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TARGET SHOOTER
MAGAZINE
June 2012 Issue
NOW Read WORLDWIDE BY OVER 10,000 DEDICATED READERS in over
77 countries EVERY MONTH
Contents
Page 6
June 2012 Issue
Contents Continued & More...
June 2012 Issue
Page 58
Rimfire Tuners - Finding the Elusive ‘Sweet Spot’ - by
Ray Cockayne. OK, so like me you have pawned the
wife’s jewellery and bought yourself a tuner for your
beloved target rifle, it’s fitted on the rifle and you are now
ready to ‘tune’ it. How do you find the ‘Sweet Spot’ that
elusive point that magically brings the group size to one
small hole at 50m?
Page 46
THE HANDLOADING BENCH by Laurie Holland. THE
RCBS CHARGEMASTER 1500 COMBO.
This is our third - and we promise last - look at a
combined electronic scales and powder dispensing
device. Vince Bottomley reviewed the Hornady L-N-L
Autocharge in the November 2011 issue and Chris Parkin
has had a look at the Lyman 1200 DPS III.
AN AFFORDABLE F/TR RIFLE (Part 2) by
Laurie Holland. Many claim that F Class is
becoming an ‘arms race’ but last month, I
outlined the ‘affordable F/TR rifle’ concept,
also describing the first of a threesome
being prepared to demonstrate potential
approaches.
UKPSA NEWS THE UKPSA JUBILEE GRADED
PRACTICAL PISTOL COMPETITION. By David
Thompson. At the start of June 2012, the United
Kingdom and the Commonwealth will celebrate
the Diamond Jubilee of the ascension to the
Throne of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Events
will take place across the globe to celebrate Her
Majesty’s 60 year reign. The UKPSA organised
a graded practical pistol competition to
commemorate the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond
Jubilee.
The Great Diggle Egg Shoot - May 2012.
The threat of bad weather curbed the entry
slightly for this year’s shoot but thankfully the
rain more or less held off and we had a good
day’s shooting with light winds.
The Double Alpha Academy Race Master
Holster. The New IPSC Competition Holster.
By David Thompson. Over the 20 years I have
been shooting IPSC, I have used a variety
of holsters from different manufacturers in
competitive events. I have used Hellweg,
Rescomp and borrowed a Guga Ribas to try in
a few matches. For the past number of years I
have been using the Ghost competition holster
in Production and Standard Divisions. This year
a new holster hit the IPSC competition circuit
– the Race Master, made by Double Alpha
Academy (DAA).
Page 104
Regulars
Page 92
Page 28
THE LONG VIEW by Les Holgate.
The second of the GBFCA League
shoots took place at the fabulous
Blair Atholl range in May. I didn’t
manage to get there but Laurie
Holland did, so here’s his take
on the event. GBFCA LEAGUE
ROUND 2 - BLAIR ATHOLL.
& more
LATEST NEWS
Page 62 - 78
FROM THE BENCH
Page 18
QUIGLY NEWS
Page 60
ISSF WORLD CUP
Page 80
TARGET SHOTGUN
Page 82
Page 102
Page 20
Busman’s Holiday – Pt 2 by Carl
Boswell. UK and international rimfire
benchrest shooter Carl Boswell
completes his dream holiday saga in
Finland, visiting and shooting with
Scandinavia’s leading shooters and
looking at one or two innovative ideas
– like a front rest made from wood!
BROOKSIE
Page 44
AND LOTS MORE...
77 countries EVERY MONTH
March SCOPES
Welcome to the new look June 2012 edition of Target Shooter Magazine
The Choice of Champions
Webitorial June 2012
Tactical Turrets
Looking at this month’s magazine, you wouldn’t think we were without pistols in not so Great
Britain! Clearly, the sport is thriving in Northern Ireland and of course, residents of the Isle of
Man are still trusted to own and shoot pistols.
This scope has the largest zoom ratio of any FFP scope
ever made, additional feature is the 0.05 Mil centre dot,
this was designed not to obscure the target on higher
magnification.
A feature of First Focal Plane (FFP) design, also known as Front Focal
Plane, is the reticle scale value does not change over the entire zoom
range of the rifle scope. Also the POA does not change over the entire
zoom range. This simplifies use of the reticle for ranging and holdover
in conjunction with ballistic charts.
1 Click 0.05 Mil Turrets
Members of the UKPSA manage to take part in overseas pistol events, whilst we on the UK
mainland are stuck with our strange long-barrel pistols and muzzle loaders, though we do have
news of an exciting development from pistol stalwart, Alan Westlake.
NEW
What really has been achieved by this ban?
Side Focus 10 yards ~ Infinity
March FX 5 - 40 x 56. The worlds most powerful first focal plane scope...
The Choice of Champions
Last month I visited the London Prepares ISSF World Cup at the new Olympic facility near
the Woolwich Barracks. I witnessed pistol shooters enjoying their sport from many countries
including Oman, Russia, China, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Mongolia, Vietnam, Korea, Ukraine,
Indonesia, Thailand, Brazil, Bahrain, Kasakhstan, Qatar, Hong Kong, Belarus, Iran, Serbia, Turkey,
Bolivia and most countries of Europe.
For UK & EU: marchscopes.co.uk - Call 01293 606901 or [email protected]
Push Button Illumination
My question is: How come the governments of all these nations have managed to nurture a
population who can be trusted with firearms when the British Government cannot? Would any
British MP care to explain?
For Australia & NZ: BRT Shooters Supply - PO Box 1124 - Springwood - 4127
Queensland, Australia. Phone. 07-3808 4862 - www.marchscopes.com.au
Editor - Vince Bottomley [email protected]
Advertising and Office Manager - Yvonne Wilcock. [email protected]
Compiled, Designed & Web Production by Steve Thornton. www.thorntonconnect.com
On a brighter note – I tried a new shooting discipline this month – Practical Shotgun. After
‘dipping my toe in the water’ last month, I took the plunge, dusted off the old Remmy 1100 and
entered my first competition. I was way out of my Benchrest/F Class comfort zone and yes, I
dolloped mightily but still enjoyed it immensely! Clanging those steels with a kicking semi-auto
was great fun – give it a go sometime!
Contributors - Vince Bottomley - Laurie Holland - Ken Hall - Don Brooke
Michelle Gallagher - Chris Parkin - Tony Saunders - Les Holgate - George Coleman
Ken Hall - Carl Boswell - Richard Wild
Cover Photograph by Steve Thornton
Vince, Yvonne & Steve
Disclaimer
Vince Bottomley - [email protected]
Yvonne - [email protected]
Steve - [email protected]
The website www.targetshooteronline.com is part of Target Shooter magazine with all contents of both electronic media copyrighted. No reproduction is
permitted unless written authorisation is provided. Information, prices and data is believed to be correct at the time of posting on the internet which is on
or around the 1st of each month. Advertisements that are firearm related are from companies or individuals that Target Shooter magazine believes are
licensed to hold such firearms and accepts no responsibility if companies or individuals are not so licensed. Letters and photographs submitted by members
of the public to Target Shooter magazine will be accepted on the basis that the writer has agreed to publication unless otherwise stated. Target Shooter
magazine has no control over the content or ownership of photographs submitted. The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily the views of
the publishers and relate to specific circumstances within each article. These are the opinions and experiences of writers using specific equipment, firearms,
components and data under controlled conditions. Information contained in the online magazine or on the website is intended to be used as a guide only
and in specific circumstances caution should be used. Target Shooter Magazine does not except any responsibility for individuals attempting to recreate
such testing using any information, data or other materials in its electronic pages. Publishers of Target Shooter magazine.
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AN AFFORDABLE F/TR RIFLE
Part 2 by Laurie Holland
Many claim that F Class is becoming an ‘arms race’ but last month, I outlined the ‘affordable
F/TR rifle’ concept, also describing the first of a threesome being prepared to demonstrate
potential approaches.
But first, let’s forget rifles for a while and look at ‘bolt-ons’, by which I mean almost everything else needed to get started – riflescope, bi-pod, shooting mat and rear bag. I set a
budget ceiling of £500 last month, almost certainly too tight but, we’ll see what we can do.
Starting with the bi-pod, F/TR critics rail against what they see as ‘unnatural’, expensive
models and argue for a folding-leg rule. Some also demand that the ‘pod should fit inside a
frame, these moves designed to ensure that ‘Harris type’ designs are mandatory.
Why F/TR shooters need a large bi-pod elevation range – Diggle and its steeply terraced firing points.
AN AFFORDABLE
FTR RIFLE
6
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Actually, appearance and supposed ‘purity’ aside, the
cheaper wide-foot designs are not that much more
expensive than a Harris, and I’d recommend anybody
starting up in F/TR and planning to shoot 308 Win
to buy one. Osprey Rifles (www.ospreyrifles.com)
sells its Spanish made Fito ‘Light-Foot’ and ‘Big-Foot’
models for £140 and the Dolphin Gun Company’s
‘Trakker’ costs £165 or £175 depending on model
(www.dolphinguncompany.co.uk).
By comparison, the lowest price I’ve found for a Harris
9-13” Swivel model is around £100. Note, I said
‘Swivel’ as the cheaper ‘fixed’ (rigid, no-cant) models
are far too restrictive on the firing line. However, you
really need a ‘Pod-Lok’ or similar friction lock handle
that provides more purchase and leverage for doing
up the swivel tension – it really does need to be tight
– and if you’re going to attach a Harris to an accessory
rail, you’ll need an adaptor, so any initial savings are
partly lost.
Note however, that the Fito models need an accessory
rail on the rifle forend, so they’re unsuitable for my
sporter-based rifles, the Savage and Howa, fine
though on the ex-TR Paramount. Dolphin’s ‘Trakker’
models can be had with either sling swivel stud or rail
mounting.
incorporate friction-locks to tighten everything up and
stop the rifle flopping around under its own weight.
Harris BR-S (short swivel model) bi-pod showing the factory tension nut, the knurled cylinder on the front of the
chassis with the Pod-Lok parts alongside.
KFS Industries of Atlanta, Georgia now owns the
design and manufactures still further improved
versions in North America (www.versapod.com)
with our importer Beechwood Sport Ltd (www.
beechwoodsport.com) operating an online sales
facility. Aluminium alloy ‘locking’ models retail for
just under £100, half as much again for the all-steel
version. There is again a cheaper (non-locking) version
but avoid it for this application. Both types offer full
pan/ tilt and cant facilities but the ‘locking’ versions
Two different length Versa-Pods are employed to cope
with varying firing point elevations.
The Dolphin ‘Trakker’ F/TR bi-pod.
This example has an Anschutz rail
mount, but a version that locks
onto a sling swivel stud is also
available.
Versa-Pod
Anyway, purpose-built wide-set F Class models
aren’t exactly practical for tactical competitors and
field shooters, so you may well prefer a folding-leg
type on a multi-use rifle, at least initially. Whilst the
Harris is the best known and most widely available
design, I prefer the Versa-Pod spigot-mount system.
It originated back in the 1930s on the British Army’s
BREN light machine-gun and was subsequently
updated by Parker-Hale Limited for police and military
sniper rifles.
The Pod-Lok installed – a two minute job after you’ve
eventually found a quarter-inch socket to remove the
Harris version’s keeper nut.
The Versa-Pod system locks onto and swivels around
a spigot, also providing pan and tilt through a second
movable joint. The knurled knobs facing the camera
adjust the tightness of the two joints.
8
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The Versa-Pod comes with a ‘universal adaptor’
(the mounting block and spigot attached to the
rifle forend) that locks onto a sling swivel stud and
is contoured for a curved forend but alternatives
are available at £34 a throw including those that fit
Freelander or Anschutz accessory rails, flat-bottom
fore-ends and so on. Should you use a Versa-Pod on
more than one rifle, additional adaptors
let you swap it between them in
seconds.
Note that with any folding
bi-pod, a single leg length
range may not cope
with the topography of
different rifle ranges, or
in Diggle’s case, its marked
firing-point height variations which
need very different amounts of muzzle elevation
according to both match distance and the target
you’re squadded on. As well as providing a more
stable platform than the ‘folders’, the larger triangular
F/TR bi-pods supply a bit more adjustment.
Although we’re trying to get started on a tight budget,
avoid cheap Harris and Versa-Pod copies that show
up on scores of E-Bay subscribers’ and other Internet
sellers’ pages. They’re cheap for a reason, being
insufficiently robust to support 15lb plus of rifle and
‘scope and stand up to the battering that full-house
308 Win loads impart.
Having recommended a purpose-built F/TR job to
the 308 Win shooter, the light recoiling 223 Rem
works fine with a ‘folder’ and I use two different
height Versa-Pods in my ‘mouse gun’ shooting. Once
aligned on the target, the rifle is pushed forward with
the shoulder to ‘load’ the bi-pod and stop it moving
under recoil. An added benefit is that slight changes
in shoulder pressure fine-tune the elevation setting
as the legs angle backwards slightly under load, so a
small increase drops the muzzle fractionally, easing
off raises it.
My battered Versa-Pods have seen hard use on a
variety of rifles over many years and incorporate
steel and aluminium alloy components, mostly the
former. This doesn’t make for a light package with
weights around 0.7 and 0.8 Kg (1lb 10 oz / 1lb 12 oz)
for the short and medium length models respectively
including adaptor – current alloy versions are claimed
to weigh 0.54 Kg. The adaptor is heavier than it need
be for this application incorporating a sling swivel /
large knurled steel fastener assembly. This can be
replaced with a lighter fastener if there is a need to
save a few ounces to get under the 8.25 Kg ceiling.
Riflescopes
Moving onto optics, we can easily blow our entire
budget here. Some ‘Open’ shooters have moved
onto the March 10-80 power models that cost £2000
or more but, variables with either 32X or 42X top
magnifications are still the norm in F/TR in GBFCA
National League matches. Have a look at what
shooters use in these as well as club competitions and
you’ll see more Nightforce NXS side-focus variables
than anything else, this model having been the
standard for precision target shooting for some years.
The cheaper NF Bench Rest model is also seen on F/
TR rifles but its front parallax adjustment and greater
Triangle-form F/TR bi-pods at Blair Atholl. Keith Snow has the Fito-Force ‘Light Foot’ model on his Barnard. The
riflescope is a Sightron SIII 8-32X56.
weight make it less popular, although many ‘Open’
shooters use it. Both turn up in 8-32 and 12-42 power
variants and there is keen debate over reticle types.
Neither is cheap, NXS models retailing for over £1500
and you’ll likely pay the wrong side of a grand for a
second-hand example.
Rather cheaper, and increasingly seen on the ranges
is the Sightron Series III side-focus scope available in
8-32 and 10-50 power versions with a large 56mm dia.
objective lens and costing £850-900, let’s say £600700 for a used example if you can find one (www.
aimfieldsports.com). They have superb optics, track
very accurately and are also much lighter than the
NXS, which is important once you decide you need a
heavy profile 30 inch barrel on your rifle.
Top-end, high magnification (5-25X and 12-50X56)
Schmidt & Bender PMIIs (www.yorkguns.com) turn
up surprisingly frequently in club matches usually on
multi-use tactical and varmint rifles. They’re large,
heavy and expensive. Lighter and superb quality
Leupold target ‘scopes are only rarely seen in UK
matches almost certainly because while costing more
than Series III Sightrons, have lower top end power
and objective lens diameters, the VX-3 8.5-25X50 top
of the range in this category.
In any event, all of the aforementioned scopes are well
above our budget, so what else is available, suitable
and cheap? Fixed power, one-inch tube target models
provide an option, especially as many are much
developed, high quality products for short-range
benchrest competition. They’re also much lighter
than the variables, which can be a big plus when
overall weight problems surface.
One-inch fixed-power target ‘scopes (sunshades attached). Bottom to top: Sightron Series II 36X42 BRD; Opti-Mate
24X44; Weaver T36. Note the small turrets on the Sightron and Opti-Mate – not F-Class friendly.
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Until recently, Edgar Brothers distributed Japanese
target and varmint scopes under its Opti-Mate brand
name including excellent 24X and 36X models in
Big boys – 30mm target scopes (sunshades removed). In
price order bottom to top: Fox 8-32X50; Sightron Series
III 8-32X56 LRTD; Nightforce NF BR 8-32X56; Schmidt &
Bender PMII 12-50X56 (34mm body). Missing from this
line-up are the Nightforce NXS and the Rolls-Royce of
F-Class scopes, the March is illustrated on page 13.
the BRD designation hints, such one-inch tube, fixedpower models are better suited to benchrest-type
shooting.
March 5-40x56 rifle scope
Relatively small (40-44mm) objective lens diameters
allied to a high magnification produce low ‘exit-pupil’
values - 1.16mm in the case of a 36X42 which is OK in
clear bright conditions but will see you struggle to pick
out the essential scoring-rings on a target situated 500
or 600, never mind 1000 yards away on a dark, rainy
day. (By contrast, an 8-32X56 ‘scope has an exit pupil
of 1.75mm on its maximum power setting and you can
turn the magnification down in really poor conditions,
20X producing 2.8mm tripling the amount of light that
reaches your eye compared to a fixed power 36X.
A 30mm tube design also loses less light in internal
transmission than a one-inch model, assuming the
lens glass and coatings are of the same quality). They
mostly have small turrets with hard to read markings
and use eighth-MOA ‘clicks’ which some people
like but I regard as a distraction compared to more
commonly found quarter-MOA increments. When
you’re down behind the rifle trying to cope with a
tricky wind, anything that increases the chances of
fixed and variable power versions, all with 44mm
objectives. They retailed for under £250 the last time I
looked but, I found they’ve been discontinued and the
same specification Weaver Classic Target 24 and 36
power models (T24/T36 in shooter-speak) which have
replaced them are priced well above our budget.
Sightron importer Aim Field Sports sells the excellent
fixed-power Sightron Series II 36X42 BRD (Bench Rest,
crosshairs + Dot reticle) for £390, which is excellent
value but would still break our accessories budget by a
large margin when other bits are added. Moreover, as
12
Right - This is my Savage 12 LRPV heavy-barrel varmint
rifle rebarrelled to 223 Rem. with a fast (1-7.5) rifling
twist rate to suit 80 and 90gn bullets. I’ll report on its
first competition outing at the end of this feature.
13
misreading scope settings - especially if you ‘wind
clicks on and off’ rather than stick to an average
windage setting and aim-off - is very undesirable.
Variables have advantages over high-magnification
fixed power models too - it’s useful to be able to turn
the power down to view adjacent targets to pick up on
wind shifts, reduce mirage effect on the sight-picture
and help set the rifle up on the firing point and align it
with the target.
So that leaves the second-hand market and budget
models from Tasco, Nikko Stirling, Fox Firearms, and
others, all made in China. Tasco only has one model
The Savage LRPV ‘affordable rifle’ on the shorter VersaPod with an Opti-Mate 24X44 1” scope on top. Note the
bi-pod legs’ angle when ‘loaded’.
with magnification above 24X and everything in the
range uses one-inch tubes, so they’re not ideal. Nikko
Stirling has some powerful 30mm body side-focus
variables that go up to 60-power. Prices are attractive
- an online budget optics supplier listing the 8-32X60
Platinum Nite Eater IR for £220 + P&P as I write
this but, I have no knowledge of this scope range’s
features, weights, and general suitability for F/TR.
