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November 27th, 2010
Over the past couple of weeks, State Long-Range Championships were held in California and Arizona. Many of the best shooters in the Western States were in attendance. In both CA and AZ, State titles were awarded in both High Power and F-Class disciplines.
California State Long-Range Championship, November 6-7, 2010
On November 6th and 7th, the California Long-Range Championship was hosted at the Coalinga Range. In the High Power division, Trevor Hengehold shot a brilliant match to finish first, and win the Championship, with a 795-36X score. Jim O’Connell was second with 783-37X which also earned him the High Senior Title. Dennis Flaherty had the next highest score (779-30X), and just two points behind Dennis was Gary Eliseo with 777-24X.
In the F-Class Division, Jerry Tierney, shooting his new 7mm RSAUM, won the championship with a 790-36X Score. Hot-shooting Brenda Hill took second with 780-31X, and Peter White was third with 773-19X. Though he had almost no time to practice with his RSAUM prior to the match (it was chambered the weekend before), Jerry was delighted with the gun’s performance: “This is the most accurate long-range rifle I’ve ever shot. And that’s saying a lot. I did get some load development help from Danny Biggs, who uses the same cartridge.” Jerry was shooting the new 7mm Berger 180gr “hybrid” bullets, with sorted Remington RSAUM brass, CCI BR2 primers, and Hodgdon H4831sc powder. The bullets were seated about 0.015″ off the lands and Jerry told us his load was running “real close to 3,000 fps”.
Jim O’Connell Reports: “Congratulations to Trevor Hengehold and Jerry Tierney, the two new State Champions (High Power and F-Class). Trevor started out in front and never looked back. Jerry posted some good scores on Sunday to come from behind for his victory. This was the last of the Big Coalinga matches for 2010. We get started early in 2011 with the State Fullbore Match in February (26-27) and the State Palma Match in March (5-6). We are planning on awarding F-Class titles at all the State prone Championships (Fullbore, Palma, and Long Range) in 2011.”
Arizona Long-Range Championship, November 20-21, 2010
At the Ben Avery Shooting Facility outside Phoenix, many of the best shooters in the Western states congregated last weekend for the season-ending Arizona Long-Range Championship. Conditions were challenging but the top competitors managed to master the switchy winds and post high scores. In the High Power Division, the match winner and new AZ State Champion is Rick Curtis. Congrats to Rick! Curtis finished with an impressive 986-45X Grand Agg, after posting a 591-24X Iron Sights Agg, and a 395-21X “Any Sights” Agg. Eddie Newman, the High Senior for the match, posted the next highest Aggregate score, a 985-37X. Phil Hayes also shot a 985 but with 34Xs. Middleton Tompkins followed Hayes with a 979-36X. Peter Church was next with a 974-43X (second highest X-Count), and our Contributing Editor German Salazar finished with 973-34X.
 In the F-Class Division, twenty-one shooters vied for honors. In F-Open, Texan Erik Cortina won the Championship with an impressive 972-17X. Charles Gooding was close behind with a 970-27X. Charles had high X-Count among all F-Class shooters. Freddy Haltom, shooting as a “Expert” had the third-highest score, an impressive 962-25X. Next in line was Tony Mangold with 944-19X.
F-Open Champ Cortina offered this report: “I was able to pull it off last weekend and win the Arizona State LR F-Open Championship at Ben Avery. The winds were strong and switching, making it very challenging! We ended up shooting 5×1000 instead of 6×1000 as scheduled. On Sunday, we only shot two strings as the third was canceled because of rain. I was shooting my .284 Shehane with 180gr Berger VLD bullets. My winning gun is a switch barrel 6.5×47 Lapua / .284 Shehane built by Mark Pharr of Tumbleweeds Custom Rifles. This Lawton 7500-actioned gun is the same rifle I used to set Club Records at the Bayou Rifle Club in Houston: 600-49X at 300 yards, and 595-34X at 1000 yards.”
