Target Shooter July

Target Shooter

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Target Shooter

The Ultimate

Visual Experience NEW Dual flexibility in any hunting situation and in all lighting conditions

Enhanced flexibility: choice of dot or cross at twilight

For the first time worldwide, the new Varipoint generation featuring the reticle V69 allows for individual response to lighting and hunting conditions: the models 2,5-10 x 50 T* and 3-12 x 56 T* provide an illuminated cross in the first and an illuminated dot in the second image plane thus taking advantage of both concepts.

www.zeiss.co.uk/sportsoptics

The new Varipoint Generation with V69



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Welcome to the 4th month .......of Target Shooter Sections

21 HFT Scopes Part 3 By Tim Finley

28 Sightron S111 scope by Vince Bottomley

33 Savage Model 12 By Laurie Holland



39 A visit to Barnard Precision By Brian Walker

43 Ammunition Testing and selection By Carl Boswell

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Shooting Sport News

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Shooters Calendar

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Support your Local Gun Shop

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Basic Rifle Maintenance by Vince Bottomley

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A Competetive Club means a Winning Club by Bill Collaros

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Air Rifle Equipment Part 4 by Stanley Shaw

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The Great Diggle Egg Shoot by Vince Bottomley

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Shooting Website of the Month

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Barnard 07 Tube Gun by Vince Bottomley

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Gallery Rifle Basics by Gwyn Roberts

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Gun of the Month - Duke of Earl

51 303 ammunition comparisons by Nigel 73 Greenaway 68 Warren Potent World Class Champion by Andy Dubreuil 4

Target Shooter

Club Feature



Association Pages 74

UKBRA

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UKBR22

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F Class UK

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Quigley Association

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HFT News

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Gallery Rifle

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UKPSA

Webitorial

Editor(s). Carl Boswell and Vince Bottomley Advertising and Office Manager Andy Dubreuil. email; [email protected] Contributors Vince Bottomley Andy Dubreuil Laurie Holland Tim Finley Carl Boswell Brian Walker Nigel Greenaway Gwyn Roberts Stanley Shaw Ken Hall

Well, Target Shooter has been going for four months now. We have received lots of comments from you about the magazine - some requests, some thoughts and a lot of praise in developing a target shooting magazine for the UK and beyond. All of us involved in this venture are shooters and, as Vince said last month, it is humbling to receive the positive response from our readers – and by the way, many thanks to those subscribers who responded to our survey. On this point, a reminder that subscribing to the magazine is of course FREE. There are no charges to you the shooting public, our readers. It simply allows us to send out reminders to say the latest magazine is on-line and get feedback to questions we are asked with data we need to supply advertisers. All this helps us to make your magazine as diverse as we can, covering target shooting in all its guises. May I also remind you that the ‘download’ version of the magazine is now on the website. This allows you to save the magazine to your hard-drive for future reference; although they will remain online, it is like having your own copy. This has cost quite a bit to develop and host so we hope you enjoy it. As Vince commented last month, please mention Target Shooter – easy to get mixed up – the online magazine to advertisers if you are looking to buy products you see in the pages of the magazine. This helps keep the magazine alive, helps us to extend the diversity of the magazine and continue to bring you the best target shooting magazine in the UK today. Passing on details of Target Shooter to friends and colleagues will also greatly assist us. We already have a substantial readership but obviously we want to appeal to and be read by all target shooters. You can help by e-mailing information about us to your friends, their mates and their dog! At the Bisley Phoenix meeting a few weeks ago, it was amazing to see how many of you still did not know about Target Shooter. One guy even passed us saying yes, he had read the magazine and it was great – his mate was a little disturbed and asked why he had not been told about us? Anyway he knows now. For those of you who stopped by to say hello to Andy and me, it was a real pleasure to meet you. If you are having any technical difficulties in reading the magazine then please contact us. Target Shooter is not like the old paper magazines, but it’s just as good - if not better – once you become familiar. Reading it is a bit alien at first but that is because it is a new format for most of us but you will soon get used to it. We feel it’s the way forward and more and more magazines are going on-line. Our thanks for your patronage so far and we hope you enjoy the July issue. Carl Boswell - [email protected] and Vince Bottomley - [email protected] and Andy Dubreuil - [email protected] Copyright © Trinity Digital Publishing Ltd Disclaimer

The website www.targetshooter.co.uk is part of Target Shooter magazine with all contents of both electronic media copyrighted. No reproduction is permitted unless written authorisation is provided. Information, prices and data is believed to be correct at the time of posting on the internet which is on or around the 1st of each month. Advertisements that are firearm related are from companies or individuals that Target Shooter magazine believes are licensed to hold such firearms and accepts no responsibility if companies or individuals are not so licensed. Letters and photographs submitted by members of the public to Target Shooter magazine will be accepted on the basis that the writer has agreed to publication unless otherwise stated. Target Shooter magazine has no control over the content or ownership of photographs submitted. The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily the views of the publishers and relate to specific circumstances within each article. These are the opinions and experiences of writers using specific equipment, firearms, components and data under controlled conditions. Information contained in the online magazine or on the website is intended to be used as a guide only and in specific circumstances caution should be used. Target Shooter Magazine does not except any responsibility for individuals attempting to recreate such testing using any information, data or other materials in its electronic pages.Publishers of Target Shooter magazine.



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Shooting Sport News

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ilja Barrels. Roger Francis from South Yorkshire Shooting Supplies has been kind enough to acquire a couple of new Lilja 4 groove 16 twist .22 rimfire barrels from the US. In Dan Lilja’s words ‘These are performing very well’. The Lilja barrels are all the rave in the US at the moment, being used by such greats as Matt Emmons. The barrels come in a variety of configurations, from different lengths and chambering for rimfire, as well as centerfire. The ones just brought in are in actual fact ‘drop in’ barrels for the 2013 action, as these are made as stock items at the Lilja factory and therefore fitting is relatively easy. Bill Calfee has been involved with the processes used to manufacture the rimfire barrels and the new production has some of his well healed knowledge engrained within them. We hope so anyway and cannot wait to test them.

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RMALON LIMITED – ONWARDS and Parker-Hale Ltd, supplemented by honing and other key plant from ROF Nottingham. UPWARDS!

Prohibition of self-loading rifles post-Hungerford targeted innocent Practical Rifle shooters, threatening to extinguish the discipline in the UK where it was originated by Peter Sarony and fellow UKPSA handgunners. Sarony’s company, Armalon Limited, had built an enviable reputation, initially as custom pistolsmiths, with their .45ACP Government Model based hybrids, and subsequently for their Match customised M1As and other popular SLRs. The ban thereby excised a significant sector of Armalon’s trade. Sarony developed his Rem 700 based ‘PR’ QD magazine systems to salvage the sport in the UK. Sarony, an established innovator, designed a totally original bolt-action rifle, his PS21, to overcome all the deficiencies of existing bolt-actions. Realising this would necessitate total “in-house” manufacture, including the critical barrels, in 1996 he acquired CNC machining centres. In 2001 the complete hammer forging plus broaching type barrel making lines were acquired from

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If you are interested in a Lilja barrel then contact Roger at SYSS. http://www.rimfiremagic.co.uk/ To find out more about these barrels visit the Lilja website. There are contacts if you wish to ask more questions, as Dan will get back to you pretty quickly; http://www.riflebarrels.com/

Target Shooter

After a lengthy journey, the cream of 180 tons of plant is now coming fully on line at Armalon’s new 3 ½ acre Oxfordshire production site. A full range of superb barrels is joining Armalon’s mounts, rings, ‘PRs’, ‘PCs’, AL42s, AL30Cs etc., to which will shortly be added moderators and bi-pods, plus the exciting new PS21!

From left, the old Sierra, the new one & Lapua’s Scenar

Look at the tiny meplat on the new Sierra (centre

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ierra Bullets latest.

We were all pretty excited about the new 155 grain Sierra 308 bullets introduced late last year. I got hold of a sample from IWA and they were a little bit longer than the old 155’s but not so long as the 155 grain Scenar. Well, the first production has at last arrived and I’m impressed. They are quite different from my sample in that the nose is very ‘pointy’ which should definitely improve the BC – which was always less than the Scenar. I’m sure that all serious F/TR shooters just can’t wait to try them – not to mention Target Rifle shooters of course. The Scenar is a much longer bullet and so tends to seat deeper in the case, which can compromise powder capacity. At the moment, I can’t say how they will ‘seat’ compared to the existing Sierra but hopefully they won’t be much different.

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rian Fox found a really good alternative bi-pod to the Harris at IWA. This one is made in Finland and will fit any normal sling-swivel. The legs will fold forward or backward and it is very sturdy, light and well made. The same firm also make a rear mono-pod which comes with an accessory rail which can be inletted into the underside of your butt-stock. See www.ouluntyostokeskus.com

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he Conservatives have made a recent announcement about their policy on some shooting sports which is quite interesting. In their EXTENDING OPPORTUNITIES A CONSERVATIVE POLICY PAPER ON SPORT they point out the following on page eight; ‘Amend firearms legislation to ensure the UK target pistol shooters can train and compete in this country. This will end the absurd situation where we use public money to support athletes to train abroad in an activity banned in this country.’ Now obviously this is just a policy paper but in the run up to a general election in is a decisive move. The document is web based and can be found via the Sportsmans Association website; http://www.sportsmansassociation.co.uk or via the conservative party website as a pdf document.

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ational Rifle Association

Martin Farnan, the Director of Shooting, has resigned and no one is saying very much about it. With the Imperial Meeting and the F Class World Championships almost upon us, it is difficult to imagine what brought this about. The NRA website has the following statement: “The circumstances leading to Martin Farnan’s decision to resign are such that we cannot exclude the possibility that we have not heard the end of the matter. We have received clear advice from the NRA’s solicitors that we ought not to comment on the circumstances surrounding Martin’s decision to resign for the time being so as to avoid any risk that we might prejudice the position of the NRA or indeed the NSC. We intend to adhere to the professional advice obtained and therefore are unable to comment further on this issue.” Robin Pizer Chairman, NRA. Well, ‘No 10’ couldn’t have said it better! That statement by the way was dated June 12th.

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T

HE LYMAN ‘REVOLUTION’ GUN VICE

We’ve seen several ‘gun vices’ appear in recent years, and now have another, the Lyman ‘Revolution’, imported and retailed by Tim Hannam in North Yorkshire. The name comes from its ability to rotate its two clamps and the firearm they hold through 90 degrees, with three fixed and lockable settings at the vertical position plus 45 degrees either side. First impressions are that this is a well thought through and practical accessory, as you’d expect from Lyman. It appears to be stable, strong, and sophisticated. It consists of two base-pieces consisting of hollow plastic mouldings with widely set ‘feet’ on rubber pads (that can be screwed to a bench if one overall length suffices). Two rubber lined clamp assemblies fit the bases and rotate on them as noted. They hold the rifle buttstock and forend securely, (or revolver pistol grip and barrel), but are easily tightened or loosened. The front clamp has a top-cap, which with the base holds a heavy rifle or similar at four points very securely. The clamp halves use rubber lined V-form depressions to hold a large range of forend widths, and at just under three inches at their widest point should hold any size of forend short of that on a full F-Class or BR stock. Inserts are also provided to allow the barrel on a short-stocked rimfire rifle, or a revolver to be secured. The distance between the two end bases / clamp assemblies is variable by sliding them along a pair of hollow aluminium rods to suit whatever is being worked on, and are locked into position with thumbscrews. This is a stable, flexible and sophisticated accessory that is a boon to the shooter, holding a revolver or longarm securely and in a convenient position to clean it or work on it. Despite its size and features it only weighs 8lbs (3.6 Kg), and can be easily disassembled for storage if required. It is not suitable for shooting off as a gun

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Target Shooter

rest however. The recommended price is £81.25. Contact Tim Hannam, telephone 01977 681639; email: [email protected]

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orth West Custom Parts

are now the exclusive uk importers of the Mcrees precision fully adjustable modular stock system - either fixed or folding with a choice of 7 diferent fore ends able to take any AR15 pistol grip and are ideal for bench rest /tactical /Fclass / and hunting/ varminting. They are available in ceramic coating duracoated in a vast aray of colours or in the white for you to do your own thing. www. nwcustomparts.com/

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DVANCED EXTERNAL BALLISTICS DATA

Many long-range shooters know of Bryan Litz, the 2008 US Palma champion, former rocket scientist, and now Berger Bullets’ resident ballistician. His experimentally derived work on how bullets really perform over long ranges (up to 1,000yd), and his revisions to published ballistic coefficients (BCs) have instigated a debate amongst technically orientated competitors, and in a wider sense opened up the whole issue of ballistics data offered to shooters. Bryan has directly challenged the basis and value of the BCs supplied by bullet manufacturers and asserts there are alternatives that provide more accurate results, especially at long ranges. He has now gone further writing a full-scale book on applied ballistics for rifle shooters with BCs and detailed information on over 175 bullets that is published today (1st July). Our man in The North (or one of them, as TargetShooter has several) was privileged to be sent a pre-publication draft and has read the book through. Here’s what Laurie has to say about APPLIED BALLISTICS FOR LONG RANGE SHOOTING. When I received Bryan Litz’s draft, I devoured it. This is what I’ve sought for years – a plain language book by an expert that explains ballistic theory in easily understandable terms and moreover applies it to help competitors (and long-range field shooters) perform better. Most such books are either comprehensible but so general that it’s difficult to apply their contents to shooting situations, or are written for other ballisticians or ballistics students and convey information through mathematical equations. What little maths there is in this book consists of simple arithmetic only, except for key equations in an appendix for those who must see mathematical proofs. Bryan takes us through the basic building blocks of how bullets perform, evaluating their designs, how their flight is affected by gravity, air density and wind ….. and so on, in each case looking at the subject with a down to earth approach and advising readers how they can apply the information. A key, and inevitably controversial element, is that Bryan is very sceptical of the current practice of calculating a bullet’s BC on the basis of the G1 drag curve reference, based on a projectile shape that bears little relation to that of modern hollow-point boattail streamlined designs. He uses the G7 reference (based on low-drag artillery shells) and shows how it gives far more accurate predictions especially at long ranges. To apply this, Part 3 of the book contains drawings, calculated drag curves, G1 and G7 BCs for no fewer than 175 long-range (match and sporting) bullets from all major makers based on Bryan’s own measurements of bullet velocities taken at intervals over 1,000yd or thereabouts, covering nearly everything on the market in .224” to .338” calibres. The book includes a CD providing a ballistics program that lets you run trajectory and velocity tables using

the G7 BC. For the first time, shooters can make meaningful judgements between the likely performance of competing bullets, between cartridge and calibre alternatives, (eg heavy bullet .223 Rem v .308 Win for F/TR), or whether a heavy match bullet at a low MV will suffer more or less wind drift than a light alternative starting out several hundred fps faster. While the majority of buyers will be long-range target shooters, the book also addresses sporting shooting. For instance, it looks at the efficacy of the common practice of using light for calibre bullets at ultra-high MVs to give a flat trajectory in order to minimise range-estimating errors now that affordable, accurate laser rangefinders are available. There is much, much more in this book and its ethos is not only to supply both general and detailed information supported by test results, but to help the reader apply it at each and every step to improve his or her performance. I believe that all rifle shooters, other than those who restrict their activities to short-range gallery disciplines, will learn something, more likely a lot from this book. If you’re a long-range shooter, keen handloader, and likely to commission a custom rifle or rebarrelling where you have a choice of cartridges, calibres, and/or bullet weights, you really need this book if you wish to maximise your personal and kit’s competitiveness. To order a copy, visit Bryan Litz’s website – www.appliedballisticsllc.com and click on ‘BOOK’ in the menu.



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NORMAN CLARK GUNSMITHS LTD 19 Somers Road Industrial Estate, Rugby, Warwickshire, CV22 7DG TEL: 01788 579651

FAX: 01788 577104

VISIT US AT THE FOLLOWING SHOWS: BASC WALES COUNTRY FAIR

THE IMPERIAL MEETING and the WORLD F CLASS CHAMPIONSHIP Bodelwyddan Castle Bisley Denbighshire 9th - 30th July 2009 27th - 28th June 2009

THE CLA GAME FAIR Belvoir Castle Grantham 24th - 26th July 2009

Pre-book your orders now to avoid disappointment! FOR ALL YOUR HUNTING AND RANGE REQUIREMENTS IN ONE SHOP www.normanclarkgunsmith.com

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Target Shooter

Email: [email protected]

Calendar of events over the next two months

If your club or association has events you want to publicise here then email us. Thu 02 Jul to Sun 05 Jul Jul NRA Imperial Meeting (National Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley) Sat 4 and Sun 5 MLAGB Pedersoli Challenge, Wedgnock Thu 09 Jul Ireland v Scotland - Lex Lyons Match (National Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley)

Fri 10 Jul to Thu 16 Jul NRA Imperial Meeting - Match Rifle Events (National Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley) Sat 11 MLAGB DTL Shotgun Training, Sywell Ranges 12th July 100 yard benchrest – Bisley Sunday

Sun 09 Aug NRA Shooting Club Day (National Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley) Sun 16 Aug RNTRC Catastrophe Match (National Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley) Thu 20 Aug NRA Shooting Club Day (National Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley) Multi-discipline NRA Shooting Club Day. Sat 22 Aug to Sun 23 Aug Tullibardine (Tayside) Open Meeting (Blair Atholl (Scotland)) Two day Open Rifle Meeting with classes for TR, F Class and F(TR). This is the Centenary of the competition which started life as the Perthshire Open in 1909. http://www.westatholl.org.uk/ Sun 23 Aug LMRA v BBC RC v Kent RC (National Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley)

Mon 13 Jul to Thu 16 Jul NRA Imperial Meeting - Schools Meeting (National Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley) Competitions for School Combined Cadet Forces affliated to the NRA.

Wed 26 Aug to Sat 29 Aug Jersey Open Championships (Jersey (Channel Islands) http://www.jerseyrifleassociation.com/

Fri 17 Jul Wind Coaching Course (National Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley) Short wind coaching course.

Sat 29 Aug NRA Open Day at Altcar, Merseyside (Altcar (England)) The NRA is hosting another pre ticketed Open Day event at the Altcar range, Southport. Visitors will be able to try shotgun, air rifle, fullbore rifle, sporting rifle, laser clays, precision snap, practical and historical rifles to name but a few, all with one-to-one coaching.

Sat 18 Jul to Fri 24 Jul NRA Imperial Meeting - F Class Rifle Events (National Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley) Individual and team competitions for F Class Rifle competitors. Starting with warm-up matches on Friday and Saturday, the Grand Aggregate begins with the Daily Telegraph competition on the Saturday afternoon and culminates with the F Class International team match.

Sat 25 MLAGB DTL Shotgun Training, Sywell Ranges Sat 25 Jul NRA Imperial Meeting - HM Queens Prize (National Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley) Shot at 900 and 1000 yards on the Final Saturday of the Imperial Meeting.

Sun 26 MLAGB Rifle Practice, Bisley 100yd advance booking required Sun 26 Jul to Thu 30 Jul F Class World Championships (National Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley) In July 2009 Bisley will host the F Class World Championships.

Sat 29 Aug to Sun 30 Aug Gallery Rifle National Championships (National Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley) A similar format to the Action Weekends and Phoenix Meeting but you can also compete to be crowned a National Champion. This event is predominantly for Gallery Rifles, (Centrefire and Smallbore) and Long Barrelled Revolvers and Pistols. Competitions include Multi-Target, Advancing Targets, 1500 Match, Timed and Precision and the Speed Steel Challenge. However, catering for the fullbore shooter, we have some short-range competitions for older military firearms and the McQueen shoot for any rifle. Fri 28th to mon 31st August The UK Nationals run by the UKBR22 – will be held at Portishead Club, Bristol 50m outdoor - Rimfire Unlimited and Light Varmint 25 yrds indoors – Rimfire Unlimited and Light Varmint - 25 yrds outdoor - Air Rifle Unlimited and Hunter (10.5 pound)



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Welcome to GT Shooting. The premier shooting sports shop in Surrey

Optics Ammunition Reloading equipment and more...

