|
|
June 20th, 2007
On the Guns & Ammo Magazine website, there is a feature article, America’s Rifle: the AR, that AR15 shooters will enjoy. The article contains dozens of links for AR15 components and accessories, including barrels, upper and lower receivers, sights, optics, grips, stocks and more. You’ll find photos of many of the more propular add-ons such as folding stocks, accessory rails, and red dot sights.
For those times when the AR stumbles (yes, it does happen), the article provides a helpful Jam-Clearance procedure. You’ll also find an excellent Trouble-Shooting Guide for the AR’s five most common problems: insufficient extractor tension, loose carrier keys, improper headspace, failure to eject (FTE), and primer issues from hot loads.
If you’re a black rifle shooter, definitely check out this story. It’s worth the read for the extensive product/vendor links alone, not to mention the fix-it tips.
Share the post "Good Resource for AR15 Shooters"
June 19th, 2007
Allie Euber shot a potential new IBS Benchrest for Score World Record at the recent St. Johnsbury, VT match. In the Light Varmint (10.5-lb) class, Allie posted a two-day, 100/200-yard Grand Aggregate of 500 (the maximum point total), with 35 Xs. If this is certified, it beats the previous record of 500-33x set by B. Lembo way back in 1995. (The 100/200 meter record is R. Read’s 500-24X set in 2004.) We congratulate Allie on great shooting, and beating a long-standing mark.
 Allie told us: “I had won the 100-yard with my Heavy Varmint, and had strung together a high X-Count with the Heavy. I pulled out the Light gun and it shot even more Xs, especiallly at 200 yards. On that last 200-yard stage, the conditions were pretty good–cloudy, overcast (pre-rain).” Allie’s record-setting LV was a 30BR with a BAT action and 3-groove, 17-twist Lilja barrel, which he had chambered himself. Allie told us he “like to run ‘em hot”, so he used “a full case of H4198″ with his own 30-caliber 7.5 ogive, 117gr flatbase match bullets. To order these bullets contact Euber Bullets, No. Orwell Road, Orwell, VT 05760, (802) 948-2621.
Reed Garfield emailed us noting that this wasn’t the first major record set at the Caledonia Forest and Stream Club in St. Johnsbury: “FYI, in 2005 Greg Palman of Aurora, ME broke the long-standing HV 100/200-yard Grand Agg at this range with a 500/39X. Our little farmer’s cow pasture up in Northern Vermont is now the home of both the HV and LV records.”
Share the post "Allie Euber Sets Potential IBS LV Score Record"
June 19th, 2007
We recently did a story on ARA rimfire shooter Joe Friedrich from California. In March he was just the sixth person (at the time) to shoot a perfect 2500 score in ARA 50-yard competition. His other three targets were scored 2450, 2450, 2450, for a then-unheard of 9850 four-target Aggregate.
Joe has a new gun (another Meyers-built custom with Benchmark 2-groove barrel) and it appears to be at least as good (if not better) than his record-setter. Just this Saturday, in a night match, Joe shot another 9850 Aggregate, with one perfect 2500 target. Joe’s latest 2500 doesn’t leave any room for doubt–23 of 25 shots are clean (all in the white) and only two shots barely nick the inside edge of the 100-score blue ring. This target, shown below, did not need to be plugged. Congrats to Joe on fine shooting. He continues to “raise the bar” in ARA rimfire competition. Click HERE to read our feature story about Joe and his rifles. And here is a link to see large versions of Joe’s latest FOUR Record Targets.
Share the post "Rimfire Ace Does It Again"
June 19th, 2007
 Vincent Hancock of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU), won the Gold Medal at the Int’l Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Lonato, Italy, on June 14, shooting a perfect match. Hancock, who won the Men’s Skeet world title in 2005, earned another spot in the history books by taking top honors at the Lonato World Cup. He fired perfect scores throughout the event, never missing a target in 150 shots.
George Achilleos of Cypress, Harald Jensen of Norway and Axel Wegner of Germany managed to drop only one clay each the entire match, but the shoot off left them in Silver, Bronze and fourth place, respectively. Earlier during the World Cup, Spc. Joshua M. Richmond of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit stole the spotlight by taking the Gold Medal in Men’s Double Trap. His win secured the final shotgun Olympic Quota Slot required for the USA to send a full roster of shotgunners to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
Share the post "USAMU Shotgunner Shoots Perfect Match"
June 18th, 2007
The new Nikon Monarch scopes have been eagerly anticipated. Now, finally, we expect the first shipments to hit dealers’ shelves the first week of July. We are especially interested in the new 6-24×50 side-parallax Nikon. SWFA.com and The Optic Zone have priced this scope at $629.95 (Nikoplex reticle), making it hundreds of dollars cheaper than a Leupold 30mm 8-25×50 LRT. The new 6-24x Monarch could be an ideal varminting and general purpose target scope. It features 1/8-MOA clicks, 1″-diam. one-piece tube, 34 MOA elevation, 2.1 mm exit pupil, locking side-focus parallax adjustment, and near-constant 3.6-4.0 inch eye relief throughout the zoom range. Nikon has created a new website showing off the features of all the new Monarchs, including the 6-24×50 and the 5-20×44 zooms. Click HERE to visit the new Nikon Monarch preview website.
