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May 1st, 2011
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 couple seasons back, 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 up-coming 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’s load was 48 grains of Hodgdon H4350 and CCI BR-2 primers, pushing 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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April 18th, 2011
The .308 Winchester, a shortened version of the .30-06, has almost completely replaced the .30-06 in NRA competition. The .308 is required for Palma shooting, so it is also used by many Palma competitors in other long-range and mid-range prone matches. However, with the exception of M1 Garand matches, you won’t see many .30-06 rifles on the firing lines. Does that mean the .30-06 is obsolete? Is the .308 Win really much more accurate? Or does it just offer the advantages of reduced recoil and reduced powder consumption?
Cartridge photos courtesy Deuce45s.com, a leading source of specialized military cartridges.
In his Sibling Rivalry: .308 vs. .30-06 article on the Rifleman’s Journal site, German Salazar argues that the .30-06 remains a viable competition cartridge, particularly for the long-range game. This isn’t just a subjective opinion. German has data to back up the argument that the .30-06 can still do the job.
German compares the actual scores produced by his .308 Win rifles with the scores from his .30-06 rifles. German analyzes scores, over a two-year period, shot by “matched pair” rifles (one in each caliber) with similar actions, stocks, sights, and barrels. For comparison purposes, German also includes score data from his 6XC, a modern low-recoil chambering.
RESULTS: .308 Has Small Edge at Middle Distance, But .30-06 Is Better at Long Range
Surprisingly, the .30-06 performed nearly as well as the .308 at middle distances. The .30-06 delivered 99.2% of max possible scores vs. 99.5% for the .308 Win. Notably, at 1000 yards, the .30-06 racked up 97.7% of max scores vs. 97.3% for the .308 Win. So, at 1000 yards, the .30-06 actually proved superior to the .308 Win. German explains: “This isn’t too surprising when one considers [the .308’s] limited case capacity for the bullet weights typically used in Long-Range shooting. They just run out of steam and dip perilously close to the transonic range as they approach 1000 yards of flight. The extra 150 fps or so that can be safely obtained from the .30-06 case really pays off at 1000 yards.”
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Mid-Range Comparison
In NRA Mid-Range matches (500 and 600 yards), the average score and percentage of possible score for each cartridge was as follows:
.308 – 597-36X (99.5%), 960 rounds fired
6XC – 596-35X (99.3%),1260 rounds fired
.30-06 – 595-31X (99.2%), 2580 rounds fired
If we look at the score averages, the .308 comes out on top at the Mid-Range distances… by 0.3% of the possible score. By the way, notice that the 6XC, as good as it is, simply straddles the .30 caliber cartridges; it is not the winner.
Long-Range Comparison
German rarely shoots the .308 in matches that are only 1000 yards; most of his 1000-yard .308 shooting is done in Palma matches which include 800, 900 and 1000 yards. To make the comparison useful, the Long-Range results are presented only as a percentage of the possible score and the 800- and 900-yard stages of Palma matches were NOT included.
In NRA Long-Range and Palma matches, the average percentage of possible score for each cartridge at 1000 yards was as follows:
6XC – 98.9%, 360 rounds fired
.30-06 – 97.7%, 460 rounds fired
.308 – 97.3%, 490 rounds fired
Editor’s Note: Among the three cartridges German studied, the 6XC actually proved best at 1000 yards, delivering 98.9% of the maximum possible scores. The .30-06 was second-best with 97.7%, slightly better than the .308 Win at 97.3%.
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You’ll want to read German’s full Sibling Rivalry article, which includes an interesting history of the .30-06 and .308 in High Power shooting, along with tables showing German’s actual scores with his .30-06, .308 Win, and 6XC rifles.
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April 5th, 2011
If you want to learn how to shoot accurately at very long-range, one of the very best places to learn is the Williamsport 1000-Yard Benchrest School. The next School session runs May 20, 21, & 22, 2011. Classes are held at the Original Pennsylvania 1000-Yard Benchrest Club Range, one of the best 1K ranges in the country. Classes are taught by top 1K shooters, including our Asst. Editor, Jason Baney.
While these Benchrest schools typically sell out, there were still eight (8) student slots available as of April first. If you want to grab one of the remaining slots for the 3-day school, don’t hesitate. To see what the 1K Benchrest school is like, watch the slide show/video below, produced by Sebastian Reist, an alumnus of the 2009 Williamsport 1000-yard BR school. Sebastian, a talented professional photographer, captured the highlights of his Williamsport 1K training weekend:
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For more information or to sign up for the 2011 1000-Yard Benchrest Class this May, contact School Director Frank Grappone, or visit the Williamsport website, PA1000yard.com.
Photos and slideshow courtesy Sebastian Reist, www.sreistphotography.com.