Fullbore & .22LR Black Power Air Rifles and Pistols Used rifles and Pistols Our premises are located at

53 Chipstead Valley Road, Coulsdon, Surrey, CR5 2RB www.gtshooting.co.uk Tel: 020 8660 6843 Fax: 020 8660 6843 We are conveniently situated near the M23 & M25. Opening times: Tuesday to Saturday 10.00am - 5.30pm

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Target Shooter

‘Support your local gun shop’ GT Shooting

This month we look at GT Shooting in ‘Support your Local Gunshop’. The Owner, Tim Hammond, will be known to many people as, until recently, when his partner retired, was a regular stall holder at the Phoenix Trade Fair. However, Tim also has an excellent track record in target shooting. Having shot in national teams for both mallbore and 300m rifle, he has represented his country a number of times. On top of this is he has been in the Lord Earl Roberts and Queens finals approximately five times each. As a proprietor of GT Shooting he really does have a shop that is managed by a shooter for shooters. The shop itself services the needs of shooters in the Southern counties, as far south as Sussex and the south coast and as far North as London and Essex. Tim has a variety of shooting accessories that meets the needs of people for reloading, shooting, optics, etc, etc. All areas of shooting are covered within the shop, from rimfire target shooting to shotgun and service rifle. Tim has been a qualified armourer for a number of firearms over the years and did work on Glocks & Smith & Wesson in the past. Obviously we don’t have these any more, but he will put new triggers and hammer springs in your favorite gallery rifle. There is also a service offered where gunsmithing work will be undertaken on firearms, as Tim works with a gunsmith in the area to support his clients. Obviously this is an important resource for any shop as the complete package can be offered to shooters that are using GT Shooting for all their needs. Living in the southern region I have used Tim’s services over many years from the point where we had pistols, going through the gallery rifle phase and then onto a my latest acquisition from him which was an LBR a few years ago. The firearm’s usually in stock include the most popular models that people tend to buy, to the more specialised firearms. The range covers lever actions to Ruger’s, to LBRs, to blackpowder pistols, to a wide variety of air rifles and pistols. There is also a good selection of second-hand firearms available.

The array of rifls and equipment at hand when you enter the shop

This is truly supported by a wide assortment of accessories to support any shooter. As Tim says, ‘if we don’t have it in then we will get it for you’. For such a compact shop GT Shooting holds a great deal of stock, as can be seen from the website that supports the business. I am amazed at how much he has available. GT Shooting is an interesting Aladdin’s cave of everything the shooter would want. Not surprising that many shooters and clubs in the Southern counties use the shop for many of their requirements. GT shooting can be found in Coulsdon, not far off the M25/M23 interchange. The website for the shop is; http://www.gtshooting.co.uk/ Email; [email protected] Or [email protected]

GT Shooting - an Alladins cave for all things target shooting related



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"This new reloading tool measures your EXACT chamber clearance for any caliber from .22 Hornet to the 378 Weatherby Magnum."

It just doesn't get easier than this. Our Digital Headspace Gauge shows the exact chamber clearance (headspace) that YOUR handloads will have in YOUR particular chamber. This is the best way to adjust your die height without guessing. It is very common to find the shoulder of handloads being pushed back way too far. The shoulder of your handloads should be set back no more than .002", for a perfect fit. However, bumping your die with the shellholder often pushes the shoulder up to .016" too far in some rifle chambers. This gauge helps you reduce case stretching, and get longer case life. It Improves accuracy, and it can also measure your "exact" bullet seating depth back from the ogive. That exposes inconsistent seating problems and identifies bullets with irregular shapes. Resizing dies are designed to make handloads fit in the very smallest chamber that is designed for a particular caliber. This means that your handloads will always be smaller than your particular chamber. To make things worse, rifle chambers are always made to fit the largest factory ammo made anywhere. Machinists call this "acceptable tolerances". However, the next time you put the crosshairs on a target at long range, you have to ask yourself "If my handloads are small enough to fit any rifle that's chambered for this caliber, and large enough to not get ripped apart when fired . . is that really close enough?" One of the main reasons to reload is to make the best handloads possible. Shooters that neck size their cases also need to know how far to push back their case shoulder. Take your handloading to the next level. These new Digital Headspace Gauges are now in stock and they are complete,

And only $89.95 plus shipping (for shipping outside USA please email for rates) If you have any questions about this unique reloading tool, just let me know.

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Website Address: www.larrywillis.com Email: [email protected] Phone: USA 407-695-2685 Target Shooter

Vince Bottomley Basic Rifle Maintenance Part 3

In part one we covered the bolt, then the barrel in part 2, so now let’s take a look at the action/stock. We can divide our maintenance into three parts: The action itself The trigger The action-bed

Let’s start with the action. Most actions will be retained in the stock with two or maybe three screws. This method of retention dates back well over a century so it looks as though someone got it right Zippo petroleum based lighter fuel is as good as anything for pretty early on. By removing the flushing triggers. This particular tin has accompanied me to action-screws we can separate the Italy, New Zealand, Sweden, Austria and America – and I’ve barrelled-action from the stock. If your rifle yet to use it! has an integral box-magazine, be prepared for a few bits to jump out. You can pre-empt this recoil lug somewhere – usually sandwiched by releasing the floor-plate – usually achieved by between the barrel and the action or maybe part of the action. The very name gives a clue to its function operating a catch near to the trigger-guard. If we put the stock to one side for a moment and - it transfers the recoil to the stock rather than concentrate on the action, we will probably see a exerting a shear force through the action screws. If your action has a deep rear tang, that may also absorb recoil. There is little we can do with the action itself This type of integral beyond a thorough clean. With access now box-magazine cum available from top and bottom we can give it a good floor-plate and triggerclean internally, especially in the lug recesses. A guard is standard on large amount of debris can accumulate here and most factory hunting it often gets overlooked when we clean the barrel. rifles. Remove it with a proper cleaning tool or improvise with a bit of bent wire and a few cleaning patches. A squirt with WD40 will help loosen the crud. Don’t forget to pass a patch or two through the barrel afterwards – it’s easy to leave a patch or debris in there! Now for the trigger. This is one bit that we can apply



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a little TLC to but don’t get carried away. We like a clean trigger but we don’t want it lubricated with oil. Oil will affect the function of the trigger and will also attract dust and grit – the enemy of our trigger. If your trigger is working satisfactorily, I would say leave well alone. If you attempt to clean it you could easily disturb grit or debris and end up jamming the trigger. If the trigger looks really grungy, then it’s a good opportunity to clean it. Start by removing it from the action. It will be fixed by one or two screws or it may be retained with a couple of pins – as in the case of Remington style triggers. Drive out the pins with a suitable punch – they should come out easily – but get ready for springs to fly! Although you will remember where the main screws or pins go, safeties can be another matter so, before you do anything, take a pic or two with your digital camera, then you will know how it all fits together. Clean the trigger with old-fashioned Zippo lighter fluid – nothing else. Flush the trigger from the top, liberally dousing it with fluid. After flushing, allow it to drain onto some kitchen roll and dry naturally. Do not apply any further lubrication. As this article is ‘basic maintenance’, I do not intend to cover trigger adjustment. The action-bed is perhaps the greatest influencer of accuracy outside of the actual barrel/chamber. For a rifle to deliver best accuracy, the barrelled-action and stock must be ‘as one’ when the two components are screwed together. This means that the recess in the stock where the action sits – which we call the ‘bed’ – must be a flawless, solid recess which is a perfect fit.

This stock has split beneath the action – you can just see the split to the rear of the tang and in the bed itself just forward of the magazine cut-out. The bed is also blackened with oil and the like but then it is over 100 years old and it still shoot amazingly well.

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A custom-rifle builder will achieve this by individually bedding the action into the stock using one of several epoxy compounds available – the most popular of which is Devcon. Devcon is a two-pack epoxy putty which was designed for repairing metal castings, so in addition to being immensely strong is has one other essential feature – it does not shrink on curing. Beware, Devcon bedding is not for the amateur. It is all too easy to end up with your rifle glued into the stock – permanently! If you want to know more about the process, check out www.6mmbr. com/pillarbedding.html Incidentally, it’s not uncommon for benchrest actions to be permanently glued into the stock. This is undoubtedly the best way to ensure a perfect trouble-free bed and when accuracy is paramount there is no better bed. Of course, a one-off epoxy bed will not be found on any mass-produced rifle and guns from the ‘big four’ American manufactures will have an assortment of solutions to this critical bedding problem. Probably the best solution is the aluminium block found in rifles like the Remington PSS. Rifles with a laminate stock - like the Savage will usually be bedded directly onto the wood laminate, which can be a problem as the wood will gradually deform and allow the bedding to shift and the action screws slacken, so frequent checking of the action-screws is advisable with any wooden stock. Wood-laminate is however very dense and can form a reasonable bed but walnut stocks are much softer and therefore prone to even greater deformities. This is exaggerated by the action of oil,

When tightening the action screws, do it with the rifle vertical and your finger touching the stock and barrel. Tighten the front screw, then as you tighten the rear screw you should not detect excessive movement with your finger. If you do, you have a bedding problem and you are stressing the action – not good for accuracy. that the recoil-lug is firmly against its recess. Tighten the action-screws with the rifle vertical. Place a finger at the end of the fore-end so that you can feel both the barrel and stock and, as you tighten the screws, you will feel the barrel move in relation to the stock. Tighten the front screw first and when you tighten the rear screw feel for any movement between barrel and stock. If your bed is perfect, movement will not be detected. If you feel movement, then the action is ‘rocking’ on the front screw. If this movement is excessive, you could actually be stressing the action by bending it. A rifle will never shoot well under these circumstances.

water and cleaning fluids which inevitably find their way under the action and soak into the wood. Rather than providing a firm solid bed, the wood can soften and even split. When this happens, there is not a lot you can do and a replacement stock is the best and cheapest option. An alternative could be pillar-bedding. Unfortunately, this is not a cheap process and will probably cost more than a decent aftermarket stock but, if you are in love with your chunk of walnut, it could certainly restore that lost accuracy and the aforementioned web article also covers the pillar-bedding process. Before we replace the barrelled-action, check for any obvious high-spots in the bed which may be observed as shiny patches on the underside of the action. High spots will prevent a proper full bed and will do nothing for your rifle’s accuracy. Let’s now re-assemble. Hopefully the trigger is back in place with the safety working. Leave the bolt out as you replace the barrelled-action. Do-up the action-screws finger-tight then stand the rifle on the butt and give it a ‘bounce’. This will ensure

Remember, when tightening the action screws – they will only have around six threads into the action and an Allen key in the hands of the ham-fisted will soon strip a quarter-inch screw. Don’t overdo it! Finally, we will check that the barrel is free-floating (if it should be!) by passing a piece of thin card along the underside of the barrel and check that no part of the bolt-handle is touching the stock when the bolt is closed. Obviously, if the barrel or bolt is fouling the stock, it’s not too difficult to carefully relieve it with a piece of sand-paper or what have you. Not all barrels are designed to be free-floating however - some are ‘pressure bedded’ so that the barrel is deliberately in contact with the stock - usually near the tip of the fore-end. After all that work, will your rifle shoot better? Maybe not but hopefully you will now know why! Next month we will cover the scope and mounts.

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A COMPETETIVE CLUB MEANS A WINNING CLUB

By Bill Collaros Hi all. Another short from Bill in Australia, but I thought it was poignant, as it is something we have been discussing in in the UK recently. The heading of this story means exactly what it says. We have found having at least 6 of the top rimfire shooters in the country as members breeds a natural competitive streak that goes a long way to making our club one of the best & most feared clubs when it comes to competitions. The principals of this story could actually be used & transferred under any other club shooting disciplines across the board in the shooting world. This just does not happen by accident & has evolved over the past few years, but how can it be done? Slowly over the past 4 years we have had people raising the bar at club level week in week out at our weekly competitions. This has been through upgrade of ammunition & equipment but also through striving to beat the person shooting next to you every week. We have also sought & found knowledge from constantly asking questions of champions from all over the world & not resting on our winning score, yet still trying to achieve higher scores each week.

Our club secretary has brought in a system of a weekly competition that is run as if it is a normal tournament every week. Each week we shoot a different style of target & have the policy of the targets you shoot first up are your scoring targets. This has enabled us to have the same anticipation & nerves you have when you first sit down & have to shoot in a tournament. It has improved our mind set & nerves when we actually get to a tournament immensely. Also by changing the target styles each week we also get a chance to try & improve Proud dad and winning on the different disciplines available to us & daughter more importantly you don’t get sick of shooting the same thing every week. Of course leading up to competitions we concentrate & train more on that particular target. This system seems to have bred a winning & striving to improve mind set within the club that has helped everyone improve their scores. In time it will also hopefully help the club to attract more members & juniors who want to team up & learn from the best.



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Hunter Field Target Scope Test Part 3

Tim Finley Part three of the HFT scope tests has the actual measured results for all 13 scopes tested so far, they are at the end of this part. The scope I most wanted to cover in this third part was one I asked Leupold for when I went to IWA in 2007, I asked them if they could make me an HFT scope based upon their 3-9*33 EFR scope. It only needed them to put in a Mildot reticle, which in the standard scope was not available as a reticle option. I looked at that particular Leupold scope due to its superb optical quality (it’s a Leupold) and small exit pupil. Remember exit pupil is the objective lens dia divided by the magnification It’s objective lens is 33mm in diameter with nine times magnification. Therefore this scope has a 3.6mm exit pupil and the smaller the exit pupil the less the potential parallax error. The scope also has an

SR12 reticle

Hawke SR12 PA adjustment adjustable parallax, I know HFT scopes have to be left set on the completion but for setting up and fine-tuning of the rangefinding an adjustable parallax is a lot easier. Leupold very kindly agreed to make me up a test scope. It’s arrival, thanks to Pat Munday and Tim Lesser of Leupold prompted me to look at other scopes I had neglected to test so far. HFT has a .22 class and the Hawke SR12 has a calibrated reticle specially designed for the pronounced curve 12 ft/lb trajectory of the .22 calibre pellets. In fact I had used an SR12 - above in the title block - in anger on an actual HFT course to see form myself if it worked, to some success as I shot a Gold badge level score with it. I had also neglected the Hawke MAP reticle, it’s a much simpler and cheaper reticle than the SR’s I have used one for hunting and knew it had usable points of aim for HFT. I did not know if it could be used for rangefinding on a HFT targets and 15,25 and 40mm diameter discs. The downside with the cheaper end of the MAP series in non P/A adjustable, but again you do not really

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cheaper than that. The final scope is the 3-12*44 compact SWAT from AGS, I have used this scope for hunting, it’s size, sidewheel adjustable P/A, scope caps, sunshade etc make it an ideal hunting scope. The only real fault and unfortunately its quite a big one is the spacing on the dots, they are set to Two Mildots on 10 times magnification, rather than the normal one Mildot spacing. Why AGS did this I do not know, it’s the only failing of the scope, AGS mag ring but would the scope still be able to used to rangefind using the blurred sight picture alone? The tests on the four new scopes AGS mag ring were the same as the last time, checking the Mildot spacing on the reticles for bracketing and then measuring the actual parallax error at 15, 25 and 45 yards when set to a 23 yard parallax. Top of the shop or first up was the classy looking Leupold, Tim Lesser did say the spacing may not be a perfect Mildot as the reticle was made for a tactical ten mag scope. It turned out to be a Mil and a quarter Mildot, but as the dots were slightly pointed at each end I was able to use their tips to still use the first dot down AGS PA adjustment to bracket a 40mm disc at 40 and 45 yards. For shorter range bracketing a unique set of figures for the Leupold would have to be worked out, but it could easily be done, as for ranging using the P/A, set to 23 yards the scope worked perfectly wit the 40 yard target clear and the 45 slightly blurred. The Hawke SR12 was next, I had to up the P/A to 26 yards due to the increase in magnification from 10 to 12 times. It has to set on 12 for the reticle to work for the need to have an adjustable P/A , yes it’s nice but aiming marks. Set on 23 yards not essential. P/A adjustable MAP scopes are P/A the 45yard target was just too blurred to get available, but I wanted to include the cheapest a usable aim point, these are all things aspiring HFT scope I could find and at £53 you will not HFT’ers must think about. The reticle can be find another usable HFT scope better or used to bracket a 40m disc using the bottom line AGS in test cradle AGS in test cradle

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of the vertical line and three below and one above center. These have still been worked out to use on airgun ballistics. The scope is a 3 to 9 times mag, 40mm front lens and not P/A adjustable, so I first had to set the P/A to 23 yards. This was easily done as the front lens is not glued in, the protecting collar at the end of the scope has to be screwed off and the threaded lens carrier tuned to alter the P/A. Set up a target card with line or dots drawn on it at 13 yard and turn the lens until when you move your head the reticle stayed glued to your aim point, I did it on the MAP in less than two minutes. I found the 2nd Hawke MAP objective hash mark from the center on the horizontal crosshair to be dead on one Mildot, so I could use that on a 40 and 45 yard 40mm target disc. You normally use the vertical part of the reticle to range but the little MAP had a good exit pupil size. The final scope was the AGS SWAT 3-12*44 compact, with its spacing of 2 Mildots, it makes it useless for bracket rangefinding and HFT, also the objective is rather big. Really 42mm diameter objective scopes are the biggest one should go to for a ten times magnification scope Hawke MAP turret for HFT. It does score over the others in having side wheel P/A and 4-12b rainguard scope caps. When set on 23 yards it worked very well and P/A ranging. In this four way final test I would recommend the Hawke MAP as at works and is very, very cheap. The Leupold stands out as a must for the experienced HFT shooter and several are being used to good effect in the 2009 UKAHFT season. I will ask Pat and Tim if it is possible to fit a true Mildot in the nine times scope as it would in my opinion make the perfect HFT scope. For and 1st dot up on the reticle, to tell the difference diehard .22 HFT shooters the SR12 is the best out between a 40 and 45yard target, which is vital with such a curved trajectory on a legal limit .22 there, I know I have used on an actual HFT course. Part four will have two scopes I have kept apart calibre air rifle. The Hawke MAP I have used for hunting, its as they have special reticles, not your normal simple design has two tick marks on either side Mildot so to speak. They have reticles with ½ Hawke MAP in test cradle



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Leupold in test cradle

Leupold PA adjustment

Leupold turret

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Mil spacing’s, potentially making them more accurate than the standard MilDot reticle used in HFT. They are the Falcon and the Leupold Mark Four 2.5-8*36, very interesting scopes so look in Target Shooter magazine next month to find out how they perform.

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Sightron S111 Series 8-32 Scope

Vince Bottomley Above - Here’s what comes in the box – a sun/rain shade, lens covers, manual, allen key, lens cloth and a soft cover

Sightron scopes have been around Stateside for about fifteen years but until recently, they hadn’t really excited the ‘accuracy’ crowd. All that changed a couple of years ago with their ‘Big Sky’ range and Sightrons actually began to appear on benchrest rifles – as an alternative to Leupolds and Weavers. These were the S11 scopes in fixed 36 power utilising Japanese optics and a build-quality backed-up by a no quibble ‘new for old’ replacement guarantee. I got to have a look at the 36 power benchrest scope at IWA in 2007 but the official UK importer didn’t seem to be interested in stocking them - the only ones I have seen over here were personal imports direct from America.

