4-Gun winner Wayne Campbell is arguably the best group benchrest shooter in the world right now.
IBS 100/200 Yard Group Benchrest National Championships
Story by IBS President Jeff Stover President based on report by Harley Baker
Western Michigan was the site of the 2019 IBS Group Nationals. This major event was held August 12-17, 2019 at the Holton Gun & Bow Club. This club hosts many quality group benchrest matches throughout the season, and this one was no exception. The Holton team, especially match director Nancy Scarbrough, made everything seem easy. The shooters, however, don’t find conditions easy at all.
Summer Sun, Mirage, and Switchy Winds
In the middle of August, Holton’s sandy soils can generate fierce mirage. It can get so bad that competitors may not be able to see bullet holes clearly and target rings can become indistinguishable. In Warren Page’s classic gun book, “The Accurate Rifle”, he speaks of mirage as “shooting through the swimming pool”. Well Warren Page must have shot Holton. When mirage was not the problem at Holton, switchy winds were the order of the day. CLICK HERE for 2019 IBS Group Nationals Results.
IBS Group Nationals Course of Fire
The IBS Group Nationals can be an endurance test as the event spans six days. The sequence of competition has 100-yard targets shot the first three days, followed by three days at 200 yards. It is done this way to require only one change of wind flags. Nationals competition requires “full rotation”. That means that every time a shooter goes to the line for the next match target, he or she must move a requisite number of benches to the right. At the end of the day a shooter will shoot across the full width of the line. Some ranges offer unique properties that render some parts of the range harder or easier to shoot small groups. Bench rotation is important to even out those factors.
Classes At the IBS Group Nationals
It takes thirty targets of 5-shot groups and ten targets of 10-shot groups to win a “4-Gun Nationals”. That covers FOUR classes: Light Varmint, Heavy Varmint, Sporter, and Heavy Bench. For all practical purposes, the first three are known as “bag guns” while the heavy bench rifles are “rail guns”. In fact, most competitors shooting a bag gun opt for a single rifle, which has been benchrest standard for decades: a 10.5-lb rifle chambered in 6PPC.
Day by Day Report — Group Nationals Highlights
The first day of competition was for the Heavy Bench class — the Rail Guns. That is what Heavy Bench is these days. Jeff Peinhardt had a handle on conditions for his five 10-shot groups. His largest group was only a .202″. The rest were small dark holes where the 10 bullets honed away any paper fuzz. His average for the five groups in this aggregate was .1710″. Really small, but only .0074″ behind was Paul Mitchell. Rounding out third place was Michigander Lee Hachigian with a .1866″.
The “bag guns” come out on Tuesday for the 100-yard competition for Light Varmint and Sporter rifles. These are the 10.5-lb rifles. The only difference is that in Sporter you must have your rifle chamber with at least a 6mm bore. Since virtually everyone shoots a 6PPC it really doesn’t matter. Wayne Campbell from Virginia nailed a tight .1556” aggregate in Sporter at 100. Tony Alexander (.1758”) and Jack Neary (.1792”) rounded out the top three.
For Light Varmint at 100 yards. Larry Costa led the way with a .2022” when conditions were a little harder to read. Jack Neary and Kevin Donalds Sr. were close behind.
Wednesday morning of Nationals Week is Heavy Varmint at 100. Ken Donalds Sr. still had his rifle tuned to perfection as he won this aggregate with a .1624. Jack Neary and Harley Baker shot well with five-target averages in the .18XX. Wednesday afternoon the shooters take a break and hold a Powder Puff competition for non-shooters, including children and spouses were allowed to shot a group with bench coaching from seasoned competitors.
On Thursday the targets get moved to 200 yards along with a expanding sea of wind flags. Eventual multi-gun winner Wayne Campbell smoked the field Light Varmint 200 with a .1674 MOA Aggregate. His average group size at 200 yards was O.334 inches but in short-range group competition the scores are converted to minute of angle (MOA). The only other shooter Agging under 0.2 MOA was upstate New York restaurateur Pando Vasilovski with a 0.1927.
It was time for Sporter at 200 and Don Rosette from Ohio was the only shooter in the “teens” with a .1997 MOA Agg. Pando still had it working and was second.
Here are some of the “Top Guns” from the 2019 IBS Group Nationals in Holton, MI.
