Target Shooter 1

June 2011

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Sections

6 Shooting Sport News

10 Shooters Calendar

18 Shooting Black Powder PistolbyChrisRisebrook

48 A Visit to Savage Armsby YvonneWilcock

65 A profile on Darling ShootersbyHayleyPlatts

70 This Smallbore Business - The Psychology of a Champion #4 byDonBrook

Association Pages

73 NRA

75 NSRA

78 UKBRA

80 UKBR22

82 F-Class

88 UKPSA

94 GalleryRifle

97 QuigleyAssociation

11 IWA 2011 Part 3byVinceBottomley 24 Valkyrie Tactical Rifle byChrisParkin

32 Remington 700 SPS TacticalbyLaurieHolland

54 6mm BR Norma Part 2 byLaurieHolland

41 Rimfire & Air Rifle Benchrest - Mirage byCarlBoswell

WelcometotheJuneIssueof......

.....TargetShooter

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Editor(s).CarlBoswellandVinceBottomleyAdvertising and Office ManagerYvonne Wilcockemail;admin@targetshooter.co.ukContributorsVinceBottomley TonySaunders LaurieHollandChrisRisebrookCarlBoswell DonBrook AlanWhittle KenHall ChrisParkin HayleyPlatts LesHolgate Liz&BrianWoodall

DisclaimerThewebsitewww.targetshooter.co.ukispartofTargetShootermagazinewithallcontentsofbothelectronicmediacopyrighted.Noreproductionispermittedunlesswrittenauthorisationisprovided.Information,pricesanddataisbelievedtobecorrectatthetimeofpostingontheinternetwhichisonoraroundthe1stofeachmonth.AdvertisementsthatarefirearmrelatedarefromcompaniesorindividualsthatTargetShootermagazinebelievesarelicensedtoholdsuchfirearmsandacceptsnoresponsibilityifcompaniesorindividualsarenotsolicensed.LettersandphotographssubmittedbymembersofthepublictoTargetShootermagazinewillbeacceptedonthebasisthatthewriterhasagreedtopublicationunlessotherwisestated.TargetShootermagazinehasnocontroloverthecontentorownershipofphotographssubmitted.Theviewsexpressedinthismagazinearenotnecessarilytheviewsofthepublishersandrelatetospecificcircumstanceswithineacharticle.Thesearetheopinionsandexperiencesofwritersusingspecificequipment,firearms,componentsanddataundercontrolledconditions.Informationcontainedintheonlinemagazineoronthewebsiteisintendedtobeusedasaguideonlyandinspecificcircumstancescautionshouldbeused.TargetShooterMagazinedoesnotexceptanyresponsibilityforindividualsattemptingtorecreatesuchtestingusinganyinformation,dataorothermaterialsinitselectronicpages.PublishersofTargetShootermagazine.

Webitorial - June 2011

Thismonthwetakeagreat leapintotheworldofapps.Ifyoudon’thaveasmartphone,youmightbewonderingexactlywhatanappis–Idid!App is short for ‘application software’ and an app is simply a small computer programme that can bedownloadedandused,withouttheneedforaconventionalcomputer,viaaniPhoneoriPad.It is theadventof theApple iPadandsimilardevices thathavemadeourTargetShooterappausefulextensionofourdownloadableon-linemagazine.Yes,werealisethatonlyasmallpercentageofyouwillhavethesedevicesbutitisundoubtedlythewaythatourmeansofcommunicatingischanging.Although14,000ofyou, fromover thirtycountriesworldwide,downloadandreadTargetShootereverymonth,werealisethatsittinginfrontofacomputerscreenisnottheidealwaytoreadamagazine–unlessofcourseyouhaveasneakyreadatyourworkdesk!DownloadingthemagazineontoaniPadisquickandeasyandsuddenly,youhaveTargetShooterinanevenmoreconvenientformatthanapapermagazine.Notonlythat,aniPadwillstoreeverybackissueifyoulike–plusallofyourotherfavouritemagazines,newspapersorbooks!Manyothermagazinesarealreadyavailableasanapp,includingAmericanHandgunner,ARGuns&Huntingetc.Doesthismeanthatyouwon’tbeabletoreadTargetShooterforfree?No–TargetShooterwillremainfree,on-linebutifyoudochoosetodownloadthefreeTargetShooterapp.,asmallchargewillbemadeforeachissueofthemagazineyoudownload.Smallfee?Just59penceforUKreadersor99centsforourAmericanfriends.(AthirdofthisfeegoestoApple).Annualsubscriptionscanalsobepurchasedfromwithintheappitself.IfyouhaveasmartphoneoriPad,youwillbefamiliarwithappsbutifnotandyouwanttoseewhatallthefussisabout,visittheiTuneswebsite–it’sfree–andhavealookatwhatyoumightbemissing–gotowww.apple.com/itunes/downloads/andclickonAppStore.Don’tbeputoffbythe‘tunes’thing–that’sjustthenameofthewebsite.

Vince,Carl&Yvonne

CarlBoswell-carl@targetshooter.co.ukandVinceBottomley-vinceb@targetshooter.co.ukandYvonne-admin@targetshooter.co.uk

Copyright©TrinityDigitalPublishingLtd

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Shooting Sport News Anew F/TR bi-pod has just arrived fromDolphinGunCompany. The first questioneveryonewillwanttoaskis‘Howmuchdoesitweigh?’Answer–21ounces–which isprettylight.

Thebi-podisverystrongandbeautifullymade–asniceasany I’veseenandcomeswith itsownbag.Todate,I’venothadchancetotryit‘inanger’butI’llputthatrightforournextissue.

Newdesignfor“ELEY”websiteEley have produced a new front end

webpage to theirmainwebsitewhichallowseasier viewing for current information andnews.

ThemainEleywebsite is available, throughthe top tabs, for standard viewing and thewebsitewehavecometoknowoverthepastfewyears.

Like a number of othermanufacturers, Eleyare also promoting shooting as a sport andus,theshooters,astheathletesthattakepart.Thisisawelcomedevelopmentsolet’shopethatotherstakenotice.

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DYER HBC 155gn 308 Bullets from

Down-Under Shoot‘Target Rifle’ or F/TR division F-Classdown-under and there’sagoodchanceyou’llloadlocally produced BJDHBC 155s in your .308Winchestercartridges.BJDstandsforBobandJanDyer, proprietors ofR&J Sports Goods ofPinelands, near DarwininAustralia’sNorthernTerritorywhomanufacture

them, while HBC is an abbreviation of High-BC.AndhighBCthesebulletsarewitha longstreamlinednoseandoptimal7°angleboat-tailrearend.WithanexperimentallyobtainedG7BCof0.236(G1:0.462)BryanLitzrankedthedesignsecondequalwiththe155gnLapuaScenarandjustasmidgeonbehindtheclassleadingBerger155.5gnTargetBT(SeeTargetShooterOctoberandNovember2009issuesavailablefreefromtheArchivesection forBryan’sdetailed reviewofthisandother155gn0.308s.)WithmostAustralianstateTRandPalmateamsusing ammunition loaded with these bullets,

not tomention the national teamwhich camesecond toGreatBritain in lastyear’s ‘Imperial’

atBisley,theyobviouslyshootwelltoo.This ismore than academic to our UK basedfullbore shooting readers as that well-knownNorthernaccuracyentrepreneurBrianFoxhasa large shipment en-route to his Diggle base,whichheexpectstobewithhimbythetimeyoureadthis.It’s always nice to have more choice in suchproductsbut, there isanice icing-layeron topof this particular gildingmetal covered cake –

01 BJD + Scenar + 155.5Ber + SMK2156 020

02 BJD + Scenar + 155.5Ber + SMK2156 035

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price.Brianhasn’tbeenabletofinalisepricesatthetimeofwritingbutcansaythattheywillbe“verycompetitive”againstthetwo155gnSierraPalma MKs and “significantly cheaper” than

Lapua Scenar and Berger models. Samplesfor review and testing have been promised toourhandloadingman,LaurieHolland,andwe’llpublishhisfindingslaterthisyear.FoxFirearmsUK–http://www.foxfirearmsuk.com – telephone 0161 430 8278 for furtherinformationandprices.

Lapua 260 Remington BrassWehave a raft of newproducts eitherwith us

or on the way. In the first category, Hannam’sReloadingLimitedhasnewlyintroducedLapua.260Remington brass in stock – there will be a shortreportonitsfeaturesandqualitynextmonth.

Berger BulletsMoving from Finland to the USA, Berger Bulletscontinues toproducenewdesignsat a staggeringrate,fivenew0.308”diameter‘Target’numbersthis

timearound,onealreadyonsaleintheUSAandtheothersinthefinalpre-launchstage.

It’sthe175gn‘TacticalOTM’that’swithusandthiscould prove to be a very useful design for thosewho want to try factory or tactical rifles at longerranges, models such as the 26 inch barrelRemington 700 Police (PSS). This tangent ogivenumber is designed to give match accuracy atthe standard .308 Win 2.800” COAL in magazineoperationacceptingalargejumptotheriflingifneed

The 2nd edition of Bryan Litz’s book (right) is bigger, thicker and even better than the original

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be,whileprovidingaclass-leadingBC.Itisratedat0.259/0.510(G7/G1BCvalues)andcrucially, has been designed to remain completelystable and behave consistently in transonic flight(1.3downto1MACH)andalso inpassingthoughthesoundbarrierintosubsonicspeeds.Toachievethis, the optimal rifling twist rate is 1 in 11.25,although the common 1-10 works well too. 1-13and1-12twistbarrelswillstabilisetheprojectileforsupersonic flight OK but will not produce thetransonicstabilitybenefits.Incidentally, Berger Bullet’s ballistician Bryan Litznow produces ammunition loaded with this bulletfortheUSmarketundertheAppliedBallisticsbrandname, a non day job operation. The cartridgesfeature individually weighed charges, gives low(<10fps) MV spreads and Bryan has tested it at1000yardfromaLaRueOBRAR-10typesemi-autorifleandobtainedc.1-MOAgroups.Bryandoesn’tsaywhatMVthesecartridgesareloadedto,butastheyaredescribedasbeingin‘theM118LRmilspecsniper round class’, that would imply somewherearound 2,600 fps, so this is an impressive 1000yard performance indeed from the new bullet. Ifyouwant toorder it throughourBerger importers,Hannam’s Reloading Limited or Norman ClarkGunsmith Limited, the Berger product number is30105.

Berger HybridsThe yet to go on sale models are all ‘Hybrid’designsthatfeaturelongsecantformnosesections(toobtain high BCs) that transition into a roundedtangent shape at the bearing surface to ogivejunction (to make them jump-tolerant and easy to

tuneinhandloads).Our top F Class shooters know the Hybridformwellasmany7mmshortmagnumusershaveadoptedBerger’s180gn0.284HybridinpreferencetotheVLDform.Experimentallyderived BCs are already available fromprototypesandarelistedinthetable.And....theyAREhigh–don’tjustgetfixatedontheindividual numbers but also compare themagainstotherbulletsofthesameweight,alsoolderheaviermodels.In general, each of the quartet matchesor even betters the BCs of the previouslybest performers in the next weight up. Sothenew155gnHybrid isnotonly4%moreaerodynamically efficient than the currentclass leader,Berger’s155.5gnFULLBORE,but beats the previous best 168gn (BergerVLD)model. The new 168gn Hybrid has amarginally higher BC than the 175gn BTLong-Rangeandsoonrightuptothe200gnHybridat0.320beingonly0.001adriftofthe210gn VLD.American shooters have beengiven samples of the 155, 168 and 185gn

modelsandare currently reportingback toBergerBulletsonreal-lifeon-rangeperformance;the200gnmodelhasyettoappear.EvenBiggerandBetter–AppliedBallisticsforLongRangeShootingbyBrianLitzHow dowe have experimentally derived BCs (notcomputer generated theoretical values) for bulletsthataren’tevenonsaleyetintheUSAnevermindtheUK?Simple–wehaveoneof the first copiesofthesecondeditionofAppliedBallisticsforLong-RangeShootingalsobyBryanLitz,anastoundinglyactivegentleman!

This is a tome that has become our handloadingman, Laurie Holland’s, favourite bedtime readingif not bible. It now has more pages than theoriginal edition (578 v 536); much expandedchaptersandsomecompletelynewtopicssuchasExtendedLongRangestabilityandballistics(thatisover1,000ydup to the2,000ydsortofdistances);dataonamuch largernumberofbullets (c.230v175) includingmakes omitted in the first edition –Cauterucio, Cutting Edge, Dietlein, GS Custom,Matrix, Norma, Precision Ballistics, and Wildcat.

You still get a CD-ROM for a nice little ballisticsprogram.We’llprovideareviewsoon.Theothernewshere isthatFClassworldchampionGaryCostellohasorderedaconsiderablenumberofcopiesofthesecond edition for British shooters through hiscompanyMarchScopesUKandtheymaybeherebythetimeyoureadthis.Thewebsiteandemailare:http://www.marchscopes.co.ukandinfo@march-scopes.co.uk

Many new makes and models of bullets are included in the data section which now includes stability (rifling twist) data. The new inch and a half long Berger 200gn 0.308” Hybrid may be the F/TR bullet to beat in a year or two

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CalendarofeventsoverthenextfewmonthsIfyourcluborassociationhaseventsyouwanttopubliciseherethenemailus.

4 June - NRA Shooting Club Day (NationalShootingCentre(NSC),Bisley)Multi-disciplineNRAShootingClubDay.TargetshavebeenbookedonMelvilleandat100,200,300and1000yards.Alldisciplineswelcome.Contact Charles Perry via the NRA

4 June - ProbationaryMembersCourse2011/2(National Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley). ThenewmodularProbationarytrainingcourseisnowbeingofferedatBisley. Contact Phyllis Farnan

12 June - ProbationaryMembersCourseNoviceSkillsModule(NationalShootingCentre(NSC),Bisley)Contact Phyllis Farnan via the NRA

25 Sep - Somerset Small Bore ShootingAssociation-MajorHutchinsonMemorialShootThe Shoot will be held at the Long AshtonRanges.Entryformsareavailableonthewebsite.http://ssbsa.com/

5 June - RCO(HME)Course(NationalShoot-ingCentre(NSC),Bisley)ThiscourseisonlyopentoqualifiedNRARCOs.The course is to train RCOs in the zeroingprocedures which are now required whenammunition generating a ME greater than4500joulesisfiredonmilitaryranges.Thisisahalf-day course involving both classroom workand an on-range zeroing demonstration. Thecourse is run regularlyatBisleyand regionally,onrequesttotheNRA.Contact Maureen Peach via the NRA

30 July to 7th August 2011 - The WorldRimfire&AirRifleBenchrestFederation -2ndWorldChampionshipsinPalmettoUSA.

16 to 23rd June - World Cup - Munich Contact the NSRA for details

10 to 12 June - British International50MetreChampionshipsContact NSRA via the Lord Roberts Centre

17 to 19 June - ScottishOpenChampionships(BlairAtholl(Scotland).ThisyearsScottishOpenPrizeMeetingwillbeheldatBlairAthollonFriday17toSunday19June2011.Furtherinformationandentryformsmaybeob-tainedfromAllanMaboninduecourse.http://www.scottishrifleassociation.org.ukContact Allan Mabon via the NRA

19 and 26 June - ProbationaryMembersCourseNoviceSkillsModule(NationalShootingCentre(NSC),Bisley)The new modular Probationary training courseis now being offered at Bisley. Probationerscompleteaninitialintroductorymoduleonsafetyandageneralintroductiontothetargetshooting,followed by one or more discipline specificskills modules. They must also shoot undersupervision with the NRA Shooting Club for aperiod before they can become full membersof theNRA. Probationary training is scheduledat weekends, but individual mid week lessonsare also available on request.Contact Phyllis Farnan via the NRA

30 June to 23 July - NRA Imperial Meeting(NationalShootingCentre(NSC),Bisley)NRA Imperial Meeting. This series of matchesis divided up into disciplines with competitionsforServiceRifle,CivilianServiceRifle,Cadets,HistoricArms,Schools,GalleryRifleandPistol,Match Rifle andTarget Rifle. It finishes on the23JulywiththeQueensFinalfollowedbyPrizeGiving. Contact NRA Imperial Meeting via the NRA

11 June - NRAPercussionRevolverChampion-ships (NationalShootingCentre (NSC),Bisley) Contact David Gregory via the NRA

11 to 12 June - NRA Inter-Counties Meeting(NationalShootingCentre(NSC),Bisley)ThefirstcompetitionoftheInter-Countiesweek-end is the R Jarvis Individual match. In pastyearsthishasbeenopenonlytomembersoftheCountysquads.ThisyearithasbeendecidedtoopentheeventtoanyindividualmemberoftheNRA.

The conditions are as for Queens I (2convertiblesightersand7 tocountat300,500and600yards).Thefirstdetailwillfireat08.45on Saturday and the match will be completedduringthemorning.Theentryfeeis£37.50.

Ifyouwouldliketoenterthisevent,pleaseapplytotheEventCo-ordinator.

Contact David Mumford via the NRA

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Sightronwww.sightron.comInthisreport,we’llhavealookatoptics,thoughwe’d already hada glimpseofSightron’s new8-32scopeatNewark.Incidentally,theNewarkscopewas verymuch a pre-productionmodelbut I can inform you that supplies are nowarrivingintheUK.www.aimfieldsports.com

Ofallthemajorscopemanufacturers,Sightronstand out as a Company listening to itscustomers. We are looking forward to testingtheir new 8-32 model, bristling with newfeatures - like up-graded turrets, new reticlesetc.Ofcourse,thesamefeaturesareavailableonsomeothermodelsbutIseethe8-32asthemagnification rangewhichwill appeal tomostcompetitiveshootersfromFClasstotactical.I

have tried already their 10-50 and personally,Iprefer the8-32but look forward to trying thenewversion.

WegotaninvitationtoattendtheSightronstandtowitnessourveryownJohnDeanofAimfieldSportspickuptheSightronDealerof theYearaward.Johnhasdoneagreat jobandthankstohim,moreshootersareusingabetterscopethantheywereacoupleofyearsago.

Nightforce www.nightforceoptics.com Nightforcehaveanenviablerangeofopticsandasolidreputationforbuild-qualityandtosomeextent,canaffordto‘restontheirlaurels’.Theircurrentrangecoversjustabouteverybasefromhuntingtofullmil.spec.scopeswithsomething

Part 3 Optics by Vince Bottomley

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foreveryone.

Theyweredisplayingtheirnew‘quick-turn’turrets, which brings a system similar totheSchmidt&Bender,wherejusttwoturnscovers 40 MOA of adjustment, or from100 to 1000 yards – or maybe beyond,dependingonyourcartridge.Personally,I don’t look upon this as a ‘speed’thing but more an aid to not makinga total dollop by being one turn out onthe turret – and who hasn’t done that?Theyhavecoupledthisnewturretwitha‘zero stop’ system, allowing a rapid andaccuratereturn tozeroand, toappeal tothe military market – yes, you guessed,first focal plane reticles. Previously, theNF mildot reticle would only work as arangefindingreticleatonemagnification–whichwasn’tthemax.magnification.Notimportanttorangeusersbutcriticaltothemilitary.

March www.marchscopes.co.uk andwww.deon.co.jp/marchMarch Scopes did not have a standat IWA but they were on display on theHenkestand.UKimporterGaryCostellojust can’t get ‘em fast enough and nowonder – here is another firm listeningto its customers – who are clearlyaskingformoreandmoremagnification!

Who would have thought that we wouldeverseeand8-80powerzoom- of thehighest quality? I got to look throughan 8-80 at our last 1000 yard benchrestshoot and believe me, the optics are

The March 8-80 is equally at home on a tactical, F Class or 1000 yard benchrest rifle

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impressive,evenonfullpower.Theyalsohavesome great reticles and a neat turret-zerosystem.Yes,March are evenmore expensivethanSchmidt&Benderbut,buyagoodscopeandyouwillkeepitforever.

ChinaOf course, cheapand cheerfulChineseopticsareeverywhereatIWAanditcanbedifficulttosortoutthe‘chafffromthegrain’.Manyexhibitthe same body features and turrets meaningthat theycome fromthesame factoryandaremerelybadgedbythevariousopticalcompanieswith weird and wonderful names like TheFactory of Optical Elements or The Long inTimeEnterpriseCompanyLimited.

The Chinese learnt long ago that when we‘experts’ areassessinga scope,wepick it upand look through it. In other words get theoptics right and the rest will sell itself. Yes,Chinese optics have improved greatlyover the last decade but what aboutbuild-quality?Tobehonest, theZOSChinesescopes that Fox Firearms import and still asgoodasanything I’veseenandfor themoneytheyarea‘steal’forthenoviceorplinker.

OnethingIdohavewitha‘MadeinChina’isalow-powerred-dotformymini-rifle.Thesescopes

areunbelievablycheapbutbeware,unscrupulousUKdealerswillwack-onamassiveprofit-margin!I cameacrossa super littleACOG (AdvancedCombat Optical Gunsite) copy which wouldhavelookedgreatonmymini-rifle.ThegenuinearticlewillsetyoubackseveralhundredpoundsbutanOrientalcopy–lessthan50Euros!UnfortunatelytheyweretakenoffthestandafterapolitevisitfromACOGmakersTrijicon!

ButwhyisittheChinesecanmakeascopefor£100 that looks likea£1000scope? Yes,weknow the quality is not quite there but all thelenses are and the body and turrets - at onetenth the cost...............? To some extent, amid-price optic is really needed – goodbuild-quality,goodopticsbutrealisticallypriced–noteveryonecanaffordtopayagrandforascope!

HakkoThis is where Hakko come in. Yes, they areJapanese not Chinese – I know this becauseMr Hakko had just got news of the Japanesetsunamiwhenwewere on his stand andwasrightly concerned for his fellow countrymen.Again Fox Firearms are the UK importer andifyouare in line foranewscopebutfind that£1000 is just too much, try a Hakko for lessthanhalfthat.Icouldn’tfaulttheir8-32Tactical

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model. Their range is vastand theycoverallthebasesfromtacticaltotargetandeverythinginbetween.

Schmidt & Bender www.schmidtbender.comSchmidt & Bender caused a sensation whenthey launched their5-25a fewyearsagoandthentoppeditsoonafterwiththeir12-50.Now

we had a real target scopefrom one of the best scopemakers on the planet. Notonly that, they now offer theirscopes with European orAmerican ‘turn’ turrets andgraduatedinmilradorMOA.

Like S&B will tell you, theydon’t make telescopes orbinocularsorcamerasandthelike – they make rifle scopespure and simple using thefinest Schott glass. In fact,they don’t even make rings.Unfortunately, they hadnothing new for the targetshooterexceptfora3-20modelIhadn’tseenbeforeandanewreticle,theP4FLMOA–whichcouldausefulret.forthetargetshooter . But, how can theybetter the 12-50? Only bymakingitlighter!Withmostofmy rifles built to class weightlimits, I just can’t afford the

weightofaSchmidt

Schmidtofcoursehavealwaysofferedthefirstfocal plane range-finding reticle – somethingwhichputmeofftheirscopesasIalwaysshootat knowndistances. Yes, the reticlewasniceand fine at 5 power but at 25 power it was a

Premier Reticles mil. spec. scope

New Leupold Mk4 turret with ‘idiot’ lock

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telegraphpole! But, ifyouwanta truemil-dotrange-finding scope, you have to have a firstfocalplaneret.Now,Schmidtacknowledgethepreferencesofthetargetshooterandofferfirstor second focal plane rets.whichmakes theirscopesfarmoreappealing.

