target shooter september 2010
DESCRIPTION
The first on line shooting magazine in the United Kingdom.TRANSCRIPT
Target Shooter 1
Target Shooter 3
Ready to shoot by a turn of the hand
The Ultimate Visual Experience
NEW
Activating the illuminated dot by cocking the rifle.
New Varipoint Generation with Illumination Control
For the first time ever, the control of the reticle illumination is connectedto the operation of a rifle: When cocking the R 93 iC, the illuminateddot is activated. The innovative iC concept reduces the operation of rifleand riflescope before the shot to just one turn thus supporting bothconcentration on the target and relaxation of the body. The new VictoryVaripoint iC product line is available for the following models: M 1,1 -4 x 24 iC T*, M 1,5 - 6 x 42 iC T*, M 2,5 - 10 x 50 iC T*, M 3 - 12 x 56iC T*.
Furth
er in
form
atio
n on
:www.il-control.com
4 Target Shooter
Sections
6 ShootingSportNews
10 ShootersCalendar
12 Support‘yourlocal gunshop’
17 ShootingBlackPowder PistolbyChrisRisebrook
41 NewRimfireRifleDesigns by MartinLee
65 ThisSmallboreBusiness byDonBrook
69 ProfileonInternational ShootingbyHayleyPlatts
73 MattersleySteelChallenge
Association Pages
80 NRA
82 UKBRA
85 UKBR22
87 F-Class
90 QuigleyAssociation
93 GalleryRifle
97 UKPSA
13 South Yorkshire Shooting - an updatebyLaurieHolland
21 Breaking the Mould Pat 2 byVinceBottomley
26 My European Rimfire and Air Rifle Benchrest Championship byCarlBoswell
46 Handloading ‘Old Faithful’ the .308 Part 11byLaurieHolland 58 150th Imperial meeting byChrisWhite
63 My .308 is Dead Part 2 byChrisParkin
WelcometotheSeptemberIssue......................
.......ofTargetShooter
Target Shooter 5
Editor(s).CarlBoswellandVinceBottomleyAdvertising and Office Manageremail;[email protected] TonySaunders ChrisWhite LaurieHolland ChrisRisebrookCarlBoswellDonBrook AlanWhittle GwynRobertsKenHall LesHolgate HayleyPlattsChrisParkin
DisclaimerThewebsitewww.targetshooter.co.ukispartofTargetShootermagazinewithallcontentsofbothelectronicmediacopyrighted.Noreproductionispermittedunlesswrittenauthorisationisprovided.Information,pricesanddataisbelievedtobecorrectatthetimeofpostingontheinternetwhichisonoraroundthe1stofeachmonth.AdvertisementsthatarefirearmrelatedarefromcompaniesorindividualsthatTargetShootermagazinebelievesarelicensedtoholdsuchfirearmsandacceptsnoresponsibilityifcompaniesorindividualsarenotsolicensed.LettersandphotographssubmittedbymembersofthepublictoTargetShootermagazinewillbeacceptedonthebasisthatthewriterhasagreedtopublicationunlessotherwisestated.TargetShootermagazinehasnocontroloverthecontentorownershipofphotographssubmitted.Theviewsexpressedinthismagazinearenotnecessarilytheviewsofthepublishersandrelatetospecificcircumstanceswithineacharticle.Thesearetheopinionsandexperiencesofwritersusingspecificequipment,firearms,componentsanddataundercontrolledconditions.Informationcontainedintheonlinemagazineoronthewebsiteisintendedtobeusedasaguideonlyandinspecificcircumstancescautionshouldbeused.TargetShooterMagazinedoesnotexceptanyresponsibilityforindividualsattemptingtorecreatesuchtestingusinganyinformation,dataorothermaterialsinitselectronicpages.PublishersofTargetShootermagazine.
Webitorial - September 2010
Firstanapology–someofyoucouldn’tdownloadourAugustissueandwewereswampedwithe-mails as a result. Our fancy new software developed a glitch which created difficulties inaccessingthedownloadversionofthemagazineandtomakeitworse,onlaunchdayAndywasrushedintohospitalandourITmanCarlwaswingingiswaytoCzechslovaliatotakepartintheEuropeanBenchrestChampionships.
Unfortunately,wedon’thaveanystafftofallbackonatTargetShooter–justthethreeofusandit’snouseleavingmetomindtheshop-I’mstillstrugglingtomastermyiPad!Ofcourse,it’snotonlyyou,ourloyalreaderswhowereupset–itdoesn’texactlypleaseouradvertisers,sowethankyouforyourpatienceandwepromisetodobetter!
Nowforthegoodnews–thankfullyAndyisoutofhospital,CarlissafelybackfromCzechoslovakia–withamedalor threeand I’m..........still strugglingwithmy iPad! But, at least thedownloadproblemissortedandwe’lldoourbesttomakesureitdoesn’tre-occur.
Now,enjoyyourSeptember issueofTargetShooter. It’spacked full of your favouritestuffandnextmonth–October-wehavetheCommonwealthGamesinNewDelhitolookforwardto.Ourshootersalwayspickuptheirshareofmedalssolet’shopethatAuntieBeebgivestheshootingabitmorecoveragethanlasttime.Don’tbeafraidtoe-mailtheBBCifcoverageisn’tuptoscratch.
Untilnextmonth.Vince,Carl&Andy
[email protected]@[email protected] Copyright©TrinityDigitalPublishingLtd
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AmongstF/TRshooters,thereisnogreatersubjectofdiscussionthanbi-pods.Good
bi-podsareessentialbutgood–i.e.sturdyandwide–bi-podsarealsoheavyandapoundextrainthebi-podusuallymeansapoundlessinthebarrel.
TheFito‘BigFoot’bi-podcomesinatjustoverakiloandisveryrigidandwide.Itisasuperbbi-podanditisalsosomethingofabargainataround£130.
Osprey Rifles arethestockistsandproprietorStuartAnselmwonfirsttimeoutwithhisBigFootattheAugustBlairAtholGBFCALeague
Shootandsetanewrecordintheprocess.
Shooting Sport News
Startingpistolban!
I’mashooter,writerand I readagoodqualitynewspaperbut,Iconfess,thisoneescapedme–untilIreadtheYorkshirePostattheendofJuly.
Yes, once again ‘knees have been jerked’and starting-pistols are now banned. Therewas an amnesty apparently – which expired
onJune4th2010–and ifyouarenowcaughtstarting a race with one of these pistols,you will receive a mandatory five-yearsentence for possessinga prohibitedweapon.
Well, I hadn’t cottoned-on to this one – let’shope LOGOC have – otherwise we couldhave no one to start the races at the 2010Olympics! I kid you not – David Brown,of UK Athletics said it was “the equivalentof seizing whistles from football referees”.On a technical note – the pistol in questionis an Italian-made 380 blank-firer and, asyou can see from the pic, is coloured bright
orange. They were legally available viathe internetandanestimated1500havecomeintotheUKbutonly220havebeenhanded in under the amnesty. Policeclaim that they can be converted to firelive ammunition – and painted black!
The bit that worries me is the ‘can beconverted’bit–whatcouldn’tbeconverted- ifyouhavethewill, theknowledgeandmachinery at your disposal? Target Shooterdoesnotcondonesuchillegalactsbut,onceagain,alargenumberofushavebecomecriminalswithoutdoinganythingwrong and, if you missed the amnesty,youwon’tevenknow!Mindyou,1500 isan insignificant number compared to the
Brocockdebaclewhichcriminalisedthousands!
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50thISSFWorldShootingChampionship
RUAGwouldliketocongratulateallthosewhotookpartinthe50thISSFWorldShootingCham-pionshipinGermanythismonth.
The event (which was sponsored by RWS)took place at the Olympic shooting ranges inGarching-Hochbrück, Germany. The world’sbest rifle,pistolandclaypigeonshooters frommorethan100nationstestedtheirabilitieshereandprovidedsomeexcitingdaysofcompetition.Marksmanship, precision and dedication, aswellastheselectionoftherightammunition,arethekeyfactorsrequiredtotakethetitle-WorldChampion.The singles medals were a great success for
RWSshooters–takingaquarterofthemedals!(25outof101)Including 8Gold (more goldmedals than anyother ammunition manufacturer in the singlescompetitions)RWS also did well in the team competitions,taking21ofthe95medals(6Gold)!Also a special congratulations to the GreatBritain teamwhowon the 300mMen’s PronewithNormaAmmunition!
Hannam retirement
I’msureeveryUKshooterhasheardofTimHannam,suppliersofavastrangeofreloadingcomponentsandmanyothershooter-relatedgoodies.Hannam’shavesupportedTarget ShooterfromtheoffandIregularlyvisittopickupmyreloadingcomponents.
Shooterswhodon’tlivewithincallingdistancewillprobablymail-orderandifyoudo,youhave
probablyspokentoPat.Well,nowyoucanputafacetoavoicebecausethisisPat(holdingtheflowers)inthephotographwiththerestoftheTimHannamteam.Althoughshedoesn’tlookanywherenearoldenoughtoretire,that’sexactlywhatshedidattheendofJuly.
ShehasmanyinterestsandI’msurereaderswilljoinusatTarget ShooterinwishingPatandherhusbandalongandhappyretirement.
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AffiliatedtotheNSRA,MSBRA,NRA&CSSC-TSA
HENDON RIFLE CLUB
RangeandClubHouseCoolOakLane,oppositeKinlochDrive,HendonNW97NB HendonRifleClubwasbornin1906nearBrentCrosswestLondon,afterWorldWarIItheclubwas moved to theWelsh Harp a sailing andfishinglakeabout3milesfromBrentCrossshoppingcentre.
Becauseofthehandgunbanof1997therewasaneedforanothertypeofshootingattheclub,thisisweretheHendonLeaguewasbornusingtheoldhandguntargetstheseweregoingtobeused together with airguns and various otherfirearmsincompetitionswhichisrunbyHendonRifleClub,thisalsohelpstoraisesfunds.
This league has more than 30 clubs countrywide joining us in competition every season,
FurtherinformationcanbefoundattheHendonRifleClubswebsite,
www.hendonrifleclub.co.uk
KevinHoseyHendonLeagueOrganiser
Lightweight Sport Rifle O/S (1) Competitor Club
Division 1 K.KINGSBURY CROYDON R&PCDivision 2 C.HANRAHAN EAST BARNET SC
Lightweight Sport Rifle A/S (2) Competitor Club
Division 1 Ms N.MASKERY CHOBHAM & D RCDivision 2 D GUNNER CAMBERLEY R&PCDivision 3 J.SHINE HENDON RCDivision 4 P. WHILE FOUR BY TWO R & PCDivision 5 I.CHADBONE MARLOW R&PCDivision 6 P.WOODS REPTON RCDivision 7 M.SLADE HARROW R&PCDivision 8 M.KAUMANNS HENDON RCDivision 9 D.COOMBES HENDON RC
Division 10 I.FRASER FOUR BY TWO R & PCDivision 11 L.HUNT HARROW R&PCDivision 12 T.REILLY B.WANDSWORTH RCDivision 13 R.THOMAS CHOBHAM & DIST RCDivision 14 C.MOONEY SPRINGFIELD R&PCDivision 15 R.GRAHAM PETWORTH RC
LSR “Standard Pistol” A/S (3) Competitor Club
Division 1 Mrs N.MASKERY CHOBHAM & DISTRICT RC
Division 2 D. PHILLIPSON GAINSBOROUGH R&PCDivision 3 M.LAUNDY 1st EALING RCDivision 4 T.REILLY B.WANDSWORTH RC
Precision Gallery Rifle O/S (4) Competitor Club
Division 1 D.BESHIRI HENDON RCDivision 2 B.HOWARD HENDON RCDivision 3 S.NORTH KODAK R&PCDivision 4 A.RICHARDSON FOUR BY TWO R & PCDivision 5 I.KELLY EAST BARNET SC
Rapid fire Gallery Rifle O/S (5) Competitor Club
Division 1 J.SHINE HENDON RC
Gallery Rifle - "Std Hg" O/S (6) Competitor Club
Division 1 J.SHINE HENDON RC
Black Powder Pistol (7) Competitor Club
Division 1 K.KINGSBURY CROYDON R&PCDivision 2 D.GRAHAM FOUR BY TWO R & PC
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Long Range Air Pistol 20yards (8) Competitor Club
Division 1 M.HARVEY HARROW R&PC
Precision Gallery Rifle A/S (9) Competitor Club
Division 1 J.SHINE HENDON RCDivision 2 O.HOUSSEIN EAST BARNET SC
Lightweight Sport Rifle Prone (12) Competitor Club
Division 1 D.ROYLE DUDLEY RC
L/B Revolver C/F (14) Competitor Club
Division 1 C.FISHER SPRINGFIELD R&PC
Air Pistol @ 10 Metres (15) Competitor Club
Division 1 K.KINGSBURY CROYDON R&PC
Division 2 T.OLIVER WATERINGBURY & T SBRC
Division 3 D.BOYTON COURT RIVERSIDE RC
Division 4 A.RICKETTS WATERINGBURY & T SBRC
Division 5 R.TODD 1st EALING RC
LSR Benchrest @ 25yards A/S (16A) Competitor Club
Division 1 D.C.GREAVES DUDLEY RC
T/Rifle Benchrest @ 25yds A/S (16B) Competitor Club
Division 1 R.BANCROFT DEDDINGTON & DIST R&PC
Division 2 T.BYAST DEDDINGTON & DIST R&PC
Division 3 I.PARKER BIDEFORD RIFLE CLUBDivision 4 K.HOSEY HENDON RC
Division 5 P.HANLEY DEDDINGTON & DIST R&PC
Division 6 N.JACKSON B.WANDSWORTH RCDivision 7 S.MAKIN EAST BARNET SCDivision 8 M.YATES STANMORE RC
LSR Benchrest @ 50m A/S (17A) Competitor Club
Division 1 P.SADLER PENRHIWPAL SC
T/Rifle Benchrest @ 50m A/S (17B) Competitor Club
Division 1 P.EDWARDS HENDON RC
T/Rifle Benchrest @ 50m A/S (17B) Competitor Club
Division 2 D.P.SHEPPERD BBC RIFLE CLUBDivision 3 J.BOOTH SPRINGFIELD R&PC
Long Arm 0·22 Free Pistol (18) Competitor Club
Division 1 K.KINGSBURY CROYDON R&PC
T/Rifle Benchrest @ 100yds A/S (19B) Competitor Club
Division 1 R.W.HODGKINS REPTON RC
A/Rifle Benchrest @ 20/25yds A/S (20) Competitor Club
Division 1 M.LOADER DEDDINGTON & D Division 2 M.ZALEWSKI SECCO R&PC
10 Target Shooter
CalendarofeventsoverthenextfewmonthsIfyourcluborassociationhaseventsyouwanttopubliciseherethenemailus.
19 Sep HBSAOpenMidRangeChampionships(NationalShootingCentre(NSC),Bisley)AM 300, PM 500: classes for a wide range ofVintage (BP), Classic (pre-1919) and Veteran(pre-1946) rifles and for Post- Veteran Early7.62mmTargetRifles.Practicetargetsavailableon Sat 18 September. Contact Mark HodginsNRA
12 Sep NRA Shooting Club Day (NationalShootingCentre(NSC),Bisley)Multi-disciplineNRAShootingClubDay.TargetshavebeenbookedonMelvilleandat100,200,300and1000yards.Alldisciplineswelcome.
11 SepNRAOpenDay(NationalShootingCentre(NSC),Bisley)ContactLibbyGendallviatheNRA
1-3 October:FieldTargetWorldChampionship,Hungary more details: http://www.fieldtarget.hu/ftob2010moreinfo:[email protected]
26 Sep Somerset SBSA – Open Shoot. (Rifle)LongAshtonRanges.Tel.01275836442.Email.julian.withey@btinternet.com
18 Sep East of Scotland Meeting (Blair Atholl(Scotland))TheEast of ScotlandOpenChampionships for2010arescheduledtotakeplaceatBlairAthollonSaturday18September.Theevent includesboth TR and F Class and offers discountedentriesforseniors,studentsandschools.Courseoffireis2&17at400,500and600metreswithafinalof2&15forthetop12TRshootersandtop4FClass.Entryformswillbeavailableinduecourseat theImperialMeetingatBisleyandbye-mailfrombaitkenshooting@hotmail.comhttp://www.scottishrifleassociation.org.uk/
25 Sep to 26 Sep Range Conducting OfficerCourse(NationalShootingCentre(NSC),Bisley)Twodaycourse -successfulcandidateswillbequalifiedtoconductlivefiringonMoDorTAVRAranges.ContactMaureenPeachviatheNRA
Welcome to GT Shooting.The premier shooting sports shop in Surrey
Our premises are located at 53 Chipstead Valley Road, Coulsdon, Surrey, CR5 2RB
www.gtshooting.co.uk
Tel: 020 8660 6843 Fax: 020 8660 6843
We are conveniently situated near the M23 & M25. Opening times: Tuesday to Saturday 10.00am - 5.30pm
Fullbore & .22LR Black Power
Air Rifles and Pistols Used rifles and Pistols
OpticsAmmunitionReloading equipment and more...
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In1963,MrDavidCrabtreefoundedthebusiness–‘OphirAntiques’.Thiswasoperatedasaretailpremises, specialising in antique arms andarmour.David’s son, Steve Crabtree followed in hisFather’s footsteps and joined the business in1972.SteveaddedmuchtohisFather’salreadygrowingbusiness,includingastrongpassionforall thingsshootingbut,predominantlyheaddedhis vast knowledgeofmodern firearms.As thisarea of the business grew, ‘Portsmouth GunCentre’wasborn.Followingthesadeventofhisfather’spassingin1982,Stevedecidedtostreamlinethebusinessand specialise only inmodern firearms.As thechange took hold, the need arose for a largerstore, and four years later, the premisesunderwentafull refurbishment toaccommodatealargerstockholdingastheneedofthebusinessrequired.In2010,thebusinessisinits47thyearoftrading.Portsmouth Gun centre services and supplies
allmodern shooting disciplines.Those servicesincluded carrying a stock of all the leadingbrands of rifles, pistols, shotguns, airguns andblack-powder weapons. The business can dealwithenquiriesfromcustomersandshootersalike.Complimenting the vast range of firearms,Portsmouth Gun Centre also carries a largeamount of accessories, ammunition, clothingand miscellaneous shooting equipment. SteveCrabtree’s 38 years of experience in the guntradehaveseenhimconstantlyandconfidentallysatisfying his customers demands. Steve isalways available for considered, friendly adviceon any aspect of shooting, security or firearmslaw.SituatedintheheartofPortsmouth,PortsmouthGunCentreislocatedonthemainLondonRoadlinking the retail area of North End to Hilsea,where you can join any of the local majormotorways.TheshopisjustafewminutesfromthebusyM27andthereisampleonroadparkingoutside.
‘Supportyourlocalgunshop’PortsmouthGunCentre
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.
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SOUTHYORKSHIRESHOOTINGSUPPLIES:ANUPDATE
byLaurieHolland
A long, long time ago I worked in what was thenonlyhalf jokinglynicknamedKingArthur’sSocialistRepublic of South Yorkshire (Arthur Scargill,President of the National Union of Minework-ers). Back then, it was Jekyll andHyde country –negotiateabend in the roadandyou’d lurch fromlovely ruralvista to industrialhellhole:cokeovens,quarries, decrepit workshops, and of course thepit-heaps – ugly man-made black toxic hillsscatteredeverywhere. In itsheartland, theDearneValley was legendary for deprivation, crime andvandalism, its mines closed long before MrsThatcher arrived, entire communities on the dole.When I left SouthYorks, I never expected that I’deverlookforwardtorevisitingthisareanortheastofSheffield,butmillionsofpoundsofpublicandprivateinvestmenthavetransformedit.Newroadsandneatbuilding developments nestle in lush countrysidewith nary a pit-heap to be seen, old mineralworkings flooded and turned into nature reserves.Just down the road from one such birdwatcher’sparadiseyou’llfindEverillGateFarm,homeofSouthYorkshire Shooting Supplies and its proprietorsRogerandSheilaFrancis.
SYSS has long been known as the outfit to talkto about modified Ruger 10-22s whether forcompetitionorvermincontrol,amongstothernotablefeatsintroducinglightweightcarbonfibrecompositebarrelsandexoticergonomicstocksfortheseriflestoBritishshooters.The10-22typeisprobablywhatmost people still associatewith the company, andsurelySYSSremainsoneofthebest,morelikelythebest,toapproachifyouwantareallygoodexample.I say ‘type’ as there isn’t a Ruger component intoday’scustombuiltversions,theactionpartsmadein theUK toSYSS’ specifications, assembledandhand-fittedinitsworkshop.OnefeelsthatthisisstillRoger’s passion, never happier thanwhen putting
one together – it’s what he chose to cradle whenI persuaded him to pose for a photograph in thecourtyard, more on that in a minute. Rogermaintains that he’s in no way a gunsmith, justsomebodywhoknowshowtoassembletheseriflesand tinker a bitwith someothermakes, but that’sthemanbeingmodest.‘Othermakes’includeMarlinleverguns transformed through variousimprovements including a reduced power ejectorspring, reprofiling the hammer and extractor, andfitting a vastly improved trigger for much faster,slicker and more reliable operation. Mentioningtrigger improvements, SYSS is a good place toenquireas theyprovidekits formanydifferent riflemakes andmodels including fitting if needed. Forinstance, every newCz452 rimfire SYSS supplieshas an improved trigger assembly set at 2lb pullalready fitted. In many cases, imported AmericankitshavebeenrecentlyreplacedbyBritishsourcedcomponents.
Arecent,verysuccessfulinnovationis‘semi-custom’Remington700s.TakeonenewRemyPSSorSPS,smooththeboltrails,refaceandrecrownthebarrel,and fettle / adjust the trigger for a reducedweightand crisper pull. It becomes a nicer handling andbettershootingriflestraightoff,butwhystop thereifyou’dlikeariflethatlooksandhandlesbetter,orneed a detachable box magazine? So, swap thefactory stock for one of several options, and youhavewhatRogercalls‘asensiblerifleatasensibleprice’ for the club or field shooter. The favouredstartingpoint isaheavybarrel700SPSVarmintorTactical rifle.AICSandBell&Carlssonstocksarecustomer favourites,althoughothersareavailable.AfettledandAICSstockedSPS26”barrelVarmintworksoutat£1,250withplainmuzzle,another£50if screwcut for a moderator, making an affordablebutaccurate rifle.Actually,whenyouconsider that
Above - Semi-custom Remington 700SPS Varmint in the AICS stock
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theusualaskingpricefortheAICSis£550–ifyoucanfindone–that’squiteabargain!Itincludesadetachableboxmagazinefacility,butifyouwantoneinstalledonasporterstock,SYSSwillsupplynewcustombottommetaland install it foryoutoo.Aninnovation that I suspect is unique is the SYSSmodified 10-round AICS magazine that feeds.223Rroundssmoothly–startingat.308Wlength,thesemagazines handle over-SAAMI length .223cartridges loaded with 80gn bullets. Then youcanhavethenasty littleRemyfly’seyeboltknobmachinedoffandreplacedbyanicelarge,smoothSYSSscrew-onconicalnumber;there’stheSYSSTactical Picatinny scope rail. OK, you get thepicture.......only,watchthebudget!
