John Whidden of Whidden Gunworks used a collection of .243 Winchester and .308 Win rifles to win his third NRA National Long-Range Championship this week at Camp Perry. We had a chance to discuss Whidden’s winning guns during a long telephone conversation with John yesterday, as he motored back to Nashville, Georgia. John revealed some interesting facts about his long-range arsenal.
For the “Any sights, Any Rifle” and “Iron Sights, Any Rifle” stages of the Long-Range Championship, John used three different .243 Win rifles. He shoots the same load in all his .243s: Berger 105gr VLD bullets (moly-coated) with N160 powder and PMC (Russian) primers. The bullets are seated very long, with about .001″ neck tension, so the bullets “soft-seat” themselves into the rifling as he closes the bolt. This way he can use the same ammo in different guns and the bullets always find the same seating depth relative to the rifling. John uses a very stout load of N160 that drives his Berger 105s at about 3,300 fps. No that is not a misprint. John launches thin-jacket 105s at 3,300 fps and he doesn’t have an issue with bullet blow-ups. Moly helps keep the heat down, but John’s Broughton 5C (canted land) barrels are key. These are gentler on the jackets than barrels which have very tall or sharp lands.
John shoots the Berger 6mm 105gr VLDs because they are a proven commodity that seem to work in a variety of barrels and cartridges: “We need something that is very reliable from an accuracy standpoint, match in and match out. The 105s are more reliably accurate over a range of different cartridges, barrels, and conditions. I’ve considered using the 115s, but I’ve heard mixed results. Across the whole range of variables, the 105s and 107s always seem to work for people but I’ve heard a lot of mixed results with the 115s.”
At 3,300 fps, the 105s deliver ballistics that are hard to beat, according to John: “My .243 shoots inside a 6.5-284 with 142s. Nothing out there is really ahead of [the .243], in 1000-yard ballistics unless you get into the short magnums or .284s and those carry a very significant recoil penalty. In the past I did shoot the 6.5-284. I went to the .243 because it had similar ballistics but had much less recoil. It doesn’t beat me up as much and is not as fatiguing.
With the .243… there’s no tensing-up, no anticipating. With the reduced recoil, I can break and shoot very good quality shots. I find I just shoot better shots with the .243 than I ever did with the 6.5-284.”
John’s primary “Any Sights” .243 is built on a Winchester m70 action, it has a Broughton 32″, 1:8″ twist 5C (canted land) barrel. This gun shot very well, but he did have a firing pin issue during the Remington Band of Brothers match on Day 1 of the Long-Range competition, so he was forced to bring out his back-up “Any Sights” gun. This features a Stolle Panda action, and Broughton 30″, 1:8″ twist 5C barrel. Both guns employ a Nightforce 8-32x56mm Benchrest Scope. John joked: “I’ve done a lot of hauling back-up guns across the country for no reason in the past, but this time it mattered a lot.”
For the “Iron Sights, Any Rifle” stages Whidden uses a .243 Win with a Gilkes-Ross action, Warner Rear Sight, and CG front sight with +0.5 diopter. As with John’s scoped .243s, this gun has an 8-twist, light Palma contour, Broughton 5C barrel. This is the same gun and 32″ barrel John used to set the Leech Cup record in 2008. It has about 650 rounds through the barrel. The chambering, as with his other “Any Rifle” guns, is a “plain vanilla .243 Win”.
.308 Palma Rifle Shooting 185gr VLDs with N140
Whidden’s .308 Winchester Palma Rifle is the same rifle we featured as our Gun of the Week Number 59 (photo below). It’s the same gun with the same barrel, a 32″ Broughton 10-twist with 5C rifling, light Palma contour. Round-count on this barrel is over 3000! John’s current .308 Win load is a very stout charge of N140 power, PMC primers, and 185gr Berger moly-coated VLDs. The brass is Lapua .308 Win with the standard large primer pocket/large flash holes. He turns his case-necks for a .333″ loaded round in a .343″-necked chamber, which was cut with the popular “95 Palma” reamer. As with his .243s, John loads his .308 ammo long and “soft-seats” his bullets with bolt closure.
