M97-DL Sporter

[Ovenpaa]

I could not find the original thread so here goes with a new one.

Today's acquisition, Schultz & Larsen M97-DL Sporter with the Kahles K312 'scope nailed on with Apel rings. It comes with a 5 shot single stack magazine and has a switch barrel which they claim can be swapped out in 2-3 minutes. The bolt is a massive three lug thing that in some respects reminds me of a Barnard. So far we have only put 10 rounds through it which was a combination of shooting in and some very brief load development. My view is it shoots nicely and handles well. The 'scope is rather large in some respects but has lovely glass and is going to be used both for sport hunting competitions and occasional 1000 yards forays. These rifles are factory bedded and the 6.5-284 is an accurate round so it will be interesting to see how we get on with it.

Safety specs seemed like a given these days for a new rifle, I never used to bother but having read Aplha1's thread I thought it best.

Home, cleaned yet again and ready for COAL checking plus I will drop the barrel off just to confirm

Now lets see what the Viking has to say...

[Christel]

My first impression was that the barrel was short and skinny, something I am not used to.
I am well impressed with the build quality and the bolt is super nice.
I have only taken two shots today so as far as accuracy goes I am still not sure.

The recoil is a lot more than I am used to from my 22C but far less than the Dragunov I used to shoot.

Overall I am sure we will both get on with it, although it is on my FAC it is a "joint" rifle.

We need to fit something to the front, we are not sure if it will be a Harris bipod or a ski bipod. It has to be easy to take off if shooting standing which both options are.
Then use a rear rest for the back, very likely one of those from Brian Fox, what we used today was a tad makeshift and both of us struggled to get our shoulder into the rifle, it obviously needs to sit higher.

Overall she is a little beauty and I am sure we will have many happy smiling hours on the range with her.

[Sim G]

It does look particularly nice. Were different barrel profiles an option?

[Ovenpaa]

I suppose if we invested in a digital camera it would help...

[Mike357]

Very tidy looking rifle. I see she is a she and not a he!

[Ovenpaa]

It does look particularly nice. Were different barrel profiles an option?

This one tapers 25mm to 17mm, they also do a 25/19mm taper and straight or spiral fluted barrels as well, downside is they are all on 12-16 week delivery. Plus side is they can be swapped out in under 5 minutes and the bolt lugs engage into the barrel itself so no worries about head spacing. Apparently if you ask nicely they will do a 25/22mm as well.

[lapua338]

How's the M97-DL load development coming along?

[dodgyrog]

Doesn't it look like a Tikka 595 Master.
Anyway, it is a lovely rifle even if you have it in a barrel burning calibre.
Enjoy it.

[Ovenpaa]

So far it has only had 10 rounds through it, running 139 Scenar's and N560 it gives MV's virtually identical to the Viht load data. I started it with 5x51grains to zero and start the shooting in process (Shoot one/clean one etc) moved up to 53.5 grains in .5 steps to see how it looked. it shoots well and recoil is moderate. I am looking forward to trying it at a decent distance.