|
|
October 16th, 2014
IBS Match Report by Jim Bauer
This year’s IBS 600-yard National Championship was held September 27-28 at the Memphis Sport Shooting Association (MSSA) range, a wonderful 185-acre shooting facility. The 600-yard Nationals event was well-attended with 70 shooters. This was tough field of talented trigger-pullers, including world record-holders and past 600-yard champions. One competitor commented, “You don’t have to make much of a mistake and you are in the middle of the pack. Make two mistakes and you are at the back.” This says a lot for the quality of shooters attending this year’s event.
To demonstrate the talent of the shooters, and the accuracy of their rifles, consider these numbers. During the event, the field of competitors shot a total of 1,128 targets. Amazingly, 210 targets, roughly one-fifth of the total, had 5-shot groups under 2.10 inches. And 62 were less than 1.5 inches. Eleven targets had 5-shot groups measuring under one inch! Yes, sub-inch at 600! The smallest group shot at the Nationals was a tiny 0.624″ by Ben Peters. Donna Matthews shot the best overall target of 0.859″ with a score of 50. Amazingly, Donna’s 0.859″/50 was just one of ninety (90) perfect, 50-point scores.
CLICK HERE for Complete Results from 2014 IBS 600-Yard Nationals
Scroll to Bottom of Document for Top 20 Equipment List
Astonishing Rifle Precision at 600 Yards
There were sixty-two groups under 1.5″ (i.e. sub-quarter MOA) shot during the IBS 600-yard Nationals. And there were eleven groups under 1 inch. (All groups are five shots.) What’s more, three shooters had 16-target Aggregates under 2 inches (i.e. under 1/3-MOA). That’s stunning — the level of precision in today’s 600-yard game is amazing.
Total Targets Shot – 1128
Sub-2″ Groups Fired – 210
Groups Fired Less than 1.500″ – 62
Sub-1″ Groups Fired – 11
Small Group – 0.624″ (Ben Peters)
Best Single Target – 0.859″/50 Score (Donna Matthews)
Perfect Scores of 50 – 90
These impressive numbers demonstrate how competitive the 600-yard game is these days, and how hard it is to win (even when Mother Nature cooperates).
Ryan Hunt Wins Championship in Tight Battle
When the smoke cleared, Ryan Hunt was the Two-Gun winner, earning the title of 2014 IBS 600-yard National Champion. Congrats to Ryan, who finally won the Championship after finishing near the top three years running. Closely following Ryan were Steve Wilson in second and Darrell Dacus in third. To prove how tough this year’s event was, consider this: Hunt’s 16-target Group Aggregate was a mere 1.8868″, while second place Steve Wilson had a 1.9524″, and third-place Darrell Dacus had a 1.9744″. Those three marksmen all shot stunning, sub-2″, 16-target Aggregates! And the difference between first and third place (with 16 targets shot over two days) was a mere 0.0876″. Think about that….
The top three shooters in Light Gun (LG) overall were Bo Wass, followed by Ryan Hunt and Steve Wilson. LG group winners were Ryan Hunt followed by Spencer Lamm and Johnny Powers. In LG score, Bo Wass was #1, followed by Justin Roberson and past champion Sam Hall. Heavy Gun Group was won by Steve Wilson with Ben Peters and Mike Moses in second and third. (NOTE: Bo Wass shot a standard 6mmBR, not a 6BR improved, showing the parent cartridge is still competitive at 600.)
The top three shooters in Heavy Gun (HG) overall were Darrell Dacus, followed by Steve Wilson and Ryan Hunt. (Note: Darrell shot a straight 6mmBR with Berger 105s, not a Dasher.) HG score was won by Jim Bauer followed by Andy Ferguson and Darrell Dacus. Top Youth shooter was Rory Jacobs (5th Place Heavy Gun Overall). Among the lady shooters, Sally Bauer took top honors, finishing in 7th place in the Two Gun Overall. Donna Matthews also shot well finishing with 5th place in Light Gun score. To see all the standings, with complete match results, visit the IBS Long Range Results webpage.
