Berger Bullets has donated 50,000 Berger 155.5gr Fullbore, .30-caliber match bullets to the USA National Development Team. The value of this donation, based on the bullets’ retail price, is $19,500.00. Dennis Flaherty, USA Rifle Teams Captain, also reports that Berger has pledged $1000.00 in cash each year and will continue the 50,000 bullet donation every four years on the World Championship Long Range and Palma Team match cycle.
The USA National Rifle Team management plans to sell these bullets with 100% of the proceeds going to support the USA Under-25 Team. Sales of the donated Berger bullets will help underwrite the costs of sending the Under-25 Team to the 2011 World Championships in Australia. Flaherty adds: “The entire National Rifle Team sends a heartfelt thank you to Berger Bullets and Eric Stecker for making this happen.”
Bullets may be purchased by emailing Dan Simpson at ishoot@gsinet.net for ordering instructions. The price is $195.00 per 500 (minimum order) and shipping is free!! (USA ONLY.) Please make out your tax-deductible donation check to: Palma Promotions, a 501(C)(3) organization. This is a great opportunity to support the Under-25 Team and send our young, talented shooters and their coaches to the World Championships.
Commenting on his company’s donation, Eric Stecker of Berger Bullets wrote: “Berger is committed to [supporting and strengthening] the shooting sports. As a gesture of strength and solidarity I am working to join forces between competing brands of bullets to support these efforts. Sierra’s Matt Reams and I worked together to make sure that both companies can provide a show of support without conflict with sponsorship agreements. I was happy to hear that Dennis Flaherty decided to apply these funds to the Under-25 Team. Who better to benefit from this situation than those junior shooters…?
This donation to the USA National Development Rifle Team is our way of showing support to all top-performing US riflemen. I would like to thank Matt Reams and Sierra for working together with us to create this partnership of support, Dennis for his decision to apply this support to the Under-25 Team program and Dan for facilitating the distribution process. I will also thank all of you who support this effort by purchasing these bullets.”
Share the post "Berger Gives 50,000 Bullets to USA Nat’l Development Rifle Team"
Report by Laurie Holland
Blair Atholl’s Glen Tilt range in the Scottish Highlands has a worldwide reputation for being difficult thanks to constantly-varying winds influenced by the venue’s steep, irregularly-contoured terrain. Nevertheless, three new GB F-Class Association League 1,000-yard competition records were set at Glen Tilt over the weekend of August 7th and 8th. The new records were shot in Round 5 of the F-Class Association’s championship program. The event comprised five matches, three on Saturday with 20 score shots and two on Sunday with 15 for a maximum possible score of 450-90V. (UK and British Commonwealth targets score five for the Bull). Targets were the usual international F-Class design, a modified Palma type with a half-MOA white aiming mark that also scores as the ‘V’ (‘X’ in American terminology), one-MOA bull and score rings spaced a half-MOA apart.
Looking downrange at magnificent but fiendishly difficult Blair Atholl range in Perthshire, Scotland.
New 1K Records in F-Open and F-TR
In Match 1, John Carmichael of HPS-Target Rifles Ltd. used one of his own creations to shoot a 100-6V. A new record, this was the first-ever 1,000-yard, 20-shot match F-Open ‘possible’. John Cross almost immediately followed with a new F-TR record score of 96-3V, just edging Spanish F-Class competitor Ramon Fito. In the photo below, John Carmichael plots another Bull or V while shooting a record 1,000-yard score, with his RPA / HPS-TR System Gemini 7mmWSM rifle.
Sunday morning initially saw unusually light winds which no doubt helped Osprey Rifles proprietor Stuart Anselm set a new 15-shot, 1,000-yard F-TR record score of 75-4V in Match 4, using a rifle he had built himself on a Savage 12 Target action (photo below).
British F-Class competitive standards continue to rise in both classes, perhaps more markedly in F-TR which is seeing very sharp competition in 2010 as well as increased numbers of entrants. The overall winners were Peter Hunt (439-17V) in F-Open, and Stuart Anselm (424-12V) in F-TR. Blair Atholl also saw the first use of a .223 Rem caliber F-TR rifle in a 1,000-yard GB national league event with Laurie Holland taking seventh with 412-11V using 90gr Berger VLDs.
