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March 25th, 2008
This week, American Rifleman Television continues its coverage of John Moses Browning, America’s prolific gun designer. You will not want to miss “The Greatest—John M. Browning, Part II,” which focuses on John Browning’s legendary military arms designs — from the ’97 trench gun, to the timeless m1911, and light and heavy machine guns. When you consider that Browning designs are still being used both in combat (.50 BMG machine gun) and competition (1911 pistol), a century after their inventions, it’s clear that Browning was nothing short of a genius as a firearms designer.
Part of the Outdoor Channel’s “Wednesday Night On The Range” lineup, American Rifleman Television airs each Wednesday at 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, (7 p.m. Pacific). The show repeats on various days and times throughout the week. For a complete listing, or to find out how you can receive Outdoor Channel, go to OutdoorChannel.com.
March 25th, 2008
The last half-inch or so of your barrel is absolutely critical. Any damage (or abnormal wear) near the crown will cause a significant drop-off in accuracy. Here are ways you can check the end of your barrel, using a common Q-Tip.
Use Q-Tip for Barrel Inspection
To find out if you have a burr or damage to your crown, you can use an ordinary Q-tip cotton swab. Check the edges of the crown by pulling the Q-tip gently out past the edge of the crown. If you have a burr, it will “grab” the cotton and leave strands behind.
Larry Willis has another way to use a Q-Tip: “Here’s a neat trick that will surprise you with how well it works…
Just insert a Q-Tip into your barrel (like the picture below), and it will reflect enough light so that you can get a real good look at the last half inch of rifling and the crown of your barrel. In most cases you’ll find that this works much better than a flashlight. Since then, I’ve used this method about a jillion times. Q-Tips are handy to keep in your cleaning supplies anyway. This is a good way to judge approximately how well you are cleaning your barrel when you’re at the range. It’s also the best way to examine your barrel when you’re in the field.”
Larry Willis is the inventor of the unique Innovative Technologies Belted Magnum Collet Resizing Die. Larry explains how this die works, and offers many other useful reloading tips on his website, LarryWillis.com.
March 24th, 2008
The Hickory Shoot, the nation’s most popular groundhog shooting competition, is slated for April 5th this year. Now in its 28th year, this is the biggest Varmint competition on the East Coast, with over $4000.00 worth of prizes awarded each year, including $1000.00 in cash. Compete individually or as part of three-man teams. The entry fee is $25 per person, plus (optional) $10 extra per team. The match will be held in Vale, North Carolina. For MapQuest or Google maps, use this address: 8216 Will Hudson Road, Lawndale, NC 28090.
This year, there will be three targets, set at 100, 300 and 500 yards. (No unknown distance). In the past, 6BRs, 6BR Improveds and the mid-size 6mms have been the calibers to beat. To see what it takes to win, read this article about Harold Seagroves’ Spencer-built 6BR, which has won the Hickory Shoot multiple times.
The range will be open Monday-Friday preceding the match for practice. The match will start 8 o’clock sharp Saturday morning the 5th. If you have any questions call Larry Willis, Bulls Eye Sporting Goods, (704) 462-1948. This year the targets will be at known distances, 100, 300, and 500 yards. That should be a cake walk for you 1000-yard shooters.
March 24th, 2008
Dave Emary, Chief Ballistic Scientist at Hornady Mfg., was named one of the “Outdoor Life 25″ by Outdoor Life magazine. This annual award honors leaders, innovators, and conservationists who have impacted the outdoor sports in a positive and significant way. Emary was one of the principal designers for the AMAX™ and FTX™ bullets, the 17 Mach 2 and 17 HMR rimfire ammunition, the popular .204 Ruger cartridge, as well as the new 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge.
CLICK HERE to hear Dave Emary Discuss 6.5 Creedmoor
Emary is quick to share credit for his accomplishments. “I would not have been able to accomplish what I have done without the hard work and help of other people,” he said. “I’m most excited about the attention this brings to Hornady and the affirmation that we are doing good things in the industry.”
Emary holds Bachelors of Science degrees in Physics and Aeronautical/Astronautical Engineering from Bowling Green State Univ., and the Air Force Institute of Technology. He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1981 to 1987, achieving the rank of Captain, with service at the Ballistic Missile Office of Norton AFB, and the Pentagon. As a civilian he developed and tested ballistics at the Los Alamos Laboratory (NM), and the Olin Corporation (FL).
March 24th, 2008
 Grafs.com is offering “blow-out pricing” on the 13th Edition of the Speer Reloading Manual. Regularly priced at $20.99, the Speer Manual (item PS9510) is now just $9.99. This hefty 730-page hardcover resource offers more than 8,000 load recipes with powder charges and bullet data. The Speer Manual also includes detailed ballistics tables, bullet energy and velocity tables, plus sections on special techniques, problem-solving and more. The 13th Edition of this popular reloading guide was updated with an improved format for quick reference.
Note, however, the 13th Edition was first published in 1998. The latest edition of this manual is the 1149-page 14th Edition, published in 2007. The 14th edition has more technical tables and over 9,000 load recipes. The 14th Edition (shown below) is available from Grafs.com for $29.99 (item SP9515, in stock now), or from MidSouth Shooters Supply for $27.50 (item 021-9515, on order).
March 23rd, 2008
The full line of K&M reloading tools and accessories is now offered by PrecisionReloading.com.
 The popular K&M Arbor press (with optional seating force measurement gauge) is in stock. The K&M arbor costs $78.00, or $115.00 with the force measurement system. This clever design uses a Bellville washer stack and linkage to show the force required to seat your bullet on a standard dial indicator mounted on the top (dial is $22 extra.) In addition, Precision Reloading offers K&M neck-turning tools, primer seaters, expanders, neck reamers, and flash-hole uniformers.
Based in Mitchell, South Dakota, Precision Reloading is run by active, knowledgeable shooters. In addition to centerfire reloading supplies and tools, Precision Reloading offers a full line of shotshell components and shotgun reloading equipment, plus optics, cleaning supplies, gun cases, and hunting gear.
March 23rd, 2008
On March 28-30, Cabela’s is running a major gun sale at many of its stores. This “Gun Show” weekend will feature great discounts on both new and used firearms. Customers are also invited to bring in their own firearms to sell, trade, or consign. Cabela’s has collected inventories from its gun vaults, placing hundreds of used guns on sale for the first time. In addition, participating stores will offer new guns at special savings. The Cabela’s “Gun Show” will be held at these participating stores: Boise, Buda, Dundee, East Grand Forks, Fort Worth, Glendale, Hamburg, Kansas City, Kearney, La Vista, Lehi, Mitchell, Prairie du Chien, Owatonna, Richfield, Rogers, Sidney, and Wheeling.
In addition, gun safes will be offered at low, discounted prices at the following locations: Boise, Glendale, Kansas City, Lehi, Owatonna, Richfield, and Rogers. If you live near any of these locations, this is an excellent opportunity to acquire a quality gun safe at significant savings.
March 22nd, 2008
 On LongRangeHunting.com, you’ll find a good article about wind reading by Shawn Carlock. Shawn Carlock is a veteran law enforcement marksman and the current USPSA national precision rifle champion. Shawn offers good advice on how to estimate wind speeds and directions using a multitude of available indicators — not just your wind gauge: “Use anything at your disposal to accurately estimate the wind’s velocity. I keep and use a Kestrel for reading conditions….The Kestrel is very accurate but will only tell you what the conditions are where you are standing. I practice by looking at grass, brush, trees, dust, wind flags, mirage, rain, fog and anything else that will give me info on velocity and then estimate the speed.”
Shawn also explains how terrain features can cause vertical wind effects. A hunter positioned on a hilltop must account for bullet rise if there is a headwind blowing up the slope. Many shooters consider wind in only one plane — the horizontal. In fact wind has vertical components, both up and down. If you have ever piloted a small aircraft you know how important vertical wind vectors can be. Match shooters will also experience vertical rise when there is a strong tailwind blowing across an up-sloping berm ahead of the target emplacements. Overall, Shawn concludes: “The more time you spend studying the wind and its effect over varying terrain the more successful you will be as a long-range shooter and hunter.”
March 22nd, 2008
Norma 6XC brass is available direct from Superior Shooting Systems for $60.00 per hundred. These days, that’s a good deal for premium brass. Other vendors are selling the Norma 6XC for up to $89.00 per hundred. This is excellent brass that has shot extremely well for German Salazar and other top prone and cross-the-course shooters. It has a large flash hole and large primer pocket. It has enough case capacity to drive 110-115 grain bullets to 3000 FPS in most 27-28″ barrels.
