Report by Forum Member Ian S. (aka “Nightowl”)
After taking a few years off from competitive shooting, in 2012 Mike Gaizauskas returned to the long-range rifle scene in a big way. During the course of the Virginia 1000-Yard Benchrest Club’s 2012 season, Mike set three new IBS 1K multi-match Aggregate records. Mike broke into the record-books using a very unique 300 WSM rifle that incorporates a lot “brainstorming” and help from Mike’s friends and colleagues. The record-setting rifle features a super-wide forearm which is also offset. (As viewed from the shooter’s position, the stock is wider on the left, off-setting the barreled action to the right). This Heavy Gun has proven to be super-accurate — Mike barely missed setting a new IBS 10-shot-group HG record by a couple thousandths.
IBS 1000-Yard Records by Mike Gaizauskas:
IBS 1000-Yard Heavy Gun Ten-Match Group Aggregate (5.6664 inches)
IBS 1000-Yard Heavy Gun Ten-Match Score Aggregate (95.30)
IBS 1000-Yard Heavy Gun Six-Match Group Aggregate (4.4935 inches)
Missed a Fourth IBS Record by a Whisker (or Two…)
In 2012, Mike came “oh-so-close” to breaking the current IBS 1000-Yard Heavy Gun 10-shot small group record of 3.044”. Using his offset HG shown below, Mike drilled a 3.046″ 10-shot group, just two thousandths of an inch (.002″) off the current record. FYI, the thickness of a typical human hair is .001″ — you can’t get much closer than that!
The record-setting gun was built with components gathered over time, which were then fitted into a new ultra-wide stock. Mike ordered two custom stock blanks from Richards Micro-Fit Stocks of Sun Valley, CA roughed to Mike’s specifications. One was for a Light Gun, and the other was for a Heavy Gun. Mike had been thinking about an offset design for some time. During the 2007 Nationals held at the Virginia 1000-Yard Club, Mike just happened to sit next to Dave Tooley for a day. Mike and Dave discussed at length Dave’s experiences and conclusions regarding offset stocks. Dave explained that an asymmetrical or offset forearm is designed to counter the longitudinal torque that occurs when the gun is fired. You can find these concepts featured a few years back in the 6mmBR.com Blog.
In addition to tapping into the mind of Dave Tooley, there was a LOT of debate among Mike’s friends regarding what shape and which side of the stock would work best to counter the barrel torque generated when launching a bullet utilizing a right-hand twist. Should the stock be wider on the left or wider on the right? Mike eventually decided to widen the forearm on the left side and apparently that was a wise decision — just check out the trophies this big rig has already hauled in:
Heavy Gun Is a 300 WSM
This record-setting Heavy Gun was chambered in 300 WSM by Mark King. The gun features a BAT Model M action mated with a 30″, 1:10″ twist Krieger chambered to a .338 neck and finished off with a muzzle brake of Mark’s design. The barreled action is held with a clamp-style barrel block. The stock incorporates stainless steel rails fashioned by Mike’s friend and machinist Steve Reimers.
… Stay tuned to the Daily Bulletin. We hope to provide a follow-up story with more photos and more information on Mike’s record-setting rifle (and the ultra-accurate ammo he feeds it).
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Last month, Sally Bauer set a pending new International Benchrest Shooters (IBS) Score Heavy Gun (HG) record for 1000-yard competition. Her score was 100-5X with a 3.495″ tie-breaker group. Sally shot the group on August 19, 2012 at the Gopher Rifle and Revolver Club in Harris, MN. If this record is approved, Sally will be the first female shooter to hold an IBS 1000-yard benchrest record. Sally’s handsome 67-lb Heavy Gun, “Stars & Stripes”, is painted with an American flag theme.
Sally Sets a Record
At the end of the Heavy Gun match #10 Sally was directed by Range Officer Gordy Mitchell to leave all of her equipment and rifle setting on her bench. Sally was perplexed by Gordy Mitchell’s direction but he assured her “It is a good thing”. Rumors swirled and Dave Holland was summoned to the pits.
Dave and Gordy brought the target back to the scoring shed and had club officials and some respected competitors measure and sign the target. All agreed Sally had just shot an IBS record score. Sally’s rifle and equipment were measured and photographed and the target sent off to the IBS for final measurement and verification.
Gun Specifications
Sally’s 67-lb Heavy Gun was originally purchased from Bill Shehane, and it uses Bill’s Maxi-Tracker stock. The gun was originally chambered for the 6-6.5×47 Lapua Improved. But the gun didn’t shoot like the Bauers wanted, so it was rechambered to 6mm Dasher by Gordy Gritters. The action is a 2″-diameter, round, chrome moly, 3-lug, 7 ½” BAT. The barrel is a 28″, 1:8″-twist Krieger, with 1.45″-diameter straight tube. The barreled action is secured in the stock with a 9″-long barrel block. The gun uses a 12X42 Nightforce BR scope and a Jewel BR trigger. Gordy Gritters smithed the rifle. Jim Sauer states: “We have known Gordy for years now and trust every phase of our gun projects — all of them are mechanical works of art. When we get our guns from Gordy we know we can put our focus on brass prep and load development and don’t have to worry about the guns being right. That really helps save time.”
