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January 27th, 2010
At SHOT Show 2010,  Wyoming’s Freedom Arms showcased its Model 2008 break-open precision pistol. This handsome pistol should prove popular with handgun hunters and handgun silhouette shooters. The gun is offered in 10″, 15″ and 16″ barrel lengths and with long or short wood forearms.
The Freedom Model 2008 is beautifully machined, and contains many carefully engineered features to ensure positive lock-up and safe operation. In the video below, Bob Baker of Freedom Arms explains how the locking mechanism, extractor, and rebounding hammer work. Baker also demonstrates how to switch barrels. As with the Thompson/Center Encore and Contender pistols, the Freedom Model 2008 can shoot many different chamberings from one platform, giving it great versatility. Baker tells us that, when chambered in 7mm BR, Freedom’s Model 2008 can approach half-MOA accuracy with tailored handloads.
The Freedom Model 2008 starts at $1495.00, which includes one barrel and forearm. Nine (9) chamberings are currently offered: .223 Rem, 6.5×55, 7mm BR, 7mm-08, .308 Win, 338 Federal, 357 Magnum, 357 Max, 375 Win. CLICK HERE for a Model 2008 Spec Sheet (PDF file).
You can see more photos on the Quinn Brothers’ GunBlast Website:
Full Report from 2008 (30+ photos)
Breech Closeup Photo
Hammer Closeup Photo
2010 Update Photo
January 26th, 2010
Though the use of high-tech materials, such as carbon fiber and kevlar, modern riflestocks have become stiffer, stronger, and lighter. Wild Dog, a small company in Queensland, Australia, is producing some of the nicest carbon-reinforced hunting and tactical stocks you can buy. Wild Dog stocks sport innovative features, such as a trap door for ammo storage in the side of the buttstock. Wild Dog’s hunting stocks are sized right and comfortable to hold — the comb height and drop angles are “just right” for a classic sporter.
And when Wild Dog says they can build a stock that’s “ultra-light”, they aren’t kidding. Wild Dog’s Bruce Simms showed us a lightweight sporter stock that weighed just 20 ounces! We were sufficiently impressed that we may choose a Wild Dog stock for an ultra-light, walk-around varminter project AccurateShooter.com has in the works.
This Editor was also very impressed by Wild Dog’s tactical stocks. The Wild Dog thumbhole will work for shooters with any hand size. The grip section of some other thumbhole stocks (notably the Accuracy Int’l) is very thick and fat (way too fat for this Editor’s hands). By contrast, you’ll find the Wild Dog thumbhole is comfortable and controllable even for shooters with medium to small hands. Wild Dog’s adjustable cheekpiece system on the tactical stocks is better than most — the hardware is simple but sturdy and the cheekpiece fits flush when retracted.
Overall, the Wild Dog stock designs — both hunting and tactical, are carefully crafted and very well thought out. The tactical stocks feel right in both offhand and prone positions. The hunting stocks are easy to handle and the hand-painted camo finishes really do work in the field, as you can see in the photo below.
January 25th, 2010
At SHOT Show, Sightron rolled out its much-awaited 10-50x60mm, and it looks good. Currently available in either a Fine-Cross-Hair (FCH) reticle, or FCH with target dot, the new unit has 1/8 MOA clicks and 50 MOA of windage and elevation. Priced under $1000.00, this is a good value compared to other premium optics with similar max magnification.
Affordable High-Magnification Long-Range Optic
With a “street price” under $995.00, the Sightron 10-50 could become hugely popular in 600/1000-yard benchrest and F-Class shooting. The big new zoom features a jumbo 60mm objective, 30mm maintube, and 1/8 MOA clicks. Nearly 17″ long and weighing 28.9 ounces, make no mistake, this is a BIG piece of glass. If the new 10-50×60mm SIII Sightron is as good as the 8-32×50mm LR SIII we tested in 2009, this should be a fantastic scope for the money.
New Tactical Scopes with Rear Parallax Control
Sightron had another much smaller, but equally impressive, scope on hand. It was the 10X model from the new SIII Tactical series which includes 16X and 20X versions also. The new SIII fixed-power Tactical Sightrons feature a modified mildot (MMD) reticle with 1/4 MOA clicks. These scopes (10X, 16X, and 20X) all boast an amazing 150 MOA of total elevation (and windage). We repeat: 150 MOA of total up/down travel. That allows you to shoot well past 1000 yards without needed an angled scope base. The parallax control is at the back, where you’d normally find a zoom ring. The position is actually very handy. With the parallax (focus) control near the rear eyepiece, you can easily set the parallax with your firing hand without moving out of position. These new fixed-power Tactical Scopes will retail for about $550.00.
