If you shoot a .308 Win, or any cartridge that uses a Large Rifle (LR) primer, you should read an important new article by Laurie Holland in Target Shooter Magazine. Holland, a talented shooter from the UK, tested no less than sixteen (16) different large primer types using a custom F-TR target rifle shot from the bench. Laurie loaded .308 Win ammo* with 16 LR primer varieties and then tested for average velocity, ES/SD, and group size. This may be the most comprehensive and thorough LR primer test ever done. Here are the primer types tested:
CBC Magtech 9½
CCI 200 LR
CCI BR2 Match
CCI 250 Magnum
Federal 210
Federal 210M Match
Federal 215M Magnum Match
Fiocchi Large Rifle
Kynoch Large Rifle
Murom KVB-7 (PMC LR)
Norma Superflash LR
PMC LR Magnum
Remington 9½ LR
Remington 9½ M Magnum
Sellier & Bellot LR
Winchester WLR
Test Rig: Osprey Rifles-built F-TR rifle with Savage PTA action, 32″ Bartlein 1:12″-twist ‘Heavy Palma’ barrel, and Dolphin Gun Company modular stock with an F-Open/Benchrest fore-end.
Some of Laurie’s results may surprise you. For example, would you guess that Sellier & Bellot primers had the lowest ES, by a significant margin? And get this, among ALL the primers tested, Rem 9½M Magnum primers produced the lowest velocity, while Rem 9½ LR (non-magnum) primers yielded the highest velocity. (The total velocity spread for all primers was 35 fps). That’s counter-intuitive and it’s odd that Rems were at opposite ends of the speed spectrum among ALL primers tested.
“The rationale for doing side-by-side tests is to see what effect primer choice has on ballistics, i.e. average velocities and MV consistency. There are a great many views on the subject, a few based on tests (including primer flame photography) but most apparently hearsay.” — Laurie Holland
Every serious hand-loader should definitely read the full test results to understand Laurie’s methodology and get all the details. This is an important test, with significant findings. But if you can’t spare the time right now, here are some highlights below:
Primer with Lowest Velocity: Remington 9½ M Magnum (2780 fps)
Primer with Highest Velocity: Remington 9½ LR (2815 fps)
Primer with Lowest ES/SD: Sellier & Bellot LR (12/3.1 fps)
Primer with Highest ES/SD: Remington 9½ M Magnum (47/14.0 fps)
Primer with Smallest Group Size: Remington 9½ LR (0.43″ average, three 5-shot groups)
Primer with Biggest Group Size: CBC Magtech 9½ (0.7″ average, three 5-shot groups)
Editor’s Comment: Laurie shot three, 5-shot groups at 100 yards with each primer type. The average group size for the top six primers varied by only 0.10″ (0.43″ to 0.53″), so one can’t conclude that one type is much better than another. Total group size variance (from best to worst) was 0.27″.
“The biggest surprise to me … came from an elderly (at least 10 years) lot of Czech Sellier & Bellot standard caps with an ES of 12 and SD of 3.1 fps, way below those of the nearest competitor. By contrast to the Fiocchis, they were an almost slack fit in the cases and this may have contributed to their consistent performance.” — Laurie Holland
NOTE: Values in chart are based on 15-Shot strings. The ES/SD numbers will therefore be higher than is typical with five-shot strings.
Testing 16 primer types was a huge task — we commend Laurie for his hard work and thoroughness. This extensive test is an important contribution to the “knowledge base” of precision shooting. Laurie’s findings will doubtless influence many hand-loaders who hope to produce more consistent ammunition, or achieve better accuracy. Credit should also be given to Target Shooter Magazine for publishing the results. Well done gentlemen…
*Reloading method for Test Ammo: “Test batches consisted of 16 or 17 rounds for each primer, charges thrown by an RCBS ChargeMaster and checked on lab-quality electronic scales, adjusted if necessary to within ± 0.04gn, so any charge weight variation would be under 0.1 grain which equates here to 5 fps.”
One of our Forum Members has a .308 Win load that dips into the transonic speed range at 1000 yards. He is concerned that his bullets may lose accuracy as they slow to transonic speeds: “My target is at 1000 yards. How important to accuracy is it to keep the bullet supersonic (Mach 1.2) all the way to the target? How does slowing to transonic speeds in the last 100 yards or so affect accuracy?”
