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December 3rd, 2009
Weaver Optics, now owned by ATK, offers a new line of tactical riflescopes with First Focal Plane(FFP) mildot reticles, zero-reset turrets, and 5X zoom ratio. Weaver’s 4-20x50mm version (MSRP $994.49), delivers all those features for around $725.00 street price (SWFA.com). The smaller 3-15x50mm Weaver tactical scope (MSRP $890.95) sells for about $650.00 street price (SWFA.com).
These Weavers are attractive new options for tactical shooters. The pricing is very competitive considering these scopes have all the “right stuff” for tactical shooting: FFP, Mildot Reticle, Side Focus, and wide zoom range. We also like the new Weavers’ reset-to-zero turrets.
The new waterproof/shockproof/fogproof Weaver Tactical scopes feature one-piece construction, argon-purged tubes and multi-coated lenses with extra hard exterior coatings. For Tac Comps, the 5 times zoom ratio offers a very wide field of view for close-range or moving targets, yet plenty of magnification is “on tap” for long-range targets. The first focal plane reticle stays constant relative to the target at all magnification levels. This allows targets to be quickly ranged with mildots at any magnification setting.
December 2nd, 2009
 Here’s a repeat of a very good deal offered by Cabela’s. Today through December 16, 2009, you can receive $20 off any order of $100.00 or more. Just provide your email address and Cabela’s will send you discount codes to be used during check-out. This deal is “for real” — when Cabela’s ran a similar promotion in November this Editor saved $20 off a pair of boots. And this offer can be used whether you’re buying products for yourself or gifts to be shipped to someone else.
Click Graphic at right for $20 off Promo >>
Fine Print: This offer is limited to one per household per day. The $20.00 off promo can not be combined with any other Cabela’s offer, and it cannot be applied to prior purchases. Also this offer is for merchandise ONLY, it cannot be used to purchase gift certificates.
December 2nd, 2009
Over 260 rifle and pistol airgun shooters from across the United States, as well as 40 athletes from 11 countries around the world, will gather at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (Colorado Springs, CO), December 4-6 to compete at the 2009 USA Shooting Winter Airgun Championships (formerly known as 3 X Air).
The 2009 Winter Airgun Championships will serve as a U.S. team tryout for 2010 ISSF World Cups, the 2010 World Championships (part I) and the Bavarian Airgun Championships in the Air Pistol and Air Rifle Events. For non-U.S. competitors only, this three-day event will serve as a minimum qualifying score (MQS) qualifier for the first-ever Youth Olympic Games, which will be held August 14-26, 2010 in Singapore.
Identical competitions will take place in rifle and pistol with finals matches closing out each day of competition at the Winter Airgun Championships.
 Many Olympians to Compete
Among the athletes competing will be two-time Olympic medalist Matt Emmons along wife his wife Katy Emmons, who is a three-time Olympic medalist for the Czech Republic. Two-time Olympian Jason Turner, who is the 2008 Olympic bronze medalist in Men’s Air Pistol, will also be shooting in the match.
Colorado Springs Olympic Training Center Resident Athletes and 2008 Olympians Jamie Beyerle and Emily Caruso will be competing in the Women’s Air Rifle event. Vying for titles in pistol will be four-time Olympian Libby Callahan as well as three-time Olympian and U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) member Daryl Szarenski and 2008 Olympians Brian Beaman and Brenda Shinn.
A full match schedule as well as complete results throughout the competition can be found by visiting USA Shooting’s website at www.usashooting.org.
December 1st, 2009
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The latest issue of Target Shooter online magazine has been released and you should definitely check it out. The December issue of Target Shooter is really good — maybe the best yet. READ it here: www.Targetshooter.co.uk.
This month you’ll find an outstanding article by Vince Bottomley, “Building a Rifle for F/TR Class”. Whether you’re shooting F-TR now, or have an F-TR rifle in the works, this story is a “must-read” that will help you choose the right equipment and wring the best performance from it.
The six-page “Hand-loading for the .308 Winchester (Part 2)”, by Laurie Holland, is a fact-filled article that all .308 shooters shoot read and archive. Holland carefully measured various brands of .308 brass, recording weights and neck thickness (see chart below). Even if you are an experienced .308 reloader we guarantee you’ll learn something new from this article. |
The December Target Shooter is chock full of other content covering a wide array of shooting disciplines — from Air Pistols to Black Powder Cartridge Rifles. There’s even something for collectors of historic military arms — Nigel Greenaway’s guide to the Enfield No.4 (T) sniper rifle. This issue also includes a 6-page holiday shopping guide featuring interesting new products as well as low-cost “stocking stuffers”. You can read Target Shooter online via a browser plug-in, and print pages you want to save. In addition, you can now downline the entire month’s content as a handy .pdf file for off-line reading.
