Wheeler Accuracy’s Long Range Benchrest (LRB) stock
Wheeler Accuracy’s Long Range Benchrest (LRB) stock
by Kelly McMillan
Alex Wheeler at Wheeler Accuracy specializes in extensive gunsmithing services tailoring long-range benchrest, F-Class, and hunting rifles to a customer’s needs. This skill allowed Alex to design one of the most accurate long-range benchrest rifles on the market. I’ve worked with Alex for over a year now, supplying him with his Long Range Benchrest (LRB) stock in fiberglass. This stock was designed with input from some of the best long-range shooters in the world and has also set 12 long-range national and world records.
One of the key features of Alex’s design is an adjustable aluminum tracking rudder that always keeps the rifle on the center of the target during fire. With a one-time adjustment, this rudder puts the front of the rifle in perfect parallel with the rear half. While the crosshairs of most rifles leave the center of the target after firing and when returning to battery, due to variables in stocks and rest systems, on Alex’s rifle they do not. In fact, just a .002″ movement in the rear bag usually causes 2.4” of crosshair movement on a 1,000-yard target. However, Alex’s stock is one of the only stocks on the market with true tracking, allowing a shooter to put rounds down range quicker and minimizing adjustments during fire. A video on Alex’s website demonstrates this process, which will surely change the way you shoot and improve your accuracy.
“600-yards and 1,000-yards are the two ranges it’s shot at,” Alex said, discussing his LRB and long-range benchrest competitions. “It’s scored for group size and also score, so you’re trying to shoot small groups and put them in the X ring if you can. The match is shot blind, meaning you have a slighter period and then you’ll go to record period and depending on if you’re shooting light gun or heavy gun, you’ll shoot a five-shot or ten-shot group, and you have no idea what your groups look like — you can’t see that far.
“So, shooting fast before the wind and other conditions have time to change is important. This stock is designed with what we call “tracking” […] When we push the rifle back forward, if it tracks, that means that the crosshair is on the X again and you don’t have to make an adjustment. And the benefit of that is you can shoot much faster if you’re not adjusting your rest, basically, if you’re not having to re-aim your rifle every time.”
Aluminum rails in the front also prevent rocking and create small trenches that assist tracking. The fore end is legal in benchrest competition, at 4” wide and 1/2” tall, which helps control torquing in the bag. These stocks are light enough to accommodate the 17-pound class with most scopes. Alex also sells what he considers the best bags for this rifle, designed by Edgewood Shooting Bags.
Components for Alex’s LRB stock can be customized and selected by the shooter when placing an order, such as Borden, Bat, Kelby, and Defiance actions; Bix’n Andy triggers; and Krieger, Rock Creek, or Broughton barrels.
I’m happy that Alex and I were able to collaborate on this project. Give his website and videos a look to see one of the most accurate long-range benchrest rifles on the market.
Contact: wheeleraccuracy@yahoo.com