TargetShooter Magazine and AccurateShooter.com contributor Laurie Holland offers some practical answers to this important question, based on his his experience with .223 and .308-caliber bullets.
Thoughts on Accuracy and Transonic Bullet Speeds by Laurie Davidson.
There is no simple answer to the question “How do transonic speeds affect accuracy”. Some bullets manage OK, some not so well, some fail entirely, and I’ve never seen a guide as to which models do and which don’t. But we do have the ‘boat-tail angle rule’, anyway. Bryan Litz says the ideal boat-tail angle is 7-9°. Go much above 10° and it’s too steep for the air to follow the bullet sides around to the base. This seems to manifest itself as much increased drag and turbulence leading to instability in transonic flight.
It is this effect that has led to the common advice of “Don’t use 168gr 30-caliber bullets at 1000 yards”. That is misleading advice as it resulted from use of the 168gr Sierra ‘International’ (aka MatchKing) bullet with its 13-deg BT angle. (This was, originally, a specialized 300m design — there are various near copies on the market from Speer, Hornady and Nosler.) By contrast, Berger 168-grainers are designed as long-range bullets with 8.9, 8.5 and a really nice 7° angle on the BT, VLD and Hybrid respectively. Hornady A-Max 30-cal projectiles (other than the 208-grainer) fall into this enforced shorter-range bracket too thanks to their 12.6° (and greater) boat-tail angles. (155gr = 13.5°, 168gr = 12.87°, and 178gr = 12.6°.)
Even this boat-tail angle ‘rule’ doesn’t always seem to apply. Many older long-range Service Rifle shooters talk about good results at 1000 yards with some batches of 7.62mm match ammo in their 20″-barreled M14s using the 168gn SMK. I’ve successfully used Hornady and Sierra 168s at 1000 yards in 30-cal magnums which drive the bullets fast enough to keep out of trouble at this distance. This is still not recommended of course thanks to their low BCs compared to better long-range speciality bullets.
These four photos show the substantial changes in the shock ware and turbulence patterns for the same bullet at different velocities. The “M” stands for Mach and the numerical value represents the velocity of the bullet relative to the speed of sound at the time of the shot. Photos by Beat Kneubuehl.
Transonic Issues with .223 Rem in F-TR
I was much exercised by [concerns about transonic instability] in the early days of F-Class, when I was shooting a .223 Rem with 80-grainers at 2,800 fps MV or even a bit less. Even the optimistic G1 ballistic charts of the time said they’d be subsonic at 1000 yards. (Bryan Litz’s Point Mass Ballistic Solver 2.0’s program says 1,078 fps at 1000 yards at 2,800 fps MV in standard conditions for the SMK; below 1.2 MACH beyond a point somewhere around 780 yards.) In fact they shot fine in a large range of conditions apart from needing around 60% more windage allowance than 6.5mm projectiles [shot with a larger cartridge]. The biggest problem apart from my wind-reading skills was constantly getting out of the rhythm to call to have the target pulled as the pits crew didn’t hear the subsonic bullets and had trouble seeing their little holes.
In the early days of F-TR I used a 24″ barrel factory tactical rifle that was billed as F-TR ready — it wasn’t! The much touted 175gr Sierra MatchKing, as used in the US military M118LR sniper round, was allegedly good at 1000 yards at .308 velocities — but it wasn’t! It would group OK in [some calm] conditions, but any significant change would cause a much greater deflection on the target than the ballistic charts predicted, so transonic flight was obviously making it barely stable. I also suspect conditions on the day had a big effect as Litz’s program says [the 175gr SMK] is just subsonic at 2,650 fps MV at 1,000 in standard conditions. Throw in MV spread and there was a risk of some round remaining supersonic, while others went transonic. Plus warmer or colder air moving onto the range under some conditions might change things.
I used the combination on Scotland’s notorious Blair Atholl range at 1000 yards in one competition in a day of cold headwinds from the north and frequent rain squalls. The temperatures plummeted during the squalls (and the wind went mad too!) and what was an ‘interesting group pattern’ outside of squall conditions changed to seeing me do well to just stay on the target frame at all. On ranges other than Blair (which is electronic, so no pits crew), target markers reported they heard faint supersonic ‘crack’ and saw round holes on the paper, so the bullets appeared to remain stable and just supersonic in summer shooting conditions.
