05 « December « 2022 « Daily Bulletin

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December 5th, 2022

Bargain Finder 376: AccurateShooter’s Deals of the Week

AccurateShooter Deals of the Week Weekly Bargain Finder Sale Discount Savings

At the request of our readers, we provide select “Deals of the Week”. Every Sunday afternoon or Monday morning we offer our Best Bargain selections. Here are some of the best deals on firearms, hardware, reloading components, optics, 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.

NOTE: All listed products are for sale to persons 18 years of age or older. No products are intended for use by minors.

1. Midsouth — Christmas Sale, Save 10-30%

⏺ Major December savings on wide selection of products at Midsouth

Midsouth is running a huge Christmas Gift Sale this month, with over 170 products deeply discounted. Save 10-30% on reloading presses, powder dispensers, scales, tools, ammo, cleaning kits, and much more. Shown above are some of the best deals we found, but there are over 160 more bargains. Act soon as inventory is limited for some of the featured products on sale.

2. EuroOptic — Black Friday/December Extended Nightforce Sale

Now through December 31, 2022, EuroOptic is running a major sale on Nightforce Optics. Save 10% on most regularly-priced Nightforce NXS and SHV riflescopes now through December 31st. That 10% discount can save you $150 or more on many models. CLICK HERE to access Nightforce optics on sale.

3. Bruno Shooters — McMillan Stocks 10% Off + FREE Shipping

⏺ McMillan — great stocks for hunting, benchrest, F-Class, and tactical

Need a high quality gunstock? Bruno Shooters Supply is running a great special right now. All McMillan stocks in inventory are discounted 10%. In addition, Bruno’s will ship these McMillan fiberglass stocks for FREE. To see the available stocks, CLICK THIS LINK then click All McMillan Stocks or select a particular model, such as Kestros or MBR.

4. KYGUNCO — 12 Deals of Christmas, S&W and Walther Pistols

⏺ December Daily Deals on handguns, shotguns, and rifles

Starting 12/1/2022, KYGUNCO has released special deals through its 12 Deals of Christmas promotion. There are pistols and rifles deeply discounted, with the listed sale prices good through December 31, 2022. From the landing page, click each Day to see the available deals. NOTE: The provided links below for Days 6-12 have not yet activated, but should work later in the week.

DAY 1 Deals
DAY 2 Deals
DAY 3 Deals

DAY 4 Deals
DAY 5 Deals
DAY 6 Deals

DAY 7 Deals
DAY 8 Deals
DAY 9 Deals

DAY 10 Deals
DAY 11 Deals
DAY 12 Deals

5. Bruno Shooters — Discounts on Bullets, Brass, Powder & More

⏺ Savings this week on bullets, brass, ammo, optics, actions and more

Need reloading supplies? Head over to Bruno Shooters Supply. Prices have been discounted this week on Bullets, Brass, Powder, and Ammo. In addition, Kelbly actions and Hart barrels are discounted. Optics prices have been reduced as well.

6. CDNN Sports — Ruger and Springfield Armory Pistol Deals

⏺ Great deals on two distinctive handguns, 9×19 mm and 5.7×38 mm

CDNN Sports has some of the best deals you’ll find on popular handguns. Two of CDNN’s best pistol bargains available now are the Springfield Armory XDM 9mm Elite, and the Ruger 57™ 5.7×28 Model. Both these mag-fed handguns ship with TW0 20-round factory magazines.

7. Precision Reloading — Hornady Auto Charge Pro, $299.99

⏺ Save $85 on new-generation powder scale/dispenser

The Hornady Auto Charge Pro powder scale/dispenser is a good unit that was the top choice in a recent powder dispenser comparison test. This unit has proven efficient and accurate with typical rifle powders. The Auto Charge Pro offers customizable trickle speeds for various powder types, as well as custom time settings. A large knob on the side simplifies powder emptying. The keypad screen is elevated so the Auto Charge Pro occupies less space on your bench than other powder dispensers. Right now Precision Reloading has the Auto Charge Pro for $299.99, an $85 savings.

8. Palmetto State Armory — Norma TAC-22 Ammo, $3.99/box

⏺ Excellent rimfire ammo at a GREAT price — .22 LR Deal of the Year

We’ve found no other .22 LR ammo that rivals Norma TAC-22 at anywhere near the price — just 8 cents per round ($3.99/box). If you shoot NRL22 or just practice for fun, grab some Norma TAC22 .22 LR ammo at Palmetto State Armory. On sale at just $3.99 per 50-round box, this TAC-22 ammo is a truly great bargain. In our test, it out-shot some ammo that cost $8 per box. During testing with a CZ 457, one of our Editors had multiple 5-shot groups at 50 yards that were typically one ragged hole (all shots touching). He observed “It’s amazingly good ammo for the money”.

