Secrets of the Houston Warehouse — Read this classic article
From the late ’70s through 1983, a huge, concrete-walled warehouse in Houston was used for benchrest testing. Virgil King and Bob Fisher set up a bullet-catching backstop at the end of a 30-yard-wide, 325-yard-long fire lane that remained unobstructed even when the warehouse was in use. This allowed accuracy tests in virtually perfect “no wind” conditions. Over a six-year period, about 30 shooters were invited to test their rifles. The results were amazing, with numerous “zero groups” being shot in the facility. Many of the lessons learned in the legendary Houston Warehouse still help benchresters achieve better accuracy today.
Dave Scott wrote a superb article, the Secrets of the Houston Warehouse which appeared in a special issue of Precision Shooting Magazine. That issue has long been sold out, but, thankfully, Secrets of the Houston Warehouse is now on the web: CLICK HERE to READ Secrets of the Houston Warehouse.
Dave Scott explains why the Warehouse was so unique:
“Over a period of six years, the levels of accuracy achieved in the Houston Warehouse went beyond what many precision shooters thought possible for lightweight rifles shot from sandbags and aimed shot-to-shot by human eye. For the first time, a handful of gifted, serious experimenters — armed with the very best performing rifles (with notable exceptions) — could boldly venture into the final frontiers of rifle accuracy, a journey made possible by eliminating the baffling uncertainties of conditions arising from wind and mirage. Under these steel skies, a shooter could, without question, confirm the absolute limits of accuracy of his rifle, or isolate the source of a problem. In the flawlessly stable containment of the Houston Warehouse … a very few exceptional rifles would display the real stuff, drilling repeated groups measuring well below the unbelievably tiny .100″ barrier. The bulk of rifles, however, embarrassed their owners.”
Scott’s article also reveals some interesting technical points: “One thing that IS important is that the bullet be precisely seated against the lands. T.J. Jackson reported this fact in the May 1987 issue of Precision Shooting. In a letter to the Editor, T.J. wrote, ‘…in all our testing in that Houston warehouse… and the dozens and dozens of groups that Virgil King shot in there ‘in the zeroes’… he NEVER fired a single official screamer group when he was ‘jumping’ bullets. All his best groups were always seated into the lands, or at the very least… touching the lands. Virgil said his practice was to seat the bullets so the engraving was half as long as the width of the lands. He noticed an interesting phenomenon with rifles that could really shoot: if the bullets were seated a little short and the powder charge was a bit on the light side, the groups formed vertically. As he seated the bullets farther out and increased the powder charge, the groups finally became horizontal. If he went still farther, the groups formed big globs. He said the trick is to find the midway point between vertical and horizontal. That point should be a small hole.”
You should definitely read the complete article, as it provides many more fascinating insights, including shooting technique, barrel cleaning, neck-turning, and case prep.
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Tags: Benchrest, Houston Warehouse, Precision Shooting, Zero group
I think that we all would like to have access to such a place. Over the years, I have read various comments about what happened there. If my memory serves, I seem to remember one account, by a fellow who had been invited to shoot there more than once, who said that he never saw groups of the size that were reported in the article to have been so common. This is not to say that the information published about what went on there is not useful, but the implication was that the results obtained may have been exaggerated to some extent. Nevertheless, everyone who is interested in extreme accuracy should read the article, more than once. You do your readers a great service by making it available on line. Thanks,
I know a guy that knows a guy who knows a person who is divorced form Virgil, hence I have it on good authority how Virgil canceled out Spin d.
Its a secret so don’t tell anyone. Virgil had Ed Shilen cut a custom barrel in half. He joined another half of a left hand twist barrel to the first half of the original RH twist bore. How they rejoined it in perfect alignment and with smooth transition from the first portion right hand twist to the now left hand twist is a secret even I could not be told. But hey I’m not a barrel maker so it doesn’t matter.
Anywho now that the bullet spins clockwise in the first half of the barrel, but then reverses to counter clock in the latter portion of the bore all works to cancel out spin drift. But its a good thing it’s a 300 meter benchrest trick because if it was a long range gig you’d need to know it doubles Coriolis effect and invigorates the angle of repose.
You should start limiting you time on the snipershide forums.
Thanks for the laugh TresMon
Virgil T. King
TENNESSEE COLONY — Funeral services for Virgil T. King, 71, of Tennessee Colony, were held at 3 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 30, at Bailey & Foster Chapel in Palestine.
Burial was in Liberty Hill Cemetery near Frankston under the direction of Bailey & Foster.
Mr. King died Tuesday, Dec. 28, at his residence.
He was born July 8, 1933 in Waggner, Okla. to Virgil and Ollie Mae Fields King.
Mr. King was a self employed as a construction contractor in the Houston area for many years. He was a member of the Church of Christ. He also was a member of the Carpenters Union Local 213 and the Benchrest Shooters Assn. of Houston. Mr. King served in the U.S. Army during the Korean Conflict.
He was preceded in death by his parents and a sister, Dorothy Mae Milum.
Mr. King is survived by his wife, Lois M. Clakley King of Tennessee Colony; daughters, Janice Broussard of Katy, Judy Harman of Houston and Jeanie White of Pearland; mother-in-law, Vaudine Dansby of Frankston; seven grandchildren, nieces and nephews.