Transonic Problems with M118LR 7.62×51 Ammo
Confirmation of this transonic performance phenomenon has since come from USMC snipers who say the M118LR’s performance ‘falls off a cliff’ beyond 800m (875 yards), which is just what I found when shooting the bullet at slightly higher than M118LR muzzle velocities. A move to the 190gr SMK with Vihtavuori N550 keeping the MVs reasonable gave a vast improvement in 1000-yard performance.
Practical Advice — Use a Bullet That Stays Supersonic
The ‘easy’ / better answer to all this is to use a design such as the 30-caliber, 185gr Berger LRBT with a reputation for good long range performance and to load it to achieve or exceed 1,350 fps at 1000 yards. If I can get the combination I’m using to be predicted to hold 1,400 fps at this range in a G7-based program calculation, I’m happier still.
Incidentally, the old long-range, 30-cal Sierra bullets (the venerable 190gr, 200gr, and 220gr MatchKings), with their extra length boat-tail sections, have a superb reputation for stable transonic / subsonic flight. They were used by GB and British Commonwealth ‘Match Rifle’ shooters at 1000, 1100, and 1200 yards for many years before the current bunch of 210gr and up VLDs and Hybrids appeared.
Transonic vs. Supersonic
The term “Transonic” refers to velocities in the range of Mach 0.8 to 1.0, i.e. 600–768 mph. It is formally defined as the range of speeds between the critical Mach number, when some parts of the airflow are supersonic, and a higher speed, typically near Mach 1.2, when the vast majority of the airflow is supersonic. Instability can occur at transonic speeds. Shock waves move through the air at the speed of sound. When an aircraft goes transonic and approaches the speed of sound, these shock waves build up in front of it to form a single, very large shock wave. This is dramatically illustrated in this Space Shuttle photo.
One of our Shooters’ Forum readers, Trent from Louisiana, asked for help deciding between a .260 Remington and a 6.5×55 for his latest gun project. In the Forum thread, respected UK gun writer Laurie Holland provided a good summary of the differences between the two chamberings. Laurie writes:
“The 6.5×55 case has 6 or 7% more capacity than the .260s, even more in practice when both are loaded to standard COALs with heavy bullets, which sees them having to seated very deep in the .260 Rem using up quite a lot of powder capacity. So loaded up for reasonable pressures in modern actions, the 6.5×55 will give a bit more performance.
The issue for many is what action length is available or wanted, the 6.5 requiring a long action. So sniper rifle / tactical rifle competitors will go for the .260 Rem with the option of the many good short-bolt-throw designs around with detachable box magazines. If a bit more performance is needed, the .260AI gives another 100-150 fps depending on bullet weight.
Brass-wise, you’ve got really good Lapua 6.5×55 off the shelf that needs minimum preparation, and it’s strong and long-lived. There is an Ackley version too that was popular in F-Class in Europe for a while that isn’t too far short of 6.5-284 performance. If you go for .260 Rem, the American brass isn’t as good but you can neck-up Lapua or Norma .243 Win and trim them (or neck-down .308 Win or 7mm-08). This has the downside that doing so usually creates a noticeable ‘doughnut’ at the case-shoulder junction, that may cause problems depending on how deep bullets are seated. [Editor’s Note: After Laurie wrote this, Lapua began producing high-quality .260 Remington brass.]
For purely target shooting, I think I’d go with 6.5×55 if I was making the choice again today for performance and brass-preparation reasons. In fact, I’ve considered going back to the gunsmith to have the barrel rechambered.
You want a multi-purpose rifle though and that makes things trickier depending on the bullet weight(s) you want to use. The [typical] 6.5×55 and 6.5-08 throats are really designed for 140s, so 90-120s make a long jump into the rifling. If you’re always going to use 130s and up, it’s less of an issue. If you want to use the lighter stuff, I’d say go for .260 Rem and discuss the reamer with the gunsmith to come up with as good a compromise as you can depending on the mix of shooting. 1:8.5″ twist is the norm and handles all the usual sporting and match bullets; you can go for a little slower twist if you won’t use the heavies.
Over here in the UK, in Scotland to be precise, we have a top sporting rifle builder (Callum Ferguson of Precision Rifle Services) who almost specializes in .260 Rem usually built on Borden actions. He throats the barrel ‘short’ so it’s suited to varmint bullets, but will still handle the 100gr Nosler Partition which he says is more than adequate for any British deer species including Scottish red stags.
