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TARGET SHOOTER
MAGAZINE
March 2012 Issue
NOW Read WORLDWIDE BY OVER 10,000 DEDICATED READERS in over
77 countries EVERY MONTH
Contents
Contents Continued
MARCH 2012 Issue
MINI PROJECT RIFLE - REMINGTON 700
SPS TACTICAL – by Laurie Holland. Laurie is
in the process of a ‘silk purse from a sow’s ear’
rifle build which started off as an ‘out of the box’
223 SPS Remington. The idea is to see just what
we can do with a budget factory rifle without
spending the earth...
March 2012 Issue
Page 20
Choosing Sights for competition shooting. By Gwyn
Roberts. Moving on from making your stocks and grips
fit you properly, the next thing to consider is which type
of sight (or sights) are going to be the most suitable for
the type of Gallery Rifle competitions that you intend to
compete in.
Page 6
Page 50
The Grunig & Elmiger ‘Return’ Butt-plate by Page 16
Conor McFlynn. If you read our February edition,
you may recall the account of Irishman Conor
Flynn’s spectacular win in the World Field Target
Championships in Italy. Now Conor describes one
piece of equipment that contributed to his success.
Page 32
The Long View by Les Holgate. Well here we
go ago again - time to blow the winter cobwebs
off your F Class rifle and equipment and try to put
into action your New Year’s resolution of “Must
do better at League shoots.” (or was that just
mine!)...
Air Splitter & Barrel Tuners for Air Rifle
Benchrest by Carl Boswell. Benchrest rimfire
shooters will know a thing or two about
Page 28
muzzle devices (barrel tuners) and tuning
the barrel. This process has gone from the
ringing of the barrel, using such processes
as the Hopewell method, to something
a lot more 21st century using electronic
monitoring equipment to achieve tuning.
Page 60
Page 76
This Smallbore Business – by Don Brook. Accessories overkill or what? Gees, I have long seen the attempts from
manufacturers to ensure that everything on a free rifle is
so adjustable that it fits all. Even from my good mate in
the UK, Barry Dagger - who is four foot zip - to the length
of Harald Stenvaag from Norway, who is so tall that when
he lays down for his prone, he is half way there! Now that,
my readers, is indeed a challenge...
THE HANDLOADING BENCH
- 308 WINCHESTER RIDES
AGAIN Part 3 by Laurie
Holland. I compared MVs and
velocity spreads obtained from
Lapua’s new ‘Palma’ small rifle
primer (SRP) / small flash-hole
cases against identical load
combinations in normal large
primer (LRP) examples last month,
with particular reference to the
effects produced by low (< 10°C)
ambient temperatures. It appears
that SRP cases are not well suited
to chilly conditions with some
powders - Viht N140 and N550
both struggling for instance.
Regulars
& more...
LATEST NEWS
Page 54
SMALLBORE BUSINESS
page 50
UKPSA NEWS
Page 56
FROM THE BENCH
Page 27
QUIGLEY ASSOCIATION NEWS
Practical Shotgun: This month, weakhand reloading from a caddy - By Mike
Siva-Jothy. I saw my first Practical Shotgun
competition a few weeks ago and good fun it
looked too – as using any semi-auto firearm
usually is! Mike Siva Jothy won the comp.
Page 74
AND MUCH,
MUCH, MORE...
77 countries EVERY MONTH
Welcome to the new look March 2012 edition of Target Shooter Magazine
March
The highest quality precision range of hunting,
stalking, tactical & target scopes available for
shooters worldwide.
SCOPES
The Choice of
Champions
Tactical Turrets
Webitorial March 2012
NEW
Well, no sooner had we got back from the Shot Show that it was ‘all systems go’ for
Newark. It was great to meet so many of you and, for me it was a great Show. Our
little stand was representing not only the magazine but also Diggle Ranges, rimfire and
centrefire benchrest, the 50 Cal. Association and the Long Barrel Pistol & Gallery Rifle
crew.
Precision optical
instruments made
the way they
should be, one at a
time, by craftsman
with 30 plus years
experience using
components of
absolute quality.
When I get to meet shooters face to face for a chat, I’m always amazed how many
of you don’t actually compete in any sort of shooting discipline and have little
understanding of F Class, benchrest or what have you. My own Club at Diggle is totally
competition orientated and we cater for just about everything.
I love to see a new shooter come along – perhaps not even having an FAC - then go
through probation, basic training, buy a rifle, start reloading and enter their first
competition. Then maybe a year or two later they will be picking up their first award in
a Club competition or even winning one of our Championships.
The great thing about our sport is that you do not need to be super-fit or even that
active to be competitive – just keen and enthusiastic. We’ve taken shooters from
beginner to shooting for their country in two or three years – what an achievement for
anyone!
Zero Set or Free Dial Locking
The 8x ~ 80x.
Side Focus 10 yards ~ Infinity
Push Button Illumination
Available from - marchscopes.co.uk - Call 01293 606901 or [email protected]
Editor - Vince Bottomley [email protected]
Advertising and Office Manager - Yvonne Wilcock. [email protected]
Yes, plinking and just messing about with guns is immensely enjoyable but you are
really missing something by not taking your sport to the next level. And please don’t
think that taking part in competition shooting is all serious – just the opposite – there
is plenty of fun and banter in the GBF Class Association even though we take our sport
seriously.
Compiled, Designed & Web Production by Steve Thornton. www.thorntonconnect.com
Contributors - Vince Bottomley - Laurie Holland - Mike Siva-Jothy - Ken Hall - Don Brooke
Alan Whittle - Tony Saunders - Gwyn Roberts & Carl Boswell
Cover & Back Page Photograph by Steve Thornton
If your own club is a little ‘inactive’ and you feel like getting going
in competitive shooting, then we are here to help. We try and
cover most target shooting disciplines so, if you need help or
information, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Disclaimer
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.
Vince, Yvonne & Steve
Vince Bottomley - [email protected]
Yvonne - [email protected]
Steve - [email protected]
4
5
MINI PROJECT RIFLE
REMINGTON 700 SPS TACTICAL
MINI PROJECT RIFLE
by Laurie Holland
by Laurie Holland
Laurie is in the process of a ‘silk purse
from a sow’s ear’ rifle build which
started off as an ‘out of the box’ 223 SPS
Remington. The idea is to see just what
we can do with a budget factory rifle
without spending the earth...
MINI PROJECT RIFLE
REMINGTON 700 SPS
TACTICAL
Click values were accurate, the turrets easy to adjust and
read but those gaps underneath may accumulate dust...
by Laurie Holland
The 700 SPS project tactical rifle with its Armalon heavy barrel fitted.
6
7
MINI PROJECT RIFLE
by Laurie Holland
MINI PROJECT RIFLE REMINGTON 700 SPS TACTICAL
by Laurie Holland
Laurie is in the process of a ‘silk
purse from a sow’s ear’ rifle build
which started off as an ‘out of
the box’ 223 SPS Remington.
The idea is to see just what we
can do with a budget factory rifle
without spending the earth...
Previously, the rifle had a ‘Stage 1’
tune-up job involving a smoothed
action, trigger job and muzzle
recrowning followed by a Third
Eye Tactical bolt-knob being fitted,
all this work done by Valkyrie
Rifles. Then, the not particularly
rigid factory stock and its internal
magazine were ditched to be
replaced by a Manners Tactical
thumbhole model from South
Yorkshire Shooting Supplies. It
came with a moulded-in Badger
Ordnance mini-chassis that takes
an A.I. 10-round detachable box
magazine.
Later still, Armalon Limited, the London based
gunsmith and barrel manufacturer, fitted one of their
new hammer-forged fluted barrels towards the end
of last year - remaining in the 223 Rem. chambering
but 26 inches long with a 1 in 7.874 rifling twist-rate
compared to the Remington’s original 20 incher and
1-9 twist.
With the longer heavy profile tube on, the rifle now
really looks the part, more important feels absolutely
right when added to the substantial and ergonomically
superb Manners stock. Although heavier than it was
in factory guise, the all-up weight isn’t too great to
stop it being used as a dual-purpose target and tactical
rifle. Finally, to top it all off, literally and figuratively,
there was the most single expensive purchase - one
of Aim Field Sport’s newly arrived Sightron Series III
8-32X56 long-range riflescopes with tactical knobs
and the LR-MOA reticle (long Range, Minute of
Angle), the example Vince Bottomley reviewed in the
November 2011 issue of TS Online.
‘Musical Scopes’
battered after years of abuse, moved to the Remy
and I imagine will remain there. (I always say that!)
Although a sturdy bit of kit and optically superb, the
Burris is light on elevation adjustment (~50-MOA) and
has small adjustment turrets and fine markings, so
much so that my 60 plus year old eyes almost need a
magnifying glass to read or change settings – not ideal
for long range F or similar, but an excellent choice
here.
MINI PROJECT RIFLE
by Laurie Holland
Every centrefire rifle barrel starts out as a ‘blank’
a solid cylinder-shape rod of high grade stainless
or chrome-moly steel made to the barrel maker’s
specification and, in other manufacturing methods, a
little over the desired finished barrel length.
The barrel has been given a superbly machined set of deep flutes and an attractive black finish.
Let’s look briefly at the optical equipment up top and
I’ve got to admit it’s changed again! The rifle is now
on its fourth ‘scope – well I think it’s the fourth, as I’m
in danger of losing count there having been so many!
This isn’t a result of dissatisfaction with the Sightron,
actually one of the brightest and nicest riflescopes I’ve
ever used.
Properly Hammered
Moving onto the new barrel, it was made by the
hammer-forging process, that is used on the vast
majority of tubes on factory rifles used in the world’s
deer woods, prairie dog fields and in nearly all of
the gazillions of pistols, revolvers, military rifles and
machineguns out there. Despite this, ever since our
last two volume rifle manufacturers - BSA and ParkerHale - passed into the loving embrace of the Official
Receiver many years ago, you’d be most unlikely to
find a hammer-forged barrel fitted onto any nonmilitary rifle made in the UK... until now.
As I said in the last report on the project, it was much
too good a bit of glass to stay on a rifle that I’d only
rarely shoot beyond 300 yards and, sure enough it’s
now on my .308 Barnard/Eliseo F/TR tubegun for longrange competition. Buying an equivalent specification
replacement was out of the question, so it was a case
of either procuring a budget varmint or tactical model,
or the no cost option of seeing what I could rob off
another rifle. Well, no monetary cost but one that
invariably produces work and disruption. Each time I
do this, the resulting game of ‘musical scopes’ seems
to see five rifles end up with different examples and all
that this entails in re-sighting and getting new rangesettings!
After many vicissitudes, Armalon’s Peter Sarony
has got the former P-H barrel-making machines up
and running in Oxfordshire, fully modernised and in
a CNC equipped workshop to undertake every job
involved in making, profiling, fluting, chambering and
fitting barrels. The company also manufactures other
shooting related components and accessories as well
as offering gunsmithing and rifle building services.
However, some readers might wonder just what
hammer forging entails and how it differs from other
forms of rifling and barrel manufacture.
Anyway, my very first ‘quality’ 30mm target scope, a
Burris 6-24X50 Black Diamond, now looking a little
8
9
Traditionally, the blank was bored through with a
special bore drill or reamer, then had a cutting device
pulled through the resulting hole (or bore) umpteen
The right barrel side is hard up against the stock channel
- to be rectified.
times to machine the rifling grooves into the bore
surface, the blank being rotated meanwhile to impart
the desired degree of rifling pitch or twist rate.
This was the slowest and most expensive part of
making a modern firearm and required very large,
heavy and complex rifling machines. This method
is still used by Krieger, Bartlein and Border Barrels
often on machines dating from the middle of the last
century or earlier since nobody has made any since.
The form such precision barrelmakers use is called
the single-point rifling method as the cutting tool
MINI PROJECT RIFLE
by Laurie Holland
MINI PROJECT RIFLE
only takes a tiny shaving, a small fraction of a thou’,
out of a single groove on each pass. The blank is then
indexed round the tool to the next groove position and
the process repeated several hundred times until the
grooves reach the required depth.
by Laurie Holland
Winchester and Lapua brass was available for handloads.
The Germans had installed their hammer forged barrel
plant in a facility in Erfurt, a town in the traditional
gunmaking region of Thuringia and likely to be
occupied by the Red Army in spring 1945, so it was
hurriedly removed to Austria to keep it out of Russian
hands.
Scope number 4 (or maybe 5?) on the rifle – a Burris 6-24X50 ‘Black Diamond’ target model. Nice glass, but shame
about the little turrets and tiny adjustment markings.
(Left) A Mauser 7.92mm belt-fed MG34, the original
GPMG and much feared by British soldiers who called it
the ‘Spandau’ in WW2. This barrel-eating machine was the
driver for developing the hammer-forge manufacturing
process.
(Below) .223 Remington and Sierra’s 80gn MatchKing
showing the bullet base position at various COALs, that
on the left at the SAAMI standard 2.26”. Barrel freebore
that suits the centre pair is where Laurie would like to be
eventually.
A faster if cruder method, ‘broached rifling’ was
latterly used on military rifle barrels and saw a multipoint cutter pulled through the barrel that took a
much deeper slice out of all of the grooves in each
pass.
Powders that suit .223 Rem with medium to heavyweight
bullets. H4895 is the most flexible of the quartet.
The Germans invented hammer forging around the
beginning of World War 2, a direct consequence of
their adoption of the world’s first belt-fed quick-barrelchange general purpose machineguns, the MG34
and later MG42 models, as the firepower generator
in every Wehrmacht infantry squad. With scores of
thousands of these frighteningly effective weapons in
use by the middle of the war, each with a 1000 rpm or
higher cyclic fire rate and swallowing vast quantities of
high-pressure 7.92X57mm 198gn bulleted cartridges,
barrels had a necessarily short life and the demand
for replacements was insatiable. (There’s a nightmare
thought – the match grade F/TR machinegun. A 120
second burst and you need a new Bartlein or True-Flite
at £650 and up chambered and fitted!)
10
Over on the other side of the Atlantic, those energetic
one-time British colonists invented the button
rifling barrel manufacturing process during WW2,
also to increase production rates and reduce costs.
Although the fruits of work by Remington Arms
engineers, this company became one of the majority
who subsequently adopted hammer forging in the
post-war period, the button rifling method used by
Anschutz, Lothar Walther, and Savage Arms alone
of the major manufacturers plus many target and
speciality barrel suppliers such as Broughton Barrels,
Lilja, and True-Flite.
‘Seating dummies’ for the four bullets used in the tests.
The 52 A-Max was set too long.
11
American engineers must have studied it closely
transferring the technical know-how to the New World
but I doubt if it’s coincidental that the world’s primary
source for hammer forging machinery and tooling
has been the Gesellschaft Fur Fertigungstechnik und
Maschinenbau (GFM) in Steyr, Austria ever since.
Note too that its neighbour, the major sporting and
military arms manufacturer Steyr-Mannlicher AG, has
used the method exclusively since it recommenced
production after the end of WW2 and has taken such
barrels to a very high standard indeed in cooperation
with GFM.
For the hammer forging process, we start off with a
blank somewhat shorter and fatter than that of the
finished barrel. It is drilled and honed to a diameter
that will accept a very, very hard and highly polished
tungsten carbide mandrel which has bore dimensions
and the rifling groove pattern machined in high relief
on its outside.