Leupold www.leupold.comArenewedinterestinscopesbythemilitaryhaspromptedmanymanufacturers toconsider theFFP ret. and manufacturers are now playingcatch-up to Schmidt & Bender. Leupoldappear to have switched their R&D to theproductionofmilitaryscopes,withallsortsofnew‘desert’bodyfinishesandturretsplus–yes,youguessed, first focal lane rets. – or as Leupoldcallit‘FrontFocal’.IlovemyLeupold8.5-25Mk4–butplease,giveusan8.5-32MrLeupold!

However, let’s never forget that Leupoldofferthebestguaranteeinthebusinessandforthatreasonalone,I’llalwaysbeaLeupoldfan.

Premier Reticles www.premierreticles.com Niche-manufacturer Premier, have furtherrefined their ‘professional’ model with newquick-zero turrets and what they call SecondGeneration mildot reticles. However, for theamateurtheyareveryexpensiveandalthoughtheyboastplentyofelevationadjustment,theydon’t comewithenoughmagnification (max is5-25) to really tempt the targetshooter to layoutsomeseriouscash.

IOR www.border-barrels.com IORscopesarenowhandledbyBorderBarrelsin theUK and I’m amazed at the number I’mseeingonrifles.WhyamIamazed?Well,theyaren’tcheapandtheyareveryheavy!Yes,theopticsareasgoodasanybut, although their9-36willappealtotheseriousFClassshooter,

it weighs almost a kilo and, with its 35mmbody-tube,youarelookingatsomeheftymounts–probablyfromIOR,asIdon’tknowwhoelsemakesthem.Ifyouarebuildingan8.25kgF/TR rifle you are going to have tomake somesacrificestomountoneofthese.

Kahles, Zeiss and SwarovskiThese great names in scope manufacturecontinue to produce top-notch optics andscopeswithenviablebuild-qualitybuttheyseemreluctant to enter the serious targetmarket. IwouldhavethoughtthatMarchhaveprovedthatthereisamarketforhighmagnification,highendoptics with serious shooters prepared to payalmostanyaskingprice.Comeonguys,thereisagreatworldoftargetshootingoutthere!But,iftheirorderbooksarefull,whybother?Tosumup, if Iwason the lookout foranewtargetscopewheremoneywasnoobject,thenIwouldlooknofurtherthanMarch.But,moneyisalwaysakeyfactortomostofusandifyouwantrealvalueformoneythentheSightronishardtobeat.WithagreatUKimporterwhoisalsoashooter,aftersalesservicewillneverbeaproblem.IfaSightronisstilltooexpensive,thenlookatHakko.

Nextmonth we’ll round-off our IWA visit witha lookatall theotherbitsandbobsthatgotomakeIWAanun-missableyearlyevent.

IOR – one big scope!

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Introducing Kelbly’s Tactical Rifles.bringing benchrest precision to the tacticalmarket. With loads of options to choose from,and pricing that shatters the competitors.

Introducing the first hunting and tactical scopeswith 10 times power ratio on a variable scope.March 1x-10x-24mm and 2.5x-25x-42mm. 1/4” clicksand 25 MOA per revolution. All lenses in scopes arecemented in place, and do not rely on O rings to holdpoint of aim. Argon gas purged.

Kelbly 179mmX130mm 6/16/10 7:16 AM Page 1

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Introducing Kelbly’s Tactical Rifles.bringing benchrest precision to the tacticalmarket. With loads of options to choose from,and pricing that shatters the competitors.

Introducing the first hunting and tactical scopeswith 10 times power ratio on a variable scope.March 1x-10x-24mm and 2.5x-25x-42mm. 1/4” clicksand 25 MOA per revolution. All lenses in scopes arecemented in place, and do not rely on O rings to holdpoint of aim. Argon gas purged.

Kelbly 179mmX130mm 6/16/10 7:16 AM Page 1

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Oldgunsseemtobeabitlikebuses.Youdon’tseetheoneyouwantforages,andthenawholerowofthemcomealongtogether.SoitwasatthelastBisleyArmsFairwhenIseemedtobe

wadingthoughStarrrevolvers.Quiteunabletoresisttemptation,thebestofthebunchisshowninPhoto1.

with Chris Risebrook

Shooting the Black Powder Pistol

Picture 1

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Ebenezer Starr was the son and grandson offamous sword and gunmakers. Born in 1816,heentered theU.S.Navyatage17,andwasonactiveservicefrom1834to1837,butthenretiredfromtheservice.Badlyinjuredinarailwayaccident,hedeclinedaseniorpostintheNavyontheoutbreakof theCivilWar,sincehehadnot fully recovered from his injuries. Instead,withhisassociatesanda capital of $800,000,hesetup theStarrArmsCo. inYonkers,NewYork.

Hisfirstrevolverwasa.36calibrefortheNavy,followedbya .44 version for theArmy, twoofwhichareshownatthebottominPhoto2,andfinally,asingleaction.44fortheArmy,shownattopinthesamephoto.

Totalproductionfrom1861to1864was47454guns,1402.36Navy,4950OldModelArmyand

41102 Army 6352 . The Starr revolvers werethe third highest in number purchased by theUnion after Colt andRemington, ( and aheadofSavageat11000),butso faras thedoubleactionisconcerned,theymusthavebeenprettydesperate to buy them! The gun is a perfectsolutiontoanon-existentproblem;anengineer’sdream-andanarmourer’snightmare!

The principle is very clever, and effective.Pulling the trigger rotates the cylinder, cocksthehammer,andleavesitcocked.Tofiresingleaction, the finger has to bemoved to the tinytriggerjustvisibleattherearofthetriggerguard,andshowninPhoto3.Anadjustableslideontherearofthetriggerbladepermitsaconventionaldoubleactionpullifpreferred,andit’smyguessthat this is the systemusedmost of the time.Thewholedesign is innovativeandbeautifullyexecuted,butovercomplicatedformilitaryuse,

Picture 2

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andprobablyanightmaretomaintain.

Now,thissingleactionideawouldbejollyusefulifonlyithadsomedecentsights-somehope!Forall practical purposes this isa solid framerevolver, and apart from being stronger thanan open frame, it has the advantage that adecentrearsightcanbefittedtothetopstrap.Forsomereason,which totallyescapesme,aminute“V”hasbeencutintothehammernoseinstead, just likeaColt.Thismakes thesightsvirtuallyuselessinanysortofcombatsituation,andseemscompletelyat oddswith thewholeconcept.Interestingly,onthisrevolver,thisnotchisoffsettotheright;theriflingisanitclockwise,sopresumablyitwillcounteractthespin.HaveI got that right? It could be used for targetshooting, but for all practical purposes, it isoverengineered.Interestingly,theotherdoubleactionshowninPhoto2hasthe“V”centredinthehammer.

Photo4showsthenovelmethodofcleaning-andsupposedlyofrapidreloadingbychangingcylinders.However,withallduerespecttoClintEastwood, I wonder how practical this wouldhavebeenintherealworld.AsshowninPhoto4,the-veryrobust-topstrapisheldtotheframeby a bolt - BUT, for some inexplicable reasonit isnotcaptive.Icaneasily imaginesomeonetrying to reload in theheatof battle, and thendroppingthescrewinthemud-OhBother!

Iimaginethearmourersmusthavecutuproughaboutthisdoubleactiondesign,becauseStarrwasaskedtoproducethesimplersingleactionrevolver, which was easier to maintain - anduse.Likeallsuchweapons,apartfrombeingamoralebooster,andaninsigniaofrank, itwasintendedforcloserange,lastditch,selfdefence- point and shoot, and the more basic singleactionseemslikeabetterproposition.

Mylateseniorpartner(whohadnoknowledge

Picture 3

Target Shooter 21

Picture 4

offirearmswhatsoever)hadoccasiontoinstructhisfellowofficersontheuseofthepistolduringtheSecondWorldWar.Hislectureconsistedofjust onesentence: “Gentlemen, if youhave tousethis,itistoodamnlate!”BearinginmindtheissuerevolverwastheEnfieldorWebleyMkIVbothfiringtheanaemic38/200cartridge,hewasprobablyright,(unlikethe.455ManstoppersoftheGreatWar).

Anotheroddityof this revolver is thecalibre -apparantly it fires .460,whenColts used .451andRemingtons454.Quartemastersmusthavejust lovedMr.Starr! Inpractice, theyprobablyusedwhateverwastohandandwouldfitinthechamber, and never mind the possibility of achainfire.

Interestingly, Pedersoli now make a replicaof this revolver, which should provide a goodsource of parts, especially the usual culprits,- thesmaller springs. It is tempting to lay inastockoftheseconsumablesforfuturefettlingasrequired.

AswellasthethreerevolversStarralsomadeafourbarrelled.32derringeraswellas22000fallingblockriflesverysimilartotheSharps.Fromillustrations,theyappeartobealmostidentical,

butIhaveneverseenone“inthemetal”;itwouldbe interesting to compare the two. However,Starr was so dependant on military contractsthatwiththecessationofhostilities,thebusinesswasnotsustainable,anditfailedin1867.EbenStarrdiedin1899.The double action revolver has a 6inch roundbarrel, and an almost modern double actiontype grip. Like the Manhattan, described ina previous article, the cylinder has 12 lockingslots.However,unliketheManhattanwherethehammer can be lowered between chambers,on theStarr thehammerhas tobebrought tohalf-cockand thecylinder then locks,with thehammer between chambers. This half-cock isreallymoreofasafetynotch, therebeingonlytwonotches.Torotatethecylinderforloadingintheconventionalmanner,itisnecessarytopullthetriggerbeyondthesafetynotch.Thisnotchalsohastobeusedwhenopeningthegun.Thepointednoseofthecylinderarborfitsneatlyintoarecessintheframe.

Barrelcleaningis,ofcourse,aseasyasaColt,andvastlypreferabletoaRemington.Theserialnumber is on the cylinder and on the frameunderthehammer,andonthebarrelassembly.The barrel is surprisingly good, and there aretracesoforiginalblueing,whichmusthavebeen

22 Target Shooter

quitesomethingwhen itwasnew.Thedegreeof polishing and the depth of the blueing putsmanymodernproductstoshame.

Thegripshaveseenbetterdays,butthedentsareoriginal,soIcan’treallytouchthem.Thereis no inspector’s cartouche on the grips, norare there any inspection marks on the gun,which leadsme tosuppose thiswasaprivatepurchase. Barrel to frame and cylinder lockup are both good, and there is absolutely nocylinderendplay.

The gun weighs a hefty 2lbs. 7ozs., but thebalance is excellent, the grips giving a goodpurchasetotheconsiderableweight.The6inchbarrelseemstogiveabettersenseofproportionthan the 8inch of the single action, but this ispurelysubjective.Theoverallimpressionisofaverywellmadeandfinishedgunwithaunique

selfcocking/doubleactionsystem,quitedifferentfromtheconventionalAdamsorCoopersystemswithwhichwearesofamiliartoday.

Finally,justasacomparison,(andbecauseIliketogloat),Photo5showsit incompanywithan1858RemingtonandmyMetropolitan/Coltcopy.NowallIneedtocompletethesetisaSavageNorth, - and then, of course there is alwaysthePettingill,theJoslyn,theButterfieldetc.etc.Funny, howyou canalways find room for justonemore.Inthemeantime,justgottahaveagowiththisone!

Picture 5

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24 Target Shooter

Itisaproudmomentwhenagunsmithnotonlylauncheshisownbusinessbutcouplesthiswiththereleaseofhisownrifleaction.

Dave Wylde, proprietor of Valkyrie Rifles hasgained a reputation over the last few years,not only as an excellent shooter in a varietyof disciplines but also as an accomplishedgunsmith,servinghistimewithRogerFrancisatSouthYorkshireShootingSupplies.

Valkyriearenowabletoofferriflesbuiltfromthegroundupandbeautifullyfinishedforavarietyof disciplines - fromuncompromising accurateF-class rifles through bolt-action tactical gunsandAR15derivativesforpracticalrifleshooters.Dave has coupled his clean and technicalprecision builds with some of the finest and,dare I say artistic ‘in-house’ Duracoat workyet seen on this side of theAtlantic. Coloursandpatternsareseemingly limitedonlyby thecustomer’s imagination and add that uniquepersonal touch to a rifle that, whilst sharingcommoncomponentsandbuild styles, canbemadetolookcompletelydifferent.

Although happily busy with customer work atthe moment, Dave has been itching to builda rifle ever since the launch of his Valkyrieturn-bolt action with serial number 0001 forhimself. The rifle is a showcase of Dave’spersonal component choice and skills libraryandwhenIgotthechancetotestit,Iwasreallylooking forward to seeing ‘what the cobblerchoosestowearonhisownfeet’,sotospeak.

The rifle is chambered in the increasinglypopular 260 Remington, a cartridge that forthe tactical or cross-discipline shooter, offersexcellent ballistics out to 1000 yards, coupledwithbothmoderatepowderconsumptionandareasonablebarrellife.Therecentintroductionofhigh-qualityLapuabrassservestohighlightandincreaseitspopularity.

The Valkyrie action is based on the standardRemingtonfootprint,sharingitsdimensions,boltspacing,magazineandaccessoryfittings.Thedifference,aswithmanycustomactions,isthemachining standards - plus a few little designtweaks.TheoriginalRemington700datesbackalmosthalfacenturyand,althoughitstill‘stands

A Tactical Rifle from Valkyrie Rifles by Chris Parkin

Target Shooter 25

uptobecounted’,wewouldnotbehumanifwehadn’t learned a few new tricks to improve it.However,itslongevityistestamenttoitsdesigningenuitybackinthefifties.

The overall shape of the Valkyrie is thereforeclose to the Remington but features a moreasymmetric lookand the sloping, faceted sideis proudly incised `Valkyrie Rifles England`.The ejection-port on this standard right-bolt,right-port,actionisshapedtoallowcleanejectionand isbigenough to single loada cartridge ifdesired.WhenusingAImagazines-theyoftenneedaslightguideintothechamber ifnotfedfromthemagazine.

The Valkyrie utilises 416 grade stainless-steel

with a 4140 chrome-moly steel bolt to avoidbi-metallic galling. Various options ofconfiguration, bolt-face and materials areavailable.Thetacticalbolt-knobandhandlearea little longer than the Remington and offer acomfortablehand-fillingdesign that is quick tooperateandexceptionallysmooth.

Theboltitselfisattractivelyflutedandfeaturesa plunger-ejector coupled with a Sako-styleextractor andof course, two locking lugs.The90 degree bolt-lift offered no extraction orejection problemsat all.The firing-pin hole is,asyouwouldexpectonacustomaction–snugandthecartridgewaswellsupported,showingno ejector marking or cratering with normalpressure levels. At therearof theaction’s left

Folding-stock option

The Brugger & Thomet moderator

26 Target Shooter

side, a neat bolt-release catch replaces thesometimes awkward trigger-guard mountedtypeusedbyRemington.

AnAccuracyInternational5-shotmagazinewasused during testing and combinedwith theAIintegral mag-well offered precise lock-up andeasyrelease.Roundsloadedfromthemagazinefedflawlesslyatallboltspeedsandofcourse,theAIsystemmeansthat5or10shotmagazines

maybeused.TheAImagazineisagoodchoice–certainlythebestofthosecurrentlyavailableandAInowoffera223polymerversionaswell.

Apeerless12.5-50x56PMIIS&Bscopesatina pair of understated BadgerOrdnance rings,attachedtoa20MOAPicatinnyrailwhichuseslarger than standard metric threaded boltsoffering a very sturdy fit. The rail extendsbeyondthefrontoftheactiongivingmorespace

Fluted bolt was fast and smooth

Brake with thread for the B&T mod

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when mounting larger scopes with their longbody-tubesandcameinhandyforthegiantS&B.Ialsolikedthecentralgrooveintheundersideof thisparticularPicatinnyunitas itallows therailtobefittedwithnoconcernforanytolerancemis-match or previous debris around thethreadedactionholes-notthatsuchathingwillbefoundonthisqualityofkit.Thefacttherailisnotan integralpartof theaction itself (aswiththewithSurgeonsetc.)isnorealdetrimentandgives the option of an alternativemount if theactionisadoptedtoasportingriflebuild,wherea huntermaywant fast access to that breecharea-justincase.

ItshouldbenotedthatthepriceoftheValkyrieaction includes this rail, for which somemanufacturers will charge over £100. Alsoincluded is a substantial recoil-lug, which ispinned to the action to assist with assemblyand barrel swaps if the shooter so desires.An integral lug (Surgeon) can be beneficialonaswitch-barrelgunandusefullyallows thebarrel-tenon to be lengthened whilst retainingthestandardR700footprint.

The barrel fitted to this gun was a 25 inchTrue-Flite with a 1 in 8 twist - a well provencombination in this chambering.Davecouldn’tresist a bit of bling though and specified adistinctive spiral/longitudinal combination

fluting-patterntosetoffwhatisotherwisealargechunk of barrel in anyone’s view. It does lookdifferent!

At the muzzle-end, we find an AccuracyInternational brake along with a Brugger &Thometmoderatorcombination-similartoonewhichIrecentlytestedonanothergunandtheyareagreatpairing.Themoderator,whenfitted,screwstothebrake,notthebarrel,soyoudon’tswap, you add. This soundmoderator has amilitaryspec. lefthandthreadandwhenfitted,sealsthebrake,whichnowactsasnothingmorethananinternalpartofthemod.

Whensealedfromtheexternalatmosphere,thebrake does nothing and the moderator takesover,cuttingbothnoiseandrecoil,whichishowIpredominantlyshotthegun.B&Tmoderatorsare highly regarded as not only very effectivebutfarmoreappropriatetoheavy,long-termusethan some light-weight sporting models. Thelaterally ported, rotationally indexed AI brakereducedrecoilextremelywell,thoughadmittedlythe260Remisnotknownforitsheavyrecoil.

I sometimes wonder whether ‘ergonomic’stock-fitisignoredbysomeusers.Personally,Iregardhowthestock`beds`intoyourshoulderwith similar importance as to how the actionis `bedded` into the stock. Shooting larger

Removable spacers offer choice of pull

28 Target Shooter

calibres – un-braked or moderated - withsignificantly more recoil, highlights how mucheffectinconsistentshootingtechniquefromapoorly-fitting stock canalter group sizeandpointofimpact.Youonlyhavetowatchthefree-recoilbenchrestshooterspreparingandusingtheirequipmentforaccurate bagriding`consistencytorealisethatatthepinnacleofachievable accuracy - 100 yard benchrest-with the tinyamountof recoilofferedbya6PPC-gunhandlingiswinorloseandawellset-uprifleisfareasiertocontrol.

TheAccuracy InternationalChassisSystem(AICS) stock that Dave has chosen forValkyrie0001isdesirabletomanysimplyduetoits‘military’look,especiallyona`tactical`gun. However, it does offer excellentuser-fit with an adjustable cheek-pieceand length of pull spacers. The full-lengthaluminium chassis and choice of polymerside-platesofferarobust,hassle-freebeddingformostbarrelledactions-untilyougetboredofthecolourofcourse!If you decide to use this kind of stockwithany Remington derived action, the chassisincorporatesaV-shapedbedding-blockforasimple drop-in fit althoughmany gunsmithsstillprefertoepoxybedthem-somewithjust

askim-bedbutthosewithadesireforperfectionwillusuallymillouttheVblocktoaddathicker

Dave Wylde with his Valkyrie 0001

Target Shooter 29

layerofDevconepoxy.ThisiswhatDavehasdonehereandthetruetestofbeddingstress-slackeningofftheaction-screwsandmeasuringanymovementwithadialgauge-indicatesthezerostressthatbefitsabuildofthisquality.

The action, bolt, Picatinny rail, barrel, brakeandmodhaveall had theDuracoat treatmentbyDavehimself in a colour named `Parker’ –presumablyareferencetothemilitaryParkerisedfinish. The barrel flutes are highlighted withtacticalflat-blackand thisgivesavery tasteful(tomy eyes anyway) look.This SL version oftheDuracoatiswhatIhavehadonmyowngunfornearlyayearnow.Itslicks-uptheoperationofanyactionandhaswornverywellinthe800roundsmybolthascycled.Ican’tsayI’mmadonthestock’s`Multicam`patternedside-platesbuthey,Ican’tsayIdislikeanyotherfactaboutthis gun so I had to have something negativeto say!TheDuracoat colour is totally down tothe owner’s desires and tastes which whencombinedwithDave’sownstencilscancreatesomeimaginativepatterns.

As for shooting the gun, well it was almostan anti-climax as accuracy and consistency

are there in abundance. Either with brake ormoderatorused,therecoilwasminimal,thegunexperiencinglittlebounceevenwhenshotfromaconcretebenchonnothingmorethanaHarrisbipod.TheJewelltriggerfittedtotheactionwas,asusual,uptostandardandacceptedwithoutcomment by a fellow Jewell owner, breakingcrisplyat1lbwithcompleteconfidence.

The stock was set-up a little long for me butnothing that the simple removal of a spacerwouldn’t cure and a good head-position waseasytorepeatwiththeadjustablecheek-piece,alteredwith twosmallAllenboltson thestockside.ThisAICSwasofthefoldingvariety,whichisamatterofpersonalchoicebutcertainlymakestheguneasytotransportorcarry.Multipleswivelpointsare locatedon thestock,alongwithanundersideaccessoryrailontheforendtowhichaHarris-typebi-podcanbefitted.ThereisalsoaspigotmountinthefrontendforastandardAIbipod.

I haveownedand shot a 260Rem thatDavebuiltformelastyearandtheload-developmentfor this rifle followed similar lines to my ownfindings. Lapua 243Win brass necked up to

30 Target Shooter

form the 260 Rem case along with a 142grSierraMatchkingbulletandH4350powderwasthe current recipe. Lapua’s own 139 Scenarbullet,withwhich Ihavebeensuccessful,hadbeenlessconsistentinDave’sbarrel.

The day we tested coincided with the longawaited arrival of Lapua’s 260 Rem LapuabrassatHannam’sReloadingand itsusewithidenticalloadswasimmediatelypullingaslightlystrung-out¾MOAgroupbackintoacircularsub½MOAblob.Ihadexperimentedwith243/260brassversustrue260brass,headtoheadandalthoughthe243/260workedwell, Ihadneverbeenhappywiththe‘donut’whichformsinthe243 brass at the base of the neck and,whenloadedto2.810inchesCOAL,wasencirclingthebaseofthelonger139grainbulletandperhapscausinginconsistentstartingpressures.

Thisseemstofitinwiththefactthatsingle-shot260Remuserswerelong-throatingtheirbarrelsforextrapowdercapacityandthereforeavoidingthedonut touching thebullet’sbase.Certainly,when seating each Scenar, I could feel theslightsqueezeasittouched.AsValkyrie0001andmyownriflehadsharedthesamechamberreamer,perhapstheysharedsomeofthesametastes?Anyway,thatisallbesidethepointnowastheproperLapua260Rembrassishereandappears to bewell up to the Lapua standard.

