Target Shooter

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Target Shooter 3
 Welcome to the 8th month

.......of Target Shooter
Sections
16 The GSG-5 & Mini
Rifle Competition by 6 Shooting Sport News
Vince Bottomley
10 Shooters Calendar

12 Support your Local Gun

Shop
22 HAWKE SIDEWINDER30
AND ECLIPSE30 IRSW 14 Shooting Black Powder
Pistol by Chris Risebrook
review by Tim Finley
18 Website of the
Month

41 Nikko Sterling 28 European Practical
Diamond Sportsman Shotgun Championship
10 - 50 x 60mm scope 2009 by Tony Sanders
review by Andy Dubreuil
34 No4 T Markings - No 32
Scope by Nigel Greenaway

46 Windflags - 39 Gun of the Month
the How’s and
the why’s by Carl 52 2009 Welsh Open
Championship by Hayley
Boswell Platts

60 Full Bore Ballistic Analysis

Part 2 by Bryan Litz

54 The FT World 74 Gallery Rifle Basic Part 5

by Gwyn Roberts
Championship by
Stanley Shaw 80 Club Feature

94 Letters

95 Advertisers Index
67 HANDLOADING
‘OLD FAITHFUL’ THE
.308 WINCHESTER
(part 1) by Laurie
Holland

4 Target Shooter
 Association Pages
82 UKBRA

84 UKBR22
Editor(s).
87 F Class UK Carl Boswell and Vince Bottomley
Advertising and Office Manager
89 Quigley Association Andy Dubreuil. email; admin@targetshooter.co.uk
Contributors
91 HFT News Vince Bottomley Andy Dubreuil Bryan Litz
Tim Finley Laurie Holland Chris Risebrook
92 Gallery Rifle Carl Boswell Hayley Platts Tony Sanders
Nigel Greenaway Gwyn Roberts
93 UKPSA Stanley Shaw Ken Hall
Webitorial - November 2009
From the outset, Target Shooter took the decision to stay away from politics but we are now on the ‘run-
down’ to the next General Election, which must take place by June next year. We will be asked to vote for
MPs - many of whom have already proved to be untrustworthy with their expenses claims. As always, there
are rumours that if elected, the Tories may allow our Olympic squads to once more train at home with their
own pistols. If MP’s want us to trust them – they must also trust us. Let’s hope that common sense prevails
for once.

The UK is well known throughout the world as having some of the toughest firearm laws and I had a chuckle
recently when reading an American-based shooting forum. “How come if the Brits are so restricted in what
they can shoot, they whupped our butts at the F Class World Championships?”
How indeed! Maybe a few of those former pistol shooters have now become very competent
riflemen – I’d like to think that something good came out of that knee-jerk legislation.

This month, we have another bumper issue for you and you can read a splendid report on the
2009 World Field Target Air Rifle Championships in South Africa. Yes, we had a bunch of Brits shoot-
ing out there and guess what? Not only did England win the team event but a Brit, James Wood-
head, is the new World Champion. What an achievement! A group of guys go out there, under their
own funding and beat the world! Course you knew that didn’t you? It was all over the newspapers
– no? The NRA Journal – no? Well, Target Shooter is proud to carry this report and we congratu-
late James and the rest of the guys for their magnificent achievement. If you’re a fullbore rifle shooter
reading this and maybe thinking that air-rifle just doesn’t cut it – let me tell you that in my
experience, a good field target shooter will hold his own in any fullbore rifle company. It’s all rifle shooting
guys – let’s embrace it and celebrate it.
Until next month.

One last reminder - when looking at ads you can click on these to go directly to vendors websites
to view products. Please mention our name when contacting them.

Carl Boswell - carl@targetshooter.co.uk and Vince Bottomley - vinceb@targetshooter.co.uk and