Our pair in their intimate embrace is then fed into
the hammer forging machine that sees the blank
MINI PROJECT RIFLE
by Laurie Holland
away with those downstream jobs, although I don’t
think that’ll apply with Armalon’s set-up. (If you look
at current Mannlicher sporting rifles, you see the spiral
flats left by the hammers on the barrel’s external
surfaces, the factory only polishing and blueing them.)
The pros of this method are obviously its high output
and low unit cost - assuming you make enough barrels
to cover the substantial initial outlay if you’re buying
new plant. It also imparts a very high quality and hard
finish to bore and groove surfaces making for long life.
The downside is that it also injects stresses into the steel
and early hammer-forged barrels got a bad reputation
for groups that increased in size and/or bullet impact
changes as they heated in use. So, this was something
I’d be looking for in my new Armalon barrel. I’ll stress
too, that while this all sounds very mechanistic - just bore
a blank and feed it into a machine - making high-grade
barrels requires a great deal of skill and experience from
the machine shop staff just as with any other process.
A modern well made example is a very different animal
from its ancestors, likewise dirt-cheap assault rifle tubes
77gn Scenar groups. Number 3 at the top was only 0.2”
until the 5th and final shot came in low.
52gn A-Max groups
(Above) .223 Remington and
Sierra’s 80gn MatchKing
showing the bullet base position
at various COALs, that on the
left at the SAAMI standard
2.26”. Barrel freebore that suits
the centre pair is where Laurie
would like to be eventually.
progressively hammered onto
the mandrel by opposed highspeed hammers while being
turned around its axis. This
process, rotary forging, literally
squeezes the barrel steel onto
the mandrel creating the
bore and indenting the rifling
grooves into it.
The part-made barrel is then
forced off the mandrel, a lot
thinner and longer than it
started out and is ready for
threading, chambering and
external profiling.
MINI PROJECT RIFLE
by Laurie Holland
produced in production runs of thousands – if you own
a good CZ, Remington, Steyr, Tikka, or Sako rifle, you
have the proof of this.
Another downside is that mandrels are very expensive
and can only produce a single rifling form and pitch,
so you either have to spend a fortune on mandrels or
offer a limited choice of internal specifications. My
barrel is made with a 1-7.784 twist-rate which may
seem an odd figure when we think of American (or
Border Barrels) made 0.224 barrels in 1-7 to 1-14 twist
rates, 8, 9 and 12 being the
most popular. Actually, it’s 18th
Century Bourbon France and
its SI (metric) measurements
system to blame for this - the
twist rate being 1 in 200mm which suggests that Armalon
sources mandrels in Steyr rather
than Solihull. Anyway, that’s
one turn in eight inches for my
purposes.
Clearances
After receiving the barrelled
action, two issues now arose.
The first and obvious one was
that on mating it back with the
stock, the much fatter barrel
wasn’t fully floating. There was
a just right amount of clearance
underneath and on the left side
of the barrel channel but several
inches of metal were in hard
contact with the stock on the
right side. No great problem,
just mill the channel out an
eighth of an inch on this side
but time was pressing and we
wanted to see what the barrel
could do.
Once set up, these very
expensive machines can
produce a rifled barrel blank
roughly every three minutes.
Recent versions also form the
chamber and produce the
required external contour or
profile at the same time doing
The good news was that whilst a
far from ideal arrangement, the
barrel and stock were in good
12
13
MINI PROJECT RIFLE
by Laurie Holland
solid contact and would therefore likely stay that way
as the former flexed under firing pressures and maybe
wouldn’t see its position and the tension placed on
it shift around inconsistently under varying chamber
pressures. Well, hopefully not too much, as barrels
twist around far more than you might imagine. So we
decided to leave things be until we’d had two or three
range sessions with a variety of bullet weights and
types – it’ll be interesting to see too what rectification
– i.e free-floating the barrel - does to group sizes and
impact points.
The other issue was the length of chamber throat
freebore. This is the first re-barrelling job I’ve had
for some time where I’d no idea how much freebore
I’d have, other recent work involving supplying the
gunsmith with an inert round using the desired bullet
seated to my required COAL. I suspected Peter’s
people would chamber it short as Armalon puts these
barrels on its much modified Remington 700 ‘PR
Rifle’ that uses an AR15 / M16 magazine in its 223
Rem version. This limits COALs to 2.255-2.265 inches
depending on the make of magazine - my alloy Colt
AR15 examples requiring the shorter length, some
synthetic models allowing a bit more. Conversely,
the A.I. mag on my rifle is based on the 308W/260R
etc. box and allows COALs of nearly 2.7 inches, so
that 80gn bullets - even 90s - can be seated without
excessive intrusion into the case-body.
No matter, the barrel as received works out nicely at
this stage as I intend to use the rifle to undertake a
full 223 Rem handloading development programme
starting with 40-55gn bullets in expanding, FMJ and
match types working up to 82gn match models. (The
1-200mm twist rate won’t stabilise the very long 90s.)
Many mid or heavyweight 0.224 bullets are designed
for deep seating at AR15 magazine operation COALs
too, most 68-75gn match models as well as the 77s
from Berger, Lapua, and Sierra.
When I finally get around to loading much longer
75-82gn long-range models that I’d want to seat well
out in the case, I’ll have the throat reamed out to a
suitable length - a cheap gunsmithing job that doesn’t
need barrel removal. Unlike many box magazines,
the A.I. type has no difficulty in coping with reduced
length cartridges – it feeds SAAMI COAL or even
shorter examples smoothly with 100% reliability.
‘Diggle Sunshine’
So, it’s a simple matter of loading up 100 cartridges
using four very different weight match bullets and
seeing how they shoot. Brass was no problem as I
had lots of little used Winchester and Lapua match
cases on hand from my former 223 Rem (now 6.8mm
Rem SPC calibre) SSR-15. Having been used in a
straight-pull rifle and what that means in terms of high
pressure loads equating to hard extraction, they’d had
an easy life.
Full-length resizing 100 used Lapua examples turned
them into a good match with the Armalon chamber
providing easy chambering and, equally important,
no-effort extraction after firing. Tough Remington
7½BR primers were installed in still tight pockets.
After some thought, 52gn and 75gn Hornady A-Max
projectiles were selected, having given good results in
other 223 Rem rifles, although the 700 SPS Tactical’s
OEM 1-9 heavy barrel hadn’t cared for either model.
The evergreen 69gn Sierra MK was a natural choice
and, wanting to try as heavy a bullet as the throat
would accept, it was a choice of three makes of
77-grainer, the Lapua Scenar being the winner.
To keep things simple, speed up the loading process,
and avoid barrel cleaning between batches, I wanted
to use a single powder. This is asking a lot from a
single powder grade with a 52 to 77gn bullet weight
spread, but Hodgdon’s data for H4895 gave full
pressures and impressive MVs for this range, albeit
with a compressed 26.5gn maximum charge weight
under the 52.
My SSR-15 had also seen its smallest 77gn bullet
groups with this powder, although you can’t guarantee
such results transferring to other rifles and barrels of
course. Another benefit of sticking to one powder
was that I now have an RCBS 1500 Charge Master
electronic powder dispenser - a super device that saw
me weigh out 100 charges much, much quicker than I
could have done with a measure and scales but which
needs a little time and effort to change powders.
14
COALs varied from 2.275 inches for the 69gn SMK to
2.420 inches for the 75gn A-Max with bullets set 15
thou’ off the rifling, or so I thought and used five by
five round batches with charges rising in half-grain
steps to Hodgdon’s maximum load for each bullet
weight.
The try-out was on Diggle’s bench equipped 100 yard
‘A’ range, fortunately with a covered firing point as
the weather was none to promising on a not at all
sunny February morning. The first batch using the 52
A-Maxes set at 2.363 inches COAL was used to sight-in
the Burris after a quick bore-sight, then it was straight
into shooting for group with the remaining four.
An immediate but not insurmountable problem was
that I’d obviously got the COAL wrong as bullets were
seated hard into the rifling and it took noticeable
extra effort to close the bolt. Not ideal for either
accuracy or chamber pressures – I kept a close eye on
fired primer condition and case extraction effort but
fortunately, no problems were encountered even with
the maximum 26.5gn charge.
The groups were encouraging too, running from a
little below half-inch to around the three-quarter
MOA mark. Taking this and the range conditions
into account, this was a really impressive start. By
this time, the light had deteriorated, the winds
strengthened and ‘Diggle Sunshine’ (drizzle angling in
at 45-degrees) had appeared.
There was no question of getting velocities as I’d had
to recover the chronograph before the first group
went downrange. (I keep writing things like this at
the moment – you’d think Diggle Ranges occasionally
suffer bad weather!) The barrel didn’t care for the
starting charge with the 75gn A-Max, the only group
of 14 that exceeded an inch, so that combination was
put aside and a move made to the 69gn Sierra MK
which produced a couple of nice 0.6 inch patterns
despite thickening mist and drizzle and a rising gusty
wind.
Onto the 77gn Scenar and a three-quarter inch
pattern to start, an extra half-grain stringing the shots
vertically. The third group still showed a single bullet
diameter hole after shot two, only grew marginally
15
MINI PROJECT RIFLE
by Laurie Holland
larger in the scope view with shot three, same again
with number four. Wow! Keep calm my man and
squeeze the fifth and final round off carefully, or as
carefully as the factory Remington X-Mark Pro trigger
allowed. (Still too heavy even with its breathed-on 4lb
pull weight).
The shot dropped below the group. Dammit! Even
though, an excellent 0.45 inch centre to centre effort,
I really felt I should have got a sub quarter-incher here.
That was it for the day, my hands too numb to shoot
any longer and the light going fast.
Considering the barrel wasn’t cleaned over some 70
rounds and shooting was fast with minimal breaks in
dire conditions with a barrel that had less than 100
rounds down it from new – and the stock channel
clearance problem - I was delighted!
Over-length 52gn rounds aside, the rifle was a
pleasure to shoot with its improvements, bolt
operation light, smooth and really slick. The only
thing I can fault is the factory trigger. Unless it lightens
a lot with use, I think I’ll be looking to get a Rifle Basix
assembly installed.
How about the hammer-forged barrel heat/wandering
POI issue? Well, the barrel just didn’t heat up much
at all despite a steady rate of fire – I kept feeling it to
see if I needed to pause and let it cool, but it never
got past mildly warm. Those deep flutes and the
super black finish must really dissipate heat - helped
of course by the Pennine climate! Anyway, 2 grain
charge-weight ranges and lots of rounds over a
modest timescale didn’t affect where the bullets went
at all.
This saga will be continued in due course as we
get more shooting in.
The Grunig & Elmiger ‘Return’ Butt-plate
By Conor McFlynn
By Conor McFlynn
The Grunig &
Elmiger ‘Return’
Butt-plate
The Return has a distinctive and
attractive, red letter ‘R’ emblazoned
across it. I believe this model of buttplace particularly suits benchrest and prone
positions. Like all the other models in the
range, vertical adjustment is simply achieved by
loosening the central (main) attachment screw and
sliding the butt-plate up or down the mounting rail.
The mounting rail has a calibrated scale, which provides
reference points if needed. There are grooves machined
into the rail which interlock with teeth on a cogwheel
clamp. This clamping mechanism provides excellent grip
and ensures the plate remains locked in position once the
central screw is fastened. These grooves do not run all the way
to the bottom of the mounting rail. This prevents the butt-plate
falling off the rail.
by Conor McFlynn
If you read our February edition, you may
recall the account of Irishman Conor Flynn’s
spectacular win in the World Field Target
Championships in Italy. Now Conor describes
Radial axis adjustment is also offered by loosening the central screw
(one full turn) and depressing it. This disengages the same clamping
cogwheel mechanism incorporated in all G&E butt-plates which
permits movement around the radial axis. From a central position,
indicated by a slightly deeper groove on the rail, the butt plate offers
+/- 15º of radial adjustment.
one piece of equipment that contributed to his
success.
This is the butt-plate that originally came with the
Company’s Racer World Champion 22 rimfire rifle. It
is based along the lines of the highly popular and
successful old style Anschutz butt plate, which is
no longer available.
The whole blade is one piece, which is adjustable by loosening the
two upper locking screws. A nicely designed hinge allows the
blade to be angled to suit the shooters shoulder. It is quite
broad and is very comfortable in the shoulder pocket.
16
17
By Conor McFlynn
The blade comes with a layer of Supergrip applied to the
front surface to ensure secure positioning in the shoulder.
The Supergrip is available in a smooth or dimpled options,
the latter providing more grip.
The hook is the same impressive design as all the G&E models,
two universal joints permit adjustment for any position. Each
joint at both ends has male and female teeth which interlock
together to provide superior grip and ensure the hook position is
held securely. Machined from stainless steel with lock washer, they
will not wear and remain secure in position.
Again excellent design allows comfort for either right or left-handed
shooters; the hook sections have been designed to be reversible so
the screw heads can sit on the opposite side. Also an optional longer
section offers an extra 1cm of length.
Contact us today to see
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Conclusion
For those who a are fans of the old-style Anschutz buttplate, this
offers a new, high tech, redesigned alternative with the added bonus
of a highly adjustable hook. It incorporates, in my opinion, better
materials which are engineered to a higher level, with simple yet
effective design features. Cant and levering will be eliminated with
the well designed hook tail. The broad, smoothly sloping, angular
shape of the upper blade sit perfectly and comfortably in the
shoulder, especially when bench resting the rifle and indeed the
prone position.
Weight: 380g (including mounting rail).
Available from: www.intershoot.co.uk
Cost: £390
Email Yvonne Wilcock at
[email protected]
18
GALLERY RIFLE
& PISTOL NEWS
Choosing Sights for
competition shooting
Moving on from making
your stocks and grips fit you
properly, the next thing to
consider is which type of
sight (or sights) are going
to be the most suitable for
the type of Gallery Rifle
competitions that you intend
to compete in.
Whilst the variable powered telescopic
scope is by far the most commonly used in
GR shooting it’s not going to suitable for
every type of GR match but it’s certainly
the most popular type to start with. The
distances we shoot at are all relatively short
(as most of our matches used to be shot
with pistols) so there isn’t any need to go
out and spend an absolute fortune on a first
focal plane Nightforce, Zeiss or S&B scope
but, there are certain things to think about
before rushing out and buying the first thing
that comes your way.
on offer within Gallery Rifle and the fact that there
are very few (if any?) individual scopes that have a
magnification range diverse enough to provide every
one of us with the optimum sight-picture at every
distance in every type of competition that we can
shoot.
The first of these would be choosing a suitable reticle
and you won’t go far wrong if you decide to go for a
standard crosshair type (although mil dots are also
fairly popular) as they are very easy to pick up on
the target and also simple to use. There are a huge
number of reticle designs to choose from (including
illuminated varieties) ranging from a series of dots to
multiple lines and patterns that resemble something
more like a Christmas tree, but quite frankly I find that
most of them are just a gimmick and are of little use to
us in the type of shooting that we do.
Trying to decipher a multitude of lines, dots or curves
quickly against a Timed & Precision or Multi Target
target during a 2 to 3 second exposure is pretty much
a recipe for disaster really and you’d be well advised
to steer clear of the cluttered variety. The standard
crosshair shape is usually referred to as a duplex or
30/30 reticle although some companies will call it their
own version such as a Nikoplex etc but they are all
essentially based on the same simple design.
