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June 12th, 2007
Sadly, James Phillips (JamesinTN) has decided to get out of competitive long-range benchrest shooting. He’s told us that travel costs (gas/motel) have just gotten too high, and the process has become too much work, and too little fun. James’ decision means that you can purchase a world-record rifle for a bargain price. James actually has three rifles for sale. You can see them all in this Forum Classified Listing.
Rifle 1 — 22 Dasher & 6 Dasher–World Record Gun
This rifle earned James 3 World Records and is capable of earning more. Rem 40X action, Shehane stock, Jewell trigger. Mulitple barrels come with the gun: Hart 8-Twist 22 Dasher (world record barrel); Hart 8-Twist chambered in 22 Dasher, less than 200 rounds; Krieger 7.5-Twist chambered in 6 Dasher (for Tubb 115s) less than 300 rounds; Krieger 8.5-Twist chambered in 6 Dasher less than 400 rounds; 9-Twist Chambered in 6 Dasher for 108 BIBs less than 200 rounds. The bolt has had the firing pin turned and bushed. There is also a brand new, spare bolt with magnum bolt face. Total of FIVE (5) barrels chambered for this action. Price is $3000.00 (without scope) plus shipping. Add $1000.00 for the NightForce 8-32x Benchrest Scope and rings.
Rifle 2 — 7500 Lawton Dasher/6mmBR
Next is a nearly brand new Lawton 7500 dual port (Jewell trigger) with RBLP right eject, SS action for Dasher case, in a Shehane stock. One-piece, +15 MOA base. Three barrels come with the rifle: 1) Krieger 8.5-Twist, chambered in 6 Dasher (.268), less than 200 rounds; 2) Hart 8-Twist 6mmBR rechambered from a 6 Dasher, less than 500 rounds and has a brake; 3) Hart 1.250 dia. 6mm 12-Twist–brand new, unfired, unchambered. 6mm Dasher brass comes with this rifle but no reloading dies as they will be going with the 40x. Price is 3000.00 w/o scope or 4000.00 with NF 8-32BR and rings
Rifle 3 — .243 AI, 22 Dasher
The third rifle is a Winchester SA Trued by Dave Tooley, with a bushed firing pin. Shehane stock bedded by Mike Bryant, Jewell Trigger. It comes with two barrels (.243 AI, 22 Dasher) both with less than 500 rounds and brass. The .243 AI comes with Redding Comp series dies and a Tooley FL neck die. Price is 1600.00 w/o scope or 2600.00 with Nighforce 12-42x BR scope and rings.
NOTE: James will NOT sell the scopes separately until the rifles are sold.
June 11th, 2007
Here’s a report from Mike in NZ about his recent deer-hunting trip: “Under the shadow of the Matemateaonga Range in the central North Island of New Zealand there is a magical piece of land. Initially broken in out of native bush in the early 1900’s, it was left to revert during the 1930’s before being partially developed again during the late 1940’s. Now it is run as a hunting block catering for local and overseas hunters.
“Aotearoa”, meaning “long, white cloud”, is the native Maori word for New Zealand.
The country is a rolling contour, and is a mixture of rough pasture, scrubby gullies and native bush. It bounds onto the Wanganui Forest Park, which is thousands of acres of dense bush. The only access is by jet boat up the Whanganui river, or by air. (There’s a flattish piece of land on the property that is quaintly referred to as an ‘airstrip’.)
Large Photos: NZ Mist | Aerial | Morning Light | Taking Off
The area is a hunting paradise containing good numbers of free range red deer, fallow deer, wild pigs and goats. It is run as a privately-owned hunting block. I have been fortunate enough to be able to hunt there over the past six years, and have just come back from a typical meat-hunting trip.
There were six of us (Mike, Mike, Chris, Al, Colin and Jeff), and the idea was to take a couple of meat animals each. Transport was by air (Cessna 206). This is a six-seater (including the pilot), so we elected to do two trips. The first trip caried five of us plus the pilot and a bit of gear. For the second trip the back four seats are removed allowing plenty of room to take lots of gear in, and (more importantly) plenty of room to (hopefully) take meat out at the end of the trip. Beats walking….
Hardware consisted of one Tikka T3 in .223 Rem with a Leupold 3-9 variable, one Rem Model 7 in 7-08 with a similar scope, one Sako Finnbear in .270 Win with a Redfield vari, one .223 Rem Zastava with a cheapo scope, and two scoped No. 4 Enfields in .303 British.
After a 15-minute flight, we made a couple of low passes over the ‘airstrip’ to make sure that everything looked OK (well, as good as it was going to get anyway), and then touched down. There were no baggage handlers or airline hostesses to greet us, so we carried our gear up to the lodge, had a bit of lunch and got organised for an evening hunt.
