Welcome to the 2nd Christmas Edition so much to enjoy!

December 2010 Issue

Event reports Gallery Rifle UKPSA News

F Class and Air Rifle Benchrest Centerfire Benchrest..... Developments Handloading Bench Quigley Report New Products and lots more..

one The BIG EuropesGUNMAKERS HALLSMassive 150,000 sq ft indoor and weatherproof arena with 1000s of guns on show and for sale

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Largest Retail Shooting & Gun Show

UK TARGET SHOOTING Check out all target disciplines on the special information stand...

Sporting & competition shotguns, field, target & tactical rifles, optics, ammunition & reloading, accessories and much, much more... A real shooting MEGASTORE!

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Even more to do, more to see and more to buy!Look out for the stands which display the Rifle Focus 2011 logo ARMS HERITAGE SHOW and youll be sure not to miss anything of interest. Hunting & Stalking Pest control & lamping Safaris Sporting GAMEKEEPING HALL & Tactical rifles Ammunition & reloading UK Target Shooting CLAY SHOOTING LINE info area Scopes & optics Clubs & associations etc etc...

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Top brand manufacturers Major national retailers A huge range of optics and accessories 10 & 50 meter air rifle range Manufacturers try before you buy ranges ATEO airgun tuition Save s on show 2 only offers Clubs, associations & much, more... Target Shooter

Pay on the day prices (Under 8yrs - Free) One day tickets; Adult - 15.00. 8 to 15yrs - 7.00 Two day tickets; Adult - 25.00. 8 to 15yrs - 10.00 SHOW TIME Now 8.30 to 4.30 Both daysMain show sponsor.

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WelcometotheDecemberIssue................TargetShooter22 European F-ClassChampionship byVinceBottomley

Sections6 14 15 Air Rifle Benchrest 37

ShootingSportNewsand ChristmasGadgetsGallery ShootersCalendar TheDigitalMedia RevolutionforShooting Sportsby CarlBoswelll

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byCarlBoswell

ShootingBlackPowder PistolbyChrisRisebrook

70 Starting Mini RiflebyMarkCurd

41 9thWorldMilitary&Police SniperChampionship- Part2 by RobHunter 55 Rimfire&AirRifle BenchrestWorldPostal Championships byCarlBoswell

75 Handloading

59 66 94

UKPSAShotgunSafety CoursebyTimFinley CarltonMoorTunnel RangebyNigel Greenaway ThisSmallboreBusiness byDonBrook

Bench byLaurie Holland

87 Commonwealth

Games byJonathanHammond

Association Pages107 NRA 108 110 UKBRA F-Class GalleryRifle UKPSA Quigley

99 Getting started

in Gallery Rifle - the Ruger 10/22 Part 2 116 byGwynRoberts121

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Webitorial - December 2010

Maincovershotofthe Editor(s). FClassEuropeansby CarlBoswellandVinceBottomley DaveLloyd Advertising and Office Manager email;admin@targetshooter.co.uk Contributors VinceBottomley TonySaunders NigelGreenaway LaurieHolland ChrisRisebrookCarlBoswell DonBrook AlanWhittle GwynRoberts LesHolgate TimFinley MarkCurd NigelGreeneawayJonathanHammond

InNovember,theCommitteesetuptoreviewfirearmscontrolandlegislationfollowingtheCumbria shootings,heardevidencefromvariousbodiesincludingthepoliceandthemedicalprofession. Youcanseeafulltranscriptoftheproceedingsat:http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/ committees-a-z/commons-select/home-affairs-committee/inquiries/firearms-control/ Theoutcomeofthisenquirywillaffectusallinsomewayandtherearesuggestionstoplaceon yourmedicalrecordsthefactthatyouholdanFAC.Onedownsidetothisisthatmedicalrecords, althoughsupposedtobeconfidential,willbereadilyaccessiblebyalargenumberofNHSstaff notgood,especiallyifourpoliceareinterestedinreducingthetheftoflegallyheldfirearms.We anxiouslywaittoseetheoutcomeandhopethattheactionsofonepersonwillnotagainprejudice thousandsofinnocents. On a lighter note, as we approach the year end and look forward to next season, we have the Newark Shooting Show held the last weekend in February. We have already mentioned this a numberoftimesasorganiserJohnBertramhasgenerouslyofferedfreestandspacetoshooting organisationsandassociations.Wekeepappealingtosuchassociationstogetintouchandlet usknowyouwillbetherebut,todate,responsehasbeenfeeble.Comeonguyswhatbetter opportunitytopubliciseyourdisciplineandattractnewmembers.Pleasee-mailmeonvinceb@6ppc. fsnet.co.ukifyouneedmoreinformation. Finally,ourDecemberissueisdominatedbyafeatureontheFClassEuropeanChampionships. This event grows year on year and, with eleven nations represented, it is the worlds largest F Class competition. Target Shooter had two of our contributors shooting and bringing you a full reportdirectfromthefiring-pointwhatothershootingpublicationdoesthat? EnjoyyourChristmasbreakandcelebratetheNewYearwiththeJanuaryissueofTargetShooter on-lineJanuary1st2011! Vince,Carl&Andy CarlBoswell-carl@targetshooter.co.ukandVinceBottomley-vinceb@targetshooter.co.ukand AndyDubreuil-admin@targetshooter.co.uk CopyrightTrinityDigitalPublishingLtdDisclaimerThewebsitewww.targetshooter.co.ukispartofTargetShootermagazinewithallcontentsofbothelectronicmediacopyrighted.Noreproductionispermittedunless writtenauthorisationisprovided. Information,pricesanddataisbelievedtobecorrectatthetimeofpostingontheinternetwhichisonoraroundthe1stofeachmonth.Advertisementsthatarefirearm relatedarefromcompaniesorindividualsthatTargetShootermagazinebelievesarelicensedtoholdsuchfirearmsandacceptsnoresponsibilityifcompaniesor individualsarenotsolicensed. LettersandphotographssubmittedbymembersofthepublictoTargetShootermagazinewillbeacceptedonthebasisthatthewriterhasagreedtopublicationunless otherwisestated.TargetShootermagazinehasnocontroloverthecontentorownershipofphotographssubmitted. Theviewsexpressedinthismagazinearenotnecessarilytheviewsofthepublishersandrelatetospecificcircumstanceswithineacharticle.Thesearetheopinions andexperiencesofwritersusingspecificequipment,firearms,componentsanddataundercontrolledconditions.Informationcontainedintheonlinemagazineoronthe websiteisintendedtobeusedasaguideonlyandinspecificcircumstancescautionshouldbeused.TargetShooterMagazinedoesnotexceptanyresponsibilityfor individualsattemptingtorecreatesuchtestingusinganyinformation,dataorothermaterialsinitselectronicpages.PublishersofTargetShootermagazine.

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Shooting Sport News & Christmas Gadget Gallery

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ifts/News item Theresnotmuchinthewayofusefulgifts thatyoucanbuyashooterforafewpounds withtheexceptionofabookperhaps: The Book of Rifle AccuracybyTonyBoyer. NowifyoudontknowwhoTonyBoyeris,then youprobablywontbeputtingthisbookonyour Christmaslist,whichisapity,foritisoneofthe very best shooting books Ive ever read. Tony is the undisputed king of benchrest and has been for a couple of decades.At long last he haswrittenabook. Tony has cannily avoided making this an 6 Target Shooter

exclusivebenchrestbook-noticethattheword benchrestdoesnotappearinthetitle.Hemakes the odd reference to hunting, though in reality it is aimed squarely at the benchrest shooter. Of course, the techniques used by benchrest shooters will improve the performance of any rifle/ammo/shootercombination. We have had other great benchrest books namely Glen Newicks classic The Ultimate in Rifle Accuracy (now out of print) and more recently,MikeRattigansExtreme Rifle Accuracy. Note that - like Tonys book - neither mention benchrest in the title, thus hopefully attracting salestoawideraudience.WhenIboughtGlens

booktwentyyearsago,Ididntevenknowwhat benchrestwasbutafterreadingit,Iwenttothe USAonabenchrestvoyageofdiscoveryyou couldsayitchangedmylife! If you dont shoot benchrest, will you learn anythingfromTonysbook?Yeslots!Willitbe ofusetoyou?Well,knowledgeisneverwasted andsadly,goodshootingbooksarefewandfar between. Sorry, no ISBN number but order here-http://www.rifleaccuracybook.com/

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ays of the Rifle. 36 The training book for .22 rifle shooting, published byMECandfilledwith useful information and photos.Hintsandtricks from top shooters and coaches - from www. intershoot.co.uk

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ew stuff At the F Class Europeans, I pickedupanotherjoystickrestfrom a Polish company called Sanders Shooting. Its two-column design similartotheSEBNeobutpromises to be cheaper. It looks good and Im going to use it at the 600 yard benchrest shoot on Boxing day so I should have a full report for JanuarysTargetShooter. ThePolishFClassteamwerealready using the rest but it will be equally of interest to rimfire and centrefire benchrest shooters. Again, Poland being part of the EEC, importing shouldbecheaperandeasier.

concentricity gauge, arbour press, scope level TheSandersaresettomanufactureanumber etc.Theyhaveawebsiteunderconstructionat of accuracy-related products including a www.sanders-shooting.com

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he Fito Big Foot Bi-pod OpsreyRifleshavejusttakendeliveryofa consignmentofthesuperbFitoBigFootbi-pod, buttheywonthangaboutforlong.Iveused one...........!!TheCenshotbi-podweighsjust 19ounces,itshalftheweightoftheSpanish FitoBigFootbut,at135includingVAT,itsa

greatbi-pod. They are immensely strong with plenty of adjustment. If your rifle is light enough for a bi-pod weighing over a kilo, you wont find a better one than the Fito Big Foot. Check out www.ospreyrifles.com

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BR EnglandisnowtheUKdistributorfor theSpanishBergarabarrels.

Bergarahaveinvestedahugeamountinto mechanisingthebarrel-makingprocess,to permittheeconomyofmassproduction,whilst maintainingaccuracyandtothatendhave reliedextensivelyonthelegendaryEdShilen astheirconsultant. Theproductionprocessisprettystraight forwardbutexecutedtofinetolerances.The solidbar,fromwhichthebarrelisformed,is determinedtobestraighttoadeviationof lessthanfourthousandthsofaninchbefore thedeepdrillingoftheborecommences.The boreisthendiamondhonedtoamirrorfinish, beforebeingbuttonrifled.Seevideowww. bergarabarrels.com.Noteconsistencyofthe bore,whencheckedwithadial-gauge. Theinternalfinishisverygoodasgoodas anyIhaveseenwiththebore-scopeandthey shouldbecomparableinperformancewithany othermatch-gradebarrelbutforabouthalfthe price. GBRsfirstshipmentcontainedallstainless, fluted,barrelsincalibres.22,6mm/.243,

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6.5mm,and.30,andallinthemorepopular fastertwistrates.Thesebarrelsarein RemingtonVarmint,andStandardSporter profilesandthenextshipmentwillinclude chrome-moly,andaselectionofpre-fitbarrels inpopularchamberings. GBRalsoreleasedtheir100%Britishrifle actionearlierthisyearandnowofferhomegrownrecoil-lugs,Picatinny-stylescope-rails, magazinebottom-metalsandcompetition-type trigger-guards. GBRaimtoeventuallysupplyfromstock, mostofthecomponentsgunsmithsneedto facilitatethebuildofprecisionrifles,without thefrustrationsofimportandatcompetitive prices. GBRsGrahamGlovercanbecontacted on0160679029or07866830433,orvia theirweb-site www.GBREngland.co.ukfor availability,pricesanddetailedspecification.