Depending on the manufacturer, most duplex types
will all differ slightly with regards to the overall
thickness and length of both the outer posts and the
centre lines, including the spacing between them so
make sure you try looking through as many as you
can (or ideally try them out on the range) to see which
type suits you best. There are also some fine cross hair
reticles available (including some with a small centre
dot) but these are pretty hard to pick up quickly on the
target and are mainly used for either long-range or
benchrest type shooting.
Barska & Burris - You pay for what you get but both will get the job done!
Putting red dots and iron sights aside for now, you
would probably need a scope with a magnification
range of between 1 - 25x to satisfy the demands of
every GR shooter but unfortunately the majority of
affordable scopes (for most people) tend to be in the
region of 1-5x, 3-9x, 3-12x, 4-12x, 4-16x, 5-20 x, 6.520, 6-24x or even 8-32x power.
Most of the new shooters coming into Gallery Rifle
competitions are usually steered by their clubs
towards some of the lower roundcount events like the 25m
Precision, the Multi Target
or Timed & Precision 1
matches to start with.
Whilst the Precision
match allows you
plenty of time
to complete
each stage,
the latter
two will
require
you to
pick
up
The next important feature to consider will be
choosing the magnification range of your scope
and this is probably where most people will have to
make a compromise of some sort or another. I say
this because of the wide range of disciplines that are
Adjustable objectives are simple to use.
20
GALLERY RIFLE
& PISTOL NEWS
21
the targets pretty quickly and fire off one or two
rounds within 2 to 3 seconds at the closer distances.
For these matches most newcomers will usually
experience greater success by using a scope with a
minimum magnification range of between 3 – 5x as
this will make it easier for them to see which area of
the target they are actually pointing at when initially
bringing the rifle up into the aim. Trying to shoot
quickly and accurately at 10m using a scope that has
a limited lower range of between 6 & 8x will usually
prove very difficult for most (especially in some of
the faster shooting matches) as the target size
is obviously magnified a fair amount, which
will fill the scope up completely and this
can often lead to confusion and
rushed shots unless the sights are
brought directly up onto the
centre of the target.
Faster and probably more
importantly, consistent
presentation of the crosshairs
onto the central scoring zone
can be achieved through body
alignment, muscle memory and
target/sight presentation practices
using a lower power setting to start
with. This will obviously require a fair bit
of time and effort on your behalf in order
to get it right but once this skill has been
mastered, it will definitely help you to improve
GALLERY RIFLE
& PISTOL NEWS
I always check to see where my first few rounds are
going when I’m shooting at the longer distances just
to make sure that I’m hitting in, or around,
the x or 10 ring. If I’m not, then at least I’m
able to see just how far off I need to aim,
or simply dial in the required offset using
the turret adjustments. There’s no point
in putting 24 rounds down range during a
1500 Match 3 at 50m only to find out when
you go forwards to score that the rounds
were actually landing down inside the 8 or 7
ring instead, just because you couldn’t see
where your shots were going at the time.
Whatever caliber you shoot, there is no
magic magnification setting to use when
shooting at the longer distances as it
all boils down to personal preference,
experience and ability. Some shooters will
only use a magnification of somewhere
between 6 and 10x because “the sight
doesn’t wobble around as much.” In reality
though their stability remains the same,
it just appears to be more stable as the
movement on the target is simply less
magnified than it would be on a higher
setting.
Many of the GB team use between 12 - 20x
at this distance with very good results but
Pure confusion...
it is definitely something that you will have
to work on over time, in conjunction with
improving your trigger pull of course. Most
of my best results have been achieved
using between 20 - 25x at both 25 & 50m but I did
your scores and overall performances and is well
experiment with using maximum settings of between
worth persevering with.
12 & 15x at both the Phoenix and Nationals this year
and the results were fairly comparable, although I did
As well as making sure that the lowest power setting
have to turn the magnification up to check my point
on your scope is suitable for your intended needs,
of impact a few times during some of the matches as I
you must equally ensure that it will provide you with
couldn’t see where my initial shots were going.
enough magnification at the opposite end to enable
you to see where your shots are actually landing on
Spending time practicing on the range trying all of the
the target. This is especially important when shooting
magnification settings is the only to find the optimum
up to 50m where such things as wind, lighting
settings for you personally, at each of the distances
conditions or even an accidentally knocked scope
involved. Once you have found the magnification
can change the point of impact by quite a margin,
setting that gives you the best results at a particular
especially on the much smaller 22 rimfire targets.
distance, make sure that you stick with it and don’t
22
be tempted to use one that you simply prefer as it’s
the scores on the target that count and not what you
perceive to be the most stable. It’s also a good idea
Leupold QR rings and base
to write these figures down on a crib note until you
can remember them off by heart to help improve your
performance.
There will obviously always be exceptions but, on the
whole, something like a 3 – 9x scope just won’t get the
job done as many have found out, and I would suggest
that either a 4 -16x or 5 - 20x powered scope would
fulfill most peoples needs when starting off in the GR
precision type disciplines, as they probably offer you
GALLERY RIFLE
& PISTOL NEWS
The next thing to look at would
be adjusting the scope so that
you can aim dead on in the
middle of the x ring at each of
the distances involved and this
is easily done on a scope that is
equipped with a set of ‘target’
turrets. They are very easy to
use and will allow you to wrap a
piece of white tape around the
outside of the elevation turret to
mark your distance settings onto
it. This makes everything easier and more precise and
will also help save valuable seconds rather than having
to aim off each time you bring the rifle up into the aim.
You can still use the same marking principal using the
smaller types of turrets/adjusters, including the coin
slot variety by using a small round adhesive sticker
or even small dabs of different colored paint to mark
each distance. There are two types of elevation
Minimum power differences at 10m
the greatest spread between the lowest and highest
magnification settings. The lowest settings will help
you cope at the closest distances in most of the GR
disciplines whilst the highest will enable you see
where your shots are landing at every distance and,
although you may not use these maximum settings to
start with, they will always be available once you start
to improve and need to use them.
23
adjustments that give you either 1/8 inch or ¼ inch
per click at 100 yards and for what we do the ¼ inch
versions are the ones to go for if you have the choice,
as they require less movement when dialing in the
distances which in turn helps reduce wear and tear in
the long run.
Moving up to the front end of the scope and you will
usually have the option of either a 40, 42, 44, 50 or
GALLERY RIFLE
& PISTOL NEWS
56mm diameter objective lens. The 50mm variety
are very popular in GR as they allow more light in than
the smaller versions and they are usually combined
with a one-inch tube (body) which helps to keep the
overall weight of your rifle down. Most of
the scopes that offer a 56mm
objective lens will use
well worth your time to read some of the excellent
articles on this subject on the internet. More and
more scopes are becoming available where the
parallax adjustment is made by a dial located on the
side of the main body of the scope, although it is not
generally considered to be as accurate as the AO ring
system. Whichever type of scope you go for, the main
thing to make sure of is that it will physically focus
down to 10m otherwise there will be an awful lot of
GR competitions that you will not be able to take part
in as all you will see is a blur when you bring the rifle
up into the aim. Quite a few of the models in the
Leupold range for example will not focus
down to less than 25m as
On the other hand, having to pay between £300-500
plus for a better quality item such as a Nikon or Burris
will bring tears to some shooters eyes especially
when they have more than one rifle to equip but they
do offer excellent quality and most will come with a
lifetime guarantee. It’s going to be your wallet that
GALLERY RIFLE
& PISTOL NEWS
Left - This type of QR rings are very reliable.
Middle -Target turrets are very popular and are a must.
Right - Warne rings return to zero and are very good value
for money
Bushnell’s Elite 6500 2.5 - 16x
is an excellent all round scope.
a 30mm body which will let more light in again when
shooting in poor weather or light conditions but they
are generally a lot heavier than the one-inch versions,
so keep this in mind before opting for one.
I use two 6 – 25x by 56mm Millett scopes with 30mm
bodies on my precision rifles (for 1500 & shorts etc)
and whilst they certainly do the job, I really could
do without the extra weight that they add onto my
rifles. Many scopes will have an adjustable objective
ring marked with the approximate shooting distances
around it to allow you to quickly focus on the target
but more importantly, help correct any parallax error
that is present at each distance.
To go into the effects and corrections of parallax error
here would take up far too much space but it will be
makes the decision at the end of the day but you
generally do get what you pay for. Another option
of course if you are on a tighter budget would be a
second-hand scope and you could well end up with
a lot more scope for your money, so make sure you
check out the various shooting forums and sites on the
internet to see what’s available.
they
as primarily
longer range
hunting scopes so it’s
always best to check before
you buy.
As with most things, you usually get what you pay
for and scopes are no exception and anything that
uses either Japanese or German lenses in it will be
more expensive but the quality is certainly a lot higher
which can easily be seen when comparing them side
by side on the range. I have always advocated using
the Edgar Brothers Optimate range as they were
manufactured in Japan and were excellent value for
money considering they retailed for around £160-170
each but unfortunately these are no longer available.
I have used their 5-20 x 50 models for the last 15
years or so and have never had a single
problem with any of them but, looking around
recently for a new scope to use for Bianchi,
there doesn’t seem to be anything else of
that quality around anymore for this sort
of money. Yes there are plenty of scopes
available for around £150-200 and plenty
more for a lot less money but they are all
Left - Proper fitment. Right - Not something you’d want to rely on!
fitted with cheap Chinese lenses and the build
quality is somewhat dubious to say the least.
24
As I mentioned earlier, you will find that a telescopic
sight won’t always be the best option for some of the
GR disciplines, whatever its magnification range and
these include matches like the Bianchi, the Bisley
Speed Steels, 3 gun matches and Steel Challenge
falling plate type matches.
would produce much better results for most shooters
as opposed to using a 2 – 7x pistol scope, given the
precise way you have to line your head up with the eye
piece and the loss of sight picture during recoil.
Some of the faster matches, where there are multiple
targets at close to medium range, are best shot using
red dot scopes or even iron sights as the targets can
be picked up much more quickly and the transition
between them will be a lot faster and more fluid as
your vision will be far less restricted compared to using
a telescopic sight.
The Zeiss-1-5-6x42 electro dot would be ideal for the Bianchi C/F match, but they’re not cheap!
To shoot well in the C/F Bianchi a 1.5 – 6x by 42mm
would be an ideal choice as the 1.5x setting would
certainly make life easier during the Mover and
Plates matches and not many people would need
over 6x to shoot the 50m stages on a full size target.
Likewise, using a red dot on an LBR for this match
25
If you eventually decide to start branching out and
give these more varied disciplines a try then you will
need to ensure that you use the right optic for the job
at hand and this can be done in two ways. The first
is to simply have a spare scope (or scopes) and fit it
using some decent quick release mounts, or by using
a set of the quick-release ring system. Warne make
GALLERY RIFLE
& PISTOL NEWS
some excellent QD rings and they are fairly reasonably
priced as well but whichever make you decide on it’s
very important that you always make sure that the
profile of both your rings and base match properly, as
some rails are cut using a 45° cutter whilst others use
a 60° version. Hoping that a set of 45° rings will locate
in exactly the same position on a 60° base when you
swap scopes over just isn’t going to happen, so make
sure that everything fits properly as it should and you
won’t have any problems.
Leupold make some very good bases which utilize
their own version of QD rings which have a stem-like
base on them. The scope is lined up at 90 degrees
with the front hole of the base, and is then rotated
until the rear ring locates inside the slot at the back.
A screw is then inserted and tightened up locking
everything into place and I have used these several
times in the past with 100% success rate of them
returning back to zero. These would definitely be my
choice if I wanted to swap telescopic scopes quickly
and accurately and the only downside to them is that
you can only mount something like a Tasco PDP3 red
dot scope with a 25 or 30mm tube type body using
this system, as they don’t provide rings to fit the larger
40 or 50mm versions or one of the screen type dots.
The second but more expensive option is to simply
have two rifles with one set up for precision type
shooting and the other for the faster action-type
matches and whilst it may sound a little excessive to
some people, it’s what a lot of us used to do back in
the pistol days.
with a neutral balance and is fitted with a 12.5 inch
barrel, a one-inch 5 – 20x scope and a very light trigger
which means that I can shoot it all day without getting
tired out.
My 44 Bianchi lever-action rifle has a 2.5 -10x scope
complete with mover base and wings etc. and the
trigger releases at around 2lbs. My second 44 is set
up with a 45mm red dot scope and a 2lb trigger for
shooting the Man v Man and Steels type competitions
whilst the heavy weight 44 I use for shooting the
Precision based events with has a modified fore end,
6 – 25 x 56 30mm tube scope and a 1lb trigger.
My LBRs and LBPs are also set up to shoot the two
different types of matches with and I have gone down
this route due to the amount of competitions that I
shoot at either the Phoenix or the Nationals. It’s a lot
easier just to pick up a couple of guns out of the boot
and go and shoot them and then pick up some more
and go and shoot some different types of matches,
rather than spending half my time trying to swap
scopes around and remember which one goes with
which gun.
There is also the added bonus of having a spare gun to
hand that is already sighted in (albeit with a different
magnification scope) should an optic or other major
component fail on my main gun during a weekend’s
competition. This has happened to both myself and
others on various occasions over the years both at
home and abroad and having a spare gun on the day
has certainly proved invaluable at the time and is well
worth considering if you can manage it!
For example, I have a heavier weighted 22 rifle (with
the bias being at the front end) which is fitted with a
stainless 16 inch compensated barrel, a mover base,
barricade wings, a weight adjustable stock and a
heavier single stage trigger. The optics used are either
a 6 – 25 x 56 30mm tube scope with Warne QD mounts
or a Hakko 45mm red dot and I use this to shoot all
of the action matches with. The rifle I use for the
precision type matches is around a medium weight
FROM THE BENCH
VINCE’S REGULAR COLUMN WHEREBY ACCURACY NUTS CAN KEEP UP TO
DATE WITH THE ACTIVITIES OF THE UKBRA
AND ACCURACY RELATED ITEMS
Jean Louis Espinet
This month, I would like to devote my benchrest column to one of the sport’s great characters who
sadly passed away on February 12th 2012. Anyone who has shot benchrest at World or European level
in the last twenty years will know and remember French benchrest shooter Jean Louis Espinet with great
affection. He was universally known as the Pig Man – yet he was not a pig farmer or anything like that – it was
simply an assumed fun persona and he always wore a pink cap resembling the head of a pig – complete with ears
and tail.
Jean Louis spoke excellent English, so he was the one you often approached if you needed to know anything
whilst shooting in Europe. He also had a wicked sense of humour and I spent a great week shooting on the
bench next to him at the European Benchrest Championships in Sweden a few years ago. As with most sports,
competing in benchrest at World level is a serious business and the ‘characters’ who are able to inject a little
humour when things get tense are few and far between. Yet, Jean Louis was a fierce competitor and proudly
represented his Country; rarely was he off the podium at major shoots.
Following serious surgery, Jean Louis was unable to shoot in his own ‘Worlds’ in France last year, but he was busier
than ever – helping out wherever he could - be it in the office or on range - as well as just being the Pig Man. That’s
how we’ll remember him.
He died on February 18th 2012 following heart surgery. Our thoughts and sympathy are with the
Espinet family and friends.
Jean Louis (left) receiving an
award from Walt Berger at
the 2005 World Benchrest
Championships in America.
