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September 22nd, 2010
 In Switzerland, universal military training is required of young men, and after military service, Swiss men retain their military weapons, including assault rifles, in their homes. In addition, target shooting remains a hugely popular activity among the Swiss. Though it has a population of just 7,000,000, Switzerland boasts over 2,000 rifle ranges. Each year, close to 200,000 Swiss participate in the Eidgenössisches Feldschiessen (annual shooting skills exercise). A several hundred-year-old tradition, the Feldschiessen (aka Tiro Federale in Campagna) is the largest shooting event in the world.
Shooting service rifles at 300m is typical at many Feldschiessen matches. Some Swiss ranges boast the latest high-tech equipment. At one of the popular ranges, 400 electronic targets served thousands of shooters. And get this — the Swiss government provides free ammunition at each year’s Feldschiessen. Contrast that with California — which recently passed legislation requiring citizens to provide thumbprints and personal data just to purchase ammo. Switzerland views armed citizens as a vital national asset. California views shooters as a pariah class that should be eliminated.
Swiss Gun-Control Advocates Call for Change
Despite the popularity of shooting in Switzerland, and the nation’s tradition of maintaining an armed citizenry, there are groups seeking to restrict gun ownership and require that military arms be removed from homes and stored in military barracks. Both sides of the issue are covered in a video report from World Radio Switzerland. You should definitely watch the video. In it, Marc Heim, a Swiss citizen, explains that the Swiss government seeks to maintain “a very high state of readiness for the Swiss military and population. The [goal] has always been that, within 24 to 48 hours, Switzerland could mobilize a pretty large army.” Heim still has the Stgw 57 (7.5×55) rifle he trained with, as well as the rifles used by his father, and grandfather before him. Heim’s young son, in his 20s, keeps a modern, fully-automatic Sig 550. That is the rifle Marc Heim and his son would take to the Feldschiessen.
CLICK HERE for Story and VIDEO on Swiss Gun Tradition (Highly Recommended)
Reasons for Armed Citizenry in Switzerland
Marc Heim believes that it is important for Switzerland to retain a “citizen army”. His belief was strengthened after he visited a Holocaust museum: “That’s when it all hit me… I want to be free and never in a situation where they could just march us off to ovens or prisons… or just take away our freedom. The key to freedom is the ability to be able to defend yourself, and if you don’t have the tools to do that then you are at the mercy of anyone who wants to put you away. And the tools for that are guns.”
September 21st, 2010
 The 25th Annual Gun Rights Policy Conference (GRPC) will be held this upcoming weekend, September 24-26, in San Francisco, CA. Ironically (or perhaps deliberately?) the conference convenes in one of the most gun-hostile cities in North America. Past GRPCs have covered the latest firearms trends and outlined strategic plans to expand gun rights. This year GRPC organizers will focus on critical issues such as: city gun bans, youth violence, “smart” guns, concealed carry, federal legislation, legal actions, gun show regulation, state and local activity. Noted legal experts will also preview the upcoming court cases and revisit the U.S. Supreme Court landmark decision in D.C. v. Heller.
The team of “distinguished experts” has not yet been finalized, but past speakers have included: Alan M. Gottlieb, Wayne LaPierre, Larry Elder, Ken Hamblin, John Lott, Sandy Froman, Massad Ayoob, Tom Gresham, Alan Gura, Reps. Bob Barr and Chris Cannon and many others. This event is co-hosted by the Second Amendment Foundation, which offers free online registration.
NOTE: Books, monographs and other materials — enough to start a Second Amendment library — are FREE, as are Saturday luncheon, Friday and Saturday evening receptions, and morning/afternoon snacks. Other meals, travel costs, and lodging costs must be paid by attendee.
September 21st, 2010
The United States Army’s Joint Munitions and Lethality Contracting Center has awarded Remington Arms a 5-year contract to upgrade 3,600 current M24 sniper rifles to the new M24E1 Sniper Weapon System. The major change will be a conversion from the 7.62mm NATO (.308 Winchester) cartridge to .300 Winchester Magnum to provide “additional precision engagement capability and range”. The contract, potentially worth over $28 million, was awarded after a 9-month competitive evaluation. CLICK HERE for Remington Press Release.
The Army’s new M24E1 sniper rifle will share the Rem 700 long action (receiver) and trigger from the currently-fielded M24, but little else. (The Army specifically required that the M24E1 be built around the same 700 series long action and fire control system.) The M24E1 is considered a “total conversion upgrade”, by which the barrel, stock, magazines, muzzlebrake, suppressor, and even the optics will be changed. The M24E1 will carry a 6.5-20×50 variable power Leupold scope with a first focal plane (FFP) reticle that includes .300 Win Magnum bullet-drop compensation markings.