The Sightron mounted on my benchgun using the excellent Kelbly rings

At this year’s IWA show, the Sightron stand was one of my priority visits and apart from seeing some very interesting scopes, I also got wind of a new UK importer. That new importer is Aimfield Sports, who of course do the superb drag-bags and shooting mats and three months on, they’re here! Yes, you can actually have an 8-32 or a fixed 36X right now and several other models for that matter. Take a look at the Aimfield Sports website at www.aimfieldsports.com for the full range. Carl Boswell already has a 36X for review but the 8-32 is more my style as a long-range benchrester and F Class shooter, however I had already tested the scope for Target Sports magazine last year and it seemed pointless to repeat the test and tie up a scope which would be better mounted on someone’s rifle! So here’s a reprint of my review of the 8-32 S11 model which Laurie Holland had sourced direct from the US. At first glance, the Sightron could easily be mistaken for a Leupold. It’s very nicely proportioned and ‘clean’ looking - devoid of any ugly protrusions for illuminated reticles and the like My 100 yard test target. I’m pointing to the and is very similar in size and weight to my 8.5‘return to zero’ result. You can see a shot 25 Leupold VX111. I decided that I would have to mount it on my 6PPC benchrest rifle to properly in each corner of the target with the put this fine scope through its paces. ‘closing error’ in the bottom left Fortunately, I had a spare set of 30mm Kelbly rings

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which would fit the Davidson base on turrets are clearly but tastefully incised. my benchgun. This mounting system Note side-focus knob. is one of the best you can get and certainly a good alternative to a Picatinny rail, especially if you are looking to save a few ounces. If you are serious about your shooting, the Kelbly rings are very strong, light and accurate but not cheap. I normally lightly lap-in my scope-rings but with the Kelbly’s it just isn’t necessary. After bore-sighting the Sightron, a couple of shots had me zeroed at 100 yards. My target is a two-foot white square with a small red aiming-spot in the centre. Test one checks the ‘return to zero’ ability of the scope. Only last week at the Diggle round of the F Class League, I overheard one had a look through the Sightron on an F Class target shooter claiming that his zero shifted at different magnification settings. I was surprised at 1000 yards I’m happy that it will suit most F Class to hear this as even the cheapo Chinese offerings shooters. will pass this test. The Sightron was no exception Our next test is ‘round the angles’. This is intended and if you look at my photograph of the target you to check the tracking ability of the scope and the will see that I am pointing to two shot-holes less accuracy of the windage and elevation adjustment than half an inch apart. One shot was fired on full but before I carried out this one, Laurie was 32 magnification and the other on eight power. anxious to know how much elevation he would The real problem with this test is finding an have. As he is intending using the scope on a 308, aim-point for the lower-powered magnification shot, he will need about 36 MOA to go from 100 yards as the dot in the centre of the Sightron’s crosshair to 1000 yards with a 155 grain bullet. Now we are is a quarter minute of angle (MOA) at full power zeroed, we can easily check this by winding up the but a full one MOA at eight power and I needed to elevation turret whilst looking through the scope and stick a larger aiming-mark on the target for the test. ensuring that the crosshair moves with every click. I would prefer a smaller one-eighth MOA dot as this The crosshair stopped moving after 144 clicks and, is what I am used to with benchrest scopes but some as each ‘click’ represents a quarter MOA, we have think that this is too small for general use and having exactly 36 MOA of adjustment – just enough - though we still need to verify that a Reticle is focussed by rotating the click is indeed one quarter rubber-cushioned eye-piece. Note MOA. Not many scopes will take you from 100 to also the zoom ring. 1000 yards without using a tapered scope-rail, so a big ‘plus’ for the Sightron. Now for ‘round the angles’. With our aim-point on the red centre-dot I’m windingoff 32 clicks of elevation and adding 32 clicks of left windage. Still with my crosshair on the centre dot, the first shot is fired and it impacts in the bottom left corner of the target. Now, we wind-on 64 clicks of elevation and fire another shot, again using the same aim-point. Shot two impacts in the top left corner of the



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images on the chart so now I compare test scopes with the best of my own scopes, Sightron S111 Series 8-32 Scope an 8-32 Nightforce BR scope. The lenses on the older Nightforces were legendary and if I recall, only the Schmidt & Bender 5-25 power scope has proved superior. To carry out this comparison, we need a bright clear day and both scopes must be solidly mounted and carefully focussed on the ‘target’ – an electricity pylon about four miles away. The Nightforce will resolve all the cabling and intricate lattice-work on the pylon and I was surprised to see that Sightron image was just a good – in fact, if anything, it was slightly better – exhibiting a little more contrast. I can now see why the Americans are raving about these scopes. Incidentally, the ‘fringing’ that I experienced at 100 yards was totally absent. The lenses have a blue-green anti-flare coating which, combined with the internal treatment of the body-tube, was effective in controlling flare when looking towards (but NOT into) the sun. The Sightron is finished with a satin black coating which resisted any ring-marking target. Now 64 clicks of right-wind and shot three impacts in the top right of the target. We continue during my review. The turrets come with dustwith this exercise until we return to our first shot covers and the adjustment graduations are clearly in the bottom left of the target. In a perfect world, incised in gold and the turrets move with a positive shot five will go through the same hole as shot one ‘click’. Clicks are a quarter MOA and there are fifteen but this is the real world and our shot impacts just minutes per revolution. under half an inch away – see pic. This is an excellent Similarly, the zoom-ring and side-focus adjusters have result and well within the limits of rifle, ammunition, that reassuring precision ‘feel’ and are also tastefully conditions and of course ‘the nut behind the butt’! marked in gold. Finally, there is no illuminated reticle By taking a couple of check measurements, we and there shouldn’t be on a pure target rifle scope. We can see how accurate our quarter-minute clicks only shoot in broad daylight on high contrast targets – are. The sides of our square if you remember are why should we have to pay for an illuminated reticle? 64 clicks in length. A click is a quarter MOA so So, our scope is a very good product and ticks each side is 16 MOA. Taking one MOA as 1.047 all the boxes and will serve you well in F Class inches, the sides of the square should measure competition or any other long-range disciplines. This 16.75 inches. They actually measure nearer 17 is not however a cheap Chinese scope, and this is inches, so a very good result. Few scopes offer this reflected in the price of around £800. The nearest standard of adjustment accuracy. By measuring the rival, the 8-32 Nightforce is however considerably diagonals of the ‘square’ we can also verify that it more expensive – and heavier – which could be is a true square – it is, so we can be confident of significant if you are building a rifle to a weight-limit our windage and elevation adjustments on range. as in benchrest or F/TR. Before our final check, I should comment that there is noticeable chromatic aberration or ‘fringing’ Tech Spec. S111ss832x56LRD present. This manifests itself as a yellow-green Model Sightron Inc. N. Carolina, USA edge to areas of high contrast – in this case, the Company edge of the target. Fringing is a product of glass UK Importer Aimfield Sports 56mm lenses and can only be eliminated by using fluorite Objective 42mm in place of glass. However, providing that it does not Ocular Fine crosshair with quarter MOA degrade the image – and it doesn’t - it should not be a Reticle dot problem. For me, eye-relief was about three-inches. Our final test is to check the resolving power of Click value Quarter MOA the lenses. Originally, I used a lens test chart Body tube 30mm 15.35 inches for this purpose but even the cheap scopes Length Weight 24.7 ounces became good enough to resolve all the

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Laurie Holland

SAVAGE MODEL 12 PRECISION RIFLES (part 2)

The unique Savage ‘cocking piece pin’ on the rear right side of the bolt body. This and the external sear provide an excellent arrangement now that trigger ‘feel’ has been sorted

Above - Phil Gibbon and his 6.5-284 Norma 12 F is the combination to beat in 600 and 1,000yd UKBRA FS-Class Benchrest Floating Talk of lugs brings us to another Savage feature, the pinned on bolt-head. The Savage bolt has twice as many components as the Remington 700 (17 compared to 8) to reduce machining, manufacturing time, and cost as it’s cheaper to make small components that are assembled on a factory bench using pins and screws than a few big ones requiring boring and milling. This arrangement provides us with a big plus – because the bolt-head is free to rock around a bit on the bolt body, it ‘floats’ and ensures the lugs sit squarely on their bearing surfaces. Should you fancy a calibre/ barrel change that involves a different bolt-face diameter, just take the bolt apart, remove the cross-pin and swap bolt-heads. At first sight there appear to be four lugs, but the rear pair remains in the three and nine o’clock positions in the receiver and blocks the lug raceways. These ‘lugs’ are actually gas-baffles and help provide smooth bolt operation. A second bridge type baffle sits on the bolt tail.

Last month, I looked at the Savage 12 Precision rifles’ stiff, solid bottom receivers with minimum size ports, and their excellent ‘target AccuTrigger’. Let’s look at the bolt now, an apparently standard Mauser type, twin The other Savage signature feature, derided by opposed lugs at 3 and 9 o’ clock when open, and positioned traditionalists, is the barrel locking nut, again originally ertically when locked. Closer examination reveals unusual adopted to reduce production costs. Assembly sees a features, in particular cocking and striker release. Unlike most chambered barrel screwed into the receiver body using designs, there is no bolt shroud and cocking piece at the rear, instead a ‘cocking piece pin’ with a round button head that protrudes from a triangular shaped aperture The front end of in the right side of the bolt body, one edge of the triangle the bolt with the acting as a cocking cam forcing the pin back on pencil lead against bolt-opening. the bolt-head The sear is even more unusual, most of the component visible above the stock alongside the right receiver wall acting as sear, bolt-stop and cocking indicator. When the rifle is cocked, the pivoting sear holds the ‘cocking piece pin’ (hence firing pin) back, while a trigger extension holds the sear. Press the trigger, the extension drops, the sear pivots out of the way of the pin releasing the striker. The downside was difficulty in getting a light, crisp pull, a hurdle that Savage has now cleared with the Accu Trigger. An upside is the absence of the ‘normal’ sear arrangement that pushes the bolt tail upwards in other twin-lug designs, tilting the bolt in the receiver and reducing pressure on the top lug while increasing it on the lower.

retaining pin. The rear ‘lugs’ are gas baffles



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The 12 F ventilated forend is designed to ride a 3” BR front-rest bag

a headspace gauge before locking it with the nut – no torquing-up, gauging, then removal and re-machining of the barrel if headspace is outside tolerance as in conventional practice. Moreover, headspace tolerances are reduced – not an issue with custom rifles but definitely one in mass-produced models. Again, this setup delivers excellent results straight out of the box when allied to Savage’s current barrel quality, and is a boon for home gunsmiths. Changing the barrel needs a padded vice, headspace gauge, and barrel-nut wrench. Pac-Nor makes pre-chambered and threaded stainless match-quality barrels in a large range of calibres / chamberings, twist rates, lengths and profiles. This facility played a significant part in my decision to buy a 12 F. Load development for my handloading features is expensive when a new rifle or conventional rebarrelling is needed for each cartridge, so the Savage setup offers convenience and a large cost reduction while still providing a superb action and platform in the 12 F. Stocks Let’s move onto the rifles as they come out of the box. Both use variations of the Competition action with the ‘target Accutrigger’, but LRPV models have two stock bolts instead of target models’ three, without any apparent effect on accuracy with the small cartridges used in this model. LRPVs have 26” barrels; Benchrest, F, F/TR,

and Palma 30”. The F is available in 6mm BR Norma and 6.5-284 Norma; the F/TR and Palma in .308 Winchester only, while you can get an LRPV in .204 Ruger, .223 Remington (7” or 9” rifling twist options), .22-250 Remington, and 6mm BR Norma. The LRPV uses a version of the H-S Precision composite varmint / police rifle type stock with a moulded in full-length aluminium alloy bedding block, riflescope friendly sporter buttstock and semi-beavertail forend suited to a bipod. It’s a great design, but so common nowadays there’s not a lot to say about it. Since I wanted to use it off the bench, my LRPV has a Sinclair International ‘forend stabilizer’ screwed on in lieu of the front sling swivel stud providing a three-inch wide Delrin plate to ride the front-rest bag. Apart from unscrewing the rear sling swivel stud to ride the rear bag and adding a ‘scope, that’s it, ready for testing and competition. The ‘F’ is even more ready for benchrest or F-Open competition, the stock designed to ride a front-rest and rear bag. It is a massive laminated effort with a three-inch wide forend and broad flat horizontal buttstock bottom face. The latter is actually too broad at around the inch and would ride the bag better if it was a little narrower. The three bedding pillars are small diameter and look slightly countersunk below the timber. Talking this over with Vince Bottomley, it’s sensible to regard the design as wood rather than pillar bedded, and he recommends a simple epoxy bedding job using a thin layer of Araldite on the area

The 12 F buttstock has a broad horizontal lower edge parallel to the bore and forend to ride a rear-bag

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Officially, Savage laminated stocks are pillar-bedded, but the three pillars are very small diameter and slightly countersunk under the receiver – allowed within BR Factory Sporter (FS) class rules as is muzzle re-crowning, also recommended. There are three stock forms in the ‘Target series’. The 12 F rifle is as shown in the photographs, and appears to be used on the new Model 12 Benchrest Dual Port rifle. The 12 F/TR stock has a narrower and more rounded forend for bipod use, a raked lower buttstock edge, and is supplied with two different height cheekpieces. The 12 Palma rifle stock has a multi-adjustable buttstock and different forend for prone hand-held shooting with a sling and handstop making it the most expensive model. All have grey-coloured laminated stocks. Performance The original idea was to use both rifles in FS-Class in the UKBRA summer Benchrest series at Diggle, the LRPV in A Sinclair International ‘forend stabilizer’ was fitted to the LRPV (on right) to make it ride a BR front-rest properly

100yd and the F in 1,000yd matches. However, they take place on consecutive days, one weekend per month. Logistics, plus the threat of D-I-V-O-R-C-E from my long-suffering other half ruled this commitment out, so it was a choice of which produced better results first. To my surprise, this was the .204 Ruger LRPV, quickly producing one third inch and better groups on Diggle’s 100yd ‘A’ range despite its notoriously variable winds. Conversely, the 6.5-284 Norma 12 F was finicky about loads and only performed really well with low velocity combinations – but a likely cause has since been found, so I expect the rifle to redeem itself. The LRPV has performed exceptionally well, just needing me to read the wind. (Just?!) In any event, three outings have produced two class wins and the FS small group each time. Shooting either rifle is pleasant – smooth actions, crisp and light triggers. In fact, I shoot the .204 LRPV using free-recoil and squeezing the trigger against the rear of



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flip that the fall of shot is seen through the ‘scope. Talking about which, neither comes with sights of course, just four tapped holes for mounts. I’ve fitted Ken Farrell Picatinny rails to both, and carried out Mr. Farrell’s instructions fully on checking for play. Rail to action body fit was perfect on both so no epoxy was needed – a testament to how precisely the rails are machined, likewise and perhaps more With the 12 F providing a platform for years of future unexpectedly the factory produced receivers, handloads’ development, it was decided to invest in something you cannot guarantee from every top-class sights – a Ken Farrell 20-MOA sloped rail, rifle-maker. A budget but excellent Edgar Schmidt & Bender PMII 12-50X56 target ‘scope, and Brothers’ Opti-Mate 24X44 target scope was ARMS 34mm QD levermounts used initially, but this has just been replaced by a Sightron 36X42 model from Aimfield Sports. the trigger guard with the thumb and forefinger only. In this heavy rifle, .204 recoil is negligible – one reason why The 6-5-284 F? Trying a Wheeler Engineering it is popular with field users, there being so little muzzle screwdriver-form torque wrench on review from

The .204 Ruger 12 LRPV can shoot! A 0.207” group shot in a UKBRA 100yd competition. (The 5-match aggregate was in the ‘threes’.)

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Norman Clark Gunsmiths showed the action bolts were little more than handtight, less than 10 in/ lbs needed to undo them. They’ve been screwed down to 50 in/ lbs torque and I’ll rerun some ‘classic’ 6.5-284 competition loads with expectations of much improved results, with the Araldite epoxy bedding technique tried afterwards. I know these rifles perform – Phil Gibbons walked away with the UKBRA 1,000 yard FS class championship last year, some groups only six inches at this range! This year, there are so many Savage F rifles in use – I counted six at the last PSSA winter series 600yd BR round – it’s a question of which Savage owner takes the class win (while embarrassing some owners of custom BR ‘Light Guns’), although Phil still takes some beating.

The .308Win Savage 12 F/TR (second from the camera) is a popular and effective rifle in its class, seen here in a 2008 F-Class League national round. (The rifle nearest the camera is also a Savage 12, Osprey Rifles’ Stuart Anselm with his rebuilt 12 BVSS sporter.)

So finally, what’s the financial damage from a Savage ‘Competition’ model and where can you get one? They were a fantastic bargain last year, F models selling for £1,300 and the action/trigger for £500. The big fall in the value of the pound has imposed hefty increases, so the importer’s current RRP for the 12 F/TR is £1,700, and the 12 F £1,850, but reduce that by £200 in each case. From? The supplier for these models is Osprey Rifles (www. ospreyrifles.com), full details of Savage Competition rifles, actions, and contact information on this website. Email : stuart@ospreyrifles.com Tel : 0161 4083555

Osprey Rifles

‘The Savage Specialists’ We still have a limited supply of precision target actions for sale at £500 for your next custom project. The new RRP is £920 so grab a bargain while you can

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URL : www.ospreyrifles.com

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Over 10,200 guns for sale 82,000 visitors per month Over 115 dealer stock live online

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Sect 5 Dealer Humane Dispatch, De-Acts, Target Shooter Exports Please call 0845-458 9666

A visit to Barnard Precision in New Zealand by Brian Walker My son Phil, a police officer, took his family to New Zealand a few years ago to take up a post with the Auckland Police and this was to be our first visit to New Zealand. It’s a fair old journey which ever way you do it and we chose to break it up with a two-night stop-over in Singapore. If you try and do it without a stop-over, it’s almost a 48 hour door to door journey! It was a cold, miserable November morning when we took off from Manchester Airport but a complete contrast when we landed in Singapore 10 hours later – hot and humid. Singapore is not noted for being ‘firearms friendly’ so, if you were taking a gun to New Zealand, I would

From the outside, it looks like any other factory quite popular in the UK and there are several reasons. Not only do Barnard make superb actions of course but with the poor dollar/pound exchange rate, their actions are now even more attractive. Add to that some notable shooting successes – like for example Russell Simmonds winning the F/TR Class in the 2008 GB F Class League and gradually, shooters are turning to the Barnard. Fox Firearms are one of the UK importers and they usually have a few in stock – so no waiting for months and months as you may have to do if you wanted an American action.

If you are not familiar with the Barnard actions, there is a whole range to choose from with Barnard expanding their product range significantly over the last ten years. First up is the Model S, which is a Remington clone in size but corrects a lot of Remington’s faults – like a proper claw-extractor, a decent barrel-tenon and a small feed/ejection port - keeping the action very stiff. The Model S can also be had with a cut-out for a magazine on the underside if you wish – designated the It might be made on a CNC mill but tolerances SM. are still checked with an old-fashioned Next up is the ‘P’ action. This is very similar in micrometer. appearance to the ‘S’ but larger. This three-lug action is the one most of us would likely choose when building a serious competition rifle. Again, advise flying in the opposite direction – via Los it’s massively stiff and like the ‘S’ can be had in left Angeles. Either way, it’s a long way! We eventually or right-hand configuration. If you saw last month’s landed in Auckland at 10.45 pm to be met by Phil and his wife; the first time we had seen them in three years. When my shooting buddy, Vince Bottomley heard that I was going to New Zealand, it was he who suggested visiting the Barnard factory and Vince had already made contact with owner Charles Hoddinott and, as I had already relayed this information to my son, a visit had been organised for early February – did I mention that I would be there for three months?

Actions and bolts start off as simple bar-stock

The Barnard action has recently become



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over an hour and we were able to see the manufacture of an action through the various finishing stages.

At last – a proper lathe!

