Target Shooter

TARGET SHOOTER MAGAZINE
November 2011 Issue
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Contents
November 2011 Issue

Page 6
The SEB NEO Rest. Its almost two years since Seb Lambang introduced the NEO front benchrest and, if you recall, we had a brief look at one at the 2009 Newark Shooting Show. In the intervening time, two things have happened Seb has made a few updates and, at last I have my own NEO!
Page 32
TRIPLE SCOPE SHOOT-OUT! At long last, John Dean of Aimfield Sports gave me one of the new 8-32 Sightrons for a Target Shooter review.
Page 16
HIGHPOWER RIFLE ASSOCIATION. PRECISION SHARP AND SNAP SHOOTING MATCH. On a balmy first Saturday in August, the Highpower Rifle Association hosted a precision rifle match at the National Shooting Centre in aid of the Royal British Legion.
Page 12
HORNADY AUTOCHARGE - AUTOMATIC POWDER DISPENSER. I can be a bit anal when it comes to reloading and Ive always avoided those automatic powder throwers cant be accurate surely?
Contents Continued
November 2011 Issue
Page 38
DEALING WITH THE WIND PART 5 Understanding Groups by Chris White. Now we have looked at why rifles shoot groups and do not put all the shots through one hole. We have touched on the importance of finding the centre of the group and ensuring that this group centre coincides with the centre of the target.
Page 22
5.11 TACTICAL FIELD OPS WATCH - by Chris Parkin. During a recent trip shooting the 338 Lapua DTA rifle at the WMS Steel Challenge facility in Wales, Andrew Venables the owner was keen to show me a `handy` new toy he had bought to help out his clients. THE HANDLOADING BENCH by Laurie Holland. 6mm NORMA BENCH REST (Part 6). Weve looked at components, tools and recommended powders UKPSA NEWS including QuickLOAD results, Page 74 so its time to put in some FROM THE BENCH graft at the loading bench Page 48 and then take ourselves off to LATEST NEWS Page 58 the range to see what sort of THIS SMALLBORE BUSINESS results are available.
Regulars
& more...
Page 64
GALLERY RIFLE NEWS

Page 84
Page 54
ROUND 6 OF THE 2011 GB F CLASS LEAGUE. THE LONG VIEW by Les Holgate. As I was unable to go up to Blair Atholl for round 6 of the GB F Class Association League series, Im very grateful to Target Shooters other LH namely Laurie Holland who did make it but says maybe he shouldnt have! Take it away Laurie...
QUIGLEY ASSOCIATION NEWS KG INDUSTRIES CLEANING PRODUCTS REVIEW .30 CALIBRE BERGER HYBRIDS
Page 44 Page 61 Page 73
Page 62
COOPER MONTANA VARMINTER

Page 76 THIRD EYE TACTICAL UNI-MOUNT Page 50
AND MUCH, MUCH MORE...
77 COuNTRIeS
Welcome to the new look November 2011 edition of Target Shooter Magazine
Webitorial
It is with great sadness that we report the death of one of our contributors Chris White on Sunday October 16th. Chris was something of a legend in British Target Rifle circles, having represented his country on a number of occasions and, in his later years, he was happy to pass on his vast knowledge to other shooters and to readers of both Target Shooter and Target Sports magazine.
Heres Chris at the 2010 Queens Final, with former Queens prize winner Zainal Md Zain (Photo courtesy of Martin Liversage) This month, we publish the final part of Chriss series of articles Dealing with the Wind. As always, in circumstances such as these, its difficult to know if this is the right decision but, if I could have put the question to Chris, I can imagine his answer: Dont be so damn silly get it published! Chris came from a shooting family so had been involved in shooting from almost as soon as he could walk and in addition to being an excellent Target Rifle shot, he had a massive interest in the whole spectrum of shooting and firearms. I know a lot of readers had followed Chriss writings but, if you didnt, perhaps as one last tribute to the life of Chris, you would read his last chapter starting on page 38. TARGETTA SH
November 2011 Issue
Novemb er 2011 Iss ue
Our thoughts are with Chriss family and friends. His writers fee will be donated to Cancer Research
ROOTEZINE R GET SHO MAGA OTER MAGAZIN E
Vince, Yvonne and Carl

Vince Bottomley - vinceb@targetshooter.co.uk Yvonne - yvonne@targetshooter.co.uk
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November 2011 Issue
Editor - Vince Bottomley vinceb@targetshooter.co.uk Advertising and Office Manager - Yvonne Wilcock. yvonne@targetshooter.co.uk Compiled, Designed & Web Production by Steve Thornton. www.thorntonconnect.com Contributors - Vince Bottomley - Laurie Holland - Chris Parkin - Ken Hall - Don Brooke Alan Whittle - Chris White - Sheree Cox & John Morgan-Hosey.
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Cover Photograph - Steve Thornton. www.thorntonconnect.com
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.
Disclaimer
THE SEB NEO REST PRODUCT Review
By Vince Bottomley
The SEB NEO Rest

Its almost two years since Seb Lambang introduced the NEO front benchrest and, if you recall, we had a brief look at one at the 2009 Newark Shooting Show.
Photograph by Steve Thornton
n the intervening time, two things have happened Seb has made a few updates and, at last I have my own NEO! Brian Fox (www.foxfirearmsuk.com) is the UK importer for Sebs products and although he has had a steady supply, such is the demand that Ive had to wait until now to get my hands on one.

To some extent, the delay hadnt worried me unduly as I have the Mk 1 version which Im more than happy with but I couldnt help but notice that Mike Ratigan was using a NEO at the recent World Benchrest Championships in France. Mike is a US shooter and former World Champion and Americans are fiercely loyal to their own products and most who choose to use a joystick rest will favour the homegrown Farley. I got to chat with Mike one evening over dinner and he told me of his involvement with Seb Lambang and the development of the NEO and, in his own words Its the finest rest Ive ever used. Thats good enough for me I suddenly wanted my own SEB - now! Since version one, a few subtle modifications have been made but before we go there, lets remind ourselves of what the NEO is all about. Until a few years ago, the joystick front rest was bought and used exclusively by benchrest shooters. Benchrest shooters often need to shoot very quickly to beat the wind five shots in ten seconds and the joystick rest assists greatly here as there is only one control as opposed to two (windage & elevation) on a conventional tri-pod front rest. Also, the joystick is super-handy, sitting close to the trigger, so no need to stretch to reach the controls as with a conventional rest. Furthermore, if you need to drop down to the sighter target - to check out a sudden wind-change - it takes seconds, rather than laboriously winding down the vertical adjustment of a tripod rest. However, it didnt take the F Class shooters long to catch on to the joystick rest but perhaps for different reasons. Yes, one control is preferable to two but the F Class shooter is not looking for speed. The simple fact is, its much easier to reach the joystick rather than stretching (when in the prone position) to reach the controls on a tripod rest. Also, the effers platform grass is not as stable as a concrete bench and often, after stretching to adjust your tri-pod rest, you find its moved slightly when you get back into position to take the shot. The only option is a bit of back-bag shuffling not good.
So has the NEO addressed these problems? To a certain extent yes. However, there are compromises. The swivelling base has gone. This was really useful for setting up particularly for the F Class shooter. Drop your rest on the grass firing-point, set up your rifle, only to find that it isnt pointing at your target. To move the rest, you need to come out of the prone position except with the Mk 1 you didnt slacken off three thumb-screws and simply swivel the whole rest top a few degrees whilst leaving the base just where youd plonked it down brilliant! OK, weve lost the swivelling base what have we got in exchange? Seb has given us a few toys. Firstly, the NEO can be dismantled and stacked for transportation. You dont do this every day but it would be damn useful if you were flying with the rest. Secondly, the rest can be rigged in two ways with the third leg to the front or rear. Normally, with a tri-pod rest, it would be set up as a Y with two legs to the front and one to the rear. However, when running a gun very
The NEO (right) offers stacks more adjustment than the Mk 1 SEB no need for those long screws The Mk 1 SEB was a very good rest and it had one very good feature that no other rest has (including the NEO) a swivelling base. Useful as this was however, the Mk 1 had a couple of flaws. Vertical adjustment was a bit limited (again, more critical for F Class where outdoor ranges may vary in topography) and the tension was a bit tedious to set up and fiddly to alter on range during a shoot. SEB Mk 1 users soon made their own modifications and you will see SEBs with longer set-up screws to cope with the lack of vertical adjustment and counterbalance weights to support the weight of the rifle without unduly increasing the tension which can make the operation of the joystick jerky. You just cant shoot quickly with a stiff, jerky rest and if you cant shoot quickly, it kind of defeats the object of a joystick rest - for benchrest shooting anyway. I like to use my Mk 1 set very loose, with a counterbalance weight moving the joystick feels like stirring cream lovely and smooth! Even for F Class, I just cant do with a stiffly set up rest but some shooters seem to get along OK with a stiff set up. Of course, with a loose set up, you need to hold the joystick absolutely still as you pull the trigger and it takes some practice to do this even the slightest movement would be reflected massively on the target.
Side by side that swivelling base is the only loss quickly, the rear leg has a tendency to lift as you slam the rifle back into battery against the fore-end stop. With the leg to the front, this wont happen. OK, but why the option? The problem is, if you are using the rest for short-range benchrest, you may find it difficult to set up with the muzzle of a short 20
inch barrel beyond the edge of the front of the bench a rule requirement. So, the leg can be placed to the rear. With 1000 yard guns (or F Class rifles) with maybe a 30 inch barrel, this wouldnt be a problem and you will have the leg to the front. The other great advantage over the Mk 1 is vertical adjustment. The NEO has at least twice the adjustment of the Mk1 not so important in

Amazingly, it was fine. In fact, when I slammed the rifle back into battery after pulling the trigger, the crosshair was really close to my aim-point I was well impressed! I wont get the chance to try a 22lb rifle for sometime as my F Open gun only weighs about 18lbs. so again, no problem. I love my NEO! So, what other features do we have on the latest NEO? For a start, we have proper hardened steel points on the legs not for F Class but essential for hammering into the concrete bench-top to prevent the rest sliding about. For F Class, Seb can supply a set of large feet which work better on a grassy firingpoint. Now, lets have a look at the front bag or bags to be accurate. This three-piece front bag was always a bit controversial on the original NEO and, in some respects, Im surprised that Seb retained it. It does allow the rest to cope with different rifle foreend widths but is this necessary? For short range benchrest and F Class, three-inches is the maximum permitted fore-end width but, in 1000 yard benchrest, rifles may use a wider fore-end and I think this is maybe what Seb had in mind.
Put the leg to the front if you have a long-barrelled rifle benchrest but with massive variation in grass firingpoints on outdoor ranges. It is a very useful feature all the more so as it is very easy to wind up and down, with an adjuster on each side use either, which ever one is more convenient. The tension is now simplicity itself to adjust two thumb-screws with locking-rings. Tension can now easily be adjusted on range, though in fairness, I never needed to do it on range with my Mk 1 but, it was so fiddly, I wouldnt have attempted it anyway. So, if we want to run the NEO loose do we need a counter-balance weight? Seb has addressed this by incorporating a spring which provides a certain amount of up-lift to counteract the weight of the rifle. My rest will be used with three gun weights 10.5lb. for Light Varmint benchrest, 17lb. for Light Gun in 1000 yard benchrest and 22lb. for F Class shooting. I doubt that the spring uplift will cope with this variation but, when I tried the rest with my 10.5lb. short-range benchgun it was absolutely fine. Mike Ratigan did say that he had removed the uplift spring and replaced it with a counterbalance weight but honestly it worked very well for me. But how would it work with my 17lb 1000 yard Light Gun?
Tension is now adjusted with these two thumb-screws

Personally, I would probably be happier with a conventional three-inch single bag but, Seb has put some thought into the latest design and it is an improvement on his first effort. My intention was ditch it and go for a single bag but the three-bag system works very well so far, so Im going to give it a fair test. Seb has made the tiny side bags with more capacity and has improved the way you can tighten the bag to grip the stock though in reality you do not want to actually grip the stock it should simply hold the stock in place, eliminating any side slop. Seb has also offered a modified third leg screw so that if the leg is to the rear, the screw doesnt get in the way of the joystick. The screw fits flush with the top of the rest. The side bags are now a better design with improved adjusters.
The four tension adjusters on the Mk 1 SEB were difficult to access and needed an Allen key and spanner. After assembling the rest from the delivered stacked configuration which only takes a couple of minutes with the supplied Allen keys and filling the three bags with sand (which takes a bit longer) I took a couple of photographs which accompany this article.
The flush-fitting alternative rear screw can be seen close to the knob. The normal screw is to the rear.
In summation, The latest NEO is an improvement on the first one we tested and to recap we have the following modifications:
Built-in up-lift but counter-balance weight may be used if preferred. Hardened steel pins on feet. Flush-fitting rear foot-adjuster. Improvement to three-bag system. Easier to adjust tension.
For me, this makes the NEO just about the best joystick rest you can buy whatever your discipline.
Note the NEO in the rear showing the amount of elevation available compared the the MK I in the foreground.
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Yes, you will always be able to read Target Shooter on-line but we feel that the iPad is the way forward for magazines and newspapers and, in a very short time, I predict that this will become the acceptable way to read a magazine or book.
11
Hornady Autocharge
Automatic powder dispenser Review
By Vince Bottomley
Hornady Autocharge. Automatic powder dispenser

I can be a bit anal when it comes to reloading and Ive always avoided those automatic powder throwers cant be accurate surely?
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I use a Denver Instruments balance which weighs to one fiftieth of a grain! Yup thats right 0.02 grains. Well why not? If youre going to the trouble of weighing something, you might as well get it as accurate as you can!
Having said that, like most benchrest shooters, I still throw my charges for 100 yard benchrest using one of those fancy expensive Harrel throwers but they only throw to three-tenths of a grain at best. For 100 yards, it doesnt seem to make any difference; for long range stuff however, clearly there will be a difference - on the target - thats why I like my Denvers. At the recent World Benchrest Championship in France however, I had to change my view of autodispensers several teams had them for the 200m competitions and GB team member Tony Lenton had brought his RCBS Chargemaster along. Well, if everyone is using them, I suppose they must be OK and indeed I was well impressed with the RCBS unit, it worked well and more importantly, the results on target confirmed it. On a recent trip to Hannams Reloading (www. hannamsreloading.com) the charming Ms Hannam talked me into trying Hornadys latest version of their electronic loading device the Autocharge - which was timely as Id more or less decided to buy one. Price-wise, they arent cheap at over 300 but could it really make my Denvers redundant? The Hornady Autocharge box felt surprisingly light for 300 worth of kit and my first job was to extract the instruction manual and have a good read. If youve bought a TV or a digital camera recently, youll have no doubt waded through a hefty tome in a dozen different languages before you can even switch it on!
Hornady Autocharge
By Vince Bottomley
What a pleasant surprise just a double-sided piece of card tells you all you need to know about using the Hornady. Well that may be but no doubt we need to leave it switched on for twenty-four hours to stabilise? Nope 15 minutes is fine! OK, tip the powder into the hopper and lets go. As with any electronic scale, calibration is recommended before use; it only takes a couple of minutes.
Thats what I call an instruction manual! Strip away all the hype and this impressive expensive device is nothing more than a motorised powdertrickler housed in a fancy plastic box you probably already have a manual trickler that you twiddle to dribble the last few granules of powder into your scale pan. Thats exactly what the Autocharge does - after keying-in your chosen charge-weight, press the dispense button and watch the Hornady dribble the bulk of the charge in a matter of seconds it then slows to trickle the last half grain or so.
Just a motorised trickler...
13
Hornady Autocharge
By Vince Bottomley
The whole thing takes about 30 seconds, which just gives me time to pour the charge into the cartridge case, replace the pan (which automatically starts the weighing process) take the cartridge case across to the bench where my press is mounted, (the scales are on a separate wall-mounted bench to reduce the chance of vibration) seat the bullet and get back to the Hornady - just in time to hear ding signalling that another charge is ready! With some previously prepped 308 cases, I reloaded 90 rounds in under an hour without any fatigue. Normally, I would have done this in three batches on three separate nights. With the Hornady, its just effortless, it totally eliminates the tedium of weighing. Downsides? What about accuracy? I never switch off the Denver scale, so I was able to check-weigh the odd charge and they were pretty good. I was weighing 46.9 grains of Vihtavuori N150 and occasionally, it would over-weigh 47.0 grains so I just chucked it on the Denvers pan and took out a few granules whilst the Hornady was trickling the next load! If you like, you could hook a few granules out of the pan and let the Hornady have another go. If it over-weighs by more than one-tenth of a grain, an over message flashes up and the bell rings twice. Alternatively, you can just dump the over-weighed charge back in the hopper and let the Hornady weigh another.
The over-weighing comes about due to the workings of the tube-trickler rather than dropping a granule at a time, it will sometimes clump up and drop three or four at once just the way it works. If you slow down the process there is a normal, slow and fast option you get less over-weighs but its so easy to adjust if you have your ordinary electronic scales at the ready and it doesnt even slow down the progress - by the time Id done a check-weigh on the Denvers and hooked out a couple of granules, the Hornady has already dispensed another charge! My second test was with Hodgdon H4350 powder. This is a bit finer than the Vit N150 and I started to get more over loads. I tried using the normal rather than fast speed setting and it sorted the problem. On the fast setting, the Hornady quickly dispenses to within half a grain and then trickles the last half grain very slowly. If you go to the normal setting, it trickles the last grain so less risk of an over-throw. I later did a proper check against the Denvers - this time using Reloader 22 powder. The target-load was 52.5 grains. I loaded ten charges, tipping each one into the Denvers pan. I had just one indicated overload, which went back into the Autocharges hopper. According to the Denvers, heres what they actually weighed: 52.42 grains 52.54 52.48 52.48 52.59 52.50 52.46 52.52 52.40 52.56 Pretty impressive really and easily as good as you would get with a set of standard electronic reloading scales. You would need a set of laboratory scales like the Denvers or maybe an RCBS 10-10 beam scale to better it. Honestly, until you use one of these devices, you just cant appreciate how easy weighing becomes. Remember when you got your first set of electronic scales - after fiddling and tapping those beam scales? Well, the Hornady just takes it on another leap. If it wasnt for the price, everybody would have one!
I even took it to the range. Fortunately, Diggles benchrest range has power and the Hornadys wind-cover meant that accurate loads were quickly dispensed very handy for load development.
14
Hornady Autocharge
By Vince Bottomley
The dash-board very simple to get the hang of...
Ive read of tedious problems in emptying some of these devices like having to turn it upside down to get out any unused powder. With the Hornady, there is a tap on the side and if you move it to the edge of your reloading bench and open the tap you can run-off any surplus powder straight into the powder tub. To remove the residue from the trickler tube, just switch it on and let it run until it empties less than a minute. A long artists paint-brush is thoughtfully provided to let you dislodge the odd granule which may be clinging to the inside of the hopper. Yes, these machines are expensive but, if you are new to reloading, then you must consider the items you would need to buy, weigh your powder-charges scales, powder-thrower and powder-trickler. These items could easily cost you a couple of hundred pounds so, when this is offset against the Autocharge, its not bad value. In addition to the Hornady, there are two other such devices to choose from. We also have the Lyman
The side tap allows you to easily empty the Autocharge
1200 (stocked by Hannam Reloading) and the RCBS Chargemaster. Laurie Holland had a brief look at the Lyman earlier in the year but well do a full review for next month and then try and get hold of the RCBS.
15
Highpower Rifle Association