Another new product is American Tom Manners’synthetic thumbhole configured stocks for short-
action Remington actions, even a quickexamination showing they are well madeand very rigid with pillar-bedding. Whatreally excites theSYSS team though is anewMannersdesignthathasamoulded-inBadger Ordnance ‘mini-chassis’ that bothbeds the action and accepts AICS 5 and10-roundboxmagazines–possiblyarrivedbythetimeyoureadthis.
Alchemy and ValkyrieMention recrowning and machining boltknobs and we’re into lathes and millingmachinesandgunsmithing.ThelasttimeI’dvisited, DaveWylde had just joinedRogerandSheilaasapart-timegunsmithdoingacoupleofdaysaweek,fourdayselsewheremaking repro Victorian gas lamps as hisdayjob.(Ikidyounot!)Thatwork-timesplithas now been reversed, additional andupgraded workshop machinery installed,and Dave builds custom rifles alongsidethe semi-custom work, also any generalgunsmithing jobs needed. I was mostimpressed by the number and range ofmakesofqualitybarrelsonhand,soaquickturnaround can often be obtained. So far,most rifles have been built on new Remy700, Lawton and Surgeon actions, but wenowhaveSYSS’owndesign,the‘Alchemy’,thefirstfewexamplesjustarrived.Thisisaworkmanlike looking short-action twin-lugjob with a Remington 700 ‘footprint’ toallowtheuseofthemanycustomstocksandprecision trigger assemblies available for
Roger with one of his custom .22 semi-auto race guns
Dave with a fettled Remington 700SPS Tactical in a Manners GAT thumbhole stock
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this action. The receiver and separate scope railare stainless, the bolt spiral fluted carbon steel;Sako-typeextractor;side-leverbolt-stopandrelease.Again,itisentirelyBritishindesignandmanufacture.Itwillbeavailableinsingle-shotandrepeaterforms,leftandrighthand,andthecustomercanspecifybolttoreceiverclearancedependingonapplicationfromavery tightoneor twothou’uptoslacker ‘tactical’configurations.AswellasbeingusedinDave’snewbuilds, they’ll be offered to other gunsmiths at an‘attractiveprice’.Daveisalsothe‘Duracoatingman’,andaverygoodjobhedoestoo.Asaone-timeprofessionalcustomspray-painter he knows how to get a good resultstarting withmeticulous preparation, to which endafullsuiteofsand-blastingandcleaningmachineshasbeeninstalledaswellasthenecessaryovens.Things aremoving on apace here too. Dave is inthe process of setting up his own gunsmithing /riflebuildingbusinesscalledValkyrieArmsandwilltradeindependentlyinduecourse,probablyaroundtheendofthisyear.He’llremainatEverillGatefarmandcontinuetocollaboratecloselywithRoger,but
buildup thecustomnewbuildsideof theworkaswellasofferingdo-anythinggunsmithingservicesonabyappointmentbasis.Askinghimwhatheplanstoworkwith,he’llcontinuewiththeexistingactionsincluding the new ‘Alchemy’, add the superb newsingle-shot action from Scottish gunsmith RussGall as his top of the range option, and exploredevelopingthepopularTikkaT3action.Otherplansinclude building left-hand rifles, a market he feelshas been largely ignored, and specialist Section1shotgunwork,nobodydoing thiscurrently in thenorthofEngland.
For further information visit SYSS’ comprehensivewebsite (www.rimfiremagic.co.uk) or telephone01226751321.Ifyouwanttovisit,pleasenotethattheretailgunshopisonlyopenonThursday,Fridayand Saturday due to workshop commitments. Oh,thephotographs?PointacameraatRogerandheundergoesapersonalitychange.Serious,orwhat?And...itseemsMrWyldeisoutofthesamemould.Really,theyarevery,verynicehelpfulfriendlyguys....despiteappearances!
There is no doubt about whose action this is
A couple of the new ‘Alchemy’ actions
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Tel/Fax 01722782432 Email; [email protected]/ Website; www.westlakeengineering.com
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 ¼ 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.
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Frank Wesson was the younger brother ofDaniel B. Wesson of Smith & Wesson fame,and EdwardWesson, another rifle maker. Hestarted business in 1859 and went intopartnershipwithhisnephewGilbertHarringtonin1871.Harringtonboughthimoutin1874and,with another of Wesson’s employees, formedHarrington & Richardson in 1875. By 1880,the company concentrated on the “American”revolver, which introduced the basic doubleaction lockwork which employed a separatesear behind the trigger,pivoting on the rearpinof the triggerguard.Thisdesignwasbothsimple and inexpensive to produce. The“American” remained in production until theSecondWorldWar.ItisestimatedthatovertwomillionAmericanandYoungAmerica revolversweremadefrom1883to1940.Originallymadeinrimfirecalibers,latermodelswerealsomadein .32, .38 and .44 centrefire. By 1940, H&Rwere concentrating on hinged frame revolv-ers, both for thehomemarket and for serviceuse.Whileneveradoptedasmilitarystandard,manyoftheseweaponswereissuedtoguardsand other non-combatants, thus freeing issueweaponsforfrontlinetroops.ThetworevolversshowninphotoNo1areboth.32rimfire,andit isclearthatthebasicdesigncan simply be pantographed up or down toaccomodate different size cartridges. TheearliestadvertIhavefoundsofarforthesegunsisinacatalogueofJ.H.JohnstonofPittsburghin 1889, and a Sears Roebuck catalogue of1908offeredawidevarietyin.22andcentrefirecalibres, and this basic design was still beingofferedwellintothe1960s.Thesmallerrevolver
hasa2inchbarrelandisafiveshot.Hopefully,photo 2 will show the differences in themarkingsonthetopstraps.Bothhaveoctagonalbarrels with the name and address of theCompanyontheleftsideand“.32rimfire”onthesmallergun.Thelargerrevolverisasixshotwitha2.5inchbarrel.These.32rimfirecartridgescameinvarious lengths, namely extra short, short,long,long rifle and extra long. Most of themwentoutofproductionaround1920,butafewlingeredonuntilthe1970s.Apparantly.32extralongwasquiteadequateforuseonsmallgamewhenusedinarifle.Bearinginmindthesegunsmusthavebeenbuiltatrockbottomprices,theirquality is remarkably good and the platinghas lasted very well. The grips appear to bemoulded vulcanite or similar. In the 1960s,these solid frame revolvers were advertisedforlessthan$30,aboutonethirdofthepriceofaSmith&Wesson.To load, cartridges are fed singly into thechamberviathecut-outontherighthandside,thereisnohingedgatetoholdthemin,sothechambersmust have been fairly tightly bored.To unload, you have the option of picking outtheemptieswithyourfingersfromthecutout,ortousethecylinderpinastheejectorrod.Todothis,youpressthesmallcatchinthefrontoftheframe- justvisible inphoto3,pull thecylinderpin forward, thus freeing thecylinder,andusethecylinderpintopushouttheemptiesonebyone.Notverypracticalinagunfight!The single action trigger pull in both guns isremarkablygood,as is thedoubleactin in thelargergun.Thedoubleactionpull in thesmallgunisimpossiblyheavy,andthegripissotiny,
by Chris Risebrook
Shooting the Black Powder PistolPart 8 - Harrington & Richardson
18 Target Shooter
you just can’t get apropergripon the trigger.In practice, it must have been used (if at all)as a single action. Which brings us to theintendeduseoftheseguns.Thearethenaturalsuccessors to the earlier so called “suicidespecials” or “Saturday night specials”; (H&Rmade their fair share of these), along withIver Johnson,Hopkins&Allen and evenColt.All those guns were solid frame, but wereinvariablysingleactiononlywithspur triggers.Rather like the derringers before them, theirvaluewasprobablyasadeterrentv. Inaway,theseareacontinuationandadevelopmentofthemuffpistolsandderringersofearliertimes,and were themselves replaced by the smallcalibreEuropeanautospioneeredbyBrowning,Bayard,Clementetc.Over the years H&R have either made orimported a vast variety of weapons, includingbothriflesandshotguns,andtheirmostpopularproduct must be the single shot break openriflewhich is stillmade today in a bewilderingvariety of calibres and formats. In the 1960s,H&RwasacquiredbytheRowefamilyandwentout of business in 1986, but a new company,H&R1871wasformedin1991,specialising in
thefamoussingleshotrifle.Thiscompanywassold to Marlin in 2000, and they in turn werebought by Remington in 2007. The companyimports various shotguns, but still makes thesingle shot rifle in a plethora of calibres from.22WMR to 45-70, and practically everythingin between, together with interchangeablebarrels, shotgun barrels and muzzleloadingbarrels as Harrington & Richardson and NewEnglandFirearms.
Target Shooter 19
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20 Target Shooter
Forster Co-Ax PressThe simplest, most powerful and most accurate press on the market, bar none. The press delivers perfect alignment of the die and the case because the shell holder jaws are designed to float with the die, thereby permitting the case to center precisely in the die.Dual floating guide rods ensure perfect alignment.
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Forster Benchrest Reloading DiesThe perfect dies for benchrest and target shooters seeking the very best accuracy.
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Target Shooter 21
Last month, our ballistics guru and F/TRshooter Laurie Holland set out the casefor a 223 that could staywith a 308 – all theway to 1000 yards. Sceptical? So am I butnow it’s my job to put the rifle together and
see if theory is matched by fact – on range.
LauriehasaleaningtowardsriflesbasedontheM16/AR15platformandalreadyusesanEliseotubeguninF/TRand,ifithadbeenpossibleto
by Vince Bottomley
Breaking the mould – pt2
The McRees butt can be configured to suit most disciplines and shooters
Theory or fact – can a 223 really compete with a 308 at extreme ranges? Laurie is about to find out.
22 Target Shooter
obtainanotherEliseochassis,IsuspectLauriewouldhavegonedownthatroute.UnfortunatelyforUK shooters,GaryEliseo is now too busyfulfilling hisAmerican orders and has no timetoexportso, for the223,LauriehaschosenaMcReesPrecision stock –whichwe reviewedin an earlier edition of Target Shooter. If youmissedit,theMcReesisanAmericanmadeCNCmachined ‘modular’ stock which is availableas a ‘drop-in’ formost popular (and somenotso popular) actions. Laurie’s stock came fromNorthWestCustomPartsinManchesterwww.nwcustomparts.com
The McRees offers a choice of fore-end andbutttosuityourparticulargame-beittactical,benchrest,FClassetc.Thestockscome‘inthewhite’,paintedoranodised.Laurie’sisanodised–orshouldIsay–was!Itwasarathergaudypinkandgoldaffairandnotsurprisingly,Laurie’sfirst job was to send it off to South YorkshireShooting Supplies for DaveWilde to give it acoatorthreeofblackDuraCoat©.
SYSS are quickly becoming the ‘industrystandard’ amongst shooters in the know andaswithmost things,meticulous preparation isthe key. In this case, Dave took no chancesandremovedtheanodisingbysand-blastingtoensureaproperkeyfortheDuracoat.Theresultisoutstanding,withthestockretainingitscrisp
CNCfinishdespiteseveralcoatsofpaint.It’savastimprovementandareallynicejobtoboot!Continuing the cosmetic theme, Laurie hasmatched the black stock with one of OspreyRifle’s custom bolts for his Savage targetaction, so the whole thing is now lookingquite smart – or it will be when I’ve donemybit and fitted the barrel! A black PicatinnyKen Farrell tapered rail completes the job.
Witha90grainbulletina223,wecan’taffordtocompromisecase-capacity,soourspecimenroundisasimilarlengthtoa308andthiswassenttoDaveKiffofPacificTool&Gaugeforthespecialreamer,whichhasawhoppingquarter-inch freebore to accommodate the needle-likeBerger VLD bullet. We will also be running a‘no-turn’necktogettheverybestperformanceoutofourcartridgewithoutinfringinganyrules.(Wecoveredthe‘no-turnneck/tightneck’inlastmonth’sTarget Shooter which is still availableon-lineviaourhomepage).
Although the Savage target action comescomplete with a barrel-nut, we will not beusingit.Ourbarrelwillbeafull1.25inchesatthebreechandacompetition recoil-lugwillbeused. The six-groove barrel is not too heavyand iswhatTrue Flite list as aHeavyPalma.TheMcRees stock is quite heavyhowever sowe need to bear inmind the 18lb 2ozweight
There are three possible fore-ends. Here are two – two-inch and three-inch wide for benchrest or you could also have a ‘sporter’ suitable for a tactical-style rifle. Laurie will use
the narrower one
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limitfortheF/TRclass.Thebarrelwillbeinitiallycut to 31 inches and finishedwith a recessedcrown.Shouldweneedtosaveafewounces,wecanalwaysshortenthebarrelaninchortwo.Although theMcReesstockmay initiallyseemexpensive, don’t forget it is a true drop-inso you don’t have to pay for bedding ‘whichcould easily cost £250. Simply do up thethree bedding screws and it’s ready to shoot!It really was that easy and all screw-holeslined-upperfectly–notalwaysthecasewithsomeso-called‘dropin’stocks.Ifyouwerebuildingatactical rig, you could spec. themagazine-fedversionwhichusestheAImagazines.
All-upweight,withan8-32Sightronscopeanda
ParkerHalestyleVersaPodiscomfortablyinsidethe18lb2ozweight limit forF/TR.Thebi-podweighslessthanapound-withalowrecoiling/lowtorquecartridgelikethe223Rem.wedon’thavetoresorttoatwo-poundSinclaircontraption.
If needed, we could have saved a few moreounces on the stock by paring-down thealuminiumhereandtherebutit’snicenottohaveto‘butcher’itandspoilourDuracoatfinish.ItwillbeuptoLaurienowtofindoutifhistheoriesholdgoodintherealworldofF/TRcompetitionsoI’llletLauriefinishoffthisarticleinhisownwords.
Here’s our barrelled-action with True-Flite Heavy Palma profile barrel
These bolts just don’t look nice – they incorporate an Osprey mod. which smoothes out bolt-lift to give that custom action feel
24 Target Shooter
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
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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Target Shooter 25
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26 Target Shooter
Itisstaggeringhowafewbenchrestcompetitions- held over nine days - can tire you but, this isexactlyhowIfeelastheEuropeanChampionshipcomes toaclose. It’snot justabout catchingupwith old and new mates......well it is but that isanotherstory!It’salsoabouttheamountoffocusand concentration you need to keep - over anextensiveperiodoftime-whenyouareshootingalmosteveryday.
The next few pages will provide a flavor of thevarious events, with details of the scoring viathe scores tables, which show what individualshooters have achieved! (Something I foundfascinatingaboutthisparticularchampionship,asnoonecountryreallydominatedthemedalstablesthroughouttheevent).
They say that “Every picture paints a thousandwords”andinthatvein,Iwanttoprovideyouwithsomeof themanypictures taken, representingagood diary of the events that took place. Therearesomegreatshots-pardonthepun-thatalotofteamshavecontributedtobutonlyaselectionare included here because of space. There areplentymore,withscores,ontheERABSFwebsiteathttp://www.erabsf.org/home.htm
Things have moved on since the previous
championships in 2007 and 2008 with morecountriestakingpartandthesportgrowingthoughoutEurope.AirRifleBenchrestisnowdevelopinginAustralia,BulgariaandsoonFinland(Asseenin
European Rimfire and Air Rifle Benchrest Championship 2010 - Plzen, Czech Republic
By Carl Boswell
Target Shooter 27
thelatestworldpostaldiary).
Taking part in the European Championshipthis year was Australia, South Africa,Russia,Bulgaria,Italy,CzechRepublic,Ireland,UnitedKingdom,GermanyandFinland-amuchwider spread of countries than the previousEuropeanChampionshipin2007wherewehadonlyfivecountriesparticipating.Afewcouldnotmakeitthisyear,possiblytodowiththepresenteconomic climate, but these countries arestill partof theERABSFandshootwithus. ItwouldbegreattoseeMalta,Holland,Portugal,Hungary and Belgium in addition to thosealreadymentionedandmaybewewilldonext
The UK Team...... most of as some of the air rifle guys had gone home after their match
PIC 2 plan
The medal winning Irish Team - most of......
Air rifle 1st to 3rd place individual over the three matches
28 Target Shooter
year at the second World Championship in theUSA.
The UK team arrived a few days early toacclimatize. After practice, we thought we hadeverything figured out as it was sunny and thewind patterns were ‘sussed’.A bit of a mistake,as the three days of the air rifle eventswere alldifferent wind-wise and shooters had to adapteach day and re-adapt as conditions changedthroughout theday–ononeparticular day fromblazing sun, to torrential rain, to thunderstormsandthenbacktosunnyconditionsagain.
Thewindcouldbeabitofapigaswell!Noteasytarget-shootingbutverycompetitiveasitwasopentoanyonewhocouldreadtheconditionsandshoot
well–abitobviousmaybebutitisallaboutwhomakes the first mistake or has not prepared fora variety of conditions. SouthAfrica did well onthefirstandseconddays,asdid theUKbut theRussianteamknockedusoffourpedestalonthesecond daywith a series of amazing scores. (Anice bunch of blokes, who I hope to see at theWorldChampionship-theywillshakethingsupabit! SoAlexie, ifyouarereading this, thingsareallopenandwehopetoseeyounextyearintheUSA).Thiswasquiteenlightening,asallofushadtoupourgame to remain in theoverallstandingandmedaltables-whichwedid,asyoucansee
Italian Silver on the HV Rimfire
The Italian and part of the Finnish Team
The Russian Team - medal winners all
Target Shooter 29
from the scores table. The UK wonboththeoverallEuropeanChampiontitlesforairrifle!
Therimfireeventswereprettysimilar,with difficult conditions to read inthe hot sun and dry wind. This wasespecially the case on the 50mrange,wheretheflagsweregivingaparticular indication. There was nomirage and the bullets were hittingthe top of the target diagram. To
say that all of us had to‘condition’ ourselves to thecharacteristics of the rangewouldbeanunderstatement.Difficulttoshoot,yesbutthisiswhatmadethewholeeventlively! The scores on mostdays shooting were withinonepointontheleaderboard,even in somecaseswithinafewXcounts.
OnepersonwhodidstandoutwasScottGrayson.Atsixteenyears of age he triumphedover his own doubts andbecamethewinnerIknewhecould be in both air rifle and
rimfire.Hewillbeonetowatchoverthecomingyears........
The 25m rimfire is one ofthose competitions thatpeople think is easy. Fairenough, there were a few750s, with shooters huntingfor Xs but there was only asmall minority achieving this- with only one such scorein the Light Varmint match.The Heavy Varmint matchprovided few more shootersachieving the top score,withScott Grayson again gettinggoldwithanamazing750with55 X counts. (Using my riflebytheway).
The50mmatchesweremuch
PIC 9 finished prop
Rotating union
The South African Team
The Australian Team - Richard Lightfoot right coming 3rd in the HV rimfire
The German Team
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moredifficult,astheconditions-asastatedbefore-wereverydifficulttoread.Theywerewithinafewpointsofeachotherwithonlyafew250scoresinbothmatches.One thing Iwill sayat thispoint -
Your scribe with my second European Title
Above - all of the juniors and below Scott Grayson, a fine young shot
The UK team winning the HV Team Gold - we won all the golds in this match
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neverbecomecomplacentwhenyouare leadingthe board. This happened to me in the LightVarmint match with one target to go - I wentand lost five points through frustration with the
conditions,puttingmeinsecondplace.Infuriating!Butthisemotiondidnotlast,thankfully!
After that, I just had to comeback in theHeavyVarmintmatchandIdid,throughsimplyenjoyingwhatIwasdoing,ratherthanwantingthescoretoomuch–enjoytheshotandmoveon!Ihadafaultwith the rifleon the lastcardwith the triggernotengagingproperly and I hadonemisfire -whichhitasightertargetfortunately-someoneuptherelikedmeonthatday!
AsfortheUKteam,theyworkedasateamandIamextremelyproudoftheiraccomplishments,asIamsureallofthevariouscountriesteamcaptainsare. We all had our successes, close calls and
A gallery of events
Yes its a rifle.............Doh!
32 Target Shooter
nightmaresontherange.IcanhonestlysaythatIamproudofalloftheUKteam’saccomplishments,especiallyon thefinalkeyHeavyVarmintmatch,wherewe tookeverygoldmedal.Thismademywholeyearasitshowsthatwe,asanation,havereally progressed in this sport and we are verycompetitiveontheworldstage.
I know that all who attended would agree thatthis championship was extremely well organisedandwentoffwithoutahitch.LadislavNinger, theChairman of the ERABSF and match directorwasverypleasedwiththeresponsetotheevent.I think the success of the event was due to hismanagementofitandeverythingwentsmoothly-
thescoringwasperfectandfromstarttofinishwithonlyone protest throughout thewholechampionship(whichwas,incidentally,rejected).
