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Over 30 differentGunsafes in ourstandard range
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Call 020 8254 6812for brochures andyour local stockistEmail [email protected]
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4 Target Shooter
Sections
6 ShootingSportNews
8 ShootersCalendar
20 ShootingBlackPowder PistolbyChrisRisebrook
31 WorldInterclubCyber ShootbyJohnO’Sullivan
47 2011SpringAction Weekend byGwynRoberts
71 DryFirebyDonBrook
Association Pages
74 NSRA
77 UKBRA
79 UKBR22
80 F-Class
86 UKPSA
91 GalleryRifle
95 QuigleyAssociation
9 IWA 2011byVinceBottomley 24 Third Eye Tactical byChrisParkin
37 The Good, The Bad and the Ugly byCarlBoswell
61 6mm BR Norma byLaurieHolland
53 Dealing with the Wind byChrisWhite
WelcometotheMayIssueof.....................TargetShooter
Target Shooter 5
Editor(s).CarlBoswellandVinceBottomleyAdvertising and Office ManagerYvonne Wilcockemail;[email protected] TonySaunders LaurieHollandChrisRisebrookCarlBoswell DonBrook AlanWhittle GwynRoberts KenHall ChrisParkin JohnO’Sullivan ChrisWhite
DisclaimerThewebsitewww.targetshooter.co.ukispartofTargetShootermagazinewithallcontentsofbothelectronicmediacopyrighted.Noreproductionispermittedunlesswrittenauthorisationisprovided.Information,pricesanddataisbelievedtobecorrectatthetimeofpostingontheinternetwhichisonoraroundthe1stofeachmonth.AdvertisementsthatarefirearmrelatedarefromcompaniesorindividualsthatTargetShootermagazinebelievesarelicensedtoholdsuchfirearmsandacceptsnoresponsibilityifcompaniesorindividualsarenotsolicensed.LettersandphotographssubmittedbymembersofthepublictoTargetShootermagazinewillbeacceptedonthebasisthatthewriterhasagreedtopublicationunlessotherwisestated.TargetShootermagazinehasnocontroloverthecontentorownershipofphotographssubmitted.Theviewsexpressedinthismagazinearenotnecessarilytheviewsofthepublishersandrelatetospecificcircumstanceswithineacharticle.Thesearetheopinionsandexperiencesofwritersusingspecificequipment,firearms,componentsanddataundercontrolledconditions.Informationcontainedintheonlinemagazineoronthewebsiteisintendedtobeusedasaguideonlyandinspecificcircumstancescautionshouldbeused.TargetShooterMagazinedoesnotexceptanyresponsibilityforindividualsattemptingtorecreatesuchtestingusinganyinformation,dataorothermaterialsinitselectronicpages.PublishersofTargetShootermagazine.
Webitorial - May 2011
Thismonth’sWebitorialcontainssomeveryimportantandexcitinginformationforreaders.Aftermuchconsideration,wewillbelaunchingnextmonth’sTargetShooterasaniPad,iPhoneoriPodapp.Thiswill,wefeel,eliminateoneofthemajorproblemsofanon-linemagazine–downloadingandviewingonadesktopcomputer.ViewingthemagazineonaniPadisalmostmoreconvenientthatreadingapapermagazine!
Yes,werealisethatnoteveryonehasanAppledevicebutmoreandmoreofyouhaveaskedusforthisfacilityso,aftermuchdeliberationwehavedecidedthatwemustrespond.Ofcourse,themagazinewillstillbeavailable,todownloadforfreejustasithasalwaysbeenbut,wefeelthatanapp.isthewayforward.
Theapp.itselfwillbefreetodownloadaswillthefirstmonth’sissue,butasmallchargeof59por99centswillbemadeforeachsubsequentissueandwehopethatreaderswillembracethissmallfee.Unfortunately,thechargesinvolvedinofferinganapp.areconsiderablebutwehopetoatleastbreakevenbytheendoftheyear.
Asalways,wethankyouforyourcontinuedsupport.
Vince,Carl&Yvonne
[email protected]@[email protected]
Copyright©TrinityDigitalPublishingLtd
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Shooting Sport News An Open Invertation to all Bell-
target ShootersIamintheprocessoforganisingaBellTargetCharityShootinaidoftheAirAmbulancetotakeplaceon11thSeptember2011attheNALGOSocialClub,Shirehall,Shrewsbury.
Ihopetomakeitanalldayevent,with10targets.LotsofspaceforlotsofTeams.
Theformatofthisshootwillhavesomesubtlevariationstothenormalleagueteamshoot.Ateamshallcompriseof5shooters,BUT,ONEpersonmustbeaNOVICE.(seerulesandregulations).ThescoreobtainedbytheNoviceistobedoubledandaddedtothescoresoftheotherFourteammembersgivingatotalTeamscore.
Themoniespromisedtoalltheteammembersistobeaddedgivingatotalsponsorship.Thissumistobemultipliedbythetotalteamscore.TheresultantofthiscalculationwillbeTrophyWinners.Ianticipatetherebeingotherawards!
AlldonationswillbegiventotheAirAmbulance,ThePolarBearLeaguewillfundtheShoot.
Rule and Regulations.1. Theseshallbeasperthoseforthe Shrewsbury&DistrictAirRifle AssociationBellTargetLeagueandwill beplacedonthetableinfrontofeach firingpoint,UNLESSotherwisestated below.2. AllteammembersMUSTbesponsored, otherwisetheteamisNOTeligiblefor thefinalcalculation.3. ARangeOfficer(Appointedbythe organisers)willberesponsible forthesafetyonthefiringpoint. AnydisputeisputtotheShrewsbury& DistrictA/RLeagueCommettee theirdescisionisfinal.4. Courseoffire,Sevenshotstocount
precededifrequiredbyONE sighter.Theteamwillshootoneafterthe otherinanyordertheywishwith intheallottedtime.Coachingisallowed.5. Scoring,acleanshotis5.1,touchingrim is5i.e.asperBelltargetscoring6. Adetailwillbe45minuetsdurationwith 15minuetschangeovertime.7. TheNovice a)shouldbeanyonewhoisnot registeredwithabelltargetleague; b)isnotanairrifleshooter; c)shouldbeover14yearsofage,and accompaniedbyanadult; d)maymakeuseofasupport(supplied bytheorganisers) e)withinthemeaningoftheword!
General ConditionsInsurance:-IfyoudonothaveanuptodateAirGunMembershipcardthentheinsuranceis£1payableonregistrationAlldonationsaretobereceivedbytheShrewsbury&DistrictA/RAss.League’s.treasurerNOTlaterthanthe1stOctober2011Onthatdaymoniesreceivedwillbeusedforthefinalcalculation.Chequestomadepayableto’Shrewsbury&DistrictA/RAss.League’ThepresentationofTrophiesetc.istobearrangedwithTheAirAmbulanceataplaceanddatesuitabletothemMidOctober’ish!Teamentryformsandsponsorsheetswillbesenttoanycluborpersonsthatwouldliketoparticipate.PleasecontacttheShrewsburySecretaryIanSmytheforfurtherinformation:[email protected],BrooksideGardens,Yockleton,Shrewsbury,SY59PR
TheprincipleobjectoftheexerciseistoraisemoneyfortheAirAmbulanceandshowourSporttothepublicaswellastoencouragenew-comers.
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Obituary – Ferris
Pindell
Ferris Pindell passedawayonApril11th2011.Pindellwasthe‘P’inthefamous 6PPC cartridge– undoubtedly themostinherently accuratecartridgeeverdesigned.
In collaboration withfellowbenchrestshooterDrLouisPalmisano(theother‘P’)gunsmithFerrisdeveloped the PPCcartridge from the 220Russian cartridge caseand changed the faceof benchrest shootingforever.
No cartridge has evercomeclosetoun-seatingthe6PPCwhenitcomestoshortrangeaccuracy.
I was fortunate enoughto meet Ferris at theWorld BenchrestChampionships inAmerica in2005,wherethe above photographwastaken.Ferris is on the left andthat’s Walt Berger onthe right of the picture.Although inhiseighties,Ferris was as sharp asarazorandwasproudlyshowing us his bullet-pointing die – the firstoneI’dseen.Anotherlegendleavestherange.
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CalendarofeventsoverthenextfewmonthsIfyourcluborassociationhaseventsyouwanttopubliciseherethenemailus.
7 May to 8 May - TargetRifleSkillsCourse(NationalShootingCentre(NSC),Bisley)Thisweekendcourseisaimedprimarilyatthosewhohaverecentlytakenuptargetrifleshootingtohelpthemdeveloptheirindividualskills Contact Phyllis Farnan via the NRA
7 May to 8 May - FClass League (BlairAtholl(Scotland)) Contact Des Parr via the NRA
14 May - World Cup - Fort Benning Thecompetitionrunsfrom14th-22ndMay
25 Sep - Somerset Small Bore ShootingAssociation-MajorHutchinsonMemorialShootThe Shoot will be held at the Long AshtonRanges.Entryformsareavailableonthewebsite.http://ssbsa.com/
7 May to 8 May - ClubInstructorCourse-Target Rifle (National Shooting Centre (NSC),Bisley)Thisisthefirststeptowardsacoachingqualifica-tionandisforexperiencedshooterswhowishtoassistwithtrainingatclublevel.ApplicantsshouldideallyhavecompletedanNRASkillsCourse.
Contact Phyllis Farnan via the NRA
30 July to 7th August 2011 - The WorldRimfire&AirRifleBenchrestFederation -2ndWorldChampionshipsinPalmettoUSA.
14 May to 15 May - NRA300MChampionships(NationalShootingCentre(NSC),Bisley) Contact the Shooting Division via the NRA
7 May to 8 May - AnInvitationtoallF/TRClassCompetitors (National Shooting Centre (NSC),Bisley)The Match Rifle community are inviting F/TRclassNRAmemberstojointhemattheirSpringmeetingontheweekendofMay7/8th.Thisisanopportunityforyoutotryyourhandattherang-esof1000,1100&1200yardsontheNRAlongrange targets which are more generous thanthose used in F class. Normal F/TR rules willapplyinregardtotherestingofrifles.
AprizeisreservedforF/TRcompetitorswhoarealsoinvited,withtheirpartners,tothereceptionon Saturday after shooting has finished at theEnglishEightClubwhichisoneoftheoldestonBisleycamp.
Anentrymaybemadeforonedayonly.
You should have received an invitation via theNRA but otherwise it can be downloaded fromtheEnglishVIIIsiteatenglishviii.org.uk.
For further details, see the Calendar entryentitled “The English Eight Club, NationalRifleClubofScotland&WelshRifleAssociationSpringMeeting” Contact Karen Robertson via the NRA
14 May to Range ConductingOfficerCourse(NationalShootingCentre(NSC),Bisley)Twodaycourse -successfulcandidateswillbequalifiedtoconductlivefiringonMoDorTAVRAranges. Contact Maureen Peach via the NRA
15 May - NRA Shooting Club Day (NationalShootingCentre(NSC),Bisley)Multi-disciplineNRAShootingClubDay.TargetshavebeenbookedonMelvilleandat100,200,600and900yards.Alldisciplineswelcome.Open toall fullmembersof theNRAwhohavecompleted and returned the registration formwhichisavailablebyclickingonthelinkbelow.If youwould like toattendyoumustbook inatleastaweek inadvanceby contactingCharlesPerryattheNRA
27 May to 29 May - PhoenixMeeting(NationalShootingCentre(NSC),Bisley)Thismulti-disciplinemeeting Is amust for yourshootingdiaryandhas itsroots inpistolcalibrefirearmsbuttherearealsoplentyofcompetitionsforBlackPowder,AirandFullborefrom15yardsrightupto1000yards.ThisMeetinghasover75competitionstoenter,givingyouenoughchanc-estoearnyourselfoneofthemuchsoughtafterGrandmasterMedals.InadditiontotheshootingthereIstheArmsFairheldintheBisleyPavilion.
Contact Brian Thomas via the NRA
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Lastmonthwehada lookatwhatwasnewinammunition and components, this month let’shavea lookat thenewriflesondisplay. Ifwewereahuntingmagazine,wewouldhave lotsto talkaboutanduntilyouvisit IWA,youdon’tperhapsrealisejusthowbigthehuntingsceneisinGermany.
For many German men, hunting and all thetradition that goeswith it – including the ‘landmode’clothing-isawayoflifethatwejustdon’thaveintheUK.CheckoutoneofthemassiveFrankonia stores www.frankonia.de if you are
ever in Germany – there are about twenty inall. They are literally a one-stop departmentstore for theshooter,sellingnotonlyfirearms,shotguns,airweaponsbutalltheparaphernaliathatgoeswithitincludingammunition,clothing,opticsetc.Theyevenhavetheirownrangesandruntheirownshootingevents.
It means that names like Mauser are just asbigasPorsche to theGermansand thesebig
names–Blaser,SigSauer,Schmidt&Bender,Zeiss,Khalesetc.havemassivedisplaysintheprestigiousHallOneatIWA.AlthoughI’mnotahunter,onecan’thelpbutadmire this traditionwhichjustdoesn’texistintheUK.
ButwhatisthereatIWAforthetargetshooter?
Insomerespects,verylittle–incentrefirethatis. Of course, all the smallbore and air-riflecompanies had new stuff on display whichwouldnodoubtexcitetheseriousISSFshooterbutverylittlecaughtmyeye.
I did however spot this strange beast – listedby Anschutz as their ‘Modern Sporting Rifle’.It looks like a very rugged semi-auto rimfirecomplete with aperture sights but for whichdiscipline?
Mostofthe‘bignames’donowoffersomesortoftacticalriflewhichcomesclosesttowhatwemight use for target shooting and there is adefinite trend towards the larger calibres and
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almosteveryoneseemstohavea338.However, some manufacturers don’t seem
to know exactly what they are doing with the‘target’marketbutknowthatit’ssomethingtodowithheavybarrelsand funny-shapedstocks–preferablyinastrangepaintfinish.Even Browning had one this year – with aheavy-ish fluted barrel and a sand-coloured
stock with a heavy fore-end but let’s startwith Remington. Look at this – a factory rifle
completewithmoderator!AfirstforRemingtonandsomethingIneverexpectedtoseefromanAmericanmanufacturer–wheremoderatorsareveryhardtoprocure.MaybeHealth&Safetyischangingthingsonrange.........
Blaserweredisplayinganew foldingstock for
Old Blaser LRS 2 – top. New folding stock below
The Savage M10 BA
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theirLRS2rifleandtobehonest,itlooksawholelot better than the old one. They’ve flashed itupwith a few pic-rails and anM16 pistol-gripanditdoeslookquitebutch!Samestraight-pullaction with quick-change barrel system - forthose who like it but for me, it does kind ofrestrictyourchoiceofcartridge.
Idon’tpersonallyshootlever-action–orGalleryRifle - but I knowa lot of youdoandwe seepicturesoftricked-upMarlinsinthepagesofthismagazine.IthoughtthatthiswasaveryBritish discipline spawned followingthepistolban,soIwassurprisedthereforetoseetheseMarlins,lookingresplendentin stainless-steel with laminate stocks,shortbarrel,Picrailsalreadyinstalledforscope-mountingandanenlargedlever.
Lastyear,SavageArms–nowAmerica’slargestriflemanufacturer-woweduswiththeir new 338 tactical rifle.Theseweregreat value at under three grand. Thisyear, it’smuchthesamewitha fewPicrailsaddedforthatmilitarylook.Thereisalsoa308version-whichIhaveyettoseeintheUK.
Savagealsohada verynice little ‘cus-tom’22LRbolt-actionmagazine-fedrifle
onshowwithafancywood-laminatestockandheavy fluted stainless barrel. It looked reallynicebutforwhatdiscipline?
I’dseenoneortwomentionsofthenewRuger‘Scout’rifleontheinternetforums.ThisisbasedonaJeffCoopertheoryofwhattheidealhunting/carry rifle should be like. To be honest –although I’ve no personal interest in such aweapon–Iquitelikedit!IthandledquitenicelyifyouknowwhatImean–
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itfeltrightinthehand.RugerhavewiselyoptedforanAI10-shotmag.andtheflash-hiderlooksthepart.Whatwouldyouuseitfor?Idon’tknowandIbetitkicksabitin308!Rugeralsohadtheirversionofatacticalrifleonshow–withheavybarrel,bi-pod,blacksyntheticstock with beaver-tail fore-end etc. plus thelatest version of their M77 which looks nicer
thaneverwithheavystainlessbarrelled-actionandbrownwood-laminatestock.
Winchesteralsohadaneat-lookingtacticalrigonshowwithasand-colouredstockwhichlookedabitlikeaMcMillanA5(butitwasn’t)heavyblackbarrelandPicrailatoptheoldModel70action.ButlookatthisstrangebeastfromTikka(below)
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Whatisitsupposedtobe?Heavybutveryshortbarrel with threaded muzzle. No sights, verystrangelaminatestock.Ijustcan’tthinkofauseforit–unlessmaybetherewasasniperincidentinawoodyard.................
Although there isa largeChinesepresenceatIWA,wedon’t getmany firearmsbut I do likethisNorincocopyoftheWinchester1897TrenchGun.It’sabitbasic–aswastheoriginalforthatmatterbutwithabitof‘aging’,itcouldlookthepart.This isSteyr’s latest 338 tactical rifle (above).
Thepaint job looksabithurriedbutcheckoutthatbi-pod. - reallynice. Itcomesasstandardwiththeriflebutsomeoneelseismakingitsoit’spossibletobuyitseparately.It’sareallyruggedpieceofkitandalthoughit’snotcheap,neitherisadecentFClassbi-pod.
Of course, the classic amongst the tacticalrifleshasgottobetheUniqueAlpine.Theboyshaveagreatpackagewhichticksalltheboxesfor the professional or amateur shooter. Nobigchangesarenecessarybutforthisyearbutsubtle modifications have been made to the
Steyr’s new 338 tactical rifle
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actionandchassis-mounting,afold-ing-stock option and a new ventedfore-endhand-guardwithafewPicrailsaddedforgoodmeasure,plusaneatlookingbi-pod.
