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July 16th, 2009
 Bryan Litz, chief Ballistician for Berger Bullets, has just released an impressive new, hard-cover treatise on external ballistics. While Bryan’s 536-page Applied Ballistics for Long-Range Shooting will surely take its place among the “classic” reference books on precision shooting, it does much more than explain theories of bullet flight. Using advanced equipment, Litz measured the actual drag of over 175 popular bullet types in the field. Armed with this new experimentally-derived data, shooters can now calculate their loads’ true trajectories with greater precision than ever before.
If you’re serious about long-range shooting, or just have an interest in bullet design and performance, you should buy this book. It is offered for $39.95 directly from Bryan’s website, AppliedBallisticsLLC.com.
In the video above, Litz explains some of the key features of his new book. (Watch the video — Bryan explains what you’ll get for your $39.95!) Don’t be fooled by Bryan’s youthful appearance. This guy is the Einstein of external ballistics. He holds a degree in Aerospace Engineering, and he was an honest-to-goodness rocket scientist who worked with the U.S. Air Force on air-to-air missile design for six years before joning Berger Bullets. What’s more, Bryan is an extremely talented long-range shooter. Bryan was the 2008 National Palma Champion, and he holds the all-time NRA mid-range iron-sight record (450-39X).
Even if you rely on a software program to calculate your come-ups, it is important to know how bullets are affected by wind and gravity, and how bullet ballistic coefficients are determined. If you’re looking to expand your knowledge of ballistics and the nuances of bullet design, you should find Bryan’s book informative and readable.
You don’t need an MIT degree to understand this book. It was Bryan’s goal to explain the important elements of exterior ballistics in a practical way that can be understood and applied by shooters. What you learn from Applied Ballistics for Long-Range Shooting can help you make better decisions about the bullet(s) and the caliber(s) you choose to shoot, and give you more confidence when taking those long shots in the field.
July 16th, 2009
Reactive targets — whether balloons, steel gongs, or clay birds — always add fun to a range session. But precision shooters may want something more challenging (i.e. smaller) than a clay bird when shooting inside 300 yards. For a change of pace, try shooting at small reactive targets attached to your target board.
 Necco Wafers and Paint Balls
We’ve seen folks shoot at candy NECCO® Wafers at 100 yards. When hit, these disintegrate nicely but don’t offer much of a visual display. For serious “splat factor”, some shooters use paint balls as targets. Glued to a cardboard backer, the paintballs explode dramatically when hit. Unfortunately paintballs make a really big mess, and your rangemaster might not be happy with the residue. Accordingly, we suggest you leave the paintballs to the “gravel pit”-type plinking ranges.
Pool Cue Chalks — Cheap, Fun, Dramatic
If you’re looking for a nice small target that makes a nice big cloud of color when hit, try pool cue chalks. You know, those little blue cubes you use to dust the end of billiard cues. Measuring about 7/8″ per side, billiard chalks make very challenging targets at 100 and 200 yards. When you hit them, if you nail the circular “dimple” in the middle, they disintegrate impressively, tossing blue “smoke” in all directions.
To see actual hits on chalk at 100 and 200 yards, watch the video below. The movie-maker, Phil of the Random Nuclear Strikes Blog, cautions that: “You’ll notice (in the video) that some of the hits are ‘wiffs’ instead of ‘poofs’. If you look at the picture above, you’ll see the 1/2 inch dimple in the cube face. If you don’t put the bullet in that dimple, it’ll ‘wiff’ on you.”
Pool cue chalks are inexpensive. You can buy a dozen chalks online for about $3.00 — just 25 cents each. And the prices drop with more quantity. One gross of chalks (that’s 144 pieces) costs just $23.00 at ozonebilliards.com.
July 14th, 2009
Bushnell has released a new Legend 1200 ARC laser rangefinder (LRF) with a claimed 1,200-yard capability on highly reflective objects. Bushnell claims the Legend 1200 will range a tree out to 850 yards, or a deer-sized animal out to 475 yards.
A compact 4.3″ x 2.9″ x 1.7″ size, the Legend 1200 weighs just 7.4 ounces. This is small and light enough to carry in a shirt pocket. The Legend 1200 features a multi-coated 6X optic and all external lens surfaces are coated with RainGuard HD. With a $349.00 MSRP, the Legend 1200 is available in black or Realtree® AP™ camouflage.
