So just thought I would share my experience so far with the newest member of the cabinet line up. Iām a few months in & its not been plain sailing but I think we are there 
Iāve always wanted a Stutzen rifleā¦.ever since I was a boy I always thought they just look cool & admired their classy lines. I came close to buying one a few years back but jibbed as it was a 20ā barrelled .270. I always regretted not buying it, though my recent experience suggests it wasnāt a bad decision.
Now most stutzens that you come across seem to be Steyr or Ruger, even the odd BSA CF2 but mine is a Mauser mod 77. Iāve only ever seen 2x others. Another .243 & the .270 above.
I own a beautiful little Mauser 201 .22lr of a similar era & the 77 is a perfect stable
Mate. The 77 is the one gun in the cabinet that I have to pick up even when I am reaching in for something else..it handles quickly, feels great in hand & is just so pointable. Iāve other horses for different courses but the stutzen talks dirty to me
Rifle came with evidence of groups shot circa 1āā¦butā¦.try as I might I really struggled to get the old girl to shoot. Tried a few different rounds & no consistency seemed attainable.
I dropped the action out of the stock to find a pressure pillar around 5ā back from the muzzle. It clearly wasnāt effective as the barrel passed the Ā£5note test and was floating. With a witness mark toward the muzzle I started conjuring all sorts of solutions in my head. The most elaborate involved milling out a channel
Inside the stock to insert a 4mm aluminium tube inserted inside an 8mm one and then fully glass bedding the rifle with a free float. This in theory would stiffen the stock & float the barrel at the same time. (May still try this one day
)
Before I got too stuck into it however I went with an easier option. A simple strip of self adhesive neoprene tape across the barrel Chanel and over the failed pressure pillar. The theory being that it should have a similar effect in calming down barrell harmonics whilst still allowing the barrel to oscillate when fired.
Off to the bonnet of the Landy, Bags & ammo in handā¦
1 1/4ā I can live with thatā¦. Adjust & then 2rnds off of the @limulus sticksā¦.holy ****ā¦WTF has happened 
Well between you and I I burnt through the best part of Ā£100 of ammo over a few sessions trying to work it out
ā¦making tweeks & retesting. I was still flummoxed & loosing what sanity remains so yesterday I headed to John & Jo at Duchy Gunsmiths.
Jo & I shot several different rounds from the bench bag at the obligatory 100yrds. 76g Geco to 100g Norma and whilst POI was different for each shooter we saw a rifle seemingly fairly unfussy about diet and shooting 1ā-2ā groups all day. Not to bad for a 50yr old pre MOA guarantee thunderstick.
So Adjustā¦try off the sticksā¦.& WTFā¦.āyou try Joeāā¦.
WTFā¦.and there was the cause. So the stock is pushing the barrel right ā¦well No actuallyā¦we worked out another cause.
It turns out the stock wasnāt that big a deal at allā¦in fact it was muzzle flip off the sticks was causing the POI change & opening of groups.
The cureā¦well now I know that it does it I can prepare for it. I set the rifle on the sticks, and as I set the trigger and prepare for the shot I make sure I am gripping the sling and applying downward pressure with my left hand and focus on follow through. Target below is 75yrds. I adjusted 4clicks down & 2clicks right for a just sub 1ā group at 100yrds.
So simple fixā¦.I shoot off of my sticks 95% of the timeā¦thatās how Iāll be zeroing the stutzen & Im gonna have a great summer on the roebucks with it. The old girl is plenty capable, you just need to understand her subtleties beforehand. Sounds like my Landy
Iāve always wanted a Stutzen rifleā¦.ever since I was a boy I always thought they just look cool & admired their classy lines. I came close to buying one a few years back but jibbed as it was a 20ā barrelled .270. I always regretted not buying it, though my recent experience suggests it wasnāt a bad decision.
Now most stutzens that you come across seem to be Steyr or Ruger, even the odd BSA CF2 but mine is a Mauser mod 77. Iāve only ever seen 2x others. Another .243 & the .270 above.
I own a beautiful little Mauser 201 .22lr of a similar era & the 77 is a perfect stable
Mate. The 77 is the one gun in the cabinet that I have to pick up even when I am reaching in for something else..it handles quickly, feels great in hand & is just so pointable. Iāve other horses for different courses but the stutzen talks dirty to me
Rifle came with evidence of groups shot circa 1āā¦butā¦.try as I might I really struggled to get the old girl to shoot. Tried a few different rounds & no consistency seemed attainable.
I dropped the action out of the stock to find a pressure pillar around 5ā back from the muzzle. It clearly wasnāt effective as the barrel passed the Ā£5note test and was floating. With a witness mark toward the muzzle I started conjuring all sorts of solutions in my head. The most elaborate involved milling out a channel
Inside the stock to insert a 4mm aluminium tube inserted inside an 8mm one and then fully glass bedding the rifle with a free float. This in theory would stiffen the stock & float the barrel at the same time. (May still try this one day
)Before I got too stuck into it however I went with an easier option. A simple strip of self adhesive neoprene tape across the barrel Chanel and over the failed pressure pillar. The theory being that it should have a similar effect in calming down barrell harmonics whilst still allowing the barrel to oscillate when fired.
Off to the bonnet of the Landy, Bags & ammo in handā¦
1 1/4ā I can live with thatā¦. Adjust & then 2rnds off of the @limulus sticksā¦.holy ****ā¦WTF has happened Well between you and I I burnt through the best part of Ā£100 of ammo over a few sessions trying to work it out
ā¦making tweeks & retesting. I was still flummoxed & loosing what sanity remains so yesterday I headed to John & Jo at Duchy Gunsmiths.Jo & I shot several different rounds from the bench bag at the obligatory 100yrds. 76g Geco to 100g Norma and whilst POI was different for each shooter we saw a rifle seemingly fairly unfussy about diet and shooting 1ā-2ā groups all day. Not to bad for a 50yr old pre MOA guarantee thunderstick.
So Adjustā¦try off the sticksā¦.& WTF
ā¦.āyou try Joeāā¦.WTFā¦.and there was the cause. So the stock is pushing the barrel right ā¦well No actuallyā¦we worked out another cause.It turns out the stock wasnāt that big a deal at allā¦in fact it was muzzle flip off the sticks was causing the POI change & opening of groups.
The cureā¦well now I know that it does it I can prepare for it. I set the rifle on the sticks, and as I set the trigger and prepare for the shot I make sure I am gripping the sling and applying downward pressure with my left hand and focus on follow through. Target below is 75yrds. I adjusted 4clicks down & 2clicks right for a just sub 1ā group at 100yrds.
So simple fixā¦.I shoot off of my sticks 95% of the timeā¦thatās how Iāll be zeroing the stutzen & Im gonna have a great summer on the roebucks with it. The old girl is plenty capable, you just need to understand her subtleties beforehand. Sounds like my Landy
.
It's an absolute beauty!