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February 24th, 2011
Both the North Carolina 1000-Yard Benchrest Shooters Assn. and the Montana NW 1000-Yard Benchrest Club have released their 2011 match schedules. You can access the schedules via the links below:
| NC 1000-Yard BRSA Schedule
2011 Matches
Match | Date
1 & 2: 4-9-11
3 & 4: 4-30-11
5 & 6: 5-14-11
7 & 8: 6-4-11
Makeup: 7-16-11*
9 & 10: 9-10-11
Makeup: 10-8-11*
*Shot only if regularly scheduled matches are postponed due to inclement weather. |
Montana NW 1000-Yard BR Club Schedule
2011 Match Dates
March 26-27
April 23-24
May 14-15
June 11-12
July 9-10.
August 12-14 Championship Shoot
Extra practice days are: March 13th, April 10th, March 26-27, April 23-24, May 14-15, June 11-12, July 9-10.
The 1000 Yard Range is available for practice on Mondays and Fridays, March 1st to August 31st, from 8:00 AM until Noon. We will have the range all day on Friday before each shoot. |
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October 20th, 2010
This weekend, October 22-24, the Sacramento Valley Shooting Center hosts the NBRSA 1000-Yard National Championship (aka “Sloughhouse 1000″). Many of the nation’s best long-range shooters will be on the firing line. There will be two classes, Light Gun and Heavy Gun, with match fees of $75.00 per class. The Championship Match starts on the 22nd at 8:00 A.M. at Range 12. There will be a “sight-in & weigh-in” day on October 21st. On Friday and Sunday, food may be purchased from Jake’s Hot Dogs. On Saturday, lunch will be catered by Sierra Smokehouse Barbecue. (Sierra’s BBQ fare is truly superb!)
 This is the view from 600 yards. The 1000-yard firing line is fully covered and shaded. With blustery weather and moderate chance of rain predicted, it will be interesting to see how the 6mm Dasher aces like Richard Schatz do in tough conditions. This could be the weekend to shoot a big boomer in both classes. Past 1K NBRSA Champ Jerry Tierney will be there with his straight .284 Win. He is working on a 7mm RSAUM, but it isn’t ready for the event.
CLICK HERE for Entry Form/Information Sheet (PDF)
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September 25th, 2010
It’s been over a year since Sebastian Reist drove out to Pennsylvania to participate in the 2009 Williamsport 1000-yard BR school. A talented professional photographer, Sebastian did a superb job capturing the highlights of his Williamsport 1K training weekend in a marvelous slideshow, complete with sound track. Photos and slideshow courtesy www.sreistphotography.com.
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If you haven’t viewed this video when we first ran it, you’re in for a treat. Sebastian captured some talented shooters in “mid-string” and he snapped some beautiful photos of the Williamsport facility. This is the same range where Matt Kline set a Williamsport 1000-yard world record, placing 10 shots from his 300 WSM heavy gun in just 2.815″. All shots were well-centered up for a 100-4X score. If you want to “run with the big dogs” in 1000-yard Benchrest competition, the Williamsport facility is a great place to learn. A lot has changed in the past 40 years. Compare the current deluxe covered shooting bays with Williamsport, circa 1968.
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August 19th, 2010
A new NRA record in the team Palma event was set yesterday at Camp Perry by the Litz-Gallagher team. The new record of 1796-119X was set by Brian Litz (Captain and Shooter), Michelle Gallagher (Coach and shooter), Nancy Tompkins (Coach and shooter), Bob Gustin (shooter). Shooting the Palma course of fire at 800, 900, and 1000 yards, these four beat the 1796-112X mark set in July at Raton, NM by an all-female ‘dream team’ of shooters coached by Steve Conico. (Both Michelle Gallagher and her mother Nancy Tompkins were member of the Raton ‘Dream Team’). Bryan Litz reports: “At Perry, Michelle and Nancy did an outstanding job shooting, and coaching Bob and myself to very high scores especially at the 1000-yard-line where the conditions were extremely difficult.”
Team member Bob Gustin also won the Individual Palma match with a 450-33X, not dropping a point. That’s remarkable considering Bob shoots right-handed while sighting with his left eye through off-set rear and front sights. Congrats to Bob and all the team members. Bryan Litz won’t take any time off after his team’s record-breaking performance. Bryan reports: “I’m on my way to Canada now for the America Match this Sunday — a bi-annual international fullbore match.” Good luck Bryan.
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July 22nd, 2010
John Hoover of Accuracy One Shooting Supplies is the 2010 Williamsport World Open Two-gun Overall Champion. Shooting a 6.5×284 in both Light Gun (LG) and Heavy Gun (HG) classes, John shot consistently, placing 3rd in Light Gun class, and 6th in Heavy Gun to win the overall Two-Gun with 34 rank points. It was a solid win. The next closest shooter was Paul Chackan with 59 rank points.