Equipment: 6mm Dasher and Vapor Trail Bullets Dominate Memphis Match
The 6 Dasher was definitely the dominant cartridge shot this year, with the original 6mmBR a distant second. In the action department BAT was a runaway first with only two other manufacturers being listed. Barrels were a little more evenly distributed. Krieger and Brux had 8 entries each and Bartlein with 3. Nightforce scopes were well represented with 16 out of the Top 20 shooters (Top 10 LG and Top 10 HG). March, Leupold, and Sightron filled out the rest of that list. Lapua made a clean sweep with no other brass manufacturer listed. To our surprise, ALL Top 20 shooters used CCI 450 primers. Varget was the powder of choice with LRM (Long Range Match pull-down), IMR 8208 XBR, and Norma 203B each being mentioned once. Notably, in the bullet category, there was a new “most popular projectile” this year. Vapor Trail bullets were used by 10 out of the Top 20 competitors with Berger coming in second with 7 of the Top 20. Spencer and Fireform bullets each had one Top 20 selection.
Great Conditions in Memphis
We had great weather conditions to shoot this year. Mornings had temps in the mid 50s with minimal wind to start. The mirage showed up later in the morning but didn’t seem to affect the competition. The three full relays enjoyed temperatures in the mid-80s with mostly sunny skies. The afternoons were relatively calm and sunny to finish the shooting day. On both days, shooting finished around 2:00 and the rest of the day’s events were completed by 4:00 to 5:00 pm, leaving plenty of time to get cleaned up to go out for the evening.
Praise for the Match Organizers
We have to give lots of credit to the Range Official Malcom Koleas and the target crews for their flawless and determined execution of Relay changes, along with providing, clear, repetitive directions to the shooters. All competitors could easily see the results of the many hours of hard work that went into making this match run so well. Many thanks to Mike Moses, David Dorris, and the rest of the crew that made this shoot so special.
Thanks again to Memphis Sport Shooting Association and all other range owners for giving us a place to practice the shooting disciplines we enjoy. The MSSA range is open to their membership 7 days a week and can host almost every shooting discipline one can imagine. If you have get a chance, please take the time to visit this facility, a first rate club for sure.
Share the post "Match Report: IBS 2014 600-Yard National Championship"
October 16th, 2014
If you’ve never tried ultrasonic cleaning, you should. This process is great for cleaning small gun components, AR innards, carbon-caked suppressors, and even jewelry. Ultrasonic cleaning also transforms old, dirty brass, getting cartridge cases clean inside and out (including the primer pockets). With a big-enough ultrasonic cleaning tub, you can even clean complete AR uppers. One word of caution — we do NOT recommend ultrasonic cleaning for any blued parts or blued firearms.
 Bald Eagle Ultrasonic SALE
Right now Bullets.com is offering very attractive introductory prices on the new Bald Eagle line of ultrasonic cleaning machines. There are five models to choose from, starting at just $34.95 for a 750 ml capacity small parts cleaning unit. The general-purpose 2.5 liter unit (which will hold hundreds of cartridge cases), runs $139.50.
A large-capacity 6 liter unit (that makes short work of big jobs) is $295.00. The jumbo, industrial-grade 7-liter unit, with a 25.5-inch-long dunk tank, is $495.00, marked down from $650.00. Compare these prices against those of other similar-capacity machines and you’ll see they represent good values. These introductory prices will be in effect through 12/31/14.
Share the post "Big Sale on Ultrasonic Cleaning Machines — All Capacities"
October 16th, 2014
 You know we like to save you guys money. Well right now Brownells.com is offering FREE STANDARD SHIPPING on domestic orders of more than $50.00 ($50.01 would qualify). This deal can easily save you $15, $20, or more on a typical shipment of gun parts, tools, and/or shooting accessories (savings depend on weight and size of order). To get FREE SHIPPING on your next Brownell’s order, use Discount Code GS4 during check-out when shopping at Brownells.com.