The much-awaited, polymer-tipped 111 DTAC MJPT (Match Jacket Plastic Tip) 6mm bullet is still awaiting delivery. [UPDATE: As of 7/17/2008, the ship date keeps slipping. Superior Shooting promised initial shipments at the “end of June”, but everyone’s still waiting.] The price is $105/500 for naked bullets, and $110/500 for boron nitride-coated bullets. The new DTAC 111 is showing good accuracy and can be shot in most rifles throated for the 105-107 grain bullets, though, ideally, you’d want freebore about .030″ longer (and we recommend a 1:7.5″ twist barrel). David says the new bullet’s ballistic-coefficient (BC) is “right around .600″ based on field testing using multiple chronographs set downrange. (This is actually measured, not calculated, BC.) When shot from a 6XC, 6-6.5×47, 6-250 or similar cartridge, you should be able to push this bullet at 3000 fps. The plastic tips provide a more uniform bullet-to-bullet ballistic coefficient according to David Tubb: “With the new bullet tip you no longer have to uniform the meplats to get a consistent BC shot-to-shot. What we’ve seen in field testing is a spread of only 2% in actual bullet BC.”
Download DTAC 111 Info Sheet
March 21st, 2008
David Tubb of Superior Shooting Systems pioneered the use of Boron Nitride to coat bullets. Hexagonal Boron Nitride (aka “White Graphite” or “HBN”) is an extremely slippery substance with high load-bearing properties. David believes Boron Nitride reduces bullet jacket friction and fouling in the bore. With boron nitride-coated bullets, it is believed that a shooter can fire longer shot strings before cleaning is required. Boron Nitride coating performs much the same function as moly-coating, but David (and others) believe HBN does the job better, and adheres to the bullet better than plain moly. And unlike moly, HBN has no potential corrosive properties.
 You have to make you own decision as to whether bullet coatings are advantageous to you. The majority of shooting matches are still won by “naked” bullets. However, if you are a long-term moly user, you may want to investigate the benefits of boron nitride coatings.
Superior Shooting Systems will coat your naked bullets with Boron Nitride for $0.05 (five cents) per bullet with a 1000-bullet minimum order. If you want to save dollars and coat your own bullets, the process is similar to that for moly-coating — impact plate the bullets by tumbling with Boron Nitride powder. Boron Nitride powder is available in bulk from LowerFriction.com. This Canadian firm sells powdered boron nitride in three sizes, .070 micron, 0.5 micron and 1.5 micron. The 0.5 micron size seems to work best for bullet coating. Current price is $79.00 US per pound, plus shipping. Call 1 + (416) 509-4462 to order.
Smaller quantities of a Boron Nitride bullet lubricant are offered by 21st Century Ballistic Solutions (“21stCBS”). This company offers a proprietary Boron Nitride blend specially formulated for easy application and excellent adhesion. 21stCBS has done extensive testing with both varmint and match rifles. They believe the Boron Nitride coating significantly reduces both copper and carbon barrel fouling. This allows up to 120+ rounds to be fired with no significant reduction in accuracy. The 21stCBS product applies easily in a vibratory tumbler–you don’t need steel shot or ball bearings to get the Boron Nitride to adhere to your bullets. Cost of the 21stCBS “custom blend” is $10.25 shipped for one (1) ounce of product, enough to coat 1000+ bullets. For more info, or to order, contact Mike Brenner, Mikeb@21stcenturyballisticsolution.com, (641) 485-0047 or (641) 753-3670. Mike also notes that the Boron Nitride does a great job of reducing friction when applied to leather benchrest front and rear sandbags.
 Aerosol Boron Nitride Lubricant
We haven’t tried it, so we can’t confirm its effectiveness, but a new Aerosol spray coating is available that contains Boron Nitride. Produced by Slide Products in Illinois, Hi Temp 1800 was designed as a metal lubricant and mold release. The Boron Nitride retains its friction-reducing qualities even at very high temperatures.
We’ve been told that some shooters are experimenting with this spray-on Boron Nitride product. If it works with bullets, that will simplify the application process, since you won’t need a tumbler. But we caution that right now, spray on Boron Nitride is “experimental” at best. Cost is $87.20 for a case of 12 cans. For more info, or to order, call Slide Products, Toll Free 1-800-323-6433, or (847) 541-7220. Samples are available on request.
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