TargetTalk

I posted this in the junior forum but then thought it may have been better to post in this one.

I am buying my daughter a new rifle and trying to understand the major difference between a model 1907 vs 2007. Do they both have the 54 series action? She has been shooting a 1903 but it is borrowed and wanted to upgrade her from the 64 action. The price difference between the 1907 and the 2007 is about $150 but the 2007 is about a pound heavier. Either one will have the 7020 sights.

The major difference is the receiver. The 1907 is the true Match 54 round action, the 2007 uses the same Match 54 style bolt and trigger but the receiver is a much larger more or less square block of steel.

The 20xx series is much newer, 1990s introduction if I remember right. Some people swear the 20xx series action is better, there are those who swear by the older round action. The biggest advantage to the 20xx series is that if you are so motivated you can change barrels yourself at home.

Last time I looked you could not get a new wooden stocked 20xx rifle but a wooden stock 19xx is still available.

Rear sights are interchangeable across all the Anschutz rifles and many others.

Cheers,
Dude

A question here is how old is your daughter?

I like the 1907 action specifically because it is lighter.
You could also probably find a larger variety of used stocks as she grows and progresses. A favorite of mine is the 1912 stock, especially for the (young) women. It's always relatively easy to add weight to a stock... harder to trim it.
My oldest uses a 1912 stock because of the light(er) weight and my youngest uses a 1913 (more of a mens stock) because she likes a touch heavier rifle ... both are 1907 actions ... there are many, many stocks you can toss that 1907 action into.

Also the 20xx series' square action allows for much easier barrel swaps, whereas the 19xx series would need a gunsmith to swap barrels. In terms of everything else the only real difference would be the actual weight of the action. The 20xx series action would put more weight to the rear of the rifle and the 19xx series would put it towards the barrel. It's all personal preference.

Thank you for such quick and very helpful responses. My daughter is 14 and is fairly strong. I do like the idea of being able to switch the stocks with more of a variety vs. the possible limitations of the 2007. It looks the the only stock you can get for the 2007 now is the aluminum but the one I can possibly get does have a wooden one. I did noticed that the 1907 has 2 bedding screws while the 2007 has 4 since has a square action. Is there any advantage to that feature or is it really preference again?

One other question. For my other firearms I like stainless barrels but not sure if that is a good idea on a high precision target rifle. I heard some say it is not as accurate and anschutz looks like they quit making that option. The reason I ask is if I did go for a 2007 I have an option of a 500mm stainless barrel with a tube extension out to 26" or a 600mm blued barrel. Is this another personal preference? Unfortunately, as a young shooter her preferences probably will change so I have to think about flexibility options and/or selling it and buying a different one.

Tothemark wrote:My daughter is 14 and is fairly strong.

One other question. For my other firearms I like stainless barrels but not sure if that is a good idea on a high precision target rifle. I heard some say it is not as accurate and anschutz looks like they quit making that option. The reason I ask is if I did go for a 2007 I have an option of a 500mm stainless barrel with a tube extension out to 26" or a 600mm blued barrel. Is this another personal preference? Unfortunately, as a young shooter her preferences probably will change so I have to think about flexibility options and/or selling it and buying a different one.

Personally, I'd go with the lighter rifle for her at this age. If you get a decent deal on a used rifle then you'll be able to sell it in a few years for about the same price you pay.

Stainless/blued ... My oldest has a stainless bbl, my youngest a blued. Neither of them really shoot enough for me to see the difference, they both are limited by themselves, not the rifle ... both do shoot extension tubes With decent ammo (say STD+) at 50 feet, both can shoot 100's in prone. 50m and 100yd any barrell will need a bit of ammo matching to perform best.

The best thing you can do at this stage is to get a rifle that will fit her and be comfortable to shoot and get her pulling the trigger as much as you can. Find & enter PTOs and bigger matches to help get the jitters out & give lots of praise.

'mark

Without getting into exact height and weight, if your daughter is 14 and average to a bit above on the anthropometric tables then an xx07 should be just about perfect for her.

As shooters develop in their skills they can take better advantage of features and adjust ability of the more advanced stocks. IMHO the more complex stocks with shooter who are not developed enough for them can do more harm than good.

You are correct about the bedding screws, 19xx action 2 screws on the centerline, 20xx action, 4 screws on the 4 corners. Over history the round Match 54 action has been somewhat sensitive to bedding screw torque. It is presumed this has something to do with the action being round. The 20xx action with the flat bottom is supposed to bed into the stock easier. Does this really happen? Maybe, there do seem to be fewer discussions on 20xx bedding torque. In the end I think both actions can be made to shoot equally as well. (That last part is my personal opinion.)

As for barrels, they make target grade stainless barrels for Anschutz just as they make stainless barrels for hunting rifles and utility firearms. In most cases a carefully made and installed aftermarket stainless barrel will perform better than a stock Anschutz barrel. Until your daughter starts shooting say 575/600 this is likely not necessary, even then it would likely not be necessary.

For a junior, unless you are addressing a specific issue such as short stature or far sightedness I do not recommend bloop tubes. It is one more thing to go wrong or not be installed correctly when getting the rifle dressed. Bloop tubes also need to be cleaned regularly or the buildup WILL have a negative effect on accuracy. 600mm fixed length blued barrel is likely fine.

IMHO, people get overworked about being able to change your own barrel on the 20xx action. This is not the type of thing most people need to do on a regular basis with smallbore. I have replace the barrels on a few of my old round action Anschutz. They shoot so well I expect they well carry me to the end of my shooting days without having to be replaced again.

Cheers,
'Dude

FWIW - my son is 12 and shoots a 1907. It was still heavy for him out of the box so his coach switched out the barrel for a shortened stainless steel barrel and reduced the weight by about 2 lbs. Since the barrel was shortened by 6-inches we compensated by adding a Uptagrafft Extension Tube. So essentially the same sight distance as the factory 1907. I did talk to the Lilja barrel folks and they can make a barrel for about $350 but it needs to be mounted by a gun smith. I fully expect him to grow into the 1907 barrel and we will change back in the future, but for now this setup is pretty nice. I'd be happy to post photos if interested just PM me.

Greg