Roedale Precision usually havesomethingnewforustolookatandforthelastcoupleofyearsproprietorPete Lincoln has been working onhis own AI-style chassis. Pete’schassis (previouspage) ismade inthewaythattheAIusedtobemade–CNCmachined fromonebilletofaluminium rather than a centrecasting with two bits welded oneither end. He had the ally bitlast year and now he has finallygot someone to make the plasticside-panels. Interestingly, he hasditched theAI thumbholedesign infavourofapistol-grip–sohaveAI!
The little four-barrel cutie above isbilled as a ‘non-leathal’ personaldefence device. It fires a range ofcartridgesfromflarestorubberballs.It’s Russian, dirt cheap andwhat’swrongwith it?Whycan’tourwives
Do you have a neat little bubble level on your rifle? Why not really complicate things and fit one of these!
Barrett’s BORS bullet-drop system
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andgirlfriendscarryoneintheirhandbag?
NotriptoIWAwouldbecompletewithoutavisitto the Barrett stand. I was keen to see theirnew 416 cartridge. This was developed whenCalifornia decided to ban its residents fromowningthe50cal.Barrettandaveryimpressivecartridgeitis–butveryHMEfortheUKatover8000 foot-pounds unfortunately! In retaliationto the California ban, Barrett will not sell the416 to any Californian Government or Policedepartments–onlyprivatecitizens!WelldoneBarrett.I’d read about Barrett’s BORS bullet-drop
Now if Ikea made guns.......................
We don’t see much of this gunmaker (Heym( in the UK but they make some neat looking tactical rifles
More 50BMG stuff – the SAN 511
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systemforscopeadjustmentandwaskeen to
seeifitcouldbeofanyusetothetargetshooter.Answer?Cleverthoughit isforthemilitary,it’snotmuchusetous–itmeasurestemperature,barometric pressure and shot inclination butthere is nowhere to factor-in the wind, ourbiggestchallenge.
Of course, it’s not allguns – this is the latestLeatherman ‘Gunsmith’tool. Actually, it didhave some very usefulattachments which couldbe handy on-range forrunning repairs (previouspage).
We are fast running
The miracle of CNC and the lack of patents means that almost anyone can now turn out impressive weapons. This Prague company had a variant of just about any M16/AR15 you could dream up – if only.............
Now how did that get in there............................?
Mini- rifle fans have never had it so good with a massive range of what Mike SJ last month called ‘tacticool’ weapons. H&K, Uzi, Sig, Colt etc. whatever takes your fancy
German Sport Guns (GSG) really played to our fantasies this year with this authentically boxed WW” Schmeisser - complete with cap!
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out of space and there is loads more to tellyou about but I must introduce you to mygood friend Dr Vitorrio Traveggia from It-aly. Dr Traveggia is a great long-rangeshooter,engineerandinnovatorandeveryyear,his stand is one of the highlights of my IWAvisit–healwayshassomethingnew–andtasty!Checkoutwww.bcmeuropearms.it
Nextmonth,we’ll havea lookat optics andafewoftheotherbitsandpiecesthatmakeuptheIWAexhibition.
This is one of Vittorio’s actions – beautifully made to rival any custom action I have seen
The same action in tactical format. The stock is all CNC aluminium made by BCM, as are the scope-rings
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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
TIKKA T3 AICS BOTTOM METALFor use with AICS magazines. Ambidextrous mag release. Inletting required. Material: Aluminium 7075T651, grade III hardanodized.
TIKKA T3 BOTTOM METALReplaces the standard bottom metal. For use with Tikka original magazines. Material: Aluminium 7075T651, grade III hardanodized.
TIKKA T3 BOLT SHROUDReplaces the factory Bolt Shroud for a more refined look. The finish is smooth with no sharp edges or corners. Material: Aluminium 7075T651, grade III hardanodized.
For more info, prices and ordering: www.alutek.euCurrently seeking international dealers
Enhance your TIKKA T3!
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The TIKKA T3 is a rifle with superb outofthebox accuracy and quality. However, for that perfect feeling in every detail, we provide some custom parts. For immediate delivery: Bolt shrouds and bottom metals for either AICS or original magazines, precision machined in 7075 aluminium and grade III hardanodized. But this is just the beginning, there are more exciting product to come from Alutek in the near future. Both for the T3 and other fine rifles.
alutek_ad210x297.indd 1 2011-04-27 12.37
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Muzzle-loading rifle aspirations!
Quite high on my list of things to dobefore shuffling off mortal coil is to shoot amuzzle-loadingrifleand,astimesa’passing,it’smaybetimetogoshopping!
The first candidate was a Bristlen rifle byPedersoli.Thiswould be ideally suited for theMLAGB 50 metre off-hand competition. Thetrouble is, these rifles are expensive at over£2000new,soasecondhandexampleatabouthalfthatpricewastempting.Atabout16lbs.it’sa heavy brute to shoot standing but I am sousedtomyStrela,whichweighsover17lbsandwhichIuseoffhand,thattheBristlenwouldnotbeaproblem.
The difficulty is not in holding up the rifle but
in getting it up there in the first place,withoutgetting a hernia! Photo 1 shows my HeathRobinsonsolutiontotheproblemcompletewithbelovedStrela.Allyouhavetodoisliftitonandoffthestand.IboughttheStrelainabout1964and,Ihavetoadmitthatitisinbetterconditionthanitsowner!However,Ihavenoticedithasputonweighttheselastfewyears.
The problem with the Bristlen was that therewas no bullet-mould. The butt carried variousweapon-control stickers, so itmusthavebeenused in international competition. Even if theownerboughthisbullets,itseemsunlikelythathedidnotalsohavethecorrectmould.Judgingby various blogs on the internet, these riflesare fussy as to their fodder and, the correctbulletforthisrifleisa.447minieballweighing360grains, and you won’t find many of those
with Chris Risebrook
Shooting the Black Powder Pistol
Picture 1
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inyour favouritegunshop! Many thanks toallthosepeopleroundthecountrywhoalltriedtohelp.Thebestguesswastosizedowna.451butthatwouldhavebeentooheavy.Youcouldprobably get awaywith almost anything at 25metres-includingpatchedballbutmyguessisthatonlythecorrectbulletwouldstabiliseat50metres.
I did find the correct mould - but that was inTennessee priced at $100 but, by the time Ihad paid customs duty, storage fees, postageand heaven knows what else plus VAT on allthe above, there would not be much changefrom£250.ThelastitemIboughtfromAmericacamewithalistofchargesaslongasyourarm-everybodyandhiscatseemedtogetanibbleand,ofcourse,withoutthemouldtherifleisoflittlepracticaluseorvalue.Theotherproblemisthatlikeallreplicas,theirvaluejustkeepsgoingdown,soIdecidedonPlanB!SeePhoto2.
Nowthisistherealthing-amilitarytargetriflemade to the 1851 Swiss pattern by BeuretFreresofLiegeandSt.EtienneforthecantonofBerne.Until1842,theSwissusedasmoothborein 18mm and each canton was responsiblefor its ownprocurement. In 1851 theFederalgovernment took over the weapons supply inrifleforminfirst10.5mmandlater10.4mm.TheFreresbrotherswereinbusinessfrom1836to1879andseemtohaveproducedaplethoraof
weapons.AmongsttheiroutputwerePotsdamtypemilitarypistols, targetpistolsmuch in thestyle of Boutet, Comblain falling block rifles,Vetterliboltactionriflesandevenbulldog typerevolvers in .450. They were also one of tenfactories commissioned to convert the Swissrifles to breech loading in 1863, using theMilbankAmslersystem,whichwasverysimilarto and easily confused with, the Springfieldtrapdoorconversion.
The lock plate is engraved with the maker’snameand inspectionandproofmarksandthetopofthebarrelisstruckwiththebearemblemwithinashieldastheBerneCantonmark.
The calibre is the later 10.4mm, and - glorybe - ithas itsoriginalmould! Beingamilitaryrifle,italsohasatriangularbayonetwhich,oncedetached from the rifle, has to be the world’sunhandiestweapon.SeePhoto3.Thebayonetfitsintoatubularsocketontheright-handsideandisheldinbyaspringcatch,whichisapigtorelease.Itisagoodtightfitbutitmakesforaveryunwieldyweapon.Asaknife,thebayonetis absolutely useless - there is just nothing toget hold of. The rifle - without bayonet is 52inches longwith a 33inchbarrel. Total lengthwithbayonetis70inches!
The barrel is two key hooked breach, whichmakesforeasycleaningandtheramrodhasa
Picture 2
Picture 3
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slidingbrassmuzzleprotectortoavoiddamageto the bore. Rifling twist is about one turn in33 inches. Bearing inmind itsage, thebarrelis quite presentable. There is some pitting inthegroovesbutthelandsaresharp.Theplainwalnut stock has its fair share of dents andscratches,butthatishardlysurprisingafter160years.
Thereisnohalf-cock,whichisquitenormalfortarget rifles and the double set-trigger worksverywell.Pullthereartriggertosetandtouchthe front trigger to fire. The screw betweenthe triggers alters the weight of the finalrelease.Thefronttriggercanalsobeusedasaconventionaltrigger.ThisisquitedifferentfromtheStrela,where the front ‘trigger’ ismerelyalevertosetthereartriggerandithasnouseasaconventionaltriggerassuch.
The problem with the Swiss rifle lies with thesights. Whereas theBristlen hadanaperturesight adjustable for elevation and windage,thisonehasonlyaveryfineopensightandaminisculefrontblade.Thesightsareincrediblyfineandtheopenrear-sightisreallytooclosetotheeye.Therea-rsighthasacoarseadjustmentonly for elevation – out to 1000 metres! Atthatrange itwouldbemore likeartillery laying- probably best to stick to a howitzer! Theforesightisdriftadjustableforwindage.
One curiosity is the detachable ‘acorn’ on theheel of the butt. SeePhoto 4. This is simplya coarse screw-thread which screws into thewood, but is has a knurled a ring and a holeforatommybar,soitisobviouslymeanttoberemoved. Itmust have served somepurposebut, for the life of me, I cannot see what. I
Picture 4
Picture 5
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Portsmouth Gun Centre Ltd 295 London Road
North End Portsmouth
PO2 9HF Tel 02392 660574 Fax 02392 644666
Opening TimesMon 9.30 - 5.30Tues ClosedWed Closed Thur 9.30 - 5.30 Fri 9.30 - 5.30Sat 9.30 - 5.30
E-mail [email protected] www.portsmouthguncentre.com
We stock a full range of Rifles, Pistols, Air Guns, Shotguns, Ammunition,Reloading Equipment and Accessories. All major brands stocked including BSA, CZ, Air Arms, Marlin, Ruger, Umarex, Uberti, Cometa, Pedersoli, Berreta, Lincoln,Webley, Pedersoli, etc.
thought itmightbeaworm to removeastuckballbutthereisnoprovisiontoattachittoarod.Anyonegotanyideas?Thereareanumberoftheseriflesontheinternet,bothmuzzleloadingandbreechloading,andtheyallhavethisacorn.Incidentally,thefittingofdoubleset-triggerswasstandardonalltheserifles,soahighdegreeofmarksmanshipwasclearlyexpected.
Agoodcleanproducedtheusual‘crud’fromthebarrelbut there ispresentlynoairpassage tothenipple;thereissomeblockagewhichneedstobeclearedbeforeitcanfire.Imanagedtofindahome-madenipplewrench tofitand it takesNo.10caps.Themould,showninPhoto5,isin excellent condition and inevitably, has steelhandles.Thismeansitreachesoptimumcastingtemperatureat“Ouch!”degrees.Hedgingglovesareanecessity!Likemanymoulds,thefirst20orsoproduce‘wrinkledprunes’whilstitcomesuptotemperature, then itfindsthesweetspotandthenrevertsto‘prune’modeasitoverheats.There is no sprue cutter, so it is necessary tohackoffthesubstantialsprueonthebase.
The result isshown inPhoto5. Therearenolubegroovesassuchbutratheradriving-bandatthebase.IfoundsomeoldIwoxweusedto
usewhenswagingbullets in thepistoldays. Ithadgonehardbutwaspersuadedintothegapin front of the band and left to harden again.Hopefully, thiswillprovidesufficient lubricationbut, after all thatmessing about, I discoveredthatsomeone isachievinggoodaccuracywith10thou.patches.
Ihavenoideaofthecorrectcharge,soIproposetostartat25metreswith30grainsofFFGandworkup from there.The rifleweighsabout10lbs., so recoil should not be a problem withmodestcharges.Itwillhavetowaitformynexttrip toBisley tohave thechamber cleared, sothatwill giveme time tohaveanother castingsessiontoprovideausablequantityofbullets.
TherealadvantageofthisrifleovertheBristlenisthat,withanyluck,itshouldatleastholditsvalueandmayevenproveaworthwhile investment.Well,that’swhatItellmyself;sometimesIalmostbelieveit!
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Last year, Vince called in on Third Eye Tactical in West Yorkshire and discovered some fine products for the shooter. Now, we’ve sent Chris Parkin back for a closer look to find out what’s new from this innovative company.
Heckmondwike,thelocationofThirdEyeTactical,
ismoreor lessonmydoorstep,so Iwentalongtohavea lookat fourof theircurrentproducts inmoredetail.IspentaboutthreehourswithCraig,theowner,designerandprogrammer,seeing themachines in operation and really having a goodchataboutwhatshooters-bothsportingandtargettypes-wantfromtheirgear.
Third Eye Tactical - a follow-up by Chris Parkin
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We discussed his designs, materials and someveryinterestingprototypesforfutureideas.Ialsosawa lotofgear thatshowedjusthowconfidentthe industryasawhole is inCraig’sabilitiesandproducts.
TheitemsItookawayandlookedatindetailwerehis30mmand34mmscoperings,boltonpicatinnymounting rails, a muzzle brake and `Spartan’soundmoderator.
Anyscopeisonlyasgoodasthemountsthatholditontothegun.Thesedays,somecustomactionshave Weaver/Picatinny scope-rails machinedintothetopofthereceiver,asthisstyleofmounthasbecomeanalmostuniversalchoiceamongstdiscerningshooters. It’sagoodideatoconsideraddingaPic rail toyourgun ifyouwantasolid,accurateuniversalmountorifyoujustwanttoaddelevation toyour riflescopewitha10or20MOA
inclinationbuilt-in.
Therailsandscope-ringsavailablefromThirdEyearemachinedin-housefrom7075T6gradesolidaluminiumbar,amaterialCraigiskeentopointoutisroughly four timesthepriceof the6000seriesaluminium alloys that many manufacturers use.Theheattreatmentofthisalloymeansitexhibitsalotofthetensilestrengthandhardnesspropertiesrequired forascope ringbutwithout resorting totheweightofsteel.Steelisgreatbutrequiresananti-corrosion treatment which is often prone todamage whereas aluminium can have a simple,attractiveanodisedcoating.Fromapersonalpointofview, Iprefer tomatchmaterials togetherwithsimilarproperties,especiallywhenbolting£2000worthofscopeintoit!
The underside of the rails are machined todimensions that Craig has personally measuredfromtheactionstheyareintendedtofit,notwhatmanufacturers and other after-market productsuppliers use. These can often be somewhatvague and thus exhibit poor fitting tolerances.Short and long action Remington fittings areobviously available but Third Eye also machineforHowa,Savage,Stiller,Nesikaandmanymore,bothinflatand10and20MOAinclinations.TheCompanyhasmulti-axismeasurementmachinesthatcanvirtuallyreduceasolidcomponentbacktoitsoriginalblueprintdesign.
The rings are fully machined in one operation.TheMizakCNCmachinesusedarea littlemoreadvancedthanisrequiredformakingscoperings(EvoEngineeringhasnumerouscontractsforsomeseriousgearsupplied tomotorsport that Icannotpossiblymention!)buttheiradvancedcapabilities,multiple tool selection and axes of movementallowthemtoachieveafullmachiningrunoneach
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separateringwithoutithavingtobetransferredtoanothermachine. Accuracy is paramount – andguaranteedbythismethod!TheringsareastandardWeaver/Picatinnyfitwithanintegrallugthatmateswiththerail.Largemetricfastenersmeannobodyhasanexcuse forusingthewrong sizeAllen key and they are also lesslikely to be rounded off by the ham-fisted (me!).
Even though each pair of rings is marked up 1and2onbothupperandlowersectiontoensurematching parts are paired back up during fitting,Craigassuredmethatitisaneedlesseffortastheyareasperfectastheycangetanyway!Thepointwheretheupperandlowerhalvesoftheringmeetisrelievedsothatitwillnotcrimpordamagethescopetubeandthefinish isaverysmoothblack
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anodising or a very unusual green/grey colourwhich looksgreatwithadrab-green tactical rifle.IwassoimpressedwiththeseringsthatIboughtandfittedasettomy260Remtacticalrifle.Muzzle-brakes and moderators are love - hate
components. It is undeniable that lowering feltrecoilhasbenefitswithaccuracyfromashooter’spointofviewalthoughitisoftenbeneficialtotweakthe load when adding anything to the end of abarreltoremainwithinthebarrel’sharmonicsweet
28 Target Shooter
spot. Sound moderators - once the domain ofverminshootersanddeerstalkers-haverecentlybecomemorepopularwithtargetshooters.
Thepolicearealsobecomingmuchmoreawareofthe noise-reduction benefits and dreadedHealth&Safetyimplications.Theydoreducenoiseandrecoilbutdorequiresomeattentiontomakesureeverythingiskeptcleanandalittlecareisneededtonotshootthemtoohotastheywillcreatealotmoremiragethanabarebarrelwill.
The `Spartan’moderator is a reflex design, fullymodular and can be disassembled for cleaning.The internalmuzzle-threadandprimarygasventcanbechangeddependingonthethreadsizeonthebarrelofyourrifleandthebafflesthemselvesare available in either 6mmor .30 calmaximumbore sizes. Themoderator is rated up to 30-06calibreandIgaveitathoroughworkoutonalarge.30calrifleanditdidaverygoodjob.Nottheveryquietest but light and compact and adding onlyfourextrainchestothebarrellengthandonly490gramsinweight.