Qualitybrassavailabilityisofcourseaprimaryconcernformost‘accuracynuts`.

ValkyrieRiflesisbothownedandrunbysomeonewhoIhaveknownforseveralyearsandreferredtobeforeasaperfectionist.Dave’sknowledgeand involvement in current trends within theshooting world are gained from the first-handexperienceofwhoshoots,whatdo theyshootand how he can beat them, rather than “HowcanIsellthemagun”.Dave’sshootingabilitiesarewellknownatDiggle,MatterseyandBisleyandarehisbestadvertisement.

His current stock of equipment and chamberreamersandnowhisownValkyrieaction(madeinYorkshire)andhisbarrellingandduracoatingfacilities stand him in very good stead. AftergoingintobusinessonhisowninJanuaryofthisyear (still based on South Yorkshire ShootingSupplies site), he is already comfortably busyand looksset tostay thatway. I feelguiltyofhaving nothing negative to say about the gunotherthanIamveryjealousthatIdon’townitmyself!DaveshouldbeveryproudofNo.0001but I’m sure he is looking forward now toNo.1000andbeyond.

Check outwww.valkyrierifles.net The basicpriceoftheactionis£975butthepricemayvaryinaccordancewithspecification.

Sako-style extractor can just be seen

Target Shooter 31

32 Target Shooter

RemingtonArmsintroducedSPS(SpecialPurposeSynthetic)versionsof itsvenerableModel700afewyearsbackandhasbeenexpandingtherangeeversince.Whilstthenamewas,maybestill is,‘trendy’ especiallywith theUSAandUKfightingwarswithheavyspecialforcesinput,thereisinallhonestynothingspecialabouttheseriflesexcepttheirprice.

They are existing models supplied with cheapsyntheticstocksandavailableasseveralsportingrifle variants – basic blued rifle, Stainless,Buckmasters, Youth, Camo, Compact – skinnybarrel versions available for the usual line-up ofsportingcartridges.Thisbeingatargetshootingorientatedpublication,we’llignorethemandlook

attwoshort-actionheavy-barrelequippedranges.

SPSVarmintmodelsusethe700VS26”barrelledaction but now in a nasty, hard hollow ‘boomy’plasticstockwithaventilatedbeavertailforend.Itisavailablein.17RemFireball,.204Ruger,.223Rem (1-12 twist), .22-250 Rem, .243 Win, and.308Wincalibres.TheSPSTacticalemploystheshort (20 inch) barrel version of the 700 PoliceRifle(PSS)metalworkand,likethedonormodel,isavailablein.223Rem(1-9twist)and.308Wincalibresonly.

WhilstRemingtonhasgoneupmarketwithitsVS,VSSF, andSenderomodels,with increaseduseofstainlesssteel,Aramid/Kevlarstocksandfancy

Be wary about buying ‘cheap’ Remingtons. This is how my previous 700 (a 1998 vintage VS) has ended up – only the receiver and bolt survive, and they have been worked on!

PROJECT RIFLE: THE REMINGTON 700 SPS TACTICAL (Part 1)

by Laurie Holland

The three main SPS models. Top to bottom: Varmint, SPS sporter in stainless form, and Tactical. Note the muzzle thread caps on the Varmint and Tactical rifles, the work done after

import and before proof adding £50 to the price.

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Desert Storm camo-type finishes, our two mini-ranges have a utilitarian matte-black metalworkcoatingthatremindsmeoftheunlovely‘Parkerized’finishonmanyUSmilitaryriflesofthelastcentury.Theyalsoallhavefour-roundinternalmagazineswithhingedfloor-platesaspertheirdonormodels.

The Tactical has one real and one claimedimprovementoverotherSPSmodels,theformerbeingthatRemingtoninstallsthemetalinaHogue‘Overmolded’stockthatputsathickgrippyrubberskin over a nylon pillar-bedded skeleton. WhilemuchbetterthanthenoisyhollowshelltypesontheSPSandSPSVarmint,itisstillinferiortotheH-S Precision or Bell & Carlsson bedding-blockstocks you’ll find on the VS, VSSF, SenderoandPSS,or for thatmatter themoreexpensiveaftermarketbeddingblockversionof theHogue,whichismuchmorerigid.

Infact,theOEMcomponentontheSPSTacticalis so un-rigid up front that you can make thenominally free-floating barrel and beavertail-sectionforendtiptouchbypinchingthembetweentheforefingerandthumb!Itisreportedthatsomeexamples see theweight of the barrelled actionandscopeproduce thiseffectwhenshootingoffabi-pod.

Despitethis,likewisetheperennialInternetrumourmongering thatRemingtonmanufacturingqualityhas‘fallenoffacliff’,theserifleshaveareputationforshootingwellandofferingtremendousvalueformoney.Andthat’sthepointaboutthem,notonlydo they provide affordable entry-level rifles butyoudon’twanttopayforanexpensiveOEMstockifyouintendtoreplaceitwithanAICS,MannersTactical,MacMillan,orwhatever.(I’llcometotheother‘improvement’inaminute.)

A horrible, rough matte black metalwork coating

The SPS Tactical in front of a .243 Win 700 SPS Stainless that produced one-inch 5-shot groups with handloads. Hmmm ... that is a BIG scope for this rifle!

34 Target Shooter

Lost Bargains I’ve mentioned price more than once and theTactical and Varmint models represented a realbargaintwoorthreeyearsagoatnotmuchmorethan £500 if you shopped around - especially ifyoudidn’tneedthemuzzlemachinedtoacceptamoderatorbeforeproofing.UKimporters,EdgarBrothers,arrangingthisforanextra£50.

I even found some plain muzzle examples forsaleinthehigh£400sandreckonedthesepricescouldn’t-wouldn’tlast.Sadly,mycrystalballwasin fine fettle, theRRP having since risen to thehigh£700s,althoughyoucanstillshave£100ormoreoffifyoushoparoundforthecheapestdeal.

At these prices, the rifles should have flown offgunshop racks in 2008/9 but sporting shootershad contracted a severe dose of ‘Tikka T3-itis’and700swereseenas ‘boring’. Withhindsight,Icansee that Imadeagooddecision inbuyingoneatthistime,reckoningthiswasfartoogoodanopportunitytomiss,especiallygiventhe700’ssuitabilityforcustomisation.

However, this wasn’t my first consideration atthe time, as what I really needed was a plain-Jane heavy-barrel .223 to do a round of load-developmentwiththecartridgecoveringbulletsinthe35-70gnweight range. Ihadattempted thismanyyearsago inanearlyRemington700VS,buthadbeenlimitedbyits1-12riflingtwist.

On top of that, many new bullets and powdershavebeen introducedover the last 10years for

SPS Tactical models ‘benefit’ from the X-Mark Pro™ trigger ..... Hmmm!

Dave Wylde starts the tune-up with a complete strip-down (of the rifle!), knocking the trigger assembly retaining pins out here.

Target Shooter 35

thisversatilecartridge.Thisobjectivedictatedmychoice ofmodel with the .223 SPS Varmint stillusingtheoriginalslowVSriflingtwistrate.IreallycannotunderstandwhyRemingtonhasn’tupdatedit to the farmoreuseful 1-9. (See the twist ratetable.)Conversely,ifI’dbeeninthemarketfora.308Win rifle, I’d have plumped for theVarmintwithits26inchbarrel,eventhoughIreallydislikeitsstock.

This begs a question - why not simply pay theextramoneyforaVSorPSSwithanH-SPrecisionor Bell & Carlsson stock as OEM? They havebecome very expensive lately with RRPs wellover£1200andlookingaround,Idon’tthinkyou’llgetanewoneforunder£1000.Fundsavailabilityaside,I’dsayitdependsonwhatyouplantousetherifleforandhowambitiousyou’refeelingintheincreasinglyimportant‘pimp-your-gun’stakes.

TheVSandPSSmodelshaveasolidreputationfor out of the box accuracy, subject to maybereceivingalittlefettlingonthelinesofthatcarriedoutbyValkyrieRiflesthatI’lldescribethismonthand next – witness Toni Young’s single-figure1000yardbenchrestcompetitiongroupswithher.308WinPSS!Anotherissueismagazines-doyou want/need high capacity detachable ones?Whilst theVS/PSScanbefittedwithdetachablebox-magazine(DBM)‘bottommetal’conversions,it’seasierandoftenmorecosteffectivetorestocktheriflewithanAIChassisStockSystemorotherdesigndesignedforDBMoperationfromscratch.

Mouse GunSo, in the end it was a £500 plain-muzzle SPSTacticalin.223RemcalibrethatjoinedtheHollandriflecollection inearly2009. AWarnePicatinnyscope-railwith20-MOAslopefromFoxFirearms

wasscrewedonandoneofthesamegentleman’s£115 Chinese-made 8-32X50 target scopesattachedtoitviameatysteelLeupoldQRWrings.With aHarris BR-S bi-pod attached to the frontslingswivelstudwewerereadytorock!

Ammunition components, dies etc were alreadyonhand,althoughIdidbuysomeRemington62gnOTM(OpenTipMatch)ammothatwasonofferatmylocalgunshoptogetafactoryammobaseline.Inowhadanattractive,handyandreallycompactlittle rifle, although no lightweight in this form.Muchofthiswasdowntothescope,whichwhilesuperboptically,isbigandheavycomparedtoanequivalentLeupoldorSightron.Ihadn’trealisedthisinthescope’spreviousapplication,butputtingitonthislittleriflemadeitlookandfeeloutofplace–furtherthoughtneededhere.

Out of the BoxThenextstepwastotaketherifletothe100yardbenchrestrangeatDiggletosightthescopeinandseehowthecombinationhandledandperformedin‘outofthebox’form.Boltoperationwasrelativelyrough and ‘sticky’ which I put down partly to itsbeingnewbutmoretothenastysurfacefinishthatRemingtonnowusesontheserifles.Muchinferiorto the thin and smooth but very hard wearing,attractiveblackfinishthatusedtobeappliedtotheVSandPSSandsurvivesintactonmyVSbased6mmBRbenchgun, despite thepassageof 13yearsandgettingonfor10,000roundsthroughit.

We come now to the second component thatdistinguishestheTacticalfromotherSPSvariants–thetriggerassembly,thisbeingoneoftheselectfewmodelstohaveRemington’s‘improved’X-MarkPro™systembestoweduponit.Despitethis,thepullwasstillheavyforatargetrifleatfivepounds

The barrel has been put in an appropriate clamp and an action wrench used to break its seal in the receiver tenon threads. The tools seen below are a mechanical trigger-pull gauge and Brownells 700 receiver raceway polishing file

36 Target Shooter

plus,althoughitdidbreakcrisply.TheHoguestockprovedcomfortableandergonomicallyefficientinusewith a nice ‘feel’ from the soft rubber outerskin.DespitetheheftofMrFox’sscopeandthosesteel Leupold QRWs, the barrel was apparentlystillfloatinghappilyinitsstockchannelevenwhenbearingdownonthebi-podattachmentpoint.

Although Ibenchrested the rig,all test-firinghasbeendoneoff theHarriswitha£1Tesco ‘Value’

rubber carmat under its feet to stop it hoppingaroundontheconcretebench-top.

The receiver now stripped of all other components is ready for Dave’s attention

Pre-tuning results with 52gn Sierra MK and Viht N130 – a sweet spot at 24 and 24.4gn with much larger groups at lower and higher

charges

Pre-tuning results with 53gn Hornady A-Max and Viht N130 – disappointing groups throughout a 1.4gn charge range. (1” grid

pattern)

Target Shooter 37

Let’s move onto the first few post sighting-inshots exiting Shortie’s muzzle. The 62gn Remyfactory ammoquickly demonstrated the benefitstobeobtainedthroughhandloading,albeitprovingmarvellously consistent with 1.25”, 1.35”, 1.35”and1.35”five-roundgroupsatamodest2786fpsandnotsomodest64fpsextremespread.

So,itwastimetotrysomehandloadsandseewhatthe little beastie could do. Twenty odd leftoverroundsfrommySouthernGunCo.SSR-15’s.223Remdays(it’snow6.8RemSPC)thatemployedtheold73gnBergerBTMatchoveramildloadofH4895producedhalftoone-inchfive-shotgroupsforanaverageof0.8inches-betterbutnotstellar.

It was then a case of starting handload

development from scratch, revisitingmy loadingrecordsfromadecadeagofortheRemy700VSandlighterbullets.Thatrifleneverperformedwellwith the usually reliable 52gn Sierra Matchkingbut excelled with its 53gn HornadyA-Max rival,especiallyoverVihtN133. Withthesamemakeand profile barrel, albeit six inches shorter andwitha25%fasterriflingtwist,itseemedpossiblethesamepreferenceswouldapply–notabitofit!

The SMK produced very creditable smallestgroupsof0.35 in.and0.4 in.while thebest theA-Maxcouldmanagewas0.7in.,inafivegroupaverageof1.05inchesoverachargeweightrangeof1.4grainsofVihtavuoriN133(seeTable2).

TryingvarioussportingbulletsoverrecommendedTable 2 ‐ 52gn Sierra MK and 53gn Hornady A‐Max Results with Viht N133 Pre‐Tuning 

    Sierra MK        Hornady A‐Max 23.6gn    0.9”  3,062 fps / 56 ES    0.7”  3,067 fps / 19 ES 24.0gn    0.4”  3,128 fps / 22 ES    1.2”  3,139 fps / 19 ES 24.4gn    0.35”  3,186 fps / 46 ES    1.4”  3,192 fps / 31 ES 24.7gn    1.3”  3,214 fps / 70 ES    0.85”  3,230 fps / 24 ES 25.0gn    0.85”  3,249 fps / 32 ES    1.1”  3,268 fps / 40 ES 

 

Table 1 ‐ 223 Remington Twist Rates’ Applications 

Twist Rate  Optimal Bullet Weight / Type  Limitations / Comments 1‐12”  35‐53gn all types 

All 55gn flat‐base and shorter boat‐tail models 

Standard SAAMI twist rate for the cartridge. Marginal for longer 55gn boat‐tail models. Some short (flat‐base) 60‐64gn bullets are designed for stability in 1‐12” rate. May not stabilise standard weight non‐lead (copper) sporting bullets due to their extra length.  

1‐9”  55‐70gn all types except VLDs Shorter 73‐75gn HPBT Match designs 

Unsuitable for very thin‐jacketed light bullets designed for the .22 Hornet and .222 Rem. Marginal for 70gn VLDs and longer 75s such as the Hornady A‐Max. Needed to stabilise some lighter (55gn) non‐lead sporting bullets due to their extra length. 

1‐8”  65‐80gn BTSP and HPBT Match  Marginal stability with some 80gn VLDs. Still suitable for heavily constructed 50‐55gn FMJs, match and sporting bullets but risks overstressing more fragile designs.  

1‐7”  77‐90gn HPBT Match and VLDs  Suitable for most 68‐75gn match bullets, but risks overstressing lightly constructed models and any lighter bullet. 

 

38 Target Shooter

propellantsproducedmixed results ranging frombestgroupswiththeno-leadBarnes36gn‘VarmintGrenade’ at 0.4 inches overVihtN130, to a fulltwo inches for the55gnNoslerBallisticTipoverHodgdonBenchmark. This sort of performancevariationisbynomeansunusualinfactoryrifles,actionsandbarrelsshowingdistinctpreferencesforsomemakesandmodelsofbulletsoverothers.

Withtheexceptionofthesister50gnNoslerBallisticTip,alsooverBenchmark,thatproducedasmallrangeofgroupsizesaroundthree-quartersofaninch–morethanadequateformost‘foxers’–allcombinationsprovedfinicky,muchpreferringoneor two chargeweights in 1.4-2gnoverall ranges(seeTable3).Again,thisisnotatallunusualformanyfactoryriflesand,ifIseemtobelabouringthepoint, it’sbecause Iwant to return to it nextmonthwhenIlookatwhatValkyrieRifles’fettlingachieved.

ValkyrieDue to other shooting and load developmentpriorities, nothing more happened to, or with,the little Remington for some 15 months butdiscussionswithRogerFrancisofSouthYorkshireShootingSuppliesandnowindependentgunsmithDave Wylde on the same site who trades asValkyrieRiflesgotmethinkingaboutathree-stagedevelopmentprogrammefortheSPS:

Stage1-asimple‘tune-up’byDave

Stage 2 - restockwith aMannersTactical DBMfromSYSSandalsoreplacetheRemington‘fly’seye’boltknobwithagoodsizedtacticalexample

Stage3-haveDavefitafast-twistmatch-qualitybarrelforasensible20-calibrewildcattoproduceaversatileshorttomid-rangesportingandtargetrifle.

So what does a Valkyrie factory rifle ‘tune-up’involve?Accuracy-wise,therearefourelements:

1-Re-faceandre-crownthemuzzlewithaproperrecessedtargetcrown

2-Lapthebolt lugsagainstthereceiver lockingsurfacestoimprovetheirfitandhopefullyprovidethe same amount of contact area for each lug(many factory rifles see one lug with greatercontactthantheother)

3-Adjust the trigger fora lighterpullandclean/polish the bolt body interior and firing pin tip toensureconsistentprimerstrike.

On top of that, the receiver bolt raceways arelappedtogivesmoother,easieroperation,thebolttiming and extractor mechanism checked/faultsrectified;theejector-pinpolishedtoimprovecaseejection.

Thisworktakesaroundtwohoursandcosts£90.HandtherifleovertoDaveandheproceedstostripitdown–barrelledactionremovedfromthestock;scopebases/railandtrigger-groupremovedfromthe receiver; barrel and recoil-lug removed fromthe receiver; receiver de-greased and cleanedreadyforworktocommence.

These tasks would take me all day but wereaccomplished ina fewminutes, thesolehold-upbeingtheLoctiteI’veusedonthescoperailset-screwsrequiringalotofefforttoundothem-Daveassuringmethistreatmentisunnecessary.Allthebitsarecarefullyplaced inaplasticboxfor laterattention.I’llgothroughtheworkstepbystepandreportontheresultsnextmonth.

Table 3 ‐ Group Size Ranges with Sporting Bullets in 700 SPS Tactical Pre‐Tuning Bullet          Powder       Group Range    5‐Group Av 36gn Barnes V Grenade     22.5‐24.5gn Viht N130    0.4 – 1.1”    0.75” 36gn Barnes V Grenade    22.0‐24.0gn Allt. Re7    0.6 – 1.4”    1.0” 40gn Hornady V‐Max    22.5‐24.5gn Viht N130    0.5 – 1.1”    0.89” 40gn Hornady V‐Max    23.0‐25.0gn Allt. Re10x    0.6 – 1.5”    0.89” 50gn Nosler Ball. Tip    24.5‐26.5gn H. Benchmark  0.65 – 0.8”    0.75” 55gn Nosler Ball. Tip    23.0‐25.0gn H. Benchmark  0.75 – 2.0”    1.11” 

 

Target Shooter 39

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Target Shooter 41

Rimfire and Air Rifle Benchrest - Mirage

By Carl Boswell

Iwonderhowmanyshootersreadingthishavehadsomeformofcoachingduringtheirshootingcareer? This may have been at club level orevenatamoreadvancedlevel.

One of the great things about producing thismagazineisthatIgettoreadallofthearticlesfirst-inadvance.Agreatonefromlastmonth’s(May) issue was by Chris White about wind-plotting – a form of self-coaching - in writtenform if you like. For me, we can often learnsomething fromeachother, irrespectiveof theshootingdiscipline.

I’mpartof theworld-widecommunitycurrentlypreparingfortheRimfireandAirRifleBenchrestWorldChampionship inAmerica. Ifind itveryinteresting reading emails from colleaguesabout their preparation...... and dare I say it -training.Theamountofpreparationthattakesplace with some teams is quite astounding.Thiscouldbetimeontherangespenttrainingand testing, or preparing rifles, equipment,ammunition etc. Accumulatively, between the120 odd competitors taking part in the WorldChampionships, this stacks up into thousandsandthousandsofmanhours.

So, the question is - How do we prepare foramajorshoot? Therearesomanywaysand

on-range training inevitably involves mirage –notsomuchintheUKbutcertainly inwarmerclimatesoverseas.Mirageisapopularsubjecton the internet forums but one thing I havelearned about this particular issue, througha number of conversations over the years,is it is very personal to the individual shooter,depending on the optics they are using, theirownequipmentandtheireyesight.

Why is having a basic understanding of theaffect ofmirage important? Well,mirage canaffecttheimpactpointofanybullet,be ita22rimfirebulletatashootingdistanceof50metresor a centrefire bullet at 1000 yards. Even at50 yards, the ‘shift’ due to mirage can be asmuchasoneinchawayfromwhereyouhopedtheshotwasgoing.At1000yards?Idreadtothink!Thisdevastatingeffect,incompetitionatanylevel,canhaveahugeimpact.Beenthere,gotthet-shirt!

In many countries, including the UK, mirageshooting is difficult to practise as, thankgoodness,itisararitywithourcoolerweather.However,wearenowinthespringmonths,thesun has come out briefly and someone hasturned up the thermostat. We may have thechance to put ourmirage-shooting theories tothetest!

Above - a scene from one of the videos mentioned in this article. Mirage distorts sight picture through a natural process of light refraction - your bullet will not go where you think it will!!

42 Target Shooter

Youwilloftenhearexperiencedmirageshootersclaim that you ‘shoot the mirage and not theflags’.Staywiththisideaifyoucan!

Psychologicallyandpracticallythisisadifficultthingtodoforsomereasonslistedbelow.

1.Wetrainusingflagstoindicatethespeedanddirectionofthewindandrelyonourwind-flagsto tell uswhat is happeningbetween rifleandtarget. Theoperativewordhere is ‘rely’.Mostofuswerebroughtuptousewind-flagssoit’sdifficultnotto.

2.Seeingmirageisnotalwayseasy.Mirageisoftendescribedasa‘windyoucansee’.Wearelooking forwaves of air changing and shiftingthesightpicturethroughthelensofouroptics.Ifthisisobservedthroughahigh-powerscopeitwillalsoallowtheshootertoestimatethespeedanddirection.

3.The indications the wind flags provide willcontinue to have some relevance. Balancingthiswithmirageisdifficult.Whichwillhavethegreatesteffectonourbullet?

So if it is not easy, just how dowe shoot themirage?OnegreatUSshooterwhoisnolongeronthescene,madeanexcellentobservationforshooting in any conditions – sighters! Wherepossible,useyoursighterstoassessthemiragenot just the wind-flags. Sighters, sighters andmoresighters.Thisenables you tobesureofwhat the conditions are out there. Obviously,

at the same time, balancing all these sighterswith the time restrictionsof thematch,asyoucould end up with a target full of sighters!!The restrictiononair rifle isalsosomething toconsiderasmostrifleswillprovidefiftytosixtygoodshotsfromtheaircylinder.

Whatdoesmiragelooklikethroughyourscope?In the worst possible case it can look likeshooting through fast-moving water and eventheringsonyourtargetmaynotbevisible–letaloneyourshot-holes!

