Thinking of combining rifle and pistol powder in a blended duplex load? Well think again. If you want to keep all your fingers, stick with factory powders and established loads at safe pressures. Here’s what can happen with a duplex load composed of both rifle and pistol powders. This catastrophic kaboom of an AR rifle took place at the Phoenix (AZ) Rod & Gun Club (PRGC) range. The photos, first posted on the ArizonaShooting.com forum, show how the AR blew up, ruining the bolt carrier, splitting the upper receiver, blowing out the Cavalry Arms polymer lower, and actually detaching the barrel.
Another shooter, who was nearby when the Kaboom occurred, reported: “I was standing 10 feet behind [the shooter], loading mags. The shot was no different than any other shots. I only looked up because the RO was yelling for assistance.”
Obstructed Barrel? Probably Not: “The target showed four hits — the fourth round Kaboomed the rifle. [If there was an obstructed barrel only three holes should be on the target.] A piece of the exploded cartridge is still in the chamber of the barrel. The barrel extension split into three major pieces with smaller pieces cutting the left inside forearm.”
Suspected Cause? “It was a combination of rifle and pistol powder. The rest of the batch was pulled and there were apparently 3-4 other rounds with mixed loads.” It has been reported that these were commercial .223 Rem reloads.
What Happened to the Operator? “The shooter is fine. He got whacked in the face with the charging handle, giving him a fat lip. Minor cuts on his face. His wrist got fragged with carbon fiber/free float tube remains, which were embedded in his skin for a few weeks.”
Parts Ruined: Upper receiver, Cav Arms MK2 polymer lower receiver, Bolt Carrier Group (total loss), forearm, barrel, gas tube, gas block, muzzle brake, mag release, bolt release, custom trigger and take-down pins. Also charging handle is bent and trigger group sustained some damage.
We are sad to announce the passing, on April 11, of Master Gunsmith and cartridge designer Ferris Pindell. Co-inventer of the 6 PPC cartridge with Louis Palmisano, Pindell was a legendary figure in the benchrest community. A member of the Benchrest Hall of Fame, Pindell was revered as a great machininist and a true pioneer in the pursuit of ultimate rifle accuracy. The short, fat PPC cartridge he helped design has proven to be the most accurate cartridge ever created. For decades it has dominated the sport of Benchrest for group and the PPC holds virtually all the major 100- to 300-yard group accuracy records.
We are all diminished by the passing of Ferris Pindell. As Tim Oltersdorf wrote on Benchrest Central:
“I wish to express my sadness at the passing of Ferris. He was a great innovator and master craftsman. His time on earth was too short for someone with so much to give. He is either wildcatting with God or giving Satan lectures on machining; come to think of it — given Ferris’ gifts — probably both.”
Palmisano is in Poor Health
Lou Palmisano, shown below (on left) with his friend and colleague Ferris Pindell, is ailing. Patti Palmisano posted this request on Benchrest Central this morning:
Just to let everyone know that Lou is in extremely poor health. I know it would mean a lot to him to hear from shooters. He loved shooting and shooters more than anything throughout his lifetime. Please…just [send] a card or note… or even a call in the afternoon. He is 80 now and very frail… asking you to please reach out to him at this difficult time.
Bartlein Barrels leads the way among companies supporting American competitors at the 2011 World Benchrest Championships in France. Bartlein Barrels has made a significant donation to this year’s American team — over $14,000.00 worth of match barrels. In dollar value, this is the single largest donation to the team from any source. Each Team USA member will receive four (4) barrels in their set-up of choice. We commend the folks at Bartlein Barrels for generously supporting the United States Benchrest Shooting Team.
World Benchrest Championship USA Team Members Selected
Listed below are the names of the team members who represent the United States at the 2011 World Benchrest Championship (WBC-11). The Championship will be held August 23-27, 2011 in Volmerange, Les Mines, France. USA Team members were selected through points accumulated at five qualifying matches in 2010.
Team 1 – Tony Boyer, Larry Costa, Gene Bukys, Chris Harris Team 2 – Mike Ratigan, Jack Neary, Andy Shifflett, Wayne Campbell Team 3 – Tim Oltersdorf, Dave Coots, Rabon Stewart Jr., Larry Baggett
Alternates: Bob Hammack, Don Nielson, Lou Murdica, Greg Reed | Honorary Captain: Walt Berger
The 2011 Hickory Groundhog and Egg Shoot at Vale, NC was a big success. Some 177 shooters vied for over $7,000 worth of prizes. The main course of fire was challenging, with three sets of paper groundhog targets at 100, 300, and 500 yards, and NO Sighters. Shooters can also compete in an Egg Shoot for cash and other prizes. For the primary three-yardage Groundhog match, there are two rifle classes: Custom Division and Factory Division. The match, one of the most popular varmint competitions in the country, is sponsored by Bulls-Eye Sporting Goods (Larry Willis, owner). The event is held every year on the first Saturday in April.