With teams havingorganised transfers fromPrague airport, the hotelorganised at a muchreduced price forcompetitors (it was superbhotel as well), to theease of passing throughcustoms(astheyhadbeenwarned we were coming)all helped the event ot runsmoothly. It only took thirtyminutestobookinourriflesand get ourselves into the‘duty free’. The team thatorganized this from theCzechCBRAwereexcellent
European Championship Gold Silver Bronze Championship TitleBulgariaCzech Republic 1 1 1Finland 1 1 2Germany 3 2 4Ireland 1 1Italy 4 5 3 X2 Rimfire Sporter & LVRussia 4 1United Kingdom 6 7 6 X2 Air Rifle & Rimfire HVWorld Cup Championship Gold Silver Bronze Championship TitleAustralia 1BulgariaCzech Republic 1 1 1Finland 1 1 2Germany 3 2 4Ireland 1 1Italy 4 5 3 X2 Rimfire Sporter & LVRussia 3 1 1South Africa 1 1United Kingdom 5 7 4 X2 Air Rifle & Rimfire HVJuniorsGermany 2 2 3South Africa 1 1 4United Kingdom 11 11 7
European and World Cup Championship Medals tableAllocation made on the basis of ONE medal for individuals and ONE for teams
Name Score XAir Rifle Light VamintNiekie Van Dyke 721 12Carl Boswell 720 18Scott Grayson 719 12Graham Freeman 715 15Robin Brown 711 10Air Rifle Heavy Vamint AStepan Morshchagin 733 21Alexey Soldatov 731 16Scott Grayson 723 19Ron Harding 722 17Graham Freeman 722 10Air Rifle Heavy Vamint BCarl Boswell 736 23Graham Freeman 735 13Stepan Morshchagin 731 22Ron Harding 730 17Alan Grayson 729 25
Name Score XRimfire Sporter 25mAldo Nardon 747 33Giuseppe Russo 746 39Hans-Jo Domaschk 746 33Andrea Foschi 743 43Markus Feldmann 741 36Rimfire Sporter 50mGiuseppe Russo 738 34Uli Kröll 735 31Roberto Giarletta 734 26Martin Menke 733 29Markus Feldmann 729 27Rimfire Light Vamint 25mMartin Menke 750 32Risto Murisoja 749 48Aldo Nardon 749 45Luca Antonello 748 50Carl Boswell 748 48Rimfire Light Vamint 50mLuca Antonello 745 45Carl Boswell 744 40Aldo Nardon 744 34Martin Menke 740 30Robert Rafter 739 33Rimfire Heavy Vamint 25mScott Grayson 750 55Luca Antonello 750 50Herman Prossel 750 48Jan Durdak 750 43Carl Boswell 750 39Rimfire Heavy Vamint 50mCarl Boswell 745 36Luca Antonello 743 43Richard Lightfoot 743 38Scott Grayson 742 34Markus Feldmann 741 38
Target Shooter 33
ineveryway.Superb!I’msavingspaceforpicturesandresultstables,soIhopethisbriefaccounthasgivenyouaflavorofwhatwasaveryintenseandcompetitiveseriesofmatches that led tomedalsbutmore importantlyEuropeantitles,withafewWorldCuptitlesthrown
intoboot.AllIcansayisthatIhopeeachoftheteam captains were as proud of their team as Iwasofmine.Forsome,itwastheirfirsttimeataninternational, for some the first time shootingrimfireandothersbecausetheyjustworkedhardat achieving their goals.As it ismy last time ascaptain for the UK team, it is nice to go out ona high as it has takenmany years and a lot ofdevelopment toget ourselves to this stage.Welldonetoall!
All fellow team captains congratulated Ladislavon the success of the European Championshipand to be honest,we are planning the next onealready.Ahardacttofollowbut,Iforonejustcan’twait.See younextmonthanduntil then straightshooting………………………..
Another gallery of events
Would you tell this guy his scoring was wrong????????????? The match director !!
34 Target ShooterJamie 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
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..... and finally the team that put the whole championship together, well done guys
Target Shooter 35
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Knowing your conditionsHelps to keep your aim true
Knowing your conditionsHelps to keep your aim true
36 Target Shooter
Lastmonth,wewentthroughthebasicsofthebuild which included re-barrelling my Remmyaction,inlettingthestockandDevconbeddingtheaction. Ialwayswanted the rifle tohaveadetachableboxmagazineandwentfortheSouthYorkshire Shooting Supply’s bottom-metal,whichismadefortheAImagazines.Fittingthebottom-metalintomystockprovedtobeafairlystraightforward process and I had no troublewiththe260Rem.cartridgefeedingsmoothly.
Other ComponentsTherestofthebuildwasstandardfayre,20MOA
picatinny rail, 30mm rings, an 8-32NightforceNXSscopeandHarris6-9”bipod,allofwhichhadbeenusedonthegunbeforeitsre-build.
Theonlyrealchangewasthat Idecidedtogoagainst having the muzzle threaded. Why? Idon’t want to use a soundmoderator anywayasIdislikethemandfeeltheycancausemoreproblemsthantheysolve,certainlyonatargetgun. Secondly, I didn’t intend to fit a muzzle-brake.Ihadabrakeonthe308tominimiseshottoshotdisruptiononshootsliketheMcQueen’swhererapidfireandrapidreturntopointofaim
My 308 is dead, what next? – Pt2
by Chris Parkin
TheRifleasitwasusedfortheEggshoot
Target Shooter 37
isneededbut Ipersonally, like to feel thegunkickalittleandsincethisnewbuildwaslookinglikehavinglessrecoilthantheold308andalotmoreweight,Ididn’tseetheneed.
The Egg ShootIhadjustacoupleofdayslefttosortoutaloadfortheDiggleEggShootsoworkedupacoupleof simple recipes, combining this with barrel
The Bottom Metal inlet with 2mm Devcon surround.
The .260 Rem cartridge, loaded 10 thou. off the lands, is a perfect fit in the AI magazine
38 Target Shooter
run-in and cleaning.Accuracywas better withthesecondloadandalthoughmychronographplayedgamesontheday,IatleasthadaloadtotaketotheEggShoot,witharoughideaofitsmuzzle-velocity.
Ihaveshot thecompetitionbeforeandusuallyfinishedsomewhereinthemiddleoftheresultslistsoIwentwiththeintentionofhavingagooddayandenjoyingit.Iwasn’ttoobotheredaboutanexactzeroasIknewIwouldbewithinhalfaMOAorsoand,inacompetitionwithnosighters,thingscanvarysomuchon thedayanyway -especiallywithDiggle’swind!At the first 100 yard stageof theEggShoot Ishotacleanmaximumscore–threeshotsinathree-quarterinchcircle.At300yardsIgot3hitswitha0.8inchgroupandat500yardsputina0.9inchgroupwithoneofthethreeshotsjustoffthebody,soeightoutofmynineshotsscored.Iwasahappychappy.Yes,Imissedtheeggandthe£100bountybutastheresultsstartedtoappear,IbegantorealisethatIhadprobablydoneprettywell.AlthoughItiedwithmybestmateChrisVaux,whoalsohadacleanscoreat100yards,Ihadn’tmanagedtowinanyofthesmall-groupawardsbutdidhaveenoughpoints to tie for theoverallwin.Avery
satisfyingdebutforthe260.
Although the rifle is workable and 100%functional,myprojectwasstillnotfullycomplete.The gun needed final aesthetic finishing andthe load needed a little more development tomakesureIwasfeedingthebarreleverythingitdeserved.Nextmonthwe’lllookinmoredetailatloaddevelopmentandfinalfinishing-includingthe Dura-Coating process which I decided toapplytoallthemetalparts.
The 1” Ball Nose cutter with 30mm bushingSome Components for initial load development
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I am retired and no longer play golf, so spendsome time, amongst other things, trying toimprove my benchrest skills with the aim ofqualifying tomeet you guys again, this time inCharleston.
IwasreadingwiththeusualkeeninteresttheJuly,Ithink,issueofTargetShooterinwhichAndywasdescribinghisbenchrestrifleproject.Mythoughtwas that whilst it was different it was still amodification of an essentially prone rifle. So Ithoughtofbuildingmyownprototypebenchrestrifle.
Richard Lightfoot and I are both members ofthesametwosmallboreclubsinMelbourne.Tothis end I knew that through him I had accessto a very well qualified member of the formerCommonwealth Aircraft Factory prototypedivision, who could do the necessary precisionmachining.
Iwasabletoacquireametrelengthof40mmsquareaircraftqualitydrawnaluminiumblock-(for$100).Thiswassufficient,withthe12mmperspexthatIalreadyhad,tobuildbothprototypes.
ThusAndy was the catalyst for my project, for
whichIamgrateful,butmyaim,wastodesignarifleforbenchrest,specifically,thatwouldnotbeusedforprone.Thus,asthephotosshowIhavedispensedwiththesomeoftheproneelements:thehand-grip,thecheekpiece,andthefore-endwhichismuchshorter,whichenablestheshootertoreachthefrontstandtoadjust,withoutleaningforward,oratworsthavingtostandup.
I have read much about the position to beadopted in our sport. These are individualand variable, and inMilan in 2008 and here inAustraliaIhaveseenanumberofvarieties.RichardandIhavejointlyevolvedapositionthatfavours sitting directly behind the rifle, whichis almost unique here. Hand contact is thenconfinedtothefrontrestadjustment,thehandleif coaxial, and the trigger-nothing else. Thisenables a straight view down the riflescopewithout severely angling the head, which canover even short-time periods effect blood flowto thebrainand thuseyes, thusaiming. It alsoenables the trigger to be pulled straight back,ratherthanataslightangle.
The rear end is able to be adjusted vertically,withease.Thisenablesthemultipletargetstobeengagedathigherscopemagnification.Iusually
New Design - alternative rimfire benchrest!!
by Martin Lee
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shootthetoptworowsandthenmovedown.Thiscanbedonequicklyandwithaccuracy.
AsageneralobservationIhavetriedtokeeptheheight of the scope above the bore, as low aspossibletoreduceerror,andtomovethescope
as far back as possible to give head up andappropriateeye-relief.Tothisendtherearscopemountisnotvertical,andwhenmountedontheCentrarailenablesthescopetobemovedfurthertotherear.
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Dolphin Gun Company & Ballistic Services (a division of Hobson Industries ) 2 Vine Street STAMFORD
Lincs PE9 1QE
Tel: 01780 481567 or 0774 7771962 Email: [email protected]
Website: www.dolphinguncompany.co.uk
Please feel free to contact us at any reasonable time to discuss any requirements that you may have.
Rifle Work Re-barreling work Fitting of Moderators and Muzzle brakes - Reproofing of
Rifle required Trigger work – See Trigger work
Ammunition Development Assistance in Ammunition Development up to and including .50 BMG
Ballistics Testing Offering Ballistics testing for research and development purposes to Stanag, NIJ and V50 testing of composite and steel materials. Including High speed photography and Certifiable Results of tests. Dolphin are now proud to announce that we are ISO 9001:2008 BSI certificate No FM32560 for our Ballistic testing.
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Last month, I covered earlyattempts at creating long-range .308W loads for F-TRcompetition,butstruggledwithanFNSPR’s24-inchbarrelandstandard0.300/0.3080”internalmeasurements that producedpretty anaemic MVs. Lookingback, I’m struck by how littleI knew then, but shooting the.308W at 1,000yd is a hardtaskmaster – you either learnor resign yourself to being atthe tailendof theresults lists.Look around theWeb though,and you’ll still see this andsimilarriflesdescribedasbeing‘F-Class ready’, and the loadthatIstartedoutwithonmyfirstyear of GB-FCA competitionwas ballistically identical tothat used by Brad Sauvewhen he won the US F-TRChampionship only a year or
HANDLOADING ‘OLD FAITHFUL’ THE .308 WINCHESTER (Part 11 and Conclusion)
By Laurie HollandAbove - Every charge used was individually weighed. Harrell’s Precision benchrest measure,
RCBS 10-10 scales and Redding T7 press with Redding Competition die visible
Sierra bullets loaded for the FN Special Police Rifle. Left to right: 155gn Palma MK; 175gn MK; 190gn MK
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twoearlier– the175gnSierraMKata littleabove2,600 fps.Ballistics tablesandprogramssaid thatthisbulletwouldbeOKall theway to1,000yardsretainingaround1,200fpsat1,000yd,80fpsabovethe speed of sound, and in ‘standard ballistic’environmentalconditionsat that–even theBritishsummer usually sees us shoot in highertemperatures than 59°. Also, the 175gn SMK at2,620 fps closely duplicates the 1,000yd ballisticperformance of a longstanding Target Rifle (TR)andPalma load, the original 155gnSMKat 2,950fps, which was successfully used bymany British.308WF-Classcompetitorsintheearlydaysofthediscipline.Nevertheless,inDiggle’sandBlairAtholl’sstrongwindsandchillytemperatures,itdidn’twork!Rather, it didat800yards,usuallydidat900,butwalkbackthatextrahundredyardsandbulletswereall over the target in anything except a flat calm,and‘allover’includedelevationconsistency,orlackof it. There were several possible reaons for this:ballistics tables speak with forked tongue; thesebulletsareverysusceptible towinddisturbanceat
transonic speeds; some examples were justdropping into subsonic speeds and behavingerratically, or at any rate differently from theirsupersonicfellows.2008wasBL–BeforeLitz–andmuchwasexplainedoncewehadaccesstoBryan’sexperimentallyderivedG7BCsandsuitable programs to run them through. Table1comparesSierraInfinityV.6’s(G1dragcurvebased) predictions against that of G7 baseddata for the 175gn MatchKing to 1,000yd.Notehowthesignificantdifferencesonlyreallyappear at long ranges and we see that thisbullet-MVcombinationissubsonicat1,000withonly92fpsinhandat900yd.(Iregard100fpsoverthespeedofsoundasaminimumcushionat the maximum distance any bullet is to befiredover,betterstill200fpstoavoidtransonicturbulence events, although it should benotedthatsomebulletscopebetterthanothers,the 190, 200, and 220gn Sierra MKs beingoutstandinginthisrespect.)
PuttingBradSauve’ssuperiorshootingskillstooneside,howcomehemanagedtowinthingswith thiscombination? Icanonlysurmise thatUSF-Classmatchesare shot inmuchhighertemperatures than ours, hence in thinner air,givingextravelocityat1,000yd.Alwaysrememberthatthecartridgeismarginalforthisdistanceinallbutspecialisedloadings,andrelativelysmallchanges in any part of the external ballisticsmix can have a disproportionate effect on itsperformance.Anotherthingtofactorinistargetsize,andwhilea loadthatsuffers1.5-MOAofvertical dispersion say caused by transonicballisticfactorscanstillwina1,000ydTRmatch
withits2¼-MOA(24-inchorso)diameter ‘Bull’, it’llstrugglewiththe1-MOA(10½”)F-Classequivalenteven if the shooter reads the wind perfectly. By2008,nationallevelF-TRshootershadrealisedtheyneededtoraisetheirgamewellaboveTRstandardseven if nine out of ten stayed with 155gn bullets,mostadoptingthehigherBC155gnLapuaScenarandpushingMVsupbyanother100fpswithahalf-MOA grouping capability regarded as a minimumrequirement, and things have steadily moved onsincethen.
FN Round 2With the barrel for a custom F-TR rifle takingforever, itwasacaseofmake-dowith the toolsathand,meaning I either squeezedanother100-150fpsMVoutof the175gnSMKorfounda loadthatgavethesame2,620-50fpsMVswithasignificantlyhigherBCbullet.GettingmorevelocityoutoftheFNwasn’timpossible,butdoingitwithouttakinggroupsize to theMOAmarkand increasingMVextremespreadswasanothermatter.Asecondroundofbench
The Whidden Gunworks bullet pointing die. A separate supporting sleeve (alongside on the left) is required for each calibre
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testing was embarked upon, also looking at otherbulletson themarket foramoregeneral reportastowhatpeoplecanexpect fromagood24”barrelfactory rifle. For example, I knew in advance thatI wouldn’t get the 155gn Berger VLD out at highenoughvelocitiesforF-TR,butwantedtoseehowthethreeVLDmodelswouldperforminthissortofrifle,andaddedittothe168and175gnexamples.Incidentally, the two Berger 168gn models (BTand VLD) with their less than 9° boat-tail anglesremain stable at long ranges and shouldn’t beclassed with same weight ‘short-range only’bullets from Sierra, Speer, Nosler and Hornady.However, thisVLD is nothing towrite homeaboutintermsofBC,beingonlymarginallybetterthanthebest 155s, but not going to achieve theirMVs. ItsG7BCof 0.242 is nearly the sameas that of the175gnSMK(0.243),sowouldalsoneedtoachieve2,750 fps MV to be usable at long range. Whileit produced reasonable groups in the FN but atdeficientvelocities,its175gnsiblingwouldn’tgroupandthe2,650fpsIgotwithRe15wasstilltoolow.
That left185sand190sandthefirstquestionwaswould the 190gnSierraMatchKing stabilise in theFN’s1-12” twistbarrel, thisseeminga long,heavyand exotic bullet amere couple of years ago. Noproblemhereand IevenhadsomeNorma factory190gn ‘Diamond Match’ cartridges that producedahealthy2,628fps–shamethattheystruggledtoproduce 100yd groups under the inch! The mainalternatives came from Lapua, its traditional andefficient D46 FMJBT and newer Scenar HPBTMboth in 185gn. I’d tried theD46and theFNdidn’tlike it, but the Scenar with its claimed G1 BC of0.521(comparedto0.505and0.533forthe175gnand 190gn Sierra MKs respectively) looked good
providing I could get 2,625 - 2,650 fps.Moreover,I’d previously obtained reasonable accuracywith this bullet and getting on for 2,600 fps usingVihtavuoriN550 ‘high-energy’ powder. I nowknowfromBryanLitz’slong-rangeteststhatthisbullet isashort-rangepropositionwithanaverage0.483BCover1,000yd,while the190gnSMKat0.527doesexactlywhat itsayson the tin.So itwas fortunatethatIgotbetterresultsatthe100ydbenchfromtheSierraandusedthatformyremainingmatcheswiththeFN!46.5gnofN550producedahalf-inchgroupat2,638fpsandfollow-uptestsvaryingchargesby0.2gn steps repeated these results. With 46.7gnadopted just in time for the last national leaguematchof theyear, Imovedup frommycustomarypositioninthelastthreeinclasstohalfwayupthefield,atthecostofheavymuzzleblast.Itshouldbenotedthatalthoughavenerabledesign, the190gnSMK is still a favourite amongst some 1,200ydMatch Rifle competitors and has a reputation fornot being fazed by transonic / subsonic veloci-tiesatextreme ranges. I regularly tellF-TRshoot-ers to try it, but theyask insteadabout the185gnScenar which is an inferior bullet for long ranges.Important! Remember, the FN’s SAAMI barrelspecifications – this 190gn/N550 combinationmayproduce excessive pressures in a ‘tight’ barrel,especially older model UK and Commonwealth7.62mmcalibre,TRrifles.DoNOTuseitinEnfieldNo.47.62mmrifles.
Table2liststheresultsofthissecondroundofloadtests in theFN.Withnosignof thebarrelorderedfor the new rifle, desperate measures were also
Above - 190gn Sierra MK meplats – out of the box on the right, ‘pointed’ on the left
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adopted tosqueezeevery lastbitofBCoutof the190 SMKs and improve their long-range groupingcapability–measuringtheirbearingsurfacelengthsusingcallipersandtwobulletcomparatorbodiesand.30”insertsandbatchingthemaccordingly;buyingaWhiddenGunworksbulletpointingdieand.30calibreinserttoreducetheirmeplatdiameters.‘Pointing’isworthsomewherebetweena3and8%BCincrease
dependingonbulletcalibre(smallerthecalibre,thegreater the benefit), and the original meplat size.
Tubegun February 2009 saw Vince Bottomley completemy Eliseo stocked tubegun replacement for theFN with its superb Barnard Model P action andBartlein barrel, the last named in a30” ‘tight-bore’
1-13.5” twistconfigurationverymuch in linewith mid 2008 thinking when it had beenordered.Thechamberwas‘minimum-SAAMI’specificationandthroatedforthe155gnLapuaScenar seated relatively shallowly in thecaseforac.2.85”COALtoincreasepowdercapacityandMVs.GaryEliseoalsoprovidedone of the first examples of his benchrestbag-riding forend plate and buttstockbag-riderrailkits,sobenchtestingloadswascarried out from a pedestal front-rest withgreatprecision.
WiththefirstGB-FCAnationalleagueroundimminent,gettingsuitablyaccurateandhighvelocityloadswiththeScenarwasapriority,VihtN540triedinLapuabrass,N550intheold‘roomy’ 1980s vintage160gnNorma cases.A secondary objectivewas to try the newlyintroduced Sierra 155gn MK (#2156) andBerger 155.5gn FULLBORE models at full
The Barnard-Eliseo tubegun in its original slow-twist barrel form in BR mode during 100yd load tests
Left - Left to right: 155.5gn Berger, 155gn Lapua Scenar, new Sierra Palma MK (#2156). All performed well although the barrel had been chambered specifically for the Scenar.
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(3,000 fpsormore)velocities,alsoothersuitabledesignsthatwouldstabiliseinthe‘slow’riflingtwist.Loadsthatprovidedgoodprecision (grouping ability) rather thanflat-outvelocityforshort-rangeclubmatchloadswere also sought. The new-modelSMKwasunobtainablehereatthattime,andImustthankNormanClarkinRugby,one of our main Sierra importers anddistributors,formostgenerouslydonatingthesole‘sample’boxofthesebulletsthatthefactoryhadsenttohimformytests.
Viht N550 in the old Norma cases gavesmall groups with MVs in the 2,900-3,000 fps region with near case-fullpowder charges, but N540 in the Lapuabrass also grouped very well and gaveadditionalvelocity.Iadoptedalong-range
Above - Lapua .308W cases given a light ‘clean-up’ neck turn after initial batching by neck thicknessBelow - Forster and Redding neck-size bushings for minimum working of case necks and close control of neck tension on the bullet
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load comprising Lapua brass, Federal 210MGoldMatch primer, 155gn Scenar 0.015” off the riflingandastiff(46.8gn)chargeofN540whichgroupedconsistently at 0.35-0.5” at 100yd and gave 3,016fpsMVinthetightbarrelwithunder20fpsspreads.
Laterinwarmerconditionsandwithafewhundredrounds through the barrel, that rose to 3,087 fps.Note thatVihtavuori lists45.1gnas theirmaximumcharge for this combination,althoughmychamberandthelongerCOALitpermitswilldroppressures
Above -The tubegun shot a storm at shorter ranges in its slow twist form as seen here in the 2009 Yorkshire R.A. Spring Open meeting with 28 of 35 shots going into a 0.66-MOA
V-Bull at 400, 500, and 600 yards. However, elevation consistency was not good enough at 900 and 1,000yd
Set up ready to go at 350 yards
Table 1: 175gn SMK External Ballistics
Sierra Infinity v6 (G1) Berger Bullets Program (G7)
Range
Velocity Drift Velocity Drift
Muzzle 2,620 0.00” 2,620 0.00” 100 2,443 0.72” 2,436 0.75” 200 2,273 2.98” 2,260 3.10” 300 2,109 6.94” 2,091 7.25” 400 1,953 12.81” 1,929 13.38” 500 1,803 20.80” 1,774 21.78” 600 1,660 31.17” 1,625 32.73” 700 1,526 44.22” 1,481 46.62” 800 1,403 60.18” 1,344 63.90” 900 1,293 79.27” 1,214 85.10” 1,000 1,199 101.57” 1,099 110.77” Notes Drift is in a 10 mph 90‐degrees crosswind. Standard ballistic conditions (59°F, 29.92” Hg atmospheric pressure). The speed of sound is 1,122 fps under standard atmospheric conditions.