Former Super Shoot winner Larry Costa won the Heavy Varmint 200 with a .2007 MOA Agg and he had room to spare to beat Kevin Donalds Jr. and Jeff Peinhardt with a .22 and .23 respectively.
The last day, Saturday, the rail guns were hauled out again for the Heavy Bench 200. Mark Buettgen topped the field with a .2572 MOA Agg. No need to check the equipment list to know what barrel brand Buettgen used. Mark works for Bartlein Barrels in Wisconsin. Wayne Campbell was just on Mark’s heels.
Grand Aggregate (100+200)
Winners (all MOA):
Light Varmint: Wayne Campbell, .1939
Sporter: Wayne Campbell, .2133
Heavy Varmint: Larry Costa, .2026
Heavy Bench: Don Powell, .2342
Multi-gun results:
2-Gun (HV+LV 20 targets): Larry Costa, .2197
3-Gun (LV+SP+HV 30 targets): Wayne Campbell, .2205
4-Gun (LV+SP+HV+HB 40 targets): Wayne Campbell, .2279
(in 4-gun Tony Alexander was second with .2404, followed by Larry Costa with .2451)
Hardware Choices: Actions, Stocks, Barrels, Optics and More Tech Talk by Jeff Stover
Let’s examine the Top Ten rifles from this year’s IBS Group Nationals in the 10.5-lb Light Varmint Class. We’ll focus on the most popular rifle components — the choices for Actions, Stocks, Barrels, and Scopes.
For some years now, BAT has been the predominant action. This year BAT actions held nearly 100% of the Top Ten places in all the Bag Gun equipment lists. Bruce Thom’s Idaho-crafted actions, except for a couple stray actions in Heavy Bench, swept the top rankings.
Next, look at barrels. Bartlein or Krieger seem to rule with upstate New York’s venerable Hart barrels as competitive. Shooters tend to go with winners, so Wayne Campbell and Jeff Peinhardt dominate as gunsmiths for the top benchrest shooters.
In stocks there seems to be variety, but there is some commonality. The Scoville and Scarbrough stocks, both Michigan-made, are laminated wood (balsa and other wood) with carbon fiber and wrapped in carbon fiber. The Scoville stock on my 10.5-lb rifle weighs 18 ounces but is full size with a nice long fore-end. Bob Scarbrough makes a very similar product. Both are winners — it’s a choice of Ferrari or Lamborghini. The Roy Hunter and Terry Leonard stocks among these top rifles take a different route to winner’s circle. Both are wood (cedar or other), but super high-tech as they are laminated with carbon fiber. They are beautiful to boot. High-magnification Leupold, March, and Nightforce scopes rule the roost among benchrest optics.
Bullets and Powder
Bullets are important. Really important. A hot bullet gives you “Teen Aggs” and lots of trophies. An average bullet does not. Most of these are 68 grain 6mm boattails. The Peinhardt (StaMoly Precision) bullet is well represented on this list, but some top shooters make their own as you can see. Bullet jackets are likely StaMoly or J4. For powder, nearly everyone shoots Vihtavouri N133 except a few guys running LT30/32 or surplus 8208.
Team USA members Ashley Rheuark, Lanny Barnes, Lena Miculek, and Becky Yackley (L to R).
You go girls! Four American lady shooters crushed the competition at the recent 2019 IPSC Rifle World Shooting Championship held in Sweden. This was a major international event, with 669 shooters from 37 countries competing for six days at the Villingsberg Shooting Range in Karlskoga, Sweden.
Shooting Sports USA reports: “The IPSC Rifle World Shoot is … the Super Bowl or World Series for serious action rifle shooters around the world. The International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC), the sanctioning body for the match was established to promote and advance the sport of practical shooting worldwide.” This match involved 30 varied, challenging stages in the Villingsberg range (Villingsbergs skjutfält) a facility of the Swedish Armed Forces.
Four American ladies finished 1-2-3-4 in individual standings, showing complete dominance by USA women competitors. Ashley Rheuark topped the field to take the Gold Medal. Lena Miculek finished second to take Silver, and Lanny Barnes was third with Bronze. And American Dakota Overland finished fourth, just 5 points behind Barnes. In winning the women’s division, Rheuark shot superbly, finishing with a score of 1883.7501, over 30 points ahead of Miculek.
