Who To Build Me A RimX?

[MilSpecOkie]

I’ve a hankering for a RimX for NRL22 and PRS22 type matches. I want a long heavy barrel to get it to balance properly. I think I want a fitted barrel and not a prefit. I’d send in an action or buy a barreled action.

Due to quality ammo availability, I want a chamber that is forgiving/good with the SKs, Lapuas and Eleys. I understand this is a compromise and won’t be benchrest quality with any of it.

I’ve seen some videos of Desert Precision Gunworks rifles and the reamer he uses seems to work well with a variety of ammunition and allows for decent bolt closure. I don’t know if this is a reamer to his specs or a standard match reamer by JGS(?) or whoever he uses.

Needless to say, DPG is in consideration, but I certainly don’t know all the great RimX builders out there. Who else should I be considering?

 

[Lastsaint21]

Jonathan from Modacam or Kenny from DPG.. Both are great smiths and even better people..

 

[MilSpecOkie]

Never heard of Modacam, someone new on the scene?

 

[Lastsaint21]

Never heard of Modacam, someone new on the scene?

absolutely not.. One of Modacam's barrel's combined with one hell of a shooter just won the World Championship in Italy..

 

[J_D]

You won't go wrong with either of those. I just got my 3rd rimfire from Kenny (2nd Vudoo, and a killer CZ) and he's working on a 6GT for me as well.

I like being able to shoot whatever brand of ammo, and just worry about selecting lots from all of them.

 

[Ruff 364]

Benchmark Barrels did mine. Excellent shooter.

 

[MilSpecOkie]

Benchmark Barrels did mine. Excellent shooter.

What reamer do they use? Reamer design seems to be a key component to any rimfire build?

 

[021411]

Never heard of Modacam, someone new on the scene?

Definitely not new to the scene. Modacam is also referred to as MCR. And yes as mentioned Chris Simmons is sponsored by MCR.

 

[Ruff 364]

What reamer do they use? Reamer design seems to be a key component to any rimfire build?

I'm not sure but we agreed on Lapua ammo. I did have it lot tested at Lapua. It's a three groove barrel.

 

[deltawiskey]

Modacam is an outstanding rimfire builder... I had him fix a 40X another smith built incorrectly, and then he built another 40X for me. Both shoot fantastic.
DW

 

[DownhillFromHere]

Another vote for Jonathan at Modacam (tagging him in @jelrod1).

I wanted to build a RimX late last year with the same barrel (Shilen select taper-lapped) a longtime buddy of mine had cut for his own RimX, and his rifle was/is a shooter. He was reluctant to do a .22 barrel for anyone other than himself - while he is a well-respected smith in our region, he has little rimfire barrel machining experience. But, because of our long relationship and my experience with the centerfire barrels he had done for me, he agreed.

Well, the result was a disappointment to me and to him. Rifle just didn't have the accuracy it should, despite many hours of troubleshooting and both of us consulting knowledgeable contacts.

So, on recommendation from another match buddy of mine, I drove my barreled action to Modacam's shop north of Charlotte, NC. Jonathan went through the barrel carefully, checking dimensions, headspace, re-slugging it, and so forth. All he ended up doing was barely "touching up" my chamber with his reamer.

The result is in the photograph. The two high shots were sighters. The next three 50-yard, 5-round groups were with my 2020-vintage Center-X (lot-tested in my Vudoo's original barrel).

If I did a RimX from scratch, I'd want a Bartlein blank and have Jonathan do it (Jonathan likes Krieger best, but they're pretty hard to find without preorder). Rightly or wrongly, my Shilen barrel has impressed me as being very accurate but is relatively particular about ammo and 30fps slower than the new Bartlein on my gen-1 Vudoo with that favored Center-X. Of course, it's sort of an apples/oranges comparison - different chambers as well as different bore characteristics (both finished to 22").

My $0.02.

 

[68hoyt]

I have heard a lot of good things about Jonathan , had a short email discussion with him earlier , kind of an ongoing thing , good guy , good smith , seems good all around knowledge wise, one smith I discussed with a week or so ago did’nt want to work on anything but Rimx. Barrels , I think he had a cnc machine cranking them out

 

[Kahrhart63]

I have one built by Modacam, one built by Kenny at Dpg and one built by Ga Precision. All excelent builders. Dont exclude Di Precision. They have been doing alot of Rimx builds.

 

[021411]

I haven’t seen DI push out Rimx stuff in a very long time. Not to say that they don’t occasionally. They are still Vudoo centric but as of late have been pumping out barreled Curtis conversion kits using the Scout.

 

[Defender32]

my vote will be MCR @jelrod1 builds one hell of a rifle. Just send him the parts with printed out build sheet and tell him do do it like he would if it was his own or lay it out exactly how you want it done. You will have a HAMMER of a rifle either way. I just turned him loose and told him to tell me when he needed a check and would be happy.

23.5" Kreiger 1.25 blank
EC Gen1 Tuner

Currently shooting 10X

Weight is right at the 22 lb mark like pictured.

