volquartsen scorpion

[zinger4040]

Hi all, long time reader on the forums but just made an account. Think the info shared here is great.

Over the last year I have been saving my pennies and finally have enough for a volquartsen scorpion. My dilemma is what length barrel? 4.5 or 6. I will be getting the comp with it as well. The gun will be used for open steel challenge with a burris fast fire I have laying around, but I also want to shoot it in iron sights division.

So I suppose what I am asking is will the longer barrel slow me down THAT much to the point where it is worth giving up the sight radius for iron sight matches?

I know I can't have cake and eat it too but just want to see what people smarter than myself think!!

Thanks

[Youngeyes]

Welcome to the Forums. Are you getting the compensator as well?

[DougCarden]

I have one with the 4.5 and comp. It is the flattest gun I have run, including some of my homemade comped Rugers. If you are going to run iron sights then the 6 would be the way to go. You won't need the extra weight for open. I milled the rail area off and put a CMore on it. I don't like the small field of view of the smaller slide ride type dots. Enjoy!

DougC

[zzt]

My 6" Scorpion was the most accurate 22 I've owned, and that includes my Hammerli. I bought the gun for competition, but sold it because it did not measure up. Mine would not eject magazines completely out of the gun, even though it had the add-on spring. Volquartsen said they make them that way on purpose. That turned out to be BS, because a later frame did allow the mags to drop. I also had problems with the safety. It engaged quite easily, and stayed that way even after I returned the pistol for adjustment.

If I had kept the pistol I'd have had to cut back the extended slide release. It was way to easy to accidentally touch it and prevent the slide from locking back after the last round. The trigger pull sucked and Volquartsen either could not or would not fix it.

The comp is a tad heavy and will make the gun muzzle heavy. It is also not as effective as it should be. I think the 4.5" barrel would be a better choice for weight distribution and comp effectiveness.

I loved the pistol, but it was worthless for competition. As I said, I sold it. By that point I had had it with Ruger style pistols. I shot a friend's BuckMark and liked it. Mags always dropped free, even with the mag safety in place. It was accurate, but had a not so good trigger pull. It was better than the Scorpion, but not High Standard crisp. I tried a couple of others and the results were the same. Mags always dropped free. The gun always ran.

I bought a BuckMark Camper, the one with the full sized grips. I sent the frame down to Sullivan in KY for a trigger job. I came back with a superb 2lb pull. I also bought and had him install Browning's over travel adjustable trigger at the same time. I replaced the BuckMark barrel with a Tactical Solutions 5.5" threaded, fluted barrel and added a comp. I bought a Weigand rail for the top and mounted a FastFire III. I subsequently bought a custom comp for it, added Aluminum grips and basepads to the mags.

So, for a total of $975 spent on the gun, four mags and all the mods, I have a race gun that blows the doors off the Scorpion in every department except accuracy. My Scorpion would put five round of standard CCI through the same hole at 14 yards. My TacSol barrel can only manage 1/8" groups at that distance. BTW, with the custom comp and standard CCIs, you can see the dot barely moves when fired. The Scorpion comp is nowhere near as good.

So, I'm really not trying to talk you out of a Scorpion. I'm attempting to keep you from making the same expensive mistake I did. Just make sure you actually handle the one you are going to buy to make sure it will run as you would expect. Bring spent 22 cases so you can dry fire it in the store. Try every mag you intend to buy in it to make sure they all drop. I didn't do that, and paid the price.

If you cannot find one in stock and have to order it from Volquartsen, make sure you tell them exactly what you are going to be using the gun for, and what you expect. You'll wait forever for the gun, but at least you'll have recourse it it doesn't measure up.

[drysideshooter]

I have a 4.5" Scorpion with a C-More that I use for open steel shooting. With the distances involved for most steel shooting I think I would go with the 4.5" even if I planned to use iron sights from time to time as I'm not sure the extra sight radius benefit would outweigh the quicker handling of the shorter barrel.

I have to say I haven't been that impressed with my Scorpion. The trigger is okay, but I had to use almost all of the adjustment to take out the excessive amount of pre-travel it was delivered with.

My bolt has their new slick black coating, which according to Scott and Ryan Volquartsen is supposed to run dry. It has been a nightmare for me so far, and I am on my second bolt. I took the original bolt that came with the gun and tried it in my son's Tactical Solutions upper and it runs great in that upper. I continue to get failures to feed during matches. The bolt will travel back far enough to cock, but it doesn't chamber a round. I've tried all sorts of magazines, tried it dry, tried it lubed more than I've ever lubed that style of pistol, and still haven't found much reliability. So far it's made it through one match without a hicup, and I had lubed the heck out of it for that. Surprising considering the "no lube" coating on the bolt.

