Project: Stubbs

Hi Guys,

As some of you might have seen in the sales section I have been on the hunt for a nice little bolt action .22lr for as cheap as possible for me to mess around with...

I have had a bolt action before but it was a nice CZ which had me on the back foot every time I wanted to mess with it as it was already good and it cost me more $ than I was prepared to loose by stuffing it up! I also had a lovely old BSA Ralock Semi auto that I had cut down nice and short with a big silencer and nice scope etc but when it was done a few little things bugged me, you couldn't see if it was empty unless you stripped it right down, the muzzle report was extremely quiet but as it fired from an open bolt the sound of the hammer slapping home was quite loud next to your ear and while I enjoy semi autos at the range or plinking from a static location I just didn't really like the idea of hunting with a semi auto.

Enter this little fella.... A Beretta Sport 22lr that a friend of mine had decided to sell at just the right time. These little Beretta's can be used in either bolt action by locking the bolt handle down or in semi auto by leaving it up, they were used by the Italian military as a training weapon and came in 3 different models, Sport, Olympia and Super Sport. From what I can tell the only differences are the stock and the style of sites on them. Best of both worlds for me really as I can walk around safely with it as a bolt action hunting or I can have fun plinking at the range as semi.

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This example is fairly well worn externally with hardly any bluing left, the stock has a few old repaired cracks and seems to have been shortened and then lengthened again at some point. The overall condition and the fact I picked it up for a pretty good price means I dont feel too bad about butchering it up a bit and turning it into something modern I will actually use rather than a safe queen (collectors might want to look away at this point as things are going to get ugly).

I took it out to the range this morning with the chrony to get some preliminary results on velocity as semi vs bolt with the factory barrel length, these are all 5 shot averages. Interesting results!

Factory barrel length CCI Std
Semi auto - 1013 fps
Bolt action - 1005 fps

Factory Barrel length Winchester Bushman HV
Semi auto - 1255 fps
Bolt action - 1221 fps

Both HV and Subs performed better in semi auto vs bolt action?? This is an inertia semi so I assumed the semi auto action would have stolen some of the energy of each shot to reload?? Weird.

Whipped out the hacksaw on the range bench and hacked off 7" of barrel.

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13.5" Barrel CCI Std
Semi auto - 992 fps

Didn't check bolt action results here as I was only really worried about it cycling subs in semi with the short barrel, which it was doing fine and had only lost an average of 21 fps. Thought I better crack on and hack off another inch while I was being brave. Whipped out the hacksaw on the range bench again after checking first to make sure nobody was going to see me.

12.5" Barrel CCI Std
Semi auto - 996 fps
Bolt action - 995.6 fps

Perfect result and it was still cycling perfectly!!

Now to get it on my lathe to true up my cut and crown it properly.

My plans for this build

• Large custom CF suppressor
• Reshape the wood to have more of a target style pistol grip, an adjustable cheek piece and a wider forestock
• Bedliner the stock
• Mount a rail for scope mounting (cant decide on big or compact scope yet, guess we will have to wait to see how it groups first)
• Cerakote the action and barrel

I did take some videos of it out at the range today, when I get a chance to mash them together I will post up a link.

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Interesting sounding rifle and action.

Sent from my SM-G390Y using Tapatalk

Hahaha yep definitely rougher than my usual style but it was just a moment of why not? I was already at the range, had the chrony setup and had a hacksaw handy in the truck. If I took it home and did it on the lathe I would have just needed to make another trip out there and had to setup the chrony to see if it would cycle and see what speed it was at. Doing it out there on the spot I was able to see that I could easily afford to take another inch off with it still cycling well.

The barrel has been re crowned and threaded professionally, and I now have a scope mount for it. The scope mount was tough as the rail is very far forward and it is a 14mm dovetail, I ended up getting a BKL 454 cantilever mount but it still sits a bit far forward and I have been struggling to find the right scope to fit with enough eye relief.

I tried a Hawke 3-9x40 that I had sitting in the draw, I spent ages trying to get the eye relief to work and got it somewhat ok so went off to the range to test, then realized that I hadn't done the screws up tight and none of my allen keys I had in my range bag were imperial!!! Grrr. I did it up as tight as I could with my fingers and a stick :o and put 5 CCI standard rounds onto paper, 50m and the group was about 3" which I guess isn't too bad for a starter. I have replaced the scope now with a large centrepoint on there at the moment which should help me get it to group and I will sort something a bit better suited later. I will also give the barrel a clean and take a range of different ammo with me to test next time.

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good project. Be interesting to see if you can get it to shoot better groups

I love it, shorten the rifle then add a scope that is longer than the barrelled action......Sounds like the sort of thing I would try...

If you decide on a smaller scope, you could almost try a pistol / long eye relief scope and mount it forward rather than rearward and have it like a scout rifle. Or go red dot with no eye relief issues. Otherwise you could look at shortening the stock, but watch you dont go under 30 inches and make it into a pistol....

Looks like you are having a good time.

