General precision gun setup

[LynnJr]

Jewell triggers are the gold standard that all the others are compared against.
The Calvin Elite is a Camaro and the Jewell is a Corvette.

[jrpowell3]

Why go with the Calvin if the jewell is only 30 bucks more and way better in quality?

[longrange1]

I will never buy another Jewell...maybe the one I had was bad but at 500 rounds it started locking up and cost me a match.
At 800 rounds it would lock up every 8-10 pulls no matter what.

I bought a Calvin elite that has over 3000 rounds and at least a 1000 dry fires now and has never been cleaned and has never missed a beat.

I shoot more tactical,PRS type matches,my rifle gets run hard and dirty so I'll take the Camaro over the Corvette any day.


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[jrpowell3]

I will never buy another Jewell...maybe the one I had was bad but at 500 rounds it started locking up and cost me a match.
At 800 rounds it would lock up every 8-10 pulls no matter what.

I bought a Calvin elite that has over 3000 rounds and at least a 1000 dry fires now and has never been cleaned and has never missed a beat.

I shoot more tactical,PRS type matches,my rifle gets run hard and dirty so I'll take the Camaro over the Corvette any day.


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So, better, but finicky?

[longrange1]

General precision gun setup

I like the shoe on the Calvin much better and most of all I have more confidence in it over the Jewell.

But I'm the minority here and most ppl love the Jewell...I'd suggest you ask around and if possible try both.

And as far as better but finicky...if it don't work when I need it to its worthless to me.


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[bsumoba]

jewell's are what is in every precision bolt action rifle I own.

[killshot44]

Jewell triggers are not finicky. Frankly I don't understand the complaints I've read; any trigger that isn't set correctly or is allowed to get crap inside it won't work.

JR, here is the F-TR shooter's equipment list from this year's Berger Southwest Nationals. http://www.bergerbullets.com/SW_Nati...t-list-ftr.pdf. The Jewell trigger is the most used.

And here's the F-Open list, where the Jewell has even more dominance. http://www.bergerbullets.com/SW_Nati...-list-open.pdf

I also recommend going to matches to get an idea of what goes on and what people use (and how). I'd also bring your rifle, ammo and gear because you'll want to shoot once you're there! Since the shooters are broken into (usually) three groups; one group shoots while group two scores their shots and group three pulls their targets and marks where the shot hit, there's plenty of time to talk and ask questions without being just a spectator. Either way, you'll learn a lot.

Save your fired FGMM brass, you'll have something to learn reloading with before ordering Lapua brass.

If you're married, open a hushfund at a different bank - this can get expensive. 😉

[longrange1]

like i said i must have had a bad jewell because everyone ive talked to has never even heard of a jewell trigger completely failing(including the Timney tech guys).

or maybe its just my Charlie Brown luck because ive also had a bad krieger barrel...at 700 rounds it started throwing random fliers every now and then,at 925 rounds it was so unpredictable it was a guessing game where the next round was going.

the barrel had a 2" loose spot just about the middle of the barrel that you could feel when pushing a patch through it...i sent the barrel back and krieger confirmed the barrel was bad and replaced it.

now im not bashing jewell or krieger am just sharing my experiences with them which i know is not the norm.

[Flouncer]

And as Bryan posted always use bronze brushes and never use nylon.

I agree mostly but heh heh heh . . . . ..

Clean your barrel like you do your ahs. Till it wipes completely clean . . .

[LynnJr]

I have had many Jewell trigger failures but I own more than 10 of there triggers.
I have not had any Calvin Elite failures but I only own one and rarely shoot the rifle it sits on.
The first thing you learn in competition is stuff breaks/malfunctions and the guys winning know how to fix/deal with the little setbacks.
I have never had a Jewell lock up and don't even know what that refers to but it wouldn't continue to happen for over 200 rounds.
At the first sign of any issue the trigger would get flushed out with lighter fluid and if that didn't solve it back it goes to Jewell.
My hunting rifles have 2 ounce Jewell triggers on them without safeties but I only chamber a round when I am going to fire.
In Benchrest 95% of all the shooters use Jewell and the other 5% use Kelbly,Biz&Andy,Flavio Flare or some one off custom.
Rifle Basic makes competition triggers as well and when they first came out I had two break. The heat treat made the metal hard as glass and when a primer would pop it would break the second lever. They were fixed and not another problem.
To be a Winner you have to deal/cope with any/all issues and move past them quickly so they don't affect your shooting.
When you see shooters changing barrels between relays at a National Level match you won't let a trigger get in your way.

[jrpowell3]

This is all such amazing information. Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you all and keep it coming.

[jrpowell3]

Jewell triggers are not finicky. Frankly I don't understand the complaints I've read; any trigger that isn't set correctly or is allowed to get crap inside it won't work.