The American ladies also excelled in Team competition. Team USA’s Becky Yackley joined Rhueark, Miculek, and Barnes to capture the Gold Medal in the Women’s Semi-Auto Open Division. In addition, Lena Miculek won the Women’s Division Shoot-Off. Notably, Lena’s Shoot-Off performance was broadcast on Swedish National Television. Lena wasn’t the only winning Miculek — her father Jerry Miculek took top honors in the Super Senior Class.
The Semi-Auto Open division had the largest match participation with 531 registered competitors. Finland’s Jarkko Laukia won the Open division with Finnish team-mate Raine Peltokoski finishing second. Third place was taken by Vadim Mikhailov from Russia. CLICK HERE for full men’s and women’s match results.
Watch Match Highlights on Gunroom.TV
You can watch nine videos from the 2019 IPSC World Rifle Championships on the Gunroom.TV website. We suggest you watch the Day 5 Video and Day 6 Video. These interesting video from the last two days of the competition show many of the stages, which are quite different than typical American multi-gun shooting bays. The setting is green and lush.
The AR15 is America’s rifle, right? Well it is apparently China’s rifle too, at least when it comes to replacement stocks, buffers, hand-guards and other spare parts/accessories. It seems China’s factories have been churning out plenty of Black Rifle components. Only one problem — U.S. Federal government policies ban importation of many types of gun parts from China. Washington has an embargo on Chinese-made gun components.
Because of these import restrictions, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents recently seized over 52,000 illegal gun parts. ABC News reported: “U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced Thursday that [it] seized a total of $378,225 worth of firearms parts in violation of the Chinese Arms Embargo. [Seized items] included sights, stocks, muzzles, brakes, buffer kits, and grips which arrived in three shipments from China.” Many of the seized items were for AR-platform Modern Sporting Rifles (MSRs), but other types of gun parts and accessories were seized also.
“This seizure is an exceptional example of CBP officers and import specialists vigilance, commitment and keen focus in enforcing complex arms embargo regulations,” said Carlos C. Martel, CBP Field Operations Director in Los Angeles.
Three Shipments of Gun Parts Were Seized at the Port of Long Beach in California:
The products were seized at the Port of Long Beach in the Los Angeles metropolitan region. This is a major entry point for a wide variety of products from China, Japan, and other Pacific Rim countries.
Ray Gross (left) was humbled to take the stage with David Tubb (right), a living legend: “The first time that I ever made it up on to the stage at a National Championship was in 1997. Dave Tubb had already won about a dozen Nationals by that time and I was so nervous going up on stage with him[.] It was a huge honor to get to share the stage with him again this year.”
Two notable shooters took the stage at the end of the NRA ELR Championship at Camp Atterbury, Indiana. David Tubb, 11-time NRA Nat’l High Power Champion and 6-time NRA Nat’l Long Range Champion, won the Heavy Gun Division, while the talented Ray Gross won the 25-lb (and under) Division. Ray, 8-time Nat’l Championship coach and captain, coach, or shooter on five USA Rifle Teams, was shooting Paul Phillips’s new 33XC rifle. AccurateShooter featured this impressive rig in last week’s Sunday GunDay story. David was shooting an ELR TubbGun of his own design, chambered for the 37XC cartridge.
L to R: Paul Phillips, Dan Pohlabel, Ray Gross, John Droelle, and Kelly McMillan
Ray won the Light Gun ELR National Championship with help from his McMillan/GPG teammates John Droelle and Daniel Pohlabel. Ray noted: “We shot targets from 1600 to 1950 yards and finished with the highest overall score of 88699. Paul Phillips of Global Precision Group, loaned me his 33XC rifle and ammo to compete with. The rifle shot outstanding and that is a tribute to Paul’s load development and expertise.” Ray also thanked Kelly McMillan for attending the event and supporting the competitors.
At the 2019 NRA ELR Nationals at Camp Atterbury, there were many impressive displays of Extreme Long Range marksmanship, but none better than Randy Wise’s remarkable three-shot string at 2158 yards that set a new ELR Central world record. Randy made a COLD BORE HIT and two follow-up hits on a steel target at 2158 yards. Remarkably, Randy set the new ELR record using a stock Savage action and Savage factory barrel chambered for the .338 Lapua Magnum cartridge. The Savage barreled action was mounted in an Accurate Rifles Systems chassis with Rempel bipod. Wise was shooting 300 grain Berger Hybrid bullets. Congrats to Randy on his new ELR World Record!
