781	0.439	1054.8	9.3	37	0.323	0.455	0.345	0.653	0.42	0.323
SK	Long Range Match	x	0.448	1091.97	9.9	38	0.343	0.539	0.343	0.544	0.37	0.443
SK	Rifle Match	12342	0.454	1024.05	24.4	115.5	0.294	0.345	0.294	0.385	0.601	0.646
Norma	Match-22	x	0.456	1070.48	10.2	52	0.33	0.33	0.403	0.385	0.555	0.609
SK	Standard Plus	21781	0.488	1054.8	9.3	37	0.393	0.594	0.408	0.493	0.552	0.393

Mechdesigner · Nov 25, 2024

Tazmon said:
@Mechdesigner - could you please confirm the tenon length is 1.195”?
Thank you in advance.

The tenon is 1.195 +\-.001

J_Reacher · Nov 25, 2024

Mark_Dorman said:
Alright, we made it out to the range yesterday and got all our data compiled last night.

View attachment 8553911
*Since I get this question all the time: Yes, I shoot at the same range as F-Class John. No, I don't know him, but hopefully will get to meet him one day.

Honestly the barrel didn't seem to hate anything we threw at it. I though we had more Eley left to test than we actually did so the test had a bit less variety than I hoped originally. However, still a decent spread with good data. SD's were very acceptable for most of the ammo and groups were also quite acceptable. The barrel was definitely a huge improvement over the original MTR barrel and we are very happy with the purchase.

Only issue we had was 18/30 rounds of Norma Match-22 fail to eject. Nothing else had Ejecting issues and nothing was hard to feed. I've heard from others that Match-22 can be hard to chamber in some rifles so it might just not be a good ammo candidate for the L3i barrel. The Vudoo didn't like it either and also had FTE issues with it.

Anyways, enough jabbering, here are the results - Conditions: 40 deg F, 2-4mph winds, and rainy.

Ammo Brand Ammo Series Lot # 50 Yard
Avg (in) Avg
MV (FPS) Avg
SD Avg
ES Best
Group 50 Yard
Group 1 50 Yard
Group 2 50 Yard
Group 3 50 Yard
Group 4 50 Yard
Group 5
Norma TAC-22 x 0.299 1062.35 8.9 42.1 0.186 0.345 0.186 0.311 0.26 0.393
ELEY Tenex 4076 0.305 1104.51 7.5 27.1 0.242 0.365 0.309 0.242
SK Pistol Match Special x 0.376 1084.32 9.3 41.3 0.21 0.405 0.412 0.21 0.395 0.458
SK Standard Plus 21774 0.398 1044.5 7.7 36.5 0.308 0.459 0.32 0.488 0.415 0.308
SK Standard Plus 24312 0.405 1055.05 9.9 47.3 0.267 0.522 0.267 0.408 0.315 0.513
SK Standard Plus 21781 0.439 1054.8 9.3 37 0.323 0.455 0.345 0.653 0.42 0.323
SK Long Range Match x 0.448 1091.97 9.9 38 0.343 0.539 0.343 0.544 0.37 0.443
SK Rifle Match 12342 0.454 1024.05 24.4 115.5 0.294 0.345 0.294 0.385 0.601 0.646
Norma Match-22 x 0.456 1070.48 10.2 52 0.33 0.33 0.403 0.385 0.555 0.609
SK Standard Plus 21781 0.488 1054.8 9.3 37 0.393 0.594 0.408 0.493 0.552 0.393

View attachment 8553912
View attachment 8553914

Can you share your experience with having to modify your optics rail to fit the barrel and headspace (and shims installed) that was used for the above range performance? How does it balance in your stock?

I am really surprised about the SD for the SK Rifle Match, maybe limited to just that lot? All your other SDs for ammo were sub 10 SD. Also SK RM was also the slowest speed recorded. Also, it seemed to open up as the groups went on (based on recorded average group size). The other ammo seemed to have random variance (expected).

Thanks for sharing this info and target photos. Much appreciated as I am a data "whore" and like to analyze performance. I just take it all in, too soon to make any conclusions (of anything, not looking to knock on the barrel, in case anyone is thinking that).

