Liberty Safe has just introduced the SAFELERT wireless monitoring system. This will notify the safe owner instantaneously if the safe is moved, if the safe door is opened, or if there is a notable change in safe temperature or humidity. Liberty’s SAFELERT is small, battery-powered sensing device placed inside your safe (easily hidden out of view). When something happens to your safe (e.g. movement, door opening, humidity change etc.) the device detects the activity and sends alerts (via texts or emails) directly to the safe’s owner.
The SAFELERT works wirelessly via your home or business network. You just need a WiFi router plus at least one networked device (computer, tablet etc.) on the system. If you can open an internet browser page and enter a few numbers, you can get the SAFELERT running in minutes. Communicating via the web-based elertus.com service, SAFELERT monitors your safe and immediately sends you (and up to 4 recipients) alerts when the “triggers” are activated by tampering, door opening, or temp/humidity changes (inside the safe). The SAFELERT also sends a message if its batteries run low or if your WIFI connection fails (hourly network checks). You can “test-drive” the system via Liberty’s SAFELERT demo page. Log in to set a trigger type and receive a simulated alert message.
By now you may be wondering — “what’s this high-tech gadget going to set me back?” Liberty’s SAFELERT Costs $199.00 and there is an ongoing service charge to maintain continuous monitoring. Annual fees are: 3 Years at $39.95/year; 2 Years at $49.95/year; 1 Year at $59.95/year.
As an extra incentive, Liberty is currently offering the first month of monitoring for free.
Optional Antenna for Enhanced WIFI Reception
In most cases, SAFELERT will function well with your wireless router (WiFi system) without a separate antenna. But for situations where WiFi network reception is weak, Liberty includes an antenna to enhance SAFELERT’s reception range. The antenna is placed on the exterior top/side of the safe, with a wire connecting it to the SAFELERT device hidden inside the safe.
Only as Secure as Your WiFi Connection
Writing in the Firearm Blog, Richard Johnson points out some issues with any WiFi-Based security system: “The system … connects to the internet via your home WiFi connection. Therein lies the point of failure. If thieves are breaking into your home, they might first hit your phone/cable connection which will prevent the SAFELERT from contacting you. A workaround would be to have a MiFi or similar device that connects to the internet via cell signal.” We should add that the elertus.com service does promise to check your WiFi connection every hour and send you a message if the WiFi connection drops. But a lot can happen in an hour….
Birchwood Casey has just introduced a super-sized grid target that should work great at 250 yards and beyond. The new Shoot-N-C “Sight-In” target, 17.75″ on a side, features five (5) red aiming points inside large, yellow-edged diamonds.
The background is a grid of 1″ squares with a larger cross outlined in heavy yellow lines. The accurately-sized grid pattern makes it easy to estimate your groups (and adjust your scope to center point of impact). Even if shots fall inside the large, black diamond zones without grid lines, you easily make a quick correction using the nearby grid markings.
As with other Shoot-N-C “splatter” targets, this big 17.75″ target produces a bright, highly-visible yellow ring around each bullet hole. In most conditions, with a 25-power or greater scope, we can see bullet holes at 600 yards using this kind of target. You can buy a lot of these targets for the cost of a target cam — something that might be otherwise required to see bullet holes reliably beyond 500 yards.
Birchwood Casey also recommends this target for sighting in. We can see how that might be useful if you have very low-power riflescope or no spotting scope. Again, the handy grid pattern lets you dial your correction with precision, which should speed up the sight-in process.
After sighting-in, if you have a very accurate rifle, this may not be the best choice of target at 100 and 200 yards. A half-inch group will just create a big yellow blob, and it may be difficult to distinguish single bullet holes. But at longer ranges, even the most accurate rifles will normally produce large enough groups that you can see individual shot placements (with black separating yellow splatter rings).
Shoot-N-C 17.75” Sight-In Targets come in packs of five targets, with 85 stick-on pasters. There are red diamond pasters (for additional aiming points) and black pasters to cover shot marks. MSRP for the 5-pack is $25.30, but many vendors are selling the 5-pack for under $17.00. The lowest price we found was $11.89 at www.bigsupplyshop.com.
To celebrate its 90th anniversary, Lapua invited six of its shooting team members to visit the firm’s ammunition factory in Lapua, Finland. The team members hailed from six countries around the world: Kevin Nevius (USA), Eva Friedel (Germany), Josselin Henry (France), Charlotte Jakobsen (Denmark), Kim-Andre Lund (Norway), and Peter Sidi (Hungary). Watch the video to follow these six shooters as they tour the Lapua ammo factory, and then compete in a 100m/600m fun match at Lapua’s test range.