This year’s “Top Shot” at the Hickory was Randy Chappell. Shooting a 6 BRDX (we were told), Randy scored 90 points to win the Custom Division. Randy took home a new Nightforce NXS scope plus $300.00. Runner-up Robbie Roberts steered his 6BR to second place in Custom, earning him a Sightron Scope and $150.00 in cash. Finishing third in Custom Division was past Hickory winner Chris Brady, Terry Brady’s son. Chris, who also shot a 6BR, took home a Shehane Tracker stock and $50.00.
CUSTOM Division
1st Place, 90 points Randy Chappell
2nd Place, 82 points Robby Roberts
3rd Place, 80 points Chris Brady
FACTORY Division
1st Place, 72 points Greg Davis
2nd Place, 59 points Jeff Godfrey
3rd Place, 59 points Jason Elmosre
Rock River AR Wins Factory Division
There were some surprises this year in the Factory Division. While many folks expected a Savage 6BR or 6.5-284 to win, that wasn’t in the cards. This year a semi-auto ‘Black Rifle’ outshot all the factory bolt guns. Greg Davis scored 72 points with his .223 Rem Rock River AR15 to win the Factory division by a comfortable margin. The next best Factory shooters, Jeff Godfrey and Jason Elmore, both had identical 59-point totals. Godfrey was awarded second place over Elmore on a tie-breaker.
Challenging Conditions on the Range
Conditions at the Hickory were pretty tough this year. Sam Hall, a past Hickory winner and IBS Shooter of the year explained: “It was difficult this year, with 20+ mph, gusty winds in the afternoon. This is a ‘no sighters’ match and I was having trouble with my cold bore zero. I wasn’t the only one.”
The 6 BRDX — The Best BR Improved Yet?
Shooting his new 6 BRDX, Sam finished eighth in Custom Division, with 73 points. Sam likes the 6 BRDX chambering, which is a 6BR Improved with a 40° shoulder, but with a longer neck than a BRX or Dasher. “I’m real happy with the BRDX… I think it is as accurate as a BRX or Dasher, but the brass is much easier to form. Randy Chappell told me the same thing. I think it has enough case capacity to hit the velocities we want. The BRDX was shooting ‘lights out’ earlier this year, but I think maybe my tune wasn’t right for the conditions at the Hickory.”
Hornady has discovered social networking. This week Hornady launched official Facebook and Twitter sites. Fans can go to Facebook.com/hornady and Twitter.com/teamhornady to get the latest news about Hornady products and events.
Hornady’s Facebook Site will offer:
Live chats with industry experts.
Exclusive discounts and promotions.
Timely info on new products.
Product photo galleries and videos.
On Hornady’s new social media pages, shooters can share their photos and stories about hunting, competitive shooting, and reloading. Importantly, the Facebook Page will allow shooters to interact with Hornady’s “brain trust” — the ballisticians, designers, and engineers who develop Hornady’s new products. Allowing customers to share their ideas/experiences with the folks who design and build Hornady products is a good thing. Hornady can get reliable, immediate feedback on its products. That should speed up the process of making improvements and enhancements.
In a near-perfect performance, Sarah Scherer, a sophomore at Texas Christian University (TCU), claimed the gold medal in Women’s 10m Air Rifle at the ISSF World Cup Korea. Scherer entered the final round tied with Poland’s Agnieska Nagay, a two-time Olympian. Scherer then nailed an impressive 103.5 score in the final, to finish with 501.5 total points, winning by one point. Nagay finished with 500.5 total points (398+102.5) for the silver medal and a quota place for Poland. Finishing third was Serbia’s Ivana Maksimovic with 499.4 total points (397+102.4).
Sarah, an All-American and NCAA Champion shooter at TCU, wowed the crowd. National Rifle Coach Major Dave Johnson said, “Sarah was a focused machine. I was impressed with her control and determination.” You can watch Scherer shoot in the ISSF Video below (action starts after 35-second intro).
Not only is this a huge accomplishment for Scherer, she also brings home a much-needed 2012 Olympic quota for Women’s 10m Air Rifle. In an ISSF interview, Scherer said, “It has been my first time in a final, and it was a bit intimidating to shoot shoulder to shoulder with these experienced athletes. But I have been training hard to get here, so I was quite confident. It feels great to win a quota place for my country.” This was Scherer’s first ISSF Gold. But she is no stranger to the podium. Sarah was the 2010 NCAA National smallbore rifle champion and the 2010 USA Junior Olympics air rifle champion.