 Hoover’s Reloading Tips
We interviewed John after his World Open victory, and he shared his World Open-winning load, and some of the reloading secrets that allow him to craft ultra-accurate long range ammo. For his 6.5x284s, John loaded was Sierra 142gr MatchKings pushed by 48.0 grains of Hodgdon H4350, in “white box” Winchester .284 brass. Both rifles used exactly the same load. John revealed: “I have 9 match rifles, and they all shoot 48.00 grains of H4350.” John pointed his 142gr SMKs, using his own Accuracy One bullet-pointing tool: “I don’t shoot anything that isn’t pointed. All the loads we shoot use pointed bullets. I find that bullet pointing, combined with meplat trimming, reduces vertical dispersion at 1000 yards.”
Hoover’s Secret Ingredient? RWS Primers
Hoover lit his loads with RWS primers — the “Holy Grail” of rifle primers. Where did John get these superior German-made RWS primers, which are virtually unobtainable in the USA these days? John explained: “I bought those primers a long time ago, as a stocking dealer. I had about 100,000 at one time before they quit importing them, I kept a fair amount for us to use. I’m down to about 8000. When they’re gone I’ll have to change to something else.”
Hoover Now Anneals Brass “Early and Often”
Recently Hoover has changed his brass annealing procedure; he now anneals his Winchester brass earlier and more frequently: “I anneal more often now. I used to shoot my cases five to six times before annealing. Now before I shoot a case the very first time, I anneal it. That has help keep the ES and SD down. I anneal before I shoot the first time, and then every third firing. I use the Ken Light annealing machine.”
Ace Smiths Built Hoover’s Winning Rifles
John’s heavy gun was chambered by Al Warner of Warner Tools, while the light gun was chambered by 8-time National High Power Champion Carl Bernosky. Both light and heavy guns had Bartlein 1:8.5″ twist 5R barrels. All the stock work was done by Alex Sitman of Master Class Stocks. John credited these smiths: “I had good equipment from top to bottom, I had good smithing help from Alan, Carl, and Alex, who all did excellent work. When you’re walking to the firing line you get peace of mind from having the best equipment.”
READ MORE: To learn more about John Hoover’s successful 6.5-284s, read this Gun of the Week article.
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July 13th, 2010
 Shooting a 6.5×284 with Sierra 142gr Matchkings, John Hoover won the Two-Gun Overall Championship at the 2010 Williamsport World Open this past weekend. Hoover, whose tack-driving 6.5-284s have been featured on this website, operates Accuracy One Shooting Supplies in Tyrone, Pennsylvania. John shot consistently, placing 3rd overall in Light Gun class, and 6th in Heavy Gun to win the overall Two-Gun with 34 rank points. Paul Chackan finished second in the Two-Gun with 59 rank points, and Matthew Kline was close behind with 60 rank points. Our own Assistant Editor Jason Baney finished 5th in the Two-Gun Overall.
Jon Ammerman shot brilliantly to win the Light Gun division, finishing first in Group (7.161″ Agg), and third in Score (95.00 Agg). Runner-Up in Light Gun was Mike Bonchack. Interestingly, according to the equipment list, both Ammerman and Bonchack ran a mid-sized 6mm cartridge in Light Gun. Jon shot a 6XC while Mike shot a 6×47 Lapua. Both rifles were smithed by Sid Goodling.
 In Heavy Gun Class, Ken Brucklacher piloted his big 300 Weatherby to victory, winning the combined Group and Score Award with 9 rank points. Ray Lowman (11 points) finished second, and Stan Taylor (15 points) finished third in HG. Ray nailed a superb 3.062″ ten-shot Heavy Gun group on Sunday’s Heavy Gun Relay 1. That was the smallest group ever shot at Williamsport in 1000-yard competition, and it was just .018″ bigger than Joel Pendergraft’s 3.044″ all-time IBS HG record. Way to go Ray! Other notable performers included:
Heavy Gun & Light Gun Jr. Champion — Jimmy Kuchinski
Ladies Heavy Gun Champion — Amanda Good
Ladies Light Gun Champion — Susan Slade
CLICK HERE for Complete 2010 Williamsport World Open Match Results (with equipment lists).
Match Report from Jason Baney:
We had beautiful weather this year. It poured rain Friday night, but the humidity disappeared by early morning on Saturday. We had 30% relative humidity on Saturday — Pennsylvania is rarely that low. We had sun pretty much all day on Sat and Sunday, with highs of 91° each day. Winds were sometimes difficult …as usual.