See Lapua Ammunition Factory from the Inside
After being greated by Nammo Lapua CEO Raimo Helasmäki, the six lucky shooters got to tour production facilities, visit the old cartridge factory museum, and share ideas with Lapua R&D engineer Tommi Tuuri. The engineer observed: “No matter how much you calculate, there are always some surprises — things you can only know from the test runs.”
Competition at 100m and 600m
The trip finished with a friendly “bragging rights” match at Lapua’s own Ampumarata Shooting Range. These six champions had to quickly master two very different rifles, a Panda-actioned 6PPC benchrest rig for 100m and a SAKO TRG-42 in .338 Lapua Magnum for long range (600m). Kim-Andre Lund from Norway won the benchrest match with a 0.157″ (3.98mm) group. Not bad for a position shooter not familiar with this kind of gun, or this rest configuration. Kim observed: “I think maybe I’m in the wrong discipline, maybe benchrest is the thing for me”. Check out his target at right.
The USA’s own Kevin Nevius posted the top score with the big .338 LM. Kevin had a great time: “I’m a bonafied gun nut… so to come to a factory that manufactures ammunition is a dream come true.”
This video features a factory walk-through showing bullet-making, cartridge forming, and bullet packaging. Near the end (at 5:40 time-mark) is a fascinating sequence showing the high-speed robotic arms that pick loaded ammunition from the assembly line.
Beautiful Lapua 6.5-284 brass awaits packaging and shipping.
Hornady has received an inaugural Gold Predator Xtreme Readers’ Choice Award for its Superformance® Varmint™ 17 Hornet Rifle Ammunition. The 17 Hornet is currently available in 15.5gr NTX® and 20gr V-MAX™ offerings.
Hornady’s 17 Hornet employs Hornady Superformance® propellant technology. Hornady claims that, in the 17 Hornet, its Superformance powders can deliver 100 to 200 fps more velocity than other commercially-available propellants. As a result, Hornady’s Superformance® Varmint™ ammunition shoots flatter, drifts less in the wind, and retains more energy out to a practical range of 300 yards. And many varminters have praised Hornady’s low-recoil 17 Hornet, saying this new cartridge is economical, accurate, and fun to shoot. 17 Hornet ballistics are far superior to the 17 HMR, as you can see:
Hornady’s 17 Hornet was derived from the 22 Hornet parent case. Claimed velocity with 20-grainers is 3650 fps — an impressive number considering the 17 Hornet uses about half the powder of the 17 Remington. The 17 Hornet is based on the rimmed .22 Hornet case. However, the case is not just necked-down from .22 caliber. The case designers reduced body taper, moved the shoulder, and changed the shoulder angle to 25°. This effectively modernizes the old .22 Hornet case, improving efficiency while retaining the max OAL, so that the 17 Hornet can work in any action big enough for the .22 Hornet.
Predator Xtreme Readers’ Choice Award
The Predator Xtreme Readers’ Choice Awards, sponsored by Predator Xtreme magazine, honors the best new products for varminters and predator hunters. A Gold award is the highest honor bestowed in a number of shooting categories. Products are chosen for award recognition based on surveys of magazine readers, so this is truly an “people’s award”.
The 2013 MidwayUSA NRA Bianchi Cup is in the books. Congrats to the Top Guns of the men’s division: Doug Koenig First Place (center), Carl Bernosky Second Place (left), and Bruce Piatt Third Place (right). Though Koenig finished on top, we have to credit Carl for his versatility. Bernosky is the reigning (and 10-Time) NRA High Power Rifle National Champion. Few humans can rival Carl’s skills with a rifle, and he’s just proven that he is one of the very best with a pistol as well.
54 county sheriffs in Colorado are leading the fight to overturn anti-gun legislation recently passed in Colorado, filing a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for Colorado. The NSSF, the Colorado Outfitters Association, Magpul Industries, and firearms retailers have joined the Sheriffs in a broad-based legal challenge to Colorado’s recently enacted gun-control laws. Notably, all but 10 of the state’s 64 sheriffs, who are elected officials, have joined the suit as plaintiffs.
“From the perspective of the sheriffs this legislature had an agenda rather than good public policy in mind when they rushed these bills through and in this rush to pass new laws they didn’t bother listening to the people charged with enforcing them,” explained Weld County Sheriff John Cooke.
“In addition to Constitutional infringements and unenforceable requirements regarding magazine capacity, as the sheriffs have pointed out, we believe it will be impossible for citizens to comply with mandated firearms ‘transfers’ through federally licensed retailers,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel. “Colorado’s federally-licensed firearms retailers are being asked to process these transfers as if they were selling from their own inventory and to monitor both seller and buyer through a state-administered check process that can take hours or even days. They will not be able to recoup the actual cost of providing the service, which is capped at $10, but they will be liable for paperwork errors and subject to license revocation. For this reason and the many others detailed in our joint action with our fellow plaintiffs, these laws need to be struck down,” Keane said.