Reloading Procedure for Sally’s “Stars & Stripes” Maxiby Jim Sauer
With every new rifle we start with new brass. The first step is to run them through a full length sizing die, then over an appropriate expander mandrel. Since we use a .270 neck on our 6 Dasher chambers, neck turning amounts to a 80% cleanup of the new Lapua brass necks. We do the normal primer pocket and flash-hole uniforming.
We fire-form two times to make sure we get nice sharp shoulder corners before competition. We then separate them according to weight using 1/10th of a grain differences for each box. Much of our loading process is geared around time savings. We look for easy-to-use, consistently good products and don’t vary from them unless we have a problem or results aren’t to our standards. We have chosen to shoot Clay Spencer’s 103gr 6mm bullets. We weight-sort and bearing-surface sort them and that’s it. I gave up trimming and tipping simply because it didn’t improve how Clay built them. We also use only one primer, the CCI 450.
We use one of four different powders. Our “go-to” powder is RL15, next we try Varget, then IMR 8208, and if that doesn’t work we try H4895. We have found that these bullets usually shoot best at 2970 fps. This is not an absolute, just what normally works best. We always try higher and lower velocities looking for that special load. Once we find the powder and quantity that works the best we play with the seating depth. Usually this is a fine-tune method and most of the time 15 thousandths into the rifling works the best. But don’t be afraid to jump the bullets as much as 0.100″. When we use this procedure we usually find a combination that will shoot nice, round ¾” groups at 400 yards.
Our reloading regimen starts with ultra-sonic cleaning our brass, then tumbling until shiny. We anneal the brass every time. We proceed to full-length resizing, repriming, and lubing the inside of the necks with graphite. We then charge with our selected powder and seat the bullets. We measure for concentricity, [shooting] the best ones for the record and the others for sighters. The load that Sally shot the record with is 33.0 grains of IMR 8208 XBR, CCI 450 primers, Spencer 103gr bullets, Lapua brass, bullet seated 15 thousandths into rifling, Velocity 2980 fps.
About Sally Bauer – This is the third year of competitive shooting for Sally. She listened to proper and basic instruction and learned at her pace. She developed her own style and discipline. Not wanting to be dependent on others Sally learned to set up her rests and carries Stars & Stripes to the bench by herself.
Sally and I would like to thank the kind people we have met in this crazy frustrating game of shooting. For the most part fellow competitors have been helpful and giving of the time, experience and knowledge. Every range owner and operator we have come across has treated us like family and friend. I can think of no other sport where the participants give so freely. We would also like to thank Dave Holland, Gordy Mitchell and all the others at GRRC for the professional way they handled the target and situation. — Jim and Sally Bauer
As an interesting historical note, Gordy Mitchell observed that there was an all-star line-up at the match when Sally set her record: “After checking our bench roster I noticed we had three national champions (2009-Ed Nazy, 2010-Jim Bauer, 2011-Todd Soeby) and current top five Shooter of the Year points leaders (Al Forbes, Sally Bauer, Jim Bauer, Shannon Lowman, and Larry Bryant) all at one match.”
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Montana 1K benchrest shooter Leo Anderson has set a pair of astounding multi-match Light Gun Score Agg records. These are “records for the ages”. This season, Leo’s 6-match Score Aggregate was 99.5 (99,99,99,100,100,100), while his 10-match Score Aggregate was 96.8 (84,94,95,98,99,99,99,100,100,100). That’s amazing consistency. Given how hard it is to shoot a single 100 score at 1000 yards, Leo’s Aggs are jaw-dropping. It will be a long time before these Agg records are broken (if they ever are). Leo set his 99.5 (6-match) and 96.8 (10-match) records shooting a 17-lb rifle chambered for the 6mm Dasher. The Lawrence barrel was chambered by Montana gunsmith John King and Leo did the stock work himself (starting with a Shehane MBR Tracker).
99.5 Six-Match Agg and 96.5 Ten-Match Agg at 1000 Yards
Leo set these multi-match Agg records at the Deep Creek Range near Missoula, Montana. Tom Mousel, another record-holding Montana shooter reports: “Our Agg season is now complete here in Montana. Leo ‘Legend’ Anderson has broken both the 6-match and 10-match score aggregate records. He hasn’t just broken them, he has smashed them, with a couple Aggs that are truly remarkable. As a fellow 1000-yard competitor, I fully understand what it takes to grind out a quality Aggregate. What Leo has done this year is the most impressive thing I think we might ever see in the 1000-yard benchrest game. Leo is one of the best of the ‘good guys’, and also, in my opinion, Leo is the best 1000-yard shooter to ever grace our sport. You’d have to check with Leo, but I believe these are his 14th and 15th world records in his career. Leo also holds our Club record for Light Gun group and score, when he drilled a 3.476″/100 back in August of 2008″. (See photo below)
Record-Breaking 6mm Dasher Light Gun Specs
There’s nothing really exotic about the 17-lb Light Gun with which Leo set his score records. The stock is a laminated Shehane MBR Tracker with some modifications by Leo to make it track better. Leo altered the angle of the toe to match the forearm and modified the taper of the sides of the buttstock to ride better in the bags. Pillar-bedded into the stock is a Stiller Viper Drop Port. Leo loves this action. He says it is very fast to operate and the flat bottom makes it easy to install in the stock. In addition, the Viper action works well with his preferred CCI 400 primers: “I can run stout loads of H4895 with the Viper without cratering the primers. Some guys with other factory and custom actions have problems with the CCI 400s which are not as hard as the 450s.”
