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June 4th, 2009
G.A. Precision builds some of the best tactical rifles currently available, such as the Crusader model shown below. The long-awaited updated and enhanced G.A. Precision website launches today, 6/4/2009 at 12:00 noon CST. G.A. Precision’s owner George Gardner (profile below) tells us: “The new site has enhanced features and navigation and a great deal of helpful new information. It’s still a work in progress. During the rest of this year we’ll add more pages…. You can also upload pictures of you and your GAP rifle to the site, as well as testimonials.”
Find Hidden Features for a Prize
George adds: “For the unveiling there are 8-10 ‘Easter Eggs’ on the new site. Some are clickable links while others are just hidden images. The first guy to email me with all of them will win a GAP/Strider Knife (retail value $375.00). The winner will be announced on this and other gun forums.”
History of G.A. Precision
G.A. Precision was founded and started initially by George Gardner alone as a means of building competition rifles for local High Power and long range shooters. G.A. Precision has grown during the past ten years, moving through three different locations and adding 13 more employees. G.A. Precison currently builds rifles for over 300 law enforcement agencies, including FBI HRT Team Quantico, Chicago P.D. SWAT, Illinois State Police HRT Team, Cook County (Chicago) HBT. Coral Springs P.D., Florida, Kansas City MO P.D. TAC, Kansas City, KS P.D., Denton TX, Richardson TX. Dane County WI, and many others. G.A. Precision also specializes in building competition rifles for the increasingly popular long-range tactical matches held around the country. George Gardner is an active outdoorsman and shooter, regularly competing with the rifles he builds.
GAP Gladius with Manners T2A stock, 18.5″ Bartlein barrel, Nightforce F1
June 2nd, 2009
A couple months back, we announced that Eric Kennard had started producing snap caps for match cartridges such as the 6mmBR and 6XC. They say that necessity is the mother of invention, and that was true here. Eric started making snap caps because nobody produced such a product for the match chamberings that he shoots. Eric’s match-cartridge snap caps have been so popular that he has expanded his product line to include 12 different cartridges. Plus Eric has recently launched a new website, HarbourArms.com, that features a handy shopping-cart system, so you can easily order all the snap caps you need.
12 Cartridge Types Now Offered
Harbour Arms Precision Snap Caps are available in .223 Rem, 6mmBR, 6BRX, 6mm Dasher, 6XC, 6-6.5 x 47 Lapua, 6.5 x 47 Lapua, 6.5 x 284, .260 Remington, .308 Win, .300 Win Mag, and .338 Lapua Magnum. Each set of two snap caps is precision-crafted from aluminum and costs $12.95 for two snap caps.
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Cartridges Offered:
.223 Rem
6mmBR
6BRX
6mm Dasher
6XC
6-6.5 x 47 Lapua
6.5 x 47 Lapua
6.5 x 284
.260 Remington
.308 Win
.300 Win Mag
.338 Lapua Mag |
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Who needs a Snap Cap? Anyone who dry fires. It has been said that dry-firing is the best form of practice. Dry-firing allows one to check for proper natural point of aim, position, and trigger control. Many of the custom rifle actions use two piece, thin, or titanium firing pins. These pins are susceptible to fracture or breaking when dry-fired too much. Shotgunners using custom trap or skeet guns would never dry-fire their expensive arms without a Snap Cap to protect their firing pins. Nothing is worse than your firing pin breaking during a match!
June 2nd, 2009
The National Shooting Sports Foundation’s 2009 Shooting Sports Summit is under way in Weston, Florida. Over the next two days, more than 150 leaders from the firearms industry, wildlife conservation groups, and shooting sports organizations are joining members of TaskForce 20/20 to devise strategies to increase participation in hunting and the shooting sports by 20 percent over the next five years. Several key segments of the summit are broadcast live via webcast (click links below).
LIVE Summit Webcasts |Webcast Schedule for Shooting Sports Summit
The keynote speech is being delivered by Clyde Fessler, former vice president of business development for Harley Davidson who is credited with spearheading the re-branding of that company and broadening H-D’s appeal to younger generations. That success story should resonate with this audience who will be considering ways to attract more youth to participate in hunting and target shooting.
Following the Fessler speech, the summit kicks off with its first presentation — Youth Programs — one of five areas that attendees will focus on during the two days here. Three areas — Youth Programs, Recruitment and Retention/Reactivation–will be considered today, with two more — Access/Opportunity and Coordinating Efforts — tomorrow. Each area has a strategic initiative and three to four “questions” that will be discussed in roundtable meetings. Each roundtable will generate suggested action plans that all attendees will have a chance to vote for through an electronic poll.