However, on-range it needed a 2 MOA sightadjustment fora100yardzerobutdidnotaffectaccuracyatall.Ihavesinceboughtthekittoshootitonmy.222and.243rifleswith6mmbafflesanda smaller half-inch UNF internal thread for theslimmer barrelled guns. Craig saves weight bymakingonlythepartsofthemoderatorthatareinthedirectpathofsomeveryhotandfastmovinggassesfrom316stainless-steelbondedinplace.The rest of the unit is 7075T6 aluminium and Ihavetoadmit,fromanaestheticpointofview,itisa lotsleekerandbetter lookingthansomeofthelargersteeldesigns.
Lastbutnot least is theThirdEyemuzzlebrake.I had it made and fitted to my .300WinchesterMagnum,whichhasproventobeaverycompetentlong-rangeperformeronsteel-plateshoots. It isquite ‘barky’ andwith a 208 grain bullet, itmustbe shot carefully to avoid flyers caused by poorrecoilcontrol. Amuzzlebraketurnedit intoabitofapussycat,albeitonewithaseriouspurr!Yes,brakesdomakemorenoisefortheshooterbutyoucan’tcheatphysics!
The brakes feature both radial and longitudinalholes to vent muzzle gases, very similar to thepopularVaisdesign.Theyaremadeandsuppliedtoyourgunsmithasa ‘blank’with just thecriticalfeatures pre-machined. All your gunsmith hasto do is cut the external profile to blend in with
yourbarreldiameterandensure thebore-hole isopeneduptothecorrectdiameterforyourchosenbullet.ThiswasdoneformepersonallybyCraig,seamlessly fitted to my barrel and then a quicktwominutesessioninthebead-blastingchamberensured that its matt finish would not stand outfromthebarrel.Again,aslightre-zerowasallthatwasrequiredafterfittingthebrake.
Craig isaverykeenshooterhimselfandvisitingthefactorygavemeareallookintohisdesignandmanufacturingprocesses. He reallyknowswhatheisdoinganditisreallynicetobeabletobothbuyandusehome-grownproductsfromourownBritish engineering industry. I’m really lookingforwardtowhathepromiseswillbearrivinginthefuture.........watchthisspace.
Check out the video on uTube, posted byCraig himself of a scope ring being machinedfrom solid bar. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Rscui45sGA
Contact 01924 404312 or visit www.thirdeyetactical.com
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DIGGLE RANGES ‐ 150TH ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND BANK HOLIDAY 28TH, 29TH & 30 MAY 2011
Our fabulous 1000 yard range is 150 years old this year and to celebrate, we want to stage the most
spectacular shoot ever seen in the UK.
On Bank Holiday Monday 30th May, one hundred shooters will be invited to compete for a prize of £1000 cash
To win this prize you must break a hen’s egg with one shot at 1000 yards! Not easy but then again you don’t get the chance to win £1000 every day!
For those who are not used to shooting at 1000 yards, the day before, Sunday 29th May, will be devoted to free practise at 1000 yards. Turn up anytime and sight‐in your rifle.
One the Monday, competitors will be allowed one marked sighting shot at 1000 yards before making their attempt to break the egg.
ONE SHOT – ONE THOUSAND YARDS ‐ ONE EGG ‐ £1000!
This event will never be repeated – if you are a long‐range rifleman – or woman – you will want to say “I was there!”
e‐mail [email protected] to secure your entry
We want this prize to be won by someone – we want a shooter to break the egg – so, if no one breaks it on the first shot, another attempt will be allowed.
Why not make a weekend of it? On Saturday 28th May, we have a car boot sale of shooting related items on the main car park and there are two competitions for you to enter if you wish – a 300 yard F
Class/Target Rifle shoot and a competition for lever‐action rifles at 100 yards.
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April16th&17thsawthecompletionoftheexcitingnewconceptin‘recessionbeating’internationalshooting competitions - pre-entered teamsshootingon their own range, or rangeof theirchoice, and emailing results in to a centrallocation.
Fermoy Rifle Club in Ireland hosted theinternationalinterclubeventsin50mBenchrestandGalleryRifleovertwodays,withclubteamsparticipating from Ireland, UK, Italy, Finland,
AustraliaandUSA.
TheconceptwasbornwhenindiscussionaboutourplannedAprilInternational.KieranBarry,ourclub secretary, suggested thatwewould havemanymorecompetitors if theydidnotneedtotravel. Initialdoubt turned toenthusiasmwhenweconsideredthepossibilities.KieranandMikeDoherty agreed to organise the Gallery RifleeventsandJohnO’SullivanwithGavinMurphystucktowhattheyknew–Benchrestshooting.
BenchrestIn the 50m Benchrestcompetitions, the Light Varminteventattracted34teamsfrom16clubs representing 6 countries.The Heavy Varmint event hadentries from 22 teams from 17clubsrepresenting5countries.As teams completed their twocards on their selected date ofeither Saturday 16th or Sunday17th, scores were submitted byemail to the control centre inFermoy.
Fermoy Rifle Club - World Interclub Cyber Shoot
East Coast Shooting Club, (ECSC) Wicklow.
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The organisers shot their cards in the localrange,startingearlyonSaturday.Beforesittingtothebenchestheweatherwasfineandwindswere a modest 8 to 10 km/hr... promising.However, as always in Fermoy, the sound ofthefirstshotsannouncedtothewindthatitwastime,notonlytopickup,buttoswirlquiteabitalso, just for fun. We knew before the cardswerescoredthatwewouldcertainlynothavetoexplainembarrassinglyhighscorestotheworldonSundayevening.
BackatthecontrolcentrethefirstresultswereinfromBillCollarosinWoolahraclubinSydney.Despite having been hit by a rain storm withhighwinds they braved it out and opened thedays scoring with a 1460 - very respectable,
considering the conditions.Richard Lightfoot’s team fromMelbourne soon followed witha good HV score but had toabandon the LV due to risingwinds. Thatwasnothing to theSKAteamfromFinlandwhohadto contend with rapidly meltingsnowscausingflooding,coupledwithhighwinds.Afterajourneyof 200km theyneeded tomakesomerepairstotherangebeforeJens Lagas could get his teamtothebenches.USA,U.K.Italyand Ireland teams had mixedlevels of wind to contend with,butnothingsostressing.Asexpectedtheresultscameinslowly on Saturday until late in
theevening.Thescoringteamretired(briefly)toa local sportsbar towatchMunsterRugby.At least theymightgetanIrishwin,albeit inadifferent sport! We were of course anxiouslychecking the Blackberries for more results.SomemoreoftheIrishscoreswerenowcomingthrough.Theorganising teamwhoshotas the‘Flexibles’,GavinMurphy,PatCullenandJohnO’Sullivan,wereleadersforabouttwohoursbutonlyonthebasisthatfewotherresultswerein.Weknew thatour1446 inLVand1464 inHVwouldnotcountformuchwhenthe‘bighitters’results came in. Munsterwon the rugbyasaconsolation.
On Sunday, the leader board changeddramaticallywitheveryincomingresult.Itwaslateintotheeveningbefore a picture emerged. TheHilltop team from Ireland werelookinggoodbutFirstModestoofCaliforniainLVandthenthebigscoringPaulLaneclubfromUKinbothLVandHVknockedthemand everyone else, down therankings. The Italians came inlatewiththeLucensisteamfromLuccaintheLVandtheTricoloreteam from Reggio Nell Emiliaclub in theHVboth jumpinguptothemedals.
The Saint Giles Yarners club,whoalsoshotonthePaulLane
Modesto, California
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range,thenpushedtheirwayintoaverycrediblethirdplaceintheHVclass,displacingtheHilltopHV‘A’teamby2points.
Gavin Murphy’s computerised score model
worked like a dream. The instant a team’sscores are entered, the overall placings wereautomaticallyadjusted.Thiswasfun.Weenjoyedputtingittogetherandstayingwithituntilthelastresultwascounted.
SKA team, Finland
Gavin Murphy FRC Ireland
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It was probably more exciting back at thecontrolcentrethananywhereelseastheresultsunfolded.
However, the most enjoyment for me wascontacting and competing with wonderful,dedicated sporting people here at home and
acrosstheworld.
Wehavetodevelopthisconcept.Iwouldliketoseethisrunafewtimesperyearwithdifferentclubs/countries taking turns.Wewill certainlyhelp anyone to learn from our experiences(andmistakes).
ItshouldbenotedthattheWRABFcommittee,particularlyCarlBoswellandBillCollaros,gaveushugeencouragement,supportandadvice.Thanksguys.
Thewinningteamswere:Light Varmint: 1stPaulLaneClub(U.K.)PaullaneLV148975x(JakeHealy,JohnStephenson,JohnFarrell)2ndModesto(U.S.A.)ModestoLV148679x(DaleBakken,MelvynJohnson,GiseleJohnson)3rdLucca(Italy)LucensisLV148650x(FrancoVito,EnricoBianchi,MazzuccoNicola)
Heavy Varmint:1stPaulLaneClub(U.K.)PaullaneHV149278x(GrahamReadhead,AlanLomax,JohnFarrell)2ndReggioNellEmilia(Italy)Tricolore149076x(RobertoGiarletta,GiovanniRossi,PinoLeone)3rdSt.GilesYarners(U.K.)TheYarners148681x(BrianKelly,ColinRose,RobbHarrison)
Gallery RifleIntheGalleryRiflecompetition,KieranBarry and Mike Doherty had a busyweekendcombiningorganising,runningand competing themselves in the full
rangeofeventsofferedtothecompetingclubs.
With four clubs competing from Ireland –Fermoy,HarbourHouse,LoughboandSuirsideand3fromtheUK–DerbyR&PClub,AldershotRPCandPortishead,thewiderangeofclasses
Suireside visit FRC
TSN Parma, Italy
TSN Prato, Italy
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The Place to
Shop at Bisley
The NSRA, Lord Roberts Centre
Now in stock ~ the popular Morini CM84E ISSF ‘Longarm’ Free Pistol
A wide range of pistols and rifles available, - Anschütz, Walther, Morini, BSA, Air Arms,
Webley Limited, Steyr, Feinwerkbau. Accessories from leading manufacturers Centra, Gehmann, HPS, VFG, Walther; AHG, Knobloch,
Champion, Opticron, Hawke, BSA and many more. Shooting Mats from Evans and HPS.
Gun Safes from Bratton Sound. Ammunition from Eley, RWS, HPS Target Master,
SK, Lapua - including Air Gun Ammunition Optics from Tasco, BSA, Hawke, MTC, AGS. Clothing from Kurt Thune, Realtree, Holme,
Anschütz, Gehmann, AKAH. We stock guns and Accessories for Field Target
and Hunter Field Target Disciplines With many more items too numerous to mention so
come browse and ask if you don’t see what you want. You’ll get a warm welcome, the best objective
advice, the right product at the right price with a comprehensive after sales service.
Further information from out website
www.nsra.co.uk Shop Tel: 01483 485510 Shop Fax: 01483 488817
E-mail: [email protected]
Price: ~ £1236.00 FAC Required
andeventsonofferwerehotlycontested.SuiresidevisitedtheFermoyrangetomakethelocalshootallthemorecompetitive.Theeventsonofferwere:
1. GalleryRifleSmallbore1500match
2. GalleryRifleSmallboreTimed&Precision1
3. GalleryRifleUnderLever1500Match
4. GalleryRifleUnderLeverTimedandPrecision1
Duetotherangeofeventsandhavingindividualandteam competitions in each,Kieran andMike triedtocompleteasmuchaspossibleof theirshootingon Saturday to be available at the control centreon Sunday. They eventually made it on Sundayafternoonjustastheresultswerecomingin.
TheGallerycompetitionwasclose inmanyof theevents.Leadswerechangingwitheachresultposted.Theresultsofallthecompetitionsaretooextensivetolistherebut–inkeepingwiththecyber-spiritofthe event, detailed results for both the BenchrestandGalleryevents,includingallindividualandteamscorescanbeseenontheFermoywebsitewww.fermoyrifleclub.com
ForbenchrestonlyseetheUKbenchrestdirectoryforumhttp://benchrestdirectory.forumup.co.uk
(Target Shooter is pleased to carry this report of what for me is an entirely new concept. With the increased costs of travel – not only overseas but within our own country - increasing to the levels where many cannot justify it, this could be the solution. With the possibility of Skype connections and large screens in each club, the concept could be improved further – Ed. )
Wind and melting Snow in Finland
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TointroduceourselveswearetheUnitedKingdomAssociationofRimfireandAirRifleBenchrestShooting.Bythatwemean"TrueBenchrestShooting".TheAssociationisrecognisedbyrimfire
shootersacrossintheUK,withpartnersacrossEuropeandtherestoftheworld,asthepresentativebodythatpromotesrimfireandairriflebenchrestacrossthiscountryandwithotherpartnersinEuropeanand
Worldevents.Visitourwebsitefornewsaboutnationalandinternational
competitionsthatallcan‘haveagoat’.Fromnovicetochampionshooter,everyoneiswelcome
www.benchrest22.org
Jamie BeyerleJamie Beyerle
☆☆ 2007 Pan American Games3x20 Gold Medalist
☆☆ 2007 WC Milan 3x20 Silver Medalist
☆☆ 2008 Olympian 3x20 Fifth Place
☆☆ 5-Time NRA Camp Perry3x20 Junior National Champion
☆☆ Multiple Women’s NRA Camp PerryNational Champion
If you want to shoot likea champion, choose Lilja!
www.riflebarrels.comLilja Precision Rifle Barrels, IncPO Box 372 • Plains, MT 59859Tel: 406-826-3084 • Fax: 406-826-3083
Target Shooter 37
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly!!!!!
By Carl Boswell
Not exactly the title Iwas intending but, I justhadto.Sorry,butIreceivedmythirdcopyofthisiconicfilmformybirthdayrecently. It’sgreatafavoriteofmine!
Anyway,ontothismonth’stheme.Infactthetitleisprettyapt,ifwehaveacloserlookatsomeoftheriflescurrentlyusedinrimfirebenchrest-oratleasttheonesavailabletousintheUKandEurope!
This is not however aimed particularly at thenewcompetitortorimfirebenchrestandIwouldalwaysadvisethatnewshootersusewhattheyalreadyhaveintheircabinetfortheirfirstforayintothesport.Iamreallytalkingtotheshooterwho already enjoys benchrest and is nowconsidering thepurchaseofa rifle tobemorecompetitive.
My own history in benchrest actually startedoffwith theRuger10/22.Yes I know -asemiauto!Itwastheonlysporting/targetrifleIhadinmycabinetatthetimewhenIwasgettingintorimfirebenchrestbackin2004.(RimfireBRwaswellestablishedinquiteafewcountriesin2004and had been for some time. The concept ofAir-riflebenchrestdidnotcomealonguntil theyear after, in 2005, with mutual developmentbetweenItalyandtheUK).Iremembergettingin touchwith Vince, whowrote a piece about
the discipline for Target Sports magazine in2004. This was year that we really startedto see interest developing in theUK,with thebirth of the UKBR22 Association and similardevelopmentsabroad.
Callmenaïve-andIknowyouwill-butIwasadamantthataRugercouldattainthenecessaryaccuracy.IhadseenaUSwebsitewheretheydidusesemi-autosinsomeclubshoots,whichwasthebasisofmyowninterestinrimfireBR.They also shotwith the cheapest ammo,witheveryonegiventhesamebatch!However,that’sanotherstory.
Around a thousand rounds later, I eventuallyaccepted that the semi-auto would not beaccurate enough. The rifle was just notcomparable to a bolt-action, even though thebarrelwasof‘match’quality.Anobviousmovetoabolt-actionneededtobemadebutwhichone?IhavehadfiveriflesduringmycareerinrimfirebenchrestbutIhavetriedmanymore.Theonesmost widely used in the UK and Europe areriflesbasedaroundthevariousAnschutzMatchactions.
A Starting Point.Myfirstinvestmentinrimfirebenchrestmaybemuchlikeyourownandcamewiththepurchaseof a CZ model 452. I did not own a rimfire
Above - a first attempt at a rimfire benchrest rifle build - the CZ 452 with modified loading ramp, bolt, trigger, stock with barrel tuner
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targetriflelikemanyshooters,asIwasfirstandforemostapistolshooter.WhatIreallywantedwasaSuhl150oraRussianCM2,aftertestingboth in France. (I think Vince has recentlyacquiredaRussianrifleforarimfireBRprojectrifle sowatchout for this). Bothwere superbandhadsuchpotential-especially theformer,whichhasbeenthebasisofmanyaBRprojectintheUSA.
AsneitherwerereadilyavailableintheUKandIcouldnotsourceoneinFrance,theCZcamein as the viable option. It was another rifle Ihadtriedatthesametimeastheothers.Oneprerequisiteforthisnewrifle-ithadtobecheap- and like the Ruger, I was adamant that the
accuracyoftheCZwouldbesufficient.TheCZwasagoodpurchaseafterIconfiguredit specifically for rimfire benchrest - hopefullymaking a £250 rifle into a £600 rifle. Themodificationsincludedasingle-shotconversion,aShehanebenchreststock,abarrel-tunerandfewotherelementsIwanted.Thisriflewasalsothe basis for my first article in Target Sportsmagazine,havingbeeninspiredbyVince!Soifyouhavebackissuesofthismagazinethenyouwillknowhowthis littleprojectdevelopedoverthespaceofsixmonths.ThedevelopmentworkandtheriflehelpedmewinseveralpostaltitlesandthefirstUKNationaltitle.