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somewhat. Let’s say something about componentpreparation and selection and loading practices.They had been steadily upgraded since I startedlong-range F-TR peaking in the winter of 2008/9with many a happy (?) hour spent neck-turningcases.FirsttobeupgradedbackinFNdaysweredieswith thepurchaseofaReddingType ‘S’ full-lengthbushing sizer and a matching micrometer-topCompetition seater – a superb combination. This
was followed by a Forster Bushing-Bump set,also a bushing type but one that neck-sizeswhilesettingthecase-shoulderbackwithoutreducingthecase-bodydiameter.Lapuabrasswasboughtnew,batched according to weight and neck thickness,and given a ‘clean-up’ neck-turn based on that,somebatchesto0.014”,othershalfathou’thinner.Primerpocketsandflash-holeswereuniformedandcasesbatchedbyweightwithany that fell outside
Table 2: FN SPR Load Development – Second Round
All combinations used Lapua cases and PMC primers unless noted otherwise. VLDs were seated 10 thou’ into the rifling, other bullets kept 10 thou’ out. Charges/Powder Groups / MV Comments
155gn Berger VLD 42‐45gn H. VarGet 0.5‐1.0” 2,752 (ES: 30) 43gn / 2,618 fps smallest group 43‐45.5gn N540 0.5‐1.0” 2,767 (ES: 24) 43gn / 2,533 fps smallest group 168gn Berger VLD 43‐46gn N150 0.3‐0.9” 2,688 (ES: 12) All groups <0.6” bar 45.5gn at 0.9” 42‐44gn Allt. Re15 0.6‐1.1” 2,652 (ES: 16) 175gn Berger VLD 41‐44gn Allt. Re15 0.6‐1.8” 2,661 (ES: 19) All groups <1” bar 44gn 42‐44gn N150 0.8‐1.0” 2,571 (ES: 13) 42‐45.5gn N550 0.4‐0.8” n/r 175gn Sierra Match King 41‐44gn N540 0.3‐1.5” 2,580 (ES: 21) 42gn small group at 2,406 fps 42.5‐45.5gn N150 0.5‐1.3 n/r All groups <0.8” except 45.5gn 44‐47.5gn N550 0.5‐1.0” 2,695 (ES: 20) 43.2‐45gn IMR‐4064 0.8‐1.4” 2,750 0.2gn load steps 42‐45gn IMR‐4320 0.5‐1.1” 2,706 (ES: 25) Top load largest group 41‐44gn H. VarGet 0.5‐1.5” 2,648 (ES: 18) All groups <1” except 44gn 40.5‐42.5gn H4895 0.5‐1.3” 2,538 (ES: 19) Norma cases. Groups <1” bar 42.5gn 185gn Lapua Scenar 40‐42.5gn Allt. Re15 0.5‐1.2” 2,507 (ES: 19) 40‐42.5gn IMR‐4064 0.9‐1.3” 2,605 43‐46gn N550 0.5‐0.9” 2,579 (ES: 39) 190gn Sierra Match King 40‐42.5gn H. VarGet 0.6‐2.0” 2,599 (ES: 22) Everything >1” except 41.5gn 40‐42gn IMR‐4064 0.6‐1.2” 2,573 (ES: 15) Top load smallest group. 41‐44gn N150 0.5‐0.7” 2,524 (ES: 13) Good shorter range load. 44‐46.5gn N550 0.35‐1.2” 2,638 (ES: 32) 46.5‐47.1gn N550 0.5‐1.2” n/r
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Table 3: Barnard Tubegun (Early Loads – 155gn) Case / Primer Powder Groups / MV Comments
155gn Lapua Scenar Nor/F210M 48.2‐49.0gn Viht N550 0.3‐0.9” 2,982 All ≤0.6” except 49gn Lap/PMC 45.5‐47.2gn Viht N540 0.4‐1.0” 3,016 10 x 5‐round batches, small steps. Nor/F210M 44.0‐46.0gn Viht N150 0.2‐0.9” 2,859 Good load. 4 ex 5 ≤0.4”. Nor/NSF 43.5‐45.5gn Viht N140 0.25‐0.65” 2,908 Good – 4 ex 5 ≤0.4”. Nor/NSF 45.0‐48.0gn H. VarGet 0.3‐1.6” 3,088 10 x 5‐round batches, small steps. Lap/F210M 42.0‐44.0gn IMR‐3031 0.3‐0.7” 3,055 Very small MV ES values. Lap/F210M 42.0‐44.0gn H. Benchmark 0.4‐0.8” 2,989 Poor. 4 ex 5 ≥0.6”. Lap/F210M 42.5‐44.5gn IMR‐4064 0.5‐0.8” 2,982 Lap/F210M 44.0‐46.0gn Alliant Re15 0.4‐0.6” 3,006 155gn Berger VLD Nor/F210M 49.2‐50.0gn Viht N550 0.4‐0.75” 3,022 0.2gn steps 155.5gn Berger BT FULLBORE Lap/PMC 47.4‐48.5gn Viht N550 0.3‐1.1” 2,946 4 ex 5 loads ≤0.6”. Lap/F210M 46.0‐47.6gn Viht N540 0.5‐0.75” 2,937 Nor/F210M 45.0‐47.6gn H. VarGet 0.25‐0.9” 2,981 10 x 5‐round batches, small steps. 155gn Sierra MK (old model #2155) Nor/NSF 44.0‐46.0gn Viht N150 0.3‐0.8” 2,897 155gn Sierra MK (new model #2156) Lap/PMC 47.4‐48.5gn Viht N550 0.2‐1.0” 2,949 3 ex 5 loads ≤0.5”. Lap/F210M 46.0‐47.6gn Viht N540 0.3‐1.0” 2,908 Poor: only 1 load under 0.5” Nor/NSF 44.0‐46.0gn Viht N150 0.2‐0.9” 2,885 Very good: 4 ex 5 within 0.2‐0.4”.
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Table 4: 1‐13” and 1‐13.5” Twist Rate Stability Factor Values (Miller’s Twist rate Formula) Bullet Length MV (fps) Sg1‐13” Sg1‐13.5” 155.5gn Berger FULLBORE 1.250” 3,000 1.29 1.20 155gn SMK (old #2155) 1.131” 3,000 1.72 1.59 155gn SMK (new #2156) 1.210” 3,000 1.42 1.31 168gn Hornady HPBT Match 1.232” 2,880 1.44 1.33 168gn Berger VLD 1.265” 2,880 1.33 1.23 168gn Sierra MK 1.215” 2,880 1.50 1.39 167gn Lapua Scenar 1.236” 2,880 1.42 1.32 175gn Berger BT Long‐Range 1.279” 2,825 1.34 1.24 175gn Sierra MK 1.240” 2,825 1.46 1.35 180gn Sierra MK 1.277” 2,785 1.37 1.27 185gn Berger BT Long‐Range 1.353 2,750 1.19 1.10 185gn Lapua Scenar 1.308” 2,750 1.31 1.22 190gn Sierra MK 1.353” 2,710 1.21 1.13 Notes Calculated using the Miller’s Twist Rate formula (Excel program). Bullet lengths courtesy of Bryan Litz (from his book “Applied Ballistics for Long Range Shooting”). Sg (stability factor) values based on standard ballistics environment (59°F 29.92” Hg pressure). Cold dense air and high pressures reduce the Sg requiring a faster rifling twist rate; high temperatures, altitude and low atmospheric pressure increase it requiring less twist rate and a slower bullet spin rate. 1.0 Sg value = theoretically stable. ≥1.4 is recommended, but ≥1.2 is usually ‘safe’ in UK conditions while 1.1 is ‘dicey’. However, note that value for the 185gn Berger BT L‐R in the 1‐13.5” twist drops to only 1.06 at 45°F (7°C) which applied in the PSSA match in late October.
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Table 5: Barnard Tubegun (Early Loads – ‘heavy’ Bullets in 1‐13.5” Twist Barrel) Case / Primer Powder Groups / MV Comments
168gn Sierra MK Nor/NSF 43.0‐45.0gn Viht N150 0.4‐1.2” 2,714 168gn Hornady HPBT Match Lap/PMC 43.0‐46.0gn Viht N150 0.7‐1.2” 2,877 Very small ES values – single digit! Win/PMC 43.0‐46.0gn H. VarGet 0.4‐0.65” 2,887 Small ES values. 168gn Berger VLD Win/PMC 43.0‐46.0gn Viht N150 0.5‐0.8” 2,837 Lap/PMC 43.0‐46.0gn H. Varget 0.3‐0.7” 2,902 Very good: 4 ex 5 ≤0.5”. Small ES values. 175gn Sierra MK Nor/F210M 43.0‐45.0gn Viht N150 0.3‐0.6” 2,780 Small ES values. 4 ex 5 ≤0.5”. Rem/F210M 41.0‐43.0gn Viht N140 0.4‐1.0” 2,667 Very good: 4 ex 5 ≤0.4”. Rem/F210M 42.5‐44.5gn Viht N540 0.5‐0.9” 2,842 Large ES values. Lap/F210M 42.0‐45.0gn H. VarGet 0.3‐0.8” 2,831 4 ex 5 ≤0.6”. Lap/F210M 41.0‐44.0gn Alliant Re15 0.5‐0.9” 2,802 4 ex 5 0.5‐0.6”. 180gn Sierra MK Nor/F210M 42.5‐44.5gn Viht N150 0.5‐0.9” 2,742 Small ES values. 4 ex 5 ≤0.5”. Lap/F210M 42.0‐45.0gn H. VarGet 0.3‐0.8” 2,831 Small ES values. Lap/F210M 41.0‐44.0gn Alliant Re15 0.5‐0.9” 2,802 3 ex 5 exactly 0.5” 185gn Berger Target BT Long‐Range Nor/F210M 46.1‐46.3gn Viht N550 0.4‐0.6” 2,755 (46.2gn) 3 x 0.1gn steps. Bad weather.
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of weight or neck thickness norms used for loaddevelopment. Most loads used the Federal 210MMatch primer. All bullets used in long-rangecompetition were ‘pointed’ in the Whidden die.Charges were weighed on a set of RCBS 10-10beam scales after being thrown from a Harrell’sPrecisionpowdermeasure.Thistoolisajoyinuse,itsoperationbeingsosmooth,butdoesn’tnecessarilythrow more uniform charges than the HornadyCompetitionmeasureImentionedlastmonth.Whatitwilldoisallowaquickreturntoknownsettingsandconsistentsettings’changeswithitsfullycalibratedlarge brass adjuster drum and individual clicksettings,asingleoneofwhichchangesthechargebyverycloseto0.1gnwithmoststickpowders.ThisisaboonwiththenumberofdifferentcartridgesIloadandregularloaddevelopmentsessionsassemblingammunitioninbatchesoffiveroundsbeforechangingthechargeweightbyanythingbetween0.1andafullgrain.Finally,thepresswasupgraded–Inowhaveachoiceof theForsterCo-AxorReddingT7bothof which are powerful, smooth and produce veryconcentricsizedcasesorfinishedrounds.Igenerallyuse the Forster for .308W ammo, keeping the T7semi-permanently set up for .223 Rem and .204Ruger.
Theresultstableslargelytelltheirownstory.Somepoints to note though: All combinations and theirresulting groups are for five-round batches, fiveof each charge weight unless shown otherwise,Chargeweightstepscanbeguessedfromtherange–2gnoverallnormallyin0.5gnsteps;3gnin0.1gnstepsthen0.5gnbetweenthetwohighestcharges.Multiplebatchcombinationsstartedat0.5or0.4gnsteps reducing as likely maximum loads wereapproached, first to 0.3gn then 0.2gn. Manytop loads exceed those in loading manuals andreaders use them at their own risk. All were runthroughQuickLOADbeforeadoptiontocheckonlikelypressures – none produces excessive pressure inmyrifle–butmayinyours,sostart10%belowmymaxima andwork up in small steps.Also, reducemaximum charge weights for the heavier loadsshown for the Norma cases by a grain if used inLapuabrass.
Groups and HeaviesSo far as performance is concerned, the Bartleinbarrel likedHodgdonVarGetand itproved tobeatopperformerwithmostbullets.VihtN540wasthevelocitykingwith155s,whymanyEuropeanF-TRshooters use it, and gave good groups with thisbullet weight. N550 proved superior for heavierbullets, N150 was its usual superb self in lowerMV loads for shorter ranges giving some of mybest test groups. IMR-3031 proved to be a starwith the 155gn Scenar giving high MVs, small
spreads and groups. It doesn’t meter well inmeasureshowever.Asashorter range load, Ihadthe 155gn Scenar in the old thin Norma brass,federal210Mprimerand48.0gnVihtN550for2,843fps,althoughthesingle-baseN150versionwouldperformequallywellascanbeseenfromitsresultsinTable3.
My 2009 match positions improved dramaticallywith the Barnard and these loads, but I wasn’tsatisfied – I reckoned I could do better. Much ofthat is in improving thenutbehind thebutt’swind-reading skills, but reckoned I could improve theexternalballisticsthroughbulletselection.BryanLitz’sbook “Applied Ballistics for LongRangeShooting”showed how – heavier higher-BC bullets, and thethennewBergerBTLong-Rangemodels,especiallythe185gn lookedpromising.Theproblemwas theBartlein’s slow (1-13.5”) rifling twist rate that givesthis bullet amarginal stability factor of 1.10 (table4). This bullet is regularly used in the USA with1-13” rate Palma Rifle barrels where competitionrulesallow,although1-12” is regardedasoptimal.
Although looking for reducedwinddrift, Igraduallybecame aware that my vertical spreads with the155gn Scenar / N540 load were larger than theyshouldbe,sometimesmuchlarger.Idon’tknowwhyas thecombinationgrouped tightlyandgavesmallvelocityextremespreads,butitdid.Maybemovingto the Berger 155.5gn or new Sierra Palma MKwouldhavehelped,butIbegantofeelyoucanpushthese bullets too fast, so reducingMVs to around3,000 fpswas one possible solution. In any eventI’d decided heavier bullets were the way forwardandstartedtestingsometoseeiftheywould‘work’,slow-twist or no – and they apparently did! (Table5.) 47.0gn of N550 behind the 185 Berger gave0.2” 100yd groups in late summer / early autumntemperatures,laterchronographing2,810fpswithasmall spread.However, trying this load ina900ydPSSAmatchatDiggleonacold lateOctoberdaygaveverydifferentresults–Miss,3,3,4,2thehitsspreadhigh,low,rightandleft,soitwasacaseofarapidswitchbacktothe155gnammunitionI’dtakenalong .... just in case. Why? Maybe they work at100yd,butnot900inanyconditions;maybeitwastheconsiderable temperaturedropbetween100ydtesting and thematch. In any event, I had a new1-10” twist rate Broughton barrel blank lined upandthiswasfittedearlythisyearbyStuartAnselm(OspreyRifles)chamberedwiththesamereamerasthe1-13.5”Bartlein.TheBerger185sperformbrilliantlyinthisbarrelat2,750fpsandtheelevationproblemhasbeencured.Ihave200,208and210gnbulletsplussomeotherheaviesonhandforfurtherteststhisautumnandwinter–butfast-twistbarrel,heavybullet.308Wisasubjectforafuturelookatthecartridge.
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58 Target Shooter
The 150th Imperial Meeting
by Chris WhiteThe 2010 Queens Prize was taken to back to Northern Ireland - the first time since Martin Millar’s historic 1994 win - by David Calvert of the RAF Target Rifle Club. Calvert scored an outstanding 297 with 37 v’s out of a possible 300/60v over the five ranges, dropping only three shots out of sixty.
Queen’s finalists carry forward their second stage score - the second stage consisting of ten shots to count at 300, 500 and 600 yards. David carried forward 150 to the final, which is fifteen shots on score at 900 yards and 1000 yards and was still ‘clean’ when he got down to shoot at 1000 yards. Only one other competitor was in the same enviable position. Jonathon Underwood who won the Queen’s in 2006. Calvert was shooting in his 24th Queen’s final and has previously come second on three occasions. Incidentally, of current active competitors, only Paul Kent and Simon Belither have bettered this with 28 and 26 appearances respectively. Like David, neither have actually won it. Under less than easy conditions and, despite his experience and unquestioned skill and clearly under a lot of pressure, he finished the afternoon with a 73 at 1000 yards to clinch the coveted prize at last. Just one point adrift was Australian Jim Corbett, who was there independently and not a member of his country’s official rifle team, on 296/45 with Paul Kent and fellow Ulsterman Ross McQuillan both on 296/38.
‘Touch-line experts’ may well believe that the second stage was a stroll in the park and the final a difficult but manageable shoot. They would be wrong. Take it from me - I was there!
Before we get into just what David was faced with on-route to his ride in the chair let’s look at the meeting as a whole from my perspective and also ‘step outside the box’ now and again and see if any of my experiences provide lessons which may prove useful.
Above - A very happy David Calvert is chaired off the range
Here’s what the borescope revealed in the Barnard’s borehe Barnard’s bore
Target Shooter 59
Now, the first lesson was learned over most of the first part of this year but I did not cotton-on to it until the Scottish meeting in June. I had had one or two shoots ruined by off-call high shots - a situation which repeated itself at the Scottish but only at the first range. My Barnard has now had close on 6,000 rounds through its Krieger barrel and inspection with the bore-scope reveals that it is picking up copper big-time in the throat area.
I had been making strenuous efforts to remove as much of this as possible. After the first shoot in Scotland I started to ponder.
This erratic shooting only occurred when the rifle was clean. Subsequent ranges or occasions when I shot the rifle dirty were OK. I reasoned that what was happening was that the barrel needed to re-plate itself with copper in the rough area before it settled down. Smallbore shooters are well acquainted with a similar scenario after cleaning their rifles. When I returned from Scotland I gave the barrel a normal clean to get the powder fouling out but did not attack the copper fouling.
I shot the British Commonwealth Rifle Association open meeting at the beginning of July which seemed to confirm my theory. Since The BCRC meeting was shot with issued RWS ammunition - the same as the Imperial - I did not clean my rifles. Therefore, counter to perceived wisdom, I embarked on the Imperial with dirty rifles and left them dirty. At this stage I must say (emphatically) that I would not adopt such a strategy with a barrel in good order.
This master plan was almost kyboshed when I collected my tickets only to discover that I had been randomly
selected to have my barrels checked (for the third time) for compliance with rule 150. For those unacquainted with this particular piece of NRA convolution there follows a brief and simplified history.
When, in the late 90s, the NRA had Radway Green produce a 155 grain bullet for use with ‘Target Grade’ ammunition, the resultant ammunition was neither compliant with NATO nor SAAMI specifications. Most NRA target rifles had chambers and throats cut on the tight side of SAAMI specs to wrest the best out of the hitherto issued RG Green Spot with its 144 to 147 grain bullet. Measuring those early bathes of 155 grain RG with a comparator revealed differences in seating depth of around 60 thou, with some batches showing 100 thou. variation between the shortest and longest round in a box!
It needs no imagination to grasp that a combination of the longest round coupled with the tightest possible throat resulted in the ‘garden smelling of rotten cabbages’ rather than roses! Cases of erratic shooting and popped primers were widespread. One may think that the obvious answer to the problem was to get RG to make the ammunition compliant with SAAMI specs. Not a bit of it. To comply with NRA rule 150 your rifle has to have a non-compliant chamber. This is indicated by the proof mark which says ‘308Win NRA’. It appears that some bad lads (and possibly lasses) have been having their chambers ‘meddled with’ so the NRA now requires a periodic check.
Back to the chase. It is generally believed that the build up of a carbon ring in a dirty barrel will result in a witness
Above - Cleaning the copper out caused havoc with the rifle’s grouping at the Scottish
60 Target Shooter
mark, on the bullet, used in the compliance gauge and thus result in a fail. This of course begs the question is your rifle non-compliant as soon as it has been shot? I was insistent that my rifles were not cleaned and it was a bit of a struggle to find someone who I both trusted to do a proper job and who would check them dirty. After a lot ‘to-ing and fro-ing’ Colin Shorthouse of Fultons came to my aid and both rifles were certified compliant.
So what of the shooting?The first very loud alarm-bell rang on ‘First Friday’ morning when I was coaching City of Newcastle Rifle Club in the final of the Astor County Championship. Whilst we will probably deal with team shooting at some point in the future, for the uninitiated, a rifle team coach is not like a football coach. It is the coach’s job to interpret the wind conditions and tell the shooter when to shoot. That is when there is the optimum chance of getting a V bull and to encourage the shooter and make him feel calm (that’s the theory anyway).
Usually the coach is assisted by a ‘plotter’ who may see something the coach hasn’t but who’s primary function is to plot the shots and keep a corrected elevation, thus ensuring that the coach’s full attention is on the wind. With me in the chair doing the windreading and seasoned veteran Keith Pugh assisting as plotter, we ought not to have missed any wind changes at 300 yards - certainly not significant ones anyway.
Everything was going swimmingly when suddenly, a downwind ‘magpie’ (dropping two points) appeared. The shooter, Dr. Graham Nelson, an A1 team man, did not declare a bad shot and he certainly would have know about one as bad as that.
Even the most inexperienced shooter should see a two minute change at 300 yards but we didn’t! Fortunately
a look along the line revealed we were not the only ones. This might have helped me to stop Graham beating himself up but it did little to stop me beating myself up! Finishing with a score of 102½ per man out of 105 was not, I thought, good enough and that 103½ per man would be needed. It was difficult not to dwell on that magpie at 300 yards.
Experienced team shooters know that the end result is a collective effort. Sometimes a shooter may let off a bad shot - not always his fault if he has a coach that dithers. When I have told my shooter to “Go on” it needs something significant for me to stop him. It is, therefore, difficult to avoid carrying the full weight of responsibility for the end result. You always remember the ones that slipped out and not the ones you have saved. It is, of course, a truism that if experienced coaches have a hard time then probably everyone else is too. The same goes for individual shooting.
That’s lesson two - sometimes dropping points is not a disaster as long as you drop less than the opposition!
As far as The Astor was concerned fortunately I was wrong, we were just pipped into second place (for the second year in row) by ‘Old Guildfordians’ with 617/77 to our 615/63. Turning that magpie into a V bull wouldn’t have been enough!
This really set the scene for most of the next ten days. Stiff winds with sudden gusts or quick flicks of angle caught out team windcoaches when their total attention was on the wind. It was so much worse for individual shooters who were ‘caught in the aim’ - changes in wind strength and direction occurring when their head was on the rifle to deliver the shot. Frequently, there would appear to be a change in wind conditions which appeared before the final commitment and still appeared to be there after
Stiff angling wind and targets in the shadows posed problems in the Century
Target Shooter 61
shot delivery but turned out to be either not there at all or a transitory change had occurred during shot delivery. Unseen magpies, particularly at long range were all too common.
For those involved in The Astor, Friday is an exhausting day. Individual shoots comprise the ‘Admiral Hutton’ at 900 yards and ‘The Century’ at 600 and 500 yards, in all cases ten-shot shoots.
Fortunately I had a reasonable gap and kicked off the Century at 14.45 on Butt 12. With the wind coming from the left, there wasn’t a great deal to look at on this part of the range. Judging angle was difficult and both sighters went well downwind. Tempering judgement with the sighters, shot one was delivered with a fairly crude wind setting of what I could actually see plus a minute. It was not enough. The second to count found the V bull half MOA upwind with two more minutes on the gun than I could see on the flags. Tickling about with the windarm kept them there for a 49 and the fact that there were precious few triggers being weighed indicated that maybe the 49 wasn’t too shabby. Corrected wind ran from 4¼ to 5¾ with the biggest shot-to-shot change being a minute.
