OPEN CLASS RIFLES
Revised 5/19/24
Made to order Matrix Pro from MasterPiece Arms
OPEN CLASS RIFLES
Base class too basic? Need to squeeze out every drop of Accuracy out of the 22LR? Well, the world is your oyster as long as you have the bank account to pry it open! Open class rifles are defined as any 22LR caliber rifle that has an aftermarket barrel, chassis or both, and/or breaks the $1500 threshold when combined with an optic. One may notice with this class of competition rifle that the cost and modification range is quiet broad. One this is for sure, you will eventually find that one of a kind pearl that will shine and impress at your next competition if you have the skills to equal it…
Personally, I believe that finding, purchasing, or building your own precision rifle is one of my favorite parts of match shooting. I enjoy reading all the reviews and watching all the videos of others shooting their builds, trying out new or popular factory builds and all the accessories that bring your 5 or 10 shot groups so close together a pencil almost won’t pass through it. The companies that make these rifles, actions, barrels, and chassis have become familiar names to my web browser, and my list for Santa has grown exponentially. Similar as when I was a teenager, the names Anschutz, Vudoo, Zermatt Arms Rimx, Desert Precision Gunworks, Masterpiece Arms and CZ have become metaphorical posters that have taken the place of the real posters that used to hang on my bedroom walls of Mustangs, Lambos, monster trucks and Ducati’s. Now I lay awake in bed at night, anxious to get to the range in the morning to test out my new Garmin chronograph, the new brick of Lapua long range match ammo and my new custom spun 24 1/2” BDP barrel with a 1-12 twist. Unlike Ralphie and his Red Ryder, I fall asleep with dreams of vapor trails and ringing steel instead of Black Bart and his evil doers. Like Ralphie and “Ole Blue”, Black Bart has promised to be back in the form of missed shots on easy stages, bad wind calls and wrong dope. The battle is never over, but the pursuit is always a blast…!
Factory Open Class Builds
Lets start with Factory Open Class rifles… These are rifles that are made in larger scale Gunworks, but are loaded with features that used to only be found on full custom builds. Rifle manufactures have taken note of custom centerfire rifles that are used in PRS type matches, and have started building those rifles for the 22LR. Many centerfire rigs can be expensive to shoot, and requires ranges of 500 to 1200 yards or more. Rimfire rifles are much more inexpensive to shoot, and require a lot less distance; making them a reasonable training setup for many shooters.
Bergara’s Factory Trainer B-14 in 22 LR rimfire
Many rifle manufactures have built aptly named trainer rifles in 22LR. Rifles from Anschutz, Bergara and CZ are set up with familiar chassis, triggers and even some actions to look and feel like like your prs setup. Bergara’s B-14R has a R700 action footprint which is the GEN 3 Glock of hunting and precision shooting rifles. Not that you need to, but if you want to change the chassis or barrel in the future, there is a entire menu of options to choose from. It comes with a push-feed action that wields dual extractors for smooth loading and clean extracting and a full size detachable magazine patterned after the short action AICS mag.
CZ 457 Factory Rifle Chassis Model
CZ is well known for the model 457 and it is one of the most popular base and open class rifles out there because you can find multiple combinations of price and style. Starting with the 457 American Synthetic with a MSRP of $549, and ending with the 457 Chassis and 457 Manners MTR at $1899, these rifles are sure to meet all shooters needs right out of the box. The 457 Chassis model comes with the MDT ACC Premier chassis. It enables adjustments for Length of Pull (LOP) a Cheek riser, Grip Adjustment and an ARCA rail attachment and weighs 9 lbs. Too bad that CZ only did a limited run of 500 units, but if you can’t get a hold of one, it is a great template to build your own. The 24” match barrel with a 1-16 twist is a good start, but it is an open class rifle so an upgrade with a custom barrel might come down the road if you are still chasing single hole groups. My own experience with CZ 457s has been very positive, and almost every one of the 4 rifles I have personally owned have shot 3/8'“ to 1/2” 5 shot groups pretty consistently from the factory barrel. It should be noted, that you should test multiple match grade ammunitions for the best results. I have had ELEY match shoot incredibly well in one gun, while SK match would shoot the best in another.
The 457 Manners model is priced the same as the Chassis model, but quite different in looks, weight and format. Also released in a limited run of 500, this rifle has the full carbon Manners stock with a flat and extended forearm, 90 degree grip. The barrel length of this rifle is a shorter 16.2” but has the same twist rate as the rest of the 457s with a 1/16 twist. CZ lists the rifle weight as 5.9 lbs., just over 3 lbs. less than the Chassis model.
CZ 457 Factory Rifle Manners Model
Anschutz… The name speaks for itself. Well known for decades, the Anschutz 22LR rifles are renowned for their accuracy and are found throughout the world at benchrest matches and Olympic shooting events. Although I personally haven’t seen very many at my local matches, they frequently show up across the states and have become more and more common at NRL22 and PRS22 matches. Specifically, they have developed the MODEL 1710 for the new school of 22 match shooting, teaming up with familiar chassis brands MDT, XLR, and GRS to produce high quality and incredibly accurate rifles.