NOTE: This is a limited time offer, so place your order soon if you want to get FREE SHIPPING. If you snooze, you loose.
Share the post "Free Shipping at Brownells.com on Orders Over $50.00"
October 16th, 2014
Conventional brass jags work great — except for one thing. They can react to solvents, leaving a blue “false positive” on patches. In recent years, jag-makers have experimented with many different materials in an effort to cure the solvent-reaction problem. Today we have polymer jags, nickel-plated jags, and stainless steel jags. And the latest innovation is the aluminum jag from Dewey.
 J. Dewey Mfg. is now producing a series of “Copper Eliminator” jags and brush adapters made from aircraft-grade aluminum with the same hardness as brass. Dewey claims that its new aluminum jags will not become embedded with grit or particles that could harm your bore. At the same time, Dewey’s aluminum jags will not react to ammoniated bore solvents that can turn patches blue green when used with brass jags. Dewey aluminum jags are offered with either male OR female 8/32 threads. The $4.95 aluminum jags and $3.50 brush adapters are offered in a wide variety of calibers. You can order from Dewey Mfg. or Sinclair Int’l.
Story Tip from Boyd Allen. We welcome submissions from our readers.
Share the post "Dewey Mfg. Offers Aluminum Jags"
October 15th, 2014
Hornady has just announced its new-for-2015 products — new ammo, new reloading equipment, new brass, and new shooting accessories. This is a big roll-out, with a slew of new products, including some very interesting reloading tools. CLICK HERE to See ALL NEW 2015 Hornady Products.
VIDEO PREVIEW: Hornady 2015 New Products Overview
New Hornady Rifle Ammunition
New rifle ammo to be introduced in 2015 includes: 17 Win Super Mag Rimfire (with 20gr VMax), Full Boar series with GMX bullets, .243 Win Superformance with 75gr V-Max, and .338 Lapua Magnum with 285gr A-Max. It appears that Hornady may also be expanding its Custom Int’l line of hunting ammo.
New Hornady Reloading Products
For 2015, Hornady is releasing a host of new reloading tools and accessories. Among the new reloading items this year are: Multi-Purpose Lock-N-Load® Quick Change Hand Tool (photo below), Lock-N-Load® Neck Turn Tool with power adapter (photo below), Lock-N-Load® Sonic Cleaner 7L, and Lock-N-Load® AP™ Primer Pocket Swage Tool (for Hornady L-N-L progressive press):
New Hornady Cartridge Brass — 15 New Varieties
This should make hand-loaders happy. Hornady will release 15 new types of Hornady-brand cartridge brass. Varminters should be happy with the new 22 Hornet, 220 Swift, and 6mm Rem offerings.
|
Rifle Brass
22 Hornet SKU 8602
220 Swift SKU 8615
6mm Rem SKU 8622
7mm-08 Rem SKU 8646
7x65R SKU 8641
300 Rem Ultra Mag SKU 87624
30-378 Weatherby SKU 8658
8×57 JRS SKU 8644
500-416 Nitro Express SKU 86877 |
Pistol Brass
380 Auto SKU 8710
9X18 Makarov SKU 8725
9MM Luger SKU 8720
38 Special SKU 8730
357 Mag SKU 8740
40 S&W SKU 8742 |
Share the post "New Stuff! Hornady Unveils New Ammo, New Tools for 2015"
October 15th, 2014
 Accuracy International (AI) is perhaps the most noted manufacturer of bolt-action sniper rifles in the Western world. AI was founded in the 1980s by Dave Caig, Malcolm Cooper, and Dave Walls, three competitive rifle shooters. The company took its name from Cooper’s shop: Accuracy International Shooting Sports. The first project was a smallbore target rifle for civilians. Then the trio decided to build a 7.62×51 sniper rifle, inspired by a UK Ministry of Defense (MoD) competition to replace the venerable L42A1. (That old, wood-stocked design had proven unsatisfactory in the 1982 Falkland Islands conflict.)