Photo copyright NSSF, all rights reserved, used with permission.
May 31st, 2009
 The 2009 World Benchrest Championship (WBC-10) will be held at the Krokodilspruit Range in Pretoria, South Africa June 22-29, 2009. WBC-10 includes matches at 100m, 200m, and 300m. Complete information on the upcoming event are available at the WBC10 website, wbc10.co.za. A handy FAQ Page provides answers to questions about accommodation, transport, and South African firearms laws. CLICK HERE for WBC10 Event Schedule.
Listed below are the names of the team members who will represent the United States at the 2009 World Benchrest Championship (WBC-10) in South Africa this June:
Team 1 – Ed Adams, Wayne Campbell, Gene Bukys, Tony Boyer
Team 2 – Larry Costa, Mike Ratigan, Bill Summers, Joe Krupa
Team 3 – Chris Harris, Don Nielson, Cecil Peterson, Tim Oltersdorf
First Alternate: Gary Sinclair
Honorary Team Captain: Walt Berger
Krokodilspruit is a modern multi-purpose shooting range situated approximately 23 kilometers north of Pretoria and is the home range of the Gauteng Benchrest Shooting Association. June is the first month of winter in South Africa, but this area has little rainfall in winter.
Something New for 300 Meter Stage?
Most American short-range Benchrest matches are shot at 100 and 200 yards only. WBC-10 includes a 300m match on Saturday, June 27th. As South Africa is known for strong and challenging winds, it will be interesting to see if some competitors try heavier, higher-BC bullets at 300m rather than the typical 60-70gr flatbase 6mm bullets used at 100 and 200.
May 30th, 2009
 We’ve had an Anschütz model 64-R Biathlon to play with since the first of the year, thanks to Anschütz. This is a very impressive rifle. Accuracy has exceeded our expectations. Even with relatively inexpensive Wolf Match Extra and Eley Club Xtra, the gun has shot many 1/4″ groups at 50 yards from bipod. Our ace rimfire triggerman, Joe Friedrich, has shot some 50-yard groups with 4 out of 5 shots virtually through one hole, and the fifth maybe half a bullet width further out.
Originally, the gun came with a 2.2-lb (one kilo) two-stage trigger, suited for biathlon and silhouette. That trigger was nice, and certainly shootable, as we could get the second stage down to about 9 ounces. But Anschütz recently provided its 500 gram match trigger assembly, and that has made the gun even sweeter to shoot. The 500 gram trigger installed easily, and by adjusting two screws we got the total pull weight down to 1.13 pounds, with the second stage about 5 ounces. (Note: in the video, I said the trigger pull was about “one and a half pounds”; we later adjusted it down to 1.13 pounds, or 512 grams.)
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The cheekpiece adjusts for height and cant angle. Length of pull can be adjusted by means of plastic spacers. With the spacers provided by Anschütz, the LOP is about 13.3 inches. That’s still a bit short for this Editor, but the gun was still very comfortable to shoot in all positions: prone, sitting, and standing. The near-vertical grip is very comfortable in prone and, with the scope positioned well forward, you can easily get your head in the right position for scoped shooting. With its built-in accessory rail, and a $6.00 track adapter, a Harris bipod attaches easily, and you can move the bipod position fore and aft.
With its excellent ergonomics and stellar accuracy, we think the Anschütz 64R Biathlon is a superb choice for tactical rimfire matches. Plus, it’s dead-nuts reliable. By contrast, at the rimfire tactical matches we’ve covered, we’ve seen a variety of misfeeds and/or mag failures with other brands of rifles. With the Anschütz 64R, mag feeding and function has been flawless. We’ve shot over 700 rounds without a single problem.
Does the rifle have flaws? Yes, a few. First, as noted, the LOP is short for someone with long arms, even with 3 spacers installed. Second, the barreled action and bolt are prone to develop rust if you don’t keep them well-oiled. We wish Anschütz offered a more durable, corrosion-resistent finish so we didn’t have to baby the blueing after each shooting session. While the magazines fed flawlessly, the mag well is recessed and the mag release is small. This caused some fumbling when we tried to do “speed reloads.” That’s it — the complaint list is pretty small, and you could easily apply a baked-on resin finish if you wanted.
Subjectively, this gun is a hoot to shoot, and I can honestly say I’ve had more fun with this rifle than any other rimfire I’ve tested. No, it won’t rival a tuned ARA rimfire Benchrest rig, but it is still exceedingly accurate, and the gun is truly versatile. It’s ideal for tactical matches, club fun shoots, and if you lock the cheekpiece in place and use the 2.2-lb trigger, most clubs should let you use it for silhouette. The gun currently retails for about $1200.00 IF you can find one. Anschütz isn’t building many 64Rs these days, and only a handful made their way to the USA. Hopefully, our report will spur interest in the rifle and Anschütz will decide to ship more across the Atlantic.