To the new M24E1s, Remington will fit 24″, 10-Twist (5R) hammer-forged barrels, chambered in .300 Win Mag. After the change in chambering, the most notable difference between the M24 and M24E1 is the new modular metal chassis/stock. There are a variety of adjustments in the rear buttstock section, which also folds forward for easier transport. The forearm has removable Mil Std 1913 Picatinny Rails to allowing fitting of night-vision devices and other accessories. Click Here for Forearm Photo.
M24E1 Contract Follows Production of 15,000 M24s By Remington
It is no great surprise that Remington won the contract to upgrade the older M24 sniper rifles. Remington has been produced nearly 15,000 M24 Sniper Weapon Systems for the military over the past 22 years. The M24E1 may be seen as the “natural evolution” of the Army’s existing Rem sniper platform. While the M24E1 rifle looks radically different on the outside, it remains much the same on the inside. According to Remington:
This long tradition of production and repair makes Remington the natural choice to upgrade this venerable system[.] Current operations in Southwest Asia exposed the need for a more powerful and longer-range sniper round. The baseline M24 was designed from inception to chamber a longer and more powerful round than the 7.62mm NATO, so an obvious solution to the capability gap was to finally exploit the M24’s long bolt action and chamber it for .300 Winchester Magnum.
September 20th, 2010
 by Michael Molinaro, USAMU
Sgt. Sherri Jo Gallagher set high goals for 2010. To say she met them is an understatement. The U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit Soldier recently won the National High Power Rifle Championship, is on the brink of competing to be the Army Soldier of the Year, and relishes every moment serving her country.
“I wanted to be in the military since I was very young — I was drawn to the challenge and excitement of it,” said Gallagher. “I wanted to learn how to be a leader and make a difference in life. Then I had the opportunity to join the USAMU and turn my favorite hobby into my daily life. Nothing could be more fun than that.”
Gallagher became the first service member since 1987 to win the high-power competition at the National Championships held annually at Camp Perry, Ohio. She set a new national record in the match with a 2396-161x, dropping only four shots during the entire competition. She shot 21 more “X”s than anyone else in the field, which included legends of the sport and past champions. She also became the second woman ever to win the championship — her mother, Nancy Tompkins, being the first.
“Mom won in 1998,” Gallagher said. “We were both competing that year so I didn’t get to watch her that much — but she wasn’t shooting high-power this year so she was able to watch me shoot. She brought me coffee every day. It was very nice.”
Gallagher grew up around the sport of shooting. Her stepfather managed a U.S. national rifle team, her mother is a living legend in the sport, and her sister is a three-time national high-power long-range rifle champion and finished third overall in the long-range event this year. “I started shooting when I was five,” Gallagher said. “My step-dad had us pulling targets by about seven and the best way to get out of the pits is if we volunteered to shoot. So it was good motivation.”
Gallagher currently holds 21 National records in rifle. In 2009, she won the National High Power Long Range Rifle Championship for the first time and credits her success on the firing line to some very simple advice she received at a young age.
“The biggest thing we learned growing up was to have fun and if you’re not having fun something is wrong,” she continued. “There is no point getting worked up over what you do because all you can do is your best.”
Gallagher took that advice to heart in training for the nationals this year because besides winning the coveted title at Camp Perry, she was named TRADOC Soldier of the Year just a few weeks prior. A process that started at the unit level back in the spring now has her set to go head-to-head against the best the Army has to offer at the 2010 Best Warrior Competition with the title of Army Soldier of the Year on the line.
“It’s been an awesome experience,” said Gallagher, who was promoted to the rank of Sergeant since competing at TRADOC (U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command). One of the reasons soldiers in her unit believe Gallagher is thriving is the approach she takes to every task she is given: “She has a ‘can do’ attitude about everything she does”, said SFC Kyle Ward, NCO-in-charge for the service rifle team. Gallagher hasn’t lost focus on the mission at hand for the USAMU: “The most important thing is training Soldiers, assisting with research and development, and helping the war fighter,” she said. “My goal for next year is to learn how to be a better instructor. I like to use everything I learn through competition to help train others. I get to use a skill I grew up using and help people with their marksmanship.”
September 19th, 2010
 Trudie Fay continued her outstanding shooting from earlier this week to win the Spirit of America Fullbore Championsihp with a Grand Agg score of 1781-104X, edging Tom Whitaker by one point. That’s as close as it gets — Tom finished with 1780-105X. He had one more ‘X’ than Trudie, but one less point, and it is the total score that decides the Championship. Trudie shot brilliantly right out of the gate, winning the Sunday Agg with a 450-33X. Tom almost matched that later, winning Thursday’s Agg with a 450-31X, but ultimately, Tom was unable to overcome Trudie’s early lead. Congrats to Trudie and Tom, and all the shooters who performed so well at the 2010 Spirit of America Match.