Barrel Selection is Key to Running 6mm VLDs at Very High Velocities
Given John’s success with the .243 Winchester at Camp Perry, we asked him why more competitors weren’t using this cartridge at Perry. The combination of great ballistics and moderate recoil seems hard to beat. John explained: “There were several other .243s on the line. Lamar Jones, my travel partner, shot a .243, and there were a couple other guys out there. But there are more 6.5s I think. If there were an equipment list, I would be pretty certain that the 6.5-284 would be the majority in the ‘Any Rifle’ category.”
Importantly, John explained that it takes the right hardware to run the heavy 6mm bullets at high velocities. Bullet blow-up is a risk. John told us: “At the velocities I’m running the 105gr VLDs in the 243s, barrel brand selection is really important. You absolutely have to shoot a barrel that is easy on bullets to run these velocities. To avoid bullet blow-ups at these speeds, you can’t shoot barrels that have the tallest and sharpest rifling, such as you find with some cut-rifled barrels. I’m still shooting the thin-jacket Berger VLDs. I haven’t even switched to the thick-jacket bullets. To do this you need a rifling solution that is kinder to the bullet. The point I’m trying to drive home is that barrel selection is a very important factor. If my barrels didn’t work we would have smoked a lot of bullets. But that’s not the case with the Broughtons. I haven’t blown up a .243 bullet through a Broughton barrel.”
According to the Korea Times, the U.S. Government (branch and officials unknown) has stymied plans by the Korean Defense Ministry to sell 86,000 M1 Garands and 22,000 M1 Carbines to American gun collectors. The gun export program was designed to augment Korea’s defense budget, and the Defense Ministry had hoped to start shipping rifles at the end of 2009. But somebody in Washington has blocked the re-importation of the classic Garands and Carbines.
There are many unanswered questions involving this story. The Koreans won’t say exactly what branch of the U.S. Goverment is opposing the shipment of M1 Garands and M1 Carbines, and the Obama Administration isn’t talking. The Korea Times reports:
The problems the U.S. government cited were somewhat ambiguous, said an official at the Ministry of National Defense on condition of anonymity.
“The U.S. insisted that imports of the aging rifles could cause problems such as firearm accidents. It was also worried the weapons could be smuggled to terrorists, gangs or other people with bad intentions,” the official told The Korea Times.
“We’re still looking into the reason why the U.S. administration is objecting to the sale of the rifles and seeking ways to resolve the problems raised,” he said.
Gangs Armed with Surplus Garands?
The No Lawyers – Only Guns and Money Blog attacked the notion that Classic M1 Garands (or carbines) would become the new weapon of choice for ‘gangs or other people with bad intentions': “As to the assertion by some unnamed U.S. official that gangs might use M-1 Garands, I think someone watched the movie Gran Torino a few too many times. Can you imagine how many cases of ‘M-1 thumb’ there would be if the Crips, the Bloods, or the Latin Kings were to attempt to use a M-1 Garand?”
A new NRA record in the team Palma event was set yesterday at Camp Perry by the Litz-Gallagher team. The new record of 1796-119X was set by Brian Litz (Captain and Shooter), Michelle Gallagher (Coach and shooter), Nancy Tompkins (Coach and shooter), Bob Gustin (shooter). Shooting the Palma course of fire at 800, 900, and 1000 yards, these four beat the 1796-112X mark set in July at Raton, NM by an all-female ‘dream team’ of shooters coached by Steve Conico. (Both Michelle Gallagher and her mother Nancy Tompkins were member of the Raton ‘Dream Team’). Bryan Litz reports: “At Perry, Michelle and Nancy did an outstanding job shooting, and coaching Bob and myself to very high scores especially at the 1000-yard-line where the conditions were extremely difficult.”
Team member Bob Gustin also won the Individual Palma match with a 450-33X, not dropping a point. That’s remarkable considering Bob shoots right-handed while sighting with his left eye through off-set rear and front sights. Congrats to Bob and all the team members. Bryan Litz won’t take any time off after his team’s record-breaking performance. Bryan reports: “I’m on my way to Canada now for the America Match this Sunday — a bi-annual international fullbore match.” Good luck Bryan.
The 2010 NRA National Long Range Rifle Champion is John Whidden of Whidden Gunworks. Whidden, a soft-spoken shooter from Georgia, amassed an overall score of 1243-75x, topping the USAMU’s Brandon Green (1240-60X) by three points. John was way ahead of Green in X-Count. We’re proud to see John, who provided match reports for AccurateShooter.com, back on top of the podium. As great a shooter as he is, John is one of the most humble champions you’ll ever meet. Bravo John!
This is Whidden’s third NRA Long-Range National Championship, following his Long-Range Championship wins in 2007 and 2008. Sherri Gallagher took the Long-Range Championship in 2009, but this year she must content herself with a record-breaking performance in the High Power Championship. After notching an impressive third Long-Range victory, John no doubt has his sights set on #4 and #5 in the years ahead. John would need five (5) long-range titles to tie the legendary David Tubb.
See John Whidden in action over the past four days at Camp Perry in this slide-show from the NRA:
If you missed the final episode of Top Shot on the History Channel, you can watch it, via streaming video, on Hulu.com. The field is down to four shooters in this season finale. We were sad to see AccurateShooter.com contributor Kelly Bachand eliminated in the previous episode, but he’s shooting right now at Camp Perry. Watch the show and find out who wins the $100,000 prize and title of Season One’s “Top Shot”. No spoilers guys — you’ll have to watch to see who wins. But we can tell you this much — the final man-on-man challenge is a multi-stage event that tested the last two remaining competitors’ skills to the max.
Following SGT Sherri Gallagher’s record-setting victory in the 2010 NRA High Power National Championship, many readers have asked what caliber (chambering) Sherri was shooting. Well, Sherri was shooting a .260 Remington at all yardages, as confirmed by SFC Emil Praslick, USAMU rifle coach. Runner-up Carl Bernosky was shooting a 6mm Hagar in an AR-platform rifle.
To capture her first High Power Championship, with a record 2396-161X score, Sheri used a Tubb 2000 bolt gun chambered in .260 Rem. According to Praslick: “[the rifle has] the same barrel as last year. I believe it has close to 2000 rounds on it.” To our surprise, Sherri’s ammo was loaded in relatively inexpensive Remington brass. Praslick explained: “We use Remington brass, Federal 210Ms, and Varget powder. For the 300/600 yard lines we use the Sierra 142gr bullet. Her 300RF load is around 2650 fps, the 600SF load approximately 2750 fps. At the 200 [yard line], we use a reduced recoil load using the Sierra 107gr MK.”
Accuracy Trumps Raw Velocity
Praslick noted that Sherri’s load, while not particularly fast, is ultra-accurate: “All these loads rely much more on accuracy than they do velocity. SGT Gallagher’s rifle has been tested repeatedly at 600 yards. It will easily shoot 3″ to 4″ groups all day long. This is evident by her X-count.” Praslick added: “I am a big believer in the .260 for High Power shooting. [It offers] easy load development, ballistic advantage, and long barrel life.”
.260 Rem Resources
To learn more about the .260 Rem, read Zak Smith’s article: 6.5mm Shootout: .260 Remington vs. 6.5×47 Lapua vs. 6.5 Creedmoor. Zak compares three popular 6.5mm cartridges, weighing the pros and cons of each. Zak himself shoots the Rem .260 loaded with 139gr Lapua Scenar bullets and Alliant Reloder 17.
Another great load for this cartridge is the 123gr Lapua Scenar pushed by Hodgdon H4350. That was the best overall performing load in this Editor’s .260 Rem. I was able to run the 123s at 2950 fps with great accuracy and extremely low ES and SD. Compare the 600-yard ballistics of the Scenar 123s at 2950 fps with Sherri’s 142gr SMKs launched at 2750 fps. You may be surprised. The 123s have less drop, and the 10 mph wind drift (at 600 yards) is very close: 23.9″ for the 123s vs. 22.8″ for the 142s. (Calculations done with JBM Online Ballistics Calculator using Lapua and Litz field-measured BCs, 59°, 500′ elevation.)
Chrysler is offering a lockable gun storage compartment on its new series of Outdoorsman pickup trucks. These trucks can be configured with twin, lighted, lockable and watertight “RamBox” compartments — one on each side of the truck bed. The dual RamBox option costs $1895, and for $205 more Chrysler adds internal, vertical cradles that hold two rifles or shotguns. These cradles can be rotated 90 degrees to hold up to six fishing rods.
We think Chrysler’s built-in gun storage is a very cool feature — for the man who has everything. It will certainly create envious looks when you roll up to the shooting range in your new truck. From a practical standpoint however, it might be better to forgo the gun cradles in favor of open storage in both side-boxes. You could then use both lockable side compartment for any purpose. When you need to haul firearms, simply put cased guns inside one or both side compartments.
For more information on Chrysler’s Outdoorsman pickups, which start at $28,350, visit the Chrysler Truck Blog. Ram Outdoorsman trucks go on sale 3rd quarter 2010 (just in time for hunting season).
Powder Valley, a major vendor of powder, primers, brass, bullets, and loaded ammo, has received some large shipments of popular powders including Hodgdon Varget and IMR 8208 XBR. Powder Valley also has the hard-to-find Alliant Reloder 17 powder in stock, in both 1-lb and 5-lb containers.
Powder Valley Now Stocks Factory-Loaded Ammo
FYI, Powder Valley is now stocking quality factory-loaded ammo from Lapua, Hornady, Nosler, Prvi Partizan, and Wolf. If you’re looking for match-grade Lapua factory ammo or the Hornady .223 Rem, 6.5 Creedmoor, and .30-06 ammo, give Powder Valley a call at 800-227-4299.
Powder Valley Inventory Updates on Facebook
Powder Valley now posts recent product arrivals on Facebook. If you have a Facebook account you can link to the Powder Valley page to get the latest updates.
August 13
IMR 8208: Finished up the backorders on 8208 8#. We received in about 200 kegs from Hodgdon last week and have filled backorders that were placed prior to June 25.
August 12
Large shipments of primers received over the last couple days. Received 2 million Winchester, 1.2 million Federal, 1.5 million Rem and 6 million Tula. Also received large shipment of Winchester brass.
August 6
Varget 8-lb jugs have arrived. We won’t update the website until Monday. Facebookers go ahead and put your order in now and you will get first dibs.
August 2
Received in about 2 million Remington primers. Also, received a large shipment of backorders from Berger. We will be receiving about 125,000 Federal Small Pistol primers later this week and about 2-2.5 million in 3-4 weeks. We will begin listing these primers on the website August 3 so you can place an order if you would like.
In Saturday’s Remington Band of Brothers (BOB) match and Mustin Trophy match, class winners from each relay go into a shoot-off. Each relay’s top shooter from the Any Sight, Palma Rifle, and Service Rifle categories then lines up against the other relay winners in their class. The course of fire for the shoot-off was ten shots in thirteen minutes.
Gallagher vs. Whidden in “Sudden-Death” Shoot-out
A major drama unfolded at the end of the regular shoot-off in the Remington BOB match, as “Any Sights” competitors Michelle Gallagher and John Whidden were locked in a tie. Michelle and John had both shot 100-8x. Now, to decide the winner, a “sudden death” shot-for-shot rifle duel took place to determine the class winner. The crowd tensed as both shooters went to the line.
Both Michelle and John proceeded to hit 10s (or Xs) for the first twelve (12) shots. Then it was unlucky #13 for John. Whidden’s 13th shot was a nine, against Michelle’s ten. That gave Michelle the Remington Band of Brothers match Any Sight Class victory, but onlookers congratulated both shooters.
John Whidden redeemed himself later in the day, winning his “Any Sight” Class in the Mustin Trophy shoot-off. John posted a “best-in-class” 100-8x, making him the “Any Sight” winner. We talked to John after the match and he told us: “That was an exhausting day. Rain was forecast for the afternoon and some of the relays got heavy rain which increased the difficulty. Michelle shot great in the Band of Brothers Match, but I was pleased to come back and shoot steady for a Class win in the Mustin Match. Now we’ve got a lot of shooting ahead of us and I’ll try to stay up near the top.” John is shooting a .243 Winchester with moly 105gr Berger bullets.
In related news from Camp Perry, here are the preliminary scores for the three long range matches shot Sunday morning (August 15th). The course of fire was 20 shots, slow-fire prone at 1000 yards. The high-scoring competitor from each relay of each match will compete in the shoot-off held immediately after the the completion of the Herrick Trophy Team Match.
3-Gun Nation is one of the hottest new shooting shows on cable television. This season-long series showcases many of the nation’s best shooters, vying for big prize money and a National title at year’s end. The latest 3-Gun Nation match was the JP Rocky Mountain 3-Gun Championship held August 5-7 at the NRA Whittington Center in Raton, NM. Nearly 250 competitors participated. Here are the Class winners, with point totals:
Open: Jerry Miculek – 821.9395
Limited (Scope): Daniel Horner – 864.9413
Limited (Iron Sights): Craig Underdown – 776.5357
He-Man (Scope): Kelly Neal – 867.6091
He-Man (Iron Sights): Patrick Kelley – 820.2407
Johnson Duels Miculek for $5000.00
At the end of the match, Remington’s Robby Johnson and shooting legend Jerry Miculek were the final two shooters in the 3-Gun Nation Shoot-Off. Watch the video (above) to see Johnson, a former USAMU shooter, edge out Miculek, earning Johnson the $5,000 prize from Safariland.
John Whidden of Whidden Gunworks used a collection of .243 Winchester and .308 Win rifles to win his third NRA National Long-Range Championship this week at Camp Perry. We had a chance to discuss Whidden’s winning guns during a long telephone conversation with John yesterday, as he motored back to Nashville, Georgia. John revealed some interesting facts about his long-range arsenal.
John shoots the Berger 6mm 105gr VLDs because they are a proven commodity that seem to work in a variety of barrels and cartridges: “We need something that is very reliable from an accuracy standpoint, match in and match out. The 105s are more reliably accurate over a range of different cartridges, barrels, and conditions. I’ve considered using the 115s, but I’ve heard mixed results. Across the whole range of variables, the 105s and 107s always seem to work for people but I’ve heard a lot of mixed results with the 115s.”
Following SGT Sherri Gallagher’s record-setting victory in the 2010 NRA High Power National Championship, many readers have asked what caliber (chambering) Sherri was shooting. Well, Sherri was shooting a .260 Remington at all yardages, as confirmed by SFC Emil Praslick, USAMU rifle coach. Runner-up Carl Bernosky was shooting a 6mm Hagar in an AR-platform rifle.
Accuracy Trumps Raw Velocity
Powder Valley Now Stocks Factory-Loaded Ammo
In Saturday’s Remington Band of Brothers (BOB) match and Mustin Trophy match, class winners from each relay go into a shoot-off. Each relay’s top shooter from the Any Sight, Palma Rifle, and Service Rifle categories then lines up against the other relay winners in their class. The course of fire for the shoot-off was ten shots in thirteen minutes.
