When the legendary brand of bench rest and 50 meter rifle arrives in the world of TLD and PRS
It seems that Anschutz is setting himself new goals for conquest....
Conquer the podiums of the TLD and PRS world!
Our experience of LORD OF STEEL 2024 goes in this direction, we finished 7th despite a big error from the shooter... Visible here:
Indeed, during our visit in March 2023 to the IWA (international trade fair in Germany) we had the pleasure of discovering the brand's flagship weapons to publicly display its intention to conquer the TLD and PRS market.
And for that they don't do things by halves, we know Anschutz for the quality of its cases, its barrels, their triggers, on the other hand the chassis are not the strong point if we go outside the world of 50 meters rifle, to compensate for this shortcoming they decided on a strong alliance with none other than the world leader in TLD chassis, I named MDT!
This alliance thus gives rise to 3 models:
- The 1710 is a match 54 case mounted on an MDT competition chassis for TLD and PRS at the 22LR, the highest range available for this practice.
- The 1762 is a 22LR rifle with an MDT XRS chassis based on a body not previously available at Anschutz, a complete creation for this weapon.
- The 1782 APR, the large-caliber TLD rifle available in 6.5CM / 6 CM / 308 Win based on an MDT Competition chassis and the complete modification of the 1782 hunting rifle from Anschutz, the weapon which is the subject of our article here.
We suggest organizing this article into 4 parts:
- The chassis, its particularities and functionalities
- German Quality cannon action
- The accessories that equip this weapon for our tests
- Target results (100 mothers and TLD)
What if we talked a little about Chassis?!
The MDT ACC Competition Frame is an aluminum stock designed for competition rifles. It is made from aircraft grade 6061 T6 aluminum and is anodized for durability. Anschutz offers 2 colors: Gray or Tan
This MDT chassis is known and recognized in the competition world for its compatibility with a variety of rifle bodies, including Remington 700, Tikka T3…
Some slight modifications had to be made to the historic MDT chassis in order to accept the Anschutz 1782 action, notably the increase in the front part of the magazine.
This chassis stands out for its very comprehensive adjustments and its strong accessorization.
A chassis that is almost adjustable in every direction?!
The length of the stock is adjustable by means of a wheel, which allows the length of the stock (taken from the recoil heel to the trigger tail) to be changed from 34 cm to 38 cm, perfect for young and old! The height of the butt heel is adjustable in order to adapt to the shooting position and to properly locate the recoil on the shooter's shoulder. We appreciate a heel raised upwards when shooting in a prone position, on the other hand when shooting on a table we will prefer a heel in line with the chassis. The cheek rest is adjustable in height, graduations are located on the guide axes in order to identify the position that suits you best, allowing you whatever the height of the mounting of your scope to have your eye perfectly in line (Note: In our case with a 38mm high mounting we are at the last graduation, so you should avoid exceeding 38 mm high). As the cylinder head can only be removed if the cheek rest is lowered to the maximum or removed, and if like me you remove your cylinder head for transport you will raise and lower this cheek rest very often and we appreciate the graduations to keep the same ergonomics without any hassle!
The small negative point of this stock is that it is not foldable, there is an optional adapter to make it foldable (Note: We change the entire rear part of the stock (butstock) it costs €600!)
What if we customized this chassis a little?
As a good shooter who respects himself, I like to get my hands dirty with mechanics and tinker with my weapons, and here we have something to have fun with with the rather impressive quantity of compatible accessories!
What if we started from the back of the butt so we don't forget anything?
The stock can be weighted by adding weights in a housing of the skeletal stock, the objective being to play on the center of gravity of the weapon and/or to increase the total mass of the weapon to limit the recoil. We are not all equal when it comes to recoil management, some love it, others hate it, we know how PRS shooters tend to weight their weapons as much as possible to better discern their impacts...
The underside of the stock accepts accessories such as a bag rider in order to have more stability when using a rear bag or when using a bench bag, very practical for prone shooting.