Anschutz Model 1710 with MDT ACC Chassis
Made To Order Rifles and Barreled Actions
Many rifles in the open class are built by the shooters. Whether it is a made to order rifle or a barreled action, many shooters choose to carefully add the components they feel will set their rifle apart from the others. The reasons here are many, but getting a rifle that is balanced, accurate and comfortable are paramount to shooting well in matches. For this reason, many companies offer their customers options with actions, barreled actions, and complete rifles. Zermatt Arms is well known for their RimX 22LR action which is based off the Remington 700 footprint. This action is the foundation of many made to order builds, full custom builds and barreled actions on the market today. Vudoo Gun Works has also produced a R700 footprinted action, the V22. This action has also transformed as a gen 3 model into the Three60 action.
Made to order rifles are special, classy, and are an exciting way to run the open class like a boss. These rifles are in a category all their own and the envy of many on the shooting line. Vudoo Gun Works and MasterPiece Arms (who uses a Vudoo three60 action) are at the top of the food chain here and will be omni present at any and every NRL22 and PRS 22 style match.
Vudoo hails from the state of Utah, which also seems to produce top shooters as well as great rifles. The vudoogunworks.com website allows you to build your rifle step by step. The popular rimfire builds start with your choice of chassis, then with their V22 or Three 60 actions. Progressively down the line, it then allows you to choose your barrel contour, barrel length, barrel crown, and bolt knob. From there a scope base, trigger, scope and scope mount round out the build.
Vudoo’s Apparition Rifle with the Three60 action and an MPA Chassis
Georgia’s MasterPiece Arms also gives you the ability to build a rifle the same way. From masterpiecearms.com, you can choose between two different MPA precision chassis, then add a barrel with your chosen length and twist rate and attach it to a Vudoo 360 action. Although not a budget friendly option, as these builds will be very pricey, they will guarantee top notch rifles. Accuracy and balance will not be an issue with these builds. Because the chassis offered with these rifles are so modular, fit shouldn’t be a problem either.
MasterPiece Arms Made to Order Rifle, The Matrix Pro
Piecemeal Custom Builds
The last category I will mention is the most common you will find at matches in the open class division. Unsure of an official name, I will refer to these rifles as Piecemeal builds, but they are really true Full Custom builds. These rifles started out as either Actions only, A custom barreled action, or a base class rifle that has been upgraded piece by piece. If you are like me, dropping $5000 plus all at once on a custom rifle isn’t going to go over well with the wife, but easier to justify a piece at a time! I started my Custom build with a CZ457 AT One Varmint rifle that I bought used from my local gun shop. I picked up a 30 MOA scope rail mount from AREA 419, bought an ARKEN SH-4 Gen ll FFP Optic and headed to the local range for my first NRL 22 rimfire match. I knew very little about it, but learned a lot in a really amazing afternoon. In the months that followed I made new friends from the local club who generously shared their abundant knowledge with a guy they just met. I learned about the NRL 22 Courses of Fire, the rules, (written and unwritten!), Barricades, techniques, approaches, and of course, gear, bags, rifles and optics. I discovered I needed a bipod, then a better way to mount it; soon I was shopping for ARCA rails….then a new bipod…and then a new chassis, because I couldn’t mount it to the round forearm of my current rifle stock.
Slowly, and months in the making have lead me to my current rifles. All that’s left of that CZ 457 varmint is the action and bolt! I just got it back from BDP Custom Rifles in Spanish Fork Utah, where it now sports a 24.5” 1-12 twist 1.10” diameter steel heavy barrel thinly wrapped with carbon fiber… The Chassis is beautiful work of art from PDC Custom and the Arken has morphed into a Tract Toric UHD 4-25X50 34mm ELR optic. The original trigger, as good as it was, has been replaced with a Timney and pulls as light as a feather. Even the bolt knob is gone, the stock round steel marble replaced by AREA 419’s superb offering.
The Authors current piecemeal build, built from a CZ457 Varmint AT-One rifle.
Now that I have built the rifle that I feel will help me compete and improve my scores, I should be done, happy, and satisfied right?! With that rifle, yes….. Time to build another! The process will continue and the quest will begin again, as I now have a RimX action and an MPA chassis to to build up and new information to process. Keywords that my browser will be processing are 13,14, and 15 twists, Structured Barrels and Voquartsen Summit bolt actions.
Like all bad habits, building a custom rifle to your own preferences is addicting! It never seems to get boring adding a new part to a build you're working on and then testing it out at the range. The future is bright in the precision 22 LR world, as companies are dishing out new offerings almost daily specifically for this discipline. Rifles, chassis, barrels, triggers, optics, bags, plates, gear…. One thing is for sure, the quest for the perfect 22 precision rifle is like the last setting on your parallax knob. Infinite.
