You’ve heard of “Adrenalin Junkies”? Well many readers of this website could rightly be called “Accuracy Junkies”. And for true accuracy junkies nothing can beat the “rush” you get with a rail gun. These heavy Unlimited rigs are the most accurate benchtop shooting machines ever created. Campaigned by ace competitors in the 100/200-yard benchrest game, rail guns are capable of delivering the ultimate in rifle accuracy — multiple groups in the zeros one after another.
RAIL GUNS GALORE — Video shows many current Rail Guns (Ocock Rail at 0:35 Mark):
Ultimate Benchrest Accuracy
How accurate can rail guns be? Hall-of-Fame shooter (and skilled gunsmith) Gary Ocock recently shot a terrific five-target Agg this past weekend in a match at Visalia, California. The range-measured Agg (average group size of all five targets) is an amazing 0.1088″, with four “zero” groups out of five. Though it won’t be submitted for a new record, this Agg is still a stunning demonstration of the accuracy these big rigs can deliver. The current NBRSA Unlimited 5-target, 100-yard Agg record is 0.1242 by Jerry Lahr. Congrats to Gary for a fine performance. The cartridge was a 6 PPC loaded with Gary’s own custom-made boat-tail bullets. The rifle is a modified Jay Young Rail, fitted with a 1:13.5″-twist Krieger barrel.
Gary’s rail gun features a round hole in the barrel block and a Delrin sleeve placed between block and barrel. The rail gun also has been modified to save weight for bench rotations. The lead photo (at top) is from an earlier match when Gary’s rail had a BAT action. Currently Gary is running a Marsh Saguaro action, shown in the photo below.
NOTE: Gary does not aim through two scopes at the same time, in binocular fashion. However, he does have a twin mount option so he can periodically check one scope against another, to ensure the scopes are holding point of aim. Gary tells us he normally just runs one scope. But at this match he wanted to ensure that his primary scope (the black Bausch & Lomb on left) was performing 100%. So he would cross-check it from time to time using the silver Weaver (on right). Gary notes that, unlike many rail gun shooters, he looks through his scope before each shot, and sometimes makes a very minor aiming correction using the rail controls. His scopes are boosted to very high power (55X), so even when the shots are falling in a tiny “bug-hole” cluster he can see if the last shot edged a bit left or right. He then adjusts aim accordingly.
Story and photos by Boyd Allen. We welcome reader submissions.
In the “good old days”, if you needed rimfire ammo for fun shooting, you could just head over to Walmart (or a local sporting goods store) and find a wide variety of offerings, including low-cost bulk packs from Federal, CCI, and Remington. These days, there are “slim pickings”, even at Wally World. You need to “cast a bigger net” to find rimfire ammo these days.
One of the most efficient ways to locate rimfire ammunition nationwide is to use Ammoseek.com, a specialized search engine. On its home page, Ammoseek has a handy 22LR PAGE link. With just one click you can search dozens of ammo vendors.
If you click the 22LR Page link, Ammoseek instantly calls up current ammo inventories located by Ammoseek’s automated search bots. Then Ammoseek plots ALL the available rimfire ammo, sorted from least expensive to most expensive. Here are search results from this morning, October 6, 2014. We found some CCI Blazer at $4.99 per 50-rd box (40gr LRN). That’s just want we needed for a plinking session at the range.
Here’s an interesting contest from Kahr Firearms Group (Kahr), the makers of Kahr compact carry pistols. To demonstrate the accuracy of its pistols, Kahr invites shooters to showcase their long-range pistol skills in a YouTube Video. There’s some serious prize money up for grabs.in this Long Range Shooting Video Contest. The contest winner receives $5000.00 worth of firearm products and accessories from Kahr, Magnum Research, and/or Auto Ordnance.