November 2nd, 2010
Brenda Hill of Bakersfield, California won the F-Class Regionals (Open Class) held in Coalinga, CA over the past weekend. In the course of winning the Regionals, Brenda set a new, pending, F-Class, Open Division, Womens’ score record at 1,000 yards. Brenda set the pending Women’s 1K Record with a score of 200-9X, breaking her own 199-9X NRA Record set on 10/25/2008.
Brenda was shooting a 6mm BRX built by Leroy Johnson of Johnson’s Precision Gunsmithing. Leroy has built many very accurate rifles for California shooters, and he is very knowledgeable about the 6BRX cartridge. Brenda certainly proved this little cartridge can be competitive at 1000 yards.
September 27th, 2010
 We’ve confirmed that Danny Biggs, the Spirit of America’s F-Open Class Winner, shot the match using a bipod, rather than a pedestal rest. This is pretty remarkable because top F-Open competitors have traditionally preferred the stability and quick adjustability you get with a deluxe pedestal rest such as a Farley, John Loh (J.J. Industries), or SEB. Of course, Danny had a trick up his sleeve — his prototype Sinclair International bipod features a quick-adjusting elevation control. No, you can’t buy a bipod like Danny’s — at least not yet. Sinclair Int’l hopes to offer production versions before the end of 2010.
Sinclair staffer Pete Petros competed at the 2010 SOA Match, and recounted his experiences in Sinclair’s Reloading Press. Concerning Biggs’ bipod, Petros wrote:
An interesting fact about Biggs’ win is that he was shooting off of the Sinclair F-Class Bipod which is generally used in F-TR competition. In F-Class open most competitors shoot off of a bench-type rest modified to shoot off of the ground in the prone position. The bipod Biggs [used] is a new-model Sinclair Elevation-Adjustable version of the newer Sinclair F-Class Bipod. Danny has been testing this product for us during the past year and obviously is having great results. We should have these bipods ready for production in a few months. Keep posted to our website for announcements. But trust me, I think Danny would shoot well balancing his gun on a rock –- he’s that good!
 While most F-Open shooters used a front pedestal rest, either a joystick design or a center column pedestal with remote-adjustable windage top, Danny used a wide-base bipod, as he had done at past Nationals in the F-TR class. But Danny’s bipod was very special. It is a prototype, modified Sinclair design with height adjustment via a central, vertical-axis knob.
As you can see from the pictures below, the left and right bipod legs are attached to a T-shaped silver (aluminum) bracket. This bracket moves up and down as the silver knob is turned clockwise or counter-clockwise. As the knob turns, its threads pull the T-shaped bracket up and down relative to a center block of aluminum bolted to the bipod’s attachment to the rifle’s forearm accessory rail. With this system, Danny can easily reach forward and make precise adjustments in elevation. Note that the Sinclair bipod’s secure rail attachment is retained and Danny can still adjust rifle cant (tilt), using the rear push-button handle. This rear handle functions like a Pod-lock allowing the rifle to be tilted a few degrees to one side or the other to compensate for side-sloping terrain.
September 24th, 2010
We recently reported that Trudie Fay of Raton, NM, shooting on her home range, was the Fullbore winner at the Spirit of America Match. Trudie and many other shooters set new National records during the course of the match. Trudie fired an aggregate score of 1781-104x, which was an Open, Civilian, and Woman’s National Record. Second place, with a Senior National Record, was Tom Whitaker. High Grand Senior was Johnie Franklin, high Junior was Kyle Doney, high Service was Emily Windmassinger.
 There were also new records set in F-Class competition, in both F-Open and F-TR classes. High F-Open shooter was Danny Biggs with a score of 1777-88x. Danny’s score was an Open, Civilian and Grand Senior National Record. High Senior was Jim Murphy firing 1766-90x.
Michelle Gallagher was the high F-TR shooter firing a score of 1717-62x. Michellle’s score was an Open, Civilian and Woman’s National Record. Daniel Borwiecki of the Marine Corps Rifle Team was the high Service shooter. Robert Depp was the high Senior and Alan Canavan was high Grand Senior.