Share the post "Three U.K. F-Class Records Broken at Match in Scotland"
Young Entrepreneurs Launch LuckyGunner.com
What happens when two dedicated sport shooters, one of whom is an IT specialist, find they aren’t able to source the ammo and reloading supplies they need? Well, they start their own company! The acute ammo/component shortages of the past two years inspired the creation of LuckyGunner.com. LuckyGunner.com’s story is like most American success stories: a combination of hard work, entrepreneurial innovation, and some good fortune. The co-founders, both under age 30, successfully navigated the Obama-induced ammunition shortage, the Great Recession, and the normal challenges faced by all small-business owners to transform their idea into a shooting supplies website generating over $3,200,000 of revenue in its first twelve months.
Among ammunition and component vendors, LuckyGunner.com is somewhat unique — it “doesn’t do back-orders”. Through an advanced “real-time” inventory system, everything that displays on the LuckyGunner.com website is guaranteed to be in stock. LuckyGunner.com also ships orders fast — normally all orders placed before 3:00 pm EST will ship that same day or on the following business day.
Extensive In-Stock Ammo Inventory
Most of the loaded ammunition carried by LuckyGunner.com is for handguns, but the company is building up its selection of name-brand rifle ammo in popular calibers: .308 Win, .223 Rem, .243 Win, 30-06, 7.62×39 and more. And of course LuckyGunner.com maintains a huge supply of 22LR and 17HMR rimfire ammo in stock. Hand-loaders will be pleased to note that Luckygunner.com has plenty of primers in stock, of all flavors: CCI, Federal, Fiocchi, Remington, Winchester, Wolf.
Frustrations with Other Vendors Inspired Creation of LuckyGunner.com
Luckygunner’s founders had themselves experienced the frustration of waiting long periods for merchandise: “We were already customers of other online retailers and simply realized that all our normal sources were chronically out-of-stock.” This frustration was compounded by the common industry practice of accepting orders for out-of-stock product and then notifying frustrated customers only days later that the order could not be fulfilled for several weeks or months.
A New Business Model Based on Fast Shipping with No Back Orders
LuckyGunner.com was created to “deliver the goods” without long wait times. One of the company’s founders told us: “We are built exclusively on the twin ideas of fast-shipping and not doing back-orders — ever. The Obama-induced ammo rush prompted us to open our online doors because we just couldn’t find what we needed on a regular basis…and when we did find what we were looking for, we couldn’t be sure that the [other vendor] actually had it in stock or just hadn’t updated their website. Hence, the on-site live inventory counter next to each product listing. So far, our customers have responded really positively to this focus on fast shipping with no back-orders.”
Share the post "Ammo Vendor Guarantees In-Stock Inventory and Fast Shipping"
Here are quick results from the Sunday matches at Camp Perry, Ohio. Today (Monday) at the 2010 National Matches, competitors will shoot one of three team matches. The actual High Power Rifle Championship commences Tuesday, August 10th.
Springfield M1A Match: Jack Pardy shot 483-12X to win the 4th Annual NRA Springfield M1A match, shooting 483-12X. Nick Till finished in second place, two points behind, with 481-23X. Shawn McKenna finished third with a 480-14X.
Whistler Boy Team Match: The “Gold” team of the North Carolina Rifle & Pistol Association took top honors with Robin Frazier and William McCraw shooting a combined 960-21X.
Second Amendment Match: Normal Houle and David Tubb of team Sierra Gold cleaned up the NRA 2nd Amendment match with a combined score of 997-51x.
Photos by NRA Media Relations courtesy the NRA Blog.
Share the post "Weekend Match Results — High Power Event Starts Tomorrow"
The USA womens’ team won the Skeet competition at the ISSF World Championship, while veteran Olympian Kim Rhode won the individual women’s gold medal in Skeet, her first-ever ISSF World Championship. “It’s great to finally win a World Title in front of my parents [who traveled with her],” responded the talented Rhode during an interview with the International Sport Shooting Federation’s (ISSF) Marco Dalla Dea. Rhode’s performance aids her quest to compete at the 2012 Olympics in London, which would be her fifth Olympics appearance. Rhode shot superbly, nailing a perfect 25 in the finals to finish with a total score of 97/100 targets. China’s Wei Ning, who also went 25 for 25 in the finals, finished second with 96/100 targets.