Target Shooter you may recall that Laurie Holland’s Eliseo tube gun was built around a Barnard ‘P’ action. But the range doesn’t end there and as well as catering for the big magnums, Barnard go all the way up to the 50BMG cartridge. (If you are interested in such things by the way, I happen to know that Fox Firearms currently have a 50BMG Barnard barrelled-action in stock). A few new models are also in the planning/development stage which I can’t tell you much about at this stage but they will be introduced into the market ‘as appropriate’. The same quality standards are applied throughout the range.

For the technically minded, the action-bodies are made from a chrome/moly/nickel alloy (4340) which undergoes three treatments during manufacture, finishing with a through hardness of 37/38Rc. and a surface hardness of approximately 60Rc. (nitrided). It is then diamond ground after nitriding. The bolts are made from case hardened steel (EN39B) and receive a final case-hardening treatment to 62Rc. and are then diamond ground for concentricity. The annealing and hardening is actually carried out by a specialist operator, as is the diamond grinding. My benchrest rifle is built around a stainless-steel BAT action and I was keen to ask Charles if they had any plans to make a stainless action. “We believe that the alloys we use are currently the best available for the purpose.” I know that the ‘bolt to body fit’ is very close on a Barnard and pre-chambered barrels can be ordered through Fox Firearms which appear to headspace correctly, so I was keen to know how tolerances could be held to this high level.

“All tolerances have been tightened over the Hand-finishing a component after CNC last few years to the point where bolts are interchangeable and pre-fit chambered milling barrels can be produced by a competent barrel-maker with confidence that they will headspace correctly. We believe that this contributes to the potential accuracy of the firearm.”

On the appointed morning of the visit, we left Phil’s home on the north shore city of Auckland and travelled across the wonderful harbour bridge with its spectacular views of the marina and city with its imposing Sky Tower – the tallest building in the southern hemisphere. Thirty minutes later we were parking outside Barnard Precision’s factory in Honan Place, Avondale. We were warmly welcomed by Charles who had laid on a full tour of the factory which lasted

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Maybe it’s just me that likes shiny actions – if not stainless, what about a chrome finish? The standard Barnard finish is of course a deep blue/black finish and but yes, they have done the odd nickel and Teflon finish but as production increases, it becomes more difficult to do ‘one-offs’. Maybe if a batch were ordered, an alternative finish could be requested but otherwise, as Henry Ford famously said – “You can have any colour you like, as long as it’s black.” Incidentally, the final finishing is done ‘off premises’ by a specialist metal finisher. “If they can do a better job than we can, we have no problems using external contractors.” All major machining work is however done

‘in-house’ on two CNC lathes and two CNC milling-machines with a spark-eroder cutting the bolt raceways. There are also a couple of other lathers and millers for specialist ‘one-off’ work and the like. Following the factory tour, I had a lengthy chat with Barnard’s Head Manager and he was keen to show us their 07 aluminium stocks which are also CNC machined from billet aluminium. These offer a similar concept to the American tube-guns but because the Barnard actions are so stiff the actual tube sleeving the action isn’t necessary. We had a look at a finished 07 rifle – a tactical-style rifle fitted with a True-Flite barrel chambered for the 308 Win. cartridge. I was already familiar with the 07 rifle as Vince has built a similar example and I understand there is a write-up elsewhere in Target Shooter. The True-Flite barrels are also made in New Zealand of course and it would have been good to visit their factory as

A finished P action with Barnard’s own trigger well – maybe next time. My thanks to all at Barnard Precision for a very interesting visit. If you would like to know more, please visit their website at www.barnardprecision. nz and, if you would like to have a look at the range of Barnard actions please contact Fox Firearms at www.foxfirearmsuk.com

www.FoxFirearmsUK.com Tel: 0161 430 8278 or 07941 958464 PUTTING SHOOTING FIRST

VISIT OUR WEBSITE TO SEE THE VERY BEST VALUE CUSTOM PRECISION RIFLES FOR TR, MATCH, F-CLASS, AND BENCH-REST

WE STOCK HUNTING RIFLES BY COOPER, KIMBER AND PFEIFER AND COMPETITIONWINNING RIFLES FROM KELBLY AND KEPPELER, AND ARE TRADE AGENTS FOR THE SUPERB BARNARD ACTIONS, AND RECORD-BREAKING TRUE-FLITE AND BARTLEIN BARRELS

WE ALSO STOCK PROFESSIONAL BORESCOPES (from £533) AND A RANGE OF HIGH-POWER SCOPES FOR COMPETITION AT AMAZING PRICES (eg 8-32X50 WITH 30mm TUBES FROM £100) ALONG WITH STUNNING BINOCULARS AND SPOTTING SCOPES

SEB LAMBANG BENCH RESTS AND ACCESSORIES ARE THE BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE. WE STOCK HIS FULL RANGE AT LOWEST POSSIBLE PRICES, ALONG WITH THE BUDGET CALDWELL RANGE—EXPORT TO EUROPE, NO PROBLEM! SEE WEBSITE FOR FULL SPECIFICATIONS AND CURRENT STOCKLIST EVERYTHING WE IMPORT IS BY FAR THE BEST VALUE IN THE UK Target Shooter 41

We are now building custom rifles based on these top quality US made rifle actions. We are sole UK distributors for these actions and are happy to supply the Trade.

Surgeon XL action in .338 Lapua Magnum Please feel free to contact us to discuss your proposed custom rifle

A very cost effective way to enter the sport ….SPS Varmint barrelled action installed in a choice of aftermarket stocks from AICS, Hogue, Bell & Carlson etc Supplied with polished bolt rails, adjusted factory trigger and refaced and crowned barrel. May be upgraded to include detachable magazine system, tactical bolt knob etc …… We recently received our first Marlin rifles for many months following the relocation of the factory in the US and the appointment of Edgar Brothers as Marlin UK distributors. We have a small number of .44 blued 20” rifles left but have sold out of the stainless steel ones. However, we are reliably informed that a bigger shipment is due soon which should also include .357 Marlins so please contact us if you would like to go on our waiting list. Our competition ready tuned Marlins are very popular and we have a large stock of Wild West Guns Trigger Happy kits on the shelf at £85

As sole UK distributor for Barska riflescopes and red dot sights we recently received another shipment of these great value for money rifle optics. This time we have increased the range we carry to include three new Barska products.

NEW! 4 x 28 IR red or green mil dot style reticle and picatinny rails, fits Weaver base £65

NEW! Benchmark Competition Scopes First focal plane true mil dot reticle side focus parallax adjustment, 1/8MOA, 30mm tube, 5” sunshade included. Exceptional image quality at an affordable price! 4 – 16 x 50 £250 5 – 20 x 50 £260 8 – 26 x 50 £285

NEW! 2 x 30 Tactical red dot sight, removable 2x adapter, fits Weaver base £70 Everill Gate Farm Broomhill, Wombwell Barnsley S73 0YQ

Tel: 01226 756332 Fax: 01226 751321 e-mail: [email protected] website: www.rimfiremagic.co.uk

Shooter to Saturday from 9.30am to 5.30pm to allow us time in the workshop. Our42 retail shop isTarget open Thursday

Ammunition Selection, Testing and Preparation – Part 1

By Carl Boswell Finding the right ammunition for your rifle is a long and often tedious process. In the present climate of ever increasing prices for all factory ammunition, or reloading components, this can also be very costly. Everyone around the globe associated with shooting and obviously rimfire benchrest, has noticed these alarming price increases and this is affecting the sport in a number of ways. Some of these affects are good, as we see air rifle benchrest developing, but other consequences are The Stoney Point Rim thickness gauge is fewer people taking up rimfire relatively cheap and easy to use - you will benchrest. The knowledge of this need a dial caliper to use this. being due to base metals soarbuy top brands, but will choose an intermediate brand, ing in price on the stock market does not help your average or championship costing less, but possibly dropping better shooter. The costs get passed onto them opportunities for accuracy in the process. Both nevertheless. Therefore it is important to choose the cost and accuracy are deciding factors and it is best ammunition you can afford for your rifle, while something we are all weighing up every time we at the same time achieving best value for money shoot. For some, including myself, I tend to know from it while practising and in preparation for an what ammunition suits my rifle and I will batch test important match. This is why some shooters will not for a match or season. Most of my practising will be done with a number of brands that are closer to the

There are a variety of rim thickness gauges available like this one by Neil Jones in the USA



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cheaper end of the price range, as I cannot afford to use Eley Tenex – my current favourite - to test out pet theories while practising that will help me shoot better – mores the pity!! For a match, ammunition I select is very carefully scrutinised using some, if not all, of the processes discussed in this short series of articles about rimfire ammunition. This is nothing special to me as most, if not all, match shooters will go through similar processes. Eventually you will have been through a process that has enabled you to select the ammunition that best suits your rifle in every way, achieving this by getting the best groups/ score. This has probably involved a process of batch testing at a manufacturer’s in the UK or abroad. (Something I hope to do a detailed article on in the future) or by buying different batches/ samples of a variety of ammunition and then testing these at your home range. Obviously Eley offer a batch testing service, as do others like Lapua and RWS, but you will have to go to Germany to do this. Both processes are sufficient to get you started towards the objective of having rifle and ammunition tuned, so perfect accuracy can be assured. With your ammunition selected or batch tested you

are ready to shoot and take on the world. Or are you? Is there anything else you can do? Some people will tell you that ammunition manufacturers have tested your ammunition under very strict conditions, which they have, so there is no point in wasting your time in doing any testing yourself. However, manufacturers will not test each specific round, but small groups going through the manufacturing process. Here I think we can take a real hint from our centerfire colleagues. Each round of ammunition is carefully, sometimes lovingly, prepared for a shoot, whether this is for practise or for a match. The heads are weighed, the case prepared, fire formed and checked, and powder measured to absolute accuracy, etc. This leaves them with a prepared round of ammunition that will act and do the same as every other one that is prepared under the same conditions. As we rimfire shooters do not, and cannot, have the same opportunities for making our own ammunition we can at least ensure that we do check what we have so we have confidence that the 25 rounds we have to shoot in a match will go where we expect them to. This may seem a little fussy, but if a few millimetres in accuracy are going to cost you a match due to one round of ammunition becoming a ‘flyer’ then any checking

Diagram showing rim thickness and below the head available headspace

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Rim thickness 0.040

or testing regime is worth it to win that important match.

it is worthwhile checking the size of your rifles head space as it becomes older. Most good quality ammunition will have a rim thickness of about 0.040, so will fit into the headspace of your rifle. (See Pics 3 and 4). Brookwood did an excellent article a number of years ago about head space and rim thickness in ‘Brookwood No 58 and No 59 and these are well worth a read. As he stated there is a lot of conjecture about the nature of the relationship between rim thickness and head space. One thing remains the same with whatever ammunition you are shooting, the ammunition rim must remain consistent. The relationship between the two comes down to ignition and how the bullet leaves the case as it ignites. If there is a headspace of 0.043” and the rim thickness is 0.040” then on ignition the case will move back momentarily into the bolt 0.003”. If the headspace is 0.044” then on ignition the case will move back momentarily into the bolt 0.004” and so on. Does this mean anything? A lot believe where there is a measure of cartridge movement into the bolt face accuracy is therefore affected. There are number of theories, even ones about building a rifle action/bolt around a specific ammunition type/ brand and the tolerances it comes off the manufacturing line

Rim Thickness Testing The first piece of equipment we look at to help test our ammunition is the rim thickness gauge. It is a product that has been around for a number of years and for some a waste of time, for others a helpful guide to ensuring what they have is what they need to win. It depends on what your point of view is!? There are a number of types (See Pics 1 and 2), and all advertise by telling you they are the most accurate, easiest to operate, etc. The gauge I use is one I bought a number of years ago which was from a US company called Stoney Point. The gauge works well, using a dial calliper as the source to find out the size of each rim you are testing. However, they all do the same job and at the end of the day. Each .22 round has to be inspected, so it can get pretty Rim thickness control laborious after a while! Now why not measured inspect the rim thickness of a .22 round? Well this all has to do with the headspace on the bolt of your rifle. Anschutz rifles will come in with a headspace or around 0.043”. Custom built rifles will have anything from 0.043” to 0.045”. Maybe more or maybe less depending on the gunsmith! This will also change over time as your action and bolt wear, so



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with. This would mean smaller headspaces of possibly 0.041”. Would this work? Well people keep trying, but for most of us it is about having consistency with what actions are available. (On a safety note excessive headspace will contribute to stretched cases, case separation and gas leakage. While insufficient headspace can prevent the full closure of the bolt, bullet compression into the case, leading to higher pressures on ignition). This is a simple explanation and the relation of rim thickness, head space and bullet seating merits a deeper discussion; probably from someone more knowledgeable than I am! Through batch testing ammunition you will find what is suitable for your rifle by default. The point I want to make is that checking rim thickness consistency over your chosen ‘batch’ will be time consuming, but the merits of this is to discard the few you will find in a reliable brand that are not consistent with the rest. That elusive 250 may count on it?! I attempted a simple rim thickness test without any other inspection processes with a cheaper range of ammunition. The range of the rim thickness out of 1000 rounds was between 0.0397” to 0.041”. (I would comment that this process is important in cheaper brands of ammunition, as rim thickness can be quite different not just from one batch to another, but from rounds within the same box giving as much as 0.009 difference. Just over half of my sample measured in at 0.040”, which is what I wanted, a consistent or standard measurement in line with more expensive ammunition I have used before. Now this test cannot really be held on its own as the ‘be all and end all’ of the testing discussion. I think that other testing procedures could and maybe should be brought into this. The objective of the test is to show what can and often does happen if rim thickness is not tested for consistency taking into account the range of rim thicknesses I was working with; potential inconsistency, as rimfire benchrest is entirely about consistency. (See Pics 5 and 6). You can take this test for what it is; a consistent batch of rim thicknesses against a control that was not measured at all. The ‘strings’ on the control targets do beg questions about growing group size and why this is happening! If you have the sort of ‘flyers’ I am getting in these targets diagrams, rim thickness testing your ammunition may be worth looking at as a starting point?! In my own and other tests I have seen it is apparent that having consistent rim thicknesses does play a major role in achieving accuracy. Good shooting until next time, when I will continue looking at other products that may help selecting that all important match ready batch.

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Outdoor Air rifle sports – Starter Equipment Part 4

Stanley Shaw The next big question is what distance must one set the zero?This is practically your choice. You can zero your air rifle at whatever distance you like, however there are some norms that shooters follow. The decision is sometimes also based on the type of sport that will be practiced and how the shooter intends to target all the other possible ranges before or beyond his zero point. Some shooters decide to zero at the apex point of the pellet trajectory others simply zero at a fixed. In general most set in the region of 30 to 35 meters. The subject is vast and certainly cannot be explained in all the details in a short article. I suggest that you download a copy of the BFTA setting Up an Air Rifle and Telescopic Sight for Field Target. (http://www.viriato.net/ airgunning/bfta_setup_manual.pdf ) This is an excellent manual for all target shooters irrespective of the sport they practice. It goes deep in the subject on scope set up in particular for Field Target, however one can Above you can see the Point Of Aim (POA) from a learn a lot about scope setting and pellet mil dot reticle centered to the red marker. The pellets trajectory from this manual. It is worth to Point Of Impact (POI) are off the POA. With Zeroing download, print and study. we will adjust the scope so that those pellets will fall in the center of our POA at a fixed distance. In this article we will approach the scope setting in a different way, the quick and dirty method on I the previous articles we had a look at starter a practical example of a target shooter who has a air rifles and scopes for our shooting sport sub12ftlb air rifle capable of consistent shots of not hobby. Once we got the equipment together we more the 10ft/sec. The shooter is using JSB Exacts then started to understand the performance of our 0.177 caliber of 8.4 grain weight. The air rifle average equipment and break in our new air rifle, now it’s muzzle velocity is 780ft/sec. This shooter wants to time to set our scope. mount and set a 6-24x44 mil-dot scope. The scope To perform a scope set up you must keep in mind has a ¼” @ 100y turret setting and is seated 2.126 that inches (5.4cm) from center of the bore to • If you own a PCP air rifle always set up center of scope tube. This shooter would like to the scope within the number of consistent shots experiment with FT, HFT and Bench rest. available to you within the heart of fill. Since his air rifle class is 25m for Bench Rest, • You must use the same pellet during the shooter wants to zero the air rifle at this zeroing as the pellet weight, shape, skirt size will distance. The shooter would like then to effect your POI and hence your zero. understand the mil-dot to trajectory in relation to x10 magnification for HFT and at X24 for FT. The What do we mean by zeroing a rifle? shooter intends to use hold over method to engage The zeroing is a set point of aim (POA) at a known targets at distances between 10 and 50 meters. distance. This will be the striking point of impact This can be done and one requires a few things. (POI) of your pellet assuming that there are no ex• Accessibility to a 50m range. ternal influences. These influences are wind, change • A measuring tape. in muzzle velocity, pellet weight and rifle hold. • A target stand with a backstop.

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you have a single piece you will be locking the complete mount). Note if you are using two single mounts make sure that when you put the front mount against the rear mount there are no steps between the seating plains of the scope, if this is so 99% you do not have the clamping screws in the same orientation you have rotated the mount by 180 degrees. Correct this at once. • Center your turrets. First rotate the turrets clockwise until it stops do not force any clicks as you might damage the mechanism. Once the end is reached rotate the turret counters clockwise and count Above are typical single piece mounts, Note that the mount on the the number of turns until it stops right hand side has a grub screw in the center (this will be under the again. Then rotate clockwise ½ scope tube). This screw is to lock the mount to the action it must be the number of turns counted. In used as the rear mount. Note the side clamps for the mounts must this way you will be centering be also install facing the same direction otherwise there might be your turrets to the optical center of your scope. offset between the saddles of the mounts. • Now place the scope • A couple of plain white A3 sheets. onto the mounts, try • Some drawing pins or masking tape. to support the furthest from the turret • A Felt tip black marker cradle (move the front single mount), place • A ruler. the top clamps and tighten evenly to still allow • A bench or table. forward motion and rotation of the scope on • A rifle rest. the mounts. Shoulder the air rifle and move forward or backward the scope to have enough eye Mounting the scope. relief. You will identify this when you see a • Remove the top clamps of the mounts clear image, no blur or dark areas. I suggest completely. setting the focus ring at 10m and the • If you are using a set of single mounts magnification to the lowest at this stage. Once identify the mount that has a locking grub eye relief is found, with a pencil mark the scope screw in the middle of the bottom mount. This against on of the top clamps. Now tighten the side will be the rear mount. If you are using a clamps of the mounts fully and rest your air rifle. single piece mount this will also have the • Find or hook up a colored nylon line and locking grub screw, the grub screw side is the rear hang a weight at a distance say 10m. Put your of the mount. Make sure that the grub screw is fully air rifle on a rest and keep it level. Look through retracted and not protruding out of the mount. Note the scope and align your vertical crosshair with DAMPA mounts do not carry this lock screw. If you the rope without altering the eye relief (use the look at the top of the action in between the dove tail mark). Once you’re aligned then start to of the mount you will find locking holes on top rear tighten the top clamps evenly. Keep gaps of the action. This is the position where you must between top and bottom mounts the same. Do not align the rear mount so that later on you can tighten over tighten as this can damage your scope tube. the lock screw in your mount to act as a stopper. • The last thing is to set the eye focus • Now unlock the side clamp/s of your mounts bell. Just shoulder your air rifle and point it enough to slide them onto the dove tail. Slide in to something bright like the sky or white wall. the front mount followed by the rear mount. Tighten Adjust until you see a crisp and clear reticle. Now slightly the side clamps enough to allow still sliding you are ready to start the zero process of your movement, align the rear mount to one of the scope. This will be covered in the next issue. locking holes on the scope action, then lock the grub screw and the side clamp of the rear mount (if



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303 compensation characteristics and commercial ammuntion

By Nigel Greenaway I’ve always had a soft spot for the .303, having been introduced to it at the age of 14 whilst shooting for my school’s Cadet Rifle Team. The subsequent 32 years of my shooting career witnessed the resurgence of the .303’s popularity with the introduction of Classic and Veteran rifle competitions in the mid 1980’s. It was and still is a great introduction to the sport of full bore rifle shooting as an investment of around £250 in a No.4 will make you as competitive as the next man – particularly in the rapid and snap competitions. Over the same 32 years I have seen the availability of military surplus .303 ammunition fluctuate to the

4T Kynoch

point that the once common Greek HXP is now very difficult to obtain. Thankfully various manufacturers have entered the market with commercially produced ammunition that comes close to replicating the military .303, 174 grain ball at velocities near to the original 2,440 feet per second. In addition the popularity of the .303 in America has meant that reloading components are readily available, particularly Sierra’s excellent 174 grain Matchking bullets. The real choice boils down to shooting the commercial ammunition or try reloading or both, depending on the type of competitions you wish to enter. The purpose of this article is to show the results of testing some of the different commercial brands and some handloads that have worked well for me. In addition I will examine the peculiar “compensation” characteristic of the .303 when shot in the SMLE and, to a slightly lesser extent, in the No.4. I will also examine a modern trend in reloading – Optimum Charge Weight, the basis of which is finding the optimum point in barrel vibration to compensate for small differences in powder load. It is a theory that recognises the dramatic affect that barrel harmonics can have on accuracy and directly links to the 100 year old theory of compensation. So what is compensation and why is it linked to the SMLE? I’m tempted to quote at length from the



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4T_HXP

Textbook for Small Arms 1929 but the language used is slightly laboured! Basically it is all to do with the rear locking lugs of the SMLE bolt and a relatively thin receiver which causes slight flex on discharge and a more pronounced barrel flip in a vertical plane

compared to short range (200- 500 yards). Proper tests showed the best SMLE’s could produce 30- to 50-shot groups of about 20 inches at 1000 yards. At 500 yards, the same rifle-ammo combination would produce groups about the same size; i.e. twice as big in Minute of Angle terms. Some find this a difficulty concept to accept but it was well understood and documented in the Text Book of Small Arms 1929, page 56, shows a diagram that helps illustrate the phenomenon. Now you know why target shooters between the wars would use a P14 at ranges up to 600 yards but would switch to a SMLE for 900-1000 yards. The P14’s front locking Mauser action with a thicker barrel doesn’t exhibit any compensation and its accuracy is directly proportional to the muzzle velocity spread of the ammunition. Even when the No.4, with its slightly stiffer action and thicker barrel, became popular the greater compensation characteristics of the SMLE were still preferred at the longer ranges. These compensation characteristics caused by the SMLE bolt/receiver/barrel also explain why there can be massive differences in bullet point of impact when different bullet weights are used or when a bayonet is fitted or when oil or water is present in the chamber. The latter will cause greater receiver/bolt flex and will alter barrel harmonics because of the more violent recoil impulse of cartridge against the bolt face due to the case not gripping the chamber walls.