The 29.5″, 5-groove, 0.237″ land, HV-counter barrel was crafted by Lawrence Barrels. Based in Lewiston, Montana, Lawrence Barrels currently makes mostly AR barrels, but Leo says they make great cut-rifled tubes: “I currently have Lawrence barrels on both my Light Gun and my Heavy Gun. These Lawrence barrels both shoot great. I think they are the equal of the best examples from top barrel-makers such as Krieger and Bartlein.” Leo has tried straight-contour barrels, but he prefers some taper (similar to a Krieger #17 contour): “In my experience, tapered barrels seem to shoot better, at least in a 17-pounder. The gun is less nose-heavy and tracks better.” The barrel on Leo’s record-setting Light Gun currently has about 900 rounds through it.
For optics, Leo runs a 12-42x56mm Nightforce BR model with NP2DD reticle. Leo tells us: “the NP2DD reticle is my favorite and I have great confidence in the Nightforce. We tried it side-by-side with a big name European-made high magnification scope, and the Nightforce was visibly better. At 1000 yards it had better clarity, better sharpness, better resolution.”
Record Setting Dasher Recipe: Berger 105gr VLD, Hodgdon H4895, CCI 400, Lapua Brass
While many top 6mmBR and Dasher shooters use Varget or Reloder 15, Leo prefers Hodgdon H4895, which has a slightly faster burn rate. Leo tells us: “Right now, the H4895 and CCI combo is giving the best accuracy, and it’s a clean combination. I’ve shot a lot of Reloder 15, but the H4895 burns so much cleaner.” Leo’s load is running around 3050 fps, but “he’s not too concerned with what the chronograph says — when we tune our loads we go by what shows up on the target.” Leo is loading a bit more than 32 grains of H4895. (Editor’s NOTE: This load is for fully fire-formed Dasher cases ONLY. It is NOT safe to use in a 6mmbr with 105s.) Leo’s favorite projectiles are the “thin-jacket” Berger 105gr VLDs, pointed with a Whidden pointing tool. Leo turns his necks with a K&M neck turner.
To save on barrel life, Leo fire-forms his brass using a separate barrel. He prepares the brass with a false shoulder, then fires the cases loaded with pistol powder, cream of wheat and low-density plug in the end. He tried forming case with pistol powder alone, but that required much more powder and didn’t produce results as good as the cream of wheat method.
Shooting Fast — the Importance of Smooth Tracking
Leo tells us that you need a great-tracking rig to be competitive in the 1K game these days: “Some guys are getting 10 shots downrange in 20 seconds or less. It takes me about 30 seconds.” To shoot that fast, the gun needs to track perfectly so you can just slide it back and stay on target. “If you want to shoot fast, everything’s got to be working right — and your stock really needs to track well. If you’re chasing the knobs on your rest, you’re not getting [your bullets] down range.” Leo says the stock’s geometry must be “near perfect” in order for the gun to come back to the same spot shot after shot.
Leo Anderson’s Advice for New Long-Range Shooters.
We asked Leo if he had any advice for shooters new to the long-range benchrest game. Here are some of his thoughts:
1. Pick a Winning Cartridge – Leo thinks the Dasher is just about perfect for a 17-lb rifle: “Any more cartridge than that, you have too much gun movement. Something in the Dasher range is the perfect size. We shoot the Dashers around the 3050 fps node. Even with the 6-6.5×47 you’re just burning more powder, and at the higher node, the gun starts rocking and things start getting away from you.”
2. Get Good Equipment Right from the Start – “Go ahead and bite the bullet and buy good stuff right off. Too many guys try to get off cheap in the beginning. They end up buying two or three guns as they upgrade. You save money in the long run by buying good stuff in the beginning.”
3. Practice, Practice, Practice – “We get a lot of practice in the process of tuning and load development. We put in the time — on things like bullet sorting, case prep, load tuning.”
4. Keep Pushing for Perfection – “A lot of guys get a load that seems pretty good, and then they get lazy. Don’t be content when you get a 6-inch group at 1000, because the gun might shoot a LOT better. I’ve got Aggs in the five-inch range.”
Leo reports: “Here’s our ‘secret’ 1000-yard range out in the sticks where we do some spring tuning”.