9. MidwayUSA — Browning Endeavor Blanket, $22.99 (72% Off)

⏺ Great price on insulated, polyester fabric blanket

For winter nights, save money by turning the heat down and using this on your bed instead. Spread horizontally, this will cover most of even a king size bed. The Editor bought this for his own home. This versatile sleeping blanket comes in very handy — use it outdoors in summer and indoors in winter. The blanket (we’ll call it a nylon quilt) measures 70″ L x 50″ W. It is machine-washable with a water- and dirt-resistant 190T polyester fabric cover. Inside is excellent TechLoft Silver insulation. This blanket stows neatly into a 13.5″ x 7.5″ roll in the provided carry sack.

10. Amazon — Clock with Wireless Charging plus USB Power Port

⏺ Charge your smartphone wirelessly while you sleep

Here’s a great gift for a family member with a new-generation smart phone. Wireless charging is really convenient, and this Sharp Digital Alarm Clock will charge your phone while you sleep. It also has a fixed USB charge port in the rear to charge a second device — such as an iPad, or an older smartphone without wireless charging capability. The Sharp Digital Clock is just $19.99 on Amazon. That’s less than you’ll pay for many wireless charging units by themselves.

11. Midsouth — Radians Outback Shooting Glasses, $5.88

⏺ Quality name-brand shooting eyewear — buy multiples at this price

Every shooter needs eye protection EVERY TIME you go to the shooting range. Right now Midsouth has the good Radians clear Lens Outback Shooting Glasses for just $5.88. These ANSI Z87.1 Radians Shooting Glasses provide 99.9% UVA/UVB protection with the coated lenses. These offer excellent wrap-around protection and are fairly light and comfortable. A handy neck cord is included. With this low $5.88 price, you can buy 3 or 4 sets and keep spares for yourself and your shooting buddies.

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December 5th, 2022

How Long Will Barrels Last? Dan Lilja Lists Factors to Consider

Barrel-maker Dan Lilja’s website, RifleBarrels.com has an excellent FAQ page that contains a wealth of useful information. On the Lilja FAQ Page you’ll find answers to many commonly-asked questions. For example, Dan’s FAQ addresses the question of barrel life. Dan looks at factors that affect barrel longevity, and provides some predictions for barrel life, based on caliber, chambering, and intended use.

NOTE: This article was very well-received when it was first published. We are reprising it for the benefit of readers who missed it the first time.

Dan cautions that “Predicting barrel life is a complicated, highly variable subject — there is not a simple answer. Signs of accurate barrel life on the wane are increased copper fouling, lengthened throat depth, and decreased accuracy.” Dan also notes that barrels can wear prematurely from heat: “Any fast varmint-type cartridge can burn out a barrel in just a few hundred rounds if those rounds are shot one after another without letting the barrel cool between groups.”

Q. What Barrel Life, in number of rounds fired, can I expect from my new barrel?

A: That is a good question, asked often by our customers. But again there is not a simple answer. In my opinion there are two distinct types of barrel life. Accurate barrel life is probably the type most of us are referencing when we ask the question. But there is also absolute barrel life too. That is the point where a barrel will no longer stabilize a bullet and accuracy is wild. The benchrest shooter and to a lesser extent other target shooters are looking at accurate barrel life only when asking this question. To a benchrest shooter firing in matches where group size is the only measure of precision, accuracy is everything. But to a score shooter firing at a target, or bull, that is larger than the potential group size of the rifle, it is less important. And to the varmint hunter shooting prairie dog-size animals, the difference between a .25 MOA rifle or one that has dropped in accuracy to .5 MOA may not be noticeable in the field.

The big enemy to barrel life is heat. A barrel looses most of its accuracy due to erosion of the throat area of the barrel. Although wear on the crown from cleaning can cause problems too. The throat erosion is accelerated by heat. Any fast varmint-type cartridge can burn out a barrel in just a few hundred rounds if those rounds are shot one after another without letting the barrel cool between groups. A cartridge burning less powder will last longer or increasing the bore size for a given powder volume helps too. For example a .243 Winchester and a .308 Winchester both are based on the same case but the .308 will last longer because it has a larger bore.

And stainless steel barrels will last longer than chrome-moly barrels. This is due to the ability of stainless steel to resist heat erosion better than the chrome-moly steel.

Barrel Life Guidelines by Caliber and Cartridge Type
As a very rough rule of thumb I would say that with cartridges of .222 Remington size you could expect an accurate barrel life of 3000-4000 rounds. And varmint-type accuracy should be quite a bit longer than this.

For medium-size cartridges, such as the .308 Winchester, 7×57 and even the 25-06, 2000-3000 rounds of accurate life is reasonable.