 

[Stugots]

I just received my completed build from Jonathan and had extremely high hopes for how well it would shoot. (Kreiger 1.25" straight barrel, RimX action, KRG Whiskey 3 Gen 6 chassis, TT Diamond flat blade trigger and presently topped off with a NF Comp 15-55x52 scope) I have attached 2 separate groups, the 1st one is 20 shots and the 2nd one is 15, all shot at 127 yards.

Needless to say, this build has exceeded my expectations...

 

[David Lott]

I haven’t seen DI push out Rimx stuff in a very long time. Not to say that they don’t occasionally. They are still Vudoo centric but as of late have been pumping out barreled Curtis conversion kits using the Scout.

We can do ''ALL 22s and most center fires. it's a numbers game, Vudoo owns the precision Rimfire market by a longshot(they were first to market AND be available when ordered others not so much). Why because they flat work. We do a lot of Curtis Customs because we are set up to do as many as 8 rifles per day without giving up anything in the precision department. I don't believe in the prefit(yes it can work and does but I want to make sure it is as perfect as humanly possible) idea so we don't do as many Rim Xs as we could, but we do our fair share. BTW our Rifle tied for 1st place at the Rimfire World Championships.

 

[Kahrhart63]

I have one built by Modacam, one built by Kenny at Dpg and one built by Ga Precision. All excelent builders. Dont exclude Di Precision. They have been doing alot of Rimx builds

We can do ''ALL 22s and most center fires. it's a numbers game, Vudoo owns the precision Rimfire market by a longshot(they were first to market AND be available when ordered others not so much). Why because they flat work. We do a lot of Curtis Customs because we are set up to do as many as 8 rifles per day without giving up anything in the precision department. I don't believe in the prefit(yes it can work and does but I want to make sure it is as perfect as humanly possible) idea so we don't do as many Rim Xs as we could, but we do our fair share. BTW our Rifle tied for 1st place at the world nationals.

David. I through your company out there cause i know you build a great product. Chambers are super and i know you have built some amazing rimx barreled actions. My Vudoo di built me is a hammer! Thats why give your company some love! Keep up good work

 

[David Lott]

I have one built by Modacam, one built by Kenny at Dpg and one built by Ga Precision. All excelent builders. Dont exclude Di Precision. They have been doing alot of Rimx builds

David. I through your company out there cause i know you build a great product. Chambers are super and i know you have built some amazing rimx barreled actions. My Vudoo di built me is a hammer! Thats why give your company some love! Keep up good work

Thanks bud , we appreciate it. We build a lot of rifles and sometimes we slack on the social media stuff on what we do. Now I have the rimfire benchrest itch as I as I see some great improrovements in the game that we want to apply. I started this journey applying benchrest accuracy although I personally never shot a benchrest match. After my first real benchrest match my eyes were opened and here go down that rabbit trail.

 

[Kahrhart63]

Sweet! May have to follow suit

 

[GIXXER2000]

I have had Johnathon from Modacam reberral a Steyr SSG-04 twice. He does excellent work and custom throated for the bullet I wanted to use. I plan on having him do my SSG-04 again this time going from .243 to .260 Rem

 

[Trx498r]

My vote goes to @jelrod1 but I’m a little biased I’m sure there’s other great smiths out there as well. I’ve shot his rifles for years and never had any issues, my trophy room backs it up.

 

[Shifty6BR]

I had my rim x done up by Johnathan as well, chambering, bedding the works, several years ago. Helluva nice guy, great comms and the rifle just plain shoots. If there were any initial kinks, he sorted it out, because the rifle runs as should.

Skeetlee /Lee Gardner Precision also gets his name tossed around over at AS for his rimfire work and experience with the rim x actions.

 

[jelrod1]

Thanks guys for the mentions and kind words. What started for me with 40Xs has turned into quite the rimfire journey. We ended up with two Vudoos, a Bergara, and a RimX in the top 10 in Italy. We’ve been very fortunate to get rifles in the hands of such good shooters. Look out for some exciting stuff coming early next year.

 

[Lastsaint21]

Thanks guys for the mentions and kind words. What started for me with 40Xs has turned into quite the rimfire journey. We ended up with two Vudoos, a Bergara, and a RimX in the top 10 in Italy. We’ve been very fortunate to get rifles in the hands of such good shooters. Look out for some exciting stuff coming early next year.

I hope your making your own action.. take my money!

 

[RETE8]

TS Customs would be another option.

 

[MilSpecOkie]

I hadn't thought about a fairly local gunsmith to me for a rimfire. Jon Beanland of Beanland Custom Rifles has a great reputation for centerfire rifles. He said he's barreled a few RimX so he has some experience with them. I will likely go this route as I can bring him the action and barrel once I get them. Unless anyone has a reason I shouldn’t.

 

[DownhillFromHere]

I hadn't thought about a fairly local gunsmith to me for a rimfire. Jon Beanland of Beanland Custom Rifles has a great reputation for centerfire rifles. He said he's barreled a few RimX so he has some experience with them. I will likely go this route as I can bring him the action and barrel once I get them.

While Mr. Beanland may well provide you with an excellent barrel / build, please let my brief recounting of my RimX journey above be a word of caution. The smith who cut my RimX barrel has been well-known in our region for his centerfire barrels for many years, but he said (and I should have listened) that rimfire work is a different beast.

