All the latest information at your fingertips

October 2010 Issue

Imperial Meeting Part 2 more of This Smallbore Business Breaking the Mould Part 3

UK Rimfire & Air Rifle BR Championship Project Rifle New Products and lots more..

Target Shooter

F Class and Centerfire Benchrest News1

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WelcometotheOctoberIssue......................

.......ofTargetShooter12 Project Rifle Part 2byVinceBottomley

Sections6 11 ShootingSportNews ShootersCalendar ShootingBlackPowder PistolbyChrisRisebrook BreakingtheMouldPart2 by VinceBottomely 2010DiggleFlyShoot byVinceBottomley

16 2010

Imperial Meeting Part 2 byChrisWhite

21 25 41 46 61 67

Benchrest Rifle Build byAndyDubreuil

33 Custom Rimfire

IPAS,AAS&the1911by VinceBottomley Coal!!byVinceBottomley EVOEngineering

52 Hanloading BenchbyLaurieHolland

Association Pages82 85 87 92 NRA UKBRA UKBR22 F-Class GalleryRifle UKPSA

Business byDonBrooke

71 This Smallbore

96

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77 2010 British

Gallery Rifle Championship byGwynRoberts

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Editor(s). CarlBoswellandVinceBottomley Advertising and Office Manager email;admin@targetshooter.co.uk Contributors VinceBottomley TonySaunders ChrisWhite LaurieHolland ChrisRisebrookCarlBoswell DonBrook AlanWhittle GwynRoberts LesHolgate AndyDubreuil

Ourratherabysmalsummerisnowpastandweonlyhavewinterofcold,wetshootingdaystolook forwardto. OnebrightspotonthehorizonistheBritishShootingShowwhichwillonceagainbeheldatthe NewarkShowgroundthelastweekendinFebruary2011.Iwentlastyearandhadathoroughly gooddayandfoundittobeagoodlocation,excellentvalueandplentytosee. Showorganiser,JohnBertramhasalreadybeenintouchwithusasheishopingtoattractasmany oftheshootingAssociationsashepossiblycan.Hewillbeprovidingspaceandtablesabsolutely freeofcharge,thoughinturn,youmustbepreparedtomanyourstandoverthetwodaysofthe Show.Thisisagreatopportunitytopromoteyourparticulardisciplinetoacaptiveaudience.Let usknowpleaseifyouwouldliketobepartofthis.Therellbeacoupleoffreeadmissionticketsfor stand-holders. Ofcourse,notallofusputourriflesawayforthewinterandoneofthebiggestshootsoftheyear willbetakingplaceatBisley5/6/7thNovember.TheEuropeanFClassChampionshipisnowinits fourthyearandthisyear,itwillbethelargestFClasscompetitioneveryheldanywhere!There willbeamassivecontingentofoverseasshootersfromItaly,Spain,Russia,France,Ukraine,Germany,BelgiumaswellasthewholeoftheUK.TargetShooterwillbethere,competingasusual,so lookoutforafullreportinourDecemberissue. This year, the International Paralympic Committee Shooting World Cup will take place at Stoke MandevilleStadium1/3rdOctoberandfollowingthat,wehavetheCommonwealthGamesinNew Delhitolookforwardto.ShootingisoneofIndiasmainevents,soitshouldgetgoodTVcoverage butitremainstobeseeniftheBBCchoosepickitup. Untilnextmonth.Vince,Carl&Andy

Webitorial - October 2010

CarlBoswell-carl@targetshooter.co.ukandVinceBottomley-vinceb@targetshooter.co.ukand AndyDubreuil-admin@targetshooter.co.uk CopyrightTrinityDigitalPublishingLtdDisclaimerThewebsitewww.targetshooter.co.ukispartofTargetShootermagazinewithallcontentsofbothelectronicmediacopyrighted.Noreproductionispermittedunless writtenauthorisationisprovided. Information,pricesanddataisbelievedtobecorrectatthetimeofpostingontheinternetwhichisonoraroundthe1stofeachmonth.Advertisementsthatarefirearm relatedarefromcompaniesorindividualsthatTargetShootermagazinebelievesarelicensedtoholdsuchfirearmsandacceptsnoresponsibilityifcompaniesor individualsarenotsolicensed. LettersandphotographssubmittedbymembersofthepublictoTargetShootermagazinewillbeacceptedonthebasisthatthewriterhasagreedtopublicationunless otherwisestated.TargetShootermagazinehasnocontroloverthecontentorownershipofphotographssubmitted. Theviewsexpressedinthismagazinearenotnecessarilytheviewsofthepublishersandrelatetospecificcircumstanceswithineacharticle.Thesearetheopinions andexperiencesofwritersusingspecificequipment,firearms,componentsanddataundercontrolledconditions.Informationcontainedintheonlinemagazineoronthe websiteisintendedtobeusedasaguideonlyandinspecificcircumstancescautionshouldbeused.TargetShooterMagazinedoesnotexceptanyresponsibilityfor individualsattemptingtorecreatesuchtestingusinganyinformation,dataorothermaterialsinitselectronicpages.PublishersofTargetShootermagazine.

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Shooting Sport Newsmetal. So, we were interested to see mention of a new small-scale production, precision-made magazine fed hand priming tool thatusestheAuto-Primeoperating method(andtheLeemagazineand primerseatingplungerassembly).It is slightly larger than the Lee tool, also much more robustly made with a high-quality aluminium alloy body and operating handle and The new 21st Century large diameter steel connecting rod complete with a brass button Shooting hand priming tool set up for to ride the body floor smoothly. Likewise the main hinge-pin is a .223 Remington goodly sized steel component and ew Hand Priming Tool from21stCentury the operating handle is properly locked to it in Shooting Primers and priming are often use by a setscrew. Everything fits absolutely neglected parts of the handloading process, precisely, not a trace of slop anywhere. Lee the cheapest available models of the former Auto-Primeshellholdersfitthebody,butasetof purchased, the latter job often performed on fiveprecisionmachinedbrassshellholdersthat a bench press lacking any feel so there is no cover the PPC, popular 0.473 case-head dia. guarantee of consistency in the pressure or numbers(BR,.308W,.30-06etc);the.222/223 depth applied. Ideally, the primer should be Remfamily,andmagnumcasesissuppliedwith felt into the bottom of the case pocket then the tool. The result is really smooth operation pushed in marginally further with just the andlotsoffeel.Butthebenefitsdontstopthere slightest hint of crush-fit. This can only be undoing a small locking setscrew using the done on a good bench-mounted priming tool, suppliedAllenkeyandrotatingasmalldiskon orbetterstillaprecisionhandhelddevicebut theendoftheoperatinghandlehinge-pinvaries theyareinvariablyexpensive(around120for the Sinclair model by the time you pay for carriage and import duties and that excludes any shellholders needed) and limited to handling one primer at a time. Many handloaders use the cheap and cheerful magazine fed Lee Auto-Prime, a little ergonomic miracle, but whose operatingpartsfitwheretheytouch.This toolisbestdescribedassemi-sensitive, the feel through the handle varying from case to case during a priming session. Most long-term Auto-Prime users have hadonecomponentorotherbreakinuse Turning the light-coloured too, although recent production models wheel varies the primer are more robust and we note that the seating distance, hence latestversionusesanunbreakablesteel feel on the end of the connectingrodinsteadofpotorsintered operating handle stroke

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thelengthofseatingplungertraveltosuityour primerproductionlot,brass,primerpocketsand personal preference as to how hard you seat primers. Were impressed! The Lee magazine / seating plunger assemblies slot into the tool body as per theAuto-Prime and allow a quick switchbetweenthetwoprimersizes.(Youmay needtoremovemouldingspruefrazesfromthe undersideoftheplasticmagazinebodiessuch istheirclosefitinthe21stCenturytoolbody.) The US ex supplier price is $79.99 which becomes $96.44 or around 64 at the current rateofexchangewhenyouaddUSA-UKpostage charges.Unfortunately,RoyalMailParcelForce Internationalthenaddsanother16madeupof 17.5% VAT and its 8.00 customs and import

handling charge. We know of a dealer who is talkingto21stCenturyShootingaboutimporting these tools and if this takes place it would spreadcarriageandhandlingchargesreducing the unit price somewhat. What you dont get for your 80 is the Lee Auto-Prime magazine assemblies, so if you dont have this tool already,youllneedtospendanother15orso. Forfurtherinformationonthisandotherspecialist reloadingtoolsfrom21stCenturyShooting,visit: http://21stcenturyshooting.comorcontactthe owner on reloadingtools@rocketmail.com. ThevendorhasaPayPalfacility,sotransatlantic purchase is no problem, but as noted, we hope to see a home based seller here soon. competitorsinbeingdimensionedfortheSmall Rifle primer and also has the small (0.0615) diameterflash-holefoundinprecisioncartridges suchastheBRsandPPCs,theobjectivebeing to reduce velocity spreads. The benefits only materialiseatverylongranges,soifyoushoot upto600,oreven800yards,saveyourpennies andsticktothestandardversionthatusesthe LargeRifleprimer.IfyoudogoforthePalma, remember you must not use your .308W sizer die with the factory supplied decapping pin it is essential to use the appropriate smaller diameterversion.