 Biggs Wins F-Open Division
Multi-time F-Class National Champion Danny Biggs won the F-Open Division with an impressive 1777-88X, three points ahead of Ryan Pierce (1774-87X), a master-level shooter who finished ahead of all the High Masters except Danny. Ryan is clearly a rising star in the F-Class world. Third overall with high X-Count for the match was Jim Murphy who scored 1766-90X. Placing fourth overall was Larry Bartholome, whose 1763-78X score also earned him High Senior Honors. (Photo at right is a file photo when Danny shot F-TR at the 2010 Championships.)
Michelle Gallagher of Berger Bullets won the F-TR division with a 1717-62X score. Michelle eged runner-up Laura Perry (1717-57X) on X-Count. Bill Watts finished third in the F-TR Division with a 1710-60X score.
Final Results have not yet been published for the team competition. But so far, in Fullbore Competition, the U.S. National 4-man Team, coached by Tom Whitaker, is in first place, while the 8-person United States Rifle Team, also coached by Whitaker, has a solid lead over the Bald Eagles Team. U.S. Rifle Team members are: Norm Crawford, Trudie Fay, Wayne Forshee, Johnie Franklin, Boyd Goldsby, Noma Mayo, Kent Reeve, and John Rhynard.
Berger 4- and 8-man Teams Lead in F-Class Team Competition
In F-Class Team events, the 4-Man Team Berger (Larry Bartholome, Danny Biggs, Robert Bock, Jim Murphy) has a 6-point lead over Team Sierra Spindle Shooters. In the SOA 8-man F-Class Team event, the Berger Right-Left Team, coached by Mid Tompkins, has a solid lead over the Insane Clown Posse, coached by Mid’s wife Nancy Tompkins. (It’s all in the family we guess.)
CLICK HERE for latest SOA Match Results
September 18th, 2010
 September 12th at the Original Pennsylvania 1000 Yard Benchrest Club (Williamsport) range Matt Kline set a new 10-shot Heavy Gun World Record with a 2.815″, 100-4X.
Breaking the 3″ mark (for 10 shots) is big news in the 1K benchrest game. The existing IBS 10-shot, 1000-yard record is 3.044″ set by Joel Pendergraft in 2009, while the NBRSA 10-Shot, 1000-yard record is 4.322″ set by Dave Tooley in 2006. Counting this 100-4X target, Matt also set a new 6-Match Heavy Gun Score Aggregate of 99.000. With Williamsport Match 10 still to shoot, Matt could push the HG Score Agg even higher.
Record Set with 300 WSM and 210-grainers
Matt Kline shot a 300 WSM with 210gr Berger VLD bullets. This confirms the accuracy of the short magnum, which may prove to be the new “go-to” cartridge of choice for those who want to shoot the high-BC, heavy 30-caliber bullets. Matt’s gun featured a BAT action, 30″ Broughton barrel, and a Nightforce 8-32x56mm BR scope. The rifle was smithed by Mark King Rifles.
Matt shared some details of his reloading process with Assist. Editor Jason Baney. This may surprise you. Matt anneals his 300 WSM brass after every firing. The necks are turned to .0135″ wall thickness for a .338″-neck chamber. Interestingly, Matt does not meplat-trim or point his Berger bullets. However, he pre-sorts the bullets very thoroughly, segregating them by .001″ variance in both bearing surface and overall bullet length. You need extremely consistent bullet-to-bullet BCs to shoot record groups like Matt did.
September 17th, 2010
The Spirit of America Match (SOA), one of the nation’s most prestigious long-range tournaments, has been underway this week at the NRA Whittington Center in Raton, New Mexico. Turn-out has been good, with 111 competitors: 67 Fullbore (Palma) shooters and 44 F-Class competitors, including 31 F-Open and 13 F-TR shooters.
Thus far Trudy Fay won the Camaraderie Trophy match, the Aggregate of last Sunday’s two Matches. Tom Whittaker won US Armed Forces Trophy Match, the Aggregate of Tuesday’s two individual matches. On Thursday the 16th, Match 7 (300, 500, and 600 yards), plus Match 8 (900 yards) were fired. We will provide Thursday results as soon as available. You can check the Bald Eagles Club website for the latest SOA Match Results.
Today, Friday the 17th, the Angel Fire 4-Man Team Match will be held at 300, 500, 600 and 1000 yards. Team matches were previously held on Monday (Raton 8-Man Match) and Wednesday (Cimarron 4-Man Match). The Spirit of America Match will conclude on Saturday with Match 10 (300, 500, 600 yards, sponsored by Sinclair Int’l), and Match 11 (900 yards, sponsored by Lapua). The combined Aggregate of Match 10 and 11 constitutes Match 12, The End of the Trail Trophy match. CLICK HERE for Match Schedule & Class Rules.