The underside of the trigger guard is reamed to allow an Allen key to pass through to adjust the trigger without having to remove the barreled action from the frame to adjust your pull weight and touch the tip of your Allen key to Anschutz watchmaking and their fantastic triggers.
The chassis accepts AICS standard magazines, comes with the weapon a 10-round MDT Single stack metal “308” magazine, with that it is easy to find friends, you can also use polymer magazines, no worries as long as it is AICS compatible!
The barrel is covered with the M-lock interface on each side allowing you to attach M-lock standard accessories (weights, Wings, Bipod, etc.). The entire barrel integrates an ARCA rail, a new standard that is gradually making its way into the world of TLD and PRS, allowing you to mount accessories that you would like to move easily and quickly depending on the situation (Bipod, PRS Bag, etc.). A stop at the end of the rail prevents you from inadvertently dismantling your accessories (This is practical to avoid having the bipod come out of the rail and the muzzle end up in the mud, I've experienced it...)
Now that we've covered the superb work done by MDT, what if we talked about the part done by our friends across the Rhine?
We now move on to the action shot made in Germany by the famous German brand.
We all know Anschutz for its triggers, especially that of the Match 54 which is simply superb despite its 50 years of age! We expected no less for their new model, the trigger is a specific creation for the Anschutz 1782 APR, it is set to 1100 grams as standard, the weight can be adjusted from 750 to 1200 g. During our tests we managed to lower our starting weight to 400 grams! (Is it our model that is special or a communication error from the brand?) It is possible to adjust the pre-travel, the starting weight, the length of the boss, boss or not... In short, a few more hours of mechanics for those who like to master their subjects! A safety is available on the side of the action, when selected the trigger tail locks but you can still chamber or cycle the weapon, the safety lever is firm and cannot be moved inadvertently, which is appreciable.
The slide is equipped with 6 tenons that lock directly into the tenons machined in the barrel (and not in the housing) The slide is extremely fluid, you can feel the precision mechanics just by sliding it, a real sensory experience at first tests! The housing is equipped with a 20 MOA rail machined from the mass, no risk of play in this configuration, it's solid, it won't move!
- The barrels used by Anschutz are barrels manufactured by themselves in their factory based in Germany, with a heavy profile, a length of 26”, chambered in 3 available calibers: 308 Win / 6 CM / 6.5 CM The barrel attachment is not guaranteed by a thread, in fact the tenons of the breech come directly to take on tenons present in the barrel and not in the housing. The barrel is installed and uninstalled by means of two screws under the housing. Anschutz offers ready-to-assemble barrels, you just have to buy a new barrel, unscrew 2 BTR screws and change the barrel, total time of the operation: 3 minutes. (A little less fast than a barrel change on a Blaser rifle but it is nevertheless very pleasant!). The barrel is threaded at the muzzle with a metric M18 thread, a thread protection ring is supplied with the weapon.
What if we move on to the accessories we used?
In order to make the use of this weapon as optimal as possible, we decided to equip this weapon with certain fairly specific accessories to optimize its use.
The bezel:
Our choice of scope was the Sightron SVIII 5-40x56 , a pretty incredible scope with a 40mm tube diameter. This imposing scope has a significant elevation range, we're talking about 40 mil here! The scope's field of view is above average, which also allows you to use a larger zoom without losing field of view!
In short, a fairly impressive pair of glasses that has nothing to envy from the “big” brands of the old continent.
A coherent choice in relation to the quality of the weapon to be tested here, premium weapon rhymes with premium optics…
The assembly:
A 20 MOA SPUHR mount was chosen to fix the scope. Its monobloc construction, its rigidity, and its accessorization convinced us to maintain the beast of almost 1400 grams! The 20 MOA inclination coupled with the 20 MOA picatinny rail allows us to have 34 mil of useful elevation in the scope (not counting the counter sight!)
According to our ballistic calculator we have enough clicks to go 1900 meters in 6.5 Creedmoor! Much further than reason, but when you love you don't count.
