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April 18th, 2009
Forum member Robert E. of North Dakota recently finished a winter project, profiled in our “Pride & Joy” Forum thread. The stunning McMillan A2-style stock was produced in Curly Maple by Joel Russo. The gun features a Savage RB/LP target action with a 30″ McGowen 1:8″-twist barrel chambered in 6.5x55AI. Robert installed the pillars, bedded the action, and finished the stock himself. Nice job Rob! The handsome gun sports a Sighton 6-24×50 scope held with Farrell 20moa base and rings.
The stock shape is classic McMillan “tactical”, but the gun is just too handsome to be called a tactical rifle. Maybe Robert has created a whole new category of rifle: “Glam Tac”. In any event, Robert has selected a great chambering for long-range hunting or target shooting and we expect this gun will be a shooter. (It’s still a virgin. Robert hasn’t put one round through it yet.)
For more info on custom wood rifle stocks, visit RussoRifleStocks.com or contact Joel Russo at (717) 805-0940, or jkrussos [at] comcast.net . This Editor spoke to Joel today on the phone … he was out at his secret range shooting his mighty .338-408 Big Baer at 2000 yards. When I called the maple-stocked 6.5x55AI gun a “Glam Tactical” rig, Joel laughed and agreed “Yep, that would be a good description.”
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April 18th, 2009
 NRA-approved gunsmithing courses are conducted at four locations across the country. There is still time to sign up for most of the 2008 courses, which run in May through August. Classes offered at Lassen Community College in Susanville, CA include Law Enforcement Armorers’ School Classes for AR15s and Precision Rifles, an M1/M1A Accurizing Seminar, plus courses in Single-Action Revolver Tuning, Knifemaking, Engraving, and Metallic Cartridge Reloading. Trinidad State College in Colorado classes include Metal Finishing/Blueing, Blue-Printing Bolt Actions, Stockmaking, Accurizing AR15s, tuning 10/22 ‘Raceguns’, plus smithing for Airguns. Montgomery Community College in Troy, NC offers classes in Bolt Action Accurizing, AR15 Accurizing, Engraving, Stock Checkering, and Welding for Gunsmiths. Among the many classes at Murray State College in Tishomingo, OK, are Basic Lathe Operation, M1/M1A Accurizing, Rifle Re-barreling, Shotgun Repair, and Air Rifle Accurizing. For more info, log on to the NRA Gunsmithing School site. College information offices and current summer schedules can be found at MidwayUSA’s Gunsmithing School page. We know two people who completed Armorers’ classes at Lassen CC. They reported the program was excellent. Photo courtesy MidwayUSA.com.
Lassen C.C. | Trinidad St. | Murray St. | Montgomery C.C.
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April 18th, 2009
MTM Case-Gard, makers of ammo boxes, range boxes, gun cases, and plastic shooting rests, has come up with a handy new product for hunters and tactical shooters. MTM’s new Spot & Shoot Tripod Adapter combines a front rifle rest with a secure attachment for a spotting scope. Made of polypropylene, MTM’s Spot & Shoot adaptor adds the convenience of a “quick release” scope or camera mount plus a non-marring shooting pad to a typical tripod. Just spot your target, and use the pad to steady your rifle. The Spot & Shoot tripod adaptor costs just $14.92 at Midsouth Shooters Supply.
 Adaptor Fits a Variety of Optics
The Spot & Shoot can be used with still cameras, video cameras, and laser-rangefinders as well as spotting scopes — so long as the mounted gear’s base has a standard threaded mounting socket. The Spot & Shoot will adapt to most tripod heads, but unless you have a beefy, pro-grade tripod head, we would not advise using the Spot & Shoot with very large, heavy spotting scopes or video cameras with long telephoto lenses that hang way out in the front. This MTM product works best with compact optics.
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April 17th, 2009
Should you sight-in your rifle and practice shooting before you head off into the woods on your deer-hunting trip? Yes, indeed. In the video below we don’t know whether the unlucky hunter’s scope wasn’t adjusted correctly, or maybe he was just a miserable marksman. Many of you may have seen this video before, but it’s still pretty amazing. NOTE: If you are at work, you may want to turn down your volume before launching the video.
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April 17th, 2009
Forum member Jacob spotted this simple, but effective set of scope ring inserts on the Brownells’ Website. With these inserts, you can use a scope with 1″-diameter main tube in 30mm rings. Non-marring, matte black Delrin sleeves surround the scope tube so it can fit larger-diameter rings. Each sleeve comes in two parts for easy installation around your scope tube. This way you can use the same 30mm rings for all your scopes. Ring Reducers are sold as front/rear kits. Cost is just $19.99 for the 1″ to 30mm converters, item 084-000-091. There are also sets that reduce 30mm rings to 25mm, and 1″ rings to 3/4″ or 7/8″.