I headed down to some grass and scrub river terraces that are normally pretty productive. The wind was in my favor, and I opted to drop down to the terraces through the scrub rather than take the track down as that would mean that there would be less chance of being seen from the bottom. I was doing a slow sneak around the bush edge when a red hind appeared grazing around the edge of a finger of scrub at about 100 yards. I slowly sunk down and did a quick little crawl to a handy little rise to use for a rest. As I eased the rifle up onto the rise the deer saw the movement and was instantly on alert.
I was considering a neck shot, but as the deer was on the verge of doing a runner, I played it safe and put the crosshairs straight up the front leg and a bit under half way down. Allowing for the fact that she was slightly facing towards me, I squeezed the trigger, the .223 cracked and the deer trotted about 10 yards and piled up.” Here she is, a New Zealand Red Hind:
There’s more to this story (this was just the first part), and we may have Mike write full a feature story later this year.
© copyright 2007 Michael Falconer, All Rights Reserved.
June 10th, 2007
Many of our readers tell us: “I love the challenge of shooting paper in Benchrest, F-Class, or Highpower matches, but it would be fun to get some buddies together and ring some steel at multiple distances.” Well, if you’re in America’s heartland, here’s a place to go. Young’s Longshot Range, in Woodruff, Indiana, is a veritable “Disneyland of Steel”, with a huge variety of reactive metal targets set at yardage-marked berms from 25 to 1000 yards. Indiana’s only 1000-yard facility, Young’s Longshot Range is open 365 days a year. It has outdoor shooting stations (both covered and uncovered), PLUS a heated building with drop-down windows for winter shooting. There’s even a raised 5 meter high platform for prone shooting.
Larger Photos: Range | View from Bench | Shoot House | Shoot House Interior | 600-yd Swinger Target Bay
Click HERE for a nice story with full-size photos showing the range and target bays. Big thanks to Michael Sorensen (above) for that story and the larger range photos.
June 9th, 2007
The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP), a federally sponsored program to advance rifle shooting skills, offers a variety of training and competition programs dedicated to junior shooters. The US Army Marksmanship also hosts a Youth Clinic in August.
2007 CMP Three-Position Air Rifle Summer Camp
The 2007 CMP camp season is underway and there are still a few openings, especially in the June 11-15, Reno, NV camp and the July 2-6, Millersville, PA camp. Applications are still being accepted, but some programs are full. Commuter porgrams cost $225.00 while residential programs cost $350.00. Click HERE for complete information on the Summer Camp program. For questions please contact Sommer Wood at swood@odcmp.com or by phone at 419-341-5248. Summer Camp Application Form. General background on three-position air rifle shooting is found on the CMP website, where you can download the National Standard Three-Position Air Rifle Rules.
CMP Junior Three-Position Air Rifle Camps are for school-age junior shooters who have a basic knowledge of the sport. Athletes should have completed basic rifle marksmanship training and one season of three-position competition. CMP camps are designed for students who will be in grades 9 through 12 during the coming school year. There is no minimum score requirement. Here is the schedule of remaining Camp programs:
June 11-15: Reno, NV – COMMUTER ONLY
June 25-29: Bowling Green, KY (FULL)
July 2-6: Millersville, PA
July 13-15: Fort Benning, GA (Standing Position Camp)
July 16-20; 23-27; July 30-Aug 3: Fort Benning, GA (All FULL)
 Eastern Jr. Highpower Clinic
and Championship
From June 24-30, 2007, under the auspices of the CMP, a full week of clinics, coaching and competition will be offered at Camp Butner, NC for junior service rifle competitors. Instruction and coaching will be provided by the USMC Rifle Team and military personnel. The purposed of this event is to promote interest, education, and competition to the sport of Highpower Rifle Shooting among Junior shooters.
 Experienced coaches and instructors from the United States Marine Corps Rifle Team and military personnel will be conducting clinics for both new and experienced junior shooters. Instruction in both shooting individual matches and shooting as a member of a coached team will also be provided. This week-long program is offered to help junior shooters expand their current knowledge, experience and expertise. It is also an opportunity for juniors to form bonds of camaraderie within the sport. Click HERE for complete information on the Eastern Jr. Highpower Clinic/Championships.
USAMU Smallbore/Air Rifle Summer Camp
The United States Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) will once again host a Junior Rifle Camp this summer. The dates are 13-17 August 2007 at Fort Benning, GA. This junior shooting camp is open at shooters ages 12-20 with a cost of $35 per shooter. For further information and registration packet, please contact 2LT Lucas Leinberger at lucas.leinberger [at] usaac.army.mil or call (706) 545-2343.
June 8th, 2007
We’ve given our readers a double dose of Tactical this week (see our latest Feature STORY), so it’s time to showcase some shiny, long-barreled rifles with wicked paint jobs.