Accuracy-wise, I don’t think there’s anything between them if everything else is equal. The 6.5 has a reputation for superlative accuracy, but that was high-quality Swedish military rifles and ammunition matched against often not-so-high-quality military stuff from elsewhere. Put the pair in custom rifles and use equally good brass and bullets and you’ll be hard pressed to tell them apart.” – Laurie Holland
After Laurie’s helpful comments, some other Forum members added their insights on the .260 Rem vs. 6.5×55 question:
“To me, the .260 Remington has no advantage over the 6.5×55 if one is going to use a long action. Likewise, the only advantage the .260 has in a modern rifle is it can be used in a short-action. There is more powder capacity in the 6.5×55 so you have the potential to get more velocity plus there is a lot of reloading data available to you for loading at lower velocity/pressure if you choose. The Lapua brass is great and Winchester brass is pretty good at low pressures. Having loaded a good bit for both, the 6.5×55 would always get the nod from me. To me, if someone wants to use a short-action, the 6.5×47 Lapua is even a better option than the .260 for a target rifle.” — Olympian
“There is just one small item that has been missing from this conversation — the 6.5×55 has a non-standard rim diameter of .479″ vs. the standard .473″ of a .308 and all of its variants. Depending on your bolt this may be an issue, or it may not.” — Neil L.
Our friend Dennis Santiago recently recreated the “Mad Minute”, a marksmanship drill practiced by the British Army in the decades preceding World War I. Dennis, an active high power rifle competitor and instructor, enjoyed his “Mad Minute” exercise, though he assures us that this takes practice to perfect. Dennis tells us: “Here is a ‘Mad Minute’ drill, done using a period correct Lee-Enfield (SMLE) No.1 Mk III rifle and Mk VII ammo. I got to the Queen’s Regulations (15 hits in one minute) on the second run and put a good group on the target at 200 yards. This is ‘jolly good fun’ to do every once in a while. This is ‘living history’ — experiencing a skill from a time when the sun never set on the British Empire.”
“Mad Minute” was a pre-World War I term used by British Army riflemen during training at the Hythe School of Musketry to describe scoring a minimum of 15 hits onto a 12″ round target at 300 yards within one minute using a bolt-action rifle (usually a Lee-Enfield or Lee-Metford rifle). It was not uncommon during the First World War for riflemen to greatly exceed this score. The record, set in 1914 by Sergeant Instructor Alfred Snoxall, was 38 hits. (From WikiPedia.)
Want to See More “Mad Minute” Action with a Modern Tubegun?
In 2012, Gary Eliseo ran a “Mad Minute” exercise using a modern, .308 Win Eliseo RTM Tubegun of his own making. Gary ended up with 24 hits on a bull target set at 300 yards. (Gary actually had 25 hits in 25 rounds fired, but the last round hit just after the 60-second time period expired.) Note how Gary pulls the trigger with the middle finger of his right hand. This allows him to work the bolt faster, using his thumb and index finger. CLICK HERE for Eliseo Tubegun Mad Minute story.
Watch Gary Elesio Shoot the ‘Mad Minute’ (Starts at 4:47 on Video)
NOTE: In an interesting coincidence, Dennis Santiago was actually in the pits pulling targets for Gary during Eliseo’s 2012 “Mad Minute” exercise.
History of the Mad Minute Commentary by Laurie Holland
The original military requirement of the “Mad Minute” saw the soldier ready to fire with a round in the chamber, nine in the magazine, safety on. This course of fire is still followed by the GB Historic Breechloading Arms Association and other bodies in their recreated “Mad Minute” competitions.
The first 10 would go quickly, but reloads were critical, this not done by a magazine change as Gary did with the RTM or in a modern tactical or semi-auto rifle, but through slick use of ‘chargers’. It is this aspect which fouls so many of my colleagues up as it is very easy to cause a jam and a large part of 60 seconds can go in sorting it out!
Charger clips were selected for those that just held the rounds firmly enough to stop then falling out, were sand-papered and polished with a stove / fireplace polish called ‘Zebrite’ so that the rimmed rounds would slip through the clips like corn through a goose.
If you’re unfamiliar with the cock-on-closing Enfield action, it seems clumsy. With intensive practice it is very smooth and can be operated incredibly quickly. The trick is to whip the bolt back onto its stop and initiate a rebound movement that takes it and the cartridge well into the chamber thereby reducing the effort required to close the bolt and chamber the round.