Mark_Dorman · Nov 25, 2024

J_Reacher said:
Can you share your experience with having to modify your optics rail to fit the barrel and headspace (and shims installed) that was used for the above range performance? How does it balance in your stock?

For sure!
The scope rail was a really easy modification. Maybe 5 minutes with a Dremel and one test fit in the middle to check clearance. I didn't spend a lot of time making it super pretty or symmetrical. I'm usually kind of anal about that but was tired after opening up the stock's barrel channel for like 2 hours lol.

I measured out the headspace while installing the barrel and use the 0.004 shim to set it to 0.043". Everything fed really nicely and didn't have any bolt closing issues.

Balance is damn near perfect IMO. The barrel gave it the perfect amount of weight to balance on a bag and feels quite stable. The whole rig now weighs 15.6 lbs (without a magazine) which is a solid weight for competition.

J_Reacher said:
I am really surprised about the SD for the SK Rifle Match, maybe limited to just that lot? All your other SDs for ammo were sub 10 SD. Also SK RM was also the slowest speed recorded. Also, it seemed to open up as the groups went on (based on recorded average group size). The other ammo seemed to have random variance (expected).

For some reason the CZ just doesn't like this lot of SK RM. My Vudoo did okay with it, but it's not a stellar lot there either being outperformed by some lots of SK Std+ and LRM.

J_Reacher · Nov 25, 2024

Mark_Dorman said:
For sure!
The scope rail was a really easy modification. Maybe 5 minutes with a Dremel and one test fit in the middle to check clearance. I didn't spend a lot of time making it super pretty or symmetrical. I'm usually kind of anal about that but was tired after opening up the stock's barrel channel for like 2 hours lol.

I measured out the headspace while installing the barrel and use the 0.004 shim to set it to 0.043". Everything feed really and didn't have any bolt closing issues.
View attachment 8553956 View attachment 8553958

Balance is damn near perfect IMO. The barrel gave it the perfect amount of weight to balance on a bag and feels quite stable. The whole rig now weighs 15.6 lbs (without a magazine) which is a solid weight for competition.
View attachment 8553960

For some reason the CZ just doesn't like this lot of SK RM. My Vudoo did okay with it, but it's not a stellar lot there either being outperformed by some lots of SK Std+ and LRM.

I see that you didn’t just dremel/cut straight across and preserved the outside appearance perfectly, just rounding out for the OD of the barrel! Bravo sir, bravo! I don’t know if I would have thought of that!

Will you have an opportunity to try same ammo out to 100 yards at some point and duplicate the same set?

I am not able to get to a range with 50 or 100 at this time so I live vicariously through others and ask a crap-ton of questions.

From others feedback, they used 0.002” shim to get 0.043” headspace. Just a data point, nothing to note as differences in tolerance of bolt, receiver and barrel tenon can easily vary by a couple thousandths.

0.043 seems the typical happy value to support the various premium ammo.

Thanks again for the info and postings!

Mark_Dorman · Nov 25, 2024

J_Reacher said:
I see that you didn’t just dremel/cut straight across and preserved the outside appearance perfectly, just rounding out for the OD of the barrel! Bravo sir, bravo! I don’t know if I would have thought of that!

Thank you! I try to keep things looking tidy when possible. I was looking at the clearance before I started and realized I could probably get away with it and it worked out well.

J_Reacher said:
Will you have an opportunity to try same ammo out to 100 yards at some point and duplicate the same set?

I am not able to get to a range with 50 or 100 at this time so I live vicariously through others and ask a crap-ton of questions.

I would like to. I don't know when I'll have time to go next, but that is the plan.

I totally understand your situation. I couldn't got for like 2 months because of my work/travel schedule so I'd been itching to get out.

J_Reacher said:
From others feedback, they used 0.002” shim to get 0.043” headspace. Just a data point, nothing to note as differences in tolerance of bolt, receiver and barrel tenon can easily vary by a couple thousandths.

0.043 seems the typical happy value to support the various premium ammo.

Thanks again for the info and postings!