Precision Sharp and Snap Shooting Match By John Morgan-Hosey

Precision Sharp and Snap Shooting Match.
In aid of the Royal British Legion
16

Highpower Rifle Association - Precision Sharp and Snap Shooting Match. On a balmy first Saturday in August, the Highpower Rifle Association
hosted a precision rifle match at the National Shooting Centre in aid of the Royal British Legion. The match was listed on the NRA calendar for some time, the intention being to run a sniper rifle competition - similar to an event held in March 2007. However, the original shoot was abandoned and the NRA offered the booking to anyone prepared to organise such a match and this is where I stepped in.
17

The butt squad had a bit of a surprise when they saw the targets - the cold bore starter looked rather small.
The squad that went to the firing-point had an even bigger surprise - at 200 yards, the cold-bore starter looked tiny!
18
ith only six weeks notice, thoughts on how to encourage as many people as possible to enter gave me the idea of running it in aid of the Royal British Legion. However, we were limited to a maximum of forty-eight competitors due to the range space and time available. I had already roughed out a course of fire and now had the task of making it happen - with one thing clear in the back of my mind.
Having read lots of posts on many of the popular UK shooting forums, it seemed that everyone had a rifle capable of half MOA accuracy and many claimed to have quarter MOA rifles. Even out of the box factory rifles were usually considered to be capable of one MOA. A Minute of Angle equates to approximately one-inch at 100 yards and 2 inches at 200 yards etc. If a rifle/ammunition combination is capable of shooting one MOA, then a two-inch target at 200 yards should be no problem!
The course of fire that resulted from my deliberations resulted in some very small targets, designed to challenge both the shooter and his equipment. It may have been a little too challenging as there were not many regular quarter MOA forum posters queuing up to enter! Those who did enter approached it in the spirit of the event with the primary focus being to raise money for a worthy cause and to have some fun with like-minded people. At this point I decided that as it was a charity event I should try to seek as much sponsorship as I could, so approached a variety of precision rifle and

equipment suppliers, wholesalers and riflesmiths to see if they could offer anything in the way of support to encourage shooters to enter. I was lucky enough to gain very generous offers from the following companies:
Third Eye Tactical, Aim Field Sports, Anglo Custom Rifle, HMB Ballistics, Bench Grade Brands (DTA SRS UK Wholesaler), Valkyrie Rifles, Lanner Tactical, Bradley Arms, Sporting Services & Low Mill Ranges.
Next on the list was to organize trophies, T-shirts and match pamphlets. Not being a graphic designer I asked for help on one of the forums I frequent and was delighted to be able to enlist the help of a very patient member who provided some proofs, changed them a few times and put them in a format I could give to the trophy engravers and embroiderers. It was now that I started to think What have I taken on here? There is an immense amount of work required to get a shoot like this together and hopefully make it run smoothly. Collecting entry fees, publishing the course of fire, taking T-shirt orders, purchasing special target materials and consumables, producing scorecards, confirming range bookings and requirements, reconfirming range bookings and requirements - it was almost a full time job for at least a week. Thankfully, my wife was very understanding and helped with a lot of the administration. Having successfully filled all the available places, I travelled to Bisley on the Friday before the match to check zero my rifle and prepare the targets for the following day. The NSC provided three plain white four-foot square backers per lane and thirty-six twometre wooden battens for hand-held targets. The majority of targets for the day were already pasted on lining paper so only had to be stapled to the backers and the hand-held Corex backers were also pasted in advance. Whilst we were preparing the targets, we found evidence in the butts that shooters had already been practicing, so the competition was likely to be hard fought and taken seriously by some.
19

Precision Sharp and Snap Shooting Match By John Morgan-Hosey The Match Fortunately, the weather was kind, with bright conditions and very little wind on Century Range first thing in the morning. After booking-in and receiving a safety-briefing, the forty-eight competitors were split into two squads - one squad in butts the other on the firing-point. The butt squad had a bit of a surprise when they saw the targets - the cold bore starter looked rather small. The squad that went to the firingpoint had an even bigger surprise - at 200 yards, the cold-bore starter looked tiny!
The principle behind the Stage 1 target was that a precision rifleman should know where his first cold bore shot of the day will impact, in relation to a warm and fouled barrel - something that is relatively easy to determine if you keep good records. Secondly, the target would allow the competitor to gain confidence that his rifle is zeroed and grouping as expected before moving further back. Clearly there were not many who had cold-bore shot information to hand as the results on paper proved. Only nine targets had the first shot fully within the cold bore circle - these were outward gauging so hits on the black ring were discounted and only one of them was dead centre on the Cold Bore Smiley. Interestingly, more than 50% of the Wildcat Class got a scoring first shot, whereas in 223 Class it was only 12% and in 308 Class, only 7%. The rest of the Cold Bore Starter target also presented quite a challenge and targets were later returned to the competitors for detailed analysis over a pint at the prize-giving later in the day.
well as two plain discs sized at 1 MOA and MOA. At each distance, the first two shots were taken at a four-inch sighting diamond with each one individually marked. The scoring on each target rewarded the harder shots with the MOA discs offering the highest score but with no margin for error. The figure targets had two scoring zones, so an offcentre shot would still return some points whereas an off-centre shot on a MOA disc scored zero. It was as we moved further back on Butt 19 that the shooters on the high-end lane numbers - nearest the trees on the right hand side of Century Range - started to perceive problems with their wind-calls, with some putting it down to the fact that they were shooting in magpie alley. Unfortunately, someone has to shoot in those lanes but if the match is repeated, we will ensure those shooters are placed further left next time. Analysis of the scores after the match showed that the fig. 14, scoring fours and threes, was the most popular target and very few competitors tried their skill at the MOA discs scoring four and five respectively.
The Stage 2 Partially Obscured targets were a little easier. By the time these targets were engaged shooters had already gained confidence in their shot placement. Getting these targets wrong resulted in a minus two penalty per shot in the black. However, the scores were generally better than Stage 1 but no one scored the maximum possible fifty points. The oval target in particular did not leave much room for error. Stages 3a, 4a and 5a titled Know Your Limits gave the competitor the opportunity to engage target based on their own marksmanship and equipment ability. On offer were a fig. 12c, 12b and fig. 14 as
Stages 3b, 4b and 5b - the Snaps - consisted of five exposures of a figure target for six seconds with two shots required each exposure. Something that did catch a couple of shooters out - the snap exposures were presented randomly over the six-foot frontage of the target lane, so they did not always appear in the same place. With a scope turned up to high magnification, the field of view reduces so a compromise has to be made. A fig.14 was used at 300 yards with a 12b and 12c at 400 and 500 yards respectively. To not disadvantage competitors using rifles with only a five-round magazine capacity, the time between the third and fourth target exposure was twenty seconds to allow a quick magazine change. Again the lack of maximum possible scores on the snaps was encouraging with only two people scoring a maximum at 500 yards on the 12c and none on either the 14 or 12b. The final stages at 600 yards consisted of rapid-fire, precision-deliberate and snap shooting. A United States Army target was used for the rapid-fire 6a Stage - the Excellence In Competition silhouette - which looks very similar to the B27 NRA(US) PPC Target. Competitors were given two marked sighting shots before a thirty-second exposure to fire ten rounds. The maximum possible score for this stage was sixty points, the highest score on the day was forty-six. 20
The rapid-fire stage at 600 yards caught out a few competitors who failed to get off all ten rounds in the thirty seconds, this led to subsequent details rushing the string. The last stage consisted of a three minute exposure of a modified fig. 12c with ten snap exposures of either a 12b or 14 each of five seconds. The 12c had been altered to include tighter scoring rings, with MOA scoring five, MOA scoring four, 1 MOA scoring three, 11/3 MOA scoring two and the rest of the target scoring one point. Some shooters opted to engage the snap targets whilst others opted for the static modified 12c, some a combination of both. The maximum score for this stage was fifty points and the best achieved thirty-five. All in all, most competitors said that they enjoyed the challenge, even though the targets were somewhat small compared to what they were used to. Equipment choices varied but the Wildcat calibres seemed to fair better at the extended ranges. At least one 223 shot very well against the 308s which were the largest Class. Scopes most suitable for these targets were in the range of 16 to 50 power with the optimum around 25 power. Those using lowerpowered optics struggled with the fig. 14 at 500 and 600 yards. Schmidt & Bender, Nightforce, Leupold and IOR scopes were all in evidence. The actions used included manually operated AR15 platforms, Remington 700s, Surgeons, Accuracy International AWs, Desert Tactical Arms, Sako TRGs and two Tubb 2000s both in 6XC. If we stage a similar match again we will probably change the format of Stages 4a and 5a and may also increase the score values of the more difficult targets to encourage shooters to take the risk of a high point reward. The Cold Bore Starter - although difficult was liked by many and will probably remain.

The overall results were as follows: 308 Class:

1st Place 2nd Place 3rd Place 1st Place 2nd Place 3rd Place 1st Place 2nd Place 3rd Place John Chambers George Eracleous David Haighton Brian Reacher Steve Sheldon Wesley Compton Layne Chisholm John Morgan-Hosey Paul Tasker 322.0 points 317.0 points 301.0 points 318.1 points 274.5 points 237.0 points 380.4 points (6XC) 358.5 points (.260 Rem) 341.7 points (6.5x47)
223 Class:
Wildcat Class
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5.11 Tactical Field Ops Watch By Chris Parkin
5.11 Tactical Field Ops Watch
Enter windspeed in either mph, metres per second or kmh.

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5.11 Tactical Field Ops Watch - by Chris Parkin

During a recent trip shooting the 338 Lapua DTA rifle at the WMS Steel Challenge facility in Wales, Andrew Venables the owner was keen to show me a `handy` new toy he had bought to help out his clients.
Many of the shooters who come here also want to learn a little more about shooting longer ranges but have little or no experience of - or access to - ballistic data, other than PC or web-based software. Last year, I ran a test on some iPhone app software that allowed shooters to run real-time data to produce ballistic solutions with good accuracy but eventually went on to test the ultimate Kestrel-Horus tool with full atmospheric condition and wind monitoring backup to further enhance the data produced - but at a price. Well, the toy Andrew had was a wrist watch, a 5.11 Tactical Watch to be precise, with an inbuilt ballistic computer. Handy yes but, I am a natural sceptic and had to have a go with one myself to really decide on its merits. As anyone with experience shooting long ranges knows, a generated number, produced by any method is not the be-all and end-all of a first round hit or converted sighter. Practice, testing and wind reading will always refine and evolve any data set but particularly for me - often testing a different rifle every month - it is terribly useful to have to do nothing more than work up a ball-park accurate load, zero and measure a velocity and, with the help of these ballistic aids, go out and start shooting at any range. With that goal in mind I will open this story by saying that much as I love Ballistic FTE on the iPhone, for now, au revoir! Nightgear.co.uk were kind enough to supply a 5.11 watch for testing and it arrived promptly in a recorded-delivery packet the next morning. I love new tools that just fall out of a box and you can start using immediately without studying a weighty manual and it is a true sign to me of intuitive usage charactristics that I got straight into the 5.11. As well as the regular digital watch functions like time, date, alarms and the more unusual digital compass,

the orange button on the watch transfers you into rifle mode where you have two option screens simply controlled by three other keys acting as select mode and then up and down keys. The set-up screen allows you to enter the usual ballistic variables such as zero range, ballistic coefficient (B.C.) muzzle velocity, scope height and metric or imperial units. A limited set of atmospheric variables can be entered - such as altitude and temperature but it seems to strike a nice balance between these and more complex variables such as humidity and dew point etc. offered by some other ballistic computers. Output results are offered in either mils or MOA and you can choose between what the instructions describe as either shooters or true adjustments - i.e. real minutes of angle or the more simplistic inches at 100 yards approach. After setting up your rifle/load combo (unfortunately you can only have one saved at a time in the memory), you return to the real time screen where you are invited to input range, wind speed and direction etc. and, after a click of the compute button, the correct elevation and windage readouts are displayed. Usefully, coriolis effect is also automatically compensated for. The watch can be set to display readouts of mils or MOA as well as the option to use single click units but I usually find counting hundreds of individual clicks a little slow and mistakes are easily made. On the other hand, a hunter without ballistic turrets may prefer this method and it is certainly the way many shooters prefer to think as mils and minutes of angle are a foreign language to them. When entering the range to target distance, this can only be refined to the nearest 25 yards which I do find a little basic. A varmint shooter for example may be engaging a very small target at extreme range and every single yard to which you can refine your result is very important. As a target shooter with sighters on hand, perfect is great but close is good enough - for me anyway. Other entered units can all be inputted to single figures, very important with muzzle velocity and BC. After three months, a trip out to America and a family holiday, I finally took the watch off to wear a dress
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Wind direction is easier in Oclock format in my head
The range can only be entered in 25 yard increments
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watch for a party. At this moment, I realised that although the watch did look somewhat chunky and was clearly designed to look the part in its tactical shooting environment, it was really comfortable and I had come to rely on it for day to day ballistic solutions. Everything, from a range test at 600 yards of a new 6.5 Creedmoor in baking temperatures in Nebraska, to my monthly 2/300 yard McQueen competition plus a number of rifles at variable range target distances were tested between times and accommodated. It was comfortable to wear when shooting and, with the usual tells the time function, I found myself spending less time carefully storing my delicate iPhone away before dropping to the prone position and just getting on with shooting. The firing solutions produced by the watch agreed at every point with my usual JBM ballistics reference source and were always within my ability to accurately gauge the wind on the day. In the UK we never really see the vast, rapid atmospheric changes as I

experienced in Nebraska but the watch coped with these temperature variations without a hiccup. A spare strap is supplied in case of damage along with an extension to fit the wristband over bulky clothing. The directional bezel on top rotates in both directions, which Im not quite sure is desirable but it does tie-in with the digital compass and the three colour options Coyote, O.D. green and black are all unobtrusive. A retail price of 170 is fair for a watch that shares many of the aesthetic and tough design attributes of G-shocks and the like but the onboard ballistic calculator, slightly simplified as it may be, is invaluable and well worth the expense. My poor Omega now sits in its little winding box 24-7 and for shooting in the field, the iPhone for me is definitely good bye! Contact: www.nightgear.co.uk tel: 08445 090 444
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The final ballistic solution is clearly displayed with windage and elevation in your chosen units
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This was a good start to the air rifle season.

