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August 11th, 2008
During past Olympic Games, it was difficult to find ANY coverage of shooting events, much less real-time video, or comprehensive match scores. In the past, the main broadcast channels might feature one or two events, but only if an American was likely to win a medal. For 2008, that has all changed. NBC has dedicated vast resources to providing in-depth, web-based coverage of ALL Olympic events, including shooting sports. On the NBC Olympics website, you’ll find the latest shooting event results, complete with scores, photos, and videos. There is even a special Inside This Sport section that provides technical information, with specifics on the firearms used, and the courses of fire. The NBC Olympics website is a treasure-trove of information, updated many times daily.
CLICK HERE for Main Olympics Shooting Web Page
OLYMPIC SHOOTING Feature Pages
INSIDE the SPORT (Rules, Equipment, Shooting Formats, Glossary)
SHOOTING VIDEO Page (Event Videos plus Background Stories)
NEWS and FEATURES (Late-Breaking News and Special Interest Stories)
RESULTS and SCHEDULES (Match Scores, Event and Broadcast Times)
August 11th, 2008
Over 200 of the world’s best pistol shooters from 19 states and 4 foreign countries will compete for the World Speed Shooting Championship at the 2008 Steel Challenge. The Shooting events take place August 14 through 16 (Thurs. through Sat.) at the Steel Challenge Range in Piru, CA, located about 15 minutes from Magic Mountain in Southern California. Spectator admission is free. Awards ceremonies are scheduled for August 17 (Sunday) in nearby Valencia, CA.
Considered by many to be the “ultimate” speed-shooting competition, the Steel Challenge draws the world’s best pro shooters, who compete for over $350,000 in cash and prizes. The 3-day event tests competitors with eight challenging courses of fire, all “on the clock”.
Courses of fire, or stages, are made up of five steel targets which are electronically timed to 1/100th of a second. Competitors shoot each stage five times with their slowest run eliminated. The combined time of the four best runs is their score for that stage. Championships will be determined in in several categories including Rimfire, Shotgun, Single Action Revolver, Revolver, Stock Pistol and Open Pistol.
CLICK HERE for Steel Challenge VIDEO Trailer
Original Video © 2007 DownRange Television
Photo courtesy SteelChallenge.com
For more information, visit www.SteelChallenge.com. The Steel Challenge Media website also has STAGE DIAGRAMS and PHOTOS from recent Steel Challenge matches.
August 10th, 2008
This week, Carl Bernosky captured his second straight NRA National High Power Championship at Camp Perry, Ohio. That is 9 championships in 14 tries for Bernosky. 11-time NRA High Power Champion David Tubb was second. Carl scored 2384-118X shooting his 6mm Hagar* in an AR-based “spacegun”. This back-to-back victory, Bernosky’s NINTH Camp Perry High Power Championship, establishes the modest Pennsylvanian as one of the greatest rifle shooters of our generation. Carl also won the Vandenburg Cup, and took second in the McCann Trophy Match, which was won by David Tubb. Tubb’s remarkable 1200-81X score broke the previous McCann Trophy Match record, set by David in 2003. Good Shooting David! Norman Houle took the Clarke Trophy Match, followed by David Tubb.
Final Standings Decided by X-Count
The National High Power Championship was tightly contested, with David Tubb and PFC Sherri Hurd “in the hunt” thoughout the match. Tubb and Hurd finished the 2008 National Championship with identical 2375 scores. The X-Count was used as the tie-breaker; David prevailed with 127X compared to Hurd’s 94X. Sherri was the top Service shooter and top woman. Fourth place was also decided by X-count tie-breaker, with Ronald Zerr edging Norman Houle by a single ‘X’.
Tyrel Cooper won the Service Rifle Championship with a 2362-101 score. The next four places, in order, were: Ron Fleischhacker (2359-79), Shawn McKenna (2358-83), Grant Singley (2351-94), and Daniel Duitsman (2350-89).
NRA Websites Offer More Info on Camp Perry Matches
For complete match results, visit the NRA Championships Results Page. Daily reports from NRA correspondents on the scene are offered on the new Camp Perry Live Blog.
*The 6mm Hagar resembles a 6.8 SPC with a .100″ longer body, 30-degree shoulder, and greater case capacity. It has a .420 rim diameter, and is formed from .30 Remington brass.
August 10th, 2008
New visitors to this site may not be familiar with our AccurateShooter BLOG. If you like our Daily Bulletin, you’ll also enjoy the monthly BLOG. While the Bulletin has been running for about 18 months, our regular BLOG goes back to April 2005. You’ll find many interesting features and Tech Tips in the “back issues” of the BLOG. The four or five most recent editions of the BLOG are collected on our BLOG ARCHIVE Page. From there you can click links to access older months, all the way to April 2005. You’ll find a search button so you can find past BLOG articles by topic or keyword.