Working in a garage workshop, Walls and his partners combined their knowledge of target shooting with input from active military personnel to create the first AI sniper rifle, the L96A1. This ground-breaking design won the MoD contract and immediately proved successful in the field. In an interview with The Telegraph, Walls explained: “The company’s early success was based on not just the what the founders knew from target shooting but also what they learnt from the users, the military users. They went out and they sought inputs from those users, and based on that they designed their very first sniper rifle, and it was very successful.”
Today, “At a discreet location on the outskirts of Portsmouth”, Accuracy International continues to make rugged, versatile, and ultra-accurate sniper rifles for military, law enforcement, and private use. A team from The Telegraph visited the Accuracy International facility in England earlier this year. The video below shows AI’s facilities and the products AI produces:
Watch Accuracy International Video:
Profile of Accuracy International in The Firearm Blog
If you want to learn more about Accuracy International, you’ll find an excellent company history in The Firearm Blog (TFB). Writer Miles Vining visited AI’s Portsmouth facility and toured the factory. His in-depth TFB article provides some fascinating insights. For example, Vining recounts that struggles AI went through before reaching its current success:
“The company wasn’t an immediate success in the beginning. After winning the British Army contract and the MoD realizing the gun was constructed in a garage, Accuracy International had to subcontract many of its parts out to various companies around the UK. In 2000, after over 15 years of production, the company only had two CNC machines, one of which didn’t even work and the other one was making front sight posts…. During the 1990s Accuracy International was surviving on contract to contract, barely making ends meet.”
A major turn-around came with the creation of AI’s Arctic Warfare rifle for the 1993 Swedish trials. As chambered in .338 Lapua Magnum, this AW rifle proved to be a game-changer that “carried the company through the 1990s”. In 2005 the enterprise did go through a re-organization with Tom Irwin and Dave Walls taking over as sole Directors. Since then, AI has been going strong for the past decade. It now produces almost all components in-house, with 30 CNC machines, 70 employees in the UK, and two large-scale manufacturing plants.
Share the post "Visit to Accuracy International Production Facility in the UK"
October 15th, 2014
50 years ago today, October 15, 1964, Gary Anderson (now CMP Director Emeritus) celebrated his Gold Medal victory at the Tokyo Olympics. Gary earned Olympic Gold for winning the 300m rifle event. A few days later, Gary’s team-mate, Lones Wigger, won a gold medal for the USA in 50m rifle competition.
Photos from CMP Archives. Follow the CMP on Facebook.
Share the post "Blast from the Past: Tokyo Gold, 50 Years Ago Today"
October 14th, 2014
ELEY Limited, the English producer of high-quality rimfire ammunition, has been acquired by LDC in a £42 million deal. LDC is a well-established private equity firm specializing in management buy-outs, equity release (cash out), development (DevCap) and acquisition finance transactions.
Eley Will Expand Production and Launch a New Ammo Product
With the LDC take-over, Eley ammo production will increase, thanks to fresh capital expenditures by LDC. In exciting news for shooters, “a new round will be launched” according to Andrew Lane, Managing Director of Eley/LDC. This new ammo product is a big mystery. We can’t speculate whether this is a completely new rimfire cartridge, or simply another variant of .22 LR or other popular rimfire round. (Might Eley be producing 17 HMR in the future?) Along with the expanded production, Eley plans to open a new test facility for “the strategically important Scandinavian market-place.” We presume that will be located in Norway or Sweden, but no location has been revealed as yet.
Andrew Lane explained the benefits of the LDC deal: “While Eley’s growth has been strong over the past few years, IMI is now focused on specialist flow control activities. In LDC we have found an investor that has similarly ambitious targets and who fully buys into our business plan and development strategy.”