We were talking with TubeGun builder Gary Eliseo recently, and the subject of his “Mad Minute” fun match came up. A while back, at our suggestion, Gary re-created the one-minute rapid fire marksmanship training drill done by British riflemen. Using a Competition Machine TubeGun, Gary managed 24 hits in 60 seconds on a 300-yard target. Gary told us that people often ask about his “Mad Minute” experience, so today we’re reprising the story (with video) for those guys who missed it the first time around. Forum member Laurie Holland, who hails from Great Britain, also contributes a brief history of the “Mad Minute” and the Lee-Enfield (SMLE) rifle.
Last year, the Top Shot TV show featured the “Mad Minute”, a high-speed drill requiring shooters to place as many hits as possible on a steel plate set at 200 yards. The time limit was one minute, and shooters were using historic Lee-Enfield bolt-action rifles. Top Shot’s “Mad Minute” was based on a British Army training drill. Soldiers were expected to get at least 15 hits on an bullseye target at 300 yards. Top Shot cheated a bit, placing the target at 200 yards (instead of 300 in the real British Army “Mad Minute” drill). Still the two Top Shot shooters managed only six (6) shots each in one minute. Consider that a “passing score” for a Brit soldier was 15 hits, you have to give credit to those WWI-era Tommies.
Watch Gary Eliseo Shoot the ‘Mad Minute’ (Starts at 4:47 on Video)
Eliseo Gets 24 Hits on 300-yard Target in One Minute
Using an Eliseo RTM Tubegun chambered in .308 Winchester, Gary Eliseo attempted the “Mad Minute” last weekend. Gary ended up with 24 hits on a bull target set at 300 yards. That’s four times as many hits as the Top Shot competitors. Gary actually had 25 hits in 25 rounds fired, but the last round hit just after the 60-second time period expired. Note how Gary pulls the trigger with the middle finger of his right hand. This allows him to work the bolt faster, using his thumb and index finger. The straight-through (inline stock) design of the Tubegun allowed Gary to maintain his cheekweld and head position throughout the minute-long drill.
Gary told us: “This isn’t easy. I came away very impressed with the training of the Tommy soldiers if they could make 15 hits in one minute. We had some skilled shooters who brought their own Lee-Enfields and they only did as well as the guys on Top Shot — making six or seven hits in a minute. The problem is that, with the cock-on-close operation of the Lee-Enfield, the gun would push away when the shooter closed the bolt, so the shooter would lose his sight picture, and have to re-center the rifle. I am truly astounded that the record for the ‘Mad Minute’ is 38 shots. That is hard to do with an AR, much less any bolt gun.”
Gary Hopes to Beat the ‘Mad Minute’ Record in the Future
The record for the “Mad Minute” — 38 shots on target at 300 yards — was set in 1914 by Sergeant Instructor Alfred Snoxall*. In the subsequent 98 years, that record has never been broken by any shooter with a conventional bolt-action rifle. Gary told us: “As long as that record still stands, I’m going to keep working at it. I know I lost a few seconds with mag changes. I think with some additional training, I can increase my score. Still, 38 hits is phenomenal. I am very, very impressed at what that guy did — it’s really mind-boggling to do that with an Enfield. Contrary to what has been written, those old Enfields are not that easy to shoot fast. Our club shooters found that out.”
* There is some uncertainty concerning the size of the target used by Snoxall. Some internet reports say the target was 12″ x 12″. Other posts, from England, suggest the target was 36″ by 36″. If the target was a 12″-diameter bull, Snoxall’s achievement is even more amazing.
‘Mad Minute’ and British Marksmanship with the SMLE (Lee-Enfield) Commentary by Laurie Holland
The original military requirement of the ‘Mad Minute’ saw the soldier ready to fire with a round in the chamber, 9 in the magazine, safety on. This course of fire is still followed by the GB Historic Breechloading Arms Association and other bodies in their recreated ‘Mad Minute’ competitions.
The first 10 would go quickly, but reloads were critical, this not done by a magazine change as Gary did with the RTM or in a modern tactical or semi-auto rifle, but through slick use of ‘chargers’. It is this aspect which fouls so many of my colleagues up as it’s very easy to cause a jam and a large part of 60 seconds can go in sorting it out!