Be forewarned–there’s lots of good reading material in our Blog Archive–you could easily spend an entire day reading the mini gear reviews, reloading tips, and test reports. In January 2006, for example, you’ll find an interesting Barrel Length Test we commissioned. We started with a 33″ 6BR barrel and then cut it down to 28″ in one-inch increments, measuring the velocity at each length on Jackie Schmidt’s railgun. The results may surprise you.
August 10th, 2008
Benchrest shooter Bill Gammon offers a nice product that helps prevent solvents and oils from marring the finish of a fine wood stock, or a painted fiberglass stock. The STOKBOOT also prevents solvents from softening the bedding, while guarding against nicks and scratches. Gammon’s STOKBOOT fits over the rifle stock during cleaning of the barrel. The quilt on the outside soaks up the solvent before it reaches the stock and holds it until it evaporates. A twin layer of vinyl on the inside stops any solvents from getting through, but Gammon cautions that you should not leave the STOKBOOT on overnight, because solvents could soak through. The basic colors are Red, Wine, Black, Blue, and Green. Typical retail price is about $16.00.
Gammon explains how he came up with the STOKBOOT: “My wife Barbara and I started this business in 1992 as a means to support a very expensive sport, namely Bench Rest. My wife had been in the sewing business for many years. Her experience included sewing, layout, cutting, and management, so it was only logical that the next step was opening our own business. I had complained about having to use a rag over my stock to prevent solvents that I was using from ruining the paint job on the stock, and also seeping into the bedding area and softening up the bedding. So between her expertise in the sewing world and my practical knowledge, we came up with our first STOKBOOT.”
Currently, Gammon offers wholesale orders. His STOKBOOTs are available through popular shooting sports vendors including: Borden Rifles, Kinneman’s Products, Russ Haydon’s Shooters’ Supply, Sinclair International. European dealers are Reloading Solutions for the UK, and Heinz Henke Online in Germany.
August 9th, 2008
This is a syndicated feed from the NBC Olympics website. It provides shooting news and video “webcasts”. It works with current Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers, but you may have to install updated video streaming components. There are live feeds of many shooting events, some with live commentary by Lones Wigger, a past world shooting champion and Olympic Gold Medalist for Team USA.
For more info on Olympic Shooting, visit NBC’s INSIDE THE SPORT page.
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August 9th, 2008
Katerina Emmons, representing the Czech Republic, won the first gold medal of the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the women’s 10m air rifle competition. Katie was the only woman to shoot a perfect 400 score in the qualifying round. This equaled the World Record and set a new Olympic Record. The previous Olympic Record was 399. In the finals, Katerina posted a 103.5 score, giving her a final tally of 503.5, beating the previous Olympic record of 502.0 set by China’s Du Li in 2004. It was a stellar performance by a popular champion who started shooting at age 14, tutored by her father, Petr Kurka, a double world champion in three positions.
Photo courtesy Fédération Française de Tir
CLICK HERE for story on official Olympics website.
Photo 1: Katerina kisses Anschütz rifle
Photo 2: Katerina kisses husband Matt Emmons
Photo 3: Katerina celebrates with coach
Photo 4: Katerina holds Gold Medal
Katerina married USA Olympic shooter Matt Emmons last year. The two shooters met at the 2004 Olympics in Athens where she won her first Olympic Medal (Bronze, 10m Air Rifle) competing under her maiden name Katerina Kurkova. After winning gold in Beijing, Katerina moved to the front row of the gallery to embrace her father and then kiss husband Matt. It was a touching moment for the “First Couple” of the Olympic shooting world. “She did a fantastic job. I’m so proud of her,” Matt Emmons told Reuters.
CLICK HERE for full story on how Katerina met Matt Emmons.
New Gold Medalist Shoots Anschütz
Katerina was shooting an Anschütz compressed air rifle similar to the Anschütz model 9003 shown below. With sights mounted, a model 9003 is 42.5″ long and weighs 4.4 kg (9.68 lbs.).
COMMENTARY — Katerina’s First-of-Games Gold Medal a Boon to Shooting Sports
Katerina’s record-setting air rifle victory, being the first gold-medal performance of the 2008 Games, is exactly the kind of positive publicity the shooting community needs. Katerina is a perfect champion — modest, personable, and attractive. She has already become a “Cover Girl” for this Olympic games. And it is great that she is married to a fellow shooter.
 Hundreds of millions of TV and internet viewers worldwide were touched to see how she went to the stands to hug and kiss her husband after her shooting victory. We predict that will become one of the defining “video moments” of the 2008 Olympics.