We had a new 1000-yard Williamsport record in Heavy Gun, Ray Lowman’s 10-shot 3.062″. Though .018″ larger than Joel Pendergraft’s IBS Record, Lowman’s 3.062″ is still the smallest 10-shot 1K group ever shot at Williamsport. (My buddy Scott Leitner shot a 4.3″ — the second smallest HG group of the weekend.) Here are details of Ray Lowman’s 80-lb HG rig: .308 Norma Magnum, Nesika action, Benchmark barrel. For his load, Ray used Reloder 22 and Federal 210M primers, behind Knight 200gr bullets. Ray pointed his bullets until nearly closed, then he trimmed the meplats. Ray’s gun was smithed by his son Shannon Lowman. The 32″ barrel now has 1500 rounds through it and has been set back twice before (it started life at 36″).
I shot the third smallest group of the weekend, but blew it the first day in LG with a 14″ group…went vertical. Shooting my 6BR in LG, I was at the top of my powder window expecting 70 degrees (as predicted by the weather service), not 90 degrees. Oh well, I shot decent in HG, using Mark King’s HG the relay after him each day — this is the same Dasher-chambered gun Mark won with last year.
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October 22nd, 2009
The 2009 NBRSA 1000-yard Nationals (Sloughhouse 1000) will be held at the Sacramento Valley Shooting Center in Sacramento, California on October 23, 24, & 25th.This event is being hosted by the Sloughhouse Benchrest Shooters Club. The NBRSA 1K benchrest Nationals should draw many of the nation’s top shooters. This is one of the major long-range events of the year on the West Coast. Match organizers invite all long-range benchresters to attend, even if you have not tried 1000 yards before. A good 600-yard gun can be quite competitive at 1000 when conditions are favorable. Two classes will compete, Light Gun (17-lb max weight) and Heavy Gun (Unlimited Weight). The current match fee is $75.00 per class, so it will cost $150.00 to shoot both classes.
CLICK HERE for the match Sign-Up and Registration form (PDF file).
Sacramento Valley Shooting Center 1000-yard range (seen from 600-yard line).
There are RV/camping facilities adjacent to the range, and moderately priced hotels can be found within a 20-minute drive of the range. If you camp you should bring water, food and all essentials as the range is pretty far from a store. Do note, however, on Saturday, October 24th, a catered lunch will be served and on Friday, October 23rd and Sunday, October 25th, a hot vendor will be available on the grounds so that shooters may purchase lunch.
If you have questions about the range facilities or driving directions, you can call Sac Valley Shooting Center at (916) 354-9668. The Center is located approximately 15 miles South/East of the city of Sacramento. The physical address for the range is 15501 Meiss Road, Sloughouse, CA 95683. To navigate to the range, take a look at the map below. The Sac Valley staff cautions: “Do not use GPS or Map Quest to get to the range. On the Dillard Road side is an unpaved, nearly impassible rock road. Use Ione Road to approach Meiss Road [from the east]”. You can also get detailed, turn by turn directions (from main approach highways), on the Sac Valley Shooting Center website. CLICK HERE for directions to range.
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October 17th, 2009
LINK: Williamsport Benchrest School Slide Show
Sebastian Reist attended the 2009 Williamsport 1000-yard BR school. A talented professional photographer, Sebastian did a superb job capturing the highlights of his Williamsport 1K training weekend in a marvelous slideshow, complete with sound track. Photos and slideshow courtesy www.sreistphotography.com.
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August 25th, 2009
Shooting at Williamsport, PA on August 15th, our own Jason Baney shot a remarkable 100-6X, 4.864″ ten-shot group at 1000 yards, breaking the previous 100-5X, 4.900″ Light Gun Score record set by Ed Kenzakoski in June. And yes, Jason was shooting the diminutive 6mmBR cartridge (no-turn neck) with pointed 105gr Berger bullets and a stout load of Alliant Reloder 15. Baney’s 6BR Broughton-barreled Light Gun (Stiller Diamondback action) was smithed by Mark King, who also built Ken Brucklacher’s record-breaking Heavy Gun.
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Jason’s glory was short-lived however. The very next day, August 16th, Andy Murtagh shot a 100-4X, 4.2766″ group during match 5 of the Reade Range (Allemans, PA) 1K Benchrest League. Though Andy had only four Xs to Jason’s six Xs, Andy had the smaller group. By Williamsport rules, group size trumps X-count (even in score shooting) so Andy is the new Light Gun 1000-yard Score record-holder. Andy’s record-setting 6.5-284, smithed by Sid Goodling, has a Master 1000 stock and Bat action. Andy’s load was 47.5 grains of H4350 pushing 142gr tipped Sierra MKs in Winchester brass.
Congrats to both Andy and Jason for some great shooting last weekend! It’s impressive to see such small, ten-shot groups all centered up. Hey Jason — OK, we’re convinced. That round-robin Ladder Testing Procedure must really work.
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