Iusedthisrifleforseveralseasonsand,although
Another attempt at a rimfire build, basing this one on the Anschutz 54 action
The Feinwerkbau models are excellent off the shelf rifles and something to consider - here with Paul Barker who was in the UK team 2010
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Idonotuseitanymore,Istillhaveitandwouldneversell it.ThisCZwasmyfirst realproject,customised completely byme and it gavemerealsatisfaction inusing itandwinningwith it.Thequestioniswhydon’tIstilluseit?Thisriflewasgoodforgettingtopscoresof246/247ongooddaysbutitjustwasnot100%consistent-itwouldsometimesshootinthehigh230sandIjustoutgrewit-pureandsimple.Youreachastagewhereyouknowit’stherifleandnotyou!TheCZ,orarifleofsimilarilk,likeaKimberorMarlin,willgetyouonlysofarandtheyaregreatstarterrifles.But,Ihavetosaythisagain,itwillonlygetyousofar!Iwastoldthisbymypeersbutdidnot listenorbelieve it - until theday I
orderedmynextrifle!There are many good riflesavailable that offer a similarstarting point for the would-berimfireaccuracybuff,somenew,some second-hand. TypicallytheFinnfire(nolongermadebutyou can still pick them up) theAnschutz54orsportermodels(Iwentthisrouteaswellforanotherarticle),theSuhl(thepoorman’sAnschutz), the Martini, theRemington 40x (rare but theyare around), the Kimber etc,etc.However,tobecompetitive,youwillmaybe have to changethe barrel, modify or replacethestockandpurchaseabarreltuner,liketheHarrel.
Moving onwardsThe ‘off the shelf’ route isreally about the Anschutz orFeinwerkbau. There isalso theCooperTRP3,madespecifically
forrimfirebenchrestandFoxFirearmsintheUKimport them www.foxfirearmsuk.com I havenot had any experience of the Cooper but issupposedlyagood‘entry’rifle.TheFeinwerkbau2700wouldbepreferable,asgenerallyspeakingthe barrels are very consistent. This is fromobservationand trying theseriflesatmatches.TheAnschutz1913or2013justneedsabetterbarrel. The issue here is modifying what isdesignedasapronetargetrifleforbenchrest,intermsofthestockandafewotherparts.
After spending a few years playing with andmodifyingafewriflesmyself, itmadesensetogo thewholehogandhaveanAnschutz2013
Anschutz rifles are the main rifle used within Europe, but do consider a stock designed for benchrest
Stock design for benchrest is very important - the Cicognani - below first - is common in Europe, made of wood and based around the McMillan edge stock - below second.
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fullycustomised.Ihadthisbuiltin2007,readyforthefirstEuropeanchampionship.OriginallyIwantedaShilenorLiljabarrel.Thebarreled-
actionwasnewbuteventually,youwillwanttoreplace the factorybarrel,even if it isaselect
barrel. Most serious benchrest shooters inEurope have done this with their Anschutz.Remember,Anschutzsellbarreled-actionsonly,
soyouendpayingforboth.
IwouldalsolookatthespecialistUSactionsandbarrels if you intendhavinga riflebuiltfor you. Yes, lots of money but, if I waspayingbetween£1200and£1800forarifleor barreled-action that will maybe place inthetoptwenty,thenpersonallyIwouldspendanother£1000onariflethatgivesmeashotatanational titleorbetterstill,onethatwillholditsowninternationally.
If you are interested in an Anschutz orother target rifle conversion thenCicognaniof Italy is a good place to look at -http://www.varidecicognani.com/2009/prodotti.
asp?idp=3&idsp=92. Another gunsmithin the UK who has had some success is
A customised Feinwerkbau, seriously hits the spot
The multitude of customised Anschutz rifles in Europe are a great resource
You do get the complete redesigned rifles and some like this one shoot very well
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Steve Kershaw in Yorkshire - http://www.stevekershawfirearms.co.uk/.Bothhavebuiltafewmedal-winningrifles.
Moving UpwardsMyTurboactionfittedwithaBroughtonbarrelis my only experience of a US action. Botharespecialistcustommadeproductsforrimfirebenchrest.WhatcanIsay....thisrifleisthebestrifleIhaveevershot.ItisarifleIneverintendedtobuybut, itcameup forsale theopportunitywastoogoodtomiss.IamstillhappywiththeAnschutz2013Iown,asitstillshootsextremely
well,haswonanumberofmatchesandisajoytoshoot.
HavingusedtheTurbo,mypersonalobservationisthat,incomparisontotheAnschutz,itisslightlymore consistent, less finicky with ammunitionandabouthalfamillimetermoreaccurate.ThismeansIwillstillhitthetenswith2013buthaveabetterchanceofhittingthex’s,withtheTurbo.Ifyoulookatthetoptwentywinning(andhighscoring)riflesintheUSA,thelistcurrentlystandsat about 75%Turbo actions, with a variety ofbarrels likeShilen,LiljaorBroughton. Says it
Bedding the action, whatever one you go for is vital for accuracy. Here is where a competent gunsmith really come into their own
Devices like a barrel tuner are common in rimfire benchrest. The Harrel below, with extra weights and bloop tube, is a common one.
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allreally!
The FutureThereiscurrentlyalotofcontroversysurroundingrimfire actions. One camppredicts that the 6
o’clockfiring-pinisthefuture,theotherstatingitisjustafad.Fadornot,itisbeingdevelopedindependentlyinavarietyofcountries.IguesswecouldfinishoffthisarticleasTheGood,theBadand.........theNew.Notverycatchyhowever
Craig Young at the 2008 World Championship with his Turbo actioned rifle - it is a winner
Another Turbo below - again this one is a world class rifle taking many medals and titles.
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andIexploredthistypeofactionawhileagoinapreviousarticle.
Asalways,whenshootersstartwinningbig-timewithsomething-likeaspecificbarrel,ortuner,orwhateveritmaybe-othersarequicktojump
on the band-wagon. It’s natural and in somewayshelpsprogress.Tosomeextent,thefutureiswhatyoumakeit.Doyourresearch,butinevitablyitwillcomedowntowhatyouarepreparedtospend.AninterestingseriesofresearcharticlesbyGeoffreyKolbeof
A 6 o’clock firing pin on an Anschutz 2013 bolt. The first I saw back in 2008. Although not a commercial venture new actions are now available with this configuration
The new Falcon action by Baity custom in the USA - come with a choice of 12 or 6 o’clock firing pins - seen here with Broughton barrel. We will have one of these soon for testing.
44 Target Shooter
Border Barrels can be viewed at http://www.border-barrels.com/articles/rimfire_tests.htmThe latest researchexplores thepossibleorpotentialbenefitsofa6o’clockfiringpinandmakesinterestingreading.
Theinternetforumsareanothergoodsourcesofinformation, although they canoffer conflictingadvice. Personally I researched the 6 o’clockfiringpinbackin2007,seeingoneonamodifiedAnschutz2013attheEuropeanChampionshipthat same year. It was not a commercialenterprisebuttheopportunitytohaveanactionwithsuchafiringpinconfigurationinEuropehasrecentlybecomegreater.HavealookatBaityswebsite - http://baityscustom.com/ The costs.......wellthesearecomparabletoagoodtargetriflethatcanbeboughttodevelopforthissport.
Itallcomesdowntoiswhatyouwant!If I was just starting in this sport but with theknowledgeIhavenow,thetwooptionsIwouldgoforare:
1. AspecialistbenchrestactionliketheTurbo(or the Hall, or the new Baitys - theselatter two I have no current experienceof, but I am hoping for the future) with
a Lilja, Shilen or Broughton Barrel, thelatterbeingmycurrentfavorite.
2. A target rifle action like the Anschutz2013,withreplacementbarrel-Liljahaveagreatreputationandareeasytogettofitforthisaction.
Funnily enough, this is exactly what I haveendedupwith-bothofwhicharesuperbrifles.Although the choice is quite extensive, it’s amatterofwhatyoucangetholdofandhowlongyouarepreparedtowait.
NowthatIhavesomeexperienceofwhatagoodriflewill do, I know that it is essential to havea great action and a great barrel. Put all thepartstogetherinthecorrectwayandyouhaveyourself a winner, pure and simple. Startingcheap is not really theway to go - if you areseriousaboutthesport,evenifonlycompetingin national leagues. Like many others, I’vefollowedhecheaproutebut inevitablyyouwilltradeup,nodoubts!Tryingtosellyourfirstrifletofinancethenextoneisnotrecommended-goforbrokeandget thebestyoucanaffordrightoff.Don’tmessaround,ifyoucanafforditgoforthefullcustomrifle.
What rifle would I go for? I have both and I am very pleased with the Anschutz custom and the Turbo. Both are sound rifles. Building a custom rifle makes all the difference. The next venture is a Falcon action with Broughton barrel - we hope to see this in the near future
Target Shooter 45
OutsidetheUS,wemusttosomeextent,makedowithwhat isavailable,whichmostlymeansriflesbasedon theAnschutz. Going for a fullcustomrifleisabigstep-it’salotofmoneytoforkoutbutthenagain,anewtargetrifledoesnotcomecheap-wellintothe£2000range.Rifleslike thesewill need tohaveextracomponentsandpossiblyanewbarrel. Aspecialist rimfirebenchrestbarrel,action,trigger,stockandtunerwillcostyouabout£1300fortheparts,plusVAT.Thegunsmithingisontopofthis.Ifthesepartsareput togetherproperly the riflewill bea farbettertoolforthesport.
Remember,justtakingpartinoursportisgreatin itself. Winning is not everything but really,thatiswhatweareinthisgamefor-evenifitiswinningagainstyourself!Untilnexttime.
46 Target Shooter
Custom Rißes - built on Savages, GBR, Stolle, Bat etc
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Target Shooter 47
The first competition of the 2011GalleryRifleseason got underway over the weekend of26th/27thMarchwith theNRA’sSpringActionWeekend at Bisley and, once again it provedtobeanexcellentopportunityforusalltoblowthecobwebsoutandgetbackintotheswingofthingsagain.
Formanyofusit’stheidealopportunitytomakesurethatoursightsettingsarecorrect(oradjustthemaccordingly)beforegoingontoshootthetwobigeventsoftheyearbeingthePhoenixandtheNationals -youcan’tafford foryoursightstobeoffaninchorsoateitherofthesemajor
events.
With the ridiculous cost of fuel as it is at themoment,Ididn’treallythinkthatmanyshooterswouldenterthisyeartobehonestbutitattracteda very good turnout of 181 competitors in theendwhoshotatotalof993individualmatchessafelybetweenthem.Asalways,thisevent(andeveryother)wasonlymadepossiblethankstothededicationandhelpofourvolunteerRangeOfficersandStatsCrewwhowereonceagainablyledbyMatchDirectorBrianThomas,alongwithSallyAgnewandSallyPhilcox,so thanksverymuchtoyouall.
Considering the time ofyear, the weather wasvery good and it stayeddryandreasonablysunnythroughout the wholeweekend,whichwasgoodnews for both the R.O’sand competitors alike. Itwasnicetoheartheusualfriendly banter betweenrivals and club mates onthelineandmeetupwitholdfriendsagainforabeerortoointheevenings,asthis is what makes our
by Gwyn Roberts
Ash Dagger on the barricades
48 Target Shooter
sportthesuccessitistoday.
Everybody I met was enjoying themselves,regardless of how they were shooting and
this iswhat it’sallaboutattheendoftheday,enjoyment!Formany, itwas thefirst time thatthey had picked their rifles or pistols up sinceshooting the Nationals or the Winter Action
meeting last year and this didshow ina fewof the scores thatwerepostedduringtheweekend.Simplebrain-fade,alackoftimingpracticeoracombinationofbothcertainly caught a few of thetop performers out, resulting insomebelowparperformances insome events (compared to theirusual high standards that is) butthankfully, itwasn’talldoomandgloom for the majority of thosecompeting.
OneexamplewasKeithCoxwhowastheonlyshootertocleantheGRSBTimed&Precision1matchoutof the49peoplewhoshot it,scoring 300with 18x’s. He alsowontheBianchirimfirematchwitha1914152xwhichisthesecondhighestscoreeverachievedwitha .22 rifle sowell done toKeith.DaveWyldealsoshotanexcellentscoreof11914xtowintheMultiTarget GRSBmatch, whilst PaulTaskerequaledhisPhoenixrecordscoreof119intheEmbassyCup12gsemiautoevent.
Chris West shooting the TP3 match
Sara Tacket enjoying her pistol shooting
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Onceagain,nineteenyearoldGaynorChinneryshowed the boys how to shoot an LBP in theT&P3matchdroppingatotalofonly4pointstotaketheoverallwinwith246ptsandAlanWhittlewon theMultiTargetGRCFClassiceventwith117pts and 11x’s which again is impressiveshootingconsideringhewasusingironsights!
TheBritishGRrecordsaresetprettyhighnowinsomeofthedisciplinesbuttheSpringActionmeeting still managed to produce 3 new highscoresandthesewerePhilStead’s59226xintheTimed&Precision2LBPmatch,MelBeards’1910138xwithhisLBRandmy1918168xwithaMarlin in theBianchimatch sowell done totheseguysalso!Itwasveryencouragingtoseea dozenor so ladies taking part in this year’seventbutIstilldidn’tseeanyjuniorsoutontherange over the weekend. Are there any outthereshootingGalleryRifleandifnot,whynot?
The flagship event of Gallery Rifle shootingis obviously the Phoenix International and itattractsshootersfromIreland,Belgium,Holland,Germany and even South Africa (amongstothers).Itoffers128individualcompetitionsforyou to enter (not including the teammatches)which are shot between 10m and 1000 yardsusing everything from a .22lr pistol, to a 12g
shotgunora.308rifle.
Midway UK will once again be generouslysponsoringthisyearsPhoenixalongwithahostof othermembersof the shooting tradeand itwilltakeplaceattheendofthismonthfromthe27th-29thMay.Thisiscertainlyaneventnottobemissedsoifyouhaven’tenteredalready,make sure you get onto the NRA website (orGalleryrifle.com)andeitherdownloadanentryformorenteronlineasspaceswill fill upveryquickly.
PleaseunderstandthatthePhoenixisopentoeveryone, regardless of shooting or physicalabilitiesandit’snotjustforthetop1%ofshootersinthecountry.Aslongasyouaresafe,youaremore thanwelcome tocomealongand join inwith the550+other likeminded shooterswhowillbetakingpartandboththeRangeOfficersandothercompetitorswillbemorethanhappytohelpyoualongontheday.Allyouneedtodoisask!
I think it’s fair tosay thatyouareprettymuchguaranteed to have an enjoyable weekend ofbothshootingandsocializingatthePhoenix,sodotryandgetthere,evenifit’sjustforthedayas youwon’t be disappointed. If you’ve never
Layne Chisholm racks up another win!
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actuallyshotinanopencompetitionbeforeandmaybe find the whole scenario a bit dauntingto start with, why not start by helping out onthe ranges instead rather than competing this
year? This isan idealway toget toknowtherangeofficersonapersonallevel,whilstseeingand learning exactly what goes on during theactualcompetitionsat thesame time. Getting
Iron sights can still score well
The ever helpful Colin McMichael loads
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acclimatized this way will certainly help makethatfirststeponto thecompetition laddera loteasier,andyouwillalsobehelpingoutthesportat the same time so it’s awin - win situation.Ifyouareabletohelpinanywaypleasegetin
[email protected] or give him a ringon01483797777extension148.
Foryourinformationafewminorrulechanges/clarifications have been made that haveimmediateeffect, and thesewill be in forceatthePhoenix.Theyare,inanutshell:
1.Timed&PrecisionTwo-MagazinesforGRSBandLBPmustbeseparateand individualandnottapedorotherwisefixedtogether.2.Recordscores-Arecordscoreshallstandifattainedbyashooterwhoadoptsanalternativeposition by reason of either a temporary orpermanentdisability.
3. Lead bullets - No metal/copper-plated/jacketed or copper-washed centre-fire bulletsmaybeusedonanyhard targets i.e.BianchiplatesorSpeedSteels.
Scoring each others targets
Gaynor Chinnery and father Mike
52 Target Shooter
Browning Buckmark Long Pistol
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Target Shooter 53
Theability toplotshotsquicklyandaccuratelyisthehallmarkofacompetentandsuccessfulshooter. Many may poo-poo it as needlessmumbo-jumbo. Ifyouareasceptic,don’t justtakemy word for it - the 2010Queen’s Prize
winner,DavidCalvert(above) isa ‘dyedinthewool’plotter.Whilst there are many other advantages toaccurate plotting, what we are interested inhere is its application towind judgement and,
Figure 1
Dealing with the Wind (but first we must learn to plot!)
by Chris White
54 Target Shooter
itsapplicationtoestablishingandmaintainingaproper‘windzero’.
Like many things in shooting, there is morethanoneway to do this. What I amgoing todescribeisthecurrentlyacceptedbestmethod.If,likeme,youweretaughtanalternative,manymoons ago, I recommend you change yourspotsandfollowthemethodwhichIamabouttodescribe.Theplotwearegoingtoworkthroughis derived from a shoot in the 2009 TrafalgarMeetingshot,appropriatelyenough,witharifleonce belonging to a renowned wind-judge ofyesteryear-thelateRearAdmiralHutton.
IchosethisfornootherreasonthanIhadablankplottingdiagramonmydeskandan imageoftheplotonmycomputer.Solet’smakeastart.
Figure 1 on the previous page, shows thediagramasitstoodafterthefiringofthefirsttwosighters.At this point we need to understandthatonesquareonthediagramrepresentsone‘rifleminute’. That is theamountamovementofaminuteontherearsightwillmovetheshot.Thereisadifferencebetweenarifleminuteandatrueminutebutthatisnotreallyrelevantatthisstage.
We have our static data recorded so that thediagram(oftenerroneouslycalledascoresheet)canbereferredtolaterandwehavethepositionofthetwosightersmarked.
What we are going to look at first is theconstructionof theelevationplot because thisis a bit easier to understand than the windplot. Onceyoucanplotelevationquicklyandaccurately you will find it easy to plot windcorrectly.