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ew Lapua Brass

Tim Hannam, the handloading specialist and Lapua importer has had two long-awaited new cases from the Finnish manufacturer in stockforamonthortwo,andourhandloading man Laurie Holland recently acquired both models, .308W Palma and .22-250 Rem. ThereisnothingspecialabouttheLapua.22250, superb production quality aside a boon giventhepopularityofthecartridgeanditsuse as the basis for several precision cartridges. Conversely, the .308W Palma differs from itsMeasurementSummary .308WPalma

.22250Rem 160.1161.5gn 160.5160.6(10);160.9161.0gn(12) 1.9011.903 1.901(26);1.902(21) 0.01370.0143 0.0004 100%(92%:0.0003)ofsample

WeightRange

170.7171.9gn(47:170.7171.6gn)

Modalweight(s) Lengthrange Modallength(s)

171.0171.1gn(14);171.3171.4gn(13) 2.0072.009

2.008(27);2.009(18) 0.01410.0156

Neckthicknessrange(50)

Maximumindividualrange 0.0013 0.0005variation 84%ofsample

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Newly introduced Lapua .308 Winchester Palma cases with small primer pockets and flash-holes on the left, and .22-250 Rem examples with standard large primer pockets on the right with a new large blue cartridge box behind YoumighthaveheardrecentlyproducedLapua casesreferredtoasBlueBoxfromtheirbeing supplied in sturdy flip-top injection moulded boxesofthatcolourthatdoubleupas50-round cartridgeboxes,butareratherbigforourliking in that role. It is said by some that Lapua has concurrently reduced neck-thickness specs on somemodels,maybetheresultofanexercise inreducingproductiontolerancesevenfurther. Laurie will report on the effect of the Palma small primer / flash-hole on some .308W F/ TR loads in due course, but in the meantime hes provided the results of a measurement exercise on 50-case samples. Both were very much up to normal Lapua standards in length andweightcontrol,theformerseeingallbara handfulwithinathouvariation,thelatterseeing a 1.2gn, or less than 1%, spread over the fifty cases. However, it was measuring case-necks atthreeequidistantpointsthatshowedthereal consistencyoftheseproductionlots.The.308W samples were found to have slightly thinner necks than seen in previous lots averaging a little under 0.015 compared to 0.015-0.016, and 31 out of 50 gave three readings within a rangeof0.0147to0.0150,notevenrequiring a minimal clean-up neck-turn. Another 11 displayed almost as small a range but outside of0.0147-0.0150,andnormallyontheslightly largerside,sowouldbeneck-turnedtothetop end of that range. Only eight cases exceeded 8 Target Shooter halfathou(0.0005)variationaroundtheneck. There have been reports that the new Lapua .22-250 Rem brass is superbly consistent and Lauries 3-point neck measurements on the 50-casesamplesupportedthiswitharangeof only0.0006,orjustoverhalfathousandthofan inchacross150readings,thesmallestindividual result0.0137,thelargest0.0143(ondifferent cases).Necksaveraged14thouthicknessand 13actuallymeasuredpreciselythatatallthree pointswithanother20producingreadingswithin a mere 0.0003 range around 14 thou. Ive neverpreviouslyseenanyoutoftheboxbrass anywhere approaching such closely controlled neck thickness values. All measurements were taken with a Sinclair/Starrett case-neck micrometerthatreadsto0.0001. Laurie found one other difference from other Lapua brass hes handled recently smaller diameter flash-holes. Lacking any means of measuring same, his judgement is based on whether the appropriate Sinclair flash-hole reamer removes metal or not, the small diameterexampledimensionedat0.0625,the larger at 0.0810, 0.001 larger than nominal specifications. Previously, Laurie has found all Lapuacasestohavelargerdiameterholesthan the reamer (6BR), or mostly (.223 Rem), but everycaseinthesetwosampleshadasmaller diameter flash-hole than the reamer, some needingseveralturnsofthetool.

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HALES AUSTRALIA / A.D.I. HANDLOADERS GUIDE 5th EDITION ADI(AustralianDefenceIndustriesaswas,now part of the multinational Thales conglomerate) published its 5th edition handloading guide a few months ago, and this 174 page document is available free online as a 5.25MB Adobe Acrobat (PDF) file. Why should TargetShooter mentionthiswhenwedontseeADIpowdersin the UK?Actually, we do but under Hodgdon brand names, the American outfit buying its extruded stick-form propellants in bulk from ADI. See the table for ADI-Hodgdon equivalents. Well, even so, Hodgdon is verygoodatprovidingdataforitspowders both in printed and online forms, so we hardly need another loading guide, do we?WeatTargetShooterwoulddisagree onthebasisthatyoucanthavetoomuch informationwhenplanninganddeveloping loads, and this guide provides copious amounts with 94 pages of rifle cartridge data. For instance, the popular .223 Remingtonhas67combinationslistedfor 40to90gnbulletweights,ofwhich56are forHodgdonequivalentpowdersavailable here. (This includes an interesting subsonic 55gn load of 3.2gnADIAS30N [Hodgdon Clays]pistol /shotgunpowder for 1,060 fps MV.) Secondly, with the longstanding Australian interest in small capacity and calibre precision cartridges including many wildcats, data are available for many unusual cartridges, or examples not catered for in normal manuals including no fewer than seven .17calibreexamples,the.22Waldog,and .22BRtopickafewexamplesatrandom. Downsides? The guide is unusual by todays standards in not quoting bullet make/model,onlyweight,andsurprisingly given their popularity Down Under, you

wont find any data for the 6.5X47 Lapua or its6X47Lwildcatsibling.(Youwillfinddatafor 6mmX47,butthatistheoldpre-PPCbenchrest /varmintwildcatthatseesthe.222Remington Magnum case necked up to take a 6mm bullet.)Incidentally,theQuickLOADPCinternal ballistics program holds ADI powders in its propellantsdatabaseandIveseenitsuggested that selecting AR2208 provides different and moreaccurateresultsthanareobtainedfromits HodgdonVarGetequivalentbutthismaynot applytomorerecentversionsofthesoftware.

http://www.adi-powders.com.au/ handloaders-guide/

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MORESHOOTINGSUCCESSFORGBTEAM TheGBDisabilityteamhadmoresuccessonFridayattheIPCShootingWorldCupatStoke Mandeville. DiCoateswonthegoldintheR2AirRifleStandingeventforwomenwithLottaHelsinger(SWE)in secondplaceandMonicaLillehagen(NOR)takingthebronze. Diwhohascompetedin7ParalympicGamessaid,Iamfullyfocusedinmyattempttocompetein my8thParalympicsin2012.ThiseventhasgivenalloftheGBteamatasteofwhatitwillbeliketo competeinatopleveleventonhomesoil. IntheR110mAirRifleStandingcompetitionformen,NathanMilgatecamefirstwithWernerMuller (AUS)andNorbertGau(GER)insecondandthirdplacerespectively. ThefinalBritishmedalofthedaywasyetanothergold,thistimewonbyRobMcLearyintheR410m AirRiflestanding(mixed).HebeatVictoriaWedin(SWE)andTanongChanan(THA). ThismeansthatTeamGBhavewonfiveofthepossible6goldmedalstodate,andlookforwardto addingtothistallyovertheweekend.

Youcanfindnewsandresultsfromtheeventonwww.ipcshootinggb2010.co.uk.

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Calendarofeventsoverthenextfewmonths23 Oct to 24 Oct Club Coach Course (National ShootingCentre(NSC),Bisley) Candidates should be experienced shooters who havealreadycompletedaClubInstructorcourse. This course covers coaching techniques, and methodsofinstruction.Candidateswillbe formallyassessedontherangeandinthedelivery ofclassroomlesson.QualifiedClubCoachesmay run NRA Probationary, Skills and Club Instructor Courses.ContactPhyllisFarnanviatheNRA 23 Oct to 24 Oct TrafalgarMeeting (NationalShootingCentre(NSC),Bisley) Shooters with a historical Inclination will turn towards the Trafalgar Meeting as memories of theImperialfade.Dontforgettoapplyforthewell supportedTrafalgarDinnerheldontheSaturday nightattheARAOfficersMess.Inadditiontothe shooting here s n rms air eld n isley avilion. t I a A F h I B P ContactBrianThomasviatheNRA 31 Oct GB300MClubChampionships(National ShootingCentre(NSC),Bisley)

Ifyourcluborassociationhaseventsyouwanttopubliciseherethenemailus.30 Oct to 31 Oct Gallery Rifle -AutumnAction Weekend(NationalShootingCentre(NSC), Bisley) Thisisthelastofthe2010mainGalleryRifle ActionWeekendsthatencouragesAction Shooting for the Gallery Rifle community who visitBisley.ThisincludescompetitionsforGallery Rifles both Smallbore and Centrefire and Long Barrelled Revolvers and Pistols.There are also competitionsforthoseofyouwhohavean interest in Target Shotgun. For shooters who cravelongerdistancesthereareFullbore Action competitions are held simultaneously at 200yards. PickyourlatestfreecopyoftheGR&P handbookupfromtheNRAorviatheNRA website.ContactBrianThomasviatheNRA 05 Nov to 07 Nov EuropeanFClass Championships (National Shooting Centre (NSC),Bisley)Contact(s):MikMaksimovic 13 Nov to 14 Nov Range Conducting Officer CourseTwodaycourse-successfulcandidates willbequalifiedtoconductlivefiringonMoDor TAVRAranges.ContactMaureenPeach-NRA

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53 Chipstead Valley Road, Coulsdon, Surrey, CR5 2RB www.gtshooting.co.uk Tel: 020 8660 6843 Fax: 020 8660 6843We are conveniently situated near the M23 & M25.Shooter Target Opening times: Tuesday to Saturday 10.00am - 5.30pm11

ProjectRiflePart2byVinceBottomleybelieverinneverspinningabulletfasterthanyou need to but, we are not attempting to set any benchrestrecordswiththisriflesoImhappywith the Bartleins 1 in 8.5 twist, giving the eventual ownertheoptiontouseawiderangeofprojectiles. OurGBRhasaseparaterecoil-lugsandwiched betweenthebarrelandactionand,becauseIhave morethanonebarrelformostofmyrifles,Imnot afanofrecoil-lugsofthistype.Itmakesbarrelswapsalittlemoretediousinthatitsnecessary to remove the barrelled-action from the stock. However,theGBRlugispinnedtotheactionso noproblem.Ifthelugisntpinneditcanbeareal pain,especiallyifthelugisalsobedded.When the barrel is tightened, the lug has a tendancy to spin, making exact alignment very tedious. When mating a custom action and barrel, excessive torque isnt necessary. Factory barrels are installed really tight, often using adhesive and can take some shifting! Dont overdo it with your custom rifle - especially if youareregularlyswappingbarrels.Makesure howeverthatthethreadsarescrupulouslyclean, lubricatewithaqualityhighmelting-pointgrease (barrels get hot!) and make sure you apply a little grease to the barrel-shoulder and actionfaceaswellasthethreads, otherwise the joint may gall when you tighten it. Dont overdothegreaseandmake sure you dont leave any on the inside of the action. Ive taken a good cut out of the Bell & Carlsons barrel-channel and our Bartleinnowhasagenerous free-float clearance. I dont intendtocarryoutanyfurther workonbeddinguntilIhave at least shot it but, there is onemorestep.Imentioned that the chrome-moly action will normally be

IntheJulyissueofTargetShooter,wegathered together all the components for our project rifle build.Thisrifleisatactical-styleriflebutreallyit willbesuitableformanycompetitionssuchasF Classandevenlongrangebenchrestetc.What makesitdifferentistheactionaGBRanew all-British action employing the Remington 700 footprint yet built to custom action standards. Thismonth,wewilldropourbarrelled-actioninto thestock,thenwewillseeifourBell&Carlson tacticalstockreallyisaRemmydrop-inthough I suspect we will need to hog out the barrel channel for the fluted heavy-profile Bartlein. Thebarrelhasa1in8.5twist,whichwillstabilise 6.5mm bullets up to 139/142 grain, though I prefer to use the 123 grain Scenar or even the 108grainerinthe260Rem.Yes,Iamagreat

A close-up of Daves immaculate DuraCoat work

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Vit N550, Federal primers, Lapua Scenar bullets, Lapua brass and Forster body-die and Wilson seater die proved to be a very effective combination.

offered with a polished deep blue/black finish but,asthisriflehasadistincttacticalfeelabout it, Ive asked Dave Wylde of South Yorkshire Shooting Supplies to DuraCoat it for me. Daveisquicklyestablishingareputationforhis gun painting and I have seen some very nice examples of his work recently. Yes, you can buy your own can of paint and attempt to do it yourself but, as the man said its all in the preparation! Dave starts off by grit-blasting all

surfaces to be painted, followed by a thorough de-grease. The DuraCoat is then given a low temperature bake which really hardens the coating and makes for a not only attractive but also a very durable finish. Ive seen some of DaveswildnwierdfinishesbutforthisjobIm going for a nice drab tactical green which will tonenicelywiththeexistinggreenoftheBell& Carlson stock. (Next month in Target Shooter, wevisitSYSSandwatchDaveDuraCoatarifle).

