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June 5th, 2009
 Forum member Kent Reeve (Cary, NC) is best known as a High Power and long-range shooter. Kent won the 2006 NRA National Long-Range Championships, edging out John Whidden by two points. However, Kent recently set a new NRA civilian record for smallbore metric prone shooting. Scoring 1,576 out of a possible 1,600 points, Reeve broke the record at the NC Smallbore Metric Prone State Championship held May 9-10 in Creedmoor, North Carolina. Kent used Lapua’s new X-ACT rimfire ammo.
Reeve’s accomplishment attracted the attention of the mainstream media. On June 4, Reeve was profiled by the News & Observer in Raleigh, NC. In that story, Reeve revealed that he shoots rimfire matches “for the training… it’s easier to find a 100-yard range.” Reeve also explained that smallbore shooting helps improve his centerfire marksmanship because the longer barrel time of the 22LR round makes a perfect hold even more important: “The .22 [rimfire] bullet stays in the barrel about three times longer than the .308, so any shot placement error is magnified.” Reeve recently headed to Wisconsin, where he will compete for a spot on the 2011 USA Palma team. Reeve has been a USA Palma Team member in the past, and we wish him luck in the team selection matches.
March 29th, 2009
Spc. Tyrel Cooper of the USAMU won the individual championship at the South African Bisley Union (SABU) 80th Anniversary Match. For the past two years, Ty has been one of the best long-range shooters in the world. In 2008 he won the Target Rifle Overall Aggregate at the Spirit of America Match. Congrats to Ty for outstanding shooting in South Africa!
Shooting in very challenging wind conditions, the host South Africans took first place in both the Invitational 8-man team match (score: 2314-209v) and the SABU Int’l Anniversary 12-man team match (score: 3516-350v). The United States 12-man team finished second with a 3469-303v score. Reporting on the Anniversary Team Match, Walt Walter reported to the NRA Blog: “At 800 meters, South Africa extended their lead in ‘very very difficult’ wind conditions. Almost all of the time allowance was used with sighters from later firers being fired early to assist the coaches with their wind calling. Once again, South Africa used their local knowledge to increase their lead with some excellent shooting and equally good wind calling. Going back to 900 meters, the wind remained just as tricky and with the South Africans averaging solid 70s scores, they finished an impressive 49 points of the USA.”
| Individual Ranking |
TEAM Ranking Anniv. Match |
1. Ty Cooper (USA) 208-20v
2. Alwyn McLean (Ireland) 208-15v
3. Jane Messer (England) 207-25v
4. Andy Wilde (England) 206-22v
5. David Luckman (England) 206-20v |
1. South Africa 3516-350v
2. USA 3469-303v
3. England 3461-293v
4. Ireland 3442-274v
5. Wales 3419-255v |
Note: In South Africa, the “v”-count is equivalent to the “X”-count in North America.
March 25th, 2009
 The United States National Rifle Team, supported by the NRA, has traveled to South Africa to participate in the South African Bisley Union matches and their national championships, held at Bloemfontein, South Africa, March 26 – April 4. This year marks the 80th Anniversary of the South African matches. This will be a fullbore competition for Target Rifle class and F-Class at distances from 300 to 900 meters. There will also be a series of .303 club matches as well as Junior matches.
The team is led by Team Captain Dennis Flaherty of California; Vice Captain Dan Simpson of New Hampshire; and Vice Captain Tom Whitaker, also from California. SFC Emil Praslick III, U.S. Army, will function as Head Coach during this tour. Ian Cheesman and Robert Steketee round out the team officers with Ian as Adjutant and Robert functioning as the South Africa Touring Trip Team Adjutant.
During the first week there will be individual matches culminating in a 12-man team match to determine the top National team in the 80th Anniversary matches. After an overnight in Johannesburg the Team traveled to Bloemfontein on Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday will be training days with the individual matches to begin on Thursday, March 26th.
CLICK HERE to download 80th Anniversary Match Schedule and Info Forms.
This report is courtesy the NRA Blog and H.J. “Walt” Walter, NRA Board Member.
February 13th, 2009
 Bryan Litz recently assumed the mantle of “Ballistician” for Berger Bullets. Before joining Berger, Bryan was a missile design engineer working with the U.S. Air Force. An NRA High Master, Bryan also happens to be one of the country’s top long-range shooters. Bryan (aka “bsl135″ in our Forum) has written many ballistics programs and technical papers dealing with long-range flight dynamics of projectiles. Bryan has recorded some very impressive match performances recently. At the 2008 NRA National Championships at Camp Perry, Bryan beat 258 other competitors to win the Palma Individual Trophy Match. Bryan shot a remarkable 450/26x, not dropping a single point.
