I've got a 1993 RSI in 7x57 that shoots pretty well... as long as you let the short 20-inch barrel cool down a bit.
With 47.6 grains of H4350 (a light load), my best 3-shot group at 50 yards was .176 inches... and next best 3-shot group @ 50 yards was .179 inches.
Using a MAXIMUM load of H4350 consisting of 50.0 grains (this load is for
modern rifles ONLY), a standard Winchester large rifle primer in Remington cases with a Sierra, flat-based ProHunter 140 grain bullet with a MV of close to 2800 fps, it shot a 3-shot group of .404 inches @ 50 yards off the "bench" with sandbags and a rifle rest. The scope is a 4-12x by 40mm and was set on 12x.
The short, thin barrel heats up with just a single round... and I must wait until it cools down to "just warm" if I want the kind of accuracy I've just posted.
If one doesn't allow the barrel to cool down, then each new shot causes the group to "open up" due, undoubtedly, to all that wood (Mannlicher-style stock) surrounding the barrel and apparently touching the barrel as it heats up.
But the way I look at it, all my "kills" during the past 47 years have been one-shot-kills, so who needs more than a single, very accurate shot? And even if you needed to put another round in the game... it would hit within 1� to 2 inches of the first shot at 50 yards or less... and that's still in the kill-zone for big game animals if the RSI you bought shot the same as mine.
Good luck in your decision... it IS a beautiful little rifle!
Strength and Honor...
Ron T.