May 29th, 2009
UPDATE: This was a Year 2009 Offer. The Offer is no longer available!
Every day many web users stumble upon our Daily Bulletin in search of information on the NRA’s free membership offer. We first announced that promotion back in March.
Here’s the deal — The NRA is still offering a one-year FREE membership, but the offer no longer includes a free subscription to the American Rifleman, American Hunter, or America’s First Freedom magazines.
Still, it’s a good deal. The regular price for a one-year NRA membership is $35.00. This is a special web-only offer, available for a limited time.
CLICK HERE for FREE NRA Membership Offer.
CLICK HERE for a full list of NRA membership benefits, including insurance.
What’s the catch? Well there’s really none for the first year. However, you will be billed if you choose to renew your membership. Also anyone signing up should know that you’ll receive a lot of mail solicitations from the NRA. For this special web offer, the NRA also requires your email address and phone number. Please note — to enjoy all the insurance protections of the NRA you’ll need to fill out an additional form once you receive your membership number.
May 27th, 2009
 We all know that sales of firearms, ammo, and reloading supplies have surged since the November Presidential election. Federal excise taxes, collected on guns and ammo sales, rose 13.9% in 2008 compared to 2007. Likewise NICS background checks are up dramatically. Data released by the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) reported 1,225,980 checks in April 2009. This figure is a 30.3 percent increase from the 940,961 reported in April 2008.*
What does all this represent in terms of sales revenues? According to the National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA), Americans spent over $4.6 billion on guns and hunting gear in 2008. That’s a $500,000,000 increase over 2007. Yes, business is booming for the gun industry. The rise in firearms sales has benefitted major gun makers such as Ruger, whose stock has nearly tripled in price since November 2008. (Check out this chart — with hindsight, we all should have invested in Ruger last fall.)
Sales of hunting and firearms equipment showed the greatest percentage increase in 2008 compared to all other sporting goods equipment categories with sales of more than $1 billion, the NSGA reports. A new NSGA report shows hunting and firearms equipment sales rose 16 percent to $4.6 billion in 2008, up from $3.9 billion in 2007. That’s a $500,000,000 increase in one year — and we can expect the trend to continue in 2009. Overall retail sales of sporting goods (footwear, clothing and equipment) fell 1 percent in 2008 to $53.4 billion.
*The April 2009 increase follows a 29.2 percent gain in March and rises of 23 percent in February, 28 percent in January, 24 percent in December and 42 percent in November when a record 1,529,635 background checks were performed.
May 25th, 2009
“…gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with choicest flowers of springtime….let us in this solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us as sacred charges upon the Nation’s gratitude — the soldier’s and sailor’s widow and orphan.”
–General John Logan, General Order No. 11, 5 May 1868
From USMemorialday.org:
The “Memorial” in Memorial Day has been ignored by too many of us who are beneficiaries of those who have given the ultimate sacrifice. Often we do not observe the day as it should be, a day where we actively remember our ancestors, our family members, our loved ones, our neighbors, and our friends who have given the ultimate sacrifice. You can best honor those who died in the service of their country by…
– visiting cemeteries and placing flags or flowers on the graves of our fallen heroes.
– visiting memorial sites or attending memorial events.
– flying the U.S. flag at half-staff until noon (and by flying the ‘POW/MIA Flag’ as well).
– participating in a “National Moment of Remembrance” at 3 p.m. to pause and think upon the true meaning of the day.
- renewing a pledge to aid the widows, widowers, and orphans of our fallen dead, and to aid the disabled veterans.
May 24th, 2009
Super Shoot Final Report
by Eric Stecker, Berger Bullets
Greetings from Sunny Ohio. Normally calling the weather “sunny” in North Lawrence, Ohio is sarcasm. During the last two days of the Super Shoot the word “sunny” is the best description of what shooters faced from Mother Nature. Day 3 provided some cloud cover in the morning which lasted for a while but was soon turned into bright and clear skies. High 40° temperatures and mid 80° highs was more of the same for those who were expecting the rains to come eventually. In case you haven’t heard yet, Tony Boyer was the big winner at this 37th Super Shoot. Congratulations to Tony Boyer for another impressive performance. Tony sets the bar for benchrest excellence.