P14 Kynoch from the lightweight barrel. A more modern examination of this phenomena used spark photographs to show the SMLE’s muzzle position versus muzzle velocity at the point that the bullet exits the muzzle. It was clear that the lower velocity bullets left when the muzzle axis was at or near its uppermost point whilst the higher velocity bullets exit the barrel at a lower point in the muzzle flip. If you think about it - this the equivalent of aiming higher with a low velocity bullet and aiming lower with a higher velocity bullet – exactly what you would want to do if you knew what the muzzle velocity was going to be before you shot. Of course you cannot predict the velocity of each round before you shoot it, especially with military surplus ammo. The great thing is that this variation in velocity between rounds is handled automatically for you by the good old SMLE. At longer ranges this compensation affect brings the different trajectories together and produces smaller groups. Hence an SMLE shooting variable velocity ammo shoot will shoot more accurately at long range (800 - 1000 yards)

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I think that is enough theory for now – I’ll explain Optimum Charge Weight in the reloading section next month. Having explained the shooting characteristics of the Lee Enfield action - what can you expect from the different brands of commercial ammunition? I had intended to test the different commercial .303 brands in three different rifles – a Canadian Long Branch No.4(T), a P14(T) plus a 1916 dated SMLE No.1 MkIII. Unfortunately some early morning foggy conditions at the excellent facilities at Minsterly Ranges, south west of Shrewsbury, made it rather difficult to see the target with iron sights so

Prvi 4T

to be very helpful and knowledgeable and they are regarded as world class in the big game rifle ammunition world (www.kynochammunition.co.uk). Very consistent in both rifles, almost as good as my own handloads, shooting and inch or so higher than my normal elevation and 4 out of 5 shots fell within an inch of each other. On the basis that you end up with good reloadable HXP brass this ammo takes some beating.

Prvi P14 all the testing was conducted with the first two rifles. The ammunition tested comprised: 1. Greek HXP (1985) 174 FMJ grain head, has a reputation for shooting fairly hot and can throw a few shots outside a group but the brass is great for reloading and with neck resizing and full length resizing after every 2 or 3 reloads it will cope with 10 or more full power reloads. Perfectly adequate for rapid fire stages and snaps and I regard it as the control sample for these tests. Difficult to find now but Henry Krank are selling new HXP .303 brass at £9.99/100 which is a bargain (www.henrykrank.com). Results showed groups that were bigger than I have managed in the past with this 1985 batch, about 4 inches high in the No4(T) but elevation was to point of aim with the P14(T). Still worth buying at the right price just to get the cases. 2. Prvi Partizan 174 grain FMJ Boat Tail made in Serbia and available through Henry Krank for £50/100. Gaining a fine reputation and the brass is perhaps even better than HXP. It shot a couple of inches high in my No.4(T) but about 8 inches low in the P14(T).

I didn’t have any Sellier & Bellot ammunition to hand (it sells for £62/100 at the NRA) but I have heard stories of big variations in quality between batches. However, what really put me off was seeing a friend have total case head separation on virtually every round on the first reload. This happened just above the critical web area about 1/3 inch or 8mm above the rim. This is where most of the stretching occurs on .303 because of “generous” military chambers. I have since heard from others that the brass is very weak in this critical area and even if neck resized is probably only good for 2 or 3 reloads. The heads are FMJ 180 grain which I have used for reloading with good results. The results you can see in the pictures which were shot on a one inch grid but the 5 shot group sizes (in inches) are summarised below: Ammunition Greek HXP Prvi Partizan Kynamco Match

P14(T) No.4(T) 2.93” 4.50” 3.15” 1.87” 1.50” 1.50”

Next month I shall compare these groups to various handloads and examine the theory of Optimum Charge Weight when reloading.

3. Kynamco’s .303 Match. 174 grain boat tail Sierra Matchking heads loaded in to Greek HXP Brass. These are somewhat downloaded in order to not cause any problems with Lee Enfield rifles that might be 100 years old. Prices are around the Small Arms Text £46/100 but I understand that they will be reloading a new batch in the spring once they have sourced more cases. They also produce .303 loaded with standard 174 grain ball. I found them



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The Great Diggle Egg Shoot

The Egg Shoot is now in its eleventh year and continues to be as popular as ever. The idea for the egg shoot was conceived in America as a competition which would test target and field shooters alike and it certainly does.

Vince Bottomley Above - A happy band of egg shooters becomes a 9. Tim Finley was best at 100 yards with a score of 38 points shooting off the bi-pod with his tactical Surgeon in 6.5x47 using a 5-25 Schmidt & Bender scope.

Everyone hits the target at 100 yards but when we dress back to 300 yards the scores tend to plummet. We now have some idea what the wind is doing but how much do we need to wind-on at 300 yards? Most shooters will go for the body-bull at this distance, where a clean hit score 10 points. Top scorer with 26 points was Steve Dunn shooting a Tikka fitted with a custom barrel chambered Do you think Darrell Evans looks pleased – in 22BR with a Nightforce 12-42 scope. he should be, he’s just broken the egg and Again, Steve shot off a bi-pod. Tim didn’t won £100! do so well this time with 12 points so going into the 500 yard stage, Steve had The ‘target’ guys have their benchrest rifles and a healthy lead on 58 points. rests but are not allowed any sighting shots which ‘blunts’ the advantage of all that fancy equipment Just as well really as a miserable 5 points was all and the field shooter, who learns to make his one shot count, will be at no disadvantage with his favourite foxing rig – providing he knows how to use it. For once, the weather is ideal – warm and sunny, though the light breeze must never be under estimated at Diggle. The competition is in two parts. Part one is the groundhog shoot. Three shots at 100, 300 and 500 yards on a rabbit-size target - with no sighters. The groundhog target does however have bulls – a head-bull and a body-bull with scoring rings and the accurate shooter can pick up big points at 100 yards. Three clean shots in the tiny head-bull will net you 45 points but cut the line and that 15

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Les Holgate breaks another egg – with my rifle! Read about the Barnard 07 elsewhere in Target Shooter

Paul Harper won the best PC ‘T’ shirt prize!

that Steve could manage at 500 yards – well, I say ‘miserable’ but just hitting the target is an achievement, with 50% of the field scoring a big fat zero! I’ve shot the egg every year since its inception in 1999. I’ve won it outright, broke eggs and won stages but I’ve never won the 500 yard stage. My rifle was zeroed at 100 yards at the start of the shoot and I had to rely on the Nightforce ballistic programme for my come-ups. My 300 yard elevation was good so I trusted the prog. and wound-on another five minutes and aimed at the body-bull. It gave me three hits at 500 yards – one in the bull - to score 17 points – the highest of the day and gave me runner-up spot behind Steve. My rifle is a BAT chambered in 243 Ack. which I am desperately trying to sort out for 1000 yard benchrest so maybe I am getting there. Although the rifle is really intended to be shot off a proper benchrest, I couldn’t be bothered lugging all that weight around so I too used a bi-pod. In addition to the stage wins, we also reward ‘small

You can use anything at the egg shoot. Here’s Simon Stanton with his 338 Lapua Magnum

shot an unbelievable three-shot group of just 0.714 inches. Peter was using his F Class rig which is a BAT put together by Pete Walker of Walker Rifles and is clearly stunningly accurate. The chambering is 7mmWSM and Peter uses a March scope. Just nine shots from each competitor wraps up the morning’s activities and after a lunch-break, we shoot the egg. One shot is all each competitor is allowed but, hit the egg and £100 is yours. Although there are no sighters, the morning shoot is really a sighting-in exercise for the egg – providing of course you managed to land at least one shot on the groundhog at 500 yards. First shooter to have a crack at the egg was Welshman Darrell Evans – and he broke it – with nothing more exotic than an Accuracy International in 308. A dozen or so failed attempts later and Les Holgate broke another! Les was shooting my 6.5x47 Barnard ’07 tactical rifle. He had just one shot on the groundhog at 500 yards and clearly made a very good stab at his come-ups and windage. The Barnard ‘07 has impressed me since I built it around a year ago and, as it’s just about the only one in existence in the UK, I’ve included a write-up on this unusual rifle elsewhere in Target Shooter. Not only that, but one of our shooters visited the Barnard factory on a recent visit to New Zealand and you can read about that as well in this month’s Target Shooter. Results: Stage 1, 100 yds Tim Finley Small group John Dean

38 points 0.206 inches

Stage 2, 300 yds Steve Dunn Small group John Dean

26 points 1.099 inches

Stage 3, 300 yds Vince Bottomley17 points Small group Peter Wilson 0.714 inches Overall 1st Steve Dunn 63 points 2nd Vince Bottomley 54 3rd Tim Finley 52

group’ at each distance. John Dean, of Aimfield Sports and UK Sightron scope importer took the small-group award at 100 and 300 yards with super groups of 0.209 inches and 1.099 inches using his RPA chambered in 6BRDX – please don’t ask what scope he was using! At 500 yards, Peter Wilson

The Egg Shoot is a very easy competition to stage and I’m sure that a few of the hundreds of clubs out there could put on a similar shoot. The Egg Shoot has no rules – any rifle, any scope, any rest – as long as you can carry it to the firing-point. There are no separate classes- everyone shoots together. If you would like to put on a shoot, get in touch and I will happily supply you with a sample target. [email protected]



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The winners – Steve Dunn, Peter Wilson, John Dean, Tim Finley, Les Holgate, Darrell Evans and Vince Bottomley

DIGGLE RANGES Much of the testing carried out by Laurie Holland and Vince Bottomley on behalf of Target Shooter is carried out at the fabulous Diggle Range complex, which is situated approximately 10 miles to the north east of Manchester. Shooting is offered at all ranges from 100 to 1000 yards and covered firing-points with concrete benches are available at 100 yards, 300 yards, 600 yards and 1000 yards. There is ample parking and a large range house with toilet and kitchen facilities.

BORESIGHTERS LEOPOLD (magnetic), BUSHNELL (mag), BUSHNELL (laser) FRONT RESTS SINCLAIR, CALDWELL

The ranges are managed by the Pennine Shooting Sports Association and a full competition calendar covering all disciplines is on offer for members. Membership is currently open to suitable applicants. The ranges are available for shooting seven days per week and weekday range time may be booked by commercial companies, police forces etc. for training purposes and the testing of firearms and ammunition. E-mail [email protected] in the first instance.

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This month we look at the one of the NRA websites in the USA, which hosts all of their ‘in house publications’ - some of which are FREE. That’s always a word that gets people’s attention and some of them are available on line, much like our own magazine. Aptly names NRA Publications, the information both on the website and in the magazines available is informative and interesting for the viewer. Obviously this is predominantly aimed at the customer in the USA, but still holds a lot for viewers outside of that continent. The online magazine can be subscribe too and has a lot of articles that the discerning shooter will be interested in. It’s nice to keep up to date with pistol development as well and there is lots of this type of information available. I find this type of website fascinating, as it is just something we do not tend to get in the UK, mores the pity. It would be great to see our own national bodies producing support material and information sites like this one. On the whole a website that is packed with

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video, articles and pictures that keep the viewer interested in the topic at hand. As this website is being constantly updated, it is worth taking a peek every few weeks to see what’s new. As an information site it is an invaluable resource for the shooter, with links to other sites and resources. You can see why they have things pretty much sorted in regard target shooting in the USA, with these types of resources to support them. Until next month. http://www.nrapublications.org/

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The Barnard 07 - a tube gun from New Zealand

By Vince Bottomley The completed rifle. Note multi-adjustable butt and cheek piece which can be reversed if shooting off back-bag

My loading components and target using RL15, 108 grain Lapua Scenar bullets Following Les Holgate’s success in the recent Diggle Egg Shoot with my Barnard ‘07, I realised that not many shooters are familiar with this rifle so here’s an article which was originally written for Target Sports but well, you know the story…….. Originally, New Zealand had two action-makers but sadly CG Millenium did not survive but Barnard and barrel-makers, True-Flite are thriving and, although both manufacturers have their roots in Target Rifle, they have diversified and Barnard actions now appear in most disciplines and are well respected in Australia, America and the UK.

All actions employ a large-diameter bolt, the body being the same diameter as the lugs and the ejection-port is deliberately kept small to maintain action-stiffness. I’ve owned a few US custom actions – BAT, Stolle, Nesika, Stiller etc. and in my opinion, the Barnard is their equal in terms of fit and finish, though admittedly, the Barnard would never win a beauty pageant. Although the larger actions come complete with Barnard’s fully adjustable trigger, the ‘S’ action is designed to take a Remington-style trigger but more about that later. The current US dollar/UK pound situation just makes the Barnard even more attractive in the UK as the NZ dollar is currently steady at 2.5 to the pound. If you saw our feature in the April issue of Target Shooter on Laurie Holland’s Eliseo tube gun, you will be familiar with the concept of this type of rifle – an aluminium chassis with AR15 style layout, pistol-grip, skeletonised stock and designed to utilise a variety of popular actions. My own introduction to the Barnard 07 came about purely by chance as I was putting together the Eliseo for Laurie, who had wisely opted to build it

The Barnard is a three-lug action with a completely circular receiver and there are several configurations, starting with the ‘S’ action. This is the smallest in the range and intended to be a Remington 700 replacement and can also be ordered with a magazine cut-out if you prefer - designated the SM. The somewhat larger ‘P’ action is designed for medium-size cartridges which can be accommodated in a 308 bolt-face. If we are looking at magnum-size cartridges, no problem, Barnard can accommodate you with their larger ‘T’ actions, right up to the 50BMG Here’s the lock-ring system for the hand-guard. The middle cartridge. All have a Sako-style claw extractor bit is sandwiched between the barrel and action and bolt-face spring-loaded plunger ejector.

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the action is simply bolted – using the two normal action-screws – to the CNC machined aluminium platform. My 07 rifle will be used for tactical-type shoots out to 600 yards and my chosen cartridge is the 6.5x47 Lapua. The 07 uses HS Precision magazines, which will take cartridges based on the 308 Win. case so it will nicely accommodate the 6.5x47 Lapua. I have built a few rifles using this cartridge and it is an excellent performer out to 600 yards and amazingly, it’s quite a capable performer at 1000 yards.

Two screws and no further work is required

around the Barnard ‘P’ action. Although many Eliseo builders go for a Remmy action, the practicality of using a Remington donor action is not so appealing in the UK as it might be to an American shooter. We would be unlikely to find a second-hand Remington for less than £250 and then it may well need further work. Even after accurising, it would never be the equal of a Barnard. Prior to actually chambering and fitting the Eliseo barrel, I e-mailed Barnard Precision in New Zealand for a barrel-tenon drawing as I hadn’t worked with a Barnard previously. OK, I know this isn’t strictly necessary as measurements can be taken from the action itself but, it’s always nice to know just what the designer intended in terms of tolerances and the like. I was subsequently contacted by Charles Hoddinott of Barnard Precision and we had an interesting chat about – you guessed – guns! In particular, tube guns. Charles was already well familiar with the Eliseo but had I seen the Barnard version? Well no, I hadn’t. The Barnard 07 concept is very similar to the American tube-guns except that it’s not strictly a tube-gun. As I understand it, the original ‘tube-gun’ idea came about through a desire to utilise the aforementioned AR15 ‘platform’ but incorporating a ‘cheap as chips’ Remington 700 action ‘sleeved’ into a tube. Using this method, the flimsy Remington action can be usefully stiffened – especially if it’s permanently glued into the tube. Here’s the difference – the Barnard action certainly doesn’t need to be stiffened as it’s already an immensely strong action, so the actual tube bit isn’t strictly necessary. In Barnard’s 07 rifle therefore,

When I first got my hands on a sample of the 6.5x47 brass, I couldn’t wait to neck it down to 6mm as I already had a 6mm Swiss Match, which is very similar. However, since trying the cartridge in 6mm and 6.5 mm form, I’m convinced that Lapua got it exactly right and 3000 fps plus velocities are easier to achieve with the 6.5 version – using the heavier 123 grain (as against the 6mm 105 grain) bullet. If you opt for the 108 grain Scenar, 3100 fps is easily attainable from 24 – 26 inch barrels. I soon had a stock winging its way from NZ and our UK Barnard importer (Fox Firearms) was able to supply me with an action off the shelf which cut down on waiting time. The 07 chassis is machined to suit the smaller Barnard SM action with magazine cut-out and it gave me an idea to try something different. I’m a right-handed shooter, so normally I would go for a right bolt, left port action. However, I specified a left-bolt, left-port. Why? My rifle will be used solely for tactical competitions and will always be shot prone from a bi-pod. The left-bolt, left-port configuration lets me keep my right-hand on the pistol-grip and trigger, whilst the left-hand operates the bolt, changes mags. or feeds single rounds. Hope it works! We have an action and a stock – all we need is a

Here’s the CNC machined bed for the action. The HS Precision mag. (rear) has shorter lips than the AI mag. (foreground) which allows the cartridge to jump out of the mag. before the tip of the bullet enters the chamber



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green. Once the barrel-work is finished, that’s it – the bits are simply bolted together. That’s the beauty of a tube-gun – no stock-inletting or truing, no bedding, no finishing or lacquering – just two quarter UNF bolts to do-up and you’re shooting! Thanks to the accuracy of CNC machining and the fact that both components are made by the same manufacturer, the action-to-stock fit is – well, perfect. I did wonder if it might be advisable to skim the bed with a thin layer of Araldite epoxy adhesive but I decided to shoot it first.