A week later was the Commonwealth Shooting Championships European Division where I came second in the air rifle competition. I actually went into the final in 3rd place and, with an impressive final, I went up a place and won a silver medal. In the 3 Position event, I came 7th after a tricky match with my butt-plate breaking mid shoot!
The same week I took a day trip to Nurnberg in Germany to go batch testing with my new ammunition sponsors RWS. We left Gatwick at 8am and flew back at 8pm the same day! Whilst there I batch tested my 22 rimfire and air rifle to make sure I had the perfect batched-tested ammunition for my Feinwerkbau rifles. Thank you very much Christian in Germany and Dave and Phil from RUAG UK for all your support. I have now just come back from the Welsh Open in Cardiff, with some impressive results... I shot a selection score for the Europeans in February next year. It was also an MCS (minimum qualifying score) for the 2012 Olympics too. It was also enough to win the Welsh Open Ladies title - so the second title of the season! My next competition will be the Surrey Open in November where I hope to keep on improving. Please visit my website www.shereecox.co.uk for more information on my sporting career and how to donate to my shooting fund via Paypal.
Sheree Cox
Sheree Cox is one of our Olympic hopefuls but funding her Olympic qualifying campaign is expensive. We hope that Target Shooter readers will enjoy reading about Sherees progress and maybe even contribute a little to her quest.
This October has been quite exciting. The first weekend was the Middlesex Open at Bisley in Surrey. I won the Middlesex Open championship, winning the Waterloo Cannon (picture can be seen here) http://www.hhrc.co.uk/index_files/ Page1251.htm
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Triple Scope shoot-out! Hakko - ZOS - Sightron By Vince Bottomley
Triple Scope shoot-out!
The contenders: The Hakko, the ZOS and the Sightron

Triple Scope shoot-out! At long last, John Dean of Aimfield Sports gave me one of the new 8-32 Sightrons for a Target Shooter review. If you remember, we first saw this scope at the Newark Shooting Show way back in February John had a pre-production example at the Show, with instructions to take it straight to IWA the following week so, we never really got chance to see it properly, let alone test it. Now, John has fulfilled most of his back orders and was happy to supply a test scope for Target Shooter.
The contenders: (Left - Right) The Hakko, the ZOS and the Sightron
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What makes the new Sightron special? Well, for a start, it demonstrates that Sightron listen to their customers and this latest version of the popular 8-32 model incorporates all the features we asked for like bigger turrets, finer stadia type reticle, more adjustment and whilst youre at it, ditch the illumination please we dont shoot in the dark! (OK - you can still get an illuminated reticle if you wish!)
But who are these customers? Before F Class came along, there was little need for powerful optics, let alone zooms. After all, what long-range target shooting disciplines did we have in the UK a decade ago? Yes, the small band of Bisley-based Match Rifle shooters have always explored shooting at extreme ranges, as have the 1000 yard benchrest guys but beyond that, there was little need for powerful scopes.
(Main Picture) The ZOS markings are nice and neat and clear. The central turrethousing is a bit ugly...
But why 8-32? Dont we always say You cant have too much magnification with a rested rifle. Yes, true but Ive noticed that many shooters using for example the 12-42 Nightforce, invariably seem to prefer them in the 32-36 power range. Similarly, I much preferred the 8-32 Sightron to their 10-50 model. 8-32 seems a nice compromise for a scope which will be used out to 1000 yards in daylight conditions on regular, high-contrast targets. For the record, the Hakko is actually an 8-34 but for the test, we will run it at 32 power.
The ZOS 8-32 SF Lets stay with the ZOS and have a closer look at it. Its very similar to the other two both in size and general specification, having a 30mm body tube finished in a satin-black anodising, large, chunky exposed target turrets, side-focus and European-style focussing for the reticle by rotating the eyepiece.
Our ZOS weighs a substantial 31 ounces, with an overall length of 16 inches. Its large turrets are tastefully incised in fine, clear white lettering giving one-eighth MOA adjustment. Originally, the scope was branded ZOS but, as a valued customer, Mr Fox may now have his own name on the scope and this is displayed on the eyepiece.
John handed me the scope at one of our F Class shoots, where Aimfield Sports usually have a presence and, the very same day Foxy thats Brian Fox of Fox Firearms gave me one of his latest Hakkos to try. Thats great, we can compare these two very similar scopes - even though one is substantially more expensive than the other. But, why not make it really interesting and chuck one of Foxs cheap n cheerful Chinese jobbies into the mix. The ZOS scopes are made by the Nantong Universal Optical Instrument Company of China and, for the money, they are remarkable and have launched many a shooters career. The money? Just 105!
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The objective lens is 50mm and the ocular 34mm and both lenses have the usual blue/green anti-flare coating. The reticle is a fine crosshair-dot suitable for accurate target work, though the dot could be smaller. I prefer a one-eighth MOA dot but the ZOS looks more like quarter MOA. However, the fine, intersecting crosshairs stop just short of the dot and when I was using a 6mm bullet-hole as my aim-point, I used the tip of this line rather than the dot for a really fine aim-point. The crosshairs were very sharp and using this method I could easily shoot tiny groups with my 6PPC benchgun I was using for the test. The side-focus and zoom-ring are quite stiff to move but the operation is smooth and the turrets have a very positive eighth MOA click adjustment. The large lump which houses the turrets and side-focus looks a little ugly but, overall, the first impression is of a good, solidly-built scope. Unfortunately, build-quality is one thing we cant easily test without damaging the goods so that will be the one area where we must always take a chance and make the assumption that cost and the reputation of the manufacturer, will signify an appropriate buildquality. However, even if the ZOS is not built to the
The Hakko 8-34 Tactical Putting the ZOS aside, lets have a look at the Hakko. The main difference here? We move from China to Japan for manufacture. Hakko are very experienced scope manufacturers and you are quite likely to see a Hakko bearing the name of another manufacturer and again, the Fox name is emblazoned on the eye-piece. Externally, our Hakko is quite similar to the ZOS, with large target turrets but this time adjusting in quarter MOA clicks. Quarter or eighth MOA? Personally, Im more than happy with quarter MOA who can read the wind to better than a quarter MOA? Nonetheless,
The Hakkos lettering is a little too bold for my taste. some shooters prefer eighth the choice is yours. The white lettering is a little shall we say gaudy for my taste but it is clear and thats the main thing. Its the largest of the three scopes at 18.5 inches in length and the heaviest at 31.5 ounces. The 56mm objective lens and 34mm ocular both have green/blue anti-flare coatings. All controls are incredibly stiff especially the sidefocus and the turrets move with positive quarter MOA clicks. The reticle is super-fine, allowing very precise aiming and is again focussed by rotating the rubber-protected eyepiece. The reticle also has very tiny stadia markings on three of the four legs of the crosshair, which I almost didnt notice at first but
Heres the Hakko mounted on my 6PPC BAT benchrest rifle used in the test. standards of the Sightron and Hakko, I can tell you that Brian Fox has had very few returned out of the hundreds he has sold over the last five years or so. He operates his own guarantee and usually gives you a new one if you have a problem unless youve obviously abused it!
You get all the goodies with the Sightron though to be fair, the Hakko includes a sun/rain shade and all three have lens covers.
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theyre there and they will do the job. If they were larger, this would almost be the perfect reticle but, as a target shooter, all I want is a very fine crosshair, giving me the ability to aim as precisely as possible. However, in my opinion, fine stadia-type reticles are the ultimate as they also allow an accurate aim-off which can be useful if, like me, you aim-off for F Class rather than adjusting the turrets with every shot. Weight-wise, its a tad heavier than the ZOS and, if you shoot in F/TR, you will be ultra-conscious of every ounce - with an all-up 18lb.2 oz. rifle/scope weight-

long-range target work and very similar to the more expensive March. Great for accurate aim-offs and for me, difficult to improve on. All controls move smoothly, with an absence of stiffness, giving that feeling of precision. Overall, the scope looks and feels the nicest in a purposeful way of the three. Again, although Sightron are an American company, the word is Japanese not Chinese. Before we go on-range, a word or two about settingup your scope. Rule number one get some decent rings! Until twelve months ago, most decent scope rings came from America or in some cases, Europe. Now we have a scope-ring manufacturer in the UK who is second to none. Weve featured Third Eye Tactical products in this magazine already but if you missed it check out www.thirdeyetactical.com With a quality scope, a one-piece Picatinny rail and some good rings, it shouldnt be necessary to lap the rings but I usually do! Normally this just involves mounting the rings on your rifle and stroking the bottom section of the rings with some 400 wet & dry paper round a suitably sized dowel. With a good rail and rings, you shouldnt see any high-spots but, if you do, continue stroking until you flatten them. Dont forget to cover the action with a cloth you dont want carborundum grit in there! This exercise will prevent marking the body tube, so you can confidently mount your scope without messing about with bits of protective tape. In fact, if you try and put anything between a 30mm CNC machined ring and a 30mm body tube, you could distort the body-tube. Dont do it! I usually wait until I get to the range to properly align the crosshair. Its easily done with a plumb-bob hanging from the target or even the edge of the target if its verticle. Next job is to focus the reticle. Do this by setting up the rifle with the scope pointing towards a plain, light surface a nice grey sky is perfect for this and we get plenty in the UK! Turn the eyepiece until the reticle is pin-sharp vertically and horizontally. Spend some time on this settle for nothing less than perfect! Once done thats it for life. I once bought a very good scope very cheap because the owner couldnt get the reticle sharp he just hadnt tried hard enough!
I dont mind the Sightrons gold lettering but one or two commented on it. limit but, all of these scopes are lighter (and cheaper) than the equivalent Nightforce (NXS: 34oz. BR: 36oz.) so they should be popular with effers.
Sightron 8-32 S111SS Now for the Sightron. Its the shortest of the three at 15.5 inches and a little neater looking. The big target-turrets are this time incised in gold rather than white. I think it looks fine and certainly more tasteful than the bold white markings on the Hakko, however not all agree and some think it looks tacky but, this is a minor point and down to individual taste and it certainly wouldnt stop me buying one. The 56mm objective and 34 ocular again have the familiar green/ blue anti-flare coatings.
The Sightron is easily the lightest of the three at 26 ounces - just one of the reasons that its the scope of choice for many F/TR shooters. Thats a sunstantial weight-saving over the opposition and could give you another couple of inches of barrel length or a heavier bi-pod! Again, we are looking at side-focussing and the reticle focused via the rotating rubber-protected eyepiece. The Sightron reticle is superb a very fine crosshair/ dot but with proper stadia lines - ideal for accurate
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Of course, somewhere along the line, we need to consider eye-relief. I prefer to set mine a bit on the long side when I mount the scope if you dont, you could get a nasty case of scope bite when you least expect it bit of an off-putter at the start of a competition! Yes, if you are a bit too far back you could get shadowing around the edge of the picture but so what? We are looking at the centre of the reticle. Lastly, check for parallax. Although you are set up correctly, you may see a very slight movement of the crosshair as you gently move your head. Just tweak the side-focus slightly to eliminate parallax your sight-picture should remain sharp.
Results: (Distance between the two bullet holes) ZOS Shot-holes touching. Hakko Shot-holes touching. Sightron Holes overlapping.
To some extent, the thickness of the crosshair can affect the result as it may totally obscure the aimpoint at minimum magnification. Nonetheless, the results were very good for all three scopes Incidentally, we always have factors which can influence test results accuracy of the rifle, accuracy of ammunition, wind effect and not least the nut behind the butt. Im attempting to eliminate these as far as possible by using the most accurate and shootable rifle I own my 6PPC benchrest rifle shot from rests.
The tests Forget lens test charts and the like - Im going to compare these three scopes as simply as possible with tests you could easily repeat with your own scope. The return to zero zoom test. Fire one shot on full-power i.e. 32X, zoom out and fire another on minimum power 8X. Most scopes fly through this test but its always a fear of some shooters that the zero will alter.
When shooting F Class, its advisable to keep an eye on the targets either side of you for signs of sudden wind-changes and this is where a zoom scope is really useful. Also, some prefer to wind down the power in the event of mirage. Yes, it does lessen the appearance of the mirage but Ive never found it to help with the accuracy of shot-placement but, as always, its your choice.
Lens resolving power Normally, I would be reaching for the lens test-charts but not today Im relying on the Daily Telegraph. A good selection of newsprint. Lets see what we can read with each scope at 100 yards. ZOS I could read the Stelios drops EGM but struggled with Collins Stewart warns on profits Hakko I could read Collins Stewart warns on profits but not quite There is nowhere quite like Australia Sightron I could actually read There is nowhere quite like Australia
With the ZOS, there was just the slightest detectable image fall-off at the edge of the lens but it would in no way affect the performance of the scope. With the Hakko and Sightron, I couldnt detect any edge fall-off.
Accuracy of adjustment For this test, well carefully zero and fire a shot, then wind on 30 MOA and fire another shot. One MOA (minute of angle) is approximately 1.047 inches so, we are looking for a measurement of around 31.41 inches. Heres what we got: ZOS: 32.75 inches (Less than 5% error) Hakko: 27.75 inches (An error of about 12%!) Sightron: 31.0 inches (Just over a 1% error)
Well also see if the image looks sharp at the edge of the lens as well as the centre - not too much of a problem with a riflescope as we usually have the centre of the crosshair on the centre of the target.
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The result from the Sightron is nothing short of magnificent easily as good as any scope Ive every tested. Dial in 5 MOA with the Sightron and thats exactly what you get on the target! A target shooters dream. The ZOS is also very good I could name a top-brand optic costing ten-times the price of the ZOS which cant match that!

So, four simple tests which you can repeat with your own scope if you wish. Not surprisingly, the Sightron came out tops in every test and, at 878 its easily the most expensive but Id like to think that even against stiffer opposition, the Sightron would hold its own. But how impressive is that 105 ZOS, punching way above its weight. Build-quality is an unknown factor but its more than capable of accurate target work and at that price, you could afford to carry a spare! The Hakko falls midway between the two extremes and at 595 it offers very good optics, a very fine reticle but is slightly let down by the accuracy of adjustment. Tweak the design of the crosshair and sort the adjustment and it would offer excellent value as there are few Japanese made scopes in this price-bracket.
These are the three words to look for when buying a scope Made in Japan unfortunately absent from the Chinese ZOS. But what of the result from the Hakko? Ive tested scopes with a 10% error before and, if you are aware then you can work with it. Normally, scope adjustments made when shooting will be in the order of one or two MOA maximum, so we are only looking at a small amount. However, it doesnt help when doing your best to read the wind if your scope is working against you! Moral check your scopes adjustment it just might improve your scores!
Finally, we come back to build-quality. There is nothing worse than an equipment failure in a big competition and if that competition is overseas or forms part of a major championship then you could be regretting skimping on your scope or any other piece of equipment for that matter. Often, scope failures do not appear catastrophic you just dont shoot quite as well as you expected and everything except the scope gets the blame. Reliability in a scope is paramount and thats what entices serious shooters to fork out two grand for a March or Schmidt & Bender. When you spend your money, think about the consequences of failure. If youre a plinker and your ZOS lets you down its no big problem but if youve travelled halfway round the world to a major competition, its not just your shoot you could be letting the team down. For the ZOS and Hakko, contact Fox Firearms at www. foxfirearmsuk.com and for Sightron in the UK contact www.aimfieldsports.com For Sightron America its www.sightron.com
The final test Whilst winding on MOA, I also checked the maximum adjustment within each scope bearing in mind of course that you will likely use up half of this just mounting and zeroing the scope depending on your individual set-up i.e tapered rail, accuracy of mounts. ZOS 45 MOA Hakko 54 MOA (but we need to knock off an eighth of that for the error so nearer 48MOA Sightron 78 MOA
Clearly, you will need a tapered rail with the ZOS and Hakko if you intend to shoot out to extreme ranges like 1000 yards with a 308. Again, the Sightron impressed with an astounding 78 MOA!
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DEALING WITH THE WIND PART 5
FINDING THE Zero
Dealing with the wind part 5
by Chris White
It is with great sadness that we report the death of one of our contributors Chris White on Sunday October 16th. Chris was something of a legend in British Target Rifle circles, having represented his country on a number of occasions and, in his later years, he was happy to pass on his vast knowledge to other shooters and to readers of both Target Shooter and Target Sports magazine. This month, we publish the final part of Chriss series of articles Dealing with the Wind. As always, in circumstances such as these, its difficult to know if this is the right decision but, if I could have put the question to Chris, I can imagine his answer: Dont be so damn silly get it published! (See Webtorial).
See issues May , August, September & October for parts 1, 2 ,3 & 4.
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Part 5 by Chris White Understanding Groups

