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July 22nd, 2007
 The 2007 NRA National Rifle & Pistol Championships are underway now at Camp Perry, Ohio. This year promises to be one of the best-attended Championship series in Camp Perry’s 100-year history. More that 4000 shooters will be competing in a variety of disciplines. The smallbore 3-Position event concludes today, July 22nd, to be followed by Smallbore Prone from July 23-27. CMP Rifle matches run August 1-4. The High Power Rifle competition will be held August 6-10, while the High Power Long Range match runs August 11-14. Visit the Camp Perry web site for Camp Perry History, driving directions, and lodging information.
Complete match scores and standings are compiled daily and posted on the NRA Nat’l Championship Results webpage.
 
Camp Perry is a 640-acre Ohio National Guard Training Site located on the southern shores of Lake Erie. Ranges and Training facilities include three automated firing ranges, ballistic shoot-house and multiple field training areas. An article covering the history of the Camp Perry matches, written by Philip Schreier, Senior Curator, National Firearms Museum, is on the NRA’s National Rifleman website. Click the graphic below to read the article.
Illustration ©2007 National Rifle Association
July 22nd, 2007
 The trend of shooting industry buyouts continues. Cerberus acquired Remington, Smith & Wesson purchased Thompson/Center Arms, and Brownell’s has bought out Sinclair International. Now Bushnell is the latest big outdoor company to change hands. Bushnell Outdoor Products will be acquired by MidOcean Partners, a private equity group. MidOcean will purchase Bushnell and its sub-brands from Wind Point Partners, also a private equity investment firm. Bushnell’s senior management team will remain in place (for now) and have a significant ownership stake in the company. The deal includes Bushnell Outdoor Products’ 11 brands (15 product lines) including Bushnell®, Tasco®, Serengeti®, Bollé®, Uncle Mike’s®, Stoney Point®, Hoppe’s®, Blackwater Gear®, and Butler Creek®.
Bushnell Outdoor Products was founded 48 years ago. In the shooting optics and electronics markets, Bushnell is well-established in the low- to medium-priced segment, with excellent distribution and marketing systems in place. In recent years, Bushnell has brought out some of the more innovative, high-tech products and accessories in the shooting industry, including Laser Rangefinders with angle correction and the Onix line of GPS units that can download satellite maps and weather info via XM Satellite radio. Click HERE for Onix video.
MidOcean Partners is a private equity firm with a wide variety of holdings including Concentra (Health Care), Lecta Group (paper products), Penton Media (B2B trade shows and journals), Totes/Isotoner (clothing), Palace Entertainment (family water parks). Based in New York and London, MidOcean invests in high quality companies with stable market positions and opportunities for growth in the United States and Europe.
July 21st, 2007
SSG Emil Praslick, USAMU Service Rifle coach, is considered one of the best wind gurus in the United States, if not the world. He has authored an excellent two-part article on wind reading that is available on the CMP (Civilian Marksmanship Program) website. Both articles contain helpful illustrations, and are “must-read” resources for any long-range shooter–not just Service Rifle and Highpower competitors.
Click to Read Articles:
Reading the Wind (Part One) | Reading the Wind (Part Two)
 Part One covers basic principles, tactics, and strategies, with a focus on the 200-yard stages. Emil writes: “There are as many dimensions to ‘wind reading’ as there are stages to High Power competition. Your tactical mindset, or philosophy, must be different for the 200 and 300 yard rapid-fire stages than it would be for the 600 yard slow-fire. In the slow-fire stages you have the ability to adjust windage from shot to shot, utilizing the location of the previous shot as an indicator. Additionally, a change to the existing conditions can be identified and adjusted for prior to shooting the next shot.”
In Part Two, Praslick provides more detailed explanations of the key principles of wind zeros, wind reading, and the “Clock System” for determining wind values: “The Value of the wind is as important as its speed when deciding the proper windage to place on the rifle. A 10 MPH wind from ’12 o-clock’ has No Value, hence it will not effect the flight of the bullet. A 10 MPH wind from ‘3 o’clock’, however, would be classified as Full Value. Failure to correct for a Full Value wind will surely result in a less than desirable result.”
Praslick also explains how to identify and evaluate mirage:
Determine the accuracy of the mirage. Mirage is the reflection of light through layers of air that have different temperatures than the ground. These layers are blown by the wind and can be monitored to detect wind direction and speed.