Share the post "Preview of New Nikon Monarch Scopes"
June 18th, 2007
During a summer prairie dog expedition, a serious varminter may shoot hundreds of rounds in a day. Value-priced components help keep a shooter’s budget under control. As a June Special, MidSouth Shooters Supply is offering 50gr and 55gr bullets in economical 500-round packs for just $34.74. That works out to just $6.95 per hundred bullets! These .224-caliber “Varmint Nightmare X-Treme” bullets feature a flat-base design with a soft point lead tip for good expansion.
Share the post "Super Deal on Bulk .224 Varmint Bullets"
June 18th, 2007
Here’s an excellent product for the home gunsmith at a good price. Now through the end of June, MidwayUSA has the DPMS AR15 Upper Receiver Holding Fixture on sale for $30.00–twenty bucks off the regular price. This precisely-milled Delrin unit holds an AR15 upper securely during smithing or cleaning operations, without denting or scratching the surface. Just put the Holding Fixture (Midway item #730930) in a bench vise, pop in the pins front and rear, and you’re good to go. While designed primarily for assembly/disassembly, the fixture is also ideal for cleaning AR15 uppers. Here’s a user review by C. Ogle of California: “The DPMS Upper receiver holder works perfect. It is well-designed and very easy to use. It held the receiver in very sturdy with no play or wiggle. You can have piece of mind using this product and not worry about damaging your receiver while torquing down your barrel.”
Share the post "AR-15 Upper Holding Fixture on Sale"
June 16th, 2007
Field Report by Zak Smith
One of the best field-style hike-and-shoot long-range rifle challenges is known only to a small number of shooters. Dave Wheeler has been running his “Steel Safari” match for about ten years on his 1000-acre private ranch near Logan, NM. The match showcases practical rifle shooting in the field. Competitors locate small and medium-sized steel targets (often hidden), range them, and engage with one shot only, under a challenging time limit. Some movement on the clock is required, and shoot positions are always improvised, the best you can do while on a reverse incline, over a rock face, shooting down a gully, or leaning out the side of a truck.
The Steel Safari is a “Hunting Rifle Championship, a non-standard contest that examines practical hunting skills, including target recognition, range estimation, wind doping, trail skills, and marksmanship”, according to the match entry form. (Dr. David Kahn’s Kenyathlon is another well-known “hunting match”.) However, these skills are not limited to hunting. Events such as the Practical Rifle Team Challenge (NM), Int’l Tactical Rifleman Championship (WY), and various Sniper Challenge matches around the country use a similar format. The game involves target location, ranging, and making first-round hits in field conditions, while moving through natural terrain. This is a far cry from Benchrest and NRA Highpower Long-Range events.
Click for Large PHOTO.
Billed as the “last Steel Safari,” this year’s event attracted 26 shooters (from TX to CA) shooting a variety of rifles and calibers. The match defines two classes: standard and light rifle. The light rifles are limited to 9.5 pounds, while the standard rifles can be as heavy as the shooter wants. Caliber must be .243 Win or larger, up to a max of .300 Win Mag.
The match is primarily composed of two, day-long field courses, each between 2 and 2.5 miles in length, termed the “short” and “long” courses. The short course had 11 shooting locations in addition to the first stage on the known-distance (KD) range. The long course had 9 shooting locations plus a 100-yard mover back near Match HQ.
Click HERE to read Zak’s full 2007 Steel Safari match report, with many more photos.
Editor’s Note: Reporter Zak Smith won the 2006 Steel Safari. This year he finished second, shooting his .260 Rem AI AW. Zak notes: “A local Colorado shooter Mike Dowd shot like a house on fire both days, winning light rifle and the over-all match by four points. My decent but consistent shooting on both days put me at first in standard class and second overall.” Though Dave Wheeler has announced he’ll no longer be sponsoring the match, several Colorado shooters hope to run the Safari again in 2008, in association with Colorado Multi-Gun LLC.
Share the post "Hike 'N Shoot Rifle Challenge in NM"
June 16th, 2007
Sinclair Int’l now sells the Tubb Shooting Hat, in three colors, Tan (#47-900), Green (#47-925), and Blue (#47-950). Designed by 11-time Nat’l Highpower Champ David Tubb, this $29.50 product has many features that benefit prone and position shooters. Large, folding panels on either side of the brim block unwanted light and glare. In the rear, an extended flap protects your neck from sun (and hot brass from other shooters). The crown, which can be adjusted to any head size, features an integral sweatband, and mesh vent panels on both sides for cooling.
