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January 21st, 2015

SHOT Day One — A Look Inside

Opening day at SHOT Show is always overwhelming. Tens of thousands of visitors fill the Sands Convention Center. The rows of booths seem endless. Here are a few quick highlights from Day One.

So many booths, so many people. Yes it can boggle the mind…
Shot show las vegas gun industry day 1

Shilen had barrels galore on display (including AR barrels). Shilen also showcased triggers.
Shot show las vegas gun industry day 1

Handsome F-Class and Benchrest rifles were featured at Kelbly’s booth.
Shot show las vegas gun industry day 1

Labradar. Yes it is real. Yes it is FCC-approved. We’re told the first units should ship by mid-spring.
Shot show las vegas gun industry day 1

Bill Wiseman builds the massive text fixtures used by Remington, Sig Sauer, Lapua, and other big companies. This former USMC armorer is world renowned for the quality of his testing rigs.
Shot show las vegas gun industry day 1

Like father, like daughter. Steve Dahlke runs Criterion Barrels with expert help from his uber-smart daughter Stephanie, a talented young engineer.
Shot show las vegas gun industry day 1

QuickLOAD software has been updated with data for new powders, including Alliant and IMR powders.
Shot show las vegas gun industry day 1

The folks at Timney Triggers found a way to attract booth visitors — chocolate treats with Timney graphics. Yummy.
Shot show las vegas gun industry day 1

Permalink Uncategorized 3 Comments »
January 21st, 2015

Norma to Make 6mm Dasher and .284 Win Brass for Bullets.com

Bullets.com has contracted with Norma to produce 1,000,000 pieces of .284 Winchester and 6mm Dasher brass (500,000 of each type). This is big news for competitive shooters. The .284 Win cartridge is a proven winner in F-Class competition and the 6 Dasher is a record-setting mid-range benchrest cartridge. It’s tough to beat the Dasher at 300-600 yards, and the .284 Win is probably the most successful cartridge for F-Open shooters.

Bullets.com President Shiraz Balolia (left) and Norma Managing Director Paul-Erik Toivo “ink the deal”.
Bullets.com Norma .284 Winchester Dasher 6mm Brass contract order

Shooters should be excited about these new offerings. Bullets.com’s contract with Norma calls for advanced production methods to make sure the new brass is truly “match-grade” and long-lasting. To ensure that primer pockets stay tight for many firings, the caseheads on the new brass will be double-stamped for improved hardness and strength. Additionally the new brass will go through an additional draw stage to ensure ultra-uniform casewall thickness. With these extra manufacturing steps, this new 6mm Dasher and .284 Win brass should be the best brass Norma has ever produced, as Bullets.com President Shiraz Balolia explains in the video below:

Shiraz Balolia Explains the Qualities of the New Brass

Shiraz reports: “Normally, Norma has about 25 steps of quality control (QC) during the production process of brass. They told us that our first shipments will have almost 30 steps to make sure that the brass is absolutely flawless when it leaves the factory.”

For illustration only — actual specifications may be slightly different.

6mm Dasher

Bullets.com Dasher 6mm 6 Norma brass Balolia Shiraz

.284 Winchester

Bullets.com Dasher 6mm 6 Norma brass Balolia Shiraz

6mm dasher brass6mm Dasher without Fire-Forming Hassles
Until now, if you wanted to shoot a Dasher, you had to go through the time-consuming and laborious process of forming brass from the parent 6mmBR Norma case. You had to blow the shoulder forward, either through fire-forming or hydro-forming. Now that’s all changed — you will soon be able to take perfect 6mm Dasher brass out of the box, and “load and shoot”.

The Deal is done. New Norma .284 Win brass will start arriving in the USA in March, 2015, while the new Dasher brass is expected in late summer 2015.
balnorma02

IMPORTANT — The above diagrams were made 4 years ago with QuickDESIGN. They are for illustration purposes ONLY. These are NOT reamer prints, and there may be small differences compared to the Norma .284 Win and 6mm Dasher brass ordered by Bullets.com. Do NOT spec reamers based on the above illustrations. Wait ’til we have the actual Norma brass to measure.