That makes total sense. Leon said "The tenon is 1.195 +\-.001" and mine measured 1.194. If other people have been getting 1.196 then the 0.002 shim would put us at the same headspace. Though my measurement could also be off by 0.001" lol. I didn't feel any issues with the headspace so I'll probably leave it alone for now.

J_Reacher · Nov 25, 2024

Mark_Dorman said:
Thank you! I try to keep things looking tidy when possible. I was looking at the clearance before I started and realized I could probably get away with it and it worked out well.

I would like to. I don't know when I'll have time to go next, but that is the plan.

I totally understand your situation. I couldn't got for like 2 months because of my work/travel schedule so I'd been itching to get out.

That makes total sense. Leon said "The tenon is 1.195 +\-.001" and mine measured 1.194. If other people have been getting 1.196 then the 0.002 shim would put us at the same headspace. Though my measurement could also be off by 0.001" lol. I didn't feel any issues with the headspace so I'll probably leave it alone for now.

I agree with you about leaving the headspace alone. The Eley brand wants a lower headspace due to their thinner rim thickness, but your Tenex grouped pretty well and the Lapua/SK seems to like the 043 spacing, so you should be good to go on that front.

Do you think you may Loctite barrel tenon into the receiver or leave it as-is? Obviously it will depend on how tight a fit the tenon went into your specific receiver if the loctite would help fill in any “gaps”. It’s not like it will be equivalent to a thermal fit or threaded fitting, so it depends on how much you want to do. Someone mentioned they would loctite their barrel in once they settled on the shims and headspace.

walterg · Nov 27, 2024

The Grey Birch Chassis got delivered today and I got the barrel installed and head spaced. I’m currently at 0.009” which runs eley but SK doesn’t extract and the bolt close it tight on SK. I’ll just be shooting Eley.

Masojoh · Nov 27, 2024

walterg said:
The Grey Birch Chassis got delivered today and I got the barrel installed and head spaced. I’m currently at 0.009” which runs eley but SK doesn’t extract and the bolt close it tight on SK. I’ll just be shooting Eley.

Where were your barrel shims? My barrel came today, and I could not find them. The bolt won’t close on a live round, so I do need to install one or more. I’ve emailed L3I, and they have been responsive to questions - but maybe I’m a DA and am missing the obvious. Thx

Was hoping to test this out on Friday during down time.

J_Reacher · Nov 27, 2024

Mine were wrapped next to the barrel. Check your plastic wrap that was around the barrel and also inside the shipping tube. Small plastic bag, very small.

walterg · Nov 27, 2024

Masojoh said:
Where were your barrel shims? My barrel came today, and I could not find them. The bolt won’t close on a live round, so I do need to install one or more. I’ve emailed L3I, and they have been responsive to questions - but maybe I’m a DA and am missing the obvious. Thx

Was hoping to test this out on Friday during down time.

Same as j_reacher. They were wrapped around the barrel in a small bag with a sticker that told you what the colors meant.

Do you happen to still have the bubble wrap that was around the barrel. They could have got caught up on the bubble wrap.

Masojoh · Nov 27, 2024

The barrel was in a black protective sleeve. There were two pieces of foam at either end of the tube. No bubble wrap. I would have seen a bag/sticker.

I’m guessing they just didn’t get included on accident. No worries. Will just have to test the barrel out some other weekend.

LuvDog · Nov 27, 2024

Mine was missing the shims too. I quadruple checked the packaging. No problem, a quick email and they were sent to me immediately.

Masojoh · Nov 27, 2024

Update - I’ve already heard back from them, and they advised to check the outside of the tube. I did, and it appears the shims were torn off in transit. I’m sure I will get some soon. I do want to highlight the customer service. Not many places would be answering questions at this time of day, before a major holiday.

Mechdesigner · Nov 27, 2024

Masojoh said:
Update - I’ve already heard back from them, and they advised to check the outside of the tube. I did, and it appears the shims were torn off in transit. I’m sure I will get some soon. I do want to highlight the customer service. Not many places would be answering questions at this time of day, before a major holiday.