Katerina’s highly-publicized Olympic win will help counter negative perceptions about the shooting sports. It also shows that shooting is not all about strength and brawn. Her success, we hope, should insprire many young women to try shooting. A diminutive 5’5″ and 118 pounds, Katerina has proven that shooting can be a sport for everyone, regardless of size, gender, age, or nationality. We salute her achievement and we think her Gold-medal win will help increase public interest in competitive shooting worldwide.
August 8th, 2008
Need a Laser rangefinder? Here’s a chance to win a new Leica CRF 900 Rangefinder. Jon Jackoviak, owner of The Optic Zone, www.theOpticZone.com, has just announced a new contest. To enter, go to The Optic Zone’s new Optic Central Forum, register there, and make a minimum of 5 posts in the next few weeks. There is no cost to register in the Optic Central Forum.
On September 30th, there will be a drawing. All qualified persons will have a chance to win a new Leica CRF 900 Laser Rangefinder. As Jon explains: “All you need to do to have a chance to win is go to OpticCentral.com, register and post a minimum of 5 entries. Winners will be drawn randomly on September 30th with all registered members who have a minimum of five (5) posts being eligible.”
August 8th, 2008
Everybody’s conplaining about rising prices these days. And it’s true that, because of the increased cost of lead, copper and other raw materials, the prices of bullets and brass have risen dramatically in recent months. Well, right now Grafs.com has a great deal if you need bulk, 55gr bullets to shoot from your AR or other .22-caliber centerfire. These Federal, 55gr FMJ BT bullets are just $7.99 per hundred. And the cost per bullet is even lower if you buy in quantities of 500, 1000, or 2000. For example, 1000 bullets are just $71.90 (effective cost of $7.19 per 100). Note: These bullets have a cannelure.
 Grafs.com also has low-cost .22-caliber bullets from PRVI Partisan, starting at $9.79 per hundred for 50gr soft points, item PPB224SP50, and $9.99 per hundred for 55gr soft points, item PPB224SP55. We bet these bullets would work well for varmint rifles. The longer PRVI 22-caliber match bullets shot great for Danny Reever and other testers.
Grafs.com also offers other budget-prived PRVI bullets in .224, 6mm, 6.5mm, 7mm, and .308 calibers.
August 7th, 2008
Here’s an interesting new product that earns major points for innovation. Shooters Ridge has invented a shooting bench with wheels AND flip-up sides so it can serve as a field transporter. the Shooters Ridge new bench/cart is officially called the Voyager™ Shooting System. It will hit the market very shortly, priced with a $384.49 MSRP. The Voyager features large 20”-diameter wheels with tubeless tires, a generous 12” cushioned seat and weather-resistant frame and hardware. The wheels come off allowing the Voyager to fold flat for storage and transport.
Videos Show Voyager System Used as Cart and Shooting Bench
Shooters Ridge has two excellent videos on its website that show the Voyager bench/cart in use. If you are interested in this product, definitely watch one of both of the videos. They show varminters rolling the cart into position, setting up the bench, and then shooting.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW VOYAGER VIDEOS.
NOTE: After clicking this link to get to Shooters Ridge Website, click “Media” in lower right. Then click “Voyager Video Streaming” (download link is not yet working).
This product is so new, we haven’t had a chance to test it ourselves. We’re a little concerned that the unit could rock or wobble when set up as a shooting bench. However, that can probably be avoided by chocking the wheels or staking down the rear support. Also, we prefer field benches that isolate the seat from the bench top. Still, the versatility of this product impresses us. You can use the Voyager to get your gear in and out of the field easily, yet it sets up quickly as a mobile shooting bench. If you’ve ever hauled a 100+ pound shooting bench around a varmint field you know it’s no fun. With the wheeled Voyager, you can easily roll to a new firing point, hauling your gear along with you. The folks at Shooters Ridge also say the Voyager is sturdy enough to haul game out of the field.
“Varmint hunters, big game hunters and all-day target shooters will appreciate the versatility of this new shooting bench,” stated Tom Knudtson of Shooters Ridge. “Whether it’s hauling game or gear, the Voyager is a rugged piece of equipment that pulls double-duty in the field. In my opinion, its quick conversion to a shooting bench is an amazing advancement.”
COMMENT: The concept of an easy-to-move bench that works as a cart is a good one. And perhaps the actual “street price” of the Voyager will be quite a bit lower than $384 MSRP. This editor has built a few gun-carts before. With wheels, wood, frame, and axles, one can easily spend over $125 just on materials. So, if this unit actually retails for $335.00 or so, it may be worth it. However, we have to reserve judgment on the Voyager until the question of stability in the field is answered.
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