Team SIG Captain Max Michel has made history with his recent Open Division Title win at the 2010 USPSA Area 2 Championships, held November 10-14, 2010 at the Rio Salado Sportsman’s Club in Mesa, AZ. The Area 2 Championship was the final Area Championship of the 2010 season that Michel needed to win to become the first person in history to win all eight USPSA Area Championships in a single year. Michel competed against 151 shooters in the Open Division and finished with 1135.0241 match points, or 100.00%, to ensure his place in the history books.
About Max Michel
By anyone’s account, Max Michel, Jr. is one of the best shooters in the world. With three World Speed Shooting Championships (2009, 2007 and 2005), five USPSA National Championships (2009, 2007, 2006, 2005 and 2004), 2 US Steel National Championships (2009, and 2008), more than 30 USPSA Area Championships, and over 80 Major Championship wins, Max Michel has become a dominant force in the pistol shooting sports. As an international competitor, Michel has represented the United States in the last four International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) World Shoots and returned home each time with team gold medals. He will again represent the nation in Rhodes, Greece at the 2011 World Shoot and anchor the USA’s Open Division team. Max shot for ten years with the USAMU team before becoming Sig Sauer’s Team Captain.
This video profiles Michel and shows him competing with the USAMU, and later with Team Sig:
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by Steve Cooper, CMP Writer Having passed muster at the 2010 CMP Eastern and Western Games, the Vintage Sniper Match has been approved as the newest match to be held at Camp Perry in 2011, where the Sniper Match will be sponsored by Hornady Manufacturing. As it turns out, a top Hornady staffer excelled at the 2010 Western Games Sniper match, held recently at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility in Phoenix, AZ. The duo of Hornady’s Dave Emary, 52, and Bob Schanen, 62, placed first (out of 14 teams) with an Aggregate score of 559-11X out of 600 possible. Emary fired 141-2X and Schanen 148-4X at 300 yards and the tandem fired matching 135s at 600 yards with Emary scoring five Xs. Glendale “Don” Rutherford, 58, and Brad Donoho, 26, finished second with a 547-7X Aggregate. Emary, chief ballistic scientist at Hornady Manufacturing, said he proposed the idea for the match several years ago as a way to include the popular vintage sniper rifles which, until now, had no official competition format.
Vintage Sniper Match Course of Fire
The Vintage Sniper Match is a challenging prone slow-fire, two-person team event, fired at 300 and 600 yards using scoped vintage military rifles of the Korean War era and earlier. Both team members shoot and spot, alternating roles throughout the match. The event requires good communication and marksmanship in order to score well. After firing sighters at the 300-yard line, both team members fire 10 shots at a target that is exposed for only 20 seconds per shot. Targets are pulled and marked after each shot and the target rises again after a 20-second period. The team’s observer/coach may call out sight adjustments or “Kentucky Windage” corrections as needed prior to the following shot, until firing is complete.
With targets 600 yards in the distance, shooters of vintage military rifles must rely on their observer/coaches and knowledge of shooting conditions to give themselves an opportunity to score well in the new Vintage Sniper Match. After the first 10 shots are fired the shooter and the observer/coach switch positions, make ready and repeat the same sequence. Upon completion of fire at 300, teams move back to the 600 yard line and fire the course again. Though non-scoped rifles will be permitted at the 2011 National Vintage Sniper Match, priority for squadding will be given to competitors with scoped rifles first. Marc Mustafa, 57, of Littleton, Colorado said he enjoyed the Vintage Sniper Test Match because “he likes to move.” Used to shooting elk across the canyons in his home state, Mustafa said the new match format is right up his alley.
Because the match was a test event, each team member was given 15 shots for record at the Western Games but that total will be reduced to 10 (20 total) in the official match in 2011. Achievement awards were not presented following the test match, but the top three teams were acknowledged for their efforts. A total of 14 teams participated and their results may be found on CMP’s online Competition Tracker. For complete results of the Vintage Sniper Test Match and all 2010 CMP Western Games matches, log onto the CMP’s Match Results Webpage.
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Larry and Brenda Potterfield of MidwayUSA have donated $1.6 Million to the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation to support youth shooting programs. The Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation (SSSF) is an educational-athletic organization that exists to introduce school-age youths to the clay target sports and to facilitate their continued involvement by providing, promoting, and perpetuating opportunities to safely and enjoyably participate and compete in a high-quality, team-based sport led by trained adult coaches focused on enhancing the personal growth and development of their athletes.
