Straight Jacket on Stevens .270

[mikein]

I was curious about the claims made by the company who puts their Straight Jacket on rifles. They claim improved accuracy, reduced recoil, better heat dissipation, and therefore reduced change in POI even after multiple shots. What I found was that the accuracy did not improve, although I'll admit that the Stevens was a constant sub-MOA rifle right out of the box; noticeably reduced recoil; definitely better heat dissipation; and tighter groups after multiple shots. The weight of the rifle went up about 3 pounds, the balance point was changed dramatically, and the "Ugly Factor" went off the scale. All in all, I wish I hadn't done it! The conversion certainly made a rather bland, unassuming rifle a real item of interest at the local ranges, though.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj184/mikein_bucket/afterstraightjacket-1.jpg (http://s272.photobucket.com/user/mikein_bucket/media/afterstraightjacket-1.jpg.html)

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj184/mikein_bucket/beforestraightjacket-1.jpg (http://s272.photobucket.com/user/mikein_bucket/media/beforestraightjacket-1.jpg.html)

[LoneWolf]

Interesting, I've been thinking about doing this on one of my rifles as well. The thing that motivates me as I shoot multiple competitions and there's a competitor that had a 260rem done and still is shooting .25" groups with over 7,000rds down the tube. Now he started with a match barrel and not a factory barrel, so it was already an accurate rifle, but with the SJBS he continuously shoots .25" for longs strings of fire.

[mikein]

Yep, LoneWolf, that's certainly one of the claims made by the Straight Jacket folks. For someone like you, who pours a lot of rounds down range through the barrel each year, it could make a lot of sense. I took the Stevens with me on a prairie dog hunt on a ranch in Southern Colorado. Loaded up some very hot (but within the safe limits) rounds with 110 grainers that had proven to be very accurate. I set up a target at 200 yards and shot a 5 shot, 1 inch group with some serious wind when we first got there. Then I put 220 rounds through the rifle in about 3 hours without ever allowing the barrel to cool down. Got back on the 200 yard target, and shot another 5 shot, 1 inch group. (BTW, that 110 grain bullet on those tiny p'dogs helped redefine the term "carnage." Many times all we saw was a red mist!) I use the same load for our very small Central Texas deer and have collected a lot of feral hogs with it, so it might be just a tiny bit of overkill on a 10 ounce p'dog. But it bucked the wind a lot better than my .223 Rem. and .204 Ruger, and the higher BC of the heavy bullet eliminated a lot of Kentucky Windage issues.

[DennisPA]

So how does the process work with SJ? Do you send them your whole rifle? Looks from the pics your stock would have needed to be modified also who did that? What was the timing to get the modifications?

[LoneWolf]

Dennis, If you PM me with an email I have lots of info from them I can share.

[mikein]

So how does the process work with SJ? Do you send them your whole rifle? Looks from the pics your stock would have needed to be modified also who did that? What was the timing to get the modifications?
DennisPA, I sent them the whole rifle (without scope, of course). They did do major modifications of the stock to make room for the much larger barrel diameter. I got the rifle back in about 3 weeks.

[243LPR]

If you think the 110's are destructive try the 90 gr Sierra's.

[mikein]

I have, 243LPR, and I agree with you: the 90 Sierra's kick some major hog butt!