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

Target Shooter 5
 Shooting Sport News
E xciting news from Lapua
The 22-250 is a much under-rated cartridge – for two
reasons.
Firstly, rifle manufacturers have insisted on
barrelling their 22-250 rifles with a relatively slow twist,
thus forcing the shooter to use light bullets in the 50-
55 grain range. Although this results in a very fast,
flat-shooting cartridge, its range is limited and as
such does not interest the
I SSF World Cup Final
The final event of the World Cup season took
place this week in Wuxi, China, the world’s best
shooters including Olympic champions, title
defenders and World Cup Series leaders
competed in the prestigious ISSF World Cup Final
for Rifle & Pistol.
Men’s 3 Positions
The Men’s 3 Positions final took place with title
defender Matt Emmons taking the gold medal.
The Olympic multi-medallist outscored Korea’s
Han and the talented Norwegian shooter Bakken
with a total score of 1277.3 (1177-62 + 100.3). All
finalist were shooting eley.
Qualification leader’s Han Jinseop finished in
second behind Emmons, grabbing Silver with
1274.6 points. Walking into the final in the lead
with the highest qualification score of 1180 points,
Han wasted his advantage by shooting twice in
the eights and scoring 94.6 points in the final. The
28-year old Korean athlete climbed on the second
step of the podium thanks to a fatal mistake of his
Norwegian opponents Ole Magnus Bakken, who
closed the final with a 5.3 and shot himself back in
6 Target Shooter
target shooter. Also, its muzzle velocity
exceeds the m/v limits of military certified ranges.
Secondly, the brass is mediocre at best – until
now that is. From next year, Lapua will be making
22-250 brass. This opens up many possibilities
for the target shooter who likes small calibres. A
22-250 shooting 80 grain bullets will be an
amazing round out to 600 yards - and beyond. A 1 in
9 twist should stabilise the 80 grain bullet but the 90
grainer is also a possibility. Or neck it up to 6mm and
you have 6-6.5 x 47 Lapua with a useful increase
in case capacity. You could even neck it to 6.5mm.
The brass will also be ideal for forming 6XC cases,
though Norma do make these now.
From initial pictures, it looks as though the Lapua
22-250 will have a large primer. I’m slightly surprised
as Lapua initially introduced the 6.5x47 with a large
primer then changed it for a small primer when it
went into production. As far as I could ascertain, the
reason was an increase in accuracy with the small
primer.
third with a total
of 1270.0 points
(1180+90.0).
Final scores
from the
championship
can be found
on the ISSF
website.
www.issf-sho
oting.org/
news.ashx
?newsid=
1112
S hooting Sports beat football.
In August Sport England published figures about
a number of sports practiced in the UK, using a
variety of criteria.
Shooting sports seems to have come of very
well in this survey, based on the feedback of
44,000 people aged from 14 upwards, who were
surveyed.
October was supposed to bring a more detailed
analysis of this survey, regarding the specific
sports. This is still being developed and we hope
N ew Action from Kelbly Inc. – makers
of the famous Stolle
The Kelbly family have launched a new action called
the Atlas. The Atlas action is basically a Remington
700 clone made to benchrest standards – and with
Kelbly’s benchrest background, that’s no idle claim.
The action-body is made of 416RS stainless-steel.
Bolts are made of 4140 alloy steel on the body and
stainless-steel on bolt-handle. The Atlas action will
come standard as a single-shot with trigger-bracket
for Remington-style triggers, aluminum bolt-shroud
and cone bolt on the 222, PPC and 308 bolt-face
and a flat bolt on .532 magnum bolt-face, all with a
top safety cut-out.
to report on this in a future issue.
This is at least some good news that promotes
the idea of shooting sports as a safe and
valuable sport to be a part of.
The Sportsman Association has a lead on this
story at;
http://www.sportsmansassociation.
co.uk/?p=195
The full story can be found on the Sport
England website at; http://www.sportengland.
org/research/sport_satisfaction/headline_re-
sults.aspx
The tenon thread is 1 1/16th x 18 tpi. and a
spacer-nut will be available to go on your old Stolle
barrels that will allow you to shoot your old barrel
on the Atlas action without re-chambering. Action
configurations are right bolt, right port or left bolt, left
port only. Priced at a very competitive $700.00 in the
USA but we’ll have to see what it costs when it gets
over here.
Several options will be available, like fluted bolt,
magazine, ejector, recoil-lug, Cera-Kote to action
body & bolt handle, polished finish etc. and is on
schedule for production at end of October 2009.
As many of you know the Kelbly actions are named
after bears – Panda, Grizzly etc. The Atlas bear was
the only native bear to the continent of Africa but is
now sadly extinct.
Target Shooter 7
T he Scope Coat
I recently got a new scope, the Nikko
Stirling 10-50x60, which you
may have read about in the
last issue of the magazine.
Unfortunately, it didn’t come with
dust caps and care of equipment
is a big thing with me and a scope
is one piece of equipment that
can so easily be damaged simply
taking it out of the gun cabinet and
transporting it. Scopes can be the
second most expensive piece of kit
that we buy so surely it deserves
care and attention.
As a benchrest shooter, I visit a
number of benchrest-shooting
Phoenix in Arizona and I even got a Scope Coat
forums and had seen an advert for a ‘Scope Coat’
sticker to with it. When I took it out of the packaging,
but had not taken that much interest in it - until I got
the material seemed familiar from the days when I
my new scope.
used to jet ski - it has the same texture as a wetsuit.
The Scope Coat is a jacket just for your scope and
I‘m not sure if it is made from the same material or
will protect it from those everyday knocks which
not but they use Neoprene which is then covered
inevitably occur. The Scope Coat was invented
in a layer of nylon on either side. The coats come
by Dan Evans back in 1995, for those very same
in thicknesses of 2mm, 3mm 5mm and 6mm, this
reasons and he started off with just three sizes of
makes them strong but flexible and ideal for the
cylindrical scope covers but today that has grown to
purpose. As it is able to stretch, it fits the scope
over 50 products covering a vast array of equipment.
like a glove and keeps dust off the lenses and
With a large scope like the Nikko, I wasn’t sure if they
protects from accidental knocks that inevitably
would be able to help - especially as it had the side
happen.
parallax-wheel but when I spoke to Lisa at Scope
Scope Coat have a variety of ways to protect
Coat, she was very helpful and very knowledgeable
scopes, spotting scopes and even the muzzle of
and worked out just the right kind of cover I needed.
your rifle and they come in a variety colours. If you
It took around a week for it arrived in the UK from
have a special request they can make it to your
specifications.
It’s often said that the
most simple ideas
are the best and this
certainly one of those.
If you are wanting to
protect the
vulnerable parts of
your rifle then you
really should
checkout Scope
Coats. They are very
reasonably priced
and have dealers all
around the world so
if you are looking to
purchase one in the
UK then contact your
local dealer who can
order you one from
Tim Hannam (Target
Shooter advertiser).

8 Target Shooter
N EW PROPELLANTS

We see at least one new ‘canister powder’ (ie

blended to retain burning characteristics between
manufacturing lots for handloaders) introduced
each year, with 2009 and this year no exception.

Last year’s hot entry, Alliant Reloder 17, has just

reached our shores with the first supplies leaving the
distributor, Edgar Brothers. This propellant, which
unlike other Alliant ‘Reloder’ series rifle powders
of Swedish origin is manufactured by Rheinmetall
Nitrochemie AG in Switzerland, uses a unique
new technology that has the chemicals that
control the burning rate (‘deterrents’) impregnated
throughout the material, not just surface coated as is
normally done, giving a flatter pressure curve over the
entire course of the burn. When allied to this
Meanwhile, Hodgdon in Kansas has just announced
product’s high-energy nitrocellulose plus nitro-glycerine
the introduction of a new fine-grained benchrest quality
formulation and high bulk density allowing a heavy charge
extruded powder with applications in small and
to be packed into any given cartridge case volume, it
medium sized cartridges in match, varmint-shooting and
produces substantially higher MVs in some cartridge
military / police sniper applications. IMR8208 XBR has a
designs. Particular beneficiaries are the short WSM
burning rate a little faster than IMR / H4895 and is suited
and RSAUM magnums, .284 Winchester F-Class loads
to the same range of cartridges - .204 Ruger, .223 Rem,
with heavy bullets, and the 6XC with 105-115gn bullets,
.308 Win, 6mm BR, .22-250 Rem and similar. Its unique
increases typically being in the 150-200 fps range
selling point is total imperviousness to all normal
over that produced by competitors. Burning rate-wise
temperature changes – Hodgdon claims no
pressure / velocity variations at all between minus 40 and
165-degrees F, a huge plus in warmer climates than
ours where seasonal or even daily variations can
affect both the velocity and accuracy of cartridges
loaded with most powders. Allied to its producing superlative
accuracy in the 6PPC, this has already had one
interesting offshoot using pre-production batches. Lou
Murdica used the powder over the 2009 US benchrest
season with a single load throughout taking several wins,
and Jim Carmichael took 1st place in the IBSA 2009
National Championship meeting with the powder, again
sticking to a single previously worked up load. (Because
of the normal sensitivity of BR loads to even modest
temperature changes, and the extreme precision and
grouping consistency require to win matches, top BR
competitors usually vary loads slightly according to the
prevailing conditions, often more than once during the
course of a match.)