Often,intheUK,lightmirageisalmostinvisibleandcanonlybeseenbyre-focussingyourscopetopartwaydownrange–sothatthetargetisoutoffocus.

Asweshootatshorter ranges,havea lookata video onYouTube shot by our friendAndyDubreuilwhoisa22rimfirebenchrestshooterandcurrentUKchampion.Go tohttp://youtu.be/SGBz0H4zX-U In this video you can seecanseetheaffectofmiragethroughthescope.Thisfilmiswellworthwatchingasitshowssomeveryinterestingthings.

Thefirstthingitshowsisthatnothingismoving– it just looks as if it is.This is the real issuewith mirage. The sight picture is providinginformationaboutthecentreofthetargetbeingwhereitactuallyisn’t-anopticalillusiondowntorefractedor‘bent’lightcreatingthedisplacedimageofthetarget.Thereasonwhythebulletwillhitthetargetinthewrongplace.

What you might expect to see through your scope with mirage and no wind.

What you might expect to see through your scope with mirage and 5-10mph wind

Target Shooter 43

TryanotherexcellentvideobyAndywhereheisshootinga50metretarget,againwithsomequite interesting mirage – http://youtu.be/h2Dm-lV5BCcThisvideoisanexcellentlearningtool!!

Whatcausesmirageisn’t importanttous.Yes,

we could go into a detailed andmathematicalexplanation about cold and hot air pressure,that light raysbendas theymove from lighter(warm)todenser(cold)airandvisaversa,etc,etc.Whatisimportantisknowingthat:

Ifthegroundandairiswarmerthanthathigher

Above and below - click the images to fast track to the two videos mentioned in this article. They are a good tools to indicate what it is like to view and compendate for mirage.

44 Target Shooter

up,light‘bends’upwards.

If thegroundandair is cooler thanhigherup,light‘bends’downwards.

Would anyone be clever enough - or quickenough - to mathematically calculate thecompensationneededformirage?Doubtfulbutitisimportanttounderstandwhatishappeningto our sight-picture and that we will need tocompensateinsomeway,justaswewouldwithconventionalwind-flags.Experienceistheonlyhelphereand, coming fromaUKclimate,wegetlittleopportunitytobuildupthatexperience.Someoverseasshooterswillencountermirageevery time they shoot – beware of thesecompetitors!

Remember,likewindandtheflagsindicatingtheevershiftingmovement,miragewillalsochangebutitmaynotbesoobviousasaflag.Therealskillisspottingthis!

Doesmiragehaveagreaterorlesseraffectthanthewind?Or,anotherwayofputtingit - shouldwe shoot using the indicationsfromthewindflagsorshouldweshootwithwhatthemirageisindicating?

Goodquestion.Here’swhereyoumustbecareful and use your sighters and recordshotstotryanddeterminewhichishavingmosteffect.Me?Generally,Iwouldshootusingwhatthemirageisindicating,as95%ofthetimeitwillbecorrect.It’sjustcomesdowntojudgement!

Arethereanywaystoalleviatetheeffectsofmirage?Thereisnosubstituteforpracticeinmirageconditionsbut,aswehavesaid,difficultintheUK.

Is thereanygizmowecanbuywhichwillhelp? Well, a variable scope with sidefocus will allow you to turn-down themagnificationwhichwillhavetheeffectoflessening the effect of themirage on thesight-pictureandyoucanalsoquicklyalterthefocustomagnifythemirage–i.e.makeitmorevisibletohelpwithaim-off.

There are a number of filtering lensesavailableonthemarket.Thebestoftheseis the previously reviewed Bulzeyeprooptical booster. It depends on how youviewtheseproducts.Somepeoplewillbeverypositive,somewillnot.Thelatter,forme,worksverywell!

Mostscopesaresuppliedwithasunshadebutbewareof using too longa sunshadeon yourscope.Iftheairinsidethesun-shadeheatsup,it can create a mini-mirage with your scope!However,barrel-mountedmiragebandscanbeusefulinlesseningtheeffectsofheatrisingfromahotbarrelinstillconditions.

Lastly in competition, in practice or basicallywhenever you shoot observe the prevailingconditions, mentally note these and take lotsandlotsandlotsofsighters.

DealingwiththeaffectsofmirageisoneofthemostdifficultandexhaustingthingsIandmostsportspeoplehavetodealwithduringamatchor even in testing/ training. Each individualmatchisdifferent,eachrangeisdifferent-thiscanbegenerallyorfromminutetominute-justlike reading the wind. So no simple answer Iamafraid,asitisaboutgainingexperienceandformulatingthisandtheequipmentyouuseinto

Sighter, sighters and more sighters. I think I shot the most I every have in a match at the European Championship last year - conditions were that interesting!Above a target from 2008 - mirage was again very difficult in Milan.

Target Shooter 45

alogicalwayofdealingwiththeissueofmirage.I say equipment as this is very important.The way your rifle and scope interact in theenvironmental conditionswill be different fromotherpeoples!!Possiblysettingupforpotentialmirageissuesatamatchissomethingtothinkabouttoachievesuccess.

Someinterestingonlinearticlestohelpcontinueyourunderstandingofmiragecanbefoundat:

http: / /cheaperthandir tcom.blogspot .com/2010/04/reading-wind-and-mirage.html

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3197/

is_n12_v34/ai_8331117/

http://www.shootinguk.co.uk/qa/470429/Compensate_for_heat_mirage_when_rifle_shooting.html

http://www.6mmbr.com/readingmirage.html

TargetShooterhasaworld-widereadershipandwe would welcome an article from someonewho encounters mirage frequently in matchconditions, be it for short range benchrest orlong-rangeriflecompetitionlikeFClass.

Untilnexttime.

The Bulzeyepro optical booster may be a viable product to alleviate and also aid viewing of mirages

Devices like the sunshade below are available for most scopes that are associated with rimfire and air rifle benchrest

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Target Shooter 47

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48 Target Shooter

OurvisittoSavageArmshadbeenintheplanningstage for severalmonths but a combination of achangeinUKdistributor(EdgarBrothersarenowtheofficialimporter)andthelaunchofpossiblyoneof the most significant products in several years(moreofwhichlater)meantthatwehadtowaituntil

Octoberof2010beforewewereabletoarrangeamutuallyconvenientdate.

The main Savage Arms factory is located inWestfieldMassachusetts,whichisabout100milesduewestofBoston.Thisseemedtheidealportof

A visit to Savage Arms

by Yvonne Wilcock

Target Shooter 49

entryintotheUSforustravellingfromManchester.MyotherhalfandIareregularvisitorstotheUSandhavesampledafewoftheusualroutesandairlinesbut,forthefirsttime,wecrossedtheAtlanticwithAerLingusviaDublinwhichisauniqueexperiencedue to the fact you clear US immigration beforeevensteppingontheplane.

UsingstopovertimeinDublintogetthisnecessaryprocesscompletewasarealbonus,queuingtimewas significantly less thanwewere used to andstepping off at Boston and strolling straight pastthe lengthy immigrationqueuescausedbyBritishAirwaysandAirFrance747’sarrivingatthesametimewas strangely satisfying. Wewere throughtheairportandinourhotelroomdowntownwithinanhourofpullingupat thegatehavingusedtheimpressivesubwaytogetwithin100yardsofourhotel.

We had arranged tomeet our hostBill Dermodymid-morningonMonday18thOctobersoinordertomakethemostofthetripweflewoutonFridaymorning with a view to spending the weekendin Boston sightseeing, prior to driving across toSavage. The weather was extremely kind tous and we managed to spend all day SaturdaywalkingaroundthecityexploringafractionofwhatBostonhastoofferincludingtheobligatorypintintheCheersbarofTVsitcomfame!

Sunday meant a brief subway ride back to the

airporttocollectourhirecarforthedriveacrosstoWestfield.AfewmilesoutsideBostononI90andarealandpreviouslyun-thoughtofconsolationforourtripbeinglaterintheyearmaterialised,wehadmanagedtoarriveinthe‘fall’andthecoloursofthewoodlands that lined themotorway theentire tripwerestaggering.

Less than two hours after leaving Boston weapproached our exit and saw the Indian’s Headlogo on the back of the factorywhich is situatedjustoffthemotorway.Infactthefactory’slocationby the interstate isnotbychance. Westfield liesrightononeof thebest transportcorridors in thenorth being located on I90which runs from eastcoasttowestcoastandtherailwaylinesthatbringbothrawmaterialsintotheareaandtakefinishedproductsaway.

HavingspentSundaynightatthelocalHolidayInnExpresshotelwedulypresentedourselvesatthefactorygatesat10.00amwherewewereissuedwithvisitorpassesandgivendirectionstothereceptionarea.Passingthroughthemetaldetectorsat thefrontdoorrevealedaspectaculararrayofproductsthat Savage havemade throughout their history,themajoritybeingtheriflesthey’refamousforbutsome unexpected items were also there in theshapeoflawnmowersandicecreamcabinets!

Waitingintheshowcaseareaforourhosttomeetusgaveusanopportunitytomarvelatthefirearms

50 Target Shooter

thatwereondisplay,manyofwhichwereunusedexamplesinmintcondition.AfterashortwhileAlKaspar came out and introduced himself as ourhostBillDermodywasdetainedinameetingsohewouldstepinandshowusround.

AlKasparisthePresidentofSavageanditsChiefOperatingOfficerandhasbeenwithSavagesincethetimeofit’sresurrectionthroughtothepresentday. Whilst Ron Coburn is probably the namemost people know at Savage, being the CEOand instrumental in transforming the company’sfortunes,itisclearthatheissurroundedbyateamofcompetentandcommittedpeople.Alstartedwithaquickhistoryoftheorganisationandits journeytoitscurrentpositionasacompanythatproducesapproximately 350,000 bolt action firearms

annually!Whilstmuchhasbeenwrittenaboutthe revival of Savage’s fortunes it was greattohearitfromtheverypeoplethatmadeitallhappen.

Passing through onto the factory floor,Al explained that the ethos of continualimprovementstotheprocessesmeantthatthefactory,whilststill fullyoperational,was in themiddleofsomemajoralterations.Thesizeoftheplantmeantthatthedistancecoveredbyacomponent part suchas theactionwasquitelengthy and so they were re-arranging it and

hadrecentlycompletedalargeshufflearoundandwereplanningthenextstage.

Nowallthissoundseasybutwhenyouconsideritmeansseveraltonnesofindustrialmachineryandits associated services you start to feel that it isnomean feat,especiallywhenwe foundout thatitallhappensoveraweekendandnodowntimeispredictedinproduction!Willitbeworththeeffort?Well, when you consider that the first shuffleshortened the distance that action travelled byhundredsofyardsand theassociatedbenefitsofthat,thenyouhavegottofigurethattheyhavegotitrightagain.At thestartof itallwere large rackswith lengths

Target Shooter 51

of steel bar, linked by computer to their chosensupplier.Therawmaterialsarrivewithouttheneedtobeorderedas thesupplierknows thestockinglevels required and needed for the production-runsplannedinthesystem,onelessthingtoworryabout!The actions and barrel blanks are cut from thesamebarandaresentthroughinbatchestobegintheprocessofbeingtransformedintoarifle.Nowfor those of you that aren’t familiar with Savagerifles,youmaynotknowsomeofthefeaturesthatmakethemdistinctivefromotherbrands.

Thefirstandpossiblymostobviousistheuseofabarrel-nutjustinfrontoftheaction.Usingthebarrelnut to set the headspacemeans that the barrelscanbecompletedwithoutevencomingintocontactwiththeaction.Thebarrelnutmakesheadspacingabreeze,withago-gaugeinthechamberanactionisscrewedonuntilitisonthegaugeatwhichpointthebarrelnutistightened,aquickchangeovertothenogogaugetoconfirmthatalliswellanditisonwiththenextone!

This also means that all Savage Rifles are setto minimum headspace. Another key feature ofSavage rifles that both aids manufacture andincreases accuracy is the floating bolt-head.Savage bolts are made up of several commoncomponentstoaidmanufacture,thismeansthatallyouhave todo isassemble thecomponentsyouneedtocreatethedesiredbolt.

Whenyouconsider thenumberof variationsyoucanhavethisseemstomakesense,forexampleyoucanhave223,308,WinMagandWSMboltfacesall runningoffasimilaraction. Thedesignallowsyou tosimplychange thebolt-face for theoneyouneed.

Moving further into the factory, we came to thesection that produces all the barrels from theraw lengths of steel, from the drilling, rifling,threadingandchambering,culminatinginthefinalstraightening. At this point we were introducedto Ray Silva, the most photographed man atSavage.IfyouownaSavagebuiltinthelastnineyears chances areRay has looked through yourbarrelandstraighteneditbyhand.WithoneothercolleaguewhoRaytrainedup,theyareresponsibleforchecking,byeye,everybarrelthatismade.Raydemonstrated how he did thiswith the familiaritygainedbydoing300plus,barrelsaday!

LeavingRayandthebarrelproductionareabehind,

Alwaskeentoshowusthehigh-endCNCmachinesSavagepurchasedtoproducetheactionsinwhatwasamajorcapitalinvestmentthatpaidforitselfinanextremelyshorttime.Indeedaswewerebeingshown around another new CNC machine wasbeingdelivered,wastingnotimeAltoldusitwouldbeworkingandearningitskeeplaterthatday!

Savage’s ongoing investment in technology willhelp to keep their products affordable in thesechallenging times. Their ethos has always been“Accuracy andAffordability”. Accuracy has for alongtimenowbeena‘given’,withitsrifleswinningmatchesatthehighestlevelregularly.

Moving ever onwards we came to the assemblystations,where some of the smaller componentswerebeingputtogether.Boxesuponboxesofboltbodies, handles, firing pins and springs etcwerebeing deftly assembled into bolts ready for theirnextstage.Boxesalsooftrigger-unitsthatlookedslightly different to the standardAccutrigger thatSavage is known for. Closer inspection showedthattheywereinfactthetriggerunitsforthenewAxisrifle(formerlyknownastheEdge).

Atthispointitisworthmentioningthisnewseriesof rifles because they are a going to be a hugesuccess -howcan Ibesosure? Well, theyarebuilt in exactly the same way as every otherSavagerifleandtheinherentaccuracythatbringsbutthekillerfeatureistheprice,theyarealreadyretailingonthehighstreetintheUSforlessthan$300! By the time they reachourshores thoughthepricebecomes£399butwhatelsecanyoubuyfor thatmoney?Savagehavereallygonealloutonthisprojectandarelookingforalargechunkofthehunting-riflemarketwiththereleaseoftheAxisand,ifinitialreportsareanythingtogoby,theyaregoingtogetit.(TShavejustgottheirhandsonanAxisandwillbedoingafulltestverysoon-Ed)

Nextupwasheadspacing,wherethebarrelsandtheactionswere introduced toeachother for thefirst time. AsmentionedbeforetheprocessforaSavage is simplicity itself and this, arguably themostcriticalpartof theassembly iscompleted inshortorder.Thispartoftheshopfloorisadjacentto the test rangewhere the functionof therifle istestedandtherifleisfired.

Dozensofrifleswerelinedupinrackswaitingtobetestedforbothfunctionandaccuracy.Alltheriflesthatwe sawwere the newAxismodels destinedforGermany,withafewofthembeingputtogetheras ‘packages’withscopesmounted,bore-sighted

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andreadytogo.Thepictureshowsthesetuponthebenchformountingthescopeandadjustingthesightswithavideoboresightingkit.Thegirlinthepicture isnoslouch,her record formountingandboresightingascopeis40seconds!

Despite being the biggest manufacturer ofbolt-actions rifles annually worldwide, the factoryat Savage copes without fuss and does what itdoesveryefficiently.Noneoftheriflesbuiltareforstockaseverythingbuilt istoorderandcanbeabatchofAxisriflesonedayorasmallrunofFClassriflesthenext. ThefactthatSavageevenbothertobuildadedicatedrangeoftargetrifles,letaloneselltheactionsindividuallyisarealbonusforus,theendusers. TheirFClass rifleshavealreadyproventhemselvesasutterlycapableinalllevelsofcompetitionoutoftheboxandIamsurprisedthatnoneoftheothermanufacturershavefollowedsuit.

Inreality,salesoftheFClassriflesareirrelevanttoSavagebeingsuchasmallpartoftheoverallpictureintermsofnumbers.Billestimatedthatitamountedto lessthan5%oftheriflesbuilt,howeverIhavealwayslikenedittoFormulaOneinthatitbecomesanengineeringshowcaseforyourproducts.With

TeamSavagewinningmedalsat competitionsallroundtheworld itcertainlycan’thurt thesalesoftheirhunting rifles. Testimony to theaccuracyofSavageriflesisthefactthattheyholdtwoNationalFClass(FT/R)recordsthatbizarrelyenoughweresetwithinhoursofeachotheroneithersideoftheAtlanticlastAugustat1000yards–inasportthatwouldotherwisebedominatedbycustomrifles.

Ourvisit,whilstbrief,wasbusyandagreatinsightintohowtomake1000riflesaday!Withagoodmixof theoldand thenew itwaswellworth theeffortgoingoverthereandmeetingthepeoplethatareSavageArms.Asaprivatecompany,theyareperhapssomewhatmoreincontrolofthedirectionthey are heading than others but if the last fewyearsareanything togoby, then Iwouldhazardabetthattheywillcontinuetobuildaffordableandaccurate rifles for the masses for some time tocome.

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Target Shooter 53

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54 Target Shooter

Let’s lookatwhere the6mmBRfits into thegreatscheme of things ballistically. Back in 1994 whenNorma revitalised the design, the BR didn’t havecompetition from many small precision cartridgessuitablefor300ydandlongerdistances.Mostpeopleand disciplines used ‘service cartridges’ which inpractice translated to .308 Winchester, and alsofromaroundthattime.223Remloadedwithheavy(77and80gn)bullets, at least so far asAmericanServiceRifleshooterswereconcerned.

The BR improves on the good old 308 in everyperformancecategoryapartfrombulletenergylevels

– precision, recoil, retained long-range velocitiesandwinddrift.(Table1.)IfyoulookatTable2,whichcompares6and6.5mmcartridges’casecapacitiesintermsoftheweightofwaterthey’llhold,thestandardBRisatthebottomendoftherangeandI’vegivenitabaselinevalueof100tocompareothersagainst.

Theinternalballistics‘ruleofthumb’isthatallotherthings(bulletmodelandweight,chamberpressures,and barrel length) being equal, you divide thepercentagechange incasecapacityby four togetthepercentagechangeinMV.So,withour6BRat100,adesignwhosecapacity isshownas120,or

HANDLOADING BENCH - 6mm BR NORMA (Part 2)

by Laurie Holland

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20%greater,shouldseea~5%MVincrease.

I’veassumeda6BRriflewith28inchbarrelrunningatsensiblepressureswillgivea105-108gnlong-rangematchbullet~2,800fpsMV,soourhypothetical20%larger cased cartridge will produce an extra 140fpsbutatthecostofmorerapidbarrelheatingandfouling,heavierrecoilandmorerifledisturbanceontherestandbags,muchshorterbarrelaccuracylife.

With the small BR case, expansion ratios are lowevenin6mm,soextralongbarrelsaren’tneededtoproducetopMVs,28inchesreckonedtobeoptimumfortargetriflesandlessthan10extrafpsavailableforeachinchofbarrelabovethatlength.WhiletheMV lost with each inch lopped off below 28 inchwill be greater, it’s still modest compared to mosthigh-performance cartridges, so a 25 or 26 inchbarrelmulti-purposeriflethatwilldothebusinessonlong-rangetargets,verminandsmalldeerspeciesisperfectlyfeasible.

While the 6BR only had the .243 and .308 Wincartridges,plusmaybe6.5X55mmtocontendwith15yearsago,wehaveamuchlargerchoicenowstartingwith the 6PPC and going up to the larger 6.5mmcartridgessuchas6.5-284Normainrelativelysmall

capacitysteps.Ireckontherearesome20modelsreadilyavailableacrossthetwocalibresifyoucountAckleyorother‘Improved’versionsseparately.

Table 2 lists the main members of this combined6mmand6.5mmgroup,andonemustparticularlybearinmindthecompetitionprovidedbynewsmallercapacity 6.5s, the 6.5X47mm Lapua and 6.5mmHornady Creedmoor, not to forget the revitalised260Remington,whichfinallyhastopquality(Lapua)brass available. They give 139/140gn bulletscomparableMVstothe6BR‘family’butusehigherBCbullets(Berger6mm105gnVLD:0.272G7BC;Berger6.5mm140gnVLD:0.313).

Table3comparestheexternalballisticsperformanceof the6BRand6mmDasheragainst thesesmaller6.5mmcartridges.ThecartridgewaspopularintheearlydaysofFClassbuthasbeenrudelyelbowedoff the ranges - at National GB League levelanyway - by much more muscular numbers, firstin6.5mmcalibreandsince7mm. The6BR isstilloftenviableinclubandregionalleveleventsanditis notable thatmany continental European visitorsbring ‘sixes’ to theannualGBFClassAssociationEuropean Championship weekend at Bisley - themultinational ‘Sixes’ winning the 30-round Rutland

teammatch(15eachat900and1,000yd)withascoreof557.50vex600.TeammemberChristerJakobsonfromSwedenshot theonly ‘possible’inthecompetitionwitha6XCchamberedrifle.

There is some home-grown competition tooof course as the BR is very susceptible to‘improvement’. Of the various forms, the bestknownare theBRXandDasher that seenecklengthsacrificedtoallowaconsiderabledegreeoffireformingthatmovestheshoulderforwardsand also reduces the case-body taper. Thisincreasesthecasecapacitybysome3to3.5gnifmeasuredusingtheweightofwaterthecaseholds and offers 100-150 fps extra MV with a105gnbullet.

Themain difference between the two forms isshoulder angle, the BRX retaining the parentcase’s30-degreeandallowingstandarddiestobeused,theDasherprovidingasharperangle.ThereisalsotheBR-DXformthatdoesn’tseetheshouldermoveforwardbutprovidesa40-degreeangleandabitlessbodytaperformaybea1.5gncapacity increase. This trio have a reputationfor providing superb accuracy as well as MVimprovements,maybe even better than that oftheir parent, and are widely used inAmerican600and1000yardbenchrestcompetition.

Shooting SticksIt’snocoincidencethatthecartridge’spopularityhas grown alongside the huge increase in thenumber of custom-built precision rifles thathave been commissioned in recent years.EvenRemington,who’d adopted the cartridge,

56 Target Shooter

Forster Co-Ax PressThe simplest, most powerful and most accurate press on the market, bar none. The press delivers perfect alignment of the die and the case because the shell holder jaws are designed to float with the die, thereby permitting the case to center precisely in the die. Dual floating guide rods ensure perfect alignment.

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Peckfield Lodge, Great North Rd, South Milford, Leeds, LS25 5LJTel: 01977 681639 Fax: 01977 684272 email: sales@hannamsreloading.com

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Forster Benchrest Reloading DiesThe perfect dies for benchrest and target shooters seeking the very best accuracy.