Larry Potterfield, CEO of MidwayUSA, remarked, “Teaching our youth about shooting and shooting safety will ensure a better future for America. Brenda and I are proud to partner with SSSF and their efforts to change the future by engaging youths through scholastic shooting programs.” Russ Arnold, Exec. Director of SSSF, added: “A donation like this from the Potterfields will go a long way in helping us achieve our mission of developing more young shooters, and furthering the future of our sport.”
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Russian arms-maker Baikal has a new mag-fed rimfire repeater chambered in .22 LR, .22 WMR, and .17 HMR. The new Baikal MP-161K “Small-bore Magazine Carbine” combines Russian reliability/simplicity of operation with modern styling and ergonomics. The fiberglass-reinforced polymer outer shell copies the design of recent Beretta carbines — that’s not a bad thing. The MP-161K features a modern thumbhole stock configuration with a comfortable hand grip and adjustable cheekpiece.
The MP-161K comes with standard iron sights or you can attach a Weaver-type rail to the top of the receiver for mounting telescopic optics. Standard magazine capacity is 10 rounds, and the curved magazine “disappears” completely into the receiver housing. That’s a nice feature for someone carrying the gun in the field — one less projection to snag. The gun is light-weight. Without scope the MP-161K weighs just 5.72 lbs. (2.6 kg).
The Baikal MP-161K will be sold in the USA by European American Armory (EAA Corp.), which has recently resumed importation of the Baikal line of firearms. EAA does not expect to have MK-161Ks in stock before mid-December, if then. Price has not yet been set. We’ll try to give you a hands-on report from SHOT Show 2011 in January.
If you haven’t joined the NRA yet, or if your membership is coming up for renewal, then here is a little extra incentive. Now through December 15, 2010, the NRA is knocking ten bucks off the price of first-time memberships and renewing one-year memberships. That makes the promotional price just $25.00 — which entitles you to full “regular member” benefits including a one-year subscription to one of three print magazines: American Rifleman, American Hunter, or America’s First Freedom. If you are already a Life Member or fully paid up, consider giving a membership to a friend or family member. The NRA has been an effective defender of gun rights because it is 4.3 million-members-strong. That is a force to be reckoned with.
Olin Corp. (NYSE: OLN) has announced that its Winchester centerfire operations and approximately 1,000 jobs will be relocated to Oxford, Mississippi (Lafayette County). The company’s decision follows two failed ratification votes by members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, in which employees twice rejected a union proposal that would have allowed Centerfire Operations to remain in East Alton, Illinois. The company informed the unions in August that it was considering relocating operations to Oxford to enhance the competitiveness of its operations. The company engaged in discussions with union leaders over the past two months, but Olin’s final offers were rejected, so Olin decided to move its operations down South.
Olin’s relocation decision was influenced by an incentive package offered by Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour. According to Business Week, the Mississippi State Development Authority will give Lafayette County $25,000,000 “to build a new 500,000-square-foot building for Olin.” The new publicly-owned Olin plant will be built near the current Winchester facility in Oxford. Lafayette County is also “providing the site and site preparation work.” CLICK HERE for more details from Business Week.
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Friday, November 19, is National Ammo Day, a day when gun-owners are encouraged to purchase at least 100 rounds of ammunition. National Ammo Day is an annual BUYcott event, a grassroots demonstration of the numbers of committed American firearms owners. There are an estimated 75 MILLION gun owners in the United States of America. If each gun owner or Second Amendment supporter buys 100 rounds of ammunition, that’s 7.5 BILLION rounds in the hands of law-abiding citizens!
Ammo Day is based on the principle that there is strength in numbers. Consider this — when politicians see the amount of tax dollars generated through ammunition sales those politicians will be less inclined to pass restrictive legislation. Likewise, when millions of lawful firearms owners “vote with their pocketbooks” on Ammo Day, it demonstrates that supporters of the Second Amendment are serious, organized, and willing to spend money to protect their rights. That’s something anti-gun politicians can’t ignore.
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Michael Bane of Downrange.TV traveled to the Gunsite Shooting Academy this week to sample new products from Colt, Crimson Trace, and Sig Sauer. Bane reports that Colt is returning to the consumer pistol and rifle markets in a big way. In 2011, Colt will roll out an extensive line-up of 1911 pistols, plus new AR-platform rifles. Bane also reports that Sig Sauer may introduce a new Sig 556 rifle, chambered in 7.62×39, which will take standard AK47 magazines. With the rugged Eastern Bloc magazines, the new Sig 556 could set new standards for reliability among “Sport Utility Rifles”.
