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May 24th, 2007
Shooters looking for a moderately-priced trigger upgrade for Remington and Rem-clone actions should check out this deal from MidwayUSA.com. Now through the end of May, 2007, the Timney Rem 700 trigger, item 563419, is on sale for $84.99, marked down from $94.99. This trigger, which adjusts easily from 1.5 to 4 pounds pull weight, is an easy install for most folks with Rem 700s and 40X actions. It fits right hand actions only and it requires the use of the factory safety. The housing is milled from solid steel. All working parts are CNC-machined from solid steel with all contact and wear surfaces hardened, surface ground and polished. User reports on the Timney trigger have been positive:
“The trigger is easily adjustable and is CRISP with no creep and breaks cleanly. It has a wonderfully wide trigger and I have mine adjusted down around 1.5 pounds of pull, still crisp and clean.”–A. Richards.
“The triggers are wider than stock with very fine ribs. The function is tight, crisp, creep-free, and factory set at 3 pounds (according to my trigger pull guage). They functioned flawlessly and the factory safeties mated right up to them, and functioned as they should.”–D.R.
“Super easy to install, super easy to adjust the trigger, and a super high quality product. I am not mechanically inclined at all, and it was a cinch to install.”–J. Ritchie.
May 12th, 2007
A friend of ours recently took delivery of a new barrel which was chambered by a smith who had done the original build on the rifle, but who had not headspaced the barrel on the action itself this time. The smith headspaced based on his old records. Our friend happily screwed on his nice, new barrel and headed to the range. After the first few rounds, with known, safe loads, he was seeing deep craters on his primers, and then he even pierced a few primers with loads that should never have done that. Interestingly, the brass was not showing any of the other pressure signs. This was with bullets seated .015″ out of the rifling.
We were thinking maybe too much firing pin extrusion or maybe he got a hot lot of powder. Then I asked him to email me dimensions off his fired cases compared to new, Lapua brass. He emailed me that his shoulder moved 0.0105″ forward. I sent an email back saying, “hey, that must be a typo, you meant 0.0015″ right–so your shoulder moved one and a half thousandths correct?” The answer was “No, the shoulder moved over TEN thousandths forward”. Ahah. This explained some of the cratering problem in his brass. His cases were able to bounce forward enough in the chamber so that the primer material was smearing over the firing pin. And now he has brass that is “semi-improved”.
The point of the story is always check your headspace when you receive a “pre-fit” barrel, even from the smith who built the rifle. Purchase Go/No Go gauges for all your calibers. Headspace is not just an accuracy issue, it can be a safety issue. Pierced primers are bad news. The debris from the primer cup can blow into the firing pin hole or ejector recess causing a myriad of problems.
May 4th, 2007
There has been great interest in the new Savage Precision Target Action. Many folks have asked “Where can I buy one?” Unfortunately, Savage only sells through distributors, so you can’t purchase directly from Savage. You have to find a local dealer, or gunsmith with an FFL and then buy through a distributor.
Some of the major Savage distributors are:
AcuSport Corp. (California), (916) 784-2234
AcuSport Corp. (Ohio), (937) 593-7010
Davidson’s (Arizona), (928) 776-8055
Ellett Bros (South Carolina), (803) 345-3751
Jerrys Sports Center (Pennsylvania), (717) 564-3424
Sports South (Lousiana), (318) 797-4848
Zanders (Illinois), (618) 785-2235
We suggest you have your local dealer, gunsmith, or FFL call Jerry’s Sports Center for starters. When we contacted Savage Arms, the Savage Mktg. Director thought Jerry’s would have some units in stock. MSRP=$504.00. Current street price is about $425.00–but that depends on the deal you can cut with your local dealer or smith.
April 14th, 2007
There has been much interest in the new Savage Precision Target Action with 6-oz. AccuTrigger. However, this new design has three action screws (rather than two) and the hole spacing is different than before. This means stocks have to be specifically inletted for the new design (or modified).
Sharp Shooter Supply (SSS) has stocks in inventory fully inletted for the new action, including a new laminated thumbhole benchrest design shown above. SSS has a wide variety of colors available including the attractive new “Natural” in three shades of brown. SSS Stocks cost $299.00, 100% inletted, pillar-bedded, and ready to finish.
Bill Shehane of D&B Supply, ScopeUsOut.com also reports: “I’ve been busy making new patterns for the new Savage 3-screw target action. We now have the ST-1000, Tracker II, MBR Tracker, ST-BR (photo below), the Lee Six Thumbhole and the Varmint Benchrest patterns with the drop-in inletting for the 3-screw Savage Action.”
