Lately we have had several inquiries about single shot based varmint rifles and/or"sub-schuetzen" calibres and cartridges.  I'd like to initiate a bit of discussion on the forum here about them.

I know that  some/a few/ many/ of us tend to decry the "desecration of fine old singleshots" when they were were converted to varmint rifles as the times and trends changed.  I probably would agree, IF--not the the big IF--someone had indeed taken a true schuetzen or long range target rifle and converted it.   {FWIW: we have an excellent article coming up soon in Journal near you that will be an eye-opener on this topic, whiich has stimulated my thinking}  However I suspect that most of the conversions were done on much more run of the mill hunting grade rifles.  I think that most of us tend to underestimate the very high dollar value of the old target rifles, in relative value for their era.  I personally really doubt that all that many of them got "carved up"

And why don't we see more of the classic varmint rigs at our matches?
Is it just because they are harder to make competetive under our plain leadbased bullet rule? ( Please note I in no way am I advocating or even contemplating changing that rule in any way. ) Is it because the smaller calibre lighter bullets are harder to manage in the wind? Harder to see the bullet holes?  Yet we do have a lot of fun shooting the 22rfs.

I'm just sort of puzzeled by this.   ASSRA is dedicated to knowledge, preservation, yadda yadda yadda--ALL single shot (non bolt action) rifles right?    How, and why, are we leaving the varmint rigs out.   I know we do not do a whole lot with actual hunting, there are plenty of hunting magazines and shows available.  I'm thinking more about the rifles themselves.

any suggestions, reactions, comments.
Just stirring the pot and trying to learn
Wayne

Wayne, 
I think the notion that varmintized rifles is a good or bad thing is a totally personal decision.  Frankly, I'm at least as disappointed to see what I consider a trashed varmintized highwall that was once a hunting rifle as I am a trashed target rifles.  Hunting rifles have a certain history and patina that is never matched but a target rifle.  Of course, this is MY personal set of values and it will differ from your's.

On the other hand, I have no qualms what so ever when I see a military rifle of any sort made into a good hunting or target rifle.  Again, that's just MY set of values.  

In the end, I think we don't see many of these at the range because most are reconverted back to something close to their original condition before they show up at an ASSRA or WSU type of match.  

Every once in a while a really nice varmitized rifle will show up and that Borchard which JeffAK just posted is one such example, though I would consider the chambering to be useless (218 Zipper I believe), at least it was well done.  And, it probably started life as a military rifle, so there was little loose (again, in MY opinion).  Such cannot be said for many, even most, of these sorts of rifles.  And even that Borchardt, were it mine, would get a rebarreling, at a mininum.  In fact, I'm general contracting the conversion of a military Borchardt to a Schuetzen rifle at this moment.

Brent

Converting single-shot rifles to varmint rifles using high-speed cartridges has been around for sometime.  The rifle Dr. Baker is holding is a Sharps-Borchardt long-range Creedmoor converted to .25 Niedner.

PS: His name is spelled Niedner. 

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Mike

That is a nice old pitcher,looks like some guys i know,cept there are no number boards.thanks for the pitcher. ben.

What's around his neck?  Woodchuck tails?
Brent

    There is the problem of seing small caliber bullet holes at 200 yards. However, I am inclineD to think the avoidance of .22 CF calibers at ASSRA style matches probably much to do with hide-bound tradition. Yes the wind factor is a big problem but die-hard high power shooters said the same things about the .223 but look what is winning their matches these days. The biggest handicap for the old-time varmint rifles may be the typical 1-16 twist which could dictate use of .22 RF bullets. A faster twist barrel could open many possibilities.
    I know where there are a couple of these rifles which could be put the test. It's starting to sound like a project!

Mike
how about a pitcher book 100 pages nothing but old pitchers of the old farts that saved so many ss rifles,ben.

  It is not a good thing that so many were cobbled up into varmit rifles but it is a fact of life and we should get past it and look at them as rifles we can fix, saving the untouched from temptation. I for one would see like to see some reworking and reloading articles which started with some cobbled up single shot in a varmit caliber. Who are we anyway? We are on this site because we think these old rifles are functionally elegant and works of art. We should corner all of them, good bad and ugly, fix em up and give them to the kids someday. 50 years from now the revered rifle fixers will be the people doing good work now today. 

Andy