Over the hill at 16.00 for the Hutton seemed a little easier - at first. Although to the left of the range again I found the flags a bit more readable - or so I thought and my best guess of 12 for the first sighter found the V half a minute upwind. With nothing apparently changing the second sighter went with 11½ to waste the V for a corrected 13. On the assumption that these had caught the bracket and in the absence of anything obvious to the contrary shot 1 went with something close to the mean on 12. Shot 3 was caught in the aim to a drop-off and was a fair bit
into the inner at 9 o’clock. However the wind appeared readable between 10 and 12 until shot 9 - which was lost with too much wind on and ten which was lost with not enough.
Of course the resultant 47 was not good enough for a medal. Back on Century at 19.00, things were
exacerbated by light behind the target opening the group up. With the wind varying by up to two minutes early in the shoot, taking time to acquire a sight-picture was not good news and the first three to count were lost to a combination of bad wind-calls and loose shooting. After which I got in the groove and put the rest in the V. Again 96 was no where near the prize list but the first big surprise of the meeting (there were to be others) came when I discovered that what I thought was a shabby 143 on the daily aggregate did get in the list. Normally ‘A’ class would want at least 147. Confirmation of lesson 2!
Saturday sees the start of the Grand Aggregate but there is another ‘warm-up match in the morning, the ‘Donegal’ at 300 yards and normally the chance for an HPS Cross. Just before the first detail, the heavens opened. By the time I got to shoot at 11.45 it was warm but the ground was saturated and it was blowing a hooley. The windflags were whipping well above vertical and on occasions the poles were bending. To make matters worse, the flags would suddenly drop or the angle would change so in an instant a wind blowing to three o’clock would blow to 1 o’clock. Again on range 12 there wasn’t much upwind to look at. The ground was too wet to produce a mirage which at least would have told, by its presence, if the wind was less than 1, or by its absence more than 2. Particularly at 300 yards the flags are too high to reflect
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62 Target Shooter
what is happening at ground level. Suffice it to say that the true wind varied from almost three to zero with one minute variations between shots being common and instances of two minutes occurring. These are not conditions on which I thrive. A 46 with four ‘warts’ might just as easily have been a 50 but it wasn’t. Just as an aside before the afternoon’s shoots started, I made my habitual, annual visit to the RAF Rifle Club’s bric a brac sale. Sadly one can no longer buy P14 target-sights for a tenner. The time was not wasted however as I bumped into Colin Goad who dragged me by the nose to see Robert Chombart and his new ‘Inch’ action. My initial reaction was that the last thing I need is to be spending money on was yet another Target Rifle. I soon changed my mind. This is an outstanding piece of kit and ought to take the TR and F class worlds by storm. This action is to be marketed in the UK by Fox Firearms and I suggest anyone interested contact Brian Fox. I already have done!As I contemplated the start of the ‘Grand’ what were my thoughts? My old Steyr had shot a solid elevation in the Hutton and there was no doubt that the limiting factor in the rifle/ammunition/shooter combination was the shooter and there were no qualms there. Up to press I’d shot around a minute of elevation or worse at short range with the Barnard and was beginning to regret trying to squeeze another season out the barrel. Maybe the ammunition wasn’t as good as I’d hoped it would be but I would have been reluctant to blame the ammunition.
Hopefully, the days of travelling to the Imperial full of trepidation over what RG may have on offer are gone forever. In fairness to Radway Green they were and are, in the business of making military ammunition. NRA ammunition must have been a side-show, however probably the best shoot I have ever had was with RG! Biggish groups and almost unreadable wind conditions did not put me quite into the comfort zone.
The ‘Daily Telegraph’ (15 shots at 500 yards) saw me start the Grand Aggregate with a core elevation of around ¾ of a minute. Wind conditions appeared to be similar to the
Century but turned out to be much more dire, running from ¾ left to 4½ left. I thought the resultant 71 not too sniffy, again with the four lost shots being heartbreakingly close. There were many round about who know what they are doing and faired worse!
Next time we’ll see how the week progressed, learn another couple of lessons, see that the ammunition was up to the job and just what hoops David jumped through to win the Queen’s and finish with a bit of light relief.
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Target Shooter 65
The Psychological Preparation of a Champion.Iamnotsureofthis,buthopefully,seriousshootersmay be interested in what I have to say. Thepsychologyofsmallboreshootingisquiteasubjectand my exposure to it came from my ownassociation with one of the leading sportspsychologistsinAustralia.
Sports psychology has been around for decadesnow and the study is fascinating. The link frommind-control to results is something that I didnot consider in my early years of internationalcompetition,and itwasbrought tomyattentionbyapastTeamLeader inDavidMacfarlane(sadlyhehas passedon) during oneofmy sojourns on theEuropeantargetriflecircuit.
AshorthistoryinmycasewillsetthesceneforyouallsobearwithmewhileIboreyouwithdetails….InAustralia,Idominatedsmallboreforquiteawhile,often training at above world record levels proneandcompetingat theverysame level I trainedat.Iwouldwin trials for internationalcompetitionbyawetweek,gainselectionandsetoff towhereeverthecompetitionswere,onlytoshootanythingupto10pointsunderwhatIwascapableof.Thisgavemethepoos,BIGtime!
David Mac came to me after yet another poorperformance, and askedme to work with a friendof his fromAdelaide in SouthAustralia. Hewas aspecialistsportpsychologistandeventhoughIwasstillreticentaboutdealingwithaguru(mythoughts)I also thought “What the heck!” so agreed to talkwithGrahamWinter,whowas thenwith theSouthAustralianSportsInstitute.IwasduetoshootinaninvitationmatchinAdelaidea
fewweekslater,inwhichaprettyhotsquadfromtheUSAwerepresent.Itwasduringthekneelingsectionofathreepositionmatch,thatIbecameawareofastrangerwatchingmeandwentonwithaprettygoodshoottowinthematch.
Graham Winter approached me with outstretchedhandandhadmeropedwiththefirstwordshesaidtome….Wordsforeveretchedinmymind,eventothisday.
“IcannotteachyouathingaboutsmallboreDon,butIcanhelpyoutothink!”
So began a very deep friendship, andwe chattedabout mental performance for what seemed likehours in the club house in the Virginia rangecomplexafterthemedalceremony.Iworkedhardwithacoursehelaidoutformeoverthe next few months, during which I once moretrialled out and won the right to shoot again forAustralia.
I landed in my favourite part of the world, theEuropean circuit beginning with a World Cup inMunich,Germanyandpromptlywonthematchwitha598and104.3inthefinal.GoodresultscontinuedinStrasbourg,France,Suhl(DDR)andZurichthenontoLinzinAustria.GrahamWinterhadopenedthedoorformeandallIhadtodowaswalkthroughit..Iwill conclude this introductionwithaquestion foryouall:
Haveyoueverwonderedwhy10%oftheshooterswin90%ofthematches?
ThisSmallboreBusiness
ByDonBrook
66 Target Shooter
Nowthatisagoodquestionisitnot?Doyouthinktheyhaveanymorethanyoudo?Areyousuretheyarenotsupernatural?Freaksinatoughsport?Howaboutjustlucky?
Noneofanyofthatactuallybecauseofalltheeliteshooters I have known, shot with and competedagainst (successfully Imayadd) therewasalwaysone common denominator. A champion has theutmostbeliefinthemselves.
Doyouthinkthatisjustamatterofgettingoutthereandgoingforit?
That MAY be the case in very rare instances butgenerally a champion has not only done a lot ofphysicaltraining,theyhavealsosoughtinformationdiligently, on any subject connectedwith the sportbut,aboveall,theyhavefoundthattrainingthemindissupremelyimportant-justasIdid……
Let it be known though, that I was always adetermined cuss and I remember when I was ajunior,Ifailedinashootoffforamatchandmygoodfriend,whoactedasanearlycoach,said tome…YoucannotwinthemallDon,”Myquickretortwas…
“WhyNot?”
There was no answer from him, he just lookedstunned, as this was coming from a 15 year oldshooterwhoalreadyhadaninstalledbelief!
Iwillskipafewyearsnow,anddeliverthemethodtoyouallthatIwastaughtbyaworldleaderinmentaltrainingandsportspsychology.
After the conversation with Graham Winter that Idetailed above (paragraph 7) he gave me asectionalised, detailed submission every month,basedonnotesandaudiotapes.Itrainedwiththeseeverynight,togetherwithmydry-fireroutine.
The subjects were set down in a progressiveorderforme,undertheinstructionstophonehimifIwasn’tclearonanything.(Adelaide,whereGrahamlivedandworkedwas1700kmsfromwhereIwas.Australiaisabigplace!)
The first set of tapes came throughand the itemswereallaboutrelaxation,sowewillbeginwiththemethodsof relaxed instruction, as it soonbecameapparenttomethattheprocesswasbasedontheearlymentalprocessconcernedwithlearningtouseyourmind.
Itshouldbenotedherethat,afterIhadlearnedallthis,Iwentfurtherasastudyofmyownandcame
up with some interesting stuff, particularly relativeto the ability to recognise and cross over into subconscious performance. I had (and still have) athirstforcompetitionknowledgeandIhadabsolutelyno reservation about questioning the best therewasavailable.Ispokewithagreatdealofthebestshooters in theworld and blokes likeMalCooper,Harald Stenvaag, David Kimes and a host of thebestUSAshooterssuchasLonesWiggerJnr,BillKrilling, Lanny Bassham and JackWriter. Two ofthebestcoachesfromCanadaandtheverystrongGerman teams were oftenmy visitors for lunch! IevenlearnedamodicumofFrench,inconversationwithJPAmat..Iamforeverindebtedtomyfriends,believeme.
Theprocessstaredwithmyabilitytorelax,learningto openmymind, and specifically theheadingsofthetapeswentinthisorder.
1.Progressivemusclerelaxation.2. The ability to utilise a mental training exercisedesigned to promote relaxation connected withbreathingcontrol. Theexampleof thiswas ‘Downthe20steps’.3. Finally, for the third month or so, there was asegmentonrelaxationbyimagery.
PROGRESSIVE MUSCLE RELAXATION.This aspect is totally physical and you need tounderstandthatitistheinitialpartpertainingtomindcontrol.
Iwasinstructedtoconductthetrainingasastrengthmeasurementbut,coupledwitharelaxationfeelingaftertheeaseofthemusclesintoarelaxedstate.On the floor, or even in bed, the recipient lies flatontheback,witharmsbyyoursidesandtheheadstraight.Theeyesareclosedandonce in thisposition, thepupil stretches the left foot as far as it will move,holdingthepositionpurelybymuscletension.Holdituntilitalmostvibrates,thenjustreleaseitsuddenlyallowingthefoottototallyrelax.Yourmindwillnotehowgoodthisfeels,asthefootissettled.Thenyoumovethemusclessothatthecalfmuscleand foot of the left leg is strained to hold the footextendedunderintensestrength.Eachtimeasegmentofstrength isconducted,themind focuses on the strength needed and thentherelaxedfeeling in thepartsas themusclesarerelaxed. Always this isasuddenmovement. Youwill feel the calf muscle and foot go limp, as thereleasepointofthestrengthfactorisattained.
Itiscrucialthatthemindrecognisesjusthowgooditfeelstohavethemusclesrelaxed.
Target Shooter 67
Then the progression is into the thighmuscles ofthe left leg, using the legmuscles to hold the legoff thefloor fora fewseconds.Thenallow the legto fall back, as you concentrateon the feelingsofrelaxationwhenthelegiseasedback.
Thewholeprocedure is followed identically for theright leg, section by section, beginning at the footandmovinguptheleguntilyoureachtheabdomen.
Once the legs are dealt with, the shooter canthen move into the abdominal area, allowing theabdominal muscles to accumulate the strengthneeded to lift the torso, and hold this posture for10seconds.Inthiscase,youwillneedtoholdthebreathin,allowingthatbreathtoescapeeasily,oncemoreconcentratingonhowgooditfeelstobetotallyrelaxed.AsIstatedaboveitiscrucialtocoincidethebreathingcontrol,asthiscontrolistheforerunnertomanyother facetsyouwill learnasyouattempt tolinkyourmindtowhatyouaretryingtodo.
Then the pupil moves up the body to the chestmusclesandtherearetwoareastoworkonhere.
Withthearmsstillbyyoursides,youneedtoforcetheshouldermuscles(deltoids)offtherestpositionupwardsuntil theycannotmoveanyfurther. Thenjust let them fall back to rest.Repeat this at leastthreetimes,oncemoreasyoufocusyourmindonthefeelingsofrelaxationofthemusclesinthechest,shoulders, and upper arms. The feelings we aretryingtogenerateisforthepupil tobeabletoiso-lateaspecificareaofthebodyforcontrolofstressandanxietylateroninthementaltrainingprogram.Thisishighlydesirableforthemanagementofyourcompetition skills, and is easily one of the mostimportantfactorsinlearning‘MindStuff’
Oncetheshouldersareliftedandrelaxed,thesameset of muscles are used to force the shouldersbackwardsintothebed,sothatthemusclesacrossthechestareextendedfully.Hereitiseasierifyoususpend the breath inwards, and hold it until theshoulders are relaxed again. The chest will feelprettyrelaxedafterthisexercise.Theshooterthenworksonbothrightandleftarms,forcing themdownwards into thebedorfloor,withthefingerextendedasfarastheywillgo.Releasingthemsuddenly from theextensionof themuscles,just recognisinghowgood it feels tohave relaxedmusclesinbotharms.
Finally,oncemorebreathingeasilyandwithrhythm,as you regulate the breathing depth in the lungs,usingtheneckmuscles,liftyourheadupofftherestpositionashighasitwillgo,andjutthechinforward
enoughtoworkthemusclesoftheface.Hold this for10secondsagain, then justallowtheheadtofallbacktorestposition.Allof theabovecanbeused for troublegetting tosleep,eitherunderanxiety,apprehensionaboutyourcomingperformance,jetlagproblemsaftertravel,orjustgeneraltiredness.Oncetheprogressivemusclerelaxationisconductedyouwillfinditaloteasiertosleep.
Progressive muscle relaxation should allow theshooter in trainingtobeabletoregisteranysetofmuscles thatareproblematical and this isactuallythebasictrainingtoallowthefactorsofKineastheticFeedbacktobedeveloped.Theearlytrainingmethodsofrelaxationarecrucialin thesensethat theshooter,oncethefull trainingprogramismastered,willbeabletorecogniseanysmall development in muscle control that couldwell have an influence on the position of the shotonthetarget.Thisisparticularlysoinstandingandkneeling shooting, as neither of these positionshave the advantage of a very large supportplatformthatproneshootingutilises.Nottobeoutdonehowever, is that prone shootingalso is dependenton the shooters ability to register any minutedifferences in the structure of each single shot,because the demands of skill for prone shootingis nearing 100% performance levels. (The worldrecords for both Prone, and standing air rifle, are100%scores!)
Itshouldbeunderstoodrightnow,thatprogressivemuscle relaxationneeds to bemastered first as askill,becausesomuchdependsonthefutureabilitytoexpandyourmentalskillstothepointwherethemindisthecontrollingfactorofperformancelevels.Somuchso,thatthegenerationofhighperformancestuffisacompletesubconsciousmindfactor.
I will finish this section with an example that willmakeyouthink,bigtime.Can any of you remember when a shot went offwithout you thinking about the release? Theholdwasdeveloped,theaimingcentered,anditjustwent‘Blap!’Usuallyyouwillthink“Blimeywhathappenedthere?”You rip your head off the stock, zoom into thespottingscopeor targetmachine,and there it is…hugerelief…smack in the middle? That, shooters is subconsciousmindcontrol,andIassureyouall itcanbetrainedintoyourtechniques…..
ThisiswhatIcall,MindStuff.
68 Target Shooter
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It’s a great honour to represent your country, torealise you are good enough and have workedhard enough to be sent to foreign shores to flytheflagon the range. Formany itwill beapipedreamandneverarealityunfortunately,sofromtheperspective of someone who has been luckyenoughtotravelandcompeteabroadforEnglandandGreatBritainhereisalittleresumeofsomeofthethingsthatdon’timmediatelycometomind.
Certainlyinmycaseafewyearsago,thefirstthinginthechainofeventsforevengettingontheplanewas a set of trials over a weekend to determineindividuals and team places - pressure situationwhenyouknowtheoutcomemeanseithersuccessanda place bookedat the international or failureand not making the trip or trips. This could beespeciallytrickymentallyifyouhavegearedallyourtrainingpreparationstoamaingoalinternationallyanditthenallridesononesetoftrials.
I’mnotsureifthiswasthebestsystemasinmanycases the best performances were given at thetrialsandtoacertainextentmentallythepressurewasoffwhenyouwereontheinternationalstage.Where qualification scores have to be attainedthroughoutaseason,thisgivesagoodcluetothoseperformingconsistentlywellandabletoshoothighscoresregularly.
ShootingandcompetingontheUKcircuitisawholedifferentballgametothatofbeingpartofanationalteam abroad. Lots of things which are part ofyournormal routinearecompletelydifferentawayfromhome. Inthemainathome,evenifyouaretravellingtoanopenshootandevenstayingoverfor twodaysofcompetition, it isyourownnormalcomfortable environment; being surrounded byfamily and friends, familiar food and restaurants,TVandradioinyourroom.Itdoesn’ttakemuchto
throwyournormalroutineoutofkilterwhichcaninturnaffectyourshootingperformance.
TravellingMoreoftenthannotthechosenteamwillallmeetupeitherprior to,orat theairport itselfwhichwillfor most people mean a trek to Heathrow at anungodlyhourand Icancertainly remembermanyregionalcoachtripsintheearlyhourstogettotheairportintime.Thisispointone,makesureyougetplentyofsleepandrestbeforeatripastheyareoftenmentallyandphysically long tiringdayswhileyouareawayand it gives your bodyaboost to havestoredupsomegoodrestbeforeyougo.Luggagewise I think I always arrived overseaswith somesort of muscular problem despite my levels offitness, due to so much essential shootingluggagetohaulaboutenrouteto theairport,andalsofromcoachesintohotelswithnoliftsorjustalongwayfromthecoachdropoffpoint.InmytimeIhavebeengladtotapupphysiofriendsfromothercountry’s teams! tohelpease strainsand injurieswhich would otherwise impact negatively on myshooting. I am fortunate though to be a goodtravellerbutforsomeitcanbeanuttermisery,justthe act of getting to that international they havefoughtsohardtogainaplacefor,asmanypeopleare terrified of flying, which brings on additionalanxietyandnegativity,andsomegettravelsickonlongcoachjourneys,soallofthesethingshavetobethoughtaboutandaddressed.
Team matesLet’sfaceit,noteveryonefeelsateasewithawholegroupofotherpeople. A team isput togetheronabilityandinmostcasesnowadaysthisisagroupof shooters who pretty much know each otherinside out as they train and compete togetherregularly. However as with any group of peopleplacedtogetheritisnotalwaysgoingtobeonebig
Internationalshooting-Aninsight
ByHayleyPlatts
70 Target Shooter
happy family. Some aremore comfortable aloneorwith justacoupleofpeopleand thiswouldbetheir routine and comfort zone in theUK. Beingpartofteamofpeoplemeansyouhavetoregularlycompromise and go along with the majoritydecisionsaswellasthenoiseandbanteralargergroupofpeopleinvariablycreate.Awellpreparedteam should also think carefully about roomingarrangementsandwhoshareswithwho.Thereisnothingworsethanbeingpairedoffwithsomeoneyou don’t get on with, which just creates tensionandanatmospherewhereneitherfeelscomfortableinthetimespentinthatroomwhichattimesshouldbeahavenfromthepressuresofcompetitionandalso sometimes a makeshift training range! Notonlydopersonalitiesneedtopairupideallybutalsoconsiderthingslikenotputtingthepersonwholikestocomebacktotheroomlateorreadlatewiththepersonwholikestogotobedearlyandriseearly.Iheardsomanycomplaintsontheselevelsanditjustservestocausetension,andthefeelingofnotbeinghappywhileyouareaway,andasweknowthementalsideofthesportplaysamajorroleandifthepersonisnothappyandcomfortablethelesschance of there being an optimum performanceontherange.Imustadmitmybestperformancesoverseas were when I roomed with, and was ona team with people I really got on with and feltcomfortablewith.
Equipment ControlThe excitement of being at a big shooting eventand seeing all of your competitors in their smartnational tracksuits, seeing the trade stands andall of the arena decked outwith publicity postersisjustgreat.Yougetarealsenseofbeingatthepinnacle of your sport andhere youare ready togettheguncheckedandoffyougototrainingandthenyourmatch.It’sagreatchancetoseethegunmanufacturers, form great working relationshipswith them and have your guns serviced by thevery top engineers. The same goes for theammunitioncompaniesandit’snicetotalktotheveryknowledgeable people who are behind thetechnology that enables us to shoot so well. Ifyouare luckysomeof thegunmanufacturerswillworkwith you individually tomakebespokegunstailored to your specific requirements, which ofcourseisalsototheirbenefitastheyoftenincreasethechancesofclaimingworldandmajortitles.
Thebusinessofequipmentcontrolcanbeascaryintro to the event though, with some extremelystringentchecksbeingperformedoneveryelementofyourshootingequipmentandclothing,especiallywhen you see furrowed brows and the officialsall talking ina languageyoudon’tunderstand. If
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theyfindsomethingdoesnotfullycomplywiththestrictrulesandregulationsyouwillnotbeallowedtocompete.Coachesoftencomepreparedreadyto adjust items and shave bits of boots etc if thescrutineers are interpreting a rule differently fromthe last international (where incidentally youcomplied!).Thepolicyofnevergoingtherealoneisaverygoodone.
Competition and training timesWhen you are competing in the UK it is almostalways pretty sociable times during the day,although most of us tend to fit in our training atthe endof theworking day soweare usually ontherangeinanevening.Inquiteafewinstancesabroad due to the events on the schedule itbecomesanecessity for someof theshooters toget an unsociable shooting timewhich can comeas a shock to the system. Add into this the factyouhavemovedintoadifferenttimezoneandalsomayhaveencounteredjetlag.Sometimesyouwillfindyourselfontherangeat7am(probably6amUKtime)havingbeenoutofyourhoteland travellingperhaps for the previous hour. There are somepositivesinanearlyshootingtimeapartfromthosewhoreallyarenotmorningpeople!inthatyouarepossiblystillfairlyrelaxedandhavenothadhourstogetundulynervous.Particularattentionneedstobegiventowarmingupmorethoroughlytogetthebodysuppletoshoot,moresothanlaterintheday,andensuringyouhaveeatenjustenoughtosustainyouthroughtheshootwithouttakingtoomuchfoodonboardwhichwon’thavetimetodigest.
Iwasluckyenoughtohavekeystomyclubrangeand prior to going overseas I often trained reallyearlymorningtopreparemyselfforthissoitwouldn’tcome as a shock to the system when it reallymatteredonmatchday.