April 10th, 2007
Superior Shooting Systems has released a new 117 gr DTAC bullet, designed for 1:7.5″ or faster twist barrels. David Tubb advises these 117s require at least .040″ more throat length compared to his 115s. Robert Whitley got some new 117s and he told us they look very impressive: “The 117 gr bullet looks great, but it’s a real Goliath for a 6mm projectile. I checked on how the bullet sits in relation to the throating of various 6mms. I measured them multiple times in three different barrels–two with brand new, unfired chambers. It looks like you need about .050″ – .060″ more freebore than you need with a DTAC 115 to keep the junction of the boat tail and bearing surface in the same place, and about .125″ – .135″ more freebore than you need with a Sierra 107 to keep the junction of the boat tail and bearing surface in the same place. (I have cases with a slit up the neck so I can see where the junction of the bearing surface and boat tail sits in relation to the neck and shoulder of the case.)”
Robert adds: “I will try these in a 6XC (after I throat out one of my barrels a bit) but the bullet looks big for a 6XC case. I am also looking forward to trying these in the 6mm Super X, the 6CM, and the 6mm Remington I have, all of which have a good bit more powder capacity to enable the use of slower powders (H4831SC, H1000, etc.) with such a bullet. If these shoot as well as they look, the 6mms may give a 6.5 x284 some real competition at long range–we’ll see!”
Left to Right: Boron nitride-coated 117 gr bullet (1.376″) ,
Moly 115gr DTAC (1.290″), Moly 107 Sierra MK (1.225″)
April 9th, 2007
Al Nyhus and Stan Ware have created a radical short-necked “Wolf Pup” wildcat that won a number of matches in 2006. Al and Stan started with a 30BR design and blew the shoulder forward until the case had enough water capacity to satisfy the Hunter Benchrest rules. The Wolf Pup neck is only about .080″. Even with the ultra-short case neck, the Wolf Pup displays uniform neck-tension, long case life, and great accuracy. During testing, groups in the ‘teens were routine with several powders and the case appears to every bit as tuneable as the 30BR. Tuning is simple as “max accuracy and max velocity occur simultaneously”, according to Stan.
Left to Right: Lapua 6BR case; 6BR case necked-up to .30 caliber; neck-turned case ready to fire; fire-formed 30 Wolf Pup case; loaded 30 Wolf Pup round.
Al tells us: “This is a radical new case that myself and Stan Ware (SGR Custom Rifles) are trying in IBS and NBRSA Hunter Bench Rest (HBR) competition. The cartridges used in HBR must hold at least 45.0 or 45.5 of water, depending on whether you’re reading the IBS or NBRSA rulebook. The Wolf Pup holds 45.7 grains of H20, so it’s legal under either set of rules. When you look at the ratio between case capacity and bore size it is almost identical to a 6PPC.
Our Wolf Pup cases (.080″-.085″ neck lengths) show similar loaded round runout figures to our other .30 caliber cases with .320″ and .250″ neck lengths. We set the throat to position the base of the bullet well below the neck-shoulder junction. Obviously, the throat is quite a bit longer on this setup than the freebore length that we’ve been running with our more traditional neck lengths…that is, freebore lengths in the .000″ to .035″ range for bullets based on the 1.00″ long jackets and weights in the 118-125 range. We worried about bullet misalignment in that short neck, but jamming the bullets into the lands seems to take care of that–provided the chamber has as little runout as possible, is well-centered to the bore and the cases are sized aggressively enough to allow a bit of ‘wiggle room’ in the chamber.
 We’re still learning–remember that the concept was not to have a short neck, but the short neck was the consequence of blowing the shoulder forward enough to reach legal case capacity for Hunter Benchrest class rules. But as we got into the project, we decided to take a fresh approach to the neck length issue. Like everyone, we’ve been amazed that this ultra-short neck works so well. The 30 Wolf Pup has been one of the most fun and interesting projects we’ve ever worked with. It delivers great accuracy, easy tuning, and long case life.” (Target shown was a 5-shot group fired 4-8-06 at 100 yards on the Wolf Pup’s first outing.)
April 5th, 2007
Now through April 30, 2007, MidwayUSA has the Wheeler Engineering Savage Barrel Nut Wrench on sale for $21.99, a $14.00 savings. The double-ended Nut Wrench allows easy removal of the barrel nut on both early and late model Savage 10 and 110 series rifles. It features two 1/2″ square drive holes for a swing bar or torque wrench. Made from 3/16″ steel.
April 4th, 2007
Chris Long (Techshooter) has produced a detailed article on how to form 260 Remington Ackley Improved Cases. With nice, big photos illustrating the process, Chris explains how to form your cases, using either bullets, or an inert filler (no projectile). Chris also covers how to place a false shoulder in the cases prior to fire-forming. This creates a slight crush-fit, helping the shoulders to form more reliably, with fewer split necks. Chris formed cases using both Remington-brand 260 Rem cases, and Lapua .243 Win cases necked up to 6.5mm. Chris discusses how doughnuts can form when necking-up .243 Win brass and how doughnuts can interfere with bullet seating. Chris then explains how to remove the doughnuts using inside neck reaming. Click HERE to read article.