When you consider the money Highpower shooters invest in rifles, sights, and ammo, not to mention the costs of attending major matches, it makes sense to purchase a hat of this type. Side shades definitely help when using iron sights, and this hat will protect you from blazing summer sun.
Share the post "Tubb Shooting Hat"
June 15th, 2007
Precision shooters favor premium brass from Lapua, Norma, or RWS. (Lake City also makes quality brass in military calibers.) Premium brass delivers better accuracy, more consistent velocities, and longer life. Shooters understand the importance of good brass, but many of us have no idea how cartridge cases are actually made. Here’s how it’s done.
The process starts with a brass disk stamped from strips of metal. Then, through a series of stages, the brass is extruded or drawn into a cylindrical shape. In the extrusion process the brass is squeezed through a die under tremendous pressure. This is repeated two or three times typically. In the more traditional “draw” process, the case is progressively stretched longer, in 3 to 5 stages, using a series of high-pressure rams forcing the brass into a form die. While extrusion may be more common today, RWS, which makes some of the most uniform brass in the world, still uses the draw process: “It starts with cup drawing after the bands have been punched out. RWS cases are drawn in three ‘stages’ and after each draw they are annealed, pickled, rinsed and subjected to further quality improvement measures. This achieves specific hardening of the brass cases and increases their resistance to extraordinary stresses.”
After the cases are extruded or drawn to max length, the cases are trimmed and the neck/shoulder are formed. Then the extractor groove (on rimless cases) is formed or machined, and the primer pocket is created in the base. One way to form the primer pocket is to use a hardened steel plug called a “bunter”. In the photos below you see the stages for forming a 20mm cannon case (courtesy OldAmmo.com), along with bunters used for Lake City rifle brass. This illustrates the draw process (as opposed to extrusion). The process of draw-forming rifle brass is that same as for this 20mm shell, just on a smaller scale.
River Valley Ordnance explains: “When a case is being made, it is drawn to its final draw length, with the diameter being slightly smaller than needed. At this point in its life, the head of the draw is slightly rounded, and there are no provisions for a primer. So the final drawn cases are trimmed to length, then run into the head bunter. A punch, ground to the intended contours for the inside of the case, pushes the draw into a cylindrical die and holds it in place while another punch rams into the case from the other end, mashing the bottom flat. That secondary ram holds the headstamp bunter punch.
The headstamp bunter punch has a protrusion on the end to make the primer pocket, and has raised lettering around the face to form the headstamp writing. This is, of course, all a mirror image of the finished case head. Small cases, such as 5.56×45, can be headed with a single strike. Larger cases, like 7.62×51 and 50 BMG, need to be struck once to form a dent for the primer pocket, then a second strike to finish the pocket, flatten the head, and imprint the writing. This second strike works the brass to harden it so it will support the pressure of firing.”
Thanks to Guy Hildebrand, of the Cartridge Collectors’ Exchange, OldAmmo.com, for providing this 20mm Draw Set photo. Bunter photo from River Valley Ordnance, RVOW.com.
Share the post "How Cartridge Brass is Made"
June 15th, 2007
 It’s time to pay our respects to our patriarchs. This Sunday, perhaps take your dad to the range, or spend a day with him doing his favorite activity–whether shooting, golf, fishing, or just firing up the grill in the backyard. If you’re looking for a special gift for Father’s Day, both Cabelas.com and Orvis.com have some excellent promotions running right now.
Share the post "Father's Day this Sunday, June 17th"
June 14th, 2007
Thanks to sponsors Bruce Baer, Bartlein Barrels and smiths Mark King and Alex Sitman, we are developing a new long-range project gun with two barrels, one chambered in 6mm-6.5×47 and the other in 6.5×47 Lapua. For this project, Jason wanted a hybrid stock that combined features of the popular MBR Tooley-style stock, with an I-beam style fore-end, plus something new and different in the rear.
The new stock, crafted by Bruce Baer, features an I-beam style fore-end with long, straight flats similar to a McMillan Edge™ short-range BR stock. The underside of the fore-end is relieved to allow smoother tracking over a front sand bag. We’ve noticed a trend to wider flats in the back, so we specified a 1.25″ rear flat. We didn’t want to go ultra-wide (2.0″ +) to keep weight manageable and so that a conventional blank (1.5″ wide at comb) could be used. We were also concerned about friction and bag-handling if the flat was too wide. To lessen drag and improve tracking, Jason told Bruce to cut a relieved area, or “channel” in the underside of the toe. The idea here was to reduce friction and to provide improved contact with the ears of the rear bag. With a very wide flat, there is a tendency to ride on the stitching between the ears. With this design, we hope, the left and right edges of the rear flats will engage the ears.
Share the post "New Stock Design from Baney and Baer"
|