In the competitive arena, Eley has been extremely successful in recent years. Notably, all Gold medalists at the recent 2014 World Championships in Spain shot Eley ammo, and current Number 1-ranked shooters are using ELEY ammunition.
ELEY has grown in recent years and it now has 122 employees, mainly in operations, manufacturing and distribution. Eley was founded in 1826 by the Eley Brothers and moved to the Birmingham area after World War I. A division of Nobel Explosives, it eventually became a subsidiary of ICI in 1926. It later formed part of the IMI metals division that was separated from ICI in 1977. Following this deal with LDC, it is once again an independent company.
Story tip by EdLongrange. We welcome reader submissions.
Share the post "Eley Ltd., Rimfire Ammo-Maker, Acquired by LDC for £42 million"
October 14th, 2014
When we recently ran a story about Dennis Santiago’s new snakeskin Eliseo Tubegun, folks asked us if this kind of rifle can be competitive in F-Class competition. Here’s a detailed answer to that question by G. Salazar, who runs the Riflemans Journal Website.
A while back, G. Salazar published a three-part article on Shooting The Tubegun in F-Class. Links for all three segments are found below. The article covers some of the hardware German engineered to adapt his tubegun for long-range F-Class shooting with scope. If you’re an F-Classer, or just a fan of tubeguns, you should read German’s article, in all its parts.
READ Tubegun in F-Class Part 1
READ Tubegun in F-Class Part 2
READ Tubegun in F-Class Part 3
In the intro to his multi-part F-Class Tubegun article, German explains:
Salazar: The tubegun has truly changed the face of High Power shooting over the past five years or so. Specifically, the CSS (Gary Eliseo) tubeguns, which are made for a broad variety of actions and configurable to single-shot or repeater, have truly helped the sport to grow. That’s not just idle talk, the two principal factors that made the tubegun so important to our growth are the ease of transition for AR15 shooters moving into a bolt-action rifle and the absolutely ridiculous length of time it currently takes to get a stock from the conventional stock makers. My last conventional stock took well over two years from order to delivery (plain fiberglass). One of my friends has now been waiting four years for a simple wood stock for a smallbore rifle. By contrast, tubeguns, which are largely CNC machined, are delivered in a reasonably short time — weeks or a couple of months at most.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the tubegun would never have attained its present success if it weren’t for one simple fact — they are brutally accurate. I have three CSS tubeguns, one chambered in .308 and two in .30-06 and they are my favorite prone rifles due to their accuracy and great ergonomics. Those factors are just as appealing to an F-Class competitor as to a prone shooter, and indeed, the tubegun is making solid inroads into F-Class. READ MORE…
READ MORE of Part 1, The Tubegun in F-Class
Share the post "Shooting a Tubegun in F-Class — G. Salazar Talks Equipment"
October 14th, 2014
Here’s the deal of the month if you’re looking for a medium-magnification scope for hunting or gun games. The Vortex Razor HD 5-20x50mm Scope is now just $1349.00 at EuroOptic.com. These popular optics previously retailed for $1999.95. But EuroOptic purchased ALL the remaining inventory of these Vortex scopes and is blowing them out at below wholesale prices. With this special inventory reduction sale, you can save $650.00 on a very high-quality scope.
Vortex Razor HD 5-20x50mm Scope Buy Out Sale!
After buying ALL the remaining Vortex Razor HD inventory, EuroOptic is offering huge savings — $650 off the riflescopes shown above. Originally priced at $1999.95, these scopes are now being sold for just $1349.00! Supplies are limited. Call 570-368-3920 to order.
Sale tip by EdLongrange. We welcome reader submissions.