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ECRETS OF MENTAL MARKSMANSHIP the authors emphasise, a law-enforcement tactical team member or soldier invariably finds his worst ..... How to Fire Perfect Shots By Linda K. Miller and Keith A. Cunningham training performance is superior to that producedPublished 2010 by Paladin Press, Boulder, Colorado.ISBN13:978-1-58160-721-5.Largesize paperback,208pages.AvailablefromAmazon.com ($34.95), and in the UK from Prospect Books UK (www.gunbooks.co.uk) catalogue number NB224 at21.75. IfImaskedtorecommendbooksforthecompetition shooter,itshardtogiveananswerasthereareno right books for everybody different disciplines employverydifferentskills-sets.However,onething that every competition shooter employs whether aware of doing so or not is a complex package of mental skills and behaviours to process and co-ordinate the many actions needed to place a pellet,bulletorshotpatternprecisely. Its not confined to competitive shooting: the greater the stress on the individual, the more difficult it becomes to get the mental part right.As

in the stress of a fire-fight, so the higher his game beforehand, the better the chance of surviving a hostile encounter in one piece. Big game - even more so dangerous game - hunters face their own pressuresandpracticaldifficultiestoo. Sports psychology isnt new, specialist coaches have existed in top level sport and many books on competitive shooting give it attention Nancy TompkinsdevotesfourchaptersinProne and Long Range Rifle Shooting torelatedsubjects.AsfarasI knowthough,Secrets of Mental Marksmanship isthe onlybookthatdealssolelywiththesubject,moreover written by a couple whose livelihood involves improvingprofessionalshootersperformance. So what is mental marksmanship? The authors describe it as ... the process of improving the probabilityofhavingaconsistentmentalperformance underpressureandondemand-adefinitionthatin isolationtellsusnotalot.Morespecifically, theydescribeitasbeingabletogetintothe zone,anidealperformancestatethatsees conscious, subconscious and self-image (confidence, positive attitudes) and more all come together in the shooters head to let him/her concentrate on getting the best result for each shot. Legendary American Marine sniper and target shooter Carlos Hathcock recognised this state, his term being in the bubble in which he recounts losingawarenessoftime,surroundings,rain orsunonhisbodyandotherpeople,ashe

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concentrated100%ontakingtheshot. Toillustratethezoneandalloweachelementtobe describedanddiscussed,aformofVenndiagramis usedthroughoutthebookbasedonthreeoverlapping ovals,thezonebeingthecentralsharedarea.When Iopenedthebookandsawvariationsofthisdiagram liberally scattered around, I was initially turned off. It reminded me of courses and seminars in a past life where senior management periodically bought into some new (and usually short-lived) wonderprocessdreamtupbymanagementconsultantsthat invariablyemployedjustsuchadiagramasacentral feature. However,getintothebookandthisfeatureisrelevant andanessentialtoolusedbytheauthorstodescribe theelementsofasuccessfulmentalapproachand deal with improving each in turn.As they say, the goodnewsisthattheycanhelppeopleidentifysuch thingsandprovidepointersastohowanindividual addresses them to improve performance. The bad newsisthattheshooterneedstotakeitfromthere, workingonapplyingthem,usuallyhavingtogetlotsof practiceintoo.Illstressthisisntatheoreticaltreatise, fullofmanagementspeakandpsychobabble,rather a how to book packed with useful and practical advice. Moreover, its extensively illustrated with real-lifeanecdotesandminicase-studiesbothfrom the authors extensive personal experience as well asotherswhoareprofessionalfirearmsusersortop competitors. Readingthebookandthinkingabouthowitrelates toreal-lifesituations,broughttomindthetwoF/TR

competitors whove been head to head all season andwhofigureprominentlyinlastmonthsF-Class EuropeanChampionshipmeetingreportedatlength elsewhereinthisissue:re-crownedEuropeanF/TR champion Russell Simmonds and newly garlanded GBF/TRleaguechampion,AdamBagnall.Anybody whos shot alongside Russell will understand the conceptofthezone,asevenbeforehegetsonthe firingpointhesmovingnoticeablyintoawithdrawn 100% competitive, match winners mindset and, onceonthepoint,avoidschatteranddistractions. Inaninterviewheoncesaidthatinhiseverydaylife, work and sporting shooting, he constantly studies the wind and his surroundings judging what the conditionsaredoingandenvisaginghowhewould copewiththeminalong-rangematch.Ontheface of it,Adam seems more laid-back, but an incident in this meeting showed his mental strengths. His disastrousstarttoSaturdaywhenhehadtwomisses would have destroyed most shooters confidence, someprobablydroppingoutofthematch.Instead, hecalmlybore-sightedtherifleandgotonwithhis firsttocountbutatthecostoffourpointsfromthe resultingone.Fewwouldhavehadagoodmatch afterthissetback,butherecoveredrapidlyandonly twomorepointswerelostovertheremaining14shots -performanceinlinewiththatofthetopcompetitors. While openly admitting afterwards to being furious with himself over making such a serious mistake (changingammunitionbetweenmatches),hedidnt letitinfluencehissubsequentperformanceinthisor subsequentmatches. ThebooksauthorsownandruntheMilCunTraining Centre(http://www.milcun.com)anOntariobased firearmstrainingfacilityandshootingrangecomplex whose bread and butter work is police tactical and marksmanshiptraining,butalsoundertakeworkfor the Canadian military and others. Linda Miller is a former Canadian international smallbore shooter who moved into fullbore rifle competition 10 or so years ago. Keith Cunningham has served in both theUSandCanadianarmiesretiringfromthelatter as a captain, and seeing short-range muzzle to muzzleactionasareconpatrolmemberinVietnam intheformerduring1971.HewasatopCanadian military shooter in several disciplines, representing hiscountryabroadandlikewise,Lindawasinvolved incoachingandtraininginternationallevelshooters. He is also a gunsmith who builds top-notch sniper and tactical rifles as well as target models. They haveanotherbookinprintfromthesamepublishers The Wind Book for Rifle Shooters (also available fromProspectBooksUK,cataloguenumberNB214, 18.95) and produce the EZ-Graf wind plotting systemanddevicewhichIllreviewinthenextissue.

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UK Dis- Christmas Gift Ideas from tributerLyman TriggerSimply place the gauge on the trigger and pull. Accurately record the results.Pull Gauge

Tim Hannam

A pocket sized portable scale complete and heavy duty belt clip with case. (takes AAA batteries) all you have to do is pour,clip and your ready to shoot

MTM Digital DS750 Scales 34.50

With a sturdy snap latch

MTM Pellet Pouch

Inludes all items for case prep in one deluxe kit

Lyman Universal Case Prep Kit63.70

60.49

34.50

4.46

forLyman 1200 TumblerComes with a built in sifter lid andNew large square tray accepts primers direct from most modern packages. New curved re-enforced thumb lever for a comfortable and reliable operation

The NEW Lee Autoprime

With a gun cleaning kit on top and a rifle maintenance cleaning stand base, the Range Box Maintenance Centre is the perfect gift.45.62

MTM Shooting Range Box

57.21

Lee Preci-

19.60

sionA multii-function gun vise that tilts and clamps. For the shooter who has everything!

Modern Reloading Manual 13.24

Ideal for the beginner. Contains everything you need to know to reload accurate ammunition. Over 26,000 loads in a new format, with velocities for starting loads.

Lyman Rotating Gun Vise 75.76

Deluxe Die Sets 36.60

The Deluxe die set includes a collet neck sizing die, full length sizing die and bullet seating die. This die set gives you the option to produce neck sized or fully resized ammunition according to your requirements.

Scopecoat is practical, inexpensive protection for all your optics while in storage or in use Scopecoat is essential scope protection. Prices starting from 12.26

Tel: 01977 681639 email: sales@timhannam.com Fax: 01977 684272Peckfield Lodge, Great North Road,12 Target Shooter

www.timhannam.com

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nschutz Pellet Safety Box 3.70. A god-send for anyone who has ever opened their shooting bag or pocket to find their tin of pellets has opened and spilled the contents inside! Fromwww.intershoot.co.uk

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CATT Trainer 890 If you feel like splashing out the SCATT system if the ultimate training tool for rifle or pistol. Laser sensors show your faults and where you can improve. Fromwww. intershoot.co.uk

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nschutz Trigger Glove Short The ahg-trigger glove SHORT improves the grip between stock and hand. Using Mesh material and wind stopper fleece in the back of the hand, an even temperature

balance is achieved. The palm of the hand is made from soft and cuddly Alcantex material with silicone burling to increase the grip and still preserve the feeling on the stock. Material: 50 % Polyester, 25 % Polyamide, 25 % Polyurethane contact your local dealer for prices

nschutz Shooting jacket X-DRY Ventilation - suede leather on the front left part as well as Top Grip pad on the supporting arm improves the grip when in standing position - X-DRY Ventilation material in the back improves air circulation and avoids heat accumulation inside the jacket; the inner lining on these parts is perforated in order to optimize temperature compensation - soft leather with air holes as well as 2 shoulder straps reduce material bulges when in prone position and guarantee best possible fit of the hook butt in the shoulder - the sling attachment has numerous holes and can thus be adjusted individually in height and sideways - individual fit by help of flat aluminum buttons - stretch material on the upper left arm provides more flexibility of the supporting arm - inner lining is made from perforated material for better air compensationMaterial: 70 % canvas, 16 % leather, 3 % PES, 6 % PAD, 5 % PVC contact your local dealer for prices

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Calendarofeventsoverthenextfewmonths4 & 11 Dec Day 4 and Day 5 of Probationary MembersCoursethatstartedon6Nov(National ShootingCentre(NSC),Bisley) Thiscourseisprimarilyacourseinsafehandling and provides an introduction to Target Rifle, Gallery Rifle and Black Powder Pistol. Each courseconsistsoffiveseparatelessons.Course date to be allocated once entry conditions are fulfilled. http://www.nsc-bisley.co.uk/common/ asp/courses/courses.asp?site=NSC ContactHeatherWebbviatheNRA 4 Dec Gallery Rifle Xmas Shoot and Social (NationalShootingCentre(NSC),Bisley) Come to the final gathering of 2010 for the Gallery Rifle community! This festive event has plentyofshooting-withatwist-andasplendid dinnerandgrandprizegivingthathasneverfailed toimpress! ContactBrianThomasviatheNRA 5 DecCivilianServiceRiflecompetition(National Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley) Civilian Service Riflecompetitionsareheldthroughouttheyear. ContactMarkBradleyforfurtherinformationvia theNRA 5 Dec2010Plymouth&DistrictSBRL 2x50mTel:01752406287 Email:gladysgrant@talktalk.net

Ifyourcluborassociationhaseventsyouwanttopubliciseherethenemailus.

