A “Special Edition” of NRANews.com highlights the perpetual NRA trophies awarded at the NRA National Championships. In this webcast, reporter John Popp and Mike Krei, Director of NRA’s Competitive Shooting Division, tour the Camp Perry Trophy Room. The Trophy Room holds roughly 130 statues, cups, plaques, and other awards that have commemorated the accomplishments of pistol and rifle shooters for more than a century. The oldest trophy dates back to the historic 1874 Creedmoor challenge match between Irish and American rifle teams.
Traveling Trophy Road Show
The seven-week span of the Camp Perry National Matches is only time all these NRA trophies are gathered together in one place. Krei explained: “[The trophies] are all in traveling cases… we bring them out annually (from NRA headquarters) and set them up [at Camp Perry] so everyone can see them.” Notable shooters such as Carl Bernoski, Sherri Gallagher, David Tubb, John Whidden, and Lones Wigger have their names etched on historic trophies like the Norman Adair Trophy, the Frank Parsons Memorial Trophy and the Wimbledon Cup.
To watch the Camp Perry Trophy Room webcast, log on to NRANews.com, select “SHOW ARCHIVES” then click on the “Jul 14″ tab near the top left corner. Scroll down (using the slider bar) to find the “Curator’s Corner” link, showing a 00:15:47 play time. Click on that and the video should load on the right within a few seconds. Be sure to click on the Curator’s Corner video first — if you click on a different video you’ll have to sit through the whole thing before the Curator’s Corner Video will play. Also, when you click the Curator’s Corner Video, the actual trophy feature doesn’t start until 01:47:00 point in the clip.
There will be future NRANews.com segments from the Trophy Room. These will be webcast on NRANews.com in the near future. Audio-only versions of the Trophy Room webcasts will also air on Sirius/XM Patriot Satellite Radio.
Bryan Litz, Ballistician for Berger Bullets and author of Applied Ballistics for Long Range Shooting, has tested the latest version of the Shooter Ballistics Calculator for Android™ OS Smartphones and portable devices. This is a very sophisticated, full featured App that incorporates the latest bullet databases with Litz G7 BCs as well as a wealth of other information. It provides extremely reliable ballistics solutions at all ranges, and in all atmospheric conditions.
Bryan tells us: “The Shooter App has been improving steadily since it was first released and there are many new capabilities now. One of the cool new features is a wireless Bluetooth link to Kestrel Weather Trackers. This can automatically provide the exact atmospherics at your location.”
Bryan used the Shooter App on a trip to Wyoming: “I shot a Sako TRG42 in .338 Lapua Mag to 2400 yards with Berger’s new 300gr hybrids. The dope from the Shooter App was spot on up to 103 MOA of drop using the G7 BC of .419 for that bullet! At 2400 yards, even at 6,000 ft+ elevation, the bullet is subsonic but remained stable and tracked perfectly with the predicted trajectory from Shooter. I don’t know if the same bullet would be stable at sea level when fired at that range or not but it worked well at 6,500 feet.”
Litz Says Shooter App Offers Very Sophisticated Ballistics Solutions
Bryan thinks the Shooter App is extremely accurate: “I consulted on the solver development for Shooter so I can personally vouch for the accuracy of this program. You can set up profiles for rifles and ammo types including calibration factors for scope adjustments, temperature affects on powder burn rate / muzzle velocity, and of course G1 and G7 referenced BCs (you can define a ‘stepped’ BC for both as well). You can set preferences for units, atmospherics, station pressure or altitude, and more. It can calculate spin drift and Coriolis effect, or those features can be disabled. If your smartphone has GPS, the program can automatically populate the latitude for Coriolis calculations.”
Shooter App is just $9.99 — A Bargain Given Its Capabilities
The full-featured Shooter App sells for $9.99 in the Android Apps Marketplace. Visit the Shooter App Website to preview the program’s functions and see how the entry screens work. The App is easy to install and run. There is a also a ‘Lite’ version of SHOOTER that you can download for free.
