Here is a “birds-eye view” from IWA. Yes that’s a mini-blimp at lower left.
After SHOT Show in the USA, the IWA Outdoor Classics is the biggest gun/hunting/outdoor trade show in the world. The IWA event, held each spring in Nuremberg, Germany, concludes Monday, March 12 after a 4-day run in the Nürnberg Exhibition Centre. This is a big event — 1562 exhibitors from around the globe are showcasing their products. IWA attendance, which has grown steadily, is expected to top 50,000 visitors this year.
Many beautiful custom hunting rifles are on display. Note the stunning wood and the elaborate metal-work on bolt and action. Don’t ask about the price…
Here are a pair of Olympic-grade Steyr air pistols. Designed for one-handed shooting, these feature very ergonomic wood grips.
Toggle action biathlon rifles like this Anschutz captured medals at the recent Winter Olympics in South Korea. Not the handy magazine storage on the fore-arm.
Along with displays of guns, optics, and hunting gear, the IWA show features workshop areas where skilled artisans practice their trades — you can see engraving, wood-carving, and other skills in action.
Along with match rifles and hunting rigs, there were some serious sniper rifles on display. Here a German lady gets behind a Steyr SSG M1, offered in 7.61×51 NATO and .338 Lapua Magnum.
Bling was the thing at some pistol booths. These colorful Strike One handguns are made by Arsenal Arms in Italy (more sedate colors are also offered). A Russian-Italian design collaboration, the Strike One uses a Bergmann barrel system which does not tilt (unlike the widely-used Browning system). This allows for an extremely low bore axis.
Multiple vendors had some beautifully-figured stock blanks on display. The most desirable Turkish Walnut blanks can cost thousands of dollars.
Here are some handsome Winchester Model 1866 (Yellowboy) rifles with highly-decorated receivers. This classic American design is now crafted in Italy by Uberti.
Major German rifle-makers Blaser, Mauser, and Sauer all had large, prominent displays at the IWA Show in the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre.
With the support of these sponsors, the 6.5 Guys have collected over $10,000 worth of prizes.
Here is your chance to win some great prizes, including a Bergara B14 Rifle, Defiance Action, Nikon FX1000 Scope, Manners Stock, KRG Chassis, and over 30 more great products. All combined, these prizes are worth over $10,000. All prizes will be given away to visitors to the 6.5 Guys Facebook page who comment on the 6.5 Guys’ SHOT Show videos. No purchase necessary. Winners will be selected next Saturday, March 17, 2018. NOTE: Readers don’t hesitate. This is a great opportunity. For some of the prizes there are less than 80 commenting entrants now, so your chances are very good indeed!
How To Enter in the Prize Contest — Quick Summary
1. Go to 6.5 Guys Facebook Page.
2. Watch one or more linked 6.5 Guys SHOT Show Videos.
3. Comment on the Videos on Facebook, and tell two Facebook Friends.
The more videos you comment upon, the better your chances of winning!
To qualify to be selected in each random drawing for a prize, participants must complete the following tasks for each vendor promotion. First, “Like” the 6.5 Guys Facebook page and the vendor’s Facebook page. Second, leave a comment on the original 6.5 Guys’ post for the vendor’s SHOT Show prize promotion that includes a hashtag “shout out” to the donating company. Finally, you are asked to tag two friends on Facebook that could also benefit from the prize(s).
Everyone should be sure their LIKES and COMMENTS are within the original post(s) on the 6.5 Guys’ Facebook in order to qualify to enter the drawing(s). That’s it. For details on what products will be available to win and how to participate in each drawing, refer to the instructions on each of the SHOT Show videos on the 6.5 Guys’ Facebook page.
Mile High Shooting Accessories
$500 gift certificate towards the purchase of an AI product
Two Traust Shooting Bags
Nikon
FX1000 6-24x50mm SF, Illuminated MRAD Rifle Scope
RANGEX 4K Laser Range Finder
Phone Skope
Three – Phone Skopes
Rifles Only
50% discount of the Rifles Only signature Precision Rifle 1 & 2 Course
Seekins Precision
Scope mount or rings of winner’s choice
ShadowTech
Two – SS Loophole Slings
Spuhr
Spuhr Mount of winner’s choice
Tab Gear
PRS Sling
Two Large Rear Bags
Two Small rear bags
Thunder Beast Arms
TBA 22 suppressor
Vortex Optics
HD Razor Gen 2 Rifle Scope
XLR Industries
XLR Envy Chassis Package
All prizes will be awarded through a series of random drawings to take place during a Facebook live event to be held on Saturday, March 17th 2018 at 5:00 PM Pacific. Participants must be 18 years of age and reside in the USA. To learn more about prizes and how to participate in each drawing, refer to the detailed instructions on each of the SHOT Show videos on the 6.5 Guys’ Facebook page.
Fine print: 6.5 Guys, LLC reserves the right to modify the product description at any time for clarity or for any other reason deemed necessary. 6.5 Guys is coordinating the random selection of winners for each promotional drawing and will provide the winners’ contact information to each vendor for fulfillment of prizes. Adherence to all applicable laws and regulations, including those pertaining to the transfer of firearms, NFA items and ITAR regulated items, is the responsibility of the winner and the vendor. 6.5 Guys LLC does not provide any express or implied product warranties or endorsements of any type.
We are sad to report that long-time Forum member Frank S. (aka fdShuster) passed away in 2015. Frank was a very knowledgeable shooter who was always willing to help others. Here is one of Frank’s smart inventions. He devised a way to measure the length of a rifle’s chamber using a fired cartridge case. Frank’s system works by cutting a “collar” from part of the case neck. This then slips over a bullet seated in a case loaded without powder or primer. As you chamber the dummy round, the collar will move back to indicate the full length of the chamber. (Make sure the bullet is seated well off the lands so the dummy round can chamber fully.)
The IWA Outdoor Classics trade show opened Friday, March 9, in Nuremberg, Germany. Now through Monday, March 12, some 1562 exhibitors will be showing their products at the Nuremberg Exhibition Center. This is a hugely popular event — last year’s IWA Outdoor Classics trade show attracted 49,253 trade visitors from 119 countries, and attendance should be even higher this year.
IWA is Europe’s biggest combined trade show for the hunting, shooting, and civilian/military security industries. And this year, IWA Outdoor Classics was coordinated with EnforceTac, a two-day Law Enforcment/Security trade show held March 7-8, in Nuremberg.
Quick History of the IWA Trade Show
IWA OutdoorClassics 2018 in Nuremberg celebrates 45 years as Europe’s leadnign trade show for hunting, shooting sports, outdoor, and security products. What would become the IWA event started in 1974 with a small exhibition for the Association of German Gunsmiths and Gun Traders annual meeting. The first trade show had 106 exhibitors and around 2,000 trade visitors. Over the years, this German exhibition for gunsmithing and firearms trading evolved into the highly international trade fair IWA Outdoor Classics. This huge trade show now encompasses 100,000 square meters in 11 exhibition halls.
Over the years, the original focus on hunting, sports firearms, and ammunition was extended to outdoor clothing, gear, accessories, optics, and electronics for outdoor pursuits. The IWA OutdoorClassics has also become one of the world’s largest trade fairs for knives, with around 200 exhibitors.
How and Why to Create a Dummy Round
When you have a new custom rifle built, or a new barrel fitted to an existing rifle, it makes sense to create a dummy round. This should have your preferred brass and bullet types, with the bullet positioned at optimal seating depth. A proper dummy round helps the gunsmith set the freebore correctly for your cartridge, and also ensure the proper chamber dimensions.
Respected machinist, tool-maker, and gunsmith Greg Tannel of Gre-Tan Rifles explains: “I use the dummy round as a gauge to finish cut the neck diameter and throat length and diameter so you have [optimal] clearance on the loaded neck and the ogive of the bullet just touches the rifling.” He recommends setting bullet so the full diameter is just forward of the case’s neck-shoulder junction. “From there”, Greg says, “I can build you the chamber you want… with all the proper clearances”.
Greg Tannel has created a very helpful video showing how to create a dummy round. Greg explains how to measure and assemble the dummy and how it will be used during the barrel chambering process. Greg notes — the dummy round should have NO Primer and No powder. We strongly recommend that every rifle shooter watch this video. Even if you won’t need a new barrel any time soon, you can learn important things about freebore, leade and chamber geometry.
This has been a very popular video, with 244,000 views. Here are actual YouTube comments:
That is the best explanation I’ve ever seen. Thank you sir. — P. Pablo
Nice video. You do a very good job of making this easy for new reloaders to understand. I sure wish things like this were available when I started reloading and having custom rifles built. Once again, great job, and your work speaks for itself. — Brandon K.
Beautiful job explaining chambering clearances. — D. Giorgi
Another Cool Tool — The Stub Gauge
When you have your gunsmith chamber your barrel, you can also have him create a Stub Gauge, i.e. a cast-off barrel section chambered like your actual barrel. The stub gauge lets you measure the original length to lands and freebore when your barrel was new. This gives you a baseline to accurately assess how far your throat erodes with use. Of course, as the throat wears, to get true length-to-lands dimension, you need take your measurement using your actual barrel. The barrel stub gauge helps you set the initial bullet seating depth. Seating depth is then adjusted accordingly, based on observed throat erosion, or your preferred seating depth.
With all the interest in F-Class, PRS, and ELR, we sometimes forget that plenty of folks are still competiting in Short-Range Benchrest disciplines, with standards of accuracy we can only envy. For a PRS shooter, a good 100-yard, five-shot group would be half-MOA. For a benchrest shooter, a good group at 100 would be in the “Ones”. That’s smaller than 0.200″ center to center for five shots. And the small group of a Relay is often in the “Zeros”.
One of the best matches of the year, the Cactus Classic, is underway now at the Ben Avery Range in Phoenix, with 156 competitors. Many of the nation’s top “point-blank” shooters are competing with their 10.5-lb Light Varmint and 13.5-lb Heavy Varmint rifles. Many shooters run their LVs in HV classes as well, for simplicity (and to save money — one rifle costs less than two). In this game, the vast majority of shooters load at the range between relays. That lets them tune their loads to the condition — something that can help when you’re trying to shoot tiny dots.
March Scopes (from DEON in Japan) has unveiled a remarkable new riflescope, the likes of which has never been seen before. The new Genesis ELR Scope has more elevation travel than has ever been packed into a scope before — 400 Minutes of Angle. That’s four or even five times as much as most other optics. This will allow the Genesis to get you on target, with no special external mounts, at three miles with a .416 magnum cartridge*.
For other popular cartridges/calibers, this is the range you can shoot and still have sufficient elevation travel with the Genesis. This is with the built-in elevation alone, no need for adjustable mounts, tilting rails, or prism systems:
.224 Cal to 2450 yards** | .308 Win to 2950 yards | .338 Lapua Magnum to 4000 yards
Take a good look — we bet you’ve never seen anything like this before (Big PHOTO). The new Genesis was unveiled at the IWA trade show in Germany this morning. The video below shows the Genesis being unveiled by Mr. Fumio Shimizu of Deon Optics and UK/Euro Distributor Gary Costello. Thanks to Vince Bottomley of TargetShooter.co.uk for the report from IWA.
NOTE: Click the Speaker Icon to hear audio.
How Much? Global Price for the March Genesis isn’t finalized yet, but March USA just took the first order at $5000.00 USD, without accessories. March expects to start shipping in four (4) months.
Claimed to be effective up to three miles with popular large, magnum ELR cartridges, the New Genesis sets a new benchmark in the Optics field. This won’t be cheap — posting on Facebook, a March representative said the the price is “still to be determined” but will be “approximately $5000 to $6000″. One of our Forum members just placed the first order in North America, and was told the base price (without accessories) was $5000.00 plus $50.00 shipping.
The All New March Genesis 6-60x50mm ELR Rifle Scope
The new March Genesis represents a revolution in scope technology/design — the dawn of a new era for ELR (extreme long range) shooting. The Genesis concept began in late 2016 when a group of world-class shooters asked for a scope that could be used effectively at ranges of two miles and beyond…
The chief engineers of DEON Optical Design took on the challenge and produced several prototype designs, tested extensively on three continents. Eventually DEON produced a truly ground-breaking optic — a new beginning in scope design. The Genesis ELR rifle scope offers up to 400 MOA of elevation, which will allow the shooter to shoot from 10 yards out to 3 miles*.
The unique design of the Genesis allows the shooter to always see through the central part of the lens, producing clarity, definition, and minimal chromatic aberration. This holds true even on 400 MOA! On other scopes, when the extremes of elevation are used, you won’t get the same performance — you may seen distortion and darkening. Also incorporated into Genesis is the proven DEON ‘High Master’ lens system — super ED lenses with high-refractive glass offering very high resolution and natural colour right to the edge of the image.
March Genesis 6-60x56mm Specifications:
– 400 MOA of total elevation travel with Zero-set feature (300 up, 100 down)
— 6-60X Power First Focal Plane (Highest FFP zoom ratio and magnification sold)
— 150 MOA of total windage travel (75 MOA left and right)
— 50 MOA per turn, 1/4 MOA clicks
— Wide-angle eyepiece with 25 degrees apparent field of view
— Eye relief 67-82mm and exit pupil 3.3mm at 6X to 0.93mm at 60X
— Six-step illumination module with on/off clicks
— Integral Picatinny mounting-points on the main frame.
— High Master ED lens system with 56mm objective.
— Side-Focus Parallax from 10 yards to infinity.
— FMA-MT MOA-based Reticle for ELR (MIL-based reticle coming later)
— Central gimble system and slider bearings with main frame (worldwide patents pending)
— Weight 1.5 Kg
_________
* March says there is 3 mile range with a “.416 Cheytac”. Well, there is a recognized .416 Barrett cartridge and a .408 Cheytac. March says the .416 Cheytac is a “special wildcat … developed due to licensing needs for Norway.”
** March lists “.224 Cal”. We assume this refers to the .223 Remington cartridge, but it could be something completely different, such as a 22 Nosler, or .224 Valkyrie.
Good news for fans of vintage military rifles. The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) has received roughly 99,000 M1 Garand rifles from the Philippines and Turkey. These former U.S. Allies had received the rifles from the USA via long-term loans decades ago. Now they are finally coming home.
Gina Johnson, CMP’s general manager, told Guns.com that: “We have roughly 86,000 rifles from the Philippines and roughly 13,000 rifles from Turkey in our possession”. The M1 Garands have been arriving by the container-load over the past month, and the CMP has been moving the rifles into warehouses (see below):
The CMP Moves Tens of Thousands of M1 Garands into CMP Warehouses:
Rifles will Be Inspected, Repaired, Graded and Test-Fired
Over the next few months, the CMP will be “processing” the rifles. Each of the M1s will have to be cleaned, inspected, potentially repaired or rebuilt, and then test fired. Afterward, the M1 Garands will be sorted and graded, which ultimately determines each rifle’s sale price.
“We’ve already begun on the Turkish rifles,” CMP Chief Operating Officer Mark Johnson said in an interview with the NRA. “They’re already filtering into the system and there are some on the racks for sale now.” Apparently neither country added any marks on the rifles, so the repatriated guns are not distinguishable from any other M1 Garand, Johnson said.
While we’ve known about the Philippine Garands for quite some time, Guns.com reports that collectors were surprised to learn about the Turkish Garands: “The Philippino guns have been on the radar for months while CMP has kept the news on the Turkish M1s closer to the vest. The influx of vintage rifles…is one of the biggest stockpiles the [CMP] has received in recent years.”