Obviously, if thesightersare representativeofwheretheactualgroupwillform,19minutesisnotenoughelevation.Atthispointweneedto‘guesstimate’where tostartourelevationplot.InthiscaseIchose20minutes.Lookatfigure2above.
Twentyismarkedonthemid-lineoftheelevationplot.Goinguptheplotonthediagramrepresentsaneed tohave lesselevationon the rifle (thisconceptisfundamentallyimportant).Bearwithme,itwillbecomeclearlater.Sothenumbersabove the mid-line are decreasing and thosebelowitareincreasing.Nowtoconstructingtheplot.
Figure 2
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What we are going to do is plot ‘correctedelevation’. That is, we are going to plot theelevationwhichshouldhavebeenontherifletohitthecentre-line.Startingwiththefirstsighter(conventionally marked A) we start with ourpencilpointonthatpositiononthegraphwhichcoincideswith theelevationseton the rifle for
thatshot.Inthiscase18minutes.Lookingatthediagramwecanseethattheshotfell1¾minuteslowsowemovethepencil1¾downwardsandmakeadot.Likewisewiththesecondsighter(B),whichfell1½minutesbelowthecentre-linewestartwithour pencil point on 19minutes,move it down
Figure 3
Figure 4
56 Target Shooter
1½minutesandmake thedot. Ourplotnowlookslikefigure2.
Here the plot is telling us that a reasonableestimateofthemean,correctedelevation,atthisstageis20minutes.So20wassetontherifleandthisfoundthe‘waterline’.Soweplacethepencilpointon20andsincetheshotisneitherabove or below themid-line this is where themarkismade.Withshot2theshothasfallenhalfaminutebelowthecentrelinesothepencilismoveddownhalfaminute(figure3).Likewisewithshot three. By this timeweseethat thegroup is starting to stabilisearoundameanelevationof20½minutes.Forshot4,20½wassetonthesight. As ithappenedtheshotlandedabout¼minuteabovethecentrelinesothepencilislinedupwith20½(theelevationonthegun)andmoveduptheplota¼minute,wenowhavetheplotdevelopedasinfigure4.
Shotsfivesixandsevenwereallonthewaterlinesothemarkismadeopposite20½ontheplot.Shot 8 fell¾of aminute low so the pencil islinedupwith20½andthenmoveddown¾ofaminute.(figure5above)
Similarly shot9 isalmostaminute lowso the
pencil ismoved down a little under aminute.Shot 10 went a minute high so the pencil ismovedupaminutefromthesightsetting.Thisshot,howeverwas‘called’asahighshot.Thisis identifiedwitha ringaround itsmarkon theplot.Wehavenowcompletedourshootandourelevationplotsothediagramwilllooklikefigure6onthenextpage.
If the called shot had occurred in the middleof the shoot the ringwould have served as aremindertoignorethatpointontheplot.
Torecap,highshots require lesselevation,sothenumbersontheplotcomedowntheplotinascendingorder.Theapparent,meanelevationisreadoffbyprojectinganimaginarylinefromthecentreof thedevelopedplot to thecolumnof figuresat its left handedge.Groupcentresare not always stable so this ‘correctedmeanelevation’ may need to be revised during theshoot.
Thebestwaytolearnhowtodothisistopractice.Digoutsomeofyourolddiagramsandplotthecorrectedelevation.Itisimportantthatyoucanplot swiftly and accurately. Quick enough toallowyoutomakedecisionsregardingelevation
Figure 5
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before it is your turn to shoot again and stillleaveenough time for you toassess thewindconditions.
Now to the wind plot. Themechanicsofwind-plottingareidenticaltothatofplottingcorrectedelevation.Remember
Figure 6
Figure 7
58 Target Shooter
thisthough.Thewindplotcanonlytelluswhatwasrightwhenthelastshotwasfired.Itcannottelluswhatwindagewewillneed for thenextshot. (Except under very stable conditions).Nonetheless it is a very important decisionmakingtoolaswewilllearnlater.
Thefirstthingtounderstandaboutthewindplotisthatthenumbersontheplotincreaseinvalueaway from the direction the wind is comingfrom. In the casewe are looking at, thewindwasblowingfromtheleft;thereforeasthewindstrength increased it would blow shots to theright.Thismeansthatmorewindageisrequiredonthegun,sothenumbersincreasefromlefttorightandviceversainthecaseofawindcomingfromtheright.
Ihaveseenmanyinstanceswhereshootersplotrightwindontherighthandsideoftheplot.Thisis wrong andmeans they are not plotting butmentallycalculatingthevalueofthetruewind.Thewholepurposeoftheplotistoeliminatetheneedtoindulgeinmentalarithmetic!
InthisinstanceIhaveannotatedtheright-handendoftheplot-‘left’.We have to start the plot somewhere and
since the wind appeared to be worth abouttwominutes left, Istarted (in thiscase)at twominutes.Thenumbersdecreasingtotheleftandincreasing to the right. In the caseofmyownplotting diagrams, the short range ones havethe windscale exaggerated but the distancebetweeneachlinestillrepresentsoneminute.
Figure7on thepreviouspage,showstheplotafter thefirst twosighters.SighterAwasfiredwith2minutesleftonthegunandtheshotfell1½minutesrightoftheverticalcentre-line.Sothepencilpointisplacedagainst2andmoved1½minutestotheright.SighterBwasalsofiredwith2minutesleftandfellonthecentre-linesothemarkismadeagainst2minutes.
Shot1wasfiredwith2¼leftonthegunandfellontheverticalcentre-linesothepencilpointisplacedagainst2¼andthemarkmadethere.
Shot two was also fired with 2¼ but the shotfell¾minuteto therightof thecentre-line.Sothepencilpoint isplacedagainst2¼andthenmoved¾totherightandthemarkmade.Theplotnowlookslikefigure8ontheoppositepage.Shotsfourandfivewerebothshotwith2½leftontherifleandfellabout¾and½right
Figure 8
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ofthecentre-line.Sothepencil-pointislinedupwith2½andmovedtheseamountstotheright.Theplotnowlookslikefigure9above.The remaining shots are plotted in the samemanner, so at the end of the shoot the plotlookedlikefigure10below.Forexampleshotsix
wasfiredwithtwoandfiveeighthsminutesleftandtheshotfellhalfaminuteleftoftheverticalcentrelinesothepencilpointisplacebetween2½and2¾andmoved½totheleft.
Figure 9
Figure 10
60 Target Shooter
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Thismonth’stopicisthecompactbutpotent6mmBRNorma.‘BR’isforbenchrest,soonewouldexpectittobemorethanordinarilyaccuratetoo–anditis,intherightrifleofcourse.
Many shooters in this country think of it asan out an out competition job, but it is a trulyversatiledesign,makingagreatlong-rangefoxandvermincartridgeandworkingwellonsmalldeer,justachievingtheEnglish1,700ft/lbsMElegalrequirementandcomfortably‘deer-legal’inScotland,forroedeeratanyrate.
Whatsortofcompetitivedisciplinesseethis‘six’?Oddlyenough,given thename, fewbenchrestmatches,orthoseshotovertheusual100and1,000yd rangesanyway. You’remore likely tofind it used inF-Classat intermediate ranges.However, appearances may well increase onsome ranges given the introduction of 300yd‘precision’ competitions shot off benches, nowaugmentedbyPSSAbuildinga600ydbenchrestfacilityonDiggleRanges.
Competitive shooters in continental Europehave adopted the 6BR in a big way for their300-metre three-position shooting, displacing.308 Winchester. These facts point to thecartridge’scompetitiveniche–whileitdoesnotquitematchtheall-conqueringPPCs’groupingabilityat100and200ydortheexternalballistic
performance of the bigger 6.5s and 7s at thelongestranges,it’sverystronginbetween.
That’snottosayitcannotbeusedsuccessfullyat very long distances, a 6BR shooter brieflyholding the world 1,000yd benchrest recordonly three or four years ago. US NationalF-Class teammemberand formerUSF-ClassChampion, John Brewer prefers it to 6.5-284Normaupto600yd,believingittohavesuperioraccuracy and of course, producing less recoilandrifledisturbanceonthebags.Givensettledconditionsandafreechoice(whichonehasn’tatthislevelthankstotheneedforteammemberstoshootthesamethingtofacilitateaccuratewindcoaching), Brewer says the smaller cartridgecanbesuperioratlongerrangestoorightuptothe1,000ydmark.However,thekeywordshereare‘insettledconditions’.
However,itdoesn’thavethingsentirelyitsownwayinthemediumrangestakesbyanymeans,therebeingagrowingbandofhighlycompetitive,similarly sized 6 and 6.5mm precision jobs –theTubb6XC;6mmSwissMatch;6.5x47mmLapuaandvarious ‘wildcats’basedon theBRandothercases.
Remington v NormaI could have called our subject ‘6mm BRRemington’andthat’sthemonikeryou’llnormally
HANDLOADING BENCH - 6mm BR NORMA (Part 1)
by Laurie Holland
62 Target Shooter
find it listed under in thoseAmerican loadingmanualsthatcoverit.Whatisthedifference,ifany,betweenRemingtonandNormaversions?Thereisasubstantialchronologicalgapbetweenthem, the American company regularisingthe dimensions of ‘wildcats’ based on Frank
Barnes’ .308 x 1.5” in 1978; NormasettingnewspecificationsandobtainingCIPlistingin1995.
Case dimensions are identical for the pairexcept for the early Remington form beingshorter at 1.520 inches compared to 1.560inches, the difference entirely in the necklength. Remington didn’t manufacture BRcasesandammunitionuntil1989andSierraBullets says the case-length was increasedto 1.560 in. at that time; others disagree,suggesting Remington continued as before.Since I’ve only ever used Lapua brass(packagesmarked up as 6mm BR Norma),Ican’tsaywho isright,but theUSmanuals
useRemingtonmanufacturedcasesandquotemaximum and ‘trim-to’ lengths of 1.560 in. /1.550in.,identicaltotheScandinavianmodels.
Eitherway,therealdifferenceslieupfrontinthebarrel andbarrel throat.Remington conceived
its design as a short-rangeaccuracycartridgeloadedwith60 – 75gn bullets, cartridgeoverall length (COL) set at2.200 inches, bullets therebyloaded to protrude around ahalf-inchfromofthecaseandbarrel throating dimensionsspecifiedaccordingly.
With short bullets the norm,aslowriflingtwistofoneturnin 14 is theSAAMI standard.Norma followed a lead setby some gunsmiths andcompetitors who realised theBRcasehadenoughpowdercapacitytogiveheavier,moreballistically efficient bulletsusable MVs for longer-rangeshooting. This required thebarrel tohaveasuitabletwistrate allied to ‘long throating’,of course – nothing new inthisandappliedtomanyothercartridges over the yearsincluding 284 Winchester;.223, .22-250 and .260Remington.
The 6mm BR Norma versionisdesignedaround105/107gnmatch bullets seated togive a maximum COAL of62mm(2.441 inches)andthestandardriflingtwist is1 in8.
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Whytwo‘official’namesforwhatisobviouslynomorethanloadingvariations?SAAMI(US)andCIP (EC) bodies’ standards include the barrelthroat and twist dimensions – change thoseand you have a different cartridge, so Normacouldn’tstickwiththeRemingtonnameevenifithadwishedto.Shootersalmostinvariablyuse‘6BR’asashorthandtitle,thendiscussthebarrelspecs.Obviously,ifyou’rehavingariflebuiltorrebarreledforthecartridge,thegunsmithwillquizyoucloselyonwhatyou intendtousetherifleforandintendedloads,beforerecommendingariflingtwistrateandthroatconfiguration.
6BR v 6PPCThe original Remington set-up and intendeduse were very close to those of the 6PPCand at first glance they look nearly identical.They even have common, if distant, roots inAdolf Hitler’s ‘Third Reich’. Half way throughWW2, the development team at the Polte,Magdeburg plant produced the 7.92 x 33mmthat saw limited wartime deployment in theoriginal ‘Sturmgewehr’ or assault rifle, theMP43 /StG44. Post ‘45 thiscombinationhad
aconsiderable influenceonbothNATO and Warsaw Pact smallarms development, the Sovietsproducing the 7.62 x 39mm foruse in theAK47 and NATO twocompeting designs, the British /Canadian / Belgian 280/30 (7 x43mm) cartridge which lost outto the American T65E3 (7.62 x51mmNATO)thankstoUSArmypressure.
However, it quickly becameobvious that whatever the lattercartridge’s strengths, and therearemany, it failed in theassaultrifle role being over powerful forfull-autofire.Thisstartedarunofshort cartridge experimentation,this time by freelance designersand‘wildcatters’,oneresultbeingFrankBarnes’.308x1.5”of1961,inwhichthe7.62/.308Wcasewasshortenedtoprecisely1½inches(38mm) and its taper reduced.This cartridge impressed manydesignersandRemington’sMikeWalker used it as the startingpointforthe‘BRfamily’.Meanwhile, on the other sideof the IronCurtain, an unknownRussian had taken the 7.62 x
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39mmM43, necked it down and made someother changes to provide Soviet Olympicshooterswithalightrecoiling,accurateRunningDeer cartridge.The Finns adopted the design
callingitthe220Russianandthat,asmostTSreadersknow,wasthegenesisofthe.22PPCandits6mmsibling.
Whythesegenealogiesmatterisbecausetheygivetwoapparentlysimilarcartridgesnoticeably different case and powdercapacities,nottomentionpowdercolumndiameters. TheM43 /PPC familyhasa0.445 inch case-head and lower-bodydiameter;the308W/Barnes/BRfamily,0.473inches,hencearound12-15%largerinternalvolumedependingonthemakeofcase.
Nobody knows for certain why the PPCdelivers such an unbeatable degreeof short-range accuracy. One possiblefactor is the powder capacity is exactlyright for the purpose, giving just enoughbulletvelocity tobuck thewind,while thesimilar but slightly larger 6BRhasa littletoomuchoomphbutwiththeconsolationprizeofbetterperformanceatlongranges.Thevariationincase-headdiametersalsoaffectstheeaseandcostofbuildingarifle.Agood.243,.308,.22-250canberebuiltasaBRbysimplerebarrelling,theirhavingthesamediameterbolt-face.Ideally,6PPC
Target Shooter 65
requires a smaller diameter bolt-face whichcould mean an expensively modified bolt orevenanewaction.Oftenhowever,itwillworksatisfactorilywiththe308bolt-face.
Varmints and PistolsIsaidRemingtonproducedBRspecificationsin1978but itwas tobeanother12yearsbeforeanyonesawaRemmymanufacturedBRcaseor cartridge. Thatwas because the companysaw it as a ‘factory wildcat’ available as oneofatrioofcalibres–224,6mmand7mm.Aswellasdrawingstoallowtoolmakerstoproducereamersanddies,Remingtonproducedabasiccase – the .30 UBBR (unformed basic benchrest),ahigh-quality .308Winchestercasewithunusuallythinwalls.
The ignitiondepartmentwasdifferent too,witha small rifle dimensioned primer pocket andundersize flash-hole (current Lapua exampleshaveanominal 1.5mmor0.059 in. comparedtothestandard1/16or0.625in.),testshavingshownthesefeaturesfacilitateamoreconsistentcharge-burn.
So, how did a would-be BR shooter actuallyobtain a collection of correctly dimensionedcases for the appropriate BR version having
previously forked out a considerable sum forspeciallymadeUBBRbrass?Takeonesetof6mm (or .22, or 7mm) BR dies, not cheap atthat timegiven theywouldhavebeen listed ina limitedproduction /wildcatdieseries. Thenthrow in a set of very expensive special-order‘form-dies’ to re-form the 308 dimensionedcasesintoBRs.Finally,takeagreatdealoftimeandeffortandprobablyafewtearsastheoddcaseconcertinaedduringtheprocess.
Thesmallerthecalibre,themorestepsandworkwereinvolved(Table1).Giventheoutlayinvolvedof both time and money, you can understandwhy there weren’t many BR shooters around25orsoyearsagobuttheproblemsdidn’tendthere!Usersfoundthebrasshadatendencytoundosomeof the reformingworkduringeachfiring giving increasingly hard chambering andextractionandrequiringmoreworkonthecases,orevenhavingtodiscardthemprematurely.
With.220Russianbrassavailableandrequiringfar less work to be turned into PPC cases,benchrest shooters abandoned theBR, givingits competitora10-year start. So,we’ll neverknowiftheBRcouldhavematchedthePPCinbenchrestaccuracygiventhesameamountofdevelopment.
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Likewise,onehadtobeamightykeen‘varminter’togothroughthisamountofhassletogainabitextraperformanceandaccuracyoveragood22-250. Moreover, theBRsgavesuchusersandtheirgunsmithsanotherheadache–magazinefeed problems. Single-shot bolt-action varmintriflesarewidelyusedtodaybutyoucouldhardly
giveoneawaytoAmericansportingshooters25yearsago.Remington700scouldbemadetofeed – just; other factory actionswith taperedmagazine boxes presented a near impossiblechallenge.With this list of downsides, one wonders how
Target Shooter 67
the BR cartridge survived irrespective of itsperformance–andinfact,itverynearlydidn’t.Specialitylong-barrelpistolsturnedouttobeitssalvationthankstothe7mmversionturningouttobeasuperbperformerinthisapplication,bothforhandgunsilhouettecompetitionand‘hunting’,it being usedonwild hogs,whitetail deer andpronghornantelope.The7mmBRwouldgivea140gnbullet2,250fps(1,573ft/lbsME)ina15inchbarrelRemingtonXP-100singleshotbolt-actionorbreak-actionThompson-Contender.Itwas these sales that encouraged Remingtonto belatedly manufacture 7mm BR cartridgesand brass, which in turn much simplified thehandloader’s task in reforming cases down tothe224and6mmversions,thelattermodelalsofactoryproducedforawhiletooatalaterdate.
Bullets and TwistsAsnoted, theUSSAAMI spec for theoriginalRemington version was (and remains) a veryslow 14T and today’s Norma version is amarkedlydifferent8T.Onemightinfactspecifya barrel with a rifling twist anywhere within arangeof7to14tothegunsmith,althoughbothextremesare rare.So,howdowedecide?Asalways,theprocessstartswiththeusetheriflewillbeput to,hence thebullets thatare tobeloaded.