Submit Video for a Chance to Win
To enter the contest you need to shoot a Kahr pistol at a distance of at least 100 yards. Video your shooting session, and upload that to YouTube. The person whose YouTube video gets the most views will be named the Grand Prize winnner. The contest period runs November 1, 2014 through December 31, 2014 and the winner will be announced on January 6, 2015.
“Our goal of this shooting contest is to dispel the myth that accuracy is sacrificed in exchange for a smaller sized pistol, like that found in our concealed carry product line.” stated Justin Moon, CEO of Kahr Firearms Group.
The Long-Range Shooting Contest video must be original footage running from thirty seconds to three minutes in length. The footage must demonstrate shooting at a target distance of 100-yards (or more), exclusively using a Kahr pistol. CLICK HERE for Contest Rules.
Tech Tip — Pistol Accuracy
What kind of accuracy is possible with a small semi-auto pistol? Rested from a bench, we’ve seen production 1911s shoot inside 2″ at 50 yards. That may be hard to achieve with a Kahr, but who knows? If you are using the standard Kahr iron sights, you may want to use a 6 o’clock hold on a black bullseye. Alternatively, you can make a target with a large, thick horizontal line with a red/orange dot in the center (see sample below) The horizontal line helps you align the top of your front blade with the rear sights for best control over elevation.
Try Custom Hand-loads
If you’re serious about this contest, you should experiment with various custom hand-loads. (As far as we can tell, the contest rules allow custom-loaded ammo.) You may find that you get the best results with cast lead bullets (as opposed to jacketed bullets). Try a variety of load recipes, with a range of velocities (slow, medium, and fast). Some of our pistols like fast loads, while other handguns prefer slow (725-950 fps), subsonic loads.
In these two videos from the Rekyyli Ja Riista (Recoil and Game) YouTube Channel, you can see how a modern, short-range benchrest rifle is shot. Note how the gun tracks superbly, returning right on target, shot after shot. As a result, the shooter doesn’t have to adjust the rifle position after firing (other than pushing the gun forward), so he can quickly load and fire within seconds of the previous shot. Good rests and consistent, smooth bolt actuation keep the gun from rocking.
It does take practice to perfect the right technique for shooting free recoil (or nearly free recoil — with just a pinch on the trigger guard). And, of course, you must have a very good bag/rest set-up and the stock geometry and rifle balance must be perfect. The ammo caddy also helps by placing the cartridge up high, right next to the left-aide loading port. Hats off to Forum member Boyd Allen for finding these videos. Boyd told us: “Watch carefully — Now this is how it’s done.” [Work Warning: Loud gunshot noises — Turn Down Volume before playback.]
Craters may look interesting on the moon, but you don’t want to see them on your primers. Certain mechanical issues that cause primer craters can also cause primer piercing — a serious safety problem that needs to be addressed. If you have a gun that is cratering primers (even at moderate pressure levels), there is a solution that works with many rifles — send your bolt to Greg Tannel to have the firing pin hole bushed.
Shooters who convert factory actions to run 6BRs, 6PPCs or other high-pressure cartridges should consider having the firing pin bushed. These modern cartridges like to run at high pressures. When running stout loads, you can get cratering caused by primer flow around the firing pin hole in the bolt face. The reason is a little complicated, but basically the larger the hole, the less hydraulic pressure is required to crater the primer. A limited amount of cratering is normally not a big issue, but you can reduce the problem significantly by having a smith fit a bushing in the firing pin hole. In addition to reduced cratering, bushing the firing pin often produces more consistent ignition.
This is a highly recommended procedure that our editors have had done to their own rifles. Greg Tannel (Gre-Tan Rifles) is an expert at this procedure, and his turnaround time is fast — usually 2-3 days (shop time). Current price for a bushing job, which includes turning the firing pin to .062″, is $87.00 including USPS Priority Mail return shipping.