January 25th, 2010
Lapua arguably has the best line of match-grade cartridge brass you can buy in the USA. And now Lapua has made its brass even better. Starting this month, when you purchase 100 pieces of Lapua brass, your cases will arrive in a handsome blue plastic box. Snapped in place under the box lid is a rectangular plastic grid that fits in the bottom of the box. Pop the grid loose and slide it into the box. Side supports molded into the lower section hold the grid in place.
Voila, instant Ammo Box! Each grid contains holes for fifty (50) loaded rounds or empty cases. The convertible plastic container/ammo box is a great idea that Lapua executed very nicely. Now you have even more motivation to purchase your cartridge brass from Lapua.
Brass delivered in the blue convertible blue plastic boxes has already started to arrive. We confirmed with Powder Valley that its most recent shipments of Lapua brass have arrived in the blue plastic boxes. Note, however, that pre-existing inventories of Lapua brass, from Powder Valley and other vendors, will continue to ship in cardboard boxes until the older supplies are exhausted.
January 25th, 2010
Now that Zephyr Dynamics’ “Brass-O-Matic” rotary case annealer is no longer in production (Zephyr Dy’s owner received a “job offer he couldn’t refuse”), we were excited to learn that Bench-Source is bringing out an all-new, micro-processor-controlled, automated annealing machine. Bench-Source, based in Mississippi, currently produces high-quality scope bases for Savage target actions. The annealing machine is a new direction for Bench-Source, but it displays the company’s trademark attention to detail and superb machining.
 The new Bench-Source automatic case neck annealing machine processes 500-600 cartridges per hour, from 22 Hornet up to the big magnums. Heating time from 1.5 to 10 seconds is precisely controlled by a microprocessor with both a manual mode and “Automatic” mode. Note that the cartridge spins in place when it is at the annealing position, giving a uniform anneal. After annealing, the case exits via a gravity-fed drop port, so you don’t have to handle hot cases. Note: In the video below, the flame you see on some cases is burn-off of temp-indicating marker. Watch carefully and you can see that the case being annealed spins while being heated.
You can use either one or two heat sources. Torch tips are adjustable in height, angle, distance and vertical tilt by two clamp knobs. Unlike some other units, the flame height is quickly and easily adjustable. We were pleased to see all the top surfaces are metal (no plastic to warp or melt). The solid aluminum table top and index plate are also cooled by a 50-cubic-feet-per-minute fan — they will not heat up significantly during use. Additionally, the table acts as a heat sink to maintain hardness in the cartridge case head.
The unit goes on sale in March 2010. Anticipated retail price is $449.50. To order, visit Bench-Source.com, or contact Vertex Mfg. at (662) 895-0803.
January 25th, 2010
For decades rimfire shooters have used muzzle weights and various types of tuners to optimize barrel harmonics. Just in the last few years have tuners started to appear on centerfire bench guns. And for centerfire rifles, partly by reason of benchrest rules, most of the tuning systems are fairly heavy metal cylinders placed at the end of the muzzle.
 It is well-established that mid-barrel tuners can work on rimfire rifles, and we also know that certain types of materials (such as rubber, cork, and Delrin) can have beneficial damping effects on both rimfire and centerfire barrels. Given these facts, we were quite interested in the new Flexi-Weight System introduced by AirForce Airguns at the 2010 SHOT Show.
The Flexi-Weight system consists of a cluster of 3 to 6 metal weights, held in place by a rubber O-ring. Multiple Flexi-Weight clusters can be installed on a single gun and the fore-to-aft position is easily adjusted. The shooter can simply slide a Flexi-Weight cluster back and forth along the barrel until he finds the optimal position.
We have no idea whether Flexi-Weights can improve accuracy on a centerfire rifle, but it’s worth a try. Flexi-weights are affordable ($29.95 for a set of five, 48 gram weights) and you can slip them on your barrel without cutting threads or making any other permanent modifications. The weights are designed to fit a 1.25″ diameter tube. For more info, visit Airforceairguns.com or call (877) 247-4867. Airforce Airguns is a U.S. company based in Fort Worth, Texas.
January 24th, 2010
If you recently purchased a Remington 40X rimfire rifle from the CMP, and the bolt is old, worn out, or missing altogether, take heart, Dave Kiff of Pacfic Tool & Gauge (PTG) has a solution.
For a $199.00 “locked-in price” for AccurateShooter.com readers, PT&G offers a complete Remington 40X replacement bolt for CMP Rem 40X rifles. Even if your original factory 40X bolt functions, the replacement bolt should fit better (with less slop) and provide more consistent ignition, shot after shot. We won’t promise improved accuracy, but we predict that you get fewer unexplained flyers with the Kiff replacement bolt. Below, the charming Ashley Kiff explains the $199.00 special offer for our readers.