Sorry about that, we have a new part yime guy helping and he forgot to put shims in barrels, se we used packingslip bags on the outside and UPS managed to rip those off of some of the packages. We have been getting all kinds of photos of those tubes destroyed, not sure how we can get UPS to treat them more care…we are escalating the issue though.

Deodand · Nov 28, 2024

Just got my barrel tonight. He's a big boy, arriving at 6.75 pounds. Tenon length, per calipers, 1.194" and diameter .7075". Grain of salt, micrometers are more accurate.
Scoped it, first the chamber. Very sharp tool used with no rolled over burr visible. Nicely done.

Muzzle crown, again very sharp cut. No visible burr but it did hold on to fuzz from the patches I ran down the bore. I'm sure that will shoot out in the first few boxes of ammo.

Rifling looked very nice end to end.

Looking forward to getting it mounted in my 455.

Mark_Dorman · Nov 28, 2024

Mechdesigner said:
Sorry about that, we have a new part yime guy helping and he forgot to put shims in barrels, se we used packingslip bags on the outside and UPS managed to rip those off of some of the packages. We have been getting all kinds of photos of those tubes destroyed, not sure how we can get UPS to treat them more care…we are escalating the issue though.

Sure you're not just making excuses for @Thesepaperwings?

jk

It is amazing how many things happen to packages in transit. I was very pleased with the packing job on my barrel and though it was well done. I've gotten other barrels that felt much less secure and protected.

Thesepaperwings · Nov 28, 2024

We don't get the luxury of being part time lol

Mechdesigner · Nov 28, 2024

502Chevelle · Nov 28, 2024

While I won’t take up for the people at UPS, I will usually say that it is the conveyor systems that will rip things off packages. Never, ever, tape or attach anything to the outside of a box if you really want that item to get there. People will care, that conveyor does not. Ever.

LuvDog · Nov 30, 2024

Here's my son's 457. Got it screwed on yesterday.
Needed the .003" shim to get me to .043. Tenon was .196. Bolt face was .236
I did need to slide the Are 419 scope rail back. Maybe I'll get the dremel out, but for now this works.

Dimefox · Dec 7, 2024

Finally had some time to work on this. My Bravo made contact with the barrel the whole way. Had to throw it on the mill and open it up. I left the spot in front of the action untouched and will see how it shoots.
I need to remeasure headspace but I had .043 without any shims.
Its been cold here and in thr middle of deer season so I wont bother with the range until the season closes.

Masojoh · Dec 9, 2024

Update - my replacement shims arrived this past weekend. I was busy volunteering at a local match, so finally got around to installing them last night. I don’t trust my calipers, so I did the trial and error method of installing the shim, and testing the bolt close on eley ammo. The black shim was all it took to get a solid close.

I went to the range this morning and tested 11 lots of eley semi auto benchrest precision and one lot of eley match. I landed on a lot of SABR that had great groups at 200 yards.

A couple of points to share - I have the MDT rail and did have to clearance a fair bit with my dremel to clear the barrel. It is aluminum so it was pretty simple and quick. Also, mine sits in an MDT XRS chassis. I had seen a prior comment about the barrel contacting the chassis 1” or so in front of the action, and the owner working to remove material from the chassis there. Mine contacts there as well, but if I’m being honest - so does my bedded MTR. I decided to shoot it as is and see if there was a negative effect on accuracy, and I did not notice one. The rifle is very accurate, and I am pleased with the barrel. So much so that I ordered 10k rounds of the best lot I shot earlier.

Thesepaperwings · Dec 9, 2024

Masojoh said:
Update - my replacement shims arrived this past weekend. I was busy volunteering at a local match, so finally got around to installing them last night. I don’t trust my calipers, so I did the trial and error method of installing the shim, and testing the bolt close on eley ammo. The black shim was all it took to get a solid close.

I went to the range this morning and tested 11 lots of eley semi auto benchrest precision and one lot of eley match. I landed on a lot of SABR that had great groups at 200 yards.

