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Hi John
Here is my 2 cents worth, I was trying to find the "prefect" rifle years ago but like many people I am still looking like yourself. Here are my observations but of course opinions vary from person to person and there is no absolute right or wrong.
First, I dont know of any gunsmith in Aus that will setup your rifle and Index your barrel to the point that you can pick it up and it will just shoot - Its a USA thing done only by a few gunsmiths as I understand.
Benchmark - Why a 16.5 twist? Might be great for 50\100 but I would go for a 16 twist for 200y. Why - the extra twist stabalizes the bullet and I have herd that 17" twist struggle at the longer range but I dont know of anyone shooting one here is OZ. Again no one shoots 200y in USA at competition level so very much an Aus thing with our Fly shoot. You may have seen the Keyholing shots of some shots on Saturday with your mate Blake's rifle, I suggested he shoots a faster ammo than the Eley he was using for 200y as it will increase the spin on the bullet which might solve the problem for him. Keyholing is the result of the bullet tumbling and this will affect accuracy once this occurs.
So what's my answer you ask.... Find the best gunsmith you can find that can build you a rifle in a reasonable amount of time. ie Under 12 months. The speak to him what he suggest with barrel type, type of chamber, barrel length and bedding etc, then trust him to build you a top rifle using your FWB action.
Once you have your new rifle, take a trip to the SISC and test in there shooting tunnel for a couple of hours, find what ammo works best and then buy the entire stock or as much as you can afford. Best to test only when they have a new ammo shipment otherwise its already been picked over.
Why - Top gunsmiths will be using a winning receipe that just works which includes Action, Barrel, and stock etc, this can work for you as well. I believe any of the top barrels from the USA would serve you well, I like Broughton and Shilen myself but there are plenty of others.
Going forward - Shoot the rifle and tune it to be the best it can be, shooting a rifle once a month at a Fly shoot is not enough so you should consider shooting other events so you know your rifle and gear is ready to perform at the very best once your fav event comes around.
Hope this is helpful to you but happy to chat more about it over a cold beer sometime.
Dave
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