The Outside Neck Turner AccessoryThis is used with the Original Case Trimmer. The Forster Outside Neck Turner is an invaluable aid in maintaining a uniform thickness in the neck walls of your cartridge cases.

Cartridge & CaseInspector

Case TrimmerPrimer Seater

Case Neck Graphiter

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Forster Co-Ax PressThe simplest, most powerful and most accurate press on the market, bar none. The press delivers perfect alignment of the die and the case because the shell holder jaws are designed to float with the die, thereby permitting the case to center precisely in the die. Dual floating guide rods ensure perfect alignment.

UK distributor of Forster ProductsHannam’s Reloading Ltd

Peckfield Lodge, Great North Rd, South Milford, Leeds, LS25 5LJTel: 01977 681639 Fax: 01977 684272 email: sales@hannamsreloading.com

For the full range of Forster Products visit www.forsterproducts.com

Forster Benchrest Reloading DiesThe perfect dies for benchrest and target shooters seeking the very best accuracy.

The Outside Neck Turner AccessoryThis is used with the Original Case Trimmer. The Forster Outside Neck Turner is an invaluable aid in maintaining a uniform thickness in the neck walls of your cartridge cases.

Cartridge & CaseInspector

Case TrimmerPrimer Seater

Case Neck Graphiter

hasonlyeveronly chambered it in its40-Xseriescompetition rifles, available as special order itemsthroughtheitsCustomShopfacility.Whatifyou’reinterestedinshootingthe6BR,butwantsomethingthat’s cheaper, not to mention available beforeyou reach pension age given the length of manygunsmiths’waitinglists?

Sofaras‘offtheshelf’riflesareconcerned,Savageis theonly largemainstreammanufacturer tomeetthis needwith two versions of theModel 12 LongRangePrecisionVarmint(LRPV),onerightbolt/leftportwitha1-8twist26 inchbarrel; theotherrightbolt/dual port with a slower 1-12 twist rate barrel,also26inches.

There are two long-range competition modelsdifferentiated by their stocks, the Model 12 FClass and Bench Rest rifles, both with 1-8 twist30 inchbarrels. (Note, twist rateoptions seem tohave changed recently, so some new,more likelysecondhandriflesmayhave1-12twist-ratebarrels

where I’ve shown a 1 in 8 twist only.) All aresingle-shot–talktoSavagespecialistOspreyRiflesif you’re interested in thesemodels or customisedversionsbasedon them(http://www.ospreyrifles.com).

ThereareafewexpensiveEuropeantactical/sniperswitch-barrel rifles from Alpine, SIG-Sauer andBlaser,whichhavea6mmNormaBRbarreloptionlistedbutforsingle-shotuseonlyinwhatarenormallymagazinerifles.Inbetweenprice-wise,RPAlistsitsInterceptor sporterwitha6BRoption– I’msure itwasavailableintargetformtooatonetimebutthecompany’swebsitedoesn’tshowitnow.(Note:RPAarecurrentlyundergoingsomethingofa re-vamp).However, with the cartridge using the standard0.473” dia. case-head,most people get their 6BRbysimply rebarrellingagoodquality,accurate riflethatwasoriginally .243or .308Win, .22-250Remetccalibre.

One major reason for the paucity of 6BR factory

58 Target Shooter

riflesisperhapsthecartridge’sreputationforfeedingdifficultiesinmagazinerifles,thankstotheshort,fatcase.Whilstafewsingle-shotfactoryvarmintriflesareavailablefrommanufacturersotherthanSavage,thisisafairlyrecentandstillverylimiteddevelopment.The attitudes of some worthies in our gun tradehaven’t caught up yet with US developments asStuartAnselmfoundwhenhesetupOspreyRiflesandhadgreatdifficulty inpersuading the thenUKSavage importer to accept orders for any single-shotmodel,targetorvarmint,theimporteradamantthattherewasnodemandforthem.However,therenowappearstobeasubstantialmarketforprecisionlong-range fox rifles as well as modern opticallysightedtargetrifles.

It was long believed that you couldn’t make anyfactory rifle with an internal magazine feed thecartridge,butthatnolongerappliestotheRemington700anditsclonesfromStilleretc.Agunsmithwhoknowshisstuffwillbuildyouareliable6BRrepeateron these actions, David Wylde of Valkyrie Rifleshavinggaineda reputationhere forachieving this.TheAccuracyInternationaldetachable10-roundboxmagazinefeedsthecartridgeverywellforthosewhowantthisfeatureontacticaltyperiflesbutnotethatothers,includingtheH-SPrecisiondesignwon’t.

However, asDave remindedme, there ismore togettingthe100%reliabilitythattacticalandMcQueenshootersneedthanjustsupportingandguidingthecartridge on its short journey from magazine tochamber– that’s only half the job, equally reliableejectionoffiredcasesisalsoneeded.Davestronglyrecommends having theRemy 700 boltmachinedto accept a Sako extractor mounted high on thebolt-faceside,otherwisetheshortcasestendtohittheleftreceiverwall/scoperail,bouncearoundandbecometrappedinsidethereceiver.

IntheUSA,GaryEliseo(CompetitionShootingStuff)has adopted an interesting clean sheet of paperapproachwith theTactical/ServiceRifle version ofhistubegunstockforRemington700/Bordenactions-theR5model,whichcomeswithtwoexamplesofan unusual aluminium alloy five-round magazinedesignthatprovideslowfriction,absolutelyflawlessfeed by supporting the entire case bodywhile thebullets poke out of a slot in its front face. (http://www.accurateshooter.com/guns-of-week/gunweek074)

Small MattersBefore getting onto loading tools and techniques,let’s look at some pertinent issues arising out of

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the cartridge’s design, in particular its case beingdimensioned for the small primer and given anundersized flash-hole diameter. The 6BR caseisoneofonlyaverysmallnumberofdesigns thatuse small primers in what I’ll unscientifically callfull-diametercases.

Theothersarethe.220Russian/PPCfamily,6.5X47Lapuaandthatcompany’s.308Winchester‘Palma’brass.Outsideoftheprecisionshootingfield,you’llfind small primers used in oldUMC headstamped7.62X39mm brass (Remington manufactured);currentHornadyplusSilverStateArmoryversionsofthe6.8mmRemingtonSPC,butthesecartridgesallusethestandard(larger)diameterflash-hole.

Thereare two issueshere–primerandflash-holesize. Taking them in that order, why use a smallprimer?Thereducedamountsofheatenergyandweight of hot particles injected into the powdercharge columnare bettermatched to the 28-40gnchargeweight range seen in the PPC to 6.5X47Lcartridgesgivingmoreconsistentignitionandmakingiteasier toachievesmallMVspreadsandgroups.Asanaside,thesmallprimer/flash-holecombinationisonlymarginallyeffectivewhenyougetup to the308Winsizedcaseand45-50gncharge-weightsasmanyusersoftheoriginalRemingtonUBBRcasesfound when they used them in as manufactured308Wform,especiallyincoldweather.SeveralNorthAmerican ‘old hands’ have expressed their doubtsaboutthewisdomofresurrectingthiscombinationinLapua’s308W‘Palma’cases,asubjectI’mcurrentlyinvestigating through side by side tests of variouspowder/bulletcombinationsinstandardand‘Palma’brass.

Anyway,useoftheSmallRifledimensionedprimeris uncontroversial in the BR but is not entirelywithoutdownsides,thisbeingintheformofamuchgreaterpropensityforthefiringpintiptocraterandin extremispierce this sizeof cap. It is helpful touse‘magnum’orBRprimerswiththeirthickerbrass

cupsinthecartridgeandCCI’s450(SRMagnum)orBR4versionsarethefavouredvarietiesprovingtoproduceexcellent resultswhilebeingamongstthetoughestofthebunch.The Russian manufactured PMC/Wolf SRM isanothergoodchoiceinmyexperience.Remington7½BRandFederal205Mmodelsperformwell inthecartridgebuthave ‘softer’ cupssocannotbeusedwithquiteashotloadsastheCCIproducts.Never,everuse‘standard’SRprimerssuchastheCCI-400, Federal 205, PMC/Wolf SR andRemington 6½ which have thinner cups (0.020”v 0.025” in magnum/BR versions) and weredesignedforlowerpressurecartridgessuchasthe.22Hornet,.218Beeand.222Rem.

The other and equally important side of thisparticular equation is the firing-pin fit in the boltface.Anycustom targetaction shouldbe troublefree but factory rifle bolts are often a different

matter.Recentsmall-diameterfiring-pinSavageactionsarethebestofthebunchbuteventheywillproduceproblemswithheavier,higherpressureloadsthataBAT,Barnard,orRPAwilltakeinitsstride.

Remingtonbolts/pinsarevariableinthisrespect–my700based6BRLightGuncopeswith ‘reasonable’loads and velocities. Conversely, the Winchester70actioninanoriginally.308WcalibreFNSPRA4(SpecialPoliceRifle)thatIhadrebarrelledto6.5X47Lapua has proven almost unusable with severeprimer extrusion and ‘blanking’ with loads barelyaboveVihtavuori’sstartinglevels.(Bythetimeyoureadthis,itshouldhavebeenrechamberedtotheLRprimerusing260Remwhichwillsolvethisparticularproblem.)

Greg Tannel (Gre’-Tan Rifles of Colorado, USA)offersacureintheformofaveryreasonablypricedfiring-pinturningandboltbodybushingservicewithaone-weekturnaroundtoAmericanFN/Winchester,Remington andSavage shooters in this pickle butwedon’thaveanybodyofferingsuchaserviceintheUKtomyknowledge.

1.5mm DiameterMovingontotheflash-hole,ourfourSRprimer/smallflash-holedesignsarespecifiedforanominal1.5mm(0.059 inches) dia. aperture (compared to 2mm /0.080inchesforeverythingelse)andanimmediateproblem here is that the standard decapping pindiameter used in sizer or dedicated decap dies is0.0625 inches,souseofsamein theBRcasewilllikelyseethepinstuckintheflash-hole,broken,orif rigidenoughsurvivingat theexpenseof crudelyswagingtheflash-holeout.Shootershavedrilledtheflash-holestothe‘normal’sizeorsomewhereclosetoovercomethis‘problem’buttestsinvariablyshowthisincreasesgroupsizesandMVspreads.

Youshouldgetasuitablydimensionedpinwithyour

60 Target Shooter

6BR die set of course, but make sure you havesparesespecially as thesepinsareonly0.057”, amere0.002”smallerthanthenominalholediameteron Lapua brass and are therefore easily broken.If you deprime cases as a separate step using adedicated die you must obtain a correctly sizedrod/pin, the fixed-pin Redding model needing theoptional .17/.20 calibre rod, Sinclair’s decap diealsousingadifferentstemplusdetachableHornadysmalldiameterpins.

Sinclair International makes a special BR/PPCflash-hole uniforming reamer (#07-3000) that isinserted from the rearof the caseand indexesoffthe primer pocketwhichworks in all four designs.Nevertheless,itincreasestheflash-holediameteralittleto0.063inches,thereasonforthediscrepancybeing that Lapua’s production tolerances are 1.5-1.6mm (0.059-0.063 inches). Purists are dubiousaboutthistool,butitisusuallyreckonedthataccuracydeteriorationstartsatratherlargerdiameters,gettingonfor0.070inches.IfyoudousetheSinclairreamer,standarddiameterdecappinsshouldnowfitbutonlyjust!

Ifthisallsoundsverynerdy,rememberyou’repaying£1orsoeachforyourLapuacasesandwanttogetfullperformanceoutofthem.Alternatively,you’llwishyou’dknownaboutthisissueifyoubreakthedecappininyour6BRsizerdieasyouloadammunitionjustbeforeamajormatchanddiscovereveryotherpin

youownisoversize!

Most flash-hole reaming tools designed forstandard diameter flash-holes are inserted via thecase-mouthandaredesignedtoremoveanyburrsormetalflashingfromtheinternalor‘exit’(intermsofprimergasmovement)endoftheaperture,theseoftenbeingsubstantialinmanycartridgecaseswithpunched flash-holes. Burrs should be removedas they may affect ignition consistency and thesubsequentchargeburn.Youcan’tusesuchatoolonaBRcasebecauseoftheoversizereamer,soisde-burringanissueherebearinginmindLapuaandNormadrill flash-holes insteadof using the cruderpunchmethod?

Shooters have spotted internal burrs on somebatches but Imust admit I haven’t to date. Also,someprecisionshootersliketocutthetiniestbevelontheexitendoftheflash-holetoactasaventuri.Ifyoufeelanurgetodothis,thereisnohandloadingtool I’ve seen to date but the answer is to buy acheappin-viceandamicrodrillbit that isonly justlargerthantheflash-hole’s1.5-1.6mmdiameter,butbecareful not to force it into theflash-holeproperandstartreamingitout.

Many are of the view that Lapua brass is so wellmade and consistent that you can simply ignorethesematters, likewisedon’tspend timeandefforton‘uniforming’primerpockets-justensureyouhave

Target Shooter 61

a good supply of 0.057 inch diameter decappingpins. Incidentally, if you feel must uniform theprimerpocket,Lapuacutsthoseonitssmallprimer/smallflash-holecasesalittledeeperthanonotherstandard SR users such as .222 and .223 Rem,soastandard toolwon’tdomuchanyway.SinclairInternational sells a small primer uniforming cutterdimensioned specifically forPPC/BRcases. (Moreexpense!)

Turn or No Turn?I also said in last month’s introduction, that neck-turning isnotessentialwith thepossibleexceptionof out and out benchrest competition.With Lapuabrassusuallyhavingveryconsistentneckthickness–betweenmanufacturinglots,caseswithinalotandaroundtheneckofindividualcases–outofthebox,ithasbecomecommontospecifyarelativelysmallneckclearance‘no-turn’chamberreamerthatgivesaround 0.002-0.003 inches total clearance (halfthat at any particular point around the neck) overrounds loaded instandardLapuabrass. If turningisthendone,it’susuallyonlyapartial‘clean-up’jobthatremovessmallamountsofmetaloffthethickerspots,oralightturndownto0.0115inchesforuseina0.269inchdiameterchamber,whilethesimilar6PPC is usually turned down to around 0.0085inches froma0.012 inchstartingpoint fora0.262chamber.

No-turn brass use sees the chamber cut withneck-sectiondiametersrangingfrom0.271to0.274inches depending on taste. The cartridge drawingshows a maximum neck O/D of 0.270 inches ona loaded round, so the small end of the aboverange leaves virtually no leeway, a total 0.001inch clearance, less than most 6PPC bench restshooters use. 6BR shooters relied on productionbatcheshavingnecksahalfthou’orsothinnerthanmaximumCIP,turningthebrassslightlyiftheygotathickbatch.

I measured 25 pre Lapua ‘blue-box’ new casesfrom lotnumberP00426203,and found themodalthicknesswas0.0130incheswithonlytinyvariationsaround that (maxima of 0.0002 inches below and0.0004 inches above, measuring three points oneachcaseneck).Bearinmindtootherearediametervariationsbetweenmakesof6mmmatchbullets,alookatsamplesoften105-115gnbulletsfromBerger,Hornady, Lapua and Sierra by AccurateShooter(formerly 6mmBR.com) website’s Jason Baneyproducing measurements of 0.24275 to 0.2433inches,dependingonmakeandmodel,Lapua thethinnestandnew-modelBergerVLDsthefattest,alargeenoughdifferencetoaffectclearancesifyougoforanabsolutelyminimalclearancechamber.(Notetoo, that light bench rest quality flat-base bulletsfromspecialistproducersareoftenfatterstillattheso-called‘pressurepoint’attheirrearends.)

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TakingthelargestofthefactoryHPBTbullets,therevisedBerger 105gnVLD at 0.24330 inches andthe thickest neck found on the aforementionedbrass, Iwould havegot amaximum loaded roundneckdiameterof0.2695inchesgivinganover-closefit,(inmyview,anyway)ina0.271inchchamberandatightbutliveablewith0.0025inchtotalclearance,just over a thou’ at any individual point, with thepopular 0.272 inch chamber-neckbutmanywouldwant another thou’ total clearance for peace ofmind.Using the105gnLapuaScenar, the thinnestof the factory bulletmodels that Jasonmeasured,wouldgiveanadditionalhalf-thouclearanceinanyparticularchamberform.

Thechoiceofno-turnchamberdimensionsreliedonLapuabrassnotonlybeingveryconsistentbetweenlotsbutalsobeingjustalittlethinnerthanmaximumspec.Therehasbeenanupsetherewithrecentlyproduced lots, the so-called ‘bluebox’ brass (fromLapua’s new blue plastic case boxes), that haveturned out to have noticeably thinner neck-wallsthan older lots. Lapua explains that earlierproductionlotsriskedexceedingtheCIPmaximumloadedroundO/Difcasescameoutatthehighendofitsmanufacturingtolerances,soreducedthenormtakingitdowntoaround0.012inches.

Thefactthatthisapparentlycoincidedwiththemovefrom cardboard cartons to the blue plastic box iscoincidental,sothepackagingformcannotbetakenas a 100% reliable indicator. What thismeans isthat many users of no-turn chambered 6BR riflesgetanunwantedadditional0.002inchestotalneckto chamber clearance when they buy new cases,also that anybody rebarrelling or contemplatinghaving sucha rifle built iswise to buy their casesin advance and measure them, instead of usingold and possibly inaccurate assumptions aboutdimensions.Remembertoo,thatifyouwantultimateperformance,verylightneckturningalliedtoa0.269inch dia. chamber is still recommended and thatmayneedtoberevisedslightlydownwardsnowwithbrass that startsat 0.012 inchesas that thicknessleavesnomarginforareductionfromturning.

Lapua v The Rest

So far,youmightpresume thatonlyLapuamakes6BRbrass,givenmyexclusivefocusontheFinnishmakeand, to behonest itmight aswell as this istheonlyone thatmostprecisionshootersuse. Itsdimensions – ‘blue box’ issues aside – are wellknown, its consistency is usually very good, it isvery strong and lasts a long timewith reasonablepressure loads. Although expensive, it still offersvery good value for money bearing in mind itsproductionqualityandlikelylifespan.

Youstill seeRemington6mmBRcases listedandalways in already primed form which is unusualnowadaysandcausesstorage,retailingandtransportproblemsbut,I’venotheardofanybeingavailablein the UK. Norma brass is imported by RUAGAmmotech UK Limited but many case types arevirtuallyspecialorderonly.BrianFox(FoxFirearmsUK)takesordersforsmalllotsofNormacasesandthat’showmanyFClassshootersget theirSAUMorWSMbrass,soI’msurethatBRcasescouldbesourcedthiswayifdesired.

BothLapuaandNormaproduceloadedammunition,but with price and availability issues as they are,nearlyallrecreationalusershandload,sothissourceofbrass ismuch less importantwith thecartridge.(Rememberthough,thathealth&safetyrulesrequiregovernmentandcorporateuserstouseCE/CIPetctestedandcertifiedammunitiononly, so there isaresidualdemandforfactorycartridgeseveninsomespecial-useapplications).

Fat Bottom BrassI said last month that the Remington and Normaversionsofthe6BRshareacommoncaseandthedifferencesareinthechamberthroating,orfreeborelength and barrel rifling twist rate.Whilst it is truethereisvirtuallynodifferencebetweenthem,Lapuabrassisgenerallymadewithamarginallylargerlowerbodydiameter- justabovethecase-web- than itsRemypredecessororNormacompetitorandifyourgunsmithcutsthechamberwitha‘MinimumSAAMIBR Remington’ chamber reamer, a percentage ofcaseswillsuffer fromaslight interferencefit in therearendofthechamber.They’reonlyatinyamounttoofat-oneortwotenths

Table 1 ‐ 6BR v .223R and .308W External Ballistics 

Cartridge/Bullet    MV  Recoil*    V600  D600 (1)  D600(2)  V1,000  D1,000(1)  D1,000(2) 

.223 Rem / 80gn Sierra MK  2,800  2.8ft/lb    1,658  34”  15”  1,078  118”  51” 

.308 Win / 155.5gn Berger  3,000  12.4ft/lb    1,898  27”  12”  1,304  91”  39”   

6BR / 105gn Berger VLD  2,800  4.7ft/lb    1,865  26”  11”  1,347  84”  36” 

* Free recoil energy in a 13lb rifle 

D600(1)  /  D1,000(1) = Wind drift to the nearest inch for 10 mph true (90‐degree) crosswind. D600(2)  /  D1,000(2) = Wind drift to the nearest inch for a simulated 5mph change in a quartering (4 o’clock) wind. 

 

Target Shooter 63

of thousandths of an inch, but it’s enough to seeyou have slightly hard chambering of the loadedroundandveryhardextractionofitsfiredcase–thesoft-faced mallet on the bolt-handle root pluscleaning-rod needed down the bore! So, ensureyourgunsmithusesareamerthatis‘minimumLapuabrass’ specification. There are cures if you sufferthis startingwith a return to the gunsmith to havehim hone the rear of the chamber out marginally.Alternatively, buy Norma cases, or rather cheaperRedding’s 6BR small-base body die part number74317 that reduces the lower case body diametermarginally.Youonlyneedtouseiteveryfivefiringsorso.

Irrespectiveofmaker,the0.473inchdia.case-headandthickwebseelotsofmetalaroundthesmallrifleprimer dimensioned primer pocket, which adds to

strengthandcase-life.Thereisthereforeatendencyto load this cartridge up very heavily indeed - towell above its 58,740 psi CIPPMax. One has tobewaryofsome loadsbandiedaboutbyshootersandavailableontheinternetthatseeMVswellover2,900fpsquotedfor105grainbullets.Next month, I’ll look at tools and bullets and askthe QuickLOAD PC internal ballistics program forpowder recommendations to see what propellantsmightsuitthecartridge,alsonotingsome‘standardrecipes’ for thosewhowant good results theeasyandquickway.

Table 2 ‐ 6mm and 6.5mm Cartridge Water Capacity (gn water to the case‐mouth) 

6mm              6.5mm Cartridge    H2O (gn)    Index    Cartridge    H2O (gn)    Index 

6BR    38.6gn    100    6.5X47mm Lapua  49.1gn    100 

6PPC    ~33.0gn    85    6.5mm HDY Crdmoor 52.2gn    106 

6BRX/Dasher  41.5gn    110    .260 Rem    54.5gn    111 

6mm Swiss Match  45.9gn    119    6.5X55mm   58.6gn    119 

6‐6.5X47 Lapua  ~49.0gn    126    6.5X55mm AI  ~62.0gn    126 

Tubb 6XC    49.7gn    128    6.5‐284 Norma  ~67.0gn    136 

243WSSM/243 Win     54.1gn    140     

6‐284 Norma  ~67.0gn    173 

 

Table 3 ‐ 6BR v .Smaller 6.5mm Cartridge External Ballistics 

Cartridge/Bullet    MV  Recoil*    V600  D600 (1)  D600(2)  V1,000  D1,000(1)  D1,000(2) 

6BR / 105gn Berger VLD  2,800  4.7ft/lb    1,865  26”  11”  1,347  84”  36” 

6Dasher / 105gn Berger VLD  2,950  5.6ft/lb    1,984  24”  10”  1,449  77”  33” 

6.5X47L / 140gn Berger VLD  2,800  8.7ft/lb    1,976  22”  9”  1,509  69”  30” 

.260 Rem / 140gn Berger VLD  2,900  9.8ft/lb    2,057  21”  9”  1,580  65”  28”   

* Free recoil energy in a 13lb rifle 

D600(1)  /  D1,000(1) = Wind drift to the nearest inch for 10 mph true (90‐degree) crosswind. D600(2)  /  D1,000(2) = Wind drift to the nearest inch for a simulated 5mph change in a quartering (4 o’clock) wind. 