The cheapo’ models I do know well are Brian Fox’s
Chinese made 30mm ZOS target models that retail
for a ludicrously low £115 or thereabouts and are
available as side-focus 8-32, 10-40 or 10-50 power
models with a 50mm objective lens. I own no fewer
than three older 8-32 examples, one having stood up
to the recoil of several hundred .300 Magnum rounds.
They’re available with Mil-Dot or fine crosshair + dot
reticles, the latter being my choice.
Generally speaking, it’s wise to avoid very powerful
budget riflescopes, so I’ll buy another 8-32X50 for
this project as soon as Fox Firearms receives another
Protektor bunny-ear all-leather rear bag. The white
stuff is Sinclair bag wax (powdered carnuba wax) that
reduces friction and is unaffected by water.
shipment. You’ll say that there must be compromises
or deficiencies in such a low priced product and
you’d be partly correct – while the optical quality and
mechanical features are good, fantastic considering
the price, these scopes are heavy compared to a
Sightron SIII or Nightforce NXS.
Whilst the latest 8-32 Sightron offers 72-MOA of
elevation adjustment, the 8-32X Fox has around 55,
the 10-50X version less I’d imagine. Whilst saving
ounces to stay within the 8.25 Kg overall weight limit
isn’t a critical issue with my Savage LRPV or Howa
1500 ‘Varmint’ project rifles, cost is so, the Fox it’ll
be. I suspect that the heavier Paramount TR rifle
will prove problematic weight-wise with this scope.
Meanwhile, I had thought that the Opti-Mate 24X44
would be suitable for shorter-range F Class and that’s
what was initially mounted on the savage LRPV and
sighted-in for my 90gn Berger BT/Viht N150 load.
here, another £10 for those with a leather base / body
topped with ‘Cordura’ fabric ears. ‘Cordura’ is a better
bet for outdoor shooting in our wet climate, much
less sticky than leather when damp. So, we’re talking
somewhere around £150 for the two items, but many
club shooters happily survive on kit that costs half
that.
First Outing
So, how did the 223 Savage LRPV do in its first
outing, a 200yd Diggle match held in late April? Let’s
look at the conditions – musing on the competition
programme beforehand had conjured up an idyllic
image of a bright, balmy spring day,
nearly 30 mph on the firing point. Still, we were only
assaulted by an occasional flurry of sleet or burst of
hail, so things could have been MUCH worse!
It’s been a long time since I competed at 200 yards and
I became convinced some seriously sick masochist had
got at the target in the interim. The 200 yard F Class
target is so small it’s now printed on a sheet of A4
paper - a white target with a black one-inch diameter
V-Bull/aiming mark and thin black half MOA scoring-
Other Bits
Of course, you’ll need a shooting-mat to lie on and
an eared sand-bag to support the buttstock. You can
economise with these items but, starting out with kit
that’ll last for years is a good idea.
There are lots of shooting mats on the market, but the
Aim Field Sports model is the most widely seen in F
Class matches at all levels and is ideally suited to the
discipline. It’s wide and provides a more stable base
for a bag-supported rifle than the thicker ‘spongy’
models that prone TR and similar shooters use. It
costs £89 + P&P.
Most gunshops stock rabbit-ear leather or fabric rear
bags nowadays, mostly Chinese made I imagine, but
I’d advise spending a bit more on a good American
model from Edgewood or Protektor or even Fox
Firearms bags from Seb – they’ll last longer and
provide a more stable platform. Prices cover a wide
range depending on make or model and can be
anything from £35 to over £100.
pleasantly warm after a long miserable winter and
with light to moderate, if still challenging winds. The
reality on the day was very cold, very dark and with
the worst of Diggle’s winds, a freezing North-Easterly
from 10 o’clock continuously gusting between 12 and
Basic benchrest models with a stiff leather base cost
around £50 with leather ears by the time they get
14
15
‘A learning process’ – the first outing with the .223 Rem
Savage LRPV on a cold, dark and windy April day gave
promising but not outstanding results.
rings. I got myself partnered with National League
competitor Ian Dixon who can read Diggle’s winds as
well as anybody I know and whose home-‘smithed 308
F/TR rifle shooting 185gn Bergers is as accurate and
ballistically efficient as you’ll get.
To cut to the chase, I shot 90.6v which would have
been 92 if I’d had a known scope elevation setting for
this distance. The high ‘three’ as first score shot was
the first lesson of the day – 223 Rem, with 90s anyway,
needs two fouling shots from a clean barrel before
velocities and elevations ‘settle’. Despite dropping the
elevation setting five ‘clicks’ (5/8 MOA) from Sighter 2,
score shot 1 actually landed slightly higher for a linecutter ‘three’. Another half-MOA off and elevation
was OK for the rest of the match.
I said 90.6v (or 92 on ‘might-have-been’ scoring) and
you’d likely think that was a good result in the rough
conditions? Not so! My partner, Ian, put in an amazing
98 and when we got off the firing line, it turned out
he’d been outdone by our TS photographer and
webmaster Steve Thornton, who’d only dropped one
point, also shooting F/TR! It seems that the bullets
were less affected by the howling wind than expected
with their flat short-range trajectories in the sheltered
downwind side of the hill. Ian and Steve found that
their 308s just held the two-inch diameter ‘five’ ring
with nil or marginal aim-offs for wind changes, albeit
with a fair number of ‘line-cutters’ and low V counts.
I doubt if the 223 would have replicated that ballistic
performance producing a few ‘just-out fours’ using
that aiming tactic but that wasn’t the problem. A
combination of fierce gusts hitting the firing point
and folding bi-pod support made it difficult to hold
the rifle steady in the aim. Shot 12 was marked as a
particularly egregious leftwards wobble as the firingpin dropped and was lucky to stay within the four-ring.
Super Moly Tumble Coat Bullet Finishing Kit
Compounding that was the 24X44 scope which didn’t
allow precise enough aiming on the F Class target,
aggravated by the poor light conditions. (Ian told me
where each of my shots had gone before the markers
pulled the target, seeing 22 calibre holes clearly
through his Nightforce NXS, while I could only just
see his 30 cal. holes in the ‘white’ but rarely picked my
own shots up).
So, lessons from this outing? Unsurprisingly, a folding
bi-pod is less stable than custom F/TR models but
Ian also commented on wind disturbance to his aim
despite using the lowest, widest bi-pod on the GB
league circuit.
As expected, the Versa-Pod had no trouble coping
with the Savage LRPV in 223 Rem. form and the rifle/
cartridge performed sweetly – a real pleasure to
shoot. In several years of using this bi-pod, I’d never
experienced such problems before and am happy to
discount them on the basis of it being an exceptionally
rough day.
The scope specification is another matter. Until that
match I would have said that while not ideal, 24 power
is adequate for F Class. I’d now revise that and say
you really should look for a 32 power 30mm body
scope unless your F Class shooting is on larger nonregulation targets. If you’re going to push the budget
anywhere, do it on the optics and get a Sightron 8-32
from the off. If you can stand the extra weight, the
Chinese manufactured budget Nikko Stirling and Fox
Firearms ZOS are the only suitable alternatives, if the
money won’t stretch to the US models. The Savage’s
Opti-Mate will be replaced by one of the latter models
before its next match and we’ll see how it performs at
500 or 600 yards.
Enable you to moly coat bullets where the manufacturers don’t.
(Includes Tumbler) £105.97
This kit contains a Lyman 1200 tumbler, an extra heavy duty moly coating bowl,
six ounces (6oz) of Superfine Grade Moly, Moly plating media and 2 lbs of fine
finishing media.
Super Moly Bullet Finishing Accessory Pack £52.94
The kit contains two heavy duty long lasting bowls, six ounces (6oz) of
Superfine Grade Moly, Moly plating media, and fine finishing media.
Full instructions included
Untreated Corncob Media 1lb £6.91 & 6lb £13.40
MTM RMC1 Portable Rifle Maintenance Centre £36.47
Designed to be taken to the gun range for easy
cleaning of rifles and shotguns. Comes with two
forks that "pop out" and can be stored in the base
along with your cleaning supplies.
Rifle Maintenance Centre
shown with the Shooters
Accessory Box £44.38
Pro-Shot Gun Cleaning Supplies
Pro-Shot Bore Guides
The "Stopper" Bore Guide prevents solvent and fouling from running back into
the action. Adjusts to fit action lengths precisely.
8 oz. Copper Solvent 9.69
Pro-Shot's Copper Solvent IV is excellent for Copper,
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from £17.91
One Piece Stainless Steel Micro Polished
Cleaning Rod - Pistol, Rifle & Shotgun from £19.10
Premium Coated Rifle & Pistol Rods from £29.53
Bore Mops, Rifle & Shotgun
from £1.97
Bronze Brushes
available in most
popular Rifle and
Pistol Calibers
Spear Pointed Benchrest Jags
.17 cal—.50 cal
from £4.22
from £1.67
Choke Tube Lube/ Pro-Gold Lube
10cc Syringe £5.91
Next month’s instalment will take a look at the
second-hand 308 Win Howa 1500 Varminter as an
‘affordable F/TR rifle’.
Hannam’s Reloading Ltd
Peckfield Lodge, Great North Rd, South Milford, Leeds, LS25 5LJ
Tel: 01977 681639 Fax: 01977 684272 email: [email protected]
16
FROM THE BENCH
FROM THE BENCH
cont...
VINCE’S REGULAR COLUMN WHEREBY ACCURACY NUTS CAN KEEP UP TO
DATE WITH THE ACTIVITIES OF THE UKBRA
AND ACCURACY RELATED ITEMS
Competitions
I always seem to be moaning about the weather but, for once, we had almost perfect conditions for our 1000 yard
BR shoot on the Sunday of the May Bank Holiday weekend and we didn’t waste it!
Almost from the off, small groups started to appear – a
‘seven’ from Peter Regan with his 338 Lapua Magnum
and then a ‘five’ from Andy Fellerman, followed by two
more ‘fives’ from Mal Roberts. Amazingly, the weather
held for the afternoon and Mal stuck in two six-inch
groups to set a new UK Light Gun agg. of 5.728 inches.
In our 100 yard shoot the day before, Jeanette Whitney continued her run of form by taking
another win. However, despite shooting a tiny 0.118 incher, it was Mike Perdeaux who took the
small group award with a 0.111 incher. Gary Stewart took a comfortable win in the new Sporter Class with his 22
BR, beating an on-form Darrel Evans who shot two fabulous groups – a 0.233 and a 0.235 in. at least taking the
small group award.
Results Heavy Varmint:
1st
Jeanette Whitney
2nd
Bruce Lenton
3rd
Mike Perdeaux
Small group Mike Perdeaux
But, this wouldn’t be the only record to fall. Sean
Broxham shoots an absolutely standard ‘out of the box’
6.5 -284 Savage and, his string of four, single-figure
groups set a new Factory Sporter agg. record of 7.481 Record breaker.
Sean Broxham with his 6.5-284 factory Savage
inches and one of Sean’s groups, measuring just 4.385
inches broke the existing Factory Sporter small group record. Remember, this is with an absolutely standard
factory rifle!
Sporter Class:
1st
2nd
3rd
Small group
6PPC Stolle
6PPC RGR Lawton
6PPC Stolle
0.111 inches
Gary Stewart
22BR Walker BAT
Darrel Evans
6.5x47 Acc Intl.
Darren Grundle
6BR GBR
Darrel Evans
0.2202 inches (av. of five, 5-shot groups)
0.3122
0.3216
0.3786 inches
0.406
0.429
0.233 inches
No less than 25 shooters recorded single-figure groups and, after losing my Light Gun agg. record to Mal, it was
some consolation to shoot small group of the day with a 3.42 incher.
Me? Well, they said I wouldn’t be mentioning it in Target Shooter so I suppose I better had – whilst holding third
spot after three Matches, I shot on the wrong target! That incurs a five-inch penalty – no way back from that!
That’s what we at Diggle call a ‘dollop’.
Results: Light Gun
1st
Mal Roberts
The Diggle Egg Shoot
6.5-284 BAT
5.728in. (av. of four, 5-shot groups – new UK
6.5-284 Savage
243AI Stolle
6mm Xtreme
7.481
7.516
3.420 inches
We had a full three days of accuracy shoots over the Bank Holiday weekend, with our Egg Shoot on the Bank
Holiday Monday – read all about it elsewhere in this issue.
record)
2nd 3rd
Small group
Sean Broxham
Graham Francis
Vince Bottomley Factory Sporter:
1st
Sean Broxham
6.5-284 Savage
2nd
Alan Seagrave
6.5x55 Tikka
3rd
Garry Green
300 WMag. Winchester
Small group Sean Broxham
7.481 inches
10.308
10.946
4.385 inches - New
Forthcoming Events
Our next benchrest weekend at Diggle will take place at the end of June – 30th June/1st July to be exact. We’ve
had a few new shooters try benchrest at 100 and 1000 yards this year and I think it’s fair to say – they are hooked!
Shooting a five-inch group at 1000 yards with your rifle is pretty special but that’s exactly what Andy Fellerman
did at his second ever benchrest shoot! Why not come and give it a try? Just turn up on the day and we’ll get you
started. More info from [email protected]
UK record
18
19
Busman’s Holiday - Part 2
UK and international rimfire benchrest
shooter Carl Boswell completes his
dream holiday saga in Finland, visiting
and shooting with Scandinavia’s
leading shooters and looking at one or
two innovative ideas – like a front rest
made from wood!
by Carl Boswell
by Carl Boswell
This month, we will revisit the wooden front rest that
Jens Lagas wrote about a few months ago. I actually
get to look at the different phases of the design
and to actually test them. This was very exciting
by Carl Boswell
as we - Jens and myself - worked on the final design.
(However, as I was leaving Finland the rest took another
developmental step!).
Nevertheless, we were there to shoot and test and
that is what we did, in a number of venues, indoor and
outdoor, with centerfire and rimfire rifles. It was pretty
thorough, if not empirical it was hardy in nature. I guess
the hardy aspect was the fact that we attempted one of
the final tests in minus twelve conditions, with a metre
of snow around us!
My hosts and your scribe ice
fishing on a frozen lake...
The Mk IV version
Basically, with this being a wooden rest the main
question is does it work? What about material
expansion? What about movement? What about
tolerances not being that accurate? I could go on but
I imagine that these are the questions you would have
when considering a wooden rest.
Tests
The tests of the rests took several forms - although
these were very much ‘taste’ tests. Testing for stability,
ease of use, precision movement, component parts,
resilience and achievable accuracy. These were tested
in a number of venues, using the Mark III and IV designs.
Scores out of 5
Mark III 3
Mark IV
20
21
Stability Ease of Use
Precision Movement
Component Parts Resilience
Achievable Accuracy
3
4
3
5
3
4
4
4
4
5
4
4
by Carl Boswell
Outdoor Rimfire at 50m
Jens has his own private outdoor range near his
summerhouse. The range is just behind the building
which creates and interesting shooting environment
with wind blowing in from the frozen sea behind the
bench at forty five degrees. The building should act
as a baffle for the first fifteen or so metres but swirling
winds develop from forty-five degrees, which makes
life interesting. After this initial difficulty we are then
Indoor Rimfire at 50m
The indoor test waited until our visit to Rovaniemi, the
home of Santa Land in the Arctic Circle. Yes, indoor
testing on the Arctic Circle - I guess they need the
indoor ranges in the winter!
by Carl Boswell
So functionality may not be as good on this earlier
model, but it still does the job, as seen from the
target.
This test was of the Mark III. Although not completely
finished the rest did the job - providing the stability
needed to shoot accurately. The component parts
were the initial prototypes and have now been
succeeded by those on the Mark IV. So to be simplistic
about things and in retrospect I just really wanted to
know if the rest was usable to shoot accurately from,
as the Mark IV rest is better made and the R&D is
better.
Jens is an inventor! Never stopping and always seeing
the next step. If this rest was to go onto the market which he does not have the time to do - I guess that
the ‘client’ would get very good customer service as
the product would just get better with additional
‘add ons’!
I wonder if a metal version will ever surface - but
that’s just me! The rest works, especially the Mark
IV, end of story. I would like to see a fully painted
and finished version. Jens has developed this rest
during different stages of the year, testing in different
weather conditions as he goes along. The sub-zero
temperature tests could be compared to the full
summer temperature tests - if we get any - and I think
this would be the final circumstances where we know
the diversity of the product. Long term use would also
be something worth investigating further. However,
we have to face facts and in an article like this it is rare
to use a product over a full season or even a whole
year.
In essence yes the rest worked and was stable. I hit
what I aimed at. However, functionality has now been
surpassed by the later model. Enough said!
Outdoor Centerfire at 100m
The outdoor test took place in Vika, forty kilometres
North West of Rovaniemi, in very much Arctic
conditions. The lowest temperature we had was
in open space again with those sometimes drastic
winds coming directly off the frozen sea.
This test was of the Mark IV, which is more stable
than its predecessor and easier to use. I think this
was due to better working component parts and very
precise tolerances - which I saw machined before
we used it. The rest worked exceptionally well and
this is my favourite. The front bag lifts more easily
and is stable. Movement is fast a secure when zeroed
on the diagram. Movements can be precise and the
accuracy, due to good stability, was very positive.
Even in these relatively extreme conditions holdingoff was not a problem and I felt confident about the
bullet hitting where I wanted it to. Resilience? Well I
gave this a score of 4 like the other but to be fair the
proof would really be revealed in long term use which
I would like to experiment with a little more.
minus thirty. The day we
tested it was late afternoon and the
temperature slowly lowered to minus twelve
the last time I looked - but my feet were telling me
something different, even wrapped up in multiple
layers of thermal wear and boots.
centerfire rifle also allowed us to see if the thing
would fall apart - which it did not. Looking at the
photographs of the target at 100 metres shows the
accuracy attainable using this very cheap rest. There
are five bullets passing through that hole, the same
achieved with the Farley we had at the range on the
same day.
This test was again using the Mark III, using Juhani’s
6 PPC, so thanks to him for its use. This test was
basically about how hardy this rest could be in the
‘Arctic conditions’ already described. Using the
22
23
This rest is designed specifically for the movements
we deal with in rimfire. The recoil associated with
centerfire shooting does not occur in rimfire benchrest
- less so with air rifle! I guess we were just trying to
make the rest fall apart or break to the point where it
would not work.
There are features I would like to see in the design
but that is not the point - this is designed and made
as cheap but functional rest, with many features you
would see in more expensive designs. If we keep
adding to or using more expensive materials the price
inevitably goes up. Still, the design has possibilities
for some entrepreneur who is willing to make it into a
marketable product.
by Carl Boswell
Anyone wanting to have the plans to manufacture this
rest for themselves should contact Jens via his email [email protected]
The plans he offers to make this rest were in the
second phase as I left, having just edited them for
him. I am guessing that as this goes to press they will
probably be in the final stages.
The newer elements to the design are a more robust
forend stop, probably with two posts to guide the rifle,
a more precise front bag lifting system, guided by two
columns and using materials that are a bit more ‘slick’
when attempting movement. The rear speed-screw
has also been redesigned and functions better.
If nothing else, at this price - about 100 euros - it
would make good club rest for shooters starting off in
the sport. Remember, the R & D work is free - all you
have to do is make it.
Another aspect to this article is an additional test of a
new front rest prototype in Finland. This is designed
and made by Tapani Nousiainen. He and Jens had
spoken about the design of Jens own rest, with the
parameters Jens was trying to incorporate. This is
where two minds think alike but come up with two
different and distinct ideas!!
