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April 1st, 2012
 Because of draconian restrictions on handguns in the United Kingdom, Olympic smallbore pistol shooters from the UK have been forced to conduct their training in neighboring countries, such as Belgium and France. Obviously, the need to travel overseas to practice their sport has been a major handicap for UK shooters who will compete with Team GB* at the upcoming London Olympics. Said one smallbore pistol shooter: “Our goal is to win a medal for mother England, the 2012 host nation. But it is hard to compete on a world-class level when we can’t even train at home. Going overseas every time we need to practice wastes precious time and money. Other Olympic shooters don’t face these kind of obstacles.”
 With the 2012 London Olympics soon approaching, UK Olympic officials have been looking at ways that Team GB pistol shooters can avoid the need to travel abroad just to practice shooting. Now, through a special act of Parliament, it appears that UK Olympic pistol shooters may finally be able to hone their marksmanship skills at home. A new law will allow qualified Olympic-level pistol shooters on Team Great Britain to import a new, non-lethal training device recently introduced in the United States. With the aid of the American-made Trigger Trainer, UK Olympic shooters can now practice their trigger-pulling skills without risking a trip to prison. The Trigger-Trainer is a plastic device with a pistol grip, and spring-loaded “trigger”. However, it is incapable of firing a projectile because it lacks a barrel, magazine, firing pin, and sights.
Some of Team GB’s shooters have expressed doubts about the usefulness of the rather primitive Trigger Trainer. (As it lacks front and rear sights, the Trigger Trainer is difficult to align precisely on the target). But top British Olympic decision-makers believe that the shooters’ complaints are unjustified. British Olympic Association official Nigel Wensleydale observed: “Complaints? That’s just idle whinging if you ask me… nothing’s perfect you know. Perhaps the Trigger Trainers do leave something to be desired as they come out of the box. But our Olympic shooters are clever lads. I think, with a little imagination and some sticky tape, these Trigger Trainers will be tip-top. Goodness, you could simply tape a drinking straw on top and sight through that. I mean how much precision do these chaps really need — the target’s only 10m away for goodness sake.”
*Great Britain is the name under which the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland competes at the Olympic Games. Great Britain was one of 14 teams to compete in the first Games, the 1896 Summer Olympics, and has competed at every Games. Great Britain is the only team to have won at least one gold medal at every Summer Games.
March 31st, 2012
After a series of try-outs, 28 shooters have been selected to the U.S. F-Class Open Development Team. From this select group of 28 shooters, F-Open Team USA squads will be filled for future international team matches. After further try-outs, the top 18 (16 + 2 alternates) will be selected for the final F-Open team that represents the United States in the next World F-Class Championship in 2013.
The idea behind the Development Team is that having a larger group of qualified individuals to draw from makes it easier to field a strong team at any given time. Not everyone can travel at the same time — particularly to international matches. From the 28 current Development Team members, a final 18-shooter team will be chosen prior to the 2013 World Championships at Raton, New Mexico.
| The U.S. F-Open Development Team — Officers, Coaches, Shooters |
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Captain: Shiraz Balolia
Vice Captain: Bryan Otey
Head Coach: Bob Mead
Coaches: Emil Praslick, Rick Hunt, Trudie Fay |
Shooters
(sorted by first name)
Bob Bock (Senior)
Charles Ballard
Charles Clark
Danny Biggs
David Gosnell
David Mann
Dean Morris
Doc Bock
Don Nagel
Emil Kovan
Erik Cortina
Herb Edwards
Jim Fowler |
Jim Murphy
John Brewer
John Dunbar
John Gaines
John Myers
Ken Dickerman
Kenny Adams
Larry Bartholome
Larry Taite
Mark Walker
Rick Jensen
Ron Herms
Ryan Pierce
Tony Robertson
Walter Lange |
The Try-Out Process for the F-Class Open Development Team
The U.S. F-Class Open Rifle Team held nine try-outs throughout the country in six different cities over the course of the last two years. These shooters had to prove themselves multiple times shooting at 1000 yards. The shooters were tested on their ability to shoot under a coach and hold vertical. Each and every shooter had to meet minimum standards. The process was very transparent with all shooters being able to view other shooters’ scores and targets.
