The recipe for a winning single shot bench gun is
DeHaas Miller action
32 Miller Short cartridge
Ron Smith gain twist barrel(will call him)
Weaver T36 scope
Jones bullet mold (anybody got an address?)
AA#9 = H108 powder

I have no response for 2 e-mails to Cyle Miller
CPA can/will make the rifle with a Ron Smith barrel if I supply it.
Here's the question:
Which of these ingredients is critical? Will a CPA action with the rest of the ingredients make a competitive = has-a-chance-to-win gun? 
I think I may be too old to wait for a Miller action, or even to get a response. If the CPA action won't make a competitive gun, I guess I'll keep with my Martini 30/30.
How about some advice from you good bench shooters?
Thanks;
joe b.

joe b., have no experience with the DeHaas Miller action. Have two CPA rifle's and one is a dedicated 32/40 bench rest rifle, it weighs 15 1/4 lbs W/out the scope. Has the #6 part octagon/round 26 inch gain twist barrel, {not made by Smith} with 1 turn in twenty four at breech to one turn in 12 at the muzzle, breech seat the Eagan MX32-2 mould bullet, they weigh 205gr out of 1 in 25 alloy lubed. It will shoot consistent 20 round ¾” groups at 100yds, I am surely not the greatest BR shooter. In CBA score competition at 100yds usually shoot 192+ and 5 to 6 X’s, never fair very well at 200yds as I’m a very poor wind judge. If I were to do it over again, only things I would change would be get a Smith barrel have it chambered for the 32 Miller Short, then get a mould cut for the rifles chamber. 

The question of scopes has been answered for me just last weekend. While at the range one of the club members was shooting a Sako BR rifle in 6ppc and had a very large scope on it, he let me look through it at his 100yd target. Conditions were the target in the deep shade with bright sunny sky, had been using my B&L 36x Target scope, which is one of the best target type scopes I’ve ever owned. After looking through his Leupold 35x 30mm BenchRest Competition Scope, wanted to clean the lenses on the B&L, the Leupold was that much brighter and clearer. Have to sell off some stuff and order one the 45x Leupold BR scopes, Bruno has them for a touch over $900 if you pay cash.

All the best in your quest for the winning combination,
MIKE-T

coolhd nailed it - "the nut behind the wheel" or in other words, the nut behind the butt. I'm relatively new in the single shot game, but in no other shooting discipline have I seen winning scores gauranteed by using certain (or more expensive) equipment. A top shooter is such because of a number of things, not the least of which is plain hard work, and will still beat the rest of us even with somewhat lesser equipment. JMHO!

I gotta go with MartiniBelgian here, IMO the Martini will always be more accurate than the Stevens. Always.

Now, whether that extra accuracy can actually be utilized by the shooter, well, that's another can of worms entirely. As others have stated, it depends upon a lot of other things including how well the shooter LIKES his rifle and how well it fits him, especially in offhand shooting.

So my approach has always been to acquire the actions I like, and let the others go to someone else. For me this means no large forward-trigger-type Martinis (too ugly & awkward to manipulate) and no Stevens (too poorly finished & flimsy factory buttstock attachment). I don't mean to insult anyone's favorite rifle, that's JMOFWIW. Also FWIW I own three of the world's ugliest rifles, 1878 Sharps Borchardts, but the Borchardt action's other qualitites outweigh its ugliness IMO.

So my suggestion would be to borrow & try as many different rifles as possible, and eventually acquire the type you like the best. Or do like some of my friends, become a member of the Gun-of-the-Month Club and own them all until you figure it out!
Good luck, Joe

Glen,

I have to respectfully disagree with your disagreement.  The Borchardt and the Peabody both don't even come close to the Hopkins and Allen large frame, and it's both inaccurate and weak to boot.   

Did you get my message on the ballard project?

dave

Hey you can call the Borchardt, Peabody, and H&A large frame all ugly, but none of them is as ugly as my Comblain!
At least you guys have regular looking triggers!

Glen
Look at the Hall action. It has everything that anyone would want for a single shot bench rifle. A little pricy but extreamly well made.

40 Rod

Mr. Belgian:

Thanks for the information. I reckon if I went the Martini route I would be looking a the small action. 

Thanks for the link to the two lever trigger!  Mr. Martini was a pretty clever guy. I still have to wade throught the text and figure out just how the trigger restes itself, but it I can see that the design would make for a fine trigger. 

While I am hardly an authority on martinis, I have never seen an action with such a trigger. I was not even aware they were made. 


Thanks! 

Glenn