Attheotherendofthescaleyoucanfindyourselfon the shooting schedule for the very end of theday,havingbeenat therangefromearlymorningsupporting your team mates. I feel reallystronglythateveryoneisindividualandwhatworksasmatchpreparationforoneshootermaybetheveryopposite for another. Personally it winds me upmassively being on the range for too long whenI am not shooting and I could guarantee that if Iwas forced tositona rangedayafterdaybeforemy event came along overseas I would have abad competition. Despite results showing muchbetterresultsforthetimesIwasallowedtobeontherangeaslittleaspossibleitwasalwaysseenasnotthecorrectandusualpreparation,andthereforefrownedupon.The allocation of training times for the various
disciplinesisusuallynotlongperiodsoftime,withfiringpointsandstricttimesgivenfortheteamstoadhereto.ItwaswhilstattendingsomeofmyfirstinternationalsthatI foundIneededtobeasgoodasthenextshooterwithsomegreatelbowtactics!I had never encountered such a cattlemarket ofpeoplealljostlingtogetrangespace.Standbackandbepoliteandyouneverwouldgetanytimetotrain.Youalwaysneedtofamiliariseyourselfwithanewrange,thelightingwillalmostcertainlyseemdifferent, the size of the stadium and crowd andensuringyoufeelcomfortableandnotoverwhelmed.It’salsoaboutsoakinguptheatmospherewithallthedifferentnationalities,coachingstaffandmostimportantlyunderstandingeverythingyouneed toknowprocedurewiseandwhat todoandwho toalertifyouencounterdifficultiesduringyourmatch.One thingwhich canbeawholenewexperienceis cameras filming around you, especially formajoreventsorhostcountrieswhoareparticularlyinterested in shooting events. If you are notpreparedforit,youcanfindthatyourconcentrationis taken up with thoughts of the camera insteadof the task inhand. Itcanbequitedisconcertingwhenacamerastops rightbehindyou (maybe tofilm the Olympic Champion alongside you whichhappenedtomeonce)butallthesameyoucanstarttofeelinadequateortrytoohard,butallthewhilenotbedoingwhatyoushouldbedoing,andthatisignoring it and executing accurate shots. Evenwhenyou’renotshootingitcanbealittleunnervingtohavezoomlensesandcameraspushedrightupinyourface!
And finally …..The memories of representing your country willalways stay with you. My fondestmemories areof the ones which involve ceremonies and linesof competitors coming in behind their flag, all thecompetitors staying together in official hotels orvillagesandtheenthusiasmofthehosttownorcity.Thefeelingthatyouhaveprovedgoodenoughtobegiventhechancetocompeteforyourcountryandtocarrythatout tothebestofyourabilitycomeththehour.Theresultswilloftentakeyoubacktothedrawingboardwhenyoureturnhomeorreinforceyourbeliefthatyoureallycanmixitwiththebestintheworldandthereforefireyourenthusiasmtotrainevenharder.Whatevertheoutcomeitissomethingtoalwaysbeproudof aswellasbeingpartofasmallpercentageofpeoplewhoaregiftedenoughtobearepresentativeofthecountryinsport.
72 Target Shooter
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Target Shooter 73
Around 40 shooters turned up to shoot the 2010Mattersey Steel match on Sunday 18th July,at their excellent range complex up in northNottinghamshire. or my friendAlan Bennett and Ithismeanta600mileroundtrip,butitwascertainlywellworththeeffortastherereallyisnothingmoreaddictive than shooting reactive targets!ThemainMatterseySteelmatchhasonlybeenshotwithsmallbore rifles in the past but this year the organisersalsoincluded5fullborestagesaswell,andthisgavepeoplethechoiceofshootingeitherGRSB,GRCF,LBPorLBRontheday.Forthosewhohavenevershot this typeofmatchbefore the rulesareprettysimpleandtheywere:*eyeandearprotection ismandatory foreveryoneontheranges*allroundsmustbecarriedonabeltorinapocket*magazinesmaybecarriedonthepersonorplacedonthetablesprovided*anymagazinesthatdropontotheflooraredeemedto be unusable unless the firearm is cleared andbenchedbeforepickingitup
*anytypeorsizeofmagazinemaybeusedbuttheymayonlybeloadedwithamaximumof10rounds
Idon’treallylikeitwhenyouhavetoshootthesame5or6targetsinfrontofyouallofthetimeasIfinditprettyboringtobehonestanditdoesn’trequireyoutothinkaboutthingsmucheither,apartfromhittingthem as fast as you can that is. Thankfully theMatterseySteelisn’taspray&praymatch,andthehuge variety of different size and shaped targetsensuresthatskill,accuracy,speedandabitofbrainpower are all needed on the day.Although manyof thecoursesoffirewereprettystraight forwards,having a senior moment or switching off at anytime during a stage would ensure your overallperformance took a serious nose dive at the endof the day. Let’s face it though, counting to nine,dropping themagazine, inserting a fresh one andthenshootinggroupsoftenshotsinbetweenreloadsisn’tthehardestthingintheworldtodoisit?Neitherisrememberingwhich2differentpositionsyouhaveto shoot from, or the fact that you must reload afreshmagazinebefore youengage the stopplate.Theseareallverybasicthingsthatwedowhenweshoot,sowhyisit thateverythingseemstogooutof the window once we hear a little beep comingfromatimerthen?Oh,thejoysofsteelshooting!Inaddition to the pressures of shooting against theclock, every missed plate incurred a 5 secondpenalty, as did every shot that was fired as aproceduralerroriefromthewrongshoulder,targets
By Gwyn Roberts
Below - It was excellent fun shooting it with an LBP
There’s nothing like a barbie and beer after the shooting has finished
74 Target Shooter
outofsequenceetc.Foranyoneunfortunateenoughnottobeabletocompletethegivencourseoffire,therewerealsopartimesrangingfrombetween15and100secondsthatweregivenasyourfinishingtime,ontowhichanymisseswerealsoadded,butfortunatelynotmanyofthesewereincurredontheday.
Alloftherimfireshooting(rifleandpistol)wasdone
at around 15m and Stage 1 in the Rimfire classallowed 4 mags of ten rounds and a stop platemagazine (10 rnds) with which to engage 35 oddshapedtargetsfromthesittingposition.Theplateshad been randomly arranged into groups of 2, 3,4,5,6,7and8platesandtheyhadtobeknockeddown in numerical order before moving on to thenextgroupofplates.Oncethe40roundshadbeenshot,acompulsoryreloadhadtobemadeandthe
clock stopped when the stop plate wasknockeddown.Although the organisers had placednumbered cards in front of each groupofplatestohelppeoplealong, itwasstillpretty difficult to engage the targetssmoothly as you had to keep scanningbackwards and forwards across thewhole target array to try and find thenextgroupofplates toengage.Trying tocountyourshotssothatyoucouldchangemagazines at the right time so that youdidn’t have to rack the action again alsoadded to the challenge, and quite a fewpeoplewastedalottimefiringwellaimed“clickers” instead of live rounds, but this
onlyaddedtothefun(orfrustration)ofitall.Havingonly5spareroundstoplaywithmeantyouhadtopickyourshotscarefullyandmakeeachoneofthemcount,otherwiseyourstagetimewasgoingtoriseprettydramatically.
Stage2wasastraightforwardspeedshootinwhichyouhadtoknockdownfive4inplatesandthenthe
stopplateinordertostoptheclock,startingfromthe45degreadyposition.Thiswasdoneforatotalof5runswhichallcountedforthetotalstagetime,andthe8fastestindividualrunswouldgetyouthroughtothemanvmanfinal,thatwastobeheldattheendoftheday.Thefastestaveragerunswerearound3.6seconds,andthesetimesalsoincludedafew“notsogood”onesaswellsothestandardwascertainlyupthereontheday.
Betsy Walker really enjoyed competing in her first steel match
Rimfire Stages 1 2 & 3
Full bore stage 2
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Stage3was the pool shootwhichwas shot twiceandcomprisedfourteenalternatered&whiteplateswithablackstopplate in themiddle.Thiswas theonly match that had a limit of 5 rounds in eachmagazine and you started each run with 2magazinesfortheplates,andonemagforthestopplate.Thestartforthisonewaswiththeslidelockedopenonanunloadedrifleorpistol.Then,whenthebuzzersounded, theshooterhad toput theirhandinto a bag and pull out a ball which indicated thecolourof theplates that theywouldhave toknockdown before they eventually took down the stopplate. Imust admit there is something quite funnyaboutwatchingsomeonepickoutaredballandthenstart toshootdownthewhiteplatessowith this inmind,IkeptcallingoutthecolouroftheplatesIwassupposedtobeshootingat,justincase!
Stage4wasanallweakhandstagewhichhad25platesof variousshapesandsizes toknockdown(or just shoot at) before again ending with a stopplate.Startingat45degrees,theshootershadthreemagazines of 10 rounds alongwith anotherwhichcouldonlybeusedon thestopplate.Onceagain,thosewhowereabletocounttheirshotssothattheyreloaded at the right time faired better thanmost,but itwas certainly tricky shooting an LBPon this
stageasallofthecontrolsareonthe“strong”sideandthisdidleadtomorethan one comedy of error momentsontheday.Tryingtobothcurse,clearmalfunctions and operate controlsthatare thewrongwayaroundallatthesame time, isprettyhard todo Icantellyou!
The Mover on Stage 5 has usuallybeen theone thateitherwonor lost
youthematch,andonceagainthisyearwas no exception as only one personcleaned it!This time though thematchwasshottwicewiththebestruntocount,andyoustartedwithfourmagsof10toengagethe40platesthatwereplacedinthebackstop.Startingfrom45degrees,youcouldstart toengage theplates inanyorderassoonasyousawthemovertarget appear from behind the screenon the right hand side of the range. Itsoundsprettysimple,but youcanonly
Above - Fullbore stage 3
Below - Fullbore stage 4
Mick Tedesco getting ready to put in another very good
performance
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shoot the targets that are actually in front of themovertarget,andnotthosebehinditwhichobviouslymakesthejobalotharder.Onceyouhadfiredyourfirst10roundsyouthenhadtoreloadquicklybutyoucould only start to engage the targets again oncethe mover had re-appeared which would now bemoving left to right. For most people the waitingwasn’taproblemasthemoverwaswellonitswaybackagainbeforetheyhadevenhadtimetothinkabout reloading. Two more passes of the moverwentontocompletethefirstpartofthematch.Anyshotsthathitthescreens,themovertargetface,oranyplatesthatwerebehindthemovertargeteachincurreda5secondpenalty,andtherewasnotimewhatsoeverforanybrainfadeormalfunctionsduringthisstageas themover justkeptgoingandgoing.Thiswasdefinitelythestagethatyoudidn’twantajamonbecauseitwouldspellinstantdisasterforyouasthetimewastighttostartwith,andunfortunatelythishappenedtomorethanonepersononthedayruining any chance they had of doing well in theprocess.
Stage6wasthedreaded(formostofus)Snookermatch and this consisted of six red 6” plates thatwere flanked by two pyramids of colours with the
yellowsbeing6”indiameter,greens5”,browns4”,blues3”,pinks2”andtheblackswereanelusive1”each.Youstartedwithtwo10roundsmagsfortheplatesandanadditionalonethatwastobeusedforthe stop plate only.The idea in thismatchwas toknockdownared,andthenmoveto(andstickto)oneofthecolourpyramidswhereyouthentookoneshotonlyatacolourofyourchoice.Whetheryouhititornotyouthenhadtogobackanddropanotherredbeforereturningtothecoloursagainforanothersingleshot.Thispatternwasrepeateduntilallofthereds had been shot down (and a final shot at thecolourshadbeen taken)beforeyou thenswappedovertotheoppositepyramidwhereyouhadtoknocktheplatesdownintheproperorderieyellow,green,brown, blue, pink then black. Now for those whohaveplayeda little snookerbefore thiswasprettystraight forwards, but for those of uswho don’t, itwasshallwesayalittlemorechallengingtosaytheleast!There’snothinglikeknockingdownthefirst12platesinareallyquicktimebeforeswitchingovertothelastbankoftargetsandthendroppingtheverysmallblackplatedown themoment it appeared inyoursights….OnlytothenhavetheR.Oshout“foul”andthenremindyouoftheproperorderinwhichyoushouldhaveknockedthemdown.Aaaaargh!Think
I’llwritedownanidiotsguidenexttime and place it in front of mebefore I start pulling the trigger.AtleastIwasn’ttheonlyonewhoscrewedupon this stage thoughthankfully,asanumberofpeoplealsocameoutfromtherangewitha rather bemused look on theirfacesonottoworry.Onthisstage,any plates left standing incurredthesnookervalueinsecondswithany foulshotsscoring4secondsor above, and a par time of 60seconds(plusanypenalties)wouldbegiven toanyonewho failed toknockthestopplatedown.
There were 5 ranges set up forthe Underlevers/LBR’s with thetargets out between 10 and 25m
Clive Ferguson on stage 1 Rimfire
Rimfire stage 4
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andstage1wasapurespeedmatchshootingonastandard6plateBianchi rackat10m.Theshooterstarted in the 45deg ready position with as manyrounds loaded as they liked, and had five runswithallof them tocountsono “throwaways”wereallowed, and this did catch a few people out whoweretryingtheirbesttomaketheirbarrelsglow.ThefastestaverageonthisstagewithanLBRwas3.5secondswiththequickestunderleversjustunderthe4secondmark,sotherewasplentyofgoodshootingdonebyafewindividualsontheday.
Stage 2 had 20 plates out at around 25m andconsistedof2runswithbothofthetimestocount.On the first run, each shooter started loadedwith10rounds(oreither6or7 inanLBR)sittingonachairandhadtoengage10targetsfromthispositionholdingthegunintheirweakshoulder/hand,beforereloading and engaging the remaining 10 platesfromtheweakshoulder/handkneelingposition.Thesamewasthenrepeatedbutthistimeusingastronghand hold. It was certainly a challenge shootingfromyourweaksidefrombothofthesepositionsbutonceagainitaddedgoodvarietytothematchanditdefinitelymadeyouworkhardforyourpointsasthe
reduced Bianchi tombstone targetwereonlyabout3”wideand5”highwhich didn’t leave toomuch roomforerror.
Stage 3 required a bit of swiftmovement as it was a small rundown stage and it also requiredsome quick reloading skills inorder to get a good time on it. Itconsisted of 40 plates with eachcompetitor starting loaded with 10rounds (again6or7withanLBR)and carrying the spare 30 roundsto reloadwith somewhere on theirperson. You started on the righthand side of the range behind a
barricade which you could use for support if youwished,andengaged thesmallBianchi tombstoneplatesdirectly in frontof you.Theaction thenhadto be racked open (chamber obviously empty)before you moved forward 5m to a designatedshootingboxinsidewhichyoucouldthenreloadandengagethediamondandspadeshapedplates.Thesame movement with an unloaded gun continuedfurther forward to engage some larger tombstoneplatesuntilyoufinallyarrivedat thefinalbarricadeto shoot the remaining club and diamond shapedtargets.Thisonewasdefinitelynotastagetoturnupatwithoutanammobeltorsimilar,ascarryingyourspareroundsinyourpocketwasadistinctrecipefordisasterassomepeople foundouton theday.Ohwell,anotherlessonlearnedastheysay!
Stage4wasshotentirelyfrombehindabarricadeataround15mwhichyoucoulduseforsupportifyouwantedto,andtherewere30playingcardshapedtargetsthatweresplitinto3separatebanks.Shootersstartedloadedwith10roundsandhadtostartbyengaging the lefthandbankofplatesfirstfromthe leftsideof thebarricade.Theaction thenhadtoberackedopenwhilstchangingpositionsand
thefinal20plateshad tobeengaged from therighthandsideofthebarricade.Asimpleenoughstagereallyifyourscoperingsdon’tcomeloose,butthat’sadifferentstory!
Stage5onlyhad20mixedredandwhiteplatesonitwhichwereamixtureofplayingcardshapesbut once again this stage was a source ofamusementforquiteafewpeople,especiallytheR.O’s.Itwasshottwiceandyoustartedloadedwith10roundswiththeR.Ogrinningatyouwith4largeplayingcardsinhishands.Onthebeepyouhadtopulloutandturnoveracard toseewhatshapeitwasandthensimplyhiteverythingelseontheplateracksexcepttheshapethatyouhadselected!Nowthereseemstobeapartofa
John Kime welcoming the Llandudno guys to stage 3
Mel Beard half way through a slick mag change
78 Target Shooter
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shootersbrain that hasdifficulty in separatingoneshapefromanotherwhenshootingsteels,andthisisfurthercompoundedwhentherearetwodifferentcoloursofplatesthatarebeingused.Youreallyhadtobetheretoappreciatethelooksonsomepeoplesfacesoncetheyhadstartedshootingasyoucouldsee the cogs whirring around inside their headsjusttryingtoengageagear,butit justwasn’tclearto them exactly what they should or shouldn’t beshooting.AgainItooktheidiotsapproachandkeptblurtingout“don’tshootthespades,”“don’tshootthespades”whichmusthavelookedcomicalbutIdidn’t
really care, as this was probably thematch that Ienjoyedshootingthemostasitreallywassomethingdifferent!Whilst Dale Pearmain was finishing off computingthe days results in the stats room, the fastest 8shootersfromtherimfirestage2matchwentheadto head in a man v man match. For those notfamiliarwithit,thismatchisrunonaknockoutbasisandtheriflesareplacedunloadedonatablefacingdownrangewith twoshooters satdownona chairabout 15m away, with a plastic cup in their hand.On the buzzer, theymust run forwards and place
Rimfire stage 6
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thecupontheendofapoleatthefiringpoint,racktheirriflesandthenknockdownalloftheplatesontheirsideoftherangebeforeengagingandknockingdownastopplate in themiddle.Withamaximumofthreerunsallowedthefirstshootertowin2runsadvancestothenextroundandthisformat isthenrepeateduntilawinnerisreached.Unsurprisingly,ashetendstowinmostoftheGRspeedsteelevents,thisturnedouttobeMelBeardonthedaywhoshotbothconsistentlyandobviouslyveryquicklytoosowelldonetoyoumate!
EnjoymentcertainlywastheorderofthedayattheMattersey Steel match and there wasn’t a singleperson on the range who had not thoroughlyenjoyed themselves on the day, irrespective ofwhether had actually shot well or not. Everyonebotched something up somewhere along the lineand this is what makes steel shooting such anexciting type of competition as nothing is everstraight forwards, and nothing ever goes to plan,all of the time! As well as the main Gallery Riflecompetitions being shot, there were also somespeed steel matches being run for both section 1and2shotgunsoverintheshotgunpitandagreattime was had by all who took part in this matchtoo.Semiautos,pumps,overandunderandevensidebysideshotgunscouldbeusedandyoushotman vman style (without the running) against anopponentatpepperpoppersandastopplatelaidoutin a horseshoe configuration. There was certainlysomefriendlyrivalrygoingonbetweenbothfriendsandclubmates,andagaineveryonewhotookpart
initcertainlyenjoyedthemselves.
Mal Dukes and Pete Whomersley conducted theprizegivinganditwasanicesurprisetoseeplentyofgoodiesrangingfromgunslipsandcleaninggear,tobricksof.22ammoandbottlesofwinelaidoutfortheluckywinnerstochoosefromthataccompaniedthe usual medals. A special thanks must go toGaryfromYorkGunsforonceagaingivinghisverygenerous support to the club and very kindlysponsored all of the prizes for the shotguncompetitions,sothanksverymuchGaryfromallofus.Anothersponsorforthisyear’smatchwhoalsoneeds to be thanked for his valued support wasJamesWatsonfromDSSRifleswhosuppliedmanyof theprizesfor theGalleryRiflematchessoonceagainabigthankstoyouJames.
Thebiggest thanksmustobviouslygo toallof theorganizers forall of theirhardworkandeffort thatmade the event the success that it was. Peter H,Byron,Mal, Simon, John, PeteW,Martin and therestof theguysdidanexcellent jobonceagain inprovidinguswithasafeandveryenjoyablematch,thatwastestingandhadagoodvarietyofcoursesoffiremixedinandweareallnowlookingforwardtonextyearsMatterseySteel!
GRSB1stGwynRoberts197.16s2ndMelBeard197.34s3rdRichardSchofield233.31s
GRCF1stMelBeard381.65s2ndMickTedesco390.79s3rdGwynRoberts391.52s
LBP1stGwynRoberts215.23s2ndCliveFerguson477.07s3rdMikeShields525.55s
LBR1stMelBeard372.87s2ndBobPeace442.22s3rdJLiew610.70s
Ifyoufancyhavingagoatoneofthe“action”typeGalleryRiflematchesMatterseywillbehostinga7match Bianchi competition forGRCF,GRSB, LBR& LBP’s on 19th September and both novice andexperiencedshootersarewelcometoattend.Therewillbeplentyofoldhandsaroundtoadviseandhelpyou througheachof thematches ifyouneed itsolookattheGalleryrifle.comormatterseyrapc.org.ukwebsitesformoredetails.
Richie Schofield shooting weak shoulder kneeling on stage 2 Full bore
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Thoughts from the National Rifle AssociationThe Imperial Meeting is now becoming a fadingmemoryaslifegetsbacktosomekindofnormality.However,I’msurethatWgCdrDCalvert,whowontheQueen’sPrizewith297.37,isstilloncloud9.He’sbeensecondonthreeoccasionsandashewenttocollecthisgoldbadgetherewasatremendousroarfromtheRAFscoreboardteamof“Abouttimetoo”!Willhebethefirsttoretainit,watchthisspacenextyear....
DavidLuckmanmustalsobeflyinghighhavingwonanamazing17competitionsculminatinginwinningtheGrandAggregate,onlydropping7pointstogetascoreof698.106.
TheFClassOpenQueensPrizewaswonbyDavidKentscoring153withGeorgeBarnardwinningtheFTR Queens scoring 129.7. David also won theF Open Grand Aggregate with 938 points whilstPaulEggemanfromGermanytooktheFTRGrandAggregatewith864points.
Your scribe wasn’t too disappointed with her firstImperialasanFClassshooter,finishing6th inthe
FTRGrandAggregatebutrealisingquiteearlyonthatreadingthewindwithascopedrifleis,forme,alotharderthatwithTRsights.Morepractiserequired....
Friday 23rd July was the official NRA 150thcelebrationeveningwithmostclubsoncampjoininginthefestivities.DragonFireworksputonabrilliantdisplay set tomusic.The eveningwas completelystill,asopposedtotheforecastwhichwasforstrongwinds.Thismeantthattherewasalowlevelcloudoffireworksmokethatlitupasotherswentthroughit,addinganalmosteerieelementtothespectacle.