Focus your scope midway between yourself and the target, this will make mirage appear more prominent. I must emphasize the importance of experience when using mirage as a wind-reading tool. The best way to become proficient in the use of mirage is to correlate its appearance to a known condition. Using this as a baseline, changes in mirage can be equated to changes in the value of the wind. Above all, you must practice this skill!
Click HERE for more excellent instructional articles by Emil Praslick and other USAMU Coaches and shooters.
July 21st, 2007
Now through the end of July, MidwayUSA has the Berger 35gr hollowpoint varmint bullets on sale. These are excellent .204-caliber projectiles. They are very accurate, with more consistent dimensions than many other varmint bullets. With a wide meplat, the Berger 35s provide reliable expansion in the target. You’ll like these bullets in your 20-222, .204 Ruger, 20 Tactical or 20 Vartarg. MidwayUSA customer C. Benson from Colorado reports: “After trying the Hornady V-max bullets with 100 yard groups 1″ or more, I ordered a new barrel, reamer and headspace gauge. While waiting for the new barrel & reamer I decided to try the Berger bullets. I was very pleased with the Berger 35 grain bullets. Groups were cut in half with the same powders with some powders the groups were even less, in the .3s I will be shooting Bergers from now on!”
July 20th, 2007
Here is a simple, low-cost way to get reliable readings of case headspace when you “bump” the shoulder back on your 6BR, .243, or .308 Win brass. Credit Boyd Allen for this tip. First, you’ll need one .45acp case, with primer removed. Make sure the .45acp case is trimmed square and that it is round. We recommend you first run it through an expander, then size it, trim it and chamfer. Next, take the .45acp case and slip it over the neck of a fired, unsized case with the primer removed. Align the two cases between the jaws of your calipers and note the length from rim to rim (Top Photo, striped case).
OK, now you have the length for a fired case. Next, take a sized case (without primer) and do the same thing, placing the .45acp over the neck of the FL-sized case (Bottom Photo). The difference between the two numbers is the amount of “bump” or set-back you are applying to the shoulder. Here the difference is .0015″. The amount of bump you need varies with your chamber and your load, but .0015-.002″ is a good initial setting. By using this simple tool, you can avoid bumping the shoulder too much. This will also help you set-up the depth of your full-length die to get the proper amount of bump each time.
July 20th, 2007
We had a chat yesterday with Ed Eckhoff, who has served as Match Director for the U.S. F-Class Nationals, NBRSA 600-yard Nationals and other major events held at the Sacramento Valley Shooting Center. Ed has been working with the 6.5×47 Lapua necked down to 6mm. Ed told us he was getting good velocity and stellar accuracy with the new IMR 4007 SSC powder. “I was testing recently at 300 yards, and the first two shots pretty much went through the same hole. The group ended up well under .4 inches. Pretty amazing for 300 yards”. Ed is using 39.0+ grains of IMR 4007 SSC with his own custom-made 108 grain boat-tail bullets. Ed said he can get his 108s well over 3100 fps and there has been no stiff bolt lift and no extrusion of brass into the ejector area. Ed’s big question was barrel life. He asked us–“Has anyone shot out the barrel on a 6-6.5×47 yet? I wonder what kind of barrel life can be expected.”
July 19th, 2007
On July 5-8, the 101-year-old Los Angeles Rifle & Revolver Club hosted the All-American Smallbore Championship. Many of the top rimfire shooters in the western USA attended the match. The overall match winner was German Salazar. Below is a one-minute video showing German shooting the 100-yard “any sights” stage. If you watch carefully you’ll see how steady German holds his rifle and how quickly/smoothly he cycles his bolt. You’ll see just a small lift of the muzzle as German pulls the trigger. German’s rifle features an Anschutz 2013 action in a fiberglass Master Class stock with an older Leupold 24X Target scope. It has a phenomenal 1.5 ounce Kenyon trigger–as smooth and crisp a trigger as we have ever sampled. Click HERE for large photo.
Other winners, by category, included:
First Master–Sam Thoman
First Expert–Mike Tuck
Top Woman–Dara Zachary
First SharpShooter–Amanda McMullin
(Amanda also posted the high score among Juniors)
First Marksman–Jennifer Smith
Highest Junior (After Amanda)–Shannon Draeker
The LARR ran a very efficient, professional match. Many legendary small-bore and position shooters were present as observers at the match, including former Olympian and world record 300m shooter David Kimes. Click HERE for Complete Match Results. You’ll also find a discussion of the match on ShootersJournal.com.
