TargetTalk

3/23 - Updated with Rieder und Lenz and Tesro rifles.

Time to update this thread. I have added the FWB 2800. Kudos to FWB for coming out with something radically different from their previous rifle. Looks like Anschutz has fallen behind everyone now as far as development.

I was bored and just decided to take some photos of the different rifles available and put red lines across them to mark where the loading ports are. In my recent research to determine my next rifle the big thing I've been looking at now is where the loading port is located in relation to the trigger.

There's been a greater emphasis on ergonomics recently and being able to load in the prone position with little to no movement of the rifle and body. The closer the loading port the more chance you have of loading without even lifting your elbow off the ground. Since the hand is already positioned to grasp the pistol grip and engage the trigger, having the loading port directly over the trigger is advantageous as it doesn't take much to move the hand to access this area of the rifle.

It's considerably difficult if you happen to have short arms. One girl from Team Canada was never able to reach the loading port on her Anschutz 2013 even with the stock as short as she could make it. She was literally tossing rounds into the loading port hoping they would land and be facing the correct way. She ended up buying a Bleiker and doesn't have that problem anymore.

You can see the loading ports of older models of Anschutz are quite far forward of the trigger. Same for the KK300 and FWB 2700. The new 54.30 brings it back a little bit, but not as far as Walther did with the KK500. The KK500 loading port is about as close as the Bleiker and Grunig, but at about half the cost of those rifles.

The comparison between the makes isn't exact as all these rifles use different stocks and the length of pull can be varied which can aid you in loading the rifle. This is where the Anschutz Precise stock is lacking because the pistol grip cannot be adjusted backwards or forwards. So changing LOP would result in adopting an arm and wrist position to accommodate the change. With other stocks, if you shortened your LOP you could move the pistol grip forward to compensate for the change and maintain your preferred arm and wrist angle.

Just food for thought for anyone looking at getting a new rifle. Back to boredom now.

1907/1913


2013


54.30


KK300


KK500


FWB 2700


FWB 2800


Grunig


Bleiker


Reider und Lenz 50 Sportgewehr ZII


Tesro SBR100

That is very cool! Its a view you never get to see with all of them on one page, really informative. Thank you for posting.

Thank you very much for this. As a newbie this is something I hadn't even considered.

Very good food for thought.....

Very interesting, and a most important aspect of rifle design. Have you ever looked at a BSA International, which gives excellent access to its loading port (if you can call it that)? Ladies in our club have found these BSAs superior to the older Anschutzs for this sole reason.

Cumbrian wrote:Very interesting, and a most important aspect of rifle design. Have you ever looked at a BSA International, which gives excellent access to its loading port (if you can call it that)? Ladies in our club have found these BSAs superior to the older Anschutzs for this sole reason.

Just so.

The winner in this game is.....

Great comparison, thanks for posting! :)

I've just received my kk500 and while I could load from the shoulder on my 1907 it was still disruptive to the prone position. With loading port above trigger I can keep everything in place. Has it helped my scores. ....yes

Why didnt Anschutz just set the action back like this ?

Comparing the 54.30 to the G&E, Bleiker and especially the KK500 makes the 54.30 seem somewhat half-assed. The loading port is still really far forwards compared to its main competitors.

Perhaps Anschutz's next action will be the 54.90 :)

Peter_Scant wrote:Perhaps Anschutz's next action will be the 54.90 :)

Followed by the 55.00? :-)

The loading port of the Feinwerkbau 2800 is even behind the diopter :D

http://www.targettalk.org/viewtopic.php ... 69#p277169

Piefou wrote:The loading port of the Feinwerkbau 2800 is even behind the diopter :D

http://www.targettalk.org/viewtopic.php ... 69#p277169

oui, bien sur. ;)

This is outstanding.. thank you for posting.

the new Walther smallbore rifle is in the neighborhood of $5000, with all the goodies !!!

Given we are all built differently, different lengths between the buttstock and pistol grip, should you not focus on the distance the loading port is from the pistol grip.?

groverdog1 wrote:Given we are all built differently, different lengths between the buttstock and pistol grip, should you not focus on the distance the loading port is from the pistol grip.?

Regardless of whether it's in relation to the trigger or pistol grip, closer is better.

Thank you very much for your job.
Very interesting.

Thanks for the update, Jober!