What chamber to order for Nelson or Marvel, standard or Bullseye

First topic message reminder :

I am putting together a bullseye gun and wondering if the tighter bullseye chamber will be a problem with my Federal Auto Match, CCI Target ammo? I have had problems with my Clark 22LR Barrel on my Smith 41 not able to shoot a full 900 without problems. I am thinking of going with Nelson's standard chamber but would the Bullseye chamber provide smaller groups using the ammo I have. I am not a good enough shooter to buy Eley or other top notch. What is your experience with the two? Thanks Tod

I know this is a few months old already but i would like to thank all of you. Oddly I am having the same issue with my model 41 and am looking into getting a Nelson conversion in hopes to improve both my 900 score simply by not having malfunctions and improve my trigger operation on a 1911 as I seem to be not so good at 50ft with a 45 nevermind 50 yards.

I had my 41 relined by Ten Ring Precision via KC Crawford. They use a Bartz chamber. I have run CCI SV, Eley Bullseye, Norma Match, Aguila SE SV and S&B. Only issues was with S& but that is expected. Stuff is caked in wax all the way down the case.

Thank you.

Just 2 cents I found at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

Here is a B-8 x ring from 25 yards I shot from my Nelson (from a rest) with bullseye chamber a few weeks ago.  This is from a conversion built Dec 2021 or there abouts.  This is a repeatable result.  Using CCI SV.


Certainly happy with that for the price they ask, but I am new to the bullseye game.

The one complaint I have though is the slide stop lever had a small raised ring on the back side that scratch the frame of my lower.  A little bit of file work solved it but I did not notice it till the damage was done.  Also the tooling marks on the outward facing side of the slide stop are horrendous. 

Miguel

I am not as experienced in Bullseye Pistol as many of the posters, but I would go for the chamber that provides the highest level of feed and extraction reliability, which would be the larger reamer. 

The ultimate level of accuracy a shooter receives in a rimfire firearm is totally dependent on the quality of the ammunition, all things being equal.

I have talked to two individuals, one a gunsmith at Clark Custom Guns, and another who knew of a custom M41 barrel maker.  Clark claims their M41 smithed pistols will average around 0.75 to 1 inch with match 22 ammunition at 50 yards.  Their guarantee is that it will hold the X ring. The best ten shot group the gunsmith shot was 0.4 inch at 50 yards. That could have been a statistical aberration. The custom barrel maker expressed that 0.75 inches at 50 yards was a good barrel. Since the X ring in Bullseye Pistol is 1.695 inch, everyone ought to be shooting 100 -10X all the time, and consider themself a failure if the score is 100-9X!

In my experience, good match ammunition will hold half an inch at 50 yards  all day long in a rifle

I have tight rim fire chambers in a couple of rifles, and they are both finicky on feed and extraction. The Volquartsen barrel on a 10/22, I can't extract an unfired round, the chamber is too tight. That is an aggravation.  One Anschutz has an extra tight competition chamber and a custom barrel, and a fat round requires an extra push to chamber.

 I do not want a tight fit anything with a semi auto pistol as alibi's ruin scores.

I’m looking at purchasing a Nelson 22 conversion for casual shooting and target practice.  I do not shoot competitively.  Previous posts indicate to get the bullseye target chamber for better accuracy.  Is this still the consensus? Also, others have indicated that the crown hasn’t been cut to the center of the bore.  Does anyone know if this is still a problem?  Thank you for any help/advice.

Ron,

I have 5400 shots through my nelson since I have bought it. I shoot more center fire than 22lr so that round count might be low compared to some here. When I shoot the bulls eye type matches at my local club it's the nelson you will find in my hands. (For what it's worth, me and my nelson will be found near or at the top of the score sheet at the end of the day)

Mine is the "Bullseye - Tight" chamber and it eats SV exclusively.

When I switched frames a while back I had feeding issues. Apparently the mag release location varies ever so slightly from 1911 manufacturer to manufacturer. Larry walked me through how to mod the magazines to account for this difference. I can't remember a single malfunction since correcting the mags to match the frame (that was 2600 rds ago). Larry has be fantastic to work with.

I am not shy of shopping for points and buying equipment is part of the fun I have with the hobby. The Nelson has ruined buying 22lr pistols for me; it took away any excuse I could make up for needing better equipment!

Buy with confidence.

Miguel

Miguel,

Thank you very much for the account of your experience with your Nelson! I plan to purchase this week and will be running it on a Springfield Range Officer. What type of groupings should I expect at 25 yards? Thanks again for your help!

Ron