Hot .224 caliber-type cartridges will not do as well, and 1000-2500 rounds is to be expected.

Bigger magnum hunting-type rounds will shoot from 1500-3000 accurate rounds. But the bigger 30-378 Weatherby types won’t do as well, being closer to the 1500-round figure.

These numbers are based on the use of stainless steel barrels. For chrome-moly barrels I would reduce these by roughly 20%.

The .17 and .50 calibers are rules unto themselves and I’m pressed to predict a figure.

The best life can be expected from the 22 long rifle (.22 LR) barrels with 5000-10,000 accurate rounds to be expected. We have in our shop one our drop-in Anschutz barrels that has 200,000 rounds through it and the shooter, a competitive small-bore shooter reported that it had just quit shooting.

Remember that predicting barrel life is a complicated, highly variable subject. You are the best judge of this with your particular barrel. Signs of accurate barrel life on the wane are increased copper fouling, lengthened throat depth, and decreased accuracy.

Benchrest Barrel Life — You May Be Surprised
I thought it might be interesting to point out a few exceptional Aggregates that I’ve fired with 6PPC benchrest rifles with barrels that had thousands of rounds through them. I know benchrest shooters that would never fire barrels with over 1500 shots fired in them in registered benchrest matches.

I fired my smallest 100-yard 5-shot Aggregate ever in 1992 at a registered benchrest match in Lewiston, Idaho. It was a .1558″ aggregate fired in the Heavy Varmint class. And that barrel had about 2100 rounds through it at the time.

Lilja Rifle Barrels barrel life 3-groove AR15 Barrel heat

Another good aggregate was fired at the 1997 NBRSA Nationals in Phoenix, Arizona during the 200-yard Light Varmint event. I placed second at this yardage with a 6PPC barrel that had over 2700 rounds through it at the time. I retired this barrel after that match because it had started to copper-foul quite a bit. But accuracy was still good.

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December 5th, 2022

Time to Replace your Gun Safe Battery — Don’t Get Shut Out!

If the battery on your safe’s electronic lock is
more than a year old, or if it is not giving you the
right voltage, replace it today!

safe battery gunsafe sargent greenleaf

Gunsafe safe keypad control battery batteries Replace Your Safe’s Keypad Battery Every Year
This time of year, many of our readers are putting their guns away in a safe for the winter. It’s easy to just tuck the guns away and forget about them. But there’s something you should do before you shut the safe door. If you have a safe with an electronic keypad, you should replace the battery every year as a precautionary measure. Trust us, you don’t want to come back in a few months and find that the keypad memory is kaput, and you’re locked out. That can lead to frustration and an expensive locksmith visit.

Here’s a true story. I have one safe with a Sargent & Greenleaf (S&G) keypad. A couple years back, in early December, I went to get into the safe. I punched in the correct combination, but all I got was a rapid “beep, beep, beep, beep” after I finished the last combination entry. I tried again to ensure I entered the combination correctly (I did). But again, the locking system responded with multiple rapid beeps indicating something was wrong. And the safe would not open. Now I was worried….

I popped out the battery holder (which slides in from the bottom of the keypad housing on the door). I removed the battery and tested it with a volt-meter. The 12-month-old Duracell 9-volt battery only registered 6.1 volts.

Low voltage was the problem. I went down to the store and got a couple new 9V batteries. I tested the new batteries and both measured 9.4 volts output. I slipped one of the new 9V batteries into the keypad housing, punched in the combination and everything worked OK again. Eureka.

Most electronic locks for safes WILL “remember” the combination for a period of time even when the battery is low (and the keypad’s “brain” should retain the combination when you remove the battery for replacement). However, a dead battery, or extended periods of low voltage can give you problems. Don’t rely on wishful thinking…

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Bargain Finder 376: AccurateShooter’s Deals of the Week

1. Midsouth — Christmas Sale, Save 10-30%

2. EuroOptic — Black Friday/December Extended Nightforce Sale

3. Bruno Shooters — McMillan Stocks 10% Off + FREE Shipping

4. KYGUNCO — 12 Deals of Christmas, S&W and Walther Pistols

5. Bruno Shooters — Discounts on Bullets, Brass, Powder & More

6. CDNN Sports — Ruger and Springfield Armory Pistol Deals

7. Precision Reloading — Hornady Auto Charge Pro, $299.99

8. Palmetto State Armory — Norma TAC-22 Ammo, $3.99/box

9. MidwayUSA — Browning Endeavor Blanket, $22.99 (72% Off)

10. Amazon — Clock with Wireless Charging plus USB Power Port

11. Midsouth — Radians Outback Shooting Glasses, $5.88

How Long Will Barrels Last? Dan Lilja Lists Factors to Consider

Time to Replace your Gun Safe Battery — Don’t Get Shut Out!

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