If you have a factory rifle, a bushed firing pin is the way to go if you are shooting the high-pressure cartridges such as 6PPC, 6BR, 6-6.5×47 and 6.5×47. This is one of the most cost-effective and beneficial upgrades you can do to your factory rifle. For more info on the Firing Pin Bushing process, visit GreTanRifles.com, or email greg [at] gretanrifles.com. (After clicking the link for GreTanRifles.com, Click on “Services” > “Shop Services” > “Bolt Work”, and you’ll see a listing for “Bush Firing Pin Hole & Turn Pin”. Select “View Details”.)
Firing Pin Hole Bushing by Greg Tannel
Work Done: Bush firing pin hole and turn pin.
Functions: Fixes your cratering and piercing problems.
Price: $80.00 + $7.00 return shipping Total Price: $87.00
Actions for which Bushing is Offered: Remington, Winchester, Savage, Sako, Kimber, Cooper, Nesika, Stiller, Bat, Kelbly, Lawton, Surgeon, Borden, Wichita, Hall, CZ, Ruger, Mauser, Howa, Weatherby, Dakota, Pacific Tool, Phoenix, RPA Quadlite, and Defiant bolt action rifle or pistol. Note: There may be extra tooling charges for case-hardened style bolts (Mauser, CZ, and similar) .
Actions for which Bushing is NOT Available: ARs, Accuracy International, Desert Tactical Arms, Big Horn, Rim fires, Falling block, Break open, Lever, Pump rifles.
How to send your bolt in to be bushed:
You can send your bolt snail mail, priority mail, UPS, Fed-Ex. What ever you prefer. Please include your name, phone number, and return shipping address. Turn around is normally 1 to 3 days shop time (plus shipping time). We usually do them the day that we get them in. Total cost is $87.00 for one bolt or $167.00 for two (this includes return shipping, priority mail.) Three or more will be sent back to you UPS and we will have to calculate extra shipping. We can overnight them at your expense. Check, money order, or credit card is fine with us.
We recommend that all hand-loaders have a couple reliable reloading manuals as reference guides. Berger, Hornady, and Sierra all offer well-respected load manuals. These can provide starting load information for a wide variety of cartridge types and bullet selections. We do like to cross-check any printed load recipes with current online data, to ensure you have the latest info.
Along with a good load manual, those getting started in metallic cartridge reloading can benefit from a good basic reloading treatise. There’s a new intro guide from the publishers of Gun Digest.
The New Gun Digest Shooter’s Guide To Reloading, by Phillip Massaro, was created for shooters new to reloading. This is a good starting point for those who want to learn to hand-load safely and efficiently. Hundreds of photos illustrate the text — and we all know a picture can be worth a thousand words.
After discussing the benefits of hand-loading, Massaro’s book covers the basics of metallic cartridge reloading, step by step. Along the way Massaro recommends appropriate presses and tools for reloading both pistol and rifle cartridges. Massaro also explains the variations in bullet and powder types, and how they affect ballistics. In addition, Massaro includes a “Specialty Situations” chapter that reveals common reloading mistakes and issues and offers practical solutions. This section on avoiding common mistakes is one of book’s best features. We wish all reloading guides had a similar section.
Editor’s NOTE: This book will be released next week. Accordingly, we have not seen the final, printed version yet. At $14.79, the Gun Digest Shooter’s Guide to Reloading is relatively inexpensive. The sample chapters we reviewed provided good basic information in a well-organized fashion. Certainly, we would not tell advanced reloaders and/or competition shooters to rush out and buy this book. However, for folks getting started in hand-loading, this resource should be helpful.
Have a good look at the photos below — this may be one of the most noteworthy target strings we’ve ever published. What you can see is the effect of barrel tuner position on point of impact (POI). You can clearly see that the tuner position alters the up/down POI location in a predictable fashion.
This remarkable 15-shot sequence was shot by French benchrester Pascal Fischbach using his 6 PPC fitted with a CG (Carlito Gonzales) action and a Bukys barrel tuner.