The rest by Tapani allows quick movement in the
same way as Jens, but the mechanics are in reverse
order to some extent. It is clever in concept and at
first glance it looks very simplistic. It is based on two
central pivots, one for sideways movement and one
for vertical movements. Both are controlled by the
extending arm and sliding ‘handle’.
by Carl Boswell
The arm acts as a slider for the handle which can
be moved from side to side and slid on the arm to
increase/decrease elevation. This handle has to move
on a ‘slick’ surface, such as glass in this case, or a
Delrin/PFTE base as a suggestion. Really, this needs
to be integral within the design. I can certainly see the
glass not being practical for travelling and I believe
Tapani has now integrated this ‘slick’ plate into the
redesigned base of the rest. An interesting feature of
this could be different plates in the base, offering just
height adjustment or height with side adjustment for
different needs.
The handle which slides on the arm works extremely
well for fast movement. In one test, I shot five target
diagrams in about twelve seconds - all bulls. Yes, this
was indoors, so no wind as such to worry about, only
the small thermals created in the room but the speed
of movement was quite significant.
It obviously depends how you personally shoot but, on
occasion, it is necessary to shoot in quick succession if
you can. This could be because conditions necessitate
this or that during a match you find yourself just
running out of time! Dealing with a variety of windage
and elevation knobs to facilitate movement is not
conducive to a speedy process.
I suppose in some ways this is why rests have
developed to provide movement easily, speedily and
effectively, such as with coaxial rests. The rest on test
is a lot faster than a coaxial! That is its selling point.
Tipani’s rest went through a similar testing regime as I
describe above.
After testing we suggested a few ideas to Tapani that
are just personal preferences, logistical improvements
or where the rest may have potential issues. Potential
areas for further development are; a larger footprint
on the ‘handle’ for stability (the reason why it
achieved 3 marks), a locking mechanism on the
‘handle’, integration of the floor plate into the rest,
different floor plates for different needs - shooting
distances, potential for interchangeable tops, plus a
few other minor things.
I believe he is incorporating some of these thoughts
into the next prototype and I cannot wait to see and
test these improvements. There is a lot of potential
in this little rest and I like it a lot. Like everything, this
potential will cost if more materials or manufacturing
time are used. If you are interested in hearing about
the latest development you can contact Tipani at
[email protected]
In essence, these were interesting if not full tests, as
they were completed over a short period of time - I do
like to ‘play’ with products like these for a good few
weeks of shooting. By the end of this you can usually
tell what issues may arise, if they were being used in
a match. Let’s face it, in this game we rely on a good
rest, like all our other equipment.
As with all of these ‘Busman’ articles, what I am
trying to show is the extent of which the sport is
developing in Finland, where ingenuity is being
utilised to enable shooters to engage with the
sport.
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GB F Class 2nd Round
Blair Atholl
MAY 2012
GBFCA LEAGUE ROUND 2 - BLAIR ATHOLL
The long View
After April’s chilly Diggle round, the GBFCA league took competitors
by Les Holgate
nearly 300 miles further north a mere three weeks later for Round two at
News from the GB F-Class Association
Blair Atholl in the first weekend of May.
Photography - SteveThornton
Photography by Steve Thornton
The ‘merry month of May’ conjures up pleasant images of a warming world, lovebirds cooing, the flora busily
exploding in fresh bright green .... and all that stuff. But, hey this is a GB F Class Association round and it’s Blair
Atholl man, some thousand feet above sea level in the Scottish Highlands.
The second of the GBFCA League shoots
took place at the fabulous Blair Atholl
range in May. I didn’t manage to get there but
Laurie Holland did, so here’s his take on the event.
28
29
Blair Atholl
MAY 2012
The regional forecast said north-west winds, night
air frost, low daytime temperatures and a 20%
probability of ‘wintry showers’ for day one, Saturday
5th May. WINTRY – that’s a chilling word, even before
the first snowflake hits you in the eye!
The not so bad news was that wind speeds were
predicted to be low, single figure mph but those who
know West Atholl RC’s Glen Tilt Range also know
that ... weather girl speak with forked tongue ... to
misquote the Lone Ranger’s faithful Indian companion
and, anything other than the predicted conditions can
and likely will arise!
Interestingly, two of last season’s top ‘Open’ shooters
decided to switch calibres for Blair, presumably with
one eye on those forecasts – Grant Taylor up-gunned
from his usual 284 Shehane to 7mm WSM while Simon
Rodgers took the opposite route and downsized from
his 7mmSAUM to 6x47 Lapua.
There was a capacity entry spread over four details,
with a small bias to ‘Open’ competitors at 26 to F/TR’s
22. Some League regulars were missing and, there
was a welcome infusion of new faces in F/TR, some
having chosen Blair for their first ever long-range
match. (Brave or foolish? You decide!)
30
Blair Atholl
MAY 2012
I understand the entry was oversubscribed and reigning F/TR League Champion Russell Simmonds nearly missed
this round, being posted a ‘reserve’ before taking the place of someone who dropped out at the last minute.
There were five matches scheduled, all at 1000 yards (actually 984 yards on this range), all 2 sighters and 15 to
count, split three to two over Saturday & Sunday.
Wind and String
Saturday turned out dry with frequent sunny spells but chilly in the freezing north wind. Incidentally, unlike the
soggy south, the range was bone dry and dusty, the River Tilt running at low summer levels, more boulders than
water visible in its channel. Match Director Des Parr decided not to erect the usual protective ‘gazebos’ on the
firing-point, giving everybody more room and making it easier and quicker to move gear around as the relays
changed over.
31
Blair Atholl
MAY 2012
This was a good thing, as time turned out to be at a
premium for various reasons, the first being the switch
from the usual ‘shoot in pairs’ to ‘string shooting’ as
practised in the USA. This is part of preparing GB Team
members for next year’s F Class World Championships
in Raton, New Mexico.
For those unfamiliar with the concept, two shooters
get down on the point and set their gear up as usual
but only one shoots within a 20 minute overall time
limit at whatever rate suits – no 45 second rule
applying. His (or her) partner keeps score and they
swap roles when the first competitor has finished, the
rifle cleared, score totalled and signed off.
To make things simple, Des had circulated a colourcoded squadding sheet beforehand with each relay or
detail split into ‘a’ and ‘b’ sub-categories so everybody
knew their relay, target, and shooting order. I’ve
reproduced part of it for Stages 1 and 2 on Saturday
and you can see that the F/TR entrants started the
proceedings on the day. Richard Jones and Tony
Donnachie were allocated to Target 6 (extreme lefthand). Richard would shoot first being in Detail 1(a).
Most people shoot quickly in string mode, only
slowing or pausing if there is a major conditions
change but, with each sub-detail starting together,
it was the slowest time of the sextet shooting that
speed produces nil or only minor condition changes
between shots. Blair’s electronic targets produce an
immediate result on the monitor and with only one
shooter’s hits on the screen, a visual pattern appeared
as the match progressed.
determined how much of the 20 minutes allotment
was needed, hence the start time of the next group.
With three minutes ‘preparation time’ for each subdetail preceding firing, you can see that a full detail
of 12 could need 46 minutes plus whatever time is
needed for changeovers. So, if significant numbers
use their 20 minutes, or anything close, a Stage (four
details) would take an hour and three-quarters but
the first of each day longer still, as shooters on each
of the eight sub-details were also allowed a few
extra minutes for ‘blow-off’ shots onto the backstop.
Should any problems arise that slowed shooting
further, we’d be in trouble – and we soon were!
Obviously, conditions affected tactics – a big change
might see an otherwise fast shooter pause for quite a
long time hoping for a return to the earlier condition.
The risk in not keeping estimated versus real windage
and elevation plots is that if everything does change
mid match and the shooter eventually has to run with
the new conditions, the first shots after restarting are
almost ‘sighters’.
Several ‘Open’ guys had experience of string shooting
in American events but it was a novelty for most F/TR
competitors and it is VERY different from our usual
way of doing things.
There was a lot of discussion in ‘The Bothy’ [bar]
about tactics on Friday evening but things often
looked very different once we were on the firing
line and had to deal with the conditions we’d
been dealt. Put crudely, the extremes are
to shoot at ‘normal’ speed, read the
flags and conditions on a shot by
shot basis and keep a full paper
plot, graphing wind and
suchlike. Or - shoot
really fast, ‘chasing
the spotter’
and hope
sheer
32
33
Blair Atholl
MAY 2012
Blair Atholl
MAY 2012
There were two main conditions on Saturday, both
headwinds. The first and dominant one was a fairly
strong, very variable wind from around 10-11 o’clock
whose strength and angle never seemed to stabilise.
It affected elevation as well as lateral movement, the
classic Blair 45-degree (high left, low right) pattern
appearing on the monitors with a good smattering of
threes, twos and worse on many F/TR shooter’s plots.
Less bad for the ‘Open’ shooters’ and their ballistically
superior cartridges but still very easy to get a three
in a gust or let-off. The other condition appeared
erratically and might last for a few shots only, or if
lucky, long enough to get most or all of the 15 shots
off. It appeared to be closer to a true headwind in
this mode with the flags showing an apparent right
to left direction but a small amount of left windage
was still needed on the scope. It was lighter too
with a reasonably consistent strength and direction.
However, failing to notice a transition between
conditions was underway would produce a disastrous
result, no score all too easily obtained!
If lucky enough to get the lighter winds, the game
plan was to shoot as fast as possible while they lasted
and let the plot go hang! Many F/TR competitors had
brought 155gn ammunition, reckoning they could
shoot faster with light bullets and reduced recoil. For
instance, the F/TR shooters on the first stage’s detail
2(b) fell lucky with the wind and this was the tactic
Paul Crosbie used, banging off his quota of 155.5gn
Bergers in three minutes for a very respectable 66 (ex
75).
While this was happening I watched an inexperienced
competitor take his time letting the condition slip
away with only half the match shot, and paying
for this with a much lower average shot value after
the wind returned to the much more difficult left
condition. Not everybody went down the light bullet
route, Steve Donaldson loading the new 230gn Berger
Hybrid figuring you can never have too high a BC at
Blair!
Spies and Battalions
However, it was Stuart Anselm who took the stage
in F/TR on 69.3v using his usual 185gn Berger BTs
and keeping a full paper plot – as he did all weekend.
Richard Jones was a point behind, same V-count.
While we thought Paul was fast, he was soon
overshadowed by Grant ‘Speedy’ Taylor who managed
to get fifteen 7mmWSM shots off in two minutes 20
seconds (sighters ‘converted’) for 71.5v beating off
Paul Sandie by four Vs. I asked Grant afterwards if the
group had opened at all or the elevation moved as
the barrel heated but no, everything had stayed really
consistent. You’ve got to wonder what ‘fifteen rounds
rapid’ with a 7mm magnum averaging a shot every 9.3
seconds, does for barrel life! Not a lot, we reckoned in
the bar afterwards.
Stage 2 saw stronger and more variable winds, at least
when it started early in the afternoon. Nevertheless,
the winners’ scores saw no drop-off with one Grant
Taylor taking the medal on 72.1v ahead of reigning F
Class league champion Gary Costello on 71.5v. The
top two F/TR slots went to a pair of Altcar Range’s 101
RC finest sharing 69s, Billy McIntyre’s five Vs seeing off
Adam Bagnall’s two.
literary bent. Target 5 in particular seemed to have
had Macbeth’s three witches put a hex on it - the first
two shooters out on the target, Keith Snow and Paul
Harkins, suffering major problems, ammunition and
trigger respectively.
Then the target started producing weird results after
only a few shots, soon followed by none at all, every
shot marked a miss!
Attempts to cure the problem, shutting the monitors
down and rebooting the system, failed. Keith and
Paul had to restart on whichever other target became
free first and the timetable was obviously going to
come under pressure thanks to the loss of range
capacity. Moreover, the problem worsened with
whatever was ailing the target gradually spreading
to its neighbours, so only 1 and 2 were still working
reliably by mid afternoon despite several stops in
shooting for parties to disappear down to the butts to
try various remedies.
Stage 3 was cancelled and competitors were fed into
the surviving lanes, volunteers now scorekeeping, so
a shooter started within seconds of his predecessor
finishing. Even so, it took until 6pm to get through
The range of scores being handed in was huge,
especially in F/TR but all sorts of problems were
affecting people in addition to reading the wind and
getting to grips with strings!
Seeing as how there is some great Shakespeare
celebration under way, on the Beeb at any rate and
you can’t avoid daily doses of the Bard’s life, times and
works this spring, why should I miss out? So here’s a
quote from Hamlet:
“When sorrows come, they come not single spies but
in battalions”.
Poor Des Parr and some competitors must have
had thoughts on these lines assuming they’re of a
34
35
Blair Atholl
MAY 2012
Stage 2’s final detail and that wasn’t the end of the
day for Des and a volunteer group who stayed behind
to disassemble the wiring in the butts, inspect, clean
and check everything, while others stayed on the
firing point receiving instructions by mobile phone to
take test shots.
Everything bar target 5 was eventually restored to
use but in the absence of any obvious cause of the
problems, it was decided to reduce Sunday’s two
15-round stages to a single 2 & 20 on the assumption
that some targets would fail again.
Sunday
The day was cloudier with a distinct whiff of the
notorious ‘wintry showers’ in the sky and around the
slopes of the ‘Monroes’ off to the north of Glen Tilt,
so the protective ‘gazebos’ reappeared on the firing
point. One match only now and a different wind
direction, from behind with a ‘bit of left’ normally
needed on the sights but fishtailing around on
occasions.
Blair Atholl
MAY 2012
The most useful wind flag in these conditions, a tall
number well down the range, was unfortunately
absent presumably blown down during the winter and
awaiting re-erection. Scores improved in the lighter
wind nevertheless and guess who took the ‘Open’
stage medal and the overall winner’s glassware? It
was the unstoppable Grant Taylor on a hat trick with a
great 97.6v leading Lee Tomlinson by three Vs – what
a fantastic, consistent performance especially given
the range of different and difficult conditions over the
two days! Russell Simmonds had his first really good
match of the season in F/TR to take the stage on a
superb 94.4v just leading Adam Bagnall’s 93.3v.
You didn’t need to think hard about who was the
overall ‘Open’ winner, Grant’s aggregate 240.12v (ex
a possible 250.50v) keeping him well clear of Gary
Costello, Paul Sandie and Lee Tomlinson who were the
only others to break 230.
F/TR was much closer, for the overall lead anyway,
with Adam Bagnall and Paul Crosbie tied on 222.6v.
Adam got the silverware on count-back, his last shot
of the weekend a five to Paul’s four. Paul never quite
got a medal winning top-two stage score but had
been just behind in all three matches to get the equal
highest score on sheer consistency. Fewer than half of
the F/TR shooters broke 200 and V-counts were low,
Richard Jones hit the coveted 5-inch circle nine times
in F/TR, Gary Costello 13 in ‘Open’ - one of only six
shooters to achieve a double-figure total.
36
So, it was an interesting and for many a frustrating
and difficult round. The target problems were a rare
but real disappointment. Des has since updated
me on the cause. Each target has a thick rubber
membrane nearly covering the whole frame. That
on 5 collapsed so the sensors couldn’t identify the
position of the bullet strikes and fed false data back
to the firing point, crucially destabilising the other
targets in the process. Still, it does give some of us a
novel excuse to add to the existing large suite – “I’m
sure that 2 – 1 - no score hit in Match whatever was
really a ‘V’ and the equipment got it wrong”.
37
Blair Atholl
MAY 2012
Top 10 Results
Blair Atholl
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
MAY 2012
38
39
F Class
Grant Taylor
240.12v
Gary Costello
235.13v
Paul Sandie
232.7v
Lee Tomlinson
231.9v
Mark Daish
226.12v
Gordon Waugh 225.7v
Peter Hobson
225.5v
Dan Brough
224.6v
Mik Maksimovic
222.6v
John Campbell
221.5v
F/TR
Adam Bagnall
Paul Crosbie
Richard Jones
Steve Donaldson
Stuart Anselm
Russell Simmonds
Billy McIntyre
Steve Lynch
Russell Howard
Tony Donnachie
Blair Atholl
222.6v
222.6v
220.9v
218.8v
216.8v
216.7v
205.7v
202.7v
201.6v
200.4v
MAY 2012
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40
41
This
SMALLBORE
Business
I proved that with Gus, in the paragraph above. The
readers need to think on this aspect for a while….
This Smallbore Business
by Don Brooke
Teaching yourself to shade the aim – Part 2
Last month, I started the first of the series of
different aiming techniques as a method of
wind combat. Learning to ‘shade the aim’ has
a number of pitfalls, particularly for those who
are just starting. It is even worse for full bore
NRA long range shooters due to the variation in
the target dimensions as you move back to 1000
yards. But, as I said, this can be done!
Before I start this let me regale you with yet another
story from my diaries. It should be noted however,
as the basis of this story, that very few have even the
slightest idea of how accurately a shooter can aim.
This applies to almost any shooter of any grade.
I was working on my shading techniques, when my
brother in law, himself a good shooter, came to me
and asked “How the hell can you do this?”
Like many, he was brought up in the ‘old school’ of
never departing from a dead-centre aiming picture.
To demonstrate for him, I asked him to take the bolt
out of his Anschutz and then get into position and
start to aim like he could.
If you doubt this, get under a 20x telescopic sight with
a fine cross hair/lee dot reticule and have a good look
at just where you can put the aiming picture when you
can see it through 20x of magnification! This would
demonstrate exactly what I am on about. You see, I
make the point that not many would venture to vary
their aiming picture, just as Gus would not have done
above.
The one thing they have not considered is that a small
bore rifle - still in the gun case, or standing in the
corner - will never fire a shot. It will only do this when
YOU pick it up to shoot with it! I make the point, that
at every stage YOU are now in control of what you
do…. You are the boss!
I then walked down to the 50m target and physically
moved the whole target board just 6mm to the right.
“Would you fire that shot Gus?” I asked... “Not in a
million years “ came the reply.
Walking back to him, I explained that the aiming
deviation would not have lost the 10 ring would it yet he would not fire it! He was astounded!
The point that I am getting at is that a shooter can
aim with an accuracy factor that takes a bit of belief….
So it follows along that your fore-sight ring has a
centre as well, does it not?
Therefore, if you can imagine (mind stuff I mentioned
above) that your fore-sight ring has cross hairs, you
can determine very accurately just where the exact
centre of that ring actually is. This then makes it quite
easy to place the cross-hairs where ever you want to
in the aiming picture. As I said with Gus above, even
a 6mm aiming error will result in a shot not fired but
actually still in the ten ring as a result.
Have a look at this diagram with the imaginary cross
hairs implemented – fig. 1
Last month I wrote, about an aiming picture variation
as a method of wind combat, or weather conditions
on the range. You will remember the aiming diagram
I illustrated the article with which clearly showed an
aim favouring the ten o’clock side of the foresight ring
to offset the effects of an increase in wind velocity.
I also wrote about the method of teaching yourself
to shade the aim around the clock face of the target,
just by favouring the hour from 12 to 12 right around
it with the fore-sight ring. This is not rocket science, it
just takes some work.
I can assure you, that you will fire a number of shots
that will not be successful and that this method is not
easy to work through. So, let me tell you what I came
up with, that made this task extremely interesting and
actually introduces some ‘mind stuff’ techniques that
DO work.