Inpractice,8Tand12Tarethetwomostwidelyspecified twist rates by a large margin – theformerforshooterswhowishtouselongmatchbulletsinthe95-107gnrangeand/ortheheavierexpandingdeerbullets.Thistwistratewillalsoperformwellwithlightbulletsdowntothe70gnmark, therefore offering great flexibility. The12”twistrateisusuallyspecifiedbyshort-rangetargetshootersand/or ‘varminters’,being idealforbulletsuptothe75gnmark,andalsoabletostabilisespecialistflat-basematchbulletsinthe80-90gnrangethatcangivetopperformanceat600yd.(Thisrange iscurrentlyreceivingmuchattentioninAmericanreportsthankstotherapid
growthofbenchrestshootingoverit.)
Aswithotherlessspecialist6mmcartridgeslike.243Winchester,10Tcanofcoursebechosenasacompromiseallowingtheuseof90gnmatchbullets alongside 70-87gn ‘varmint’ bullets,but8Toffersmuchmoreflexibilitywithoutanyapparent loss of performance with the 75 to90-grainers. To give an example of requiredtwists,I’veincludedacoupleofphotographsofaselectionoftop-qualityBergerbulletscourtesyoftheirdistributorNormanClarkGunsmithsLtd.andTable2liststhemanufacturer’squotedidealtwistrates.Aswithall6mmcartridges,thereisafantasticchoice of bullets available for F-Class;short-range benchrest (now with new homeproducedOrionandG-CBulletsmodels);thin-jacketedhighaccuracy‘varmint’bulletsfrom55to90gnweight;mediumgamebulletsfordeer.
Imentioned the barrel twist range can extendto7Tor7.5T.Thesesuper-fast twistsareonlyneeded for theheaviestofbullets– the115gnBerger VLD and 115gn DTAC (David Tubbdesign).SincetheDTACisno longer thanthe105gn Lapua Scenar, one can get away withthe‘standard’8Trate,asdemonstratedwithmyexperiences with the HPS Ltd.- built FC704 /RPAF-ClassriflereviewedintheMarchissue.
Scuttlebutt has it that the rival 115gn Bergerhas an over-long jacket for the calibre, thisthin benchrest quality J4 component beingover-stressed,whiletheDTACworkswellthankstotheuseofathicker,heavierSierraproducedjacket.DTACsareavailablefromNormanClarkaswellasHPSLtd. for thosewhowant to trythemandalthoughdesignedforthelargerTubb6XCcartridgerunningat3050fps,theycanbedrivenataveryuseful2800–2900fpsbya6BRriflewithsuitablelengthbarrel.Thehotnewsisthat Tubb has taken his design further with asharppolymertip117gnversion,thatimproves
68 Target Shooter
ballistics slightly over the current hollow-pointdesign,butmoreimportantlygivesmuchgreaterBCconsistency(henceelevationconsistencyatultra long-ranges)withoutanyneed touniformbullettipsinameplattrimmer.
Dies and BrassAlthough called 6mm BR Norma, I’ve nevercomeacrossthiscompany’sloadedammunitionorbrass in this country,andhaveyet tomeetanyonewhohas.EverybodyusesLapuacaseswhich are widely available – very reasonablypricedtooconsideringitisnearbenchrestqualityas it comes from the box. A few dealers listRemingtoncases,butagainI’veneveractuallyseenany.
Asnotedpreviously,thedesignusessmallrifleprimers and has an undersize flash-hole, anuisanceespeciallyforpeoplelikemewholiketodeprimefiredcasesasaseparateoperationprior tocleaningandresizing. YoucantakeaLeeorwhatever deprimedie and turn the pindown,oralternativelybuytherecentlyintroducedReddingversionspecifying thesmall diameterstemfor20calibrecartridgeswhichhappilyalsohas the small diameter pin as requiredbyBRandPPCcases.
6BRdiescomewiththesmalldecapperpinofcourse,and ifyourelyonthat it’sagood ideato get some spares, otherwise Sod’s law willensureyoursoleexamplewillcatchonthecasebodyandsnapasyouprepareammunitionjustbeforethemostimportantmatchoftheseason!
Mostmanufacturersnowproduce6BRdiesets,LeePrecisionunusuallymissingoutonthisone,eventhoughithasthe6PPCinitsrange.IchoseForster‘Benchrest’dies,movingontoaspecial-order neck-size as described in ‘HandloadingTopics’ back in January to reduce the amountthebrassisworked.
Do you need or want to specify a tight-neckchamber when the rifle is built, as is usuallydonewiththePPCsevenonfoxrifles?Thereisagrowingconsensusthatafull-housesmalldiameter chamber neck section and heavilyturnedbrassisnotrequiredforthe6BR,infactmaybecounter-productive.While6PPCtight-neck chambers are usually specified at 0.262incheswhichrequirestheneckthicknesstobereducedtoaround8to9thousandthsofaninch,sometop6BRshootershavegonefor0.271to.272inchandtheneckjust‘cleaned-up’withtheneck-turnerforuniformthicknessandcutslightlyintotheshouldertoavoidthe‘dreadeddoughnut’
forming at the neck/shoulder junction.Othersdon’tevenreckonthisisneeded,just aminimumspec chamber at 0.274inches allowing standard unmodifiedLapuacasestobeused.
Nextmonth, I’llmove onto primers andpowdersandreportmyresultswith90to107gnmatchbulletsontherange.
Table 1 Reforming Steps .30 UBBR to 7mm or 6mm BR
1. Push neck back to its new position with the form die No.1. 2. Reduce case length in a trim die or with a tube cutter. 3. Thin the neck walls with a special inside‐turner die. (The die supports the case while a
cutter tool is inserted and rotated to reduce wall thickness from the inside.) 4. Reduce the neck diameter in one or more steps to the desired calibre using suitable
sizer dies with the expander removed or with special form dies. 5. Full‐length resize with 7mm or 6mm BR sizer die. 6. Final case trim down to 1.550”. 7. Chamfer the case mouth edges.
Table 2 Ideal Twist Rates for the Six Berger Bullets Bullet Model Twist (one turn in ….) 66gn High BC flat‐base Match 13 88gn High BC flat‐base Match 10 95gn VLD Match 9 70gn Varmint flat‐base 13 71gn Varmint BT 12 80gn Varmint flat‐base 12
Target Shooter 69
Delivery Imminent
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70 Target Shooter
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Champions shoot Tenex
Target Shooter 71
DryFire-justhowimportantisit?
Ofmonumentalimportance,that’showmuch!I do not know of one champion shooter, in anydisciplinefortheprecisioneventsthathasnotspentcountlesshoursindryfire.Notonlyisitalotcheaperthanspendingthesamecountlesshoursinlivefire,thetruevalueofdryfireliesintheselfdisciplineoftheexercise.
Sometellmetheygetboredeasilywithdryfireand,many tellme there isno result togainanybenefitfromit.Somearealsojustplainlazyanddonotwanttogotothetroubleofgettingfittedoutintheirgearandsoon.
Well, Ineverhadanyof that trouble, Iwasalwayseager to get behind a rifle as I really enjoyed thefeelingofmyfavouritesport,eveninmyquiteyoungdays. Iwas14whenmyFather introducedme tofullboreshootingwithaSMLE.303andenrolledmeinmylocalrifleclub.HereckonedthatifIwasgoingtobeashooter,beingalwaysinterestedinfirearms(asmostboysare) thenhewantedme toget intosomewherewheresafetywastheprimeinterest!Soit came topass - it didaffect theentire restofmylife…….
LysaghtsRifleClubhadacoupleofextremelygoodfullboreshootersamongst themembersand Iwaslucky(inretrospect)thatIcameunderthewingofashooterwhowasaverygoodcoach.TommyHann,placedmyfeetintherightdirectionandIwashookedonthesportimmediately.One of the things Tom insisted on was dry fire,
learningtoholdtheriflestillandreleaseadryshotwithoutmoving the rifle. He taughtme tobreathecorrectly, to ‘feel’ within myself and to develop acompetitionspiritthatbecamesecondtonone.
Assuch,Ididspendthosehoursdryfiring-ataspoton thehallwayfloor andI learned….. Tomtaughtme to release a dry shotwithmyLeeEnfield 303(withastrikerpinfallofaboutaninch!)thatdidnotmovetherifle.
Theresultofthistrainingsawmefiremyfirstpossible50 (at 800 yards) just six weeks after I startedshooting.IhavealwaysappreciatedhisinterestasamentorandhetaughtmeagreatdealevenafterIswitchedmyinteresttosmallbore.Somuchso,thatIseriouslydoubtIwouldhavereachedtheheightsIdid,withoutTom’sdirection.
Dryfireisextremelyimportantifyouhavedesignsongettingtowhereeveryourgoalsmaytakeyou.
Thetimespentindryfireisevenmorecrucialifyourinterest lies in ‘position’ shooting, where the threepositionsyouneedtolearnaredemandingenoughtoalmostrequirefulltimetraining.Australiadidnothave a great deal of shooting support inmy earlydays,andourearlychampionsdiddoagreatdealofworkontheirown.
Sowhataretherequirementsofdryfire?Howcanit become interesting enough to promote the longhours of training? Is there light at the end of thattunnel?Sometimesitfeelsasifthereneverisbutthestruggleallowsthedevelopmentofmentalstrength,
ThisSmallboreBusiness
ByDonBrook
72 Target Shooter
ofbeingabletoachieve!
SomeyearsagoImetoneofthebestintheworld,LannyBasshamandIwouldliketorelateastoryhetoldme,concerningdryfirewhereherelatedtohisbeginninginthemarksmanshipunitatFortBenning.LannyBasshamwastoldtodryfireandsohistimeatthefiringpointwasconsumedbydryfireuntilhethought hehadhold of it standing. In due courseLannywenttoBillPullumthecoachinglegendoftheUSAAMUandaskedifhecouldshoot liveshotsathis target,ashehadbeendryfiringfornearly fourmonths.Pullumsaid…“Yep,andIwillwatch..”
Basshamjumpedatthechance,workedreallyhardontheshot,andfiredaten….
“Lanny”saysPullum,“Whenyoucanworkashardonyourdryfire,asyoudidonthatshot,comeandseemeagain”andwalkedoff…..
The amount that Lanny did after that resulted inhisclimbtothetop, includingOlympicglory.AndIrealisedafterthatstoryhowmuchcredencethetopshots place on the dry fire routines they develop.Justlearningtogetreallygoodshotsaway.
When I developedmy own skills, I always trainedwith amix of dry and live fire, particularly positionwork standing and kneeling. I would work on thepositionstoallowthenaturalpointofaimtocoincidewiththecorrectaimanddryfirethreeorfourshotstoeverylivefireroundIloaded.
AlwaysItriedtorepeatthe‘hold’sequenceandshotreleasesothatagoodsolidshotwasreleasedwhenIdidloadaliveoneupthespout.
Irememberthefirstcompetition100Ifiredstanding,whichwasintheNewZealand3x40championshipsat Rotorua. I dry fired five shots within those tenrecord shots, even then. I needed this to get the‘rubbish’outofmymind!
ThepayfactorcamewhenmyKIWIfriendssaid“ShitBrooksie,NOONEshootsa100ontheirfeet!”Buttheydidn’tknowthatthosetenshotsactuallyhad15aimingfunctions!(Ididn’tsayanythingeither!)
I can also relay my personal best kneelingperformance, fired in Munich, where I shot a 396andwithinthose40shotsIfired16dryfirereleases.Why?Togetridofthe‘rubbish’inmyhead,tostoptheoverridingnervoustensionthatsometimesusedtocreepin.Thistaughtmetorelaxwithinthematchitself,to‘getbacktothebasics’and,IalwaysrelatedtothestoryaboveofLannyBassham,ifIneededa‘bootinthebackside’.
Ialsovividly remembermyfirst internationalproneshoot, which happened to be the 1972 MunichOlympicGamesEnglishmatch. (Yep, that is in thedeep end, big time!) where I fired seven tens assightershots,butittookmeNINEminutestogetmyfirstshotaway.Theshotwassmack in themiddle,andIwasjustNOTgoingtoletacrappyreleasego!Irelaxed,firedthreeorfourdryfiresandthenwenton.
Boy,didIlearnalotaboutmethatmorning!
Anotheritemaboutdryfireisthattherearenoshortcuts, inanyof thepositions. It isvery important toreplicatetheexactsamemethodsyouemployinlivefire,eventotheexactsamereloadingtechnique.Ihaveseenmany,particularly in theproneposition,that just re-cock the rifle and proceed when theynormallytaketherifleoutofpositionwhenfiringliveammunition. To vary your standard techniques isinattentiontodetailandamountstolaziness.
Trainingdryfire is replicating thesame techniquesand you can train in a new technique such asshootingveryfast,orleavingtherifleintheshoulderto facilitate this as a method new, or out of yournormalprocess. Theattention todetail isa factorthatneedstobeaddressedandnevervariedonceyoudecideonthetrainingmethodtobeinstalled.
Yesreaders,itiscrucialthatyourlearningtechniquesallow for a heapof timeon the floor in any of thethreepositionsandthisalsoappliestofullbore,evenwiththebiggertargetdimensionstheyemploy.
Whatabouttheavailableelectronicgimmickrythat’souttherenow-thetrainingelectronicssuchasSamtrainers,andothers?
These are very useful as they do give a lot ofinformation back to the shooter and you can keepan eye on ‘hold’ dimensions and shape, trigger-releaseeffects,sightingaccuracyandsoon.Theyalsoteachagoodfollow-throughsequence,whichishugelyimportant.
You should be aware though, that in the case of300mand full bore, the electronic systems cannotmonitortheeffectsofrecoil,norcanyougleananyinformationofhowtocontrolthisoutsideofthefollowthroughsequence.Asacoachingtoolthough,Ithinkeverysmallboreclubintheworldshouldhaveone!Ifnothingelse,theydogettheshooterstodryfire!
Anothergemforyouall…”Wearewhatwetrain tobe,excellencethenbecomesnot justanact,butahabit”(Aristotle)
Target Shooter 73Target Shooter Magazine is a publication of Trinity Digital Publishing Ltd
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74 Target Shooter
National Small-bore Rifle Association
The Young Turks on the Block
Atanytimeasportlookstoitsleadingyoungsterstoshowtheirprogressatinternationallevel.Thisisparticularlytrueinthebuild-uptoanOlympicGames,andmostespeciallywhenyouarethehostnation.
LastyearitwasJenMcIntoshwholedthewaywithaveryimpressivedebutinFortBenningandBelgradeat thestartofherWorldCupcareer.IntheThreePositionsRifleeventsshefinished10thonbothoccasions,thehighestplacingbyaBritishwoman in this event at aWorldCupformoreyearsthanwecaretoremember.ThisstunningstartincludedseveralnewBritishandScottish records and progress up the WorldRankingstoapositioninthetop25.
Onitsownthiswouldconstituteagreatindicatorof things to come. However to thishas tobeadded her other achievements in 2010. TwoGolds and a Bronze at the CommonwealthGames. The only individual rifle medal at theWorldChampionships.TwomoreGoldsat theCommonwealth Championships and severalother medals at other internationals aroundEurope.AnexcellenthaulatatimewhenJenstillhadonemorefullyearasajunior.
Another shooter with more time in hand as ajuniorisKristianCallaghan.In2010hisdouble-Gold inRapid Fire andStandardPistol at theJuniorNordicChampionshipsmayhavebeenincompetitionswitharelativelysmallfield.Ontheotherhandtheywerebotheventsforwhichtherequired pistol is a prohibited firearm inGreatBritain, and where he was competing against
good-quality Scandinavianshooters who have no suchaccessproblems.
KristianhadalreadybeensettingnewBritishrecordsregularlywithhis5-shotairpistol in thesimilarcoursesoffirethatwecanshootoverhere.Now2011asseenhimarrive on the record books withhis .22 cartridge pistol as well.DuringMarch inWiesbaden andDortmund he raised the BritishJuniorRapidFirePistolrecordto560, and then 561. Prior to thisAdrianSteelehadhelditforjustacoupleofmonthsshortof twentyyearswith his 557 in Brunswick,when thecoursewasshotunderslightly easier conditions using.22Shortammunitionandamoreanatomically-helpfulgrip.Jen McIntosh
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ThemostrecenteventwhereoneofthecurrentBritish crop of youngsters hammered at thedoorwas theWorldCup inChangwon,Korea.
In this case the rap camefrom James Huckle, whoalthough he ceased tobe a junior at the end of2010,willnothavehis21stbirthday until Septemberthis year. Having startedwithrapidsuccessasaself-taught field target shooter,hequicklychosetotransferto the ISSFCodewhenherecognisedthisasbeingtheonly route to the ultimatepinnacle of the OlympicGames.
Together with JonHammondandNeilStirton,he successfully negotiatedtheEliminationStageoftheMen’s3x40andthenscored1168inQualificationround,onepointshortoftheBritishrecordsetbyAlisterAllanin
1990.ThistookJamesintothefinalinseventhplace,whereheadded99.1forsixthplaceand
atotalof1267.1.Thisbeatthe late Malcolm Cooper’slast remaining small-boreBritish record of 1263.9,whichMalcset inZurich in1989 – 15 months beforeJameswasborn!!
Sadly for James, the finalicing on the cake was notthere, but just agonisinglyclose. The two OlympicQuota Places availablein the event went to theshooters in 1st and 3rdplaces,butJameswasnextin line as the other threeshootersaheadofhimhadalready secured Quotas inearliercompetitions.
AlsowereitnotfortheISSFRule that says he is nolongerajuniordespitebeingsomemonthsawayfromhis21stbirthday,hisChangwonshoot would have given
Kristian Callaghan
James Huckle
76 Target Shooter
him one equal and one newEuropean Juniorrecord.HoweverJames’positionandpotentialisconfirmedbyhisfirstBritishrecordasaseniorand by his newWorld Ranking of No. 18, hebeing theonly shooterunder theageof 21 inthecurrentTop60.