Palma Match — Caught on Video
Bryan recently crafted a cool video that puts the viewer “in the driver’s seat” as Bryan shoots an 800-yard match with his .308 Winchester, iron-sights Palma rifle. Watch as each shot is marked and scored. Bryan explains: “The inset target at upper right displays each shot location in sequence. The score card shows the windage used for each shot, as well as the windage that was ‘Required’ for that shot to be centered. Wind wasn’t very challenging in this string, only requiring between 2 and 3 MOA right. This particular match is the 800-yard phase of a Palma course fired in the summer of 2008 at Camp Atterbury, IN. NOTE: I’ve had to cut out some ‘pauses’, and speed up the film in order to meet YouTube’s size requirements, so that’s why we sound like chipmunks.”
CLICK SCREEN to WATCH VIDEO. Click Menu Button for High Quality (HQ) Option
Bryan also has his own website with a number of authoritative articles. Topics include: Bullet Design, Meplat Trimming, Gyroscopic and Coreolis Drift, Palma Bullet Analysis, How Ballistics Programs Work, and Ballistic Coefficient Testing. CLICK HERE to visit BRYAN LITZ Website.
February 6th, 2009
The Ben Avery Shooting Facility hosts the Arizona Long-Range Championship this weekend, February 7-8, 2009. This event will draw many of the top 1000-yard shooters from the Western states. Prior to the Long-Range Championships, a individual Palma match will be held today, Feb. 6th. The Palma match will have 15 shots for record at EACH of three distances: 800, 900, and 1000 yards.
 
Photos courtesy AZ Desert Sharpshooters.
On Saturday the 7th there will be two (2) Any-rifle, Any-sight 1000-yard matches (20 record rounds per match), followed by a 4-man team match with two shooters per realy. On Sunday the 8th, there will be two more Any-rifle, Any-sight 1000-yard matches (20 record rounds per match). The Championship will be determined based on combined Saturday and Sunday Aggregates.
CLICK HERE for Match Program and Schedule.
Member of the U.S. F-Class Open Team have been “working out” this week at Ben Avery, tuning their 6.5-284 rifles and working on team strategies. Many members of the Team will participate in the AZ Long-Range Championship this weekend. If you are in the Phoenix area, this is your chance to come out and meet team members and see some of America’s top long-range shooters in action.
January 15th, 2009
On the day before the official opening of SHOT Show, members of the media were invited to the Orlando Sheriffs’ Range to “test-drive” some of the latest offerings from major manufacturers. As precision rifles are AccurateShooter.com’s primary focus, two new guns from Savage Arms drew the attention of our Asst. Editor (and resident “hot-shot”) Jason Baney. After meeting with Savage Chairman/CEO Ron Coburn, and Marketing Mgr. Bill Dermody, Jason got the chance to try out Savage’s new .308 Palma Rifle, and the radical new, metal-chassis model 10 BAS Tactical rifle.
The handsome Savage Palma Rifle features a gray laminated stock with triple pillars. It boasts an adjustable cheekpiece, and adjustable length of pull (LOP) via spacers. Fitted with the Savage Target action, 30″ stainless barrel, and (4 – 12 oz.) Accutrigger, the gun promises outstanding accuracy. As you can see on the second half of the video below, Jason shot a 1/2″ group at 200 yards with the Savage Palma Rifle. Jason said the stock was ergonomic and the gun balanced well even with the long tube. The Savage Palma Rifle action is drilled and tapped for top or side-mount peep sights, so it can be fitted with either iron sights or scope. Savage is taking orders right now. MSRP is $1798, but the “street price” will be quite a bit less.
Bold & Black — Savage 10 BAS Tactical Rifle
The new 10 BAS is a radical departure for Savage. This wild-looking new bolt-gun features a blackened aluminum modular chassis, top and side Picatinny rails, a detachable box magazine, and not one but TWO adjustable (and removeable) buttstock configurations. One buttstock is similar to an AR15-style collapsing stock, while the other (on the BAS ‘T’ model) features a myriad of adjustments, and a straight, flat keel section on the bottom to ride the bags.
On this T-version stock, the buttplate adjusts for length of pull (LOP) and cant angle and the cheek-piece adjusts both vertically and fore and aft using a rail and a rotary locking knob.
What’s our take on the radical 10 BAS rifle? For police and military applications, the rails offer great versatility. For tactical comps, we liked the ergonomic grip, 10-round detachable magazine, and the easily-adjustable LOP. The 10 BAS will initially be offered in .308 Winchester only. Based on the model 110 action, the 10 BAS comes with a 24″ barrel and a proprietary muzzle brake. It even accepts most AR15 buttstocks. We don’t know of any domestic manufacturer offering a “tactical” bolt gun with all the features found on the 10 BAS. We expect this rifle to cause quite a stir when SHOT Show doors open this morning.
Photos by J. Baney, copyright © 2009 AccurateShooter.com, All Rights Reserved.