OK, any maths expert will tell you that circles have a
centre. I can also tell you that most people can place
their finger very accurately in the exact centre of a
bread and butter plate. (Try this, get hold of a plate
out of the cupboard, and put your finger-tip right in
the middle of it…) See what I mean?
42
This
SMALLBORE
Business
43
Fig 1 Every circle has a centre and if you can imagine
crosshairs in the fore-sight ring, it helps to find the
centre, thus making it easier to centre the dot to where
you want to aim. (see text) This illustrates a deadcentre aim
This aiming picture, if fired in still conditions would
result in a 10.9 in any example given. A shot hole
absolutely smack in the middle!
So then, it once more follows on that if you can
imagine these cross hairs placed on the inside of the
ten ring at 10 o’clock you stand an excellent chance of
placing that shot exactly where you aimed it.
Like this... fig.2. (Next page)
This
SMALLBORE
Business
This
SMALLBORE
Business
It also gives you all a very good idea of what is in
front of the excellent F Class full bore and small bore
shooters that are able to use their scope sights to
place their shots where ever they need. Funny what
happens when you are looking through 20, 30 and
even 36 power telescopic sights!
I also did a lot of work with my 20x Lyman and the
magnification gave me a very good idea of both the
hold and just where I could aim to battle with the
wind. Once you understand that the hold was well
inside the ten ring and did not lose it under recoil, the
confidence to learn how to shade the aim took on a
whole new perspective.
Fig 2 illustrates an off-centre aim towards 10 o’clock
using a mental picture with crosshairs in the fore-sight
ring, much the same as an imagined telescopic sight
(See text)
This also helped me to apply the mind stuff
concerned with the imaginary cross hairs through
the ring foresight. So, in my imagery process, I could
that the whole of the ten ring still registers ten points,
giving you a little room for error.
Finally for this month, I will leave you with a ‘rule of
thumb’ that applies to all attempts to read the wind.
Then, all you have to do is to employ your mind, and
the imaginary cross hairs to produce the training
aiming you need to reproduce the shots on the inside
of the ten ring which we are trying to learn. Like I said,
it is not rocket science but a very handy resource to
have when the weather cuts up out there! Eventually
you will recognise the wind effect and make the
aiming adjustment almost automatically.
Remember a while back I mentioned shooting next
to Ernie Van De Zande in Linz in Austria where he
won the match with 600 points? He shot this score
quite quickly and, after he told me he fired just five
centre aimed shots out of the whole 60 of that English
Match!
In terms of wind and weather combat, this article is
huge mate! It also gives you an idea of just how well
the ‘human bench rest’ (as EVZ is often called) applied
this method. For my part, second place, eight points
behind in Linz and the only two shooters over 590
points, I had a real wake up call!
Note the increase of the wind shown as a lifting wind
flag. Fig 4 then shows the shaded aim to produce a
ten-ring shot, with the imagined crosshairs off centre to
10 o’clock in the fore-sight ring (see text) so negating the
effect of the wind increase
The plane of wind-effect across a reasonably
flat range, is NOT 9 to 3 o’clock as most full bore
shooters adhere to. Due to the rotational effect of
the projectile, the plane of wind effect is actually 10,
to 4 o’clock, (see fig.5) and any variation of this is
more than likely due to either shooter error, or the
topography of the range proper.
Fig 3 Showing a still, down the pole wind flag, which
would result in aiming right in the middle of the foresight ring to produce a centre shot. This would bring
about an exact centre zero for no wind affecting
the projectile. (See text) It does help to imagine the
crosshairs in the sight-picture
This does apply to 90% of the ranges I have fired small
bore over in my experience and certainly with many
of the NRA type full bore ranges. This is also the case
with the 300m disciplines.
I will leave you to think about that and you can
easily check this with a good telescopic sight. The
statement may cause a lot of thought, believe me!
determine the centre of the ring quite comfortably.
If you consider fig.3 which shows the aim, (with the
imagined cross hairs) on a dead centre hold, due to
nil wind out there, whilst fig.4 indicates a hold held
to 10.o’clock in an effort to alleviate the increased
velocity on the wind flag. Both aimed shots would
result in a ten ring shot hole and please understand
It will most certainly alter most thinking, particularly
when you are perfecting your shade aiming
techniques. I can assure you all, many may struggle
44
45
Fig 5 illustrates the plane of wind-effect across the
range. It is not 9 to 3 o’clock as so many think but
actually 10 to 4 o’clock due to the rotation of the
projectile. Wind from the left takes the projectile down
to 4 o’clock whilst wind-effect from the right lifts the
projectile towards 10 o’clock. Both have an effect on
elevation (see text). You need to be aware!
with not aiming centre all the time but, the results in
the wind will prove this is why so many really good
small-bore shooters have diligently worked to learn
how to shade the aim so accurately.
As a method of wind and weather combat, it is fast,
accurate and well worth the effort. Have you ever
wondered why 90% of the matches are consistently
won by 10% of the shooters?
More in this series next month.
Remember what I said earlier… A faint
heart never won a fair fight!
Brooksie
The ChargeMaster is the most
expensive and, if the views
expressed on US based
shooting forums are to be
believed, the best of the
bunch. Most expensive?
You’ll get precious little
change out of £400, so
this RCBS signature-green
gizmo needs to be pretty
special to earn its place in
this particular Big Boys’ Toy
Box!
THE RCBS CHARGEMASTER 1500 COMBO
by Laurie Holland.
THE RCBS CHARGE MASTER
1500 COMBO
This is our third - and we promise last - look at a combined electronic scales and
powder dispensing device. Vince Bottomley reviewed the Hornady L-N-L Autocharge
in the November 2011 issue and Chris Parkin has had a look at the Lyman 1200 DPS III.
46
Actually, how would you justify the cost of
any member of the trio, especially if you
already own a mechanical powder measure
and beam scales? I’m reminded of a Diggle
regular with whom I had a discussion many
years ago about suitable powders for
some application or other and to whom I
recommended Accurate 4350, an excellent
and cheap, but very long-grained propellant.
Cutting me off short, I was informed that
if he couldn’t use charges straight from
the powder measure, it was no use to him,
as “life is far too short to weigh individual
powder charges.” So, now you can have
your cake and eat it - that is have each
charge weighed with only minimal outlay of
time and effort, provided you are prepared
to pay…
47
by Laurie Holland.
The 1500 scales unit which can be removed
from the dispenser.
Scale-centric
Vince described the Hornady contender
thus: “Strip away all the hype and this
impressive expensive device is nothing
more than a motorised powder trickler
housed in a fancy box.” Whilst I can’t
disagree with that statement, I’d turn
it round to start with the scales part.
Everything depends on those (electronic)
scales and, over the years, I’ve seen just
too many examples of the breed that are
inaccurate, prone to ‘wander’ and are as
generally useful and docile as a sack-full
of alley cats.
by Laurie Holland.
The dispenser unit control panel. Note the two 50-gram
calibration weights visible in their pockets on the rear of
the scale.
To get the best out of it, I switch it on an hour before
use and, if required, warm the room up in advance.
The room door and windows are kept closed during
use to avoid draughts, a curtain drawn if needed
to stop sunlight falling on the device (not much of
problem recently!) and I operate it in a mobile/DECT
phone, fluorescent lighting-free zone, likewise clear
of other electrical equipment that might produce
electromagnetic emissions.
by Laurie Holland.
The other thing I always do, as with any ammunition
whose charges rely on electronic scales, is to take
each round as it’s charged and has the bullet seated
and place it into the ammunition box in the same
sequence as I’ll take it out and use it in a match, in
my case cartridges running from right to left in each
row of 10 starting with that at the very front/right.
Therefore, if there is a gradual movement in charge
weights due to scale drift over the course of loading 50
rounds, the resulting effect on long-range ‘elevations’
will be gradual during a match, allowing minor sight
corrections to be applied.
Not a fan then?
Well I can be BUT, the point is that if the scales aren’t
accurate and consistent, the rest of the machine, its
trickler speeds and controls, auto-start/discharge
facility, programmable memory holding 40 or 400
pet loads is simply an expensive useless waste of
space. So, I’ll reassure you by saying straight off that
the ChargeMaster has so far turned out to be docile
and accurate over its four months in my care and
the production of many hundreds of charges from a
goodly range of powders, the sole type not tried being
the fine grained ball form.
Well, it was quite docile and well-behaved - until I
carried out this test for Target Shooter! In any event,
I wouldn’t expect 100% consistency as the 1500’s
accuracy, like that of any electronic scale, is affected
by how long it has been switched on and external
factors, principally ambient temperatures.
Looking down the powder reservoir shows the dispenser
is an oversized powder trickler.
I’ll also recalibrate the scales before I start on the
next box, or if I change the powder/load. If you want
to scare yourself by learning about the things that
can affect electronic scale reliability, there have
scale accuracy and problems and onto the specifics
of operating the ChargeMaster 1500. Basic usage is
simplicity itself. Switch it on using the appropriate
button in the scale control panel and it goes through
an automatic countdown and internal check sequence
that only takes a few seconds followed by a loud
‘bleep’ and the display showing 0.0gn to confirm
it’s ready for use and weighing in grains (grams are
available too).
Key the charge weight into the dispenser control panel
and it appears on the scale display.
been several short articles on the subject in the
AccurateShooter website’s Daily Bulletin: http://
bulletin.accurateshooter.com/?s=electronic+scales&s
ubmit=Search
This is done on the larger, more complicated looking
What I simply won’t do is rely 100% on such scales and
dispenser unit control panel, but the ten numeric
have my old fashioned but reliable RCBS 10-10 beam
digits and ‘point’ (.) used to enter the desired weight
scales available to check charges if needed as well as a
aside, there are only three or four ‘buttons’ I ever use,
set of Lyman check-weights. There is another check I
primarily: ‘ENTER’ (to enter the weight value into the
regularly make – the Charge Master’s scale pan weight
reading. My Acculab laboratory
The three powders tried in the tests.
quality electronic scales that read
to ±0.02gn (yes, that’s a fiftieth
of a grain, equivalent to a single
kernel of Viht N140) say that the pan
weighs 143.76gn. After starting the
ChargeMaster up and calibrating /
zeroing its scale, it normally shows
the pan as 143.7gn, but I have seen
it read as high over 144.0gn, usually
shortly after switching it on and in a
still cold room.
Simple Operation
Anyway, enough about electronic
48
Remove the pan from the platen and press ‘CAL’
on the scale control panel to calibrate the device in
a simple three-step process involving zero weight
(platen empty) 50 and 100 grams using the supplied
calibration weights. On completion, the scale
automatically re-zeroes on the empty platen. Replace
the pan, press ‘ZERO’, and you’re ready to enter a
charge weight.
49
by Laurie Holland.
by Laurie Holland.
The test set-up: Acculab VIC123 scale,
ChargeMaster and charges returned to the powder
bottle after weighing. In normal use, the charge
would go straight into a case and have the bullet
seated using a press just out of view on the right.
The test set-up: Acculab VIC123 scale, ChargeMaster
and charges returned to the powder bottle after
weighing. In normal use, the charge would go straight
into a case and have the bullet seated using a press just
out of view on the right.
50
51
by Laurie Holland.
short-term memory); ‘DISP’ (Dispense) to start the
trickler up and dispense the charge; ‘CANCEL / STOP’
to cancel that weight out and return the device to the
awaiting instructions mode – or to shut dispensing
down if something awful has happened and you’re
pumping powder out onto the scales unit/bench and
not into the pan for some reason.
There is a ‘Trickle’ button too that turns the trickler
tube slowly as long as you keep the digit down, but
I’ve found its operation too coarse to make small
additions to a charge sitting in the pan should you
have an underweight amount for any reason. The
other controls are mostly to do with entering,
recovering and amending charge weights held in the
long-term memory – features I ignore as I don’t see
any value for them in my usage. However, if you only
load a small number of combinations and there is
never going to be any doubt that Memory Load #01 is
whatever charge weight of Viht N140 you put under a
155.5gn Berger in 308 Win say, fair enough – I look at
the label on the ammunition box instead.
The ChargeMaster has the same ergonomic fore/
aft layout as the physically smaller Hornady Auto
Charge allowing uncluttered access by both hands
but, unlike its bright red competitor, comprises two
separate machines literally bolted together. The
scale-unit can be bought as a standalone set and the
dispenser added later, or should you want to weigh
cartridges cases or bullets and don’t want the trickler
tube hampering operations, you can separate the pair.
They’re held together by two flat bars underneath
secured by six finger-bolts, rubber facing on their
undersides doubling up as the combo’s feet.
There is a multi-circuit connector sticking out of the
back of the scale-unit too that slots into a female
socket in the dispenser-housing for the two devices
to communicate with each other when in use – and
communicate they do, a low warbling whistle just
audible in the later stages of dispensing a charge when
the motor/trickler has ceased continuous operation.
So, you’ve warmed it up, calibrated the scale-unit,
zeroed it on the empty pan and of course, poured
a suitable quantity of powder into the dispenser
reservoir, what now? Three things only: double-check
it’s the powder you think it is, say Viht N160 and not
much faster burning N140; key the charge weight
into the dispenser unit’s control panel including
the point and figure zero if it’s a round number and
double-check the value which is now showing on the
scale-unit’s display panel; hit ‘ENTER’ to confirm the
value and put it into the machine’s memory, followed
by ‘DISP’ and the motor whirrs into high-speed life
feeding powder down the trickler tube and into the
pan.
The display panel changes from the weight setting
to ‘W’ followed by rapidly escalating figures as the
pan weight rises and you very soon notice a change
in the sound and speed of the motor/rate of powder
feed. In fact, the Charge Master uses four speeds,
three in continuous running: full, half and quarter
speeds, to get to just short of the desired charge, then
it pauses and makes a short series of small fraction
of a revolution turns to feed the last few kernels into
the pan, pausing long enough between them for the
CPU to be sure the scales have stabilised on a reading
before comparing it to the target value and adding
more as required.
Finally, after another short pause, the device lets out
another (irritating) bleep to let you know that charge
is complete, the display changes to ‘CT=’ (count)
followed by whatever number of charges at that
weight have been dispensed and after holding that
for maybe five seconds returns to the weight reading.
This is a crucial point – don’t remove the pan and its
contents until you get the second weight reading and
even leave it there for another second or two. If it
reads or changes to something different from what
you want - and this occasionally happens (nearly
52
always high), you can now either adjust the charge or
better still dump it back into the reservoir and start
again.
‘Starting again’ offers a choice of mode – manual (hit
‘DISP’ again), or auto (simply place the empty pan
back on the platen and as soon as it re-zeroes, it starts
dispensing the next charge). I normally use auto,
replacing the pan as soon as I’ve poured the previous
charge in the case and the next charge magically
appears while I’m seating a bullet over its predecessor.
Vibration is always bad news for electronic scale
consistency, but my Forster Co-Ax press operates so
smoothly and my ammunition’s neck tension levels
are so low, bullet seating doesn’t apparently create
enough vibes to affect the Charge Master’s reliability
– in any case any minor disturbance occurs during the
early high-speed dispensing stage, not the critical final
top-ups. What I do have to remember is keep a count
of cartridges loaded with a particular charge weight
when producing load development ammunition and
to cancel the input using CANCEL/STOP when I’ve got
my three or five rounds.
More than once, I’ve run off a charge too many in a
particular weight thanks to the auto-dispense facility
and sometimes even poured it into the case and
seated the bullet before I’ve twigged what I’ve done.
Soda Straws and Programming
The ChargeMaster is fast! 16 to 24 seconds total cycle
time is the norm, most of the charge dispensed in only
three or four seconds with the trickler in its highestspeed mode. The last grain of weight takes up a large
part of the discharge time as the Charge Master drops
a kernel or two at a time and waits for the scale to
settle before making another addition if required.
I mentioned waiting until the ‘Count’ display clears
and the weight is again shown to check it’s what
you’ve input and a certain percentage now usually
show the weight as being ‘over’, 0.1gn the norm but
sometimes up to 0.3gn. This is due to powder kernels
53
by Laurie Holland.
‘clumping’ just inside the trickler tube mouth and
another eighth or quarter turn sees half a dozen or
more fall into the pan not the desired two or three.
The frequency depends partly on the powder’s grain
formulation, partly on the actual charge weight
input. I’ve commonly found during load development
sessions that involve five weights rising by anywhere
between 0.2 and 0.5gn steps as required, that two or
three create no problems at all, one sees a couple of
over-weight examples and one takes ten attempts to
provide five charges.
The answer lies in the use of a short section of ‘soda’
(drinks) straw, those provided in McDonald’s (sic)
outlets supposed to be an ideal fit, pressed into the
outlet end of the trickler tube and extending a little
beyond it. Creating a sharply serrated mouth on the
straw with dressmakers’ pinking shears improves
matters further - it’s claimed! Unfortunately, UK
McDonald’s fast-food outlets use a smaller diameter
straw than US ones and need a little packing – I’m
told, as I’ve not personally tried these remedies.
On top of that, the Charge Master obviously involves
some rather sophisticated computing power and
programming and you can make various changes
to its default settings if you really want to become
anal about the issue. Useful ones kill off the
f**[Bleep]**ing ‘bleep’, or as mentioned switch
between manual and automatic dispensing start-up
but you can download instructions on changing the
trickler motor speed times to vary the pattern to suit
a particular powder formulation and charge weight.
See http://www.accurateshooter.com/gear-reviews/
speed-up-your-rcbs-chargemaster/
‘Clumping’ aside, any other problems, downsides, or
things to watch? Powder discharge at the end of a
session is through a port on the right hand body side,
opened by turning it 180-degrees after placing the
powder bottle and a funnel or a tray underneath.
A discharge port on the right side allows most of the powder
to be drained off quickly after use. Remember to close it
though!
by Laurie Holland.
I couldn’t understand why this was and things got no
better when I moved onto Viht N550 with charges
running half a grain too high from the off, which I
knew from past experience with this load was quite
out of character. Recalibration was undertaken
without producing any improvement; a collection
of Lyman check-weights adding up to 46.5gn was
weighed and the Charge Master scale reading was
spot-on.
IMR-4831’s coarse grains build up inside
the trickler tube mouth making fine
adjustment problematic.
a prelude to recalibration. As soon
as the scale settles on zero, it WILL
dispense powder and it’ll run all over
the scale body and bench. This all
sounds hard work, but it’s not at all
– the machine is ridiculously easy to
use.
grained Swiss TR140, a likely .223 Rem 70-80gn bullet
load; 46.3gn Viht N550 a load used in my 308 Win F/TR
rifle with its previous barrel and chamber; 68.0gn IMR4831, a traditional long-grained ‘log’ powder in a 300
Magnum load.
Results
discharge port first or some more power will appear
and spill out. I’ve usually found that a cotton bud is
needed to get the last few kernels out of the tube
before finally reopening the discharge port above
the powder bottle/poly funnel to recover the last few
kernels trapped inside.
Then... remember to CLOSE THE DISCHARGE PORT!
Everybody forgets at least once and the next time
you pour powder into the reservoir it promptly runs
straight out all over the bench. If you’re in autodispense mode, remember to press CANCEL/STOP if
you decide to remove the pan and zero the scale as
by Laurie Holland.
the IMR-4831 results are not the best I’d had with
the machine, in fact I’ll go further and say they’re
unsatisfactory.
This gets the bulk of the powder out and RCBS
supplies a long-handled artists’ brush to sweep any
recalcitrant kernels off the reservoir sides and machine
interior. You need to replace the pan, enter a 50.0gn
charge weight value and set the machine into the
dispense mode to empty the trickler tube, closing the
Small over-charges are a problem with some
combinations and 68gn IMR-4831 was particularly bad.
