RPA Woodland Stalker

PointerJack

Well-Known Member
Hi all,

I have been toying with getting the rifle above and was after the views of individuals that have/had one. Do you suffer accuracy due to the short barrel and do you lose velocity with factory ammo as the powder has less time to burn? I would imagine that with home loads, a fast burning powder would be necessary. Probably go for one in .243w.

I have a .243 and a .308 at the moment and only use them for stalking, mainly less than 150m distance although on occasion I have taken longer shots. Use mainly factory but have started home loading, not very successfully so far!

Regards
 
Some uncertainty over the legal velocity from that length barrel. That was the main reason I decided against one(and the price).
 
Some uncertainty over the legal velocity from that length barrel. That was the main reason I decided against one(and the price).


Colin, a grey area but I think with home loads it can be overcome!

​not sure what RPA are doing these days!
 
Hi mate,

No one seems to say many good things about them lately! I'd rather not have to rely on my home loads if I change rifles. If I can find a thumbhole stock for my CZ (.243), I'll keep it.
 
Fancied a short barrel thumbhole really. Although liked the stock more than the barrel length to be fair. Still pondering.
 
i'v got a rpa .243 hunter thumb long barrel, its tack driver it comes in at around 8 pound plus glass etc and even with geco 105's it shot a . 5 group yesterday on test at bisley i normly use 85hp's at .5 moa or better so thay are a shooter ,also i just put a hardy G4 mod on mine and also have a newish t8 for it aswell . as you are in essex ,if you wish and have a place to shoot it you are welcome to have a hands on and see it bark.:tiphat:
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the offer and I probably would take you up on it.... Slight issue- out of country for another couple of months, back mid-end Oct. Kind of you to offer though.
 
no worrys hope your not in a hot place ! but offer still stands if you wish on your return:tiphat: pm me if you still wish i'll give you my email
 
No experience of RPA but have an 18" barrel on my .308 custom which is a tack driver. Accuracy should not be an issue if well made but velocity may well be and .243 is one of the calibres that suffers significant loss of velocity in a shorter barrel.
 
I am in a hot, frustrating country with legitimate quarry that we can't shoot! PM sent.

I use the PIV version http://www.steyr-aug.com/ssg.htm for woodland stalking and it is truly excellent. It has been discussed before http://www.thestalkingdirectory.co.uk/showthread.php/43582-Ssg-69-piv, but non of the contributors actually owned one I don't think. It is heavy, but it doesn't feel cumbersome because of its barrel length. I would heartily recommend it as a woodland stalking rifle, but I think they only produce it in .308.
 
Thanks Penyard,

What is the barrel make on your rifle?

PJ

to be honest, not 100% sure. Steve Bowers built it some years ago on a Krico action and with an 18" polygonal twist barrel in order for it to be better able to stabilise sub-sonic bullets as well as shoot supersonic which it does very well. It was built originally for a deer manager up north and came back in part exchange some years later so I snapped it up off of Steve when given first refusal as it is perfect for wild boar high seat work and the odd bit of woodland stalking. My personal opinion is that this format is better served by .308 than .243.
 
Before they went bust and were bought again, the guy I spoke to there said get a .308 as .243's don't deal as well with being shortened.

My understanding is you need a hotter load to be deer legal, but you're not going to be far off with factory and I've never heard of anyone being prosecuted for a few hundred fps - that law is more about stopping people with "foxing calibres" shooting deer with them IMO.
 
Back
Top