 

64 Target Shooter

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Target Shooter 65

This month I’m delighted to feature somefellowshootersfromafewyearsagoandbringtheirachievementstothefore.It’salwaysgoodtoappreciatethesuccessesofyourpredecessorsand this story has the added bonus of stillbeing current, courtesy of the latest memberofthefamilytofindthe‘shooting’gene.Also,it’salwaysworth remembering that technologyand techniqueschangeover timesowhatourshooters currently have at their disposal andtake for granted, were maybe not even inexistencejustafewyearsago.

The family I am featuring are George and

Debbie Darling (nee Lawrence) and their sonKenneth. Debbieand Iwereshootingair rifleatthesametime,butGeorgeatthatstagewashighlyandsuccessfullyinvolvedinhiscoachingcareer so it’s been really interesting forme toreaduponhisownshootingachievements.

Pistol shooting seriously began for George in1972whenhejoinedtheNationalSquadhavingqualifiedbyhavingshotimpressivelyenoughtogainaplaceintheEnglandteamattheHomeInternationalatCardiff.Ihavesaiditbefore,butforthosewhoneverknewthoseyearswhentheBritishAirgunChampionshipswereheldat the

PROFILEONTHEDARLINGSHOOTERS…

ByHayleyPlatts

66 Target Shooter

Target Shooter 67

SophiaGardensvenue,itwasonamuchbiggerscalethanwecurrentlyenjoyattheWelshOpeninthesamearenabutitextendedtomanymoreofthesportshallsandincludedextensivetradestands.

ItcertainlywasimpressiveandanyparticipationatthattimeinCardiff felt likeamajorshootingeventandgot theheart pumpingand inspiredmanytogomuchfurtherinthesport.Thiswasobviously a good starting platform for Georgeand just three years later in 1975 made hisfirstappearanceforGreatBritain intheNordicChampionships.InthemeantimeGeorgealsowonPistol‘78andaScottishOpentitle.

George enjoyed a long international shootingcareer representingGreatBritainatnumerousEuropean Championships and WorldChampionships.

George also represented England at theCommonwealth mini games and also the fullblownCommonwealthGamesin1982wherehewongoldinthe10metreindividualair

pistoleventwithascoreof576. Healsowonsilver in the pairs competition with GeoffRobinson.

From 1987 onwards George engaged hisshooting knowledge in a coaching careerqualifying initially as a Club Coach andprogressingtoCountyCoachandthenRegionalPistol Coach. By 1990 George had becometheNationalCoach forAirandFreePistol,anamazing transformationofhisabilities in threeshortyears.

Frommyownstandpoint,IcertainlyrememberwhenwehadjointNationalSquadweekends,Iwasalwaysenviousofmyairpistolcolleagueswho had such a structured, varied andproductivetwodaysoftrainingwithGeorgeastheir Coach. Much planning and preparationby George before those weekends wasinevitabletomakethemvaluableandenjoyable,andwereacredittohim.PerhapsthegreatestendorsementofGeorge’sworkistheillustriouslist of shooters whom he has coached whichinclude Paul Leatherdale, Mick Gault, Nick

68 Target Shooter

BaxterandIqbalUbitonamejustafew.

Debbie’s shooting story began when shewas twenty five years old and unlikeGeorge,Debbiewasanair rifle shooter. The fact shedidnotcome in to thesportasearlyassomewasofnodetrimentandduringthetimeshewasinvolved in shooting she was extremelysuccessful. The other true benefit of comingthroughtheranksandshootingforGreatBritainmeantshemetGeorgewhomshelatermarried.

DebbieshotforbothEnglandandGreatBritainand was English Champion twice. At theEuropeans in Finland Debbie was part of theteamwhich set anew team record. Keen foranotherchallengewhichalsowasabenefit toherair rifleshootingDebbie tookup10metrecrossbow shooting, and at that time it wasfelt thiswould be amajor new sport andwasextremelypopular.

Nationally she became ladies record holderwith a score of 385 and on the internationalstageDebbiecompetedinEuropeanandWorldChampionshipsforcrossbowandisproudofatop15finishattheWorlds.Debbiehasn’tshotsincethebirthoftheirsonKennethinJanuary1996.

And so another chapter begins. Ken showedaninterestinshootingafterthefamilywenttoadinner marking Mick Gault’s retirement fromEnglandshooting.DuringthecourseofhisDukeofEdinburghawardKenneededtofindanewsporttomasterandaskedifhecouldtryairpistol.Intheenviablepositionofhavingagreatcoachonhand,Kenturnedtohisfatherwhoalsodecidedtogetinvolvedonceagain!

Fatherandsoncompeted thisFebruary in theBritishChampionshipswhereKenshot492and478breakinghistrainingbestby50pointsintheprocess. Georgehascontinued to coachhimandKencame5thattheNorthWalesOpeninthejuniorairpistolcategorywithanotherpersonalbest.AcoupleofweeksagoKenshot525attheCambridgeOpenandsohecontinueshisearlyshootingcareerandfollowsinhistalentedparentsshooting footsteps. Ken andGeorge use a 7metrerangeinthegarageathomefortrainingwhennotattheclub,andofftherangeDebbiefeelshersonhasjusttherighttemperamentforthesportof

shooting - he is calm, pretty laid back andhe listens well to what he is taught and justgetsonanddoes it. Hesounds like the idealstudentandIamwillingtobethisnameisonetolookoutforoverthenextfewyearsonthetopofscoreboardsofcompetitions.

Ken however is not the only talented Darlingyoungster. Debbie and George also have adaughter,Samanthawhois12andthethreeofthemareallkeengolfers.WhilstKentooklessonshewasn’tconvinceditwasthesportforhimandleaveshissisterSamanthatoexcel.Sheisshowingpromisewithahandicapof28andiscurrentlytrainingwiththecountygirls.Moreimportantlysheisenjoyingitandbreakingintoanewsportwhich tomakeachangefor theDarling familyhasnothingtodowithshooting!

Sincereturningtohisoldshootingclub,Georgehas been asked to do some coaching at theNorwich City club and much to the delight ofmembers including Eddie and father AndyGraver only a week after George begancoaching him who won the British Openconfined title at Bisley. His coaching is nowbackindemandsinceheraisedhisheadabovethe parapet again and has been approachedtocoachsomeoftheIsleofManshooterswhoare trying to gain selection for the GlasgowCommonwealth Games which take place in2014.

InDebbie’sownwords“whowouldhaveguessedthatsomefifteenyearsafterIgaveupshootingandabouttwentyfiveyearsafterGeorgegaveupshooting and ten since he finished coaching,thatoursonwouldbringusbacktotheshootingworldandbesogood?”

Target Shooter 69

World Class AthletesWorld Class AmmunitionWorld Class Results

www.eleyammunition.com

Champions shoot Tenex

70 Target Shooter

The Psychology of a Champion #4

The “What if” factor. Will this bother you?

Thementalexcellenceofachampionshooter,also includes the process of what to do ifsomethingunexpectedcropsup.Theremaybethings,likeatargetbreakdown,asafetyissuethatcomesalongwhentherangeofficerbellows“ceasefire”“Unload”andthewholeprocessofthecompetitioncomestoadeadstop….

Perhaps you have a round that will not eject,orastuckcasewhich Ihavesooftenseen infullboreshooting…..Howaboutawholerackoftargetsdisappearingoverthefrontofthebuttsduetoareallyroughwindsquall,(alsofullbore)

There are many examples of something thatcan,anddobringtheseriesofshotstoastop,andsobringtheshooter tostopandthereforeinterruptasmoothpassagethroughthematch.Even,oncemoreinthecaseoffullboreteamsshooting, when the Team Coach calls for thenextshootertofireasightershotjusttoconfirmthe wind and weather prediction for sightadjustment. I have seen and done this manytimesinfullboreshootingwhencompetinginateamevent.

All well prepared shooters have a set of

contingencyplansinplace,andhavedonethemindstufftobeabletoimplementthem.

This segment is actually a further section ofmental rehearsal which we discussed in thethirdofthearticlesdealingwith“mindstuff,”anditisasimplemattertoletyourmindroamoverthepossibilitiesthatcouldconfrontyou.

Iusedtovisualisethevariants,andalsowrotethemdown inmydiary, togetherwith waystoovercometheproblemsshouldtheyeventuate.Thetechniqueshaveactuallysavedmybaconafewtimes!

Togiveyouanideaofwhatcanhappen,IwasshootinginamatchontheNitishirangeoutsideofMoscow,whenanAmericanrangeofficer inchargeofmysection, interrupted mewith theinquiryaboutifIwasstillshootingsightershots,orrecordshots….

I pointed to the disc on the firing point thatindicated Iwaswell into the record shots, (36of them tobeexact)andwas told the registerkeeper behind had no record of those shots.He hadmissedme turning the disc over fromsighter shots to record shots according to thecoloursofthedisc.

Iwasprettypeevedat thisbecause Ihad lost

ThisSmallboreBusiness

ByDonBrook

Target Shooter 71

onlyonepointofthe30shotsfired…

TheR.O.wasveryapologetic,andthediscussioneventuallywentthewayofstartingthoserecordshotsagain!

Imustadmit thatmycontingencyplanningdidnotencompassthatpossibility,sobacktoworkIwent,anddulyfinisheda96shotEnglishMatchwith 592 points, with fourminutes to go! So,I shot a 60 shotmatchwith another 36 shotsadded,anditwasreallyduetothehighstandardof training for endurance that I was able tocompletethatshoot,butitdoesgiveyouanideaofwhatcangowrong.

EvenmyTeam skipper could not foresee thatproblem,andtherewasquiteadiscourseunderway,whichIhadalsotoshutoutofmymindtocompletethematchintheallocatedtime.

Alsoasa footnote to this, Ihadalwaysbeenabletoshootquitefast,withagoodrhythm,andIdidnotfeelanyrealissueswiththeendurancefactorinvolved.Ijustshottherestofthematchfromthebeginning,andletthepowersthatbesort out the issues! (To no avail, as it turnedout. The score should have been a 597, buttherewasnoughtwecoulddo!)THATmadeaninterestingdiaryentry!

Asaresultofthatissue,anewpagedevelopedinmycontingencyplanningnotes,whereImadesurethatIalwayshadanobserverbehindwitha spotting scope focussed on the electronicsmonitor, and a plot sheet, of every ten shotstringwiththescorenoted,Thatwasnotgoingtohappentomeagain.

The above is a good example of cause andeffect,thoughIneverhadtouseitsubsequently,as I made sure the record keeper was up tospeed!

The mental rehearsal topics for contingencyplanning are up to the fertile mind of theshooter,andalsotogiveyouanideawehadafullboreteamfillaverylargewhiteboardofthepossibilities, during a team “Thrash” session,together with the methods to overcome theproblems.

So,whatarethementalrehearsalexercisesthat

arecontainedwithin.?

WELLTHEFIRSTONEISTOREMAINCALMANDTHINKCAREFULLY.

AsIsaidat thefootnoteonthe last issuewiththis topic of the Psychology of a Champion,“Howwell you shoot is directly related tohowwellyouthink.”

Staying relaxed is the whole issue of highstandard competition, and it makes it a loteasier to switch on your thought processes.The reasoning toevolveabove theproblem isnecessary. Your whole attention is to developasetofcircumstancesthatyoucanpractiseathome, with an imaginary problem developing,andawaytogetthroughtheproblemwithlittleornoaffectonyourresults.

Youalsoneedtounderstandthatarangeofficeris there to help you (if needed) as well as toadministerthematch.

With the example of how I overcame theproblemsoutlinedabove,withaspotteronthetarget machine screen, much can be said forthinkingahead.

MygoodMatefromtheBritshootingteam,BarryDagger,alwayshadareashehad toworkoutbecause of his small stature. Even tomakingarrangements to allow him tomiss the barrierinfrontofthefiringpointsontherangeinSuhl,(EastGermanyasitwasthen).AcoupleoftimesIsawhimcompetingfromapalletplacedonthefiringpoint just sohewould not blowholes inthat chunk ofwood in front of him. We oftenhad a chortle about that! Still, Barry,with hissuperb mind, managed very well to deal withthatproblem,and this isalsoagoodexampleof the strange contingencies that confront ashooter,andhavetobeconsidered.

Byfar themostdifficult itemIhadtodealwithwas thenoise factoron the range inCaracas,Venezuela. The noise was incredible, as therangebackedontoamajorhighway,aswellastheinteriornoisefromspectators.Evenduringthe training days we had the 300m shootersbeltingitoutdirectlyaboveusonthenextlevelof the firing points. The shots were loud, andregularofcourse,andIswearsomewereusing

72 Target Shooter

7mmRemmingtonMagnums,becausethatshotreverberatedandwhistleddowntherangeatastreakofvelocityIhadnotheardbefore!

The 300m guys were not there on the rimfirematchdays,sotheywerenotthechiefcauseofconcentrationdepthfactors.

Itellyouall,thewayIgotoverthatproblemwassimply themaximumeffect toblockoutnoise.Form fitting,(manufactured for me), earplugs,a set of tissues inside my ear muffs (Peltor,shotgunmuffs) which Imade sure were quitetightovermyears.

It was strange hearing my own Tenex .22’s,whichIactuallyfelt,ratherthanheardtheroundgooff!

Thisexercisewassortedoutduringthetrainingdays, and it became obvious that I had noplanning in place for that contingency in myhomepreparationpriortheworldchampionshipsinCaracas.

LikeIsaid,staycalm,andworkitworkoutthe

problemwithcarefulthought,evenaslateastheweekbeforethematch.Iwasalsosurprisedthatthetrafficnoise,suppressedbymychoiceofearprotection,actuallybecamequitesoothingwithjusttherhythmicalhumbeingthere90%ofthetime.

Finallyitshouldbenotedthatthemethodsyouusetoarriveatwhatevercontingencyyoudreamup,aresimpleenoughtodealwith.Theyhavedifferentlevelstobesure,suchasoneAustralianthatarrivedinGermany,anddiscoveredhisboltwasstillonthetableinSydney…..GodBlessDieterAnschutzthattime!(IttookaquicktriptoULM,butwegotoverthatonetoo…..)

My“Gem”forthisissue?“Itwillonlyaffectyou,ifyouletitaffectyou.”

Brooksie.

Target Shooter 73

April 30th saw over 1000 people descend onBisley for our Open Day. Fortunately we hada glorious day albeit a bitwindy.All the usualdisciplineswereonofferwiththeadditionoftheNRAShootingClub. All credit to theguysoftheclubwhocameupwiththeideaofshowingpeople the types of ‘fun’ guns on the marketother than the pure discipline ones. It workedbeautifullywithgueststryingavarietyofAK47’s,L98’s,TikkaT3,M14,FNFALandmanymore.The queue formed about 10minutes afterweopened and lasted all the way through to 10minutes before closing. Everyone seemed tohaveagreat time, including thecoaches,andwehadalotofenquiriesaboutmembershipandtheclub.Welldonetoeveryonewhoworkedsohardtomakeitagreatdayforall.

ThenextbigeventforusisthePhoenixmeetingheld over the weekend of 27th – 29th May.Thismulti-disciplinemeetingisamustforyourshootingdiaryandhasitsrootsinpistolcalibre

Great Guys!

Ready for the off

74 Target Shooter

firearmsbuttherearealsoplentyofcompetitionsfor Black Powder, Air and Fullbore from 15yards right up to 1000 yards. This Meetinghas over 75 competitions to enter, giving youenough chances to earn yourself one of themuch sought after Grandmaster Medals. Inaddition to theshooting there is theArmsFairheld in theBisleyPavilion. I can already hearthesoundofammopressesalloverthecountrygearingup

The Inter-Counties weekend is on over theweekend 11th to 12th June and has a slightchange this year. The first competition of theInter-CountiesistheRJarvisIndividualmatch.In past years this has been open only tomembers of the County squads. This yearit has been decided to open the event to anyindividual member of the NRA. If you areinterested andwould like moreinformation orwish to enter on-line, please go toour website http://www.nra.org.uk/ andclickonthelinkfromthefrontpage.

We had the firstSpecialInterestdayformembersoftheNRAShootingClub

lastSaturdayandchosetheLeeEnfieldasthesubject.Wehad21attendees fora lecture inthemorningandrangepracticeintheafternoon.Everyoneseemedtoenjoythedayaswellasgetting something out of it. From how to geton targetaccuratelyat long range to realisingthatthereasonyourscoresaren’tverygoodisdowntoaloosebladeforesight!Wehavehadseveralsuggestionsforfurtherdayssothatwillkeepmebusyforsometimetocome.

I’m not sure exactly what we’re doing rightwith the NRA SC but we have the enviableproblemoftoomanypeopleturningupforourshoots.Anemailtothoseregisteredfortheclubreturned a lot of good ideas for the future aswell as confirming my gut feeling that weneeded to put on more days to ‘spread theload’.Thestatsshowthat,sofar,we’vebooked153rangesfortheclub!So,ifyouareanNRAmember and want to join one of the fastestgrowing,cheapestshooting‘clubs’onthecom-mon just drop an email tonrasc@nra.org.ukandwewillsendyoualltheinfo.

And finally...... OneofthemoreuncommonsightsatBisley.NoRoadTax,NoCongestionCharge,Eco-FriendlyPower Unit, Square 4-Horsepower EnergyCell, 16-Stroke Transmissionless Drive-Train,Sustainable Fuel Supply, Carbon NeutralFootprint, Carbon Offset Mitigation CompliantExhaust Emissions, Contemporary VoiceActivatedStart /StopTechnology,AcousticallyBiasedABS / FBB, IntelligentPower-Steering,Reduced Friction Independent Running Gear,AmbientTemperatureLevellingClimateControl.However,runningcosts?

And finally

Well deserved cuppa

Target Shooter 75

National Small-bore Rifle Association

Inclusivity Rules!Disabled and less able shooters CAN shoot in competitions!

It’samazinghowmanypeoplewhohavecontactedtheDisabledShootingProjectteamhavebeenunderthe impression that shooters using non-standardpositionsortechniquesarenotallowedtotakepartincompetitions.Fortunately,theyarewrong!

Oneof thegreatest thingsabout targetshooting isitsphenomenalaccessibilityforalmostalltypesandlevelsofdisability,andthefactthathavingwelcomedless able people into the sport it then embracesthem fullyon thecompetitive front. Admittedlynotalldisciplinesareopentoalltypesofdisability,butasa sportwearestillwayout in frontofall othermainstream sports – and still striving to improvefurther.

Sowhataretheoptionsfortheprincipalcategories,

smallbore,fieldtarget,fullboreandclaytarget?

Smallbore(.22andair)

Yes, there are segregated competitions for thosewho shoot the Paralympic disciplines under therules of the International Shooting Committee fortheDisabled(ISCD).Sadly,wehavenotyetfoundinternational competitions that are open to thosewho,whilsttheyarecertainlydisabled,donotmeettheISCD’scriteriaforsmallboredisciplines.Itisanareathatwewillbeexploringassoonasresourcespermit.

On the domestic competition scene, however, thesituationisfantastic.Insmallboredisciplines,thereistotalinclusivityinallcompetitionsrununderNSRArules; i.e. themajority of domestic championships,leaguesandopenshoots,rightuptohomecountriesinternationals.Thesystemallowsanyonetoshootwith modifications to the conventional equipment

E Denmark

76 Target Shooter

and techniques if they first obtain permission(generally known as “a dispensation”) from theAssociation.Therelevantrules(downloadablefromtheReferencesectionoftheAssociation’swebsite:www.nsra.co.uk), are inSection4–ShooterswithPhysicalHandicaps.

Therulesexplainhowtoapply,andtheprocedureisverystraightforward.Itmustbeinwriting(therearenoforms–a letter isfine),givingaverybriefnoteofthedisabilitythatisinvolved,plusanexplanationofwhattheshooterwishestodo.Photographsarealsoneeded,showingclearlythemodifiedposition,and/orhowspecialequipment isused. Everythingshouldbesent,induplicate,totheSecretarytotheReferees’CommitteeattheNSRAoffices.Thereis

nofee.

The committee generally makes adecisionveryswiftly,sothereshouldbenolongwaitforaresult,althoughthey might request clarificationor further information. The keyconsideration for the committee iswhetherwhatisproposedwillbefairto all concerned. What constitutes“fair” might be problematic forsome people, but the committeetakesaprettyrobustview.Usually,something that might be perceivedby others to confer an advantageis actually only going to remove adisadvantage.Mostpeoplewithanytypeordegreeofdisabilitysuffer inways that are not apparent to theobserver; pain, muscle spasms,weakness and fatigue are allinvisible to the onlooker, but theseareallfactorsthatwillbetakenintoaccountintryingtoleveltheplayingfieldforapplicants.

The commonest permittedmodification is shooting from awheelchair – sometimes combinedwith the use of special equipment.Many dispensations allow shooterswho can no longer cope withstandingorpronepositionstoshootfrom a chair or stool, including“pronefromatable”.Permittingtheuse of stand or support (usually aBelgianspringstand)forthosewhocannotmanagetheweightofagununaided is also common. Somepistol shooters are allowed to usea two-handed grip. For thosewithmissing limbs the dispensationcan allow a prosthesis to be used.

There are several solutions for elbow problemsexperiencedbyproneshooters,includingadditionalpadding or foam rings to provide support. Weakjoints and damaged ligaments may be helped byusingasurgicalbraceorsupport.Thosewithvisionproblemsmaybepermittedtouseacombinationoflensesthatisotherwiseprohibitedbecauseithasamagnifyingeffect.

If a shooter needs someone to help him withloading,etc.thenhedoesnotneedadispensationspecificallyforthatunlessitistheonlynon-standardaspectofhisshooting. Organisersofshoulder-to-shouldermatchesoughttoleavetheadjacentfiringpointvacantsothatthereisroomfortheassistantto

Peter Wallace

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operatewithoutriskoftouchingthenextshooterontheline.

Field TargetThings are tougher on this front because there isthe inevitable problem of accessibility of venues.However, for thosewhocanovercomethathurdle,theBritishFieldTargetAssociation(BFTA)recentlypublishedadocument(linkattheendofthisarticle)outlining the adaptations that are permitted forthosewhocannotadoptconventionalstandingandkneelingpositionsintheircompetitions.Theyallowtwosittingpositionsinstead.

FullboreFor fullboreshooters, rule134 in the“BisleyBible”states:“TheShootingCommitteemayonapplicationpermitsuchmodificationtothefirearm,clothing,equipmentortechniqueofaphysicallydisabledcompetitorasmayassisthimtocompeteonequaltermswithothercompetitors.”Rule 156 includes more specific provisions forshooters who cannot shoot prone or supine; theycanapplyforpermissiontoshootseatedatatable.