Need a premium cut-rifled barrel? Be prepared to wait six months or more. However, if you were a member of the NorCal Practical Precision Rifle Club (NCPPRC) you’d be sitting pretty right now. After receiving a boatload of new Bartleins (31 by our count), NPPRC’s Vu Pham announced on Facebook: “Our first batch of Bartlein Barrels has arrived!! This is less than 1/3 of our 2013 Club order!”
That’s an impressive supply of precious metal to be sure. Are those Bartleins worth their weight in gold? Not quite, but Vu and crew definitely have reason to celebrate. We hope all the folks at NCPPRC shoot lots of good scores with all those pretty new tubes. Yes, you could say we have “barrel envy” now.
The 6mm Dasher is based on the 6mm BR cartridge with the shoulder blown forward about 0.100″ and “improved” to 40°. Case capacity is raised to about 41.0 grains. This allows the Dasher to drive 105-108gr bullets comfortably at 2970-3000 fps without over-stressing the brass. A popular load used by many successful Dasher shooters is 32.5 to 33.0 grains of Reloder 15, CCI 450 primers, with 105gr Berger VLDs, .010″ in the lands, or Berger 105gr Hybrids .015-.020″ off the lands (jumping). At the upper end this is a “warm load” and should only be used with fire-formed brass. Norma 203B is very, very similar to Reloder 15, and may be more readily available in the near future. As with any load, start 10% low and work up.
You may also have good luck with Hodgon Varget powder. Forum Member Rodney Wagner recently shot a spectacular IBS-record-setting 0.349″ five-shot group at 600 yards. Rodney was loading 32.5 Grains of Varget with CCI 450 primers and Berger 108gr BTs seated about .020″ off the lands (jumping). In preparation for fire-forming his Dasher cases, Rodney used a .257 expander to create a false shoulder on his case necks. This helps stabilizes the case with a good “crush fit” when fire-forming, but other methods of forming Dasher cases (including hydro-forming) can work well also.
Robert Hoppe, one of the top 600-yard shooters in the country, was the 2009 NBRSA 600-yard champion. In 2007, shooting a 6 Dasher, Robert nailed a 0.5823″, 5-shot group. At the time it was the smallest group ever shot in 600-yard registered benchrest competition. In 2008, John Lewis shot even smaller with an IBS Heavy Gun, but Robert’s 0.5823″ still remains the NBRSA 600-yard record, and we believe it is the second smallest group ever shot at 600 yards (in registered BR competition) by a 17-lb class rifle. Robert has been very successful in the 600-yard game, and is one of the best 600-yard shooters in the West. He knows how to wring the best accuracy out of the 6mm Dasher cartridge. Here Robert offers some tips on load development and tuning for the 6mm Dasher.
Another long-range benchrest record was set recently — this time at the Williamsport Range in Pennsylvania. On Saturday, May 18, 2013, Paul Martinez shot a fantastic 3.505″ 10-shot group at 1000 yards. It was nicely centered for a 99-6X score as well. Paul’s 3.505″ group should be a new 10-shot record for the 17-lb Light Gun Class under Williamsport Rules. The previous best was a 3.746″ (99-1X) group shot by Scott Weber at Williamsport last summer. Congrats to Paul for some great shooting!
Paul’s 17-lb Light Gun was chambered as a .300 WSM and Paul was loading heavy-weight .30-caliber Berger bullets. Paul’s rifle was smithed by Eric Springman of Springman Rifles in Allenwood, PA. Paul’s record-setting rifle featured a Borden action, Krieger barrel, McMillan MBR Tooley stock, and Nightforce Benchrest model scope (we don’t know if this was the old BR scope or the new-for-2013 version). Eric Springman notes: “This was not a fluke — Paul has shot several small groups with this gun and has shot under 4″ at 1000 yards before.”
Under Williamsport Rules, the Light Gun Class shoots 10-shot groups at 1000 yards. Under IBS and NBRSA Rules, Light Guns shoot 5-shot groups at 1000 yards, so there is no comparable IBS or NBRSA 10-shot record for the 17-lb class. However, IBS and NBRSA Heavy Guns DO shoot 10-shot groups at 1000 yards. The current IBS Heavy Gun 10-shot record is 3.044″, shot by Joel Pendergraft in 2009. The NBRSA 10-Shot Heavy Gun record is 4.322″ by Dave Tooley, posted in 2006. Looking at those numbers, Paul Martinez’s 3.505″ beats the existing NBRSA HG record by 0.817″ and Paul’s group is just 0.461″ off the IBS HG record. Any way you look at it, that is great shooting with a 17-lb rifle.
