At the request of our readers, we provide select “Deals of the Week”. Each week we offer our Bargain selections. Here are some of the best deals on firearms, hardware, reloading components, and shooting accessories. Be aware that sale prices are subject to change, and once clearance inventory is sold, it’s gone for good. You snooze you lose.
LABOR DAY HOLIDAY SPECIALS
We are publishing our Deals on Sunday this week because many of the best bargains are Labor Day Weekend Specials. There are also Special 10% OFF PROMOTIONS running this weekend. We want readers to be able to take advantage of these holiday specials before the discount codes “time out”.
1. Brownells — Labor Day Weekend Sale & Free Shipping ($99+)
Brownells is offering great pricing on a host of products this weekend. You’ll find bargains on Berger Bullets, RCBS Rockchuckers, AR components, Timney Triggers, Magpul Stocks, Rimfire Ammo, Centerfire Ammo, Range Bags, and more. Plus all Geissele products are on sale this holiday weekend. In addition, with CODE L27 you can FREE Ground Shipping on orders over $99.00. This free shipping offer expires on 9/5/2016 at 11:59 PM CST. CLICK HERE for Labor Day Specials.
2. Amazon — Vortex 4-12x50mm AO Scope, $174.00
The NRA is introducing a new Mid-Range Tactical Prone Match for AR platform rifles with bipods. Optics up to 12X will be allowed. If you’re considering participating in this new Mid-Range competition, here’s a fine Vortex 4-12x50mm AO Crossfire II scope for under $175.00. That’s a steal. This second-focal-plane scope features front parallax adjustment and a BDC reticle. Put the money you save on optics into a premium barrel and quality match trigger.
3. Ammomen — Winchester .22 LR Ammo $15.50 for 235 Rounds
We are finally starting to see .22 LR rimfire ammo come down to very affordable levels. With this Winchester bulk pack special you get 235 rounds for just $15.50. That works out to just 6.6 cents per round (or $3.30 for 50 rounds). This .22 LR ammo is loaded with 36 grain copper-plated lead HP bullets. The ammo is rated at 1280 fps in rifles, 1085 fps in pistol.
4. Savage Arms — Rifle Rebates up to $75.00
With the Save on a Savage Rebate, you can get $75.00 on Savage Trophy Hunter, DOA Hunter, Model 14/114 or Model 16/116; or get $30.00 back on any AXIS or A17™ synthetic stock rifle. Shooters who purchase any bolt-action Savage rimfire, including the B.MAG and Rascal, will be eligible for a $25 mail-in rebate. Firearms must be purchased between August 11, 2016 and September 25, 2016. NOTE: This program also includes the popular semi-auto A17 17 HMR which was voted ‘Rifle of the Year’ by both NRA American Hunter and Guns & Ammo magazines. CLICK HERE for Rebate Coupon.
5. Cabelas — 10% Off Labor Day Special with Free Shipping
Act quickly guys, this Cabelas.com offer expires 9/5/16, at 11:59 pm Eastern Time. Throughout the Labor Day Weekend you can get 10% off most online merchandise, plus FREE Shipping for orders over $99.00. This includes ammo purchases, but not firearms. This is an online-only promotion, not valid at Cabela’s retail stores. Use Code 6TENOFF during online checkout. Some heavy or oversized items will require paid shipping and handling.
6. Amazon — Leight MAX NRR33 Earplugs, $7.50 for 50 Pairs
These Howard Leight NRR33 Max plugs are your Editor’s favorite foam earplugs. Between shooting, motorcycling and mowing lawns, I probably have Max plugs in my ears 2-3 days a week. This is a very good price for a bulk pack of 50 pairs. And if you act soon, you can get free shipping to boot.
7. Beretta USA — Labor Day Sale, Up to 60% Off
Beretta is offering big discounts — up to 60% Off — during its Labor Day Outlet Store Sale. You can save on shooting accessories, clothing, gun cases, holsters, gunstocks, choke tubes, barrels, scope rings, grips and much more. You’ll also find great deals on Tikka and Sako stocks (Beretta is the distributor for Tikka and Sako). For example, a high-grade Sako 75 Hunter DLX stock is marked down from $878.00 to $439.00. In addition, Beretta is offering Free Shipping on Orders over $89.00.