As well as the training Gary mentions and commends, there were pay incentives / penalties for certification or failure, and there were valuable monetary and kudos benefits in achieving very high hit counts in the 20 + range. Tommies could draw their rifles from the armory any time when off duty and spent hours in barracks practicing using inert rounds and dry firing. For instance, a common practice was to balance a halfpenny coin on the foresight blade between the sight protecting ears and take shot after shot prone on the barracks floor until the trigger was pressed and the ‘shot taken’ without the coin falling off its perch.
Charger clips were selected for those that just held the rounds firmly enough to stop then falling out, were sand-papered and polished with a stove / fireplace polish called ‘Zebrite’ so that the rimmed rounds would slip through the clips like corn through a goose.
If you’re unfamiliar with the cock-on-closing Enfield action, it seems clumsy. With intensive practice it is very smooth and can be operated incredibly quickly. The trick is to whip the bolt back onto its stop and initiate a rebound movement that takes it and the cartridge well into the chamber thereby reducing the effort required to close the bolt and chamber the round.
None of this is to detract from the skill many of these guys had and the fantastic results they got both in rate of fire and accuracy out to 500/600 yards. That came from long days of live firing at full distances — far more practice than I’ll warrant US doughboys got at that time. The result was when the small British Expeditionary Force acted a blocking force against two advancing German infantry corps in Belgium in the autumn of 1914. Kaiser Wilhelm predicted confidently that his highly trained ‘Landsers’ would sweep this ‘contemptible little army’ aside. Instead, the Germans advancing in the open at ranges they felt was safe from rifle fire ran into a wall of lead of such a rate and accuracy that regimental commanders explained their failure to advance and massive casualties through the British having far more automatic weapons than their intelligence had briefed. The British survivors of that period adopted the self-styled title of ‘Old Contemptibles’ as an ironic rebuke to Wilhelm, one still used today. By Christmas 1914 that small and highly professional British army had been destroyed through attrition and army rifle competitions aside never achieved those riflecraft standards again — but of course that’s what a machinegun is for and it was criminal that BEF battalions (600-1,000 men) went to war with an establishment of only two Vickers-Armstrong machine-guns — a fraction of that in the opposing German units.
The June, 2013 Edition of Target Shooter Magazine is now available online, in PDF format. This month’s issue contains gear reviews, match reports, and a feature on handloading for the .204 Ruger cartridge. As ever, Target Shooter boasts plenty of great, large-format photos. Optics get considerable play this month with a comparison test of spotting scopes by Richard Utting, and an in-depth review of the Vortex Razor HD 5-20x50mm riflescope by Chris Parkin. There’s plenty of great reading material this month — and it’s all free to read online. (Be patient while downloading the PDF file).
Laurie Holland has authored two major articles in the June issue of Target Shooter Magazine. First, Laurie reviews the latest “Mk. 2″ version of Seb Lambang’s joy-stick bipod. Laurie found that Seb’s new “Joy-Pod” was beautifully built and performs “as advertised”. Laurie writes: “The coarse leg adjustment using the ratchet lock is excellent, allowing quick and easy set-up. The overall stability was better than on the Mk.1 — provided I loaded the butt slightly to push the bi-pod forwards and take up the small amount of slack that shows in the mechanism/joystick-head. I thought the Mk.1 prototype was a winner/game-changer. The Mk.2 is a further and noticeable improvement on that.”
Laurie has also compiled a very authoritative feature story on reloading for the .204 Ruger cartridge. Laurie discusses the available brass, powder, and projectile options for this popular cartridge. Laurie also includes Ballistics tables so you can compare performance with various loads. If you own a .204 Ruger rifle, or plan to get one, Laurie’s .204 Ruger story is definitely a “Must-Read”. This is Part One of a two-part series by Holland.
Target Shooter Magazine has just released its August edition, which you can read for FREE online. The 110-page August 2012 issue includes target shooting news from around the world, along with articles of interest to all shooters. The online “eZine” version of Target Shooter Magazine offers a handy index, plus full two-page spreads, and flip-page viewing — just like a print magazine.
August issue highlights include: a report on GB F-Class competition at the Bisley Ranges, along with coverage of the 2012 CZ Extreme European Open Practical Pistol Competition. Chris Parkin reviews the Zeiss Victory Diavari FL 6-25 x 72mm scope, and our friend Vince Bottomley tests a UK-compliant Armscor 38 Special Revolver. Regular readers will appreciate the final installment of Laurie Holland’s series on building an affordable FT-R rifle. The latest issue of Target Shooter Magzine of course includes UKPSA News.