A couple of points to share - I have the MDT rail and did have to clearance a fair bit with my dremel to clear the barrel. It is aluminum so it was pretty simple and quick. Also, mine sits in an MDT XRS chassis. I had seen a prior comment about the barrel contacting the chassis 1” or so in front of the action, and the owner working to remove material from the chassis there. Mine contacts there as well, but if I’m being honest - so does my bedded MTR. I decided to shoot it as is and see if there was a negative effect on accuracy, and I did not notice one. The rifle is very accurate, and I am pleased with the barrel. So much so that I ordered 10k rounds of the best lot I shot earlier.

To say we're excited about these barrels is an understatement lol

Masojoh · Dec 9, 2024

Thesepaperwings said:
To say we're excited about these barrels is an understatement lol

I had a friend ask me where the blank came from - can you share?

Thesepaperwings · Dec 9, 2024

Unfortunately we have a pretty stocked NDA with everyone involved but we're going to drill some extra blanks on the next run so we can help out some smiths.

Mark_Dorman · Dec 10, 2024

Thesepaperwings said:
Unfortunately we have a pretty stocked NDA with everyone involved but we're going to drill some extra blanks on the next run so we can help out some smiths.

Man, this is going to end up being the mystery of the community. So many people keeping asking this

021411 · Dec 10, 2024

I’m sure if you scope enough barrels you can kinda sorta tell who produced it.

bobby1028 · Dec 11, 2024

Doubt it's one of the premium barrel makers involved in the 22 game when they have months of back orders to fill at full retail price. Whoever's spinning them up is very good at their craft though, based on the very positive results we're seeing so far.

tombguard544 · Dec 11, 2024

Figured I would add my data to the list for another data point. I was nervous when I was dry running ammo into the chamber. It is definitely a tight chamber and the bullet is engraved through the second band. It’s worst on Lapua Long Range. But when I took it to shoot, it didn’t seem to be an issue. Little heavy to lower the bolt but nothing that’s going to limit my PRS/NRL competitions. The results on the range are way above my expectations. I used Lapua long Range, Center X, Norma Match and Tac22. Even the tac22 ammo shot great. All groups are 5 shot groups except the top left is 10. I am extremely happy with my barrel and am ready to start shooting matches with it.
Only thing that’s a negative-ish is the SDs are good but not lower than my previous barrels. I’ll take it out to distance to see how it handles but overall, this is the best upgrade to my 457 I’ve made! BTW, with the XLR element chassis, I had to dremel out the fore end for clearance. I am most surprised about the relative lack of fliers. I blame the first group of Norma Match on the lube/ammo change, but it tightened right up afterwards. Cheers. Thanks guys, I'll post more soon.

bluebu70 · Dec 12, 2024

tombguard544 said:
Figured I would add my data to the list for another data point. I was nervous when I was dry running ammo into the chamber. It is definitely a tight chamber and the bullet is engraved through the second band. It’s worst on Lapua Long Range. But when I took it to shoot, it didn’t seem to be an issue. Little heavy to lower the bolt but nothing that’s going to limit my PRS/NRL competitions. The results on the range are way above my expectations. I used Lapua long Range, Center X, Norma Match and Tac22. Even the tac22 ammo shot great. All groups are 5 shot groups except the top left is 10. I am extremely happy with my barrel and am ready to start shooting matches with it.
Only thing that’s a negative-ish is the SDs are good but not lower than my previous barrels. I’ll take it out to distance to see how it handles but overall, this is the best upgrade to my 457 I’ve made! BTW, with the XLR element chassis, I had to dremel out the fore end for clearance. I am most surprised about the relative lack of fliers. I blame the first group of Norma Match on the lube/ammo change, but it tightened right up afterwards. Cheers. Thanks guys, I'll post more soon.
View attachment 8566994 View attachment 8566998 View attachment 8566999

Yeah, the hard chambering concerns me to. For a repeater action, I forsee this being a hinderance to quick and smooth operation during a stage. Mine requires a considerably forceful push forward before even beginning to lower the bolt handle. I haven’t been able to shoot it yet as I had to order a different scope base to clear the barrel.
This is my first aftermarket barrel for a CZ. I understand that match chambers typically engrave the bullet to some degree, but is this amount common? Anyone else with more experience with various brands/chambers care to shed some light?