British Shooting has now announced the finalselection arrangements for the 2012 OlympicShooting Team, details of which can be seenon their website, www.britishshooting.org.uk. The criteria for consideration for selectionincludestheneedtohaveachievedaMinimumConsiderationScoreatoneofasmallnumberof
internationalevents.Sofarjustthreeshootersin rifle and pistol events have achieved thesescores – Jen in Women’s Air Rifle and JonHammond in Men’s Prone Rifle, both at theSydney World Cup, and James in 3x40 atChangwon.
Here’s hoping for further successes for ourshooters in the remaining qualifiers for QuotaPlaces and MCSs, which start with the FortBenningWorldCupon14thMayandforwhichthe European Championships in Belgrade inAugustwillbeofspecialimportance.
Malcolm Cooper - a prolific British target shooter
Target Shooter 77
CompetitionsThe first shoot of the 2011 competition year tookplaceatDiggleRangesthefirstweekendinApril.Our100yardshootontheSaturdayproducedadecentHV turn-out thoughFactorySporter shootersweredowntojusttwo.Conditionslookedreasonablebuttinygroupswerefewwithjustthree‘ones’recorded–thebestasplendid0.13incherbyBruceLenton.
Results: Heavy Varmint1stSteveDunn 6PPCDunnStolle 0.2604 inches(av.offive,5-shotgroups)
2ndIanDixon6PPCWalkerBAT 0.296in.
3rdVinceBottomley 6PPCTGPBAT0.2994in.
SmallgroupBruceLenton6PPCStolle0.13in
Factory Sporter1stAndyWoolley6PPCSako0.5364in.
2ndStuartBenson223Remmington0.9in.
Smallgroup AndyWooley 0.368in
The following day, at 1000 yards, the weatherwas again fair and Stuart Benson, using a 308Remingtonalmostputthewholefieldtoshamewithanoutstanding5.6inchgroup.StuartbrieflyheldtheUK recordwith this rifle about five years agowithanotherfive-inchgroupandsince ithashadmanyhundreds of rounds down the barrel. Fortunately,
From The Bench
VINCE’S REGULAR COLUMN WHEREBY ACCURACY NUTS CAN KEEP UP TO DATE WITH THE ACTIVITIES OF THE UKBRA
Light Gun winner Jack Gibb
78 Target Shooter
MikeWeatherhead’s5.5 inchgroup justsaved theLightGunentryfromtotalembarrassment!
Inspiteofhisgreatshootingandasub.ten-inchagg, Stuart didn’t claim the Factory Sporter win –thatwenttoPhilGibbon,withhis6.5-284Savage.
Jack Gibb comfortably claimed the Light Gun winwithhis6.5-284Barnardwhichheaccreditstohisnew8–80Marchscope!
Results: Light Gun1stJackGibb 6.5Barnard 7.965 (av. of four,5-shotgroups)
2ndSteveDunn7mmBooBooBAT9.009in.
3rdMalRoberts7mmWSMBAT 9.045in.
Smallgroup: MikeWeatherhead 7 m m W S MWalkerSako 5.5inches
Factory Sporter1stPhilGibbon6.5-284Savage 9.14in
2ndStuartBenson308Remington 9.551in
3rdAlanSeagrave 6.5x55Tikka 14.045in.
Smallgroup: StuartBenson5.636inches
OurotherApril competitionwasa100yard ‘score’shoot. We always shoot for ‘group’ and for me,shooting for score was a new departure. Theequipment–scope,rifle,restsetc.areidenticalbuthereweshoot20‘bulls’withaonemillimetrediameterXring.The10-ringisabout10mindiameter.Twocardsareshotintotal,soabout50roundsinallwithsighters.
Results - Heavy varmint:1stJeanetteWhitney6PPCTGPStolle393.14X(ex.400)
2ndVinceBottomley 6PPCTGPBAT391.10X
3rdBruceLenton 6PPCStolle389.8X
Factory Sporter :1stJackMills223Browning202
Next100/1000yardbenchrestweekendatDiggleis7/[email protected]
Also–don’tforgetouronceinalifetime1000yardeggshootonMay30thBankHolidayMonday.Breakaneggat1000yardsandwin£1000!
Target Shooter 79
The Benchmark - Rimfire & Air Rifle Benchrest NewsRimfire benchrest comes to Diggle – 25th April 2011
Although Diggle has long been a venue forcentrefire benchrest shooting, the first officialrimfire shoot was held there by the NorthernAreaguysandgalsonEasterMonday.
It was a superb warm sunny day but withswitchingwindsprovidingachallengeformostofusat50yards.Forme,itwasasteeplearningcurvebutaveryenjoyabledayinthecompanyofsomegreat folk. I look forward to repeatingtheexercise.Asyouwillseefromtheresults,itwassomethingofaHealeyfamilywhitewashwithYoungJakeHealey taking the HV win and Dad RichardwinningtheLV.BothwillbegoingtotheWorldChampionshipsinAmericainJulyaspartoftheGBTeam.Results: Light varmint1st RichardHealey 487.25X
2nd JStephenson 480.18X
3rd JohnFarrell 478.16XHeavy Varmint:1st JakeHealey 497.24X2nd ALomax 490.18X
3rd RichardHealey 490.15X
John Farrell is doing his best to get moreoutdoor ‘shoulder to shoulder’ matches goingbut,heneedsyoursupport.Findoutwherethenext one is by e-mailing John on [email protected]
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GB F-CLASS ASSOCIATION LEAGUE ROUND 1, DIGGLE 16/17th April
It’s the same every year as the new shootingseasoncomesaround isn’t it?YouknowwhatI mean – after ‘The Europeans’ the previousNovember,there’sallthetimeintheworldtosortoutyourhandloads,sightanewscopein,getanew rifleor barrel run-in and suddenly it’s theendofMarchandit’sonlydaysawaytothefirstround of the season at Diggle and everythingbecomesagreatrush.
As I’m thepoorsodwhoorganizes theDigglerounds,thatjustcompressesthosetimescalesand increases pressure further. Then there’stheweather –what’s it going to do this year?DowepackthewaterproofsandGore-Texlinedwarm stuff or the shades and sun-block? Tellyouwhat,takebothandabitmore!
My real worry however when the GB-FCAcircus heads Digglewards is that the Penninemisthampersvisibilityand forcesa latestart -particularly likely at this time of the year and,sureenough,theM62’sWindyHillsummitwaswellshroudedwithdensegraystuffonthewaythere – OMG! But no, the range was clear,as seventy bleary-eyed competitors turnedup at 8.00 am or before to be signed in andgiven their squadding details. The first shotswentdownrangeat8.50amfromthe500yardfiring-pointand,thesunwasshining–Phew!
Capacity EntryFor the second year, the season opener wasthe Association’s sole ‘short-range’ meeting,restricted to 500 and 600 yards, twomatchesat each distance for a total of 75 scoringroundsover thetwodays, thefinal600yarder15 rounds, the other three 20 –well thatwasPlanAbut,eventsforcedachangetoSunday’s
The Long View News from the GB F-Class Association by Les Holgate
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programme. 60 shooters are asmany aswecanhandleatDiggle in the long-rangeeventsbut500/600yardsmakesthingslikebutts-crewchangeoversabitquickerandwecanaccesstherangehousethroughoutthemeeting,allthisletting us crama fewmorewarmbodies onto
thefiringlines.With seven targets in use, we managed toacceptseventyentriesthisyear-eventurninga fewaway, at the cost of running fivedetailsandshootershavingoverly longwaits. Still, itwaswarmenoughtohappilyloungearoundon
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thehillsideandtalkshopinthespringsunshine!A small fleet of pick-up trucks and 4x4s tookcompetitiorstoandfromthebuttstoo–ifwe’dstucktheoddpedestal-mounted50BMGM2onthe loaddecks, themotleycrewsbeing ferriedaroundwouldn’thavelookedoutofplaceontheBenghazi-Tripolihighway!
Intheevent,nofewerthan68shootersturnedinscorecards-37ofthemF/TRagainst31Openentrants.AlsoofnotewerefourSpanishvisitors,Senors Sanchez, Cabrera, Cubillo and PavonplusRoderickFormosafromMalta,allofwhomused rifles supplied by Osprey Rifle’s StuartAnselmwhoalsoallowedthemtorun-inhisnewSavagecustom.223RemF/TRrifleonitsfirstmatchouting.
Quarter-MOABenchrest-quality rifles, heavy 7mm bullets at3,000 fps, and only 500/600 yard distances!Gawd, that’s going to be easy – everybodyshouldmaxout! Right, that’syouropinionbutyou haven’t seen the targets yet (or shot atDiggle!).ThenewNRAshort-rangedesignwasblackwithahalf-MOAwhitecentreaimingmark/V-Bullandwhitescoringringsthatmovedoutahalf-MOAfor theBull-5 line, thenonlyquarter-MOAforeachsubsequentscorelineouttothe‘One’!Thatmeansthataperfectlyaimedshotfrom a rifle that shoots zero-size groups onlyneedsthewindtomovethebulletfourinchesto
thesidetobeinthe‘Four’,andjustoveranotherinch to be in the ‘Three’ at 600 yards. StrayoutsideoftheOne-ringintotheacresofemptywhiteCorexsurroundingthetargetcentre,andyoudidn’tgetapointatall–a‘noscorehit’tousethejargon.Theno-scorezonewasonlyoneMOAawayfromthebull!NeedlesstosaythereweremorethanafewzerosintheSundayF/TR600yarddetails!Whyquarterminute(insteadofhalfminute)ringsthatwenormallyuse–no-oneseemstoknow! Let’shopethat the long-rangetargetsarenotsimilarlyconfigured.
SaturdayAnyway,togivethe36F/TRladsandonelassachance,I’dassignedthemtothefirstdetailsontheSaturday-traditionallythequietestweatherof theweekend,andglorybe, thewindswerelight even if the visibility was distinctly hazythanks to residual mist. “Can you see thosedamnedscoringringsthroughyourscope?”wasafrequentrefrainalongthefiring-lineaspeoplesettheirriflesupandadjustedscopeparallax.The F/TR question of the day was how werereigningLeagueChampionAdamBagnall andWorld Champion Russell Simmonds going toshapeupinthenewseason?Therewasnonewkit, both were shooting 155 grain bullets (likealmost everybody else), so it was all down toshooterform.UsnorthernerswhocanwatchtheAltcar101brigadeatplayhadnotedthey’dgot
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alotofpracticeinoverthewinterandthe‘word’said that Adam had shot some unbelievablyhighscoresontheLancashirecoastrange,soodds-onfavouriteifyou’reabettingman?Match 1 at 500 yards said otherwise, Russellputting inablistering99.11v,highest score forthematchineitherclassasitturnedout,whilstAdamwasinfifthplaceon95.12vbehindfellow101 shooter Paul Harkins, Diggle’s LaurieHolland with his .223 Rem and 101’s JohnCross.Smalltargetornot,aroundathirdoftheF/TRshootersbroke90.
MatchTwo,2+20at600yd thatafternoonsawmuch clearer conditions, but a wind that wasdefinitely more ‘frisky’, from the usual Diggle5o’clock.Russell again tookstopspot, butata much lower 93.6v, leading Paul Harkins asrunner-upagainandLesDawsonnowinthird.Atthecloseofalongday,RussellledF/TRbyamere twopointsoverPaul,whowas in turn
fouraheadofLaurie.Adamwasoneofaquartettoscore90onthismatchleavinghimfourthonaggregatesevenpointsdownonRussell.
Open Class followed F/TR on Saturday, mostofthetopshootersinDetails4and5,thewindhavingrisennoticeablybythetimetheyshotat500yards.MatchOnewinnerIanBoxallshootingaSurgeonin6mmCrusader(an‘improved’6mmRemington,butusingRWS7X57mmbrassashis startingpoint, notRemystuff) just heldoffDavidKentonVswithhis7WSM,bothon98.GaryCostellowashotontheirheelswith97.12vwithhisnew7mmSAUM,who in turnpushedPeteWilsoninto4thonV-count.
As with the F/TR shooters, a third of thefield broke 90. Two usually high scorers hadmiserabletimes,GregThompsonon80.4vdueto rifle problems, likewise local shooter JohnCampbell on 80.3v for reasons not known to
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your reporter. Back at 600 yards, it was IanBoxallagainonanexcellent96.4v,thehot6mmobviouslyperformingaswell as itsownerandthis time Ian had a two point lead overDavidKentbutwithatotallyrecoveredJohnCampbellin third on 93.6v. Open places as the day’sshooting finished were Ian, David, and Peteasthetopthreewithfivepointsbetweenthem,GaryCostello in fourth, a further threepointsadriftandjustholdingoffMarkEllis.
SundayTheweatherforecastsaid‘sunny,warmertoo’–whichitwas–andwithacompletewindchangefromSaturday’swesterliestoasuper-lightENE.‘Onlyoneortwomphstrength’itsaid.Hah!Itwasthesameasthedaybefore,onlystrongerandmorevariableinbothstrengthanddirection.Open ran first now, shooting at 500 yards asbefore,butMatch3wasreducedto2+15astheSpanishF/TRvisitorshadaplanetocatchmid-afternoonandwanted toshoot thisonematchatleast.
TheOpenboysmadeshortworkofthisdistanceingentleearlymorningconditions,GaryCostellotaking themedal on 75.11v with David Lloyd,MarkDaish,andMarkEllisonthesamescorebut in that order on V-count, Ian Boxall in 5thleading a large group of shooters scoring 74witha10vcount.Twothirdsoftheclassbroke70.Attheotherendofthefield,GregThompsonand John Campbell were suffering again andbothretiredafterthismatch.
Withonematchtogoanda20roundeffortatthat, IanBoxall ledDavidKentby threepointsonaggregate,whointurnwasholdingoffPeteWilsonbyanotherthreeacoupleofpointsaheadofMarkEllis–closeenoughfortheleaderboardtochangebutaslightopening-outofthetopfouror five. At 600 yards,warmwith a frequentlyswitchinglighttofreshwind,itwasDavidKent’sturn toshinewinningMatchFourwithasuper97.14v, thatwasmatchedbyanon-formGaryCostello taking second but with 9 Vs, HughInglis,MarkDaish,andIanBoxallfollowingonly
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oneandtwopointsadrift.ItwasafinefinishbyDavidKent,butnotenoughtopassIanBoxallwhotooktheOpenClassaggregateandhisfirstGB-FCAleagueroundwinbyapoint,withGaryCostellointhirdplace,fourpointsbehindDavid.ReturningtoMatchThreeand500ydearlier inthe day, it was ‘outsiders’ Paul Dobson (whohad missed the previous day’s matches) andAndyDuffywhotookthefirsttwoF/TRslotsonexcellent 74.7v and 73.6v scoreswith the stillimproving Adam Bagnall on third with 72.7v.Russell Simmonds had a poor match by hisstandardsdownin11thplaceon67.3v,fivepointsadriftofAdamandlosingmostofhisaggregatelead.
AstheMatchfinished,F/TRaggregatepositionswereRussellon258.19v,andAdamon257.25v.In fact, therewasonly a singlepoint betweeneachof the first five, theother triobeingPaulHarkins, Laurie Holland and John Cross withstillmorerightontheirheels–verycloseandalldowntothefinal2+20at600yards!In this Match, characterised by wind-changes
that the range flags didn’t show and flagindication changes that didn’t represent thewind,Russell shotanexcellent92.7v,but thatpaled by comparison against a heroic 97.10vfromAdam,rightupwithDavidKent’swinningOpenscore.PaulHarkins-reliableMrNumberTwo-splitthemwithanexcellent94.7v.Furtherback, Laurie Holland ‘dolloped’ with a terriblespellofonesand twosmid-match for74.4v in17thMatchplaceanddroppinghim rightdowntheleaderboard.
This fine result putAdam in first overall placefrom Russell by a clear two points, the ever-consistentPaulHarkinsjustbehindtheminthirdandtwomore101shooters,MessrsCrossandDonaldson taking fourth and fifth. In fact, theScouserstooksixofthetoptenplaces,showingwhatregularpracticeatAltcarandpostshootingvisitstotheboozerdoesforskillatarmsifnotthesoul. Again,theseason’swarm-upleagueround was an enjoyable and close-run eventshowingthatyoudon’thavetoshootat1,000ydto get closely fought matches, moments of
elationanddespair.
It’s worth noting that the topthreeF/TRshooterswouldhaveplacedfifth,sixthandseventhinOpenClass!
Aggregate Top Places (HPS = 375.75v)
Open F/TR 1 Ian Boxall 363.29v Adam Bagnall 354.35v 2 David Kent 362.34v Russell Simmonds 351.27v 3 Gary Costello 358.38v Paul Harkins 350.24v 4 Peter Wilson 355.34v John Cross 348.22v 5 Mark Daish 350.21v Steve Donaldson 343.22v
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The Hadrian IPSC Level 3 Shotgun Match - by Tony Saunders
Now,itmaybesomethingofacoincidencethatevery time I have previously ventured northtowardsCarlisle, it hasbeen raining. AfteralltheLakeDistrictisn’tnamedafteritsreputationforprolongeddryspells,somaybe itshouldn’tbeasurprisetome!So, you can imagine my look of resignedexpectation when a message came throughthat the build team for the inaugural Level 3match at Carlisle Small Arms Club’s (CSAC)new venue had been struggling against highwinds and rain and that thematchmay havetobedowngradedfromaLevel3toaLevel1!Inpreviousyears,CSAChashostedLevel1and3IPSCshotgunmatchesatafantasticgroundnot far from theA69nearCarlisle. The range
caterednotonlyforbuckandbirdshot,butalsoslugshooting.Linedalongalargeandshelteredbanked area, replete with wooded sections, itofferedagoodvenueandalwayshadagoodturnoutdespitetheverylongdriveforthoseliving‘darnsarf’–whichwasprettymuchmostpeople.Those travelling from Dorset could expect agood8hourdriveandalsofoundauseforthoseknittedglovestheyallhad-butneverneeded.Sadly, increased complaints about noise hasmeantthegradualerosionofshootingfreedomsfor CSAC (how often have we heard thisstory!). To thisend, it becamenecessary lastyear to find a new location for IPSCmatchesand it was to be used as the venue for theBritishOpenL3 shotgunmatch 2nd to 4th July.This was understandably cancelled due tothe shooting incident in Cumbria last year.