5 Dec ScottishPA 10mpistolGP2 FairlieQuayMarina,Fairli,KA290AS Tel:01475560055 Email:admin@scottishpistolassociation.co.uk Website:http://www.scottishpistolassociation. co.uk/ 11 Dec NRA Shooting Club Xmas Shoot (NationalShootingCentre(NSC),Bisley) NRA Shooting Club Xmas Shoot. Targets have beenbookedonMelville. Open to all full members of the NRA who have completed and returned the registration form which is available by clicking on the link below. If you would like to attend you must book in at least a week in advance by contacting Heather Webb.ContactCharlesPerryviatheNRA 18 Dec HighpowerRifleCompetition(National ShootingCentre(NSC),Bisley) ContactMarkBradleyviatheNRA

Welcome to GT Shooting. The premier shooting sports shop in Surrey

Fullbore & .22LR Black Power Air Rifles and Pistols Used rifles and PistolsOur premises are located at

Optics Ammunition Reloading equipment and more...

53 Chipstead Valley Road, Coulsdon, Surrey, CR5 2RB www.gtshooting.co.uk Tel: 020 8660 6843 Fax: 020 8660 684314

We are conveniently situated near the M23 & M25. Target Shooter

Opening times: Tuesday to Saturday 10.00am - 5.30pm

The Digital Media Revolution for Shooting Sports - byCarlBoswellWow! The last six months have really seen massive developments in both computer softwareandhardware.AsIwritethisarticleon myiPad,Iamreviewinganumberofapplications (apps)foruseonthisamazingmachine.Weare coming up to Christmas so a shooting-related appcouldmakeaninterestinggift. TheiPad-acleverextensionoftheiPhone-is theproductthatApplesaywehavebeenwaiting foralongtime!SomesayitsjustalargeiPhone butitsalotclevererthanthat!Sincewelaunched TargetShootermagazine,weknewthatsooner orlaterthatatablettypeofcomputerwouldnot befaraway.Criticsintheshootingpresspanned TargetShooterassomethingofafad-adigital anomalythatwouldnotlast.Well,quiteafewof these magazines have had to take the plunge andgodigitalsogofigurewhogotitright!Not surprisingly however, we are still the only free on-lineshootingmagazine. ComingbacktotheiPad-itsveryportable,fast and can have 3G connectivity - although Wi-fi ismorethansuitablegiventhehotspotsaround this country, Europe and the rest of the world. Plusthisishowmosthouseholdbroadbandnow works,soyoucanuseitanywhereinthehome. Thesharpnessofthescreenissecondtonone, internet access is fast and sharp via the wi-fi connection,theabilitytohavespecialisedapps isamazing(wewillgetontothesesoon)plusit knocksallnetbooksofftheshelfforfunctionality -justafewofitsfeatures.Obviouslyyoucantell IamaconvertbutthesmalleriPhoneisalmost asgoodifyouwantsomethingmorecompact. The one drawback to using the iPad is the fact that like all Apple computers, it does not enable flash products or web content. This is a massive drawback to the whole technology communityandtousatTargetShooter,asour magazine is basically run using flash as the Target Shooter 15

basis for the magazine product. However, we usepdfversionsofthemagazineforiPadand otherApplecomputers,asitislikeotherslide magazineviewersdevelopedspecificallyforthe iPadwhenusedwithanappcalledGoodreader -again,morelater.But,enoughofthecomputer 16 Target Shooter

tech-geekstufffornow.Wearehopingsoonto remedytheflip-bookissuefortheiPadwithout theuseofspecialisedapps. Books, books and more books So lets review a few of the things we can do

being updated all the time, with some of next years issues coming online now. Someofthetitlescurrently onofferare: Professional Target ShootersDiary&Journal I l l u s t r a t i v e Marksmanship Training Manual The Black Powder CartridgeNews withtheiPadwhichwillbeofusetothetarget GunDigest2011 shooting community. As we are coming up to TheGunDigestBookofTheAR-15 Christmas, there is nothing better than a good GunDigestBookofthe.22Rifle booktokeepyoubusyifyouareconfinedtothe houseovertheholidayperiod.TheAmazonapp BarnesandNoble,aswellasGooglee-books, introduces theKindle digital bookresourcesto also have this facility available for mobile theiPad.Thisisbrilliantasitmeansthatallthe downloads with a similar range of books KindledigitalbooksbeingsoldonAmazonare available.BothhaveappsfortheiPadoriPhone nowavailabletoyou. orevenotherbrandedsmartphones.Notallare Tobehonesttheyarefarbetterthantherange ofdigitalbooksforenthusiastsoftargetshooting via Apples iBook facility. They are generally cheaper too! Its just like buying products on Amazonnormally,soifyouhavedonethisbefore its a simple process. The choice of books is thesametitlesoitmaybeworthhavingalook ontheirwebsitesaswelltoseewhatisavailable. Dorememberthee-bookisstillrelativelynew, withnoclearwinneroftheformatwars.Clearly, alargerinventoryofbooksandevenmagazines willdevelopoverthenextyearorso.

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Extending on from this, a nice thing about the net is the free resources in a number of formats,rangingfromthespecialistKindleand flash-basedmagazines,tothestandardpdftype offilethatcanbesavedasalibraryusingapdf viewerliketheGoodreaderapp.(Thisisthepdf viewer we recommend to view and store your copiesofTargetShootermagazineonyouriPad asimplybrilliantappforabout1.50). ThepositivethingabouttheiPadisthatallyour shooting-relatedresourcesareallinoneplace, onanexcellentviewer,thatlooksandfeelsnot unlikeaFilofax.Therearelotsofresourcesand facilitiesoutthere,bothfreeandpaidfor. Lastly, for this part, 20th Century Small Arms is a nice little reference resource with lots of pictures, information and resources as a stand-alone app instead of a book. The price for this is very cheap when you consider the alternativeCDandpaperalternatives-see last page for screen shot.

out. We have seen a few in Target Shooter recently for the iPhone and its big brother the iPad. ThefirstoneonofferforallISSFshootersout thereistheISSFapp-funnilyenough!Thisis aniceproductthatreallyjustlinkstotheofficial ISSF website. In common with most of these typesofapps,itfunctionswellforwhatitdoes andallowstheusertogodirectlytotheresources theywouldliketoview.Itsactuallydesignedfor theiPhonebutworksontheiPadwithalower resolution.ThereareotherappsundertheISSF banner, which are training aids for movement, sequence and timed shooting. Worth having a look.

ShootingLogisexactlywhatitsay-aproduct thatallowstheusertorecordtheirprogressin a variety of shooting sports under the heading of Prone, Kneeling, Standing and Sitting. So basically covering a multitude of sins and everything you would shoot. This again is an iPhone app but works just as well on the iPad. The obvious advantage of having it on Target shooting related apps theiPhoneistheportability,asitisjustlikean Moving towards this festive season, I have electronicnotebookthatsthethingIlikeabout lookedforafewshooting-specificappsoverthe modern phones - they are a diary, notebook, lastfewmonthsasnumberhaverecentlycome computer,etc).Theproductissimpletouseand 18 Target Shooter

Remote PC as seen on the iPad easytoaccess,puttingindatesandinformation -suchasscores,etc.Inessenceitisanotebook and has a simple approach but as it is free, youcannotarguewiththefactthatitisnotthat sophisticated. weeks.WhatIwouldlikeseeisagoodballistics calculator and information app for both rimfire andairrifle,asthesearesomeofthemostwidely usedsportingfirearmsintheworldbutgenerally neglected by the ballistics programmers. Something like the Winchester Ballistics app but for rimfire and/or air rifle, that has facilities toadddatalikewind-drift,temperature,incline, distance,etc.Thiscoupledwithavelocitydata calculator would be a very useful tool indeed. Anybuddingappwriterouttherewanttogiveit atry?

ShootingDiaryisapaidforalternativetotheone mentioned above but far more sophisticated. This app is designed for a number of mobile devices,includingtheiPad.Itisaninexpensive app designed for ISSF shooters and it would servicemostoftheirneedsforrecordingtraining andcompetitionshooting.Iusethisonemyself as it allows me to record three target scores, Additional apps addingnotesandthoughts,etc. A number of others apps I personally like and find useful, especially on my phone, are the Shot Plot is a further development and more thermometer,truelevel(veryhandy),metoffice expensive shot-assessment and plot-manager. (so you can see what is coming - I found this So it depends what you want. Although most handyintheCzechRepublicearlierthisyear), apps are either free or up to the five-pound units conversion, clinometer and a number of mark, you can end up buying a lot and using other calculation utilities. The only one I have none. So look and decide what you need for notbeensuccessfulwithisagoodanemometer, your particular sport. There are usually review astheyhavejustnotworked!However,afew pagestolookatbeforeyoucommittobuy. more have recently come out, so I might treat There a variety of other apps, such as the myself! ballistics calculators we have seen reviewed Anotherniceapp,ifyouareusingaPCbased inTargetShooteroverthelastfewmonthsand computerisRemotePC.Thewifiversionisfree thereareothersbeingreleasedeverycoupleof -nice!ThisallowsyoutoworkonyourPCvia Target Shooter 19