Big Spring Enterprises, the Arkansas-based maker of Bore-Store gun sacks, has completely updated the www.borestores.com website. You’ll now find a modern, easy-to-use online shopping cart system with decent-sized product photos. To mark the new website’s “grand opening”, the Bore-Store folks are offering a 10% discount on all online orders. Everything in the webstore is now 10% off. With the discount, handgun cases start at $4.95 and the smaller rifle cases are just $14.40. And there are also knife pouches and multi-pocket magazine stores starting at $450.00.
On the updated website, it’s easier than ever to select the right size and shape for your particular firearms — from pocket pistols, to long-barreled Palma rifles. If you don’t know which size Bore-Store to order, the handy “Case Finder” tool will steer you to the appropriate product after your enter your firearm’s height (with scope) and length. For most scoped rifles, you’ll want either the 10″ x 46″ scoped rifle bag or the 10 x 52″ scoped shotgun bag (this works great for long-barreled target rifles).
Bore-Stores Protect Your Guns in Many Ways We recommend Bore-Stores and we use them. Our take on Bore-Store Gun sleeves is simple: They work great, so buy them and use them — for ALL your valuable firearms. These thick, synthetic-fleece sacks cushion your guns, preventing nicks and scratches. The breathable fabric wicks away moisture, and the fibers are coated with corrosion inhibitors. This Editor personally uses Bore-Stores for in-safe storage with all my guns, and I have never had one of my guns rust inside a Bore-Store, even when I lived a stone’s throw from the ocean.
Bore-Stores are offered in a wide range of sizes, so you can find something to fit everything from a Snub-nosed revolver to a 32″-barrelled 50 BMG. Rifle-size Bore Stores can be purchased for $17.00 – $21.00 from Brownells or MidwayUSA. Of course, you can also order direct from Big Spring Enterprises at www.BoreStores.com. Big Spring will also craft custom large or unusual sizes on request.
Story idea from Edlongrange. We welcome reader submissions.
Now through the end of July, MidwayUSA is running a promotion that can save you up to 10% on your online purchases. Note: sale, clearance, out-of-stock and Nightforce products do not count towards the total. Gift certificates do not count towards the total. These discounts apply to in-stock, regularly-priced items only. Remember the deadline is July 31, 11:59 pm, Central Time.
Coupon Code: 5071171
Type of Discount: $10 off $50 or more
Expiration date: 2011-07-31 23:59:59
Coupon Code: 1561171
Type of discount: 10% off $100 or more
Expiration date: 2011-07-31 23:59:59
Coupon Code: 2561171
Type of discount: 10% off $200 or more
Expiration date: 2011-07-31 23:59:59
Coupon Code: 3561171
Type of discount: 10% off $300 or more
Expiration date: 2011-07-31 23:59:59
To receive your Savings:
1. Add regular price, in-stock products to your cart totaling:
$100 or more – Use Promotion Code 1561171
$200 or more – Use Promotion Code 2561171
$300 or more – Use Promotion Code 3561171
2. Enter the promotion code into the box titled, “Promotion Code” on the shopping cart page.
3. See the discount applied on the Confirmation page near the end of the checkout.
The Shooting Wire reports that there are just two days left to take advantage of the early registration discount for the 2011 Steel Challenge World Speed Shooting Championships. Competitors must submit Match Applications this Friday, July 15, 2001, to take advantage of the discounted match fee. If you get your application postmarked by Friday then you’ll also be entered in a drawing for a new Ruger Mark III pistol. If you aren’t familiar with the Steel Challenge, held each year in Piru, California, it is one of the top pistol competitions in the world. Check out this video highlighting our friend K.C. Eusebio, who has set fastest times on many of the Steel Challenge Stages.