Forum member Jerry Tierney reports that the Sacramento Valley Shooting Center (Folsom Shooting Club) had a great turnout for its 600-yard high power prone and F-Class match this past weekend. There were 55 shooters total, with more F-Class shooters than prone shooters, and the 20 F-TR shooters was the biggest . That’s impressive attendance for this early in the season.
Noma Mayo Wins Prone, Pete White Wins F-Open, Sean Mattson Wins F-TR
Jerry Tierney reports: “I really hate to say this but, Lane got beat by the girl again. Prone winner was Norma Mayo with a 599-43X, edging runner-up Lane Buxton who shot 598-40X. That is a bunch of Xs!” Interestingly, If Noma had shot on the F-class target (using iron sights and sling) her score would have been 582.
F-Open winner was Peter White, who posted 592-33x to edge Jerry Tierney on X-Count. Jerry shot 592-20X for second place. Jerry was shooting his 7mm SAUM (with Berger 180gr Hybrids) while Peter was shooting his 6BRX with Varget, Berger 108s, and CCI BR4s. Forum member Sean Mattson shot 555-16X, finish first in a large F-TR field. With 20 shooters, F-TR was the most popular class.
NBRSA 600-Yard and 1000-Yard Nationals Coming Soon
One reason this Match was so well-attended by F-Classers is that the NBRSA 600-Yard and 1000-Yard Nationals plus a 1K F-Class Bench Match will be held later this month in Sacramento, so this weekend was an ideal “tune-up” match. The entry/information forms are now available for the NBRSA 600-yard Nationals (Sloughhouse 600: April 20-21, 2011), 1000-Yard F-Class Bench Match (April 22, 2011), and 1000-Yard Nationals (Sloughhouse 1000: April 23-25, 2011). All three major events will be held at the Sacramento Valley Shooting Center, located outside Sacramento, California.
The 2011 NRA Intercollegiate Rifle Club Championships, hosted by Clemson University, conclude today. We have final results from the Air Rifle competition which wrapped up earlier. Clayton Peck of Michigan State won the overall air rifle title with a 582 score. Clemson’s Dylan Smith took second with 570, barely edging Tori Kostecki from North Georgia CSU who posted a 569. In team competition, Clemson won gold, Penn State took second, while West Virginia finished third. Below is a slide show with images from the air rifle finals which took place at The Citadel Marksmanship Center.
Five Competition Classes in Take-5 Events
There five (5) different classes for competition, as listed below. A shooter may enter different classifications for pistol and rifle.
Great Location for Family Getaway
This Editor has often competed at the Morro Bay shooting range facility. This is a great venue for a weekend getaway. The range is close to the ocean, with affordable hotels and good camping facilities nearby. You can bring the whole family. There’s plenty for them to see and do.
The Online Entry Form for the 2011 National Matches has links to download Liability forms and Special Squadding Request forms for the Smallbore Rifle Phase. Please note that team entries must be made on-site at Camp Perry. Visit www.nmentry.com, for more info. If you have questions about online entry, email compadmin@nrahq.org.
We are sad to announce the passing, on April 11, of Master Gunsmith and cartridge designer Ferris Pindell. Co-inventer of the 6 PPC cartridge with Louis Palmisano, Pindell was a legendary figure in the benchrest community. A member of the Benchrest Hall of Fame, Pindell was revered as a great machininist and a true pioneer in the pursuit of ultimate rifle accuracy. The short, fat PPC cartridge he helped design has proven to be the most accurate cartridge ever created. For decades it has dominated the sport of Benchrest for group and the PPC holds virtually all the major 100- to 300-yard group accuracy records.
Just to let everyone know that Lou is in extremely poor health. I know it would mean a lot to him to hear from shooters. He loved shooting and shooters more than anything throughout his lifetime. Please…just [send] a card or note… or even a call in the afternoon. He is 80 now and very frail… asking you to please reach out to him at this difficult time.
Challenging Conditions on the Range
In a near-perfect performance, 
The 2011 NRA Intercollegiate Rifle Club Championships, hosted by Clemson University, conclude today. We have final results from the Air Rifle competition which wrapped up earlier. Clayton Peck of Michigan State won the overall air rifle title with a 582 score. Clemson’s Dylan Smith took second with 570, barely edging Tori Kostecki from North Georgia CSU who posted a 569. In team competition, Clemson won gold, Penn State took second, while West Virginia finished third. Below is a slide show with images from the air rifle finals which took place at The Citadel Marksmanship Center.
The 
Camp Perry shooters, get out those computer keyboards. Online entry is now officially activated for the 