theiPadthroughthewifiinyourhome.(There viewingintheNewYear.) is a version that allows you to work over the Lastly, Guns &Ammo Point of Impact really is InternetbutIbelievethiscosts). justanicelittlegameforabitoffunwhenyou have five minutes. I download this just for a Now we are getting into geek-speak again so laughanditisfun.Thislastonewasinfactfree, apologies but the app allows you to interface likeafewoftheothersmentionedabove.Like with your PC via the desktop, so your PC allappstheycanbeboughtbyyouorgifted,so desktopasyounormallyseeitappearsonyour youcanevenaskforthemforaspecialdaythat iPad. Cool, but for what purpose? Well it will iscomingsoon.Forthedadsoutthereithasto allow you to work from your bed, your loading bebetterthansocks! room, your living room or anywhere in your homebutitisalsoaverygoodwaytoaccess What of the future? flash-basedproductsfromyouriPad.YesIknow For those of you without such a digital device, flashdoesnotworkontheiPadbutitisnt-its dowatchoutintheNewYearfortheBlackberry working on the PC and you are viewing it and Playbook. Unlike other Smart products that interactingwithinthesamewayyouwouldfrom have come out, this will probably not be on a yournormalcomputer. contract and ready for direct purchase like the Depending on your wi fi speed, viewing is iPad. It is smaller than the iPad but some of excellentandIhaveuploadedthismonthsTarget the specifications are supposed to be better. ShooterviamyiPadasIcanbeanywhereinthe Plusitwillbeflashenabled.(IthasanAndroid housetodothis-ifyougetmydrift!Itseasyto operating system, and internet viewing will be setup,justcreatinganaccount,soyoudonot justlikeyourPC). needtobeacomputerwizardtoworkthisone. So,ifyouifyouwanttoviewTargetShooteras I have seen the recently launched Galaxy Tab adigitalflipbookontheiPad,nowyoucan.(We butonlytouseitforabouttwentyminuteswhile hopetobringyoumorenewsoniPadmagazine- shopping. It is a lot smaller than the iPad, but has a lot of great features.Although a phone aswell,itcanbeboughtoffcontract?!TheTab hasalsohaditspricereducedatmostretailers by about 100 to 449 at the time of going to print. It is 3G, but this can be expensive to run,wi-fiismorethanadequate.TheGalaxyTab, like the Blackberry Playbook, will have some goodsellingpointsbutthepriceisthekeything when compared to the iPads starting price of 429,althoughtheyhavebetterspecifications thanthebasiciPad!! I am guessing prices might even go lower to helpcompeteagainsttheiPad!! TheAndroidoperatingsystemhasalotmoreof themarketthanAppleandtherearethousands ofappsoutthereforbothplatforms. If I had my choice I would go for an android system at this time, but would want it with a slightlybiggerscreen.Ihopetoreviewoneof thesenewproductsintheNewYear.Forthose onthecheap,PCWorlddoselltheAdventVega InternetTablet-Androidformat-at249.Iam notsurehowgoodthisis,butIguessyouget whatyoupayfor!! Samsung Have a great Christmas and lets see what Galaxy technologytheNewYearbringsus........ Tab 20 Target Shooter

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The 2010 European F Class Championships sponsored by Tim Hannam By Vince BottomleyForthis,thethirdEuropeanFClassChampionships atBisleyRanges,wewerefortunatetohavesome verygeneroussponsorship,notonlyfromourtitle sponsorTimHannambutalsofromRUAG,who provided us with a Nightforce scope, Sightron who donated two scopes, Aimfield Sports for shootingmatsanddrag-bagsandFoxFirearms, Osprey Rifles and Dolphin Gun Company who assisted with printing, administration and other ancillarycosts. Itsmarvelloustofinallyseethetradebecoming involvedwithoursportandlongmayitcontinue. In turn, we will endeavour to provide sponsors withasmuchpublicityandexposureaspossible and we hope that even more trade members will come on-board in 2011. This years trade show was a welcome addition and proved very popular, particularly with overseas competitors, many of whom seized the opportunity to stock up on consumables before making the journey

home.Wethankyouall,mostsincerelyforyour contribution and look forward to your continued support and welcoming new sponsors for next yearsevent. In the true spirit of shooting and the F Class Association,IshouldalsomentionthatUkrainian shooter Dmytro Hrymaluk gave two prizes of hunting trips to the Ukraine to the winners of Open and F/TR Classes a very generous gesture. In addition, our very own David Kent donated a magnificent silver cup to the winners oftheTeamsevent. History The GB F ClassAssociation was founded on a coldmorninginNovember2005atBisleyranges. AprogrammeofLeagueshootsatthreevenues throughoutGreatBritainfollowedin2006withall shooting contested at long range from 800 to 1000yards.AseparatedivisionfortheF/TRClass

Bisley is resplendent in her autumn colours and the stage is set for the biggest F Class shoot in the world

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Organiser, Mik Maksimovic oversees the presentation of awards in the trade tent a welcome new feature this yearwasincludedin2007andthesetwoClassesare now equally supported numbers-wise with well over100shooterstakingpartintheLeagueevery year. ThefinalshootoftheLeagueistraditionallyheld atBisleyandisdubbedTheAutumnChallenge. Afewcontinentalshooters,mainlyfromGermany and Holland started tojoin us, thentheFrench, theSpanish,theScandinavians,theUkrainians, the Poles......... the Autumn Challenge became The Europeans and in three short years it has evolvedintothelargestFClassshootanywhere intheworldwith160shootersfromelevennations enteredinthisyearsevent. With our regular scribe Laurie Holland and our ownVinceBottomleytakingpart,Target Shooter can bring you the full inside story of the 2010 Europeans. In addition, we have attempted to photograph every shooter and there are plenty of photographs on the Photobucket website at http://s912.photobucket.com/home/laurieh2 Aneventofthissizeinvolvesmassiveorganisation and commitment but, inevitably, it comes down toonemantooverseeandco-ordinate(i.e.kick ass)andthatmanisMikMaksimovic,founderof the GB F ClassAssociation and member of the all-conquering2009GBTeamwhowontheGold MedalatBisley,soundlybeatingtheAmericans. shooterandfortunatelyhesomehowmanagesto squeeze in a shoot as well as carrying out his many duties as organiser. For the record, Mik placedacreditableeleventhinthisyearsOpen category. Before we come to the competition itself you, likeme,mightbewonderingjustwhatisinvolved runninganeventofthissize?IllletMiktellusin hisownwords..........

Planning & running the Europeans WheredoIstart?Well,wehavealreadybooked the ranges and the markers for 2011, spoken totheRangeOfficersandotherstaffinvolvedto ensurethattheyarehappytohelpnextyear,so thatisclearlyoneofthefirstjobs-assoonaswe havethedateoftheshootconfirmed. Thenextjobistogothroughthelargenumberof e-mailsIreceivefromtheGBFClassCommittee to see what, if anything, we can do to improve things for the following year. The event gets biggereveryyearandwemustplanaroundthe expectedgrowthtoensurethatwehaveenough target space and markers. Then, in the week following the event, we start organising all the otherbitsthatgowithit. Its essential to get the entry forms out as soon aspossible,sothisisoneofthefirstjobs,plusall theotherpaperwork-whichnooneeverbothers MikisalsoanNRATrusteeandsitsontheNRA to read! We must contact our growing number Shooting Committee as F Class representative. of overseas visitors regarding their UK Firearm Needless to say, Mik is an avid long-range Permits and we then field hundreds of e-mails

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Karens stats caravan always popular with competitors

regarding permits, accommodation, training days,reloadingcomponentsetc.etc.etc. This year we had great support from the trade (as Vince has outlined previously) with some new sponsors on-board. All sponsors must be contacted and their involvement noted and agreed and of course letters of gratitude sent, followingtheevent. I am fortunate thatIam a Bisley-based shooter andfairlywellknownonCamp,sonormallyatrip round the clubs etc. manages to sort out most things-mainlymakingthemawarethattheywill bebusyontheweekendoftheEuropeans.Idid makeoneboo-boothisyearandforgottoinform the restaurant in the clay shooting pavilion whichisclosesttoStickledownrangeandsovery popularwithcompetitors-hencetheyranoutof foodso,forthosewhowenthungry,Iapologise! In the run up to the event, things naturally get chaotic-frome-mailsandcallsaskingHowmany roundsdoIneed?(Please,readthepaperwork withtheentryform!)toAnyideawhattheweather is going to be like? and other questions which areclearlyoutsidemyfieldofknowledge! Thenallthepaperworkhastobeprinted,collated and transported to Bisley. This was more involvedthisyearaswedecidedtoissuesome rathersmartgoodybagstoallcompetitors.The bags themselves had to be chosen and printed

with sponsors logos; score-cards were also sponsored and sponsors literature had to be assembled and placed in the bags all 160 of em - together with last-minute instructions and essentialinformation. Finally,awardsandmedalsmustbepurchasedand engravedandwealwaystryandbooksomeone famoustogiveouttheprizesbutinevitablyend up with a member of the NRA hierarchy! For somereason,weneverseemtogetareplyfrom VictoriaBeckhamorSeanConnerybutthankfully Iain Robertson, Chairman of the NRA Shooting Committee,stepped-intohelpusoutandthough notasprettyasourfirstchoice,heischeapand availableanddidafinejobontheday! Thewholethingtakesmonthsoforganisingand Iliketospendthewholeoftheweekbeforethe eventbasedatBisley.Thisenablesmetoensure thateverythingishappeningasitshouldandto welcomeandorganisesomead-hocshootingfor thoseoverseascompetitorswhoalsochooseto arriveaweekearly! Oncewehavegotthroughtheofficialpracticeday (Thursday) and everyone has started shooting, things tend to get a little easier. We still get asked lots of really important questions though, like Any idea what the winds going to be like tomorrow? and Did anyone else have vertical problems?OrevenDoyouthinkwecouldstart

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More tea Grommit? The girls did a fantastic job and also boosted Association funds

alittlelatertomorrowasmywifewantsmetotake hertotheshopsfirst?Fortunately,wehavevery fewprotestsorincidentstodealwithasourChief Range Officer and his crew are able to handle mostofthemon-range.Basicallyyouarewrong unless you can convince him otherwise! A fair system,whichwedontintendtochange. Its not until the very last detail of the match is down and shooting that I can relax its nearly over!Invariably,withthepressureoff,Ialways tendtoshootmybestonthelastdetail.Stats.is downtoBisleysKarenRobertson,editorofthe NRAjournal,whoisensconcedinatinycaravan near the clock tower. Karen has the results out PDQ soon after each match finishes, so thats easyforme-justleaveKarentoit,passingher theoddpizzaunderthedoor,whichofcoursewe keeplocked!WetellKarenthisistostoppeople botheringher,littledoessheknow.............. Foroursocialevening,ontheSaturday,wehad achangethisyearfromtheLondon&Middlesex, andwenttotheArmyTargetRifleClubhousefora hotbuffetandafewdrinks.Itwasextremelygood and there were two choices - curry or no curry! We had omitted to cater for our vegetarian and non-curryeatingmemberbutfornextyearhewill haveathirdchoice-probablysalad!Toround-off theevening,wehadourveryownfireworkdisplay onStickledownitwasBonfireNightafterall!