On Monday, 11 July, the 2011 NRA National Rifle and Pistol Championships officially commenced at Camp Perry, Ohio. DCM Emeritus Gary Anderson led a procession of special guests into the ceremony.
Poor weather cancelled the traditional delivery of the colors by a parachute team, so the flag was presented to Anderson by a squad from the Ohio National Guard. VIP Guest Joseph Westphal, Under Secretary of the Army, addressed the gathering, and then Westphal fired the ceremonial First Shot, followed by wounded warrior SFC Sene Polu, who fired the second shot.
Now that the championships have begun, each morning the National Matches start with a bang — a big bang. With the raising of the colors, a cannon is fired in salute. On 12 July, Mike Krei, NRA’s Director of Competitive Shooting was chosen to fire the cannon, marking the first day that shots are going down range at the NRA National Pistol Championships.
Pistol Championships Underway
We are now into the second day of competition in the National Pistol Championships. It’s day two of the NRA National Pistol Championships, and that means competitors are firing the NRA Preliminary Pistol Championship today in three separate relays. In this morning’s first relay, shooters took to the range to complete the Center Fire, .22 Caliber, and .45 Caliber stages of fire. The aggregate of these stages comprises each competitor’s total score.
Who are the front-runners? SFC Jim Henderson of the Army Marksmanship Unit won this Championship last year with a score of 890-42X, but the record of 894-50X was set by Brian Zins in 1996. At this stage in the match it’s too early to tell who the winners might be, but with 10-time National Champion Brian Zins sitting out this year, there may be some surprises. James Lenardson, SSG Jean-Noel Howell, David Lange, and SSG Patrick Franks are just a few of the competitors who are riding high after yesterday’s Revolver Matches, but Philip Hemphill, SFC Henderson, John Zurek, and many others could still finish on top of the podium.
Story by Kerrin Brinkman and photos courtesy the NRA BLOG.
USA v Scotland F-TR at Blair Atholl Match Report by Laurie Holland
After their success in Ireland (Bulletin June 27th) a third of the American shooters, Tony Robertson in F Class and a complete F-TR team captained by Darrell Buell, travelled to Scotland to shoot over Perthshire’s famous Jubilee Range above Blair Atholl. As well as competing in six individual 900 and 1,000-yard matches in the Scottish Long-Range Meeting, the USA challenged Scotland to a 900-, 1,000-, and 1,100-yard yd F-TR team competition, to be held on the American Independence Day, July 4th.
After practice on Friday, July 1st, US competitors did well in the six individual matches over the weekend taking four out of the top six places overall with Stan Pate and Michelle Gallagher leading the way. However, Scottish home team captain Paul Crosbie took all three 900-yard matches and one 1,000-yard yard match. Winners of the other two 1000-yard events were Michelle Gallagher, and Scotland’s Laurie Holland, shooting his .223 Rem (That’s right — Laurie beat all the .308s with a .223). The weekend’s overall F-TR winner was Paul Crosbie on 405.23v (ex 450.90v) narrowly leading Stan Pate and Michelle Gallagher. After tying on Saturday, Scottish Shooter Les Bacon slowly pulled ahead of Tony Robertson in F Class and took this section by five points on an aggregate of 420.25v.
Scottish team captain Paul Crosbie and coach Tim Kidner pause during a wind change.
Independence Day Challenge — Team Scotland Beats Team USA
The 4th of July started cooler and cloudy with a near calm disturbed by intermittent light fish-tailing breezes from behind. The 900-yard scores benefitted from this, the six strong teams averaging 70 or more points per shooter out of the possible 75. After the 900-yard stages, Team USA was ahead with 427-24V against Scotland’s 420-20V.
By the time the teams relocated to 1,000 yards, the overcast had gone, sunshine alternated with moving shadows from big white puffy clouds to produce heat-induced, variable winds and intermittent mirage. Scores tumbled and there were many gaps between shots as the wind coaches stayed their hand waiting for a previous condition to return or trying to read a new one. Different wind doping approaches were apparent with Scotland’s Tom Kidner and Hamish Hunter relying mostly on the wind flags and plots while Nancy and Michelle spent considerable amounts of time glued to a pair of massive spotting scopes trying to read the mirage.
