I’m interested in these, actually I just realized they existed. I had previously looked at 455 Tacticool’s, but the Trainer looks sweet. I would need one with a threaded barrel, which means either 16” or 24”. It would simply be a “fun” gun for paper punching.

I've had one for a while, went a little nuts pimping it out. They are pretty heavy so keep that in mind. I use it when I want to shoot a nice bolt gun but don't feel like burning through the ammo. It's fun to shoot with no recoil whatsoever and extremely quiet with the DA Mask. Ended up putting an oversized bolt handle on mine along with losing the Harris studs and installing a rail/atlas bipod.

Gorgeous rifle, Andyb. One question, has the 16” barrel hampered you any? The threaded options are 16” and 24”. The 24” seems awful long though.

Sold my Tacticool to get it. Now wears a Leupold Mk4 6.5-20

quote:

Originally posted by dry-fly:
Gorgeous rifle, Andyb. One question, has the 16” barrel hampered you any? The threaded options are 16” and 24”. The 24” seems awful long though.

The 16" seems to put plenty of zip on it, I've had no issues. If I had not been planning to suppress it I might have gone longer but once you mount the suppressor it just seemed a little much to me. The 16in with suppressor feels right

quote:

Originally posted by dry-fly:
Gorgeous rifle, Andyb. One question, has the 16” barrel hampered you any? The threaded options are 16” and 24”. The 24” seems awful long though.

There would be minimal muzzle velocity gains from the additional 8" of barrel. There might even be a slight MV loss with the longer barrel, depending on ammo and the individual barrel. This is especially true with the subsonic ammo that should be shot from such a rifle.

Accuracy shouldn't be any different between the two barrel lengths. Sometimes a shorter, stiffer barrel produces better accuracy than its longer cousin. But I suspect the different barrel lengths should produce indistinguishable accuracy differences.

A longer barrel makes sense if one is shooting with iron sights. That additional 8" between the front and rear sights generally increases accuracy. Of course, as long as the shooter has good enough eyesight to keep front sight, rear sight, and target all in relatively good focus. But I suspect such a rifle will be sporting a magnified optic.

The additional barrel length will make the rifle heavier. Heavier is good when it comes to taming recoil. But recoil isn't an issue with 22lr ammo.

Thank you for that Fritz, and Warpig.. nice rifle! I appreciate it.

quote:

Originally posted by fritz:
There would be minimal muzzle velocity gains from the additional 8" of barrel. There might even be a slight MV loss with the longer barrel, depending on ammo and the individual barrel. This is especially true with the subsonic ammo that should be shot from such a rifle.

Yes, it has long been claimed that a barrel approximately 16 inches long usually produces maximum velocity with the 22 Long Rifle cartridge.

I have the Tacticool version which I believe has an 18” barrel, I could wrong though. I also have an AAC Element 2 for it. It’s ridiculously quiet.

Welcome to the Forum from Arkansas

Is it really worth it over the Varmint Tacticool?

I'm going to be in need of a host when my SRD-22 gets out of jail. The $400 premium over the Tacticool 16.5", is it just in the stock?

I don't own either of them. But a 24" barrel version with a suppressor would probably be pretty front heavy and unwieldy.

^^ agreed and that’s what I was thinking as well. The threaded 16” seems to be the way to go. The stock is the main, if not only difference. Not sure on internals.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
I don't own either of them. But a 24" barrel version with a suppressor would probably be pretty front heavy and unwieldy.

Yes, the rifle would weigh more, the balance point would be further forward, and the overall rifle would be long. And for a 22lr, that length and weight really doesn't add much to the rifle's ability to shoot well.

But for most people the length, weight, and balance aren't real issues. Most people don't carry their 22lr bolt actions further than from the back of their SUV to the bench rest at the local range. Then they shoot the rifle while it is resting on a bunch of heavy sandbags, or maybe if they're Tactical Tony, the front of the rifle will be supported by a bipod.

Most people will never shoot the rifle from a position. Not standing off hand, not slung from kneeling or sitting, not from barriers, not from a tripod. They'll never have to develop a natural point of aim, never have to worry about the rifle's balance point.

I shoot a 26" heavy barrel precision rifle in tactical matches, and it wears a 9" can. We shoot from barriers, tripods, slung, unsupported. We have to move rifles around barriers, sometimes moving the rifles in and out of windows, slots, and tunnels. It all can be done with very little drama.

But a 16" barrel makes more sense on a 'scoped 22lr, if nothing else for muzzle velocity and barrel stiffness reasons.