December 1st, 2009
SHOT Show will be held from January 19-22, 2010 at the Sands Expo & Convention Center in Las Vegas. If you plan to attend, and haven’t booked your hotel yet, then DROP everything and contact the SHOT Show Travel Desk. Today, December 1st, is the last day to make reservations at super-low official rates. The official SHOT Show travel agency has exclusive rate agreements with Vegas hotels — so you can get the BEST room deals — better than Expedia, better than Hotels.com, and better than Priceline.com. The “official” room rates are as low as $40.00, and there aren’t many low-price vacancies left. If you miss out on the official travel desk deals, expect to pay $30-$70.00 more for the same room in the same hotel, even when booked with online “bargain” sites such as Hotels.com or Priceline.com.
After December 1st, you can still book rooms through the SHOT Show Travel Desk, but the price caps for officially-booked rooms are lifted, so you could end up paying a LOT more.
 Finalize Your Travel Plans
Since SHOT Show is just eight weeks away, in addition to reserving rooms, you should finalize other travel details. Get your airline tickets and reserve a car if you need one. You’ll find some very good deals right now on Southwest.com — look for the “Web Only!” specials. In addition, it’s time to register for SHOT Show functions you may want to attend. Log on to ShotShow.org to register for SHOT Show University and order tickets for the State of the Industry Dinner. SHOT Show also has a free concierge service, Destinations Direct, that can help plan activities outside show hours. Assistance with restaurant reservations, meeting space, show tickets, and more is available via the DDLasVegas.com website, or call Destinations Direct at (702) 635-3000.
December 1st, 2009
 The Redfield Gun Sight Company was founded in 1909 by John Hill Redfield. The company’s product line expanded from open sights to include riflescopes, mounts, binoculars, and spotting scopes. In 1998 Redfield closed its doors in Denver, Colorado, marking the end of an era. Redfield changed hands several times until April 2008 when Leupold & Stevens, Inc. purchased the Redfield brand name and associated intellectual property.
Leupold has revived Redfield, positioning the new Redfield scope line at the low end of the market. The latest generation of Redfield scopes are priced from $130.00 – $150.00 retail. Revolution™ riflescopes, the first products in the new Redfield line, are American-made at Leupold’s plant near Beaverton, Oregon. Revolution models include 2-7x33mm, 3-9x40mm, 4-12x40mm, and 3-9x50mm models, all with either 4-plex or Accu-Range reticles. The Accu-Range reticle provides hold-over points from 200-600 yards. Other product offerings will include imported Rebel™ and Renegade™ binoculars, Rampage™ spotting scopes and Raider™ rangefinders.
 Editor’s Comment: We’re pleased to see the revival of a storied American optics brand. However, we wonder how much quality and long-term durability Leupold can deliver for $130.00, when Leupold is having trouble with quality control on its high-end scopes which sell for $800 or more. But Leupold & Stevens is a business first and foremost and its bean counters obviously feel there is money to be made in the low end of the market. This is like General Motors saying: “Well, since Cadillac can’t compete with Lexus and Mercedes, let’s sell more Geo Prisms”. We all know how well that strategy worked.
November 30th, 2009
 On Sunday November 29th, the Ojai Valley Gun Club hosted its first-ever NBRSA-sanctioned, 600-yard Benchrest match. Ojai boasts a beautiful range in the Southern California foothills about 40 road miles from the coast. Many Pala Range regulars from the San Diego area were on hand, and some “big names” turned up for the event including Lou Murdica and 2007 NBRSA 600-yard Champion Don Nielson. In sunny but wildly changeable conditions (ranging from near-calm to 20 mph gusts), Don showed how it was done, winning the match with his 6.5×47 Lapua rifle.
Don finished first in ALL LG and HG categories except Heavy Gun score, where he placed second. In Light Gun class, Don shot a 2.207″ Agg for three, 5-shot targets (1.523″, 2.344″, 2.754″). Mind you this was in conditions where some pretty good shooters were off paper. Don said the secret was to shoot fast: “When it’s switchy, you can’t wait. I pretty much never stopped and never slowed down. Even for the 10-shot Heavy Gun Groups I think I was done in 30 seconds.” Second in Two Gun Overall was Brenda Hill. Brenda has established herself as one of California’s top F-Class and long-range shooters. At Ojai, Brenda was shooting a very accurate 6BRX rifle smithed by Leroy Johnson, jpgrifles [at] yahoo.com. John Crawford, Bruce Duncan, and Lou Murdica also all shot well in the difficult conditions.