Now we have looked at why rifles shoot groups and do not put all the shots through one hole. We have touched on the importance of finding the centre of the group and ensuring that this group centre coincides with the centre of the target. This maximises our potential score; even if the combination of rifle, shooter and ammunition is not capable of shooting tight enough to put every shot into the bullseye. We need to grasp the fact that getting the vertical centre of the group on the horizontal centreline of the
Dealing with the wind.
Fig. 3 With a 2 minute group even though the first shot hits the V bull the next could just as likely be a three. For the smallbore shooter shooting indoors, groupcentring is fairly straightforward but for the TR shooter, wind is usually a bedevilling influence. How we cope with the wind comes soon. Since we cannot predict what the wind will be until very close to shot delivery, we - unlike our indoor colleagues - are unable to centre the group in a lateral sense, in anything other than benign wind conditions. What we can do however, is to centre the group in a vertical sense. The tighter the group the easier this is to achieve.
Fig.2 If the group size is one minute then the next shot could fall anywhere within the five blue circles. V bull not only minimises the risk of losing a shot out the top or the bottom of the bull, it also gives us maximum lee-way with our wind judgement. If the shot falls right on the waterline then we have (on an NRA TR bull) almost +/- a minute of error potential which, if we are shooting minute groups is almost entirely taken up by the size of that group! However, since we are shooting at a round bull and not a square one, if the shot falls at 12 oclock or 6 oclock we have very little lee-way and even if our wind judgement is spot on our group size may lose us a point.
Fig.4 With a one minute group, the shooter is able to make rational decisions based on the plot and his windreading experience.
Fig.5 The shooter is flummoxed due to the excessive grope size. Shot placement frequently differing from his wind-reading experience.
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Lets assume that we are shooting in windless conditions at three hundred yards and fire a shot which ends up a low V. We have no way of knowing whether this shot represents the centre of where our subsequent group will develop. It may be in the centre, it may be at the top or bottom of the group or on the edge of it or anywhere in between. If the shooter/rifle/ammunition combination are capable of grouping to a minute or thereabouts, then
or her group-centre is before committing to scoring shots. The TR shooter is stuck with only two sighters and in many team events only one! We have to make the best we can of the situation and we do this by quickly and diligently plotting our corrected elevation. Now lets look at the situation which may develop in the two scenarios portrayed in Figs 2 and 3., above, where that first shot was actually at the bottom of the group and where there is little or no wind and where the shooter makes apparently rational decisions based on the plot below. In both cases, the shots have gone in the same relative positions related to the actual group-centre. Note that in addition to the vertical spread shots 1, 6 and 8 (above) have lost points due to the lateral size of the group. Remember, there is very little wind so the lateral spread of the shots is caused by the group size. The shooter is making wind adjustments based on his perception of what the wind is likely to do to the group centre. Remember this it is important: What the wind is likely to do to the group centre. Lets now look at a practical example where indifferent ammunition quality made the shooters task well nigh impossible and where good ammunition made it a lot easier. Same shooter, (the author), same rifle (Barnard), same range, reasonably similar wind conditions, different ammunition. The plot above, relates to a shoot in the 2008 NRA Imperial Meeting with issue RG ammunition and Fig.7 (below) in the 2008 Welsh Open Championship shot at the same distance with my own ammunition. Given the large vertical spread in the first case, it is reasonable to assume that the horizontal spread is also quite large. Were shots 4 6 and 14 all down to errors in wind judgement or were some of them down to the ammunition? So we come to the crux of the matter. Target Rifle matches (and F Class for that matter) are won and lost by wind judgement. Whilst we are about to cover the theory of this in some detail, there is no Holy Grail. It is very much a case of
Fig. 6 The fig. 5 scenario in reality. there is a possibility that the next shot fired will fall anywhere within the five (blue) circles shown in Fig 2. Giving something like a 70% probability of scoring a bull. If on the other hand, this combination can only produce groups of 2 minutes or thereabouts as shown in Fig 3. There is only about a 15% probability of a bull, 40% for an inner 40% for a magpie and about 5% for an outer.
Fig 7 The fig. 4 scenario in reality. Since we dont know where the next shot is going until we fire it, we have to assume that the shot is in the centre of the group - unless we have a strong reason to believe otherwise. The smallbore shooter has the luxury of firing a limitless number of sighters and should have a high degree of confidence in where his
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the harder you work the luckier you get. Wind judging ability comes from experience, lots of it, under as many different conditions on as many different ranges as possible. If you are shooting ammunition with a built-in two-minute error, how on earth are you going to be able to know whether a wild shot or indeed one in the middle of the V bull is there because your wind judgement was wrong (or right)? Take the example of shot 6 in fig. 6 and assume that as well as being 2 tall the group was also 2 minutes wide. If my judgement was right but the shot fell on the edge of its group, it could equally easily have been a wide inner out the other side. Or conversely, if my judgement was really 1 minutes adrift and the actual position of shot 6 is in the centre of the group it could easily have been a left handed V bull. In other words getting an inner or a V bull is nothing to with skill - it is merely an act of chance and that is why you should never compromise on your ammunition quality even when practising because if you do, you will learn nothing. It is a common practice for clubs to issue inferior ammunition to beginners on the grounds that cost is more important whilst they are in the learning stages. That may be fine for the first couple of sessions but as soon as the basics are learnt the beginner should be shooting good ammunition. Finally, remember what we are doing is centring the group based on the developing plot, not error chasing by correcting on individual shots.
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Gun Cleaning products from KG Industries

by Vince Bottomley

Does anyone like cleaning guns? No! As a result, many guns do not get cleaned as thoroughly or often as they should be. My first introduction to competitive rifle shooting was benchrest and the first thing a benchrest shooter learns? Fouling is the thief of accuracy!
I clean after every competition during a competition sometimes as most accurate rifles will show a deterioration in accuracy after 25 to 50 rounds. One of my shooting buddies proudly professed that he never cleaned his rifle. Shot oneinch groups when it was new, shoots two-inch groups now. Good enough for me. Yes, hes a stalker and his target is the size of a donkey so no problem but, if you have a fine custom rifle and you want to maintain that quarter-minute accuracy, you need to keep it scrupulously clean. Removing the powder-fouling from a barrel is not too difficult - after a days shooting. Removing the copperfouling is another matter entirely. All copper jacketed bullets will leave some residue in the bore including moly-coated ones. The deposit may be insignificant especially with a properly broken-in match barrel but, in extreme cases, copper build-up can be a major problem even with a brand-new barrel.
Copper begets copper if your bore is coppered-up it will attract more copper - from every bullet fired. Eventually, there will be so much copper in the bore that accuracy will have visibly deteriorated and furthermore, the copper will be very, very difficult to remove. Ideally, we do not want to reach this condition. For this reason, Im always on the look out for good copper solvents. In the UK, we were brought up on Sweets - an ammonia-based product from Australia. Not too many gunshops stock Sweets these days but it is always available from Fultons at Bisley look for it in a black bottle with red top. I like Sweets for me, its a sort of benchmark if I try a new copperremover, is it better than Sweets? Few are. My own favourite cleaning products are Butchs Bore Shine for the powder-fouling and Sweets for the copper. However, one or two other products have appeared recently. Im very impressed with the Pro Shot Copper Remover. Its imported by Hannams Reloading (along with the whole range of cleaning patches, brushes, jags etc.) and it is not ammonia based. For me, its every bit as good as Sweets. (www. hannamsreloading. com) The other product Ive used recently is Bore Tech Eliminator. Russell Simmonds has just started importing this from America and we vigorously tested some samples last month. They offer two products. One is a dedicated copper solvent whilst the other is a general bore cleaner but believe me, this is also a very effective copper remover. I took a bottle of each to the World Benchrest Championships in August (courtesy of Russell Simmonds www.simmondsreloading.com) and the whole team ended up using it! The Bore Tech is so good that sceptical shooters I never get any copper out of my barrel - believe the copper is coming off the brass jag but Bore Tech supply a proof positive aluminium jag to dispel that one!
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This month, we have a range of cleaning products from KG Industries. Ive sampled some KG products before and some of them I really like so lets have a look at what we have.
KG 1 Carbon Remover I mentioned benchrest at the beginning of this article. In 2001, I went to the World Championships in New Zealand. When we arrived, we got the customary goodie bag which, amongst other things, contained a bottle of Butchs Bore Shine. Id never seen Butchs before - Id smuggled a bottle of my favourite bore cleaner (which I wont mention) in a Head Lice Lotion bottle in my toilet bag! I figured this would fool the NZ customs but, as it was the time of the foot & mouth epidemic in the UK, they were more interested in confiscating my shoes!
Anyway, first job was to try the Butchs on my nice clean barrel. Wow a bit of a shock, as dirty patches came out of my clean barrel. What I thought was a clean bore was anything but. The Head Lice Lotion went down the toilet! Ive used Butchs ever since and, like Sweets, its my benchmark for cleaning fluids. However, Butchs is a carbon remover though it does contain ammonia, so it will bring out a little copper. You will see more Butchs at a benchrest match than any other cleaner. So, how does the KG 1 compare? I gave my barrel a good clean with the KG then another clean with Butchs to see if I could get any more carbon out. I couldnt. The barrel was clean clean enough for me anyway. The KG 1 has no smell of ammonia so dont expect it to remove copper.

by Vince Bottomley
oxygen (or air) - to make them work. Immersing a coin in the fluid effectively cuts of the supply of oxygen. But why did the KG work? It contains its own oxygen in the form of H2O or water! As it happens, the Pro Shot Copper solvent does the same. You can easily repeat the test yourself drop a bullet in Sweets and nothing happens but put a drop of Sweets on a bullet and it turns blue within minutes. Is there any advantage to using a non-ammonia based copper remover? There is a line of thought that if ammonia is left in a bore for too long (how long is too long?) it could cause pitting. I cant see why you would need to leave it for longer than fifteen minutes and that length of time certainly wont cause a problem. But, is the KG 12 a good copper solvent? Yes, it is. It is very good but the problem I had with it was knowing when all the copper was out of the barrel. With other copper-solvents, your patches keep coming out blue as long as theres copper in there but the KG12 is a yellow colour and my patches went in yellow and came out yellow! Is there any copper in there? Only way to find out try some Sweets. The patch came out free of blue stain so I decided to try some Bore Tech Eliminator in there. Sure enough, after 15 minutes, I could see a trace of blue albeit faint - on the patch. Is the KG better than Sweets? For me, it is probably as good but, I still reckon that Bore Tech beats the lot. Dont forget use a stainless-steel jag or an aluminium one (Bore Tech sell them for the sceptics!) if you are running your own tests, otherwise you will get a blue stain off the brass jag.
KG 12 Big Bore Cleaner KG 12 is their copper solvent and, a few years ago, at IWA there was a stand pushing KG products. The vendor had several glass petri dishes, each containing a different copper solvent. All the well known names were there. Immersed in each dish of solvent was a copper coin. Over the four days of the Show, the coin immersed in the KG 12 visibly dissolved almost all the detail had been etched away impressive. Needless to say, the coins in the other dishes were pretty well as they were when dropped in. Now I dont know to this day whether the guy on the stall was stupid or he hoped that the rest of us were! Most of the copper solvents of course need a catalyst 45
KG 2 Bore Polish This is one KG product Im never without in my cleaning box. I discovered it many years ago and now use it regularly.
Its called a bore polish and it does exactly what it says on the tin. I look at a lot of barrels with my borescope where the owner is having a problem, so he wants to know what the bore looks like. Is it firecracked, coppered-up etc. Often, the bore is good, copper free but looks a dull grey rather than highly polished. This is the ideal situation for KG Bore Polish. Make up a tight-fitting patch on a brass jag, give the bottle a good shake and soak the patch in Bore Polish and give that bore a really good workout stroking it

by Vince Bottomley
vigorously from chamber to muzzle but dont let the patch come out. Even though you have started with a clean barrel, the patch will come out black. Now clean the bore in the normal way and your bore will recover that mirror finish and shoot like it did when it was new! Even if your bore is blackened and starting to firecrack, a good workout with Bore Polish will rejuvenate it. OK, if your barrel has had it, nothing will provide a permanent cure but it will reduce the tendency to copper-up.
rifles in a clean dry environment theres no need. I put em away clean and dry and shoot them without any further treatment save for a clean dry patch before the first round, as a precaution you never know whats crawled in there! Are there any occasions where we need to oil our rifles? Maybe if you are a stalker and your rifle gets left in a damp atmosphere for an indeterminate length of time, you might want to oil the bore but you must thoroughly clean out the oil before shooting. This would be like cleaning your rifle twice! Maybe pistols and lever-actions, having more moving parts need a bit of lube? Triggers shouldnt be oiled and neither should bolts. OK always grease your bolt (a trace behind the lugs and on the camming-point) before use but thats a different matter. KG Industries have attempted to offer a complete range of cleaning and maintenance products for the shooter and they have done a pretty good job. We havent looked at their whole range of products by any means but you can, by visiting www.kgcoatings.com. Follow the instructions on the bottles and you wont go far wrong in keeping your rifles clean. Open Season Ltd. of Oxford are the UK importers www.openseasonltd.com E-mail Rupert@ openseasonltd.com for the address of your nearest stockist.
KG 3 Solvent & Degreaser This large aerosol should be in everyones cleaning box. It smells like the stuff you can buy in any motorists store as carburettor cleaner. I use loads of it in the workshop for degreasing parts before gluing, painting etc. or simply as a general cleaner. It removes Devcon from metal parts after bedding and its ideal for flushing out bolts and any other gun bits that suffer from a build-up of crud. Use it to clean the solvent off your bore-cleaning brushes. I even use it to clean my GSG MP5 rimfire where it gets clogged around the chamber-mouth. The KG 3 is no better or worse than the motorists version but it costs a bit more so I leave you to make your own mind up on that one! KG 4 Gun Oil Although the instructions recommend using KG 4 to oil the bore after cleaning, I dont routinely oil my guns - I never put any oil in the bore. If you store your
The full range of KG cleaning and lubricating products.
KG Product Photographs by Steve Thornton
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FROM THE BENCH

VINCES REGULAR COLUMN WHEREBY ACCURACY NUTS CAN KEEP UP TO DATE WITH THE ACTIVITIES OF THE UKBRA AND ACCURACY RELATED ITEMS
Competitions
This was our final double weekend for the 2011 season and saw the two UKBRA Championships for 100 and 1000 yards - wrapped up. We had an amazingly nice day for our 100 yard shoot on the Saturday though aggs did not reflect the good conditions, with only the HV winner, Bruce Lenton agging in the twos. Factory Sporter Class was won by an ever improving Jack Mills, who also shot small group. Unfortunately, interest in this Class is diminishing so we have a few ideas for next season which we will examine in next months Target Shooter.
Results: Heavy Varmint 100 yards; 1st Bruce Lenton 6PPC Stolle 2nd Ian Dixon 6PPC Walker BAT 3rd Martin Miles 6PPC Stolle Small group: Martin Miles Factory Sporter 1st Jack Mills 2nd G Wrighton Small group:
223 Browning A Bolt 6PPC Sako Jack Mills
0.285 in. (av. of five, 5-shot groups) 0.312 0.335 .153 inches 0.586 in. 0.922 0.283 inches
Both the 100 yard Championships were already decided, with Ian Dixon retaining the 100 yard Championship - for the third time and Darrel Evans, who was not present, having already done enough to retain his Championship.
1000 yards Sunday was another good day for our final round of the Championship. The day started in fine, sunny conditions with moderate winds. However, it did not last and we witnessed the most strange winds I have ever seen at Diggle. Over the course of the day, the wind changed through 180 degrees and with it we experienced what can be best described as mini-tornados. These strong winds lasted but a few seconds and if you happened to be pulling the trigger, the most awful groups ensued! For some however, their bullets seemed immune and Mike Weatherhead to a surprise win, ending a mediocre season on a high note. Mike was one of only two shooters to agg in single figures. In Factory Class, we had some strong competition. Alan Seagrave has had some remarkable shoots with his absolutely standard Tikka chambered in 6.5x55 and has actually finished fourth in the Light Gun Championship in addition to winning the Factory Sporter Championship. Today however, Sean Broxham just pipped him by a whisker and, despite shooting a 9.3 inch group, Alan was also denied the Small Group award won by Peter Regan on 9.29 inches. Results: Light Gun 1st Mike Weatherhead 2nd Steve Dunn 3rd Mike McGuigan Small group: Factory Sporter 1st Sean Broxham 2nd Alan Seagrave 3rd Bruce Lenton Small group:
7mmWSM Walker Sako 7mm Dunn BAT 6.5x47 GBR Steve Dunn 6.5-284 Savage 6.5x55 Tikka 6.5-284 Savage Peter Regan 338 Sako 8.628 inches (av. of four, 5-shot groups) 8.786 in. 9.742 in. 5.925 inches 16.189 inches 16.322 16.451 9.297 inches
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FROM THE BENCH Cont...
Tired of lying on wet grass, then why not give benchrest a go?
So, here are our 2011 UKBRA Championship winners:

100 yards UKBRA Heavy Varmint Championship 1st Ian Dixon 2nd Vince Bottomley 3rd Bruce Lenton Smallest group of the year: Ian Dixon 0.0925 inches (Screamer) Smallest agg. of the year: Vince Bottomley 0.1918 inches (av. of five, 5-shot groups) 100 yards UKBRA Factory Sporter Championship 1st Darrel Evans 2nd Jack Mills 3rd Andy Wooley Smallest group of the year: Darrel Evans 0.224 inches Smallest agg. of the year: Darrel Evans 0.364 inches (av. of five, 5-shot groups) 1000 yards UKBRA Light Gun Championship 1st Steve Dunn 2nd Jack Gibb 3rd Mike McGuigan Smallest group of the year: Jack Gibb Smallest agg. of the year: Jack Gibb
3.201 inches 7.19 inches (av. of four, 5-shot groups)
1000 yards UKBRA Factory Sporter Championship 1st Alan Seagrave 2nd Phil Gibbon 3rd Tony Young Smallest group of the year: Stuart Benson 5.636 inches Smalest agg. of the year: Alan Seagrave 8.966 inches (av. of four, 5-shot groups) So ends our 2011 season. Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to everyone else for turning up and making it a great season of benchrest shooting. Over the winter we run our 600 yard benchrest shoots. The first one takes place on Saturday 5th November at Diggle ranges and, as always all are welcome to turn up and shoot. Dont be a plinker all your life competing improves your shooting and your social life! E-mail: vinceb@6ppc.fsnet.co.uk for more details. Website: www.ukbra.co.uk
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Third Eye Tactical Unimount

by Chris Parkin
As shooters look for more precision with rifles customised to deliver every available ounce of accuracy, we are incorporating more and more heavily built optics from makers like Schmidt & Bender, March, Sightron, Nightforce, I.O.R. and Premier Optics to compliment this performance.
The Unimount displays its generous size, even next to the steel Badger Ordnance rings
Six bolts per ring! Note the built-in bubble level
MOA, care has to be taken to not only align everything perfectly, but also not exceed the available scope tube space.
The TET offensive
Third Eye Tactical (TET) have for some time provided rings in a variety of sizes to mount any scope to Weaver/Picatinny bases as well as some more specialised offerings, such as the Sako and Tikka rails. TET are a company with a desire to listen to shooters and provide what we ask for. Buyers requiring an ultra-strong mount with less chance of an expensive or heavy scope moving during use can now turn to a new model which further broadens this companys range of scope-mounting options. Their new Unimount is a one-piece style but actually consists of three parts which, although bolted together, are reinforced by machined pockets and when accurately assembled in the TET workshop with an alignment bar, are then Loctited into place. This does allow a somewhat modular build but it remains a homogenous design and does allow individual components to be changed in the future if the need arises - for another different scope etc. The design features two rail clamps at either end of the central bar, each using a pair of M5 bolts. Two central underside recoil-lugs slot into your Weaver/Picatinny rail to prevent slippage and the rings themselves each feature no less than six M4 fasteners to gently but certainly `nip-up your scope tube.
Some of these top-end optics weigh in at more than 1kg which, when coupled with 30, 34, 35 and even 40mm tubes, recoil and transport/storage accidents, is starting to point shooters in the direction of more heavily-built scope mounts. Some users have adopted a third standard scope ring or use a 3 ring version of mounts on rifles like Sakos TRG but, when allied with the need for scope inclination of between 10 and 40
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Release the pressure
With over 50mm of total mount/scope contact, visually, this might just be a belt and braces approach, if it werent for TETs proven mechanical reputation, serious design and precise engineering tolerances. The 7075 T6 aluminium used, hard anodised in Desert Sand or Black should fend off the worst environmental conditions and two overall lengths, suitable for long or short scopes and actions are available. The cherry on the cake is the small integral bubble level at the rear directly in view of the shooters eye - that although not advertised, glows in the dark, if you need it to. In use on a 34mm tubed Premier Optics Heritage scope, no surprises revealed themselves and like all well designed gear, the Unimount just `worked`. Machining tolerances were tested by deliberately slackening one ring to encourage the scope to `relax and leave zero but no movement could be detected and the scope remained unmarked. When testing other manufacturers 2.5k scopes, it is very reassuring to remove, re-package and return an UNMARKED tube without any damage; it certainly leaves a very confident feeling in my mind. The large ring/scope interface allows the same clamping force but with lower surface pressures to be applied to the tube. Neat relief at the interface between top and bottom rings along with hand-finishing of the ring edges deters any crimping. One downside is that to engage the Picatinny recoil lugs you already have to use a one-piece base but in my mind, what shooter will use a mount like this without first considering its foundation?
Third Eye Tactical Unimount

For
Great for heavy recoiling guns Integral Bubble Good choice of sizes
Against
A little less mounting flexibility on short scopes than offered by separate rings Not cheap - but quality never is
Verdict
Another solid product from Third Eye Tactical, a company, who seem to listen. If you can afford the best, look no further.
Specifications
1 inch, 30,34 & 35mm tube sizes 0,10,20,30 & 40 MOA inclinations Long or short action/scope
Price, 245
Contact, Third Eye Tactical Tel: 01924 404312 www.thirdeyetactical.com
The weakest link
Funnily enough, when you look at the huge optics now used, if mounted onto a standard Remington 700 action for example, it is all held in place by just four tiny 6-48 Allen bolts - food for thought - are we joining lengths of chain with a piece of string? Of course, with an integral rail such as that found on a Surgeon or Desert Tactical Arms rifle for example, it is a moot point but perhaps now is the time to seek the larger fasteners used in many action customisation projects if you think yours is lacking. Belt and braces, or perhaps locking the stable door before the horse bolts? Your choice?
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This SMALLBORE Business
This Smallbore Business

by Don Brooke
Mind Stuff Part 3
The advance of the mind in dryfire practice

We often hear the phrase Practice makes perfect. Well, I will put it to you now - that phrase needs development. If you will bear with me for a while I will elaborate, as in some instances the phrase is true - to a certain extent. You will remember when I submitted the first of this series of articles? And I started with Yuk.dryfire? and went on to make it interesting? So many shooters abhor dry-fire, regarding it as a waste of time
and settle down in front of the TV yet again, sitting there just being a vegetable. In my day and age, my Dad used to go crook if I wasted any time, either in my school work, attendant homework, just sitting about. Read, you dumb cluck! or similar was often the call So set my lifetime behind the sights of a target rifle and irrevocably altered the course of the river of life. It was not until I learned to use the most powerful organ of the human body - the mind - that I eventually realised how much interaction there is just purely in the repetition that dry-fire contains. I woke up to the strength of the mind and, if you develop it carefully, just what it is capable of. A great deal of the credit also goes to a particular friend of mine in shooting - Lanny Bassham (USA) and what he too learned in pursuit of excellence.
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I urge you all to read, to study the writings of so many in the field of sport psychology that are available out there. Believe me it is fascinating! So, to return to the above phrase and develop it to
Practice does not make perfect
PERFECT PRACTICE MAKES IT PERFECT!

The issue contained therein leads to the fascinating link between the conscious mind and the actions of the subconscious mind.
You must understand the way the mind works in this field and I put to you that the conscious mind is capable of only one thing at a time. It controls the direction the link between the two operates. (I will give you an example of this further on.) The subconscious mind has the power to follow the direction of the conscious mind and is capable of virtually unlimited operation factors almost instantly. You can see this every minute, even to the action of a simple thing like picking up your toothbrush. You see the toothbrush in the container in your bathroom and the conscious mind sends the instruction to pick it up. It is the subconscious mind that does all the work to activate the muscles to pick it up and start cleaning your teeth! If you doubt what I am saying, simply ask a good typist in the office How do you type? Then watch the confusion on her face as she struggles to explain. Uh, I just type. is a common answer. They have no real idea, (nor do they want to know) because they have spent untold hours on a computer keyboard. It is true, they do just type but have great difficulty bringing the operation back into the conscious mind in order to explain it. Driving your car is another example of sub conscious activity. You do not think about this do you? Nope, you just hop in the car, fire it up and drive off to wherever! With your mind scanning the traffic
conditions around you for almost 360 degrees! In shooting, there is a link to determine. It is there, and you will eventually become aware of the cross over point between the two minds. You will suddenly find that you are not recognising the feel of the trigger as the shot releases, because you are concentrating on the sights and attendant aiming picture. Have you ever fired a shot that you were virtually not ready to fire? I have, hundreds of times and nearly always they are smack in the middle of the ten ring. This is subconscious shot release, where the mind recognises the sight-picture as correct and the subconscious says That is good enough for me. and activates the trigger. This is the real factor that will arrive out of your dryfire activities. Why I say it is crucial to be able to train the subconscious mind, simply by repetition of the process. Well, as your dry-fire time develops and you learn to concentrate on the sight picture, (also in your livefire activities as you train) the continual repetition is developing your subconscious activities.
You will reach this state, believe me - sometimes without even knowing you have!
Once this desired state is achieved and the first sign is when you get up off the living-room floor feeling Hey, that was good! Not weary, just more confident that things are going right. Well, this is when you are approaching the cross over point I have eluded to right through this article. If you study the header photograph of these articles, you can see the concentration on my face and just after that photo was taken (by my son) the dry shot was released. Click! You see, even posing for that photo, I was well into my method. It just becomes a subconscious routine, born from continuous training.
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Developing your mind routines

Wow - that was a long preamble eh? Bear with me, I had to set the scene for you all.
Contained within dry-fire routines is your ability to visualise both the method, the upcoming competition, just to help you establish more detailed factors within the subconscious mind. You eventually will be able to imagine the entire match you are about to shoot, without firing a single shot. The imagery and visualisation techniques are a vital part of the match preparation and the ONLY short cut is within your dry fire routines. It is also less expensive than expending huge amounts of ammunition! You will find however, the urge to prove what you are doing becomes more urgent, just to see if the mind stuff works! You will also find that your training will develop a mental strength that is supreme, particularly when faced with an unexpected problem that may arrive in your match. You will also develop this factor, as you explore your new found mental strength to include contingency planning just in case some thing does go pear-shaped.
Then the wind hit with a howling gale, the flags looked like they were starched rigid, the poles were bending! Just as that hit, my neighbour shooter (who eventually won the Queens), fired his shot. Oh God! I heard him say as my target went down. You shot on mine mate. I said. To which the answer came Like hell I did! and up came my target with an outer 2 on the 3 oclock edge, which I promptly disclaimed. Here I was, stunned at the wind velocity, it was absolutely howling, with what rain there was, horizontal! What the hell is out there? How many points in that lot? I thought. Then it dawned on me. I moved the rear sight six points left (due to the outer on my target) aimed at my mates target and let rip. Down went my target and came up with the spotter as a 3 oclock bull. I quickly fired the last of my shoot-off shots with the same method and shot another bull. That piece of thinking won me the match! I was the only shoot-off possible 25 and, when asked by the bloke on the right how the heck had I read that, his jaw dropped to his knees when I told him what I had done! We were the very best of friends since then until he passed away recently at over 80 years of age. His son is still shooting full bore and we often giggle about that bit of thinking. He says I was pretty sly. To visualise any sort of aspect can only prepare you for the match correctly, be it with the techniques ( imagery of getting a beautiful ten-ring shot away) to your method of how you are going to shoot the match, manage the weather out there, contain what ever pressures may develop for you, anxiety, relaxed physical aspects, contingency planning should anything go wrong. All this is mental preparation that can be totally put in place within your dry-fire training. Your time on the living room floor maximised to great benefit. When you reach this depth of training concentration, is when you are suddenly aware that the cross over point is reached - between the conscious and subconscious mind. The confidence gained from training yourself to think, to be alert and adaptable to the nuances within your thought processes can only be gained when you suddenly know you are ready!
How well you shoot is directly related to how well you think!
Let me give you an example of this from my full bore life.
I was shooting an 800 yard shoot-off in a NSW Queens (with a stack of others at the time) and I was carefully watching a major storm about to erupt from the right. The wind was coming, big time, you could hear it! So I belted sighters and three bulls off very quickly, within the lull before the storm.
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This is when you discover the way forward, when your work with the advances of psychological training are actually reflected on an international score board.
AL FE SPECI
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NEWARK 2012 - 4th GREAT YEAR
the upper level of the medal dais, taking in the applause, and kissing your Gold medal..
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Your mind is incredibly powerful, so much so, that anything will only affect you.IF YOU LET IT!
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Of course, there are already a number of these shows up and down the country but Bisley Live was especially appealing, being the first to be held there.
For October, both organisers and punters were very lucky with the weather. The typical conditions at this time of year are lets say... wet!! Glorious sunshine prevailed throughout thankfully otherwise I suspect the grassed areas would have been a quagmire. Being the first of its kind, I wasnt expecting it to be perfect but I was expecting to have a bit of fun with the family, who decided to tag along. With the lovely weather, expectations were running high. The selection of vendors was varied and offered a wide appeal. A few notables were missing and thus was nowhere near the level of say the British Shooting Show at Newark. However, the vendors who did attend had a large selection of great products on display and, as I said before, there were just enough of them to make our visit worthwhile. The main thing that was really missing was ..... well - YOU! Whether this was due to high entry costs or lack of advertising or both, Im unsure. The Saturday I attended, it was like a ghost town, with the odd group circling around a stall they wanted to see, then moving on.
Target Shooter didnt attend Bisley Live but we know a man who did. We asked him for his opinion.
The idea of a country and shooting show at Bisley is a brilliant one. It brings images of dog handling, falconry, try and buy, craft events etc. that I tend to associate with this type of show. They can be excellent entertainment for families, with very good learning activities for the younger members of the family.
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Bisley Live Show Review Cont;

I think the major problem is not the concept, nor the choice of vendors, nor the activities (although there needed to be more of them). Pure and simple - it was down to cost - it was just not worth the admission price - not when we compare it to the British Shooting Show, or even the Pheonix, which is free. The latter always has me enthralled for hours. The shows within the event needed to be a bit more elaborate and exciting to entertain, especially if you have children in tow. Honestly, my local summer fair puts on a better show with a variety of animals, falconry, merry-go-rounds, contributions from local colleges, etc. Yes, there was the shooting - with a have a go session for a few disciplines. This was really appealing! The costs for this varied from 5 to 10 for about ten rounds. Expensive? So expensive, few took up the offer, so the sessions were extended to twenty rounds for the same price, in the space of time I was there. If you want to introduce people to shooting or to other forms of shooting and competition, then make it accessible, charge a reasonable price and we will all have fun. The entry cost, for what was in effect a few hours of browsing, was just too high. I dislike writing negatively, so on the positive side, I spent time talking to a few vendors I specifically went to see, including Geoffrey Kolbe from Border Barrels who was very obliging. The Bisley Live show is a really good concept that is much needed to bring Bisley alive. This first attempt has generated a lot of discussion on the internet forums but sadly, little of it positive. If this event is to be repeated then the organisers need to listen to the punters and vendors for next time round.
Ceramic Coatings from Anschutz

Our Austrian friends Anschutz have sent us some samples of their latest product, a ceramic coating developed for firearms.
Although its easy to bung something in an aerosol and make outrageous claims, there have been great advances in such coatings over the last few years and Ive used a similar product and found it to be a good lubricant for places where conventional oil or grease is a no no like for example the bolt and cocking mechanism. However, I wouldnt risk it on the actual trigger and neither do Anschutz recommend such an application. The coating is claimed to be a PTFE/ceramic mix, which imparts a transparent, non-greasy coating to firearms which will help protect metal surfaces from the elements and slick-up moving parts. Unlike more conventional oily coatings, it will repel rather than attract dust. It can either be sprayed from the aerosol or wiped on with a clean cloth, then left to dry for about half an hour. It is of course difficult to assess the effectiveness of such coatings but Ill have a play with it over the coming weeks.
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La
tN tes
s... ew
UK Full-bore forum
Yes, its one year since shooters Dave and Christel set up the UK Full-bore forum. Although the internet is not short of shooting forums, many are specific to a particular discipline or unfortunately become a magnet for some radical opinions.
The GBR Action Now in stainlesssteel

Following requests from shooters, the popular home-built GBR action is now available in stainless-steel and can be had in either matt or polished finish.
Weve reviewed these actions previously in Target Shooter but basically, the GBR is a Remington 700 clone but built to custom standards. They will take a variety of triggers and numerous stocks are available. These actions are available off the shelf - contact Fox Firearms www.foxfirearmsuk.com
The Full-bore forum is well moderated so has managed to avoid either and it maintains a wide interest with of course shooting at its heart but covering many topics including current affairs and of course a dash of humour. There is always a lively input with a couple of dozen new posts every day and, forum users appear to participate in just about every shooting discipline, so new shooters will generally have queries answered in a knowledgeable and proper manner. If you have space in your life for another forum, give Full-bore a try at www.full-bore.co.uk
Happy Birthday Full-bore!
BERGER PUTS 30 CALIBRE HYBRID BULLETS INTO PRODUCTION

Thirty calibre match bullets have been poor relations to their 6, 6.5 and 7mm rivals, so far as new models go in recent years, no doubt because of the explosive growth in the use of smaller calibre cartridges like 6.5284 Norma, 284 Winchester and 7mm short magnums in long-range competition. Then there have been the baby sixes and six-fives that have recently gained worldwide popularity in various rifle disciplines 6mm BR and its improved siblings, 6.5X47 Lapua, 6.5mm Hornady Creedmoor and even that slow-burner - the 260 Remington has finally burst into flame and been discovered. The thirties maybe suffered too because they were apparently so well catered for already, a huge range of models provided by all of the big US bullet producers but most of which are now elderly designs. Whilst acting as an independent ballistics consultant, Bryan Litz argued that the available 30s were far from optimal in their external ballistics performance relative to more modern designs in smaller calibres. We recognise the 139-142 grain bullet to be the optimum for a 6.5mm/264 and the 175-180 grain bullet the same for a 7mm/284 but, the equivalent scaled 308 bullet would weigh 229 grains! The only models close to that weight are Sierras antediluvian 220 and 240gn MatchKings. Then too, many thirties had relatively short, blunt nose sections to the detriment of their form factors and ballistic coefficients. (If interested, see Brians article Whats Wrong With .30 Caliber? http://www. appliedballisticsllc.com/index_files/30cal_fullVersion. pdf ) With Bryan now working full-time for Berger Bullets, he has obviously been given carte blanche to implement his thoughts on this issue resulting in an entire new range of bullets in the calibre - six models covering 155gn to 230gn, each with a class-leading BC value. Berger has introduced the sextet in pairs, starting with the lightest models and by the time you read this, its likely the final pair in 215 and 230gn weights will just be entering the market. The other feature of these new products is encapsulated in their generic title Hybrid. For those unfamiliar with the term, it refers to an amalgamation of two previously distinct nose-forms, secant and tangent ogive shapes. Secant ogive designs, often referred to as VLD (Very Low Drag) models have very long nose sections with marginal curvature and an
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abrupt nose to shank junction. They have low drag, but often prove difficult to tune in handloads needing to be seated hard into the rifling to give small groups and small MV spreads. Tangent ogive bullets have a shorter and more rounded nose section, are easy to
The new 30 calibre Hybrids in 155, 168, 185, 200, 215, and 230gn Weights tune often referred to as jump-tolerant but suffer more drag in flight, thanks to the blunter shape. The Hybrid design amalgamates the two forms, a long secant-form nose turning into a tangent curve just above the nose to body junction. Bingo! Low drag and length tolerance together! Berger importers, Norman Clark Gunsmiths Ltd. in Rugby, and Hannams Reloading Limited near York have yet to see any 30 Hybrid models in any weight and in fact have many existing Bergers on back-order such is the huge demand for the companys products. They expect to see the first deliveries late this year or early next. In the meantime, our handloading man Laurie Holland has acquired a couple of examples of each, thanks to the good offices of Berger Bullets Michelle Gallagher and will give a preliminary report in next months Handloading Bench which will compare them to similar bullets from other manufacturers as well as Bergers existing VLD and BT Long-Range designs. Whilst on the subject of the Hybrid bullet type, 6mm calibre fans should be delighted to hear that a new 105 grain 243 Hybrid is about to be launched and is currently undergoing range evaluation in the hands of some top US shooters including 243 Win guru and multiple winner of the US NRA High Power National Championship matches, John Whidden, whose reaction is enthusiastic.
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GALLERY RIFLE & PISTOL NEWS
Gallery Rifle News