Running-in and load development not something to be rushed!

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Load development is quicker if you can do it onrange. Im very lucky to have covered firingpoint at Diggle with electricity for my scales.

of copper inside the barrel which will take absolutely hours to remove and, if we dont remove it, the barrel will never deliver its best. Running-ins ot omething o e ushed ts aken i n s t b r i t meafullafternoonandanyload-testingwillhave towaitforanotherday.However,Ihavearrived at a load which does not exhibit any pressure signs and groups already look promising. Ive also checked that rounds are feeding smoothly from the magazine and ejection and extraction areworkingproperly.ThenewGBRactionfeels like a custom action should and the bolt opens and closes with that knife through butter feel. TheTimneytriggerisbreakingcrisplybutalittle heavybutitlookslikewehaveanicerifle. After another session at the range, I now have ariflewhichisagenuinesub.halfMOArifle.In fact,throughoutrunning-in,IdontthinkIshota groupoverhalfaninch.Itwillpushoutthe123 grain Scenars at around 3000 feet per second, whichwillguaranteesupersonicperformanceall the way out to 1000 yards. My own 260 Rem. tactical rifle delivers similar accuracy but, I wonderisthereanymoreinthisrifle?Afterall, itisbuiltonacustomactionwithBartleinbarrel. I started playing with the load knocking off theoddtenthofagrain.Iendedupwithatiny

Davereallypulledoutallthestopsandturnedthe jobaroundinaweek.Becausethisisacustom actionbuilttoclosetolerances,Davefeltitbetter not to coat the bolt-body as this would remove the essential clearance. I was pleased to see thatthe recessed bitof thecrown was alsoleft untouched.Atthisstagetheriflehasnotbeen proofedandImwonderingifthiswasamistake Ihaveseenriflesdamagedattheproofingstage bycarelesshandlingfingerscrossed! ImusingVhitavuoisN550double-basepowder in the 260 Rem. as this powder has worked very well in my own 260Rem. Using Lapuas 123 grain Silver Scenar (moly-coated) bullet, Im loading to an overall length of 2.8 inches whichwillensurethattheroundwillloadintothe Accuracy International 308 magazine, though for testing, I will be single-loading no point slamming the nose of your bullet against the feed-ramp if you dont have to! The delicate noseofahollow-pointbulletiseasilydamaged. The flat underside of the Bell & Carlson stock lendsitselftoshootingoffabenchrestpedestal for load-testing and Ive mounted my 8-32 NightforcescopeontheGBRstaperedPicatinny rail. Initially, we will carefully run-in the barrel using the accepted one shot/clean for the first fiveroundsthenfourorfive,five-shotgroups carefullycleaningbetweeneachonetoremove all traces of copper. If we rush the running-in process,wewilllikelygetanexcessivebuild-up

Those three shots are well under a quarter of an inch. This is one accurate rifle!

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group which quite honestly I would have been happy with from my 6PPC benchgun! Look at thephotowow,thishasturnedouttobeone accurate gun! For the record, the load was 40.5 grains of Vit N550, Federal primer, Lapua brassand123grainLapuaSilverScenarbullet. WARNING THIS LOAD WAS SAFE IN MY RIFLE BUT IT MAY NOT BE SAFE IN YOURS ALWAYS WORK UP THE LOAD IN SMALL INCREMENTS.

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Ifyouweretobuyeachofthecomponentsused inthebuild,thetotalcostwouldbewelloverover 2000.Ontopofthis,youwouldhavetoaddthe gunsmithingandDuraCoatingcostsaswell.We thankthosewhohavehelpedmakethisproject Imentionedearlierthatwemayneedtoproperly possible. bedtheactionifitdidntdeliverbutclearlythis isntrequiredandthatisatestimonytotheBell Our project rifles are usually sold-on following & Carlson stock for, no matter how well you publication and Target Shooter would like build a rifle, it wont shoot if there is a problem to offer this rifle to an interested reader. It with the bedding. Although the machined is fully sorted, proofed and comes with all aluminium bedding-block should - in theory - load data and one AI ten-round magazine. provide the perfect bed, it sometimes doesnt All profit from the sale will go to the Help for andtheactioncanendupridingonhigh-spots. HeroescharityaveryworthwhilecauseImsure A quick fix is to skim-bed the aluminium you will agree. If you are interested in making bedding-block which usually does the trick anoffer,pleasee-mailmeinthefirstinstanceat but clearly that wasnt needed with our rifle. vinceb@6ppc.fsnet.co.uk.Theriflewillbesold A number of companies have generously tothereadermakingthebestofferinexcessof contributed to the building of this rifle and I list 2000.

Portsmouth Gun Centre Ltd 295 London Road North End Portsmouth PO2 9HFOpening Times Mon 9.30 - 5.30 Tues Closed Wed Closed Thur 9.30 - 5.30 Fri 9.30 - 5.30 Sat 9.30 - 5.30

Tel 02392 660574 Fax 02392 644666 E-mail sales@portsmouthguncentre.com Website 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.

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2010 Imperial Meeting - Part 2

Chris White continues his report of the annual Bisley Imperial Meeting,cumulatingintheQueensprize.The warm-up matches on Friday and Saturday morning were conducted in warmish conditions, heavy overnight rain made the air so humid that a mirage could not be seen and the windflags were clearly frequently not representative of what was happening at ground level. specific problem. The lessons to be learnt here are that if something appears wrong and you dont find the cause of it, have another look. This particular problem wiped out last years Scottish Meeting, may well have had a negative effect on this years Scottish and had a disastrous result on my Imperial Grand Aggregate. Readers with long memories Progressing through Sunday and Monday, may remember that my Steyr appeared to display temperatures steadily increased up to the high a fluctuating wind zero at 1000 yards in the 2009 twenty centigrade, shooting conditions were very Scottish Meeting. much more of the same. An 0840 start for the Duke of Cambridge at 900 yards on Sunday morning Despite a good look at the rifle, checking it out on ought to have boded well . The end result was a Precision Rifle Services test range and making two disappointing 48 with one shot well out of the group long trips to evening shoots at Altcar, no problem - low and at 7 oclock and one lost to seeing a drop- was found. The finger of suspicion pointed squarely off which wasnt there. Wind varied between 4 and at the up and down foresight and the conclusion 7 left. There is however a lesson to be learnt here. I was driven to was that a bit of grit had got in the engagement teeth at Blair Atholl, when the sight Take a look at the pictures. The closest flag would was altered from its 900 to 1000 yard setting. This on occasions flick down and reverse direction. Think maybe moved about under recoil and thus caused hard about this. Was that low shot down to an eddy the shifting wind zero scenario. When the sight was with a vertical wind component? That is had the removed to be examined the grit fell out. With the wind pushed the shot down? benefit of painful hindsight its a weak theory! The Alexandra at 600 yards at 1100 hrs. was almost as dire with the wind moving between 3 and 6 left. By the time I got to shoot the Daily Mail at 1700 at 500 yards the wind was much more readable. One point lost to a declared bad shot and one just out on the edge of the group. On Monday temperatures started rising and the spectre of de-hydration started to raise its head. On Century, winds were fairly readable but it was important that the shot went at the right time. Sudden flicks in angle were still causing problems. Now we need to take time out to look at a very 16 Target Shooter The Corporation is shot at 1000 yards on Monday and is the only 1000 yard shoot in the Grand Aggregate. Many a Grand has been wiped out by a bad detail in the Corp. Once again I was well to the left, target 17, at 1430 and it was hot. I wasnt exactly sure about the wind but thought six or seven was about right. On the basis that there had been a tendency to underestimate it and the fact that I read 6, I put 7 on for the first sighter and managed to shoot, what felt like, a straight shot. There was a very realistic expectation of a 9 oclock bullseye. The target returned with a hit, scoring 1, on the waterline at the right hand edge of the target.