July 18th, 2007
Terry Brady’s name is synonymous with 600-yard world records. On July 14, shooting at the Piedmont range, Terry smashed his own IBS 600-yard Aggregate world record. Running his 15.5-lb 6BR in the Heavy Gun Relay, Terry nailed an amazing 1.5055″ 4-target Agg. Two of his 5-shot groups were under 1.3″! Target by target, here are his groups: 2.063″, 1.209″, 1.469″, 1.281″ (all subject to IBS verification.)
Terry told us: “The conditions were great. Mild temps, very little mirage, almost no wind. I shot completely free recoil and was able to drill ‘em right in there. I don’t think I looked up at the flags once I started a group.” Previously, in May, at the same Piedmont range, Terry also shot two pending IBS 600-yard records, with a 50-score (1.093″) in Light Gun, and a 50-score (1.175″) in Heavy Gun. Terry says: “As far as I can tell I have four pending world records right now.”
Terry set the new Agg record with the same 6BR rifle that produced Terry’s .860″ single-group IBS record (READ Story HERE). However, the gun has a new Krieger 8-twist barrel and Terry was using the new Spencer 103 BT bullets. In the past Terry shot moly Berger 105s. Recently he switched to shooting naked bullets: “Quite a few boys ’round here have been getting real good results shooting naked bullets lately, so I thought I’d give it a try.” He still uses Berger 105s, but recently tried out the Spencers. In his testing the Berger 105s shoot best in warm weather, but the Spencers shot better in cool to moderate air.
At the 7/14 Piedmont match, Terry shot naked Berger 105s in the first Light Gun Relay. That produced a 2.527″ Agg. Then he cleaned his barrel quickly, and switched to the Spencer 103s, loaded with 30.0 grains of Reloader 15. Terry said the weather was pretty mild in temperature, so he thought the 103s might work well. They sure did.
Terry proved it’s wise to read the AccurateShooter.com Bulletin: “I was on your website last month, and learned about the new Clay Spencer 103s. Jason said they were some of the most consistent bullets he’d ever measured, so I though I’d give them a try. I called Clay, but he didn’t have any left. I managed to get some from Glenn Burroughs.” Terry joked: “Please don’t tell the other folks how well the Spencer 103s are shooting–let me win a few more matches first.”
July 18th, 2007
 Rich DeSimone uses a handy “Stub Gauge” for setting shoulder “bump” and seating depth. The gauge is made from a section of barrel lopped off when the muzzle is crowned. The chambering reamer is run in about 1/4 of the way, enough to capture the neck and shoulder area of the case. Rich then uses his full-length die to “bump” a master case with the ideal amount of headspace for easy feeding and extraction. He takes that case and sets it in this Stub Gauge, and measures from the front of the gauge to the rim. He can then quickly compare any fired case to a his “master” case with optimal headspace. Since the gauge measures off the shoulder datum, this tells him how much to bump his fired brass.
In addition, the Stub Gauge can be used to set bullet seating-depth. Rich has a channel cut transversely on one side of the gauge, exposing the throat area. Since the interior of the gauge is identical to the chamber in his gun, this lets him see where a seated bullet engages the rifling. He can tinker with bullet seating length until he gets just the right amount of land contact on the bullet, confirmed visually. Then he measures the case OAL and sets his seating dies accordingly. This is much handier than using a Stoney Point Tool to measure distance to the lands. As your barrel’s throat wears, you may seat your bullets out further to “chase the lands”, but the gauge provides a constant land engagement point, in the barrel’s “as new” condition. By measuring the difference between the land contact point on the gauge and the actual contact point on your barrel, you can determine throat “migration”.
July 17th, 2007
Ever wondered what it was like to pilot a 60+ pound Heavy Gun in top-level competition? Want to see how fast a shooter can rip off 10 shots downrange? Check out this video of John Buhay shooting his 6 Dasher Heavy Gun at the Williamsport World Open on Sunday, July 15. John launches 10 shots in 26 seconds start to finish, even with multiple point of aim adjustments. John’s rifle employs a trued Remington Action in a Delrin and aluminum stock crafted by Buhay himself. If you cringe seeing John launch brass over his shoulder–he has a towel that catches his empties. Click the image below to download the 4.8 megabyte video. If you have the Media Plug-in, the video should launch when you double-click.
© 2007 AccurateShooter.com, All Rights Reserved
Video by Jason Baney
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