The Autumn Action Weekend (29th/30th October) will be over by the time this item goes to press, signalling the end of the 2011 domestic season, so perhaps time for a brief look back at my highlights.
Despite the recession, attendance at the nationally classified events has held up well and in addition to the Bisley Meetings open classified matches have been hosted by Frome, Derby, Mattersey and Stourport and many other action GR shoots in addition.
For me, the memorable bits this year have been the increasing proliferation of long-barrelled pistols, a staggering 38 new records set at the Phoenix Meeting, trying out some new events and the lack of rain, if not exactly accompanied by blazing sunshine. Perhaps the highlight was Chris Wests maximum 1920 in the Bianchi Cup GRCF at the Phoenix, the only time this has been achieved. Im sure Chris will remember it for a long time. On the international scene, the achievement, on their debut, of the South African GR Team at the Phoenix was good to see. Home advantage seems to have featured at the internationals this year with GB and
from Alan Whittle
England performing well at Bisley and Ireland taking the honours in Fermoy, which just leaves the final international to be contested at Leitmar, Germany 12/13th November.
Team Captain Ashley Dagger Last year, the German Team won the GRSB 1500 at Leitmar with GB taking the GRCF Match. Since then, both classes have been formally contested at all international meetings and teams must therefore demonstrate more all-round skills. Ashley Dagger, the GB Team Captain, is leading a strong squad across the channel and with hopes of ending the year on a high. Im sure the hosts will have something to say about that though! Next time I will bring you a match report but, for those not lucky enough to be travelling (and that includes me) it is time to get into the winter routine of checking your loads, testing out new set ups for your guns and keeping your hand in with a few winter club competitions until next spring which seems a very long way away at the moment.
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GALLERY RIFLE & PISTOL NEWS
To introduce ourselves we are the United Kingdom Association of Rimfire and Air Rifle Benchrest Shooting. By that we mean "True Benchrest Shooting". The Association is recognised by rimfire shooters across in the UK, with partners across Europe and the rest of the world, as the presentative body that promotes rimfire and air rifle benchrest across this country and with other partners in European and World events. Visit our website for news about national and international competitions that all can have a go at. From novice to champion shooter, everyone is welcome www.benchrest22.org 63
THE HANDLOADING BENCH
6mm NORMA BENCH REST (Part 6)
THE
HANDLOADING
BENCH
6mm Norma Bench rest. Part 6
By Laurie Holland
Weve looked at components, tools and recommended powders including QuickLOAD results, so its time to put in some graft at the loading bench and then take ourselves off to the range to see what sort of results are available. These are of course very dependent on the specification and condition of the shooting stick, so Ill spend some time covering that first.
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y 6BR rifle started life 13 years ago as an early Remington 700VS (Varmint Synthetic) in 223 Rem. chambering with the standard SAAMI 1-12 rifling twist. It was my first accurate rifle, although reviewing my records and test targets reveals it wasnt nearly as accurate as a fallible memory made it seem a supposed half-MOA number was actually three quarters-MOA capable if Im honest, even if it turned out the odd half-inch or even smaller group. As time went by, I only used it on rare occasions as my interests veered towards longrange shooting, its slow rifling twist and 53gn bullets imposed severe handicaps at any distance beyond 300 yards. Then F Class came along, shooting distances became greater still, the competition harder, even if a lot of scratch kit and a huge variety of rifles, cartridges and calibres were in use initially. There was no F/TR subclass in those early days, putting the users of 308 Win, 223 Rem and similar cartridges at a disadvantage. Despite that, I shot the 223 Rem with 80gn bullets in a Southern Gun Co. straight-pull AR at any distance out to 1000 yards for a season or two and had a lot of fun. Still, its all about putting holes into the V-Bull and, to adapt comedian Eric Morecambes line to orchestra conductor Andr Previn Look Sunshine, Im playing all the right notes but not necessarily in the right order! I was hitting ALL the target rings but not necessarily the RIGHT ONE - in the middle - in longer range matches anyway. That was on the standard NRA two MOA bull design too, the one MOA V bull scoring six points in F. With an increasing number of 6.5s appearing in matches, something better - for which read with more efficient external ballistics - was required but what? Ive never been a great fan of 6.5-284 Norma and wanted something with decent barrel life and light recoil. While pondering this I chanced upon Peter Jackson, the McMillan stocks and sound moderator importer, at Diggle one Sunday and watched as he put bullet after bullet into that one MOA V bull 1000 yards away with this fat little cartridge - my introduction to 6mm BR Norma. Thats what I want but how to get it? With the 700VS not earning its keep, an obvious solution was to have it rebarrelled. This was no simple matter thanks to the bolt-face being dimensioned for the tiny 223 Rem. case whilst the BR uses Peter Mausers 1880s vintage 0.473 nominal diameter case-head design - as nicked by our American friends for lots of cartridges since, starting with the 30-06.
If I, or more relevantly Norman Clark, who was doing the gunsmithing, couldnt get a swap-job Remy 308 bolt, the VSs bolt-face would have to be machined out to the larger diameter but, that also removes the factory extractor. This in turn needs the bolt body to be further machined to accept Sako extractor parts you get a better, stronger design but its not a cheap job. Anyway, this work was in fact done and a 28 inch 1-8 twist heavy target profile Border barrel chambered and fitted. I finally had my 6BR in long-throated Norma form. Well not quite yet! The fat barrel wouldnt fit in the narrow fore-end of the VS stock, so a skim and re-bedding job was the answer which raised the barrelled-action a little, as well as increasing the effective bedding area. Ill stress that Norman knows his stuff and all this was explained to me and priced in advance. Sights needed upgrading too as the rifle had managed in its 223 period with a run-of-the-mill 3-12x44 scope with heavy duplex reticle. Norman fitted a Ken Farrell 20-MOA sloped Picatinny rail and I mounted a 6-24X50 Burris Black Diamond, a good quality mid-price 30mm body target scope, using Leupold QRW lever-rings that allow easy scope removal and replacement whilst holding zero. Since then, the rifle has been successively adorned with the 8-32x50 version of the same scope and recently, a Sightron Series II 36X42 BR model as it has progressed from F Class rifle through generalpurpose mid-range precision shooting tool to 600 yard benchrest Light Gun.
High-Fliers If this were a fairytale, Id have gone out, mixed it with the big boys and kicked ass at 1000 yards. Ah, if only life and competition shooting were so simple! In real life, the rifle produced some impressive groups off the bench in load development and testing but not consistently. Get down prone in an F Class match and things got worse, producing the shooting equivalent of the curates egg - only good in parts.
A nice consistent run of central hits would be unaccountably interrupted by two or three shots that dropped points all over the shop. Windreading mistakes aside, the issue was high fliers, two distinct vertically split groups appearing on the plot - sometimes apparently due to inconsistent rifle
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behaviour under recoil. Strange! Like most sporting rifle stocks, the VSs H-S Precision design is far from ideal for rest and bag shooting but should have coped with this mild recoiling cartridge. The problems stemmed from the heavy-profile 28 inch barrel making the rifle unbalanced - far too much weight up front and the light synthetic stock with its hollow buttstock unable to counter it. The effects were exacerbated by the short fore-end placing the fulcrum of this particular pendulum too far back with lots of barrel ahead of the front-rest. I also used an all-purpose rest-top and a thin leather bag on my Sinclair front-rest, a clever device that copes with a large variety of sporting rifle forend configurations and widths through a flexible bag and sliding sideplates. However, no matter how carefully I adjusted the bag fit and side pressure, lubricated the bag with talcum powder or bag wax, the forend would stick giving a jerky recoil movement. The answer had to be a fixed-width rest-top, Cordura bag and matching stock changes. After considering cheapskate modifications such as a Delrin bag-riding plate bolted onto the forend and a lump of lead stuffed up the buttstock, I decided I had to bite the bullet again and fork out for a new stock optimised for this form of shooting - long
Putting a fat barrel into a Remy VS or PSS stock usually requires a bedding job. with their raised and adjustable butt-combs and adjustable buttplate assemblies, northern gunsmith Pete Walker (Walker Rifles, http://www.walkerrifles. co.uk) recommended the Shehane Tracker benchrest type stock, which as the name suggests is a very stable design that tracks superbly on the rest and rear bag. Unlike most prone-rifle stocks, the comb is low and no cheek contact is used a policy that Ive since continued with my F/TR rifles and wouldnt depart from now. With the mild 6BR in a heavy rifle (22lb allowed in F Class, 17lb as a bench rest Light Gun), I fire the rig free recoil, shoulder just off the butt and
and heavy enough to balance the barrel. (If faced with this dilemma now, one of the wide-set bi-pods since developed for F/TR - such as the Fito Big-Foot and Dolphin Tracker - might work with the mild 6BR cartridge, if combined with a hefty lump of lead in the buttstock.)
the only body-to-rifle contact the forefinger caressing the 2oz trigger. Fitting the rifle into this stock - which came in an alleged semi-inletted form - was no simple job and Pete thought about the ideal action position long and hard before he drilled the holes for the stock bolts and started cutting fibreglass. I had a stroke of luck discussing the restocking job with Pete and Target Shooters editor Vince Bottomley, the latter mentioned he had a used Jewell 2oz bench rest trigger
Shehane Tracker While expectations of what stocks should look like in this discipline have produced designs like the McMillan F Class and Robertson Composites models
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going to be inherently inferior to a more expensive custom BR job the slack firing-pin fit leads to primer cratering and ultimately piercing with the small diameter primers used in the 6BR cartridge. You wont see my 6BR loads produce MVs that match those quoted in many Internet sources, partly because some of these people are using combinations that produce near proof-load pressures that I wont consider but also because their actions dont pierce the primer cup once chamber pressures get past 55,000 psi. I have a very nice rifle here that is always going to outperform me but it wouldnt make sense to go down this route now, not for F Class anyway there are many choices of pick-n-mix competition rifles available from Fox Firearms, Osprey Rifles and others that are available more quickly and cheaply, require less work and do F Class and similar jobs as well. Also, while still very competitive at shorter ranges in the discipline, 6BR has disappeared from GBFCA National League rounds and most long range matches as a 7mm SAUM or WSM is always going to give better scores in all but very stable conditions. Finally, the other lesson to draw from this saga is to beware of over-barrelling the rifle. The Remingtons next barrel has a Heavy Palma profile and I wouldnt
Sinclair front-rest with an All-Purpose top fitted and a bench rest top sitting against it (bottom right) with a 3 Protektor bag.
The Remington VS in its early 6mm Norma BR form with Burris 6024X scope and the H-S Precision stock too much barrel on too little stock.
going spare that hed sell if I was interested. As with the stock, this was a purchase decision that has worked out very well even if financially painful at the time. Yet again, there were no quick and easy - and certainly no cheap - gunsmithing solutions to anything but Pete did his usual top quality job. The inletting, bedding and finishing were done superbly and the rifle looks and shoots very well. There is one remaining downside from starting with a factory Remington action though ignoring the fact that its always
go heavier than that even with the Shehane stock. Id choose a still thinner tube for the original H-S Precision VS stock. Its not just the stock, the 700 magazine action with its thin side-rails and short tenon-thread section cannot support as much barrel weight as a more heavily built and rigid single-shot custom design.
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loads Id often use larger steps initially, say 0.5gn, then drop to 0.4 and down to 0.3gn as I approached the likely maximum. Some promising combinations were run again with 0.2gn or even 0.1gn steps over a smaller range to find the barrels sweet spot. Most test loads used five batches, each of five rounds and were bench tested at 100 yards. Some match combinations were retested at intervals using the single favoured charge weight firing three to five by five-round groups. Whilst some cartridges in some rifles accept a large powder charge range and give similar results on the paper throughout, or with maybe four out of five weights performing well, Id find sweet spots - where group sizes shrank dramatically around a particular charge weight. This is unlikely to be an inherent feature of the 6BRs internal ballistics behaviour, more the effect of sticking an 8lb barrel onto the relatively flexible Remington receiver. It is noticeable that with naked 105-108gn bullets, smallest groups were obtained at a relatively modest 2,720-2,750 fps MV irrespective of the powder used. There will probably be another accuracy node 100-150 fps higher, but pressures would be too high for my action. The upside of
Remington VS in the Shehane Tracker stock with Burris 8-32X50 scope installed verticals were much improved.
Primers and Powders So, to the loading bench. Benchrest or small rifle magnum primers have been used throughout, at first in a rather cavalier fashion - switching between them according to whichever fell to hand first or other such unscientific methodology. I wouldnt do that now, as while you may get away with this practice, theres an equally good chance you wont and a switch will affect group size and MV spreads adversely. I even re-check performance when starting a new production lot of primers now, as Ive found that sometimes this has an effect. Nowadays, I pretty well stick to the CCI-BR4 model.
If primer piercing is an issue with your action, you should be aware that the Federal 205M Gold Medal Match has a slightly thinner cup than other makers BR and Magnum versions and is therefore more susceptible to this problem. Remington 7BR primers work well in 6BR, but are also softer than the CCI or PMC/Wolf magnums. Standard Small Rifle primers use 20% thinner brass cups than BR/Magnum versions (0.020 v 0.025) and should be avoided like the plague by users with unmodified factory rifle actions and their looser firing-pins. Even with rifles using a custom action, the more powerful BR/Magnum versions usually give better results, 30gn of powder apparently needing a little extra oomph in the ignition department. All powder charges were individually weighed on a set of RCBS 10-10 scales. How big should load development steps be? A good rule of thumb is to increase charges by 1% of the likely maximum weight - in this case 0.3gn based on the cartridge using around 30gn of powder. In practice, as I got a feel for
The Remy OEM and Shehane forends compared. running at these MVs is very much longer barrel life than would be obtained from a custom action rifle belting them out at 2,900 fps or more and, I found 2,750fps quite adequate for 600 yard shooting. Incidentally, running these figures through QuickLOAD suggested that it takes powder charge increases that produce another 8,000-10,000 psi peak chamber pressure to achieve that extra 150 fps from a 28 inch barrel, from the low 50 thousands to reaching - or more likely exceeding - 60,000 psi. At first sight,
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100 yards consistently running under three-inches at 600 yards despite the much greater opportunity for variable winds and other factors to increase groups in terms of MOA as distance and flight times increase. I initially eschewed VLDs, given their reputation for being tricky but was eventually to end up loading the Berger 105gn VLD as my primary match round over 29.7gn of Hodgdon VarGet at around 2,730 fps MV. Talk of VLDs reminds me that I should mention bullet seating depths/jump to the lands. Tangent ogive bullets (Lapua Scenars, 107gn Sierra MK, Berger 108gn BT) were seated 15 thou out and the two Berger VLDs 15 thou. in, the 105-grainer actually 17 thou. There is no significance to that extra two thou, they just happened to produce a round figure on the comparator-led value and the resulting setting happened to work well from the off.
Jewell 2oz BR trigger. Note the extension trigger blade shoe that had to be fabricated and fitted by Pete Walker to get it in the correct position below the stock. 2,900 fps is achievable at less than 60,000 psi pressure when you run combinations through the program but it consistently overestimated the velocities I got from my barrel by around 100 fps. If youre in a similar situation to me and want a little more velocity, molycoated bullets do provide it safely, using a modest increase in charge weights.
90 Grain and Up As the rifle was originally intended for F Class, nearly all early load development used heavier bullets in the 90-107gn weight range. Back then, there was far less data around than now and we didnt have Bryan Litzs book Applied Ballistics For Long Range Shooting to give true G7 BCs and allow meaningful external ballistics comparisons. They show that for mid to long range work, the heavier 105 to 108gn bullets are always going to suffer the smallest wind drift and will give the best results - all other things (equivalent velocities and precision) being equal - as theyll minimise the effects of any wrong wind call.
For shorter range shooting, the 90s and 95s will do fine and there will be no penalty in their use if you come up with loads that group well. One thing to note is that the 105s often seem to do better at longer ranges than their 100 yard performance might suggest for example a load that produces 0.4-0.5-MOA at
6BR needs Small Rifle Magnum or BR primers. I also tried the 105gn Lapua seated 10 thou into the lands and the 107gn Sierra seated 25 thou out (compared to my usual 15) as Id read they sometimes appreciate such treatment they didnt particularly in my barrel. Id used the 105gn Silver (factory molycoated) Scenar as my match load in the early days through the H-S Precision stock period through to the restocking with the Shehane but once I discovered
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Oh ... whats that? How did the rifle eventually perform in F Class? Not too badly in its Shehane Tracker stocked form in fact very well in 300-600yd matches. Ironically, by the time I got the beast sorted, F/TR had been introduced and I quickly moved over to it. I did shoot two long-range GBFCA National League matches at Diggle with the BR in 2007 and got nowhere both were in atrocious wind and rain conditions! It was also in one of those matches that I was squadded with Peter Hobson at 1000 yards and learned he was shooting the next wave of long-range F Class cartridges - the then rare and exotic 7mm/270 or 300WSM and I knew the little BR was finished in this role. Since then its had two seasons of 600 yard benchrest matches and it did well at first with some groups under three inches, despite Diggles invariably windy and unstable conditions but barrel wear kicked in shortly afterwards and groups slowly climbed up to the fours and fives even when I did everything right. So next off its a 6mm BR-DX in a slower twist, lighter profile barrel for the future with 88gn Berger HBC-BC bullets at over 3100 fps.
A quartet of Berger long-range 6mm bullets. Left to right: 95gn VLD, 105gn VLD, 105gn BT (old model), 108gn BT. They have just been joined by a new Hybrid design. how well the Berger 105gn VLD performed, I switched to it. The 95gn VLD also grouped very well and I shot the odd match with it. The 107gn SMK didnt perform badly but didnt apparently shine and its best groups were at sub 2,700 fps MVs. The barrel didnt like the 105gn Hornady A-Max in either naked or factory moly-coated form so never got past a few 100 yard test groups this isnt a comment on the bullet, it simply didnt match the Border barrels dimensions too well. I also tried the 108gn Berger BT towards the end of the barrels accuracy life, more likely well past it and it showed considerable promise. Whilst the 6BR shooters favourite propellant, Hodgdon VarGet, did everything promised, some limited testing with Alliant Reloder 15 gave good results too and Viht N150 is more than just suitable. Incidentally, N550 is a good choice if you want to ramp velocities up but you will pay for the performance in barrel life, likewise Reloader 15, as they are double-based powders and will erode the barrel throat that little bit quicker. Next month, Ill finish my look at the cartridge by trying varmint bullets in the Remy. Can you make itsybitsy 55gn Ballistic Tips and similar bullets perform in a 1-8 twist barrel with a long jump in the BR Norma throat, a worn one at that?
105s used in F Class and BR matches. Lapua Scenar in naked and Silver (moly-coated) forms; Berger VLD on the right.
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Factory moly coated 6mm bullets 105gn A-Max on left plus Lapua Silver Scenar.
The 90gn Lapua Scenar can perform very well a 100yd group over a mild 29gn VarGet load. (1 grid.)
6BR is charge weight sensitive in my rifle, perhaps because of a too heavy barrel. These groups are from 105gn Berger VLDs with 29.6, 29.7, and 29.8gn Hodgdon Varget. (1 target grid.)
RESULTS (77gn HP Factory Load as a benchmark: Average 0.5 inch group, 3221 fps / ES: 26 fps -4 groups)
IMPORTANT NOTICE - These components and handloads performed safely in the authors rifle: this cannot be guaranteed for other firearms. Good handloading procedures should be used working loads up from low starting levels while looking for signs of excessive pressure. This data only applies to rifles chambered in 6mm Norma BR form. 6mm Remington BR with a shorter throat will generate much higher pressures. NB 105gn Lapua Scenar loads apply only to
A good performance with the 105gn Silver Scenar above VarGet in the annual PSSA Fly Shoot back in 2007. Conditions were so poor, the match was relocated to the 400yd covered firing point. Shame about the wind-caught shot to the left!
the moly-coated version. Reduce maximum charges by 1.0gn for naked bullets. See results charts on following page 78.
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DATA...
RESULTS (77gn HP Factory Load as a benchmark: Average 0.5 inch group, 3221 fps / ES: 26 fps - 4 groups) Primer Powder Steps
0.5gn 0.60.40.3gn
Groups
0.31-0.48 0.35-0.75
MV/ES
not recorded 3,113/22
Comments
Poor conditions. Bullets Into lands All 0.45 bar 30.3gn. Bullets into lands
88gn Berger HBC-FB