Randy’s rifle had a factory stock 26″ 1:9″-twist barrel chambered in .338 Lapua Magnum. His load featured Lapua .338 LM brass, Berger 300gr Hybrid bullets, Federal 215M primers, and a stout charge of Hodgdon Retumbo powder. Ballistics solution by Applied Ballistics LLC. For optics, Randy used a Vortex 15-60x52mm Golden Eagle. The match was officiated by Clay Rhoden of TARGETVISION.
About the 33XC (eXtra Capacity) Cartridge
David Tubb invented the 33XC cartridge because he thought the CheyTac cases were too much trouble — requiring a larger action, oversize presses, and ultra-expensive dies. The 33XC was designed to fit .338 Lapua Magnum-size actions and use normal reloading presses.
The 33XC (eXtra Capacity) has 137.5 grains of H2O capacity with over 125 grains of usable powder capacity while leaving the 0.393″ neck unfilled for bullet seating.
The 33XC has a .338 Lapua Magnum lineage. Think of it as a better, 35°-shoulder .338 LM. David explains: “The 33XC uses standard reloading dies along with a 7/8″ x 14 TPI reloading press. There is no fire-forming — all case ‘improving’ has already been done with a production case that has 20 grains more powder capacity, 35-degree shoulder, and longer neck compared to a .338 Lapua Magnum. This puts the various .338 Lapua wildcats and the Rem Ultra Mag Improved into the ‘also ran’ category. They simply can’t compete with the velocities attainable with the 33XC.”
The 33XC is based off of a .580″ bolt head. Tubb states that “A fired case will extract with little effort when using a properly-polished chamber with a maximum powder charge after resizing with the Superior Shooting Systems FL sizing die.” Tubb’s 33XC die reaches the case head which is important for accuracy. Peterson Cartridge produces the 33XC brass for Superior Shooting Systems. This high-quality brass costs $115 for 50 cases (or $2.30 per case), and can be purchased directly from Superior Shooting Systems.
The display target is a copy, for spectators, of the larger, official target. The actual X-Ring is 10″ at 1000 yards. Amanda shot without a bipod, using only a sling to support the rifle, and aperture sights (no scope).
Congrats to Amanda Elsenboss for winning the 2019 NRA National Long Range Championships held this month at Camp Atterbury, Indiana. This completes her season of dominance, winning the Interservice, CMP, and NRA Long Range Championships. Amanda finished off her campaign with a win in the Mustin match and a shoot-off score of 100-9x. She also won the Leech Cup with a 200-15X, and 100-6X shoot-off score. Great job, Amanda!
Before his retirement from the U.S. Army, Emil Praslick III coached Amanda as a shooter with the U.S. Army Markmanship (USAMU) team. Emil was impressed with Amanda’s skill and dedication. Emil posted: “[Amanda is] by far the easiest shooter to coach I’ve ever worked with. A machine.”
Amanda expressed gratitude: “Thank you to everyone who supported me during the 2019 CMP Long Range Matches. Everyone’s support and encouragement helped me along the way, fan club included. Especially, a huge shout out to past and present AMU members for pointing me in the right direction. When the moment of confusion happened I always knew who I could count on to get me back on track. So, Thank you to everyone on and off the range who was cheering me along!”
Amanda Helps Train Young Competitors
When Amanda is not shooting matches or practicing with the USAMU, she helps train new shooters. Here SSG Amanda Elsenboss offers pointers to a Liberty University Service Rifle shooter at a CMP Small Arms Firing School (SAFS). Amanda Elsenboss hails from Woodbury, Connecticut and holds the military occupational specialty of small arms repairer. Elsenboss started shooting when she was 13, and soon became an avid rifle competitor. She now serves as a shooter/instructor on the USAMU Service Rifle Team.
Video Interview with SSG Amanda Elsenboss
This video, featuring SSG Amanda Elsenboss, was created by the USAMU to mark Women’s History Month. Amanda talks about her career in the military, and her love of competitive shooting. This is a great video, well worth watching. There are images from many shooting ranges around the nation.
SSG Amanda Elsenboss. CLICK Speaker Icon to Hear Sound!