Other beneficiaries are varmint shooters such as

it falls between the existing Reloder 15 and 19 grades
making it akin to the 4350s and a bit slow burning for .308
Winchester and similar, but it might do well in many of the high
performance match sixes such as 6X47mm Lapua, 6mm
Dasher and similar with heavy bullets, and Alliant lists loads
for the .243 Winchester that give a 100gn PSP bullet just
over 3,000 fps from a sporter-length barrel. Accuracy is said
to be very good indeed in suitable applications. Loads data
is available on Alliant’s website: www.alliantpowder.com
prairie dog shooters who see large temperature variations
and military snipers whose ammunition has to perform
consistently in sub-arctic to tropical and hot desert
conditions. Hodgdon says that the powder is already be-
ing loaded in ammunition for snipers in some theatres. It
will be released to American handloaders at the end of this
year, and on past form we’ll see it here some six to twelve
months later. A full range of loads data is available on the
Hodgdon Reloading Data Centre section of its website:
www.hodgdon.com. 8208 data is also included in the next
issue of the company’s ‘annual manual’, a magazine format
reloading guide (and more) that will be on sale early in 2010.

Target Shooter 9
Calendar of events over the next month
If your club or association has events you want to publicise here then email us.
24 Oct - Long Range Rifles Branch, 600yd
Whitworth/Rigby Cup & Annual Dinner,
Bisley
24 Oct to Sun 25 Oct Gallery Rifle - Autumn
Action Weekend (National Shooting Centre
(NSC), Bisley)
This is the last of the 2009 main Gallery Rifle
Action Weekends that encourages ‘Action
Shooting’ for the Gallery Rifle community who
visit Bisley. This includes competitions for
Gallery Rifles (centrefire and smallbore), Long
Barrelled Revolvers and Pistols. There are
also competitions for those of you who have an
interest in Target Shotgun.
30 Oct to 01 Nov - European F Class
Championships (National Shooting Centre
(NSC), Bisley)
07 Nov Start of Probationary Members
Course 2009/5 (National Shooting Centre
(NSC), Bisley)
This course is primarily a course in safe
handling and provides an introduction to
Target Rifle, Gallery Rifle and Black Powder
Pistol. Each course consists of four separate
lessons. Course date to be allocated once
entry conditions are fulfilled. All
applications for Probationary Membership
should be made to the NRA Membership
Secretary.
14 to Sun 15 Nov Club Coach Course
(National Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley)
Candidates should be experienced
shooters who have already completed a
Club Instructor course. This course covers
coaching techniques, and methods of
instruction. Candidates will be formally
assessed on the range and in the delivery of
classroom lesson. Qualified Club Coaches
may run NRA Probationary, Skills and Club
Instructor Courses.
14 Nov NRA Shooting Club Day (National
Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley)
Multi-discipline NRA Shooting Club Day.
Targets have been booked on Melville and at
100, 200, 500 and 1000 yards. All disciplines
welcome.
10 Target Shooter
5 Dec Gallery Rifle Xmas Shoot and Social
(National Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley)
Come to the final gathering of 2009 for the Gallery
Rifle community. This festive event has plenty of
shooting, with a twist, and a splendid dinner and
grand Prize-giving that has never failed to impress.
Contact(s): Brian Thomas
6 Dec LMRA Wappenschaw (National Shooting
Centre (NSC), Bisley)
Contact(s): LMRA
6 Dec Civilian Service Rifle competition (National
Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley)
Civilian Service Rifle competitions are held
throughout the year. Dates so far for the winter
league 24 October, 21 November, 6 December.
Download an entry form and send to NSC, Bisley.
Contact Mark Bradley for further information
12 Dec NRA Shooting Club Xmas Shoot (National
Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley)
NRA Shooting Club Xmas Shoot. Targets have
been booked on Melville.
Open to all full members of the NRA who have
completed and returned the registration form
which is available by clicking on the link below.
If you would like to attend you must book in at least
a week in advance by contacting Heather Webb.
For more information on the NRA Shooting Club -
Contact(s): Charles Perry
12 Dec DTL Shotgun Training, Sywell Ranges -
Contact MLAGB
13 Dec Rifle Practice, Bisley 100yd - advance
booking required - Contact MLAGB
If you have any events or matches
in the Winter that you would like to
advertise FREE here, then please
contact us at;
customer.services@
targetshooter.co.uk
 New in New in

Forster Co-Ax Press

The simplest, most powerful and most accurate press on the market, bar
none. The press delivers perfect alignment of the die and the case
because the shell holder jaws are designed to float with the die, thereby
permitting the case to center precisely in the die. Dual floating guide
rods ensure perfect alignment.

Forster Benchrest Reloading Dies

Forster dies set the standards for quality and
precision. Pinpoint accuracy and
uncompromising performance begin with
dependable reloading equipment that delivers
time after time. The perfect dies for benchrest
and target shooters seeking the very best Bench Rest Quality Dies
accuracy.

Original Case Trimmer Co-Ax Case & Cartridge Inspector

For the full range of Forster Products visit www.forsterproducts.com

UK distributor of Forster Products

Tim Hannam The Reloading Specialists
Peckfield Lodge, Great North Rd, South Milford, Leeds, LS25 5LJ
Tel: 01977 681639 Fax: 01977 684272 email: sales@timhannam.com