January 24th, 2010
Among the many brands of gunsafes on display at SHOT Show 2010, two series of safes caught our attention. Browning’s new Tactical MK II safes possess many smart features, such as rubber-coated shelves and built-in LED lighting, that we’d like to see as ‘standard equipment’ on other safes. The Browning Tactical safes even offer handy Picatinny rail sections on the bottom of the upper shelves, so you can securely stow optics or rail-mounted accessories when not in use. Check out the video below, which showcases the unique features of the 60″x30″ Browning Tactical MKII safe.
 Cylindrical High-Security Safes from Pendleton
Pendleton drew crowds with its innovative line-up of cylindrical safes. A Pendleton Safe looks like a large vertical water heater clad in heavy steel. Pendletons feature a fairly narrow front door with a multi-level, rotating gun storage carousel inside.
The big advantage of the Pendleton safes is that they are very, very resistent to pry-bar attacks. The door gap is just .090″ (ninety thousandths) making it very hard to insert a prybar. The safe’s curved sides offer no entry points for prybars, and if a thief manages to tilt the safe over, it just rolls when leverage is applied to a prybar. The doors feature a patented cam locking mechanism and a commercial grade blocking plate to prevent drill attacks. Notable were the number of locking “bolts” — actually rectangular locking tabs of solid 1/4″ steel, providing 54 square inches of locking surface (compared to 4-8 sq. inches on bargain Costco/Walmart safes). Where some cheaper safes may have only three locking bolts on one side of the entry door, the 72″ Pendleton has 14 locking “tabs”, arrayed on the left AND right door sides (seven per side). A very impressive new safe, the Pendleton offers exclusive, patented security features, along with quality fabrication by a well-known, US-based commercial safe manufacturer.
January 24th, 2010
At SHOT Show 2010, Zeiss Sport Optics displayed its impressive new series of Diavari scopes with FL (flourite) glass. The new scopes are extremely clear and bright (on a par with Schmidt & Bender), and the flourite lens elements allow very high light transmission with super-low fringing (chromatic aberration). Controls are very positive and the Zeiss eyepieces feature a +2 to -3 diopter. With that broad diopter range, you can use the scopes without corrective lenses even if you normally wear eyeglasses or contacts. A variety of reticles are offered, including ballistic compensating reticles calibrated for four popular cartridge types. Three scopes will initially be available in the new Zeiss FL lineup: 4-16x50mm, 6-24x56mm, and 6-24x72mm, shown below. This extra-large 72mm objective provides superior low-light performance plus a large exit pupil, even at full 24X magnification.
Higher Magnification and Dual-Rate Focus for New FL Diascope
In addition to the new FL Scopes, Zeiss displayed its new 65mm and 85mm Diascope FL spotting scopes. These look very similar to last year’s models, but there are internal lens upgrades, a new focus system, and a superb new eyepiece that raises the max magnification to 75X on the 85mm model.
We really like the new “dual-rate” focus system. Focusing a high-magnification spotting scope can be frustrating with a single control knob. The dual-rate system is an intelligent solution. When you spin the knob more than 270°, it automatically goes into fast focus mode, which is five times faster. Then as you “dial in” your subject, it reverts to fine focus mode. This is a smart system that works very intuitively. Kudos to Zeiss for this innovation. Zeiss engineer Stephan Albrecht, Diascope project manager, explains the new features.
January 22nd, 2010
Gas gunners take note — for 2010 Redding has created new “National Match” reloading sets in .223 Remington, .308 Winchester, and 30-06 Springfield. These new three-die sets are designed expressly for the AR15, M1A, and M1 Garand used in High Power comps and Garand matches. These kits include a full-length sizing die, a Competition Seater Die, and a taper crimp die. Previously these dies were only offered individually. If you’re shooting an AR, Garand, or M1A, these new sets may be just what you need.
In addition to the National Match die sets, Redding has added new calibers to its die catalog for 2010. Complete die sets will now be offered for the popular 6.5 Creedmoor, the 260 Rem Improved 40° (also know as the 260 Ackley), and the 458 Socom. This should please the growing numbers of High Power shooters using the 6.5 Creedmoor, and the tactical guys looking for more velocity than a standard 260 Rem can deliver.
New Complete Basic Reloading Set
For shooters just getting started in reloading, Redding has put together a new basic reloading package that contains virtually everything you need except a press and dies. Redding’s new Versa Pak includes a reloading scale, powder measure, case trimer, powder trickler, case lube pad, funnel, deburring tool, and other case prep tools. In addition, the Versa Pak comes with the Hodgdon Reloading Manual and Redding’s excellent Advanced Handloading DVD. The Versa Pak will retail for about $350.00. That may sound like a lot, but if you add up the cost of all the gear included in the Versa Pak, it is a good value. You’ll also save time (and shipping costs) by acquiring all the essential tools at one time.
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