Yeh that scope is only on it for testing purposes, My CF suppressor build will come all the way back to the stock there anyway. Im tossing up between a small compact red dot style scope or something bigger with a decent mag, guess that will be decided by how well it groups! Not much point being able to zoom in if it groups 3" at 50m.

doesn't look like you grouped it before hand for shits and giggles?

No, unfortunately not. In hindsight it would have been good for bench marking.

Decided to make a start on the suppressor.... I'm very much an amateur when it comes to machining, I have recently picked up a lathe and drill press etc but I am still learning how to use them again, its been 16 years since metalwork in school! I have a rough drawn idea on what I want to achieve but it will no doubt change a little along the way, I am more of a make it up as I go kind of person.

The general idea is a single piece core which will vent back into a short over barrel section and a carbon fiber tube over the top of it all, The CF tube is 35mm OD and 31mm ID so has nice thick walls and I am using 6061 alloy bar stock.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/oFLuPdHV6FGhQBDE9

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That's as far as I got today, I will finish this piece off in the next few days and build the bush for the barrel end.

As cool as it looks and I can really appreciate the effort, I wouldn't over think baffles on the 22. I've has a couple of plays lately myself making silencers and it didn't take many baffles with a chamber at the back and they were pretty quiet.
The second one I tried a couple of k /egg cup baffles. Both were enclosed over barrel types with a small muffler type expansion chamber venting into the rear over barrel part. Then I had the baffles in the front. One was bigger diameter than the other but was also shorter. It had normal washer type baffles. the longer more classic shape had the k's.
hard to pick between them. Even drilled the bejesus out of the k's and the baffles on the both of them to try to lighten them up as they were all steel.

Tried a few different scopes to get the eye relief right and ended settling on an old 3-10 x 40 Simmons that I got off a member here a year or so ago, It is not quite right but definitely shootable. Took it out to the range yesterday to shoot some groups and was quite impressed! At 50m the groups were 20mm ctc and while I didn't measure them at 100m the poi didn't shift left or right (Was worried the mounts might not be square) and I could hit fist sized bits of dirt with every shot. I only tried CCI Std, Geco Rifle and Winchester subs ammo, Whichester subs were all touching so grouped best but I didn't count them as they wont cycle in the action reliably. Bolt action is certainly more accurate, the groups about double at 50m in semi.

Did a quick video to show you guys how the action works for select fire.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKghKyHcpqU

Now that I am happy with the action and scope etc I will finish working on the suppressor and get onto reshaping and painting the stock.

Good shit. Good to see this sort of thing going on

Got the suppressor finished off today, its a little rough in places and still needs a lick of matt black paint on the ends buts its all fitted and works great! very very quiet and I haven't even added the gauze pads in yet! This one was done as a bit of an experiment, learnt a bit along the way and will make some small changes for the next one to simplify the build process and improve the overall finish. I have done quite a few baffled designs in PCP and c02 airguns before but this was my first mono core and I enjoyed the challenge.

I have cut a small amount off the front of the stock to make space for the suppressor but the next part of this project will be to add some extra wood and totally reshape the stock and then give it a paint, maybe with bedliner or something textured like it.

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Try the 42 grain win subs if you've only tried the 40s. The 40s won't cycle mine, but the 42s will. It's a shame they are a bit dearer

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Originally Posted by Tommy

Try the 42 grain win subs if you've only tried the 40s. The 40s won't cycle mine, but the 42s will. It's a shame they are a bit dearer

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Cheers, will pick some up this week to try!

Decided to drill some more holes in the suppressor core at 90 degrees, Probably wont make a difference but i'm the sort of person that cant leave it alone if there is a possibility that it could have been better. Wrapped some scotch pads around the sections and test fired it and was pretty impressed. Looking forward to getting this out on some goats this weekend now!

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Originally Posted by Mintie

Decided to drill some more holes in the suppressor core at 90 degrees, Probably wont make a difference but i'm the sort of person that cant leave it alone if there is a possibility that it could have been better. Wrapped some scotch pads around the sections and test fired it and was pretty impressed. Looking forward to getting this out on some goats this weekend now!

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Would be interesting to compare it with no core, just an empty tube but the end cap is part of the core isnt it?

Yep its a 3 piece design with the tube end integrated into the core. Guess you could make one up as an empty tube to compare but I don't think it would be very quiet in comparison. Inspecting this one after about 10 shots I can see where the burning gasses have been flowing and the baffles definitely seem to be slowing the flow down which is how suppressors work best apparently. Have you seen the "Smarter every day" slow motion video where he records suppressors being fired with acrylic tubes on them so you can see the gas flow? Pretty cool stuff

Interesting thread.

Must be a blowback semi, not inertia. Can't see the latter working in a .22LR.

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Originally Posted by Cordite

Interesting thread.

Must be a blowback semi, not inertia. Can't see the latter working in a .22LR.

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Sorry you are correct, It is a blowback style action.

Well I guess you could call this a success!