The famous pink ‘pig’ hat –
complete with ears and tail.
26
Air Splitter & Barrel
Tuners for Air Rifle
Benchrest by Carl Boswell
Air Splitter & Barrel Tuners for
Air Rifle Benchrest by Carl Boswell
There are many designs for air- splitters...
Benchrest rimfire shooters
will know a thing or two about
muzzle devices (barrel tuners)
and tuning the barrel. This
process has gone from the
ringing of the barrel, using
such processes as the Hopewell
method, to something a
lot more 21st century using
electronic monitoring equipment
to achieve tuning.
Can we learn things from air-rifle benchrest and use
them in the rimfire side of the sport? I think we have
a chance to open a ‘benign Pandora’s box’ for want of
a better expression. In fact we have a chance to look
at both sides of the sport and see where we can gain
advantage by sharing and developing ideas from both
disciplines.
We have to remember, rimfire benchrest has a long
history of development, going back over two decades.
Centerfire benchrest has an even longer history than
that. These disciplines share many similarities in
design and equipment. Recently I have had a look at
some of the more obscure ideas out there - like the
wooden front rest last month. These wilder ideas are
worth the time for a bit of lateral thinking, a bit of
experimentation and obviously having a play with the
final results of your efforts. Like a lot of shooters, I try
to ‘lay off’ during the winter months, as this provides a
few months to have a play!!
Air Splitter & Barrel Tuners
for Air Rifle Benchrest
So we come back to the barrel tuner. As discussed
in other articles over the years, this is basically a
28
29
moveable weight to adjust oscillation of the barrel as
the bullet is shot. The idea I came up with for air rifle
benchrest goes back approximately nineteen months.
Unfortunately it had not been tested enough to be
reliable for use at the World Championship last year.
What is interesting is that a few of the air-rifle writers
in monthly journals have cottoned onto this idea of
the tuner for air-rifles. There have been some very
thoughtful and interesting articles in other magazines
during 2011. Air Gun World is one of these.
The idea behind the weight is that the barrel is tuned
to provide the best oscillation for accuracy, depending
on the barrel diameter, length and the projectile being
used.
There are a number of engineering and experienced
based theories explaining how this works. You can
read the specialist forums to gain more knowledge,
from every point of view - and there are many!
Which theory is correct, which is not, which design
is the best, who knows more and who can explain it
better is inconsequential - at least to me. The only
thing I want to know is does it work? Show me how
to use it and ‘accurise’ my rifle! Nothing more and
nothing less!!
The basic principles need to be understood but how
many of us own a fully kitted workshop or laboratory
to test these theories? I guess in the same way that
most of us trust a gunsmith to build a decent rifle, we
just want something, or be shown that something can
or does work. The rest is Sunday afternoon reading!
From the pictures, you can see that an air splitter
has been adapted to extend its overall length. I have
to say that the splitter is not made by me or to my
design, as I have adapted it to suit my own ideas.
The splitter itself is an excellent design, made by
PCMB. The extension provides two features - one,
a bloop tube like those used on ISSF rifles, or similar
to the developed version of a bloop tube the Pappas
Noodle, introduced to you in the first issue of this
magazine. The other feature extends the splitter, to
A few of my sketches...
like rimfire barrels, an air-rifle barrel is better off using
a muzzle device free floating. Again, this does need
further research and a lot more empirical evidence. So
the disclaimer is, before you take your air rifle apart,
consider if this is best for you.
CAD modelling.
The finished design. Above and below.
place a weight system on the exterior of the tube. This
weight can be moved along the tube adjusting mass
distribution.
This is really just a simple version of the more complex
Harrell type tuners that use a set rotational movement
with a vernier-like scale. My own design slides and
locks into place using machine screws with a nylon
base to protect the tube. Simple - as it is a prototype
that I have played with for quite some time.
Now, weight is the factor. This is where you have
to experiment for yourself - with the relatively thin
barrels we find on air-rifles, the weight might be
excessive. The easiest way to do this is by using large
washers and building these up in sections until you get
the appropriate weight for any given barrel. This was
my own first attempt, buying 22mm I/D washers and
fixing these together with long machine screws. Using
these washers obviates the need for a workshop to
make the weight – you just need a drill.
When experimenting, do consider the overall
length and diameter of your barrel. From limited
experiments with only a few barrels, I would suggest
shorter barrels need less weight and thinner barrels
need more. This will depend on your barrel so
unfortunately no formula at present! What we
really need is someone with excess time, money
and equipment to experiment. My own limited
experiments have taken me twenty-two months
so far, as I certainly don’t have much time or the
workshop with test equipment. If I do need any
custom parts, these are made up by a friendly
machinist.
One recent design by Bill Burdette in the USA, is a
tuner splitter for rimfire. Now there is a novel idea!
Whether it ‘shoots’ or not is again in the testing stage.
A bit like the thoughts expressed here, the jury is still
out but, the idea is showing a great deal of promise.
With spring coming quickly, with warmer range days
we will have a good few months to test these ideas
that are continuing to develop around the world. Like
I said earlier, we can learn things from other areas of
the sport. If they work all the better but it is good to
look outside of the box sometimes.
Like many things in this sport – it’s under
development! An air splitter can be purchased as an
‘after market’ product. There are lots out there, so it’s
a matter of deciding which one has the established
claims of improving accuracy. The tuner part is
something you will have to work on. You may ask
friends of even pay for a local metal worker to turn
parts up for you.
Until next time, watch the
flags, pull the trigger and
shoot straight.
The air-splitter on my Steyr.
At this point, I would comment that it is my belief
and it is only a belief, that a barrel is far better off
completely free floating without barrel bands or any
contact to achieve best results with this system. Much
30
31
GB F Class 2012
New season starts
APRIL 2012
The long View
News from the GB F-Class
Association by Les Holgate
The GB F Class 2012 season
starts next month!
Springtime at Diggle Ranges...
Well here we go ago again - time
to blow the winter cobwebs off
your F Class rifle and equipment
and try to put into action your
New Year’s resolution of “Must do
better at League shoots.”
(Or was that just mine!)
Photograph by Steve Thornton
32
33
GB F Class 2012
New season starts
APRIL 2012
The Long View by Les Holgate
Well here we go ago again - time to blow
the winter cobwebs off your F Class rifle
and equipment and try to put into action
your New Year’s resolution of “Must do
better at League shoots.” (or was that
just mine!)
If you were one of the 30 or so who went to Bisley
for the annual GBFCA Training Weekend in February,
then hopefully, you are raring to go. The GB F-class
Association strives to give something back to
shooting and one way of doing this is through shooter
education. This was our third training weekend and
the course is intended to give attendees a basic
introduction to wind-plotting, reloading, range
etiquette and target shooting at long-range.
Photography by Steve Thornton
By the end of the course, all attendees will hopefully
have acquired a basic knowledge of what F Class
and long-range shooting entails and can decide if it
something that they wish to pursue.
This year, the course attracted students from all
over the UK, plus Germany, Holland and France.
Experienced F-class shooters acted as course
instructors, with Mik Maksimovic delivering a lecture
on correct way to wind-plot, World Champion Russell
Simmonds gave an introductory talk on the principles
of reloading accurate ammunition and Peter Wilson,
David Lloyd and Tony Marsh assisted students with
wind coaching and establishing 1000 yard zeroes etc.
Unfortunately, this year, the weather was rather
unkind to us; wind conditions were strong and quite
choppy and it was also rather cold and wet. Overall
though, the students seemed to express satisfaction
with the course content and the feedback received will
be ploughed back into making next year’s course even
better.
34
35
Shooting on Blair’s electronic targets
GB F Class 2012
GB F Class 2012
APRIL 2012
APRIL 2012
New season starts
New season starts
The first competitive GBFCA shoot is in April at Diggle,
so whilst everything is fresh in your mind, get stuck in
and put all that theory to good use! The first Diggle
shoot will be the only short-range shoot of the year so
maybe a bit less daunting if you are intending to make
your debut!
F Class Shooting at the world famous Bisley Shooting grounds...
When we first started these short-range shoots, we
wondered whether it would be of any interest - we
thought most people would only travel a distance for
long-range shooting but we certainly under-estimated
the demand. Last year, at nearly 70 shooters, it
proved to be the largest competition outside of
Bisley and this year, despite the economic gloom, it
is looking to be no different. As I write this, the entry
forms have only been out for one week and I already
have 45 paid entries! Certainly looks good for the rest
of the year.
As for the old bone of contention about the weather just because it’s April doesn’t mean the weather has to
be bad – we’ve had some great ‘T shirt’ shoots in April
at Diggle!
From Diggle, we go up to Blair Atholl in May. If you
have never been to Blair, you really need to give it a
go at least once in your shooting career. The range
is in a stunning setting but can often prove to be the
downfall of even the best shooters - the wind flags can
be very deceiving plus it is the first shoot of the year
on electronic targets, so at least no butt marking.
For those of you who may not be used to electronic
targets, it is quite an experience – not waiting for the
target to be pulled certainly speeds up the detail. You
also have the added bonus of seeing your shot scored,
a few seconds after pulling the trigger, to one decimal
place. Seeing a 4.9 rather than a 5 is certainly very
frustrating, usually resulting in someone blaming the
calibration of the machine rather than their shooting!
In June we are back at Diggle but this time for a longrange shoot 800 - 1000 yards. With recently extended
firing-points it means less details which equates to less
36
37
GB F Class 2012
GB F Class 2012
APRIL 2012
APRIL 2012
New season starts
New season starts
1200 yards at Bisley...
38
39
GB F Class 2012
Wind reading & plotting courses
New season starts
APRIL 2012
time in the butts – good news for everyone. Again, if
you are wanting to go to this shoot, don’t hang about
too long before sending in your entry as the places will
be limited.
We also have the first of the year’s Bisley shoots at
the end of June with a GB team shoot the day before.
Historically this long-range shoot has also included
shooting out to 1200 yards! If you fancy something
different, don’t miss this one (even though you could
miss the target !)
with world champion F Class shooter
Hopefully, all this has whetted your appetite – if so,
take the plunge, check out the GBFCA web site www.
gbfclass.co.uk and download the entry forms now.
Russell Simmonds
Russell has been the European Champion three times and is
the current British Champion winning it three times in the
last four years he has also helped to coach the GB Team to
Gold in last years European
championships.
Finally, please don’t get wound-up about equipment
– F/TR is a great place to start your F Class career
and any decent heavy-barrelled 308 will do the job –
especially at the Diggle short-range comp. I guarantee
you a great weekend, shooting with some great folk
and a bit off-range entertainment thrown in.
The Group - Learn to read
the wind, spot the changes
and you may achieve groups
like this!
Learn to plot your shots and
make a perfect record of what
the wind is really doing!
These one day courses are held at Bisley UK and will include; Wind and
it’s effects on the bullets - Wind flags and how to use them - Topography
of the range and its effects - Mirage and how to make use of it - Plotting
sheets and how to use them correctly and more... All clients will have to
have their own firearm plus 90 rounds and be a member of the NRA.
We get a breather for July - unless of course you are
going to attend the Imperial F Class at Bisley - with
the next League shoot going back to Diggle, for the
last time for the year, in August and again this will be
another 800 - 1000 yard shoot.
For more information and booking availability
please visit www.precisionreloadingservices.co.uk
No League shoot in September but then in October,
it’s back up to Blair for their final shoot of the year.
The season then climaxes with the ‘Europeans’ at
Bisley - if you only go to one shoot this year, this is the
one to do! The shooter numbers are increasing every
year and, who knows, maybe this year it could even
top the 200 mark with we Brits outnumbered by our
foreign F Class friends.
March
SCOPES
Tactical Turrets
NEW
Hopefully, we can try string shooting in some of this
year’s League shoots to get some practice for all
those who are hoping to go to the ‘Worlds’. I first
encountered string-shooting when I shot in the US
Nationals at Camp Butner in 2004 and it certainly
makes you think differently about how you approach
your shoot.
Precision optical
instruments made
the way they
should be, one at a
time, by craftsman
with 30 plus years
experience using
components of
absolute quality.
40
41
Russell reading the wind at
the European Championships
enabling the GB Team to
achieve Gold medals...
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stalking, tactical & target scopes available for
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The Choice of
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World F Class Championship 2013 – Raton USA
Jumping ahead to 2013 – the year of the F Class World
Championships - we need to start to practice ‘string’
shooting. In other words, rather than shooting in
pairs, you shoot solo. This obviously speeds up the
rate of fire - which has advantages and disadvantages
but, until we try it, we won’t know what they are.
Learn to read, adjust and
understand mirage effects!
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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
of magazines and
Dolphin Single Shot F/TR Rifles
Dolphin Single Shot Rifles. (Two above).
Barnard S or RPA Quadlite
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)
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...
[email protected]
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]
ELEY official sponsors
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a
Wind reading & plotting courses
with world champion F Class shooter
Russell Simmonds
Russell has been the European Champion three times and is
the current British Champion winning it three times in the
last four years he has also helped to coach the GB Team to
Gold in last years European
championships.
The Group - Learn to read
the wind, spot the changes
and you may achieve groups
like this!
Learn to plot your shots and
make a perfect record of what
the wind is really doing!
These one day courses are held at Bisley UK and will include; Wind and
it’s effects on the bullets - Wind flags and how to use them - Topography
of the range and its effects - Mirage and how to make use of it - Plotting
sheets and how to use them correctly and more... All clients will have to
have their own firearm plus 90 rounds and be a member of the NRA.
For more information and booking availability
please visit www.precisionreloadingservices.co.uk
Learn to read, adjust and
understand mirage effects!
Russell reading the wind at
the European Championships
enabling the GB Team to
achieve Gold medals...
46
47
Browning Buckmark Long Pistol
Hannam’s Reloading Ltd
Tel 01977 681639
The Reloading Specialists
Fax 01977 684272
Peckfield Lodge, Great North Road, Leeds, LS25 5LJ
email: [email protected] www.hannamsreloading.com
New Hybrid Target Bullets Now In
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portion, the shape changes into a secant ogive (the shape used on the VLD bullets). This shape is very efficient in the wind and is why the VLD became so popular. The key to all this is not just the combining of
these two shapes but also the partnership between the ballistician and the bullet maker. Berger’s Chief Ba llistician, Bryan Litz uses his expertise to combine the appropriate shapes for optimum performance.
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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Available in:
.284 180 gr Match Hybrid Target
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.308 155 gr Match Hybrid Target 3042
.308 168 gr Match Hybrid Target 30425 . 308 185 gr Match Hybrid Target 30424
.308 200 gr Match Hybrid Target 30427. 308 215 gr Match Hybrid Target 30423
.308 230 gr Match Hybrid Target 30428
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222 Rem Match,
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22-250 Rem
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.220 Russian
.243 Win
.260 Rem
6,5 x 55 SE
6.5 x 47
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6,5-284
.30-06 Springfield
7,62 x 39
7,62 x 53R (7,62 x 54 Russian)
308 Win (7,62 x 51)
308 Win Palma
.338 Lapua Magnum
9,3 x 62
.32 S&W Long
9 mm Luger (9 x 19)
This
SMALLBORE
Business
Personally I think Martinov could shoot a bent stick
with a lump of gas pipe for a barrel but, every year we
see a new development issued and within the study
that this article is headed with, I wonder…..