R7BR 29.0-31.0gn Viht N135 CCI-BR4 28.4-30.3gn IMR-3031
90gn Lapua Scenar

F205M F205M F205M F205M F205M F205M F205M F205M F205M 29.0-30.3gn Allt. Re15 30.3-30.9gn Allt. Re15 30.5-31.1gn Allt. Re15 28.5-29.6gn H. VarGet 29.8-30.6gn H. VarGet 29.0-29.9gn H. VarGet 30.8-31.3gn H. VarGet 31.0-31.8gn Viht N540 30.0-30.4gn Viht N540 0.40.3gn 0.20.1gn 0.20.1gn 0.3gn 0.2gn 0.1gn 0.20.1gn 0.2gn 0.1gn 0.44-0.69 0.4-0.8 0.54-0.71 0.25-0.51 0.42-0.74 0.25-0.85 0.45-0.85 0.4-1.1 0.53-0.81 2,847/27 n/r 2,993/15 2,782/16 2,915/27 2,846/13 n/r n/r 2,884/18 Poor conditions Strong crosswinds (29.9gn = small group). Windy Poor conditions Poor cond. Top load warm!
90gn Lapua Silver Scenar (Moly-Coated)

F205M 30.3-30.9gn Allt. Re15 CCI-BR4 28.0-30.0gn H4895 0.20.1gn 0.50.3gn 0.4-0.8 0.45-0.7 n/r 2,912/11 Poor conditions
95gn Berger VLD

R7BR R7BR R7BR R7BR 28.5-30.5gn H. VarGet 30.5gn H. VarGet 30.5gn H. VarGet 28.5-30.5gn Viht N540 0.5gn - - 0.5gn 0.25-0.85 0.62 (average) 0.63 (average) 0.35-1.6 2,904/29 2,893/34 2,793/46 2,961/42 Four by 5-round groups Five by 5-round groups . Barrel worn!
105gn Berger VLD

R7BR CCI-450 CCI-BR4 CCI-BR4 R7BR 29.0-30.5gn H. VarGet 29.4-28gn H. VarGet 29.7gn H. VarGet 29.7gn H. VarGet 28.4-30.3gn Allt. Re15 0.50.30.2gn 0.20.1gn - 0.50.3gn 0.29-0.7 2,828/27 0.29-0.67 n/r 0.35 (average) 2,731 ES:34 SD:9 2.732; 4.558; 3.239; 6.812 0.36-0.75 2,761/34 Small group 29.5gn = 2,739/31 4 e4x 5 groups <0.5 three by 5-round groups 600yd BR Comp, blustery Conditions 2nd place! Well worn barrel!
105gn Lapua Silver Scenar (Moly-Coated)

R7BR 30.0-31.0gn H. VarGet R7BR 29.7-30.5gn H. VarGet CCI-BR4 30.6-31.0gn H. VarGet CCI-BR4 31.1-31.5gn H. VarGet CCI-BR4 31.5gn H. VarGet Rem7BR 31.5gn H. VarGet CCI-BR4 31.5gn H. VarGet Rem7BR 31.5gn H. VarGet 0.30.2gn 0.2gn 0.1gn 0.1gn - - - 0.41-1.2 0.59-1.6 0.4-0.9gn 0.4-0.9 0.47 average 0.5 average 0.38 average 2.1; 2.25; 4.25 2,809/24 2,797/25 2,769/20 2,900/17 2,883/25 2,915/32 n/r Bullets 0.015 into rifling Small group = 30.6gn 2720/25 fps Three by 5-round groups Four by 5-round groups VS stock Two by 5-round groups Shehane stock 400yd. Diggle Fly Shoot Wet and windy!
105gn Hornady A-Max

R7BR 28.5-30.5gn Viht N150 0.5gn 0.5-1.35 n/r Poor conditions
105gn Hornady A-Max (Factory Moly-Coated)

CCI-BR4 31.1-31.5gn H. VarGet CCI-BR4 27.5-29.5gn H4895 0.1gn 0.50.30.2gn 0.4-0.9 0.53-1.0 n/r n/r Poor conditions Poor conditions
107gn Sierra MatchKing

CCI-BR4 R7BR R7BR R7BR 29.0-30.0gn H. VarGet 29.2-30.2gn H. VarGet 28.5-30.5gn Viht N150 29.2-29.8gn Viht N150 0.30.2gn 0.2gn 0.5gn 0.2gn 0.46-1.6 0.45-0.82 0.33-0.6 0.24-0.6 2,732/15 2,809/26 n/r 2,690/17 Bullets 0.015 out Bullets 0.025 out Poor conditions Bullets 0.015 out
108gn Berger BT (Barrel Well Worn)

R7BR R7BR R7BR 28.0-29.5gn H. VarGet 28.0-30.0gn Allt. Re15 31.5-33.2gn Viht N550 0.40.3gn 0.5gn 0.50.3gn 0.21-0.76 0.46-0.76 0.32-0.95 2,721/16 2,720/27 2,873/22 Small group = 28.4gn 2613/19fps Small group = 32.5gn 2798 fps
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QUIGLEY SHOOTING ASSOCIATION NEWS
Saturday 24th Sept, a dull, drizzly day - except for when we had real rain - but at least the wind was for once mild and fairly consistent. Just as well really, as we were trying out the new Quigley target for the first time.
Since the scores had been gradually rising as firers became more competent, it was decided that the scoring zones on the target would be reduced in size,
SEPTEMBER QUIGLEY COMPETITION

the bucket now being around 1/3 of its previous size and some peripheral zones reduced to zero scoring. The buffalo also now faces to the left and, as the wind at Diggle is predominantly from right to left, this makes chasing the five zone a much trickier proposition. The firers assembled at 400 yards for Stage 1, which as usual consisted of two sighters and fifteen shots to score at the Quigley bucket. With the mist and drizzle making for a poor sight-picture, most managed scores in the twenties and thirties and higher scores were proving difficult to achieve. Going in to lunch, Ken Hall was leading with 47 points against nearest rivals Richard Healey and Ian Hull, both with 43 points. After lunch, Stage 2 was shot using the buffalo silhouette at 600 yards and Ken managed to maintain his form scoring 53 points, followed by nearest rivals Richard Healey and Dave Malpas, both with 48 points.
The final scores were as follows:

1st 2nd 3rd Ken Hall Richard Healey Ian Hull 100 91 82
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United Kingdom Practical Shooting Association News by Tony Saunders

Rule changes in muzzle direction when not shooting
Following recent changes, the United Kingdom has now adopted the muzzle up approach as opposed to the familiar muzzle down. Like the old chestnut of Whats the best airgun calibre .22 or .177?, the way we carry our firearms when not shooting has been the source of much debate over the years. Proponents of muzzle down argue that in the event of a negligent discharge, the shot may ricochet but, is less likely to harm key parts of the body than a gun held with the muzzle up. The opposite view is that a negligent discharge upwards will not ricochet, and is likely to harm no-one unless it happens to hit someone on the way down...! Here in the UK we have had a muzzle down approach for years and all shooters competing in IPSC matches had to carry guns accordingly. However, when attending matches abroad, we were faced with muzzle up, which takes a little getting used to after years doing the opposite... sort of like driving on the opposite side of the road... its not difficult but needs some conscious thought for a little while. However, getting it slightly wrong could earn you a disqualification (DQ)... not something you want after travelling a long way to a match. So, with immediate effect, UKPSA matches will now be run in line with our other IPSC cousins. UK Range Officers will be adopting a maternal/ paternal approach for a while gently reminding competitors and will not DQ a competitor in these early days if they have a temporary lapse. However, you will need to get used to it... its here to stay! It is worth practicing this (silly as it sounds) at home before attending a shoot. Think about such things as how you will take the gun from the bag, put it in the rack, etc. Simple stuff, but easier to practice in the quiet of your home, or down the local range. The Tapco Safety Flag a welcome improvement! I could go on obviously... but you get the idea. I am not going to argue the merits here. The safety checks shooters carry out mean that we have a layered approach to safety, with multiple checks and balances that mean if one element fails, the other layers work to minimise injury. So, gun direction when carrying is just one part of this... the key thing is that the gun should be in control at all times when carrying.
Safety Flags One of the many questions that has been repeated on the shotgun circuit is about safety flags. Remember, you should ensure your shotgun has a safety flag in it when turning up for a sanctioned match and, it is good practice to keep one in the breech at all times when not shooting. With regard to flags... there are many, many styles and designs out there. From the Napier black plug
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with a six inch piece of orange plastic attached, to home-made ones, to some that look like a spent cartridge with a plastic tail! not a good idea. In fact, under IPSC rules, any flag that looks like or is part of a cartridge cannot be used at all.
UKPSA NEWS
shotgun is as shown below. It is held low down, with the gun clamped easily but firmly between the body and the arm. The arm is extended so you can hold it for long periods without fatigue. The muzzle is high enough such that the shooter isnt looking down at it. You wont burn your fingers on the hot barrel after shooting a long stage. Finger away from the trigger of course (exaggerated in the picture). Taking the shotgun out of the gun slip It should also be noted that you must not take the gun out of the bag or slip with muzzle down to put it in the rack. You must invert the gun WHILST in the slip and then take it out. Alternatively, take the gun to a designated safety area and un-bag it there, or carry it to the line still in the slip when it is your turn to shoot. You can then speak to the RO and un-bag under his/ her direction to invert it. The key thing is common sense and youll need to give it an extra bit of thought for a while until it becomes second nature.
A comfortable safe way to carry/hold a shotgun.
The key point of a safety flag is that is should not only prevent a round from being chambered, but must also NOT allow a round to be already in the gun and then allow the flag to be inserted into the breech/receiver. Some designs do not penetrate the chamber sufficiently and can be used even if a round is chambered! Tapco have recently introduced a sensible design for a shotgun that has a flared inserter that snugly holds inside the chamber and wont fall out if the gun is inverted if the bolt is back. In other words, you dont have to close the bolt on the flag to hold it in place. Brilliant!! This also raises another point. There is a belief that the bolt should be open (to demonstrate nothing is in the breech). This is ideal on a clay ground of course but for IPSC shooting, the flag must be inserted between stages, but the bolt may be closed if desired.
Match Announcements Midlands Champs L2 Long Barrelled Match at Leicester Shooting Centre on 26 Nov 2011 Border Guns L1 IPSC Shotgun Match at Border Guns PSG Club, Shropshire on 11 Dec 2011 CSAC L1 IPSC Shotgun Match at CSAC Club, Carlisle on 11 Dec 2011 For details, see the UKPSA forum (members), or contact the UKPSA via the website www.ukpsa.co.uk
Carrying the gun. There is no right or wrong way to carry a shotgun as long as the person carrying it has control over the gun and it isnt sweeping people etc. However, a comfortable and controllable way to carry the 75
The Cooper Montana Varminter in 20 Tactical