So, are you feeling lucky? If so, head over to the NSSF’s Gearbox Giveaway webpage. To celebrate National Shooting Sports Month (NSSM), gun and gear manufacturers are offering big prize packages — the Gearbox Giveaways. Enter to win rifles, pistols, ammo, and other valuable prizes. Total Product Value is over $45,500! Many of the Gearbox packages are worth over $3000 with the most valuable package worth over $5600. Enter as many of the Gearbox Giveaways as you like, but time’s running out — the last day to enter is August 31, 2019.
Shown below are all 17 Gearbox Giveaways ranked in order of value — starting with the most valuable prize package. You’ll find more details of the prize packages on the NSSF website. NOTE: You need to enter separately for each Gearbox Giveaway prize package. Good luck!
Are you an ace with pistol, rifle, and shotgun. Would you like to compete shoulder-to-shoulder with the nation’s best multi-gun competitors? Then consider registering for the 2019 World Shooting Championship. Over $250,000 worth of cash and prizes are up for grabs. There are two divisions, Professional and Amateur. All guns and ammo are supplied, but entry fees are steep.
Now in its sixth consecutive year, the NRA World Shooting Championship (WSC) will be returning to the Peacemaker National Training Center in Glengary, WV, Sept. 18-21, 2019. The WSC attracts some of the biggest names in the industry, while remaining open to amateurs.
This unique 3-day multi-gun match tests competitors’ skills across twelve challenging stages involving nearly every major shooting discipline for rifles, shotguns, and pistols. Stages this year will include fan favorites like 3-Gun, High-Power Silhouette, Cowboy Action, and more. For more information on the match, check out wsc.nra.org or email NRAhighpower@nrahq.org. To sign up for the 2019 WSC event, visit competitor.nra.org and start by creating create a login.
There are still some places open for competitors. It ain’t free though — each competitor must fork several hundred dollars to enter (in 2018, fees were $375 for Pros and $325 for amateurs). On the other hand, the guns and ammo are FREE. That’s right, the WSC supplies all firearms and ammunition for all 12 stages. In one stage you may be shooting a new Ruger rifle, then a Beretta shotgun, and then a pistol supplied by SIG Sauer or Walther.
All the Equipment is Supplied
“What makes this event very unique, especially to a professional shooter, is all the equipment is supplied. You have to leave your ego at home and just try to adapt as best you can to the equipment that you have supplied.” — Jerry Miculek
The 12 WSC stages encompass everything from trap to bullseye pistol to PRS-style precision rifle. There was even a cowboy action stage with Henry “Golden Boy” lever-action rifles.
How to Win the World Shooting Championship
“The format at the NRA World Shooting Championship is unique in that you don’t know what you have to shoot until you show up, so training for the event is a little difficult. My advice is to pack some good eye and ear protection, bring an open mind, be prepared to listen to the stage descriptions, figure out the best way you can take the guns they provide, and post the best score you can. When the match supplies all the guns and ammo, all you have to do is deal with ‘the performance’. This is the most level playing field in the shooting sports — anyone from around the world can come and play.” — Bruce Piatt, 2015 NRA World Shooting Champion
MATCH LOCATION
The 2019 NRA World Shooting Championship will be held at Peacemaker National Training Center in Glengary, West Virginia. 1624 Brannons Ford Road, Gerrardstown, WV 25420.
Yet another .300 Blackout disaster. Unfortunately, that .300 Blackout cartridge can fit in a .223 Rem chamber. Shooting a .308-caliber bullet in .223 bore is a recipe for disaster.
The .300 AAC Blackout aka “300 BLK”, is a compact 30-caliber cartridge designed to work in AR-15 rifles. It has a shorter cartridge case to accommodate the bigger 30-caliber bullet while still fitting in a standard AR-15 magazine. Unfortunately, that’s the danger. A careless shooter can toss a .300 Blackout cartridge in with .223 Rem rounds without noting. And because the case-head size is the same as the .223 Rem (5.56×45) the rifle’s bolt assembly will happily chamber and fire the .300 BLK round. Problem is, that forces a .308 diameter bullet down an undersized .223-caliber bore. Not good!
This images were provided by Tactical Rifle Shooters on Facebook. The message was clear: “Don’t try to run 300 Blackout in your .223/5.56mm. It won’t end well. The problem is identical rifles and identical magazines but different calibers.”