The Fullbore National and Spirit of America Championship will be awarded based on the Grand Aggregate of the four Daily Aggregates: Matches 3, 6, 9, & 12 in Target Rifle and F-Class Categories. There are also separate SOA Short Range Championship and Long Range Championship Trophies.
 Sunday Aggregate — Camaraderie Trophy Match
——- HM ——-
TRUDIE FAY W HM 300-25 150-8 450-33 *MW*
MICHAEL STORER J HM 299-18 149-10 448-28 2MW
NANCY TOMPKINS W HM 299-18 149-4 448-22 3MW
NOMA MAYO SW HM 300-25 147-5 447-30 1HM
KELLY BACHAND HM 300-18 147-9 447-27 2HM
——- MA ——-
CARLTON HARDIN MA 300-17 147-3 447-20 1MA
DOUG FRERICHS S MA 298-10 147-6 445-16 2MA
RICK CURTIS MA 299-19 145-4 444-23 3MA
Tuesday Aggregate — US Armed Forces Trophy Match
——- HM ——-
TOM WHITAKER S HM 300-21 143-5 443-26 *MW*
ALLEN ELLIOTT S HM 296-12 146-5 442-17 2MW
JON RHYNARD S HM 296-17 145-4 441-21 3MW
KENT REEVE HM 300-18 141-1 441-19 1HM
TRUDIE FAY W HM 299-20 141-5 440-25 2HM
——- MA ——-
ANDREW DONEY MA 299-17 141-2 440-19 1MA
BILL LAIR S MA 298-12 141-4 439-16 2MA
NICK MOWRER MA 299-11 140-4 439-15 3MA
September 17th, 2010
To celebrate 10 years of AR-50A1 production, ArmaLite offers a new, Limited Edition of its metal-stocked .50-caliber rifle with bundled hardware including scope mount, scope rails, bipod, and monopod.
The total production run for the Anniversary AR-50A1 is just fifty (50) rifles. All will have a custom, silver-black crackle powder-coated finish. The anniversary dates are laser-etched on the upper receiver. Each Anniversary AR-50 is part of a special package including an ArmaLite 30mm scope mount; Armalite +15, +30, and +50 MOA scope rails; a bipod, a monopod; 100 rounds of once-fired USGI 50 BMG brass; and a certificate of authenticity. For more information, visit Armalite.com. The base-model Armalite AR-50A1 (without the Anniversay upgrades) has an MSRP of $3,359.00.
September 17th, 2010
A new web vendor for loaded ammunition has just opened its doors to the online public. BulkAmmo.com launched its new secure web-store earlier this month. To celebrate its grand opening, BulkAmmo.com is offering our readers a special promotion: $25 off their first order over $200. To take advantage of this special offer, use Coupon CODE “GrandOpening” during check-out.
Steven, one of the BulkAmmo.com principals tells us: “We have a lot of inventory available and it’s all ready to ship.” BulkAmmo.com currently stocks major brands including Aguilla, CCI, Federal, Fiocchi, PMC, Remington, Tula, Winchester, and Wolf. You’ll find a wide selection of pistol, rimfire, and centerfire rifle ammo, plus shotgun shells. Brands of .308 Win brass-cased ammo include: Hornady (Interlock), Federal (GMM), and PMC.
September 16th, 2010
 The History Channel’s new TOP SHOT television show was a big success, attracting more than two million viewers each week. The show, which featured equal amounts of “Reality TV” and head-to-head competition with a variety of weapons, had a winning formula that captured a large audience. The competitors in this gun-friendly series became instant celebrities of sorts, none more so than Iain Harrison, the ex-pat British Army officer who was “the last man standing” on the show’s final episode. Iain was a fast learner who had no real weaknesses with any weapons — from throwing knives to AR15s. He was a popular and deserving champion who came away with the show’s $100,000 prize and bragging rights to the title of “Top Shot”.
Iain Harrison was recently interviewed by the NRA’s American Hunter magazine. In his interview, Iain gave away a few TOP SHOT secrets — including “behind the scenes shenanigans”. To read the complete interview with Iain, visit AmericanHunter.com. In his closing comments, Iain had this to say about the overall experience:
If you ever get the chance to participate in one of these shows, my advice is to go for it. So long as you and your family can handle the separation, it will present a great opportunity to see behind the scenes of a TV show, shoot a few unusual guns and make some lasting friendships. Just remember that the show’s audience is comprised of mostly non-shooters, and whether you like it or not, you are acting as an ambassador for the sport we all love. Your behavior reflects on all gun owners. Don’t screw it up.
CLICK HERE for Harrison Interview.
Iain Harrison photo courtesy NRA Blog.
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