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FridaywasalsothefirstdayoftheCLAGameFairheldatRagleyHallinWarwickshire.TheNRAhavea standat the showeachyear to raiseour imagewithin the sportinggunworld.This seems tohavehadthedesiredeffectwiththenumberofmemberswhoaresportingshots risingsteadilyover the lastfew years. They seem to appreciate the facilitieswe offer as well as our comprehensive insurancecover. Mind you, once they discover Bisley andall the other disciplines available, several haveexpanded their interests and do a lot more targetshooting as well as their sporting shoots. ChrisWebb,NickHalford,SarahWellsandCharlesPerryrepresentedusthereandwerekeptbusydiscussingall things target shooting. The next fair we are atwill be the British Shooting Show in Newark nextFebruarysoifyouareinthearea,comealongandhaveachat.
There’snopeace for thewickedand theweekendafter theendof the Imperial sawBisley inundatedwith hotrod cars and their rock and roll lovingowners.Thesoundofrevvingenginesblendswellwiththeloudmusic–apparently.Therewasn’tapatchofgreentobeseenthatdidn’thaveeitheratentoracaronit,apartfromtheranges,andeveryoneseemedtobehavingagreattime.Sightstobehadincludeda freak show,wall of death, tattoo parlour and artdisplayaswellasacartingtracklaiddownontheroad
outsideouroffices.ThoseofyoufamiliarwithBisleymaywonderathowthecartscopedwiththespeedbumps,welltheyseemedtoaddacertainamountof spice to the runs and karts bounce quite high!
Most of the hotrods left on the Sunday and theestate staff had barely cleared up when theengine noises and loud music started again.This time it was the turn of the Harley-Davidsonmotorbikes coupled with rock music. Personally,much more to my taste nowadays as I can stillheadbangbutcannotjiveanymore.....It’sgreattoseetheestatebeingusedforeventslikethisasithas helped introduce more people into our sport(especiallyamongstthebikers)andtode-mystifyitabit.WehavetheSeptemberBisleyOpenDayloomingfast.ThistakesplaceonSeptember11th.AsIwritetherearestillplacesavailableforthisonebuttheyarefillingup fast.Youwillneed to registeronline,viaourwebsite,forthisoneaswehavetolimitthenumber of places to around 1000 to make surethat we give our guests a great day with as littlequeuing as possible. Reports and pictures fromboththisoneandtheAltcarOpenDaywillbeinnextmonths’issue.
TheNRAshootingclubheldaguestdayearlierthismonth and members brought along 33 guests toshoot at 600 yards.Charles andNick ran the dayandatonepointranoutofammo!Wehaveanothertwodaysbeingorganisedatthemoment,oneat200yardsforpronerifleandoneonMelvilleforGalleryRifleandBlack-powderrevolvers.
GlynnAlgerandChrisWebbareworkinghardontheissue of reduced availability for our clubs onMoDranges.Weawaitwith interest theoutcomeof thedefencereviewinOctoberandhowitwillaffectourclubs.Someclubsmayhavetobecomeabitmoreflexible with their bookings - distances, disciplinesshotetcsothatclubscansharebookings.TheNRAiscurrentlybuildingaforumwebsitetohelpfacilitatethis.Assoonas it is readywewill letallourclubsknow about it. Some range bye-laws state thatcivilians cannot use the range unless there is amilitarypresenceandthiscouldseriouslyaffecttheclubsusingthoseranges.Oncewegettheresultofthereviewwewillbeinabetterpositiontoassesstheimpact, ifany,onNRAclubs.Again,watchthisspace.
Thought I’d finish this month with a sayingthat Chris has taped up on his filing cupboard:Youdon’tstopplayingbecauseyougetold,yougetoldbecauseyoustoppedplaying.
Inoursport,thatissotrue!
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September 2010 CompetitionsRound 4 of our 100/1000 yard competitions tookplaceatDiggleatthebeginningofAugust.IanDixon,our2009Championhaswonthefirst threeroundsoutrightandsolooksdestinedtoretainhis100yardUKBRAChampionshipbutthen,IanhadtoundergosomeprettydrasticsurgerysothatruledhimoutforourAugustround.ThankfullyallwentwellandIanisontheroadtorecovery.
Asusual,itwasaprettydifficultdaywind-wiseandNeil ‘Shrek’Hutton tookhis firsteverwin–averypopular result. You could be forgiven for thinkingthatNeil’swincameasaresultofIan’sabsencebutno,Neil’ssub.quarterMOAagg.wasrespectablebyanyone’sstandard.
The Factory Sporter class is becoming somethingofaDarrelEvans‘benefit’shootandtodaywasnoexceptionwithDarrelshootinga remarkable0.358agg. with his 6PPC Sako and putting many HVshooterstoshame.HealsotooktheFSsmall-groupawardwithasuperb0.280incher.
Results:HeavyVarmint1st NeilHutton 6PPCTGPBorden0.249inches(av.offive,5-shotgroups)2nd VinceBottomley 6PPCTGPBAT0.284in.3rd JackSearle 6PPCTGPStolle0.296in.
VINCE’S REGULAR COLUMN WHEREBY ACCURACY NUTS CAN KEEP UP TO DATE WITH THE ACTIVITIES OF THE UKBRA
HV winner, Neil Hutton with his 6PPC Borden
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Smallgroup: JeanetteWhitney 6PPC TGPStolle0.113inches
FactorySporter1st DarrelEvans 6PPCSako 0.358inches2nd DarrenGrundle 308Sako 0.569in.3rd AndyWoolley 6PPCSako 0.611in.
Smallgroup: DarrelEvans 0.280inches
Although the weather was fine for our 1000 yardshoot the following day, the wind was still twitchyenough tocatchout theunwary.As theshootwasthe weekend before the F Class League shoot atBlairAtholl,aclutchof‘effers’turneduptousethecomp.forabitofload-testing–great,italladdstothefun!
LaurieHollandwasoneof theeffers,withhisnew223F/TRriflewhichyoumayhavereadaboutinthe
AugustissueandthisissueofTargetShooter.NowI’vealreadystatedthatI’mscepticalthata223canever be competitivewith a 308at extreme rangesbutdear reader, Iamcurrentlychokingona largesliceof‘humblepie’.TheknowledgeableMrHollandproceeded to astound us all with a group of fourinches!Healsoshota‘five’anda‘seven’toproveit was no fluke and finished fourth overall with aneight-inchagg.JackGibbtooktheLightGunwinwithhis6.5-284Stolle,puttogetherbyOspreyRifles.
My own UK record of 2.67 inches was alsomomentarily threatened when Mike Weatherheadbanged-ina3.1 inchgroup! In fact, therewerenoless than 37 single-figure groups – the gods ofbenchrestwerecertainlysmilingonustoday!
Factory Sporter shooter Alan Seagrave also wonhis first ever comp. with a sub. ten-inch agg. anda fantastic small-group of 5.838 inches with hisabsolutely standard 6.5x55 Tikka, blowing theusuallydominant6.5-284SavagesofLenton,WattsandKellettintotheDiggleweeds!
Results:LightGun1st JackGibb 6.5-284Stolle 7.76in.(av.offour,5-shotgroups)
2nd Mike Weatherhead 7WSM WalkerSako 7.77in.3rd RussGall 7WSM RGRStolle 8.22in.
Smallgroup: MikeWeatherhead 3.182inches
FactorySporter1st AlanSeagrave 6.5x55Tikka
Light Gun winner Jack Gibb with his 6.5-284 Stolle
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9.97inches2nd IanKellett 6.5-284Savage12.21in.3rd BruceLenton 6.5-284Savage13.27in.
Smallgroup: AlanSeagrave 5.838inches
The Diggle Fly ShootThis annual event for accuracy-nuts took place inAugustandyoucanreadafullreportelsewhereinthisissueofTargetShooter.
New stuffEvery now and then, someone comes up with areallyusefulbitofkitwhichdoesn’tcosttheearth.Here’soneIpickeduponmylastvisittoTimHannam.
I much prefer to carry out my load-developmenton-rangeifpossible.It’smuchquickerthanbringingalong pre-loaded rounds then finding they are notrightandhavingtorepeattheexercisethefollowingweek.Iprefertotakeacoupleofdozenprimedcases,myscales,powderandbulletsandloadonthepoint.Problemis–howdoyoumountyourloadingpresstoseatthebullets?Leehavenowsolvedthatproblemwithadirt-cheapbitofkitthatI’vebeendreamingofmakingmyselfbutnevergotaroundtoit.
ThephotoswillexplainthingsbetterthanIcan.Thekitcontainsthreeplywoodtrapezoid-shaped‘plates’
to screw to the bottom of yourpresses–oneofthemispre-drilledto take any Lee press but it onlytookmeacoupleofminutestodrilloneoftheothersformylittleRCBSPartnerpress.Thekitevenincludesclever‘flat-head’boltsforthepressandalso for thesteel ‘bench-plate’–simple,effectiveand,atlessthan£25,anabsolutebargain.Nowwehaveoneplatepermanentlyfixedattherange,othershootersarefreetouseitwiththeirpresses.
StocktapeAll benchrest shooters usesuper-slippy PTFE stock tape sothat their riflewill slide in thebags
without‘stiction’-whichcanbeacauseof‘vertical’stringing–FClassshooterspleasenote!WehavealwayshadtosendtoAmericaforthisself-adhesivetapeandalthoughitismodestlypriced,itisn’twhenyouaddpostage,VATetc.andthelastlotcostme$28!NowJon,aTargetShooterreader,hassourcedthetapeintheUK.
We ran this in our June issue but at the lastbenchrestmatchsomeoneaskedmetoremindthemofthesupplier.Icanconfirmthatthetapeisexactlythe same as you can buy fromAmerica and yougetenough for two rifles for£10.95 includingp&p.Contact Jon at [email protected] if you wantsome.
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Inassociationwith
MynameisJakeHealeyIamfourteenandIlivewithmymum,dadandyoungerbrotherScott inMirfieldwestYorkshire.Ifirststartedshootingairgunswithmydadinthebackgardenlikemostkids.IamnowamemberofPaul lane rifleandpistolclub where I have been amember since I was12.Mydadhasbeenamember forsomeyearsbutbecauseof the insurance restrictions juniorsunder the age of twelve are prohibited on therange.WhenIfirstjoinedIhadnointerestinanytypeofcompetitiveshooting. As I started trying the different shootingdisciplines I was fortunate to find that shootingpeople in general are keen to pass on thereskills and knowledge of firearms to the youngergeneration. I found myself in the position toshootavarietyofdisciplineswithpeoplewhoarealwayswillingtocoachmeonhowtoimprovemyshooting skill. I was now attending the rangeregular on a weekday night shooting rifles from.22RFto44magleveractionontheindoorrangeandlargercalibersonthe100moutdoorrangeatweekends.
Asmydad is involvedwithDSClevel1coursesthat are run at Paul Lane R&P Club I soonbecameinterestedandcompletedtheassessmentinFebruaryof2008.iwasstillonly12atthistimeandonoftheyoungestpeopleintheUKtopass.TheDSClevel1coursesisprimarilysafetyandisveryinstructiveonfirearmsandthesafehandlingof,aspartoftheassessmentyouhaveashoot3shotsintoatargetof4inchesat100meterswithadeerlegalcaliberthat’snottoohardyoumightsaybuttryitwhenyouhaveagroupofstrangerswatchingandassessingyoutomakesuretheyouaresafeandcompetent.
Asmycompetencewiththeriflesavailabletomeincreased Istarted tocompetewithmydadandagainst him in the various competitions and funshoots that heattendsor arrangesat bothPaullane and the much larger 1000yard range atDigglethePennineShootingSportsAssociation.The competitions at Paul Lane consist of a funshoot inMarchwhich coincideswith the start oftheroedeerseasonsoweshootatadeertarget
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ThecompetitionsatdigglearerunbyKenHalloftheQSAandare primarily black powder as youwill see in his articles andupdates in the targetshootermagazineThese rifleshavequite a kick and I founda fullcompetition of around 50 shots a bit much tohandle so just attended to offer supportivecriticismtomydadandunclewhilstonlytryingtheoccasionalshottobeginwith.Inowshootallthecompetitionsmydadattendsandevenbeathimoccasionallyshootinghisoldriflein45/70caliberashehasnowmoveduptolarger45/90.
Inmarchof2009amemberofPaulLaneClub,John Farrell who is very much into the 22brarrangedasmallcompetitionwithintheclubopentoallclubmembersthiscovered25and50meterslight and heavy varmint and 25mair rifle asmydadwasassistingasrangecrewIputmynamedowntoshootinthe25mlightandheavyvarmintshooting Johns light rifle for both comps andtakingjuniorsilverinboth.
After my success in the club competition Istartedshootingbenchrestonregularoccasionsand joined the uk22br club. As my interest inthis discipline grew I started shooting the postalcompetitionswitheitheraclubgunoroneofjohnsrifles.AtthistimepeopleatPaullanestartedtalkingofa bench rest competition thatwas to be held inBristol.AfteragreatdealoforganizationbycertainmembersofPaullaneclubandthesupportfromthecommitteeA teamconsistingof tenshootingmembersofwhich3where juniorsattended theUKbenchrestnationalsatPortisheadRifleClubinBristolover theAugustbancholidayweekendin2009.At this competition I shot in the 25meter indoorlightandheavyvarmintclasstakingajuniorgoldandsilveroverallinthelightvarmintclass
OnourreturnfromtheUKnationalsmy dad started looking for a rifleof my own and found me a oldAnshultz54 target rifle thatwehadrebarreled with a lilja barrel andmodifiedthestocktosuitebenchrest.OnmyfourteenthbirthdayIappliedformyownfirearmscertificatethisnowallows me to go the shooting clubandothercompetitionsas longas Iamaccompaniedbyanadult.
OutsideoftargetshootingIenjoyhelpingmydadrunningasmallgameshoot some would say just for the
hotbeefbuttesheputsonafterwards,but reallyitsincaseagundropsoutatthelastminuteandIcanstandin,ifnotitsthebeaterline,pickingupandofferinghelpingthegunsonwhytheymissedthat bird.Therese always something to do on ashoot from repairingpensand fences todealingwithanyverminproblemsat this timeofyear itspigeonstheyjustturnupwhenthecornisreadygreatpracticesforthepheasantshootandacheapteaforme.
OnSaturdaythe27thJulyIsetoffaccompaniedby Mr. Carl Hanson on a 600mile trip to thesecondEuropeanchampionshiphostedinPilsenintheCzechRepublic.DuringthechampionshipsIshotairrifleandrimfire.Iwonfourmedalsfromtheairrifleeventswhichweretwobronzeandtwosilvers.Afteradaysrestandthearrivalofmydadwe started shooting the 22 rimfire at 25 and 50metersinthisIachievedsixmedalsofwhichwerefoursilversandtwogoldmedals.Ifoundthematchquitechallengingandwascaughtoutbythewindaswasmanyof thecompetitors. Itwasthebestorganizedevents I haveever takenpart in.Thechampionshipswereextremelyenjoyable.Butallthis wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t forLadislavNigertheorganizerofitallandwhohasputalotofeffortandtimeintoittogetitallright.
I am currently practicing for the UK nationals,which thisyearare tobeheldatmyclubsonotravailingforonce. It is tobeheldontheaugustbankholidayweekendandIamlookingforwardtomeetingupwithalltheUKteamthatIshotwithinCzechsoyouwillhavetowaittillnextmonthfortheresults.
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The weekend of 7th-8th August saw Round 5 of theGB-FCANationalChampionship,thesecondvisittoBlairAthollinPerthshire.Round5?Itseemsonlyyesterdaythat Iwasgetting ready forRound1atDiggle,andthere are only twomore to go now.Yet again, anddefyingallhistoricalprecedents, the29entrants felllucky with the weather, a deep front that broughtheavy rain and poor visibility to northern Britainmoving away over Friday night to give a dryweekendwithclearvisibility,evenifSaturdaystartedcool with threatening clouds swirling low overhead.Also uncharacteristically, thewinds on theGlenTiltrange were relatively light, mostly headwind witha sideways component prevalently from the left,changes difficult to spot on the flags and more soto interpret.There’s no shortageofwind-flags, onlyat any one time half or more mislead. Not untypi-
cally, thoseonthehighergroundtotheleftgenerallysuggestedawindrunningrighttoleft,whileshootersquicklydiscoveredtheactualdirectionneededabitofleftwindageonthe‘scope!
Thefieldwassplitbetween theclasses, thebalanceofonefallingontotheF-TRside.Augustisabadtimeforentrieswithpeopletakingholidays,exacerbatedbyit being the local peak tourist seasonwithdifficultiesin getting accommodation, worse the Atholl ArmsHotelfullybookedforawedding.SeveralOpen-classregularswere absent including League leaderGrantTaylor, May Blair round winner John Campbell, plusGaryCostello,GregThompson,MarkDaishandDavidKent to name half a dozen, but the F-TR field hadnearly all of the top dozen in the league standingspresentapart from IanDixonwho is recovering fromsurgery. Given that fully half of the top 20 Openshootersweremissing,therewasagoodopportunityfor the others to earn a goodly number of Leaguepointsandimprovetheirstandings,especiallynorthernshooters such as the Brough brothers, Peter Hunt,GordonWaughandHughIngliswhohadmissed theBisley round.Attention in F-TR focussed on Leagueleaders Russell Simmonds and Adam Bagnallwho came to Blair one point apart on 77 and 76respectively.WithRussellhavingonewinandthreesecondplaces,he needed another class win and its 20 points toimprovehisstanding,whileAdamwith twofirstsandtwo thirds would gain from 2nd place – as long as
Russelldidn’twin–andwouldmoveintotheleadwitha
The Long View News from the GB F-Class Association by Les Holgate
Gen Tilt on Saturday – dark and threatening but a good day as it turned out
‘Open’shootersgetready
RamonFito fromSpainwas the F-TR competitor towatchondayone,andfinished2ndoverallinclass
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win.(It’sthebestfourresultsoftheseasonthatcount.)
Withitselectronictargetmarking,Blairprovidesalotofshootingandthiswasaparticularlygoodeventwiththree20-roundmatchesontheSaturdayandtwo15-rounderson the Sunday for a total possible score of 450-90v.AsalwaysorganiserDesParrandhishelperswereontheballandhad the rangesetup ingood time,whichassistedbyeveryonearrivingwellbefore08.00sawtheallocated two-hour blow-off / sighting-in session onlytakehalf that time lettingthefirstmatchstartat09.00,the main group of F-TR shooters making up the firstof threerelays.While thewindswere light they looked‘tricky’, and some F-TR shooters converted relativelylow scoring ‘sighters’ on the basis that a 4.5 or even4-pointshot-average isgoodbyBlairstandards,SteveDonaldsontakinga‘V’andthreeforinstance.However,wenowsawsome fantasticscoreswith two new 1,000yd 20-round GB-FCALeague records set. The first was Altcar’s101 Club’s John Cross with an astounding96.3vinF-TR,justseeingoffSpanishshooterRamonFitobya‘V’,witheightothersbreaking90 led byPaulCrosbie on95.6v followedbyPaulHarkins andRussellSimmondson94s.Not everybody found the conditions easy,one beingAdam Bagnall on 87.3v who wastoruethisslowstart.Conditionshelduplongenough for the Open shooters to repeat thetrick,JohnCarmichaeltakingthematchoverallwith 100.6v, anotherGB-FCA1,000yd record
ahead of four competitors on 99, TonyMarshleadingPeterWilson,DanBrough,DesParrandPeterHuntonV-count.
TheweatherslowlyimprovedthroughoutMatches 2 and 3 with thinning cloudand it becoming warm, but the windstrengthened and became trickier, alsoacquiringa tendency tofishtail requiringshooters to take leftwindageoffquickly,sometimesneedinga little ‘right’puton,so scores dropped. Hugh Inglis tookMatch2fromPeterHunton‘V’sbothon
99,aheadofGordonWaughandDesParrsharing98.6v.InF-TR,AdamBagnallrecoveredforfirstequalon93.4vbutlostthematchmedaltoStuartAnselmoncount-back,RamonFitoonepointadrift.WhileOpenscoresonlyfellmarginally,F-TRwasmoreaffected,manygettingtheirlowestscoresoftheday,butMatch3reversedthiswithOpen shooters taking a tumble and F-TR recovering.AdamBagnall had another good result taking a classwinwithasuperb96.2vaheadofPaulCrosbie,RamonFito,andSteveDonaldsonon94s.IrishmanJoeMelia’s98.4vwon thematchoverallbeatingScotDanBroughon ‘V’s, Dave O’ Hara taking third with 96.3v for anall-Celticfirstthree.
Saturday ended with the ever reliable Peter Hunt justleadingOpenon292.6v,HughInglisandDanBrougha
Peter Hunt looks serene on Sunday on his way to winning overall
F-Class record breaker 1 – John Carmichael with 100.6v (Open) in Match 1
F-Class record breaker 2 – John Cross with 96.2v (F-TR) in Match 1
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pointbehind,butonlyfourpointscoveredthefirstsevenplaces,sotherewaseverythingtoplayforonSunday.F-TR had 11 points cover the top seven with RamonFitointheleadon282.8vthreeaheadofStuartAnselmwhohadshot93ineverymatch,PaulCrosbieinthird.AdamBagnallwasinfifthpayingforhis87inMatch1,whileRussellSimmondswaswaydownin12thafterammunitionproblems and an enforced rifle swapduringMatch3.
Sunday dawned brighter and becamewarm, the wind having dropped offand moved a bit further left. Match 1started at 09.00 and it was again themain group of F-TR shooters out firstin apparently windless conditions.While the flags hung limp, there wasa littlewind,again from the left,and itstrengthened slowly but continuously throughout thematch despite absolutely no change showing on theflags.Doingwellrequiredgoodwindplottingandastrongenoughnervetoregularlyaddaleft‘click’ontowindagedrumsettings.StuartAnselm took full advantage fora‘possible’ 75.4v ahead of Paul Harkins on 74.2v andLaurie Holland on 73.1v (shooting the .223 Savagefeaturedelsewhereinthisissue).Somestruggled,F-TRChampionship contenders Adam Bagnall and RussellSimmonds on 67.1v and 63.1v respectively, SteveDonaldsonon66.2v.Thewindflagswerebarelystirringwhen the ‘Open’ shooters started and Dan Broughwon this match with 75.10v. This and Stuart’s F-TR‘possible’ are GB-FCA League records for 1,000yd15-roundmatches.HughInglisalsoshota‘possible’butwithfour‘V’sandfourothersscored74.ItwasdowntoMatch5forthefirsthalfdozenOpenandthetopthreeF-TRplaces.PeterHunttooktheformerandtheeventoverall with another excellent score of 74.6v beatingoffJohnCarmichaelby three ‘V’sandPeterWilsonbya point. With scores running so high in almost everymatch,consistencywasessentialtodowellintheoverallplacings, andPeter provided just thiswith 99, 99, 94,73, and 74, Dan Brough almost as good on 99, 94,98,75,and72tofinishonepointbehind,thenGordonWaughandHughInglisafterasmallgap.InF-TR,SteveDonaldsonrecoveredtogethisfirstwinoftheweekendwith73.4v,fellow101ClubmemberStephenLynchandStuartAnselm theonlyothers tobreak70.Stuart’s75
plus71sawhimpullaheadofRamonFitoandtakefirstclassplaceoverallon424.12vaheadof the Spaniard’s 420.12v, there then beinga small gap to a group of five led by SteveDonaldson.