Note: These Brownells units simply function as plastic bushings. Unlike Burris Signature Ring inserts, they do not allow you to “pre-load” windage or elevation. If your rings are misaligned, the Brownells Ring Reducers won’t correct that problem.
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April 16th, 2009
Well-known competitive shooter Eric Kennard has come up with a great new product: “Snap Cap”-type dummy practice cases — for the cartridges that match shooters really use. Eric explains: “I was surprised when I started the long range game that Snap Caps were not available in the most used target rifle calibers. How does one dry-fire a target action without risking a fracture of the firing pin? I have seen this happen several times now. Usually in the middle of a match!”
Eric decided to do something about the problem of fractured firing pins. Eric has created a new line of aluminum-bodied Snap Caps for target rifle chamberings. These are made from red-anodized solid aluminum and have a spring-loaded brass plunger to absorb the firing pin shock. Now you can dry-fire to your heart’s content.
Eric sells the Target Rifle Snap Caps for $12.95 per pair, plus shipping. Currently, the aluminum Target Rifle Snap Caps are available for six (6) chamberings: .223 Rem, 6mmBR, 6XC, 6-6.5 x 47 Lapua, 6.5 x 47 Lapua, and .308 Win. (More calibers are coming soon.) If you have a tight-necked chamber, Kennard is able to turn down the necks of the dummy cases if you give him the dimensions (extra costs may apply). If you’re curious, the 6mmBR Snap Caps come with a .266 neck while the .223 has a .250 neck. To order Eric’s aluminum Snap Cap practice cartridges, send email to ericskennard [at] msn.com.
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Snap Cap Chamberings
.308 Win
6XC
6-6.5 x 47 Lapua
(not shown)
6.5 x 47 Lapua
6mmBR
.223 Rem
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More Calibers Coming Soon
Eric reports these dummy cartridge work great for High Power practice: “One of my evaluators has found them perfect for dry firing in rapid fire with a reload. Yes I know, it is an across the course High Power thing!” Eric plans to add more chamberings: “I have decided to add a couple of calibers due to all the interest. I am adding 6.5-284, .260 Rem, .300 Win Mag, and .338 Lapua. They should be available soon.”
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April 16th, 2009
Have you seen those motivational posters on the walls of corporate offices? Well here’s a free web tool that lets you make your own motivational artwork. Simply upload a photo from your computer, type in a title and message line, and the automatic poster-maker from Bighugelabs.com does the rest. You can customize borders and fonts if you wish.
CLICK HERE to make your own Motivational Poster.
The poster above features the late Jef Fowler’s remarkable world-record 0.1500″, 5-target (25-shot), 100-yard LV Aggregate. (That’s right, the official measurement was exactly 0.1500″.) Using his own custom bullets, Jef shot this Agg with a 6PPC at Roanoke, Virginia in June, 1994. These five targets established a new NBRSA 100-yard Light Varmint World Record that still stands today, 15 years later. Sadly, Jef has passed away, but Fowler Bullets are now produced by Scheider Accuracy in Beaufort, SC, (843) 522-3651.
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April 16th, 2009
The HuntingNut.com website offers Point Blank Ballistics and Reloading software free of charge. That’s right, the program is absolutely free, forever — not just for a trial period. We use Point Blank all the time, not just to calculate come-ups and windage for our rifles, but also to compare ballistics among various chamberings, or to compare different bullets. With Point Blank it is easy to just change your bullet BC value and instantly see the effect on windage and drop. Point Blank will even calculate muzzle energy and recoil force. Point Blank will also hold all your reloading info in a built-in database. You enter the caliber (chambering), bullet, powder, velocity, and other important variables. Then you can quickly access hundreds of different load combinations.
CLICK HERE TO download PointBlank Reloading & Ballistics Software v2.0 ZIP Archive.
(Note: this 1.13mb file is for Windows computers; you need WinZip or other program to unzip the file archive.)
You can even use Point Blank to plot your shots on a test target. This way you can easily compare the accuracy of different “recipes” during load development. You can record up to 10 shots per target.
Calculate Recoil, Muzzle Energy, Knock-Out Power
Point Blank has many other useful functions. Click on the “Misc Functions” tab, and you’ll find the program will calculate recoil and muzzle energy. If you clock bullet speed at both the muzzle and a 100-yard target, the program will also calculate actual bullet Balllistic Coefficient. For hunters, the program calculates Taylor Knock-Out values, and the program even provides handy English/Metric unit conversions.
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April 15th, 2009
Butch Lambert of Shadetree Engineering & Accuracy has come up with a very impressive new lightweight, break-down front rest base for F-Class shooters. Built primarily of anodized aluminum, the new rest base weighs just about 3 pounds. It can accept a variety of rest tops, including the Shadetree Joystick Top shown below (this omnidirectional top retails for $375.00 plus shipping).