My left-bolt left-port layout works very well. The right-hand stays on the trigger whilst the left-hand works the bolt barrel. There are plenty to choose from and although I have a leaning towards Bartlein, I can’t afford to wait six months for a barrel so, as Fox Firearms also brings in the excellent New Zealand True-Flite barrels and had plenty on the shelf, it seemed the obvious choice.

The stock kit comes complete with a multi-adjustable butt, cheek-piece and one HS Precision magazine. The ’07 stock kit is about the same price as an Eliseo but unfortunately, with the mad US firearm export restrictions, Eliseo will no longer ship his tube gun kits to the UK. Tube guns may initially appear expensive but when you factor in the cost of say a McMillan A5 stock with adjustable ‘this ‘n’ that’ plus the cost of bottom-metal, a magazine and Picatinny rail, not to mention the cost of bedding and finishing if you get your gunsmith to do it, they are damn good value – all the Barnard 07 needs is a trigger. Now that we’ve mentioned triggers - the Barnard ‘P’ action comes with its own trigger and very good it is too but, our SM action is designed to take a Remington-style trigger. My initial choice would probably be a Jewel but be warned, the Timney trigger is Barnard’s recommendation, which is a pity as I already had Shilen, Jewel, Remington and Riflebasix triggers to hand. Call me stubborn but I tried all four and just couldn’t get any to work reliably – it has to be a Timney. Fortunately, these are reasonably priced, well made triggers and mine is now set to break at 24 ounces – about right for a tactical-rifle.

The button-rifled True-Flite is a stainless-steel 1 in 8.5 twist in a fairly heavy profile and I will finish it at 26 inches - plenty long enough for a tactical-rig. My Pacific Tool I now have a fair bit of experience with the 6.5x47 & Gauge reamer is ground to suit the 123 grain Lapua Lapua cartridge. It’s lovely to shoot, having less recoil Scenar bullet and cuts a ‘no-turn’ neck which is plus than the 308 and it’s capable of excellent accuracy. My three thou. (0.003 inches) over loaded round diameter. initial testing with Vihtavuori N550 powder and 123 grain The Lapua brass is so accurate that most necks are Scenars gave me good accuracy right from the word go. within half a thou. but clearly, you could not This is a tactical rifle and half MOA is good enough. Even contemplate this scenario with less accurately made at 300 yards, I punched-out a nice half MOA five-shot brass. Three thou. is group off the bi-pod plenty tight enough in the snap-shooting for a tactical rifle, stage of a as we are often c o m p e t i t i o n . shooting in poor However, I was still weather conditions concerned about with no opportunity to the metal-to-metal clean until the end of fit between stock the match. A and receiver and I muzzle-brake from was interested to Russ Gall of RG push the accuracy Rifles in Scotland potential as far as I completes the job could. and for now, the barrel will stay in it’s A search of the natural state though internet revealed eventually, I might that Reloader 15 is treat the whole rifle to Close-up of the left-hand SM popular with this a Dura-cote paint job action cartridge in the in a suitably ‘tactical’ US and some

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also favour the lighter bullet, so the next step was to try this combination. Again, half MOA without problem, though my initial load was clearly on the hot side so I dropped it half a grain at a time and the groups began to close up. My resulting load of 38.5 grains of RL 15 gave me stunning accuracy off the bi-pod and a velocity of 3100fps. It’s not a hot load in my rifle but as always, start low and work up in small increments. My 108 grain Lapua Scenar bullets are moly-coated and I used CCI BR4 primers as Federal are now almost impossible to get. This load gives less recoil than a 6BR with the RG Rifles brake and is superbly accurate out to 600 yards. At this stage, I haven’t had the chance to try it at longer ranges. Clearly, the CNC machined metal-tometal fit is so precise that it provides a perfect bed. I can’t see how it could be improved. The slotted (vented) tubular fore-end acts as a hand-guard, carries the bi-pod and of course, allows the barrel to be free-floating. It not only supports the weight of the rifle but it also copes with recoil and, just as we would expect from the fore-end of a conventional stock, it must therefore be strong enough to perform without flexing. Barnard have come up with an ingenious way to ensure that it does its job. Sandwiched between the barrel and action we have a threaded collar which is held in the same way as a recoil-lug. The hand-guard is then attached to this collar with a locking-ring, making a very simple and secure fixing. The lock-ring is knurled and firm hand-tightening is all that is necessary to secure the hand-guard. Barnard reckon – and I would agree - that this is an improvement to the fore-end fixing of some tube guns. As I mentioned earlier, I went for a left-bolt/left-port set-up. So how does this work in practice? Answer – very well. My right hand never leaves the pistol-grip and trigger, firmly pulling the rifle into my shoulder, whilst the left-hand is free to operate the bolt, change magazines or feed single rounds. I can almost fire the rifle one-handed but I tend to keep my left-hand on the mag. or bolt as an extra steady.

The magazine is not yet 100% reliable and I can get the occasional miss-feed which is annoying during a rapid-fire sequence but I’m working on it. I keep in touch with Charles at Barnard and he recently contacted me with a few tips to improve feeding. With a 308Win round or 260 Rem. I don’t think there would be a problem but the shorter case of the 6.5x47 jumps out of the magazine lips just before the tip of the bullet has entered the chamber – this wouldn’t happen with a slightly longer round. I need to find a way of extending the mag. lips a little. Maybe HS-Precision could address this one. Charles also gave me another tip to improve cycling of the action. The origins of Barnard lie in off-hand target-shooting and thus greatly benefit from a reduced lock-time. This is usually achieved by using a very strong firing-pin spring. The downside is more effort to operate the bolt. Lock-time is not so critical with a rested rifle of course and Charles carried out some testing whilst shortening the firing-pin spring. He managed to reduce it by about 15 millimetres before it started to light-strike. Yes, they work in millimetres in New Zealand but gun-builders will be pleased to hear that the barrel-tenon is the popular 1.0625in. by 16 TPI. I’ve chopped 10mm off my spring without any light-strike problems and now I’ve had a couple of hundred rounds though the action, the bolt feels really slick. I also replaced the standard bolt-knob for a tactical-style example and cranked it back slightly – purely to improve the appearance. Have a look at Barnard’s website at www.barnard.co.nz there’s lots of interesting stuff like their 50 cal. action, the GP (which Fox currently have in stock) and a Super Magnum action, the ‘T’, for cartridges like the 338 Lapua Magnum. They also offer an aluminium CNC machined bedding-block for all their actions, should you wish to use a conventional stock but do away with bedding. Look up True Flite barrels at www.truefliteriflebarrels.co.nz

Please mention

when using advertising in the magazine

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A few people have asked for some basic pointers regarding getting started in Gallery Rifle shooting so here is a quick summary for those who would like to get involved! Starting from the beginning in ’97 when we lost our pistols, we needed to find something that was both legal to own and suitable to carry on shooting the “Action” matches such as the Bianchi, 1500, Man v Man and Practical type of competitions. At the time, Smith & Wesson were just not interested in making revolvers that would comply with our new laws leaving some sort of rifle to fill the gap as our only choice really. The Ruger 10/22 type would be ideal as there were plenty of aftermarket bits available for them from America at the time and they were relatively inexpensive, if you bought a standard one! The lever action type rifle was also taken on board as some people wanted to shoot centre fire (pistol caliber) instead and it all took off from there

You can get started competing in the rimfire GR events with a bog standard Ruger 10/22 type rifle that can be bought for as little as around £250. Add to this around £150 for a scope along with a little help from an experienced friend to help tune up your standard trigger and you are good to go out and enjoy yourself. You can of course spend in excess of £1200 just for a custom rifle on its own but make sure that you get plenty of feedback and advice from fellow shooters who have been shooting for a while before spending your hard earned cash, as many of them will have an idea of what works, and more importantly, what doesn’t! I would tend to stay clear of many of the “military” .22 type rifles for use in GR competitions as they generally tend to be of little use for what we do, especially on the accuracy side of things. For instance, you won’t be able to shoot from the left shoulder safely with a bullpup design, Whether you own a standard rifle or a lasers and bipods are not allowed, and we don’t shoot “custom” one you will still have plenty in the dark either so you won’t of fun shooting in a Gallery Rifle match! need a flashlight mounted on a picatinny rail, if you get my drift! On the underlever side of things, the Marlins are pretty much the rifles to use as by design they can be operated both quicker and more reliably than the other manufacturers’ rifles and it is also very easy to mount optics on top of them too, which can be a major headache on really, and has grown steadily into what we have some of the others out there. If you are just going to today. Although there are now rifles with “other” types shoot the slow fire precision matches then a Rossi or actions that are used in Gallery Rifle competitions, or Winchester will work just fine but for most of the these are the two types that were originally intended faster “action” type matches you will have to work to be used. a lot harder just to get the same end result! As for

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.22 pistol based on a 1911 frame which fits superbly well and of course will have numerous amounts of “go faster” parts available for them from both the U.S and Europe. I hope to have one on test very soon and although they will have a price tag of around £1200, if the accuracy is good and the reliability is 100% then I may well be ordering one of these to compete with! One quick point worth mentioning about LBR’s and LBP’s (and section 1 Marlins are available in various calibres and barrel lengths with the shotguns also) is that you Cowboy models being quite a bit longer and heavier, so try a few first cannot loan or use one unless you have the relevant to see which type fits and balances best for you. permission or your certificate, the caliber, I go with the .44’s as I find the rounds period! Unfortunately there seems to be many easier to handle when loading and the larger hole people out there who think otherwise, who are size on the target has been the difference between completely wrong, and are leaving themselves wide scoring up or dropping a point on many occasions in open should they choose to do otherwise. the past. The ammunition is slightly more expensive Over the years the GR committees have over the to reload and there is a small difference in felt recoil last few years tried hard to accommodate various but it is minimal really for the advantage that may be types of new firearms, calibers and accessories to gained when it’s time for scoring. be used in GR competitions but it seems that there Both LBR’s (long barrelled revolvers) and LBP’s is always something out of the norm that someone (long barreled pistols) are starting to become a lot wants to use alongside everyone else. It’s always more popular now but again the choice is pretty good to try and accommodate other groups of limited really in what you can buy at the moment. shooters into our sport but I feel this trying to please The most common LBR in use is the Taurus in everyone approach may not be the best policy for either the 6 or 7 shot variety although there are a us in the end, as more and more people want to few S&W’s around that have been imported from compete in their own “special” class, instead of with Germany. Ralf Merkle probably makes the best everyone else. As you will read elsewhere in this custom revolvers in Europe but they come with a issue there will be a review over the winter months hefty price tag too but if you can afford one, they are definitely the best that money can buy. There are some “smiths” waiting to be imported in the very near future but as yet the price and quality are yet to be seen, but these may well end up being the best option for a base gun as the triggers can be tuned to be far smoother and lighter than it is possible to do to a Taurus, due to their internal design. The overwhelming choice so far for LBP’s is the Browning Buckmark which normally Here’s a Taurus set up with a red dot on top although many retails at just over £600. There other people use a telescopic scope for a bit more accuracy a couple of tuners out there who in the 1500 and “Short” events! will slick them up for you but the aftermarket parts available for them are pretty concerning the direction that GR will take in the limited so far, but hopefully that will change soon. future so we will have to wait and see what, if Low Mill Ranges have just imported their first anything will change for next year.



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will provide you with some good training practices, at a fraction of the cost. You could of course make your own bank of turning targets if you have a few people with the right skills in your club, and taking ideas and measurements from a commercial one at another club could well be beneficial for you. Probably the most important thing for newcomers to the GR scene to take note of is that you are more than Due to the much smaller size of the rimfire targets, welcome to attend ANY of the matches LBP’s are shot on the full size pistol calibre targets. that are on our competition calendar and that the Phoenix, and especially the British Championships at Bisley in For anyone wanting to take up Gallery Rifle type shooting probably the most productive thing for August are not just for the “top” shooters, they are you to do is either join up with shooters who have for everyone! As long as you are safe, you will be already been shooting it for a number of years, or made very welcome and the R.O’s and competitors get some to visit your own club and give you some coaching and advice there. Trying to start up on your own with a few enthusiastic friends can make the process much harder and take far longer than it needs to. It certainly took the rest of us a few years of figuring out the best shooting techniques and equipment that was needed before we started getting the desired results, so why not take a bit of a short cut! Some ranges have pretty limiting restrictions, space or finances so it is important to be able to utilize what you have available to provide you with the Mattersey probably have the best club range complex best setup for quality practicing. Most GR in the country with 11 separate ranges with most of matches are shot at distances between 10 them being 50m long. Here’s one of their dedicated and 50m with many of them being shot at Bianchi ranges that the “Los Alamitos” match is shot a maximum of 25m so most clubs should on. be able to shoot a wide variety of them at their own range. Having a set of turning targets is alike will give you all the help and advice that you certainly very useful but they also cost quite a bit of need to get through your match! To make things fair money, so maybe investing in a shot timer or two and ensure that everyone has a chance of winning Left to Right – 1500, Multi Target, Timed & something on the day, most GR events are classified to ensure that you only compete against people of a Precision and Bianchi targets.

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similar ability. The qualifying scores for each class in every discipline can be found on the Galleryrifle.com website along with a host of other useful information like coaching tips, competition calendar, contact and results details etc. This system also helps to provide you with an incentive to achieve a certain score that moves you up into the next class. Winning and being an X class shooter isn’t what motivates everyone though, but ENJOYING yourself with like minded people and making many new friends over a cold beer after the shooting has finished is certainly not something to miss out on! For those who aspire to take their shooting to the next level, that is also catered for with National teams from England, Scotland and Wales competing in the

Home Countries “Shorts” competitions, and the UK 1500 team that enjoys some good rivalry with the Republic of Ireland, Germany and next year a team from South Africa! Help is always available whether you would like information on the nearest GR club closest to you, more advice on the different firearms and equipment that we use, and even help with day or weekend coaching sessions that can include everything from basic trigger control and shooting positions, to how to shoot a complete Bianchi or 1500 match! All you have to do is ask via the “contact” link on the Target Shooter home page. We can also arrange help for either individuals or clubs who want to gain GR Range Officer experience so that you can start to help run practices or competitions either at your own range, or come down to one of the meetings held at Bisley and work alongside all of the guys and girls there. Either way, the more we all put into our sport, the more it will develop and grow for the future!

You will have fun whatever standard you shoot at in Gallery Rifle

Rude Fat Dog RFD 621 Devon & Cornwall

We specialise in building exceptionally high quality 10/22 style rifles for serious competition shooters We compete ourselves and know what it takes to build a match winning gun! Performance tuning on either your current gun or on a new 10/22, Marlin or Buckmark can be tailored to your own individual requirement or budget - friendly and honest advice is just a phone call away! Over the next few months we will be offering for sale some of our own specialist custom parts and modifications on which we have been working several months - to give you that competitive edge on the line !

Gwyn Roberts shot a new British record of 1918 (155’X’) out of a possible 1920 at the Phoenix meeting last month. Here is his ‘clean’ Mover target shot using our new Mover Base design along with one of the new and exceptionally accurate KID stainless Match barrels. Why not let us build your next top grade rifle !

www.rudefatdog.com Target Shooter Tel: +44(0)1271 865865 Fax: +44(0)1271 865830

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Australian Gold - Warren Potent

By Andy Dubreuil I was lucky enough to catch up with Warren at Eley during May as he was batch-testing a couple of barrels for himself and for another Australian competitor before leaving for the Munich World Cup in Germany. The first thing I would say about Warren is he is just such an easy-going kind of guy and even though I shoot benchrest we still had a lot in common regarding shooting in general. Warren had brought with him three Bleikers and one Anschutz rifle. Two of the Bleikers are owned by Warren and he has used these for the past 2 years for batch testing and my first question to him was “Why Eley?” Warren has used Eley for a number of years and it seems to work perfect in his rifles and batch testing with Eley couldn’t get any better and as they say, ‘the proof is in the pudding’. Warren won a Bronze Medal in the Beijing Olympics last year and this year he won Gold in the Beijing ISSF World Cup back in July. This is not his first gold medal however, he picked

Trigger detail of the Bleiker Rifle

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Bolt detail from the Bleiker rifle used by Warren up another back in 2007 in the ISSF Sydney World Cup. Eley is the choice of many shooting athletes around the world you can understand why Warren uses Eley and his success has shown it to be the right choice. Warren has had one of his Bleikers for two years and has just recently purchased a new one. You might think that he had a lot of work to do with the new one before he found that ‘sweet spot’ but Warren shot a 598 with un-batched ammunition and says that all barrels are different - some shoot straight out of the box and others need a little TLC. For me, it was my first opportunity to see a Bleiker up close and I was really surprised at the simplicity of the barrel and action. It was so good that Warren was able to take off the trigger, which is built into a block (as you can see from the photograph) in a matter of minutes. In comparison with other well known rimfire rifles, the trigger is one of the areas you really need to treat with respect when taking the rifle apart for whatever reason. Warren explained that with the amount of travelling

The Eley testing bed with Warren’s rifle securley attached

else in the world when it comes to the Olympics. With regard to the 2012 Olympics, Warren is naturally looking to improve on his performance in Beijing and it seems to have already given him the confidence with the medals that he has picked up since then to reach his goal of a gold medal in 2012. For those who may be thinking of taking up shooting or maybe just starting out, Warren says firstly have fun doing it, money can be an issue for a lot of people and specially for juniors coming into the sport, so it’s about going with what you can afford and building from there. We do need to encourage younger people into the sport as they will be the next generation of top shooting athletes. A lot of other sports have programs to encourage youngsters but this is something that seems to be lacking in the UK. Local clubs do their best but it would be great if some of the larger organisations did more to help. Warren has a busy schedule over the next couple of months as he was off to Munich for the World Cup and then off to Milan for another World Cup shoot. Since we had both shot at Milan before we were able to share views of the range which is very different to others around the world as it has undulating mounds that are about 3 metres high and large baffles. It can do peculiar things to your shots but one thing we did agree on - you had

that he does, he takes his rifle completely apart to safe-guard it from damage and the Bleiker lends itself to this. Even the bolt looks simple in comparison to other bolts and it is very easy to insert and remove. Like many budding shooters, Warren started at 16 years old and joined the ranks of the Australian team back 1986. In prone shooting, Warren does a number of different things within training but always uses batch ammunition as he says it’s the only true way getting a reading on how you are performing. Warren’s training includes a number of different things. He does live firing about twice a week plus dry firing and visits the gym on a regular basis. Dry firing for me is something that I have not seen someone do but Warren explains that in prone shooting, feeling comfortable in the way you lay down and load and fire is an important factor. By dry firing using snap-caps, you’re doing all the normal things but without wasting ammunition. Top shooters practise using a Russian designed Scat machine which allows camera to be attached the sight and gives a very accurate reading of where your virtual round would impact. New technology is now coming through to give the impression of different wind conditions so making dry firing a more realistic way of practice without the use of live ammunition. I am sure that there would be a lot of other shooting disciplines that could benefit from this kind of technology if it was available. I asked Warren a slightly political question about the 2012 Olympics and his thoughts about the UK building a temporary range in London instead of taking it to Bisley. Warren has shot at Bisley many times and feels like all of us that it seems a waste of money to build something temporary just to tear it down afterwards. It’s nice to know that Olympic Warren testing off ammo batches to achieve shooters have the same views as us locals and it’s hard to believe that this would happen anywhere the best group. One batch won him the Gold.