 Built-In Angle Compensation
The Legend 1200 has a built-in inclinometer so it can give you true horizontal yardage for up-angle and down-angle shots. That is very important for hunters and tactical shooters who must rapidly adjust for shot angle to ensure a hit. In Rifle Mode the Legend 1200 calculates the angle and indicates the holdover required in either inches or MOA (user selectable output). The range of angle measurement is -90 to +90 degrees.
A new feature in the Legend 1200 is Variable Sight-In Distance capability or VSI™. In Rifle Mode, users can select between 100, 150, 200 or 300 yard sight-in distances to accommodate their shooting styles and preferences. Other standard features include SCAN, Bulls Eye and Brush Modes for better targeting and accuracy. The Legend 1200 ARC is rubber armored and fully waterproof. It comes with a carrying case, lanyard and 3-volt CR2 battery.
July 10th, 2009
Here’s a new product that may prove useful for tactical shooters and walk-around varminters. The new Monkey Bag™ (MSRP: $29.95) from Shooters Ridge®, is a versatile three-part, poly-filled bag rest that can adapt to a variety of placements. You can stack all three “rolls” to create an elevated front rest. Use one or two rolls in the rear to support your buttstock in prone position. Available summer 2009, the Monkey Bag features a soft suede pad to protect a firearm’s finish and provide a gripping surface. NOTE: As the Monkey Bag hasn’t hit the shelves yet, we haven’t tested it. But it looks promising for shooters who want something more versatile than a “sausage roll” sand-sock, but lighter and more compact than an Uncle Bud’s Bulls Bag.
Filled with polymer stuffing rather than sand, the Monkey Bag is lighter and easier to carry than conventional sandbags. Shooters Ridge claims the Monkey Bag is “ideal for fence posts, box blinds, [and] shooting benches.” This versatile bag joins Shooters Ridge’s existing line of modular bag rests such as the Gorilla Bag and Mini-Gorilla Bag (photo below). For more information, visit ShootersRidge.com.
July 3rd, 2009
A remote game camera lets you monitor the presence of deer and other game on your favorite hunting grounds. The camera is like a silent sentry, activating only when game animals trigger the heat-in-motion sensor. Here’s a shot recorded by Forum Member Preacher’s camera:
 Cuddeback No-Flash Deer Cam on Sale
The Cuddeback cameras are very sophisticated. The premium Cuddeback units trigger in 0.75 seconds. Cuddeback’s No-Flash IR unit works ’round-the-clock, using invisible infrared illumination at night so the game is not spooked. In daytime you record full-color 3.0 megapixel photos, and you can even set the unit to shoot short videos. The good news is that Cabelas.com has the Cuddeback® No-Flash Infrared Scouting Camera on sale right now for $299.88, marked down from $449.00. The cheapest price we’ve found elsewhere on the web is $319.99 at Amazon.com for the Cuddeback NoFlash Deercam.
Bushnell Releases New IR Trophy Cam
For 2009, Bushnell has introduced an impressive new Trophy Cam. Priced at about $199.00 for the basic model, the new Bushnell IR Trophy Cam offers most of the features of the more expensive Cuddeback IR No-Flash model, but at a much more affordable price. With impressive battery life of up to 6 months, video capability, and an IR flash range up to 45 feet, the new Bushnell has already become very popular with hunters. Independent tests show the Trophy Cam triggers in 1.21 seconds, with a recovery time of 7-11 seconds (depending on picture resolution). The compact (6″x4″) Bushnell is easy to program (no remote required) and the Trophy Cam offers a choice of 3 mp or 5 mp photos. With the deluxe “viewer” version ($249.00 at Digital Photo) you can preview your photos via the camera’s built-in color viewscreen (a feature not offered on the Cuddeback).
CLICK HERE to Read Bushnell Trophy Cam Review.
June 25th, 2009
California Varmint Silhouette matches are the focus of our current main feature story on AccurateShooter.com. After reading that story you might say: “Looks like fun, but how can I avoid going downrange everytime I knock down the targets?” Well, if your club already has a fixed steel plate or a gong at 500 or 600 yards, you can just shoot at it and look for the “splash marks” from bullet impact (if you can’t hear the hit). Bring a can of white paint and re-paint the target every so often. Shooting range steel is fun, but we’ve found most of the “semi-permanent” long-range steel targets at clubs are pretty large. You want something more the size of a varmint to provide a better challenge. You could set out some clay birds of course — but again that requires you to traipse down-range every dozen rounds or so.