We like this product and we predict it will become popular with F-Classers as well as varminters looking for a solid front rest that is light to carry and easily stowed. The fact that the rest base breaks down into small components is a big plus for shooters who must travel by air. Over the past year, the airlines have imposed very high fees for extra checked luggage–in some cases as much as $120.00 per bag! With the new Shadetree base, you can easily disassemble the unit into smaller parts that could even be stowed in a carry-on bag. Kudos to Butch Lambert for this innovative new design. To learn more about price and availability of the F-Class rest base, call Butch at (972) 524-2247 or email papawlambert [at] starband.net.
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April 15th, 2009
With the new AR15 combo tool from American Tactical Imports, you can pretty much take apart an entire AR15 rifle. This all-purpose tool can be used for installing and removing buttstocks, free float tubes, barrel extension tubes, and handguards. It will work with both standard stocks and M4-style stocks. The tool also fits CAR stocks with 3 point castle nut and locking rings.
American Tactical Imports’ AR15 Combo Tool is seven tools in one. In addition to the uses already mentioned, the tool can be used to align barrel nuts to the gas tube. It has a wrench for muzzle brakes (compensators), plus it has a ½-inch drive for socket and torque wrenches.The ATI AR15 combo tool features a matte black, corrosion-resistent, hard-coat finish. Suggested retail price for the tool is $39.95, and that includes a limited lifetime warranty from ATI. With its versatility, we think this tool could be invaluable for owners of AR15s or AR-based “space-guns”.
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April 14th, 2009
We all know that gun and ammo sales have risen dramatically in recent months. Firearms sales through large retailers are up 39% compared to last year, according to SportsOneSource, a company that provides research for the outdoor industry.
 What may be surprising is that there is a “new audience” of Americans who are buying firearms for the first time. Gun vendors are reporting a major increase in firearm purchases by novice shooters and first-time gun-owners. According to a recent article on the Time Magazine website, Americans who have never owned a gun before are now motivated to arm themselves: “A new market of gun buyers is emerging. [Oklahoma Gunshop owner] Miles Hall estimates that some 80% of his sales since the election have been to first- and second-time gun purchasers, many nervous that this may be their last chance.” According to the Time article, many Americans are purchasing firearms due to fears that crime may rise as the economy falters: “Americans are afraid of this economy. As a result, they’re getting locked and loaded.”
In sporting goods stores nationwide, and on internet gun forums, people are wondering “where has all the ammo gone?” Well, based on the sales of firearms, the answer may be that ammo supplies are being snapped up by the same folks who are buying guns for the first time.
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April 14th, 2009
Some of our forum members have observed issues with the Acculab VIC-123, an 0.001g precision electronic balance made by Sartorius. (The Denver Instrument MXX-123 is very similar.) The two main complaints seem to be sensitivity to drafts, and instability of zero, causing weight read-outs to “drift” over time. We have seen the latter problem in less expensive scales such as the PACT. (Read PACT report).
 Forum member Ronemus, who lists his profession as “instrumentation scientist”, offers the following advice:
“It is necessary to isolate the scale from drafts and vibrations. Laboratory scales with this sort of resolution (.001g) generally have a housing around the pan with sliding doors for access and vibration isolators in the feet. Those scales cost thousands of dollars, and some features must be cut to reach a price we’re willing to pay. Unfortunately, the instruction manuals accompanying our scales generally aren’t very good at spelling out the steps necessary to have them operate to our satisfaction.
A small draft (one you can barely feel) can easily shift the reading a few tenths of a grain, so some sort of enclosure is needed. I use a cardboard file box with one end cut out, so 3 sides and the top remain, and that’s good enough for 0.1 gr (6 mg) stability; however, that may not be sufficient for 0.01 gr.
For stable zeros it’s necessary to warm up for at least a few hours (they’re generally left on continuously to avoid drift) and keep the room temperature fairly constant (within a few degrees).
Inexpensive scales are also susceptible to electrical noise, either riding the power line or through the air. Power line noise can be eliminated with a good filtered power strip (I recommend a Tripp-Lite Iso-Bar), not just a surge suppressor. Cordless and cell phones, fluorescent lights, wireless computer networks, baby monitors, etc. can cause problems at short range, so they should be kept away from the scale as much as possible.”
We have also observed that these scales MUST be properly leveled. They just won’t work right if they are tilted even a litte bit. This editor recently worked with an Acculab VIC-123. Its owner was complaining that it would drift and the read-out was constantly flickering. Well the scale was mounted on a plastic folding table with a top that was warped and bowed in the middle. It was virtually impossible to level the scale properly. The scale was also directly under a large ventilation fan. Once we transfered the scale to a bench with a solid flat surface, leveled the scale front to rear AND side to side, and ensured the scale was isolated from air currents, the scale worked perfectly.
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