This Smallbore Business
by Don Brooke
Accessories!
Overkill or what?
Gees, I have long seen the attempts
from manufacturers to ensure
that everything on a free rifle is so
adjustable that it fits all. Even from
my good mate in the UK, Barry
Dagger - who is four foot zip - to
the length of Harald Stenvaag from
Norway, who is so tall that when he
lays down for his prone, he is half
Now that, my readers, is
indeed a challenge...
This
SMALLBORE
Business
pointed to the target in contact with the left side curve
of the fore-end and, the width of that fore-end was
made so that the measurement from the web of the
thumb to the index finger knuckle was identical.
This position of the left hand also allowed a 10 degree
positive cant (into the face) of the rifle.
This factor was a bonus that I had not considered
when I made that stock but, I can tell you, the
advantages of this was a huge improvement because
I discovered that the butt-plate system fitted
beautifully within the muscle structure of my right
shoulder! (Even when I shot a straight stocked 1411
Anschutz prone rifle.)
By and large the manufacturers do present the
shooters with the fundamentals that are pretty well
right but, I often wonder - when you see the shooters
who continually stick with the tried and true and stuff
the improvements!
A classic example is that incredible prone shooter from
Russia, Sergie Martinov, who just rattles off 600 points
so regularly that we are coming to expect yet another
one! Do you see Martinov using the ultra-modern,
‘you beaut’ contraption that I am writing about?
Nope, Martinov still sticks to his timber and usually
his is the only timber rifle on the finals list. (He wins a
good few too!)
way there!
Over the years, I have developed a butt-plate system
that is very simple and, coupled with the fit for the
shoulder, produced an extremely stable, extremely
accurate prone position. (You may remember that ten
shot group illustrated earlier in this magazine that a 22
rimfire case would not drop through?)
An interesting photo of the author’s left hand showing
the area of the ball of the thumb. It should be noted
that the measurement from the thumb-joint to the
knuckle of the index finger coincides with the width of a
custom stock on my Finish Lion smallbore rifle
Lately I have been working with a shooter who does
have an exceptionally fine rifle and,, to my mind, the
only adjustment on his stock that is fundamental is
the fore-end accessory rail - that can be reversed and
so allow a much more comfortable left-hand position
because the rail is closer to the ball of the thumb.
Well, when I built my own alloy stock way back in
1980, the accessory rail was milled into the fore-end
6mm off-centre towards the left, as I wanted my left
hand to operate properly - given that if you hold your
left hand face up, you will see a lot more of your hand
on the right of the ball of the thumb.
50
I had also noticed that when my hand is settled into a
correct position, the ball of the thumb has a relatively
flat area (see photograph) that the fore-end of the rifle
is rested on. The left thumb, in my technique, actually
51
It is very desirable that prone shooters for smallbore
and 300m use a hook butt-plate on their rifle. The
stability gained when a hook is fitted, or adjusted
correctly, is of paramount importance, as we all know
the hook function is to allow position repeatability.
The back of the rifle is securely locked in place within
the shoulder and, once the face pressure is settled
onto the cheek piece of the stock, there is very little
that will affect the position and recoil stability when
the shot is released.
There are however, a number of sensitive areas with
the hook butt-plate system that can produce errors
of startling proportions and, it is with these thoughts
in mind that I arrived at the heading of this article,
‘Accessories, overkill or what?’ Tell me, do you think
there are too many options available? Has the ‘KISS’
principle gone out the window?
The most dangerous problem of adjustment with the
hook under the arm-pit, is the contact of the hook
with the body of the shooter inside the jacket. Firm
This
SMALLBORE
Business
should be followed and the result is usually a very
consistent recoil pattern, particularly with a smallbore
rifle. The 300m centrefire does have a more savage
recoil factor but still remains problematical when the
hook is in contact with the muscle structure down the
rib-cage of the shooter.
Look at the rifle butt picture in this article which
shows the hook plate in use on my Lion free rifle. It
is a simple design with just functional adjustments.
Notice the 10 degree positive rotation of the whole
butt-plate (viewed from behind) which simply contacts
the personal muscle structure in my right shoulder,
plus the outward adjustment of the hook itself. It is
designed that way to ensure that there is no body
contact with the sides of the hook. As you will see
also, the butt-plate system is quite simple, the ‘KISS’
principle survives in my house!
The picture above shows the hook plate in use on my
Lion free rifle. It is a simple design with just functional
adjustments. Notice the 10 degree positive rotation
of the whole butt-plate (viewed from behind) which
simply contacts the personal muscle structure in my
right shoulder, plus the outward adjustment of the
hook itself. It is designed that way to ensure that there
is no body contact with the sides of the hook. As you
will see also, the butt-plate system is quite simple, the
‘KISS’ principle survives in my house!
pressure in contact like this (see photograph) will
result in considerable ‘thrash’ of the rifle within the
recoil. The muzzle will dance sideways, to and fro,
which can result in an elongated sideways group,
compounded by the fact that the shooter often will
blame their own wind judgement for the wild shot that
falls on the target!
Back in my early days of smallbore, the hook systems
were very basic and often did I see the addition of
timber, tape, leather or even a folded hanky fitted
to the hook to allow firmer contact points in the
shoulder. These were largely the result of many
experiments from the shooter in the never ending
quest for accuracy. Sometimes they got it right mate!
More to the point, in these days of
innovation, or even gadgets, it is funny
because you still have to shoot the rifle
eh? This is what I have found anyway...
I just keep remembering Martinov and the
bent stick with a chunk of gas pipe!
Think on this a bit.
Brooksie
NEW - THE DOLPHIN MODULAR RIFLE SYSTEM
Dolphin Single Shot F/TR Rifles
Dolphin Single Shot Rifles. (Two above).
Barnard S or RPA Quadlite
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)
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...
Look at the two photographs which show the hook
in firm contact with the muscle structure of the ribcage, explained above and the second picture showing
the hook following the arm-pit without any sideways
influence at all. This is just a simple adjustment that
Barnard SM or RPA Quadlite
(Choice of twist & profile)
Choice of calibre available
5 Round AICS magazine
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]
52
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.
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s
ew
LATEST
NEWS...
LATEST
NEWS...
N
t
s
e
t
a
L
Liz - DSP Co-ordinator
DSP Mobile: 07527 579686
The Disabled Shooting Project - Welcomes ALL
disabilities into a competitive mainstream sport as
well as helping less able shooters to stay in it.
The website is live!
We are delighted to announce the safe delivery, on
time, of the DSP’s shiny new website. I hope it will find
its way onto everyone’s Favorites list without delay! It
is, of course, also linked to our presence on Twitter and
Facebook.
What you will see now on www.disabledshooting.
org.uk is Phase 1 of the site. A lot more material will
be added to it during Phase 2 over the next month or
so. After that, in Phase 3 we will create some more
sections to ‘bolt on’ as they are ready – most of these
relate to DSP schemes that are still in development,
such as Focus Clubs, Coaching Modules, and the
Disabled Shooting Year.
The website is, of course, a key part of the DSP’s
communications system, which should help us to
achieve our goals for the next 12 months, but we
will continue to publish information in magazines,
bulletins, etc. as well.
I would like to record my enormous gratitude to Clive
Garnham who built the site for us and presided over
my vertiginous learning curve! It is just over a month
since he received the confirmation to go ahead with
the project, so it has been very hard work all round.
As I have by no means finished learning the mysterious
arts of web-mastering, there will undoubtedly be
hiccups in future – may I apologise in advance, both to
site users and Clive.
Next steps
Now that the site is operational, please would you:
1. Spread the news!
2. Arrange for a link to it to be placed on as many
websites as possible! The more links we have, the
higher up the search engine rankings the site will be,
and naturally we’d like it to be top of the list! I am
attaching a .jpg of the DSP logo which can be added
with the link if you wish.
3. Feel free to submit things for the site and encourage
others to do so. News, technical information, diary
items, etc. will all be welcome. We are particularly
keen to find good video footage and photographs
to illustrate as many different aspects of disabled
shooting as possible, so perhaps some people would
like to turn themselves into film directors and actors
for a day or two and send us the results. Reminder:
Please ensure that everyone featured has given their
permission for it to be used on the internet, and
remember that names (if people are willing to give
them) do make things much more engaging.
I am aware that information in some areas is thin on
the ground, but we did not want to delay the launch
because of what we want to accomplish by March
2013. I am particularly aware of the lack of material
on fullbore, clay target and field target disciplines
and that is something that I would like to remedy as
quickly as possible, so contributions on those topics
will be particularly gratefully received.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is
the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead
Website: www.disabledshooting.org.uk
Facebook: Disabled Shooting Project
Twitter: @Disabledshooter
The project is funded and supported by Sport England
via British Shooting www.britishshooting.org.uk
British Shooting Limited, 2nd Floor, 40 Bernard Street,
London WC1N 1ST
2012 Gallery Rifle Calendar
by Alan Whittle
Clubs
The information on disabled-friendly clubs is rather
patchy, because most of it I have hoovered up from
their own websites. This is time-consuming, and
also does not guarantee up-to-date accuracy. I will
shortly be sending out a concise e-form, which can
be completed and returned by clubs that wish to be
properly represented on the site. I do have details of
more clubs to go on at the moment, and hope to have
them all up in the next couple of days.
I do hope you all enjoy the new site. It feels about
time for a bit of a celebration! LIZ...
54
On my way to work, the radio announced
that 15th January was Black Monday presumably because Christmas is over
and the next Bank Holiday is in far away
April. It is also the depths of winter, with
short days dictating getting up and out
to work in the dark and returning in the
twilight. If all this is inclined to sadden
the heart then fear not, club secretaries
and match directors have been working
hard all winter planning your 2012 Gallery Rifle (GR) shooting season. The NRA
and nearly all the major GR Clubs have set
their calendar, so here is the round up.
55
First up is the Spring Action Weekend (SAW) at Bisley
24/25th March followed a month later with the Basildon 1500 plus shorts 27/29th April. The Mattersey
Ten on 6th May keeps the spring going before Frome
weighs in with the Western Winner (1500 plus shorts
format at the Failand Range near Bristol) 18/19th May,
giving an opportunity for some valuable pre-Phoenix
practice.
The Phoenix Meeting at Bisley 1/3rd June is delayed
this year to coincide with the late Bank Holiday with
the extra day for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Monday 4th June see the Phoenix International 1500
Match at Bisley with the first outing of the year for the
GB GR Squad.
Summer brings the Derby Open 30th June/1st July.
Then in quick succession the NRA Historic Arms Meeting 7/8th July and the Imperial GR events 11/15th July
(unlimited entries Wednesday to Friday and squadded
matches at the weekend) both at Bisley. If you fancy
a trip to Ireland, 13/15th July brings the second International Match of the year, also available for individual
and club teams to enter.
The National GR Championships are contested at
Bisley 25/26th August, then a short pause until the Trafalgar Meeting 20/21st October and the Autumn Action Weekend (AAW) the following weekend 27/28th
October.
Still to declare are Stourport (usually early August) and
the Germany International GR Match (habitually early
November). So there are at least a dozen opportunities to enter classified GR competitions in all corners
of the country and beyond.
At time of going to press, the GR Sub-Committee
Chairman, Neil Francis, has received just one nomination for the GB Squad Captain for 2012 before the
closing date. It is likely therefore that Neil will recommend the nominee to NRA Council and I should be in a
position next time to make a formal announcement of
the Captain next time.
LATEST
NEWS...
.
.
.
ws
e
N
est
t
a
L
UKPSA News
by Tony Saunders
Early spring is coming, a relief to shooters who
prefer not to be resetting targets that are frozen to
the ground! Hopefully we have seen the end of the
snow for this winter... (famous last words?)
The British Shooting and Countryman Show 2012 took
place this previous weekend and saw thousands of
shooters turning up for this huge show. The UKPSA
had a stand there for the first time and it proved a
great success. Staffed by UKPSA members Vanessa &
Andy Duffy, Rob Adam, Jim Gibney and Mike Darby,
the two day event brought new and old members to
the stand.
UKPSA POSTAL LEAGUES 2012
This year, the UKPSA Postal League has been
extended to include divisions for handgun, LBR, LBP,
Gallery Rifle and .22 Rim Fire Rifles. These will begin
on March 1st, whilst the shotgun League will start in
April.
The Leagues are ‘open’ and any shooter may
participate. The stages are designed to be easily set up
and can form part of any club’s practice session or be
included as part of a small match.
Each League will be made up of four rounds with 3
to 4 stages in each round. The course of fire will be
published at the start of each round along with score
sheets. Scores are posted in and will be processed and
results published. At the end of the four rounds overall
results for all the Leagues will be announced.
Details of the Handgun Postal Matches are already
available in this article. For more details, rules, courses
of fire, go to the UKPSA Forum directly, or via the
UKPSA website at www.ukpsa.co.uk
UKPSA News
UKPSA Handgun Commission
Postal League 2012
LATEST
NEWS...
Continued...
The UKPSA Handgun Commission invites you to get
involved in our Postal League for Practical Handgun.
The intention is to allow all Practical shooters
to compete in Practical stages within their club
environment, either as part of their training days, or
they can be included in a Level 1 Open Match. You
can then compare your results with other like minded
practical handgun shooters from other clubs. The
League will be shot to current IPSC Handgun rules.
Membership of an IPSC Region is not required and it
will be free to participate in the postal League.
The League will be made up of four rounds and each
round will be made up of three stages and will be shot
within a two month period as follows.
Round 1 in March and April
Round 2 in May and June
Round 3 in July and August
Round 4 in September and October.
The first of these matches has been confirmed.
Dunnyboe Level 1 on the 31st March & 1st April
All competitors will complete the course of fire in one
day. For further details and to enter contact Kieran
McCormick on [email protected]
Scores will be calculated at the end of each Round
and results will be e mailed out to all participating
clubs and individuals. At the conclusion of Round 4,
all the stages from all four rounds will be calculated to
achieve overall winners of each IPSC Division. All the
IPSC Divisions of Classic, Open, Production, Revolver
and Standard will be recognised. UKPSA members
living in GB who possess long barrelled revolvers will
be able to take part in Revolver Division.
The three stages may be shot at any time within
the two month period for each Round. P referably
a qualified Range Officer should conduct the
competition. Where an RO is not available, providing
there are two witnesses to the stage being shot, one
of whom may conduct the stages and both must sign
the competitor’s score sheet, this will be acceptable.
56
All scores are to be recorded on the official score sheet
which will be published with the stages. All details
must be completed, to ensure the correct results are
recorded.
Details of the stages for each round and the associated
score sheets will be e mailed out at the start of each
round. Scores must be submitted to arrive within five
days of the last day of each round. The results will be
calculated and e mailed out to all participants and
clubs.
Please note that only the first attempt at each of the
three stages may be used for your official score. Plus
you may only enter one IPSC Division. However this
does not prevent you shooting the stages as many
times as you want for practice after you have made
your first attempt for the official score. You can also
shoot the stages for practice in a different division as
well.
Carlisle Level 1 PSG
More details to follow. See UKPSA Forum
11th March 2012
Thurnscoe Level 1 PSG
11th March 2012
Safety Course for PSG
Diggle Ranges – 2 Day Course
Contact [email protected] for more details of this
and other upcoming courses.