Sketch of problem

the

foresight

was good enough to get a bull so the shot went with eight, for safety. This made a downwind magpie, correcting to 11. Both Get out of jail free cards used and no idea what was going on! Evidently the rifle had a four to five minute zero error. A quick check of the sights revealed that all was tight and the foresight appeared to be rock solid in its engagement. There was nothing for it but to believe the rifle and go with eleven which produced an upwind magpie correcting to nine. The error had now reduced to about two minutes. After another couple of upwind shots the corrected windage and my reading appeared to coincide, allowing a couple of V bulls to be made, at which point it drifted again. All this was very tiresome and a shoot which could have been good enough for a 48, at least, ended up as a 42.2v. The end result was about fifty places in the Grand. There was no time for contemplation as I hurried to Century to shoot the Wimbledon at 600 yards where I again lost a point to taking wind off when I didnt need to. So what of the Steyr? There were two principal clues, the problem had only manifested itself at 1000 yards and when it did, the wind zero error seemed to start off around five minutes (as it had in Scotland last year) and then drift about. The problem had to be related to the foresight. Taking the foresight off revealed nothing. I gave it a scrub with an old toothbrush but this was merely a formality since there was evidently nothing stuck in it. I may have left it at that but this time I looked closer. On examining the foresight block with my magnifying glass I spotted a tiny burr around the screw-hole. Close examination revealed that the screw hole had been bored a smidgen off centre. And the hole had just failed to completely break the crest of the serration. This tiny bit of metal had got peened over, probably as a result of the foresight being tightened up when slightly misaligned at sometime. This resulted in two tiny wings of metal projecting into the root of the serration. I always take an emergency tool kit to the Imperial, pin punches, Swiss files etc. So I was able to dress this out with the appropriate Swiss file. Im not too sure why it only seemed to pose a problem at 1,000 but so far it seems to have done the trick. By Tuesday morning and the first stage of the St Georges (2&15 @ 300) it was a fairly unbearable 31. Low nineties in old money. With an apparently easy but in reality tricky wind, a massive pulse bounce did not help my score and two points were lost to not being able to keep the rifle still. It might have been worse but it needed 74 for a place in the second stage. Despite having drunk 500ml of Isotonoic I was Target Shooter 17

As usually Tony Clayton ran Century Range in his inimitable style.

This, of course, corrects to around 12. It would be arrogant for me to suggest that I can always see the difference between six and seven at 1000, or even, sometimes if the angle is a bit tricky between ten and twelve, but I really ought not to see a thirteen minute wind as a six minute one! There could have been many causes, maybe someone cross shot just as Id fired, maybe the marker had found a stray hole, maybe Id given it a huge hook. Taking another close look I was convinced that seven

becoming dehydrated and so downed a pint of lemonade in preparation for County Short in the afternoon when I was trigger pulling rather than coaching. This I had been reluctant to do but one must obey ones Captain. Things started well enough with a possible at 300 but the wheels fell off the wagon at 600 where I shot a massive group which was too big despite my coachs valiant efforts to centre it. This resulted in me losing three points to elevation and one to wind which was very probably down to the group rather than the coach. In addition, wind settings did not agree with what the coach was reading.

hundred dropping points is not an option. Even the most experienced feel under pressure, and I have to admit to never really looking forward to it. Shooting on the first detail (0800) at 300 with a gentle breeze blowing from 9 oclock the old strategy of putting on and leaving it alone worked reasonably well but there wasnt much mirage to see and there were drop-offs. Occasionally a twiddle on the wind knob was obligatory and the resultant 35.3v, although money in the bank, was not too strong in the V bull department.

Difficult to read angle changes at 500 cost me a County Durham shoot in Country Short Junior point, with the wind only rarely straying very far as do our Northern brethren, Northumberland. away from four left. Whilst it doesnt do to predict Obviously when we shoot together as the English the outcome I thought 102 would be good enough Twenty, districts are as one. Not so in County Short. but with only seven Vs in the bag it would need We are arch rivals and theres a lot of needle. to be a 103. Depending on ones viewpoint this is My performance cost Durham the match, which not a healthy mind-game to play because it may Northumberland won. Is there a lesson to be pressurise one. On the other hand it may have the learned? Yes there is! opposite effect because you know you have a margin for error. Nevertheless if you do think like this and It is a lesson I learned some time ago in Canada. On then drop your first to count you will be pressurised, a hot day, myself and another British shooter were believe me! squadded together at 600 yards. My first sighter went very high. He was struggling to get a sight picture. Six hundred was a completely different pan of At the end of the shoot I found Id got the wrong poisson. With the wind varying from three to five rearsight on the rifle and he discovered he hadnt left and some of the changes being all of the two got his shooting glasses on! French Canadian Leo minutes; windreading was essential and many came DArmour explained to me that dehydration does not to grief. With 35 still in the gun by the sixth to only affect your bodys ability to function properly count, I knew I could relax and go for it with bold and that includes your eyesight but it also effects windchanges and the facility to drop a point if it your ability to think rationally. The cause of my bad went wrong. The end result was a 35.2v. Many going shoot was not having locked my foresight up tight back clean lost it here, some in spectacular style. when I altered it from the 300 to the 600 settings. A One old mate of mine who shoots really tight groups stupid mistake brought about by dehydration and I and has put in some outstanding performances this really ought to have known better. year went back clean and dropped six points at 600! As it turned out 102.6v was good enough but as an Afternoon temperatures peaked at 37C which I indication that there were some strong shooters my calculate as 98.6F. Another litre of Isotonic followed 104.9v was only good enough for 85th place! by a sneaky half of lager before I coached County Long in the evening still left me dehydrated and By Friday, Queens 2 conditions had changed. It the pint of cider I had with my dinner did little to was a little cooler and dehydration ceased to be a problem but the strong gusty winds were replaced improve matters. by light variable winds. There was enough overcast And so to Wednesday and Queens 1. This is a to give a nice sight picture but a little too much peculiar shoot. It consists of two sighters but only to give much of a mirage. Lazy flags would lull the seven shots on score at 300, 500 & 600 yards giving bystanders into believing the wind was almost non an HPS per range of 35 and 105 overall. To the best existent. At ground level things were very different. of my recollection it has never needed a score better [Photo 8] My 300 yard wind plot went from one right than 102 to go into the second stage. Shooting is to left. Close attention was needed to avoid the spread out from eight oclock in the morning until odd shot leaking out. In a reverse of what happened after six in the evening, with the Conan Doyle (2&10 in Queens I, many solid shooters came off the 300 @ 900yards) thrown in just to add variety. There are point wondering how they had managed to drop long periods of agonising inactivity with short bursts two or three points. of frenetic effort. With the opening field of twelve hundred or so being whittled down to just three In theory, Queens II should be much more of a 18 Target Shooter

Two very happy guys, the author and Zin Zainal after the Queens Final.

pressure shoot than the first stage because the great majority of the three hundred participants can do the business; there may be the odd one who has lucked in but basically you have to beat around 190 of the worlds finest shooters. For whatever reason I have a better mindset here and seem to be less worried by the event and more able to get stuck in and enjoy myself.

anniversary we were treated to a firework display on Friday night. In the end, Jon ended up seventh having gone clean back to 1000 and dropping five points at 1000. (Made me feel a bit better about dropping six at that distance!). As it happened, I ended up in 80th place with 288.26v.

Queens final was much the same as the second stage but more so. By a remarkable coincidence I ended Back at 500 it was the same but worse, with the up shooting with a fellow City of Newcastle shooter, plot running from zero to almost two. The record Doug Gass, at 900. So there was more at stake than score required to qualify is 149. I thought 147 would the Queens since C-o-N have a cup for the highest have been good enough but I would not have put placed member in the Queens. I managed to sneak money on it. However, going back clean was good a point on Doug at 900 and he equalled my score at but there was little scope for making mistakes. Six 1000. hundred was dire with the wind going from one left to one right. There was little mirage and the flags At 1000 yards I had the pleasure of shooting with were lying. Many met their nemesis. Caution with Zin Zainal from Malaysia, the winner of the 2008 the wind setting and firing straight shots was the Queens. A jolly nice chap he turned out to be and name of the game. By the Grace of God I only fired being in his company was a great pleasure. First time one shot with the wind on the wrong side of zero, Ive had my arm round a Queens Prize Winner! although there was very little evidence to show that when I committed myself. Looking along the line of Lest anyone still thinks Calvert had it easy, he shot targets revealed that many copped it, some to the very close to me and my wind plot goes from 8 left tune of two off. Mine came uncomfortably close to to left at 900 yards, with the maximum change dropping two points. My resultant 149.15v was only being four minutes and from 4 to 10 at 1,000 with good enough for 65th place, there were 25 150s and the maximum change being three and half minutes. seven scorers of 148.18v who tie shot for two places. Putting in a 147 under those conditions was truly Dropping another point would have put me out. incredible. [Photo 11] What of the ammunition? You may ask. Top of the pile was the 2006 winner, Jonathon Outstanding! No further comment necessary. Underwood. The only man ever to win the first second and third stage of the Queens. My money was on him. In celebration of the NRAs 150th Target Shooter 19

Email; ags.westlake@virgin.net/ Website; www.westlakeengineering.com

Tel/Fax 01722782432

The Taurus ML Revolver is converted from a Taurus .357 Magnum Long Barrelled Revolver. The cylinder is removed and a Yoke extension fitted, this contains the spring loaded plunger that frees the action when the yoke is closed. As this extension cannot be removed, it prevents the re-fitting of the original cylinder. The Barrel is shortened to approximately 5 inches and the wristbrace is removed. A new cylinder is made which has pockets for shotgun primers at the rear with a small flash hole through into the chamber at the front. The chamber is made to accept .357 lead wadcutter bullets. The conversion of your pistol costs 330.00. Extra Cylinders are 180.00 each. If you do not have a pistol I can order a new pistol from the Importers.

20

Target Shooter

Shooting the Black Powder Pistol Part 12 - John Maslin Cooper

by Chris RisebrookPic 1 Altogether more robust in the powerdepartment. The story behind the Cooper is thesameastheManhattan;other companies champing at the bit waitingforColtspatenttoexpire so they could join in the fun. J.M.Cooper&Cooperatedfrom Pittsburgh Pensylvania from 1864to1869andinallproduced some 15000 guns, only some ten per cent of Manhattan production. ThisrevolverisaSecondModel Navyjudgingbyitsserialnumber of 10986. Unfortunately, such is the condition of the gun, this is the only visible marking on the

Last month we looked at the Manhattan near copy of the Colt revolver.Thismonthitistheturn oftheCoopershowninPhoto1.At firstsightitlooksjustlikean1849 ColtPocketModel.However,there is one important difference - the Cooperisdoubleacton,asystem Coltdidnotofferuntilthebreachloading Lighting and Thunderer models.JohnMaslinCooperwas grantedpatentnumber40021on the 22nd September 1863 for a double action action revolver. In size,itisalmostexactlythesame as the Colt, but it is a five shot and in .36 calibre as opposed to the six shot .31 calibre Colt.