Trudie Rides in Style
The winners were “chaired,” holding their rifle and hoisted in the air by the competitors. Trudie Fay, wearing white gloves, was carried in Raton’s timber sedan chair by the Fullbore competitors. Danny Biggs, the F-Class winner, was carried in a rocking chair by the F-Class competitors. Michelle Gallagher, the F-TR winner, was carried in a captain’s chair. All were carried off the 1000-yard line to the Bald Eagles Clubhouse while bagpipe music was played.
Report courtesy Jan Raab and the NRA Blog.
September 3rd, 2010
by Lorne Cooper
This past weekend at Quantico MCB Range 4, the Quantico Shooting Club hosted its 3rd NRA Registered Tournament for 2010. This was a match for the ages, with a total of seven (7) pending National Records set in Individual and Team Competition. The 34 competitors in this 2-day match had to cope with hot, 95° weather, but otherwise conditions were generally mild — helping the marksmen record some spectacular scores.
300-Yard F-TR and Service Rifle Records Broken
Match One consisted of the 300-yard, 15-shot Individual Prone Course. In the F-TR Class, Brian Santucci fired a 150-7X to break the 149-8X record set by Joseph Sturtevant and GySgt Daniel Borowiecki fired a 141-5X to set a new record for the Service category. In the F-Open Class (Senior), David Dye fired a 150-10X to tie the record set by Jim Murphy. On the High Power side, Nathaniel Guernsey placed 1st with a 149-8X.
 New National F-TR Team Record: 1744-61X
Match 2 was a 4-man team fire of the Mid Range Prone Course (45 shots per member), 15 shots each at 300, 500 and 600 yards. In F-TR, the winning Camp Butner F‐Troop team set a new National Agg Record of 1744-61X. The team consisted of Joseph Conley (436-15X), James Croft (438-11X), Phil Kelley (426-13X), and Jeff Rorer (444-22X).
New Iron Sights Team Records
For High Power Metallic Sight, Team VFEMI set a new record with an aggregate score of 1767-82X. Team members were Carl Lindezweig (432-20X), John Badger (444-18X), Nathaniel Guernsey (447-28X) and Jack McKinney (444-16X). The USMC Gold team also set a new National Record in the Service Category with a score of 1765-76X. The team members are: Sgt Sean Morris (442-16X), GySgt James Otto (440-14X), and Sgt Joshua Peterson (435-17X), and Sgt Emily Windmassinger (448-39X). The Long Range Palma Course of Fire (Match 3) was shot on Sunday. GySgt Daniel Borowiechi broke the record he set back in June in the F-TR Service category with a 399-5X.
Special thanks go to GySgt Chris Stephens for running a smooth and efficient Line! Our next match will be a Fullbore match to be held on September 25th & 26th. Come out to Quantico for what is expected to be another fantastic weekend!
Note: The National Records reported here are based upon the latest information available and are still subject to verification. Photos courtesy of Doug Hurst.
August 10th, 2010
Report by Laurie Holland
Blair Atholl’s Glen Tilt range in the Scottish Highlands has a worldwide reputation for being difficult thanks to constantly-varying winds influenced by the venue’s steep, irregularly-contoured terrain. Nevertheless, three new GB F-Class Association League 1,000-yard competition records were set at Glen Tilt over the weekend of August 7th and 8th. The new records were shot in Round 5 of the F-Class Association’s championship program. The event comprised five matches, three on Saturday with 20 score shots and two on Sunday with 15 for a maximum possible score of 450-90V. (UK and British Commonwealth targets score five for the Bull). Targets were the usual international F-Class design, a modified Palma type with a half-MOA white aiming mark that also scores as the ‘V’ (‘X’ in American terminology), one-MOA bull and score rings spaced a half-MOA apart.
Looking downrange at magnificent but fiendishly difficult Blair Atholl range in Perthshire, Scotland.
 
New 1K Records in F-Open and F-TR
In Match 1, John Carmichael of HPS-Target Rifles Ltd. used one of his own creations to shoot a 100-6V. A new record, this was the first-ever 1,000-yard, 20-shot match F-Open ‘possible’. John Cross almost immediately followed with a new F-TR record score of 96-3V, just edging Spanish F-Class competitor Ramon Fito. In the photo below, John Carmichael plots another Bull or V while shooting a record 1,000-yard score, with his RPA / HPS-TR System Gemini 7mmWSM rifle.