Mark_Dorman · Dec 12, 2024

bluebu70 said:
Yeah, the hard chambering concerns me to. For a repeater action, I forsee this being a hinderance to quick and smooth operation during a stage. Mine requires a considerably forceful push forward before even beginning to lower the bolt handle. I haven’t been able to shoot it yet as I had to order a different scope base to clear the barrel.
This is my first aftermarket barrel for a CZ. I understand that match chambers typically engrave the bullet to some degree, but is this amount common? Anyone else with more experience with various brands/chambers care to shed some light?

I have a Vudoo 360 with a Bartlein 1.20 barrel that has a tight chamber cut for Lapua/SK. I can tell you that on most ammo other than SK the bolt is quite hard to close. When the chamber is fresh/clean you can chamber cheaper ammo like Norma and Fiocchi. However, once the chamber is bit dirty (100-200 rounds in), it is painful to try and close the bolt on those types of ammo. In contrast, I can shoot 400 rounds of SK without any issues.

I haven't had the CZ with the L3i barrel out enough to know if it doesn't have any issues with SK/Lapua after a couple hundred rounds. I do know that it's hard to chamber Norma once the barrel is a tad dirty and also hard to open the bolt. Haven't figured out why the bolt opening is an issue yet though.

bluebu70 · Dec 12, 2024

Mark_Dorman said:
I have a Vudoo 360 with a Bartlein 1.20 barrel that has a tight chamber cut for Lapua/SK. I can tell you that on most ammo other than SK the bolt is quite hard to close. When the chamber is fresh/clean you can chamber cheaper ammo like Norma and Fiocchi. However, once the chamber is bit dirty (100-200 rounds in), it is painful to try and close the bolt on those types of ammo. In contrast, I can shoot 400 rounds of SK without any issues.

I haven't had the CZ with the L3i barrel out enough to know if it doesn't have any issues with SK/Lapua after a couple hundred rounds. I do know that it's hard to chamber Norma once the barrel is a tad dirty and also hard to open the bolt. Haven't figured out why the bolt opening is an issue yet though.

This one chambers about equal with Lapua and Eley. I haven’t fired it yet so I don’t know about bolt opening.

Mark_Dorman · Dec 12, 2024

bluebu70 said:
This one chambers about equal with Lapua and Eley. I haven’t fired it yet so I don’t know about bolt opening.

I didn't have any issue chambering Eley at the range. However, it did fail to extract empty cases several times.

Masojoh · Dec 12, 2024

I went up one thousandth in the barrel shim. The close on Eley is not as stiff. Believe it or not, the Lapua closes smoother and extracts live rounds. The Eley will not extract as a live round.

I plan to shoot tomorrow and compare the SD and ES that I saw earlier this week. My 10k rounds arrived today, so I’ve got plenty of the lot that showed most promise to find the sweet spot.

Masojoh · Dec 15, 2024

My range trip yesterday yielded some interesting results. The wind in middle Tennessee was pretty gusty, so I stuck to shooting at the 200 yard steel on our range. Mostly looking at vertical dispersion, understanding wind would shift things a lot. Left to right as it was nearly full value with gusts over 15mph.

The blue shim was in the gun when I started. Shooting eley semi auto Benchrest precision, I saw velocity of 1094, ES of 43.9 and SD of 8.1. This was after 100 rounds of the same ammo. The elevation dispersion was good, but I would say not as good as what I saw last week. I brought the shims, and decided to go back to the smallest one. I shot 20 rounds to settle things back in, and my last 30 showed a velocity of 1095, with ES of 24.5 and SD of 5.7. These were close (within 2fps) to what I saw when lot testing.

Needless to say, the smaller shim is going to stay. The bolt close is getting easier just a couple of hundred rounds in. And the accuracy is superb.

I shot some eley match and center x. The SABR out performed both lots that I had to shoot out of this rifle.

Just sharing my experience. I have never tested changing headspace. This sample size of one would point to solid potential to tweak that variable too.

cs700 · Dec 20, 2024

My L3I barrel arrived Wednesday & the MDT ONYX chassis came today. Got it put together for a quick function test & semi line up the scope for now. My last 7 shot groups at 50 yards with SK Rifle Match after I got the scope on paper. Much more break in & testing to come. I think it's a keeper.