Pascal reports: “After [bullet] seating and load validation, I put the Bukys tuner on, screwing it out 10 turns. According to Carlito, the CG’s super stiff action-to-barrel fit gives a faster vibration modulus that is detrimental below 10 turns [position of the tuner].” Pascal’s procedure was to screw out the tuner 1/4 turn progressively from one shot to the next. He shot one bullet at each tuner position, with a total of 15 shots.
Left Half of Target Strip (shots with 1/4 rotation change of tuner in sequence)
Right Half of Target Strip (shots with 1/4 rotation change of tuner in sequence)
Pascal observed: “Note the point of impact displacement [from shot to shot] tracks clearly along a sinusoide (sine wave curve).” This is indeed notable and significant! This shows how the tuner’s ability to change barrel harmonics can alter the position of the muzzle as each bullet exits, resulting in a higher or lower POI. Pascal sent his results to Carlito Gonzales in Argentina for analysis.
Pascal poses this question to readers: “Guess which three positions Carlito recommends to try?”
Editor’s Note: While this target sequence clearly shows how tuner position can alter bullet point of impact, this, by itself, does not tell us which tuner position(s) are best for accuracy. That will require further multi-shot group testing, involving careful experimentation with tuner position (and powder charge weights). But for those folks who doubt that a tuner can make a difference on a short, fat barrel, just take another look at the photos. The up/down changes are undeniable, and noteworthy in the wave pattern they follow.
These days, when gun owners get together, the hot topic is: “Where did all the rimfire ammo go?” For the past couple of years, .22 LR rimfire ammo has been very hard to find, and what you can purchase is priced much higher than before. Is there some conspiracy? Have ammo-makers cut back production? Mark Keefe, Editor of American Rifleman, recently addressed these questions, and the related issue of production capacity.
Keefe observes that, if “normal” demand for rimfire ammo has increased substantially (and permanently), we may not see a big improvement in the availability of rimfire ammo until such time as ammo-makers increase production capacity. But that would require the construction of very expensive new ammo manufacturing facilities. According to Keefe, that’s not likely to happen any time soon because manufacturers will not spend hundreds of millions chasing a short-term demand “bubble”. In Keefe’s view, until the panic buying subsides, and ammo-makers can reliably determine the true, “normal” long-term demand for rimfire ammo, it is unlikely that they will invest in new factories.
Click Graphic to Read Full Article:
Here are some highlights of the Keefe Article on Rimfire Ammunition:
U.S. Rimfire Ammo Factories Really Are Running at Full Capacity
Keefe: “I have been in two of the major rimfire plants in the United States since this ‘crisis’ hit. They are, indeed, running three shifts, full out. But there are not that many rimfire plants in the [USA].”
Increased Rimfire Gun Sales May Justify Increased Production Capacity
Keefe: “There are, literally, millions more .22 Long Rifle firearms owned and shot that have entered civilian hands in recent years…. Variables such as a substantial increase in the number of .22s sold and a change in the type of .22s being shot … may make a new rimfire plant worth it. Time will tell.”
Construction of New Factories is Very Expensive
Keefe: “Would it be worth it to go to the expense of, say, building a $250 million rimfire plant to make your company’s money back at a penny a round over the next 10 to 20 years? The answer, so far, has been a resounding ‘No’.”
Manufacturers Can’t Assess True Demand Levels Until the Panic Buying Ceases
Keefe: “At some point, ammunition demand will reach its real level[.] At that point, the major ammo makers will look and see if there is sufficient demand for [bringing] a new rimfire plant on-line.”
Grafs.com is now featuring some hard-to-find products that are very popular with our Forum members. These are items that sell out quickly, or may be back-ordered for months. Grab ‘em while you can.
Berger 7mm 180gr Hybrids
Graf’s has the ultra-accurate, high-BC 7mm 180gr Berger Hybrid bullet. This 7mm Hybrid is probably the most popular projectile in use by top F-Class Open shooters. Yes, 7mm Hybrids are in stock now and ready to ship for $45.99 per 100.