Target Shooter 11
 ‘Support your local gun shop’
Westlake Engineering
Alan starts to strip a Buckmark
Westlake Engineering, Run by Alan Westlake
specialise in Target Pistols. In 1985 Alan
purchased “Britarms” and brought the .22
Britarms UIT Target Pistol back into production.
Up until the Pistol ban in 1997 Alan made
Britarms and converted S&W Revolvers for UIT type
shooting and for PPC and 1500 He also made a
name as one of the foremost Browning 9mm
“Tuners” setting them up for Service Pistol Shooting.
In 1996 Alan set up a Machine shop so that
he could do all his own machining without
having to borrow other peoples machines or buy in
machined parts. While getting out of the Kit car
business that was the other half of the work he did.
This proved to be a bad career move, as the
Pistol Ban closed his business down, not
helped by the Home Office, taking twelve
months to start to process his claim for
compensation for all the pistols and parts handed
in.
However, eventually Alan decided to start
making Black Powder Muzzle Loading
Pistols, producing the Phoenix, followed by the
Clubmaster, a simplified and cheaper pistol using
the same superb trigger system as the Phoenix.
Standard weight Buckmark
12 Target Shooter
Shortly afterwards he developed a Two part
replacement Cylinder, for the Remington Army
Revolver, which uses Shotgun primers and
Nitro powder. This was followed by the Nitro
.38 Conversion, where the barrel is replaced
for a stainless steel Cal.38 Barrel and the
replacement cylinder is made to use .38
Wadcutter bullets. This being as close as you are
going to get to the S&W 38 we all love and lost.
Using this system Alan now converts Remington
Army, Rogers and Spencer and Ruger old Army
Revolvers. There is also a .38 S&W Spl Long
Pistol, based on a Remington Army Revolver.
Using the two part cylinder chambered for .38 spl.
In 2004 Alan produced the first .22 Britarms Long
Pistol and after a lengthy battle with the Home
Office ( Details are on the Westlake Engineering
website) was able to put it into the marketplace.
This then paved the way for the Buckmark .22
Long Pistol Conversion, As Browning were by
Nitro .38 Ruger Old Army
then, able to supply the base rifles for conversion.
These now form the bulk of the Long pistols
supplied, as they are half the price of a Britarms
which have now been taken out of production.
Alan will also modify pistols such as the Ruger
Redhawk, fitting Balance rods and shortening the
barrels back to 12 inches, or changing the Taurus
wrist brace to a straight balance rod and weight.
The latest product developed is the .357
Taurus Muzzle Loading Revolver. This is a
conversion of the .357magnum Taurus Long
Barrelled Revolver. Which has the Cylinder
removed and the crane modified to accept a new
Muzzle loading Cylinder, then the wrist brace is
removed and the Barrel shortened. A conversion
for the .44 Magnum will be available in the not too
distant future. http://westlakeengineering.com/
 Tel/Fax 01722782432
Email; ags.westlake@virgin.net/ Website; www.westlakeengineering.com

The Taurus ML Revolver is converted from a Taurus .357 Magnum Long Barrelled Revolver.
The cylinder is removed and a Yoke extension fitted, this contains the spring loaded
plunger that frees the action when the yoke is closed. As this extension cannot be removed,
it prevents the re-fitting of the original cylinder. The Barrel is shortened to approximately 5
¼ inches and the wristbrace is removed.
A new cylinder is made which has pockets for shotgun primers at the rear with a small
flash hole through into the chamber at the front. The chamber is made to accept .357” lead
wadcutter bullets. The conversion of your pistol costs £330.00. Extra Cylinders are £180.00
each. If you do not have a pistol I can order a new pistol from the Importers.

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

Fullbore & .22LR Optics

Black Power Ammunition
Air Rifles and Pistols Reloading equipment
Used rifles and Pistols and more...

Our premises are located at

53 Chipstead Valley Road, Coulsdon, Surrey, CR5 2RB
www.gtshooting.co.uk

Tel: 020 8660 6843

Fax: 020 8660 6843
We are conveniently situated near the M23 & M25.Shooter
Target 13
Opening times: Tuesday to Saturday 10.00am - 5.30pm
 Shooting the Black Powder Pistol
Part 1
by Chris Risebrook
Let’s get the boring but essential legal bit out of the
way first. Any muzzle-loading pistol made before
1939 and kept as a curio or relic is presumed to be
an antique and requires no permit. However, if you
are lucky enough to own such an artefact and want
to shoot it, then you will have to have your Firearm
Certificate varied accordingly. If you cease using it,
you can have it removed from your ticket, take it out of
the gun cabinet and hang it on the wall! Daft but true.
Incidentally, if you do wish to use an original, do
make sure it has been proofed and is still in proof, or
have it re-proofed.
Unfortunately, the cost of original antiques now
puts them out of the reach of most of us but, Italian
manufacturers in particular, now produce near
exact copies of many of the better known
revolvers and single-shot pistols at a fraction of
the price. For example, a genuine 1851 Colt Navy
in good shooting condition could set you back
about £2500. A modern replica could be a tenth
of that price. Antique pistols have proved to be
a very good investment over recent years but are
getting a bit expensive to use on a regular basis.
14 Target Shooter
Single-shot pistols are usually either flintlock or
percussion, (although Pedersoli do now make
a replica of the Japanese matchlock) and are
usually reproductions of well known makes of target or
duelling pistol, or examples of a generic type of
pistol. Thus, there are replicas of pistols by the
well-known 18/19th century makers such as Le Page,
Keuchenreuter, Charles Moore, Nock, Mortimer etc.
Revolvers, with the exception of the Ruger Old Army,
are usually copies of Colt and Remington examples,
although copies of lesser-known makes such as Starr,
Le Mat and Rogers & Spencer are also produced.
Competition shooting with all muzzle-loading
pistols is governed in this country by the Muzzle
Loaders Association of Great Britain (MLAGB)
who run postal and live competitions for all
genres of pistol. They are very helpful people and
will happily supply details of their competitions
and the rules governing each type of weapon.
To compete under their rules, pistols must either
be original or in the spirit of the original. Basically,
this means the replica must offer no advantage to
shooting over the original. Thus, it may be made of

stainless steel but it must not have adjustable sights or
oversize grips if these were not on the original. At live
competitions, weapons are checked for authenticity.
Of course, if you are just going to shoot on your
home range, you can have any modification you
wish; indeed, some manufacturers offer Remington
revolvers with adjustable sights, although these were
never available on the original. One weakness of
original revolvers was their ancillary springs, namely
the cylinder hand spring and the combined bolt and
trigger return spring. Making flat springs is a black
art and one fortunate spin-off of the replica market is
that, if you do own an original revolver, these springs
are usually interchangeable with a little fettling.
Most shooters’ main objection to muzzle-loading is the
bugbear of cleaning. No doubt about it, it’s a chore to
clean a muzzle-loading revolver but you can reduce
this to a minimum. Firstly, consider a stainless-steel
model. It may not be authentic, or as aesthetically
pleasing but it is permitted in competition and there
is no need to clean it immediately after shooting.
However, pistols should be cleaned as soon as
possible after use and this is important. Although
percussion-caps are now non-corrosive, black
powder is hydroscopic and rust will form quite
quickly. This can be halted or delayed by the use
of Forest Foam. It’s expensive, but you can leave
the gun for a considerable time by filling it with
the foam. Secondly, try using a black-powder
substitute. The best I have found is Triple Seven.
This is cleaner burning than black, uses 15% by
volume, and does not require an Explosive Permit.
This latter point is very useful. To buy black
powder, you have to apply to the police for an
explosive permit and, if you keep it in any
quantity, then you have to keep the powder in a special
container. You are also supposed to have an
additional (free) permit to transport the stuff out of
the shop! These are not insurmountable problems
but they do create additional hassle which can be
avoided as these rules do not apply to the black-
powder substitutes. Personally, I am all for the simple
life.
Target Shooter 15
The GSG-5 & Mini Rifle Competition