Michael Bane’s Weekly Video Podcast
NOTE: Short Advertisement may precede the video. Loud firing noises are in the video’s second half.
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Jonathan Ocab, a High Power shooter from California, had gunsmith Doan Trevor install a Sako-style extractor in the Rem 700 bolt in Ocab’s 6mmBR Eliseo R5 tubegun. Jonathan produced an excellent video showing how the Sako extractor improves the ejection of the short, fat 6mmBR cartridges in his rifle. Jonathan’s video demonstrates 6mmBR case ejection with an unmodified Rem 700 factory bolt versus a factory bolt fitted with a Sako-style extractor.
Johnathan explains: “Note how even when slowly operating the bolt, the bolt with the Sako extractor easily ‘kicks’ out the brass on ejection with minimal chance of operator error resulting in a failure to extract. While the unmodified bolt has issues ejecting brass on slow operation, it will eject if the operator pulls the bolt back quickly (fast and with some force).
While a Sako-style extractor isn’t an absolute necessity, this video shows the definite improvement this modification provides. For short cartridges like the 6mmBR, this is very useful. This modification is highly recommended for competition shooters, especially High Power competitors who seek improved function in rapid-fire stages. This modification is fairly inexpensive and any competent gunsmith should be able to perform the work (usually under $100 with parts and labor).”
EDITOR’s NOTE: In his video, Jonathan deliberately worked the unmodified Remington bolt slowly to show how the standard Rem extractor can struggle with short fat cases like the 6mmBR. In fact, when you work a standard, unmodified bolt more quickly, the extraction can be much more positive. Cycling the bolt with more “snap” provides more energy to eject the cases. We have run an R5 Tubegun chambered in 6mmBR with an unmodified Rem 700 bolt (no SAKO extractor), and the extraction was reliable, provided the bolt was worked quickly.
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The U.S. Army Reserve Shooting Team (USAR) performed superbly at this year’s Armed Forces Skill at Arms Meeting (AFSAM), conducted in October at Camp Robinson, Arkansas. The USAR Team captured the Overall AFSAM championship and the coveted Lexington Green Trophy.
First held in 1991, AFSAM is an multi-nation shooting competition open to all NATO countries. At AFSAM 2010, competitors hailed from seven countries. Eighteen formal teams competed, with several more squads shooting for honors. In addition to U.S. Army Reserve and National Guard teams from the United States, shooters from Canada, Australia, England, Netherlands, Denmark and Norway competed in this year’s events.
Strong Individual and Team Performances
USAR shooters started strong in the nine individual events, taking seven first places, five second places and five third places. In the overall individual rifle aggregate, USAR team members took gold for first place and four of the top ten places. In the individual pistol aggregate, USAR shooters took first through fourth and secured six of the top ten places..Most impressively off all, USAR team shooter MSG Lance Espinosa won first place overall in both rifle and pistol matches.
In team events, USAR teams took five first places, two second places, and four third places, earning trophies in nine of the ten AFSAM team events. In AFSAM team competition, National Teams vie for the Lexington Green Trophy, a Grand Aggregate comprised of the International Service Rifle match and Close Quarter Battle (CQB) match. The first is shot from 100 to 500 yards and ends with a run down, shooting at every yard line from 500 back to 100. The Close Quarter Battle starts with a mock casualty evacuation and ammo resupply exercise, requiring teams to run with two litters each loaded with 150 pound “casualties” and sprint to the firing point with eight 30 pound ammo cans. Shooters then fire four stages of a close quarters battle course. In this demanding CQB Match the USAR team finished 93 points ahead of the next closest team. That secured Lexington Green Trophy for the USAR team, as well as the overall AFSAM win.
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Just when we thought we’d seen everything, Horus Vision has teamed up with 5.11 to create a wristwatch with a built-in ballistics calculator. Priced at $199.95, the 5.11 Ballistics Field Watch incorporates the Horus Vision SureShot™ ballistic calculator, plus a digital compass to indicate direction and degree. The watch has a molded polycarbonate body, offered in three color choices: black, olive drab, and coyote tan. Equipped with a backlight for night use, the 5.11 Field Watch also features dual time zones, a stopwatch, a countdown timer, and alarm.