For those who MUST have a .300 Blackout, here are some things you can do:
1. Use different colored magazines for .300 Blackout vs. .223 Rem.
2. Fit all your uppers with caliber-labeled ejection port covers.
3. Mark .223 Rem upper handguards with the caliber in bright paint.
4. Mark all .300 BLK Rounds with heavy black marker.
Comments by Folks Who Viewed these .300 Blackout Disaster Photos:
“The .300 Blackout is simply a badly-designed round. A properly-designed round would have had a feature in the shape that would have prevented cross loading in the first place.” — D. Santiago
“I almost made that mistake… I had a magazine of 300 BLK inserted in my .223/5.56 all night. Fortunately, I never pulled the trigger. Once I realized the mistake, I almost got ill. [After that incident] I no longer own a 300 BLK.” — B. Welch
“Happened to me hog hunting from a helo. Gun exploded in my face.” — B. Hood
“Fire-forming projectiles [is] so wrong in centerfire!” — M. Stres
“Had some dude come into the store the other day wanting .300 Blackout ammo to shoot in his 5.56 AR. It took 15 minutes of explaining for him to understand you got to have a .300 Blackout Upper!” — R. Williams
We’ve found a dozen great discount/rebate programs. These specials can save you big bucks on reloading components, ammo, or a new firearm. Some of these rebates are worth $100 or more. For example you can save $100 on a new Remington shotgun, Savage rifle, or Kimber pistol. Note: most of these promos are good through October, but some expire in September or even August — so check the dates.
We love Smith & Wesson rimfire revolvers. We have put thousands of rounds through S&W Model 617 revolvers, with 4″ and 6″ barrels. These stainless .22 LR handguns are accurate, superbly reliable, and they hold their value. In general we’ve found that Smith & Wesson rimfire revolvers may be less fussy with ammo, and more trouble-free than typical semi-auto rimfires. Bottom line, we feel that everyone should have an S&W rimfire wheelgun in their collection.
And now there’s a great additional Rimfire Revolver option from Smith & Wesson — the “revived” Model 648 in .22 WMR. This stainless Model 648 brings a more powerful cartridge to S&W rimfire revolver fans.
Built on S&W’s medium K-frame, the 8-round Model 648 is designed for small game hunting and target shooting. The .22 WMR is definitely a much more potent varmint cartridge than the .22 LR. You have more downrange energy plus a flatter trajectory. While the 648 does not come with an integral scope rail, it is not difficult to mount red dot or optical sights to this wheelgun.
The Model 648 revolver is built on a stainless steel medium K-frame and includes black synthetic finger groove grips, a black patridge front sight, and adjustable rear sight. This impressive revolver features a full underlug six-inch barrel, eight-round capacity, and is available with an MSRP of $749.
Model 648 History and Features
According to Guns.com: “The K-frame .22 WMR-caliber Model 648 first appeared in Big Blue’s lineup in 1989 sporting a full-lug barrel and stainless steel construction. Retired since 2005, the newest generation of the Model still brings a 6-inch barrel to the party, which translates to a very commanding 11.1-inch overall length. Weight is 46.2-ounces in the eight-shot .22 Mag, making the gun attractive for both those looking to fill pots and smoke targets.” Shown below is a vintage Model 648.
Jan Mladek, General Manager of Smith & Wesson General Manager Jan Mladek reports: “The Model 648 is back in production to satisfy the needs of handgun owners who are looking to achieve greater distance while hunting or target shooting. With a full underlug, six-inch barrel and a patridge front sight, the Model 648 has been designed … to boost accuracy at longer distances. While we currently offer .22 Magnum revolvers in both our J-frame and Classics line, we are excited to add this new .22 Magnum revolver to the modern K-frame lineup.”
The AR15 is America’s rifle, right? Well it is apparently China’s rifle too, at least when it comes to replacement stocks, buffers, hand-guards and other spare parts/accessories. It seems China’s factories have been churning out plenty of Black Rifle components. Only one problem — U.S. Federal government policies ban importation of many types of gun parts from China. Washington has an embargo on Chinese-made gun components.
The 
Built on S&W’s medium K-frame, the 8-round Model 648 is designed for small game hunting and target shooting. The .22 WMR is definitely a much more potent varmint cartridge than the .22 LR. You have more downrange energy plus a flatter trajectory. While the 648 does not come with an integral scope rail, it is not difficult to mount red dot or optical sights to this wheelgun.