March 30th, 2012
Report by Murray Hicks
On March 10, 2012, history was made down under when 78 shooters attended the inaugural BRT 500m Fly Shoot National Championships held in Canberra, Australia. 500m fly shooting has grown immensely in popularity down under since the first Fly Shoot was held in Canberra, 22 years ago. The Fly Shoot is a highlight of the Aussie shooting calendar, attracting the largest field of competitors among any benchrest-style match in Australia. The day of the match was a cracker (that means good in the Aussie lingo) with blue skies and light winds.
| CLICK “PLAY” to hear Murray Hicks talk about the sport of Fly-Shooting in Australia. Murray explains Fly Shoot rules, including the famous Rule 10: “Any competitor found not enjoying themselves, will be disqualified”. |
[haiku url=”http://accurateshooter.net/Video/flyshoot.mp3″ title=”Fly Shoots by Murray Hicks”] |
 The 500m (560-yard) Fly Target is shot for score on a target with 10 scoring rings, plus a central fly image (instead of an “X”). A shot that hits any part of the fly counts as 10.1. Bonus points are also awarded for group size, with one point for a group under 10″ up to a maximum of 10 points for a group under 1″. Thus, 60.5 is the max possible score for one five-shot target (10.1 x 5 plus ten bonus points).
The Fly Shoot has two equipment classes: Light Gun (under 17 lbs.) and Heavy Gun. This is one of the few matches in Australia where Light and Heavy guns shoot head to head for overall placings. The wide variety of chamberings/calibers used by competitors is remarkable. Unlike the 600-yard BR game in the USA, which is dominated by small 6mm cartridges, at Australia’s Fly Shoots, you will see everything from small varmint calibers all the way up to big-bore Magnums. Many shooters favor the big 30s because it’s easier to see .30-caliber bullet holes through the mirage. This year’s Canberra event was won by Stuart Elliott shooting a 300 Win Mag. It was fitting that Stuart won the Inaugural BRT 500m Fly National Championships. Stuart, who runs BRT Shooters’ Supply, was one of the three Fly Shoot “founding fathers” who dreamed up the Fly Shoot discipline 22 years ago.
To learn more about 500m Fly Shooting or 200m Rimfire Fly Shoots, visit 500mflyshooter.com.au. There you’ll find official records, match results, and you can download the SSSA Fly Shoot Rules. CLICK HERE to view more photos of the competitors and their hardware.
Spotters Add to the Fun
The use of a spotter during the match is permitted and even encouraged. This adds greatly to the fun of the shoot. Having a good mate on a spotting scope alongside you spotting your shots and helping to call the wind changes can really help when conditions get rough (as they often do).
The past year has seen the 500m Fly Shoot officially recognised by the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (SSAA) and added to the official rule book. As a result the March shoot in Canberra this year became the Inaugural Fly Shoot National Championships. BRT Shooters’ Supply came on board as the event’s major sponsor, offering BRT’s full support and organizing an excellent prize pool. Thus the “BRT 500m National Fly Shoot Championships” was born.
The BRT 500m Fly Shoot Nationals were shot in reasonably good conditions, with major rains and floods in the week leading up to the shoot things were looking a bit dodgy. Luckily the day before the shoot the weather started to clear and over 40 tons of gravel had to be bought in to repair the access road to the 500m target line which had been washed away. The main organiser David Groves and his willing team of helpers took this all in their stride and did a tremendous effort to keep things running smoothly.