If you want to shoot IPSC practical shotgun, this is the
way to do it. You only need a three-shot pump or semi
shotgun if you don’t have a section 1 shotgun. 17th / 18th March 2012
Range Officer Course in Kilkeel
2 Day Course. 23rd / 24th March 2012
All the stages are simple to set up and organisers are
asked to keep to the measurements given. All the
stages will use the standard IPSC target, either as a full
or partial target.
Level 2 Long Barrelled Firearm Match
Run by the Blue Team at Little Chalfont
31st March 2012
If you have any queries about the Postal League
then please contact the Handgun Commission at
[email protected]
Hadrian L3 PSG match
Course shot in one day. More details to follow. See
UKPSA Forum. 6th and 7th April 2012
It is hoped that you will have fun shooting the Postal
League stages. There is an additional course at Kilkeel
in April – see Upcoming Matches below or contact
Fred Hanna, Secretary, UKPSA Handgun Commission.
E-mail [email protected]
Web Site http://www.ukpsa.co.uk/handgunni.html
Thurnscoe Level 1 PSG Match
More details to follow. See UKPSA Forum.
9th April 2012
Up-coming Competitions and Courses in
March and April 2012-02-27
Borderguns Club Shoot Level 1 PSG
All welcome. Contact Jo or Martin at Borderguns
www.borderguns.co.uk - £10 members / £15 nonmembers. Minimum 8 stages, 100 rounds birdshot
only. 3rd March 2012
57
Basildon Level 2 Long Barrelled Firearm Match
More details to follow. See UKPSA Forum.
15th April 2012
USASC Kilkeel Level 1 Handgun Match
Further Details contact Fred Hanna on handgun@
ukpsa.org - 21st April 2012
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59
308 Winchester Rides Again Part 3
By Laurie Holland
By Laurie Holland
308 Winchester Rides Again
.308 WINCHESTER RIDES AGAIN (Part 3)
By Laurie Holland - Part 3
I compared MVs and velocity spreads obtained from Lapua’s new ‘Palma’
small rifle primer (SRP) / small flash-hole cases against identical load
combinations in normal large primer (LRP) examples last month, with
particular reference to the effects produced by low (< 10°C) ambient
temperatures.
The case for high-BC ‘heavies’ in F/TR – shooting over long ranges at small targets in constantly changing wind
conditions. Diggle Ranges in a wet and windy F Class national league round.
60
61
By Laurie Holland
BTLRs
By Laurie Holland
It appears that SRP cases are not
well suited to chilly conditions with
some powders, Viht N140 and N550
both struggling for instance. I’ll go
a little further this month in these
side by side tests looking at Palma
v standard Lapua brass results
using Berger’s 175gn BT LongRange bullets and a trio of Hodgdon
powders: temperature-stable, easy
to ignite Australian made VarGet
and H4895 extruded products; US
manufactured ball or ‘spherical’
H414 / W760 that is reputedly much
harder to fire up with consistent
results. I’ll then make a start on
the subject of heavy bullets, that
is 190-grains and above. This was
a subject I’d intended to address
anyway, but found it also links into
‘Palma’ brass, most top GB F/TR
shooters who use ‘heavies’ having
switched to this case during the
2011 season.
Mid-weight Berger Long-Range BTs – the very effective
175gn (centre) and 185gn ‘Juggernaut’ (right). 155gn Sierra
MK on the left for comparison.
While Berger’s 185gn BT Long-Range (BTLR) model
has quickly acquired a reputation as a solid longrange performer, so much so it’s been nicknamed the
‘Juggernaut’ in US long-range circles, its 175gn sibling
is less well known here.
As with the one-eight-five it offers a higher BC
than the equivalent weight but older Berger 175
VLD at 0.264 v 0.255 in G7 values, but note that it’s
marginally less efficient than the new 168gn ‘Hybrid’
which is rated at 0.266. (The 185gn BTLR is 0.283 for
comparison.) An attraction of the 175, the BTLR’s
trademark good manners in handloading matters like
COAL / jump aside, is that a full-house load’s recoil
with this bullet weight is as much as many slingshooters can take before it affects scores. It’s also well
suited to the slow rifling twists used in TR / Fullbore
barrels, 1-13” being near ideal. An added attraction,
for us in the UK anyway, was that it remained available
throughout 2010-11 while the 185gn model seemed
on permanent back-order with our Berger importers,
62
Hannams and Norman Clark. I’ve long liked 175gn
bullets in .308 Win and often use the Sierra MatchKing
version for such jobs as basic accuracy testing, barrel
run-in, scope sight-in, and short-range competition.
So, giving the ballistically more efficient, if much more
expensive, Berger a try seemed a good idea.
0.308” 175gn match bullets. Left to right: Sierra MK, Berger
VLD, Berger BTLR, new Berger OTM Tactical designed for
long-range shooting from shorter barrels with lower MVs.
63
First off, I loaded the bullet over H4895, a superbly
efficient and flexible powder in .308 Win, but very
much overshadowed by its slower burning VarGet
stablemate. (Reigning F/TR World and GB league
champion Russell Simmonds is one of the few top GB
F/TR shooters to use H4895, in his case paired with
the 155.5gn Berger BT, which must say something
good about it in this cartridge!) Running a near
three-grain range of charge weights in three-round
batches showed that this 175 shot very well in my
Barnard and its 1-10” Broughton, the top load alone
of eight exceeding 0.4”, so the combination seemed a
bullet, given that this combination was the original
driver for SRP case development. I’d no desire to
By Laurie Holland
reinvent this particular wheel given the considerable
effort previously expended
by American Palma team
members, but trying the
powder under a heavier
bullet appealed. This time
round, the tests were
restricted to the eight by
three-round format covering
a 3.0gn charge weight
range, 42 to 45gn for both
types of case, steps starting
at a half-grain, dropping
to a final 0.2gn from 44.8
to 45 grains. Conditions
were chilly again, wet with
temperatures hovering
around 10-deg C / 50F. The
MV gap in the LRP case’s
175gn Berger BTLRs and Lapua Palma brass with the three powders used to do side
favour reappeared with this
by side LRP and ‘Palma’ brass tests.
combination, 45gn producing 2,803 fps with an ES
natural for further refinement. Six by five-round
of 5 fps in the ‘Palma’ case; 2,840 fps also with an
batches in standard Lapua brass saw a best result
ES of 5 fps for the standard case. The broad ‘sweet
of 0.2” allied to 2,806 fps MV with an ES of 17 fps.
spot’ or accuracy node that peaked at 2,800 fps MV
Frankly, 0.2” is as tight as I can hold a .308 on the
with H4895 reappeared, best groups seen with the
bench where this cartridge gets a bit punchy, even
two top charges in the Palma case and 44.1 / 44.5gn
in an 18lb F/TR rifle, so ‘shooting doesn’t get much
in the standard case. The latter then moved out of
better than this’ to parody MasterChef presenter John
this benign condition with the remaining two higher
Torode. Another LRP v SRP case test seemed in order
charges tripling group sizes to three-quarters of
too since the combination used one of Hodgdon’s
an inch, so I’ll discount them from the group size
Thales Industries / ADI manufactured ‘Extreme’
comparison. LRP brass and Fed 210M primers saw an
extruded powders renowned for their flexibility and
average group size of 0.29” for the other six batches,
ease of ignition. This is how the cases’ performance
two right on the two-tenths mark (44.1 and 44.5gn);
compared:
SRP brass and CCI-BR4 primers averaged 0.4” group
size over the whole eight batches with smallest
The MV gap in the results from the two case / primer
examples of 0.25” and 0.3” (44.8 and 45.0gn). LRP ES
types is much reduced compared to those in the tests
values covered 5-33 fps and averaged 20 fps; SRP ES
I reported last month, the SRP brass sometimes even
values were smaller with a range of 5-22 fps, average
producing the higher MV figure now. The most likely
12. These results are in line with the American claims
cause is that, unlike those previously reported, the
for ‘Palma’ brass and the 155gn SMK with VarGet
test-shoots took place on different days. The LRP
with an overall reduction of 40% in velocity spreads.
brass suffered from yet another ‘cool’ summer day
Both versions promised precision that would do very
(8-10°C) while its ‘Palma’ competitor got much better
well on the sling shooter’s 1-MOA V-Bull, 2-MOA Bull
temperatures just above 20°C (70F for US readers).
target sizes too, although I would want to test that
out by refining loads using a smaller charge range and
I then moved onto VarGet with the 175, but you may
5-round batches. While both performed very well in
wonder why I didn’t pair the powder with a 155gn
my rifle, the LRP version and its 0.2” groups looked a
64
better F/TR option – I’ll always use this measure first
over reductions in what was not a particularly large
velocity spread in the LRP cases.
By Laurie Holland
175gn Berger BT Long-Range over H4895 test cards show a clear win for the standard LRP version on the left.
Bullet
V0 (fps) V1,000 (fps D1,000 (MOA)
155gn Sierra Palma MK (2155)
3,000
1,165
10.2
155.5gn Berger BT FULLBORE
3,000
1,304
8.7
175gn Berger BTLR
2,823
1,325
8.2
185gn Berger BTLR
2,746
1,354
7.8
[175gn Berger BTLR
2,806
1,313
8.3]
(D1,000 = wind induced drift measured in MOA at 1,000yd in a 10 mph 90-deg crosswind.)
Putting brass and primers to one side, how effective
is this bullet at these MVs? Taking a 155gn bullet at
3,000 fps MV as a baseline, the equivalent internal
ballistics are 2,823 fps for a 175gn bullet and 2,746
fps for a 185, all producing 3,098 ft/lb muzzle energy.
Here is how the 175 BTLR stacks up in its external
ballistics performance at 1,000 yards against the
NRA’s RWS ammo with the original low BC Sierra
Palma MK, long-range F/TR competitors’ favoured
155.5gn Berger BT FULLBORE, and the 185gn BTLR.
65
I put my tight-grouping 175 / 2,806 fps H4895 load
at the end of the table to show how it compares,
and I’d be happy to use it at 1,000yd, even though I
tend to think of it as a shorter range combination,
preferring the 185 at a similar MV for 900 and 1,000yd
matches. This could be the ideal bullet for Target Rifle
competitors with their 1-13” twist barrels in longrange matches that allow handloads and any bullet
weight. However, depending on how it performs, the
new 168gn Berger Hybrid may turn out to be even
By Laurie Holland
guilty of giving a dirtier burn than extruded types. The
cause is the absence of the tubular form’s hole up the
middle that causes the kernel to burn outwards as well
To Laurie’s surprise, the SRP ‘Palma’ brass version (right) of the 175gn BTLR + H414 ball powder came out on top despite
testing in cool conditions.
better in this role as well as being viable in F/TR. Its
preferred rifling twist rate runs a bit tighter at 1-12”
though.
Ball Powder
That left one more thing to try with ‘Palma’ brass
– ball or spherical powders, again using the 175gn
Berger BTLR which the barrel obviously liked. Put
most 175gn or heavier bullets through a QuickLOAD
.308 Win Charge Weight Table run and you’ll find
Hodgdon H414 / Winchester 760 (same powder,
different bottles) at or near the top of the predicted
velocity listing. This is a double-base propellant that’s
been around forever, has a slightly faster burning rate
than the 4350s and Viht N550, and is well suited to
mid-size cartridges because of its density. I usually
avoid ball powders as they’ve been traditionally found
as from the outside in. As the ball kernel’s surface area
can only reduce as it is consumed, this form produces
a ‘regressive’ burning behaviour (high gas production
initially reducing as the charge is consumed). To
counter this, a thick coating of non-inflammable
‘deterrents’ is used to slow the early-stage burn, but
these chemicals are left behind as fouling, usually
baked on hard thanks to the double-base propellant’s
flame temperatures. Another consequence of heavier
surface coatings is greater difficulty in igniting these
powders, hence the common advice to use magnum
LR primers. Actually, ball propellant technologies
and ingredients have moved on a lot over the years,
reducing these and other alleged downsides. However,
if there is any doubt about the SRP’s ability to light up
a heavy charge in .308W, it would likely show up with
this powder.
66
Following 3-round group-tests designed to get a feel
for how these combinations performed, I ran five by
By Laurie Holland
5-round grouping trials side by side on yet another
miserable, wet and chilly late June day, temperatures
Let’s move onto heavy bullets in the cartridge,
struggling to break 10°C / 50F. ‘Palma charges’ ran
especially in the F/TR role where an 18lb rifle and
higher than those used in standard brass to give
bi-pod support can cope with recoil and torque levels
equivalent MVs, the charge weight range being 48.4
that would be unacceptable to sling shooters, also
to 49.2gn x 0.2gn steps in standard LRP Lapua cases;
those in tactical, McQueens, or service rifle disciplines
48.9 to 49.9gn x 0.3gn followed by 0.2gn steps in SRP
with their need for minimal sight-disturbance and
‘Palma’ cases. CCI-BR4 primers were again used in
quick follow-up shots. First of all, what is a heavy
the latter, but due to accident not design, I grabbed
a box of LRP brass primed
with CCI-200s instead of the
F210M match type used in
other comparisons. I really
expected the ‘Palma’ loads
to struggle with this powder
in the conditions especially
with charges nudging
50-grains, but this wasn’t
how things worked out. The
five LRP groups covered a
poor 0.6” to 1.25” and MVs
plateaued over a 0.6gn
charge weight range, 48.8
to 49.2gn producing 2,855
to 2,860 fps. ‘Palma loads’
grouped between 0.4” and
0.8” and MVs rose in line
with charges ending up at
Old and new ‘heavies’. Left to right: 155gn Sierra MK (for comparison); 190gn SMK;
2,877 fps. So far as velocity
200gn SMK; 208gn A-Max; 210gn Berger BTLR; 210gn Berger VLD; 210gn SMK. Note
spreads went, neither case
the short blunt nose sections and long boat-tails on the two older SMKs compared to
gave great results with this
the more modern bullets. Sierra’s 210 on the extreme right is a VLD design and very
different from its geriatric stablemates.
powder, but the ‘Palma’
Heavies
case again came out the
winner with a range of 17-31 fps over the five batches
averaging 23 fps; the LRP loads ran between 19 and
50 fps for an average of 29 fps. Both produced the
characteristic ball powder hard fouling on outside
neck surfaces that took a lot of cleaning when I came
to reload the cases. Incidentally, there is a claimed
method of alleviating this problem – spray the fouling
with WD40, better still that unique German coal based
oil, Ballistol immediately after shooting, wait 10
minutes and wipe the softened muck off with a paper
towel. I must try this trick one day, although it could
prove rather difficult logistically in a match.
67
bullet in .308? Many TR shooters reckon anything
above 155gn is ‘heavy’, while Bryan Litz of Berger
Bullets argues that 230gn is the .30-calibre equivalent
of the 140s routinely used in 6.5mm and 180s in 7mm.
I’ve arbitrarily set 190gn as my floor for this exercise.