8. Precision Reloading — $15 Hazmat Fees on Powder and Primers
If you’re purchasing powder, primers and other Hazmat items, you can save up to $25.00 per order with this offer from our friends at Precision Reloading. Some vendors charge as much as $40.00 for Hazmat fees (on top of regular shipping). This fall Precision Reloading is lowering its Hazmat charge to just $15.00 per order. And yes, you can combine powder and primers in the same order. NOTE: Normal shipping charges apply, and total package weight may not exceed 70 pounds.
Helpful “How-To” Maintenance Videos from BAT
BAT actions are beautifully made — but they represent a substantial investment. If you’re fortunate to one one or more BAT actions, it’s important that you understand how to properly clean and lubricate the action, and how to assemble the bolt components. To help BAT owners with maintenance chores, The BAT Machine website features a Video Archive with many informative videos about bolts, ejectors, are action maintenance, and other technical matters. Here are two video:
How to Grease and Maintain Your BAT Action and Bolt:
How to Remove (and Re-Install) Firing Pin Assembly:
More Helpful Information on BAT Website
One thing that people might easily miss is the large spreadsheet that details the specs of all BAT Machine actions: CLICK HERE to download.
Also, on the BAT website FAQ page, you’ll find prints for barrel tenon machining, firing pin sizes, torque specs, and tons of other very helpful info. This is well worth a look.
Story Tip from Boyd Allen and EdLongrange. We welcome reader submissions.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation is pleased to announce that registration is now open for its 2016 Fall Shooting Sports Fantasy Camps in Tulsa, Oklahoma. There will be two (2) sessions this October, each with 33 spots available.
Watch Highlights from the First-Ever Shooting Sports Fantasy Camp in Las Vegas:
The NSSF 2016 Fall Shooting Sports Fantasy Camp will take place at the world class United States Shooting Academy in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Two date options will be offered:
NSSF has lined up seven of our country’s top professional shooters for this premier event, including the first family of shooting, Jerry and Kay Miculek and Lena Miculek-Afentul, world class professional shooter, Bruce Piatt, 3-Gun pro couple Dianna and Ryan Muller, and Top Shot Season 4 winner Chris Cheng.
In addition to learning from today’s best shots, you’ll also be provided all meals, hotel accommodations, a swag bag full of premium shooting gear and more! You will need to provide your own travel arrangements and the camp registration fee of $3,495.
Camp Placements Will Sell Out Soon
If you are interestested, we recommend that you register soon — don’t delay. NSSF’s first Fantasy Camp (held this past spring in Las Vegas) sold out immediately. There are only 33 slots available for each date choice. For more information visit www.shootingsportsfantasycamp.com.
Readers who have just recently discovered the Daily Bulletin may not realize that AccurateShooter.com has hundreds of reference articles in our archives. These authoritative articles are divided into mutiple categories, so you can easily view stories by topic (such as competition, tactical, rimfire, optics, shooting skills etc.). One of the most popular categories is our Technical Articles Collection. On a handy index page (with thumbnails for every story), you’ll find over 120 articles covering technical and gunsmithing topics. These articles can help you with major projects (such as stock painting), and they can also help you build more accurate ammo. Here are five popular selections from our Technical Articles archive.
Stress-Free Pillar Bedding. Richard Franklin explains how to do a top-quality bedding job, start to finish.
OnTarget Software Review. Our Editors test free software that measures shot groups with great precision. We explain how to use the program and configure advanced features.
Savage Action Tuning. Top F-TR shooter Stan Pate explains how to enhance the performance of your Savage rifle by optimizing the torque settings of the action screws.
Complete Precision Case Prep. Jake Gottfredson covers the complete case prep process, including brass weight sorting, case trimming, primer pocket uniforming, neck-sizing, and, case-neck turning.
Stock Painting Instructions. Step-by-step guide for stock painting by expert Mike Ricklefs. Mike shows both simple coverage and fancy effects.
Jewell triggers are still the most-used triggers on competition benchrest and F-Class rifles and they are also popular for hunting, varmint, and tactical rifles (with or without safeties). While a Jewell trigger can work for years with minimal maintenance, if the trigger becomes gunked up, it may be necessary to disassemble the trigger for a thorough cleaning. Our friends Ed and Steve, aka the 6.5 Guys, have produced a helpful video that shows how to disassemble and then reassemble a Jewell trigger.
Why You May Need to Disassemble Your Jewell Trigger — the 6.5 Guys
Jewell triggers are a popular choice in the sport of long range precision shooting, and like everything else require regular cleaning and maintenance. In most cases they can be cleaned with charcoal lighter fluid or dropped into an ultrasonic cleaner. Should the situation require, they can be completely disassembled according to the Jewell Trigger Manual.