Sundaymorning-thefinaldayandnowonlythe Teams Match to go. That falls into place fairly easily and just sort of happens without much inputfromme,asbynoweveryoneknowswhats expected of them but I will let Laurie Holland expandonthataspect. Sothereyouhaveitinanutshell,whatittakes to organise a major F Class Event. I will finish bysayingabigthank-youtoeveryoneinvolved competitors, helpers and the tea ladies - in makingittheshootingandsocialeventoftheF Classyear.Seeyouallforthestartofnextseason atDiggleinApril. The competition This year, Laurie Holland took the brave step to shoot his 223 F Class rifle in the biggest shoot of the year he was the only one to use such a tiny calibre! Laurie was rewarded with a fantastic 17th place in F/TR and also won Silver as a member of the GB F /TR B Team. As if that wasnt enough, he also won the draw for the Nightforce scope donated by RUAG UK! But, Ill let Laurie tell you the story of the shoot in his own words: TheindividualEuropeanChampionshipmatches saw five stages, one at 800, and two each at 900and1000yards.Withthethousand-yarders involving20roundsbutallothers15,thelongest range matches had an enhanced influence on

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Russell Simmonds on his way to his second European F/TR Championship

overallplacings,aswellasprovidingthehardest challenge. Team matches comprised 30 score rounds split between 900 and 1000 yards. While domestic GBFCA League match entries have seen a growing bias to F/TR, the Europeans restored Openclasssnumericprimacywith87Opento 64F/TRcompetitors,squaddedintothreerelays -twodedicatedtoasingleclassandonemixed. Shooting partners, allocated targets and the relaysshootingorderchangedwitheachmatch. Weather forecasts earlier in the week were unsettling but, in the event, only the Thursday practicesessionssawverystrongwinds.Friday started with medium strength south-westerlies (fromaround5oclockontherange)thatbecame lighterandmovedaroundtonorthtonorth-west over succeeding days, becoming an almost fishtailing headwind on Saturday afternoon just to make conditions really interesting. Friday produced the only heavy rain of the meeting, fortunately only in the morning and affecting Match1alone. So, to the matches! Ill try to give a personal viewasanF/TRcompetitoraswellasreporton the overall picture and what the real hotshots were doing. As noted, Match 1 (900 yards) on the Friday morning was weather affected. The maingroupofOpencompetitiors,whoshotfirst, largelyescapedthewetbutatthecostofsuffering quitestrongandvariablewindsfromfiveoclock. Thesecondrelay(F/TR)beganindrizzleandlight rainturningintoadownpourhalfwaythroughand

thethird(mixed)relayprobablygottheleastbad conditionswithdrizzledyingawayandlittlewind. Coincidentally or otherwise, F/TR stage winner Andrew Burgess was on this relay, although I holdanybodywhoscores73.6vwitha.308atthis distance in the greatest respect irrespective of conditions!InOpen,onlyGrantTaylormanaged toholditalltogetherinthetrickyquarteringwind with75.8vaheadofnolessthan13competitors on74ledbyGregThompsonwith10Vs! For the unfortunates (including me) on Relay 2, there were serious difficulties in seeing the targets,aswellastheusualstruggletokeepthe rain out of the action and the ammunition dry. Windreadingwasntanissuetheflagswereall but invisible but fortunately the wind apparently steadied during the rain. Despite the dire conditions, some good scores were still posted on the relay with Steve Donaldson producing 71.3vforsecondstageplace,andAdamBagnall leading a pack of shooters scoring 70 with Vcountofeight.Ithoughtmy69.3vheroicgiven theconditions,butthatwasonlygoodenoughfor 12thplace. Match 2, 20 shots at 1000, had much better visibilityandtemperaturesbutsufferedfromthat pesky quartering left wind that Bisley regulars assuremeisdifficult.Thereweresomedramatic changesinindividualfortunes,especiallyinOpen wherethetopthreerosefromlowlypositionsin Match 1, winner Tony Marsh on 97.6v moving up no less than 68 places and runners-up Les Bacon(96.3v)andAdamBrough(95.9v)46and

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Target Shooter scribe Laurie Holland was the only F/TR shooter to use the 223 could his performance inspire a few more?

49respectively. Theconditionsalsoresultedinsomeimpressive falls for Match 1 stars, with David Kent, David Lloyd and Damien Meehan slipping down the leader board. However, at the close of play on day one, Grant Taylor had put in two excellent performancestoleadthefieldon170.13vhaving onlydroppedfivepointsoutofapossible175.35v, aheadofAndyWyspianskion169.11v,withGreg Thompson and Anthony Dunne down a single pointonhim. MovingontoF/TRat1000yards,thetrickywind conditions reduced the top scores rather more than in Open, but John Cross still took the match cleanly with a superb 94.8 three points clearofVinceBottomleyandputtinghimsecond equalwithAdamBagnall(90.8v)ontheovernight break, the pair sharing an aggregate score of 160.11v. However, the man of the moment was Vincewholedtheclasson161.9vafterputtingin twoexcellentperformancesof70.3vand91.6v. What about the reigning World and European F/TR Champion, Russell Simmonds? He was apparently a bit off his stroke on an aggregate 157.8vbut,comingupfrombehindasthefinishing line approaches, is a Simmonds speciality - to borrowahorseracinganalogy. Me?ThiswindconditionismyBisleybtenoire andIhadaseriesofline-cutterthreesmid-match toendupon77.3vin39thplace.Minorconsolations were some of the good shooters keeping me companyinthehigh-70s,low80sbracket,butthe .223s elevations remained superb throughout thematch.

nevershotatBisleyinthiscondition,butreckoned it had to be an improvement, this proving so to my relief! It was never particularly strong, but continued to veer round becoming a fishtailing nearheadwindbyafternooneasilyabletotake pointsaway,especiallyinF/TRat900and1000 yards. Match3(800yards)startedearlywithrelatively light winds and produced high scores as youd expectatthislevelofcompetition.Openproduced 19(yes,thatsright,NINETEEN!)possibleswith Jo Cleave and Maurice Harnby sharing 10 Vs, Jo getting the stage medal on countback; Mark Daishtheotherpodium-place,aVbehind.The overnight leaders had apparently done poorly if youonlylookedattheirmatchpositionsbutGreg Thompsonwasoneofthosetocleanthestage, andMessrsTaylorandDunnehadonlydropped onepointeach,barelyaffectingoverallpositions.

F/TRsawsomegoodscorestoo,butLesDawson alonecleanedthismatchon75.9vaheadofseven competitorson74ledbyPaulHarkinswhoalso shot 9 Vs fending off Russell Simmonds on 7. Othernotableperformanceswere74sfromquiet spoken Irishman and GB-FCA League regular LiamFenlon,visitorMaksimSemonovykh,John SnellinandlastyearsoveralllowestplacedF/TR entrant,NickSteadman. OvernightleaderVinceBottomleywasoneofthe dozen on 73, still holding onto the overall lead withhisclosestrivalAdamBagnallhavinghada disastroustimecausedbyanammunitionchange, resultingintwomissedsightersandaoneforhis firstscoreshotafterboresightingtherifle69.2v. Saturday dawned colder and brighter, the wind Ohdear!Ohdear!JohnCrosshaddroppedafew havingmovedtothe10or11oclockposition.Id pointstooandwasdownin33rdmatchplaceon

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Grant Taylor, GBFCA Champion and European Champion shooting his home-smithed BAT in 284 Shehane

71.5vastonishinggiventhatF/TRscorefor15 at800yardswouldalmostcertainlyhavegivena toptenplaceaseasonortwoback!Ishot72.7v for22nd,reasonablebutnothinglikegoodenough for 800yd in this company, nevertheless very happytogettheimprovementoverMatch2. Match4,thesecond900yardscompetitionofthe meeting, saw unusually pleasant conditions for November,butmanycompetitorswillremember itforalightbutconstantlyshiftingwindfrom1011oclock.InOpen,GrantTayloragaincleaned thestageon75.6v,butlostthewinnersmedalto DanBroughbyasingleV,theonlyothershooter withapossible.Scoresweregenerallyapoint ortwodownonthepreviousdays900yardevent withonlyfour74s,ledbyDavidKentoneightVs aheadofMarkDaish,AdamBroughandGerman visitorDetlefWulff. Ofthepreviousdaystopperformers,LesBacon

wasstillinthegroovewith73.7v,butTonyMarsh was suffering on 71.3v. Russell Simmonds was back on form in F/TR and metaphorically steamingdowntheoutsideofthefield,his74.7v right up with the top Open scores and a full three points clear of challenger Adam Bagnall andGermanshooterHermannScherf.Hermann shootsanalmostentirelyhome-maderiflewhose appearance is, shall we say unusual. Andrew Burgesson70.7vledalargegroupwith69sand 70s,myscorefallingintothelowercategory. ButwherewasovernightleaderVinceBottomley? It was his turn to have a poor match ending up in 27th place on 66.3v, the loss of five points to Adam and nine to Russell a serious setback. MuttersstartedinF/TRofpointslosttoelevation shifts caused by wind strength variations which weredifficulttospotontheshallowflagangles,a problemthatwastointensifyat1000yards.

Stickledowns 800 yard firing-point on Saturday morning 28 Target Shooter

Team Germanys plotter

Match 5, a 2+20 at 1000 yards, was to be the topplacesdeciderinbothcategorieswiththree shooters in each still capable of taking the top slot.InF/TR,RussellSimmondswassettingthe paceagainandrarelysuccumbstopressure,but evensoAdamBagnallandVinceBottomleywere stillintheraceeveniftheyeachneededtopull outsixextrapointsovertheirarchrival,abigbut notimpossiblechallenge. The match started straight after the midday breakat1.30pmsharpingoodlight,comfortable temperaturesandalightfishtailingheadwindthe mainF/TRrelayfirstontheline.AdamandVince respondedmagnificentlytakingfirstandsecond placesonsuperbscoresof95and94respectively, bothwithfiveVsaheadofRussell,butnotby enough!Hissixthplaceon91.5vgavehimtheF/ TREuropeanchampionshiptitlebyasinglepoint overAdam,andtwooverVince.Itwasadoubly bitterdisappointmentforthelatterasnotonlyhad amajoreventwinslippedfromhisgrasp,butthe nearcertaintyofleavingBisleywithastagemedal for that impressive 94 in Match 5 evaporated on discovering Adam had done the seemingly impossibletoscoreanextrapoint.(GaryCousins

hadmatchedhis94.5vtoo,butlostsecondplace oncountback.) In case anybody thinks conditions must have been easy, many good F/TR shooters were downinthemid80sonthisrelay.Iwasdelighted toget90.5vand8thplacewiththe.223,asingle marginal three spoiling an otherwise excellent shoot.So,inF/TRthatwasit,RussellSimmonds EuropeanF/TRChampionforthesecondyearin a row,Adam and Vince barely behind in one of the closest class finishes of the year. Northern shooterStephenLynchwasfourthafterfivereally solid performances, the almost equally reliable AndrewBurgessjustbehindinfifth. So, that leaves Open class and the battle for the 2010 F-Class European championship, the keycontendersshootingonthelastrelayofthe meeting in deteriorating light and conditions.As in F/TR there was a clear pre-match aggregate leader,GrantTaylor,butDanBroughwouldtake thetopslotifheovertookGrantbyfourormore points and Andy Wyspianski could do it with a marginoffive. None took the top final match positions, these going to Horst Mitera with a phenomenal 99.8v