By Vince Bottomley
Well, here I am about to write a series of articles I’m using a 4X Burris scope on the GSG-5 to
about something of which I know nothing! Not the test ammunition etc
first time I’ve been accused of that of course but PP was the large-capacity compensated semi-
something I don’t like to make a habit of. auto. The sport involved real-life scenarios, large
round-counts, mag. changes, rapid fire, double taps
I love my shooting and, when we ‘lost’ pistols, I made – how could that be replaced?
a vow to do as much shooting as I possibly could
and try every possible discipline – whilst I still could! Before long, Mini Rifle was up and running, using
With pistols, I dabbled and plinked but never really high-capacity semi-auto 22 rimfire rifles – often
got around to entering a proper competition – what based on the Ruger 10/22. Targets and scenarios or
a wasted opportunity. Now, I rarely take a gun out of ‘stages’ can be very similar to the PP courses of fire
the cabinet unless it is to shoot in competition and I and large-capacity mags. and the like are all there.
shoot just about everything – Benchrest, F Class,
Classic Military, Black-powder, Tactical and Smallbore. Last month, Target Shooter contributor Tim Finley
reviewed the GSG AK47 – a 22 rimfire semi-
Yes, I’m lucky to live close to a magnificent fullbore auto AK look-alike – by shooting it in a Mini Rifle
rifle range and I realise that if you are not so fortunate competition. I don’t know about you but to me it
then your available disciplines may be limited. Maybe sounded like a whole lot of fun and cheap fun at that!
you just have access to an indoor range or a 50 yard
outdoor range which seriously limits what you can My local range has included some Mini Rifle shoots
shoot but, you can get plenty of enjoyment from your for next year and a few members have visited other
shooting, particularly if you are prepared to get ranges and taken part in Mini Rifle competition to
involved. find out what it’s all about. We have a lot to learn
– rules, targets, course of fire and the essential
In my editorial a couple of months ago, I bemoaned safety procedures. The idea of this series of articles
the dozens of clubs out there that never seem to is to hopefully encourage other clubs to at least
get around to running proper competitions for their think about shooting Mini Rifle and if you follow me
members. One of the objects of Target Shooter is to through the winter we can hopefully learn together
promote target shooting in all its forms and part of and you can avoid making the same mistakes as me!
that is to encourage clubs to put on shoots for their
members. The first step I have taken is to acquire a suitable
rifle. Ideally we need a rifle that is semi-auto, takes
So, if you are a small club with limited facilities, what high-capacity mags., has some sort of sighting
sort of competitions can you run? One discipline I’ve system and is light enough to ‘handle’ in a variety
never tried is Mini Rifle. What is Mini Rifle? of shooting scenarios. If you Google Mini Rifle,
Seemingly, it was born out of the pistol ban. you will soon get an idea of what it’s all about and
Practical-pistol shooters were one of the most the favoured type of firearm. We are all aware of
passionate prior to the ban - pushing the limits of the Ruger 10/22, which is something of a legend
pistol development – until they were suddenly on both sides of the Atlantic and there are more
deprived of their sport. The favoured tool for

16 Target Shooter
 Here’s the bracket from Stockade best sight for Mini Rifle – another
that links two magazines together thing to find out.

I had hoped to pick up an extra

magazine from York Guns but
unfortunately there were none in
stock so when I got home I resorted
to Google. Up popped www.stockade-
products.co.uk and I soon had one
ordered and a little bracket which clips
two mags. together. The internet is
great for this though it doesn’t have the
personal touch of your local gunshop,
so it was nice when I got a personal
e-mail from Mike at Stockade
thanking me for my order. Well
done Stockade, it makes all the
difference and I’m pleased to be
able to give you a plug. Less than
a week later and I had the mag.
and bracket – excellent service.
Of course, like a kid with a new toy, I
accessories, gizmos and tune-ups available for this was eager to try out the GSG-5, mount
the sight and get it zeroed. I had intended getting a
rifle than any other. It’s cheap to buy and functions
zero at about 25 yards but the range was already in
well and naturally they are popular with Mini Rifle
shooters. If you have a Ruger, Roger Francis of use so I couldn’t go forward and had to shoot at 100
yards. I charged the 20 round magazine, turned on
South Yorkshire Shooting Supplies can offer all the
the sight and took aim at a small object on the sand
desirable ‘whistles & bells’. www.rimfiremagic.co.uk
OK, here’s where maybe I’ve made my first backstop. I couldn’t believe it when I hit it with the
mistake. I haven’t gone down the Ruger 10/22 first round! I’m no expert on 22 rimfire ammo. but
I had a variety of oddments accumulated over the
route. At the IWA show in Germany last year, I was
years from various tests. Maybe it was just because
bewildered by the sheer number of 22 semi-auto ‘fun
the rifle was nice and clean but the little GSG was
guns’ and the old Ruger started to look a bit dated
and that GSG (German Sport Guns) version of the happy to digest anything I stuffed in the magazine
but I settled on some CCI high velocity ‘Mini Mag.’
AK47 as used by Tim Finley got me looking in that
being all too conscious of the significant
direction. Tim is already shooting Mini Rifle with some
trajectory-drop of sub-sonic rimfire ammo. Next
success and he uses the GSG-5 – an MP5 look-alike.
month, we will get to grips with the GSG-5 and try
I must admit, the GSG-5 appealed to me more than a
Ruger 10/22 and it also comes with quite a few and get it ‘competition ready’. Meanwhile, how about
useful bits and pieces, like Picatinny rail, stirring a bit of interest in Mini Rifle in your own club?
If you are already shooting Mini Rifle then feel free
large-capacity magazines etc. so it was off to UK
importers, York Guns, for a closer look. to get in touch if you can offer a few tips - not just for
Stuart Wilson was able to show me the latest me as a raw beginner but also for clubs wishing to
version of the GSG-5, which comes with a larger start shooting Mini Rifle. vinceb@6ppc.fsnet.co.uk
diameter faux moderator than
the earlier model but I quite
liked the look and feel of the
earlier version so that’s what
I came away with – plus a very
neat ‘red-dot’ sight which also
incorporated a laser. This is a
beautiful piece of kit for a very
reasonable price and my term The GSG
‘red dot’ is perhaps an over would function
simplification but hopefully you with several different
know what I mean. At this stage types of ammo, but I
however, I’m not sure as to the settled on CCI Mini-Mag