Share the post "Save $650.00 on 5-20x50mm Vortex Razor HD Scopes"
October 13th, 2014
by Philip Mahin, Sierra Bullets Ballistic Technician
This article first appeared in the Sierra Bullets Blog
The ANSI / SAAMI group, short for “American National Standard Institute” and “Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute”, have made available some time back the voluntary industry performance standards for pressure and velocity of centerfire rifle sporting ammunition for the use of commercial manufacturers. [These standards for] individual cartridges [include] the velocity on the basis of the nominal mean velocity from each, the maximum average pressure (MAP) for each, and cartridge and chamber drawings with dimensions included. The cartridge drawings can be seen by searching the internet and using the phrase ‘308 SAAMI’ will get you the .308 Winchester in PDF form. What I really wanted to discuss today was the differences between the two accepted methods of obtaining pressure listings. The Pounds per Square Inch (PSI) and the older Copper Units of Pressure (CUP) version can both be found in the PDF pamphlet.
Image by ModernArms, Creative Common License.
 CUP Pressure Measurement
The CUP system uses a copper crush cylinder which is compressed by a piston fitted to a piston hole into the chamber of the test barrel. Pressure generated by the burning propellant causes the piston to move and compress the copper cylinder. This will give it a specific measurable size that can be compared to a set standard. At right is a photo of a case that was used in this method and you can see the ring left by the piston hole.
PSI Pressure Measurement
What the book lists as the preferred method is the PSI (pounds per square inch or, more accurately, pound-force per square inch) version using a piezoelectric transducer system with the transducer flush mounted in the chamber of the test barrel. Pressure developed by the burning propellant pushes on the transducer through the case wall causing it to deflect and make a measurable electric charge.
Q: Is there a standardized correlation or mathematical conversion ratio between CUP and PSI values?
Mahin: As far as I can tell (and anyone else can tell me) … there is no [standard conversion ratio or] correlation between them. An example of this is the .223 Remington cartridge that lists a MAP of 52,000 CUP / 55,000 PSI but a .308 Winchester lists a 52,000 CUP / 62,000 PSI and a 30-30 lists a 38,000 CUP / 42,000 PSI. It leaves me scratching my head also but it is what it is. The two different methods will show up in listed powder data[.]
So the question on most of your minds is what does my favorite pet load give for pressure? The truth is the only way to know for sure is to get the specialized equipment and test your own components but this is going to be way out of reach for the average shooter, myself included. The reality is that as long as you are using printed data and working up from a safe start load within it, you should be under the listed MAP and have no reason for concern. Being specific in your components and going to the load data representing the bullet from a specific cartridge will help get you safe accuracy. [With a .308 Winchester] if you are to use the 1% rule and work up [from a starting load] in 0.4 grain increments, you should be able to find an accuracy load that will suit your needs without seeing pressure signs doing it. This is a key to component longevity and is the same thing we advise [via our customer service lines] every day. Till next time, be safe and enjoy your shooting.
Share the post "CUP vs. PSI — What’s The Difference in Pressure Measurements"
October 13th, 2014
Story based on report by Lars Dalseide for NRABlog.com
I first met Anette Wachter four years ago at the NRA’s National Long Range High Power Rifle Championship in Camp Perry, Ohio. A statuesque brunette, Wachter easily stood out in the crowd. I just so happened to be a big fan of her twitter feed as well. After a quick exchange of pleasantries, we talked about shooting, life in Washington, and how she could get more involved.
Since then she has become very involved. Her 30 Cal Gal blog has become a favorite of male and female shooters alike. Due to her diligence, she was also about to earn a spot on the U.S. National Palma Travel Rifle Team. And recently, Wachter lent her voice and views to the battle for gun rights in the state of Washington.
by AccurateShooter.com
Anette Wachter, aka “30 Cal Gal”, Helps Lead Fight Against I-594
Below is a video Anette made opposing I-594, a Washington State initiative on the November ballot. This law could have drastic consequences for Washington state firearms owners. Visit www.VoteNo594.com for more information and to learn how you can help defeat this gun control initiative.
The provisions of I-594 are explained in detail on the NRA-ILA website. Here are the key reasons Washington gun owners should oppose this proposed legislation:
Share the post "Anette Wachter Helps Lead Fight vs. I-594 in Washington State"
|
