100

Over 100 Olympic Medals

won with Tenex since 1964
OLYMPIC GAMES TOTAL MEDALS
WON BY TENEX
1964 Tokyo 8
1972 Munich 8
1976 Montreal 8
1980 Moscow 8
1984 Los Angeles 15
1988 Seoul 8
1992 Barcelona 8
1996 Atlanta 11
2000 Sydney 7
2004 Athens 9
2008 Beijing 12

www.eleyammunition.com ELEY - the home of Tenex

Custom Anschutz Rimfire Benchrest Rifle
This month I want to share with you the
rifle itself. It’s a long time since I have
written about a rifle and those were the ones
I customised myself, so bare with me. As the
rifle is based on the Anschutz 2013 action/
trigger it is not an uncommon occurrence to see
this around a club range; as it is used reliably
by prone and three position shooters across
the UK. When considering the rifle design, I
wanted something that could shoot in the Light
Varmint (10.5 pound) class, but where further
weight could be added to use in the unlimited
class. I also wanted a reliable action and
barrel. Considering this in the first instance I did
want to go for a Hall action from the US, with a
Border Barrel. Sadly this was just not meant to
be with the time frame I had to get the rifle built
for the European Championships. Getting the
Hall action from the states was a more difficult
venture than hoped for by ‘JR’ over at Border
Barrels. I must say both of us tried really hard
and maybe this is a project for the future as I
would like to get more UK based gunmaker’s
The machined stock ready for finishing anf furniture
Target Shooter
Carl Boswell
interested in developing rimfire benchrest
rifles. I would like to thank JR O’Neal and
Border Barrels for all their efforts on my behalf.
With my first efforts being abortive I Iooked at
my second option which was the Anschutz
action and barrel. Again I had problems in
the UK being able to select the action with
the specific select barrel and making this rifle
from scratch to meet my design criteria. I did
want to have this rifle made, or a least
customised, in the UK. In the end I had to go to
Italy to have what I wanted and within the time
frame I had in mind. As I stated recently, the
Italians really have got things sussed in
shooting as a standard city shooting range like
The Stock is stock CNC machined for
precision
Milan are second to none and sadly put our ‘best’
to shame. The same can be said of the
equipment and resources they have access to
for Rimfire Benchrest. They have a good number
of manufacturers available to them, supplying
rifles and equipment that we are only just
seeing over in the UK. (Again this might be a sign
for some adventurous company to start bringing
 The finished article with butt plate and trigger guard
in this equipment or for gunmakers in the UK
to start competing with US and other European
contemporaries.) A name you have read in this
column a few times is that of Varide Cicognani,
as he manufactures everything that a benchrest
shooter would want. Therefore with cap in hand
and an ever shortening deadline I went to him to
ask for help. The specification I asked for was;
• Anschutz 2013 action/ trigger
• Selected barrel 500mm
• Cicognani stock black/grey (Edge
design)
• Pillar bedding
• Butt plate in titanium
• weight well + weights + titanium top
• Barrel Stabiliser - silver
• 30mm Scope Rings
• Scope mounted spirit level
• Cleaning guide
Varide came back within a short space of time
and said he could get this built in time and with
the month that I gave myself as a minimum
to practice and get myself and the rifle tuned
for the competition in Milan. Relief at last!!
One thing I did want is the McMillan Edge stock
as this is the latest in design from the US and
really does perform well from all reports.
Although this was an option, Varide offered the
same design but in a laminated wood finish.
This really does look the part and offsets the
The action ready for bedding
rifle furniture really well. Although glass fibre
is recommended for a benchrest rifle I could
not resist this stock and went for it as it kept to
the design I was looking for; and within weight!
From the picture you can see stages of the stock
manufacture, using very accurate CNC
routing machinery. The overall effect with the
rifle furniture is very pleasing; coupled with the
accurate tracking in the bags, this stock is
something else. Machining is very accurate and
fits the action superbly. This is then bedded using
four aluminium pillars, as there are four action
bolts on the 2013 action. Using four action bolts
is, I think, unique to the design of this action, as
most use two action bolts. It is liked by some,
but others feel it is hard to get the compression
correct and consistent when tightening these
bolts. Whatever your feelings are on this matter,
the 2013 action does have a good track record
and has performed very well in this rifle so far.
The rifle itself is fully customised to my
requirements – being of a silver/ grey / black
colour scheme - and I wanted it to fit into the
10.5 pound section and have a weight that
could be added to the rear of the stock to add
the advantage that extra weight in shooting
an unlimited rifle brings. This has worked well,
taking the rifle from 10.5 pounds to over 11
pounds in weight. Although I am still looking at
Target Shooter