On this definition, we’ve 14 bullets from three
manufacturers (Berger, Hornady, and Sierra) available
in the UK at the time of writing, although I expect Fox
Firearms UK to have some more from a fourth maker
(Swampworks / JLK) available by the time you read
this. Table 1 lists their key ballistic statistics, predicted
1,000 yard performance, and the rifling twist rate that
produces an Sg (stability factor) value of 1.4 at their
expected MVs. Four of the 14 are elderly: Sierra’s 190,
By Laurie Holland
200, 220 and 240gn MatchKing (SMK) models; the
others date from the last five years or so, some only
months old. Sticking with the geriatric Sierras, they’re
short and blunt for their weights compared to their
youthful rivals and have correspondingly high (poor)
G7 ‘form factors’. The metric for this attribute is ‘i7’,
a measure of the bullet shape’s ballistic efficiency
compared to that of the G7 ‘standard’ or ‘reference
bullet’ shape with its i7 value of 1.000. As this is a drag
related metric, low values are better than high and
we’re really looking for 1.000 or lower here. It is easier
for the bullet designer to create a long streamlined
shape in a heavy model than in a necessarily shorter
150 or 155 while retaining other essential design
features and the overall balance. Despite this, our
baseline 155.5gn Berger BT FULLBORE has an
exceptionally low 0.988 value, so that’s the target
we’re looking to equal or better with our heavy
designs. The heaviest (240gn) of the old Sierra quartet
comes in at a very poor 1.092, which allied to other
issues and problems in using this design, has led me
to exclude it from the comparison; the other three
have relatively high i7 values exceeding unity, but
have compensating features. (There is a fifth, modern
and more efficient heavy SMK, the 210-grainer with a
1.000 i7 form factor value.)
What we’re trying to avoid by using heavy,
By Laurie Holland
high-BC bullets – a bullet blown to the right
barely in the ‘Three-ring’ by a wind change. The
competitor’s elevation isn’t too hot either being
a full MOA high!
Pros
But, to go back to first principles, why should we even
consider using heavies in the cartridge? ...... and what
penalties do we pay in using them? Pros and cons in
other words. Assuming 155 and 210gn models group
equally well in a given rifle specification, and assuming
they’re equally well designed (same or similar i7
values), the heavier model moves less in the wind at
long ranges despite starting out at a lower muzzle
velocity. This is easily demonstrated as it happens
that two bullets with very different weights share
a 0.988 form factor – the aforementioned Berger
155.5gn BT and the same company’s 210gn BT LongRange model. Let’s assume we drive the 155.5 at
3,000 fps. This produces 3,108 ft/lb of muzzle energy,
and a load and barrel throat optimised for the 210
should be capable of producing the same amount
68
69
consult, but what is not in dispute is that the closer the
bullet gets to the speed of sound (1,122 fps / 1.0 M),
the greater the likelihood and severity of turbulence
in the airflow around the bullet’s body and tail. When I
first ran these figures, the
discrepancy was so great I
had trouble believing the
results, but Bryan Litz,
Berger’s ballistician assures
me there is no mistake.
By Laurie Holland
Table 1 (Overleaf) takes
the Berger 155.5 at 3,000
fps as a benchmark and
shows how the 190gn to
230gn models compare
using equivalent MVs. We
see that judicious heavy
bullet selection can give
us nearly 150 additional
fps at the 1,000-yard
target taking the bullet
out of transonic flight
New ‘heavies’ only just arrived in the UK. Left to right: 155gn Sierra MK (for compariand potentially reduce
son); 200gn Berger Hybrid; 208gn Hornady HPBT; 215gn Berger Hybrid; 230gn Berger
Hybrid.
wind drift by up to two and a half MOA even
compared to that most efficient of the 155s. The
of energy if both combinations produce the same
gains will be larger still against the NRA’s RWS
chamber pressure. 3,108 ft/lbs = 2,582 fps MV with
manufactured ammunition with its early model and
a 210gn bullet, very much in line with those actually
much lower BC 155gn Sierra Palma MatchKing. That
produced by heavy bullet F/TR users. The 155.5’s G7
10 mph 90-degree crosswind is an artificial construct
BC is 0.237, that of the two-ten 0.320, the difference
of course, what matters is any change in wind speed
arising entirely from their weights, or more precisely
and/or direction between shots. To get a feel what a
their sectional density values which is a fixed weight
‘heavy’ might give us, I played around with wind values
to calibre ratio. That’s a substantial gain at 1,000yd
in the program to get one that moves the 155.5 at
both in retained velocity and reduced wind drift. High
3,000 fps by 1.2-MOA at this distance. Assuming our
retained velocity is important to keep our bullet out
bullet would have hit the V Bull dead centre if the wind
of the transonic speed zone, or at any rate to reduce
hadn’t changed from the previous shot, it now scores
its exposure to transonic flight. This speed zone starts
a line-cutter ‘Three’. Retain the wind speed value, but
at 1.2 to 1.3 MACH depending on which authority you
rerun the program with those 200/210s with BC values
Run the MVs and BCs through Berger Bullets’ G7 ballistic program and we get;
Bullet
i7
155.5 BT FB 0.988
210 BT LR
0.988
BC
0.237
0.320
V0 (fps)
3,000
2,582
V1,000 (fps)
1,304 (1.16 M)
1,371 (1.22 M)
D1,000 (MOA / Inches)
8.7 / 91.1”
7.3 / 76.1”
Standard ballistic conditions (59°F, 29.92-inches Hg atmospheric pressure) apply.
D1,000 = wind drift at 1,000yd in a 10 mph 90-deg crosswind. M= MACH.
70
around 0.320 at 2,580-2,600 fps MV and the wind now
moves the bullet 0.84-MOA, a big enough reduction
to see it fall comfortably into the ‘Four’ ring saving a
point (or score a ‘Five’ in Match Rifle with its 2-MOA
dia. Bull-ring). Of course, if the shot would only
have scraped a ‘downwind Five’ in static conditions,
0.84-MOA deflection would still lose you two points.
Incidentally, the 200gn Berger Hybrid performance
shown in the table produces the same 1,000-yard
wind drift as the 0.264” 139gn Lapua Scenar at 2,900
fps, a popular 6.5-284 Norma load in the early days of
F-Class. .308 Win and F/TR have come a LONG way in
five years, but so too has F ‘Open’ with its hot 7mm
cartridges and ultra high-BC 0.284” 180s.
By Laurie Holland
Readers who learned their three Rs in their school
days may have noticed that there are 11 heavy bullets
listed in the table, not 13. The missing couple are new
Hornady HPBT match bullets weighing 208 and 225
grains. I haven’t seen any G7 BCs quoted for the pair
to date, but Hornady claims G1 BCs of 0.620 and 0.660
respectively, the former a 4.4% reduction on its figure
for the 208gn A-Max thereby reducing the HPBT’s
G7 value to around 0.310. We can expect the 225gn
model to have a G7 BC around 0.330 on that basis.
Look at the i7s and BC values, and the three older
Sierras (190, 200 and 220gn models) really do look
to be poor performers against the newer, longer
and more ‘pointy’ designs. You might wonder why I
included them at all other than to maybe warn you
off wasting your money on them. Well, don’t write
these old-stagers off just yet as their long-range
performance is often better on the target than on
the ballistics program printout. The high i7 figures
derive from their short blunt nose sections, and
that’s certainly what determines drag at very high
MVs. But these bullets have a reputation for really
performing at the far end of the flight as velocities
drop and the nose-form becomes less important. All
three were very popular in Match Rifle until recently
– and still have their adherents – as they perform to
1,200 yards and beyond. It seems their transonic zone
performance is better than that of many of the long
nose types, and they’ll even pass through the sound
barrier into subsonic flight without a qualm. Much of
this must be down to that enormously long 9-degree
angle boat-tail rear section, and they seem to be very
well balanced too enhancing stability through a wide
71
Same (.308 Win) cartridge; same (Norma) case; same
(208gn Hornady A-Max) bullet; two noticeably different
COALs. The reason will be explained next month.
By Laurie Holland
range of speeds and conditions.
Cons
Well, we’ve seen the ‘pros’ and they’re all related to
predicted long-range external ballistics performance.
Everybody will have switched to the more efficient
‘heavies’ surely? ..... but, no. if you revisit the report
on the F Class European Championship meeting in
the December issue of TS Online, you’ll see a table
listing what kit and loads were used by the top 10 F/
TR shooters. Runaway winner Stuart Anselm used an
intermediate weight model, the 185gn Berger BTLR;
four used 210gn ‘heavies’, another four loaded Berger
155.5s, and the final odd-man out (sole non Berger
user) shot the Australian 155gn BJD-HBC. However,
the winds weren’t very strong over that weekend –
if an early winter weather depression with 20 mph
plus winds had blown in, ‘heavies’ users might have
outnumbered the 155gn brigade in the top spots.
Let’s look at the ‘cons’, and the overwhelming
downsides are an increase in recoil and torque.
Increasing the bullet weight from 155 to 210gn
increases recoil energy by over 20% in an 18lb F/TR
rifle, from 8.7 to 10.6 ft/lbs. That might not sound
much, but it will affect rifle handling and bi-pod
movement on the ground. I notice that some of the
more successful heavy bullet shooters have fitted
spikes to the bi-pod feet allowing them to ‘load the
bi-pod’, that is lock the foot position and put the legs
under tension to reduce movement and eliminate the
dreaded bi-pod leap in the air that not only affects
shot to shot consistency, but can see you unknowingly
lined up on the neighbouring target for the next shot
with the consequent risk of cross-shooting and a
guaranteed loss of five points. A heavier bullet also
puts more stress on every major component in the
rifle from the barrel through the receiver and bolt
to the bedding. In my look at the ‘pros’, there was
the proviso that ‘heavies’ will produce the same size
groups as 155s, but there is a lot of evidence that
while it’s possible to achieve this, it’s very hard to do
so. For whatever reason or reasons, most heavy bullet
shooters say their long-range ‘elevations’ are bigger
than they expect from a good 155gn bullet load, and
this is the ‘swing’ you lose on against the gains from
the reduced wind drift ‘roundabout’. High energy
double-base powders are de rigueur in the 308’s
constrained capacity case to get full velocities from
these bullets, and this allied to greater bullet inertia
will see throat erosion and damage set in quicker,
so barrel life will be reduced, likely to 2,000-2,500
rounds.
TO BUILD AN EYE-CATCHING &
SUCCESSFUL WEBSITE TAKES NOT
ONLY CREATIVITY AND PASSION BUT
ALSO A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING
OF THE TYPE OF BUSINESS WE ARE
WORKING FOR!
Next month: twist rates, chamber throat lengths,
powders, loads and 200-210gn bullet results to
finish things off.
External Ballistic Performance from Heavy 0.308” Match Bullets
i7
0.988
1.070
0.982
1.058
0.944
0.966
0.985
0.988
1.000
0.910
1.068
0.911
BC
0.237
0.268
0.291
0.285
0.320
0.324
0.321
0.320
0.316
0.356
0.310
0.380
V0 (fps)
3,000
2,714
2,714
2,645
2,645
2,594
2,582
2,582
2,582
2,551
2,522
2,467
Twist V1,000 (fps)
12.5” 1,304 (1.16 M)
12.1” 1,269 (1.13 M)
11.7” 1,364 (1.21 M)
11.9” 1,292 (1.15 M)
10.6” 1,417 (1.26 M)
10.5” 1,393 (1.24 M)
11”
1,375 (1.22 M)
11.25” 1,371 (1.22 M)
11.1” 1,359 (1.21 M)
10.3” 1,454 (1.29 M)
11.2” 1,296 (1.15 M)
10”
1,450 (1.19 M)
EYE CATCHING WEBSITES WITH
EASY NAVIGATION & SEARCH
ENGINE FRIENDLY CONSTRUCTION.
WE BUILD WEBSITES THAT YOUR
CUSTOMER WILL APPRECIATE &
ENJOY USING!
SECURE ONLINE SHOPS CAN
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WORLDWIDE! WE CAN INTEGRATE
AN ONLINE SHOP WITHIN YOUR SITE
TO EARN YOU EVEN MORE SALES...
Table 1
Bullet
155.5 BT FB
190gn Sierra MK
190gn Berger VLD
200gn Sierra MK
200gn Berger Hybrid
208gn Hornady A-Max
210gn Berger VLD
210gn Berger BTLR
210gn Sierra MK
215gn Berger Hybrid
220gn Sierra MK
230gn Berger Hybrid
WE HAVE FULL DIGITAL STUDIO
& LOCATION FACILITIES WHICH
CAN CREATE STUNNING BESPOKE
IMAGES FOR YOUR WEBSITE AND
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OF QUALITY!
D1,000 (MOA / Inches)
8.7 / 91”
8.6 / 90”
7.6 / 80”
8.2 / 86”
7.0 / 73”
7.1 / 74”
7.2 / 76”
7.3 / 76”
7.4 / 77”
6.4 / 67”
7.9 / 83”
6.2 / 65”
72
QUIGLEY SHOOTING
ASSOCIATION NEWS
QUIGLEY SHOOTING
ASSOCIATION NEWS
Many BPCR rifles (mine included) have a barrel length
of around 30 inches with a sight radius of around 34
inches. This means that we can treat 1/100th of an
inch on the rear sight to equate to one minute of angle
(MOA).
Medium-range
versus long-
Let’s assume a calibre of 45/70 as this
probably accounts for the majority of
BPCR rifles sold in this country and is
probably the chambering chosen by
most newcomers to the discipline.
Testing carried out at the actual
distances has given the following
results which, whilst not guaranteed to
work with every rifle/sight combination
out there, should provide a reasonable
guide.
range sights at
1000 yards
by Ken Hall
With the first Quigley shoot of
2012 still a week or two away,
Ken takes a closer look at sights
suitable for shooting at longer
ranges with the black-powder
cartridge rifle.
The following chart plots the number of minutes, or 1/100th inch of
When selecting a sight for your
nice new black powder cartridge
rifle (BPCR) - be it of Winchester,
Sharps, or Remington pattern some thought must be given to the
selection of suitable sights.
elevation adjustment required for shoots at Diggle Ranges using my
Pedersoli Sharps with a load of 68 grains of Swiss No 3 behind a Lyman
530 grain Postell bullet.
RANGE (yards)
ELEVATION
100
400
600
1000
The rear sight must be capable
of fine adjustment in order to
capitalise on the inherent accuracy of
these rifles so, in some ways, the choice
is made simpler in that it means the sight
should be of the vernier adjusting type.
Also, one of the first considerations must
be to decide on the distances at which
you intend to compete, short range (up
to 400 yards), medium range (up to 800
yards) and long range (up to 1200 yards).
SIGHT SETTING (inches)
0.39
0.84
1.21
2.10
00mins
+45mins
+37mins
+89mins
Interim distances not listed can usually be estimated
accurately enough to put a round on target, enabling
further adjustment. It should be noted that when
shooting at ranges other than Diggle, these settings
vary slightly depending on elevation above sea level,
atmospheric conditions and range construction.
Many mid-range sights are fitted with a only a 21/2
inch staff, which would really be suitable for shooting
up to 800 yards but, the Pedersoli USA 405 Mid Range
Soule is fitted with a 3 inch staff, although not all this
can be used due to the scaled aperture block, which
takes up valuable space.
However, from this data we can see that if you intend
to shoot at ranges not exceeding 1000 yards, then
a mid-range vernier sight with a 3 inch staff will be
adequate for the job but, with a free play of only 0.5
inches or 50 MOA then you are at a maximum. It can
also be noted that my Sharps is fitted with a windage
adjustable front sight which is somewhat taller than
the fixed version, therefore it follows that the sight
settings would in fact be lower if a fixed front sight
was used, giving more adjustment.
Actual sight-setting for 1000 yds showing
adjustment remaining.
