Savage 6.5-284 F-Class Rifle Auction Closes Tonight

If you’ve visited our home page, you’ve seen that we’ve been running an auction for one of Savage’s new 6.5-284 Precision Target Rifles. This is the same ultra-accurate caliber used by recent F-Class Champions and the U.S. F-Class Team. Savage Arms has generously donated the rifle. All proceeds go to cover operating expenses of this site. MSRP on the rifle is $1211.00. So far, our highest bids top $1050.00. The bidding will close tonight at midnight, Pacific Time. CLICK HERE for rifle photos and complete auction rules.

American Airlines Bans Gun Transport on Asian and European Flights

U.S. air carrier American Airlines has announced a change to its official policies. Starting today, September 24, 2007, American Airlines will forbid the carrying of any firearms as checked baggage on flights to or from Europe or Asia. The airline’s notice states: “Effective with tickets purchased on/after September 24, 2007, American Airlines will no longer accept firearms in checked baggage to/from any European or Asian destination (except for military/government personnel with proper documentation).” This applies to target rifles and pistols as well as hunting guns. It is unclear whether American Airlines will apply this policy to the Indian subcontinent, Australia, and New Zealand.

Those of you planning to travel to Europe or Asia for competitive or hunting purposes should take note of this new rule. Thankfully, there are other carriers, both domestic and foreign, which still allow rifles to be shipped in locked hard cases as checked baggage. Check with each carrier to determine their particular policies, and you should, of course, also check to ensure you comply with all laws of both your home country and the nation to which you are traveling.

300m European Cup Final This Weekend

The 300m Lapua European Cup Final 2007 is now underway at the Orbühl range in Winterthur, Switzerland. Shooters from throughout Europe will be competing. Men will shoot both the target (free) rifle and standard rifle in 3-position and prone events, while women will compete with target rifles only in both prone and 3-position events. There will also be a “SuperFINAL” event with money prizes. There will be a total of 12,000 Euros up for grabs at the event. CLICK HERE to download event brochure and map.

Most shooters will be using 6mmBR factory ammo, but many of the Scandinavians will shoot Norma 6XC factory loads, and some of the Swiss shooters will use RUAG 6×47. As with most high-level 300m events in Europe, electronic scoring will be used. The scoring system employs acoustic targets from the Swiss Sius-Ascor firm that output shot placement (and score) directly to target monitors at each shooting position.

Photos used here are from the 300m Europa Cup Championships held earlier this year in Plzen, Czech Republic.

Weatherby Offers "Dream Hunt" Contest

Ever wanted to hunt Red Deer in New Zealand, Gemsbuck in Africa, or Dall Sheep in Alaska? Well here’s your chance to win the “hunt of a lifetime”. Go to Weatherby’s “Dream Hunt” website, WeatherbyDreamHunt.com, and describe your ultimate hunting trip. Be sure to include the species you would hunt, who you hunt with, where the hunt would be, and why it’s your dream hunt. Bird hunting, big game hunting, varmint hunting—whatever stuff your dreams are made of is good stuff for this contest.

The grand-prize winner will receive the hunt described in his or her entry as well as a Weatherby Mark V® Accumark® or Ultra Lightweight rifle in the caliber of choice, a soft side case, riflescope with mounts and a hunting journal. Runner-up prizes include:

· First Prize: Mark V Accumark or Ultra Lightweight
· Second Prizes: (3) Orion® D’Italia II Over/Under Shotguns
· Third Prizes: (5) Mark XXII® Rifles
· Fourth Prizes: (7) Vanguard® Deluxe or SUB-MOA Rifles
· Fifth Prizes: (10) Weatherby Soft Side Gun Cases
· Sixth Prizes: (100) Hunting Journals with Weatherby Logo

To be eligible, you must be at least 21 years of age and a legal resident of the United States. The contest begins September 15 and ends December 31, 2007.

Use NAV Tools to Find Older Stories

Folks email us regularly saying: “Hey, there was an interesting item in the Daily Bulletin, but I can’t find it now.” Take heart. Every Bulletin story is saved in our archive. You can always navigate to all previous posts using the “Older Posts” link at the bottom of this page.

The fastest and easiest method to find older posts is simply to search by keyword, or click one of the topic headings. If you want to see a video, for example, just click on “Videos”. If you’re looking for all stories about scopes, click “Optics”. To find a particular item, such as the story on Barnard actions, just type “Barnard” in the search field and click “Search”. Our search works very fast! Try it, you’ll like it.

