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December 12th, 2008
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has a special program that lets you send a 12″x12″x6″ flat rate box to soldiers serving overseas with military APO/FPO addresses. The shipping cost is just $10.95, flat rate, no matter what the international destination. The boxes, labeled MILI-FRB, are available for FREE at your post office. The MILI-FRB box is quite a bit larger than the $10 domestic Flat-Rate box. With the MILI-FRB you don’t pay by weight, but the max weight for overseas shipment is 20 lbs. per box.
Desired Goods — Gum, Jerkey, Power Bars, Wet Wipes, Chew, and Magazines
What should you pack in the box? Soldiers polled say that they prefer “fun stuff” and consummables, rather than t-shirts, socks, and underwear. Don’t send chocolates as these will melt in the heat. Chewing gum, lifesavers, and other hard candies are popular. So are beef jerkey, granola bars, and power bars. Powdered drink mixes, such as kool-aid and Crystal Light Lemonade, are in high demand.
Among the most-requested items are “Wet Wipes” and/or “baby wipes”. These can be used for a quick clean-up in the field and are easy to tote in a field pack. The soldiers have also asked for chewing tobacco. Though not particularly healthy, tins of Skoal and Copenhagen are highly prized for trading purposes, even if your recipient doesn’t chew. The soldiers also like reading material. Outdoor magazines, car magazines, and gun/hunting magazines are prized. If you’ve got a stack of old shooting magazines… don’t toss ‘em, ship ‘em.
You can get the names of serving troops from National Guard offices, from the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars), or from local military recruitment offices. Your Congressperson can also help you obtain the addresses of soldiers from your area who are billeted overseas.
December 12th, 2008
 In response to increased customer demand and regional lead-free regulation, Winchester introduces new SUPER-X 55gr .223 Rem lead-free ammunition using a patented tin core technology. The new .223 Rem lead-free ammo features a 55gr tin-core bullet loaded to 3050 fps. The new product, item X223RT, will be available in Spring 2009.
“Shooters and hunters require lead-free ammunition in various regions of the U.S., and it is our goal to make sure they have a legal, high-performance product,” said Glen Weeks, Centerfire Product Manager for Winchester Ammunition. “Our goal with this new .223 Rem product… is to make sure that shooters have a wide range of Winchester lead-free products available.”
Winchester offers a diverse line of lead-free ammunition in shotshell, centerfire handgun, centerfire rifle (including E-Tip™ ammo for .308 Win, 30-06, 300 WSM, and 300 WM), and new .22 LR and .22 Win Magnum offerings.
New Ultra-Fast 22LR Rimfire Ammo
Winchester has also just announced its new 1,640 FPS 22LR round, called the Xpediter™. The Xpediter, part of the Supreme line, is Winchester’s fastest 22 Long Rifle varmint and small game round. Xpediter ammo features a copper-plated 32gr lead hollow point bullet and nickel-plated shell casing. At 1,640 FPS the Expediter is harder-hitting and flatter shooting than nearly all other 22 LR rimfire rounds. A deep hollow point in the bullet tip allows for maximum terminal effect.
“This ultra-fast bullet is going to be a favorite among rimfire enthusiasts,” said Brad Criner, Winchester Ammunition’s Shotshell and Rimfire Product Manager.
For more information about Winchester Ammunition and its complete line of products, visit www.winchester.com. Recognizing, in part, Winchester’s leadership in providing lead-free ammo, Winchester was named the Ammunition Manufacturer of the Year by the National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers (NASGW) at the recent NASGW Annual Expo in Atlanta.
December 11th, 2008
 Long-time Forum member Luis (aka LRCampos) from Brazil has spent many months putting together his “ultimate” F-Class rifle. It hasn’t been easy, as there were many legal hurdles to overcome in sourcing key components from the USA and Canada. But Luis could celebrate this week, as his “Green Dream” finally arrived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Luis has waited more than a year for the components to be built and the slow process of import approvals to be completed. But the rifle has finally arrived, giving Luis an early Christmas in Brazil. He was kind enough to supply a couple photos of his new toy, a switch-barrel 6mmBR and .308 for F-Class. With these two calibers he can shoot either F-TR or F-Open class.