Pala guns are purpose built for one task–knockin’ down steel critters at 200 to 600 yards with Extreme Accuracy. Pala, an Indian Reservation in So. California, has a monthly match that atracts serious marksmen from throughout the state. You shoot four types of targets, each at a particular distance. The targets increase in size the further out you go.
Click HERE for GIANT SIZE Range Photo.
There are a wide variety of rifles, but typically you see a BR-style rifle, with a heavy, 28-30″ barrel, often using a muzzle brake. The brake definitely helps you spot your hits by reducing muzzle jump. You need a very accurate chambering, so you’ll see 6BRs, Dashers, 6-284s, 6.5-284s, and a few 6mm Remingtons. Our friend John Adams has tried a 22-6.5×47 at Pala along with his own .243 wildcats. This long-range silhouette game is great fun (and you can go gamble at the Casino when you’re done). Here are some Pala rigs on the line. Note how the shooters have fabricated platforms to raise their front rests:
The Berger Bullets crew–Eric Stecker, Shawn McKenna, and Michelle Gallagher recently attended the Pala Match. Eric reports: “You would think that shooting silhouettes using rests and scopes would be easy but it was quite a challenge since the wind direction and velocity changes could easily push your bullet off the small varmint silhouette targets. You really had to stay on top of the changes to get hits each time. The high score of the day was an impressive 48 out of 50. (For the record we were not at the top of the list as this type of shooting is harder than it may seem but I did beat Shawn and Michelle…teehee).” Nice shooting Eric (Shawn took second place, F-TR Class, at the 2006 Nationals).
A while back we did a feature story on a husband/wife team who shoot at Pala. Click HERE to read the story. It has some nice photos of the range taken by John Adams, and it even includes Katy’s famous guacamole recipe!
For more info on shooting at Pala, visit Ramshooter’s Website (nice rifle photos), and the North County Shootist Assn. site.
June 8th, 2007
When we announced, in this Bulletin, that Cerberus Capital Management, a multi-billion-dollar holding company, acquired Remington Arms, we predicted there would be shake-ups in management, plus a re-vamping of the product lines with increased emphasis on military and “tactical” markets. Cerberus also owns Bushmaster Firearms and we predicted there would be a merging of the two companies’ operations. Well it looks like all that is coming to pass. Among other things, Bushmaster’s former CEO is now President of Remington’s Firearms Operations, and Scott Blackwell, former Bushmaster President, will now direct Remington’s Sales and Marketing efforts. Expect to see a Remington-brand AR15 in the near future.
Tommy Millner, Remington’s CEO, announced a major executive re-shuffling today, with Bushmaster execs moving into major decision-making roles at Remington. Paul Miller, former Board Chairman at Bushmaster Firearms, has been named Remington’s new Chairman of the Board. Mr. Miller served most recently as the Chairman of the Board of Bushmaster Firearms, and before that, he held executive leadership positions in the defense industry. John DeSantis has been named President, Firearms Operations. Mr. DeSantis was the Chief Executive Officer of Bushmaster Firearms. In his new duties, Mr. DeSantis will oversee all manufacturing facilities as well as all R&D activities within Remington’s firearms business. Scott Blackwell, who was Bushmaster’s President, will become Remington’s new President for Sales and Marketing. In that role, Blackwell with oversee all sales and marketing operations for Remington, worldwide.
What does this all mean? As we predicted, Remington is very much intent on becoming a “Black Rifle” company, not just a hunting rifle supplier. No doubt Cerberus’ long-term plans include pushing aggressively for military arms contracts. By putting Bushmaster execs in the “drivers seat”, Cerberus is sending a clear message that it is betting on military-style rifles to boost Remington’s bottom line. The Board of Directors at Colt and FN Mfg., current suppliers of M16s for the U.S. Military, are probably feeling a little nervous right now.
June 5th, 2007
Robertson Composites today unveiled final production CAD-CAM drawings of its new MK IV “GBF” F-Class stock. According to Ian Robertson, “this new design evolved with considerable input from the British F-Class team, hence the ‘GBF’ name. We’ve refined the grip area, and the fore-end is completely new, with a stepped design for a lower center of gravity and improved tracking. The front of the fore-end is also relieved on the underside. This effectively lets the stock run on two integral rails. We’ve learned that this also improves tracking and reduces rocking since the stock doesn’t contact the hump in the middle of the front sandbag.” Click for BIG PHOTOs.
Stocks intended for F-Class shooters will have a solid, high-strength fore-end fill for increased rigidity, improved balance, and to eliminate the need to add external weight to bring guns up to the 22-lb (10 kg) F-Class Open weight limit. However, Ian noted, the stock can also be built lighter to “make weight” in 16.5-lb and 17-lb benchrest classes.