Long-range vernier sights are usually fitted with a 4in
staff allowing for approximately 31/2 inches of vertical
adjustment and so should be adequate for 1200 yards
or perhaps even longer ranges.
It would be nice if the sight, when fitted and zeroed at
100 yards (the normal zeroing range and usually the
shortest range to be encountered) gave a reading of
0.00 in on the scale. However, owing to variations in
butt-to-action angles (comb) between the different
types of rifle and, to some degree, the style of front
sight fitted, this is rarely the case, so once the 100
yard setting is found by actually firing groups, it should
be noted in your shooter’s record book.
74
Comments and questions please to;
[email protected]
Full extent of of Pedersoli USA med. range
sight adjustment.
75
UKPSA
NEWS
The other thing I like about PSG
is that, as a novice, the old-hands
United Kingdom Practical Shooting
Association News by Tony Saunders
tend to look after you and are
generous with advice. However
Dog’s-head shadow puppet – in this position your hand should slot
naturally into position – your extended fingers over the exposed shells and
your curled up fingers down the side of the caddy. Keep those curled up
fingers running up the side of the caddy as you extract the shells and the
shells will be in the right position as you bring your hand up.
Practical Shotgun:
This month...
Weak-hand reloading
from a caddy.
I started shooting practical
shotgun (PSG) a couple of
years ago when members
at my local club (Thurnscoe)
started to get the bug. It’s an
addictive shooting discipline
(regardless of your age or
athleticism) because its
dynamic and you have to
think on your feet. Good
course designers will test your
skills at trading off efficient
movement, reloading,
positioning and aiming.
Courses of fire are usually
timed shoots – so speed and
accuracy are critical.
that affect your ability to progress
for which there is precious little
help.
Number one is some objective evaluation
of section 1 shotguns. Since you can
not shoot these guns unless they are on
your firearm certificate, many beginners
(myself included) fumble their way
through at least one ‘entry gun’ before
finding a suitable stick. It won’t be long
now but there is an article on the way that
will address this issue.
By Mike Siva-Jothy
I saw my first Practical Shotgun competition a
few weeks ago and good fun it looked too – as
using any semi-auto firearm usually is! Mike
Siva Jothy won the comp. and I was really
impressed with his rapid reloading technique.
“Any chance of an article for Target Shooter
Mike...?
there are a couple of critical things
Two caddies with live shells and one with dummy shells – all loaded
with the brass end against the caddy spacer on the left hand side (i.e.
set-up for a rightie). Note, the caddies are attached to a very stout
belt (which is attached to a very stout shooter). There is enough space
between the caddies to get those two curled up fingers in between.
(Inset). A perfectly placed set of shells
after stripping – all sitting proudly in my
hand, all resting on my ring finger. If you
sit them on your pinky they are too far
down to thumb into the mag. This way my
thumb hardly has to move to get under
the first shell. This is the transit from stage
1 into stage 2.
The butt of the gun is tucked under my arm (stopping the gun rotating
downwards and off- setting the weight of the barrel). My strong hand
acts as the pivot. I have also rotated the gun slightly clockwise down its
long axis – this makes getting the shells in just a little bit easier.
76
(Above). The first round is indexed.
(Right ). I start stage 3 and begin thumbing
the shells in firmly and steadily. Note - the
gun is canted in the wrong direction for the
benefit of the camera.
77
(Above). Indexing the first
round. I use the tip of my
finger to feel the front of
the carrier. The natural
consequence of this is that
the first shell is ready to go
in and the remaining three
are all nicely aligned on top
of my ring finger (the one
with the ring on it).
The other drag on progress is reloading
technique. Watching the top-end
shooters at competitions quickly
highlights the importance of quick, surehanded, reloading. It’s the easiest way to
reduce your times on long courses of fire
and it allows you to recover time when
your aiming goes to pot. It is probably the
only aspect of PSG that you cannot bring
from other shooting disciplines and most
PSG shooters just muddle along.
What follows in this article is the
formalized technique/process that I
developed from watching the best
shooters in the UK and analyzing what
they did, by breaking the process down.
Many of those guys and gals reload
from caddies like greased racing snakes
– but they have been at it for years. As
a beginner, it didn’t take long to realize
I could shoot the targets quickly, I just
couldn’t get those shells in the gun at
anything like a competitive speed.
UKPSA
NEWS
Of course, there is a lot of chest puffing here – there
are any number of You Tube videos showing selected
clips of people loading 8 shells in less than 5 seconds!
God knows how many attempts it took them to get
that perfect reload. Of course, world-class shooters
can reload like that consistently.
am – consequently this article is for righties – south
paws need to reverse these instructions), then put the
spacer down the left-hand side of the caddy.
All I want to do is be able to strip and load 8 rounds in
less than 8 seconds without fumbling – most novices
would be happy with that in a competition.
The shells go in with the primer to the left. This means
that when you strip the shells from the caddy they are
sitting relatively high up in your hand (we will come
back to this later). You need to attach your caddies to a
stout, stiff belt that doesn’t flex as you try and strip the
shells from the caddy. I recommend 4 shot caddies the sixes are OK for loading at the firing point but you
can’t get more than 4 shells in your hand at a time
during a speed reload.
The method outlined below is the result of watching
Master and A-grade shooters at competitions and
copying them. I keep what works for me and dump
what doesn’t. I take no credit for inventing this
method – all I have done is watched and analysed
experienced shooters.
I ‘hold’ the caddies in place on the belt with cable ties
(see the photo below) – this stops them moving too
close together during a competition. You will see why
this is important shortly. When you are starting out or if you have small hands - load 3 shells into the caddy
– its easier to practice stripping and loading.
It’s helped me and my advice, based on it, has helped
those who have asked me. I offer it to you in the same
spirit. Use this article as a foundation but, go out there
and watch elite shooters, experiment with and tweak
their techniques and see what works for you. Above
all, watch and copy – there is no shame in that.
The other thing worth buying is four aluminium 12g
dummy shells. They are expensive but last a long time
and mean you can practice reloading at home. They
feel more-or-less right in terms of weight (the plastic
ones don’t) but their main disadvantage is that they
go into the mag much easier than real shells. NEVER
practice with live rounds at home. EVER!
Starting off.
If you want to reload consistently and quickly get a
decent belt and some caddies. There is a great article
by Tony Saunders in the April 2011 Target Shooter
looking at the pros and cons of different ammunition
belts. Some very fast shooters on the circuit strip off
pairs of rounds from a wide belt and run them into an
upside-down gun. I can’t do that. I have seen other
shooters strip rounds from clips with their strong hand
and reload like lightning. I can’t do that either. The
method I am extolling is week-hand loading from a
caddy – it works for me - but there are other methods
that may work better for you.
There are several suppliers for stripper clips – I use
California Competition Works because they are
relatively easy to get hold of. Most caddies work in
the same basic way. They have a spacer which you
will need to fit into the caddy so that your shells are
not jammed in but are loose enough to strip out
easily without falling out. If you are right-handed
and are stripping rounds with your left hand (which I
So now you have your belt and caddies, your dummy
shells and your gun we can start practicing.
Starting off with an empty gun in ‘aim’ position.
Release your weak hand, lower the gun with your
strong hand (finger out of the trigger guard – OK its
an empty gun and you are using dummy rounds, BUT
make safe technique an aim of your drills too) and
tuck the butt into the crook of your strong arm. In
this position the barrel weight pulls the front of the
gun down, your strong hand acts as a fulcrum and
your armpit locks everything in place. It’s a natural
and comfortable position and provides a very stable
position for reloading.
If I run these three sub-processes in sequence - even
when I am in the middle of a competition course of
fire - my reloading is smooth and fast. The biggest
cause of screw-ups for me is to let this process slip out
of sight and revert to ‘get the rounds into the mag as
fast as possible’ mode.
The easiest way to convince yourself that ‘process’
is more important than ‘speed’, even if its counter
intuitive, is try one after the other and see the
difference in consistency and average times. You
might just get a super-fast reload in headless-chicken
mode but, you will get consistently faster average
reloads if you focus on process. Another trick that
works for me is to imagine the fastest I have ever
loaded the gun and then consciously reload at 80% of
that speed. I always load faster in 80% mode and have
significantly fewer fumbles, than if I operate in 100%
mode.
I now want to break down each stage into its
component parts (again – don’t rely on instinct to do
this – make yourself ‘think’ through each step as you
do it. It produces a smoother, faster reload).
Stage 1. With your week hand in the ‘dog’s-head
shadow puppet’ shape, plant your curled-up pinky and
ring-finger on the outer edge of the left-hand side of
the caddy. That’s your guide for the lift – keep them in
contact with that edge throughout the lift. Your index
and middle finger now curl round the bottom shell,
your thumb on the top shell, and strip the contents of
the caddy out in one positive smooth movement.
When you look at the shells in your hand they should
all be sitting firmly on your ring-finger. (Putting the
spacer on the LHS ensures the shells are always in
the optimum position as they are stripped out of the
caddy.)
With the gun in this position the reloading process can
begin – it should happen in three distinct stages:
Stage 1 – Strip the caddy
Stage 2 – Index your hand under the gun’s carrier
Stage 3 – Thumb the rounds into the magazine
78
That’s stage 1 sorted. Most of my mess-ups with
reloading are caused by ‘panic’ stripping the caddy. If
the shells are not sitting in the right way in your hand
you might as well chuck them on the floor (which,
by the way, is what you will end up doing anyway).
Smooth IS fast.
Stage 2. This stage seems like the most pointless but
is very important. With the shells sitting pertly in your
hand, carefully index the top of the first shell into the
gate on your gun. I use the tip of my index finger to
79
UKPSA
NEWS
‘feel’ the lip on the gate and then move my hand (and
the shells in it) forward so the top of the first shell
slips into the gate. With your hand (and shells) now
indexed you can move to stage 3.
Stage 3. Thumb the rounds into the magazine at 80%
speed, paying attention to each shell. Don’t switch
over to instinct now, stay focused on the process.
Fumbles at this stage are caused by switching your
brain onto something else. Again, don’t try and do
this as fast as possible – do it smoothly and at 80% and
you will be consistent and quick.
If you find that you are having problems getting
the shells in smoothly try rotating the gun slightly
clockwise down it’s long-axis (so the rib is between 12
and 1 o’clock). Slight canting like this can make a big
difference, especially if you have small hands.
When you organise a practice regime with dummy
rounds, you should concentrate on the process - don’t
focus on speed, at least until you have conquered
process. When you are loading live rounds at club
shoots, don’t focus on speed, focus on process. What
you will notice is that your speed starts to go up
without you trying to load faster. Another benefit of
this approach is that if you suffer from competition
nerves, the mental focus on process tends to reduce
anxiety and you end up shooting faster.
At any organized competition there will be a series
of different starting options for loading. UKPSA use
three different options and its worth figuring these
into your practice drills:
Option 1 is a fully loaded start – 1 in the chamber
and 8 in the tube (safety ON). So what’s to practice?
Nothing at home but, when you get to the line in a
competition, don’t load the gun from a box – load
it from the caddies - use that time as practice. I
keep two six-shell caddies round the back of my belt
specifically for this and it means I don’t cheese off the
RO by faffing about with a box of shells on the line.
Option 2 is nothing in the chamber and 9 in the tube,
bolt forward (obviously on an empty chamber (safety
can be off because there is nothing in the chamber).
Again, load from your caddy on the line. The practice
UKPSA
NEWS
for this at home, with 4 dummy shells in the tube is
to rack the gun as it comes up from the ‘trail’ position
(by your side). What a lot of novices do when the beep
goes off is look down at the gun, turn it so the bolt
faces up, rack the bolt, turn it back, then lift the gun
into the shooting position. You can shave off seconds
by practicing racking the gun as you bring it up into
the shoulder. You have to do this with your weak hand
under the gun in a U-shape – rack the bolt with your
index finger (your thumb is on the other side of the
gun) and then move your weak-hand forward into the
support position. It’s worth investing in an oversized
charging-handle for this. With a bit of practice this all
forms one smooth, and very fast, motion.
Option 3 is an empty gun. This is where your home
practice with dummy rounds pays dividends. With
an empty gun most novices start by picking up one
shell, dropping it into the chamber, pressing the boltrelease button, then stripping their caddy. This seems
like a lot of time for one round. I always start option 3
shoots with the bolt forward – load in 8 or 12 from my
caddies and then rack the gun as I bring it up.
Once you get good at reloading from a caddy it
quickly becomes apparent that the biggest cost in
terms of time is moving your hand back and forth
from gun to caddy – so why spend one transit for one
shell when you can do it for four? All your dummyround reloading drill is essentially for Option 3 starts
or top-ups when the gun is running low on a course of
fire.
A starter for a home drill is as follows. Notebook and
pencil, shot timer or iPhone with the free surefire shot
timer app, dummy shells and shotgun. Adjust the
sensitivity of the app so that it picks up the sound of
you racking the gun.
or take too long. Keep notes and read what went
wrong in previous practices before doing the current
practice. If you have a spread-sheet program like
Excel, drop your times into it and plot your practiceaverages against date. I guarantee you (a) improved
reloading times and (b) fewer fumbles after only 2-3
weeks. Remember, poor quality practice only enforces
bad habits – don’t practice unless you are focused and
don’t do it for too long – little and often is better.
A good live-round drill on the range is to have five
metal plates at about 15m – plates you can easily hit
(poppers are best). Load three shells into the gun (one
in the chamber, two in the tube – safety ON) and have
the gun in the strong hand trail. On the beep, shoot
one target, load 4, then shoot the remaining targets.
Get the RO to note down your time and you should log
it to monitor progress. Shooting against yourself like
this is a good way to ‘stress-practice’ and benchmark
your home-practice improvement. Keep notes and be
critical and analytical (of yourself).
ANY NEW PRODUCTS TO PROMOTE !
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That’s my technique explained – I’m
nowhere near the fastest at comps
but, I no longer finish a shoot feeling
frustrated because I fumbled shells
or needing a calendar to measure my
times. The best long-term advice as you
build your own skill is ‘watch the fast
shooters and nick their techniques’.
Have fun. Be safe.
With gun at the strong-hand trail, your dummy rounds
in your belt and the shot timer set to random start,
wait for the beep, load your 4 dummy shells and then
rack the gun as you bring it up into the shoulder. The
timer will give you the time from the beep to the rack
- note down that time. Do this drill in small batches – I
do ten reloads whenever I can, note down all ten times
AND try and analyse what went wrong if I fumble
Apparently this car jack was the first benchrest used at
Diggle ranges before the new benchrests arrived in the
UK from the USA. LOL. Photo by Steve Thornton
80
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via our new Apple app? If you already have an iPad,
iPhone or iPad Touch, please give it a go. The app itself
is free to download from the iTunes website . The app
has lots of great features which make Target Shooter
far more pleasant to read than from your computer
screen and everything tends to work better and quicker.
It’s easy to jump to any page and a ‘click’ brings up an
advertisers website in an instance and we are hoping
that this will be a real attraction for our advertisers.
Yes, you will always be able to read Target Shooter
on-line but we feel that the iPad is the way forward for
magazines and newspapers and, in a very short time,
I predict that this will become the acceptable way to
read a magazine or book.
82
Kelbly 179mmX130mm
6/16/10
7:16 AM
Page 1
of magazines and
Introducing Kelbly’s Tactical Rifles.
bringing benchrest precision to the tactical
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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.
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