JR, here is the F-TR shooter's equipment list from this year's Berger Southwest Nationals. http://www.bergerbullets.com/SW_Nati...t-list-ftr.pdf. The Jewell trigger is the most used.

And here's the F-Open list, where the Jewell has even more dominance. http://www.bergerbullets.com/SW_Nati...-list-open.pdf

I also recommend going to matches to get an idea of what goes on and what people use (and how). I'd also bring your rifle, ammo and gear because you'll want to shoot once you're there! Since the shooters are broken into (usually) three groups; one group shoots while group two scores their shots and group three pulls their targets and marks where the shot hit, there's plenty of time to talk and ask questions without being just a spectator. Either way, you'll learn a lot.

Save your fired FGMM brass, you'll have something to learn reloading with before ordering Lapua brass.

If you're married, open a hushfund at a different bank - this can get expensive. 😉

Those graphs are very eye opening.

Going to a match is my number one priority.

[bsumoba]

If you're married, open a hushfund at a different bank - this can get expensive. 😉

hushfund....more like offshore account F-Class or any kind of precision shooting discipline is quite expensive. it's like golf. when you are retiring barrels after 800+ rounds from national match competitions, then you know you're in a different world. I have 3 barrels chambered up, ready for load development and probably have 3-5 barrels with anywhere from 700-1600 rounds and those 3-5 barrels are only used for local matches, fireforming or to test bullets. What I mean by test bullets is if the barrel was really good, I use it because it has a known good load that shoots small groups and I want to make sure that when testing lot numbers of bullets, I am eliminating variables.

like i said i must have had a bad jewell because everyone ive talked to has never even heard of a jewell trigger completely failing(including the Timney tech guys).

or maybe its just my Charlie Brown luck because ive also had a bad krieger barrel...at 700 rounds it started throwing random fliers every now and then,at 925 rounds it was so unpredictable it was a guessing game where the next round was going.

the barrel had a 2" loose spot just about the middle of the barrel that you could feel when pushing a patch through it...i sent the barrel back and krieger confirmed the barrel was bad and replaced it.

now im not bashing jewell or krieger am just sharing my experiences with them which i know is not the norm.

I've had bad barrels right from the get-go. 2 had hook marks from the bore reamer and left angled marks in the lands. unfortunately, they got chambered and I got the barrels replaced, but was SOL on the cost of the chambering. My new gunsmith, who is phenomenal now slugs my bores and borescopes them prior to chambering since I have them shipped directly to him for storage.

I've had a jewell go down, but it was my fault. None of my F-Class guns have gone down. The one that went down was because of not using a bore guide and I suspect solvent got in there.

TIP: DO NOT TRY TO LUBE THE TRIGGERS OR MINIMIZE GETTING LUBE IN THE TRIGGERS WITH A BORE GUIDE AND TRY TO KEEP THE GUN CLEAN WHEN SHOOTING IN DUSTY AREAS.

I agree mostly but heh heh heh . . . . ..

Clean your barrel like you do your ahs. Till it wipes completely clean . . .

BUT...don't use charmin (nylon). LOL

The first thing you learn in competition is stuff breaks/malfunctions and the guys winning know how to fix/deal with the little setbacks.

At the first sign of any issue the trigger would get flushed out with lighter fluid and if that didn't solve it back it goes to Jewell.

To be a Winner you have to deal/cope with any/all issues and move past them quickly so they don't affect your shooting.

Yup, stuff breaks and that's why I bring a second rifle and spare components, which also includes a backup jewell trigger...

I disassemble my jewell's every year and give them a good cleaning before the season starts.

[longrange1]

Lynn, by locking up i mean the rifle would not fire...it started at 500 rounds in a new rifle...i flushed the trigger and it was fine for 200 rounds only locked up 1 time in that 200 rounds...at 800 rounds and on a practice day it was locking up(failing to fire)every 8-10 rounds even after flushing with lighter fluid.

i came home pulled it apart and cleaned every piece with lighter fluid put it back together and it dry fired 8 times and locked up...i adjusted the pull weight both ways 4ozs and the same thing...i ended up trading it to my smith for some labor.

and again i shoot more tactical type matches and theres no time to fix minor problems like triggers...if your equipment fails your done on that stage and im sure you know this but you dont have 22 minutes to complete stages.

i had an extractor cost me a 4th or 5th place in a match once and how easy is it to change an extractor on a surgeon bolt?
second stage of the day round 2 of 15 the extractor broke in half...i change the extractor and finished the match but placed 15th.

[jrpowell3]

So, regarding barrel break in, I've heard many different theories. Everything from wet patch, followed by dry patch after each shot for the first 10 shots, then every 5 shots to 20, then every 10 shots to 50, all the way to doing absolutely nothing special for break in.