The Cicognani tuner - now replaced
withe a bloop tube version
how even more weight could be added. Believe
me this extra weight does supply an
advantage. At the rear of the rifle the butt
is capped off with a titanium plate which is
relatively light and aesthetically pleasing.
The rifle also has a specially selected match
grade barrel from the Anschutz factory and
cut to 500mm (retaining the choke at the end
of the barrel). This is then machined with a
match grade chamber and finished off with a
barrel tuner at the fore end of the barrel. (I
have discussed these in a previous article
so I do not need to reaffirm the need for one
here). The trigger guard is CNC milled from
aluminium for lightness, as are the scope rings
and scope level supplied with the rifle. Each
one of these parts, with the barrel tuner, is
acid etched, providing a matt and even finish.
All of these different elements come together
befitting what is a very good custom
conversion of the Anschutz 2013, for the purpose
of rimfire benchrest shooting. (As a side note
Anschutz do produce an off the shelf benchrest
model for unlimited class, but this looks more
like a prone rifle than a BR rifle and tracking
could have issues without some modifications).
Without the weight in the butt of the stock all
this weighs in at just less than 10.5 pounds,
with scope, which is quite precise and has
serviced me with two medals in the Light Varmint
class (10.5 lbs) at the European Championship.
The 2013 action/ trigger need no introduction,
but the trigger on this rifle has been set very
low, about 6 ounces or 170 grams, for the type
of shooting I am doing. However, a bit of
experimentation does need to be done to get
this a little bit lower. I am aiming for about 4
ounces or 113 grams. This is something I
will work on over the coming months. This
action is used extensively in Europe for
Target Shooter
Modified 20 inch barrel to
make light varmint class
rimfire benchrest, as are other Anschutz
models due to their ability to perform well and
because we have relatively easy access to
them on this continent. What is pleasing is
to see Anschutz rifles being used in the Light
Varmint (10.5 lb) class, as they are more
commonly used in the unlimited class; so there is
scope for this action other than on an unlimited rifle.
The rifle has the potential to shoot better than
I can and I wish I’d had more time with this
before the European Championship. Before
the championship the rifle shot within a 6mm
to 7mm diameter group. Well within what is
needed for punching that centre ten ring time
after time. Counting the errors I made at the
European Championship, all were 9’s so this
is down to my shooting unfortunately, ‘the nut
behind the butt’. I scored reasonably well, but
I know that this custom Anschutz can shoot
a whole lot better. The only answer for this is
‘trigger time’ and I think I need to practice
a great deal more, to get the best out of it.
The winter season will provide this time to
practice and work on a few other items. This is
the time when I do not usually compete, but get
myself together for the forthcoming summer
Titanium butt
plate, with
weight system
in side the butt
 Trigger guard details and 2013 action -
not everyones taste but it works

season, which is usually a bigger match.

With the world championship next year I
have a lot to sort out and get myself ready for.
This rifle, like any and all custom
rifles, is expensive and will cost a bit over
£2500, but this depends on the options
you want. With the Euro fluctuating and
depending on the components being
added, you may pay more or less. It is
wise therefore to contact about prices and
rifle design before making a definite
order. (Let’s face it an Anschutz 2013 rifle
for prone shooting will cost just under
£2000.)

Alternatively you could just go for

the stock and have conversions or
bedding done in the UK. We have
UKBR22 members who have done
this with virtually the same stock/
furniture as shown here. This will set
you back about £350-400 pounds. Again
enquire about this. Varide Cicognani can be
contacted via; varide@varidecicognani.
Rifle front view, with everything on it
com or you can view all the benchrest
just making LV class
equipment he does at the
business website;
http://www.varidecicognani.com/. Finally, RFD who brought in the rifle from Italy for me.
I would like to thank Craig Whitsey, a well known
gunmaker in West Sussex, who acted as the

Target Shooter