The inaugural shoot had an international flavor with shooter Sebastian Lambang, maker of the Seb rest, making the trek from Indonesia to compete. Lambang bought along his new switch-barrel rifle. With wide front “wings” attached and his .284 barrel, Seb finished 14th overall and 7th in Light Gun.
| Top Competitors at 500m BRT Fly Shoot Championships |
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Name – Score – Class + Placing
1. Stuart Elliott: 261.03 — HG 1
2. Murray Hicks: 260.05 — HG 2
3. Anthony Hall: 257.03 — LG 1
4. Jason Trotter: 249.02 — HG 3
5. Annie Elliott: 247.03 — HG 4
6. Michael Farr: 242.04 — HG 5
7. Les Fraser: 242.01 — HG 6
8. Les Fraser: 241.01 — LG 2
9. Tyson Trotter: 238.01 — LG 3
10. Roy Gow: 237.02 — LG 4
11. Mick Easton: 235.02 — LG 5
12. Dave Groves: 228.02 — HG 7
13. Michael Bell: 228.01 — LG 6 |
Other Important Results
Small Group Paul Read: HG 1.382″
Best target Jason Trotter: HG 58.01
Best Junior Roy Gow: LG 237.02
Note on Rankings: The ranking list (the “Dirty Dozen”) includes 13 rankings of 12 shooters. Les Fraser shot both classes, finishing 7th overall with his HG and 8th overall with his LG. A second entry is included in the “Dirty Dozen” list for Les to allow recognition of his second highest score in Light Gun Class. However, each shooter normally only gets one overall ranking in the “Dirty Dozen” top 12. |
All photos are copyright Murray Hicks, used with permission.
March 27th, 2012
Mark you calendars for April 13-15, 2012. Those are the dates for the 141st NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits, to be held this year in St. Louis, Missouri. As ever, there will be plenty to see and do at the NRA National Meetings/Exibits. There will be seminars, celebrity appearances, and priceless collections of firearms. Virtually all the major gunmakers in the country should have their latest products on display. In fact, there will be more than 500 exhibitors, whose displays will cover 340,000 square feet of exhibit hall space. In addition to fireams, you can see knives, wildlife art, shooting accessories, hunting gear, ATVs, and much more. You’ll even find an airgun range on site where you can shoot air rifles provided by Pyramyd Air.
To learn more about the NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits, visit www.NRAM.org, the NRA’s Meetings/ Exhibits website. There you’ll find floorplans, seminar schedules, lists of exhibitors, plus information on hotels and travel. Look for the latest updates on the NRA’s Facebook Page.
March 25th, 2012
Brownells’ 6th Annual Gunsmith Career Fair will be held at the Des Moines Marriot Downtown in Des Moines, Iowa, April 27-28, 2012. The Sixth Annual Gunsmith Career Fair is expected to draw hundreds of attendees along with representatives from three dozen potential employers. As in past years, the Career Fair will include gunsmithing seminars along with opportunities for individuals to interview for jobs with arms-makers and government agencies.
 Gunsmith CareerFair.com.
In addition to industry and government representatives, many trade schools and colleges offering gunsmithing programs will be exhibiting at the 2012 Gunsmith fair. These include:
Story tip by EdLongrange. Reader Submissions are welcome.
March 24th, 2012
 Sturm, Ruger & Co. Inc. (Ruger) must be doing something right. Ruger’s manufacturing plants are running at full capacity, yet it still can’t keep up with demand for its pistols and rifles. Ruger recently announced that, for the first quarter 2012, the Company has received orders for more than one million units.. That will outstrip Ruger’s production capacity. Therefore, the Company has temporarily suspended the acceptance of new orders.
Chief Executive Officer Michael O. Fifer made the following comments:
• The Company’s Retailer Programs that were offered from January 1, 2012 through February 29, 2012 were very successful and generated significant orders from retailers to independent wholesale distributors for Ruger firearms.
• Year-to-date, the independent wholesale distributors placed orders with the Company for more than one million Ruger firearms.
• Despite the Company’s continuing successful efforts to increase production rates, the incoming order rate exceeds our capacity to rapidly fulfill these orders. Consequently, the Company has temporarily suspended the acceptance of new orders.