So how accurate and consistent is the
Charge Master? I’ve found it varies
somewhat depending on how long
it’s been switched on and the room environment. On
some occasions, I’ve found it produces charges very,
very close to those set; on others there can be a small
but noticeable variance from the weight input.
There may be other factors at work such as exactly
where I’ve positioned the machine on the loading
bench as it sits at the back when not in use and I move
it forward. I suppose I should check it’s level each time
I do this and pack something under the feet if required
but never do.
Three very different extruded powders and typical
charge weights were tried for this report with 25
charges thrown and weighed on my Acculab VIC123
scales that read to ±0.02gn – 24.0gn of very fine-
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I checked the Acculab too in case it was playing up
and it also read exactly what it should – to two decimal
places even! At that point, I wondered if the Charge
Master had been switched on too long. Normally, I use
it within 30-60 minutes but I’d intended to carry out
these tests the previous day and hadn’t been able to
for various reasons. As a result, the machine had now
All three saw charges dispensed within an 18-24
second time range, N550 taking marginally longer
than the much heavier 4831 samples much to my
surprise. The number of weighings rejected and
returned to the dispenser reservoir varied dramatically
- the IMR powder unsurprisingly the worst with ‘overs’
ranging from 68.1-68.4gn on waiting for the second
showing of the weight on the scales display.
All such were returned to the device’s reservoir, but
in real life I’d have used those shown as only 0.1gn
too heavy and all of them would have been fine for a
typical sporting rifle load. In my first test session, the
weights dispensed slowly reduced for both TR140 and
4831 (1) over a 25-charge sequence especially with
IMR-4831 which saw the heaviest charge (69.0gn)
the first thrown and the lightest (68.36gn) the last.
I’ve got to say that the TR140 and even more so
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RCBS supplies the long-handled brush for use inside the
machine. The paintbrush is kept handy to sweep spilt
kernels up on the bench – and you will spill some.
by Laurie Holland.
been switched on for around 24 hours, so I turned it
off for a couple of hours, allowed the room to cool a
little and started again from scratch with N550.
The results are as shown – absolutely superb. It was
late evening now, so the Charge Master was again
switched off and the 68gn 4831 load tried again the
following day, the results shown in the table as IMR4831(2). Yes, that’s a bit more like it, very good indeed
in fact! That Standard Deviation value says that two
thirds of charges will lie within the arithmetic mean
plus or minus 0.05gn - a fiftieth of a grain weight.
What the rerun didn’t improve was the number of
loads that were marginally overweight thanks to the
‘clumping’ issue. Incidentally, it’s not just the large
kernels but the relationship between the exact weight
set and the machine’s operating pattern. Changing
the desired weight by 0.2 or 0.3gn either way would
likely have reduced the problem dramatically. Had I
rerun the TR140 test, I’m sure it would have improved
the machine’s accuracy to be in line with the other two
powders – as always, it’s about becoming completely
familiar with the quirks and behaviours of the kit.
ANY NEW PRODUCTS TO PROMOTE !
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However, as I said at the beginning of this report,
electronic scales exhibit more than any other part of
the handloading mix and the worrying thing is that if I
hadn’t check-weighed the results on the Acculab scale,
I’d have been ignorant of these discrepancies
Test results (25 charges each excluding rejects)
ThorntonConnect.com have
been recently commissioned to
photograph & build NEW
websites by;
Trident Suppressors
Osprey Rifles
HPS
Fox Firearms
March Scopes
Open Season Ltd
Dolphin Gun Company
Need a posh ammo box !!!
These will be available through Osprey Rifles
this month...Photo by Steve Thornton
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ULTIMATE BENCHREST
All bullet manufactures of top ammunition go to
extreme lengths to ensure that their ammo. is
consistent i.e. the variance in velocity is very small,
so if we just use one batch of ammo. it’s going to be
quite difficult to detect the sweet spot - especially
when shooting
using a sling. By
introducing a
second batch which
has a slightly higher
average velocity
the difference
in impact points
between each
batch at 50m will
be marked.
Rimfire Tuners
Finding the Elusive
Sweet Spot...
By Ray Cockayne
OK, so like me you have pawned the wife’s jewellery
and bought yourself a tuner for your beloved target
rifle, it’s fitted on the rifle and you are now ready
to ‘tune’ it. How do you find the ‘Sweet Spot’ that
elusive point that magically brings the group size to
one small hole at 50m?
Well, there are three methods. The first needs a
benchrest set up, together with a high powered scope
and a chronograph. If you don’t already have this kit
already having pawned the wife’s jewellery to get this
far, you are now going to have to re-mortgage the
house.
The second method is BG-o-BG (by guess or by god).
Simply start with the weight in any arbitrary position
shoot a group, move the weight, shoot another group
and so on until you run out of ammo or, by pure luck,
see a noticeable closing of the group.
The third method, which I have found to be effective,
uses two different batches of ammunition and usually
I use a batch that
is no more than
10 fps faster - for
those of you that
are not aware the average velocity for batches of
Tenex is printed on the end of the box, very useful,
because that makes our task much easier. As you are
aware, I now have a BeeSting tuner and this is how I
brought it to tune.
gets a result having expended no more than a box of
ammo. in total.
Before I describe how, let’s just consider a couple of
pieces of information first. In simple terms, when
a tuner is working, it throws lower-velocity bullets
higher so that they share the same impact point as
slightly higher-velocity bullets, which have a flatter
trajectory.
The second piece of information I would like you to
consider is the graph I produced last year using ELEY’s
test facility. Although I used the Starik tuner to do
this I believe the graph will be pertinent to any similar
tuner. With the tuning weight fully back toward the
barrel it has no effect - in fact it makes group sizes
larger than normal. Moving forward groups diminish
then start to increase as the tuner takes effect. At a
point further forward is the ‘sweet spot’ - where the
group size is very tight.
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On the 50m range, starting with the weight about half
of its movement forward from the barrel, probably
about mid-point on the graph, I shot alternate fast,
then slow rounds two of each and noted the impact
points. The result was normal - that is the two slower
rounds impacted about 10mm below the two faster
rounds.
I then wound the weight forward by a full turn again
a similar result. Another full turn and although
the slower rounds were still below the faster by
comparison to the first diagram the group was
smaller. This was giving me an indication that I was
moving the weight in the right direction.
Another turn forward and the group was noticeably
coming together, another turn and they seemed to
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ULTIMATE BENCHREST
be just one small group. I was now very close to the
sweet spot and it was just a matter of fine tuning.
Had I gone noticeably further forward then the slower
rounds would have grouped above the faster. Job
done, simple, it didn’t cost a fortune the house is safe,
and all I need do now is get the jewellery back out of
the pawn shop before she notices.
Additionally, I was shooting with my friend who
bought a BeeSting and asked him if he had tried this
method. He hadn’t, he’d used the BG-o-BG method.
So as my ammo. was 10 fps faster than his, I gave
him some of my ammo. to try. Surprisingly his slower
ammo. shot 10mm above my faster ammo. indicating
that he had over tuned. As we didn’t have sufficient
to do a proper job and as time was pressing we had
to stop. He has now picked up a faster batch of Tenex
from Bisley and will tune using this method shortly.
Remember once tuned for a set distance if you move
to another, from 50m to 100 yards perhaps, you will
need to retune. If you change ammo. manufacturer or
the velocity changes significantly, then you will need
to make minor adjustments.
Supporting the Disabled Shooting Project
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meant no searching for clay pigeons emerging from
a tree line. These plush surroundings are frequented
by a large number of Premiership footballers;
apparently every other vehicle in the car park is a
Thousands of firearms and airguns filled
shelves accompanied by every item you can
imagine from Nosler rifle brass and bullets through
Hornady reloading components to clothing and
scopes from Weaver. Around the country, Edgar’s
Edgars Brothers Media Open Day by Chris Parkin
A new micro-pet for the reloader?
Edgar Brothers in Macclesfield are the largest
importers/distributors of firearms and associated
sporting goods in this country and, as well as handling
Hornady, their association with Savage rifles means
the invite to see and shoot the new Savage 17 Hornet
rifle at the end of April was impossible to turn down.
As well as the Hornet, other new products and
attractions Edgar’s wanted to showcase included the
Zoli range of shotguns as well as Firebird targets and
The editor with a shotgun, whatever next?
let us `journos` know what this company are injecting
back into the sport in their 65th anniversary.
A welcoming tea and coffee at the Edgar Brothers
plush office complex started the day along with a
short presentation by Derek Edgar, Ian his father
and other members of the sales and marketing
team. Guests then split into groups to tour the site
and find out a few more details. Recent expansion
has seen the bursting warehouse swallow up the
old offices, now sited in a new complex next door.
Just a few of the brands distributed by Edgar Brothers,
Ferrari or Lamborghini in the off-season! We had the
opportunity to test the new Firebird targets, thrown
like clays and exploding with a bright orange flame
and cloud of smoke when hit, quite addictive! Other
models of Firebird were in use on the air rifle range
in both loud and ‘quiet’ varieties but I did manage to
drag myself to the rifle range to have a play with what
was the day’s star attraction for me - the 17 Hornet.
No Vince, there isn’t a bi-pod – you have to hold it!
Model 25 Lightweight varmint was a gun built exactly to
scale for cartridges no larger than .223.
clubhouse featuring trophies and taxidermy from
around the world including eagles, native deer species
and a few African trophies and Club members made
us feel very welcome.
And now we are forced to go and do some shooting,
oh a hard life it is! The view across the rolling
landscape of Cheshire was quite spectacular and
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provided to view our groups. This particular Savage
rifle was the model 25 Lightweight Varminter
showing a smart laminate stock supporting an action
scaled perfectly for Hornet or 223 sized cases. The
Accutrigger with the internal safety blade broke
reasonably cleanly and although a few shooters were
fiddly with it, I found no problem cycling the smooth
three-lug bolt and shooting the smoothly-feeding
ammo. The four-round magazines had to be loaded
correctly without allowing the rimmed cases to
overlap but nothing that wasn’t expected from this
otherwise neat little case.
Spotting my fall of shot, indicated a group as good
as my position had allowed the rifle to be held and
aimed and I came away with the feeling the rifle/
calibre just quietly worked and sparked no complaints.
The rifle was handy and well balanced with a medium
A very neat 3 lug bolt.
are in the process of working with their dealers to
create ‘reloading centres’ carrying a full range of kit
and components with advice to feed the booming
reloading market, which has grown by around 40%
over the last few years.
For lunch, we were invited to the local Cloudside
Shooting Ground where a buffet had been laid on.
More like a London `Club` than a clay pigeon ground,
we were treated to a fantastic lunch in a splendid
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NEWS...
Benchrest, but not as we know it
I wouldn’t call it a perfect test opportunity - with
a standing shooting position leaning over a bench
but, as this rifle had arrived literally overnight from
Germany, it was great to be able to finally see possibly
the most exciting new calibre to hit these shores since
it’s 17 HMR brother 7 or 8 years ago.
Targets were laid out approximately 100 yards down
hill for us to plink at, a Weaver spotting scope was
61
There is only one way to test a scope, look through it!
profile barrel and although it was not moderated, it
was about as noisy as the unmoderated 17HMR shot
alongside it. I’m itching to get one out into the field
on test and see how the bullets perform. 20 grain
V-max flying at an advertised ‘Superformance’ driven
3650 fps generate 592 ft/lbs of energy and shows
trajectory with a 200 yard zero to be +1.1” at 100
yards to – 6.4” at 300 yards. I suspect wind will be the
controlling factor to determine range and effective
uses but on for the keen micro calibre reloader or
vermin controller, I think we have a winner.
Keep your eyes open for more equipment flowing
from the Edgar Brother stable in Target Shooter.
Thanks to: Edgar Brothers 01625 660673
Website: www.edgarbrothers.com
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If you were around at the time when the British
government stole our pistols then you will already
know that Alan Westlake lost more than his pistols - he
also lost his livelihood!
PROPERTY FOR SALE
Incredibly, Alan bounced back – not only resurrecting
his business but trying to restore some form of pistol
shooting to we Brits and most UK readers will know of
Alan’s superbly engineered ‘muzzle-loading’ revolvers.
Available for sale; A manor house in almost 7 acres
of land, 30 miles from Central London, that has been
owned by an international arms dealer for the last 20
years and consequently is uniquely suitable for use by
someone in the same trade.
If you haven’t seen a Westlake pistol then let me say
that these are not replicas of nineteenth century
revolvers – they are built on a modern Taurus revolver
frame and use nitro powder but a new cylinder is
fitted to take shotgun primers rather than a metallic
cartridge.
Ultimate premises for an arms dealer to live at
and work from.
Briefly comprises – in addition to extensive domestic
quarters, six fully equipped workshops, three armouries, underground shooting/test range etc.
Viewing only possible after security checks have been
completed for obvious reasons.
e-mail [email protected] Click (here) to
view the full spec on this unique property.
GB Pistol Shooting
This is a remarkable concept but the one drawback
was the cost. Taurus would only supply complete
guns, which meant that Alan had to throw away the
bits he didn’t use which all adds to the cost – topping
£1000 and too dear for many shooters.
New products
I know many of you have an iPad and
protective cases for iPads are now big
business. As a shooter, I wanted something
that was a bit ‘military’ looking and with
plenty of padding that would protect the
iPad when I drag it on-range for ballistics
info. etc.
The cheapest dedicated iPad case I could find was
nearly £50 but I found exactly what I wanted on the
511 stand at IWA – a pistol case. Mine is a nice drab
green, well padded and exactly the right size for the
Apple iPad. It even has room for my iPhone and small
camera and has a separate zipped pocket – all for £25.
I got mine from UK 511 stockist Nightgear
www.nightgear.co.uk. It was delivered in about three
days and I couldn’t be more pleased with it.
Browning Buckmark Long Pistol
The UK is a tiny market and Taurus refused to sell
Alan part-built pistols but, a recent breakthrough
with firearm manufacturers Armscor, means than
Alan can now buy just the parts he needs, meaning
that the price has
been significantly
reduced, bringing
the Westlake more
in line with what
we would now be
paying for a modern
‘cartridge’ revolver.
The new revolver from Alan Westlake
LATEST
NEWS...
Target Shooter
will be the first
magazine to
review the Armscor
Westlake so please –
watch this space!
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Buckmark Long Pistol with Lightweight Barrel £714.00 and Fox Red Dot sight £40.00.
Available from Westlake Engineering
Tel. 01722 782432
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[email protected]
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LCase-prep. gadgets
from Hannam’s
Reloading
With the possible exception of our Laurie, I don’t think
I’ve met anyone who actually likes reloading! I don’t
mind it – it’s a ‘necessary evil’ but I don’t love it and if I
can find anything to make it easier – or quicker – then
why not?
Most reloaders will regard prepping their brass as
one of the most important aspects of the reloading
process. With a brand-new unfired brass case – even
beautiful Lapua ones – we need to fettle ‘em a little.
Lube and run through re-size die (Optional) - Trim
to length - Chamfer inside of case-mouth - Chamfer
outside of case-mouth - De-burr flash hole - Uniform
primer pocket .
Lyman Case Prep. Express: The Lyman
offering features five spindles where you can
mount the various supplied case-prep. tools and
you can very quickly chamfer inside/outside necks,
uniform or clean primer pockets and clean or lube the
inside of the neck.
I like to use an old Pro Shot bronze bore cleaning
brush for cleaning the inside of used case-necks and
you can mount one of these on the Lyman if you like.
Lyman also give you a little container of inside-neck
lube (in the form of a powder) which you can use with
the nylon-bristle brushes.
The Lyman is a substantial heavyweight bit of kit and
hopefully this means it will be robust and give years of
service. From Hannam’s Reloading.
www.hannamsreloading.com
(Left) Hornady
Case Prep.
Assistant.
(below) Lyman
Case Prep.
Express:
Quigley
Shooting
Association
by Ken Hall
The Annual QSA
‘Tightgroup’ Competition
Saturday 19th May and the annual QSA Tightgroup
competition got under way with a reduced field,
probably due to holidays and the recent run of lousy
weather. Run on the lines of a UKBRA benchrest-style
competition, the format generally followed that of
benchrest but with some minor allowances due to the
unique nature of these 19th century long guns and, as
the only wind indicators on the prairie were grass and
dust, wind flags were not permitted.
Each shooter was to fire four separate groups of
five rounds at 100 yards on a standard 25 yard pistol
target. A time limit of 10 minutes per group was
allowed, which gave time to wipe the bore between
shots. The resulting group sizes were recorded then
added together and divided by 4, to give an average
group size.
Once our brass has been fired, we can skip most the
above but we need to add a couple more:
Clean the inside (and outside) of the neck - Clean the
primer pocket - Lube and re-size.
As per benchrest rules, firers were allowed to rest the
rifles front and rear and, although not used to this
position, most soon got the hang of it and some very
reasonable groups began to appear. However, as it
turned out, almost everyone shot at least one group
larger than we would have liked, due to the odd flier.
These processes require specialist tools and dies and
most of us will have a box-full. Most can be handoperated but some benefit from using with a power
screw-driver to make the job easier and quicker.
However, if you are new to reloading, it’s worth
considering one of these powered devices.
It soon became apparent that a ‘battle royal’ for
smallest group was brewing, with several groups
below 50mm. Richard Healey took an early lead
with a group measured at 34.5mm (1.35in) this was
countered by Dennis Richardson with groups of
27.13mm (1.06in) and 34.04mm (1.34in). However
Richard replied with a magnificent group measuring
16.35mm (0.64in) beating his own record, using his
The first one is from Hornady and it’s simply an
electric motor (that you can permanently mount
on your reloading bench if you like) which takes the
inside/outside neck chamfer tools. It works very well
and does the job exactly how it should. It comes with
the two tools and it may be possible to use other prep.
or case cleaning tools with it. It’s good value too.
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recently self modified Sharps with a (very) heavy
barrel. (Not too shabby considering a bullet diameter
of .459in)
Overall, the results were encouraging and show
that firers are getting to grips with the ‘dark stuff’.
Thanks to everyone who entered - we should continue
to strive towards achieving smaller groups at this
distance, otherwise decent scores at longer ranges will
continue to elude us.
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IWA 2012. What’s new? Continued...
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With that one out of the way, let’s wander over to
the massive Smith & Wesson stand. What can they
possibly bring out that we haven’t seen before?
Remember when Dirty Harry said those immortal
words “I know what you’re thinking – did he fire six
shots or only five?”
IWA 2012
What’s new?
Previously, we had a look at what was
new in the world of telescopic sights at
the Nurnberg IWA Show. This month,
we’ll have a look at pistols.
Maybe if they do a re-make of the film, Clint might be
asking “Now did I fire seven or eight shots...”
Laminate stocks are very popular with rifle shooters
and it looks as if shooters have been asking for a
matching pistol…….
Arsenal Firearms ‘concept’ 1911 double pistol.
And here’s my favorite (left) – still yet to make an
appearance in the UK – if only Mr Smith – or even
Mr Wesson - would just weld a little six-inch piece of
stainless-steel on the back, it would be just perfect
for the British market with that 12 inch compensated
barrel...
OK, let’s get this one out of the way right from the
start. Yes, I’m talking about the Arsenal Firearms
‘concept’ 1911 double pistol. This Russian pistol was
just about the most incredible firearm I’ve ever put my
hands on. Yes, a proper working ‘double’ 1911 pistol
– built as a double from the ground up and not two
1911s stuck together!