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At a recent Great Britain F-Class Association Match at the Blair Atholl Glen Tilt range, AccurateShooter Forum member Laurie Holland shot a 96-9V for twenty shots, tying the British F-TR single match record. Laurie accomplished that feat with a Savage-actioned .223 Remington. Laurie proved that the little .223 Rem can be competitive, even at 1000 yards. The Blair Atholl range, 1,000′ ASL in the southern Scottish Highlands, has been described by a top international rifle coach as ‘the world’s second most difficult range for wind’ (behind Trentham in New Zealand). Many British F-Class shooters were therefore surprised when Laurie Holland took his Savage-based .223 Rem F/TR rifle to the range earlier this month to compete in the season’s second GB F-Class Association league round. The event consisted of five, 1000-yard matches over a weekend (three 15-round stages on the Saturday, and two 20-round matches on Sunday). Forty-eight registered GB FCA shooters turned up, split 50/50 between F-Open and F-TR categories.
Though heavy rains were expected, Saturday was dry. However, the predominately 5 o’clock wind grew progressively stronger throughout the day, swinging through 20 or 30° with irregular gusts and lulls. With the range situated on a steep and uneven valley-side, wind changes affect elevation markedly in addition to the usual lateral movements. A gust can send the bullet high and left, while a lull moves POI low and right.
After Matches 1 and 2 Laurie was at the bottom end of the top 10 shooters in the class, but he surged to the lead in the day’s final match that saw the most difficult wind conditions. Laurie’s 66-2V score topped second place Adam Bagnall (reigning GB F-TR league champion) by seven points, and was also better than many F-Open scores. Laurie and his .223 were now tied (on points) with F-TR world champion Russell Simmonds for the overnight lead. Both had 183 points but Laurie was leading by five V-Bulls to one. As chance would have it, Russell and Laurie had been squadded to shoot together on the second detail of Sunday morning’s 20-round Match 4. NOTE: Brits employ a different system for F-Class targets. Target Rings have a 1 through 5 value, with a “V” (rather than “X”) for a dead-center hit. The maximum score possible on a twenty-round match would be 100-20V.
Laurie used the Savage successfully in the 2010 F Class European Championship meeting seen here shooting for GB in the second placed GB F/TR ‘Blue’ Team.
What followed was a classic two-man duel. Laurie explains: “While the F-Open boys on the first detail were still shooting, we had a short but violent rainstorm that really spoiled their day, this finishing just as they took their last shots. As the rain cleared, the wind apparently died too, the flags hanging limp, so we didn’t delay getting set up to take maximum advantage of the conditions. Russell and I both found the Bull / V-Bull on shot 1. Russell drilled five consecutive Vs, while I had two Bulls and three Vs. I began to think I might just hold Russell on points, but he’d hammer me on V-count. We started to find something was moving the bullets about, but there was no way of reading this on the sodden flags or even by the sway of the tops of some tall silver birch trees near the firing point, these usually proving very sensitive. It was a case of watching the plot develop, use intuition, and watch where Russell’s shot went before I took mine. (Remember, we have two competitors to each target taking shots alternately — no string shooting in the UK.)
Kongsberg electronic scoring monitor. This system gives near instant shot marking and lets spectators watch competitors’ performance in real time.
Crowd Watches Two-Man Duel — Laurie Ties Record in Match 4
With the Kongsberg electronic scoring machines, a flashing circle on the target shows the most recent shot, with its numerical Ring Value on the right side of the screen. All of our Fours came up as 4.9s, just leaking out! I was very reluctant to touch the scope knobs knowing just how easily a quarter-MOA ‘click’ can overdo the correction in these conditions and increasingly aimed low and left as the match progressed. As we reached the end we guessed our scores must be close, and amazingly I was getting more Vs now than Russell and his .308. However, neither of us knew we were tied on shot 19, both having dropped four points, and scored eight Vs, so the last shot would be crucial. Russell told me afterwards he sensed the wind had maybe picked up marginally, briefly considered aiming off a little further left, but decided to stick with his previous aim that had given him a ‘V’ – crack, 4.9 at 3 o’clock! My shot 19 had been a Four in exactly the same spot and I eased the Sightron’s reticle dot over to the bottom left corner of the Bull ring – crack, V.0 at six o’ clock for 96.9v total. Just to our right, Adam Bagnall had also shot 96, but with eight Vs, so I won the match and equaled John Cross’s GB F/TR record 20-round 1,000-yard score shot last summer. This increased my overall lead to 1 point. As the shooting concluded, we heard a rising murmur behind and turned to discover we had a substantial audience, mostly of ‘Open’ competitors, who’d been following our progress — electronic scoring not only gives an instant result, but makes shooting a spectator sport!
I’d like to say the fairy tale had a happy ending, but I blew my lead in the final four shots of the final match and ended up fourth in F-TR class, Russell taking the top spot. So, the .223 Rem will have to wait a little longer to get its first GB F-TR league round win.”
Despite faltering in the last match, Laurie still earned two stage medals and posted the highest F-TR V-count (15) in what had been a low scoring weekend. Laurie’s impressive performance with a .223 Rem now has many people reconsidering the Mouse Gun cartridge’s utility in British long-range F-TR competition.