Pic 2

Target Shooter

21

Pic 3

gun,thelegendonthebarrelhavingcompletely worn away. The grip strap and trigger guard are brass, but for some reason someone has nickelplatedthem.Itlooksquiteattractive,butI wonder why they bothered. The general conditionisprettydreadful;itdoesntholdonfull cock,butworksperfectlyondoubleaction,with verytightlock-up,andnoendplay.Asbought, the barrel was flopping about on its spindle, but this was cured with a few winds of PTFE tape.Hardlygoodengineering,butwhosgoing to shoot it anyway - not me, thank you! The gunhasobviouslyledahardlifewithextensive wearandpittingoverall,allthescrewheadsare butchered with one replacement. Two repair sections have been made for the grips. Dixies can supply partly inletted grip blanks for these guns-partlybeingtheoperativeword.Since they are one piece, getting them to fit is a monkey, and taxed my very limited woodworking skills to the limit with the Colt. Still, if youreallyhavenothingbettertodothiswinter, hereisatip;beg,borroworstealabandsawand sawthemintotwohalvesthroughthebackstrap, fiteachsideindividuallyandgluethemtogether. Iknowitscheating,butwhostoknow? Photo 2 shows both guns together, and the oversizetriggerguardseemsoutofproportion. In fact, it is much easier to use than the Colt, except that there is not much room for the secondfinger.Bycomparison,theColtguardis verysmallandfiddly.ThismodeloftheCooper was made with four, five or six inch barrels and all had the rebated cylinder. Interestingly, 22 Target Shooter

Dixie Arms in Union City, Tennessee stock various parts, such as springs and screws all of which apparantly will fit Colts, Manhattans and Coopers, probably with some fettling, which at least gives a chanceofkeepingtheseold guns working. In addition to the Manhattans, Bacons and Coopers there were other near replicas such as the Metropolitans, which just shows what a good job Colt made of the basic design, since all of these manufacturers copied his guns almost line for line, albeit with their own particular variations and novelties. I often wonder how these guns happened to be here. London made or assembled Colts I can understand, but how did something like this comparatively unusual gun come to be in England and where has it been? It has obviouslyworkedhardbutshootingatwhomand where?Wasiteveronastagecoachtravelling WestpursuedbyhostilesorcarriedbyaPony Expressrider?Romantictoshofcourse,butone can dream.Years ago, looking at Remingtons website,therewasaspacetoaskaquestion.I typedintheserialnumberofmy1858revolver. Theyrepliedthatitwasmadeinthefallof1863 - gulp! Just missed Gettysburg, but in time for Appomattox;probablynot,butthenagain,you neverknow. Toroundoff,IhaveincludedinPhoto3apretty pictureofallthree;Colt,ManhattanandCooper, fornootherreasonthatIcansitandgloat!

WMS

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Target Shooter

23

Lyman Revolution Rotating Gun Vise

This revolutionary multi-function gun vise handles more maintenance chores than any other. Ideal for the active gunsmith to casua l shooter. This versatile gun vise is engineered with a full range of adjustments, it tilts, clamps and has inserts to securely hold any firearm. The padded contact points protect the firearm during cleaning, maintenance or gunsmithing, even bore sighting. Just look at the collection of features built into this - the amazing Lyman Revolution. Secure, Padded Clamping Wide Range of Adjustment Wide Range of Uses Clamp Inserts for Secure Hold The Only Vise that Revolves! Holds Any Firearm combines a precision electronic powder Scale and an automatic powder dispenser in one easy to use design. The new DPS 3 is more than twice as fast as the original DPS. Features a new Auto-Repeat Setting enabling you to throw a precise charge automatically each time the pan is put in place. This scale has the capacity to store up to 100 of your favorite loads. Best of all, you can easily recall any of them by cartridge, specific powder and weight. No powder calibration (Flow Rate) is required, just select the load you want and start dispensing powder. It dispenses powder quickly and is accurate to + or - 1/10 grain. It can be used as a complete Dispensing System, just a scale or as a Scale and a Powder Trickler. The 1200DPS 3 is fast, accurate and affordable.

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Tim Hannam

UK distributor of Forster Products

The Reloading Specialists

Breaking the mould part 3

by Vince Bottomley & Laurie HollandTheory or fact can a 223 really compete with a 308 at extreme ranges? Laurie is about to find out. Our ballistics guru and F/TR shooter Laurie Swapping it for the narrower varmint forend Holland has a theory that a 223 that could stay andbi-podforF-Classisasimplejobinvolving with a 308 all the way to 1000 yards. Last the four attachment set-screws. Moving to the month (September issue) we put Lauries rifle rear, Id included the optional rear-bag rider together. Its nothing special Savage target and tubular cheek-bar as well as curved alloy action, True Flite barrel (with a 1 in 7 twist to cheekpieces when I bought the stock kit - the hopefully stabilise the 90 grain Berger bullet) last named just in case I ever decide to use the rifle in tactical mode, ie no rear-bag and and a McRees Precision stock. needingacheek-weldwiththebuttstock. I handed over the rifle to Laurie a week or two prior to the GB National F Class League Shoot The McRees bag-rider is a hexagonal-section at Blair Atholl, which would be the first serious bar measuring a full inch across the flats and debut for the 223. Blair is notoriously difficult to weighingsixounces.Withweightacrucialissue shoot wind-wise not a range to debut a 223! for F-TR rifles, Vince sensibly substituted the What happened? Ill let Laurie tell you the rest lighterround-sectioncheek-barforthebag-rider of the story. and saved two or three ounces. So what do I restmyfaceagainst?Nothingyoudontneed Having received the rifle from Vince and got acheek-weldonariflesupportedatbothends, used to its appearance love or loathe the moreoverasanybenchrestshooterwilltellyou, functional-brutal McRees look, it certainly sidepressurefromthefacetouchingthestock attracts a lot of firing-point attention, even if riskslateralgroupdispersion.(Shootingwithout some is in the form of facetious questions a rear-bag using an off the shoulder hold is such as Where are the missing bits? a very different matter and requires a strong Lets talk about bits, missing or otherwise. cheek-weld.) All100yardload-testing,aswellasbenchresttype competition sees the three-inch wide Movingupwards,Idintendedtousealightweight BR forend fitted to ride my Sinclair front-rest. Sightron Series II 36X42 benchrest riflescope, Target Shooter 25

So you think 69gn is a heavy bullet in .223 Rem? Left to right: 69gn Sierra MK, 80gn Sierra MK, 90gn Berger Target BT Long-Range, 90gn Berger Target VLD, and .308W/185 Berger for comparison.

therationalebeingthat(aswiththeWeaverT36 onmy.308WBarnard/Eliseotubegun)Idonly get away with a one-inch dia. fixed-power job withinthe8.25kg(18lb2oz)rifle+bi-podF-TR

weightlimit.However,evenwiththeVersa-Pod insteadofaHarris,therewassomeslack,soa heavier30mmbodySightronSeriesIII8-32X56 LR,thatIdoriginallyboughtforthetubegun,was

Suitable powders for the 223Rem. with 90 grain bullets

26

Target Shooter

offiringthreeroundstogetaperfect 100 yard zero and barrel run-in was so easy that those sighters were virtually all that was needed, cleaning nd e-coppering fter ach a d a e shot.Thishastobeatributetothe six-grooveTrue-Flitebarrelsfinish, also to Vinces gunsmithing and the PacificTool & Gauge chamber reameremployed-asbarrelrun-in ismostlybarrel-throatrun-in. These tasks done, I needed two things 90 grain bullet loads that produced sub half-MOA groups alongside 2,750 fps or higher MVs with small extreme spreads and some trigger time - preferably at long ranges as all the five Blair matches would be at 1000 yards. Unfortunately, there were no long-range F-Class matches in Diggles calendar for July, so a 200 and 600yd pair had to suffice. However,therewasanopportunity to demonstrate the .223/90s capabilities at 1000 yards (or make a complete fool of myself) in the form of a UKBRA benchrest fixture on the Diggle range the weekendbeforeBlair.Thatwouldat least let me get a 1000 yard zero. Shooting the beast, the striking impressionisofamassivereduction in recoil and torque compared to Both 90s grouped well straight off in the True-Flite barrel the similar weight .308 tubegun, with none of the VLD types legendary fussiness. Getting particularly in F-Class mode ES values down to below 20 fps is more difficult as can using the bi-pod. The key to good be seen in the MV notations accompanying the groups. rifle behaviour using a Harris or (Half-inch red aiming marks on a one-inch grid pattern.) Versa-Pod type device is to get Beware loads can only be used safely in a suitably their feet positioned correctly and long-throated chamber! jammed well into the ground, followedbypushingtherifleforward substituted. This is an ideal scope for F-Class with its large objective lens, fantastic clarity using shoulder pressure on the buttplate. The and resolution, and side parallax-adjustment. pressurekeepsthelegsunderstressandforces thefeetdownwhilecounteractingthebackwards On the Range WiththeGBF-ClassAssociationLeagueround recoilimpulse.Evenso,itsdifficulttostopthe at Blair Atholl only a few weeks away, there whole kit and caboodle moving around under wasarushtosight-in,runthebarrelin,andget theheavyrecoilofa.308load. loadsworkedup.Bore-sightingtherifleoffaBR set-upontoa5dia.BirchwoodCaseyShoot- No such problem with the .223 I have no N-Creactivetargetat100yardwassimplyamatter sight-picture disturbance with the Sightron on Target Shooter 27

Representation of results of the 200 yard F-Class competition shot on a PL7 25m pistol target with an early load in gusty crosswind conditions. The V-Bull (which has a white circular spot added to act as aiming mark for F-Class, omitted here) is 0.95 (0.45-MOA) dia., the Bull is 1.9 (0.91-MOA). match risks lost points, as it affects the accuracy of the scope settings.) The straight-line layout and AR15 pistolgripnodoubtassistinachieving these outcomes. I also find much less rear-bag movement during a match, the .308 needing regular repositioningandrealignment,sothat reduces another factor that induces variability in the shooting position and risks increased shot dispersion. Development and Short-Range Wonderful! This is what the ballistics programs predicted for .223 compared to .308 but does it performwellenoughinprecisionand wind-drift terms?A stable, light recoiling piece mightbepleasantandeasytoshootbutitsas much use in F-Class competition as a bicycle istoafish(tomisquotesomefeministreferring

its maximum 32-power setting, easily seeing blow-off shot-strikes on sand backstops and, I can even follow the bullets flight downrange in some atmospheric conditions. I now only needtoadjusttheriflesverticalstanceonthe swivel bi-pod mount occasionally to return the scopecrosshairstothecorrectposition,suchis the reduction in torque. (Varying rifle cant in a 90gn VLD / Reloder 15 cartridges brought back from Blair Atholl and shot through a lightly fouled barrel in a single session at 100yd. The top group of 9 shots was practice / blow-off ammunition using rejected cases from the component batching and preparation process. The much smaller lower group of 8 shots was unused match ammunition, same load (charges individually weighed in both batches), same components from the same manufacturing lots, same number of case-firings from new, but with fully prepped and batched brass and sorted bullets. The lower (match ammo) group is 0.4 centre to centre and with a moderate crosswind running across the range is probably slightly smaller in pure precision terms. Practice load ES was 32 fps; match ammo 25 fps (13 fps for seven of the eight rounds). 28 Target Shooter