Here’s another neat little minuature 1911 chambered
for the 22LR but this time on the Browning stand.
What a lovely little pistol. (left)
News and pictures of this pistol rippled around the
internet forums with many shooters thinking it was
‘for real’ – i.e. they were intending to sell it for use!
Silly questions and comments were rife – which was
of course the whole idea – to create interest and make
sure that you visited the Arsenal stand - to look at
some of their less exotic firearms.
I have had a good look at the double 1911, I can tell
you that it is beautifully made, fully functioning and,
according to those on the Arsenal stand, not only
capable of being fired but actually fired – though not
by me, as I struggled to pull back the slide to cock
it! There were several examples – stainless, blued
and a beautiful ‘presentation’ model in a glass and
gold-framed case, plus a working half-size replica
chambered for the 22LR cartridge! Absolutely
stunning – how will they top that for next year?
LATEST
NEWS...
Remember when all pistol grips were made of wood,
then plastic and rubber? CNC has changed all that – or
at least CZ have!
CZ have some really cute accessories beautifully CNC
machined and anodized in a variety of bright colours.
Now you can make your PP gun look really flash!
Of course, there were lots, lots more pistols and we
at Target Shooter will do our best to keep readers
updated on new pistol trends, even though we are
based in the UK where we are no longer trusted to
hold such items.
Smith & Wesson
Next month, we’ll have a look at rifles.
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of a false start due to the foot and mouth outbreak
which curtailed access to the ground for a significant
period. The plans went through Borders Council, and
the Army were designated the final authority, so Paul
Crosbie liaised with them on the design.
What sort of range? Restricted Range Danger Area
(RDA) for a prone gallery type range or a bigger RDA
template in line with field firing? What would fit the
topography? Ultimately the design was for the latter
with the more kite shaped RDA, four lanes gallery
configured within the template and firing points
between 100 and 500 metres. What range marking is
Home
on
the
range!
Steve Baldry.
Sadly, these days, we are more likely to hear of
rifle ranges closing down, so it’s good to hear of a
new one opening.
Well it seemed like a good idea at the time – and it
certainly turned out to be a great one - eventually!
Back at the turn of the millennium a bunch of British
Deer Society members were bemoaning the lack of
suitable and economic range time to practice. There
were plenty of 300 to 1000 yard opportunities for the
target rifle boys and yes, any practice at these longer
ranges helps – but what about zeroing with expanding
ammunition, prone, sitting and standing off sticks at
the right ranges for deer stalkers!
So, Gig Wilson started to canvas BDS members and
others in South East Scotland whether there was any
interest in developing a basic range with sporting
shooters in mind. Gig convened a meeting in Lauder
in 2000 the conclusion being that there was an
appetite and Lothian & Borders Rifle Club was born.
The initial objective was to feel our way to finding out
what would be involved – quite a lot as we discovered.
Finding suitable ground for a start and boy were we
lucky that Gary Wright introduced us to Facombe
Estates. Gary’s ‘behind the scenes’ negotiations
secured the land and the estate were happy to get
behind us and help by providing access to their ground
in the Lammermuirs at Tollis Hill Estate.
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Time spent filling sand in the bullet catcher, checking
radio communications for range sentries on a snowy
day in February.
Aitken helped us with his advice on many occasions.
Many, many people chipped in with time and know
how. I was particularly ‘tickled’ by how much material
and equipment appeared on site (as if by magic!) by our
‘procurement’ team. It was great to see a like minded
group of people working together towards the one
goal.”
Several work parties later we were ready for approval
in Spring 2005 at which point in time Peter Lane duly
gave us our range certificate, possibly the last civilian
range so accredited.
We continue to develop and value the help that
Chris Webb of the NRA gave in re-adjusting the
requirement for sentries to a more reasonable and
workable number. We have now been up and running
into our seventh year, with a 200 metre firing point
added (see below) and developing a camera system
to support scoring from the 500 metre firing point in
particular.
Since the range is based in grouse moorland we shoot
outside the grouse season between March and July.
OK, so with the access to ground established around
which to plan, the membership contributed small
sums to fund the initial club registration and planning
work. Who else did we need to talk to - obviously
the local police, the Scottish Executive as the club
registration authority, local authorities for planning,
the NRA, National Air Traffic Services, Power Systems
for lines traversing the area, Ordnance Survey for
mapping, not to mention all existing farming and
forestry users who might be affected.
Prime of course was the then range accrediting
authorities, the Army through Landmarc. A daunting
list to say the least. They could not have been
more helpful, in particular Captain Macdonald and
subsequently Peter Lane of Landmarc. We had a bit
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necessary? Warning notices around the boundaries,
danger flags, boundary posts?
What was it going to cost and where was the money
coming from? Paul as the club secretary had really
got the bit between his teeth, we ran a clay shoot to
raise funds and Bob Aitken of the SRA suggested that
we raise advance funds through debentures. 2004 –
approved plans in place and funds available so down
to the real business. Ground works commissioned to
create two firing points at 500 and 100 metres plus the
bullet catcher.Notices, boundary posts and warning
flag poles to be deployed.
As Paul recollects, “Again Gary provided fantastic
help, he organized plant and materials for us FOC! Bob
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All in all, a lot of hard work. We were very lucky to
have Gig’s enthusiasm to get us started and then
have Paul get the bit between his teeth and drive this
through to become a ‘happy hunting ground’ for the
sporting fraternity here in South East Scotland.
Contact details for the
Lothian & Borders Rifle Club:
Chairman - Calum Abernethy
[email protected]
Secretary - Tom Burnett
[email protected]
Treasurer - Steve Baldry
[email protected]
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Disabled Shooting
International Developments
By Liz Woodall, Co-ordinator, Disabled Shooting
Project
In September 2012 the eyes of the
world will be focussed on the London
Paralympics and Team GBR’s profile
for the shooting events is high,
largely thanks to Matt Skelhon’s
achievements and personality.
Disabled Shooting continued...
The Disabled Shooting Project is keen to promote the
development of what is known nowadays as a ‘talent
pathway’ for every disabled shooter who aspires to
represent Great Britain. What is available for the
ambitious and talented shooters who are not eligible
for the Paralympic family?
many disabled shooters within its standard rules and
again, there have been disabled shooters in British
representative teams.
For those who cannot comply with the standard rules
of their chosen (or sometimes of any) discipline, there
is a limited range of opportunity, and we’d like to see
that change.
Some disciplines are working hard on getting
themselves into the Paralympics. The current front
runner is clay target, following the recent signing
of an agreement between the IPC and ISSF to
enter into negotiations. The Italian
governing body, FITAV, is tasked with
implementing ‘a project to develop
shotgun events for disabled shooters,
based on ISSF shotgun regulations’.
There are hopes that clay target will
be included in the Rio de Janeiro
Paralympics, even if it is only as a
demonstration event.
The DSP has been covering the British
shooters’ performances in the World
Cups leading up to selection of the
Further down the field is blind/visually
Paralympic team and there has been
impaired (VI) air rifle, which is in the
a good deal of internet coverage of
Michael Whapples at the European very odd position of having an IPC
their efforts by such august bodies as
Blind/VI Championships 2011, at classification category (SH3) but no
the IPC and Parasport. Like everyone
accepted definition of it! The first ever
Nitra, Slovakia
else, we’re hoping to hear God Save
British representation at an international
the Queen played at lots of medal ceremonies in
match for acoustic shooting was Michael Whapples
Woolwich.
at the 2011 European Championships run by IBSA.
As a visit to the shooting pages of the IBSA website
All this is great for national prestige but, the
shows, organisation of the European and World
Paralympics only offer this ultra-elite level of
championships is rather haphazard and seems to be
competition to a very limited range of disciplines –
rather interest/demand led. There is little possibility
even fewer than in the Olympics. For those who do
of more international competition until the technical
not or cannot shoot the IPC air and 22 rifle and pistol
and classification rules have been finalised.
disciplines, the Paralympics has nothing to offer.
Similarly, the Paralympic doors are closed to those
There are disciplines for which some disabilities are
whose disabilities do not fit into the IPC classification
no bar, as demonstrated by Andy Dubreuil’s success
system – and that is a lot of shooters. Don’t forget
at benchrest, in which he has represented GBR
that this is the case not just here, but for the whole
at European and World Championships alongside
world.
non-disabled shooters. F Class is a fast-growing
international full-bore option that accommodates
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Even more encouraging is the appearance of fully
integrated international competition, in the shape
of ISCH at Hannover, which took this remarkable
step in 2011. This year’s match has just taken place,
with a record 700 competitors from 35 nations. It is
organised by the Lower Saxony Shooting Federation,
which is rightly proud of what it is achieving:
“The ISCH becomes a pioneer of
integration in sport. For the first
time abled and disabled athletes
start together in the Olympic
Shooting Disciplines. At ISCH we
would like to demonstrate the
exceptional possibilities that our
sport of shooting allows. It is no
longer a future issue … “
Mathew Goodwin takes silver at Lonato Grand Prix 2012
It is encouraging to see the recent development of
international matches for those shooters; for example,
the clay target Grand Prix initiated in 2011 at Lonato,
Italy and run again in May this year. That event has
taken place alongside an ISSF clay target World Cup,
which shows that in some quarters substantial efforts
are being made to raise the international profile of
disabled CT. British shooters took part last year and
this month, bringing home medals each time.
We agree! Surely this is a field in
which Britain should be leading
the way. Although the Woolwich
facilities will be gone by the end
of this year, we do still have the
international-standard ranges built for the 2002
Commonwealth Games and Glasgow is preparing to
host the 2014 Games. That provides opportunities
for international competitions to be staged in Britain,
hopefully as regular annual fixtures. Are there any
volunteers?
More information:
Disabled Shooting Project: www.disabledshooting.org.uk
International Paralympic Committee, Shooting: www.ipc-shooting.org
International Blind Sport Federation, Shooting: www.ibsa.es/eng/deportes/shooting
International Shooting Competition, Hannover: www.i-s-c-h.de
Clay Target Grand Prix, Lonato: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFKzJ7ZfQzM
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NEW BIPODS...
More new bi-pods for F/TR Competition – from
EVO Leisure & Mystic Precision.
Where did it all start – this bi-pod thing? Remember
when we thought the Harris bi-pod was as good as it
got? Don’t get me wrong – the Harris is still a great
product but, if you are a serious F/TR shooter, you will
have already moved on from the Harris.
LATEST
NEWS...
Thirdly – adjustment - easy adjustment. Adjusting
some bi-pods will require you to come out of the
prone position – not good if you need to do it during
your shoot. If adjustment is difficult, the shooter
may be tempted to effect adjustment by shuffling
the back-bag. Ski-type feet are popular and much
preferred to the rubber feet of a Harris but I do know
one or two shooters who ‘spike’ their bi-pod into the
firing-point!
John has however done a redesign of the Censhot which
addresses these concerns but,
to date, I’ve not had chance
to try one myself. Good
news is – the weight remains
unchanged!
Finally, the bi-pod mustn’t be too heavy – much better
sense to put that extra pound into the barrel rather
than the bi-pod.
One of the first bi-pods which filled all the criteria
demanded by the F/TR shooter was the Canadian
Remple bi-pod (pictured
top, page 75).
The Remple has it all – especially weight!
The Remple has it all
– sturdy, wide range
of adjustment, easy
to adjust from prone
position, skis etc.
Unfortunately, it weighs
over three pounds... pity.
The design however was
absolutely spot-on.
John Weil was part
of the 2009 World
The Sinclair bi-pod. Good but heavy and fiddly to adjust from the prone position. A new
Championship winning
version addresses some of these concerns.
American F/TR Team and
also recognized the Remple to be of excellent design
So what do we need from an F/TR bi-pod? Firstly, it
but John knew – as a top F/TR shooter – that a threemust offer a very stable shooting platform. Secondly,
pound bi-pod was never going to find a place on a
it must have sufficient adjustment to cope with a wide
competitive F/TR rifle – just too many compromises
range of shooting scenarios which will be encountered
would have to be made, so John did a re-make of the
– i.e shooting uphill/downhill, sloping firing-points,
Remple - in carbon-fibre and aluminium.
different surfaces.
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This is John’s first Censhot.
The later version is still super-light but a bit more solid.
The result – the Censhot - was stunning and, what’s
more, it weighed just 19 ounces! Yes, that’s correct,
one pound three ounces. John’s bi-pod should’ve
taken the F/TR world by storm but, it didn’t. Why not?
Difficult to say, I’ve used one myself and it more or
less does everything you could ask. Yes, it’s expensive
– over £300 here in the UK (only $300 in the USA) but
some shooters have found them to be – how shall we
say - a little ‘flexible’.
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Rigidity in a bi-pod gives
the shooter a good, solid
reassuring ‘feel’ and this
is why the Fito Fusion and
Dolphin Gun Co. bi-pods have
proved to be popular. Heavier
than the Censhot at about
24 ounces, they are still light
enough for most shooters
and they are rigid and offer
a good range of adjustment.
However, the adjustment
is not so simple as with the
Censhot/Remple method,
which use a capstan wheel to
quickly raise and lower the
bi-pod.
The EVO Leisure Bi-pod.
Evo Leisure already make the
excellent ‘Third Eye’ scope
rings, muzzle-brakes and
moderators. Osprey Rifles proprietor Stuart Anselm
has as much experience as anyone when it comes
to F/TR competition – Stuart Captained the GB F/TR
Team at the last ‘Worlds’ and is the current European
F/TR Champion and will captain the GB F/TR Team to
America for the 2013 World Championships at Raton,
New Mexico.
Like the rest of the F/TR crowd, Stuart is always
looking for the perfect bi-pod. If no one makes it, why
not make it yourself? In consultation with Stuart, EVO
Leisure did just that.
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The Dolphin bi-pod – two versions are offered. The large
one (middle) weighing 24 ounces is the best for serious
F/TR. At the rear, the excellent Fito Fusion, again about
24 ounces.
Wide flat skis are used on the feet
and a quick-release single fixing
lever attaches the rifle to your
accessory rail or, as an alternative,
a fixing is available to attach to a
sling-swivel or even a Picatinny
rail for a tactical rifle. For storage
and transportation, the legs can be
removed by un-screwing the two
clamp-screws.
Using a mechanical design in the fashion of the
Remple/Censhot bi-pod, the quest was to make a
similar bi-pod but weighing considerably less than the
Remple and offering superior stiffness to the Censhot
but retaining ease of adjustment. CNC machined
from aircraft-quality aluminium, it tips
the scales at 1lb. 12 ounces. It is truly a
work of art – almost too nice to put on
a rifle – and it comes in a matt silver or
black anodized finish.
The bi-pod is designed to work with
an accessory-rail and attaches with a
single screw (a swivel-fixing option is
also available). I’ve had an opportunity
to shoot my Open F Class gun off this
bi-pod and it does feel very, very solid
and the ease of adjustment makes it a
real pleasure to use. The ski-feet work
well on a grassy firing-point, allowing
the rifle to recoil properly.
The bi-pod is available now and the initial retail price is
£275 (trade enquiries welcome) and further details can
be obtained from www.ospreyrifles.com or www.
foxfirearmsuk.com for UK orders or, for overseas
e-mail Stuart direct on [email protected]
The Evo Leisure bipod.
The Mystic Precision MTR Bi-pod. (Above)
Mystic Precision are based in Canada and their bi-pod
takes a fresh approach to the problem with some
creative thinking which results in an attractive, rigid
and very light unit.
The bi-pod is made from aircraft quality aluminium
and is hard anodized in either black or red.
As you can see from the photograph above, the Mystic
Precision bi-pod uses individual leg adjustment, which
is less convenient than the Remple-style capstan
wheel of the EVO bi-pod. However, when I tell you
that this bi-pod weighs only 13 ounces, I’m sure I’ve
got your full attention...
Although extremely light – in fact, it’s the lightest
F/TR bi-pod I’ve yet seen, similar weight to a Harris
- its design and construction results in a very stable
support and I like the way the rifle ‘sits in’ the bi-pod
rather than balancing on top of it. This in itself is a
great help in reducing the torque-effect of the rifle.
The widest fore-end that can be accommodated is
2.55 inches, which should suit most F/TR stocks but a
wider fore-end can be custom-ordered, as can longer
legs.
The Evo Leisure bipod in action...
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I’ve had a very brief shoot with the bi-pod using
Savage F/TR rifle and despite its light weight it felt just
so solid. I can see this bi-pod becoming very popular
with F/TR shooters.
At $200 (£200 in the UK) this bi-pod is great value
- check out the Mystic Precision website at www.
mysticprecision.com for ordering details or contact
www.foxfirearms.com in the UK for British and
European orders.
70% of all .22 World Cup and European
Championship medals were won
with ELEY Ammunition
More 2012 Olympic quota places won with
ELEY Ammunition than any other brand
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ISSF World Cup 2 - CHANGWON
ISSF World Cup 3 - FORT BENNING
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ISSF World Cup 4 - MUNICH
To introduce ourselves we are the United Kingdom
Association of Rimfire and Air Rifle Benchrest Shooting. By
that we mean "True Benchrest Shooting". The Association
is recognised by rimfire shooters across in the UK, with
partners across Europe and the rest of the world, as the
presentative body that promotes rimfire and air rifle
benchrest across this country and with other partners in
European and World events.
Visit our website for news about national and international
competitions that all can ‘have a go at’. From novice to
champion shooter, everyone is welcome
www.benchrest22.org
ISSF European Championships 2011
50m 3 x 40
50m Men’s Prone
50m Rifle 3 x20
50m Women’s 3 x 20 Rifle
25m Sport Pistol
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Champions shoot Tenex
Raymond DEBEVEC (SLO)
Won his 7th Olympic quota place with ELEY Tenex
Sheree Cox
Sheree Cox
Britain’s Ed Ling smokes another clay - just missing out
on the Bronze in a thrilling shoot-off for the Men’s Trap
Sheree Cox is one of our Olympic hopefuls but funding
her Olympic qualifying campaign is expensive. We hope
that Target Shooter readers will enjoy reading about
Sheree’s progress and maybe even contribute a little to
her quest.
Three strange fabric ‘pods’ house the rifle and
pistol ranges
London Prepares – the ISSF World Cup
Mid April, the London World Cup competitors started
to arrive at the London airports from where official
transport took their rifles and pistols straight to
the Woolwich Barracks range to be signed into the
temporary armouries set up on site and kit bags
dropped of at the baggage storage. Then onwards to
numerous hotels across the Woolwich, Greenwich and
Tower bridge area.
The Royal Artillery Barracks, where the temporary
ranges have been constructed, will provide a fitting
location for the Shooting event at the London 2012
Olympic Games, with a heritage dating back to 1716,
when a Royal Warrant authorised the formation of
two artillery companies. The Barracks’ beautiful 18th
century architecture offers a stunning backdrop to the
temporary shooting ranges and grandstands, showing
off London’s history to the 216 visiting nations.
The Olympic Rifle Range
At this ISSF World Cup, a total of fifteen events took
place with over 800 competitors taking part, with
Russia, Italy, Germany and Korea taking atop of the
London World Cup’s medal standings.
“We had more than twice the participants than we
will have at the Olympic Games, when 390 shooters
will be competing here at the RAB venue.” The ISSF
Secretary General said at the end of the competition.
