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This is a not so mini review and initial thoughts on the LimbSaver Sharpshooter X-Ring barrel tuner that I picked up from Amazon for $10. I read all of the reviews on a few sites and on various forums and decided to try out the gadget. The bottom line, it does have an effect on accuracy, but not what I expected.
My test gun is my 10/22 plinker; Hogue stock, 18” Green Mountain barrel, Power Customs extra power hammer spring, and bolt radiused, pinned, and headspaced by Que. I did the trigger job and bedding, but all other parts are stock Ruger. The barrel is floated, with a 3.5lb pressure pad mid barrel.
50 yard groups range around 1/2”-3/4” on bulk ammo and 3/8”-1/2” on standard velocity target ammo. Conditions at the range today were fair, with a ~4-5 mph cross wind, decent for testing at 50 yards, but probably not beyond that. All shots were fired using a bipod up front and bag in the rear, scope set to 18X.
I fired 5 rounds of CCI standard velocity to warm up the barrel, and then installed the LimbSaver per the instructions, using WD40 to help slide the rubber gadget onto the barrel. The instructions say the initial point should be 3/4” from the stock on a supported barrel, or 3/4” from the muzzle on a floated barrel. I decided that the pressure pad constitutes a supported barrel, so I slid the gadget next to the stock.
I fired off a 5 round group, which was probably the crappiest that CCI standard has ever done in my rifle. The instructions say to move the gadget in 1/2” increments to find the sweet spot, but I decided to go with 1/4" adjustments, and moved it toward the muzzle by that much. I shot off two 5 round groups, which looked better, but still not on par with what the rifle could do without the gadget. I shot one more group just to be sure, same result; so I moved it up another 1/4". The group widened way out with the next 3 rounds, so rather than waste ammo, I moved it another 1/4”. That group was almost as wide, so I only fired 3 rounds before moving it another 1/4". This time the group tightened up, so I fired 5 rounds, with 4 rounds touching, and 1 lower and to the right. It looked promising, so I fired off another 5 round group. Similary, 4 rounds touching, and 1 round lower. Both groups looked pretty typical for CCI Standard in my rifle, which usually shoots just at 1/2” without the gadget.
I decided to try GECO Semi-Auto, which shoots more consistently than CCI in my rifle. I fired two 5 round groups (#7 and #10 in the target above) using the same setting for the gadget, and was pleasantly surprised with a couple of nice tight groups measuring 0.333” and 0.327” center to center. Hmm, maybe there’s something to this?
I moved the gadget another 1/4” to see if I could get something better. I fired off six 5 round groups at this setting. The first measured 0.339”, but the second measured 0.253”, one of the best groups I’ve shot from the rifle. On the third group, the first 4 rounds literally went into the same hole, but I got so excited that adrenalin kicked in and I pulled the last shot, ugh, 0.491”. My next group was terrible. Started out OK, but a guy one bench over started shooting his 308 and I pulled two of the shots. I know, just an excuse, but that’s my story, 0.87”. I got it back on track with the next two groups, and decided to switch ammo to Norma TAC-22, which usually shoots very close to the same accuracy as GECO.
I managed to get two 5 round groups and a 2 more rounds before the break, but the results were poor with the Norma ammo. 0.979” and 0.680”. The second was better that the first with 4 rounds touching, and a 5th off to the right, so I decided to keep going with the same setting in case the barrel was just getting used to the change in bullet lube. I shot seven 5 round groups, but the Norma ammo never tightened up to what it is usually capable of in my rifle, shooting right around 3/4". I switched back to GECO to make sure it wasn’t the rifle getting dirty that was causing the inaccuracy, and the groups tightened back up immediately.
Conclusion: The gadget “works”, in that it can tune out most of the barrel vibrations for a specific ammo. The downside is that in doing so, with worsens the performance of other ammo at that specific setting. To get the most out of each ammo, you’d need to spend time to find the sweet spot of each. I see it as like adding a performance camshaft to your car. You may gain a lot of horses and torque on the upper end, but with a tradeoff in other parts of the power band. Most of the rimfire benchrest shooters at my range have barrel tuners and weights on the rifles, which I’m sure cost 20 times of this gadget, but are far more precise and repeatable if and when they switch ammo. I think this gadget is a cheap way to prove the concept for people who may be on the fence about investing in a real tuner, something fun to play with if you like to tinker, or might be the answer to someone who is shooting only one type of ammo in their rig.
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