Interestingly, the NRA’s F Class, originally set upin the 1990s for the benefit of thosewho need tousebipods,telescopicsights,etc.hasevolvedintoadisciplineinitsownright,enjoyedbyamixtureofableanddisabledshooters.

Clay TargetThe CPSA makes no distinction between ableand disabled shooters, so those who are able togain access to a shooting ground will be able tocompete with everyone else. We are pleased tohave discovered that the world’s 1st Grand PrixInternationalforDisabledShooterswilltakeplaceinItalythisSeptember.Theorganisersstatethattheyhopeitwill“bethesignofbirthofanewinternationalsporteventenablingtheshootingfamilytostrengthenitspresencewithintheParalympicGames”. Ifyouareinterestedinthisevent,thereisalinkattheendofthisarticle.Asforfieldtarget,accessibilityofshootinggroundshas been the key problem for aspiring clay targetshooters. However, progress is being made; forexample, there is currently a planning applicationinEastSussexforthedevelopmentof“anOlympicSkeetandTrapfacilityandgeneralimprovementstothegroundsthatwillcreatea‘centreofexcellence’forClayshootingforbothablebodiedanddisabledsportsmenandwomen”.TheCPSAwebsitehasalinkforanyonewhowouldliketomakerepresentations(hopefullysupportive)abouttheapplication.

ConclusionIt’s a great shame that quite a few shooters whouseunorthodoxpositionsandtechniques, forgoodreasons,havenotbeentakingpartincompetitions,whenmanywouldundoubtedlyliketodoso.Ifyouknow of any shooters whomight benefit from theoptionsoutlinedabove,orclubsthathavedisabled/less ablemembers, please draw their attention tothisarticle.Thankyou.

BFTA Disabled Shooter Rules 2011: http://www.bfta.net/jsite3/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=61&func=fileinfo&id=26

1stGrandPrix International forDisabledShooters:http: / /www.cpsa.co.uk/userf i les/ f i le / Int .ltrapeventfordisabledshooters.pdf

Postscript to the May edition.

MikeBagotwrote“Your article on pages 74-76 has a section in it about the 2012 selection policy and procedure and mentions only 3 athletes with MCS’s. THERE ARE 5!!!!! Have you noted that the World Championships in Munich also counted towards the MCS count and therefore Michelle Smith in Women’s 3x20 and Neil Stirton in Men’s Prone also have MCS’s.”

Mikeisrightthatthe2010WorldChampionshipsalsocountforMSCpurposes.Howeverthereweresevenachieved there, plus a further two assuming thatBritishShootingaccept scores from theevents forjuniorcompetitorswhen theseareheldseparately,.i.e at the World and European Championships.SincethearticlewehavehadtheWorldCupatFortBenning,sothecurrenttallyofrifleandpistolMCSslookstobe14.Jon Hammond – Prone Rifle (three times), 3PositionsRifleMattThomson–ProneRifle(twice)JamesHuckle–3PositionsRifle,AirRifleNeilStirton–ProneRifleOllieBarron–ProneRifleKenParrJnr–AirRifleMichelleSmith-3PositionsRifleJenMcIntosh–AirRifleMickGault–50metrePistol.

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CompetitionsForoursecondweekendoftheUKBRA100/1000yardChampionships,atleasttheweatherhadwarmedupa little. Even thewind behaved itself for Saturday’s100 yard shoot and I was feeling rather smugwithmy0.223incherinWarm-up–onlytofindthattherewerenolessthanthreeshooterswithsmallergroups!However,intheendIwasrewardedwithmyfirstsub.‘two’agg.foraboutfiveyearsandsmall-groupawardintheprocess.

Darrel Evans was shooting again following a briefabsenceduetobackproblems–muchtothechagrinof his competitors and indeed, it was ‘business asusual’withDarreltakingacomfortablewininFactorySporterandshootinganimpressivelysmall.224inchgroupintheprocess.

Results:HeavyVarmint:1st VinceBottomley 6PPCTGPBAT

0.1918inches(av.offive,5-shotgroups)2nd GrahamFrancis6PPCWalkerBAT 0.3043rd NeilHutton 6PPCTGPBorden 0.3298

Smallgroup: VinceBottomley 0.116inches

FactorySporter:1st DarrelEvans 6PPCSako 0.364inches2nd JackMills 223Browning 0.71643rd AndyWoolley 6PPCSako 0.8402

Smallgroup: DarrelEvans 0.224inches

ForSunday’s1000yardshootitwasadifferentstory–yes,theforecastedfineweatherhadn’tletusdownbut thewindwas horrendously gusty. Sub. ten-inchgroupswerefewandmanyshootersturned-intwenty-inchplusgroups!Nonetheless, itwaspossible–withabitof luckanda sound technique – to shoot small groups. Phil

From The Bench

VINCE’S REGULAR COLUMN WHEREBY ACCURACY NUTS CAN KEEP UP TO DATE WITH THE ACTIVITIES OF THE UKBRA

The 1000 yard firing line

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Sammonswasthefirsttodipundersixincheswitha5.484incherbutSteveDunneventuallyeclipsedthiswitha4.616incherinhisthirdMatch.Thisnotonlysecured small-groupawardbut helpedSteve to theLight Gun victory, just edging Phil Sammons intosecondplace.

In Factory Sporter, Phil Gibbon and his 6.5-284Savagecruised toaneasyvictorywithanagg. thatwasgoodenoughforfourthplaceinLightGunClass.Phil’s excellent 8.5 inch group in Match 2 was thesmallestFSgroupby far and in fact suchwere theconditionsthatonlythreeLightGunshootersbetteredit.

Results:LightGun:1st SteveDunn7mmBooBooBAT10.106inches2nd PhilSammons6.5-284PRS 10.7013rd AdrianEvans 308Barnard 12.638

Smallgroup: SteveDunn 4.616inches

FactorySporter:1st PhilGibbon 6.5-284Savage13.954inches2nd AlanSeagrave6.5x55Tikka18.9243rd ToniYoung308Remmington20.051

Smallgroup PhilGibbon 8.521inches

Back bags are a bit like a snooker player’s cue toa benchrest shooter and when mine (which hasaccompanied me to Italy, New Zealand, America,Sweden, Spain &Austria) split, I was devastated –especiallywith theWorldChampionshipsonlyafewweeksaway.MybagwasaBaldEaglebuttheyarenolongerobtainablesoIplumpedforanEdgewood.

EdgewoodbagsaremadeinAmericabyJackSnyderwww.edgebags.comandavisittotheirwebsitegaveaneight-weekleadtimeforanewbagplusshipping.However,ane-mailtoBarbarainformedmethattheyhadsomebagsinstockandtocutalongstoryshort,I had the bag in a couple ofweeks. It’s a beautifulpiece of leatherwork and it is now filled with heavysand awaiting the new competition. Let’s hope itworks.............

Forthcoming EventsOurnext100/1000yardbenchrestshootsareontheweekendof18/19thJunebutwehavea ‘benchrestforscore’shootonSaturday4thJune.Asalways,youcanturnuponthedaybute-mailvinceb@6ppc.fsnet.co.ukformoreinfo.

My beautiful new Edgewood ‘Gator bag

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The Benchmark - Rimfire & Air Rifle Benchrest NewsWhenthewindblows.......!TheweekendmatchheldatPaulLaneRifleandPistolclubwasaninteresting affair, made more interesting withhigherthanexpectedwindspeeds.Preparationfor a few days of shooting obviously involvesgetting your equipment together and the finalcheckiswhattheweatherconditionsaregoingtobelike.

Inmostcases,becauseofbuildings,thedirectionof the range, natural ormanmade baffles, thewindneverseemstogetuptowhatis‘advertised’ontheworldwidewebweatherchannels.Ithinkthis weekend showed everyone that for oncetheweatherpunditswereright.Theypredictedrainandwegotrain!!Theypredictedwindandwegotwind!!!Attimesthiswas30mphplusanditjustbatteredpartsoftherange.TheraincamedownaboutmiddaySunday,flyingintothefaceof the competitors! Interesting times indeed!However,withallthisinminditwasfunandthatsaysitallattheendoftheday!Wehadagreattime.

PaulLaneissituatedjustoutsideHuddersfield,in West Yorkshire. The crew and the clubmemberswereverywelcoming,with foodandbeveragelaidontokeepthecompetitorshappy.It’s great to see such a club thriving and thisonenotonlyhasitsownplushclubhouse,theyeven have their ownwell equipped gun shop.Amazing-lovetolivethere!!

CompetitorscamefromaroundtheUK-asfaras theNorthEastanddown toSussexon theSouthCoast.Thecompetitionevenhadavisit

John Farrel Getting his two Gold Medals

Gary Kingaby getting a Silver for the LV 50m

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ofoneofItaly’stopshooters,CarloCaricato.AsaVIPguesthealsopresentedthemedalsattheawardceremony.

Generally thescoreswereabitdownonwhatwenormallyexpectatoneofthesematches,theaverage being around 245 for the goldmedalwinners shooting outdoors. Most of us wouldcommentonthewindaffectingthisandI think

I personally will stickto that story havingshotsomeoftheworstcardsIhavecompletedforafewyears.

Getting over lickingour own wounds,the impressive thingwith this match isthat I think we alllearned somethingabout shooting inthese conditions. Itis therefore what weneedtohavemoreofintheUK.Theseregionalmatches are ‘key’ tothedevelopmentofthesport. Yes the postalmatches are great,but getting together,shooting at different

ranges, talking through the issues, lookingat rifles, chewing the cud, etc, is how we asshooters progress. It’s great that John Farrelland the members of the Paul Lane ShootingClubhaveputonanothergreatmatch,aswellas number of other events over the last year.Keepitgoingguys!!

Card 1 Card 1 Card 2 Card 2 Total TotalScore Xs Score Xs Score Xs

ColinRose 250 19 250 22 500 4125m Rimfire HV JohnStephenson 250 13 250 15 500 28

GrahamReadhead 250 13 249 11 499 24

J.Farrell 250 16 250 22 500 3825m Rimfire LV BrianKelly 250 17 250 18 500 35

CarloCaricato 248 17 250 15 498 32

JohnStephenson 246 14 246 9 492 2350m Rimfire HV GrahamReadhead 244 9 244 13 488 22

ColinRose 240 8 241 11 481 19

JohnFarrell 247 8 243 9 490 1750m Rimfire LV GarryKingaby 243 9 240 7 483 16

CarlBoswell 237 6 245 12 482 18

ScottGrayson 242 8 223 3 465 11Air Rifle Unlimited RichardHealey 234 3 229 1 463 4

CarlBoswell 234 4 227 7 461 11

Paul Lane Open Match

Colin Rose getting his winning medal for the indoor rimfire match

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We’dnosoonergot theseason’sopeningclashatDiggle out of the way when GB F Class LeagueRoundTwowasuponus,onlythreeweeksbetweenthem.

Thereseemedbarelyenoughtimetohandloadmoreammunition,repackthesuitcaseandarrangeforasecondmortgageneededrefillthetankwithfuelattoday’spricesbeforetakingtheHighRoadnorthforBlairAthollinPerthshire.A1000mileroundtripforthoseinthesouthandeven500to600forthoseofusinthenorthofEngland.

Whileen-route,theresultsoftheScottishAssemblyelectionswereannouncedwithalandslidevictoryforthepro-independenceandrabidlyanti-gunScottishNational Party, so maybe we’ll have to pack apassporttooforsomefutureBlairround,assumingtarget shooting survives north of the border if thisancient but ‘wee’ nation throws off theSassenachyoke-withorwithoutMelGibson’shelp!

Anyway,48hardysouls,splitroughly50-50FClass

(hereinafterreferredtoas‘Open’)andF/TRventuredto themostnorthernof our threeNational Leaguevenues. No foreign entries this time, unless youcountourgoodfriendsfromtheRepublicofIreland,whoareveryfondofthisscenicrangeandprobablyfeel at home in its damp and constantly changingclimate.

Mentioningweather,theforecastwaspoor,thelongdry spell ofMarch andApril replacedby a strong,warm and very wet southern airstream that wasexpectedtobringheavyrain.Mindyou,Fridaywasforecast to suffer horribleweather too butmost ofusarrivedinBlairAthollvillagewithouthavingseenmorethananoccasionalblackcloudandtofindtheearlyarrivalssitting intheAthollArmsbeergardenenjoyingwarmearlyeveningsunshine.

South EasterlyOnethingthatwasaccuratelyforecastwasthewinddirection-south-easterly-orfromaround5o’clockonWestAthollRifleClub’sGlenTiltrange.Naturally,thisbeingBlair,ameaninglessphraselike‘5o’clock

The Long View News from the GB F-Class Association by Les Holgate

The Glen Tilt range first thing on Sunday. The threatened rain soon appeared!

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wind’mightcoveranumberofpossibilities from ‘abit of left windage needed’ to ‘getting on for eightornine-MOAright’throughtoaflat-calminbetweenover the time it takes to runa couple ofmatches,nevermindawholeweekend–anditdid!

Nevertheless,onthewholethiswasaGOODTHING.Letmeexplain.Theremustbesomebodywholikestoshootinanorth-easterlythatbringsafreezingandhighlyvariablequarteringheadwindupGlenTilt–butsofarI’venevermethimorher–andunfortunatelythat’sall toooftenwhatwegethereat thistimeof

‘Open’ shooters get ready

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theyear. But,whenweassembled forsighting-in/blow-off on theSaturdaymorningwith threateningcloudsshroudingthemountaintops,therewasonlytheoddbitofdrizzleintheair,visibilitywasgoodandthewindwasfrom5o’clock- lightandapparentlyconstantinstrengthanddirection.

Could this be really so? Was it too good to last?Whilstonthesubjectofweatherandblow-offs,we’respoilt on this range. ThehostClub’s low tent likestructures, or ‘gazebos’ as everybody calls them,would keep us dry and there was an extendedsighting-in session starting at the civilized time of9.30am. Noneof thiswas tohelp thecompetitorsyouunderstand - theweatherproofing is toprotectthesensitiveKongsbergelectronicscoringmonitors;the sighting-in (on the backstop sand with targetsdown)likewise,asitisessentialtoavoidwildshotshitting the outside edges of the target frames anddamagingthewiring.

The late startwas in response to complaints fromthe neighbours about previous F Class rounds.Neighbours? Well, there is only one actually, thelargehouseon theothersideof theglenoppositethe1000yardfiring-pointand it’s reputedly the20orsodogs that live therein thatobjectmost to thesound of high-powered rifles echoing around thesteephillsides.

SaturdayAsinallBlairGBFCArounds,allmatchesor‘stages’areshotover1000yardsandthisday’sprogrammewas three15roundcontests romantically titled theGlenTilt,theBlairCastle,andtheOldAtholl.Bythetimesighting-in/blow-offwasdonetheweatherwasbrightening,thecloudthinningandliftingbutsotoo

wasthewind,withthetwotallflagsontherightsideoftherangebillowingout.

AlthoughitwasF/TRtostart,I’llcoverour25‘Open’hopefulsfirst,oneofwhichwasyourstruly.Onlytwobroke 70, Gary Costello tying with Peter Hobsonon71butgettingthemedalfor7against5Vs.IanBoxal,freshfromhisDiggletriumph(butnowbackto shooting 7mm rather than the 6mm Crusader)took third on 68.3v. Most of the field fell within a65-68pointbracket,sonorunaway leadersat thisstage.

Match2eithersawpeoplegettheireyein-ormorelikely had marginally easier conditions - as HughInglispushedthewinningscoreupto73.3vfollowedby twomore in the 70s, John Campbell on 71.3vandGaryCostelloagainon70.3v.Themainpackpushedtheirscoresuptoo,nineshooterssubmittingcardsinthe65to69range,nofewerthanfouron69includingIanBoxallandPeterHobson.

By the time Match 3 came round, the wind wasdecidedlystrongerandwasproducingsomemarkedvariationsbetweenshots.ClassicBlairdiagonal-lineplotsappearedlikeameaslesrashonthemonitorsasagustnotonlymovedshots leftbuthigh,a lulldropping themrightand low– there isa ‘formula’,somethingonthelinesofadjustingelevationahalf-MOAforevery2MOAwindchangebutthatneedsyoutocomputewindchangesfirst,somethingthatIandseveralotherswerestrugglingwith!Scoresfellbackagainwithanewtriotakingthetopslots,2010FClasschampionGrantTaylorgot themedalwith68.2voncountback fromagood resultbyLeagueregularLesPrior,andthesetwowereaVaheadofGordonWaugh.

Mostly F/TR competitors here

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The top F/TR shooters were squadded onto thefirstdetailofMatch1andshouldhavehadthebestconditionsofthedaybut,withtheexceptionofRussellSimmondstakingsecondon67.1vitdidn’tworkoutthatwayatall. Seconddetail shootersperformedbetterwithAltcar101RC’sMickLongbottomgettingthemedalbyasingleVandRossOppermaninthirdplaceon65.1v. Theotherhalfof theSimmondsvBagnallongoingstruggleforF/TRsupremacywasdownin10thon61.1v,soamajorupsetseemedtobeunfolding.Unlike Open, Match 2 didn’t get any easier formostF/TRentrantsandscoresdippedfurther,themedalgoing toScottishF/TR teamcaptainPaulCrosbieonarelatively lowly64.2voncountbackfromAltcar’sSteveDonaldsonbothshooting210s-albeittheScouser’sprojectilesweretravellingalotfasterdownrange.AdamBagnallimprovedtothirdon61.1v justaheadofDiggle’sRussHowardwhowashavingabetterdaythanmostsofar. RussellSimmondswasjustbehindon59,sostillfourpointsaheadofAdamonaggregate.

F/TRhadthefinalSaturdaydetailsandthegeneralfeelingwas thatMatch3conditionswere themostdifficultof thedaybyawholeorder. Disconsolateindividualswereobservedcomingoffthelineinlateafternoon with anything above 55 regarded as agoodscore.Atthispoint,whatI’llcallTheTwoTwoThreeTerrorraiseditshead.Whatdoyoucallamanwhotakesa223toBlairinearlyMayinthefaceofapoorweatherforecast?Ifyou’refeelinggenerous,an optimist; if not you’d say a fool. I’m referringto LaurieHolland of coursewith theweird lookingSavageandthedartlike90gnVLDammunition.

The consensus was that Blair would see Lauriesink into mid-field at best, more likely bomb outcompletelyandalthoughhe’dstayedinthetopteninthepreviousmatcheshadn’tshonesofar. Nowheshot66.2v,sevenpointsaheadofAdamon59.4vand eight ahead of 3rd place Steve Lynch who’dbeen performing steadily throughout! Russell wasdownon57.0v.Sensation!Saturdayendedupthus:

SundayToday’sprogrammewastwo20roundmatches,theCairngorm,and theRiverGarry. Thecloudswerelower and more threatening after heavy overnightrainandthewindwasgettingupfromtherear-rightquarteragainascompetitorsarrivedon range. I’llstick with F/TR as overnight leaders Laurie andRussellweresquadded togetheronMatch4detail2–nopressureonLaurie,then!

Aweird ‘couldonlyhappenatBlair’ thingoccurredastheywaitedtheirturn–ashortbutheavystormpassed over, seeing the non-shooters rush fortarpaulins tocover theirgearup. Theunfortunate(Open)shootersindetail1wereprotectedofcoursebut heavy rain and sudden wind switches ruinedtheir day. Previously tight groupson themonitorsopeningrightupinsomecases.

Open          F/TR 1  Gary Costello    206.12v   Laurie Holland    183.5v 2  Peter Hobson    206.10v   Russell Simmonds  183.1v 3  John Campbell    203.9v    Adam Bagnall    181.6v 4  Anthony Dunne   202.13v   Steve Donaldson  180.3v 5  Ian Boxall    200.8v    Steve Lynch    174.5v 6  Mik Maksimovich  199.10v   Paul Harkins    174.4v  

Steve Rigby (left) and Ian Dixon look relaxed as they wish each other luck

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Bythetimethedetailfinishedtherainstopped–andthewinddiedleavingnearcalm–toletasetofF/TRshootersmove in likegreasedweasels, settingupasfastastheycouldtotakeadvantageofconditionsthatweren’tlikelytoholdforlong.Therewaswindinfact,notshowingontheflagsbutrunningataround2MOAfromtheleftfora.308withinvisiblebutstillpotentially significant variations and a full 2-MOAadditionalelevationwasalsoneeded,bringinghomehowmuchwinddoesaffectelevationonthisrange.WithLaurieandRussellshooting together,asmallgroup formed behind to watch themonitor to seeboth contestants find the bull/V-bull on shot 1 -Russell hammeringfiveconsecutiveVs in. Lauriewasn’tdroppingpointsbutwasdowntwoVsbyshotsix, nevertheless, thewordgot round that the223washoldingupagainstthe308andmorespectatorsmovedin.Asthematchprogressed,bothdroppedtheoddpoint,everyoneinthe4.9‘justout’categorybut the .223wasnowgettingahigherV-count! Infactaftershot19,bothmenhaddroppedfourpointsandhittheVeighttimes,soitwasalast-shotplayoffforthispairatleast.Russell,shootingfirstsensed thewindmighthavestrengthenedfractionally,butdecidedonbalancetoholdhisaim-a fourat3o’clock,anotherdamned4.9! Laurie aimed off a fraction and the monitorflashedupaV–96.9v for the ‘MouseGun’,95.8vfor theWorldChampionandthe308!Afewyardsfurtherdown,AdamBagnallalsoshota96butwitheightVsforsecondplace.WithSteveDonaldsonon95.7vtheleadingquartetpulledfurtheraheadoftheF/TRpack.

IntheOpenClass,thedetailshooterswereallocatedto for Match 4 had a potentially significant effect,with pulses of rain coming through and the right

windreappearingfortheseconddetail.ThismatchsawYorkshire/DiggleshooterSimonRogerspowerthrough on 98.6v ahead of Robin Gow and MarkDaishon95s.Ofthepreviousday’sleadersonlyIanBoxallbroke90andthatonlyjust.

Withsuchvariabilityatthetopoftheclass,theoverallleadreallywasopennow,everythingdependingonlastmatchperformance.Thewindwasbackagainbut lighterandoccasionally fishtailingaround frombehindasMatch5gotunderway.ItwasGrantTaylorwhotookhissecondMatchoftheweekendon95.4vaheadofMatchDirectorDesParrbyasingleVandtheeverreliableAnthonyDunneon94.4v.

Gary Costello recovered from a poor Match 4 toshoot a 91 but the other Day One leaders werestuckinthe80s.DayTwo‘Open’sensationSimonRogerswasinbetweenAnthonyandGaryon92.2v

Hmmm. The dreaded Blair diagonal line is just visible on the monitor .... but it was to get much worse as wind speed and variability increased

Grant Taylor picks up his Stage win medal

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forthehighestaggregateSundayscoreandenoughtopushhimuptheleaderboardtoawelldeservedsecondoverallplace.Eitherside,wehadAnthonyDunnewin andGaryCostello third, a single pointcovering the triowithPeterand Ianstillwell up tocompletethetopfive.