By Vince Bottomley
I saw my first Cooper about 17 years ago at a benchrest match. It cleaned-up in the factory category and, if Im not mistaken, the UKBRA (United Kingdom Benchrest Association) subsequently decided that the Coopers werent in the spirit of the factory class!
OK - were a target-shooting Over the last few years, Ive reviewed a few Coopers a 6PPC and a 204Ruger were the last two chamberings magazine not a hunting and, it was this rifles chambering which attracted me 20 Tactical. Ive read plenty about the 20 Tac. on magazine, so why are we the internet and it appeared to be the thinking mans version of the 204 Ruger, utilising a slightly smaller reviewing a varmint rifle? case - made by Lapua. Well, if you cant run to a custombuilt gun but you are looking for something a bit above the average factory rifle for a bit of range shooting I didnt use the moderator for the 100 yard accuracy test as well as The 20 Tac was actually designed by US shooter Todd News owner hunting, then the Coopers are Kindler, editor ofSmall Calibreof givesand insight of the Woodchuck Den which kind an into the 20 Tacs preferred targets! worth considering.
Now I know the 204 Ruger can be a stunningly accurate target round for, in 2009, our own Laurie Holland won the UKBRA factory benchrest class with
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a LRVP Savage chambered in 204 Ruger - shooting a good number of sub quarter MOA groups in the process. Coopers mission statement has always been guaranteed half MOA accuracy so lets find out if the 20 Tac lives up to the hype. Firstly, there dont seem to be any factory rounds readily available for the 20 Tac but 6mmBR.com has plenty of loading info. and powders like those
Laurie has plans to re-barrel his Ruger 204 in 20 Tac To get a real feel of what these little cartridges will do, put the figures in your ballistic programme out to 600 yards - they will see off a good 155 grain 308 bullet for drop and wind-drift! The model Im shooting is the Montana Varminter. As I said, this one is actually secondhand but Brian Fox always has a few Coopers in stock and new ones are always arriving. Prices vary according to model and chambering but they offer amazing value particularly with a half decent Remington now straying into four figures. The Coopers are exceptional value at around 1500. At this kind of money, you couldnt begin to look at a custom rifle so the Cooper is a sort of halfway house and represents great value.
The 20Tac brass is made by Lapua but stamped Dakota. Note the small L in the shield used in the 6PPC and 223 Rem. are popular, namely Vihtavuoris N133, Hodgdons H322, H4198 and the like around 25 grains, depending on powder and bullet - as always, start low and work up your load in small increments. Bullets are in the 32 grain range with a max of 40 grains and are offered by Hornady, Sierra, and Berger and maybe a few of the custom bullet makers. The case is a neck-down of the 223 Rem. but steepening the shoulder from 23 to 30 degrees. Caseforming dies are available but alternatively, go for the ready-formed Lapua sold under the Dakota Arms branding (see pic) with Todds blessing and thats what Im using. Interestingly, the varmint shooter has quite a few of these screaming little rounds to choose from weve mentioned the 204 Ruger, weve also got the 20PPC, the 20 VarTarg, 20 Practical and the 20BR. All deliver velocities around the magic 4000 fps so, you pays your money... The terrific twenties have taken over in recent times from the old favourites Left, the 20 Tac and right a the 220 Swift and 22-250 223 Rem. - as the varmint hunters choice. 77
Note the wide, vented fore-end which should work quite well off a benchrest The receiver is tiny so a smaller profile barrel can be used and this all adds to the all-up weight or lack of weight - of just over seven pounds (without scope). The solid-bottom single-shot action helps maintain stiffness, though repeaters are available. The threelug bolt is really tiny but comes with a proper Sakostyle claw extractor and bolt-face plunger ejector. The bolt operates smoothly with a custom feel. The single-stage full-adjustable trigger is Coopers own and is excellent. Im used to a 2oz. Jewel but the Cooper caught me out, its let-off was light and crisp with absolutely no creep. The rifle is a complete package which all adds to the excellent value these rifles represent. The barrel tapers from one-inch at the breech to 0.775 inches at the muzzle. It looks quite heavy in proportion to the receiver and indeed is heftier than many larger calibre hunting rifles. The stock is of AA grade claro walnut which, if you like wood, adds the final touch of class.
The bedding on this rifle was very good and I suspect it is not the factory bedding having examined other Coopers and, whether there was an initial problem with accuracy I cant say, but there isnt now.
Note substantial recoil block and the trigger Coopers own
Laurie has plans to re-barrel his Ruger 204 in 20 Tac On range, shooting off a bi-pod, the Cooper was a dream to shoot especially using the moderator - giving the recoil of a rimfire, a superb trigger and stunning accuracy. Having said that, I didnt use the mod. for group-shooting hardly fair to evaluate a rifle on the basis of someone elses moderator. At longer ranges out to 300 yards accuracy was very good with the moderator and it may have had no effect but I wanted to see what the rifle was really capable of. Incidentally, when not using the mod. there is a nice invisible thread protector.
The tiny three-lug bolt head .
At 100 yards, it will shoot tiny three-shot clover-leaf groups measuring around quarter-inch but, I wanted to prove (or disprove) the Cooper half MOA claim and the two five-shot groups shown do just that - both measuring under half an inch. With a proper benchrest set-up, wind-flags and more load-development, you could expect to better my efforts.
The bolt is pretty conventional just smaller! Heres the Cooper bolt with a Remmy-size bolt. If you want to build a light rifle, weight saving starts with the action
Heres the Cooper bolt with a Remmy-size bolt. If you want to build a light rifle, weight saving starts with the action
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I reckon this Cooper has been re-bedded. The previous ones Ive seen havent been as good as this
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Two different bullets and powder but the Cooper still printed a five-shot group under half an inch
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F Class 6th Round

OCTOBER 2011
Blair Atholl
THE LONG VIEW by Les Holgate. As I was unable to go up to Blair Atholl for round 6 of the GB F Class Association League series, Im very grateful to Target Shooters other LH namely Laurie Holland - who did make it but says maybe he shouldnt have! Take it away Laurie.
Les was one of several regulars missing that weekend but we still had a healthy entry that translated into 43 warm bodies on the Saturday morning, with a small preponderance of Open shooters which is unusual nowadays. Two contingents from continental Europe were welcome additions with no fewer than nine German competitors split between the two classes, no doubt getting some long-range practice in before the Europeans, plus Spanish F/TR regulars Enrique Cabrera (fresh from winning the Spanish F Class Championship) and Ramon Fito manufacturer of the Fito bi-pod.
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Plenty of long-range shooting was promised with three 20-round matches scheduled on Saturday and two 15-round stages on Sunday, all at 1000 yards.
F Class 6th Round

OCTOBER 2011
Blair Atholl
Id love to say that we congregated for the start of this shooting fest on a lovely sunny Saturday morning, News from the GB F-Class especially as this was the weekend Association by Les Holgate that saw cloudless skies and temperature records broken all over England and Wales but, large chunks of Scotland suffered from the overhead presence of a deep and slow-moving Atlantic cold front that piled cloud and rain in.
The long View
Still, it wasnt cold, the winds were light to non-existent and it wasnt raining on the 1000 yard firing point as the appointed time, 09.30, for blow-offs and sighting-in arrived. Unfortunately, the start time came and went but not a bullet travelled downrange for the good reason that nobody could see, with low cloud hanging onto the hillsides and banks of mist drifting slowly down Glen Tilt and across the butts.
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Photography by Steve Thornton
F Class 6th Round

OCTOBER 2011
Blair Atholl
Things eventually cleared enough to make a start but it was now quite dark and then the rain arrived. These conditions were to continue pretty well throughout the weekend with poor visibility - often bad enough to bring shooting to a halt - rain more often on than off ranging from the curtain of minute water droplets (referred to as Scotch mist) through light rain to heavy downpours. Its fair to say that this round wasnt just the usual test of rifle and ammunition precision and competitor expertise but also one of optical sight quality and clarity. Two things saved the event from disaster the half-MOA white V-Bull - sometimes the only part of the target visible through the scope even if only as an indistinct grey blob and West Atholl Rifle Clubs Kongsberg electronic targets. Not only did they work faultlessly despite all the water thrown at them but gave their usual precise and instant shot-marking in conditions where a traditional red or orange cardboard disk stuck onto the shot hole would have been invisible through all but the most expensive riflescopes.
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F Class 6th Round

OCTOBER 2011
Blair Atholl
There was another weather effect the saturated firing-point and its approaches became a sea of mud and puddles with distinctly slippery conditions underfoot with consequences for one F/TR shooter. Even the area under the gazebos became soggy and muddy, especially on the extreme left (Target 6) as I found out in the final Saturday relay.
Invisible Winds After what seemed an age, Match 1 finally got under way with the F/TR shooters out first. The flags hung limp, the grass and Mountain Ash treetops didnt so much as twitch; only the mist banks at the far end of the glen showed movement and that from right to left. Nil to a touch of right windage needed? Not so a bit of left windage was required given the position of most peoples first sighting shot. This condition held steady for maybe half a dozen shots and for a short while it looked like there might be some stunning scores from the off. Then an invisible wind came out of nowhere, first from the left, then fishtailing by half or more MOA, eventually ending up on a reasonably consistent light flow from the right.
Did the flags and flora show any of this? Not an iota if the flags did stir at all, it was 30 seconds or more too late, whilst the perplexed shooter stared at the monitor, slowly shaking his head. These capricious and often invisible winds were to persist throughout the weekend but affected some relays more than others. Of those on that first F/TR relay, only Adam Bagnall broke 90, scoring precisely that with four Vs and Target Shooters photographer and webmaster Steve Thornton, who took the match with an excellent 92.3v. Most of the other top contenders were down in the mid 80s. By the time the Open shooters took over, conditions seemed to have stabilised a bit or maybe the sevens just shot through the hidden changes and stayed within the five-ring. Liam Fenlon (7mm/270WSM) set a cracking pace - not to mention a new GBFCA 1000 yard record score of 100.11v - leading Simon Rodgers (7mm SAUM) on 97.7v and Gordon Waugh (.284 Shehane) on 96.2v. Liams eleven Vs aside, V-counts were low
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F Class 6th Round

OCTOBER 2011
Blair Atholl
in both classes in relation to the points scores showing the conditions were harder than the results might suggest and making Liams possible all the more creditable. There should have been three 20-round matches on Saturday, but the late start and frequent visibility induced holdups saw one lost, Match 2 being the final contest and not finishing until after a dark and dreary 5pm. This match produced much higher F/TR scores than its predecessor with just over half the entry now breaking 90, with Altcar 101 RCs Paul Harkins taking it on a superb 96.8v and setting the second new 1000yd GBFCA record of the day - five Vs up on John Crosss 2010 record. Four others also shot 96: John Cross, Mick Longbottom, Enrique Cabrera and Steve Thornton in that V-count order with Adam Bagnall just behind on 95.7v. The F/TR day finished thus: Steve Thornton 188.6v, Adam Bagnall 185.11v and Paul Harkins 183.10v. Meanwhile, things apparently got harder for the F-Classers, there being a general drop in scores, with Scotlands Paul Sandie taking this match on 95.8v from Les Bacons 94.4v and another Scot, Gordon Waughs 93.4v, fewer competitors breaching the 90 barrier than in F/TR! As competitors made the slow and slippery trip down the Blair Estates track to the village, the Open scores looked like this: Gordon Waugh 189.6v, Liam Fenlon 188.15 and Simon Rodgers 187.9. But, there was another quintet just behind them on 185/186, so everything was still to play for on the Sunday assuming a full shooting programme took place, or even any shooting at all!
Dree..ee..ch! Sticking with this weather theme, wed been promised better Sunday conditions as the cold front moved off to the south. Well, thats what we were told on Saturday morning by evening, the word was little if any change.
When I peered through the bedroom curtains early the next morning, light levels and clouds were low over a grey and sodden vista but it seemed the rain had stopped. A mere two steps out of the B&Bs door revealed my hopeless optimism, near invisible but dense Scotch mist filling the air, the type that soaks
88
the unsuitably attired through to the skin in no time. This was Sundays pattern less heavy rain but fog, mist and drizzle on the range. Growing up in Perthshire a half century ago we used an old Scots word for this sort of weather, dont ask how its spelled but pronounced something like dr..ee..ee..ch, entirely appropriate for such noisome conditions when everything is grey, landscape and atmosphere alike water-saturated. Whilst the damp weather stayed, not all F/TR entrants had - with four, including myself, retiring and a fifth losing a match. In my case it was barrel performance collapse that saw 2 MOA elevation variations and shotgun like spreads appear from the off in Match 2 (in my 308Win. Barnard tubegun - not the .223R Savage which was itself hors de combat for a rebarrelling job). Steve Donaldson suffered bi-pod failure in the soft ground. Tony Donnachie suffered from a bad back and local man Tim Kidner simply didnt show I couldnt blame him! Altcars John Cross started his day in fifth place in F/ TR, only to find his sighting shots didnt find the target and the scope adjusters didnt work. John was the unfortunate Id alluded to earlier whod taken a tumble on the mud as he came off the firing-point the previous day. Carrying his rifle in a slung drag bag, hed lost his footing and fallen backwards onto the rifle. Exit John from Match 3 with the Eurovision Song Contests notorious null point out of a possible 100! Oh yes, in response to the loss of a stage the previous day, Match 3 was extended to 20 rounds, the other Sunday match remaining at the scheduled 15. Adam Bagnall was hungry for a League round win and its 20 championship points he needed to win here and again in the final Bisley Europeans round this month to match Russell Simmonds four League wins and 80 points. Youll note no mention of Russell so far with the maximum 80 league points aggregate already in the bag and a 600 mile drive from Dorset to Perthshire, hed sensibly opted to stay at home and was no doubt sweltering on the South Coasts Chesil Beach that he lives alongside while we slithered on the mud and wallowed in the drizzle I felt envious at the thought of it! In a light but tricky 5 oclock wind that even saw some flags move occasionally, Adam started out as he intended to finish with a good win on 94.3v ahead of fellow Altcar 101 stalwart Paul Harkins on 92.6v, then more North of England shooters Mick Longbottom, Steve Lynch, and Stuart Anselm sharing 91. Overnight
F Class 6th Round

OCTOBER 2011
Blair Atholl
89
F Class 6th Round

OCTOBER 2011
Blair Atholl
leader Steve Thornton shot a creditable 89.4v but that put him trailing Paul and Adam by a couple of points on aggregate - Paul just leading the class on Vs. So, Match 4 would see a three way battle for F/TR supremacy. Whilst only six F/TR shooters had broken 90 and most of those barely, Open shooters drew ahead rapidly again in the prevailing Match 3 conditions with Paul Sandie earning his second stage win of the weekend on 99.6v only just ahead of Anthony Dunne, Liam Fenlon, Gary Costello, Tony Marsh and Simon Rodgers covering the 98 down to 96 points spread. Overnight leader Gordon Waugh was on a relatively lowly 92.4v and the overall leaders were now Paul Sandie and Liam Fenlon tied on 285 points, but Paul ahead by three Vs, with Simon Rodgers only just behind on 283.13v. Even so, another five shooters aggregated 281 or 282 so a good effort by any one of them in the final match could still upset this particular applecart.
90
Gtterdmmerung Match 4, the only 15 rounder of the weekend, saw poor Liam Fenlon crash & burn as his WSM barrel suddenly packed up as they are prone to do. Two bull-five sighters converted, another five, another .... then inexplicably into the two-ring. After that, it was all over for the likeable Kent based Irishman in a match that saw half the Open field breach 70, he ended up in the third from bottom slot on 62.1v pulling him down to 9th overall on aggregate. Wow! When a seven has the barrel go, it really goes! (960 rounds, Liam told me afterwards.)
Gary Costello took the match on 74.5v, an excellent score given the difficulty in simply seeing the target clearly in the conditions. Paul Sandie, Peter Wilson and Simon Rodgers were a whisker behind on 73s more than enough to give Paul first place overall and Simon second while Garys strong finish helped him into third. F/TR saw a Match 4 upset too, albeit without such drastic repercussions. Steve Thorntons remaining hopes of an overall class win also crashed and burned with an un-explained one at 12 oclock, in the midst of a string of fives and Vs almost certainly a wet and hence over-pressure round. This one poor shot saw him down in the fourth last match slot on 67.5v such are the standards pertaining these days. Four F/TR shooters shared 71 points and another five were just behind on 70 but it was Altcar 101 Clubs Steve Lynch who got the glassware with a superb nine Vs from his 15 shots, better than any Open competitor. Ramon Fito took second place on six Vs and John Cross third with five, the other 71 and fourth match place going to Paul Harkins. Adam Bagnall was just behind on 70.3v and that was enough to place him first overall F/TR and 20 League points on 349.17v, Paul Harkins second on 346.17v and Steve Thornton got his first league podium place with 344.15v. Those few readers still awake at this stage may have picked up on John Cross being third F/TR in this last match hadnt he retired? Hed brought a very unexotic Remington 700 of some sort probably a PSS for another shooter to use. It had been rebarrelled with a quality heavy 30 inch barrel and graced with an off-the-shelf height-adjustable buttplate. They shared this rifle in the final match and John proved yet again you dont need thousands of pounds worth of custom
F Class 6th Round

OCTOBER 2011
Blair Atholl
rifle to be competitive in F/TR even at 1000 yards. So, despite the weather, GBFCA League Round 6 still produced a full shooting programme and its share of thrills and spills on and off the firing-point. I should also add that this was not the miserable weekend you might think with glum-faced and moaning competitors hanging around with rainwater dripping off the ends of their noses desperate only to finish shooting and leave for drier climes. It was a remarkably cheerful occasion with spirits high throughout. There is something about Blair Atholl that always makes it a great shooting experience and effers are a resilient and cheerful bunch. Laurie thanks for a great report. Full scores and a larger selection of photographs are available on the GB F Class Associations website http://www.gbfclass.co.uk as is the provisional 2012 events calendar. It should be noted that for 2012, GBFCA League Round 2 at Blair Atholl and currently listed for the weekend of 12/13th May is likely to be rescheduled to another date. It clashes with the Etape Caledonia 2012 cycle race based on closed public roads around Pitlochry that sees 5,000 competitors and several times as many spectators flood into the region soaking up all accommodation from Perth to Aviemore. Now that is a sporting fixture on a grand scale - Les.
Final Placings (HPS = 375.75v)

F Class 1. Paul Sandie 2. Simon Rodgers 3. Gary Costello 4. Tony Marsh 5. Anthony Dunne 6. Les Bacon F/TR 1. Adam Bagnall 2. Paul Harkins 3. Steve Thornton 4. Mick Longbottom 5. Enrique Cabrera 6. Steve Lynch 358.28v 356.14v 355.32v 353.22v 352.22v 350.21v 349.17 346.17v 344.15v 342.18v 340.11v 339.18v
91
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Finals of the GB F Class Championships
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November 2011 Issue

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The overall results were as follows: 308 Class:

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