The McRees stocked 223 looks a strange beast from this angle

tothemaleofthespeciesutilitytowomen)ifit shootsalloverthefour-ringorlights-outforthe targets three and nine oclock extremities with every little wind change characteristics that seriouscompetitorsassociatewiththiscartridge, especiallythosewhoveuseditin55gnloadings. Well, 100 yard testing quickly showed it would group, 24.5gn of Viht N550 behind a Berger 90gn VLD producing a sub half-inch five-roundgroup,anMVof2,545fpsandextreme spread (ES) of 20 fps. This bullet and powder grouped well through a 1.5 grain load-test charge-weight range leading up to that 24.5gn load,butESvaluesweregenerallyhigherthan Iwouldacceptwitha.308Win.load-mostlyin the30s.Theother90-BergersBTLong-Range -alsogroupedwellwithN550atthesesortsof loads,butsawlargespreads-over60fpsno goodatallforlongranges.Illstressthesewere startingloadswithmeintendingtomakehaste slowly with this small capacity cartridge and, pressuresignswerestillmodest. The 90gn VLD / N550 combination looked goodenoughforanimminent600yardF-Class match but the conditions on the day were so rough three 2-MOA wind shifts between consecutive shots during the match it didnt tell me much. Yeah .... but 2,545 fps MV is

pretty pathetic isnt it? Well heres a fact that mightsurpriseyou:thishighBC0.281(G7)/ 0.550(G1)bulletat2,545fpsistheballistic equivalent of a 155gn Lapua Scenar at 3,000 fps from a .308W rifle in terms of 1000 yard wind drift, although the thirty has an extra 73 fpsofretainedvelocity. Thenext100yardtestsessionalsotriedN550 with both bullets, taking charge weights up by another five small steps, also introduced starting loads of Viht N540,Alliant Reloder 15 andReloder17.Coincidentally,24.5gnofN540 grouped well with the VLD too at five shots in 0.3,butnowat2,741fps,acombinationwhose ballistics outperform any .308/155 load and approachthoseofthebiggercartridgewiththe higher BC 185 grain bullets. This combination was used in the 200 yard F-Class match for a thirdplaceon95.6vbutIreckoneditproduced moreelevationvariationthanIliked. N550 and the 90gn BT Long-Range started to look good with five combinations in a 0.7gn charge weight range all running within 0.40.5 MOA and top charge weight MVs just shy of 2,900 fps. ES values were still higher than desirable at 25-41 fps depending on load. Initial Reloder 15 batches also looked good Target Shooter 29

with both bullets, but needed heavier charges.

droppinganextrapointinawindswitchfor69.3v againstStuarts70.1v.However,thatsdownto Test session number three took place in dire LaurievStuartinwind-readingskill,not.223/90 conditionsandstruggledtocomparetherelative v.308/185capabilitiesinmyopinion! merits of three models of magnum/benchrest primersusingasmallchargerangeofN550inan My final outing with the rifle to date was the attempttoreduceESsizes,alsoworkedRe15 500yd Diggle Fly Shoot (described elsewhere chargeweightsupinsmall(0.2gn)increments.It in this issue) taking 10th place (out of 41) with becameobviousthatthiswasthebetterpowder the rifle back in benchrest mode, although the for the bullet weight, in my barrel at any rate, competition is shot from the prone position, and I settled on combinations using it with the so one can describe this as a one-off hybrid twoBergermodels,theBTL-R(whichproduces challenge in more senses than one. While the higherpressuresandMVsforanygivencharge scoretotal(fromhitswithinthemainringtarget) weight) chronographing at 2,855 fps (ES:16); could have been better, a 3-group average of theVLDwith0.4gnmorepowderfor2,879fps 3.517 gave little or nothing away to anybody (ES:19). otherthanoverallwinnerChrisParkininamatch that sees some impressive kit and cartridges Long-Range rangingfrom6BRstothe.338LapuaMagnum. Both loads went to the UKBRA 1000 yard BR Astoundingthelittle.223Reminthisformisa matchon1stAugust,shotingoodconditionsand formidableandversatileperformer! mild winds by Diggle standards, if still breezy. Group 1 was badly affected by my pulling the MuchofthisisdowntoBergerBulletswhichhas SavageAccuTriggerover-fast,causingittolock producedanotherpairofwinnersinthese90gn upandneedingtore-cocktheboltforeveryshot, bullets. Checking the VLDs out and batching nevertheless getting 14.713 inch group. It was them before the Blair F-Class round showed assumed this was a bolt or trigger mechanical superb consistency. You want to try these problembeforerealisingitwasoperatorinduced Bergers or perhaps more vanilla recipes with and groups two to four were accordingly shot thecompanys80gnand82gnmodels?Norman much more slowly without problems, but Clark Gunsmiths in Rugby and Tim Hannam probably taking more than double the time in North Yorkshire import, distribute and retail thatagoodBRshooterandcustom1000yard thesesuperbproducts. Light Gun would need to get five shots off youshootlong-rangegroupsasfastasyoucan Downsides? there must be some! Of course to catch the wind conditions but produced thereare,onebeingthefirstshotfromaclean verysatisfyingresults:4.815,7.991,and5.62 barrel running anywhere between 50 and 100 for a four-group agg of 8.285, fourth place fpsdownonitssuccessorsfromafouledbore, and second smallest group of the day. I was so its a poor cold barrel shooter. The small delighted, mouse gun doubters astonished! calibreborefoulsmorethanthe308anditlikely Groups 1 and 2 used the 90gn BT L-R; 3 and hasagreatereffectonMVsandprecision.And 4the90gnVLD,thelatterneedingaround1.5- ....223Rinthisextremeformisahandloading MOAlesselevationatthisrange. geeksnumberyouhavetoworkhardtoget the group sizes and ES values down, unlike The GB National F-Class round at BlairAtholl .308Wwhichismuchmoreforgiving.(Seethe wasalmostananticlimaxafterthisexperience. picture of the two groups from ammunition I IwasfiveorsixpointsoffthepaceinMatch1 broughtbackfromBlair.)And...toanswerthe althoughnotoverlydisappointedwith79ex100 questionyoureallasking,youneeda1-7twist but improved thereafter. Positions for the five ratebarreltostabilisethem.Illcover.223/90gn matches over the weekend being 11th, 7th, 5th, loadsindepthintheNovemberandDecember 3rd, and 4th to get 7th F-TR overall. Squadded issues of Target Shooter but, to answer the withStuartAnselminMatch5-theoverallF-TR late comedian Eric Morecambes catchphrase winner - who was shooting the 185gn Berger questionHowsitgoingsofar?theansweris Long-Rangeinhis.308WSavage,Ialmostbut definitelynotRUBBISH!. didntquitemanagetomatchhimshotforshot, . 30 Target Shooter

Introducing Kelblys Tactical Rifles. bringing benchrest precision to the tactical market. With loads of options to choose from, and pricing that shatters the competitors.

Introducing the first hunting and tactical scopes with 10 times power ratio on a variable scope. March 1x-10x-24mm and 2.5x-25x-42mm. 1/4 clicks and 25 MOA per revolution. All lenses in scopes are cemented in place, and do not rely on O rings to hold point of aim. Argon gas purged.Kelbly 179mmX130mm 6/16/10 7:16 AM Page 1

Introducing Kelblys Tactical Rifles. bringing benchrest precision to the tactical market. With loads of options to choose from, and pricing that shatters the competitors.

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

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Custom Rimfire Benchrest Rifle Build

By AndyDubreuilRimfirebenchrestshootingisanupandcoming sport in the UK and it takes rimfire accuracy to the limit in shooting from 25yd to 50m. Like othershootingsports,theobjectiveistohitthat maximumscore-250onourtargetandhitting thepinspotscoresabonusX. Initially,22riflesforproneshootingwereadapted to shoot benchrest by taking off various accessoriesandaddingascope-agreatwayto getintobenchrestshootingbutforshooterswho wanttoshootnationallyorinternationally,arifle thatiscompetitiveatworldlevelwillbeneeded. HereintheUK,thesporthasbeenslowtocatch upwiththetopequipmentthatsavailableinthe States. With the forming of the United KingdomAssociationofRimfire&AirRifleBenchrest Shooting, members started to seek out the equipment hat merican hooters se. unsmiths t A s u G intheUSAhaveworkedwiththetopshootersto develop actions and barrels to make rimfire benchrest rifles not just accurate butconsistentlyaccurate. Here in the UK we are slowly learning what makes a good rimfire benchrest rifle and Steve Kershaw is now at the forefront of buildingaccuraterimfireBRriflesforUKshooters. After Steve built my rifle, I had a chance to catchupwithhimtofindoutwhatgothiminto building rifles and his thoughts on my rifle. Stevegotintothebusiness14yearsagowhen hewaslookingforworktobedoneonhisown rifleandhecouldntfindanyonetodotheworkata reasonableprice.Comingfromagame-keeping background, money was not plentiful in those daysandStevewaslookingforsomeonetodo the work the way he wanted at the right price. Steve left school and got into engineering and eventually got himself a lathe with a view to building rifles that were perfect in every detail. His first rifles were 22BR Rem. rifles that were used mainly for foxing and then he naturally movedontoothercalibers.Oneday,Stevegot aphonecallfromJohnChurchlysayingthathe couldnt find any one to take the time to barrel his rimfire actions properly so he did a .22LR for him and it just snowballed from there - ChurchlyBrosboughttenbarrelsfromLiljaand then another ten and that is how it all started. I asked Steve had he ever built a rifle for himself and he said no - for the simple reason that if he did build a killer rifle for himself that he would have no customers! Steve has never advertised in all the time he has been in business because his rifles do the talking