Reminder: With its 38 mm height we are at the maximum possible height on the cheek rest, it should not go higher at the risk of losing ergonomics.
The Bipod:
We started with a great classic from the TLD world, an ATLAS BT10 bipod.
A very rigid bipod, having proven itself for almost 10 years, it no longer needs to be presented.
The sound reducer:
On the sound reducer side, we decided to use the A-TEC PRS 3 sound reducer, this steel model is not removable. It has a muzzle brake at the front. This model is ideal for practicing PRS, it takes longer to heat up than an aluminum model and the muzzle brake limits the recoil of the weapon, allowing you to spot its impacts alone without the presence of a spotter. During large series of more than 20 shots in less than 5 minutes, the reducer did not move, certainly very hot but without any bad surprises The first results of the rifle:
In our first tests we decided to work with the following components:
- 136 gr Lapua Scenar L
- Starline Small Rifle Primer Cases
- CCI 450 Primers
- RS62 Powder
The groupings were there! The first grouping of the weapon after 2 scope adjustment bullets gave us this grouping of 5 bullets at 100 meters! Never seen before in my little personal experience on a freshly started weapon.
Unfortunately the speed regularities are not there (Standard deviation at 5 m/s), nothing to criticize about the weapon, the ammunition is the cause (New cases or RS62 powder? We'll dig!)
Proof that good grouping and regular speeds do not always go hand in hand!
We fix the problem and head to the TLD stands!
We take advantage of a little cleaning to check the quality of the barrel with an endoscopic camera, in a word: Perfection!
A change of powder for N160 and N555 and our standard deviation problems fly away, nice groupings of 5 shots under half a minute of angle (15mm)
With standard deviations of less than 3m/s. We won't ask more from this weapon which is designed to fire gongs from 0 to 1200 meters and more if you like!
Let's not ask for bench rest precision for a weapon designed to shoot gongs in every possible and imaginable position, the shooter will never be as stable as a bench tripod (not for lack of trying!)
This weapon is most certainly capable of doing better, but it would still require time, components and money, and would also tap into the health capital of the gun, you have to know how to set objectives in line with the use of the weapon.
With our load established, we decided to test the latter at 611 meters on a C50, in order to observe what grouping we are able to obtain. The tailwind between 5 and 7 o'clock and the significant mirages do not help to show the full potential of this weapon, nevertheless the results remain very acceptable given the circumstances!
Example of a 12 cm grouping on 8 shots or approximately ⅔ of MOA at a distance of 611 meters, given the weather conditions, the lack of wind indicator and the shooter's conditions on the day of the test, we will consider this more than acceptable!
The weapon is very fluid in use, the locking is however a little firm but improves shot after shot. Perhaps a “mechanical” running-in in progress?
The feed is so smooth that you don't realize if ammunition is mounted or not... More than once we were surprised by an empty magazine, not feeling the difference in feeding with or without ammunition... Quite impressive!
The recoil of the 6.5 CM is very smooth, making it easy to follow our impacts at all distances.
A very balanced and harmonious weapon overall
We then engaged targets from 434 meters to 1239 meters with hit rates close to 90%.
Also, our misfires are not the fault of the gun, the problem being located behind the stock if you see where we are going with this...
Conclusion 👍
+++ A very high-performance weapon for a standard weapon, the barreled action is very qualitative, the performance of this weapon has nothing to envy a full custom!
+++ A robust weapon, with easily interchangeable barrels, something to please PRS shooters who consume barrels and put their equipment to the test.
- - - We regret however that the weapon is not equipped with the very latest MDT ACC ELITE chassis, a generation behind in chassis for a weapon that aims to be at the cutting edge of the German brand, it's a shame...
- - - The trigger whose minimum adjustment weight is set at 400 grams and which could bother the increasing number of fans of ultra light triggers.
The final word:
It's a pleasure to see a historic brand such as Anschutz take the turn towards new disciplines that are popular with shooters. We can't wait to see and present the new products presented at IWA 2024! The rest is already coming soon!