• The Company expects to resume the normal acceptance of orders by the end of May 2012.
New Guns Have Been Well-Received
Ruger has seen its fortunes rise in the past few years with the successful introduction of small, compact self-loading pistols. These are very popular with Americans looking for a “carry” pistol for self defense. In addition, demand for rifles has increased with Ruger’s recent introduction of its value-priced Ruger American Rifle (RAR), a bolt gun with many modern features such as a barrel nut (like Savage) and side bolt release (like Tikka). With a street price of just $379.60, the basic, synthetic-stocked RAR is a value-leader in the market, just like the Ruger 10/22, which continues to sell in great numbers.
March 23rd, 2012
 Nightforce Optics, Inc. (Nightforce), has completely redesigned and updated its website. Visit www.NightforceOptics.com to check out the new look and new features. The new site includes easier navigation, extensive product information, and a number of helpful tutorial features. NightforceOptics.com also includes photo galleries, product specs, and a global dealer locator.
New Site Offers Video Tutorials, Plus Interactive Reticle Calculator
The redesigned site includes detailed information on the products, reticles and technology. For example, the online Velocity™ Reticle Calculator allows the shooter to interactively explore the application and performance of the unique Nightforce Velocity™ 1000 and Velocity™ 600 reticles, relative to their own rifle’s ballistic profile. Visitors will find several tutorial videos, such as the one explaining the Nightforce ZeroStop™ system on the elevation turret. This allows the shooter to instantly return to his chosen zero point, no matter how many adjustments in elevation have been made. The site also conveys a wide range of general riflescope knowledge and information to help shooters hone their long-range skills.
“Delivering as much information to our customers as possible, within a visually appealing and useful environment, was our goal for the new website,” said Terry L. Eby, marketing project manager for Nightforce. “We will continue to add new information to the site that will help Nightforce customers[.]”
March 21st, 2012
If you’re looking for a great start for your summer, mark your calendars for June 1, 2, and 3 and plan to shoot the 2012 Remington-Bushmaster Long Range Regional at the Reade Range in central Pennsylvania. June in the Appalachian Mountains is a beautiful time and place. The Reade range is a first class facility and terrific place to shoot. The Regional tournament is open to conventional (sling), and F-class shooters (both F-TR and F-Open). Firing will begin on Friday, June 1st with a 4-man team match. Saturday is 3×1000 any/iron match followed by a wind clinic by Bryan Litz. The match concludes on Sunday with 3×1000 any/any matches and awards presentations where a meal will be provided by the range. Several Military teams are expected to be in attendance and pit service is being arranged (so shooters probably won’t have to pull targets, but this is still being worked out).
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CLICK “PLAY” to HEAR Bryan Litz TALK about LR Regional Match Course of Fire and PRIZES:
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[haiku url=”http://appliedballisticsllc.com/AS_blog.mp3″ title=”Bryan Litz Voice Memo”] |
As if the fun of competitive shooting isn’t enticing enough, this match is heavily sponsored with some terrific prizes. Awards for the winners include: Remington rifles, Championship medals, and $1000 in cash awards. In addition to awards, the prize table will be presented as door prizes. So far over 18 sponsors have pledged product prizes totaling over $6,000 in value.
 You can visit the Reade Range website for directions to the range, accommodations, etc. CLICK HERE to view and download the Match Program as a printable PDF file.
Remington-Bushmaster Arms is the primary sponsor of the match. Applied Ballistics, LLC is promoting the match and you can see a full list of the match sponsors and prizes on the Applied Ballistics homepage, AppliedBallisticsllc.com. Sponsor donations are greatly appreciated. If you have a business in the firearms industry and would like to support the shooting sports by donating to this match, please contact Bryan Litz at: bryan.litz [at] appliedballisticsllc.com .