We ran into a situation where we had to dissemble a trigger due to the entrapment of some sticky dirt that couldn’t be removed with an ultrasonic cleaner. Our first step was to find some step-by-step instructions but we couldn’t find anything.
Recognizing that other shooters might be in the same situation we produced a step-by-step guide and video, published in full on 65Guys.com. These instructions will work with a left- or right-handed trigger. In our case we worked with a left-handed BR model trigger with safety and bolt release.
Step-by-Step Instructions are provided on 65Guys.com website. We recommend you read all the instructions carefully before you even think about disassembling your trigger. This video explains the process so you can get a sense of what is involved.
If you have a 6.5 Grendel rifle and recently purchased ammunition from Prvi Partizan (PPU), do NOT LOAD or shoot this ammunition. PPU, the manufacturer, is recalling ALL of its 6.5 Grendel ammunition.
This recall applies to ALL PPU-made 6.5 Grendel ammunition.
DO NOT USE OR SELL THE FOLLOWING PRODUCTS:
PRVI 6.5 Grendel Ammunition Box
PP6.30 6.5 Grendel FMJBT 110-grain
PP6.31 6.5 Grendel HPBT 120-grain
According to PPU: “Because of different chamber sizes in certain rifles, 6.5 Grendel cartridges may be subjected to excessive chamber pressure. Use of these products may result in firearm damage and possible serious personal injury.”
If you have any 6.5 Grendel ammunition or brass manufactured by PPU, please email info@ppu-usa.com or call (203) 375-8544 to arrange for its return and replacement.
There has been a hue and cry on some internet sites about changes in smokeless powder classifications by the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Writers have been concerned that recent interpretations by the ATF would make it much more difficult to store and transport reloading powders, which in turn could lead to price increases and/or powder shortages. Concern arose over the potential re-classification of “wetted” Nitrocellulose as a “high explosive”. Since “high explosives” are subject to more stringent rules, such re-classification would alter the way common smokeless propellants could be lawfully stored and transported.
Thankfully, there is good news. On August 31st the ATF issued an Addendum to its June 16 ATF Explosives Industry Newsletter saying that its policies regarding smokeless powders containing Nitrocellulose will not change… at least for now:
Based on this “Addendum”, it seems the ATF has tabled its proposal to classify Nitrocellulose-based smokeless powders as “high explosives”.
The NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA ILA) confirms that the ATF has backed off, so that current practices for powder storage and transport can continue unchanged. Thus hand-loaders should NOT face an impending powder shortage and/or price hikes. Here is the NRA ILA’s report:
ATF Delays Any Changes to Nitrocellulose Regulation
Earlier this summer, ATF released an Explosives Industry Newsletter that changed the agency’s treatment of nitrocellulose, the primary component in smokeless powders used in modern ammunition. This change had the potential to seriously disrupt ammunition supply in the United States because it changed a long-standing ATF policy that exempted properly “wetted” nitrocellulose from treatment as an explosive under federal law.
NRA and [shooting industry representatives] raised these concerns to ATF and any change in ATF’s treatment of nitrocellulose is now officially delayed. In an addendum to the earlier newsletter, ATF announced that it “will conduct further industry outreach concerning wetted Nitrocellulose. In the interim, previously authorized industry practices concerning wetted Nitrocellulose will NOT be affected.”
While the addendum doesn’t indicate that ATF has permanently abandoned this change to nitrocellulose regulation, smokeless powder manufacturers will be permitted to continue normal operation, at least for the time being. NRA will continue to work to ensure that any future change to nitrocellulose regulation will not affect ammunition supply.
ATF Industry Newsletter Caused Concern
The cause for firearms industry concern was the ATF’s statement about Nitrocellulose published in the June 2016 ATF Explosives Industry Newsletter. The key language is shown in the right column below. According to the NRA ILA, the ATF has, at least for the time being, decided NOT to change its policies regarding the storage and transport of “wetted” Nitrocellulose. Accordingly, “smokeless powder manufacturers will be permitted to continue normal operation”.
The 2016 World Speed Shooting Championships (WSSC) were held August 25-27 at the Hogue Action Pistol Range in San Luis Obispo, California. This prestigious U.S. Practical Shooting Association (USPSA) match attracted 125 competitors from around the world, who competed in eight precisely-configured Steel Challenge stages. At the WSSC, it’s all about speed — getting hits on steel in the shortest possible time. And no one on the planet is better at that than Max Michel Jr., King of the Steel Challenge.