Target Shooter 17
 Shooting Website of the Month

Mini Rifle as we call it in the UK is

developing fast in the country. We had the
review if the GSG rifle last month, by Tim Finley
have a good write up.
– who by the way seems to be winning a lot of
This seems to be a developing sport in the USA
these competitions as well.
as there of lots of matches that have started
Anyway, in line with these developments and
to come up on the web, with resources like
current competitions I thought we would look
Tactical .22.net being produced to support it.
at the US based website Tactical .22.net. This
We might even get inventive over here and do
combines an informative website, shop, forum,
the same??
news pages etc.
The new section keeps people up to date – it
I have not seen anything like this website in the
looks like the GSG 5 may not be available for
UK and it is an invaluable resource for anyone
much longer – whether that is in the US or here,
starting up this type of sport. We obviously
time will tell.
have the practical/ gallery rifle side of things,
One thing that is good is the technical
but this mini rifle seems to be going a slightly
information like trigger jobs and magazine
different road.
information. Overall a good start to an
Tactical .22.net has some good review sections
informative website. Like all the others we have
for the variety of rifles used in this sport, many
reviewed it will inevitably grow and get even
of which we have access to in the UK, which is
better.
a first. The normal Remingtons, Rugers and AR
15 clones are mentioned. The new GSG’s also
18 Target Shooter
 SURGEON and LAWTON ACTIONS
We are now building custom rifles based on these top quality US made rifle actions. We
are sole UK distributors for these fine actions and are happy to supply the Trade.

Please click onto our website to view our latest news! We are so short of time that we
are reducing our written magazine advertisements to spend more time updating our web
based information....including of course the very page you're viewing right now! This
has become necessary as we strive to keep pace with the orders for our rimfire and
centrefire custom rifles. We refuse to lower our high standards by rushing orders which
has meant an increase in waiting time for which we apologise.

We have invested a large sum of money in the production of UK manufactured rifle parts
over the past two years but now we are able to complete the building of our rifles
completely in house, from chambering and fitting barrels, action bedding etc right
through to the final finishing stages such as bead blasting and Duracoat finishing.

We are proud to announce our new stainless steel

Rimfire Magic action. This is now offered as an
alternative to our own Rimfire Magic aluminium action
which has proved so popular that we are currently
engraving and proofing our second batch of fifty! The
new stainless steel receiver is a similar shape to the
Ruger 10/22 action which allows it to accept any
10/22 style scope base or of course it may be used in
Most models of pistol calibre Marlins in
the Nordic Components kit to provide a .22 AR-15
stock! These are offered with the action
style rifle with the associated reliability of the 10/22
checked and a Wolff reduced power
system. We offer the stainless receiver with a bead
hammer spring fitted. Alternatively we
blasted finish or Duracoated with the latest Duracoat
have them competition ready with a tuned
SL which contains PTFE and other chemicals to give
and slicked action and trigger pull of
a high lubricity finish (shown above in semi-gloss
around 2 lbs We have plenty of scope
black)
bases and Trigger Happy kits available,
also one piece stainless steel firing pins.
Everill Gate Farm Tel: 01226 756332
Broomhill, Wombwell Fax: 01226 751321
Barnsley S73 0YQ e-mail: enquiries@rimfiremagic.co.uk
website: www.rimfiremagic.co.uk

Our retail shop is open Thursday to Saturday from 9.30am to 5.30pm toTarget Shooter
allow us 19
time in the workshop.
L aunching the brand new airgun marque of Prestige Airguns, the Kub family comes in a trio
of exciting carbine-format models - the SB (side-bolt), RB (rear-bolt) and SL (side-lever) - each
available in .177 or .22 and with ambidextrous thumbhole or sporter woodwork in walnut.
The Kubs weigh-in at just 6.5 lbs., yet are stacked with features - including an adjustable butt pad,
plug-in charging, on-board air gauge, adjustable two-stage trigger, re-settable safety, threaded
muzzle and a 10-shot rotary magazine. Notwithstanding its compact dimensions, a Prestige Kub
also returns upwards of 100 full-power shots per air-fill thanks to its self-regulating firing valve.
Against feather, fur, metal or paper targets, the new Prestige Kubs are the connoisseur’s choice for
handling and performance. A pride born to make your shooting more rewarding.

20 Target Shooter
 HAWKE SIDEWINDER30 AND ECLIPSE30
IRSW

By Tim Finley
very pleasantly surprised with its features
The 3 to 12 Sidewinder 30 and performance. The scope I had heard of
was the Sidewinder from Hawke. From the
outset it was designed to have all the features
expected of a modern telescopic sight as
well as a few new ones. The model sent for
testing was the lowest magnification
specification in the range. They make a
3-12, 4-16, 6-24 and 8-32. The first two
have 50mm diameter objective lenses
and the last two 56mm. All have Hawke’s
new adjustment turret system, this is a
very well designed affair were the turrets
are kept in a locked down position and
cannot be rotated, either accidentally or
otherwise until the top of the dial has been
lifted up. They have this on both the elevation
and windage turrets.
To reset the turret to a zero position an
Allen key on the top has to be undone and the
indexing top section lifted clear of the
internal spindle. When set to your required
Sidewinder 30
position, normally “0” after you have zeroed your
I am more used to testing Hawke scopes with one
rifle for windage and at your chosen range, the top
of their specialized reticles, be it the MAP (Multi
section can be pushed back down to engage the
Aim Point, versions 6 or 8) or SR (Specialized
spindle and the Allen screw tightened back up. It
Reticles, versions 6 or 12) in fact the past five
has ¼ minute of angle click values at 100yards.
reviews I have done on Hawke scopes have all had
Another quality feature of the Sidewinder is the fact
one or the other. So it is nice to cover two Hawke
it has a coil spring behind the erector tube rather
scopes that have fairly standard reticles. One of the
than the normal leaf type. All the Sidewinder scopes
scopes I had heard of and was keen to test and the
have reticles in the second focal plane, meaning
other one I had no real idea of it’s existence but was
with a Mildot reticle fitted, as in the test scope, it
Target Shooter 21
will only be a true Mildot on Green
the magnification it has been mildot of
designed to be true at. As with
Sidewinder
90% of Mildot second focal
plane scopes it has been set 30
to ten times magnification. All
the Mildot scopes in the range
have been set to be true on
10 times mag. The 3-12
scope on test came in the
most impressive packaging
I have seen on a scope, you
get more bling and wow factor
than when you buy a Schmidt
and Bender scope. The scope
is set in a cut-out in the box
with the additional 100mm
long sunshade, an optional
100mm diameter sidewheel