April 1st, 2007
The “star” of the recent IWA Euro Shot Show was the impressive new ZT (Zero Twist) ‘Valkyrie’ Heavy Gun from Deutsche Waffenwerkes. Innovative in the extreme, the Valkyrie fires a fin-stabilized 400gr .338-caliber projectile through a smoothbore barrel. Chief Designer Paul Ührleggen explained: “we saw the benefits Mr. Tooley has achieved with assymetric stocks in reducing rifle torque. We concluded that, with fin-stabilization, we could run the bullet through a Zero-Twist barrel. With no rifling to spin the bullet, there is no torque at all. Another problem solved by German engineering.” Accuracy remains elusive however: “Sub-MOA performance is hard to achieve with such a radical rifle. There are many bugs to work out. But we plan to offer the Valkyrie with an iron-clad .338 MOA one-shot group guarantee”. At present, with a weight of 40 kilos, the Valkyrie can only compete in Heavy Gun class. However, Waffenwerkes has teamed with Glock to build an all-plastic 4-kilo sporter version of the Valkyrie–but more fine-tuning is needed. According to Mr. Ührleggen, “there have been some minor barrel melting issues.”
We asked Mr. Ührleggen how Waffenwerkes selected the name Valkyrie for the new gun. “Here at Waffenwerkes we are all fans of your American cinema, and especially the movie Apocalypse Now — you know the scene with the helicopters and the Wagner music–Dum da da dum dum, Dum da da DUM dum. That’s Die Walküre–the Ride of the Valkyries. (Play MUSIC). It seemed apropos. Plus we enjoy playing that music really loud when we shoot this rifle.”
One very high-tech component didn’t make it into production. Ührleggen explained: “We engineered a voice-activated trigger, but we found that this was affected by ambient noise. To our surprise, field testing revealed loud noises to be a problem at shooting matches. Also, our engineers could not agree on the voice-activation command. I personally favored ‘She Bangs’, but my colleagues are not pop music afficionados.”
 The Valkyrie’s most remarkable feature is its optical guidance system. Optics engineer Horst Nichtfarze explains: “We learned from your American gun forums about problems with benchrest scopes not holding zero, so we concluded ‘why use a scope at all’? Borrowing smart-bomb technology, we have placed a tiny camera inside the ceramic nose of our bullets. This feeds to a rifle-mounted LCD screen so the shooter can literally see the bullet fly into the target. Since the projectile is fin-stabilized, we don’t have spin issues.” The fins are controlled by a joystick on the buttstock, so theoretically, one can steer the bullet to the target. Nichtfarze admitted, however, “we do have a little response time issue at short range”. The cost of the in-bullet camera was prohibitive until Nichtfarze stumbled on a solution: “My girlfriend had this old cell phone that was kaput. We salvaged the phone’s camera very easily. In Germany everyone throws away their phone after a year, so there is no shortage of teeny weeny video cameras to put in the bullets.”
Waffenwerkes’ Valkyrie .338 ZT is an engineering tour de force, setting new standards for innovation. But this level of technology doesn’t come cheap. The rifle retails for 8,000 Euros, about $10,647 US Dollars. Mr. Ührleggen conceded, “Sure it’s expensive, but I have to pay for my Porsche somehow.” In the months ahead, Deutsche Waffenwerkes also plans to release a “Tactical” version of the Valkyrie. Mr. Ührleggen noted, “we are very anxious to get the Tactical rifle to market. Priced at 14,000 Euros ($18,632 US), it will be called the RT (“Rambo Tactical”) edition and feature 15 linear feet of Picatinny rails, a 3″-diameter depleted uranium bolt knob, Digital Flecktarn Camo paint scheme, and an X-Box compatible LCD screen. Our marketing director, Tella Liezig, feels this will be the real money-maker.”
March 29th, 2007
 Precision Shooting magazine’s February ’07 issue featured an excellent write-up about Bartlein Barrels, an up and coming barrel-maker that is producing outstanding match barrels. Click HERE to read the story, by Robert Whitley. We were sufficiently impressed with reports about Bartlein barrels from top smiths such as Alan Warner and Richard Franklin, that we chose Bartlein to produce two barrels for AccurateShooter.com’s 6×47/6.5×47 Lapua test gun now in the works.
The two founders of Bartlein are Tracy Bartlein and Frank Green. Both men worked at Krieger Barrels for many years. Bartlein employs advanced CNC machining techniques to produce barrels that are super-straight and dimensionally uniform. Alan Warner says the Bartlein barrel he installed on his wife’s 6.5-284 F-Classer shoots close to 1/4 MOA at 600 yards and cleans up easily. Richard Franklin told us the Bartleins he’s received have been outstanding. Robert Whitley has ordered eight Bartlein barrels, and he reports they are “great on the outside [and] when bore scoped, looked perfect on the inside as well”.
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