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to shoot in the wind as the mirage was the worse condition to shoot in. All that said, Milan does have spectacular facilities with over 70 firing-points and a very helpful group of people who run the range. Part of Warren’s schedule includes getting married in about 3 months time to his fiancé, Lee who he met at the 2007 World Cup. Warren told me that it was back last year he thought that he would take the opportunity while he was on the podium to ask Lee if she would marry him and she said yes. It wasn’t something he had planned but he thought why not ask now instead of later. It’s nice to know that romance is alive even in the world of shooting. Batch testing is not for everyone but essential for those who are involved in competition at the highest level but anyone interested in getting the best ammunition for their rifle should maybe take a look and get in contact with Eley. It certainly worked for Warren as he picked up his third Gold Medal in Milan with a final score of 702.4 ahead of Vebjoern Berg of Norway who took the silver with a score of 701.7 points. Many congratulations to Warren from Target Shooter magazine on his performance and good luck in 2012 Olympics.

Warren with the eley team in Birmimgham. Kate Left and Martin the Eley RO right

www.eleyammunition.com

World Class shooters shoot World Class ammunition Warren Potent (AUS) Three times Prone Gold medalist from the 2009 ISSF World Cups Olympic Prone Bronze medalist

70 - the home of Tenex Target Shooter ELEY

Gun of the Month pulling my chain but he assured me it was for real. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance. I don’t think he had named it yet, but a few days later, DJ called to say he was naming it ‘The Duke of Earl’. Well that made me go find it in my music and yes, I did have a copy as it was a favorite of mine also. I listened again with a new perspective and decided that it would be great name for a rifle.

The ‘Duke’ stock in its early stages The ‘Duke of Earl’….who would have thought of a name like that for a rifle? Well, I will tell you - a child of the 50’s, a baby boomer, an original rock ‘n roller, Elvis, Little Richard, Bill Haley and a Gene Chandler fan, a man from a little town in Indiana, the builder, the father of the ‘Duke of Earl’ - Bill Calfee, arguably the most famous rimfire rifle builder ever.

The rifle is a Turbo action, built by Flash Ebert in Midland, Texas; it is a refined off-shoot of the world famous Winchester 52 action and it is super-good for bench rest accuracy. Along with one of Arnold Jewell’s fine triggers and Ed Shilen’s newest 4 groove ratchet barrel, one of the Harrell boys of Salem, Virginia’s fine tuners and a Bruno style McMillan graphite stock with 2 carbon rods running the length of it, topped off with a 45x Leupold Competition scope.

The whole story is, I had just shot a rimfire match and had done just terrible - like we all do from time to time. I told my friend DJ Hepler that that was it, I was going to quit and go back to shooting shotguns and I was selling all my equipment. That was Sunday, Mr. Calfee must have had a premonition because on Tuesday he called DJ and said he had a rifle in mind for me and would I be interested. DJ called and said he knew that I was quitting and selling my guns but Bill Calfee had a rifle for me, was I interested? Naturally, knowing DJ, I figured he was

Detail of the Turbo action of this superb ‘Spec’ rifle

The barrel is 23 inches long, 0.890 inches outside diameter. Mr.Calfee assembled these components starting in September of 2008. He started test firing the Duke in October and making necessary changes and adjustments Seeing which bullet and how many different bullets that it liked to shoot. He did have a completely different look on the Duke at first and later changed his mind and changed it to what it is now. It was redder and the name was more An interesting mounting golden looking. He was system - something that always thinking about may well be worth merit how he was going to put and further consideration the ‘Spec’ number on it



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and eventually decided to go with the damascened look on the bolt and the action. A word about the spec rifle series, this is a series of rifles that Mr. Calfee puts all the best of his ideas in and completely finishes the rifle in his shop. Usually he builds the metal parts and someone else will put it in the stock and bed it. On the spec series Bill does all work and test shoots it until it meets his exacting specifications before he ships it to the proud new owner.

Danny shot first and turned in a 2200, then I shot a 2300 and it only got better from there. The Duke really started to come alive and we finished up with Danny on First and me coming in third, with DJ’s Carolina Gold in second. So the Original Team Calfee had finished one, two, and three in the first national event the Duke had shot. Next for the Duke was the first PSL match at the Rocky River barn. There were many good shooters and some of the very best in the country, the Duke did not dominate but it did win the first PSL and went 2-0 in national events.

I received the rifle in November of 2008 and I was extremely happy to finally have the rifle in my hands. I went straight to my secret indoor practice facility and starting running lead down the bore. I knew it was something special straight away and was absolutely assured when my friend DJ came, shot it and declared it to better than his rifle - the Carolina Gold that he carried to Italy and World Championships. Believe me, I was completely overwhelmed. However, I still had to turn the tuner some because at that time I did not completely

Then came the RBA Indoor Unlimited, with my good friend David Kenimer pulling out a win over the Duke by one point, for his first national win. I am very proud of him as I have been friends with him and his dad since they first started in rimfire. And guess what, he is now leading the PSL points race! DJ and I are staying right with him, giving Team USA a one, two, three in the PSL so far! So that is pretty much the story of the ‘Duke of Earl’ to date. With some good ammo and a little better shooting on my part, there may be more big things in the Duke’s future.

... and there you have it. Another fine rifle by Bill Calfee. If only we could get one of these custom beauties in the UK........ hmmmmmm! believe. So after some turns in and out and more shooting I put it back where Mr. Calfee set it, taped it and have never even thought about moving it again.

Craig Young USA

Footnote – The Duke of Earl was first recorded by the Dukays in 1960. The ‘Earl’ is Earl EdThe first outing was a shake down run to see how wards, founder of the Dukays. Eugene DixI and the Duke would get along. All went very well on, another member of the Dukays changed his and I deemed it ready to go to the ARA Indoor name to Gene Chandler (line three, para one). Winternationals. My friend Danny Hepler also wanted to shoot the Duke so he and I shared the Duke for the match. I had four lots of ammo picked to shoot, we tested on Friday to find which one we liked best. We made our pick and waited until Saturday morning.

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Club Feature The Phenomenon that is the “Umarex Boys Club” (UBC) is a truly unique Air and Co2 Pistol shooting club. Why is it so unique?

The UBC is, as far as we are aware; the world’s first (and only) ONLINE pistol shooting club. Not only that, the club being Internet based boasts members in countries from across the globe, including the UK, New Zealand, the United States and South Africa to name just a few. The UBC began life with a few air pistol enthusiasts chatting amongst themselves on the Airgun BBS forum. As more and more people began joining in these conversations, the Air Pistol section on the BBS forum was opened. Eventually the UBC was formed and has since grown exponentially and has developed its own website, forum, chat room and own brand merchandise! In just over a year the UBC boasts just under 200 members worldwide. The success of the UBC is down to its management team, most, who until relatively recently had never actually met each other! The UBC has developed into a “Good Fun” (but quite competitive) club and although the club name states Umarex & Boys, we welcome members of both genders and those who own or shoot any manufacturers air pistols. Although primarily an on-line club we have so far organised two live events held at the Greyhound Airgun Range in Coventry. The first was a success, the second event was even more of a success with more people attending (both members and non members) getting to shoot a very wide range of pistols from the Gat to the high end Steyr LP 50. The meet had a very positive impact on people and indeed converting non-shooters into new air pistol shooters thus encouraging & helping to bring more people into the sport. The second live event brought competitors from all over the UK and two members from the United States also attended, heralding the first meeting of the whole management team for the very 1st time. One member who was working in Saudi Arabia also made it back to the UK in time to attend the event; he also brought his full I.P.A.S. kit to give members a demo and tryout of this wonderful emerging discipline of fast fire pistol shooting. Food and other refreshments were provided on the day by the Competition & Events Organiser and his wonderful family. The UBC competitions consist of 6 yard and 10meter competitions in 4 separate disciplines including Co2, PCP, SSP and Spring Powered Pistol’s. We also have a monthly ‘Police Pistol’ shoot where the object is to

accurately shoot multiple rounds at a specific target with the added pressure of having to reload, fire another volley and be within a specified time period. Also the UBC has run 3 seasons of a special ‘147-snooker break’ competition; based on the game of snooker. As well as the main competitions a number of ‘fun side-shoot’ targets have been developed giving members added reasons to shoot (as if they needed any!). The UBC is constantly seeking to encourage the fun side of air pistol shooting; whilst keeping the priorities of safety and responsible air pistol use at the forefront of its member’s minds. For competitors at the live events there are 1st, 2nd and 3rd place trophies in all main competitions as well as special wooden spoon (booby prize) awards. For the online monthly competitions run on the ‘honesty’ principle (scores are submitted by the shooter and do not need to be verified) via email, there are certificates awarded, that are sent out in the form of a PDF file to shooters who achieve scores in specific bands. These certificates can be printed out by the shooter and bear the signature of the world renowned Airgun shooter Terry Doe. The results of each competition are then put up online for all to see. The UBC is free to join; we welcome anyone who

shoots an air or co2 powered pistol of any age or gender any profession or walk of life. The monthly competitions are designed to be shot in your own time either at home or at your local pistol range. For more information visit www.umarexboysclub. co.uk or email Tony the club [email protected] or the club founder [email protected]

In the firing line

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VINCE’S REGULAR COLUMN WHEREBY ACCURACY NUTS CAN KEEP UP TO DATE WITH THE ACTIVITIES OF THE UKBRA Competitions We held the last of our 600 yard BR competitions at the end of May. We ran the series as a winter alternative to 100/1000 yard competitions and it has attracted a decent entry of around 30 shooters at each event. Benchrest at this distance is growing in popularity in America and I can see why. Equipment need not be quite as radical as for 100 or 1000 yard BR and smaller cartridges like the 6BR are perfect. Factory rifles can also put in respectable performances and, if I recall, the record for a Factory Sporter is just 2.5 inches (held by Ross Burrough shooting a 6.5x55 Unique Alpine). For our final shoot, we were rewarded with a beautiful warm sunny day but with an amazingly strong east wind which blew several competitors clean off the two-foot square target and shots off-target incur a six-inch penalty. Glen Wilson also shoots 6.5x55 Unique Alpine and he took a comfortable Factory Class win with a best group of 4.332 inches. Small-group award however went to Darrell Evans with his 308 Accuracy International who shot a very nice 4.017 incher – there were only three other groups smaller than Darrell’s from the Light Gun shooters. In Light Gun (all up weight 17lbs.) Mal Roberts took a popular win with his 6.5-284 BAT. Mal has served his apprenticeship at long-range benchrest with a dog of a 308 but it taught Mal how to get the very best out of a rifle and when he took the plunge with a full-house custom gun, the results soon followed. Mal’s 2.324 inch group would have been good enough for small-group award on a decent day but in today’s taxing wind, it was very special. Results: Light Gun 1st Mal Roberts 6.5-284 BAT four 5-shot groups) 2nd Simon Rogers 6.5-284 RPA 3rd Steve Barrett 7-08 Swing Small group

Mal Roberts



4.707 in. (av. of 5.829 5.996 2.324 inchres

Factory Sporter 1st Glenn Wilson 6.5x55 Unique Alpine 6.029 2nd Graham Francis 6BR RPA 6.654 3rd Jack Gibb 6.5-284 Unique 6.942 The 2008/9 UKBRA 600 yard Championship was run over five rounds with the best four to count. Light Gun 1st Vince Bottomley

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2nd 3rd

Simon Rogers Steve Barrett

25 24

Factory Sporter 1st Phil Gibbon 2nd Darrell Evans 3rd Toni Young

39 29 18

Congratulations to the winners – see you in October for our 2009/10 winter series. Although our 600 yard series is over, we are only just getting into our stride with our 100/1000 yard shoots. The weekend of 20/21st June was round three. At 100 yards, current champion, Ian Dixon continued to dominate but second place went to relative newcomer, Bruce Lenton, in his first year with a 6PPC and I was more than pleased to settle for third after a couple of fruitless seasons trying to find an alternative to the dominant 6PPC cartridge. In Factory Sporter, Laurie Holland’s brief but very impressive whitewash of the FS class with his 204 Savage came to an end when Darrell Evans returned to his old form with his 6PPC Sako. Laurie didn’t go home empty handed however – his 0.344 inch group in Match 1 was never bettered. Results: Heavy Varmint 1st Ian Dixon 6PPC Walker BAT 0.236inch agg. 2nd Bruce Lenton 6PPC Stolle 0.265 3rd Vince Bottomley 6PPC TGP BAT 0.27 Small group – Martin Eldershaw 6PPC Stolle 0.134 inches Factory Sporter 1st Darrell Evans 6PPC Sako 0.4468 inch agg. 2nd Laurie Holland 0.5688 3rd Andy Wooley 0.6214 Small group - Laurie Holland 0.344 inches The day after, it was round three of the UKBRA 1000 yard Championship. After a very cold Saturday with frequent heavy rain showers, Sunday was warm and dry with light winds. It wasn’t long before the small groups began to appear, the first one, a five-incher from Les Holgate shooting his 284 F Class rifle. Ian Dixon and Mark Daish were also doing a bit of load-testing with their F Class rigs prior to the World Championships at Bisley in July. Mark managed a few respectable single-figure groups with the 6.5 Barnard but no one could touch Mal Roberts and he did the double with a fine agg. of just 7.6 inches and a 5.3 incher to also take small group award.

In Factory Sporter it once again came down to the battle of the Savages with Ian Kellett, Graham Watts and current FS Champion, Phil Gibbon slugging it out. Ian is quickly learning the art of 1000 yard benchrest and came out tops this time, scooping-up the small group award in the process. Results: Light Gun 1st Mal Roberts 6.5-284 BAT 7.678 inch agg. 2nd Vince Bottomley 243 TGP BAT 8.402 3rd Steve Dunn 7mm Dunn BAT 8.737 Small group

Mal Roberts

Heavy Gun 1st Les Holgate 2nd Mark Daish 3rd Dave Wylde Small group



5.387 inches

284 BAT 8.463 inch agg. 6.5-284 Barnard 9.505 338 Surgeon 16.079

Les Holgate



5.934 inches

Factory Sporter 1st Ian Kellett 6.5-284 Savage 11.693 inch agg. 2nd Phil Gibbon 6.5-284 Savage 12.821 3rd Graham Watts 6.5-284 Savage 14.086

Small group

Ian Kellett

8.151 inches

Euro-benchrest In many European countires like France, Italy, Germany, Holland etc. benchrest has a large following and there is an annual European series which naturally attracts Europe’s best shooters. Scotsman Tom Morris, who resides way up north near Caithness, has to make a 1000 mile round trip to shoot benchrest at Diggle and it’s almost as easy to go on the Continent – and he does. On his last visit in June to Dobbiaco in northern Italy, Tom won the 100 yard LV competition outright with a stunning 0.185 inch agg. and finished in ninth place overall out of a field of 75 of Europe’s finest. A fantastic result. Keep up with European Benchrest vis Jean Claude Braconi’s excellent website at www.eurobenchrestnews.com or www.europeanbenchrest.netfirms.com Events Our next BR shoot is on August 1st/2nd at Diggle ranges. Enter on the day but e-mail me if you would like further information at [email protected] and don’t forget the UKBRA website at www.ukbra.co.uk

We had an all-girl relay at 1000 yard benchrest as Toni Young, Jeanette Whitney, Diane Smith and Sheila McGowan managed to tear themselves away from the kitchen sink. It was the subject of much good-humoured banter from the lads



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In association with

The new ASB - full of innovative ideas and we cannot wait to see it in action It’s not often you see something new and really this particular product is of interest to a variety of shooters from rimfire benchrest to prone. Gerd Carlo Männel has recently launched a new rimfire target rifle named appropriately the MÄNNEL AdvancedSmallBore or ASB for short. I heard about a new rifle at the IWA show this year. (In fact I had heard about it for quite some time before but was sworn to secrecy as it had not been launched). The rifle itself is set up as a prone/ three position rifle, but with further development could easily be used for rimfire benchrest as well. I have been told that there is also further developments going on at present, with a number of barrels are being experimented with; including Lothar Walther and an un-named American barrel. Outwardly – and I have only seen pictures so far – you would think that this looks like a number of other target rifles on the market. However, you do need to look more closely at the short bolt action, the firing mechanism and a number of other innovations that are not particularly standard. The real aspect of this rifle that needs further

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consideration is the fact that it is a 6 o’clock firing pin. Not only this but I have been told that it does not strike on a lateral motion but from underneath! This, I would like to investigate further as there are few of these rifles available at the moment, but we may be getting some in the UK in the near future. If it hold up to the tests I have discussed in conversation then this rifle will be very effective in competition. I am waiting to hear more and I will bring this information to people’s attention via this column or in a more in depth article. If anyone is interested in this rifle or the action then get in contact with Harry Preston of Steyr UK, as he is in contact with the manufacturer. Harry can be contacted at [email protected] The website for Mannel Sport is http://www. maennel.at/cms/ The price for said rifle, well unknown at the moment! I hope to see one in the UK in the near future to range or competition test. We can only look forward to seeing the ASB in action.

The Long View

News from the GB F-Class Association

GB F Class League – Round 2 Bisley 6/7th June 2009 The second of the season’s GB F Class National League matches, took place at Bisley on the 6th & 7th of June with a full turn out of 60 entries. Saturday dawned wet and overcast – typical British summertime weather! The first stage of the match was 2 sighters and 15 to count at 800yds. At this range, the target seemed quite generously proportioned, so anyone who had not done their homework with their handloads fell out of the 5 ring and got punished. Conditions, apart from the rain were pretty benign – requiring just a couple of minutes of windage at a maximum and some folk got lucky needing hardly any at all, as a consequence, scores were understandably high. The wind-bucking big 7mms were not really needed, a good 6.5mm would have been ideal. Dennis Groom had clearly tuned his loads to perfection, as he prevailed with a superb 75.12, followed closely by Peter Wilson with a 75.10 and Paul Hill in good form just nipped into 3rd place with a 75.8. Moving back to 900yds, the fun continued with light intermittent showers passing quickly. The wind was for the most part quite mild and predictable. Darren Stewart proved his experience and local knowledge of Stickledown with the only ‘possible’ in the detail with an excellent 75.11 and yet again second place went to Peter Wilson showing his old form on 74.9. Third place went to a countback on tied scores of 74.7 and David Kent clinched it. For the final detail of the day, we were scheduled to press back to 1,000yards. Unfortunately due to an NRA administrative error, several other range users were allocated range spaces at 900yds and there was insufficient capacity to enable us to be separated safely, so we pressed forward to 900yds for another detail there. The weather had freshened

up a little and John Carmichael showed a good grasp of the changing conditions with his respectable 75.6 – the only 75 in the detail. Young Scotsman Adam Brough put up a good V-count with his 74.9 to secure second place, and in third place and only one V-bull behind was regular competitor Gary Costello. In the early hours of Sunday morning, a torrential downpour hit Bisley but thankfully, it abated by 7am and so by the starting time of 8:30 the air had cleared. Winds were again very mild indeed and what wind there was didn’t register on the sodden flags, instead it was to be a morning for keeping a keen eye on the mirage and feeling for any changes. Staying at 1,000 yards for both details to make up for the program alteration on Saturday meant we lost less time in moving back, so this enabled us to get in two details. The first, a barrel warming 2 & 20, certainly tested any latent stresses in barrels. With a good partner and a good marker, it didn’t take long to get through the detail. First past the post was Des Parr with 97.4, Dennis Groom had nearly 3 times as many V-bulls with his superb 96.11 and again in third place was the consistent campaigner Gary Costello with a 96.5. Second detail on Sunday and the last of the match, was a 2 & 15. By now, the flags had dried a little and had become a bit more responsive and revealed the wind to be switching to and fro pretty quickly. So quickly in fact that it played havoc with many competitors, leaving them out one side of the target and then out the other side with consecutive shots. The last detail was the trickiest, exactly what we needed to churn up the scores a bit! Clearly, John Carmichael had a good handle on the conditions and managed a very reasonable 73.3. Second place went to one of our relatively new guys Andy Massingham with a 72.4 – a man to watch out for! In 3rd, the talented young guy from Border Barrels, Adam Brough featured again with a 71.6.