Their customer service has been great, and they've offered to have me ship the gun back to them. I have a big match this weekend, and if it blows the match for me again (it will be the 3rd such match if it happens) I will gladly send it back to them. Meanwhile my son's TacSol upper runs without fail. My Scorpion runs great with a stock Ruger bolt in it. If I had to do it again and was wanting light weight I think I would go with the lightest Mark III lower I could get my hands on and put a TacSol upper on it. The trigger of a Mark III can be made every bit as good and often better than what the trigger on my Scorpion is like.

[DougCarden]

I myself had problems with a tight chamber on my rifle, and it took a while to get it figured out that it had a tight bentz chamber. I had them ream it and now it runs like a champ. I have had no problems with my Scorpion and it is the first rimfire pistol I have been able to get run 100% at Big Steel Challenge and other Rimfire matches. If you have issues with your Volquartsen guns contact them. Their customer service is second only to Dillon.....in my experience.

DougC

[Gooldylocks]

I don't have a Scorpion, so I can't speak to them directly. However, I have all the VQ guts in my MKIII target and the trigger is phenomenal. Clean break basically at 2 pounds even.

If I were gonna do it again from scratch I would buy a 22/45 lite, a rimedge or Alchin comp, all the guts to go in it, and a 90 degree Cmore mount and be done. If you feel particularly adventurous a rim edge magwell for better hand placement, though I'm 97.86% sure that is unnecessary since we don't draw our 22s (so you can get a perfect grip before you shoot).

The stock Rugers run, are cheap, and are still stupid accurate. Granted not as accurate as a Hammerli or Scorpion, but we are shooting at giant pieces of steel, not tiny bullseyes. How accurate does it really need to be?

Save your money for the ever elusive 22 ammo you are going to be burning through!

[zzt]

How accurate does it really need to be?

For our Wed night 22LR Plate League you get 20 rounds to shoot at 19 targets from 16 yards. Target dimensions range from 1" diameter up to 8" square. Fastest time wins, and you are penalized 3 seconds for any plates you don't hit. So accuracy counts for a lot.

[BeerBaron]

I don't have a Scorpion, so I can't speak to them directly. However, I have all the VQ guts in my MKIII target and the trigger is phenomenal. Clean break basically at 2 pounds even.

If I were gonna do it again from scratch I would buy a 22/45 lite, a rimedge or Alchin comp, all the guts to go in it, and a 90 degree Cmore mount and be done. If you feel particularly adventurous a rim edge magwell for better hand placement, though I'm 97.86% sure that is unnecessary since we don't draw our 22s (so you can get a perfect grip before you shoot).

The stock Rugers run, are cheap, and are still stupid accurate. Granted not as accurate as a Hammerli or Scorpion, but we are shooting at giant pieces of steel, not tiny bullseyes. How accurate does it really need to be?

Save your money for the ever elusive 22 ammo you are going to be burning through!

I'm basically doing that now for steel challenge.

Bought a 22/45 blue lite.

Has a tacsol comp but ultimately I'll probably go to rim edge.

Volquartsen sear, hammer, bushing, springs, trigger (basically the accurising kit)

Rim edge thumb rest and cmore mount (didn't go 90 mount but might later)

Houge grips

Lci removal plate

Extended mag bases

Hoping for a nice short 2-2.5lb trigger and most of all a reliable steel gun.

I shot it this week. Ran about 100 rounds of the round nose cci mini mags and had just one ftf. So far it's just stock with the tacsol comp. shot very nicely and is so light and fast to transition.

For about the same $ I could have got a base model 22/45 and a tacsol barrel but in some ways I think the factory ruger 'lite' top end is better.

It's a nice looking thing.

[drysideshooter]

I used my Scorpion in our state championship yesterday. The only hicup was one stovepipe and I managed a 3rd place finish. It took a bit of drylube every couple of stages to keep it running for 8 stages but it ran pretty well.

My son used his stainless Mk III lower with VQ guts and TacSol upper with VQ bolt and was 2nd junior. He was 1st junior in open rimfire rifle. He didn't have a single hicup. He finished 3rd overall in open rimfire rifle.

I think a great way to go is a VQ frame with grips of choice and a TacSol upper.

In the end it's a tool, and at the end of the day it's more the hand that hold the tool than the tool. For speed steel reliability is key.

[515CUSTOMS]

Was that the IA shoot

Edited June 23, 2015 by 515CUSTOMS

[drysideshooter]

It was the Washington State ISSA championship match.

[DougCarden]

Another flawless functioning match with my Volquartsen guns. I shot the Iowa NSSF match in Ankeny and my guns ran 100%. I ran CCI standards in the Scorpion pistol, and Wolf Match in the rifle. Halfway through the match I always run a bore snake through the guns and add more light oil. SInce I have been running these guns I have jam free matches when I have paid out some money. Just remember if you are going to run the cheaper ammo through the guns it is hard to have any guns run 100%.

DougC