Rhode also won the Skeet team Gold Medal with fellow Americans Haley Dunn and Amber English. The three combined for a strong team score of 205 targets. Continuing the USA’s domination of womens’ Skeet, the Junior women’s Skeet team took the Junior Division Gold Medal. The USA Junior womens’ Skeet team finished with 197 targets, edging second-place China by three targets. Way to go girls!
For video of Kim Rhode and Team USA’s gold-medal-winning performance in womens’ Skeet, CLICK THIS LINK, then select “Final Skeet Women” from the right-side scrolling menu.
Share the post "USA Women Skeet-Shooters Win Individual and Team Gold Medals"
The new Zeiss Victory DiaScope 85mm T* FL spotting scope from Carl Zeiss has been named Editor’s Choice by Petersen’s Hunting magazine. The 2010 Spotting Scope Review, featured in the magazine’s September issue, compared spotting scopes from many manufacturers and the new ZEISS DiaScope, with its revolutionary Dual Speed Focus (DSF) system, came out on top. Petersen’s editors wrote: “The innovative Dual Speed Focus (DSF) system is something you almost have to try to believe. It automatically transfers from macro-adjustment to fine-tuning like no other scope. This is our pick of the litter, price be damned. $2,999.00.”
straight or angled bodies both boasting a rubber-armored exterior for protection. Eyepieces are available as variable 20-60x, 20-75x, or fixed 40x. A 65mm version of the new Diascope is also available, but we feel that, if you’re going to spend this kind of money ($3000.00 for 85mm with 20-60X eyepiece), you should go with the 85mm. The 20-75X eyepiece only delivers 15-56X when used with the smaller 65mm Diascope.
New DiaScope Wins Other Awards
The new Zeiss Victory DiaScope 85 T* FL Spotting Scope has earned two other prestigious awards. First the new 85mm DiaScope won the coveted Red Dot Design Award. “All products honored with the red dot design award had to impress an international jury. These products [must] demonstrate their quality in one of the toughest design competitions in the world,” says Professor Dr. Peter Zec, speaking on behalf of Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen which issues the Red Dot Design Awards.
At the NRA Annual Meeting on May 14, the Zeiss 85mm DiaScope was named an “Editor’s Choice” by Outdoor Life Magazine. Outdoor Life’s editors praised its “optically superior [flourite] glass in a surprisingly lightweight chassis”. The ZEISS DiaScope won the low-light test, had a top resolution score and “the two-speed focus and wide-angle eyepiece sparkled”, according to the test team.
Share the post "Zeiss 85mm DiaScope Named Hunting Magazine’s Editor’s Choice"
The NRA/Springfield M1A match takes place this Sunday, August 8. This special M1A match revives interest in the M14, and its modern derivatives. Springfield’s M1A is a commercially-produced, semi-auto version of the M14, a 7.62×51 “battle rifle” that still serves our forces deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. At one time, M14-based match rifles dominated service rifle matches, but that’s history. Now M16/AR15 platform rule the roost in the service rifle game. But many shooters loved the old wood, .30-caliber rifles, leading to the creation of a special National Match just for M1A rifles
Renewed interest in the M1A, coupled with major sponsorship from Springfield Armory, led to the the first dedicated Camp Perry M1A match in 2008. With $25,000 worth of prizes and cash awards, that first-ever match proved a huge success, drawing over 500 shooters. This year, match organizers also expect hundreds of shooters, who will compete for cash awards, as well as Springfield gun-giveaways.
Nick Till in 2009 M1A Match. Nick was the 2007 Service Rifle Nat’l Champion. Photo courtesy NRA Blog.
M1A Match Course of Fire
Equipment rules allow pretty much all types/grades of M1As in the match. The one-day course of fire consists of 50 shots at 300 yards on the NRA MR-65F target, as follows: 5 sighters; 20 shots slow-fire prone; 10 shots rapid-fire prone; 10 shots rapid-fire, kneeling or sitting; and 10 shots slow-fire standing.