J Cal · Dec 20, 2024

beetroot said:
This would be a great low cost option for getting into PRS/NRL 22.
This barrel + 457 base rifle + KRG Bravo would be less that $1500 and basically be a match winner from day 1.

Anyone get this to work with a krg bravo? It says on the KRG site that it accommodates up to 1" barrels

*edit* Post# 172 explained it needed machine work (nicely done)

Mr. Wolf · Dec 23, 2024

J Cal said:
Anyone get this to work with a krg bravo? It says on the KRG site that it accommodates up to 1" barrels

*edit* Post# 172 explained it needed machine work (nicely done)

I think that there are two generations of KRG Bravos. The first gen accepted up to 1.2” and the newer gen up to 1”.

Someone check me on that as i cannot find the old spec sheet on their page.

I’ll know soon enough when I try to install a 1.18” in my Gen 1 KRG Bravo.

YMMV and happy shooting

Dimefox · Dec 23, 2024

Mr. Wolf said:
I think that there are two generations of KRG Bravos. The first gen accepted up to 1.2” and the newer gen up to 1”.

Someone check me on that as i cannot find the old spec sheet on their page.

I’ll know soon enough when I try to install a 1.18” in my Gen 1 KRG Bravo.

YMMV and happy shooting

That makes sense. Mine must be a gen 1...didn't know there was a gen 2. When I put mine in and it didn't fit, I checked the KRG website out of curiosity and saw 1.2" would fit. I just figured 1.18 is kinda close and expending any more mental energy on it wouldn't make it fit anyways so I started milling.

Mark_Dorman · Dec 23, 2024

Someone over on RFC just installed one on a KRG Bravo. Didn't mention any issues:

reelserious · Dec 23, 2024

A friend of mine has one and the barrel won’t fit in his

bobby1028 · Dec 23, 2024

walterg said:
The Grey Birch Chassis got delivered today and I got the barrel installed and head spaced. I’m currently at 0.009” which runs eley but SK doesn’t extract and the bolt close it tight on SK. I’ll just be shooting Eley.

Guess that barrel alone is more than enough weight forward in the Grey Birch that additional weights are just an afterthought. Betting that barrels weighs about as much as chassis, action, and scope combined !

cs700 · Dec 24, 2024

My L3I barrel continues to surprise me. I changed out the scope rail for a different MOA amount & had to resight the scope. Instead of using my better ammo I just pulled a box of cheap stuff I bought during the last 22 ammo scare. This barrel seems to want to shoot almost anything I throw at it. Not too bad for cheap ammo ($2.79 a box when I bought it) but it's just not consistent enough except as a practice ammo. 5 shots at 50 yards.

cs700 · Dec 24, 2024

More action screw torque testing today. I wanted to test some Eley so I found an old leftover box of Match from 2014 for top target. Bottom target is Semi Auto Bench Rest. 5 shot groups at 50 yards. Setting is 31 inch pounds. Back to testing after Christmas.

bluebu70 · Dec 28, 2024

It will shoot. 200 yards with Center-x.

Kilohotel · Jan 28, 2025

Came here to ask about the heavier bolt drop than stock and my ibi drop in, I’m starting to understand that its totally normal and wont affect performance?

1911Shootist · Jan 28, 2025

Kilohotel said:
Came here to ask about the heavier bolt drop than stock and my ibi drop in, I’m starting to understand that its totally normal and wont affect performance?

Not exactly normal. That usually means the headspace was reduced. Whether or not that is a good thing, or good amount of reduction, is hard to say. I dislike a heavy bolt close, so I need to avoid Eley with my setup. SK/Lapua chambers perfectly and shoots well for me.

J_D · Jan 28, 2025

Kilohotel said:
Came here to ask about the heavier bolt drop than stock and my ibi drop in, I’m starting to understand that its totally normal and wont affect performance?

You can always adjust headspace using spacers. I found .043 worked for most everything on my CZ.

Kilohotel · Jan 28, 2025

Noticed im also not able to extract live rounds

Have the 0.004 shim installed

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