Bill Myers, who died in 2007, was regarded as one of the greatest rimfire smiths to have ever lived. Myers created many record-breaking, match-winning rimfire benchrest rifles. Bill Myers’ most interesting creation is shown here — a clamping mechanism that allows a barrel to be indexed around the bore axis. Bill was a creative and innovative thinker. His own extensive testing convinced him that barrel indices can improve accuracy in rimfire benchrest rifles. Myers acknowledged that indexing could have subtle benefits, especially with a high-quality barrel. He also said that extensive testing might be needed. Myers still believed that indexing would improve rimfire accuracy. Myers’ Clamping Action IndexingMyers rotates the barrel within the action by loosening the three clamping bolts. The headspace remains the same regardless of how much the barrel rotates because there is no thread that can be used to pull it in or out. The headspace is unchanged if you rotate the barrel in any direction on the clockface.
The Challenge of Barrel Indexing
It is difficult to index a barrel with a conventional barrel installation that uses a shoulder with threaded tenon. Even with a cone-breech (photo left) that eliminates extractor cuts, it would be necessary to use shims or re-set each shoulder every time you screwed in the barrel further. Clamping action allows barrel to be rotated to any position
Bill has created a brilliant solution for barrel indexing. He designed and constructed his own prototype custom-action that clamps the barrel instead of holding it with threads. The front section is sliced in half lengthways and clamped with three bolts. A special bushing, the gold-colored piece in the photos, fits between the barrel of the action. Bill can fit any barrel with a diameter up to about an inch, as long as the breech end is straight. Bill places the bushing over the barrel’s end-shank and then slides the “sleeved barrel” into the front of the action. The barrel will be secure after you tighten three bolts.