On the firing line we found some very interesting equipment. John Crawford of the Bay Area had a beautiful Leonard-stocked gun chambered in 6mm Grendel. John is getting over 2900 fps with his 6mm Grendel, shooting 105gr Berger VLDs. He does have a long throat, but that is still impressive — 6BR velocities from the smaller-diameter Grendel case. Along with its gorgeous wood stock, Crawford’s rifle featured some very cool hardware. The trigger guard was radically skeletonized and anodized black. John’s scope was mounted with 4-bolt integrated scope rings/bases with 20 MOA built-in elevation. Produced by Marvin Pearson in Oregon, (360) 748-3429, these custom ring/bases were beautifully finished with radiused edges. Pearson’s ring/bases are available for 1″, 30mm, or 34mm tubes, with zero elevation “pre-load”, or up to 30 MOA of built-in elevation. Pearson charges $125.00 per set (plus shipping).
Crawford carried his 6mm Grendel ammo in compact 100-round ammo ammo cases from J&J Products. These cases pack big capacity in a relatively small footprint. There is enough clearance for long VLD-style bullets, but not so much extra “headroom” that the rounds can fall out if the box is inverted. John uses a piece of pink foam, cut to box dimensions, to protect his bullet tips when traveling. These 100-round J&J boxes measure 5.375″L x 5.375″W x 2.400″D and cost just $4.88 (J&J item BR-100).
 Match director Barry Bluhm had a very nice ammo caddy that places ten loaded rounds up close to the loading port for fast cycling. Southpaw Bluhm keeps his ammo caddy on the right side, but the design would work equally well when used on the left side by a right-handed shooter.
Barry, who shoots a 6-6.5×47 for the most part, deserves a huge amount of credit for organizing this event. He spent many long hours building new target frames, and organized volunteers to man the pits and run the range. Without Barry’s dedication and hard work, this 600-yard match, hopefully the first of many registered events at Ojai, couldn’t have happened.
To learn more about the Ojai Valley Gun Club, or view the schedule of upcoming events, visit www.OVGC.net.
November 29th, 2009
 One of the most prestigious rifle competitions on the West Coast was held this past week, Nov. 18-22, at the Marine Corps Air Ground Task Force Training Center in 29 Palms, California. This year marked the 50th Anniversary of the NRA Long Range, High Power and EIC Regional Match, hosted by High Desert Competitive Shooting Club (HDCSC). Some 49 Long Range shooters and 54 High Power shooters competed at the Marine Corps’ Marksmanship Training Unit (MTU) rifle range. In addition to the individual shooters, there were 10 Long Range Teams (6 match rifle/4 service rifle) and 12 High Power teams (3 match rifle/9 service rifle).
The long range competition commenced on Thursday. The McVey (any/any) Trophy Match winner was Nat’l Guard SSgt Stuart Mackey (388-17X). Floyd Moore (374-9X) won High Palma, while Pete Jend (361-6X) won High Service Rifle. This year, 18 new “unclassified” shooters entered the long range event. The best among them was Allen Thomas, who posted a superb 376-11X with an Elesio RT-10 chambered in 7mm Rem SAUM. Remarkably, the top 3 Unclassified shooters would all have placed in the High Master Class. (There were also a dozen Unclassified shooters in Saturday’s High Power competition).
 Conditions were windy and challenging on Friday, but there were many impressive performances. The Commanding General’s Long Range Trophy Match (the overall Grand Agg for both Thursday and Friday) was won by National Guard SSgt Stuart Mackey. The Onslow Memorial Trophy Match (Service Rifle, Long Range Grand Agg) was won by Pete Jend with a 743-15X. Among Friday’s other results, Gary Rasmussen, a perennial winner at 29 Palms, won the Stockinger Match, and Gary posted the High Palma Rifle score (395-14X). High Service Rifle was, again, Pete Jend with a 382-9X.