Forster Co-Ax Reloading Press
Graf’s has the superb Forster Co-Ax Press in stock and ready to ship. This unique product is the “Cadillac of reloading presses”. Sizing and seating dies slide into universal jaws for quick die changes. The dies can also self-align in the press for reduced run-out on your loaded rounds. If you’ve been wanting a Co-Ax, grab one now as they can be hard to find between production runs.
Magnetospeed V3 Chronograph
Graf’s now sells the remarkable Third Generation Magnetospeed Chronograph. The original Magnetospeed was a “game-changer” in the shooting industry. This compact chrono attaches directly to your barrel so you don’t need to set up a tripod, and fiddle around aligning sky-screens or diffusers. You also don’t have to worry about putting a bullet hole (or two) in the middle of your chronograph. The latest “V3″ model Magnetospeed features an improved attachment system, an upgraded display/control module, plus software enhancements. And Magnetospeed now provides a rugged polymer case that holds the “bayonet” sensing unit, display module, and all other components. Price is $379.99
NOTE: All these prices include shipping with one $7.95 flat fee per order.
Classic American battle rifles have regained popularity via M1 Garand matches, service rifle matches, the M1A Match at Camp Perry, and Vintage Sniper competitions. If you own a classic M1 Garand, or an M1A, the modern semi-auto descendant of the M14, you should enjoy the two videos presented here. With help from our friend Grant G., we managed to located two original U.S. Army training films, one for the M1 Garand, and one for the M14. Both films use clever animated drawings to show the gas guns’ internal operations and cycling processes.
M1 Garand Training Film
Here is a U.S. Army training film for the M1 Garand (officially the United States Rifle, Caliber .30, M1). The M1 Garand was the first semi-automatic battle rifle to be generally issued to the infantry of a major nation, though other countries issued semi-auto rifles to special units. Gen. George S. Patton called the Garand “The greatest battle implement ever devised.”
Animated Diagrams Show M1 Garand Operational Cycle starting at 2:00-Minute Mark:
M14 Training Film
The successor to the M1 Garand was the M14. The 27-minute official U.S. Army video below demonstrates the operation of the M14. Field-stripping is shown from the 5:13 time-mark through 8:30. Cut-away drawings show the M14’s gas operation at 8:40.
The complete 8-step functioning cycle is demonstrated from the 9:25 time-mark through 22:41. These eight operations are: 1) Feeding; 2) Chambering; 3) Locking; 4) Firing; 5) Unlocking; 6) Extracting; 7) Ejecting; and 8) Cocking. This movie is fairly long, but fans of battle rifles will find it well worth their time. Every M1A owner should definitely watch this video start to finish.
Watch M14 Functioning Cycle Starting at 9:25 Mark:
Ultimate Benchrest Accuracy
In these two videos from the 
Craters may look interesting on the moon, but you don’t want to see them on your primers. Certain mechanical issues that cause primer craters can also cause primer piercing — a serious safety problem that needs to be addressed. If you have a gun that is cratering primers (even at moderate pressure levels), there is a solution that works with many rifles — send your bolt to 
Firing Pin Hole Bushing by Greg Tannel
Have a good look at the photos below — this may be one of the most noteworthy target strings we’ve ever published. What you can see is the effect of barrel tuner position on point of impact (POI). You can clearly see that the tuner position alters the up/down POI location in a predictable fashion. 
Classic American battle rifles have regained popularity via M1 Garand matches, service rifle matches, the M1A Match at Camp Perry, and Vintage Sniper competitions. If you own a classic M1 Garand, or an M1A, the modern semi-auto descendant of the M14, you should enjoy the two videos presented here. With help from our friend Grant G., we managed to located two original U.S. Army training films, one for the M1 Garand, and one for the M14. Both films use clever animated drawings to show the gas guns’ internal operations and cycling processes.
