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Volquartsen Black Mamba


cbrussell

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1 hour ago, cbrussell said:

I have been seriously considering a Volquartsen Black Mamba pistol for Steel Challenge, still up in the air as to iron sights or optics. My question is what barrel length, 4.5 or 6 inch? 

 

I bought the 6" Scorpion and wished I had gone with the 4.5".  The comp works better on the shorter barrel, plus the 6" with comp felt like I was swinging a log.  I sold it.

 

Sights are a no brainer.  I can't see irons, so dots for me.

Edited by zzt
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I ordered the 4.5 + Comp.  ( Mamba-x  w/o rail )   You can order it w/o a threaded barrel as well.  Here in CT., I need to have the comp  drilled and pinned given no threaded barrels allowed.  

I plan to mount a c-more and shoot RFPO.   

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I've only got maybe 1,500 rounds though mine so far, but it has had no feed issues on anything I've put through it with upgraded magazines. (Not tuned)

 

I did have a magazine spring break last week in the middle of a match which was really strange.  It was one of the original Volquartsen magazines.  I got the Tandemkross green springs and red extra round followers in my Ruger mags and just bought a couple more to put in the mags the Volquartsen shipped with.

 

Blazer .22lr (Crazy smokey)

CCI mini mag target

Remington THunderbolt (I like to use this to practice, as I have a bunch I got for cheap.)

CCI standard velocity LRN

Eley Yellow box and Black box.

 

Most accurate has been the Eley black box, followed by yellow box, followed by CCI minimag Target.

 

Speaking of ammo, look what I found at a small outfitter on my way to a match last thursday!

 

 

 

41B4785C-8A83-4EED-9A0D-ED256E1DC841_1_105_c.jpeg

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I went with the 6 inch.  The 4.5 probably tracks better but this is what they had when I got mine and I'm satisfied.  I also shoot it with iron sights.  That's when the extra length comes in handy.

 

As per ammo: mine really likes Blazers.  They group better than almost everything else I shoot.  CCI Mini Mags are my next choice but the way ammo sales are going now I'll shoot whatever I can get my hands on.  Eley Action Plus was a no-go on my guns.  Seems the chambers are too tight and the Action ammo binds giving me failures to fire.

 

Black mamba with correct frame TK Trigger.jpg

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I've got a 4.5" Scorpion (same upper as the mamba with a Volks lower), and it runs great with CCI SV's, Mini Mag 40 gr solids, Mini Mag 36 gr HP's and Blazers.  I like the SV's the best.

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I like the 4.5 inch barrel on my scorpions.  I have been running the c more rts2 sights in 8 moa.  I used to run c more railways on a striplin 90 degree mount.  Have been using my scorpions in steel challenge for a while now.

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A little update on my black mamba. So far I've run Winchester Super X 40gn, Norma Tac22 40gn, and Federal Target Grade Performance 40gn in it and all were very reliable. The Norma is coated in the grease some companies use and I did have a couple, 3 or 4, jams but was shooting in the snow and it was about 20 degrees out. Gun was also dirty. That was durring a SCSA match and had shot a SCSA match a week before so around 250 rounds total. This gun just plain runs. I dont know if any of the different ammo has better accuracy as I only shoot SCSA and pin top matches with it so accuracy is not something I measure very closely. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Baker - I have recently experienced the same “grease” issue you describe with the CCI 40grain Mini-Mags I shoot in my Scorpion....At the World Steel Championship last year I was eating lunch with Cole Busch’s father who was wiping down every CCI round that he and Cole were going to use in the next match they were scheduled to shoot at the World Steel Match. I inquired as to why and he told me the rounds had slightly more factory grease on the rounds than previously and resulted in cycle issues from time to time so he was wiping off the excess....using a clean cotton rag....

 

I learned (overheard two shooters talking about the grease issue while they were shooting) later during that weekend at the World Steel Championship match that some shooters were actually “tumbling” their rounds in very course corn cob media that included a few squirts of WD-40 added before the 45-60 minute tumble session began to insure the rounds still retained their “slickness” after being tumbled....

 

When I got back home I tried this with my Rebel-17 tumbler, 300rds of CCI Mini-Mags, a couple of 2 second squirts of WD-40 into the media, and course corn cob media I bought at PetSmart - and it worked great....Just thought I would share this for anyone who may be experiencing the same excessive factory grease build up on their 22LR rounds...May not be wise to do this with HP ammo as the media may become lodged in the HP.....Mark

Edited by Sigarmsp226
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CCI 40gr ammo is typically .010" longer in OAL.  The bullets are wax coated, sometimes quite heavily.  That creates a double whammy in cold weather.  The wax gets hard in the cold.  That and the extra length make for feeding problems.  You can keep that from happening by keeping your loaded mags and ammo warm.  I put a large LION rechargeable hand warmer in the compartment with the loaded mags and gun case.  I also drop 10-hour hand warmers in the ammo compartment.  That keeps everything warm so there are no issues.

 

Another solution is to use different ammo.  Last Winter I was using Geco Semi-Auto 40gr ammo.  It is coater with a light wax that is almost liquid.  I used no warmers and had zero problems with it.  Other brands that use a very similar wax are SK Standard+, et al, Nornma Tac-22, Lapua and Wolf.  Eley Contact, Force, Action and Action Plus are lightly coated with a dry wax that causes no issues in the cold.  My favorite is CCI AR Tactical.  The only problem I've had with that is an occasional failure to fire (about 3 per 1000).  That is par for the course for all the CCI ammo I've tried.

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Thanks ZZT - Makes sense because Cole and Rick Busch shoot a lot of their matches up North...Funny you share this because you are 100% correct - I did not start having this issue until I shot several winter matches where the temps were in the high 30’s and I had left my loaded mags and extra rounds sitting in an open top bag in my shooting buggy...

 

Thanks for your post - I just learned something that was so simple yet I missed the reasoning......Mark

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  • 4 weeks later...

I would like to resurrect this thread since I have decided to go with iron sights. So having said that, should I go with the 4.5 or 6 inch? Would the 6 inch sight radius be better for Steel Challenge or would the added swing weight be more of a detriment?

Thanks for the help.

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1 hour ago, cbrussell said:

I would like to resurrect this thread since I have decided to go with iron sights. So having said that, should I go with the 4.5 or 6 inch? Would the 6 inch sight radius be better for Steel Challenge or would the added swing weight be more of a detriment?

Thanks for the help.

 

Both are true.  That being said, I'd go with the 6" because the longer sight radius in more accurate.  That more than makes up for the .05 second slower transition, IMO.  If your transitions are like a tank turret rather than arm swinging, I don't think it makes much of a difference.  My 10/22 is a lot heavier than my pistol, but I'm 5 seconds faster in an 8 stage match with RFRO than RFPO.

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