 Boyer Wins Two-Gun and HV Grand Agg
Tony Boyer, already the top Benchrest Hall of Fame shooter in history (by quite a margin), won the Two-Gun Aggregate (Agg). Tony shot very consistently, with top five placements in most events. But he really hammered the HV 200-yard stage, with a brilliant 0.1846 Agg. Combined with his fine 100-yard HV shooting, that gave Tony an 0.1997 for the HV Grand Agg win. Lee Hachigan was the LV Grand Agg winner with a solid 0.2235. Lee finished third overall in the Two-Gun, behind Larry Costa:
1. Tony Boyer – .2191 Two-Gun Agg
2. Larry Costa – .2307 Two-Gun Agg
3. Lee Hachigan – .2503 Two-Gun Agg
4. Bill Symons – .2581 Two-Gun Agg
Tie 5. Larry Scharhorst – .2589 Two-Gun Agg
Tie 5. Bill Forester – .2589 Two-Gun Agg
Competitors tackled the Heavy Varmint stage at 200 yards on Friday. 200 yards is usually where Grand Aggs are won and lost during most BR matches and the 2009 Super Shoot this would be no exception. The following are the top five finishers in the Heavy Varmint 200-yard stage:
1. Tony Boyer – .1846 agg
2. Stan Bowerman – .2045 agg
3. Larry Costa – .2148 agg
4. Jim Carmichel – .2329
5. Chris Harris – .2343
Once the 200-yard stage was over the Heavy Varmint Grand Agg was determined. See if you don’t spot a few of those who did well at 200 yards in the following list of the top 5 of the Heavy Varmint Grand Agg.
1. Tony Boyer – .1997 HV Grand Agg
2. Larry Costa – .2235 HV Grand Agg
3. Stan Bowerman – .2432 HV Grand Agg
4. Greg Reed – .2461 HV Grand Agg
5. Wayne Campbell – .2464 HV Grand Agg
By the time the last day started the shooters were commenting on how the Super Shoot had not seen four clear, dry days in a row since 1995. There is little question that this year’s Super Shoot provided some of the best weather conditions we’ve had for some time. Temperatures were similar to previous days and winds continued to be tricky but not extreme.
The Light Varmint 200-yard stage gave us all a chance to break out the 10.5-lb guns again after two days of getting spoiled with the 13.5-pounders. Most folks were ready to shoot at 200 yards but a few shot flags indicated that some BR shooters still are working on which way to turn the knobs when the distance increases. The following is a list of the top 5 shooters who were on top of their adjustments for the Light Varmint 200-yard stage.
1. Steve Turner – .2085 agg
2. Jeff Stover – .2120 agg
3. Jeff Summers – .2137 agg
4. Tony Boyer – .2159 agg
5. Larry Costa – .2217 agg
Lee Hachigan Wins LV Grand Agg
The completion of this final stage provided the Super Shoot with not only a Light Varmint Grand Agg Champion but also a Two-Gun Champion. For those who have been keeping track of the top five in the lists so far some of the names you see below will be no surprise. Here are the top five in the Light Varmint Grand Agg.
1. Lee Hachigan – .2235 LV Grand Agg
2. Dave Coots – .2263 LV Grand Agg
3. Bill Symons – .2365 LV Grand Agg
4. Larry Costa – .2379 LV Grand Agg
5. Tony Boyer – .2385 LV Grand Agg
Final Thoughts — 1/4 MOA ‘All Day Long’
Another thought crosses my mind as I look at these scores. I hear many times how shooters who do not compete in Benchrest matches say that their rifles are capable of “1/4 MOA… all day long”. Take a look at these scores you will see that 1/4 MOA accuracy “all day long” would put you in the top three of the largest and (arguably) most competitive BR match in the country.
May 23rd, 2009
Champion’s line of DuraSeal™ targets won the NRA’s 2009 Golden Bullseye Award as American Rifleman’s “Accessory of the Year”. According to the NRA, “these auto-resetting targets handle varmint rifles and handguns, as well as many large-caliber rifles. This is the kind of product that makes shooting more fun.”
Champion’s DuraSeal Spinner Targets feature a non-metal, self-healing DuraSeal material. Weighing 80 percent less than metal equivalents, this space-age polymer material allows bullets to pass through the target, so the targets are “self-healing” and will survive hundreds of centerfire hits. We wish the wire support frame supports were a bit stronger — an errant shot CAN bend or break the wire supports, but the targets are still fun and inexpensive. DuraSeal targets range in price from $17.95 to $24.95 (MSRP).
These lightweight DuraSeal targets are much easier to haul to the range than armored steel gongs or poppers. They are useful for varmint silhouette practice and the single 5.5″ diamond is a good, challenging size for 600-yard precision rifle practice (provided you have a larger paper target to get zeroed at 600).
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