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F/TR On the F T/R front, we saw all the usual faces gather at Bisley keen to see how they coped with Stickledown one last time before the World Championships in July. WE also saw our first F T/R competitor from Spain as well as a regular from France - it says a lot for the quality of competition if it attracts people from far and wide. Saturday morning and F/TR were the third detail to shoot at 800 yards, (such is the increased interest in F T/R that it now fills an entire detail and are now only out-numbered by two to one by the Open Class shooters. Compare that to two years ago where half a dozen F/TR shooters for most league shoots was a good turnout). With a 10” Bull, a good F T/R competitor needs to be making the most of the benign conditions at 800 yards, that bull only gets smaller at 900 and a 1000 yards relatively speaking that is!! Half the field managed to break 70 ex 75 with Russell Simmonds putting in an excellent 75 with 5 v’s closely followed by Andy Gent on 74 and 6 v’s and Paul Dobson with 72 with 4 v’s.

up and mirage became an issue for some. As the scorecards were handed in it was no surprise to see Russell’s name on the card with the highest score - but as the scorer not the shooter!! His partner for the detail Glen Jones had shot a 70 with 6 v’s to better Russell’s score by 1 point and take home the only stage medal not won by Russell all weekend. When the stats were computed, John Carmichael, who has campaigned in many League matches had finally won first place in Open Class with a creditable 389.23, an excellent achievement. Ahead of him on V-bulls and one point behind in second place was our youngest member of the National League, Adam Brough on a superb 388.30. In third place, clearly putting his local knowledge to good effect, was the well-respected Darren Stewart with a solid 385.31 In F/TR Class, third place went to Paul Dobson with an overall score of 361.13, second place went to George Barnard on 365.17 and first place went to Russell Simmonds with a score of 385.31 - good enough for 3rd Place in the Open Class!!

Round Three & the World Championships Match 2 saw us at 900 yards with little change As most of you will know the next round of the F in the conditions and yet again Russell took his Class league is also at Bisley, but this one will be second match of the day with a 74 and 6 v’s the big one. It is to be held at the same time as the beating Stuart Anselm into second place with 71.6v World F Class Championships. Unless you are one who in turn saw off Willy Dixon by 2 V bulls on 71.4v, of those people who can regularly travel abroad to shoot – not many of us - it will be a long time Practice obviously makes perfect as having been before you get the chance to compete against given another go at 900 yards, Russell proceeded a field as diverse and talented as this. With a to shoot an impressive 75 with 10 v bulls - a score potential turn out of over 200 shooters, this will be the that wasn’t even matched by any of the Open Class!! biggest F Class shoot ever. So why not contact Mik Second place this time went to George Barnard Maksimovic and see if there are any spaces left, you with a very good score of 73.2v with Willy Dixon may never get the chance to shoot at this level again. claiming his second third place of the day on 72.5v. Even if you don’t fancy shooting it will still be a Shooting over for the day it was time to great event as a spectator. With so many foreign tally all the scores; no surprise to see competitors someone is bound to have a tool or Russell heading up the F T/R shooters after a piece of kit you have never seen before and realise day in which he strayed from the bull just once! your life is incomplete without it! So make a date in Better yet - he was leading the competition overall! your diary for 27th – 28th July for the Individual and 29th – 30th for the Team event or you may regret it. Having not shot 1000 yards on Saturday we were due to shoot 1000 yards twice with a 2 and 20 and a 2 and 15 to finish. Following straight on from where he left off, Russell put in a decisive 92 with 7 V Bulls a full 11 points clear of second placed George Barnard on 83.3v who in turn pipped Paul Dobson into third by just two V Bulls.

Please mention

If there had been any doubt as to who was going to walk away with the 20 points for the F/TR League there were none now - it was now about the runners up. The last match of the weekend and the weather stayed kind - so much so that it really started to warm

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when using advertising in the magazine

A regular column whereby Ken Hall keeps us up to date with black powder cartridge rifle shooting in the UK.

Aperture foresight with Vernier and Level In the previous entry to this series, I wrote a little about the background of the Quigley Shooting Association (QSA) and the Single Shot Black Powder Cartridge Rifle Club of Great Britain (SSBPCRCGB) and the equipment required for competitions organised by them. In this article I am going to look at some of the basics, which apply whatever rifle or calibre is decided upon. Cartridge Cases Suitable brass cases are available from many manufacturers - Winchester, Remington, Star-Line, Federal etc. Of these I personally have had good results with Star-Line, they are of consistent quality and very reasonably priced. Some brands of cases have a cannelure crimped towards the neck, these are made specifically for use in tubular magazine rifles, the cannelure helps to prevent the bullet from sliding into the unfired case through recoil, and creating excessive pressures. If using single-shot rifles, such as the Sharps or Remington, this cannelure is unnecessary and may even lessen the number of reloads per case by producing a potentially weak spot. Whichever make you choose, try to get them from the same batch to keep as consistent as possible.

If you are having trouble finding cases locally, try www.midwayuk.com With a little TLC, 100 cases should last a few years, however after shooting, it is essential to clean the fouling from the case as soon as possible. Some start cleaning at the range by immersing the cases in water, with a dash of washing up liquid added. A handy little gadget that you can make for yourself from an old pair of pliers or similar, is a hand operated de-primer, which will allow you to remove the spent primer on the range immediately after shooting (see photo). Either way, the cases should be de-primed and rinsed with clean water as soon as possible after arriving home. The majority of cases are termed as ‘straight-walled’ and so the insides can be scrubbed with a suitable bottlebrush or bronze brush from your rifle cleaning kit. A couple of hours in a tumbler or vibratory polisher will finish the job. Bullets Whilst there are some ready-made bullets on the market, they tend to be relatively hard-cast for use with modern smokeless powders and so most shooters Blow tube and various jags prefer to cast their own. This is not as daunting a task as it may appear at first, there have been many articles in magazines and several books which go into great detail and I recommend that you read



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the bullet on its way. Leading is far less a problem with paper-patched bullets as the paper jacket acts as an insulator between the bullet and the rifling lands, but accuracy with both will suffer if the black powder fouling is allowed to accumulate in the barrel.

De priming tool with case and spent primer some of these. Bullet swaging is also starting to become popular as more shooters experiment with paper-patched bullets - cue for a separate article here! What is generally accepted is that a bullet of at least 500 grains is required to remain stable and accurate at extended ranges, however there is always a sharp-shooting member of every club who will prove the exception to any rule! As to bullet shape, the flat nosed type, which are designed for tubular magazine rifles tend to be less accurate than pointed, or Postell shaped bullets.

There are two common ways in which a shooter can attempt to combat fouling, one is to use a ‘blow-tube’ - a plastic tube with a fired case to act as a breech seal - which is inserted into the breech end of the barrel and then several breaths are forced through the barrel, hopefully moistening the fouling and so making it easier for the next bullet to push out the fouling ahead of it. Another way is to rod-out the fouling between each shot by using a suitable rod with a well fitting jag attached to a cloth moistened with water or a commercial black powder solvent. Often a combination of both methods is used. The Rifle Whichever type of rifle is decided on, they all are very similar to keep clean. The barrel and breech are the most obvious components to require attention,

Foresight showing spirit level

All bullets need lubrication as they travel up the barrel to lessen the effect of lead being stripped from the bullet and deposited in the rifling and also to keep the residue from the burnt powder - known as fouling – soft, so as to minimise its effect on the next bullet. This is generally accomplished by filling lubrication grooves in the bullet with a suitable lube, which will flow into the rifling as the gases expand and force

but we must not forget that salts and other corrosive chemicals will be deposited over time in even the simplest of actions. This doesn’t mean that a total dismantling of your rifle is necessary after every Midway .459 510gn round nose Midway .459 shoot. Common sense prevails here, after a couple of sessions on the range, a partial 500gn Postell and Hoch .459 550gn Postell take-down will show all the nooks and crannies that are likely to trap fouling etc and therefore require a little extra cleaning. Under normal conditions a simple ‘field-strip’ is adequate, as long as the fouling is removed, or at least neutralized with a commercial cleaning solvent and then a little gun oil applied. Sights Most manufacturers distribute their rifles with only the basic - though historically accurate - sighting system. Whilst this is good enough for many disciplines, including Cowboy Action Shooting at short to medium ranges, when it comes to longer ranges a more accurate sighting-system is required.

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This generally means fitting a special sight on the tang of the rifle, one that allows for a lot of Typical cross sticks adjustment in the vertical plane, and possibly in the horizontal plane also. Long-range vernier tang sights are offered by most of the manufacturers as an aftermarket extra, as well as by many independent makers such as the Montana Vintage Arms Company and the Axtell Rifle Company in the United States. Like most things today, you get what you pay for. Quality engineered sights are very expensive, but that does not mean that very respectable scores can’t be achieved with budget priced sights. Of course if you are lucky, you may be able to pick up a very good quality second user sight on the web at considerable saving. The ideal tang sight is one that 50 MOA) and is able to be folded down if necessary has variable apertures to allow for changing light between shots to allow unrestricted access to the barrel conditions, a vertical adjustment of around 3 to 4 and breech so that a rod can be used to swab the bore. inches, a horizontal adjustment of around ½ inch (or This is the ideal, what you end up with may not have all these features, often a compromise is required. The front sight as supplied is usually a post or blade Pedersoli Soule type type, this can be used with a tang sight and often vernier usa405 good scores are attained, but a more accurate and flexible foresight is the tunnel or target type. This has a set of inserts, which can be rapidly changed to suit the target and conditions of the day. More expensive examples of this type of foresight may also have a Vernier to adjust for windage built into them, or even a spirit-level to indicate cant or tilting of the rifle. Ancillaries 1. Cross-sticks - Self made, keep it simple, two pieces of broom handle around 18ins long, drilled through and fastened with a nut and bolt 4 or 5 inches from one end plus some soft leather or similar to protect the barrel and a couple of 6in nails to provide a ground anchor. 2. Spotting scope. Generally, hits on the target are indicated with a coloured disk and these are difficult to see with the naked eye at extreme ranges. 3. Scorebook and pencil. You will want to keep a record of your results to aid in load development. Competitors score each others cards and the book provides a safe and dry place to keep them during the competition. 4. Cleaning rods. These need to be made of nylon, or plastic coated steel so as not to damage the breech or barrel, at least 200mm (8in) longer than the barrel and action. One thing here, at least two methods are currently used by manufacturers to attach brushes and jags etc, so a couple of thread adaptors will come in handy so that you can use one make of brush or jag on a different make of rod. 5. Shooting mat. Not essential but will repay any investment in spades when the weather turns inclement. Questions and comments please to khall6548@

aol.com



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Hunter Field Target News

HFTs Dr Evil HFT and the birth of the UKAHFT were born of the need to get back to a simpler form of outdoor air rifle target shooting. Field Target has become a very technical sport with expensive rifles and expensive scopes. In that respect HFT has been a massive, massive success. It has also introduced the younger person the world of shooting. HFT has drawn in more new younger shooters in it’s short time than FT has. That is not to say FT has unduly suffered as many shooters have gone on to shoot FT or SFT. A big difference is also the prizes on offer in HFT, these have always been given in a raffle form so every shooter has a chance of winning, not just the best shots. The scoring system too with one point just for hitting the metal face plate of the target and two for knocking the target over encourages the younger shooters too. On to what has happened so far in 2009. It saw the first ever world championships and what a great event it was. Countyman Fairs and Ian Harford must take a lot of the credit in driving the event on and it will be shot at Kelmarsh again next year. Kieran Turner cleared the courses on both days to become the first ever World HFT champion which was even more special as it was the first time he had ever shot his new Walther rifle. I shot

The whole gang together - picture by “Shooting the Breeze” 82

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the event and must say for a first time big event it went exceptionally well, the prizes on offer totalled over five and a half thousand pounds worth, all given away in a raffle. I would like to thank all the kind sponsors, many of whom gave the event prizes for nothing. The national season has gotten off with a bang with four rounds of the nine completed. I shot the first two and have to say the level of course building is improving every year, Lea Valley I found excellent with a switchable wind but sensibly placed targets, Tawd Vale lived up it it’s high standard unlike my shooting there. It’s tough at the top in the Open class with Pete Sparkes, Chris Cundy and Ross Hudson after the first three rounds were all within 0.173 of a point of each other. Pete on 291.581, Ross on 291.495 and Chris on 291.408, real skin of the teeth stuff. Round four at MAD was universally heralded to be fantastic, with a near perfect HFT course. That man Pete Sparkes put in a near perfect 59 ex 60 with his Walther rifle and for the first time shot the new Bushnell 6500. 2.5-16*42 Mildot

Pete Dutton shooting HFT pistol scope. I have a test review of the scope in a future issue of Target Shooter. Pete took the win the day and extended his Open class lead. Chris could only manage a 55 and Ross held on for a 58. Darren Lindsey is in the shadows only having shot 3 out of the four rounds. A Ripley Elite kindly donated by Highland Outdoors was the raffle prize, topped with a Nikko Stirling 4-16*44 Mildot scope, Nice! Pete Sparkes performance on the HFT pistol however was not up to the same standard, Pete Dutton top scored overall and the in the traditional stance too with 36 ex 40. Mr Sparkes could only manage a 14 ex 40, Jane his better half beating him, well as everyone else did too. Better Luck next time Pete! The next weekend double header is at Basingstoke and Bisley on the 18th and 19th of July which should be a cracker.

Gallery Rifle News

If you want to know what Gallery Rifle and Pistol is all about there is a beginner’s guide in this month’s issue. It will give you the basic information you need to get started without spending a fortune and still be competitive. This month you have three meetings. The Jim Brown Memorial Steel Shoot for Cancer Research at Mattersey (between Worksop and Doncaster), a Practical Match at Shield in Dorset and the Pistol and Gallery Rifle part of the Imperial Meeting at Bisley. Something for everyone from precision to speed shooting and spread all over England.

and you may get the call from your country’s selector for the next season. Nobody’s place on a team is safe – it’s all down to performance, consistency and commitment – new teams are selected every year.

Entry forms for the National GR Championships are ready now – enter as soon as you can, especially if you want to shoot a lot of events. The NRA Gallery Rifle and Pistol sub committee has issued a notice about GR Centre Fire calibres. This is the first stage of a review of the definitions of GRCF which will take place over the winter. It is being widely published on the usual sites and Next month there are two on the diary so far. emailed to all those who shoot regularly. If you want to be part of the debate check it out and email your The Frome 3 Gun at Shield in Dorset. This is a well views. known and well attended shoot with challenging stages for Gallery Rifles, Long Barrelled Handguns COMPETITION CALENDAR and multi-shot Shotguns. Don’t wait to get your July 12 Jim Brown Memorial Steel Challenge entry in as it is very popular. Mattersey R&PC It is run by a very active club whose members can be seen all over the country competing or acting as July 12 Shield GR&P Practical Range Officers in spite of not having a range of their Shield Shooting Centre own. There is some very good news on this front. After many years of hard work planning permission July 15 140th Imperial Pistol and Gallery has at last been granted on appeal. When it’s to 19 Rifle. National Shooting Centre finished, this range Bisley promises to have the best facilities in the South West. August 8 Frome 3 Gun The National GR Championships at Bisley feature to 9 Shield Shooting Centre the core of the events you enjoyed at the Phoenix squeezed into two days. You will be able to August 29 National GR Championships compete with the best in the country for the title of to 30 National Shooting Centre Bisley British Champion in lots of your favourite events. Later on Saturday afternoon on Melville Range the National Teams from England, Scotland and Wales (Either contact the organisers direct or go to www. will compete shoulder to shoulder in Centre Fire and galleryrifle.com for entry forms.) Small Bore aggregates of Timed & Precision One GR&P = Gallery Rifle Centre Fire (GRCF), and Multi-Target in the Home Countries National Gallery Rifle Small Bore (GRSB), Long Barrelled Match. Come along and support your team if you’ve Pistol (LBP) and Long Barrelled Revolver (LBR) finished shooting for the day. Start time is about 1630. Every time you put a score in for one of these Please go to the Gallery Rifle website www. two events, or any other classified event for that for more news and matter, at an open meeting, it’s recorded on the galleryrifle.com information. national database. Shoot well and often enough



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The most important piece of news this month for UK practical shooters is the introduction of new rules from 1st July covering Muzzle Angle restrictions. IPSC who oversee the rules of practical shooting have allowed each region (country) to introduce it’s own muzzle angle restrictions. The UKPSA Full Council voted to allow the restrictions for all ammunition types. Before 2009 the default has always been 90 degrees left & right and up and down. Whilst encouraging clubs to maintain the 90/90/90/90 muzzle angle to allow for the freestyle element of practical shooting. It is acknowledged that some clubs do have difficulties on the grounds of safety. All competitors will be informed before entering matches that muzzle angle restrictions will be in place and fully briefed during the stage walkthroughs. The additional new rules pertaining to muzzle angles can be found on the UKPSA Bulletin Board. A brand new shirt design is about to be introduced for members. UKPSA member Melvyn Redford has produced the design for the back of the shirt. Those shooters UKPSA new attending the European PSG Championships will be the first to model these new shirts. They will then be available for members to purchase. Another date for our practical LBR shooters. Bedford will be hosting a L2 match on Sunday October 11th. This is in addition to the L2 matches at Carlisle on Saturday 15th August and the British Open at Leicester on Sunday 13th December. If any club with a number of members wanting a practical basic safety course, UKPSA Instructors are willing to come to your club to run courses in Long barrel Revolver, Gas Powered Pistol or Practical Shotgun. Please contact the UKPSA for more details. Clubs can become affiliated to the UKPSA. Basic requirements are that they are a Home

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Office approved, have at least ten members who have joined the UKPSA as individuals, four of whom have passed a basic safety course. Club affiliation allows clubs to host sanctioned practical matches. They will be given help and advice on the running of practical matches. The Match Director’s Guidelines, is an extensive document which is available to members. This covers all aspects involved in the running of Matches. At a time when claims for expenses are headline news, Council members have decided that they will still not claim any expenses for carrying out their duties. As well as giving up their free time, they will continue to travel to both Council and other meetings at their own expense. The European Shotgun Championships draw ever near. The UK shooters will in the main be based at Tabour in the Czech Republic and the team Hotel will be the Palcat. There are two rounds of the UK Championships remaining before the team selection is announced. There still places up for grabs for those who are close shirt design to in performance. So there are opportunities to impress National Squad Director, Ken Trail, at the Northern Championships in Carlisle on July 4th & 5th, then at the British Open Championships at Borders on 1st & 2nd August. The teams will be announced on Wednesday 5th August at 6pm on the Bulletin Board. To find out more about practical shooting and how to register for a basic safety course, visit www.ukpsa.co.uk or email [email protected] for more details. Vanessa Duffy Chairman UKPSA

Letters and News What a great response to the first three issues with lots of really good feedback and even more things to make us think about how we can deliver a better magazine to you.

[email protected] Happy reading and we hope you enjoy the magazine. The team at Target Shooter. If you have any letters or news that you would like to air on a national basis then please contact us at the magazine. This could be for those budding writers out there that would like to submit a full article on specific firearms, competitions, shooting sports, etc. The aim of the magazine is to include you the shooters in the United Kingdom. So having a regular letters page or even a question and answer section would be really useful for a lot of people out there. Let us know what you think!? We would also like to have a gun of the month section - so send us your pic and spec and we’ll include it in ‘gun of the month’. Any news that your club or association thinks is worth viewing can also be sent in for selection. What we would like is to get a letters page started with your views, news and perceptions about all all the aspects of target shooting. So lets see those letters coming in and we will read your thoughts in these pages.

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Next time in..... Welcome to the fifth month of this free online shooting magazine for shooters in the UK

August 2009 Issue

On test Features 86

Regular Reviews Columns and lots more

FT Scope Review • Classic Rifle• New Products • and lots more…..

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