Sunday morning initially saw unusually light winds which no doubt helped Osprey Rifles proprietor Stuart Anselm set a new 15-shot, 1,000-yard F-TR record score of 75-4V in Match 4, using a rifle he had built himself on a Savage 12 Target action (photo below).
British F-Class competitive standards continue to rise in both classes, perhaps more markedly in F-TR which is seeing very sharp competition in 2010 as well as increased numbers of entrants. The overall winners were Peter Hunt (439-17V) in F-Open, and Stuart Anselm (424-12V) in F-TR. Blair Atholl also saw the first use of a .223 Rem caliber F-TR rifle in a 1,000-yard GB national league event with Laurie Holland taking seventh with 412-11V using 90gr Berger VLDs.
August 6th, 2010
 Placing your loaded ammo up high, next to your rifle’s loading port, can help you shoot faster, without disturbing your position behind the rifle. Many top 600-yard shooters, such as Sam Hall and Mike Davis, have fabricated their own high-mount cartridge caddies to place 10 or more rounds right next to their loading ports. With such a set-up, and a bit of practice, ace benchresters can fire 10 rounds in as little as 30 seconds.
If you’re handy with tools, you can build your own cartridge caddy from a block of delrin or wood, and a flexible mounting arm. But it does take time, and you may end up going through two or three prototypes before you get it “just right”.
Now there’s a “store-bought” solution. Creedmoor Sports offers the new Eller Straight Line Speed Feed Cartridge Holder. The Eller caddy has a large base that will support it on the bench. The flexible black stalk allows you to set the height and angle of the ammo block to your choosing. You can arrange your ammo horizontally, vertically, or something in-between. This unit can benefit any bench competitor, and we’ve even see this type of unit adapted by F-classers for “Belly Benchrest”. The Eller Cartridge Holder costs $94.95 and comes in two sizes: Small (6mm to 6.5×284), and Large (6.5×284 to magnum). Order item #E1002SM from Creedmoor Sports.
July 29th, 2010
 Charles Ballard, two-time U.S. F-class Open Champion, has been working with Precision Rifle & Tool on a new F-TR (Target Rifle) stock. Charles designed the stock to combine the adjustability of the better F-Open designs with a nice rigid fore-end for bipod use. Charles has shot the new stock in competition and he says it tracks really well. When fitted with a wide-base bipod, the stock is super-stable, with minimal hop on recoil.
The new stock is officially called the “Ballard LowBoy F-Class Target Rifle (F-TR) Stock”. This new design is available immediately, in a variety of laminated colors, starting at $325.00 (without hardware). The stock can be inletted for Rem 700 actions, Rem 700 clones, the Savage Target Action, and most custom actions.
Key Features of the new Ballard F-TR stock are:
- Extended front to provide proper balance with long barrels.
- Low profile design for a lower, more stable center of gravity.
- Buttstock has a 1/2″ machined flat on the bottom and angled sides to provide superior tracking in the rear bag.
- Buttstock has a slight angle to allow minor elevation adjustments.
- Optional adjustable buttplate and optional adjustable cheekpiece.
Stock Delivery Options Dictate the Price
Precision Rifle & Tool can deliver the Ballard LowBoy F-TR in any state of completion the customer desires. The basic stock costs $325, inletted for your action, but unfinished and without hardware. Complete with removable/adjustable cheekpiece, and adjustable buttplate, the stock costs $900.00 ready to be bedded and finished. Clear-coating or oil finish is available at extra cost.
In the video, Charles Ballard gives you a “walk-around” of the stock and explains the stock’s design features. The high-tech, carbon fiber bipod is made by Center Shot Engineering in Oregon. For more info, or to order a Ballard LowBoy F-TR stock, visit PrecisionRifleSales.com, or call (336) 516-5132. Charles Ballard himself can talk you through the options.
June 22nd, 2010
 You have to hand it to the Texans. Forum member Paul Scott (aka “FTRinTexas”), has created a sturdy double-gun case from a surplus Stinger Missile transport box. Measuring roughly 63″ x 11″ x 13″, the aluminum Stinger box is big enough to fit two, long-barreled match rifles side by side, stowed vertically, toaster-style. There’s even room inside for a spotting scope and other accessories. With a little effort (and some after-market foam), the Stinger box can be converted into a very practical (and rugged) gun case.
The converted Stinger box is also an attention-getter according to Paul: “Other guys at the range definitely do a double-take when you haul a missile case out of your truck! They’re kind of disappointed when I open the lid and they see there are only rifles inside.”
Advantages of Side-by-Side (Vertical) Rifle Cases
For wide-forearm rifles with big scopes, we have always liked the vertical storage (drop-in style) cases such as the Plano AirGlide. Vertical placement allows the gun’s weight to rest on the stock with no side-pressure applied to the scope turrets. We’ve asked Plano to make a double-gun case of a similar design, but that’s not going to happen any time soon.
 There are companies that make large, metal-bodied safari cases that stow two rifles vertically, side-by-side. These cases are super-secure, but they are also very expensive. Cabela’s side-by-side Safari Case costs $399.00, and it will only hold rifles up to about 50″ overall length. Ziegel Engineering makes a beautiful two-rifle, top-loading Expedition case, but it costs $639.95, and is also limited to a 50″ rifle OAL.
The Stinger Solution — Inexpensive, Rugged Side-By-Side Storage
Paul Scott was clever to source a Stinger Box and transform it into a side-by-side double rifle case. With over five FEET (61.5″) of internal length, the box will secure guns with barrels up to 38″ with ease. And the Stinger box is wide enough to hold two F-Class guns side-by-side with plenty of clearance. Stinger boxes come with an O-ring seal, air relief valve, and handles on each end. Hasp locks are easily added, as are wheels (just slide an axle through the lower “bumper” flange on the box end.)
As received from Uncle Sam, a surplus Stinger storage box needs some modification to work as a double rifle case. Paul removed most of the internal foam padding from the lower section, and then used an electric knife to carve cradles to support the two rifles under the forearms and buttstocks. The original hard foam blocks in the Stinger box lid were replaced with closed cell foam like that used in Pelican cases. Paul found that the new foam in the lid would press down on the scopes’ elevation knobs, so he cut round holes in the top foam to provide additional turret clearance.
As you can see in the photos, Paul had enough room forward of the rifles to stow his spotting scope and disassembled spotting scope stand. Paul simply placed another layer of foam in the bottom of the box and then cut the foam to fit the equipment. Another foam layer can be placed over the spotting scope and stand to prevent slippage during shipment.
If you are interested in making your own double-gun case from a Stinger box, email PScott [at] pegasustexas.com . Paul has a few extra Stinger boxes he may be willing to sell for around $175 each. Each of these Stinger Missile containers cost Uncle Sam $2066.00 originally! The photo below shows the Stinger transport box before modification.
May 27th, 2010
 The June 2010 digital edition of Shooting Sports USA has been released, and it’s definitely worth reading. The lead story is an interview with Sig Sauer Team Captain Max Michel, 3-time World Speed Shooting Champion and 5-Time USPSA National Champion. Max provides great “how-to” advice on pistol shooting, covering sight picture, grip, target acquisition, practice strategies and gun maintenance. Shooting Sports USA Managing Editor Chip Lohman has penned a detailed review of the Schneller stainless Range Cart. Bob Schneller supplies range carts to both the USAMU and U.S.M.C. shooting teams — that’s a strong endorsement. You highpower guys should definitely take a look at the Schneller carts.
The “must-read” article in this month’s issue is a detailed wrap-up of the 2010 F-Class Nationals written by F-Open Team USA member Larry Bartholome. Larry provides a day-by-day account of this Championship event, with coverage of both F-Open and F-TR classes.
In addition to the June issue, you can read previous month’s editions of Shooting Sports USA, by clicking on the “Archives” tab at the bottom of the page, after you’ve launched the June issue in your browser. Visit ShootingSportsUSA.com to request a free Digital Edition of Shooting Sports USA each month.
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