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Breaking the 3″ mark (for 10 shots) is big news in the 1K benchrest game. The existing IBS 10-shot, 1000-yard record is 3.044″ set by Joel Pendergraft in 2009, while the NBRSA 10-Shot, 1000-yard record is 4.322″ set by Dave Tooley in 2006. Counting this 100-4X target, Matt also set a new 6-Match Heavy Gun Score Aggregate of 99.000. With Williamsport Match 10 still to shoot, Matt could push the HG Score Agg even higher.
Record Set with 300 WSM and 210-grainers
Matt Kline shot a 300 WSM with 210gr Berger VLD bullets. This confirms the accuracy of the short magnum, which may prove to be the new “go-to” cartridge of choice for those who want to shoot the high-BC, heavy 30-caliber bullets. Matt’s gun featured a BAT action, 30″ Broughton barrel, and a Nightforce 8-32x56mm BR scope. The rifle was smithed by Mark King Rifles.
Matt shared some details of his reloading process with Assist. Editor Jason Baney. This may surprise you. Matt anneals his 300 WSM brass after every firing. The necks are turned to .0135″ wall thickness for a .338″-neck chamber. Interestingly, Matt does not meplat-trim or point his Berger bullets. However, he pre-sorts the bullets very thoroughly, segregating them by .001″ variance in both bearing surface and overall bullet length. You need extremely consistent bullet-to-bullet BCs to shoot record groups like Matt did.
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Shooting at the Original Pennsylvania 1000-Yard Benchrest Club (Williamsport), Frank Weber, set a new Light Gun Williamsport Record Score and World Record Score this past weekend, a 100-6X (4.237″) for ten (10) shots. Our Assistant Editor Jason Baney witnessed the new record while working the pits. Jason reports: “Frank’s 100-6X beats my Williamsport Record and Andy Murtaugh’s World Record. It was an incredible group. Frank almost got a group record as well — nine of Frank’s ten shots measured about 3.4″, all falling well inside the 4″x4″ white square. This was a great achievement for Frank. He has been shooting at Williamsport since 1968, and this is his first-ever Light Gun group under 7 inches.”
Weber’s Record-Setting Light Gun
Frank Weber set his 1K record with a BAT-actioned 6mm Dasher smithed by Mark King. The Broughton 1:8″ twist, 28″ barrel has a 0.266″-necked Dasher chamber, with 0.155″ freebore. The Broughton barrel is nearly new — it had roughly 100 rounds through it when the record was shot. For optics, Weber used a Nightforce 8-32x56mm NXS scope.
Record Recipe: Varget, BR4s, and Custom 105gr Bullets Jumped .010″
Weber’s record-setting load was fairly typical for a Dasher, except for the projectile. Frank loaded 33.5 grains of Hodgdon Varget and CCI BR4 primers behind a custom 105gr bullet, seated 0.010″ OFF the lands (i.e. he was jumping the bullets ten thousandths). Ironically, Frank was using this relay to test seating depths. It certainly seems that he found a load that worked! Later, in the shoot-off, Frank tried IMR 8208 XBR powder.
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In a remarkable display of long-range marksmanship, legendary 50-Caliber shooter Lee Rasmussen set four (4) new 1000-yard world records at the recent Fifty Caliber Shooters Assn. (FCSA) Championships, held at the NRA Whittington Center over the 4th of July weekend. First, Lee shot an amazing 1.9557″ 5-shot group in Heavy Gun Class, breaking Skip Talbot’s 2.600″ single-group record set in 1999. Lee’s sub-2″ group works out to .1868 MOA. That’s darn good at 100, and Lee did it at 1000!
Rasmussen Also Breaks Agg Records
In addition to the sub-2″ group, Lee set three new six-target Aggregate 50-Caliber records. In Heavy Gun, Lee shot a 298-19X score to shatter Scott Nye’s 7-year old 297-11X SCORE record. Those six targets also produced a new Heavy Gun GROUP record of 6.39X”. Finally, in Unlimited Class, Rasmussen put together a stunning 5.667″ six-target Group Agg. That is the smallest Group Agg ever shot in 50-Cal competition — in any class. Wow… including the 1.9557″ group, that’s four world records in one match. Lee told us: “It was amazing. I was deeper ‘in the groove’ than I’ve ever been before.” Lee was shooting IMI (Israeli) 50BMG brass, with home-made, lathe-turned bullets fired by Vihtavuori 20N29 powder and RWS 50-cal primers.
While Lee was pleased with his individual performance, he feels the match results are more noteworthy because they show the potential of the 50 BMG for superior long-range accuracy. Lee explained: “My goal has always been to show the rest of the shooting world what this cartridge can do. We want to get the 50-caliber game to where the other shooting sports are, and then take it a little further. Of course a variety of smaller cartridges can do great at 1000. But the difference is what the 50 BMG can do in high winds.” Mark added that, with the ultra-high BCs of the lathe-turned, solid 50-caliber bullets, the 50s can repeatably produce impressive 1000-yard groups even in strong winds.