Affordable Self-Resetting Armored Poppers
To duplicate the fun of a varmint silhouette match, we recommend self-resetting pop-up targets. These are sold by LV Steel and other target makers. Contructed of “AR500″ hardened steel, the LV poppers are rugged and very durable. The armored LV Steel targets can stand up to repeated hits from a 300 Win Mag. Shown below is LV Steel’s #4 (10″ x 6″) spring-loaded “paddle” popper. The video shows it soaking up repeated hits from a 300 Win Mag at 100 yards. Such self-resetting poppers are small enough that you could carry 2 or 3 in your car or truck easily. That way you can set up your own long-range “steel challenge” whenever you go shooting. The same poppers can also be used for pistol practice. LV Steel’s #4 paddle, made of 5/8″-thick steel, costs $150.00 and is designed to ship in a UPS flat-rate box. LV Steel makes a wide variety of other metallic targets.
June 24th, 2009
Lapua has used sophisticated Doppler radar to calculate the actual air drag of its bullets throughout the course of bullet flight. Drag coefficients derived from these continuous field measurements make it possible to calculate bullets’ trajectories with great precision. By using Doppler-radar derived drag coefficients, trajectories can be predicted much more accurately than when using the simplified one-number BCs provided by most other bullet-makers.
To enable shooters to calculate trajectories (with the Doppler bullet data) more effectively, Lapua now offers a FREE special edition of QuickTarget Unlimited (QTU) software tailored for Lapua bullets. QTU is a very sophisticated program that allows you to choose among 12 different drag models. QTU also allows you to compensate for rifle firing angle, rifle cant, wind speed, atmospheric pressure, temperature, and humidity.
Using this free software, you can calculate the trajectories of Lapua bullets to a great degree of certainty. With the QTU Program, as starting values, you need only bullet type and muzzle velocity (add windspeeds if known). The software will calculate bullet drop, velocity and energy as a function of distance and flight time. Complete QTU instructions are in the QTU Manual.
CLICK HERE to download QTU Software Manual. (Read the manual. QTU is complex with many variables and uses metric values by default. The manual explains how to set everything for yards and MOA, and how to input data for wind, temperature, rifle angle and other variables.)
How to Get the Software
To get the FREE QuickTarget Lapua Edition software, first go to the Lapua Ballistics Start Page. On that page, click the “Register” link. Fill in ALL the required info (user name, password, email etc.), and hit the “Create Account” button. Validation: Lapua will send a message to the email account you listed. Open that email and click the internal link to verify that you have an active, valid email account.
OK, now go back to the Ballistics Start Page. Fill in your user name and password, and click the “Login” button. A new page should open with the heading: “About QuickTarget Unlimited (QTU) Lapua Edition”. OK, now move your mouse pointer left and click on the words “Download Lapua Edition”. Now a new page will open.
Almost done. Scroll down and you’ll see a blue “Download Now” button at the bottom. Click that, then click “Agree” on the software license screen that comes next. After you click “Agree” a new page appears showing: “QuickTarget Unlimited Lapua Edition”.
Click the link for “qtulapua.zip” and a 6.1 megabyte .zip archive file will be downloaded to your computer. Open that .zip file and click the “SETUP.EXE” file to install the software.
June 22nd, 2009
Remington has released a new sniper rifle that is WAY different than anything offered from a major American gunmaker, although it shares features pioneered by match-rifle builder Gary Eliseo and others. The new Remington Modular Sniper Rifle (MSR™) features a beefy new titanium receiver with the ability to handle multiple chamberings up to .338 Lapua Magnum. The MSR was designed from the ground up as a switch-barrel rig, with a floating handguard, and folding, adjustable buttstock.
The whole system is modular. By exchanging bolt-face, barrel, and magazine, the gun can switch from .308 Win (7.62×51), to 300 Win Mag, to .338 Norma Mag, and to .338 Lapua Mag. All calibers are available in four barrel lengths: 20″, 22″, 24″, 27″. Barrels are designed to be rapidly interchanged. The trigger is an X-Mark Pro, user-adjustable from 2.5 to 4.5 pounds.