New Barnard Tactical/XC Rifle

New Zealand action-maker Barnard has created a new Across-the-Course and “Tactical” rifle using the Barnard small repeater action (with three-lug bolt) and HS Precision detachable box magazine (DBM). Similar in appearance to a Tubb 2000, the new rifle, dubbed the Barnard ’07’, should prove very competitive in both Highpower matches and tactical applications. As a complete rifle, the gun is currently offered only in .308 Winchester, but it should be able to handle .243 Win, .260 Rem, and 6.5×47 with merely a barrel swap and rechambering.

Information on the new rifle is found on the Barnard website. The rifle’s designers report: “After much interest in the production of a tactical style rifle that utilizes the best of modern materials and finishes, coupled with the reliablity of the magazine-fed Barnard Model SM action, we are proud to introduce the Barnard ’07’ Rifle. This prototype is chambered as .308 and features a True-Flite 26″ 1/12 barrel, and HS Precision 10-shot magazine.” Price for the new rifle hasn’t been set yet, but you can contact USA distributor MTGuns or Canadian Agent Robertson Composites. For now, address technical questions to Barnard in Auckland, New Zealand, 011 +64 (0)9 828 4819, email: bmbarn [at] ihug [dot] co.nz.

Report from Raton–Cochran and Miller Lead after Day 1

The 600-yard stage of the U.S. F-Class Nationals, at the NRA Whittington Center in Raton, NM was completed on the 13th. Many top F-Class shooters who have been featured on this site are competing, including recent champions John Brewer and Jeff Cochran. So far, the competition has been fierce. In F-Open, Cochran leads by a single point over Dean Morris. Today and tomorrow, competitors shoot at 1000 yards. Official results, as available, will be posted on the Bald Eagles Rifle Club website.

First Day F-Class Nationals Leaderboard

Forum member Monte Milanuk offered this late-breaking report: “Conditions at 600 were squirrely at best. With a shortage of target pullers, we only had 18 targets, and 90+ shooters, so the order of the day was 5 relays. One relay might get an easy relay w/ either little wind, or at least readable wind, and the next might get one w/ complete 180° switches and huge pick-ups and let-offs. To some degree it averaged out over the course of three stages, but some people faired better than others. I’m pretty sure everybody got hosed at least once but some got it a couple times.

The rest of the Nationals is at 1000 yards, and if I’ve picked up anything over the last 6 days shooting here in Raton, it is that the 1K yard line is probably going to be bloody….”

Shilen Swap Meet in October

The Third Annual Shilen Swap Meet will be held on October 27, 8am to 3pm in Shilen’s parking lot at 205 Metro Park Blvd., Ennis, Texas. All buyers and sellers are invited–and you’re welcome to just come and mingle or take a tour of the factory. Anyone can set up a table or just drop your tailgate. There are no fees and the Swap Meet will go forward rain or shine (Shilen rents a tent). Shilen will also provide complementary chili, frito pie and soft drinks. Shilen’s organizers noted: “Please call (972) 875-5318 if you plan on attending so we can have a rough head count. If you want to put up a table please call, fax or email us and let us know. We will add you to the list of vendors”

As an added incentive, Shilen Rifles will offer discounted “Swap Meet Barrels”. Shilen’s Mike Hull reports: “Last year was the first year we offered our ‘Swap Meet Barrels’ and they will be BACK this YEAR by popular demand. These are barrels that we have from customers who ordered a certain contour, or caliber and then changed their mind and wanted something else. In the name of customer service we let the customer change their order and then placed the barrel back in stock. Those barrels that are still left at Swap Meet time are offered at discounted prices! All warranties still apply; these are NOT of lower quality or factory seconds.”

U.S. F-Class Championship Kicks Off

The 4th Annual U.S. F-Class Championships runs Sept. 13-15 at the NRA Whittington Center, Raton, New Mexico. If you are near the area, head over to Raton to witness the action–many of the nation’s best long-range shooters will be competing. The F-Class Championship follows on the heels of the Spirit of America (SOA) match, hosted at the Whittington Center earlier this week. This is the first time the SOA and the F-Class Nationals have been held back to back.

Spirit of America F-Class results have been tallied. Team Savage shot consistently to win the Team Competition. Posting in Long-Range.com, Warren Dean reported: “Darrell Buell absolutely dominated the SOA/Fullbore Nats in the F-T/R division, winning 2 of the 4 matches and taking a 2nd in another. Conditions were a pretty squirrely at times and far from optimal, but Darrell took us all to school on reading the wind.” We were also pleased to see Forum Members John Dink and Monte Milanuk in the F-TR top 3. In F-Open, U.S. F-Class Teammates Jim Murphy, Larry Bartholome, and John Brewer finished first through third respectively. We can expect more from all these shooters in the next few days.

Spirit of America F-Class Results