On Saturday, conditions were windy for the High Power shooters. With a 1550-53X score, SSgt Stuart Mackey secured first place in the Grand-Grand aggregate Gorchinski Trophy Match, the combined aggregates of both Long Range and High Power. Shooting a match rifle, Dennis Demille (Creedmoor Sports Manager) won the MSgt Jenks Trophy Match Aggregate, and the NRA High Power Gold Medal (774-29X). The Service Rifle category winner, and overall NRA Bronze Medal winner was SSgt Stuart Mackey (773-18X). The NRA Silver Medal went to Match Rifle shooter Steven Powell (773-21X). Although not among the class winners, a popular 29 Palms competitor for the past two years has been retired Marine Gunnery Sargent R. Lee Ermey, who hosts the Lock & Load TV series on the History Channel. Gunny Ermey shoots in the Expert/Sharpshooter class.
Sunday’s team and Leg events started off with moderate 6-7 MPH winds and sunshine. The winning team, using Service Rifles, was All Guard-Spiker with a combined score of 1542-34X. Fortune then favored those 23 shooters (plus 14 already Distinguished), who would shoot the “Leg” match. The winds died down to zero! The high shooter, among those not already Distinguished, was Sgt Sam Lynn, USMC (475-9X).
CLICK HERE for Regional Complete Scores
Ken Miller, President of the High Desert Competitive Shooting Club notes that: “All of the NRA and CMP officials with the High Desert Competitive Shooting group would like to thank Gunner Fred Keeney, USMC, Ed Folts (range master), Capt. Ruth Wilson, USMC, and all of the MTU’s range personnel for their superb work.”
Here, 29 Palms’ Marine gunners practice some true ‘High Power’ shooting.
November 29th, 2009
 We know that the Daily Bulletin has been heavy with sale notices lately. Rest assured that there has NOT been a fundamental shift in our editorial mix. It’s just that there are some very attractive, but short-lived deals that expire on 11/30/2009, including 10% off at Brownells and Sinclair Int’l. We don’t want you guys to miss out. Also, the Black Friday/Cyber Monday promotions have lowered prices dramatically on some really good stuff. For example, the Samsung netbook I use with my ballistics program, target cam, and PVM-21 chronograph, is $85 cheaper than it was a month ago. The Garmin nüvi 255w GPS, the same unit Jason uses, is now $40 less than in October. So enjoy the deals while they last. You snooze, you lose.
November 29th, 2009
Sinclair International has some nice deals for the holidays. And, through Monday 11/30/2009 at 11:59 pm, if your online order totals $200.00 or more, you can save an additional 10% using Promo Code SAVE10. Here are some of the good holiday deals.
Wolf Small Magnum Primers: $31.24 per 1000 primers
Wolf Large Rifle Primers: $32.25 per 1000 primers
The Small Rifle Magnum primers work very well with BR, 6.5 Grendel, 6-6×47, and 6.5×47 cases. The Large Rifle Primers are a good choice for 6XC, .243 Win, 6.5 Creedmoor, .308 Win, .284 Win and 30-06. We list this product here, not so much because the price is the best, but because readers are constantly asking us “where can I get Wolf primers?”. If you need them, Sinclair Int’l has them in stock right now. (NOTE: Wolf regular Small Rifle Primers, which shoot great in PPCs, are still out of stock.)
RCBS ChargeMaster Combo, Scale and Dispenser: $299.99 (Reg. $328.40)
This is the device that created an electronic revolution in reloading. The latest generation of Chargemasters is more reliable than ever. If you make sure the unit is level in all planes, and you have good, uniform current, the Chargemasters will deliver very consistent charges. With H4350, a fairly long extruded powder, our tests showed that 48 out of 50 throws were within the claimed ± one-tenth of a grain (0.1 grain) spread. Sinclair’s $299.99 price is very good, and with the 10% off SAVE10 Promo Code you’ll pay $269.99, which is cheaper that both Midsouth ($279.99), and Natchez ($279.95)
Sinclair/Wilson Ultimate Micrometer Trimmer w/ Shark Fin, $134.95 (Reg. $145.00)
By most standards, this is the best manual case trimmer on the market. The micrometer on this trimmer effortlessly adjusts cutting lengths, so it’s easy to change from one cartridge type to another. Changing trim length on a Forster or Lyman trimmer is much more time-consuming, requiring you to fiddle around with set screws, and possibly replace pilots and collets. With a Wilson trimmer, you DO have to purchase case-holders for your cartridges, but that’s often cheaper than buying the pilots and/or collets required by other manual trimmers. Remember that a Wilson case holder will often work for a whole family of cartridges. For example a single .308 case-holder will work for a .243 Win, Rem 260, 7mm-08, or .308 Win.
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