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Rutland Cup winners: the Sixes - Martin Miles, Russ Gall, their coach and Swedes Robert Persson and Christer Jacobssonahead of Jim de Kort on 98.5v. Peter Hunt was thirdonagreat97.7vthathelpedhimgetfourth aggregate place but, it was too little, too late to have any chance of getting ahead of the top three. Grants 93.8v for a relatively lowly 20th match place was more than enough to keep the overall lead and stay two aggregate points ahead of Andy (95.5v, 9th match position) and Dan on 94.5v. Messrs Lloyd, Dunne, Daish and Thompson followed closely on the leading quartets heels, so close there was literally only a single point between competitors down to 8th place. So, congratulations to Grant Taylor as 2010/11EuropeanF-ClassChampion. In the fast fading light of a late November

The victorious GB Open Team

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Like a well-oiled machine! The victorious GB F/TR team - Adam Bagnall shooting, George Barnard coaching, Stuart Anselm plottingafternoon, as we rubbernecked the throng aroundtheprovisionalresultssheets,Iwastaken by surprise by GB F/TR team captain Stuart Anselm tossing out the words: Laurie, youre shooting tomorrow. Team meeting in Canada Houseinquarterofanhour!ashehurriedpast. Unbeknowntome,adecisionhadbeenmadeto fieldasecondBritishF/TRteamandIwastrigger pullinginsteadofplottingorregisterkeeping. TheSundaymorningTeammatchesareaserious but good natured battle for four cups F-Class andF/TREuropeanChampionships,theRutland Cup and the longstanding GB v Germany Challenge Cup. The first two are restricted to nominated national teams, eight shooter-strong inOpenandfourinF/TR(butF/TRwillbeeight from2011). The home nation fielded two Open teams and GermanyandIrelandoneeach.InF/TR,GBagain had two squads with one each from Germany, Spain, Ireland and Holland. The Rutland saw nine four-shooter teams, not necessarily nationally based (the conquering Sixes squad being multinational, members shooting 6mm calibre rifles). Stopping here for a moment, this teamtooktheRutlandwithaclearwinoverthe

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Les Holgate (foreground) gazes in amazement at Ian Dixons bi-pod and stock - allegedly made from an old wardrobe!

Northern Lights (Scottish shooters) and the Ukrainewhoputupaverystrongperformancefor nearnewcomerstoBisley.SixesmemberChrister Jacobsson from Norway has to get a special mentionshootingpossiblesinbothmatches,the only shooter to achieve this (with the littleTubb 6XCcartridge,makingitevenmoreremarkable). Conditionswereagaingood-clear,mostlysunny, lightbutvariablenortherlyheadwinds,itsdirection alsopullingtemperaturesrightdowncomparedto those of previous days and making it feel more likeearlyNovember.Aswithshootingthroughout theweekend,acombinationofindividualshooter discipline,top-ratematchplanning,andexcellent firing-line management by the NRA Range Officerssawthematchesproceedsmoothlyand becompletedinaremarkablyshorttime.Ishould alsomentiontarget-marking-fastandtoahigh standard throughout, a key element in making a major tournament like this work well.The GB

teamstookfirstandsecondplacesinbothOpen and F/TR, Germany third in both, only three points down on GB B in Open, but 35 behind GBBlueinF/TR. As a team shooting virgin on GB F/TR Blue, I wasmorenervousearlyonSundaythanIdbeen at any stage during the individual matches and muchlesssurejustwhatIshouldbedoingthan any of my team-mates, who all had experience of this part of the art.After all, dolloping in an individualshootisonethingbutnowyoucouldlet yourteammatesandevencountrydown! Therewasanundercurrentofnervousnessfrom myfellowteammembers-partlyduetomylack ofexperiencebutalsoshootinga.223.Welllet you shoot first to get the lightest winds with the pea-shooter wouldnt have inspired confidence hadInotnowacquiredamissionarysunshakeable faith in my equipment given my campaign to

Ramon Fitos bi-pod is very strong but a little heavy over a kilo

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A new solid carbon-fibre stock from SpainpersuadeF/TR.308Wpaganstowalkthepathof truerighteousness!Inanyevent,Iandthe.223 Savagedidjustfinewithscoresrightontheteam average. Once Id relaxed a little, I enjoyed the string-shooters freedom to get shots off really quicklyifwefelttheconditionswereholding,plus otherteammemberscoachingassistance,anew andliberatingexperiencethankyouSteveand Ian. Epilogue Big events like the Europeans always throw-up lots of interesting kit and of course rests and bi-pods were no exception. There were some ingenious efforts and clearly some competitors are spending too much time in the workshop at the expense of range time! When will some genius build a wind-reading machine that turns myscope-turret...........???

Vorsprung durch technik? This German bi-pod is adjusted with a joystick

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Vinces blown primer that primer-pocket is 12 thou. oversize!

For those who havent the facilities to make things,therewereafewnewproductionbi-pods. I was trying theAmerican Censhot carbon-fibre pod (www.censhot.com) and there is a full write-upelsewhereinthisissue.

Spanishshooter,RamonFitohasalreadysolda goodnumberofhisBig FootandSmall Footpods (see www.fitoforceproducts.blogspot.com) to UKshootersandseveralwereinevidence.Ialso sawaprototypeofanewBritishpodwhichwill

TopTenIndividualEuropeanChampionshipResults 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 FClass F/TR RussellSimmonds AdamBagnall VinceBottomley StephenLynch AndrewBurgess AdrianCasey StephenDoyle GaryCousins LiamFenlon JohnCross

GrantTaylor AndyWyspianski DanielBrough PeterHunt DavidLloyd AnthonyDunne MarkDaish GregThompson GaryCostello PeterHobson

412.37v 410.30v 410.27v 409.31v 408.28v 407.25v 406.26v 405.34v 405.28v 405.24v

396.27v 395.23v 394.22v 391.17v 389.23v 388.18v 386.21v 386.16v 385.16v 384.21v

FullresultsarelistedontheGBFCAwebsiteatwww.fclass.org.uk34 Target Shooter

hopefullybeavailablesoon. Thejoystickresthasprovedmoreofahitwiththe effersthanthebenchrestshooterswhoinvented it and amongst the many home-made efforts, thePolishTeamwereusingaslicknewSanders joystickrestwww.sanders-shooting.com which isquitesimilartothelatestSEBNeorest.Unlike themanyone-offs,thisrestisinproductionand wewillbegivingitafullevaluationinnextmonths Target Shooter. The other big discovery for me was a carbonfibre stock. This wasnt like other carbon fibre stocksashellmadeupoflayeredmattingthis onewasmachinedfromasolidblockofcarbon fibre and looked like dull black plastic, though stillverylightandstrong.Thiscouldbethefuture for gun-stocks particularly where weight is the limitingfactor. Itcanbepainted,astheexample inthepicshows. Althoughmostofuswillgoawaywithmemories ofagreatweekend,Iinitiallythoughminewould end in disaster. Detail One at 900 yards on the Friday morning was hit with heavy rain which totallyobscuredthetargetsatonestage.Ihada towelovertheactionandscopeandIwastaking care to keep my ammo under cover and dry so IwasmostsurprisedtoblowaprimerIwasnt the only one. Should have stood down for ten minutesorso? EquipmentmighthaveplateauedinOpen-with thepossibleexceptionofopticsandGrantTaylor hasarguablyhaltedthearmsracebycontinuing towinwitha284Shehane(improved.284Win) rifle instead of the near ubiquitous 7mm short magnums but the competition becomes closer eachseason,especiallyinF/TR.Itisinteresting tocomparethisyearsresultswithlast,whichhad thesamemixofmatches. ThetopthreeOpenscoresaremarginallydown (412-410comparedto1stand2ndtiedon414in 2009) but the top ten positions are covered by fewerpointsin2010,atsevencomparedtoten. This trend is even more marked in F/TR where the top three aggregate scores have risen this year(396-394comparedto395-388in2009),and thetoptenhasbecomemuchmorecompressed -12pointscoveringthisgroupcomparedto21. Dominancebyhomeshooters(includingsome ofourIrishcousins)continueswithasolevisitor from Continental Europe making the Open

top twenty - German Wolfgang Scholze in 12th positionandAlejandroHidalgoat16thinF/TR. Northern shooters frequently refer to a mythical publication The Great Diggle Book of F-Class Excuses. The sad fact is that with a lost point equatingtoanoverallF/TRplaceandoneanda halfOpenplacesatthetopendofTheEuropeans results sheets, one simply couldnt afford to make any mistakes in pre-match preparation, handloading,orshooting. In addition to the usual reasons ... shooting on somebody elses target - turning scope turrets thewrongway-wehadanewoneandanolder butreviveddoozey.Theformercamefromsome Openshooterswhoonlyfoundoutafterstarting shooting that Berger 7mm thick jacket bullets dontperformthesameastheolderthinmodels! Theyhaveaslightlydifferentogiveshapesogive different elevations particularly bad news for thosewhohadcartridgesloadedwithbothbullets mixed up in their ammo boxes - some frantic post-matchsortingwhenthecauseofflierswas realised! A growing number of F/TR shooters bring two lotsofammunitiontoLeagueroundsloadedwith 155gn and 210gn bullets. The argument goes thattheheaviesbuckthewindbetterbuthave poorer elevation consistency, so should only be usedonwindydays.AdamBagnallrediscovered a hard lesson learned by Steve Donaldson a coupleofseasonsback-makingsuchadrastic bulletweightchangebetweenmatchesrisksthe lossofscopezero-aswitchfrom210sto155s onSaturdaymorningwithitslighterwindslosing himfourvitalpointsinMatch3andultimatelythe EuropeanF/TRChampionscrown. Inconclusion,thisreallywastheFClassshootof theyearwitharealinternationalflavour-thanksto massivesupportfromouroverseasfriends.This year,theydidntwinanyofthemajorprizesbut theyarelearningfast.Mostdonothaveaccess torangeslongerthan300msonoopportunityto practice. F Class is however taking off in many European countries and next year, even more countries are planning to attend. The date will bearoundthesametimesowhynotjoinus?The GBFCAwebsitehasafullcalendarofourshoots www.f-class.org.ukandlotsofotherinformation.