Video of 2009 M1A match at Camp Perry (NOTE: Loud wind noise — turn down speakers.)
Share the post "NRA Springfield M1A Match Today at Camp Perry"
OutdoorDealHound.com is a new website offering special discounts and “bundled” outdoor gear bargains from popular manufacturers including Browning, Boyt Harness Co., Leupold, Mossberg, Remington, Weatherby, Sarge Knives, Thermacell and many more. If you’re looking for a good deal on scopes, firearms, gun cases, hunting gear, boots, tents, and more, check out OutdoorDealHound.com when it launches August 10, 2010.
OutdoorDealHound.com will offer more than 1,200 outdoor products. The site will also provide instant rebates, individually-tailored discounts, and bundled pricing based on the number and type of items a customer purchases and his/her demographic profile. Shoppers can identify discount opportunities by watching for icons, like dog bones, paws and padlocks. For example, the more dog bones displayed on an item’s page, the bigger the discount.
Share the post "Outdoor Deal Hound Website Will Offer Merchandise Bargains"
Here’s an interesting new product that earns major points for innovation. Shooters Ridge has invented a shooting bench with wheels AND flip-up sides so it can serve as a field transporter. the Shooters Ridge new bench/cart is officially called the Voyager™ Shooting System. The Voyager features large 20”-diameter wheels with tubeless tires, a generous 12” cushioned seat and weather-resistant frame and hardware. The wheels come off allowing the Voyager to fold flat for storage and transport. The Voyager is surprisingly solid in the field, but we would recommend you chock the wheels, or dig in the rear handle/foot to stabilize the cart during firing. Current “street price” is about $320.00, and we’ve seen the Voyager cart as low as $309.99 at Tactical-Store.com.
Videos Show Voyager System Used as Cart and Shooting Bench
Shooters Ridge has two excellent videos on its website that show the Voyager bench/cart in use. They show varminters rolling the cart into position, setting up the bench, and then shooting. CLICK HERE TO VIEW VOYAGER VIDEOS (Select Voyager from sliding menu on Video Page).
While we prefer field benches that isolate the seat from the bench top, the versatility of the Voyager impresses us. You can use the Voyager to get your gear in and out of the field easily, yet it sets up quickly as a mobile shooting bench. If you’ve ever hauled a 100+ pound shooting bench around a varmint field you know it’s no fun. With the wheeled Voyager, you can easily roll to a new firing point, hauling your gear along with you. The folks at Shooters Ridge also say the Voyager is sturdy enough to haul game out of the field.
“Varmint hunters, big game hunters and all-day target shooters will appreciate the versatility of this new shooting bench,” stated Tom Knudtson of Shooters Ridge. “Whether it’s hauling game or gear, the Voyager is a rugged piece of equipment that pulls double-duty in the field. In my opinion, its quick conversion to a shooting bench is an amazing advancement.”
COMMENT: The concept of an easy-to-move bench that works as a cart is a good one. This editor has built a few gun-carts before. With wheels, wood, frame, and axles, one can easily spend over $125 just on materials. So, the $320.00 price of the Voyager is pretty reasonable, considering its hauling capacity and design features.
Share the post "Shooting Bench with Wheels Rolls into Position"
Placing your loaded ammo up high, next to your rifle’s loading port, can help you shoot faster, without disturbing your position behind the rifle. Many top 600-yard shooters, such as Sam Hall and Mike Davis, have fabricated their own high-mount cartridge caddies to place 10 or more rounds right next to their loading ports. With such a set-up, and a bit of practice, ace benchresters can fire 10 rounds in as little as 30 seconds.
If you’re handy with tools, you can build your own cartridge caddy from a block of delrin or wood, and a flexible mounting arm. But it does take time, and you may end up going through two or three prototypes before you get it “just right”.