This rifle is Remington’s entry into the competition for the new SOCOM Precision Sniper Rifle (PSR). Big bucks are at stake. The SOCOM PSR contract is potentially a seven-figure deal for Remington. According to Tactical-Life.com, “Remington’s new MSR is so new and so unique that the entire rifle is patent pending. Everything from the triangular-shaped, three-lug titanium action with a 60° bolt throw to the side-folding modular stock was developed specifically for this [SOCOM] solicitation.”
Remington claims the gun delivers good accuracy at ultra-long ranges. Using .338 Lapua Magnum ammo, Remington says its MSR will hold 1 MOA vertical at 1500 meters (1641 yards). While we don’t like the buttstock assembly much (looks like something out of the Transformers movie), it is clear that Remington has done some out-of-the-box thinking with this new rifle. The MSR employs some features that have proven successful with “space-gun” match rifles, such as a tubular, floating handguard, and metal sub-chassis.
To learn more about the Remington MSR, and see a video of the rifle in action, visit RemingtonMilitary.com.
June 16th, 2009
Google has launched an innovative, web-based search function that delivers a wealth of information in data-rich tables. Now when you search you can get more than just a list of websites. Called Google Squared, the new system delivers a collection of search results in a chart (table) format. The chart will contain a variety of different clickable entries, such as article titles, photos, product descriptions, and prices. Google Squared returns a huge amount of information and data from a single search.
Link: www.Google.com/squared
While Google Squared can search virtually any topic from Astrophysics to Zoology, we’ve found it can be very useful when researching firearms subjects or searching for shooting products. Shown below are the results of a search for “Spotting Scope”. By default, data is grouped in six columns. However, Google Squared allows you to add other data columns, and Google can even “intelligently” suggest choices for additional columns. In this example, Google suggested Eye Relief, Magnification, Exit Pupil, Lens Coating, and Prism System — all important optical parameters. That’s pretty smart! You can also delete any column of data if it’s not needed.
Google Squared can also be used to research a particular product or do price comparison searches. Shown below are the Google Squared results for “RCBS Chargemaster”:
Google Squared is still in the development stages, but it promises to be a useful tool for veteran web users. Give it a try, and see how it performs for you.
June 15th, 2009
Here is an interesting tool that lets rimfire shooters re-shape and uniform the tips of their 22 rimfire lead bullets. Paco Kelly’s Acu’Rzr comes in two versions, the “Phase III Nasti-Nose” and the “Phase IV Baby Scorp’n”. The Phase III tool produces a deep-dished hollowpoint (like an ash-tray) that opens quickly and efficiently. There is also a Phase III insert that creates a flatter, open dish HP for target shooting. The Phase IV Scorpion tool creates a deep hollow point with a central post in the middle. The internal post in the middle helps achieve deeper penetration in game. The designer claims that ammo modified with either tool is more accurate because the bullet diameter “comes out the same every time”.
Why re-shape lead rimfire bullets? The first reason is accuracy. The tool’s designer, Paco Kelly, claims you can improve the accuracy of budget-priced ammo by using the dish nose rod with the Phase III tool: “The dish nose forming rod is for accuracy and paper targets. It makes very sharp and clean cut holes in paper. And the consistency of the [re-shaped] bullet diameter pulls the group together.”
The main reason to use Paco Acu’Rzr tools is to improve perfomance on small game such as squirrels, prairie dogs, and jack-rabbits. Kelly says: “Unlike most commercial 22 rimfire ammo with small holes and negligible HP expansion, the Nasti-Nose will open even with standard velocity ammo. Yet it will NOT explode on contact like the hyper-velocity ammo. For small eating game, such as squirrels, the Hyper ammo is too much and the medium-velocity, hollow-pointed commercial ammo often fails to open. But not so with the Nasti-Nose.” The idea, Kelly suggests, is that you get reliable expansion with medium-velocity ammo, without destroying the game the way more expensive, hyper-velocity ammo does.
The Phase III tool costs $65.00, while the Phase IV tool costs $75.00. Both tools can be customized for target rifles or European chambers. To order, contact Paco Kelly, P.O. Box 1170, Cortaro, AZ 85652 or use this ORDER FORM.
EDITOR’s NOTE: Do NOT use this tool with premium-grade rimfire target ammo. It won’t help. Use it with the cheaper bulk-pack ammo. Also, we have not tested the reformed ammo on live targets, so you have to draw your own conclusions as to its benefits on small critters.
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