The 2013 35th Annual NRA Bianchi Cup National Championship kicks off today, May 22nd in Columbia, Missouri, and runs through May 25th. This prestigious event draws shooters from all over the world. Along with the USA, competitors have come from Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, and Switzerland.
Categories include: Open Division, Metallic Sights, Service Pistol, and Revolver. In addition there be awards for the top shooters in specific classes: Law enforcement, Women, Junior, International, Newcomer, Senior, Grand Senior. One of the favorites in the Women’s Division this year is Jessie Duff, shown competing with one of her Bianchi Cup custom rigs. Jessie’s pistol sports special brackets to help steady the gun during barricade shots.
Bianchi Cup — Classic Four-Stage Course of Fire
The MidwayUSA/NRA Bianchi Cup is a combination of Speed and Accuracy. Competitors shoot from both standing and prone positions and are also required to shoot with both strong and weak hands at various stages. Stages may combine stationary and moving targets. As conceived by former police officer and holster-maker John Bianchi, the Bianchi Cup originated in 1979 as a Law Enforcement Training match. The Course of Fire consists of four separate matches:
The Practical Event: From the appropriate shooting line, the shooter fires at distances from 10 yards to 50 yards under varying time limits.
The Barricade Event: From within shooting boxes and behind barricades, a shooter fires at targets on either side of the barricade at different distances and under varying time limits.
The Falling Plate Event: From the appropriate shooting line, the shooter fires at 8 inch round steel plates arranged in banks of six at distances from 10 to 25 yards under varying time limits.
The Moving Target Event: From within shooting boxes at distances ranging from 10 to 25 yards, the shooter fires at a target moving from left to right with the target being exposed for only 6 seconds.
By now you may be wondering — “what’s this high-tech gadget going to set me back?” Liberty’s SAFELERT Costs $199.00 and there is an ongoing service charge to maintain continuous monitoring. Annual fees are:
Birchwood Casey has just introduced a super-sized grid target that should work great at 250 yards and beyond. The new Shoot-N-C “Sight-In” target, 17.75″ on a side, features five (5) red aiming points inside large, yellow-edged diamonds.
After sighting-in, if you have a very accurate rifle, this may not be the best choice of target at 100 and 200 yards. A half-inch group will just create a big yellow blob, and it may be difficult to distinguish single bullet holes. But at longer ranges, even the most accurate rifles will normally produce large enough groups that you can see individual shot placements (with black separating yellow splatter rings).
Competition at 100m and 600m
Hornady has received an inaugural Gold Predator Xtreme Readers’ Choice Award for its Superformance® Varmint™ 17 Hornet Rifle Ammunition. The 17 Hornet is currently available in 15.5gr NTX® and 20gr V-MAX™ offerings.
54 county sheriffs in Colorado are leading the fight to overturn anti-gun legislation recently passed in Colorado, filing a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for Colorado. The NSSF, the Colorado Outfitters Association, Magpul Industries, and firearms retailers have joined the Sheriffs in a broad-based legal challenge to Colorado’s recently enacted gun-control laws. Notably, all but 10 of the state’s 64 sheriffs, who are elected officials, have joined the suit as plaintiffs.
Need a premium cut-rifled barrel? Be prepared to wait six months or more. However, if you were a member of the 
The 6mm Dasher is based on the 6mm BR cartridge with the shoulder blown forward about 0.100″ and “improved” to 40°. Case capacity is raised to about 41.0 grains. This allows the Dasher to drive 105-108gr bullets comfortably at 2970-3000 fps without over-stressing the brass. A popular load used by many successful Dasher shooters is 32.5 to 33.0 grains of Reloder 15, CCI 450 primers, with 105gr Berger VLDs, .010″ in the lands, or Berger 105gr Hybrids .015-.020″ off the lands (jumping). At the upper end this is a “warm load” and should only be used with fire-formed brass. Norma 203B is very, very similar to Reloder 15, and may be more readily available in the near future. As with any load, start 10% low and work up.
The 2013 35th Annual NRA Bianchi Cup National Championship kicks off today, May 22nd in Columbia, Missouri, and runs through May 25th. This prestigious event draws shooters from all over the world. Along with the USA, competitors have come from Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, and Switzerland.
Categories include: Open Division, Metallic Sights, Service Pistol, and Revolver. In addition there be awards for the top shooters in specific classes: Law enforcement, Women, Junior, International, Newcomer, Senior, Grand Senior. One of the favorites in the Women’s Division this year is Jessie Duff, shown competing with one of her Bianchi Cup custom rigs. Jessie’s pistol sports special brackets to help steady the gun during barricade shots.