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Took the rifle out for a walk with my boy to one of my local spots yesterday, Bagged 8 Goats at 50-100m (one kicked its way off a ravine edge before I could get it), a large Hare at 50m and a Rabbit at 35m. The rifle performed flawlessly, the select fire action was a pleasure to shoot and works really well out in the field, while I don't like the look of the stock it works well in practice - Cant wait to get the reshaping done!, it cycled all the shots perfectly and put them all where it was told to with great accuracy and as my son demonstrates it carries very easily over the shoulder without the chance of it catching on scrub. Over all I was very happy with it on its first outing but I really am going to have to find more mags for it!

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Decent set of horns eh? I know where I left him so I can go back one day and pick up the skull.

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The suppressor worked perfectly and was super quiet! The video is a little hard to get a proper representation of how quiet it is as the mic on my phone "normalizes" sounds so they are all a similar volume, if you listen to it you can hear the sounds of the birds are muted and the volume of the shot is increased for that split second. Bloody annoying. You can hear tho that the sound of the bullet hitting the dirt 50m away is louder than the sound of the muzzle report. In person all you really hear is the firing pin strike and a low thud from the muzzle. On my next range visit I will try setup a camera with a better mic half way down range between the rifle and the target and I will shoot some of the CCI Quiet ammo and see what it sounds like, should catch a small thud at the rifle, the bullet whizzing past and then the strike on the target.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B84SmR8xVas

I disassembled the suppressor this morning to check it over after 150 or so shots and found that the scotch pad in the first chamber is taking a fair hit so I will run that chamber without it and see how the others cope over time. I might need to use steel wool or something similar in there. These 22s are filthy mongrels compared to the Co2 and PCP silencers I have built in the past! But the gas flow marks do help to show me where the flow is going and I can see that the extra holes i drilled at 90 degrees are helping to dissipate the gas.

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TBH I wouldn't worry about the scotch pads. the ones I built don't have it and are pretty quiet.
try it without them. You wont have a ringing metallic resonance from the carbon fibre outer unless you are using them to protect the tube.
If anything I would turn the chambers down closer to the centre to make more expansion chamber and make room for the gases

Nice to see the old Beretta getting some action again. They are a very cool old design made back when things were made with a bit of quality. Im glad to see it's getting revived and reused but even gladder that there's one less project in my cupboard.. :thumbsup:

No real traction on this lately, on the last outing I had it on the accuracy seemed to have worsened and it was a little louder than on previous outings. When I got it home I ran a couple of patches through it and felt a spot about half way down the barrel that the patches would go totally loose on, Looking down the barrel there is a large dark ring there so I suspect the is a large bulge in the barrel now - my son had been shooting it so maybe there was a squib and he didn't notice?

I have a couple of other .22 barrels here so will get around to swapping the barrel out at some point and once that is sorted I will attack the woodwork.

it could have always been there, or it might have just happened. The only way to tell is shoot a group and see.

id go more 90 degree holes to loose a bit of weight and get more volume, seems like its working fine so it might only be academic gains not real world feel/sound

I once had a small plastic suppressor that worked ok that had no baffles in it at all

that short little result is bloody good. Iv always liked the beretta for its duel semi/bolt action

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Originally Posted by Bill999

it could have always been there, or it might have just happened. The only way to tell is shoot a group and see.

id go more 90 degree holes to loose a bit of weight and get more volume, seems like its working fine so it might only be academic gains not real world feel/sound

I once had a small plastic suppressor that worked ok that had no baffles in it at all

that short little result is bloody good. Iv always liked the beretta for its duel semi/bolt action

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I did end up drilling quite a few more holes at 90 degrees which may or may not have helped, hard to tell the difference really. The next suppressor design is already underway in my head with quite a few changes, the section that allows the gases to travel back to the over barrel bit will have milled flat spots rather than holes drilled in it, the first muzzle forward section will be turned down to a much smaller OD and have 4 milled elongated holes along its length and the other 2 sections will be smaller OD and have bigger 90 degree holes in them.

An update after almost a year!

I haven't done anything about the barrel yet, grouping on paper it still seemed to be doing less than an inch at 50m so I might just leave it as is for now.

As some of you may have seen I had a go at some custom stock work on a JW15 a while back, I'm not much of a creative person and really messed it up with a pretty ugly result :( so I decided it was time to send the ugly JW15 stock and the stock for this Beretta away for Zooboy to have a go at them.

The stocks came back today and I am VERY happy with the results! I had sent Zooboy a few pics of some tactical style stocks that I liked and gave him the freedom to do what he wanted, Ill put pics of this one here and the JW ones will go on the other thread as a follow up to that one.

The speckled grey/gravel camo looks fantastic in the flesh and the stippled texture feels great in the hand!

Cant wait to get this out to the range and then out on the hills again.

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my old single shot remington would group like crap if I cleaned its barrel,took 10-20 shots till it settled down to normal reliable accuracy,I THINK the wax etc builds up/fills in any imperfections in the bore. love that you have given an old girl a new lease on life. those goats sure show how good of job you have done. I will 2nd the vote for the 42grn subs.....once you try them you wont go back,the terminal effect it quite a lot better.