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and the way he deals with his customers ensures repeat business by word and mouth. WhenIapproachedSteveaboutre-barrellingmy rifle,hewashappytolistentowhatIwaslooking for. As I already had an action and wanted to have a Lilja barrel fitted, Steve ask me what ammoIwasgoingtouse(EleyTenex)andwhat length I wanted the barrel to be - which was 21 inches. From there on, he would ring me andtellmewhatwasgoingon,whatstagethe buildwasatandthiswentonuntiltheriflewas goingtotheproofhouseandwhentheriflewas readytobecollected.Steveendeavorstobuild what the customers wants, not what he wants. IaskedStevewhatwerehisfirstthoughtswhen hewasapproachedtobuildarimfirebenchrest rifle.WithmycustombuildIhadtoldStevethat I was going to use Eley Tenex. For those who havefondmemoriesofBertatEley,heusedto saytoSteveHowdoyougettheheadspace on a rifle so exact? Steve told Bert that he had built a jig that allowed him to do this and Steve has set the headspace on my rifle to 0.040 inches which is best suited for Tenex. Getting the headspace just right is critical. When re-barrelling an Anschutz action, Steve cutsofftheoldbarreloffleavinga2inchstub. He then chucks this in the lathe to check the

concentricity of the action. Typically Anschutz headspace is around 0.044 inches so that all makes of ammo will chamber and will result in areasonableoverallperformance.WhenSteve hydraulically pressed the barrel-stub out of my actionhefoundthatthebarreltenonhadtwosteel locationwedgesfittedatthefactorytomakethe barrelfitsnug.Onfurtherinvestigation,hefound thebarreltenonwas0.001in.undertheinternal diameteroftheaction.Ifthewedgeshadnotbeen used,thebarrelmayhaveworkedlooseandthe harmonicsofthebarrelwouldneverhaveworked. This had also changed the concentricity of the action and Steve had to make this right before going any further with the build. Steve told me that he had only come across this once in the past with an Anschutz barreled-action and it takes time and patience to lap out the score marksleftbythesteelwedgesandmaketheaction concentric again to accept the new barrel. Attentiontodetailneedstobegivenatthispoint. Removingtoomuchmaterialfromtheinternals oftheactioncanresultinthetwo3mmlocking pinsthatholdthebarrelinplacebeingundersize and this would allow movement in the barrel fixing. On this particular action the amount of material removed was only 0.003 inches. This cleared the steel wedges that would

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interfere with the alignment of the new barrel. To get maximum performance from have a new barrel fitted, every part of the build has to be correct, this includes final head-spacing andgluingandpinningthenewbarrelinplace. Lilja rimfire barrels are choked and it is important that the choke is at the muzzle-end of the barrel so Steve stressed that when shorteningthebarrel-blank(inmycasedownto 21inches)youmustcutthechamberendoffthe barrel.IaskedifitwasnecessarytoslugaLilja barrelbutStevepointedoutthatLiljadoesallthat workbeforetheysendoutthebarrelstogunsmiths. Movingtothemuzzle-endofthebarrel,Iasked StevewhyitwasdifferenttotheoriginalAnschutz crown.Steveexplainedthatsomemanufactures do what is called a recessed crown which is basicallyaflat90degreecrown.Howeversome shooters and gunsmiths prefer an 11 degree crown, which is what he has put on my barrel. Thetheoryisthatthisistheanglewhichgases leavethemuzzlebutneithercrownhasproved superior; its simply down to personal choice. Taking care of the crown is one of the most important things to protect. If you are going to throw the rifle into a case or run a brush through and pull it back against the crown you risk damaging it and the rifle will never shootaswellasitshould.Stevesayswiththe introductionofbarreltuners,itsimportanttotake thatoffaftershootingorgasesandcondensation will build up.Any fouling needs to be carefully cleanedoffassoonaspossible. At the breech end, its real important to have

a bore-guide to prevent damage to the barrel face, chamber and the rifling during cleaning. Spendingmoneyondecentcleaningequipment is just common sense to keep your rifle shooting accurately and consistently. Think of themoneyyouwillsavebynothavingtotake itbacktogunsmithtohavecostlyremedialwork carried out, not to mention rifle down-time. Steve believes in building rifles in a uniform, consistent manner and concentricity is the key toariflesoverallperformanceandforittoshoot well. But at the same time, the shooter must playhispart.WhenStevesaysthatsomething will be done by a certain time, you can guaranteethatitwillbe.Hehasawayofworking withhisclientstoproduceariflethattheywantand nottheotherwayround.Ifyouhavequestions, he will give you a truthful answer and with Steve, you get a fine rifle for a fair price. JustlikeaFormula1racingcar,ifthewheelsand tyresareoutofbalance,thecarwillvibratebadly andnotperformtoitsbest-itsthesamewitharifle. Keyfeatures: Gettingthebalanceright Concentricityoftheactiontothebarrel Correcthead-spacetosuityourpreferred ammunition Lengthofbarrel Crown Actionscrewstorquedcorrectly Balancedandcorrectlyprofiledstock Recoilthroughthestockhastobe consistentmovingthroughtherest Iveshotbenchrestforaroundsevenyearsnow

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andIhaveusedfactory-basedriflesattempting tocompeteagainsttheworldsbest.Searching forequipmentforbenchrestshootinghasbeen difficultintheUKasnoonehadtheknowledge ofthesportorwasabletosupplytheequipment. Itsbeendowntoshooterstotalktogunsmiths whoproducecustomriflesandgetthemtomove into the world of rimfire benchrest shooting. Steve Kershaw is one of those gunsmiths who assteppeduptothemark.Hewantstobepart of the development of the 22 rimfire benchrest rifle; he is already making medal winning rifles and I have not heard anyone say that they have had a problem with his rifles. WhenIgotmyrifleIwasbitlikeakidinacandy storeasIcouldnotwaittogetdowntotherange butIhadoneortwothingsthatIwantedtodo.

Weallbelongtodifferentforumstokeepupto date on whats going on and, we learn of the differentideasflyingaround.Onethingthatcaught myeyewasabouttheburn-rateofarimfireround. Theammoisfactory-madesoyoucantalterit.I lookedtotherifletoseewhatImightbeableto changetogivemaybeamoreconsistentburnrate. Thebolthasanumberofspringsinitthatareset at19lbandIlookedtochangetheseandfound thatWolfSpringsdidareplacementsetforthe Anschutzandtheonesforthe1913weresetat 24lb.Thisgotmethinking-wouldtheincreaseof poundagehelpincreasetheburnrateandmake theroundmoreconsistent.NowIamnoexpert andalotofourwritershaveagreaterknowledge but, I want to test my theory and see if there would be a difference. As you can see from

TointroduceourselveswearetheUnitedKingdomAssociationof RimfireandAirRifleBenchrestShooting.Bythatwemean"True BenchrestShooting".TheAssociationisrecognisedbyrimfire shootersacrossintheUK,withpartnersacrossEuropeandtherestof theworld,asthepresentativebodythatpromotesrimfireandairrifle benchrestacrossthiscountryandwithotherpartnersinEuropeanand Worldevents. Visitourwebsitefornewsaboutnationalandinternational competitionsthatallcanhaveagoat.Fromnovicetochampion shooter,everyoneiswelcome 36 Target Shooter www.benchrest22.org

thepictureoftheshellcasing,WolfSpringsdo ensure a better contact - could this potentially give a faster burn rate. Only by looking at the targetwouldIbeabletoseethedifference.There isadifferencebetweenthedifferentspringsused forcertainbutlikeallthingsinbenchrest,isitjust afeelgoodfactorthatboostsyourconfidence! Steve had to machine an aluminium sleeve to fitinside my HarreltunertomakeitfittheLilja barrelandagaindidafinejob,sothenitwasacase ofre-tuningittosuitthebarrel.TheammoIhad wasleftoverfrommybatch-testingwithEleythe yearbeforeandIwasgoingtousethatupbefore sortingoutanotherbatchforthenewLiljabarrel, so I wasnt expecting great results with what I had. Wow, was I wrong, I couldnt believe how consistentlytheriflewasshootinginjustforming somefive-shotgroupstogetthebarrelbeddedin. When I moved to shooting proper cards, afterputtingaround600roundsdownthebarrel, itwasreallycomingintoitsown. When it comes to cleaning a rifle barrel, there arelotsoftheoriesonhowandwhentoclean. Someonlycleanonceayear,whilstotherswill doitaftereverycard. Whilst cleaning the rifle and taking some photos of the breech, I had a bit of a shock whenIviewedthisphotograph.Asyoucansee, thereisatinybitofbrassthathasshearedoffa cartridge case. Attempting to see this with the naked eye is not easy without the aid of a magnifier.IsentStevethephotographand,just asIthought,ifthisendedupinthebarrelitcould causedamage. I now inspect this area very carefully and often shards of brass are visible. They are verysmallandcanbetakenoutwithaneedle. If you have a rifle that is shooting well then its wise to minimize the risk of damage, thus keepingtherifleaccurateforaslongasyoucan. Istartedwritingthisarticlesixweeksbeforethe UK Nationals (report elsewhere in this issue) and was really looking forward to taking the rifletotheevent.Asmanyreadersknow,Iama disabled shooter and this year has not been a goodoneformehealth-wiseandIwasnotableto gototheEuropeanswheretheBritishteamreally shoneandIwouldhavelovedtohavebeenpart ofthatprocess.Also,Imissedseeingoldfriends frompastevents.So,goingtotheNationalsisa

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bigoccasionformeandIwaseagertoseehow theriflewouldperform.Onethingaboutgoingto largeeventsisnottohaveexpectations-either goodorbad-asthiscanbearealmind-bender Turnupwithaviewthatyouaresimplygoingto enjoyyourself,doyourbestandnothingmore. The Mirfield Rifle Club is just outside HuddersfieldinthenorthofEnglandandIhave to say they are a real friendly lot and have some interesting butties as they call them - sandwichestoyouandme!Wehadslicesofhot beefcookedandleftinapotofgravyforatime before being served in a bread roll with gravy andonionsmessybutitdoestastereallygood! The conditions on the practice day were great - sunny and calm and everyone was shooting aboutthesameonthe50moutdoorrange,Ididnt bothershootingthe25ydindoorasitcanbeabit ofalotteryasnearlyeveryoneisabletoshootat leasta249atworseorhopefullya250anditjust comesdowntotheamountofXsthatareshot.