Nancy calls 1K wind for daughter Michelle Gallagher. USA captain Darrel Buell is just behind them.
At 1000 yards, the Scots produced 357-8V against the visitors’ 346-8V, putting them into a four-point lead overall. Remarkably, however, the youngest American shooter, Sierra Scott nailed the best individual 1,000-yard score, a 65-2V. With everything hanging on the 1,100-yard stage, conditions were as for 1,000 yards only more so — warmer, still more variable winds and intermittent aiming difficulties from a boiling mirage downrange. The Scottish coaches’ experience really paid off now, their shooters scoring 295-2V, 23 points ahead of the visitors. Three out of the top four individual results (with scores of 50 or better) were by Scots, and top scorer Paul Crosbie posted a 59 shooting the big 210gr Bergers. Michelle Gallagher (shooting Berger 155.5s) nailed an excellent 57 to edge Scotland’s Peter Burbridge (55 points shooting 208gr Hornady A-Max). Laurie Holland posted an impressive. His .223 Rem ‘mouse gun’ was obviously still in the groove at 1,114 yards!
So, the home team kept its honor and Blair Atholl’s reputation intact. While disappointed, the visitors knew they had done really well given their inexperience with the quirks of this most difficult of venues. Everybody had a great time, some old friendships were renewed, new ones made. This was F-TR at its most enjoyable with four days shooting that no participant will ever forget. There was even an informal 1,233-yard competition on the Saturday afternoon won by US team captain Darrell Buell.
Here’s an amusing story, if a sad one for Porsche fans. After his Porsche 911 sports car broke down, the owner, faced with a massive repair bill, decided to donate the vehicle to a local charity — the Commonwealth Second Amendment (Comm2A), a group that works for gun law reform in Massachusetts. Well Comm2A, with co-sponsor Northeast Shooters, decided the best use of the donated Porsche was as a target! The two organizations hosted a fund-raising shoot-out, with the Porsche as the star of the show.
Jaloponik blog writer Matt Hardigree explains: “After the engine of his Porsche 911 decided to die (and take much of the cooling system along with it in some kind of powertrain suicide pact), the owner considered the $20,000 repair job and instead decided to donate the car to a non-profit. A non-profit dedicated to protecting gun rights. [A]pproximately 140 people showed up for the fundraiser. It’s difficult to know exactly how much ammo was spent decimating the Porsche, but 10,000 seems to be the conservative estimate.” READ full article HERE.
Editor’s Comment: While I understand the purpose of the fund raiser, I wonder if the Porsche would have be worth more in parts value than the sum collected from the shooters. On the other hand, as Jalopnik’s Hardigree writes: “Who hasn’t wanted to take a few shots at a 911, even an older model, after years of dealing with Porsche drivers?”
It’s a huge win for gun rights in Chicago, tactical training, and free hats, this Sunday on Tom Gresham’s Gun Talk Radio, the nationally-syndicated radio talk show about guns and the shooting sports.
Alan Gottlieb of the Second Amendment Foundation joins Gun Talk Sunday to discuss this week’s 3-0 ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals over a Chicago, IL ordinance that required gun range training as a stipulation to own a handgun, but also banned gun ranges within city limits.
“This is a significant victory that could have strong implications well beyond the Chicago city limits,” said SAF Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “The court is making it clear that cities cannot adopt firearms ordinances that are so deliberately restrictive that they make it impossible for citizens to exercise their rights under the Second Amendment.”
Also visiting Gun Talk this week is Bill Davison of TacPro Shooting Center in Texas. Davison drops in to discuss tactical training tips, techniques, how to begin training and how to continue through the years.
Callers Can Win Free Baseball Cap
And as a special “Thank You” for our listeners, anyone who calls in and speaks with Tom on-air this Sunday, July 10th, will receive a baseball hat from the Gun Talk prize closet. To get a chance at the hat, call 1-866-825-5486 when Gun Talk is broadcast live on Sunday afternoon. Tom Gresham’s Gun Talk Radio airs live on Sundays from 2PM-5PM Eastern, and runs on more than 115 stations, plus on XM (Ch. 165) Satellite Radio. All Gun Talk shows can be downloaded as podcasts. More information is available at www.guntalk.com.
E. Arthur Brown has just started stocking Barnes Bullets. To promote this new line of projectiles, EABCO is offering “Lowest Introductory Internet Prices” on some of Barnes’ most popular bullets: Triple Shock (TSX), Tipped Triple Shock (TTSX), and Varmint Grenade. The folks at EABCO explained: “We figured the best way to launch our Barnes Bullet Line would be to offer the most popular bullets at the lowest prices. The good people at Barnes gave us a ranking by sales volume, so we picked the top 20 (and added three personal favorites), to come up with the listing you see on the right”.
Ship Up to 20 Boxes of Bullets for Just $8.00
To sweeten the deal, EABCO is offering flat-rate USPS shipping. EABCO will charge just $8.00 to ship up to 20 boxes of bullets. Mix and match bullet types and bullet brands if you want. The $8.00 shipping offer applies to Berger, Hornady, and Lapua bullets also. But you need to select “$8 Bullets Only Shipping” during check-out. If you buy a large quantity of bullets, you can save a bundle with that shipping offer.
Qualities of Barnes Bullets
TSX bullets are widely known for their accuracy, consistent expansion on impact, and solid, weight retention. The “Triple Shock” name refers to the three grooves formed into the bearing surface. The Tipped Triple Shock is an enhanced-BC version of the Triple Shock with a polymer tip instead. Barnes claims that the higher BC of the TTSX tipped bullets provides a flatter trajectory for long-range shots. The popular lead-free Varmint Grenade bullets combine a composite (lead/tin) frangible core with a hollow cavity and copper jacket. These are designed to virtually disintegrate inside predators, minimizing pelt damage. Watch the video below for a dramatic demonstration of how Varmint Grenades perform when launched a very high velocities.
A “Special Edition” of NRANews.com highlights the perpetual NRA trophies awarded at the NRA National Championships. In this webcast, reporter John Popp and Mike Krei, Director of NRA’s Competitive Shooting Division, tour the Camp Perry Trophy Room. The Trophy Room holds roughly 130 statues, cups, plaques, and other awards that have commemorated the accomplishments of pistol and rifle shooters for more than a century. The oldest trophy dates back to the historic 1874 Creedmoor challenge match between Irish and American rifle teams.
Bryan tells us: “The 
Big Spring Enterprises, the Arkansas-based maker of 
We recommend Bore-Stores and we use them. Our take on Bore-Store Gun sleeves is simple: They work great, so buy them and use them — for ALL your valuable firearms. These thick, synthetic-fleece sacks cushion your guns, preventing nicks and scratches. The breathable fabric wicks away moisture, and the fibers are coated with corrosion inhibitors. This Editor personally uses Bore-Stores for in-safe storage with all my guns, and I have never had one of my guns rust inside a Bore-Store, even when I lived a stone’s throw from the ocean.
The 
On Monday, 11 July, the 2011 NRA National Rifle and Pistol Championships officially commenced at Camp Perry, Ohio. DCM Emeritus Gary Anderson led a procession of special guests into the ceremony.
Here’s an amusing story, if a sad one for Porsche fans. After his Porsche 911 sports car broke down, the owner, faced with a massive repair bill, decided to donate the vehicle to a local charity — the 
It’s a huge win for gun rights in Chicago, tactical training, and free hats, this Sunday on Tom Gresham’s 