Sidewinder
Sidewinder Flip
Flip up
up scope
scope
caps
caps come with it too
come with it too

and a scope body indexing pointer for the larger

sidewheel also set into cuts outs. Going back to
S&B these scopes don’t even come with a body
pointer for their large sidewheel FT scopes. The
larger wheel on the Hawke has yardage markings
of 10,15,25,50,100,200,500yards and infinity. It
has a tough rubber insert cut to the shape of the The larger
scope bodies sidewheel to ensure a snug, firm sidewheel has
fit and that it will not damage the wheel. Three
yard markings
small allen screws tighten behind the rubber to
too
grip the scopes small wheel. The Sidewinder is
Hawke’s premier scope and really shows in all
aspects of these models. Taking the scope out
of the impressive box and getting to grips with
it, there were other features that set it apart. The
reticle can be illuminated in either red or green
with 5 brightness settings available for both

22 Target Shooter
colours. The switch for these The sidewheel parallax
settings is actually positioned also has red and green
on the end of the sidewheel illumination
parallax turret, making it very
handy, it’s a much better
position than the more
normal one on the back of the
scope body near the variable
magnification ring or on the
eye bell. Speaking of which
the eye bell has a fast focus
system which can be locked
off once you have set the
reticle to be in focus with
your own eyes, this locking
ring is then covered up by flip
up scope lens covers which
are fitted as standard and

The turret in its down locked position

mil between each

dot. Not very
useful if you
really need or
indeed want a true
Mildot scope. In
HFT for instance
we need a true
Mildot paced reticle
to be able to
accurately range-
find the distance to
the targets. Scope
manufactures are
keen NOT to tell
you their scopes
reticle is not a true
Mildot one. You
can trust Hawke
as a top firm not to do such a thing. The reticle
supplied for the objective lens as well. The itself is very crisp and well defined with four Mildot’s
magnification ring is described as “ High torque” positioned off each of the four legs off the
in Hawke’s catalogue and they do seem very well center crosshair. There is another thing that you can
constructed to tight tolerances as the ring does trust Hawke not to do, some firms who sell 30mm
take some force to glide in around when adjusting, bodied scopes actually fit lenses made for 25mm
speaking of which I found the parallax a bit tough to bodied scopes into them, not very fair. Hawke
turn without the optional larger sidewheel fitted. 30mm bodied scopes have true 30mm multi coated
I checked the spacing of the Mildot on one of my lenses and it can be seen when viewing through the
test charts at 15 yards, which was no problem as the scope, which I did next. I fitted the scope to a test
scope is designed for short ranges and comes down rifle and as I had heard on the grapevine the optical
to 10 yards. The reticle was indeed at true Mildot quality was excellent. This scope with its massive
spacing’s when set on ten times magnification, don’t focus range is at home mounted on either an air rifle,
think I am strange in checking this as a lot of scopes rimfire or indeed a centerfire. In fact I really fancy
made in China come with Mildot style reticles which one of the larger magnification Sidewinder 30’s with
are not true Mildot dot so cannot be used as true the SR12 rimfire reticle for my .22lr Ruger K77/22,
Mildot reticles can. Some have one and a quarter I can then use it for pest control on eight times
Mildot spacing or more commonly two and even four magnification with the SR12 reticle and also
Target Shooter 23
 30 Eclipse also comes with lans cloth and a spare battery

50mm objective lenses and I was testing the

high mag version. They also have a slant on
the European market as they can be bought
in imperial or metric, the imperial has ¼
minute of angle clicks at 100yards and the
metric one 1 centimetre clicks at 100m. They
are only available with Mildot reticles, which
like the Sidewinders are set to a true mil
spacing on ten times magnification and

30Red
illumination
is on the
center dot
turn it up to 32 times to compete in club
competitions. The 3-12 Mildot scope is a
very well built and very versatile scope, to be
honest I do not know how Hawke have made
such scope for less than two hundred and
fifty quid. The Mildot makes it ideal for HFT as
does the fact that it can be parallaxed down
to 20yards. The Sidewinder 30 3-12*50 also
comes fitted with an SR6 reticle if you want to
go down that route.
Eclipse 30IR
The second scope of this double test I had
never heard of, the Eclipse 30IR is a 30mm
bodied scope as is the Sidewinder, but it is Up to 24 times mag - Magnifcation is read out
considerable cheaper and has two scopes on the side GENIUS!
in the range, a 4-16 and 6-24. Both have
24 Target Shooter
 brightness settings in
Sidewheel PA on the either colour powered
Eclipse by a single CR2032
3 volt battery. The
illuminated portion
of the reticle is the
center dot, which you do
not find on other Mildot
scopes. I must say I like
it for pure target work
that’s really all you need
illuminating. The target
turrets are protected
by screw on/off caps,
and the objective and
eye bell lenses can be
protected by the flip up
scope covers supplied
with the scope.
This is a seriously cheap
scope for what it is, so if
you are on a tight budget the Eclipse 30 IR sidewheel
needs a serious coat of looking at. Both scopes
consolidate the reputation of Hawke as builders of
value for money quality products with many features
expected of scopes costing much, much more.
SPECIFICATION
Model Hawke
Model Sidewinder 30
Magnification 3 to 12
Parallax Sidewheel down to 10 yards
Objective Dia 50mm
Scope caps come on the Eclipse too Body Tube 30mm
are in the second focal plane. There are two side Finish Matt Black
focus scopes in the Eclipse range being the Field of view
aforementioned 4-16 and this 6-24 model. They @ 100m 9.4-1.2m
parallax down to 10 yards and in excess of Eye relief 101.6mm
500 yards. In fact the 4-16*50 model has just Exit pupil 4.2 - 16.6mm
won a Gold medal in the Civilian Service Rifle Overall length 340mm
competition held at Bisley held at 300 and 500 yards Weight 665grams
up against German and American scopes costing Price £239.00
many times more, so the credentials of this scope Distributor Deben 0870 4422600
have already been proven in competition. The Mildot
reticle can be illuminated red or green with the controls Make Hawke
being a rotating knob between the fast focus eye bell Model Eclipse 30 IR Sidewheel
and the variable magnification ring. This ring has a Magnification 6 to 24
fantastic feature, which I thought I would never Parallax Sidewheel down to 10 yards
see on a production scope. The indexing mark for Objective Dia 50mm
reading off what magnification the scope is set on Body Tube 30mm
is not on the top of the scope where you would Finish Matt Black
normally expect to see it. It is on the left hand side Field of view
of the scope so you can see it without lifting your @ 100m 4.8-5.1m
head off the cheek piece. It makes sense to me also Eye relief 97mm
because the sidewheel parallax is read off on the left Exit pupil 2.1 - 8.3mm
hand side so you can view the target on maximum Overall length 405mm
mag set the parallax then wind down to ten mag to Weight 773grams
use the true Mildot reticle for extra rangefinding or Price £199
aiming off. Getting back to the illumination it has five Distributor Deben 0870 4422600