BackwithF/TR, the trickywindwasplayinghavocwiththeballisticallyinferior308cartridgeinthefinalmatch but this didn’t stop Altcar’s John Crossputting inastaggering91.3v,ascorethatmost‘Open’ competitors would have happily taken,seven points ahead of second place SteveDonaldsonandStuartAnselminthird.

RussellandAdamwereabitfurtherbehindinthelow 80s and Laurie slipped into the 70s. Firstplacepressure? Hesaysnotandwaswelloncourse to staywithin an average shot value of‘four’ thatwasreckonedgoodintheconditions,

thentheconditionschangedmarkedlyfortheworseseeing9pointsdroppedoverthe last fourshots inawindthatfishtailedbetween1MOArightand1.5MOA left. “I just couldn’t read those changes ontheflags!Maybe..... ifwe’dshota littlequicker,orstartedfiveminutesearlier......”

Ah that ‘maybe’ – the most abused word in FClassandnevermoreso thanatBlair! So itwasRussellwho just cameout on top aheadofSteveDonaldson,Adam and Laurie in that order. ApartfromJohnCross, theotherSundayF/TRstarwasStuartAnselmwho’dsufferedammunitionproblemsinMatches1through3butnowputinSunday’sthirdhighestaggregatescore.Incidentally,Laurie’s96.9vinMatch 4 equals JohnCross’sGB20 shot F/TR1000 yard record coincidentally also shot at BlairAtholl. Laurie also had the highest F/TRV-count,sowhosaysthe223isn’tcompetitiveatthisrange?As always, Des Parr andWestAtholl RC helpersran a superbmatch, the electronic targetsworkedflawlessly through a 4500 round-count and therewasagreatShootDinner in theAthollArmsHotelon Saturday night. Last but not least, the ladiesperformedaninvaluableservicecheerfullyprovidingmuchneededhotdrinks,bunsandsympathyintheOspreyRiflestent.Agoodtimewashadbyall,evenme,whetherweshotwellornotsowell–Noouch,don’ttwistmyarmlikethat!

OverheardAtBlair.............By an unknown Irishman as heandpartnerpackedupat theendof amatch: “Of coursewe’ve gottohaveagoodsenseofhumour.Ifwedidn’t,whywouldwecometoBlairAtholl?”Well known Diggle F/TR regularonbeingaskedifhe’dhadagoodmatch: “Of course I didn’t! I’mnothingbutahas-been!”Blair has thiseffectonpeople ....but they always come back formore.

Final results were: 

  Open          F/TR 1  Anthony Dunne   387.22v   Russell Simmonds  360.9v 2  Simon Rogers    387.15v   Steve Donaldson  359.12v  3  Gary Costello    386.21v   Adam Bagnall    357.12v 4  Peter Hobson    383.19v   Laurie Holland    355.15v  5  Ian Boxall    378.16v   John Cross    347.6v 6  Mark Daish    378.15v   Paul Harkins    339.9v 7  Mik Maksimovich  374.15v   Russell Howard    337.10v 

 

Simon Rogers had a great Sunday pulling up to second overall

Match Director Des Parr (left) presents Russell Simmonds with the Blair Atholl F/TR winner’s silver shield

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Harlow Level 3 Ken Brown Memorial IPSC Shotgun Match By Tony Saunders

The wooded ranges of the Essex based HTRPCplayed host yet again to theKenBrownMemorialL3IPSCshotgunmatchonthe20/21stMay,andasalwaysthebuildteamexcelledwithsomefantasticmatchstages,andimaginativeuseofpallets,polesandnetting.This wasmade all themore amazing as the club

recently experienced a growing problem in theseharsher economic times; that of metal theft. Theclubhadbetweenfortyandfiftysteeltargetsstolenliterallyweeksbeforethematch.Thepittancethesethievinglowlifeswouldmakefromthesteelpalesintoinsignificancecomparedtothecostofrebuildingandre-weldingtargets,particularlysoclosetothematchdate,andtheclubwasfacingasevereproblem.

Thankfully, theUKPSAhave recently invested ina

Stage 1: Sam Taylor with his 12g Benelli M2 - shooting from the sleepers

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wholesetofsteeltargetsaspartoftheircampaigntohelpclubswhoareputtingonmatches,soitwaswithgreatreliefthatatrailerloadofsteelscouldbeshipped up from Bisley. That, and the herculeaneffortsofDavidJoy,whospentcountlesshoursofhisown timewelding,diggingnewbermsandmovingportacabins in saw the situation turned around intimeforthematch.

The nine stage competition attracted over fiftyshooters,withmanyfamiliar faces,plussomenew

onesrelativelyfreshfromtheirrecentsafetycourses–alwaysawelcomesight.Weatherwasbrightandwarmtoo–wewereblessed!

Stage1wasa12plateshootwithsteelsplacedatgroundlevelaroundtyres.Itallhadtobeshotfromanumberof railwaysleepers,and foraddedspicehadapopperactivated frangible (clay) targetonabobber(aframethatoscillateseitherbackandforthorsidetoside).Thestagewassplitbyawallwiththeactivationpopperononeside,and thebobber

Stage 2: Start position – Martin “Gravis” Greaves with his Benelli M1. Note the red bobber at the back. The Shooter is confined to the red box.

Stage 4: Looking right down the tunnels. Tony Wade in the far distance. Inset: Proof that the bulldog spirit is alive and well on the British shooting scene. Tony Wade looking chipper at 73 as he waits to shoot at a recent club match at Swadlincote

RPC.

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attheother.

Stage2wasa“shootingthroughtyretunnels”stage.These fiendishly designed tunnels conceal a steeltargetattheendofeachone,butthistimewithanoscillating bobber activated by one of the targets.Thebobberhada frangible targeton theendandswungleft-to-rightsothatitwasbrieflyvisibledownseveralof the tyre tunnels.The trickwas to time itperfectlysothatitappearedatoneofthetunnelsas

yougotthere–somethingthatwasdifficultatbest.Ifyoumissedit,youwouldneedtotakeanothershot(orseveral)asitwasworthdoublepoints.This isaspeedshootstage,madecomplicatedbythebobber,butalsotherangeofshootingpositionsfromvery low to shoulder high. Kneepads comeintotheirownonthisstageasanyonewhohashadaspent12ghullundertheirkneewillattest.

Stage 4: Note the cooper tunnel “slats” in the lower foreground. They are painted red on each end with corresponding red marks on the pallets to ensure that they are put back in the same place for each competitor (...it being essential and fair that each course of fire

is identically repeatable for everyone!)

Stage 5: Keith Wilson with his Winchester SX3 “Flanigun”. Note Keith chose to stand to shoot, whereas most shot from the sitting position.

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Stage3wasafourposition,12plateshootthroughandaroundapalletframe.Thereweretwopositionslowdownthathadcurtainsofmaterialthatneededtobemovedaside to see (andshoot) the targets.This isn’t difficult, but the trap is that the curtainscancausetheshotguntofailtoejectspentroundscleanlyasitcatchesinthefabriconits’wayoutofthegun.Thiscatchesa fewcompetitorsouteverytime.Thetrickistostickthegunthroughthecurtainswelltothesidewiththeejectionport.Thenmovetheguntotheleftsweepingthecurtainsasidetoleaveagapyoucanbothseeandshoot through. Italsomeansthematerialiswelloutofthewayofthegun.Stage 4was a big field stage, shot primarily fromalargecentraltunnelledareawithseveral“CooperTunnel” sections in it. The “Cooper Tunnel” wasnamedfortheinitialIPSCpresidentJeffCooper.It consistsofawalled tunnelwithwoodenslatsorbarsplacedacrosstoformaroof.Theseslatsarenotfastenedon,butbalancedsuchthatisacompetitorcatches themwith his heador anythingelse, theywill likely fall off and thus incur apenalty for eachslat.Thebasicideaistokeepyourheaddownlowwhilescamperingthrough.Tomakethisharder,eachcoopertunnelhadshootingaperturesin,sothecompetitorhadtoshoottargetsthroughsmallholesinthewall.These stages are definitely easier for the smallercompetitor,orsomeoneintheirfirstflushofyouth.Theoldestcompetitoron thedaywas73yearoldTonyWade,whohasbeenshootingsince1977.Heshootsa12gpumpshotgunusuallyathishomeclub

ofSwadlincoteRifleandPistolClub inDerbyshire.He has recentlymoved to aBenelliM2 semi-autoandhe’sameanshotwithitHedoes,howevermoanevery timeheseesa lowaperture, tunnelorotherimpediment that means he has to crawl about onhandsandknees.

Stage5wasaquickandsimplespeedshoot.Eachcompetitor sat at a tablewith their hands inside apairofweldingglovesscrewedtothetabletop.Theirgunwas loaded in frontof themwithnine rounds.Down rangewere four frangible targets at variousheights and four steel targets.On the start signal,thecompetitorsimplyhadtoshoottheeighttargetsasquicklyaspossible.Stage 6 was a medium field stage with 16 metaltargets, and several no-shoot targets. It wasconstructedinsuchawaywithwallsandpalletsthatthecompetitorneededtomoveallaroundthestageconfines to seeand shoot the targets,withhalf ofthemonlyvisiblefromtwoapertures.With a fully loaded gun in Standard Division, thismeanttoothatthecompetitorneedtoloadatleastsevenextraroundswhilemoving.

This was a good heart thumping stage, fast andfluidwouldwinthedayonthisstage.Withavarietyofshootingpointsformanyof thetargets,strategywaskey.However, some targetswerevisible frommultiple locations that presented harder or easieroptions. In our squad of about eight people, therewere several variants on a theme with this stage

Stage 6: Tom , straight from his Safety Course under starting instructions from R.O. David Joy. Note Tom is using a Section 2, 3-shot Mossberg pump until he gets his own

Section 1 shotgun.

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which is how a goodpracticalstageshouldbe.

Stage7wasaSpeedShootthrough two apertures,shot from a confines ofan area not much biggerthan the footprint of atelephonebox.Thereweretwo lines of steel targetsnecessitating a reload ofseveral rounds inorder toshoot themall. Iquite likethese quick stages, theyare all adrenalin fuelled,with the only downsidebeing that if you have agun malfunction, ammojamorsomethingsimilar,itwillblowthestage.

Stage8wasaneightplate/ popper shoot across alarger area of the wood,but confined to an “L”shaped area. This wasa quick stage to shoot,but the poppers wereextremely heavy and

Stage 6: IPSC Shotgun Director Neil Beverley under full steam. Note his trigger finger well away from the trigger while moving.

 

 Standard Auto Division Position  Competitor  Score 1st  Mike Darby  100% 2nd  Jim Starley  92.81% 3rd  Barry Sullivan  91.92% 

 Standard Manual Division (pump) Position  Competitor  Score 1st  Iain Guy  100% 2nd  Adrian Sell  84.99% 3rd  Jon Holloway  84.73% 

 Open Division Position  Competitor  Score 1st  Mike Scarlett  100% 2nd  Nicholas Hockley  91.79% 3rd     

 Modified Division Position  Competitor  Score 1st  James Harris  100% 2nd  Colin Alden  93.99% 3rd  Keith Wilson  91.45% 

 Also, the Ladies shot very well, with Sharon Sell just pipping Vanessa Duffy by 0.055% ‐ all shot in Standard Auto.  Ladies Position  Competitor   1st  Sharon Sell   2nd  Vanessa Duffy   3rd  Helen Kenneth   

 

 

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caughtmorethanonepersonoutiftheydidn’thitthetargetsquarely.

Stage 9 was a big field stage as befitting a goodL3 match. Utilising some stage hardware from aprevious shoot, the stage consisted of a corridorwithmultipleshootingpositionsthroughaperturesatdifferentheights.Apairofswingingbobbersat theendaddedsomeadditionaluncertaintytothestage.Thestartpositionmadeitmoreofachallenge–thecompetitor’sammunitionbeltwasplacedonaboardnear the start of the stage,with theunloadedgunplacedonthefloorfacingdownrangeabouthalfwaydownthecorridor.Onthestartsignalthecompetitorneeded to grab and click on the ammo belt whiledashing to pick up the gun, then load it as theybackedout to the start of the stage so they couldbeginshootingthetargets.Good loading skillswere crucial, but a good load/

shootcadencewasnecessary toensureasmoothcompletion as the competitor moved forwardbetweenfiringpositions.itwas a great stage and took no small amount ofefforttocomplete.Ididn’tseemanypeoplecomingoff thisonewhoweren’t lookingexhilaratedby theexperience.

With a round count of approximately 120 rounds,everyonewasfinishedshootingbymid-afternoonintimetoallowthescorersandmatchteamtocollatethefinalresultswhileeveryonewasthere.Thanksasalways to theRangeCrewandHarlowTownRPCforputtingonanotherexcellentmatch.David JoywasawardedTopSportsmanAward forhisHerculeaneffortsandselflessdevotionof time,moneyandpersonaleffort.

Stage 9: Yours truly having donned my ammo belt and loading the gun as I carefully backed up. (Picture by Neil Beverley.)

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Training New Shooters with Long Barrelled Pistols

Thefinespringweatherhasgotthe2011seasonofftoagreatstartwith883scorecardsubmittedat the Bisley SpringAction Weekend (SAW -26th/27th March) including three new recordsbeingset;withGwynRobertsachievinga1918(168X)inGRCFBianchiandMelBeardmaking1910(138X)intheBianchiLBR.Thethirdrecord;592(26X)intheTimedandPrecisionTwoLongBarrelledPistolMatch fromPhilSteadgotmethinkingof thesuddengrowthof theLBPfromavirtualnoveltyacoupleofyearsagotonearly10%ofcardssubmittedat theSpringMeeting

beingmatchesshotwiththem(85inall).

TheLBRclassrunsparallelwithvirtuallyeveryGR event and, not unsurprisingly, it is themore dynamic events where it features most.Noprecisioncardatallweresubmittedat theSAWbuttheTimedandPrecision,MultiTarget,PhoenixA,1500,Bianchi,AdvancingTargetandSpeedSteelsMatcheshadentries.

This gotme to thinking about the probationermembersnewtoshooting inmyownclubandthe licensing rules that seem to be appliedto long barrelled pistols and revolvers. Ihope the upsurge of interest in the interest in

GalleryRifle&PistolNews

Keith Cox, in the forground, showing the kind of concentration that makes you a Western Winner

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shootingthatmyhomeclubhasseen isbeingexperiencedelsewhere;inourcasethishasledtotheCommitteeappointingadditionalTrainingOfficers to develop the new members. I amentirely satisfied at the standard of trainingthe new shooters are getting on what mightbe termed the traditional GR firearms but Ithen saw a shooter, recently elevated to fullmembership, enthusiastically practicing withhisrecentlyacquiredLBRanditdawnedonmethatthelicensingruleshadprohibitedhimfromreceiving any live fire experience with such afirearmduringhissixmonthprobationaryperiod.

ThecurrentinterpretationofthelicensingrulesdoesnotpermitashootertouseanLBRunlesstheyhaveitontheirpersonalcertificate.AnLBRcannotbeheldontheclubFAC,thustheonlyexperiencethatnewshootersgetistheoretical,somuchfortheeversafetyconsciouslicensingauthorities who then issue authorisation toacquire an LBR to a recently qualified newshooter.

ThestoryhasahappyendingandtheshooterIsawpracticingdidhavethesensetotakecouncilfromthetrainingofficersabouttheappropriateuseofhisbrandnewLBR,but thepoint ishewasnotcompelledtosodo.Whatthenifsuchashooterappliedfromarangesafetycertificatefrom the Club Chairman – what would youdo?YesnotpermittingtheuseofLBRbynewshooters seems to me to be counter intuitiveand perhaps the licensing authorities need are-think.

Then I thought of the LBP and wondered ifthesamerulesappliedtothem.TheLBPhasadditional complications of safety devices andholsterusethatisprobablybestlearnedunderdirection in practice conditions rather than incompetition.SoIthoughtIwouldaskmylocallicensing department what they thought andcontrarytoexpectationtheywereveryreceptiveto the idea of permitting the acquisition of aBrowningBuckmarkLBPon theClubFAC foruseintrainingprobationermembers.ThelogicbeingthattheparentfirearmfortheBuckmarkis

GB Captain Ashley Dagger, at the far end, and members of the GB Team get some practice at the Western Winner prior to the start of the International Season

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asection1rifle;itjusthappenstohaveacustomstock and reduced barrel length, though stillconforming to the overall length requirement.The sameenthusiasm for theRuger and newColtLBPswasnotdemonstrated,therationalebeingtheirparentagewashandgunandnotriflebased, so we have the anomaly that we arelikely toget aBuckmarkon theClubFACbutnotanyotherLBPwithexactlythesamefirearmclassification–Ididn’teventhinkaboutaskingaboutanLBR!

The recently deceased Irish ex-PrimeMinisterDrGarret Fitzgeraldwas quoted today on theradio as saying, “that’s a very practicalsuggestion, but will it work in theory”, wellwhenIgetback fromthePhoenixMeetingwewill submit an application for a Buckmark ontheClubFACandseeifaneminentlypracticaldiscussionsIhavehadsofarwiththeAvonandSomersetLicensingDepartmentareacceptedinthetheoreticalworldoflicensingadministration-Iwillkeepyoupostedontheoutcome.

Other Events

After the SAW the Shield Shooting Centre inDorsethostedacharityfundraiserfortheHelpforHeroesAppealonSaturday16thApril.Theevent was well supported with 86 shooterspartaking of ten stages of practical shootingand in the process raised £6,000. Well doneto allwhoparticipated, a big thank you to thesponsorswhoreportedlyprovidedanexcellentprizetable.

The10thMatterseyTenwasheldonSaturday4thMaywith237matchcardsbeingsubmittedinall the favouriteevents, including timedandprecisionandmulti-targetshotgunmatches.

On the 14th May the Frome Club hosted theWesternWinner1500MatchattheBristolandDistrict Rifle and Pistol Club Failand Ranges.With75matchesbeingshot,plussome timedandprecisionandskittlessideshootsandKeithCox being crowned the 2011WesternWinnerfor best aggregate in the GRCF and GRSBmatches.

FullresultsforallthesematchesontheGRWebSite(detailsbelow).

So what’s next?

By the time you read this article the PhoenixMatch,andthefirstInternationalMatchesoftheseasonwill be over and Iwill report on theseeventsinthenextissue.IamlookingforwardtothedebutoftheSouthAfricanGalleryRifleTeamat the Phoenix International 1500 Matches,whichalsofeaturesanofficialGRSBMatchforthefirsttimeinadditiontothetraditionalGRCF.Let’shopethefineweathercontinuesovertheBankHolidayWeekend.

After the Phoenix there is the ever popularDerbyOpenGRweekend on 25th/26th June,thisisalwaysawellrunandfriendlyeventandisprobablythebiggestopenGReventoutsideofBisleysotryandgetalongthereifyoucan,youwillhaveagreattime.DetailsoftheDerbyOpenandallotherGReventsavailableonwww.galleryrifle.com.

Finally the Imperial Meeting host two GRevents, the Historic Breech Loading ShootingAssociationhavesomeGRmatchesforperiodfirearms on theweekend of 9th/10th July andthen the Imperial unlimited and squaddedGRevents run from Wednesday 13th to Sunday17thJuly.TheBisleyBiblehasfulldetail.

Plentytokeepusbusythen–Ilookforwardtoseeingyouonarangesomewhere.

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AregularcolumnwherebyKenHallkeepsusuptodatewithblackpowdercartridgerifleshootingintheUK.

THE ANNUAL QUIGLEY SHOOTING ASSOCIATION TIGHTGROUP SHOOT.

Saturday 14th May and the annual QSATightgroup competition got under way with areducedfieldof14firers,mainlyduetoholidaysandafewmemberscompetinginthelongrangeevents run simultaneously in Bisley and therotten weather. Run on the lines of UKBenchreststylecompetitiontheformatgenerally

followedthatofBenchrest,butwithsomeminorallowances due to the unique nature of these19thCentury longguns.Eachfirerwas to firefour separategroupsof five roundsat 100ydson a standard 25yd pistol target, a time limitof 10 minutes per group was allowed, whichgavetimetowipetheborebetweenshots.Theresulting group sizes were recorded and thenadded together and divided by 4, to give anaveragegroupsize.

Doug Herod making smoke

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AsperBenchrest rules, firerswereallowed toresttheriflesfrontandback,althoughnotusedtothisposition,somesoongotthehangofitandsomeveryreasonablegroupsbegantoappear.However,asitturnedout,almosteveryoneshotat least onegroup larger thanwewouldhaveliked,duetotheoddflier.

It soon became apparent that aBattleRoyal for smallest groupwasbrewing, with several groups below2inches.DennisRichardsonwasonfineformandmanagedtokeepcoolunderpressuretofiretwosub2inchgroupsandtwoonlyslightlylargertogiveanaverageoftwoincheseven,thiswith bulletsmeasuringalmost ahalfinchindiameter.

Dennis also achieved the smallestgroup of the day at 1.44in, closelyfollowedbyDaveMalpaswith1.49inand Jake Healey and Gary Allsoppwith1.55in.

Overall,theresultswereencouraging

andshowthatfirersaregettingtogripswiththe“DarkStuff”.Thankstoeveryonewhoentered,weshouldcontinuetostrivetowardsachievingsmaller groups at this distance; otherwisedecentscoresatlongerrangeswillcontinuetoeludeus.

Dennis (Right) and Jake

Jake Healey ‘assists’ Gary Allsopp

RESULTS.

Competitor BestGroup Average

1stplace D.Richardson 1.44 2.002ndplace J.Healey 1.55 2.143rdplace G.Allsopp 1.55 2.31

Khall6548@aol.com

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THE QUIGLEY SHOOTING ASSOCIATION.

APRIL QUIGLEY COMPETITION.

Saturday21stMay,theweathermanagedtostay dry until the early evening andby thenthecompwasover.Onceagain,thewindwasonhandtomakesomelivesamisery……..

Thefirersassembledat400yds for stage1,whichasusualconsistedoftwosightersandfifteen shots to scoreat theQuigleybucket.Mostmanagedscores in the30’s /40’s,buthigherscoreswereprovingdifficulttoachieve.Goingintolunch,JamesBarnardwasleadingwith 54 points against nearest rivals GaryAllsopp with 50 points and Dave Simmonswith 47 points.After lunch, stage 2was thebuffalosilhouetteat600ydsandtopscoreron

thisstagewasDaveSimmonswith52pointsfollowedbynearestrivalRichardHealeywith45 points. NewcomerAndy Poole, who hasjust purchased John Gilpin’s .45/90 Sharp’sand fired it for the first time today achievedacreditable5thplacewith73points,one towatchoutfor…

Thefinalscoreswereasfollows;

On the 600yd point

Pos. Shooter. Score.

1. DaveSimmons 992. GaryAllsopp 913. JamesBarnard 86

Richard Healey lets off his 45-90

Dave Simmons and Gary Allsopp

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Next time in.....

TheJuly2011issuewillbeoutatthebeginningofthemonth.Lotsoffollowuparticles,newreviews,newsandaseverpackedwiththearticlesyouwanttoread.Watchoutfornewformatsofthe

magazine,asweareeverdevelopingtobringyouthebestofallTargetShootingSports.

July 2011