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August 2nd, 2009

Tony Boyer Shares Secrets in PS Interview — READ IT!

Tony Boyer Benchrest Interview Tony Boyer is, without question, the greatest short-range Benchrest for Group shooter who has ever lived. In a rare interview for the August 2009 issue of Precision Shooting magazine, Tony shares many of his “secrets of success” with his friend (and fellow benchrester) James Mock. James also interviews Tony’s wife Faye, a superb shooter in her own right.

This Boyer interview is now, for a limited time, available online. CLICK HERE to READ INTERVIEW. Every short-range and mid-range benchrest shooter should read this article word for word, at least twice. Tony reveals insights that may surprise you, and will certainly enlighten you. You may be surprised that Tony is now shooting a .268″ neck.

And in the article Tony challenges many commonly-held ideas. For example he doesn’t think vertical is mostly load-related: “Most shooters think that vertical groups are caused by too light a powder charge. This may be true, but more often than not, the rifle has more to do with this than the load. If the rifle is muzzle heavy, this can cause vertical. Also, the way the action is set in the stock can cause vertical as can handling problems…such as shouldering the rifle.”

Barrel Quality is All-Important
What is the main secret to Benchrest accuracy? Throughout the interview, Boyer stresses the importance of barrel quality. Tony can quickly identify barrels with winning potential. He has “developed a system that takes no more than 30 rounds to determine if it is going to shoot”. Tony needs that kind of efficiency because he burns through barrels very quickly: “Contrary to what many say, I rarely shoot a barrel more than 600 rounds in competition. I can remember only one barrel that exceeded 1200 rounds.”

When asked if there was one paramount “secret” he could share to help new shooters, Tony replied: “If you have the means, buy as many barrels as possible. A great barrel is the real secret of this game. There are barrels out there that shoot better than they should. They have been given the name ‘hummer’. I can assure you that they exist.”

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July 16th, 2009

Book Review: A New Ballistics Resource from Bryan Litz

Bryan Litz, chief Ballistician for Berger Bullets, has just released an impressive new, hard-cover treatise on external ballistics. While Bryan’s 536-page Applied Ballistics for Long-Range Shooting will surely take its place among the “classic” reference books on precision shooting, it does much more than explain theories of bullet flight. Using advanced equipment, Litz measured the actual drag of over 175 popular bullet types in the field. Armed with this new experimentally-derived data, shooters can now calculate their loads’ true trajectories with greater precision than ever before.

If you’re serious about long-range shooting, or just have an interest in bullet design and performance, you should buy this book. It is offered for $39.95 directly from Bryan’s website, AppliedBallisticsLLC.com.

In the video above, Litz explains some of the key features of his new book. (Watch the video — Bryan explains what you’ll get for your $39.95!) Don’t be fooled by Bryan’s youthful appearance. This guy is the Einstein of external ballistics. He holds a degree in Aerospace Engineering, and he was an honest-to-goodness rocket scientist who worked with the U.S. Air Force on air-to-air missile design for six years before joning Berger Bullets. What’s more, Bryan is an extremely talented long-range shooter. Bryan was the 2008 National Palma Champion, and he holds the all-time NRA mid-range iron-sight record (450-39X).

Even if you rely on a software program to calculate your come-ups, it is important to know how bullets are affected by wind and gravity, and how bullet ballistic coefficients are determined. If you’re looking to expand your knowledge of ballistics and the nuances of bullet design, you should find Bryan’s book informative and readable.

You don’t need an MIT degree to understand this book. It was Bryan’s goal to explain the important elements of exterior ballistics in a practical way that can be understood and applied by shooters. What you learn from Applied Ballistics for Long-Range Shooting can help you make better decisions about the bullet(s) and the caliber(s) you choose to shoot, and give you more confidence when taking those long shots in the field.

February 15th, 2009

Canted Reticles — Serious Problem Needs to Be Addressed

Unfortunately, we still see too many scopes sold to the public with canted reticles. The problem of canted reticles is a serious issue that some manufacturers (both domestic and foreign) have failed to address. (Note: here we are talking about an INTERNAL scope assembly problem that results in reticles being off-axis relative to the turrets. Don’t confuse this with the canting which occurs if you don’t level your rifle. A canted reticle is a scope production defect requiring factory repair.)

One degree of scope reticle cant is noticeable. Three degrees is “slap in the face” obvious and, frankly, pretty unpleasant to work with. Unfortunately, three degrees happens to be one major domestic scope-maker’s production tolerance. And sure enough, you can find this company’s scopes in retail outlets with the reticles located a full three degrees off-axis.

We believe that badly canted reticles are unacceptable in a high-dollar scope, one costing more than $450.00. Optics-makers — it’s high time to improve your quality control.

Three degrees may not sound like much–after all it is less than 1% of a 360-degree circle. Nonetheless, as the diagrams show, three degrees of cant is VERY noticeable in a scope. In fact, most people will be bothered by a reticle that is just one degree off-axis. Canted reticles are not just annoying to look at, but off-axis reticles cause a number of problems with sighting and accuracy. For example, if you set up your rifle so the vertical cross-hair is straight up and down, your turrets will be slightly tilted. This means that when you click elevation you will change windage slightly, and vice-versa. If, on the other hand, you cant (or tilt) the whole rifle to make the turrets square, this throws off the bullet trajectory–causing bullet impact that is low and displaced horizontally*.

Now, all manufacturers can have a production flaw now and then. Yet we’ve never heard a complaint about canted reticles in Nightforce, U.S. Optics, or Schmidt & Bender scopes. So, it IS possible for the better manufacturers to get it right. Our point here is that it is time for the major scope-makers to address this problem and improve their quality control. That will happen sooner if consumers pay greater attention to reticle alignment during the purchasing process. If you have a scope with a canted reticle, send it back to the maker and ask for the problem to be fixed. If enough shooters do that, we expect the scope-makers will take notice and improve their products.

*CLICK HERE to read a very thorough technical article that explains the effect of rifle canting on bullet trajectory. CLICK HERE to see targets shot with canted rifles showing bullet displacement. The diagram below shows how this occurs.

Illustration courtesy Long Shot Products, Ltd.

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August 23rd, 2008

Sinclair International Now Stocking Nightforce Scopes

Sinclair International, a leading vendor for precision reloaders and competitive shooters, has added Nightforce Optics to its inventory of products. Nightforce scopes remain the first choice of most top long-range shooters, including F-Class National Champions. The Benchrest and NXS models offer high magnification (up to 42 power), clear, sharp optics, and very reliable and repeatable windage and elevation adjustments. Nightforce also offers a large variety of reticles. How good is the glass? With a 12-42 Nightforce BR or NXS, in ideal conditions, you can see 6mm bullet holes “in the white” at 600 yards (not razor sharp mind you — but enough to see shot placement on a white background). We just confirmed this ourselves this past weekend. Of course, viewing conditions truly have to be absolutely “perfect” (no mirage) to see 6mm holes at 600 and such conditions are normally short-lived, but the resolving capability is there with the high-magnification Nightforces.

Sinclair’s pricing is competitive with other authorized Nightforce vendors. For example, the
12-42x56mm Nightforce BR scope (item 72-1040/45) is $1306.00 while the 8-32×56 Benchrest model (item 72-1030) is $1211.00.