This year, Max Michel captured another World Championship title, finishing 0.85 seconds ahead of second place K.C. Eusebio, with B.J. Norris placing third. This was Max’s fourth straight WSSC title and his seventh overall. We’d call that dominance. At this year’s competition, Max logged a best-ever overall score of 74.84, while setting a new world record on the final stage (Outer Limits). Max now owns the overall course world record and seven (of eight) stage world records.
Not to be outdone by Max, Taurus® Team Captain Jessie Duff took her sixth consecutive Ladies Open WSSC Title, and Duff won the Overall Single Stack World Speed Shooting Championship as well. As in years past, Jessie dominated the Women’s Division, but she was most proud of her Single Stack Overall Victory: “To win an overall championship title has been a dream of mine since I started shooting, something I’ve spent all my time working towards. I couldn’t be more proud to win the overall Single Stack title with my Taurus, allowing them to share in this victory with me!”
With a 30-year heritage, the WSSC Steel Challenge Match draws the world’s top speed shooters — both men and women. The three-day match is unique in that competitors shoot different guns each day: Rimfire on Thursday, Iron Sights on Friday, and the full-boogie Open guns on Saturday. The stages are precisely set up with exact Steel Challenge target spacing and distances. That creates an equal playing field at all WSSC events so stage record times can be set at any WSSC venue.
Can a budget-priced Savage shoot like a Sako TRG 22? Well, adding a custom “pre-fit” barrel and a state-of-the-art chassis system can transform a “Plain Jane” Savage into a serious tactical rifle. And now Kinetic Research Group (KRG) offers a new fully-adjustable chassis that’s just the ticket for a Savage tactical conversion. Just get a used Savage action, spin on a Criterion, Pac-Nor, or Shilen pre-fit barrel, and add the new 180-Alpha Chassis from KRG.
KRG offers 180-Alpha Chassis for Savage rifles. This fully-adjustable, light-weight (3.5 lbs) chassis fits Savage short action rifles with 4.4″ action bolt spacing. The 180-Alpha features tool-less cheek-piece height adjustment, spacer Length-of-Pull (LOP) adjustment, buttpad height adjustment, and plenty of accessory mounting positions. Suggested retail price for the 180-Alpha starts at $768.00 for the side bolt-release version. A bottom-release model is slightly more.
Compare KRG’s 180-Alpha Chassis to the hardware on the real deal — a Sako TRG 22 with adjustable, folding stock (model JRSM416, shown below). This SAKO TRG22 rifle in .308 Winchester retails for $5,198.00. With KRG’s 180-Alpha chassis you can put together an ergonomically-similar tactical rifle for thousands less.
Using the KRG Chassis, a take-off Savage action, and a premium pre-fit barrel, you can build a similar system for around $1540.00. Here’s how we get that figure: $370.00 for Criterion pre-fit barrel, $400.00 for action (YMMV), and $768.00 for stock (Total $1538.00).
KRG produces other adjustable, modular chassis systems for bolt-action rifles. KRG’s popular Whiskey 3 Chassis system fits the Tikka T3, Remington® 700™, Sako M995, Badger M2008, and 700 Long Action. The KRG X-RAY Chassis fits the Rem 700 Short Action, and Tikka T3, and the 180 X-RAY fits the CZ-455, Howa 1500, and Weatherby Vanguard platforms.
Product Tip by EdLongrange. We welcome reader submissions.
Ruger has created a series of videos showcasing competitive shooting competitions including: Rimfire Challenge, Metallic Silhouette, Biathlon, IDPA, SCSA (Steel Challenge), USPSA, and Cowboy Action shooting events. Log on to Ruger’s Beginner’s Guide to Shooting Competitions webpage to see informative videos for these sports. Rimfire Competition is affordable and fun, Silhouette is a great family sport, and the Steel Challenge is the ultimate pistol speed-shooting event.
INTRO to RUGER RIMFIRE CHALLENGE Matches
INTRO to STEEL CHALLENGE Pistol Competition
Ruger also offers many other cool videos, both on its Video Webpage and on Ruger’s YouTube Channel. On YouTube, you’ll find a great four-part Tactical Carbine video series, hosted by Dave Spaulding, winner of the 2010 Trainer of the Year award by Law Officer Magazine. There are also a number of videos featuring the Ruger Precision Rifle (RPR) a popular (and affordable) rig for Tactical/Practical shooting competitions. The video below explains the RPR’s adjustments:
