A while back, RifleShooter online magazine published a list of the purported Ten Best Bolt-Action Rifles of All Time. Ten classic rifle designs (including the Remington 700, Winchester Model 70, Weatherby V, and Mauser 98) were featured with a paragraph or two explaining their notable features.
“Best” Lists Stir Controversy…
These Top 10 lists are always controversial. While most readers might approve of half the entries, there are always some items on the Top 10 list that some readers would challenge. Here is RifleShooter’s Top 10 list. What do you think? Are there some other bolt-actions that are more deserving?
1. Springfield M1903
2. Mauser 98
3. Winchester Model 70
4. Remington Model 700
5. Weatherby V
6. Sako L61/AV
7. Savage Model 110
8. Ruger M77
9. Tikka T3
10. Mannlicher-Schonauer
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Hunting season is right around the corner. It’s time to sight-in those deer rifles, check the optics, and make sure you’re ready to go. We know some hunters might enjoy shooting game profile targets when at the range for the sight-in process. To that end, here are six animal profile targets from Gun.Deals. Right-click any target to download the printable PDF file, designed to print to standard 8.5″ x 11″ paper. All these targets include entry boxes for Shooter Name, Score, Range (distance), and Date.
Deer Targets with Center Hit Zones Gun.Deals offers two different deer targets, both free to download. We prefer the standing buck with target ring in center mass (left below). Hit the red “10” for maximum points. You can also use this target for rimfire fun practice.
Bear Targets with Center Bulls
Few of us have actually encountered large bears in the wild. But if you do… it can be scary. Work on your bear recognition skills with these two targets, a standing bear, and a bear horizontal profile.
Bird Targets — Rings of Wings
As a fun target to shoot with younger family members (perhaps with a .22 LR) rimfire the bird targets work well. We like the bird circle target (below on left). This has 14 bird images arrayed in rings, providing increasing difficulty as you move from outer ring to center.
Sight-In Target and Bullseye Target
Courtesy of Gun.Deals, we’ve also included a conventional bullseye and a sight-in target. You can augment that sight-in sheet with neon orange Birchwood-Casey Target Spots if you want multiple aim points. A target pack with 160 1.5″ Target Dots is just $4.49 at Amazon.
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Zeiss Victory SF 8×42 model shown. The 10×32 has 90% light transmission.
If you are looking for high-end binoculars, you should definitely consider the new ZEISS Victory SF series. These offer superb glass, rapid focus, and ultra-wide field of view (very important for hunters).
Recognizing the qualities of the ZEISS SF line, Outdoor Life Magazine recently named the ZEISS Victory SF 10×32 binoculars as the winner of its Editor’s Choice Award in the hunting binoculars category. This Award was announced in Outdoor Life’s September issue.
Outdoor Life noted three key features of the new Victory SF: 1) Very Wide Field of View; 2) Rapid Focus; and 3) Balance. Outdoor Life also praised the exceptionally sharp and clear SCHOTT fluorite glass with proprietary high-contrast coatings. Outdoor Life’s editors wrote: “Optically, the Victory SF brings the same best-in-class attributes as earlier Victory models. The guts are SCHOTT fluoride glass protected by ZEISS’s proprietary high-contrast and weatherproof coatings. We also liked the very positive four-position eyecups and the locking diopter control, located conveniently on the center hinge.”
Why the ZEISS Victory SF Won the Award
Outdoor Life had high praise for the Zeiss Victory SF line, with its impressive features and performance:
“With its remarkable Victory SF, ZEISS has managed to upend the staid world of binoculars and offer a product with three noticeable advantages. The first is its absurdly wide field of view, achieved by increasing the sizes of lenses and redesigning the optical prescription, or how all lenses and prisms work together. Finally, SF in its name stands for ‘SmartFocus’ but it might stand for ‘SpeedFocus’ given the rapidity of zooming from close focus to infinity in just 1.6 turns of the wheel.”
Outdoor life also praised the Victory SF’s balance: “Another remarkable attribute of the new ZEISS, which will be available in 8×42, 10×42, and 8×32 configurations along with the 10×32, is its balance. The binocular weighs a trim 20.8 ounces, but it feels even lighter, largely because of its wonderful equilibrium.”
In the ELR game, particularly the King of 2 Miles (KO2M), it’s “go big or go home”. The top shooters run large-capacity cartridges that push large-caliber, ultra-high BC bullets at very high velocities. Bullets launched by cartridges such as the .416 Barrett can sustain supersonic velocities at Extreme Long Ranges — and that’s what it takes to win. The .416 Barrett can launch a 550-grain solid bullet at 3000+ FPS.
Photo from ELR Competitor Corbin Shell.
2018 and 2019 Kings of 2 Miles Loaded on RCBS Presses
So how do you load jumbo cartridges such as the .416 Barrett? It takes a big, heavy, super-strong reloading press. We’ve learned that the last two Kings of 2 Miles, Paul Phillips (2019) and Robert Brantley (2019) both loaded their KO2M ammo on RCBS AmmoMaster .50 BMG presses. Phillips loaded .416 Barrett ammo, while Brantley loaded custom .416 MCS rounds.
In 2018, Robert Brantley topped the field using his custom .416 MCS loads perfected on the AmmoMaster .50 BMG Press. This year, Brantley took a close second to 2019 KO2M winner Paul Phillips. Both Phillips and Brantley use the AmmoMaster .50 BMG single stage press kit and RCBS .416 Barrett dies to hand-load for extreme long-range. “My ammo has been much more consistent after switching to the RCBS press and dies,” remarked Phillips, who runs the Global Precision Group. Brantley said he uses RCBS products for most of his reloading needs — from the dies and AmmoMaster, to the ChargeMaster and Brass Boss. His custom .416 MCS loads launch a 550-grain bullet more than 3,100 fps.
Loading with RCBS AmmoMaster .50 BMG Press
This video shows reloading with the RCBS AmmoMaster .50 BMG press. While this video shows .50 BMG cases being loaded, the principles are the same for loading the .416 Barrett used by both Brantley and Phillips. Big cases need big presses!
Derek Rodgers Shooting the .375 CheyTac at K02M in 2017
Another ELR ace, 2017 King of 2 Miles champion Derek Rodgers, favored the .375 CheyTac cartridge. For his successful K02M quest, Derek ran Cutting Edge Bullets in Peterson brass with Hodgdon H50BMG powder. The video below shows Derek in action at the 2017 KO2M event.
The KO2M competition is a two-day extreme long-range (ELR) match held at the NRA Whittington Center outside Raton, New Mexico. Teams consist of one shooter and up to two wind coaches/spotters, who fire on steel targets ranging from about 1,500 to 3,500 yards.
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Ginny Thrasher won the very first Gold Medal of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil. And now she has her sights set on another strong performance in the next Olympics, slated for Japan in 2021. Ginny Thrasher’s marksmanship success story started a decade ago at the age of 14 when she went on a hunting trip with her grandfather. From there she rose to stardom in collegiate shooting and then the Olympics.
In 2016 when Ginny earned Gold in Rio for Team USA she was the youngest American female to ever win a shooting Gold Medal. In first Olympic showing, she led the Women’s 10-meter air rifle and set a new Olympic record with a finals score of 208.0!
“There are so many feelings associated with 2016 for me … I didn’t realize it at the time, but that was the year that all athletes dream of”, the now 23-year-old said. “Going to the Olympics was one of the most amazing and singular once-in-a-lifetime experiences that not everyone gets … It was amazing,”
Returning to the United States after the Olympics in 2016 presented a swirling new world for Ginny. As a collegiate athlete on the West Virginia University (WVU) rifle team, she suddenly found herself the most famous person on campus — often stopped while walking to class or shopping for groceries, being asked for a picture or an autograph.
The overwhelming response of the country, from strangers to national media, turned attention to the sport of rifle shooting. That gave Ginny a sense of pride in the impact she had made for the entire marksmanship community: “That’s something that athletes in other sports experience all the time, but it’s not something rifle shooters typically experience,” she said. “I was very, very grateful to have the community support, and it was a lot of fun to go and be invited to different events and speak to different media outlets and truly represent my sport.”
She went on, “It was getting a lot of attention at a time when our sport is not very common, not a lot of people know what it is … So the more I could answer people’s questions to advocate and to educate, to me, that was a huge opportunity.”
With her medal carefully tucked away in a bank lockbox for safekeeping, Ginny has done her best to become accustomed to her new reality. As she went back to competing with her WVU teammates in 2016, she found herself sometimes distracted by the attention.
If you have ANY interest in custom rifle actions, you MUST watch this video from UltimateReloader.com. Folks, definitely watch the video — it is VERY informative! To produce this video, Ultimate Reloader’s Gavin Gear visited the BAT Machine facility in Post Falls, Idaho, and interviewed BAT owner Bruce Thom.
In the video Bruce Thom demonstrates how BAT Machine actions are created from start to finish. Bruce shows every stage of the process, employing multiple high-tech machines. It’s impressive — Forum members say that this is a “must-watch” video. Gunsmith Jackie Schmidt noted: “Great Video. Even though I have been in the machine shop business for 50 years, I still marvel at the new innovations in precision machining. Bruce has a very down-to-earth, common sense approach to explaining what to many seems like machining wizardry.” And Mark T. posted: “Watched it last night. Excellent video and excellent machining practices — precision from beginning to end.”
Click Arrow to Watch Video
For further explanation of the action production processes, with step-by-step listing of how receivers and bolt assemblies are created, read Gavin Gear’s full BAT Machine Article on UltimateReloader.com.
BAT Machine Company Was Started 29 Years Ago
Back in 1991, Bruce Thom started BAT Machine Company, which was incorporated later in 1996. Bruce’s shop stared with manual machines, quickly moving to CNC machines later in the 1990s. BAT Machine quickly achieved a following among benchrest shooters for crafting superb actions that exhibited flawless function and superb machining. Those qualities, benchrest competitors realized, helped produce tiny groups, win matches, and set benchrest records. BAT Machine now makes rifle actions for a wide variety of disciplines: F-Class, PRS, ELR, hunting, and of course short- and long-range benchrest.
BAT Action Body Machining Stages
As shown in the video, here are the major stages for the fabrication of a BAT Machine receiver body:
1. Start: raw 17-4 stainless round bar (higher toughness than typical barrel/receiver steel)
2. Heat treat
3. Bore central hole (for EDM wire), face ends
4. EDM machining (cut bore and raceways)
5. True OD, cut receiver threads and lug seats
6. Cut tang and related features
7. Finish machining including body OD, integral lug (if equipped)
Final Production Stages — Polishing and Deburring
After the receiver body and bolt are machined, they go through a deburring and polishing process.
In the image above you can see the stages. At left is a receiver body straight from machining. Some hand work is typically performed to break interior edges that are sharp from machining. In the center, the receiver shows can see the initial polish stage. During this stage, machining marks are removed by coarse polishing. Additionally for receivers that will be nitrided, that will be done next. But for actions that are NOT nitrided, a final polish brings the parts up to a high luster, as show on the right.
After polish (and nitriding if that applies) the bolts and receivers get a finish assembly, and testing for proper smooth functioning. The receivers are then registered with the ATF and shipped to the customer.
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Election Day is just 61 days away. On November 3, 2020, Americans will head to the polls. For gun owners, this may be the most significant Presidential election in a generation. The Democratic Party, as stated in the DNC platform, intends to severely restrict gun rights, and ban whole classes of firearms.
Nearly 5 million Americans are first-time gun buyers. We hope they, along with ALL gun owners, will vote on November 3rd, and remember which candidates support the Second Amendment. As the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) states: “Current events across the United States demonstrate why the Founding Fathers 230 years ago had the foresight to recognize why the right to keep and bear arms would still be vital today.”
Smith & Wesson Contributes $500,000 to 2020 Gunvote Effort
#GUNVOTE is a vital NSSF campaign to encourage America’s gun owners to register to vote and vote for candidates who support the Second Amendment and gun rights. Go to Action.gunvote.org to learn how to register to vote in your state, and find your polling place.
Firearm manufacturer Smith & Wesson has contributed $500,000 to the NSSF’s #GUNVOTE® voter registration and education campaign. This is the largest donation the campaign has received to date.
“This election cycle marks a crossroads in the future of the firearms industry and of our very freedom to bear arms,” said Mark Smith, President and CEO of Smith & Wesson. “We must ensure the Second Amendment is protected at every level. It is critical that hunters, recreational target shooters, and all those seeking to exercise their constitutional right to protect themselves and their families be educated and vote in November. [Voters’] choices at the polls will impact the future of all Americans’ free exercise of their constitutional rights.”
Six Companies Will Match NRA-ILA Donations Dollar-for-Dollar
The NRA-ILA has joined forces with with six companies that have pledged to match $1 million in donations made to NRA-ILA through November 15, 2020. The six participating companies are: SIG SAUER, Kel-Tec, Credova, Rock Island Auction Company, Taurus, and Davidson’s Gallery of Guns. If you make a donation to the NRA-ILA, your donation will be matched, dollar-for-dollar, by these six companies. If you give $50, they give $50. If you give $100, they give $100. The maximum matching is $1,000,000.
“These patriotic businesses are pledging vital resources to support and defend the Second Amendment because they understand that our right to own a gun in defense of ourselves and our families is on the ballot in November. By working together with such partners, our membership intends to defeat those … trying to strip our rights away”, said Jason Ouimet, executive director, NRA-ILA.
Through this Partners for Patriotism campaign, anyone who makes a donation to NRA-ILA between now and 11/15/2020 will have their donation matched. Folks can make donations of any size — whatever they can spare. Whatever individuals donate will automatically be doubled by the six participating companies.
With the Presidential election looming, the stakes have never been higher. Joe Biden and his VP candidate Kamala Harris have pledged to enact new laws that could result in rifle confiscation, criminalization of private sales, and banning of online guns and ammo purchases. In addition, Biden and Harris have called for new gun taxes, while Harris has advocated banning guns by Executive Action — rule by fiat, bypassing the legislative process.
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Need targets — not just any old targets, but the correctly-sized targets for specific shooting disciplines (such as NRA Smallbore, F-Class, and 1K Benchrest)? Well you won’t find them at your neighborhood gun store. Precise, dimensionally-correct competition targets are produced by a half-dozen specialty printers. In this article we provide links to the leading target sellers, with a chart showing “who’s got what”. Look for your particular discipline and the vendors will be specified.
Sources for Official Shooting Competition Targets:
AccurateShooter.com offers dozens of FREE, printable targets for target practice, load development, and fun shooting. We also offer a few of the most popular NRA Bullseye targets. One or more of these printable targets should work for most training purposes. However, some readers have asked: “Where can we get the real targets… exactly like the ones used in NRA, IBS, and NBRSA shooting matches?”
All these vendors carry nearly all the NRA High Power and Smallbore targets, including the smaller F-Class targets. National Target has the F-Class and High Power targets, including 100-yard reductions of the 200, 300, and 600-yard military targets.
Germany’s Kruger Targets sells all the important NRA targets, and international (ISSF) air rifle and smallbore targets too.
Orrville Printing currently sells IBS targets for rimfire (50 yard) benchrest, short-range centerfire Benchrest (100, 200, 300 yards), Hunter BR Rifle (100, 200, 300 yards), plus the official 600-yard and 1000-yard IBS targets. National Target Company also has most of the IBS targets. NBRSA short-range, 600-yard, and 1000-yard benchrest targets are available directly from the NBRSA Business Office. Send an email to nbrsa@icloud.com or call (434) 993-9201.
Need Steel, Cardboard Silhouettes or specialty targets? ALCO Target Company in Duarte, California is the USA’s leading producer of the full spectrum of shooting targets including paper targets, cardboard targets, steel targets, and target stands.
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Here’s something all shooters need — a smartphone App that calculates bullet-hole group sizes from your own photos. The Ballistic-X App is simple to use. Take a photo of your target, set some values (such as bullet diameter and distance to target), then use the touchscreen to place circles around each hole. The App will calculate group size (in MOA or Mils), distance to point of aim, and provide all the info in an overlay. Then click “save” to record your group for posterity!
This App works well, is relatively easy to set-up, and costs just $7.99. It is available for both Android devices and iOS (Apple) devices. There are other ways to measure group sizes from target images, such as the excellent On-Target program, which we have used for years. However On-Target requires a software installation on a Windows platform desktop or laptop. Ballistic-X is a simple, easy-to-install App with versions for both Android and iOS (Apple) Mobile devices.
The Ballistic-X App has a relatively easy-to-use interface. Of course you can choose either MOA or Milrad group values, and Inch or Metric dimensions. There are various labeling options that provide useful info for Load Development. There is even an ATZ (Adjustment To Zero) feature for adjusting your turrets.
How to Use Ballistic-X App
1. Select Photo Source — Choose Camera to take new photo or get image from Photo Library.
2. Set Reference Values — Select Bullet Diameter and enter Distance to Target.
3. Establish Scale on Image — Mark two points on target photo to set scale. For example, if the target has a 1″-square grid lines, mark two points on grid for 1″ distance.
4. Mark Point Of Aim — Put the central X on the aim point.
5. Designate Shot Locations — Place the green circles around each shot.
6. Finalize Data Display — Position Overlay, select size/color options, and export file.
Android Options — Range Buddy FREE App
Along with Ballistic-X, there is another Mobile App, Range Buddy, that also measures shot groups. Range Buddy is currently offered for Android devices only. It is FREE, but has adverts. Range Buddy isn’t bad, but users complained about the program crashing, and there are compatibility issues with newer phones. We recommend you pay $7.99 and stick with Ballistic-X.
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Can’t find Hodgdon Varget on dealer’s shelves? then consider IMR 4166. This Enduron series powder is temp-stable and accurate. It also offers good load density and meters reasonably well. Importantly, it seems to be a good substitute for “unobtanium” Varget powder. On the official Hodgdon/IMR burn rate chart, IMR 4166 is between H4895 and Varget. Some of our Forum members have reported excellent results with IMR 4166 in cartridges that work with Varget, such as the 6mmBR, 6 Dasher, 6.5×47 Lapua, and .308 Win. One member wrote: “in my 6.5×47 … IMR 4166 gives speeds and accuracy pretty much exactly the same as Varget.” And other shooters have observed reduced copper fouling with Enduron series powders, so IMR’s Enduron anti-fouling chemistry does seem to work.
Where to Find IMR 4166 Powder Powder Valley Inc. (PVI) and Midsouth Shooters both have plenty of IMR 4166 in stock right now. IMR 4166 performs well in the .308 Win (for bullets up to 175 grains) and in 6mm cartridges running the heavier (95-107gr) projectiles. IMR’s press release states: “IMR 4166 [has] a perfect burn speed for cartridges like the 308 Win/7.62mm NATO, 22-250 Remington… and dozens more.”
IMR 4166 is one of IMR’s Enduron family of propellants. Enduron powders are formulated to reduce fouling and to be stable across a wide temperature range. If you commonly use Varget, Alliant Reloder 15, Norma 203B, IMR 8208 XBR, or Vihtavuori N140, you might want to try IMR 4166. It is available right now at Midsouth Shooters and Powder Valley in both one-pound and 8-pound containers:
How do you trim your cases? We use a variety of tools, including power case trimmers. But our go-to trimmer for Benchrest-type cartridges is the L.E. Wilson Trimmer unit, now available in a handsome and durable stainless assembly. This thing is slick. It trims very precisely with the use of Wilson case holders combined with a micrometer-type stop for length control. As sold complete with micrometer, quick clamp, and metal stand, this Wilson Stainless Trimmer is $154.95 at Creedmoor Sports. We think that’s a fair price for a unit that can last a lifetime, trimming many thousands of cases.
In this video, Bill Gravatt of Creedmoor Sports demonstrates the Stainless Wilson trimmer with micrometer length control. Gravatt offers helpful operational tips to improve trimming efficiency, so this video is worth watching even if you’ve used a Wilson trimmer before:
Tips for Trimming with Wilson SS Micrometer Trimmer:
1. After inserting brass in the case holder, tap the case lightly to ensure it seats fully.
2. When starting your case-trimming session, do one or two test cases to check cut length. Adjust length with micrometer, then test length again. If “good to go”, set length stop. NOTE: Release the Stop Screw to make major adjustments. Use the Micrometer to make fine adjustments, in .001″ increments.
3. After trimming operations, be sure to chamfer case mouth after cutting to remove burrs. NOTE: After you have made the chamfer, we recommend gently spinning the chamfer tool backwards a couple times in the case neck. This will burnish/smooth the newly-cut champing, which helps with bullet seating.
Features of Deluxe Wilson Stainless Case Trimmer with Micrometer
— Long lasting Stainless finish with Micrometer adjustment.
— New 304 Stainless Steel Handle included with Micrometer Trimmer.
— Rotary-style clamp swings to secure case-holder — quick and easy.
— Larger stop screw adjustment from 3/8″ (old) to 1/2″ (new) with increased width on stop nut. Coated with black oxide for a long lasting durable finish.
— Made in the USA with American Steel.
— Power Adaptor compatible.
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Where to Find IMR 4166 Powder