The gun is built around a Stiller Predator action with custom bolt knob. The 6BR barrel is a 28″ Krieger, 1:8″ twist, HV contour chambered with a .272 no-turn neck. The second barrel is a 1:12″ twist chambered in .308 Winchester. The barrels have been ceramic bead-blasted for a low-gloss finish.
The beautiful green/black stock is a Robertson GBF model with adjustable buttplate and removable cheekpiece. This is a design developed for F-Class with input from the Great Britain F-Class team. It boasts a “front rails” design with a very low profile. Luis tells us: “The fore-end is similar to Richard Franklin’s Low Rider stock, and I asked Ian Robertson to install an Anschutz front rail, so I can shoot with a bipod in F-TR competition.”
All work was done by Karl Feldkamp of Kampfeld Custom in Clinton, Michigan. With over 20 years of machining experience, Karl does outstanding work on both target and hunting rifles. Some of his other creations have been featured as Guns of the Week on this website.
December 11th, 2008
 There are many tools for cleaning the carbon out of primer pockets. We’ve tried most of them, and Dewey’s handy double-ended “Baby Crocogator” is our current favorite for normal carbon/primer residue removal. This Editor keeps one in the range box and one in the loading room. The Baby Croc will get your primer pockets clean without shaving brass or slightly enlarging the primer pocket. Priced at $5-$7 (depending on vendor), the Baby Croc cleans faster than metal brushes, and you’ll never have to worry about bent or broken bristles. It also seems to clean the edges of the primer pocket better than the wire brush tools. Some folks prefer to use primer-pocket uniforming tools (such as the carbide Whitetail Tool) for removing carbon. These tools work really well, but they are extremely sharp and you have to be careful not to shave brass while removing the carbon. Most serious primer pocket uniformers are also much more expensive than the Baby Croc, and only have one working end.
The Baby Croc has cleaning tips on both ends — one for small primer pockets and the other for large pockets. The tool uses diamond shaped teeth to remove the carbon, without shaving brass. Made of hardened tool steel, Dewey’s Baby Crocogator will outlast a half-dozen wire brush tips. Order from DeweyRods.com ($6.50, item 55374), or Lock, Stock & Barrel ($5.10, item DWYCROC).
December 11th, 2008
If you’re looking for a holiday gift for a serious shooter, or just to add to your library of “classic” shooting resources, here are two books that “lead the field” for their respective shooting disciplines.
 For Short-Range Benchresters
Extreme Rifle Accuracy by Mike Ratigan should be on the shelf of every serious short-range benchrest shooter. (Shooters in other disciplines will find many parts of the book helpful as well.) Butch Lambert has said Mike’s book is “far and away the best BR book written. Very comprehensive, it touches on every aspect of our game.”
A Super Shoot winner and US World Benchrest Team Director, Mike Ratigan is a leading figure in the Benchrest game. It’s rare to find an active competitor with Mike’s credentials who has shared his vast knowledge of the sport. Mike’s new 368-page book is dedicated to getting the most from modern rifle accuracy equipment with an emphasis on shooting 100-200-300 yard group benchrest tournaments.
For the new benchrest shooter, this book presents topics seldom covered elsewhere. The most popular hardware plus new equipment offerings are covered, including external mount scopes, actions, triggers, stocks, wind flags, and more. Also covered are match formats and etiquette, rifle handling techniques, note taking, tuning, bullet selection, goals, match strategies, and the mental aspect of competition. Mike provides many tips that will help active competitors update their own competitive program. The chapter on Superman bullets alone will answer some age-old questions. Ratigan also provides an excellent overview of the World Benchrest Championships and the US Benchrest Hall of Fame. To order, call Mike at (580) 256-2963, or use this ORDER FORM.
Review by Scott Smallwood.
For Long-Range Shooters
Prone and Long-Range Shooting, is a must-read for serious Palma, F-Class, and Highpower shooters. We predict your scores will go up if you read (and re-read) the sections on match strategies and Reading Wind & Mirage. The sections covering Mental and Physical training and will benefit all precision shooters, regardless of discipline. Other topics include Shooting Fundamentals, International Competition, and Loading for Long Range.
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Nancy Tompkins has been shooting competitively for over 33 years. She has won the National Long Range Championships four times, and is the only woman ever to win the National Highpower Championships. She has also won the prestigious Wimbledon Cup, and is a 5-time Leech Cup winner. Nancy has been on six Palma Teams (as both a shooter and a coach). Nancy’s mentor is 6-time National Highpower Champion, Wimbleton Cup Winner, and 2005 World F-class Champion Middleton (‘Mid’) Tompkins, and she was able to draw on his considerable expertise in creating her new book. This book is available from RifleShootingbyNancy.com, for $34.95 plus shipping. You can also order through Sinclair International. However, Nancy has signed copies of the book available to those who order directly from her website.
December 10th, 2008
The NRA has just launched its enhanced, re-designed NRA BLOG. This features daily entries on a wide range of topics, from the National Championships at Camp Perry to youth safety education programs. The new NRA BLOG (www.nrablog.com) features direct navigation to multiple content categories: Community Outreach, Competitions, Hunting, Law Enforcement, NRA Musem, Training, Womens Programs, and Youth Programs. The new blog also includes syndication links so content can be referenced on other popular websites such as DiggIt.com and Facebook.
While the NRA BLOG’s editors are still manually linking up content for some of the categories, this is still an impressive start. This BLOG should make timely information about matches and training programs available to shooters across the country. The NRA BLOG also allows shooters to voice their views on NRA Activities by commenting on blog items.
December 9th, 2008
 According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), Americans continue to flock to gun stores nationwide, driven by concerns that Congress, with the backing of President-Elect Obama, will quickly pass new, restrictive gun laws. Background checks on the sale of firearms reached record levels during the month of November, pointing to a spike in sales for the month. Data from the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) show a 42 percent increase in November firearm purchaser background checks. A total of 1,529,635 checks — the highest monthly total ever — were reported for the month, up from 1,079,923 in November 2007. Federal law requires FBI background checks on individuals purchasing firearms from federally licensed retailers. The NICS increase coincides with an increase in federal excise taxes reported by firearms and ammunition manufacturers, another key economic indicator for the firearms industry. Trends such as excise taxes and NICS data are strong indicators of sales patterns; however, they are not actual sales. There is no data source that captures firearms sales by month.
This report provided by NSSF.
December 8th, 2008
 Right out of the box, the SEB Coaxial Rest is already one of the slickest pieces of hardware in the shooting game. The SEB joystick rest functions smoothly and is beautifully machined.
But Americans always like to “hot-rod” their gear, and this SEB rest enjoyed some very special customization by Grizzly Industrial’s Shiraz Balolia. Shiraz, who the Vice Captain of the USA F-Class Open Team, teamed up with Bob Pastor of Viper Rests to create what may be the “Ultimate” SEB rest. This candy-apple-red beauty features a new CNC-machined base with integral carry handle. The base was finished mirror-smooth then treated to a stunning bake-on red finish. The base started as a solid block of aluminum which was milled out on the underside to save a bit of weight. The rest now also boasts large-diameter custom footpads fabricated by Bob Pastor. These aluminum pads feature wide conical “spikes” in the bottom. “US F-Class Team” is engraved in the top of each pad.
The base required many hours of expert machine work by Shiraz to complete. Sorry, for now, the base is a one-of-a-kind, so you can’t buy one. Shiraz says “It would be way too expensive to produce these one at a time.” But, you can get the large-diameter footpads from Bob Pastor. Call Bob at (269) 521-3671 for specs and prices.
December 8th, 2008
The Sportsman Channel (TSC) announced a distribution agreement with DIRECTV that will make the network available to DIRECTV customers by the end of January 2009. TSC will be available in the CHOICE XTRA™ package. The Sportsman Channel, 100% dedicated to hunting, shooting and fishing, is owned and operated by InterMedia Outdoors, Inc. (IMO). Through the Sportsman Channel, IMO offers 25 popular television productions. In addition to the Sportsman Channel, InterMedia Outdoors operate a network of websites dedicated to hunting, shooting and fishing, plus a portfolio of 17 outdoor magazines including Guns & Ammo, Petersen’s Hunting, and Fly Fisherman.
The DIRECTV news comes on the heels of several business deals by InterMedia, including the acquisition of Barrett Productions. IMO now has the largest library and largest current show output of any production company in the outdoor category. Additionally, IMO has shifted all of its programming resources to The Sportsman Channel, including its most popular branded shows like Fly Fishing the World, In-Fisherman TV, and Guns & Ammo. IMO is also developing new programming, including the recently launched Tactical Impact TV show.
DIRECTV, Inc. (NASDAQ:DTV), the nation’s leading satellite television service provider, provides television programming to more than 17.3 million customers in the United States. DIRECTV subscribers have access to over 265 channels of 100% digital picture and sound, with more than 130 HD channels, plus advanced DVR services. As noted, DIRECTV subscribers will be able to order The Sportsman Channel next year via the CHOICE XTRA™ package.
December 8th, 2008
The NRA has set the dates and locations of the 2009 National Championships for many of its popular disciplines. Events have been set for both rifle and pistol categories, along with air gun, smallbore, and centerfire disciplines. Here are the major upcoming events in 2009:
• National Collegiate Pistol Championship – March 16-20 at Fort Benning, GA
• National Junior Air Gun Championship and Training Summit – July 1-3 at Camp Perry, Ohio
• National Action Pistol Championship (Bianchi Cup) May 20-23 at Columbia, MO
• National Muzzle Loading Championship – Week of June 15 – 21 at Friendship, IN
• National Black Powder Target Rifle Championship/Creedmoor – August 10-11 at Raton, NM
• National Black Powder Target Rifle Championship/Mid-Range – August 13-16 at Raton, NM
• National Outdoor Pistol Championship – July 16-18 at Camp Perry, OH
• National Smallbore 3-P Championship – July 23-25 at Camp Perry, OH
• National Smallbore Prone Championship – July 26-30 at Camp Perry, OH
• National High Power Rifle Championship – Aug. 11-14 at Camp Perry, OH
• National High Power Long Range Championship – Aug. 15-19 at Camp Perry, OH
– Palma Team Match (New) August 15
– NRA Palma Individual Match August 16
• National Silhouette Championships, June 29 – August 2 at Raton, NM
– Cowboy Lever Action – June 29 – July 2 at Raton, NM
– Black Powder Cartridge Rifle – July 13-16 at Raton, NM
– Black Powder Cartridge Rifle/Scope – July 17-18 at Raton, NM
– Smallbore Rifle – August 2-4 at Raton, NM
– High Power Rifle – August 6-8 at Raton, NM
In addition, here are some major non-NRA-affiliated events scheduled in 2009:
• Super Shoot Benchrest Match – May 15-23 at Kelbly’s Range, North Lawrence, OH
• World F-Class Championships, July 27-30 at Bisley, England (UK)
• Varmint Hunter Jamboree, July 27-31 at Pierre, SD
• Tri-Gun Challenge DPMS/Brownells, Aug. 21-23, at Saint Cloud, MN
• IBS 1000-Yard Benchrest Nationals, Sept. 5-7, at Pella, Iowa
• NBRSA Benchrest 100/200 Group Nationals, Sept. 20-26, at Saint Louis, Missouri
• IBS Benchrest Nationals, Aug. 10-14 at Weikert, PA
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