Full-featured Ballistics Calculator
The ballistics functions are fairly complete. Using the four control buttons you can input temp, scope height (above bore), altitude, zero range, target distance, inclination (up/down angle), wind speed, wind direction, bullet BC (Ballistic Coefficient), and Muzzle Velocity. Then the watch will calculate your elevation and windage correction in either Mils or MOA-fraction clicks. It’s amazing that Horus packed all these features into a normal-sized watch.
NOTE: This online product demo is very cool. By clicking the buttons on an interactive watch mock-up, you can test all the functions and see how to input values into the Ballistics Calculator.
We haven’t compared the Horus/5.11 Ballistics Calculator watch with more sophisticated ballistics programs, but if you can remember all the buttons to push (and in what order) this watch appears to be a compact alternative to a laptop or PDA with ballistics software installed. Buyers have rated the watch highly: “Brillliant — I ordered the 5.11 Tactical Field Watch for my husband to use on his tour in Afghanistan. He loves it. He loves every feature it comes with and says that it’s accurate and durable.”
Barrett Firearms Mfg. has introduced its latest rifle, the MRAD, chambered in .338 Lapua Magnum (and optionally 300 Win Mag and 7.62×51 NATO). The MRAD’s modular design includes a user-changeable barrel system, removable by unscrewing two bolts with a standard Torx wrench. The bolt-head also changes out easily for caliber conversions. The video below shows how quickly the barrel can be swapped out by the operator. The MRAD ships with a folding stock which Barret claims “locks in as solid as a fixed-stock rifle”. When folded, the stock latches around the bolt (smart feature). The MRAD ships with a 24.5″ fluted barrel and Multi-Role Brown finish. No price has yet been announced.
The MRAD, slated for release in mid-2011, also features a new, easily-accessed trigger module, claimed to be “match-grade [and] drop-fire-proof”. Integrated into the MRAD’s 7000 series aluminum upper receiver is a 21.75″ M1913 rail with 30 MOA taper. Configurable side and bottom rails can also hold a number of accessories. Watch the video below to see the MRAD’s features and operation.
NEW .338 LM Barrett MRAD
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Team SIG Captain Max Michel has made history with his recent Open Division Title win at the 2010 USPSA Area 2 Championships, held November 10-14, 2010 at the Rio Salado Sportsman’s Club in Mesa, AZ. The Area 2 Championship was the final Area Championship of the 2010 season that Michel needed to win to become the first person in history to win all eight USPSA Area Championships in a single year. Michel competed against 151 shooters in the Open Division and finished with 1135.0241 match points, or 100.00%, to ensure his place in the history books.
Having passed muster at the 2010 CMP Eastern and Western Games, the Vintage Sniper Match has been approved as the newest match to be held at Camp Perry in 2011, where the Sniper Match will be sponsored by Hornady Manufacturing. As it turns out, a top Hornady staffer excelled at the 2010 Western Games Sniper match, held recently at the 
Vintage Sniper Match Course of Fire
If you haven’t joined the NRA yet, or if your membership is coming up for renewal, then here is a little extra incentive. Now through December 15, 2010, the NRA is knocking ten bucks off the price of first-time memberships and renewing one-year memberships. That makes the promotional price just $25.00 — which entitles you to full “regular member” benefits including a one-year subscription to one of three print magazines: American Rifleman, American Hunter, or America’s First Freedom. If you are already a Life Member or fully paid up, consider giving a membership to a friend or family member. The NRA has been an effective defender of gun rights because it is 4.3 million-members-strong. That is a force to be reckoned with.
Friday, November 19, is 
The 
In team events, USAR teams took five first places, two second places, and four third places, earning trophies in nine of the ten AFSAM team events. In AFSAM team competition, National Teams vie for the Lexington Green Trophy, a Grand Aggregate comprised of the International Service Rifle match and Close Quarter Battle (CQB) match. The first is shot from 100 to 500 yards and ends with a run down, shooting at every yard line from 500 back to 100. The Close Quarter Battle starts with a mock casualty evacuation and ammo resupply exercise, requiring teams to run with two litters each loaded with 150 pound “casualties” and sprint to the firing point with eight 30 pound ammo cans. Shooters then fire four stages of a close quarters battle course. In this demanding CQB Match the USAR team finished 93 points ahead of the next closest team. That secured Lexington Green Trophy for the USAR team, as well as the overall AFSAM win.
Full-featured Ballistics Calculator