Forum member Lynn Dragoman observed: “A sub-2-inch group with a standard 50 BMG is simply outstanding. Lee could use a modified case but chooses to stick with the original case to keep the sport [faithful] to its guidelines of promoting the 50 BMG.” Lee Rasmussen is widely respected as one of the most skilled and dedicated 50-caliber shooters, and one of the guys who has always “given back to the sport”.
Consider this, there are 17 possible records in 50-caliber competition and Lee now holds ten of them (plus his wife, Sheri, holds three more). Lee actually held eleven records until the last target at the Nationals, when Lee’s LG Six-Target Group Agg Record was broken by fellow 50-Cal Shooter Mark Avakian. So Lee’s FCSA World Record total stands at ten (10), counting his new HG Small Group Record.
Avakian Set New Aggregate Record
Mark Avakian set a new Light Gun multi-target group size record at the FCSA Nationals. Mark shot a masterful Six-Target 5.823″ LG Aggregate to break one of the FCSA records previously held by Lee Rasmussen. We congratulate Mark for his very consistent shooting over two days to set the record. While the winds were pretty consistent on Day 1, the winds were very inconsistent on Day 2 both in terms of direction AND velocity, according to Rasmussen. Mark agreed, but he said he “was lucky to have better than average conditions for his Light Gun relay”. When asked the secret of his success, Mark said: “The Light Gun has been shooting very well, and I’ve been using a new 808gr bullet from Dave at Lehigh Bullets. The 808s are shooting great.” (See photo below for other Lehigh custom bullets).
For more information on 50-Caliber competition, visit the FCSA website or contact the FCSA at P.O. Box 111, Monroe, UT 84754-0111, phone: (435) 527-9245.
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Ken Brucklacher, current President of the Original Pensylvania 1000-yard Benchrest Club (Williamsport), joined the immortals this Sunday, May 3rd. Shooting a .300 Weatherby Mag with 240gr Sierra MatchKings, Ken set a new 10-shot Heavy Gun World Record score of 100-8X. The group size was pretty amazing too. A measured 3.137″, Ken’s ten shots also set a new group record at the Williamsport range, besting the previous mark set 13 years ago by John Voneida (3.151″ and 100 score). Brucklacher’s group is just 0.089″ larger than the 3.048″ all-time, 1000-yard small group shot last month by Joel Pendergraft.
Conditions were good when Ken set the record. It was cool, with overcast skies, and the winds were calm with “the flags still hanging down”. Ken said he “took his time, made sure he was on for every shot.” He pretty much held “on the center of the white patch” in the 1000-yard target. The result was spectacular, as you can see below:
Ken has been shooting 1K benchrest for 9 years, and in the past year his big Heavy Gun has been awesome. This new 100-8X record was not a fluke. Ken’s gun has already shot two 100s in competition. In fact, Ken set a 6-match, Heavy Gun 1000-yard World Record for score with his .300 Weatherby, averaging 98.333. In 2008, Ken’s Heavy Gun shot a 100.0 score in the 8th Williamsport 1K match, a 99.0 in the 9th Match, and another 100.0 in the 10th match of the year. That’s consistency.
Gun Specs: Aluminum stock, Lawton Action, Krieger Barrel
Ken’s record-setting Heavy Gun features a Lawton action in a John Buhay machined aluminum stock. Gunsmith Mark King (Duncannon, PA) built the gun and chambered the 34″ Krieger, 10-twist barrel as a .300 Weatherby Magnum with 0.339″ neck. The record group was set with a windage-adjustable rear rest. Elevation is set with the front rest. Interestingly, when shooting the record group, Ken was “holding dead center on the white patch”.
Record-Setting Load: .300 Weatherby Mag, 240gr SMKs, H4831SC, Fed 215Ms
Ken set the record with a .300 Weatherby Mag shooting 240gr Sierra MKs, seated 0.028″ off the lands. His load was 72.0 grains of Hodgdon H4831sc pushed by Federal 215M primers.
Brucklacher used Norma .300 Weatherby brass “right out of the box”. You read that right… Ken set the record with brand new Norma brass with no case prep whatsoever. He didn’t touch the flash holes or primer pockets — in fact Ken didn’t even chamfer the case mouths. This was brand new brass, not fire-formed. According to Ken, he “just added a primer, filled the cases with powder, and shoved in a bullet.”
While Ken does not point his bullets or trim meplats, he did weigh and measure the 240gr MatchKings (base to ogive) before loading. Ken has not chronographed this load so he doesn’t know the velocity. Ken didn’t do any special load tweaking for this record group. However, he explained that he changed his seating depth last summer, going from .018″ jump to .028″ jump. That minor change, Ken noted, “really seemed to close up the groups”.
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Yesterday, April 18th, Joel Pendergraft of Durham, NC put 10 shots into 3.048″ to set a new IBS 1000-yard Heavy Gun World record. Competing at Hawks Ridge, NC, Joel set the record with his big, 300 Ackley Improved HG fitted with an unusual water-cooled 12-twist, 4-groove Krieger barrel. Joel shot BIB 187gr flat-based bullets in Norma brass, pushed by a “generous amount” of Alliant Reloder 25 and Federal 210M primers.