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Tel: 0161 408 3555 Mob: 07861 399066 e-mail: stuart@ospreyrifles.com URL: www.ospreyrifles.com

Osprey Rifles - Savage & F T/R Specialists Whether you want a factory rifle or a custom built offering give us a call. Record breaking, competition proved rifles built on Savage actions for less than 2,000. Other actions supplied - the choice is yours! Bartlein, Trueflite, Broughton & Lilja barrels supplied and fitted. Stockists of F T/R Bipods by Sinclair and Fito Force of Spain.36 Target Shooter

Shooting the Black Powder Pistol Part 11

by Chris RisebrookPic 1onlysafewaytocarrytherevolver loaded is to leave one chamber either unloaded or, at least, uncapped. There is a small pin which protrudes between each chamberwhichissupposedtoline up with an indent in the hammer face,andthusprovidesomesortof safety.However,youwouldhaveto beterminallystupidtorelyonsuch a system, and on my Colt, at any rate, the pins have all worn flat, allowingthecylindertohappilyslip ontothenextchamber.However,if youlookcarefullyatthecylinderof theManhattaninPhoto1,youwill seeanextrasetofcylindernotches which allow the bolt stop to engage positively betweenchambers,providingarelativelysecure form of safety.Although this particular revolver is in poor condition, this cylinder lock up works perfectly. Manufacture started in Norwich, Connecticut in

In a recent article I described two Forehand and Wadsworth revolvers bought at auction. If you think they were rubbish, you aint seen nothingyet!TherevolvershowninPhoto1isa Manhattan, and to put it kindly, it has seen better days. I, stupidly, bought it sight unseen, butno-oneelsewantedit,anditwascheap.In fact,althoughtattyintheextreme,itisquitean interesting gun, and the research helps to justifytheprice. The Manhattan Fire Arms Manufacturing Co.wasfoundedin1856byagroupofNew Jersey businessmen to take advantage of Colts patent for revolving firearms which was due to expire in 1857. They engaged the services of Thomas Bacon to design a revolver, and he promptly produced a perfectrip-offofaColt1849pocketmodel; IbetColtwasahappybunny!However,he incorporatedsomeimportantimprovements. OntheColtrevolver,showninPhoto2,the

Pic 2

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1856andmovedtoNewark,Newjerseyin1859. Baconleftin1864,andstartedhisowncompany, making almost identical revolvers, but without thesafetynotches.Baconsotherinnovationon the Manhattan - and his own revolver, was the removable side plate. I thought someone had fixedthisplatetothePhoto1revolvertoreduce cylinder end play - a common fault on Colts, butitis,infactaverycleverdevicetoprevent piecesofpercussioncapfromfallingintothegap between the hammer and frame, thus jamming the mechanism. It was normal practice with Colts to shake the revolver upwards after each shot, in an attempt to clear any such debris beforeitlocked-uptheaction,andBaconsdevice overcamethisdrawback. Manhattan made about 150,000 pistols before they went out of business in 1868. they ended their days making copies of Smith & Wesson tip-uprevolvers. InPhoto3IhaveshowntheManhattantogether with the Colt Pocket Model for comparison, and except for the barrel length, they are dimensionally almost identical. The Colt has a a 4inch barrel and is .31 calibre. They also madethesein.28calibrewhichwouldprobably havestoppedachargingfieldmouse,butwould otherwise have been of deterrent value only; irrespective of calibre, any gun shoved under your nose is likely to get your attention. The Manhattan,ontheotherhandis.36calibre,the same calibre as the Colt 1851 Navy, but on a substantially smaller frame. Barrel length is 6.5 inches.IhavealwaysthoughttheColt1849swith 6inch barrels look slightly out of proportion, but theManhattansomehowmanagestolookright,

Pic 3

andbalancesbeautifully.Inspiteoftheobvious wear and tear, now glamorously called patina, (for which read terminal rust), the action works perfectlywithgoodtimingandlock-up,andonly minimalendplay.Mostofthe1849ColtsIhave handled have exhibited cylinder end play. My ownColtisabitofafraudinthatIhavemade asteelcollartofitroundthecylinderspindleto limitthismovement.IftheColtgripsdonotlook quiteright,thisisbecauseImadesomeoversize gripswhichmakeitmorecomfortabletohandle. Peopledefinitelymusthavehadsmallerhandsin thosedays-only150yearsago.Inmanypistols of the era, it is almost impossible to get your secondfingerbehindthetriggerguard. IwilldrawaveilovertheriflingintheManhattan; thereisntanytospeakof.However,at25metres it doesnt seem to make much difference in practice. Many years ago, I used an original Remingtonwithlittlediscernibleriflingatoneof theAnno Domini meetings where it scored 90, and beat many modern replicas with perfect barrels.Iwassurprisedlastyeartouseaflintlock smooth-borewhichalsoscored90atthesame range. Manhattans were made in five series and this pistol, number 8435 is a second series made in1860/61.TheColtwasmadein1866.Allthe serialnumbersmatchontheManhattan,except thatthereisnonumberonthecylinder,although the odd engraving peculiar to the guns is still present.Infacttheoverallfinishisnottoobad,the addressandpatentdatesareclearlyvisible,and theplatingonthebrassframeisintact.Thereal horror is the trigger and bolt stop pivot screws. Some kind soul has replaced them with drill rod! Nothing wrong with drill rod,which is silversteel,butitsnot pretty. Maybe, one day I will get round to having properscrewsmade. In fact, on closer examination and longer acquaintance, its not such a dog after all, and I have developed rather a liking for this oddball, which is just as well, because I am probablystuckwithit!

38

Target Shooter

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WE ALSO STOCK PROFESSIONAL BORESCOPES (from 533) AND A RANGE OF HIGH-POWER SCOPES FOR COMPETITION AT AMAZING PRICES (eg 8-32X50 WITH 30mm TUBES FROM 100) ALONG WITH STUNNING BINOCULARS AND SPOTTING SCOPES

SEB LAMBANG BENCH RESTS AND ACCESSORIES ARE THE BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE. WE STOCK HIS FULL RANGE AT LOWEST POSSIBLE PRICES, ALONG WITH THE BUDGET CALDWELL RANGE- BERGER BULLETS TO YOUR DOOR- EXPORT TO EUROPE, NO PROBLEM! SEE WEBSITE FOR FULL SPECIFICATIONS AND CURRENT STOCKLIST EVERYTHING WE IMPORT IS BY FAR THE BEST VALUE IN THE UK

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Quality Shooting Sports Accessories30 Caliber Ammo Can 9.82MTM ammo cans are a great way to store bulk or boxed ammo. Ideal for carrying large amounts of ammo to and from the range, holds 9 J20 M 20 round slip top ammo box

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New 100 round box to fit 243, 3083.5 Creedmoor etc. Features the new stay open lid.

SPUD 6 & 7 Utility Boxes 27.70 & 31.23Designed for the sportsmen on the move, the SPUD6 features loads of storage room along with molded- in bungee hook receiver so you can strap it down tight to anything, from a fishing boat to an ATV. The SPUD 7's spacious design offers a whopping 2,073 cubic inches of dry storage. It can carry items up to 14 inches tall. It also comes with a nylon shoulder strap for hands free carrying. Load one up for the range and then use it for a chair once you get there!

Tel: 01977 681639 email: sales@timhannam.com40 Target Shooter

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Tim Hannam

Peckfield Lodge, Great North Road, South Milford, Leeds , LS25 5LJ

Fax: 01977 684272 www.timhannam.com

Ninth World Police & Military Sniper Championships Budapest Hungary 2010 Part 2- The competition !

by By Rob Hunter

emergencye-mailstoalltheothercompetitors -toaskifanyonecouldfindmeanewpartner- wouldwork. As luck would have it an old friend and avid Last month, we put together my rifle for the shooterFernando(USRangerSniperret.)was competitionaSurgeon-basedtactical-rigusing forcedtoretirefromthecompbeforeitstarted aMcMillanA5stock,Bartleinbarrelchambered fortheLapua6.5x47cartridgeandaSchmidt& Bender12-50scope. Fromtheoff,Ihadabadfeelingaboutthisone (asthelinegoes)24hoursbeforegettingonthe planetomeetmyshootingpartnerinPrague,he calledmetosayhecouldntcompetebecause hehadaelbowinjury!Asthecompetitionwasa teamevent,thiswasgoingtobeabigproblem. I set off on the journey not knowing if my Target Shooter 41

have to be able to stand hard knocks and transportation to different parts of the world, comeoutoftheboxandshootperfectly,sothis exercisewasagoodtestofthekit. Asatestamenttothequalityofthepeopleand partsinvolvedinbuildingmyrifle,itshotexactly thesamePOA/POI(pointofaim/pointofimpact) asintheUK.TheSakoTRGthatpartnerNick was using needed a very slight adjustment in windageandhewasgoodtogo. This year, a great many of the COFs started from a standing position or a short run down in order to get into position and of course the mandatorysmalltime-frametomaketheshot. Thisuppedthestresslevelsandmadeitmore difficultthanlasttime.Thelevelofdifficultywas compoundedbythefactthatweusuallyhad30 to50secondstomakeadecisionandtakethe shot! due to an eye infection. This meant that his partner Nick (currently serving US Army) was alsourgentlyinneedofapartner. Fernandokindlysuggestedweshottogetherand thatwasthat-wewerebackinthegamealbeit slightlyhandicappedbyourlackofknowledgeof eachother.Withonlyadaybeforetheofficialstart ofthecompetition,wedidakitchecktoremove any unnecessary or duplicated kit and worked out a standard language and measurement systemwewouldusetocommunicatetoeach otherwhenontherange. Fingers crossed, we attended the opening ceremony and prepared ourselves to shoot with over 100 competitors speaking 8 different languagesand26COFs(courseoffire)toget through. Slick organisation was needed and in order to speed up the comp COF briefings usually covered three different targets, so you shoot one,thenmovetoanotherdistance,shootagain and then move again to shoot the final target beforethetargetswerecheckedandscored. With absolutely NO zeroing before the competition, this is a nervous time for all competitors as it was straight in and missed targets meant minus points! This may sound cruelbutthinkaboutitinservice,theserifles 42 Target Shooter Onceagain,inkeepingwithreal-lifesituations, youhavetocarryallofthekitthatyoureusing andhavetobeabletomoveswiftlywithit,sono heavybenchrestorFclasskithere,itsallbipod, back-pack,range-bookandammunition. ThevariationsintheCOFinbothdistanceand

wescoredwell. Real world scenarios dictate that a sniper will not always have a perfect prone position to shootfromandtofinishofftheday,wehadtwo particularly cruel exercises. From a standingstart,adoptakneelingposition,loadandfireat 100mataverysmalltargetin25seconds(miss meant minus points) and, as if to emphasise proficiency in multi-position shooting, the final exercise was a 300m COF - 2 shots standing, 2 shots kneeling and 2 shots prone all in 60 seconds. Itwasdecidedbytheorganisersthatduetoa forecastedbigstormheadingourway,wewould shootthetwonightexercisesonthefirstday.We grabbed a bite for evening meal and prepared thegearfortheNightShoot. Firstly, this meant a liberal splash of mosquito repellent but even my 100% Dete didnt seem toworkandIwaswellandtrulybittenonevery exposedbitofskinandasluckwouldhaveit,I evengotabiteonthetipofmytriggerfinger- whichpromptlyswelledtotwiceitnormalsize! Whilstwewaitedtogostillbeingchewedby the local insect population - I had a chance to takealookatsomeofkitbroughtbythevarious weapons manufacturers to tempt our plastic out of hiding.. Two items that caught my eye

content had become more difficult this year. For example, the second set of targets on the firstdaymeanta300msingleshottoapartially hidden hostage target 4 inches by 2 inches in 40seconds,thenamoveforwardto80m,toa letter-box size opening some 8 inches off the ground (which meant the rifle would only go through sideways with the bolt-handle facing thesky)notonlythis,thestartwas10mbackso ashortruntogetintopositionandfire3shots - all in 30 seconds and then change over with yourpartner! Then,tofinishoffthisseriesoftargets,amove backto150mforasingleshotina20second window at an empty 50BMG cartridge case - andonlycleanholescounted! Afterashortlunchontherangeitwasbackto workandshootingcontinuedtill1700hourswith various obstacles to shoot over - to replicate engaging targets from over a roof apex for example and the always popular one where youmustuseyourpartnersbodyasasupport foryourrifle(betterknownastheKarmaSutra duetothestrangecontortionsadopted!)whilst wearingbodyarmour.Thisyearitwasmyturn tobethesupportandImustsayIwasalittle nervousabouthavingaSakomuzzle-brakethat close to my backside but it all worked out and