The May 2012 edition of Target Shooter Magazine is now available for online viewing. This issue is full of informative articles, with excellent photography. If you prefer the convenience of print magazines, you’ll like Target Shooter’s “eZine” format. Target Shooter displays like a print magazine — so you can enjoy large, wide-format photos, and you can flip pages just like a regular magazine. There is also a handy index (just like a print mag) so you can quickly access all the articles of interest. This month there is an excellent, detailed review of the March-FX 4-40x56mm First Focal Plane (FFP) riflescope. The reviewers were very impressed with this new optic: “It looks like it will set a new benchmark for FFP scopes[.]”
In his article “An Affordable F-TR Rifle?”, talented writer Laurie Holland examines a variety of entry-level F-TR solutions including Savages, Remingtons, and AR-platforms. Laurie explains how the F-TR shooter can get the most “bang for his buck”.
As with every issue of Target Shooter, you’ll find plenty of information on both Benchrest and ‘belly-benchrest’ competition. This month Les Holgate supplies a special report on F-Class shooting in the UK. This article has great photos from the scenic Diggle Ranges.
Tactical Shooters will be pleased to find a field test of the impressive, yet affordable Savage model 10 BA, chambered in .308 Winchester. Author Chris Parkin writes: “The Model 10 BA is a straightforward… bolt-action, magazine-fed rifle in the ‘Jack of All Trades’ .308 Win chambering. Its robust build shows great ergonomic adjustability.”
The March 2012 edition of Target Shooter Magazine is now available for online viewing. This issue is full of informative articles, with excellent photography. If you prefer the convenience of print magazines, you’ll like Target Shooter’s “eZine” format. Target Shooter displays like a print magazine — so you can enjoy large, wide-format photos, and you can flip pages just like a regular magazine. There is also a handy index (just like a print mag) so you can quickly access all the articles of interest.
This month, you’ll find many stories worth reading. Starting off, Laurie Holland hot-rods a Rem 700 SPS tactical rifle. After fitting the rifle with a new 26″ 1:7.9″-twist barrel and Manners Composite stock, Laurie shows that impressive accuracy can be achieved from the upgraded Remington SPS (chambered in .223 Rem). Laurie also continues his on-going series about reloading for the .308 Win. This month he tests Lapua small-flashhole brass with a variety of powders. Other highlights include a comparison test of air-splitters and tuners for airgun benchrest, and a guide to competition optics. Readers can download previous monthly editions plus a Shot Show supplement from the Target Shooter Magazine homepage, found at TargetShooter.co.uk.
Target Shooter Magazine has released its web-based January 2012 Issue. The FREE January Issue features handy reloading guides (written by Laurie Holland) for two very popular cartridges: 6mmBR Norma, and .308 Winchester. If you shoot either of these chamberings, you should read these latest installments of Laurie Holland’s Handloading Bench series. For the January issue, Laurie also authored Sorting a Savage Part 1 which covers the Savage-actioned .223 Rem that Laurie shot in the European F-Class Championship. Savage shooters will find useful tuning tips.
Gear and Optics Reviews
Other good articles in January’s Target Shooter Magazine include a comprehensive review of the Lyman DPS 1200 III powder dispenser, and an excellent article about riflescopes by Gwyn Roberts. Gwyn explains the many choices in reticle design, and he discusses the pros and cons of adjustable front objectives vs. side-focus scopes.
If you haven’t sampled Target Shooter Magazine yet, you should. The hardware photography is high quality and there is something for everyone — from Benchresters to Tactical shooters. You can view the 92-page December issue for FREE at www.targetshooter.co.uk. Target shooter also has an iPad/iPhone friendly version that can be downloaded.
Transonic vs. Supersonic
“The 6.5×55 case has 6 or 7% more capacity than the .260s, even more in practice when both are loaded to standard COALs with heavy bullets, which sees them having to seated very deep in the .260 Rem using up quite a lot of powder capacity. So loaded up for reasonable pressures in modern actions, the 6.5×55 will give a bit more performance.
For purely target shooting, I think I’d go with 6.5×55 if I was making the choice again today for performance and brass-preparation reasons. In fact, I’ve considered going back to the gunsmith to have the barrel rechambered.
After Laurie’s helpful comments, some other Forum members added their insights on the .260 Rem vs. 6.5×55 question:
Lee-Enfield No. 4 Rifle (1943), courtesy 
Last year, the 
The June, 2013 Edition of 