Knowing what I know now, I would go with a highly-experienced, well-known rimfire smith.

 

[Craig Brown]

Kenny at Desert Precision Gunworks (DPG) is a master on precision rimfire builds. He built me an absolute hammer of a Rim X and is in the process of building a second one for my son. Great crew and impeccable quality. Recommend them 100%.

 

[Coyote777]

I just received my completed build from Jonathan and had extremely high hopes for how well it would shoot. (Kreiger 1.25" straight barrel, RimX action, KRG Whiskey 3 Gen 6 chassis, TT Diamond flat blade trigger and presently topped off with a NF Comp 15-55x52 scope) I have attached 2 separate groups, the 1st one is 20 shots and the 2nd one is 15, all shot at 127 yards.

Needless to say, this build has exceeded my expectations...

That’s some awesome shooting! I’d be VERY happy with that. What ammo was this? What were the conditions like?

 

[ZCOklahoma]

Kenny at Desert Precision Gunworks (DPG) is a master on precision rimfire builds. He built me an absolute hammer of a Rim X and is in the process of building a second one for my son. Great crew and impeccable quality. Recommend them 100%.

How does it like that ACC Elite? Did you purchase the entire rifle or did you install and tune to the chassis.

My RimX arrives today and I don’t want to go through the issues I had with my Vudoo before I discovered the XLR Envy Pro and the Foundation with Vudoo bottom metal.

 

[MilSpecOkie]

While Mr. Beanland may well provide you with an excellent barrel / build, please let my brief recounting of my RimX journey above be a word of caution. The smith who cut my RimX barrel has been well-known in our region for his centerfire barrels for many years, but he said (and I should have listened) that rimfire work is a different beast.

Knowing what I know now, I would go with a highly-experienced, well-known rimfire smith.

So what was actually wrong with your gunsmiths work? From the way I read it, MCR used his reamer to touch up to give you a chamber your ammunition likes better?

 

[Stugots]

That’s some awesome shooting! I’d be VERY happy with that. What ammo was this? What were the conditions like?

Thx! That was shot with SK Match my 1st time out with the rifle. Early Sat. morning with virtually no wind!

 

[MilSpecOkie]

I just received my completed build from Jonathan and had extremely high hopes for how well it would shoot. (Kreiger 1.25" straight barrel, RimX action, KRG Whiskey 3 Gen 6 chassis, TT Diamond flat blade trigger and presently topped off with a NF Comp 15-55x52 scope) I have attached 2 separate groups, the 1st one is 20 shots and the 2nd one is 15, all shot at 127 yards.

Needless to say, this build has exceeded my expectations...

That is impressive! It also says something about your skills! Great shooting!

 

[dscl]

my vote will be MCR @jelrod1 builds one hell of a rifle. Just send him the parts with printed out build sheet and tell him do do it like he would if it was his own or lay it out exactly how you want it done.

I have a Vudoo 360 Action and Krieger Barrel with him right now so he get's my vote as well

 

[Craig Brown]

How does it like that ACC Elite? Did you purchase the entire rifle or did you install and tune to the chassis.

My RimX arrives today and I don’t want to go through the issues I had with my Vudoo before I discovered the XLR Envy Pro and the Foundation with Vudoo bottom metal.

We had Kenny do the entire rifle. It arrived and was punching bug holes from day 1.

MDT ACC Elite is awesome. Long and allows great position on barriers. We have a 25” 1.20” and it balances perfectly without any weights. It has proven itself in PRS and NRL matches. Don’t F around. Get the MDT ACC Elite. You will thank me later. Good luck.

 

[Kahrhart63]

Chassis are very personal! I prefer the mpa chassis but they are both top notch!

 

[DownhillFromHere]

So what was actually wrong with your gunsmiths work? From the way I read it, MCR used his reamer to touch up to give you a chamber your ammunition likes better?

Jonathan felt that there was a tiny imperfection at the front of the chamber. My smith said a number of times that working with minuscule .22LR reamers is much more "challenging" than more robust centerfire reamers.

Make no mistake: the original cut did not shoot any ammunition well. After Jonathan's touch-up, it likes my 2020-vintage Center-X out to 150 where it's been used this season for the little monthly gallery-style match I shoot. I really haven't worked with it past that distance as I still prefer my Vudoo for PRS/NRL22-style competition.

 

[MilSpecOkie]

@DownhillFromHere What reamer did you use in your Vudoo?

 

[DownhillFromHere]

@DownhillFromHere What reamer did you use in your Vudoo?

Both my Vudoo barrels were done in-house at Vudoo, presumably with the reamer Mike Bush designed around the Lapua Center-X profile.

I also want to add a little to my statement in last post "the original [RimX] cut did not shoot any ammunition well." More accurately, I should have said "the original cut did not shoot any ammunition consistently." I would get 3-4 rounds touching each other at 50 yards or a fingernail-sized group at 100, but one or two rounds of the five would land well away from the others.

 

[slobob]

mark penrod also.

 

[700plm]

i guess i'll go with jelrod

 

[Moose]

Travis at TS customs.