March 20th, 2012
 “Holy Mother of Mercy…” was this Editor’s reaction when I saw the “screamer” group shot by Forum member Tim Claunch this weekend in Memphis, at the inaugural MSSA 600-yard IBS match. Shooting his amazingly accurate 6BRX Light Gun, Tim nailed a 0.981″ group, centered up for an impressive 50-2X score. Conditions were favorable, with a light 3-5 mph wind and 70° temps. Shooting on the first target, first relay, Tim took his final sighter with 10 seconds to go, then drilled five shots “right down the middle” in about 20-25 seconds. The results were spectacular. Tim’s 0.981″ group works out to 0.156 MOA, and three of the shots clustered in about half an inch! This isn’t a new IBS small group record (Sam Hall holds that record with a mind-blowing 0.699″/50 shot in 2010), but it is still one of the best centered-up groups ever shot in IBS 600-yard competition.
Tim was shooting the same 6BRX we featured last month in the Daily Bulletin. It has a 26″ Bartlein 1.250″ straight contour barrel fitted to a Borden action in a Shehane fiberglass Tracker stock. Tim was running Varget powder with CCI 450 primers and pointed Berger 105gr VLD bullets. Tim anneals his Lapua brass after every firing though he does NOT uniform his primer pockets or ream flash-holes.
Just how impressive was Tim’s 0.981″, 50-score-value group?
Well, consider this comment from Forum member JeffG:
A .981″ group at 600 yards = .981/6.2832 = (H#LY $H*T) = .156 MOA…
Try doing that at 600 yards with wind and mirage and who knows how many little flying insects that might potentially disrupt the bullet… pulling the trigger when the crosshairs are at EXACTLY the same spot (give or take 1/10th the thickness of the crosshairs) EVERY TIME.
| CLICK Buttons to HEAR Tim Claunch Talk about Shooting his 0.981″ group. |
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With his 0.981″ small group, Tim did take top honors for Light Gun Group. However, he had one shot go wide on another target that raised his Light Gun Group Agg to 2.335″. You’d think that would be good enough to win, but a shooter from Birmingham, Alabama posted a 2.299″ Agg to claim the best Light Gun Agg for the day. Charlie Macke won Heavy Gun group and HG score. The Two-Gun Overall winner was Forum member Stephen Hall. Congrats to all the great shooters at the inaugural MSSA event.
March 20th, 2012
 The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute (SAAMI) issued the following statement:
SAMMI, a registered United Nations non-governmental organization (NGO) with roster status, has taken the regrettable but necessary step of withdrawing any reference of SAAMI association from the U.N. agency project to create “International Small Arms Control Standards (ISACS).”
The goal of ISACS, as stated on the U.N. website is “To develop internationally accepted and validated standards that provide clear and comprehensive guidance to practitioners and policy-makers on small arms and light weapons control.”
SAAMI, being an accredited standards-setting organization, welcomed the opportunity to be part of a standards-setting process which requires rigorous adherence to facts.
“We saw the ISACS as a way to cut through the politics and rhetoric of this issue and get down to core actions that will reduce violence,” says Rick Patterson, Managing Director of SAAMI. “Regrettably, the process has been tainted, expert input has been ignored, and the resulting standards represent nothing more than the opinions of the authors — most of whom are affiliated with NGO’s supporting gun control.”
Because the U.N. has ignored contrary facts and opinions, and quelled debate, the U.N. has done itself — and everyone associated with ISACS — a disservice. They have negatively affected the credibility of all parties involved. For these reasons, SAAMI simply cannot allow its reputation for professionalism, integrity and factual expertise to be associated with the ISACS program.
SAMMI has also issued a lengthy “Minority Report in response to Draft International Small Arms Control Standards Promulgated by the U.N. Coordinating Action in Small Arms (CASA)”. This Minority Report is highly critical of the processes leading to the proposed United Nations International Small Arms Control Standards (ISACS). SAAMI’s Minority Report notes that there was a “refusal to consider opposing views” and an “editorial bias during the drafting process.” CLICK HERE to read full SAAMI Minority Report.
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