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ofminus50!Thatlapseinconcentrationwasto costmedearly. Later on we moved back to the grass range - which by now was mud - for two excises that I hadnt seen before.The first one was a 10m crawl on your back whilst carrying rifle and kit onyourchesttothe350mlineforaoneround shot in 40 seconds and a reactive target. For reactive read exploding - a small explosive flash-bangfroma20mmdetonationcap.This was below a small inward-scoring target and hittingtheflash-bangmeantyoucouldengage the inward scoring target. The tricky part was theflash-bangandsmoketemporallyobscured wereamag.holderthatdoublesupasaforward theinwardscoreraboveit,soashotthroughthe grip for Glock pistols and a new semi-auto 50 cal. material destruction rifle for counter IED etc.(Seepicsabove). Undaunted, at 2100 hours we were called forward to 150m and were presented with a 4 inch inward-scoring target and under the illumination of a flare we engaged with two roundsin10seconds. For the second exercise we moved back to 250mandengagedahalfsizehostagetarget with2roundseach,asaverystronghand-held spot-light was moved along the targets giving smokewasinorderrequiringprecisememoryof about5secondsfortheshotandagain,amiss the location of the scoring area on the second orashottothehostage,meantminuspoints. target-allcleaverstuff. Theseconddaysshootingwasnolessdifficult thanthefirstandwehadtheaddeddifficultlyof nearconstantrainwhichalternatedfromdrizzle to torrential downpours and back again for the wholeday.Wegotwetandstayedwet!Toadd insult to injury, we were taken to a part of the rangeIhadntseenbefore-thesandpit-abig sandquarry.Asyouknow,sandandriflesdont mix.....butwetsandisevenworse. The next series of exercises were again multipositionstanding,kneeling,sittingandproneat distancesrangingfrom30mto150m.Thelastof thesewasamovingorswinginghostagetarget. Againoneroundeachatroughly3secondsper exposure - unfortunately, this was one of the minuspointseventsandforwhateverreason,I justcutthelineofthehostage.Infairnesstome, itwouldhaveonlytakenapieceofherhairaway but a line cut is a line cut and I got a penalty 44 Target Shooter Thelongestshotonthedaywasa5shotstring at470montoastandardFBItarget.Onceagain, on the face of it not too difficult a COF - until the two fire engines hidden by blast walls on each side of the range turned on their hoses and provided us with a wall of water to shoot through!Allatonce,thingsgotawholelotmore difficult. Thewateractedlikeamirageandthroughthe scope the target moved and danced as the lightwasrefractedbythefallingwaterdroplets. Furthermore,thewindwasbringingthefallout intheformofaheavymisttowardsus,sofast shooting was needed before the water hit the scopelens. Finally, the one COF that has become a standardeventinthiscomp-theknifeshot.A fixed-bladeknifeisdrivenintoablockofwood

OfficialscoresintheMilitarysection: 1st China 2nd UnitedKingdom 3rd Belarus InthePolicesection st with the cutting-edge facing the shooter and a 1 Czechoslovakia nd cleanpieceofA4cardisplacedbehindit.The 2 Ukraine rd shooter is positioned prone 80m back and in 3 China a time frame of 30 seconds must fire a single roundandhittheblade,ifsuccessfullyexecuted Inkeepingwithpreviousyears,itwaspossible the knife will split the bullet in two halves and toshootwellbuteithernotscorewelloreasily show on the paper behind. This obviously beintominusscores.Thiswasagreattesting/ requirespin-pointaccuracyastheverytipofthe training ground for those police and military bulletmuststrikethecuttingedgeoftheblade professionalmarksmenwhomayhavetotake -amillimetreeitherwayfromdead-centreand a life to save a life in the course of their daily thebulletwillslidedownthesideoftheblade. work. Thisisarealtestofnerves,everythingmustbe perfectinordertodothisandwith30otherrifles In closing, Id like to thank all those whose assistance made this possible - Andy goingoffaroundyou,itssoeasytomiss. Massingham for the work on the rifle, South Withtheknifeshotover,thatwasitforanother Yorkshire Shooting Supplies for the sound year and the wind-down of cleaning gear and moderator, Surgeon action and trigger floorpackingwasinorder.Withthepressureofthe plate. Cheytac Ballistics solutions and Matt competition over there was the usual grand Wilks for providing great firing solutions. Plus banquet and awards ceremony provided by Fernando,NickandDaveShoneandCZSFfor the Hungarian government in the stunning city gettingmeacrossEuropetowhereIneededto centre and the odd glass of vino or two was beandontime! partakenof-butthatsanotherstory! WARNING-Thecoursesoffiredescribedwere DuringthecompIhadbeentoobusytotryand undertakenonacontrolledrangebyexperienced workoutthescoressoIwaschuffedtosaythe shooters with all necessary safety precautions veryleasttolearnIhadmadesecondplacein in place. Please do not try to replicate any of theindividualcompetition.Theminus50points thecoursesoffiredescribedasitmayresultin I got for giving the hostage a free haircut that injuryordeath. I mentioned earlier would have put me in first place! Hard lesson learned. Nick and I also made5thplaceintheteamevent. Target Shooter 45

PGW Timberwolf .338 Lapua PGW Coyote 7.62

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Target Shooter

Air Rifle Benchrest - having a go!!

By Carl BoswellIn its infancy, air rifle benchrest is becoming more and more popular. The recent European Championship, World Cup and World Postal championships have shown the interest internationallyandatanationallevel. worked out well, as there are about fourteen countrieswithmembersshootingthissport. This years world postal, has nine countries and over one hundred of the best shooters competingagainsteachother,viatheirnational This dedicated sport developed in a variety of championships. countriesatasimilartime,themainprotagonists beingtheUK,ItalyandSouthAfrica.IntheUK The world cup had number of overseas the interest developed from air rifle shooters competitors shooting in the Czech Republic, gettingintorimfirebenchrestandthinking,hey, withRussialeadingtheoverallteamaggregate why not try something different! Which has and the UK leading the overall junior

Setting up is all important

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HV A Class

individuals and senior individuals champion titles. Having achieved the highest individual aggregate at the world championship in 2008, achievingsilverandbronzemedalsatthesame event, (team and individual) and winning the overallWorldCupandEuropeanChampionship, theUKTeamisdoingextremelywell

started, which a lot of people do via the postal leagues that are going on around the country. To be honest it is fun for a converted rimfire benchrest shooter like myself. There lies the interest,itsfun!!!

The Rifles! TostartwiththiscanbebasicallyanyPCPthat So what about the sport? youhave.AirArmsholdthemarkethereastheir Well its about having a go as this how we all riflesmustbethemostwidelyused,astheyare inexpensiveincomparisontothemorespecialist riflesthatareoutthere.Certainlyyoucangeta newrifletocompetewithforlessthan600,and this would be the same as the ones that have wonatworldlevel! The Classes for competition AT INTERNATIONAL LEVEL Light Varmint Air Rifle Class - is any rifle having a manually and mechanically (including electronic triggers) operated firing mechanism, weighing not more than 10 1/2 pounds (4.762 kg) inclusive of sight. Factory stock or stocks that meetStockClarificationrulesmaybeusedThe action can be either spring or pneumatic; air regulators, barrel weights, harmonic tuners or bullet stabilisers are permitted but will be included in the overall weight of gun. The air cylindercanbechangedaslongasitisprovided by the Manufacturer as an option/spare to that model.Any magnification scope may be used. Thebarrel/actioncanbebeddedandhavethe triggerreworked(orreplaced).Returntobattery

This is a precision sport!!!! 48 Target Shooter

Chronographing and testing is a pre-requisite of the sport to test velocity

shallNOTbepermitted.Powertoberestricted to16.27Joulesor12ftlbsmaximum.Shooting Distance25m(0.177and0.2scorespluggedby 0.22calibregauge)

Heavy Varmint Air Rifle Class A - is any rifle having a manually safe manually and mechanically (including electronic triggers) operated firing mechanism, a weight restriction

HV B Class

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LV Class

of15lbsisset(includingattachmentsscopes, muzzle devices, etc). Any air regulator can be used as long as it is integral within the air cylinder. Any modification may be made to the rifle and any magnification scope may be used. Factory stock or stocks that meet Stock

Clarification rules may be used? Return to batteryshallNOTbepermitted.Muzzlebrakes, muzzleflips,barrelweightsorHarmonicTuners arepermitted.Thereisnorestrictiononcylinder size or capacity as long as 21 Joules or 15 ft lbsmaximumpowerisretainedanditisintegral

TointroduceourselveswearetheUnitedKingdomAssociationof RimfireandAirRifleBenchrestShooting.Bythatwemean"True BenchrestShooting".TheAssociationisrecognisedbyrimfire shootersacrossintheUK,withpartnersacrossEuropeandtherestof theworld,asthepresentativebodythatpromotesrimfireandairrifle benchrestacrossthiscountryandwithotherpartnersinEuropeanand Worldevents. Visitourwebsitefornewsaboutnationalandinternational competitionsthatallcanhaveagoat.Fromnovicetochampion shooter,everyoneiswelcome 50 Target Shooter www.benchrest22.org

The UK Air Rifle Team 2010 - a motely crew

within the rifle. (SeparateAir Cylinders are not allowed, the cylinder must be part of the rifle andtheoverallweight).ShootingDistance25m. (0.177 and 0.2 scores plugged by 0.22 calibre gauge. Heavy Varmint Air Rifle Class B - is any rifle having manually and mechanically (including electronictriggers)?operatedfiringmechanism, a weight restriction of 15 lbs is set (including attachments scopes, muzzle devices, etc). Any air regulator can be used as long as it is integralwithintheaircylinder.Anymodification maybemadetotherifleandanymagnification scopemaybeused.Factorystockorstocksthat meet Stock Clarification rules may be used. ReturntobatteryshallNOTbepermitted.Muzzle brakes,muzzleflips,barrelweightsorHarmonic Tunersarepermitted.Thereisnorestrictionon cylindersizeorcapacityaslongas27.12Joules or20ftlbsmaximumpowerisretainedanditis integral within the rifle. (SeparateAir Cylinders arenotallowed,thecylindermustbepartofthe rifle and the overall weight). Shooting Distance 25m. (0.177