Permalink Bullets, Brass, Ammo, New Product 24 Comments »
January 21st, 2015

New Kelbly Tactical Atlas Action with Black Nitride Finish

The Kelbly clan had an impressive new action on display at SHOT Show. This new Kelbly Atlas Tactical action features a super-hard, durable black nitride external coating. This is a not a spray-on or bake-on finish. It is actually a surface layer treatment of the metal that increases the toughness of the finish to 84 Rockwell while making it super-smooth. This allows the action to work well with minimal lubrication.

Kelbly atlas tactical action

Ian Kelbly says this action was designed with input from tactical gunsmiths and PRS competitors. The action comes standard with a fluted bolt, APA oversized bolt-knob, and a +20 MOA Picatinny rail on top. The fluted bolt helps keep channel dirt and dust out of the contact surfaces. Ian says this black nitride finish should provide superior function in sandy, dusty, or dirty environments because it can run with almost no lube/grease that attracts and retains grit. Visit Kelbly.com for action specifications and current pricing.

kelbly atlas tactical action

Permalink - Videos, New Product 2 Comments »
January 21st, 2015

Preacher Builds Stock the Old-Fashioned Way — with Hand Tools

Forum member Preacher recently crafted a nice varmint rifle for fellow Forum member Dave 0. (aka “Waskawood”). But rather than buy an off-the-shelf stock, Preacher crafted this stock all by hand, starting from a laminated blank panel. He calls this stock project his “Axe Job”.

CLICK for Full-size Photo
hand made axe job stock 17 VMA varmint

This stock is being used on a prairie dog rifle, chambered for a 17-caliber wildcat, the 17 VHA, which is based on an H&K 4.6x30mm parent case. With about nine grains of 300 MP pistol powder, the 17 VHA drives 20-grainers at about 3850 fps. (SEE details at end of article).

The ‘Axe Job’

Report by Preacher
I like carving with the laminates because all the lines are right there in front of my eyes, so it’s easy to follow along and get it just right, until it’s pleasing to the eye. I never use a template, I just keep checking the lines as I go along. I have all the needed equipment to power build one of these, but I really enjoy the time spent on the hand work. From start to completely ready-to-install, I’ll have about six (6) weeks into one of these stock projects. A lot of that is drying time for the clear coats.

A little work with the hand axe, after a trip through the band saw…
hand made axe job stock 17 VMA varmint

The majority of the laminated blank panels I use for my gunstocks are purchased directly from Cousineau Wood Products or from Rutply.com. You have to buy at least four full panels at a time, all the same color, but that will yield eight (8) stocks. Seems like I have a little over $150.00 in a blank large enough to start making a full-sized, benchrest-style stock.

A little work with a chisel…
hand made axe job stock 17 VMA varmint

A little work with a rasp. (Before I was rich and famous and could afford really good rasps, I used a good old horse shoe rasp.)
hand made axe job stock 17 VMA varmint

A little more work with the chisel…
hand made axe job stock 17 VMA varmint

Preacher’s Advice on Carving Your Own Stock
The one main advantage of being older that dirt, and tormented with MS the past 40 years, is lots of free time to enjoy what ever I can do these days, as long as I can set down to do it, and I can make a lot of wood chips setting down.

Any one can do this if they have the time to devote to it. All it takes is time and a good eye for details. I made a lot of firewood over the years, until I got the hang of it. Most all those problems were inletting, and screw hole spacing. Get those right the first time and you’re on your way….

A little more work with the rasp…
hand made axe job stock 17 VMA varmint

A few coats of Auto clear has it about buttoned up…
hand made axe job stock 17 VMA varmint

Micro 17 VHA Wildcat
Here’s the finished rifle built by Preacher for Dave, using the ‘Axe Job’ stock. Dave tells us: “Preacher chambered the rifle for the 17 VHA, a wildcat based on the H&K 4.6x30mm MP7 PDW case necked down to 17 caliber. There are numerous articles in the Varmint Hunter’s Magazine about it. This efficient little round shoots 20gr ballistic tips at 3850+ fps. That’s not too shabby for ‘nine point something’ grains of pistol powder.”

“My intentions for my 17 VHA rifle are to plop down in the middle of a PD town with my swivel bench and shoot prairie dogs. I also thought it would be a nice platform to test the accuracy of the cartridge. If I like the little round as well as I think, I plan to build a more practical rifle that I can carry. I really want to thank Preacher for his patience with me through this project, as it was my first custom build.”

hand made axe job stock 17 VMA varmint

Permalink Gunsmithing, Tech Tip 5 Comments »