If anything, I just wanted to focus on the 50m as thats the one that I enjoy the most as its more about you against the elements. On the Saturday I was most disappointed as the gale-force winds made the wind flags go completely wild. The range is surrounded by treessoitspossibletoseetheeffectofwhatthe wind was doing in regards how the wind came inoverheadandwhentherewasasteadywind. Attimestherewasasand-stormgoingoninthe stopbuttanditwouldswirllikeaminitornado. When this happens, sit back as there will be no point in even thinking of taking a shot. In conditionslikethisIwontevenwaitforacalmin thewind.Iusethesightersinthedifferentwind speedstodecidewhichisthebesttogowithand listeningtothewindisagreathelp,allowingme toputinscoresof247,249andareallybad242. Isayabad242asIhadbeenshootingsowell thatthisscoreshouldhavebeenthesamebut obviouslyIjustwasnotgettingitrightonthatcard.

2007 Pan American Games 3x20 Gold Medalist 2007 WC Milan 3x20 Silver Medalist 2008 Olympian 3x20 Fifth Place 5-Time NRA Camp Perry 3x20 Junior National Champion Multiple Womens NRA Camp Perry National Champion

If you want to shoot like a champion, choose Lilja! www.riflebarrels.comLilja Precision Rifle Barrels, Inc PO Box 372 Plains, MT 59859Tel: 406-826-3084 Fax: 406-826-308338 Target Shooter

Jamie Beyerle

Andy winning the 25m and 50m UK National ChampionshipI have to say that I am not into checking out whos doing what as its not he good for the mind, its better to stay away so that you concentrate on the job that you have to do. AttheendoftheNationals,IhadwontwoGold medals and one Bronze plus the trophy for the aggregate for 25yd and the trophy for the 50m aggregate. I look at it in that I just got it right on the day - could I reproduce that again on another day? Thats something that no one can answer and thats the great thing about thisgame-youcanneverpredicttheoutcome. Tobringandendtothisstory,allIcansaythat havingacustomriflebuiltisagreatthingtobe involvedinandnotascostlyassomewouldthink. But, do your research, there are lots of forums on benchrest shooting and in them are lots of ideaswhichyouhavetosiftthroughtomakethe decisiononhowtohavearifle-builddone.The ideahavinginterchangeablestockstobeableto shootHVandLVIdontthinkIhaveseenanyone elsedo,butitworksformeandcansavemoney asyoudontneedtohavetworifles,scopesetc. Finding a gunsmith can be easy, but finding one that will take the time to listen to you and to go with what you want at times is not easy. I had an idea and Steve Kershaw went with it andkeptmeuptodateallthewaythroughthe build,IalsohavetosayabigthankyoutoGary from Tech-Wood Design for doing an amazing job on the work of the ice wood stock and we hope to see great things from Gary in the makingofbenchreststocksfortheUKshooters. Ihopethatyouhaveenjoyedthisinsightintoa custom build and how it can work out. Ive certainlyenjoyedtheexperienceandIhopeyou havetoo.

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Knowing your conditions Helps to keep your aim true

Weather Meters? to use Easy ? Accurate ? speeds Wind ? Cross Winds ? Pressure Air ? Humidity ? Temperature ? Point Dew ? Chill Wind ? Altitude ? and Date Time ? Graphical Display ? Logging Data

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ORDER ONLINE FROM www.r-p-r.co.uk Tel: 01590 679755

The 2010 Diggle Fly Shoot

by Vince BottomleyTheRifleasitwasusedfortheEggshoot Wehavehadanotherhorrendoussummerwith simultaneousfloodsandhose-pipebansinthis neckofthewoodsandpredictably,theweather leading up to the Fly shoot was cold and wet. Ifearedthatthismayaffecttheentrybutno Sundaywasunbelievablywarmandsunnyand from half a mile away I could see the sunlight glintingoffthewindscreensinthepackedDiggle RangeHousecarpark. amazingly it continues to grow in popularity thanksprobablytotheoddthreadontheinternet shootingforumswhichspreadsthewordmuch betterthanIcan!Lastyear,webrokefortyentries forthefirsttimeanditwasthesameagainthis year and I was pleased to meet several new shooterswhoIknewonlybytheirinternetavatar!

The Fly Shoot is simple but unusual in that it attemptstocombinegroupshootingandscore This is the ninth year of the Fly Shoot and shooting.TheAussiesinventeditandtherules They all came to shoot a fly!

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Baldy Dave with the 338 Surgeon

are few - there are no restrictions regarding equipmentanyrifle,scope,restetc.andjust twoclassesFactoryClassforoutofthebox factoryriflesandanythingelse.Wedontmind ifyouvechangedthestockonyourfactoryrifle, as long as the barrelled-action is standard but re-barrelitandImafraidyouwillfindyourselfin theOpenClass!

Ideally, you need something which will group around three-inches or better at 500 yards - if you want to be in with a chance of picking up somemoney. Themoneyhoweverisnotwhatattractsshooters its hitting the fly and winning a coveted Fly patchtheycantbebought,theymustbewon - here at Diggle. Typically, only a dozen or so shooterswilltakehomeapatch.TheAussieflies mustbealotbiggerthanoursandtheimageof theflyinthecentreofthetargetismorelikea beetlebut,at500yards,itsbarelyvisibleeven lesssotodaywithalightmirageevident.

This year, the entry couldnt have been more diverse with Dave (Baldy) Wylde and his Surgeon tactical rig chambered in 338 Lapua Magnum, to Laurie Holland with his 223 Rem. F/TRrifleandeverythinginbetweenfrom1000 yard benchguns to slick little treble-two foxing rigs.AnythinggoesattheFlyShootandallsorts Competitors are given an ample sight-in ofrifleshavetakenthehonoursovertheyears. period,thenitsthree,five-shotgroupswithfive minutes allowed for each group. Wind-flags are not hoisted so competitors must make whattheywillofthenaturalwind-indicators. Fromthelocationofgroups,itwasevidentthat winds were reasonably light but still strong enoughtonudgetheunwaryoffthetargetand intotheno-scorearea.

Butt crew join up the dots so that each group is indicated for measuring 42 Target Shooter

In addition to cash prizes and Fly patches, small-grouppatchesarealsoawardedforthe smallestgroupineachclasstogetherwitha cashaward.Thisyear,wehadanewrecord in Open Class when Dave Wylde shot an amazing 1.153 inch five-shot group with the aforementioned 338 Lapua Magnum! Best Factorygroupwasaverycreditable2.92incher from Phil Gibbon using his 6.5-284 Savage. AlthoughPhilsagg.ofhisthreegroupswas slightly smaller than John Andertons, John took the Factory win by virtue of his higher

Dave proudly displays his record 1.152 inch group in the Diggle clubroom Overall winner, Chris Parkin three well-centred groups total score of 150 was a full 26 points ahead of Dave, who tied for second place with Paul Harper,shootinghis260Rem.tacticalrig. Fifteenroundsplushalfadozenorsosighters isnotexactlyalotforadaysshootingbuton anicewarmdayitsgreattositonthegrass, chill-out with fellow shooters and of course ogle the many interesting rifles on display. If this sounds like your kind of shooting, make adatefornextyearcheckoutthecalendar on the Diggle website www.diggleranges. comitwillbearoundthesametimeinAugust. Meanwhile, you can peruse the full results on the UKBRA website at www.ukbra.co.uk but I list below the first three in each class. AllphotoscourtesyofSteveThornton

When its warm and sunny, just chill-out score attained by have his slightly larger groupsmorecentralandscoring99toPhils82. Similarly in Open Dave Wyldes remarkable performance wasnt quite enough to win. That honourwenttoChrisParkin,usingtheriflewe are featuring elsewhere in this issue of Target Shooter. Chris, if you remember, also won the Egg Shoot with the same rifle. Its not that exoticjustawellputtogetherrifleusingsimple componentsbutclearlyinthehandsofsomeone whoknowshowtogetthebestoutofit.Chriss OpenClassShooter Group1 ChrisParkin 3.251 DaveWylde 5.088 PaulHarper 3.082 FactoryClass JohnAnderton 4.68 PhilGibbon 6.4 AdrianEvans 5.839 *SmallgroupinClass Group2 2.936 *1.152 2.178

Group3 2.305 5.459 4.462

Groupbonus 23 19 21

Targetscore 127 105 103

Total 150 124 124

4.647 *2.92 3.383

6.4 4.151 3.105

16 18 19

99 82 80

115 100 99

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IPAS, AAS & the 1911

by Vince BottomleyNext month, well review the superb AAS hopped-up 1911 pistol Ifyoufindthatheadingabitconfusingyoure A typical IPAC competition In any given event meant to! Id never heard of IPAS or AAS - there are a number of stages - each stage is ActionAirShooting-either.Hopefullythe1911 a different array of five steel plates fixed to a bit is ringing the odd distant bell and as for woodenstandapproximatelyonemetreoffthe IPAS or Iron PlateAction Shooting read on! ground. The plates vary in size from 8x 8 to After the handgun ban, many Practical Pistol 24x 12. One of the five plates is painted a differentcolourtotheotherfour(usuallyyellow shooters took up other disciplines or bailed orred)andthisisknownastheSTOPplate.The out of the shooting circuit all together. A stopplatemustbeengagedlast. few however wanted to try to re-create the Theshooterbeginsbystandingintheboxfacing excitementofPracticalPistolcompetitionswith downrange;theinstructionfromtheRangeOfficer the equipment that was now legally available. isgivenLoadandmakeready..thegunis There were two options, either Airsoft replica loadedandholsteredandtheshootershandsare imitation firearms or Co2 multi-shot air pistols. inthesurrenderposition-theshooterisready. ItbecameapparentquitequicklythattheAirsoft The RO - with shot timer in hand - gives the gunslentthemselvesperfectlytoIPSCPractical command Shooter, are you ready?. ShootingandthemorepowerfulCo2multishot Stand by.the shot timer is engaged and airpistol(withsometuning)wereperfectforIron theshooterwaitsforthebeeptosoundas PlateAction Shooting - the UK version of the itdoes,hegoesintoaction,engagingthefour SteelChallengeasitisknownaroundtheworld. platesinanyorderhechoosesandthenthestop IPASisthefastestgrowingsportforCo2multi- plate. A good time is around three seconds! shotairpistolsintheUK;itisextremelyexciting Theshootergetsfiverunsoneachstagewith and has an extensive competition circuit hisworsttimebeingdiscarded,sothereisonly with events taking place throughout the year one throw away the other runs must count. across the country, culminating in the National AttheendofthestagetheROgivesthecommand ChampionshipsheldinNovemberofeachyear. Unloadandshowclear-thegunisre-holstered Theobjectofthesportisverysimp