This 3.048″ 10-shot group was a remarkable accomplishment, breaking one of the longest standing 1000-yard World Records. Bill Shehane commented: “This tops the NBRSA, IBS, and Original Williamsport Clubs’ all-time 10-shot Heavy Gun group records. Took a long time to do it and I for one know Joel did not back into it — he has worked harder than most the last 10 years to break this record. And just like John Voneida of the Original Williamsport Club who held this most prestigous record for so long, Joel is a super nice guy and a great competitor.”
Pendergraft’s fellow 1K competitors were quick to praise his accomplishment. Dave Tooley observed: “I still remember the day I suggested flat-based bullets to Joel and the laugh I got. Well he was laughing today. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. Glad I was there to see it.” Posting on Benchrest Central, “4Mesh” wrote: “Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy! That gun showed some serious promise last year at the World Open and anything that cranks off targets like the one you shot there, has what it takes.” Jim Hardy added: “The new record is great but no better than the fine man who shot it. Everyone who knows Joel will say the same thing — he is one of the finest men you will ever meet. He lives the life, and walks the walk and has paid his dues in the 1000-yard BR game to get the record.”
Pendergraft was modest after his notable achievement: “Some of the words spoken are too kind. What makes this so very special is to be able to celebrate the accomplishment with all of my shooting friends[.] A good friend once said that records are shot when preparation and opportunity meet. I feel blessed to have personally had the opportunity. The preparation we can individually work on and acheive but the opportunity only comes to a few. Those of you that compete in longe range competition will know what I mean.”
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Daryl Kopriva, a Kansas-based gunsmith and long-range competitor, proved he sure knows how to build (and shoot) precision, long-range rifles. At the October club match at the Colorado Rifle Club (CRC) in Byers, CO, Daryl shot a potential new NBRSA 6-target, 1000-yard record. This is a two-gun, 6-target aggregate record, combining 3 targets in Light Gun (LG) with 3 targets in Heavy Gun (HG). Daryl’s LG 3-target Agg was 5.782″, while his HG 3-target Agg was 5.779″. If approved, the combined Agg will be a new 6-Target NBRSA record. Nice shootin’ Daryl. Congrats!
Darryl used two rifles he smithed himself. (A talented gunsmith, Daryl operates DARA Rifles in Grainfield, Kansas). The Light Gun is a 6.5-06 Improved with a 35° shoulder. Components include an 8.5″ BAT action, Shehane ST-1000 “Tracker” fiberglass stock, Bartlein barrel, and Nightforce scope. At this CRC match, Daryl was shooting 6.5mm Berger 140 BTHP “thick-jacket” bullets for the first time. Obviously the Berger “thicks” worked well!
Daryl’s Heavy gun features a Shehane Maxi-Tracker stock, BAT 8.5″ action, and a heavy-contour Bartlein barrel clamped in a barrel block. The gun is chambered for a wildcat Daryl calls the “30 DARA”. This is a 300 Win Mag modified with a 30° shoulder. Daryl uses his 30 DARA cartridge to drive Berger 210gr VLDs close to 3000 fps.
The photo below shows Darryl shooting his Shehane-stocked Heavy Gun at the 2007 IBS Nationals in Quantico, VA. Note the ultra-wide forearm and barrel block fitted ahead of the BAT action. The scope is a Nightforce NXS. For more information about Daryl’s rifles and gunsmithing services, visit DARArifles.com, email info[at]dararifles.com, or call (785) 938-2367.
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What’s a “Wallet Group”? It’s a singularly spectacular proof target that entitles its bearer to bragging rights. The wallet group may or may not have been shot in competition, and, by definition, it may not be repeatable. But it exists as incontrovertible proof that, at least once, the stars aligned, and the wind gods smiled on the shooter.
Five Shots in 0.178 MOA at 1000 Yards
A few years ago, Forum member and F-Class shooter Gary Wood was testing his 6.5-284 rifle at the 1000-yard range in Coalinga, California, getting ready for an upcoming long range match. In practice, Gary nailed a witnessed 1.859″ five-shot group, with four of the five shots well under an inch. Use this as proof to win those club-house arguments about whether it is possible to shoot “in the ones” at 1000 yards. Gary’s group worked out to 0.178 MOA!
Gary reports: “I was load testing with 5-shot groups. Each group was shot on a new F-Class center and pulled by Ret. Master Chief Jerry Pullens and spotted by an other long-range shooter. The second 5-shot load group looked really small … by our reckoning four out of five shots measured under an inch. I was amazed. What’s more, when I shot the group, the 4th shot blew the spindle out of the 3rd shot. My spotter saw that in his scope and Jerry Pullens told me about it afterwards”.
As measured with the OnTarget Software, using a scan of the target, Gary plotted the group size at 1.859″ total for five shots, or 0.178 MOA. Gary noted: “I had everyone sign the target which I saved and photographed.” Yes, Gary, this may be the wallet group to end all wallet groups. You should have that target framed.