The arrival of these 99,000 M1 Garands is great news for rifle collectors. Garands have been in short supply in recent years, as the Obama administration opposed repatriation of surplus military rifles from overseas allies. Garands were getting harder to acquire from the CMP. In fact, over the past two years, many common Garand varients have been “sold out” on the CMP site.
If you are looking to obtain an authentic, safe-to-shoot M1 Garand, the CMP is your best bet. Each M1 Garand rifle sold by the CMP is an genuine U.S. Government rifle that has been inspected, head-spaced, repaired if necessary, and test fired for function. Each rifle is shipped with safety manual, one 8-round clip, and chamber safety flag. CMP operations, warehousing, inspection & repair, test firing, sales order processing and distribution activities are headquartered in Anniston, Alabama.
How to Order an M1 Garand from the CMP
To purchase an M1 Garand through the CMP, you must be an adult U.S. Citizen, and a member of an affiliated organization who has participated in a “Marksmanship Activity”. This basically meas you need to join a a gun club and participate in a clinic or match. Proof of club membership and citizenship is mandatory for all ages. However, the marksmanship requirement is waived for those over 60 years. Garands must be ordered by mail or through official CMP Auctions. CLICK HERE to Start Order.
M1 Garands at CMP Retail Store in Anniston, Alabama.
This barrel’s shoulder was 0.025″ off the action because Red Locktite had been used on the threads.
Gunsmith Thomas ‘Speedy’ Gonzales offered this interesting report about how NOT to headspace a barrel. Hopefully you never discover something like this…
“A good friend and customer sent this rig in for repair after FedEx damaged the rifle during inbound transport from another smith. After repairing the stock and rebedding it, I decided to re-polish the barrel to make the repair perfect. Well this just added insult to injury as the barrel did not want to come off. After a few choice words, the barrel finally broke free only to reveal something very disturbing. It seems the barrel had been ‘headspaced’ by using RED Loctite to hold it in place.” [Editor: That’s definitely NOT how barrels should be fitted.]
Speedy was not happy: “I hope the smith that did this sees the photos and realized what jeopardy he put my customer in or anyone who shot the rifle for that matter. When cleaned up, the shoulder on the barrel was over 0.0250″ (25 thousandths) away from the face of the receiver.” [Editor: That’s a lot in this business]. Check out the images below to see how much the barrel rotated further inward when cleaned up. The barrel spun in nearly another eighth-turn or more. Not good.
The .22 Long Rifle (.22 LR) round is widely regarded as a relatively weak cartridge with very little penetrating power. Compared to most centerfire ammo that’s certainly true. But the venerable .22 LR actually packs more punch than you might expect. A recent test by rimfire specialist 22Plinkster demonstrated that the little .22 LR has enough power to drive a bullet through multiple walls.
In this video, 22Plinkster tests two types of .22 Long Rifle ammo, seeing how far a .22 LR bullet will pass through sheets of 1/2″-thick drywall. He shoots CCI Velocitor and CCI Stinger ammo types from both a pistol and a rifle. The results may surprise you. Shot from a pistol, the CCI Stinger ammo penetrated Nine (9) drywall sheets. Out of the rifle, the CCI Velocitor Ammo passed through Eleven (11) sheets, while the CCI Stinger stuck in the eleventh board, after passing through Ten (10) sheets.
The rimfire ammo’s penetrating power surprised .22 Plinkster: “I was really surprised that [the ammo] went through as many [dry wall boards] as it did. I was thinking four, maybe five tops …” He points out that the rifle penetration of 11 sheets was “equivalent to five walls, maybe six walls. If you were shooting in your house, and you had 1/2″ drywall, it would go through five walls. Now, that’s pretty scary that a .22 Long Rifle could do that.”
The chief engineers of DEON Optical Design took on the challenge and produced several prototype designs, tested extensively on three continents. Eventually DEON produced a truly ground-breaking optic — a new beginning in scope design.
The Genesis ELR rifle scope offers up to 400 MOA of elevation, which will allow the shooter to shoot from 10 yards out to 3 miles*.