Now there’s a “store-bought” solution. Creedmoor Sports offers the new Eller Straight Line Speed Feed Cartridge Holder. The Eller caddy has a large base that will support it on the bench. The flexible black stalk allows you to set the height and angle of the ammo block to your choosing. You can arrange your ammo horizontally, vertically, or something in-between. This unit can benefit any bench competitor, and we’ve even see this type of unit adapted by F-classers for “Belly Benchrest”. The Eller Cartridge Holder costs $94.95 and comes in two sizes: Small (6mm to 6.5×284), and Large (6.5×284 to magnum). Order item #E1002SM from Creedmoor Sports.
Share the post "New Eller Speed Feed Ammo Caddy from Creedmoor Sports"
Students from the Brownells-sponsored Third Year Gunsmithing program at Trinidad State Junior College (TSJC) donated their time to help shooters at the recent Black Powder Cartridge Rifle National Silhouette Championships. The students repaired guns during the event, held at the NRA’s Whittington Center Range near Raton, New Mexico.
The TSJC gunsmiths-in-training worked on almost 40 guns belonging to the 200 competitors in the event. In the photo at right, John Cowell and Bob Campbell work on a firing pin problem for one of the shooters. The Whittington Center experience let the students practice their skills with the extra time pressure of helping a shooter get back to competition. “This is exactly [what] the 3rd Year Program was designed to do — get the students hands-on experience solving real gun repair problems,” said Brownells President, Pete Brownell.
Black Powder Cartridge Rifle Silhouette Basics
You’ll find a good summary of Black Power Cartridge Rifle Silhouette History, Rules and Equipment on the Outdoor Adventures Network website.
In Black Powder Cartridge Silhouette Silhouette (BPCRS) competition, shooters must knock down steel silhouette chickens at 200 meters (656 ft.), pigs at 300 meters (984 ft.), turkeys at 385 meters (1,262 ft.) and rams at 500 meters (1,639 ft.). As in high-power rifle silhouette competitions, the chickens must be shot off-hand, in the standing position. However, BPCRS differs in that the pigs, turkeys and rams may be shot in a prone or sitting position using a cross-stick rest. Ten shots are fired at each target, for a total of 40 shots per match. The challenge is in the equipment — BPCRS is limited to single shot, exposed-hammer, American rifles of the era preceding 1896. Only original or reproduction single shot rifles that shoot cartridges loaded with black powder or Pyrodex are allowed. Only original sights may be used –- no scopes.
Black Powder Cartridge Rifle Links:
LongRangeBPCR.com (Informative site for BPCR Long-range Competition).
BPCR.net (Active Forum, Tech Pages, and Match Results).
At the 50th ISSF World Championship, most of the media attention has focused on air rifle, smallbore rifle, and trap (shotgun). However, the world’s top 300m centerfire shooters are also competing in Munich this week. In conjunction with the 2010 ISSF Worlds, the 300m World Championship is taking place in Munich this week, with mens’ and womens’ prone, 3-position, and team events.
Thus far, the 300m prone mens individual and team competition have been concluded, with Mens’ 3-position yet to be held. The womens’ 300m prone event takes place Monday August 9th, while both men and women will shoot the 3-position event on Tuesday, August 10th.
300m Results So Far
In Mens’ Individual 300m prone, Great Britain won the team event, with a 1792-89X combined three-man score. Team Austria finished just one point behind, 1791-104X, but with a much higher X-Count. The French team finished third with 1790-104X, lead by a superb performance by Josselin Henry, who shot a 600-36X, not dropping a point. Though his 4th-place finishing Team Norway did not make the podium, Norway’s Vebjörn Berg shot a brilliant 600-43X, one of the best match scores in 300m history.
In individual mens’ 300m prone competition, the top three shooters were Austria’s Stefan Raser (599-36X), Norway’s Vebjörn Berg (598-44X), and Marcel Zobrist of Switzerland (5989-39X). Top American was Michael McPhail, who finished 7th with 597-36X.
Click these links for ISSF World Championships 300m Schedules and Results:
Frenchman Ties Perfect 600 Record Score with 6.5×47 Lapua Factory Ammo
No equipment lists have been published for the 300m World Championships, so there is very little information on the hardware and ammo used by the top competitors. However, we did learn that France’s Josselin Henry shot his 600-36X using factory-loaded Lapua 6.5×47 ammo. Henry’s perfect 600/600 score was shot in the 300m Prone Relay 2 Elimination match yesterday, August 5th. A perfect 600 was first shot by Norway’s Harald Stenvaag, NOR in 1990, then matched by Germany’s
Bernd Rücker in 1994, and by Norway’s Vebjörn Berg in 2010. Notably, Berg also shot a 600-43X in his own prone elimination match in Munich on August 5th. According to Lapua factory representatives, Josselin Henry shot his 600-36X with factory-loaded 6.5×47 Lapua (123gr HPBT Scenar) rounds, right out of the box, without any test shooting or lot selection.
Share the post "300m Centerfire Competition at the ISSF World Championships"
Berger Bullets has donated 50,000 Berger 155.5gr Fullbore, .30-caliber match bullets to the USA National Development Team. The value of this donation, based on the bullets’ retail price, is $19,500.00. Dennis Flaherty, USA Rifle Teams Captain, also reports that Berger has pledged $1000.00 in cash each year and will continue the 50,000 bullet donation every four years on the World Championship Long Range and Palma Team match cycle.
Young Entrepreneurs Launch LuckyGunner.com
Among ammunition and component vendors, LuckyGunner.com is somewhat unique — it “doesn’t do back-orders”. Through an advanced “real-time” inventory system, everything that displays on the LuckyGunner.com website is guaranteed to be in stock. LuckyGunner.com also ships orders fast — normally all orders placed before 3:00 pm EST will ship that same day or on the following business day.
The USA womens’ team won the Skeet competition at the ISSF World Championship, while veteran Olympian Kim Rhode won the individual women’s gold medal in Skeet, her first-ever ISSF World Championship. “It’s great to finally win a World Title in front of my parents [who traveled with her],” responded the talented Rhode during an interview with the International Sport Shooting Federation’s (ISSF) Marco Dalla Dea. Rhode’s performance aids her quest to compete at the 2012 Olympics in London, which would be her fifth Olympics appearance. Rhode shot superbly, nailing a perfect 25 in the finals to finish with a total score of 97/100 targets. China’s Wei Ning, who also went 25 for 25 in the finals, finished second with 96/100 targets.
straight or angled bodies both boasting a rubber-armored exterior for protection. Eyepieces are available as variable 20-60x, 20-75x, or fixed 40x. A 65mm version of the new Diascope is also available, but we feel that, if you’re going to spend this kind of money ($3000.00 for 85mm with 20-60X eyepiece), you should go with the 85mm. The 20-75X eyepiece only delivers 15-56X when used with the smaller 65mm Diascope.
New DiaScope Wins Other Awards
Nick Till in 2009 M1A Match. Nick was the 2007 Service Rifle Nat’l Champion. Photo courtesy 
Placing your loaded ammo up high, next to your rifle’s loading port, can help you shoot faster, without disturbing your position behind the rifle. Many top 600-yard shooters, such as Sam Hall and Mike Davis, have fabricated their own high-mount cartridge caddies to place 10 or more rounds right next to their loading ports. With such a set-up, and a bit of practice, ace benchresters can fire 10 rounds in as little as 30 seconds.
Students from the Brownells-sponsored Third Year Gunsmithing program at 
In Black Powder Cartridge Silhouette Silhouette (BPCRS) competition, shooters must knock down steel silhouette chickens at 200 meters (656 ft.), pigs at 300 meters (984 ft.), turkeys at 385 meters (1,262 ft.) and rams at 500 meters (1,639 ft.). As in high-power rifle silhouette competitions, the chickens must be shot off-hand, in the standing position. However, BPCRS differs in that the pigs, turkeys and rams may be shot in a prone or sitting position using a cross-stick rest. Ten shots are fired at each target, for a total of 40 shots per match. The challenge is in the equipment — BPCRS is limited to single shot, exposed-hammer, American rifles of the era preceding 1896. Only original or reproduction single shot rifles that shoot cartridges loaded with black powder or Pyrodex are allowed. Only original sights may be used –- no scopes.
Frenchman Ties Perfect 600 Record Score