Gary’s Load and 6.5-284 Rifle Specs
Gary was running a stout load of Hodgdon H4350 and CCI BR-2 primers, pushing moly-coated 142gr Sierra MKs, in Lapua 6.5-284 brass. The rifle features an F-Class, single-shot Surgeon action with a Bartlein 5R barrel chambered with a no-turn neck. Gary says “The barrel only has 70 rounds through it… yep, I think it will shoot.” Gary did all of the gunsmithing and barrel work himself.
Did Gary have any special reloading tricks? Apparently not: “Other than weighing the cases and the powder very carefully, there really were no magical reloading secrets used. The Sierra 142s were moly-coated straight from the box of 500, but they were not weighed or checked for bearing surface. The powder was dropped with a RCBS ChargeMaster then checked with an Acculab scale (to under a tenth). The Lapua cases were not neck-turned, but I did weight-sort them. The five cases for the small group weighed: 195.05, 195.03, 195.03, 195.03, 195.01.”
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How well can the little 6mm Dasher perform at 1000 yards when the conditions are good, and the shooter is riding a hot streak? Well here’s a shot-by-shot record of Scott Nix’s 4.554″ ten-shot group shot at the Deep Creek Range outside Missoula, Montana at the Northwest 1000-yard Championship a few years back. All 10 shots were centered for a 100-6X score. That’s about as good as it gets. If Scott had stopped after 5 shots, his group would have been under three inches.
Video Demonstrates Amazing 1000-Yard Accuracy
Watch the video. You can see the group form up, shot by shot. It’s pretty amazing. Scott’s first shot (at the 45-second mark of the video) was right in the X-Ring, and four of Scott’s first five shots were Xs. That’s drilling them! This video was recorded from the pits at the 1000-yard line, during record fire.
Deep Creek Range
The Deep Creek Range in Missoula, MT is one of the nicest places to shoot in the Intermountain West region. The range is located in the mountains within a few minutes drive of Missoula, and there is camping on-site. When conditions are good at Deep Creek, records get broken. To learn more about shooting at Deep Creek, contact Jamey Williams at jameydan[at]gmail.com.
Here is an aerial view of the Deep Creek Range (Drone video by David Gosnell):
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Sally Sets a Record
Montana 1K benchrest shooter Leo Anderson has set a pair of astounding multi-match Light Gun Score Agg records. These are “records for the ages”. This season, Leo’s 6-match Score Aggregate was 99.5 (99,99,99,100,100,100), while his 10-match Score Aggregate was 96.8 (84,94,95,98,99,99,99,100,100,100). That’s amazing consistency. Given how hard it is to shoot a single 100 score at 1000 yards, Leo’s Aggs are jaw-dropping. It will be a long time before these Agg records are broken (if they ever are). Leo set his 99.5 (6-match) and 96.8 (10-match) records shooting a 17-lb rifle chambered for the 6mm Dasher. The Lawrence barrel was chambered by Montana gunsmith John King and Leo did the stock work himself (starting with a Shehane MBR Tracker).
September 12th at the 
In a remarkable display of long-range marksmanship, legendary 50-Caliber shooter Lee Rasmussen set four (4) new 1000-yard world records at the recent 
Brucklacher used Norma .300 Weatherby brass “right out of the box”. You read that right… Ken set the record with brand new Norma brass with no case prep whatsoever. He didn’t touch the flash holes or primer pockets — in fact Ken didn’t even chamfer the case mouths. This was brand new brass, not fire-formed. According to Ken, he “just added a primer, filled the cases with powder, and shoved in a bullet.”
Yesterday, April 18th, Joel Pendergraft of Durham, NC put 10 shots into 3.048″ to set a new IBS 1000-yard Heavy Gun World record. Competing at Hawks Ridge, NC, Joel set the record with his big, 300 Ackley Improved HG fitted with an unusual water-cooled 12-twist, 4-groove Krieger barrel. Joel shot BIB 187gr flat-based bullets in Norma brass, pushed by a “generous amount” of Alliant Reloder 25 and Federal 210M primers.
Daryl’s Heavy gun features a Shehane Maxi-Tracker stock, BAT 8.5″ action, and a heavy-contour Bartlein barrel clamped in a barrel block. The gun is chambered for a wildcat Daryl calls the “30 DARA”. This is a 300 Win Mag modified with a 30° shoulder. Daryl uses his 30 DARA cartridge to drive Berger 210gr VLDs close to 3000 fps.
Five Shots in 0.178 MOA at 1000 Yards
How well can the little 6mm Dasher perform at 1000 yards when the conditions are good, and the shooter is riding a hot streak? Well here’s a shot-by-shot record of Scott Nix’s 4.554″ ten-shot group shot at the Deep Creek Range outside Missoula, Montana at the Northwest 1000-yard Championship a few years back. All 10 shots were centered for a 100-6X score. That’s about as good as it gets. If Scott had stopped after 5 shots, his group would have been under three inches.