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Sheree Cox
“If everything worked well at this test event, there
should be no problem at the Games”.
The transformation since we tested the targets two
weeks prior to the event was incredible! Athlete’s
lounges had been erected, more seating for the
spectators had been added and what had been
more of a building sight was slowly but surely being
polished up. Between now and the Olympics
the finishing touches will be added, such as
permanent roads and paths being laid, more
spectator seating added and posters and
signs displayed. Three temporary indoor ranges for pistol
and rifle shooting have been constructed.
Namely a 25m range, a combined 50m/10m
range - one of the first ranges to be built
to double up on two distances/disciplines
and a ‘finals’ range. These all include large
spectator seating areas and screens so
the spectators can follow the shot by shot
progress of their favorite athletes.
The structures housing the temporary ranges have
been creatively designed using 18,000 square metres
of PVC membrane that gives the outer structures
their unique appearance. The vivid coloured circular
openings on the white backdrops help create tension
in the membrane and provide natural ventilation and
light.
In addition, there are three outdoor shotgun ranges
for Double Trap, Trap and Skeet events, again with
ample spectator grandstands.
Sheree Cox
where official transport will take them to and from the
venue each day.
For the competitors, large tents provide athlete
lounges and there is one next to each range with
refreshments and physio beds for athletes to start
their preparations before their matches without the
pressure from crowds and the media. Owing to the
typical British weather of winds and rain for both
weeks of the competition, these were warm havens
where heaters took the chill from the shooters who
would be training and competing in the outdoor
elements.
For me, I shot 390 in the air-rifle and in the 3 x 20
elimination round, I shot a personal best of 575 ex 600
taking me through to the next round where I was top
British girl and shot 567 ex 600 in ferocious winds and
rain. Winds of up to 30mph swept through the range
and it was a test of nerve and patience on how long
you waited before firing your next shot. After waiting
for 15 minutes to fire the last 4 shots my patience paid
off.
I eventually placed 38th overall, which is the highest
ranking in World Cups this year for Great Britain
women. It was a truely brilliant match and the
facilities were brilliant. I really enjoyed it as well as
improving my Personal Best by 2 points which was
fantastic.
Please visit my website www.shereecox.co.uk for
more information on my sporting career and how to
donate to my shooting fund via Paypal.
Sheree on her way to 36th place in the Women’s Three Position Rifle
Britain’s Jonathon Hammond took a great ninth place in
the final of the Men’s 3 Position Rifle
The men’s rapid fire pistol
final – Russia’s Alexei Klimov
won Gold but the two Chinese
athletes Ding and Zhang
battle it out for the Silver.
Unlike some previous Olympic
Games, the shooting competitors
will be able to stay close to the
heart of the action, enabling
athletes to stay with their teammates in the Olympic Village on
the other side of the river, from
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The Double Alpha Academy
Race Master Holster
Ralf Jensen, JC Jamie Diaz, Emile Obriot, Saul Kirsch and Gregory Midgley of the STI European
Team use the Race Master holster with their STI Open and Standard Division competition pistols.
The Double Alpha Academy
Race Master Holster
The New IPSC
Competition Holster
The New IPSC Competition Holster
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IPSA
NEWS
IPSA
NEWS
IPSA
NEWS
With the Race Master Saul Kirsch has taken IPSC holster design to a new level.
The Double Alpha Academy Race Master Holster
The New IPSC Competition Holster
By David Thompson
Over the 20 years I have been shooting IPSC, I
have used a variety of holsters from different
manufacturers in competitive events. I have
used Hellweg, Rescomp and borrowed a Guga
Ribas to try in a few matches. For the past
number of years I have been using the Ghost
competition holster in Production and Standard
Divisions. This year a new holster hit the IPSC
competition circuit – the Race Master, made by
Double Alpha Academy ( DAA ).
The Race Master Competition Holster was
designed by Saul Kirsch with valuable input
from Angus Hobdell, so a lot of top level
competitive experience contributed to
its design. Saul spent nearly two years in
developing the Race Master with the following
goals in mind:-
Saul Kirsch spent nearly two years developing the Race
Master to provide what he though was required in a
competition holster.
Pistol Retention
The Race Master uses a sliding block machined to be a
precise fit around the front of the trigger guard in order to
securely locate the pistol.
• To develop an advanced release system
• To develop a wide range of position adjustments that
do not work loose
• To develop both a fully locked safety feature and
tension adjustment capabilities
• To allow the user to change gun types without having
to buy a new holster
I decided to give one a test and see how it compared
with what I had previously used. This review is based
on using the holster over five months, when I have
used it for personal practice, running training courses,
taking part in local matches and International events,
which have included the SVI in Philippsburg, Czech
Extreme and Hungarian MFS Level 3 competitions.
The Race Master is adjustable to suit the requirements of
the user. Ralf Jensen on the left has the muzzle slightly
forward, while Gregory Midgley has the pistol in a
vertical position.
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The Race Master ( RM ) does not use a platform to
locate the muzzle ( similar in form to the Ghost, Guga
Ribas and Limcat ). It includes a positive holster lock
and a tension adjustment knob, a feature not found
on other holsters. The large stainless steel tension
adjustment knob rotates several turns, increasing or
decreasing the resistance of the draw. This gives you a
wide range of possibilities, from totally resistant free
to stages that have a more dynamic starting position
when you will want a bit more resistance to the draw.
The RM has an adjustment and positioning system
based on a ball joint and also has adjustments for
angle and distance from the body. The belt hanger will
be a stable fit on the popular 1.5 inch wide belts used
on the IPSC circuit.
When the pistol is holstered you can engage the
locking mechanism, by flicking it down with your
finger or thumb. This is also a useful feature to have
after you unload and show clear. You can go a look at
the other stages, or have a coffee, knowing that your
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pistol will not unintentionally drop out of your holster.
You can disengage it with your second finger as your
hand wraps around the grip. The safety lever has
serrations to catch your finger as you close your hand
around the grip. I did not find these serrations to be
an issue, but a safety lever without serrations is also
available as an aftermarket part from DAA. You could
also grind the serrations off yourself if you wanted to.
To date I have not felt the need to engage the safety
lever before making a draw.
Several makes of holster offer the ability to use the
same holster with different types of firearms, which
involves changing some of the parts. The RM uses an
interchangeable insert block to secure different makes
of pistol. You can buy one holster and then purchase
an insert block for each additional make of pistol you
want to use with it.
With this design you do not need to remove the
holster from one belt and add it to another, or own
a complete second rig. If you use the DAA magazine
IPSA
NEWS
Juan Carlos Jamie Diaz has used the Race Master to good effect so far this year in winning Standard
Division in Europe’s “big three” IPSC matches; the Med Cup, SVI Infinity and Czech Extreme.
IPSA
NEWS
pouches that can be adjusted to be used with different
types of magazine, you can do it all with the one
rig. This is a very useful feature. The holster is CNC
machined from aircraft-grade aluminum and are hard
anodized to offer a long lasting surface finish in black,
blue, red, or titanium grey. The pistol specific inserts
are machined form Delrin. The tension adjustment
knob is made from stainless steel.
These machining processes are expensive, but they
result in a more precise and better quality product.
Double Alpha Academy has its own in-house four axis
HAAS CNC machine, although this is used primarily
for development and small runs of special gun type
inserts. DAA out sources the production of most of the
RM parts to a top quality, ISO 9002 certified machine
shop.
An IPSC competitor always wants to know that their
holster will securely retain the pistol when engaged
in the various physical activities that will occur during
a match. Obviously you want to achieve adequate
retention without hindering the draw. It is in this area
were you notice the difference between the different
styles of holster that are used on the IPSC circuit.
I first checked how securely the RM retains the pistol.
With the retention screw set at its lowest setting
and a magazine of dummy rounds loaded into the
pistol I went through all of the starting positions that
are normally encountered in a match. I then tried
the starting positions encountered when I started
competing in IPSC. These involved more dynamic
movements of running, turning, climbing onto and
jumping off objects. During these retention tests
I could not get the RM to unintentionally release
the pistol. This holster has the best retention of any
competition holster that I have used or tried out.
The second think I checked was how the RM’s
draw feels when you have its position and tension
configured in the way that it is actually going to be
used in a match. As the feel of the draw is determined
The locking mechanism lever is in the engaged
(horizontal) position. You can see the serrations
on the lever. A smooth version can be ordered
from DAA.
by the design, all of the holsters that I have used in the
past each have a different feel to them. Usually the
more resistance in the retention mechanism, the more
drag you can feel as you have to pull the pistol out of
the holster.
During the retention tests I could not get the RM to
inadvertently dump the pistol, but when I performed
the draw the RM simply ‘lets go’ of the pistol It feels
almost as if the pistol is just sitting on ‘fresh air’
instead of being retained by the holster’s lock system.
You will find that drawing the RM to be a very smooth
unhindered draw. During these initial trials the RM has
shown itself to have all the features that you would
want in a competition holster.
The stainless steel tension adjustment knob
lets you alter the retention setting, which will
increase or decrease the resistance to the draw.
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New Retention System
Other brands of holster use a combination of a muzzle
support and trigger guard support to hold the gun
steady, or just locate the pistol around the trigger
guard holsters which allows the gun to move around
a bit when holstered. The RM holds the pistol steady,
with a seamless fit. When you want to the pistol will
draw upwards smoothly with almost no resistance.
This smooth draw is achieved by the use of a new
locking system that offers a smooth clean release of
the pistol when you draw and a solid grip on the pistol
when it is holstered.
This locking is achieved by means of a sliding block,
formed precisely around the front end of the trigger
IPSA
NEWS
guard. This fitting is the reason for the pistol’s stability
in the holster. As the pistol is drawn, the block, which
resides in an angled track, slides out to the side,
releasing the trigger guard and allowing the gun to be
drawn with only 6 to 8 mm ( 0.25 to 0.30 inches ) of
upward movement required to clear the holster.
The holster and its component parts are very
accurately manufactured and I had no issues in
disassembling and reassembling the RM when
swapping over the inserts between different makes of
pistol. Now after five months of use I have not got any
nicks or cuts on my hands, so there are no sharp edges
to worry about.
Yael has adjusted her RM so that her SVI sits
vertically.
Belt Attachment
Emile Obriot, one of Europe’s top Open Division
competitors draws from his race master holster
and guns his way through a stage at the Czech
Extreme.
The belt hanger on this holster is quite interesting.
The 1.5 belt fits into a slot on the hanger and two
spring steel flat clasps are screw tightened on the
inside of the hanger to hold the belt in place. Once the
two retaining straps are tightened down, the holster
will not budge on your belt. On the DAA belt I was
using the hanger is a very neat fit. This means there
is no movement of the holster during the draw. As
the inside of hanger only consists of two spring steel
clasps this also allows the outer belt to make contact
with the inner belt, which allows the Velcro to grip in
this crucial area. This means that you will not have to
attach a strip of Velcro on the inside of the hanger to
offer additional adhesion to the inner belt. This design
allows you to assemble your holster on your belt at
the designated position without struggling to slide a
tight fitting belt hanger the length of your belt. The
lack of any bulk on the inner side makes this hanger
more comfortable to wear for extended periods.
Could we also see this option being made available for
magazine pouches?
The pistol retention part of the holster is secured
to the belt hanger part of the holster by means of a
ball and socket design, which means that the holster
can be adjusted in a number of different angles and
directions. The RM uses two Allen head screws to
secure the ball in place. Take your time when adjusting
and tightening these screws to ensure that the holster
88
IPSA
NEWS
Yael Dagan demonstrates how the Race Master
allows you to execute a clean, rapid draw and
present the pistol neatly towards the target.
The safety lever is unlocked and the tension
adjustment screw can be finger adjusted. The two
small screws visible locate the pistol specific insert
to the holster body.
is correctly adjusted to suit yourself. Do this correctly
and you should only need to do it once, when you
make the initial purchase.
The adjustment in the RM allows it to be positioned
to suit your own body. This is very important so that
when you make the draw the pistol will lift cleanly
from the RM. If your draw is not clean, but slightly off
89
angle a pistol can bind and drag or stick. This was a
serious issue with earlier competition holsters. I spent
some time making sure that the RM was properly
set up to suit me and all my draws result in a clean
lift. Once you are satisfied with the holster’s position
tighten all the screws down and you are good to go.
Pistol Compatibility
The Race Master holster and the pistol specific
insert block is currently available for the following
pistol makes: CZ SP01, Glock, STI 2011 plastic
and aluminum grip, SVI Infinity Hi Cap with plastic,
aluminum or steel grip, Tanfoglio (square trigger
IPSA
NEWS
guard), 1911 Para-Ordnance, BUL M5 (round trigger
guard) SIG Sauer X-Five, Caspian and Sphinx 3000. The
trigger blocks for the Heckler & Koch USP, the Smith
and Wesson M & P pistol and the Smith and Wesson
686 revolver are currently in preparation. DAA has
just introduced the left hand version of the RM, which
is available in the black finish. It uses the same insert
blocks as the right hand version, so all the current
pistol types are immediately available.
I have been using the Race Master holster for my
own practice sessions, when running training courses
and when participating in International competition
with complete satisfaction. I also used it at the IPSC
European Handgun Championships in Belgrade,
Serbia and the IPSC World Shoot XVI in Rhodes,
Greece. The Double Alpha Academy Race Master has
advanced IPSC holster design to a new level.
The 1.5 inch belt fits into a slot on the hanger and
two spring steel flat clasps are screw tightened on
the inside of the hanger to hold the belt in place.
This also allows the outer belt to make contact with
the inner belt, which allows the Velcro to grip in this
crucial area.
Scope rings, rails, moderators, bipods
and much more!
Engineered to perfection for shooters worldwide...
Telephone OSPREY RIFLES on - 0044 (0)161 4083555
Made in Great Britain. Overseas enquiries welcome.
For Further Information
www.doublealpha.biz
www.racemaster.info
The pistol specific inserts, here a CZ SP01 and STI,
can be easily swapped over. The manufacturing
accuracy is such that I had no problems in switching
parts back and forwards.
Gregory Midgley executes a draw for his Race Master at the Czech Extreme match.
90
The Great Diggle EGG Shoot
The Great Diggle
Egg Shoot - May 2012
The threat of bad weather curbed the
entry slightly for this year’s shoot but
thankfully the rain more or less held off
and we had a good day’s shooting with
light winds.
Photoraphy by Steve Thornton
92
93
If you’ve never heard of
the Egg Shoot, let me
explain. It is a simple
(but demanding) test of
field marksmanship that
puts wind-reading skills
to the test and, when the
ultimate target is a hen’s
egg at 500 yards, then
clearly a pretty accurate
rifle is also a great help.
Beyond that, there are few rules – any
rifle, any scope, any rest - as long as
you can carry it single-handed to the
firing-point, anything goes. Over the
years, we’ve had a few stunts pulled so
now we also add – one rifle throughout
the competition and no rifle sharing
– remember, there are absolutely no
sighters allowed on the day of the
competition. Finally, although the
majority will shoot a custom rifle of
some sort, we do give an award for the
best performance with a standard ‘out
of the box’ factory rifle.
But, it’s not just a case of shooting an
egg. We start off with the Groundhog
shoot. This involves three shots at
100 yards, three shots at 300 yards
and three shots at 500 yards on the
Groundhog target (see above & insert
photograph of the winning shooters
target, Chris Parkin). We also give an
award for small group at each distance.
94
95
At 100 yards, most shooters will go for the ‘head’ bull.
A clean hit carries 15 points but cut the line and that
drops to just nine points. No one max’d the 45 points
but here’s how it went:
1st - Chris Parkin & Les Prior
2nd - Bruce Lenton
3rd - Steve Thornton & Gary Stewart
Small group - Darren Grundle
39 points
33 points
32 points
0.381 inches
Chris Parkin is one of our writers and Steve Thornton is
our webman and photographer so pretty good going
for Target Shooter magazine!
At 300 yards, only the very brave will go for the
head bull again. Most will go for the larger ‘body’
bull, which scores 10 points for a clean hit – giving a
possible maximum of 30 points. Not surprisingly, we
all hit the target at 100 yards but at 300 yards, with a
gusty wind blowing, we did have a couple of no-scores
and quite a few single-figure scores – mine included
- an embarrassing 2! Still, I was using my 6mm 1000
yard benchgun and I had a 100 yard zero and a 1000
yard zero – my 300 and 500 yard zeros came from
my JBM ballistic programme! Fortunately, I could
see my first 300 yard shot in the white on the right of
the groundhog but I over-compensated and scored a
miserable two hits on the body.
96
Chris (using his 260 Rem. tactical rifle) was again
looking good at 300 yards:
1st - Chris Parkin
2nd - Andy Massingham
3rd - Les Prior
Small group - Bruce Lenton
19 points
16 points
15 points
0.961 inches
Now it gets interesting. This is a very small target at
500 yards and we can expect about half the field to
miss it completely! Just half a minute either way and
you’re off the target. The wind had settled slightly
97
and again, I relied on the JBM prog. for my elevation
settings. At 300 yards you can see shot holes in the
white with any half decent scope and you can spot
shots in the black with a good scope but at 500 yards...
breaking the egg. This is only the second time in the
15 years we have held the competition that no one
has broken the egg!
Final results:
I took a chance and wound-off most of my windage
(which was showing about three-quarters of a minute
at 300 yards). Sure enough, I couldn’t see any shotholes on my target – were they in the black or had I
missed completely? This time, the JBM was spot-on,
with a lovely little three-shot group just below the
body bull. Not a great score but the best at 500 yards
so good enough to win the stage - yet another good
result for team Target Shooter with Chris again getting
a decent score.
1st - Vince Bottomley
2nd - Andy Massingham
3rd - Chris Parkin
Small group - Vince Bottomley
15 points
10 points
9 points
1.015 inches
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
6th
8th
9th
10th Chris Parkin
Les Proir
Andy Massingham
Bruce Lenton
Vince Bottomley
Steve Thornton
Gary Stewart
Darren Grundle
Mike Riley
Chris Vaux
69 points
56
48
43
43
42
42
41
37
36
Contact us today to see
what we can do for you
and make your products
work to their full potential,
in a way that is the future
of magazines and
advertising. With over
10,000 readers a month, in
the UK and around the world.
Best factory rifle shooter: Martin Pearns
Full results can be seen on the UKBRA website at
www.freewebs.com/ukbra/
Now, we shoot the egg. But, not until all the targets
have been scored and everyone has had lunch. After
a break of an hour or so, the wind had... Well, what
had it done? Picked up by about half a minute actually
but, no one spotted it and, although there were
some near misses, no one won £100 – the reward for
Enter the Egg Shoot with any calibre...
Email Yvonne Wilcock at
[email protected]
98
Target Shotgun in the UK
A brief history of the discipline
by Steve Boulter
Although still in its infancy, Target Shotgun has been
around as a formal shooting discipline in the UK since
January 2004 and is now formally recognised by the
National Rifle Association. Target Shotgun is one
of the ‘main-stay’ disciplines shot during the NRA’s
Action Weekends (which take place four times a year),
with the Spring and Autumn Shotgun Festivals and the
Police Shooting Championships, offering shooters in
the UK a minimum of seven established competitions
held at the National Shooting Centre every year.
So, how did it all start?
Target Shotgun grew out of UK Practical Shotgunner’s
needs to become more accurate at firing a solid lump
of lead downrange out of a smooth bore shotgun.