Ian expects the first completed “GBF” stocks to ship within three weeks. The price of the stock will be $799.00 US through July 4, 2007 as a promotion for AccurateShooter.com readers. After that, the price will be $825.00 US. As delivered the stock includes the following:
- Two-color high-grade gelcoat finish (customer choice of colors including granite).
– Full inletting for Rem-style actions and most popular custom actions.
– 3-way adjustable buttplate and pad, installed with all hardware.
– Adjustable integral cheek-piece, with magnetic clamp and all hardware.
If you want one of the new Robertson MK IV F-Class stocks, call Ian soon at 1 + (613) 228-7543. Robertson Composites already has numerous advance orders for this outstanding new stock.
Click HERE for large PHOTOS.
June 5th, 2007
InterMedia Outdoors Holdings, LLC announced that it had completed its acquisition of The Sportsman Channel, a 24-hour television channel dedicated solely to hunting and fishing programming. InterMedia Outdoors now claims to be the leading outdoor media company in the United States, having recently acquired 17 hunting, fishing and shooting magazines, including Guns & Ammo, Handguns, RifleShooter, and Shooting Times, from Primedia. The Primedia deal included web sites, television and radio programming, and branded products related to the 17 publications.
Commenting on The Sportsman Channel acquisition, Jeff Paro, CEO of InterMedia Outdoors, said, “With over 22 million readers and over 15 million page views per month on our websites, we have the ability to drive significant growth of The Sportsman Channel through targeted promotional campaigns in coordination with our distribution partners. The reach of our combined assets far exceeds that of any existing outdoor cable network.”
Beginning immediately, InterMedia will integrate its sales and marketing functions with those of The Sportsman Channel. In addition, InterMedia Outdoors will produce a number of new original shows for The Sportsman Channel and will use its large content library to enhance its popular Video on Demand (VOD) offerings to Channel viewers.
June 4th, 2007
Does the new 6.5×47 Lapua cartridge work in a Tactical Rifle? You better believe it…
Zak Smith, our project tester, has been doing load development for the past few weeks. The rifle is an Accuracy International AI AW with custom Steve Satern 25″ fluted barrel, smithed by George Gardner at GA Precision. Zak had some nice conditions at his local range, and tried out one of the more promising loads with Reloader 15 and Berger 130gr VLD bullets, seated OFF the lands, fed from his DBM (detachable box magazine). Shooting from rucksack and sandbags (to simulate actual Tactical match conditions), this load drilled three-shot groups in the ONEs. The photo above shows an 0.182″ group at 100 yards. That’s right–three shots in well under 1/4 MOA off a rucksack! Zak has another 6.5×47 Lapua load with Lapua Scenar 139s and Vihtavuori N550 that shoots just as tight. Stay tuned for project updates.
Click HERE for more photos.
June 1st, 2007
While the Benchresters were drilling bugholes at the Super Shoot, west coast tactical devotees were slapping steel at 75 to 1000 yards in Sacramento. In the first-ever Nor-Cal Tactical Bolt Rifle Challenge, 43 shooters battled through a variety of innovative scenarios, many involving shooter movement or targets at unknown distances. This was a far cry from a static benchrest match or even a Highpower match, though participants shot from all positions–prone, kneeling, sitting, and standing. Though this was the first match of its kind at Sac Valley, all available spots “sold out”, and the match attracted big-time sponsorship. The happy winner was Dave McGrath who came home with a $2200+ U.S Optics scope. Dennis Lorenzo finished second, while Mark Soulie took third.
There were a variety of stages in the two-day match, held May 26-27. One of the timed action stages started with the shooter 20 yards behind his rifle. On a signal, the shooter ran to his rifle and engaged a mini-popper at 75 yards, then moved to a barricade and engaged 3 more medium poppers at 175 yards. But there’s more–next he targeted four clay birds at 175 yards (from prone) and finished on another mini-popper at 60 yards. All this had to be done in just 2 minutes! In another multi-target stage, the shooter started on an elevated wooden ramp. On the signal, he engaged an MGM target with two rounds at 100 yards. This was immediately followed by two rounds at a pair of 10″ plates at 250 yards, then two rounds at a pair of steel targets at 330 yards. Then, with action open, he moved off the raised ramp, re-positioned on the trunk of a car and engaged two more steel plates at 540 yards. There were eight rounds total for that stage, with a two-minute time limit. A more conventional evolution involved taking successive shots at two steel targets from standing, kneeling, sitting and prone positions.
Below is Bolo, whose “Lucky Dragon” Benchrest Rifles were featured in last month’s Blog. He demonstrates that you can have fun shooting a variety of disciplines, with very different rifles. And what you learn via one discipline can often help another. Whether it’s benchrest or “move and shoot” action, the common denominator is shooting skill and rifle accuracy. For more information on this interesting match, read this Snipers’ Hide thread or visit WestCoastTactical.com.
Click HERE and HERE for more full-size photos.
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