Sothereweare,fournewnationalrecordsinonemeeting, andatBlairAtholl at that!Howabout the championships? Round 5 didn’tproduce any changes at the top, but DanBrough’s 2nd place (19 points) puts him on53andjustabletochallengeGrantTaylorandDavidKent in the last two rounds,ashehasthree results in compared to their full sets offour.InF-TR,RussellSimmondsfinished11thandAdamBagnall 5th, neither result altering
theirchampionshippoints’ totals.StuartAnselm’sclasswinand20pointsmoveshimup to thirdhalf adozenpoints behind Russell for an outsider’s punt at theChampionship, but needing first places in both
remainingroundstomatchRussell’s77points.Round6returnstoDiggleontheweekendof11-12thSeptemberforaquartetof800and1,000ydmatches–there’sstilltime to enter, just! For further information on BritishF-Classshooting,visit:http://www.freewebs.com/fclassuk/Round5–Top10Scores Open F-TR1PeterHunt 439.17vStuartAnselm424.12v2DanielBrough438.24vRamonFito420.12v3GordonWaugh435.23vSteveDonaldson416.15v4HughInglis 435.21vPaulCrosbie415.19v5JohnCarmichael434.21vAdamBagnall415.14v6DesParr 433.24vPaulHarkins415.7v7TonyMarsh 430.19vLaurieHolland412.11v8DaveO’Hara 427.14vStephenLynch407.11v9JoeMelia 425.19vLiamFenlon406.12v10PeterWilson422.81vJohnCross406.6v
F-Class record breaker 3 – Stuart Anselm with 75.4v (F-TR) in Match 4, also 1st F-TR overall
F-Classrecordbreaker4–DanielBroughwith75.10v(Open)inMatch4
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THEALL-NEWQUIGLEYSHOOTINGASSOCIATIONANNUALTEAMSTEELCHALLENGE.
Sunday18thJulysawwhatshouldhavebeenthreeteamsofsixfirerseach fromtheQuigleyShootingAssociation, the Single Shot Black Powder Car-tridgeRifleClubofGreatBritainand theYorkshireBuffaloHunterscompete in theannualTeamSteelChallenge competition. Sadly, one member of theQSAteamwasunabletoattendbut,sportingly,theother teams suggested that their lowest individual
scores be discounted to make the contest moreeven.Sundaymorning,after thecustomarysocial-izing,itwasofftothe400yardfiringpointforstage1ofthecompetitionwhichconsistedoftwosightersandtentocountonabullseyetarget,shotTargetRi-flestylewithteammembersbeingpermittedtospotforeachother.Thencame thechallengingbit, tenshotseachatasteelsilhouetteofMatthewQuigley’sfamousbucket,fabricatedfortheoccasionbyRich-ardHealeyoftheYBH.OnthebullseyetargetstheteamswereverycloselymatchedwithQSAscoring196.5ex250andSSBPCRCscoring222.13ex250
andtheYBHscoring198.8ex 250. The top scorersforeach teambeingColinBuckon47.3fortheSSB-PCRC,RichardHealeyon44.3fortheYBHandDen-nisRichardsonon44.1fortheQSA.Thesteelbucketwas a bit of a challenge,especially once a fewrounds had gone down-range,asitblendedinwiththedarksandbackground,this accounted for manymisses from each team.Highest scorers wereyoungJakeHealeyfortheYBH and Colin Buck fortheSSBPCRCwith 5 hitseach. Going in for lunchthescorestoodat190forSSBPCRCGB, with theYBHandtheQSAon140.Lunchprovidedthechancefor shooters to catch upon the gossip and to ex-change hints and tips on
AregularcolumnwherebyKenHallkeepsusuptodatewithblackpowdercartridgerifleshootingintheUK.
Carl spotting for his team, and also saying a prayer perhaps
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reloading,casecleaningetc.aswellastosowseedsof friendly rivalry. (Whatothersporthasopposingteamsgivingeachothertipsandassistance?)Outnow to600ydsandarepriseofthebullseyestage,butdueto time restrictions only two sighters andfivetocountonthebullseyefollowedbytenroundseachatasteelbuffalosilhouette.
Thescoresforthebullseyephasewereasfollows;88.3 for theSSBPCRCGB,86 fortheQSAand76.3fortheYBH.Now comes the steel challenge, two details withthree firers from each team on the point, firing inturn, the tension becomes almost unbearable andthesecondsbetweenshotandstrikeseemtogrowlonger.TheSSBPCRChitthebuffalo43timestotheYBH’s41andtheQSA’s39withonlyDennisRich-ardsonoftheQSAscoringall10hits.
When all steel scores were tallied the SSBPCRChad‘rangthegong’62times,theYBH55timesandtheQSA53times.All competitors received a commemorativemedal,asdidthebuttcrew,whodidasplendidjobasusual.Theatmospherethroughoutwasoneofgreatcom-radeshipandfirersare tobecongratulated for thetruly sportsmanship way in which the competitionwasrun.
QUIGLEYSHOOTINGASSOCIATION1000YDBILLYDIXONSHOOT–17thJuly2010.
Youwouldn’t believe it! Diggle in ‘summer’ seemscursedwiththemostun-seasonalweather.Saturdaymorning,July17thandoncemoretheecosystemthatisthePennineweather,curseduswith
Phil Morgan retains the trophy for another year
The Teams
The bucket through the scope
92 Target Shooter
rainanddiminishedvisibility.Allthisandtheexposedfiringpointat1000ydsmadeforachallengingday.
Most people reading this will probably beacquaintedwithBilly’s famous 1,538 yardshot at thebattle ofAdobewalls in 1874,which effectively ended Comanche chiefQuanahParker’sattackonthe28menandonewomanencamped in the little tradingpost.
The Quigley Shooting associationrunsanannualcompetitionbasedonBilly’slong shot using modern replica firearmsof the period, fitted with open iron sightsand fuelled only with black powder. Thecompetitionconsistedoftwostages.Stage1beingtwosightersandtenshotstocountat a standard bullseye target to get therange and sight setting. Stage 2 was tenshotstocountonascaleddownmountedIndian figure target.The target ispicturedona6ftsquareframe,theactualfigureasyou can see, is very much smaller thanlifesize.Traditional crossed-stick rests werepermitted as the only aid, no optic sightsallowed.Thewinner is determined by thenumber of hits on the Indian, followed byhitsonthehorse,onepointbeingawardedfor hits on the backing which miss thesilhouette.
WiththeinfamousDiggle“breeze”makingitdifficulttoprevent scorecardsandcleaningkit from takingoff up the valley, and the rain showers obscuringthe target some difficulty was expected, howevereveryonemanagedtoscorehitsontheframe.Thisyear,eightfirershitthemountedfigurebutonlyMarkSilver,shootinghisheavybarrelledSharps.45/110hitthefiguremorethanoncetowinthecomp.Usinghitsonthehorseandbackertodetermine2ndand3rdpositions,youngJakeHealeytooksecondandPhilMorganwasthird.
Eric Todd spots for Carl Hanson
The Billy Dixon target
The view from 1000yds
Jake and Mark
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Gallery Rifle Update
The Fermoy International Gallery Match washeld in Ireland10thJuly2010andwas theseconddeployment of the year for the GB Gallery RifleTeam.Therainthatkeepsthe“EmeraldIsle”greenwas reportedly torrential, which did not enhancescores but was at least equitable for both teams.
Thestandard1500courseoffirewasshotshouldertoshoulderinbothcentrefireandsmall-boreclasses,contested with teams of five (best four scores tocount).Irelandshowedthegreaterconsistenceandwasvictoriousby27pointsinthecentrefire(5948v5921)andagain in thesmall-borebyanarrowermarginof23points(5872v5849).CongratulationstoIrelandwhogofromstrengthtostrengthfollowingtheirPhoenixCupwinatBisleyinMay.
NextoutingforTeamGBisinGermanyinNovember.
TheFermoyInternationalisanopeneventandisheldannually, there are special licensing requirementsfor Ireland but they are not to onerous andmanyshooterscombinetheirentrywithaholidaytoIreland–verynicewhynottryit?
The Imperial Meeting at Bisleymaybethezenithof the shooting season and it offered somethingslightly different to gallery rifle shooters. Between14thand18thJulynearly100competitorsshotover750cardsinGRCF,GRSB,LBR,muzzleloadingandairpistolevents.GRCFeventsaremainly,butnotexclusivelyshotwithironsights,withanysightsforGRSB.Therearesevencoreseventswithunlimitedentriesallowedandprizesbeingawarded for bestaggregates scores for single events and overall.In addition squadded events were held over theweekendof17th/18thJulyandtheImperialalsohoststhe University and School Matches encouragingyoung shooters. Score have been posted on theNRAwebsite.
The Frome 3-gunagainofferssomethingdifferentto theGR enthusiast; in addition to centrefire andsmallborestages(whichcanbeshotwitheitherrifleorLBR/LBP)thereisashotgunstage.Eachdisciplinehas five stages and there are prizes for stagewinnersandanoverallaggregatewinner.Thisyearsevent, 24th/25th July, saw 55 competitors shooting149stagesattheShieldShootingCentreinDorset,fullresultsoftheFromeWebsitewww.fdpc.org.ukAtthe Stourport Open Meeting,7th/8thAugust,139
GalleryRifle&PistolNews
GB and Ireland Captains in Fermoy
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match cards were submitted in 13 events. OneinterestingdifferenceatStourportistheMatchFive1500Pairs for teamsof two. The teammembersshoota1500Match5(60shots)withonecompetitoreachshootinginGRSBandGRCF,combinedtotalscoretocount.
Perhaps the NRA gallery rifle sub-committee maywishtoconsidertheinclusionofmixedteameventsattheActionWeekends?
The National Gallery Rifle Championships atBisley are imminent, 28th/29th August but theremay still be time to turn up and shoot on the day– subject to available range space. The NationalChampionships also host the Home InternationalMatchesonSaturday28thAugustonMelvilleRange–tryandgetalongandsupportyourcountryifyoucan.
Moving on to forthcoming events, on 19thSeptember Mattersey host a Bianchi Cup Matchplus Shorts. In addition to the usual four BianchiStages Mattersey uniquely host a six stage, near300rounds,courseoffirebyincludingtheRapid-fireandLosAlamitosStages–plentyofscopeforerrorswithfunforallandtheeventualvictorrightlyabletoclaimtobethebestrapidfireshot.Asusualentryformsareavailableonwww.galleryrifle.com.
Moregalleryrifleshootingat theTrafalgarMeeting(23rd/24th October) and at the Autumn ActionWeekend(30th/31stOctober)–detailsoftheseeventsnexttime.Goodshooting!
Scopes used by the GB Gallery Rifle SquadLast timewe looked at the riflesGBGallery Rifle
Squad shooters use and the modifications theyhavemade to them,as standard class centre firegalleryrifle(GRCF)isalmostuniversallyshotwithtelescopicsightsitistimetomakeananalysisofthescopesthetopshootersuse.
Myownruleisthattheglassonthegunshouldneverexceedhalfthepriceoftherifle.SomemaychoosetodifferwithmeonthisandIdoconcedethat forveryspecialistevents, like “F”class theremaybeacaseforapparentlyextremeextensionsmyrule.InGRthesmallestsizetargethasa1”centreandisnevermorethan50metresaway,exceptfortheannual100/200/300metreshootatthePhoenix,sothehalfpriceruleshouldbefitforpurpose.WithafullytweakedMarlinriflecostingbetween£850and£1,000weshouldbelookingtospendnomorethan£400-500 and for a change there is good news -nothinginthereviewexceedsthislimit!
Sowhat featuresdoweneedonaGRCFscope?
Thefirstessentialistheabilitytofocusatrelativelyhigh magnification at close range, to facilitate the10 and 15metre stages. In addition to themainfocusingringonascopenearlyallGRscopeshavea fine focus facility, either on the objective lens(that’s the one at the front) or a side focuswheelon the left hand side of the scope tube oppositethewindageadjustmentknob. Theses “adjustableobjective” (AO) focus facilities are graduated fordifferentdistances,sothatoncesetitiseasytoaltertothestagerequirements.Bewarnedthedistancegraduations do not always exactly match the realdistance,maybebecauseofagingeyes(inmycaseanyway!). Mysolutionismarkingthedistancesoffwitholdfashionedtypewritercorrectfluid,ifyoucanstillgetit.
The second requirement is to determine themagnification requirements, all the shooters inthe survey use differentmagnifications at differentdistances,sovariablepowerscopeoptionsonlywillbeconsidered. Itmightbe interesting ifwehadafixed power challenge to see what magnificationshooterswouldselectbut this isentirelyacademicintermsofthisarticle.Thebasicruleisthefurtheraway the greater the magnification, but there arelimits.
Themainconsiderationisthe“wobblefactor”,whichsomepeoplecancontrolbetterthanothers.Thereis an obvious need to hold the gun steady whenreleasing the shot and it becomes increasinglydifficult to hold the gun still as magnificationincreases.Athighmagnificationthiscancausestheshootertoholdoffpullingthetriggerwhilststrivingfortheperfect,buttransitory,sightpicture.Theanxiety
Mil Dot reticle with illuminated centre cross hair
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Marlin Competition Special
associatedwithdelayonthetimedstagescanhavetheeffectofadoptinga“thatwilldo”mentalityandloosing off the shot recklessly, with consequentinaccuracy, far better perhaps to settle for a lowerpowerthatpermitsasteadyaim.
Therearethereforeparallelstrategieswithregardstomagnification,youareeitherahighmagnificationandpresumablylotsofpracticemakesperfecttypeof person, or a low magnification person whichrequirespreciseaimatanapparentlysmalleraimingpoint. Of the GB squad about 80% prefer to golarge, I have tabulated the high, average and lowmagnification values for the stagedistance for the1500matchatfig1,myonlycommentisthattherearesomeveryconsistentshootersinbothhighandlowcampssomyadvicetoyouistotryitforyourselfandseewhichisbestforyou.
Fig1–ShowsmagnificationusedatdifferentdistancesIamatthelowendofthemagnificationdebateandmymain reason for it is thatgreatermagnification
brings the disadvantage of narrowing the field ofview, to the point where you only see the targetcentreandatthispointthereisanincreasingdangerofcrossshootingonotherpeoplestargets.Ifyoufindyouhavetheinherentabilitytoholdyouraimathighmagnificationthenbyallmeansuseitbutbeware!
Afewshootershaveadoptedacomplexbutlogicalapproachonthemulti-positionstagesofusinghighermagnification when kneeling and sitting, whichshouldbemorestable,andreducingmagnificationwhenstanding.Ihavetriedthismyselfandifyoulikeroutineanddon’tgetflusteredthenthismaybeworthatry.Typicallymagnificationsusedat50metresis;between12-16xkneeling/sittingand12-25xstanding.
Anotherconsiderationwhenchoosingascopeiseyerelief,orthedistancethatyoureyeballneedstobefromtherear lenselement toprovide theoptimumviewthroughthescope.Thisisimportantbecausewhenyoubringtherifleupyourheadandeyeneedstonaturallyreturntothesamepositioneverytimetogivethisoptimumview.Typicallyeyereliefisabout
The MTC Optics Taipan scope and you can just see the side focus wheel
96 Target Shooter
3”to4”butsomescopesseemtobemoreforgivingoneye relief thanothersanda tolerantscopecanhelpifhead/eyealignmentisslightlyoff.Thiseffectcanbemosthelpfulwithleftshoulder/eyeshootingwheresimilarhead/eyepositionmaybeachievablebut the optical qualities of the eyes are dissimilar.Annoyingly the eye relief on some scopes altersquietprofoundlyatdifferentmagnifications,sowatchoutforthis.
Sightpicturemaybeamatterofindividualpreferencebutthechoiceisvast;finecrosshairtargetreticles(sometimescalledreticules)duplextypeswithbroadcrosshairsnarrowingnearthecentre,mil-dotswithgraduationsdottedatregularintervalsontheverticaland horizontal axis and complex reticles showinginformation such as bullet drop and all this beforeyou include illuminated reticles (IR). I prefer anunclutteredsightpictureandthefinerthecrosshairsthebetterforshooterswhouselowmagnificationatthe longer distances but otherwise you pays yourmoneyandyoutakesyourchoice.
WhenitcomestoilluminatedelementsIamabitofaminimalistasinlowlighttheyglowwithoutenhancingthe target resolution. I suppose it’s a matter ofcontrastandIdohaveascopewithasmallcentraldotatthepointwherethecrosshairsbisect;thereddotdoesshowupquitenicelyagainstallblack1500targetface.Ifeelitlikelythatsomanyscopescomewiththisfeatureasstandardthatpeoplehavethembutneverswitchthemon.
IhaveheardshooterssaythatlargeobjectivelenseshelpwithlightgatheringbutIthinkitworthpointingoutthatthehigheryoumountyourscopethemore
pronouncedtheeffectofparallaxandthegreatertheeffectthiswillhaveonyourfallofshot,especiallyatcloserranges.Presumablylightgathering,ormorecorrectly light transmission, can be an importantfeature with hunting at dawn and dusk but mostGRisdoneduringthehoursofdaylightandwithoutdiscountingthisfactoraltogetherIwouldnotruleoutascopejustbecauseitdidn’thaveagreatbigbucketofafrontend.
More important is the quality of the optics withcheap scopes gaining a reputation for being poorlighttransmittersandthereforeabitgloomy.Sincethe Far East became involved in widespreadmanufacturing the quality of the optics on budgetscopeshas improvedradicallyandasyouwillseefromtherangeofscopesbeingusedbyGBsquadshooters(fig2)morethanacceptableresultscanbeachievedatquitemodestexpense.
BeforeIfinishIwanttolookatthenoscopeoption!What I hear you say, yes there are some whochoose,orperhapshavetheskill, tocompetewithamagnificationofonlyone. Currentlyonlyoneofthe GB squad goes down this route but with theintroductionthisyearoftheCRCF“classic”classthisstyleofshootingmayfindarenaissance. Idonotintendtodwellhereonthematterbutwillreturnatalaterdatetotheoptionsforshooting“classic”class.
NexttimeIwilllookatwhattofeedyourGRandwewilllookatsomeofthepetloadsoftheGBsquad.
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UKPSA Practical Pistol Basic Safety Course
IhaveshotPracticalShotgunforapproximatelyover two years now and thoroughly enjoyshootingtheUKNationalCircuitandthenorthernclubcompetitions.IhavealsobeenfortunatetoshootpracticalshotgunatIPSCLevel3NationalCompetitionsinotherEuropeancountries.
It’sbeenwhilstat thesecompetitionsan“aprèsshoot” of full bore pistols has sometimes beenmade available to us blighted Brits. Now I’mneveronetoturndowntheopportunitytofireagun,sowhenakindlyGermansaystome,wouldyou like toshoot theDesertEagle? IsayYES!So it’swith this inmind I havebeen lookingatwaystotakemypistolshootingtothenextlevel.Now this is easier said than done here on themainlandUK,wherepistolsaredeemedSection5andareillegaltopossessforthecommonman.There are many other fulfilling ways to shootpistols, CO2 steel challenge, air soft andeven the Long Barrel Revolver (LBR) or LongBarrelled Pistol (LBP), but none of these
have really been as good as those Europeanexperiences. Sowhen an opportunity came upto take part in a UKPSA practical pistol safetycourse inNorthernIrelandI immediatelysigneduptotakepart.Here’swhathappened:-
Thecoursewasbasedatafriendlyclublocatedin County Tyrone, organised by the veryexperiencedDavidThompson,UKPSAPracticalPistol Instructor and International IPSC pistolcompetitor.ThecourseranoveraSaturdayandSunday consisting of 14 hours plus of training.We started off with an introduction to IPSCshooting, safety rules, competition divisions,equipment that is used and IPSC rules andregulations.
In IPSC pistol the gun is worn unloaded in aholsterwhilst both shooting and alsowhen notshooting.Different from practical shotgun as inthis sport shotgunsareheld in a slip ona gunrack,whennot inuse.Sowewent through thesafemethodofunpackingthepistolsinthesafetyzone,makingsafeandholsteringtheguns.The
Close Supervision by instructor on firing line
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trainingfollowedasetpatternandslowlybuiltupincomplexity, the instructornotmovingonuntilhewas entirely satisfied thatwehadmasteredthedrillinhand.
Westartedatthesimpleendwithloadingthegunandmakingready,unloadingandshowingclear.We quickly moved on to stance, grip, draw,sighting, consistency of grip, trigger squeezeandthesightpicturerequiredforbothshortand
Competition Set up by STI 2011 in .40 S&W
Prone Shooting is Common in IPSC competition
Target Shooter 99
longrangetargets.Weworkedthroughdominanthandonly,supporthandonly,kneeling,proneandreloading and various start positions.All thesedrillswerecarriedoutwithaviewtosafety,speedandconsistency.
The final day was made up of training in themorning covering stoppage drills, turning andmoving. Followed by the all important testingphase that involved shooting stages set upto mirror what you would face in an actualcompetition, utilising all of the skills we haddeveloped over the past two days. Everyonethoroughlyenjoyedthecourseandallconsidereditwaswellworthattending.Allofuspassedwithacertificate,thosewhowerealreadymembersoftheUKPSAgainedacompetitionlicenceandthelocally based studentswhoweren’t, joined thatdaytotaketheirshootingfurther.
If youare interested in takingpart inaUKPSApracticalpistolsafetycourseinNorthernIrelandyoumusthavethefollowing:-
AGreatBritainfirearmcertificate,beamemberof a Great Britain Home Office approved clubandbeamemberoftheUKPSA.Whenacourseis being run information will be placed on theUKPSA Forum. For more details on IPSCcompetitionshootingyoucanalsolookatDavid’s
websitewww.practicalhandgun.comandalsowww.discovernorthernireland.com
InterestedpartiescanofcoursetakepartintheUKPSA practical pistol safety courses here inthe UK. Two day courses are run periodicallyatappropriaterangeswitheitherCO2pistolsoran LBR/LBP.Best completedwith an LBR/LBP-butdue toaquirk inourfirearms regulations,you may not borrow one – you have to haveappropriateconditionsonyourFAC for thegunyou intend to use. This does mean you eitherhavetobuyone,orshareonewithsomeoneandbothhavethegunenteredonyourFAC.IfyouchoosetodothecoursewithaCO2,youcancomplete thecoursebutnot finalise it untilyoucandemonstratesafeusewitharealpistol(handletherecoiletc).
The competition licence pass means youmay take part in any IPSC sanctioned matchanywhere in theworld.Those interestedshouldcontacttheUKPSAforfurtherdetails:www.uk-psa.co.uk
ReportandPicturesbyIainCorrigan
Weak Hand Drill
100 Target Shooter
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