TheHadrianmatchwas thefirstLevel3 IPSC
Stage 4 - A tight mix of targets and no-shoot penalty targets partially hidden by tyres. Keith Wilson – Winchester SX3
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shotgunmatchonthisyears’calendar.ThenewvenuewaspartoffarmlandnearHallbankgate,Cumbria at Moss Hill Farm. The whole areais of typical Cumbrian rugged beauty, withswellinglowlandssetagainstdistantburnishedfells. One doesn’t have to stray far fromthe road to feel as though you are the onlyperson for miles and I would imagine much
of the area has remained largely unchangedfor a thousand years, except for the gradualtaming of land for agriculture. England reallydoes have some fantastic countryside andit was a majestic spot for a shotgun match.For the build-team though, the last few daysleadingtothematchsawgale-forcewindsand
A long shot at a partially hidden target. Winchester SX3 with pistol grip.
Sam Taylor - Benelli M2 shooting Hull Sterling Game #5’s 32g
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virtuallyhorizontalrain.Centredonariseabovetheroad,thenewrangehasnonaturalbarriersto divert the relentlesswind around it and theday before thematch saw themajority of thestagesdestroyedovernight–aterribleblowforthe crewwho felt that all their hard work hadbeeninvain.
So,withmostof thestaging ripped,brokenormissing,itlookedverymuchlikethefirstmatchwould not have enough stages to qualify foritsLevel3 status. With lowspirits, thematchdirectors Vanessa Duffy and Kevin Strowgerfelttheyhadnochoicebuttowarnallpotentialcompetitorsthattheymayfacealongjourneyto
UKPSA Chairman Rob Adam checking shot timer as Glenn Forbes adopts start position.
Long stage with multiple targets and no-shoots. Very easy to forget where targets are and fail to shoot at some.
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adowngradedmatchiftheycouldn’trebuildthestagesinthenext12hours.It was a chancy gamble. By issuing thisstatement,theyfeltthatitwasonlyfairtowarnshootersbutknewthatbysayingit,competitorsmay choose to not make the journey andmiss a good match - if only they could pullout all the stops to get the stages rebuilt. Itwas alsoApril 1st but unfortunately no hoax!Aftera4:00amstartonthedayof thematch,wearrivedtoawindyandwetentrancemannedbyseveralfigurescladinheavywaterproofsandanexpressiontomatch.However,despitetheseemingbadstart,therainslowedandstoppedby9.00amandthewindfellasthesunstruggledoutfromtherustysky.Abouttwo-thirdsofthestageswereupand ready,with the remainderbeingworkedonaswestartedtoshoot.Itreallywasatriumphfromadversityandtestamenttotheguysandgirlswhoralliedtomakeithappen.Of the 10 stages initially planned, the matchbecamea9 stage,birdshot-onlymatchwithagoodmixtureofshort,mediumandlongstages.Among many of the regular shooters, it wasgoodtoseequitealotofnewfacesataLevel3match.Shooterstowatchoutforinthecomingyears includedMichaelSiva-Jothy,whowasavery fast shooter and made the seven plate,fixed-timestagelookeasy.The shooter had a fixed time of only four
seconds to bring the shotgun up fromholdingit horizontally in one hand by their side (the‘trail’ position) to shoot seven targets arrayedin a semi-circle of 180 degrees. Some werelarge‘popper’targetswithonebeingweighted,others were small 150mm square plates atfloorlevel.Foursecondsisn’talotbutMichaelsmoothlyshotallsevencomfortablyinthetime.SamTaylorwasalsoshootinghisfirstLevel3match with his recently converted Benelli M2.SamsqueakedaheadofMichaelSiva-JothybyahairtowintheBestNovicetrophy.Thisspecialtrophyisonlyavailableatanovicecompetitor’sfirstL3orabovematch–onechancetowin itand it goes to thehighest novice scoreof theday.Weputhissuccessdowntomuchloadingpractice and also the sugar-rush from a largeintakeofcandyshrimpsinthecaronthewayup!It was also good to see the introduction of aVirginiaCount stage. Stage 3was a 7-roundstagefeaturing4metal targets, threefrangible(clay)targetsandtwono-shootpenaltytargetsshotfrom7to12maway.Forthosewhoarenotfamiliar,aVirginiaCountstageisonewherethecompetitormustonlyfireoneshotpertarget.Sowithseventargets,eachcompetitormustshootoneroundateachtarget.Iftheshootermissesatarget,theycanchooseto reshoot itbut itwouldmean theywouldnothaveenoughshotsleftfortheremainingtargets.
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Itwouldalsomeanthattheywouldbeunabletoengagethefinaltargetandthusincuradditionalpenaltiesfornon-engagementaswellasamiss.It isthereforecrucialtonotbetemptedtotakean additional shot if you miss. Simply shootonceateachtarget,carefullyandasquicklyaspossiblebecauseitisstillshotagainsttheclock.Therewasalsotheuseofaweak-handstage.Ifyounormallyshootwiththeguninyourrightshoulder,youmustuseshoot thewholestagewiththeguninyourleftshoulder.Vice-versaifyouarealeft-handedshooter.This is one of those stages that few peoplepractice and thus are often missing out onthe chance of a good score. I have lostcount of the times I hear a collective groanat this type of stage (often frommyself too!).Thematchwasshotover twodays,giving thetime to run the shooters and range officersthrough the nine stages. Shooters on theSunday had the better weather but everyonewhoattendedsaidhowmuchtheyhadenjoyedthematch.RangeMasterswereMartynSpenceandKenTrailandtheywouldliketojoinVanessaand Kevin in thanking the range crew, build-crewsandeveryonewhosupportedtheevent.
Thescoresonthedoors:OpenDivision:
1stPlace NicholasHockley 100%2ndPlace IainCorrigan 85.17%3rdPlace PeteStarley 64.54%Modified Division1stPlace JamesHarris 100%2ndPlace ColinAlden 98.55%3rdPlace KeithWilson 88.61%Standard Division1stPlace BarrySullivan 100%2ndPlace DanBoswell 96.25%3rdPlace DaveDowding 95.38%Standard Manual (pump) Division1stPlace KenTrail 100%2ndPlace WalterRobinson 94.86%3rdPlace BradFox 81.02%ThebestnovicetrophywaswonbySamTaylorwith60.78%-just,justbeatingMichaelSivaJothywith60.63%.BothshotinStandardAutoDivision.Welldonetoallthewinners.
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The edge of reason part 2 – Classic long range gallery rifle
LasttimeIlookedatmystrategyforthestandard100/200/300yardGRMatchshotattheannualPhoenixMeetingbut, tomakebestuseof thehalf day this match takes I intent to shoot ittwiceand I have thereforeentered theclassiceventinadditiontothestandardmatch.Muchhas been said about the rifle specification forclassicshootingandwillbeusingmy24”MarlinCowboy, so no more about the rifle but whatabouttheround?
MyCowboy is chambered in 44Magnumandtherulesrequirebothrifleandammunitiontobein the ‘spirit of the original’. The 44MagnumisarelativenewcomerintroducedbySmithandWessonin1955,thusitisdisqualifiedfromtheclassiccriticaldate1919.Theroundispermittedsolongasitisonlyloadedto44SpeciallevelsandthusIwenttothereloadingmanualandsawthat9.9grainsofVihtavouriN350behinda200grainbulletgave1079fpsfromhandguns.
Socharged,Ifireatenshotgroupat50metresfromtherestandtomydelightitgaveaoneholegroup,withonlyasinglestrayafewmillimetresawayfromthemainevent.Overthechronographitgave1376fps,aconsiderableincreaseonthebookvalueforhandgunsandthuswasindangerof leadingthebarrel if itwerenotforthefactIwouldonlybeshootingamaximumof42shotsfortheentirematch.
Entering the data into the ballistics calculatorgave the following bullet drops, velocity andenergyvalues,assuminga50metrezero:
Thebulletdropat300yardsrequiredjustovera¼”rearsightadjustment(calculatedusingtheprinciple of congruent triangles –should havelistened more closely when I was at school)so no issue there then. A fine spring outingto Salisbury Plain Ranges demonstrated thatat 100 and 200 yards the performance wasadequatesobackto300yards.
At the longest distance, the round would notholdagroup,withseveraloftheshotsreportingmakingenlargedholesprobablyduetobecomingunstable–back to thedrawingboardandnotmuchpreparationtimeleft!
Pre 1919 High Velocity LoadingsTheprincipleof ‘spiritof theoriginal’ is thatofself regulation, thepresumptionbeing that thecompetitor satisfies themselves that they areusingperiodequipmentandunlesschallengedbycompetitorsormatchofficials,therulesrelyon individual integrity. Iwastemptedtobuyaboxof44MagnumFMJ,hopenobodynoticedandhavedonewithit,theMagtechbrandwitha240grainFMJbulletgivesinexcessof1600fpsintheMarlin–butmyconsciencewouldn’tstandit-thensalvation,suchaloadingdidexistbefore1919.
Winchester introduced a 44/40 WHV (forWinchester High Velocity obviously) in 1903forthestrongerWinchester1892actionrifle.It
Range Velocity Impact Energy 0 1376 -0.5 841
100 1069 -5.63 508 200 923 -41.07 378 300 829 -117.17 305
GalleryRifle&PistolNews
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pusheda200grain‘metalpatched’bulletat1500fps,soontobeincreasedto1570fps in1910.TheUMC(UnionMetallicCartridgeCompany)also introduced their version, headstampedPETERSandtheHPdesignationatthehigher1570fpsvelocity.Allboxesofthesecartridgesweremarkedasnotsuitableforhandgunsand1873 Winchester actions, but accidents musthave happened as theywere soonwithdrawnfromsale.
What was ‘metal patched’ I hear you say? Itturnsoutitmerelymeant‘jacketed’.Mysearchfora200grainFMJintheUKwasafailureandIhad justaboutgivenupwhen Ibumped intoJonathanAvetoomayn(whoshootswiththeGBGalleryRifleTeam)attheSpringActionWeekendat Bisley. Jon produces specialist GR bulletsunder thebrandnameJAKA Precisionandheagreed to make up some of his ‘Baseguard’bullets at the appropriate weight. The bulletsare a variation on the lead ‘gas-check’ designand they represent excellent value formoney.E-mail: [email protected] fordetails.
Theliteraturethatcamewiththebulletsindicatethatabaseguardbullet canbedrivenat1400fps without significant barrel fouling and they
looked slightly longer than the plain lead castbullets that had proved unstable in previoustrials. Comparing the 44/40 cartridge casewith themodern 44Magnum shows that theyare dimensionally very similar with the case-volume of the magnum being 39 grains ofwater,comparedwiththe40grainsoftheoldercartridge.My assertion therefore is that loading a 44Magnum to nearWHV velocities is entirely inthe‘spiritoftheoriginal’andhavinghadsuccesswithVihtavouriN350beforeIsawnoreasontochange, so having loaded a range of slightlyhigherchargesthanbefore,IamofftotherangetoconductgroupingandvelocitytestbeforemylastlongrangeopportunityinearlyMaytoseeif anyof thenew loadsare300yardcapable.Iwill reportonmyfinal loadselectionandmyperformanceat thePhoenixMeetingnext time–seeyouthere!Iwould like to thank JonathanAvetoomaynofJAKA Precisionforsupplyingarangeofbulletsformytest.Warning - the loads shown in this article have proven to be safe in my firearms but it is recommended, in accordance with good reloading practice, that you start 10% below the indicated loads and work up in
200 grain lead bullets - couldn’t hold a group at 300 yards
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A good 50 meter group does not always convert into a good 300 yard one
Heavy FMJ and full house 44 Magnums not in the spirit of the original
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increments to the maximums given.
Forthcoming EventsAllthefinespringweatherhasmadeitapleasuretogetoutandshootandwecanonlyhopethatthe spell continues for the most important ofannualGR events the PhoenixMeeting to beheld at the National Shooting Centre, BisleyfromFriday27thtoSunday29thMay.TheNRAWebsitedescribesthemeetingthus:-
This multi-discipline meeting is a must for your shooting diary and has its roots in pistol calibre firearms but there are also plenty of competitions for Black Powder, Air and Fullbore from 15 yards right up to 1000 yards. This Meeting has over 75 competitions to enter, giving you enough chances to earn yourself one of the much sought after Grandmaster Medals. In addition to the shooting, there is the Arms Fair held in the Bisley Pavilion.
I would just say that it is the ‘must do’ Bisleyeventoftheyear.
ForthosewhoareabletostayuntiltheMondaymorningyoucancomealongtoMelvilleRangefor the first of the annual 1500 InternationalMatchesof2011. TheGBGalleryRifleTeam,again Captained by Ashley Dagger, will betaking on an even greater challenge this timeroundastherewillbesmallboreandcentrefirematches shot shoulder to shoulder with theoverseasteamsfromIreland,GermanyandthisyearSouthAfrica. Good luck toall the teamsI will be reporting on the outcome in the nextissue.
After the Phoenix the next classifiedmatch istheDerbyOpenover theweekendof 25th/26thJune. This isanexcellentwell-runeventwithanequallyexcellentprize tableand I havenohesitation in recommending thismeeting -firsttimerscanbeassuredofawarmwelcome.
Asusual, fulldetailsof forthcomingeventsareavailableonwww.galleryrifle.com
The excellent JAKA Precision baseguard bullets
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AregularcolumnwherebyKenHallkeepsusuptodatewithblackpowdercartridgerifleshootingintheUK.
QUIGLEY SHOOTING ASSOCIATION - ANNUAL TEAM BUFFALO CHALLENGE - 23/24th April
The Quigley Shooting Association (QSA),the Single Shot Black Powder Cartridge RifleClubofGreatBritain (SSBPCRCGB)andTheYorkshire Buffalo Hunters (YBH) compete intwo teamcompetitionseach year. One is theTeamSteelChallenge,inwhichtheteamsofsix
firersengageabucketsilhouetteat400ydsanda¾size buffaloat 600yds,which is firedatDiggleRangesandtheother,theTeamBuffaloChallengeisfiredatBisleyrangesinSurrey.On the Friday before the shoot, DaveMalpasandImadethejourneytoBisley,arrivingingoodtimetoallowforaleisurelytourofthecampandcheckouttheLordRobert’sCentre.BeingGoodFriday,theNRAandthetraderswereclosedso
Co organizer Carole Silver checks the scoring
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wewereunabletospendanycashintheshopsbutwedidmanagetosoakupsomeraysanddownafewbeerswithfriends.
OnSaturdaymorningtheteamsmadetheirway toShortSiberia for thefirststageofthecompetition.Thisconsistsof20shotstocountat200yardsonaveryrealisticandanatomicallycorrectimageofabuffalo-facingheadonatathree-quarterangle.Sadlythisyear,due to the unexpected unavailabilityof many key firers, the QSA andthe SSBPCRC were unable to fieldfull teams. However, competitionorganiser, John Gilpin, decided thatall who attended would shoot butonly the top five scores would counttowardstheteamresult.Attheendofthe morning’s shooting, scores were
lookingquiterespectable.
TheSSBPCRCGBwereaheadon418points, the YBH on 394 as and theQSAon368asweadjournedforlunch.
After lunch and after some spendingwiththetraders,itwasdowntothe600yardfiring-pointonCenturyrange.Thecourseof fire is the samebut on thestandardbuffalotarget,which looksalotsmaller frombackhere. Thewindat Diggle can be very trying but wewere expecting nothing more thana simple crosswind to contend with.Some hope! The wind was just asunpredictablehereontheflatasupinthePennines!Addtothataheathazeand barrel fouling, scores inevitablybegantosuffer.
Carl Hanson of the YBH and MarkSilver of the SSBPCRCGBmanagedthebestscoresoftheafternoonwith77and 69 respectively bringing the finalscores to 707 for the SSBPCRCGB,648fortheYBHand624fortheQSA.
JohnGilpin presentedSteveBonfieldwiththetrulyuniquetrophy,aptlytitled‘The Buffalo Challenge’. Certificateswent to the top three scorers, CarlHanson on 162 points, Mark Silveron 156 and Steve Bonfield with 153
points. All firers received a commemorativecertificate and medal. Thanks are due to allthe team members who made the day so
John presents the Buffalo Challenge trophy to steve Bonfield
John Ellins original Alexander Henry .45-100 from 1870
The scorers bench
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enjoyable,especiallytoJohnandCaroleSilverfor organising the event andmaking it run sosmoothly.
THE QUIGLEY SHOOTING ASSOCIATION.APRIL QUIGLEY COMPETITION.
Saturday2ndApril,adullish,mainlydrymorn-ing,followedbysomeclearerskiesintheafter-noon, of course the snaking Diggle wind was
ubiquitous.
Possiblyduetothepreviousday’sdownpour,afieldofonly13blackpowderfirersassembledat400ydsforstage1,whichasusualconsistedoftwosightersandfifteenshotstoscoreattheQuigley bucket. Most managed scores in the40’s,butDaveMalpaswasonarollandhit13buckets,goingintolunchwith67pointsagainstnearestrivalDennisRichardsonwith54points.
After lunch, stage 2was thebuffalo silhouette at 600 ydsand top scorer on this stagewas Richard Healey with 55points followed closely bySteveMariswith51points.
Thefinal scoreswereas fol-lows.
Pos. Shooter. Score.
1.DaveMalpas 1112.SteveMaris 943.DennisRichardson91
Top scorer Carl Hanson collects his certificate from comp organiser John Gilpin
Winner and Runner up Dave Malpas and Steve Maris
98 Target Shooter
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