More and more of the Practical Shotgun matches
(especially those held abroad) included slug stages
and the lack of opportunities to get ‘slugged-up’ in the
UK was keenly felt by those trying to compete.
The first dedicated UK Target Shotgun match took
place at Bisley in January 2003 on the morning of the
United Kingdom Practical Shooting Association’s
AGM. The match was extremely well supported with
over 40 competitors taking part and it quickly became
apparent that what started out as a ‘practise’ event
was in fact “...the most fun you could have with your
clothes on...” (to quote one participant).
After this inaugural match, enthusiasm grew and
the potential to develop the discipline with differing
courses of fire was realised. So much so, that it was
TARGET
SHOTGUN
in these Target Shotgun disciplines. In quick order,
further courses of fire were developed and with
assistance from the UKPSA, a number of these were
developed to allow the use of Section 2 shotguns with
both birdshot and buckshot ammunition. The UKPSA
continues to promote both Practical and Target
Shotgun shooting at the NRA’s Open Day events using
these courses of fire.
So what happened next?
included in the Spring Action meeting staged by the
NRA the following month. It soon became apparent
that, instead of developing new courses of fire, there
was an easier and almost ‘ready-made’ solution...the
old (and much missed) pistol courses of fire.
Police Pistol 1(PP1) and Service Pistol A could easily
be used with minimal changes. So, Police Pistol 1
became Timed and Precision and the old Service Pistol
‘A’ discipline became Multi Target. The old ‘exposure’
and ‘away’ target timings were tinkered with and, the
distances each practise was shot at, altered slightly to
produce a challenging Target Shotgun version.
Once this was achieved, Target Shotgun became
an accepted shooting discipline and the number of
competitors taking part rose steadily. Soon, other
courses of fire were discovered - Embassy Cup from
the BDMP in Germany and the Long Distance event
(shot at the Phoenix meeting at 100 and 200 yards)
began to be shot for the first time in the UK.
UK records were being established (and then quickly
broken) as these events gathered momentum
and shooters got to grips with the nuances of slug
shooting. This early work developing Target Shotgun
in the UK was undertaken by members of The Blue
Team Club, ably assisted by members of Little
Chalfont Rifle & Pistol Club. A team of qualified Range
Officers was put together and they have regularly run
and officiated at virtually all of the Target Shotgun
events at the National Shooting Centre ever since.
However, it soon became apparent that the inherent
Home Office rules concerning Section1 shotguns
precluded a number of shooters from participating
100
Evolution - It was natural for those closely involved
in Target Shotgun to want to include some more
dynamic shooting events more akin to Practical
Shotgun at the National Shooting Centre. However,
as many of you reading this will know, NRA policy
does not generally allow any movement with a loaded
firearm and so most Practical shooting events are
precluded from Bisley.
Step forward the ever inventive Blue Team members
who quickly came up with a solution. Not all
International Practical Shooting Confederation type
shooting is undertaken with movement... So why
not include all of the competitive shooting skills
usually associated with Practical shooting, but from a
static position, whilst testing shooter’s skills across a
number of different stages?
200 Yards...
Bob Sand
Hence the event known simply as ‘TBT’ was born.
The name was coined from the initials of the club
whose members came up with the idea and it is now
established as the main event at the NRA’s Shotgun
Festivals along with smaller competitions such as
‘Snooker’, ‘Man v Man’ and the ‘Ten Pin Bowling’
event.
EMB Cup
Enough of the history lesson, what’s happening now?
One person’s name has become synonymous
with Target Shotgun in the U.K. – Andy Duffy. He
has been involved from the very beginning and
was subsequently seconded to the NRA Shooting
Committee to help develop the discipline and once
Target Shotgun had received official recognition, he
became the NRA Target Shotgun Representative.
Left hand
101
TARGET
SHOTGUN
It was Andy that pushed for the use of reactive
metal targets and actually helped conduct the test
sanctioning and use of such targets with bird shot
ammunition at short ranges at the NSC. He has
worked tirelessly on developing and getting the rules
adopted and is developing a training programme
for beginners to enable them to acquire their Safe
Shooter Certification in the discipline.
If that wasn’t enough, he is also currently working on
qualification packages for both range officers and for
trainers. Looking to develop Target Shotgun in the
UK even further, he has taken the discipline forward
(or perhaps backwards) by now introducing ‘classic
divisions’ which use double barrel and single barrel
shotguns. It is no mean feat to maintain accuracy
against the clock in a Timed and Precision event with
a double barrel shotgun but, proving that he can ‘walk
the walk’ as well as ‘talk the talk’ Andy set the record
of 282 ex 300 with a 241/2 inch Baikal Hammer gun
in the double-barrel classic event shot at the last NRA
Action Weekend.
Target Shotgun has now developed a regular (and
very enthusiastic) following amongst NRA and UKPSA
members and regular events are well established.
However, it was felt by a number of these regular
shooters that it was time to form a national body to
facilitate further development of this now popular
NRA discipline.
Consequently, the Target Shotgun Association (UK)
was formed following a meeting held at the NSC
during the recent Spring Shotgun Festival. Acting
Officials were selected, members were signed-up
and a constitution identified for adaptation. The new
Association will be promoting and supporting the
discipline and endeavouring to expand interest and
participation across the whole country.
TARGET
SHOTGUN
Rob Adam
Multi target
Prone position
Load & MR
Sling Shot
The reckoning
Recoil
The Association has a website www.targetshotgun.
co.uk and here you can find more information on the
discipline, courses of fire, past events, records and
upcoming events and, for anyone wishing to join,
membership details. We hope that Target Shotgun
Association articles will become a regular feature of
Target Shooter magazine, giving reports and results
plus advice on equipment, ammunition reloading
etc...
It will hold its first AGM at the Phoenix meeting in
June, where a constitution will be adopted and officers
elected. (Members will be informed of the date, time
and location very soon).
If, after reading this article, you would like more
information on Target Shotgun please contact Andy
Duffy at [email protected] or via the
Association’s web site www.targetshotgun.co.uk
102
103
A ONE-OFF...
UKPSA
NEWS
At the start of June 2012, the United
Kingdom and the Commonwealth
THE UKPSA JUBILEE
GRADED PRACTICAL
PISTOL COMPETITION
will celebrate the Diamond Jubilee
of the ascension to the Throne of
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Events will take place across the
By David Thompson
globe to celebrate Her Majesty’s 60
year reign. The UKPSA organised a
graded practical pistol competition
to commemorate the Queen
Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee.
Classic Division is a
new IPSC Division and
is limited to the M1911
pistol as used here by
UKPSA Chairman
Rob Adam.
UKPSA
NEWS
On the 12th May 2012, the UKPSA Jubilee Match,
the first graded practical pistol competition to take
place in the United Kingdom in four years, was held
at the Ulster Small Arms Shooting Club in Kilkeel,
Northern Ireland. The USASC range is situated with
the majestic back drop of the Mountains of Mourne
towering above the range in south County Down.
UKPSA members had been asking for the return of
graded practical pistol competition that was properly
run to IPSC rules. The UKPSA responded by putting
together a Handgun Commission, which was tasked
with carrying out the necessary organisation to both
plan and run a graded competition.
A properly run graded IPSC
competition requires trained
and qualified match officials
to ensure the smooth running
of the event. With this in mind,
the UKPSA organised an IPSC
Range Officer Training Seminar
in March that was conducted by
UKPSA Trainers Martyn Spence and Jim
Gibney. They put a group of 12 new range
officers through the IPSC two day training
course, which is a blend of both classroom
work and practical training in situations that they
will encounter in a competition. Martyn and Jim also
re-qualified UKPSA members who were previously
range officer qualified.
In the run up to the match date, the USASC designed,
built and assembled all the targets and props required
for the stages of the match. The competition
consisted of seven stages. These consisted of two long
stages of up to 31 rounds, two medium stages of up to
22 rounds and three short stages of up to 12 rounds.
104
105
UKPSA
NEWS
The stages used a blend of shoot and no-shoot targets
and reduced size targets to increase the difficulty. The
use of walls and barriers with apertures at different
heights increased the difficulty of the stages. Each
stage had both full size targets, which allowed you
to speed up your shots and a combination of partial
targets, with many obscured by no-shoot targets
and reduced size targets, which meant that you had
to slow it down to ensure that you got the hits and
avoided getting misses or hitting the no-shoots. The
degree of difficulty in shooting these stages was
comparable to the degree of difficulty that you would
experience in an IPSC Level III competition on the
European IPSC competition circuit.
The newly qualified range officers ran the stages
under the control of Range Master Jim Gibney. As the
score sheets were being processed through out the
competition, the prize giving took place very quickly
after the last competitors shot their last stages. At
any graded practical pistol competition the IPSC
Divisions of Production and Standard are always the
most popular and this competition was no different.
A series of commemorative plaques and prizes
were present to the winners in the respective IPSC
Divisions.
In Standard Division, IPSC Ireland member Andrew
Pedlow took first place. Paul Kirkpatrick was only
1.56% behind in second place and Robert McKee took
third. In Production Division, David Thompson came
in first place, with David Cumming and Colin Beattie
in second and third places. As well as Standard and
Production Divisions, two other IPSC Divisions, Classic
and Open, were also represented. Jim McEwan took
the top spot in Open Division and Rob Adam took the
honours in Classic Division.
As well as attracting UKPSA members from Northern
Ireland, UKPSA members from Great Britain also
travelled over to participate in the competition.
UKPSA
NEWS
We also had a group of competitors from our
neighbouring IPSC Region in the Republic of Ireland
who also participated in the match. This is the first of
a series of graded IPSC Practical Pistol Competitions
that will take place in Northern Ireland in both 2012
and beyond. Another two Level II graded IPSC
practical pistol competitions will take place in July and
August at the USASC range. Many thanks to all the
competitors who attended the match and to all the
range staff for their hard work and enthusiasm that
was put into running the competition.
All the stages had a series of full sized or partial
targets at long range or with difficult angles in
which the competitor had to engage the targets
above, through, below or around the various
props used.
Results from these Graded Level II Matches will
determine the 2012 United Kingdom Champions
for the IPSC Handgun Divisions and results will be
used for selection to the UKPSA National Handgun
Squad and will be taken into consideration for the
allocation of places for the IPSC European Handgun
Championships that will take place in Portugal in 2013.
Later this year the club will start the construction work
to add additional shooting bays to their range and in
2013 the club will host a United Kingdom Open Level
III Championship IPSC Competition.
UKPSA Range Safety Training Courses
The UKPSA will be running a two-day Practical
Shotgun Safety Training Course in Northern Ireland
in November 2012. Three UKPSA qualified Practical
Shotgun Instructors will run this training course. This
will enable Northern Ireland UKPSA members to
organise
a series of Practical Shotgun Graded IPSC
Competitions to take place in Northern Ireland.
These matches will be held through out 2013. Also
in 2013, organised trips will enable UKPSA members
from Northern Ireland to participate in the Graded
IPSC Practical Shotgun Competition Circuit in Great
Britain. As the Practical Shotgun Safety Training
Course will be held in November 2012, this will give
participants the time to ensure that they are properly
equipped and organised to participate in the PSG
safety training course.
Open Division competitor Jim McEwan engages
targets through a low aperture.
106
107
Competing in Production Division Stefan
Kirkpatrick takes aim at a series of steel pepper
popper targets.
UKPSA
NEWS
Also being held in 2012 will be a
series of two-day Practical Pistol
Safety Training Courses at different
venues. This will enable those who
are new to IPSC competition shooting to participate
in the series of graded practical pistol competitions
that will take place in Northern Ireland in 2012 and
beyond and will also enable them to participate in
graded competitions in other IPSC Regions.
For more information on both the Practical Pistol and
Practical Shotgun Safety Training Courses email [email protected]
remaining events that will make up the 2012 UK and
Irish IPSC Handgun Championships. The dates and
venues for the competitions are as follows:
United Kingdom and Irish IPSC 2012
Handgun Championships
21st July and 18th August 2012
UKPSA graded competitions in Kilkeel, County Down
GPS N 54.08013 W 6.00991
The competition on the 12th May was the first in a
series of five graded IPSC practical pistol competitions
that will take place in 2012. The UKPSA and ITS
IPSC Regions are pleased to announce details of the
30th June and 1st September 2012
ITS graded competitions in Dunnyboe, County Tyrone GPS 54.8241219261,-7.31351025431
UKPSA
NEWS
Both the UKPSA and ITS are delighted
to announce the dates and locations for
the series of 2012 IPSC Handgun Competitions.
This series is culmination of a lot of hard work
by both IPSC Regions and the respective clubs and
co-ordinators to put together an exciting series
of matches on the Island for both UK and Irish
competitors. The championships will take place over
the summer months with valuable slots for the 2013
IPSC European Handgun Championships up for grabs
for the ITS members as well as the coveted titles of
Irish or United Kingdom Champion for members of
the respective associations .
IPSC Ireland member Andrew Pedlow took first
place in Standard Division.
UKPSA Regional Director Vanessa Duffy was one of the contingent of UKPSA
members who travelled over from GB to participate in the competition. UKPSA
Regional Director Vanessa Duffy was one of the contingent of UKPSA members who
travelled over from GB to participate in the competition.
Engaging targets through an upper aperture Paul
Kirkpatrick was second in Standard Division, only
1.56% behind Andrew.
108
109
UKPSA
NEWS
IRISH IPSC HANDGUN CHAMPIONSHIP IN 2012
“On behalf of IPSC Ireland I am delighted that with the help and co-operation of our good friends in the UKPSA
we will be able to run our Championships this year. A lot of people have worked very hard to make this happen
and they all have put in long hours over the last few months getting all the details sorted out. IPSC President,
Nick Alexakos has being instrumental
in getting both regions together and
helping us to forge new partnerships.
I look forward to a great series of
matches and some exciting shooting.
ITS will take the results of three of
the matches in selecting the teams
for Portugal 2013. One of your three
matches must be an ITS match your
other two best results can be from any
of the other matches.”
Range Master Jim
Gibney ensured that we
had a smooth running
competition.
John FitzGerald Regional
Director IPSC Ireland.
Web- www.irishtargetsports.ie
Email- [email protected]
UKPSA IPSC HANDGUN
CHAMPIONSHIP IN 2012
The results from these five graded competitions
will also be used, alongside other results and
performances, in the selection process for the United
Kingdom National Squad and Teams for the 2013 IPSC
European Handgun Championships that will be held in
Portugal.
As Regional Director for the UKPSA, one of the tasks
that IPSC President Nick Alexakos set me when we
met in 2011, was the re-introduction of properly run
graded IPSC pistol competition shooting in Northern
Ireland. Since the 2011 World Shoot XVI in Rhodes,
Greece, ITS and the UKPSA have worked along with
each other to achieve this goal. I thank those involved
in the UKPSA Handgun Commission and of course our
friends and neighbours in ITS for bringing about this
series of Level 2 graded IPSC matches for the benefit
of the members of both IPSC Regions”
Vanessa Duffy Regional Director UKPSA
Web www.ukpsa.co.uk
“On behalf of the UKPSA I am
delighted to announce a series of
graded practical pistol competitions
that will be taking place at the
Dunnyboe Rifle and Pistol Club,
Strabane, County Tyrone and the
Ulster Small Arms Shooting Club,
Kilkeel, County Down. The results
from the five competitions will be
used to determine the UKPSA’s
United Kingdom Champions for the
respective IPSC Divisions.
The CZ75 SP01 Shadow is the most popular pistol used in Production
Division. David Cumming used his to finish in second place.
USASC, Kilkeel. Your third result will be from your best
performance at any of the other three competitions.
The UKPSA will take their members
results from all five graded
competitions and use the best three
results to decide the United Kingdom
Champions. Of your three results that
will be used two of your results will be
from the UKPSA competitions held at
110
111
UKPSA
NEWS
“The UKPSA Handgun Commission and ITS are
working together to bring about another series of
graded IPSC practical pistol competitions for 2013.
More announcements will be made in due course.
Plans are already underway to extend this series of
matches to include two IPSC Level III Championship
matches during 2013. This will be great preparation
for those members from both the ITS and UKPSA
IPSC Regions who will be attending the 2013 IPSC
European Handgun Championships and 2014 IPSC
World Shoot. Anyone who wants to compete in
any of the UKPSA competitions can contact me at
[email protected] ”
Fred Hanna UKPSA Handgun Commission Secretary
Web http://www.ukpsa.co.uk/handgunni.html
UKPSA Trainer Jim Gibney presents Range Officer
certificates to Jeffrey McComb, Fred Hanna, Robert McKee
and Richard Martin. A total of 15 students completed the
IPSC Pistol Range Officers training course organised by the
UKPSA, which took place earlier this year.
NEW - THE DOLPHIN MODULAR RIFLE SYSTEM
Dolphin Repeating Rifles
Dolphin Repeating Rifles
Dolphin Stock in Hard Anodise
Choice of Long F/TR, Short or Open front forend
With Morgan recoil pad
Choice of colours available
Barnard SM or RPA Quadlite
Timney Trigger (Jewel £40 extra)
17 or 25 moa scope rail
Bartlein, Lilja or Krieger barrel
(Choice of twist & profile)
Choice of calibre available
5 Round AICS magazine
£2460 including VAT
Kelbly 179mmX130mm
6/16/10
7:16 AM
Page 1
Introducing Kelbly’s Tactical Rifles.
bringing benchrest precision to the tactical
market. With loads of options to choose from,
and pricing that shatters the competitors.
Introducing the first hunting and tactical scopes
with 10 times power ratio on a variable scope.
March 1x-10x-24mm and 2.5x-25x-42mm. 1/4” clicks
and 25 MOA per revolution. All lenses in scopes are
cemented in place, and do not rely on O rings to hold
point of aim. Argon gas purged.
Dolphin Single Shot F/TR Rifles
Dolphin Single Shot Rifles. (Two above).
Dolphin Stock in Hard Anodise
Choice of Long F/TR, Short or Open front forend
With Morgan recoil pad
Choice of colours available
Barnard S or RPA Quadlite
Timney Trigger (Jewel £40 extra)
17 or 25 moa scope rail
Bartlein, Lilja or Krieger barrel
Choice of twist & profile
Choice of .223 Rem or .308 Win or any other
calibre suitable for a 308 bolt.
WEIGHT 6.5Kg (with med Palma Barrel)
£2360 including VAT
LATEST NEWS
Stocks now available individually
inlet for Remington 700, Barnard S & SM
& RPA Quadlite. Coming soon ~ Savage.
Only £630 inc VAT.
Folding modular stock version coming soon.
Keep visiting our website for latest products...
Options Available
Options - (Only when ordered with Rifle)
Spiral Flute Barrel
£160
Straight Flute Barrel
£120
Interrupted Flute Barrel
£160
Duracoat Barrel
£60
Water Transfer Print stock
£180
Dolphin Trakker Rest(long)
£150
Dolphin Trakker Rest(short)
£140
Dolphin Muzzle brake
£100
Long F/TR additional forend
£100
Short additional forend
£80
Open/Bench rest Style forend
£140
VAIS style Muzzle Brake
£120
Thread for Moderator;
£60
Including fitting , proof and invisible end cap.
Holland Style Muzzle brake;
£120
Including fitting & proof .
All prices inc VAT
Dolphin Gun Company - Southwold - Donington on Bain - Lincolnshire - LN11 9TR - England
Telephone +44 (0) 1507 343898 or +44 (0) 774 7771962. www.dolphinguncompany.co.uk - [email protected]
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