October 17th, 2008
 Sierra has a new 155gr Palma bullet, and it’s a winner. The new 155gr MatchKing bullet, featuring a longer ogive and factory-pointed meplats, was used by Team USA at the recent Spirit of America match. According to many team shooters and coach Emil Praslick III, the new bullet helped the American team achieve an impressive victory over arch-rival England and other national squads.
Matt Reams of Sierra Bullets confirmed that the new bullet, Sierra part # 2156, will shortly enter full-scale production. Sierra is planning a late-December 2008 release date, but Matt says “first week of 2009 should be a safe bet.” The bullets will be priced “roughly 5% higher than current Sierra 155gr MatchKings”, according to Matt.
Sierra worked closely with Team USA on the design of the new bullet. Dennis Flaharty, USA Palma Captain, tells us: “We worked very closely with the people at Sierra and they really came up with a winner. We tested several prototypes before we settled on this one. Each one better than the next. This bullet has a lot going for it. I honestly believe that we managed many 10s that would have been 9s. This bullet gave the consistent and high degree of accuracy you have come to expect from Sierra. As compared to other bullets Sierra has a reputation for being ‘forgiving’. By this I mean you can shoot them in the lands or off. We tested this bullet from +0.010 into the lands to -0.100 off.”
 Bullet Design Features and Factory Meplat Pointing
The new bullet is a conventional tangent ogive design, not a secant ogive VLD-style. However, the new bullet has a longer ogive (curved section) than Sierra’s current 155gr MatchKing. It also has a somewhat shorter bearing surface. Most importantly, the meplats on the new 155s will be pointed up on a special extra die used for the final stage of bullet manufacturing. Currently, many reloaders are using the Whidden Pointing Die System to point up their bullets. (Photo at left shows a 107gr MatchKing pointed with the Whidden Die.) Many tests, including our own research done by Jason Baney, prove that bullet-pointing has real benefits. First, pointing the meplats reduces bullet-to-bullet BC variation. This can help tighten vertical spread at long range. Second, bullet-pointing can also reduce drag, effectively increasing average bullet BC. The result is a bullet with less drop at long range, and less wind drift (all other factors being constant). In Jason’s tests, pointed Clinch River 106gr bullets impacted 18″ higher at 1000 yards than non-pointed bullets from the same lot. That’s dramatic evidence that meplat-pointing enhances BC.
Higher BC Predicted by Actual Match Results
Sierra has not yet completed field-testing to determine the ballistics of the new 155gr MatchKing, so no official BC has been released. Matt Reams noted: “We will not release a BC until comprehensive field tests are complete. At Sierra we don’t ‘guesstimate’. Our BC numbers are based on real-world testing.” Nonetheless, Sierra’s bullet testers and USA Palma team members are telling us that the new bullet definitely impacts higher than the old Sierra Palma bullet when driven at the same velocity. This was observed during the Spirit of America match, and is a sure sign that the new bullet has less drag and a higher effective BC. Team members also believe that the new bullet exhibits less wind drift than the previous 155gr MatchKing:
“As one of the line coaches on the American teams at SOA, I witnessed first-hand the difference between the old and new green box 155s. On practice/warm-up day before the team matches we tested the new bullet against the old bullet at 1K to get elevation zeroes on the new bullet. What we saw was the new 155 printed two (2) MOA higher at 1000 yards than the old bullet with the only difference being the bullet…. In my opinion, the new bullet was at least a minute inside of the old bullet at 1K.” — Steve Hardin
Palma Shooters Praise New ‘Top-Secret’ 155gr MatchKing
In the wake of Team USA’s big win at Spirit of America, many members of the USA Palma Team have commented on the impressive performance of the new bullet. You can read their testimonials in THIS THREAD on the Long-Range.com Forum (registration required to access Forum). Team Coach Emil Praslick III had this to say:
“Sierra was very responsive to the US Team’s request that [Sierra] come up with a new design for a 155 grain projectile. After testing a few prototypes designed by the smart guys at Sierra (mainly Pat Daly) we settled on one that seemed to be a good compromise between an efficient design, and a bullet that would shoot well out of a variety of barrels and chambers. Through testing and practice, we have found that the bullet shoots well into the lands, as well as off. One rifle tested jumped them .050″ with good results!
The bullet QC is excellent, and it definitely does shoot. During the team matches at SOA, I felt that the bullet was well inside the other bullets being shot on the line, but as a coach, I am much more concerned with accuracy over chasing a BC ‘magic number’…. The inherent accuracy of the new bullet is what has sold me on it.
The ogive is well back on this bullet, and will probably jump quite a bit at max length in longer than a ‘standard’ Palma 95/WTC 95 chamber. Some, notably Warner Tool and Wayne Forshee, are working on reamer designs. For now, an existing, ‘short throat’, Palma 95 chamber that seats the old Sierra at approx. 2.780″ to touch the lands should work fine.”
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