Target Shooter 25
 SA09/54/e

26 Target Shooter
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Target Shooter 27
European Shotgun Championships 2009

On Monday 14th September 2009, in the leafy
central park at the heart of the small town of Pisek
in the Czech Republic, under leaden skies, the
official opening ceremony of the Level IV European
Shotgun Championships 2009 (ESC 09) brought
By Tony Saunders
Above - man versus man shoot-offs
hundreds of people from 24 nations together to
formally open the four days of practical shotgun
shooting.

Ladies Team member, Sharon Sell

shooting well with her Remington
1187

28 Target Shooter
As the music swelled and the dance troupe’s
batons twirled in the damp air, the procession
of competitors lined before an open auditorium,
flags aloft as the town dignitaries and organisers
addressed the crowds. Our own Neil Beverley,
chairman of the arbitration committee then delivered
a warm speech thanking the assembled throngs
and the hosts of the event for their dedication, hard
work and warm welcome to us all. It was a moving
occasion and testament to the international good will
and camaraderie among shooters and public alike.
For those who are not familiar with practical
shotgun (PSG) in the UK, it is a target shooting
discipline shot against the clock using high-capacity
pump-action or semi-automatic 12g (or 20g) shotguns.
Competitors shoot courses of fire designed to test the
three core elements of practical shooting; Accuracy,
Power and Speed. These three qualities (Diligentia Vis
Celeritas) or DVC for short, are emblemized in the
motto of the world governing body for practical
shooting, the International Practical Shooting
Confederation (IPSC) and also in the UK
governing body, the United Kingdom Practical Shooting
Association (UKPSA).
PSG competitions are held all across the UK,
both at club level and also a series of sanctioned
Level 3 competitions to determine a national
grade. If you’ve never shot PSG before, it’s hard to
describe the thrill and exhilaration moving,
loading and shooting through a series of clever and
innovative stages, from a variety of positions. Both
static and moving targets are employed - often
together with activation targets to trigger doors or
moving metal and paper targets. Ammunition varies
from birdshot, through to buckshot and solid slug.
The duanting Stage 1, required six classic poppers to be shot down at 45
metres with slug ammunition. The yellow are no shoots. You had to know
where your ammunition was shooting at this distance
A Level IV European competition has been held four
times since the first one held in the UK. Italy was
a major event in 2003, Kavala in Greece saw the
championships in 2006 followed this year by ESC 09 at
the excellent range facilities in Operany (pronounced
OP-err-AJ-nee), a series of bermed and extended
pistol bays sitting comfortably along a dip in a rolling
farmed and copsed landscape. Sat approximately
20 miles equidistant between Pisek and the town of
Tabor to the West, it is an inspiring place to shoot.
Both Pisek and Tabor are tourist gems,
boasting unassuming architectural treasures
amidst the post-war Eastern block structures and
chiseled facades. Pisek has the oldest stone bridge
in Europe, in style almost identical but smaller
to the famous Charles Bridge, its’ better known
cousin in the capital Prague, 70 miles to the North.
ESC 09 drew teams from as far as Thailand and
the US, as well as the major representations from
Italy, Czech Republic, Russia and of course, a
sizeable number of teams and individual shooters
from the United Kingdom for the 22 stage match.
Each of the registered 294 shooters needed a
minimum of 336 rounds of ammunition (birdshot,
buckshot and slug) in order to shoot the match.
Over fifty IROA Range Officers were hand-picked
to oversee the stages to ensure that safe gun
handling and strict adherence to the rules was
assured. Most shot the Pre-match stages along with the
other organisers who are of course shooters at heart.
On Tuesday the main match commenced. The
competitors were split into 18 squads and all shot three
out of the four days - with a rest day allowing them to
take a well earned breather from the competition and
a chance to watch other shooters and discuss tactics.
Target Shooter 29
 Super Senior and super pumper George Granycome shooting targets through an
aperture at the start of a stagee
The stage designs were of the snappy,
multiple-position format familiar to pistol shooters,
with lots of high / low apertures and a high proportion
of fast moving bobber-type paper targets activated
by a variety of ingenious but simple mechanisms.
Cunning target placement and numbers meant that
Standard Manual and Auto shooters (who start with
no more than 9 rounds in their guns maximum) had
to carefully consider their loading strategy to take
maximum advantage of timings and position. This
was not “running and gunning” but a choreograph
of optimum load/shoot sequencing, almost always
weighing up opposing strategies in the five short
minutes each squad has to look closely at the stage.
But this is exactly what lends PSG such an edge!
Accuracy and Speed are paramount, but loading
and strategy make the crucial difference to success
and failure on a stage, and indeed on the match.
It means too that slower shooters can win if they
can find sweet spots that others have missed and
perhaps shoot from the weak shoulder with as
much confidence as they can their strong stance.
Reducing the number of shooting positions means
less time, less opportunity for error and thus faster
stage times. Practice! Practice! Practice! is the byword
and in PSG nothing applies more to this dictum than
the need to refine ones’ ability to load on the move.
By the end of the first day’s shooting, all the teams
had either shot or watched the stages being shot
and it was apparent that there were some very fast
and consistent shooters emerging in the Italian,
Serbian and Russian teams. The UK ladies team
was performing well having got into their stride
early and shooting a careful but accurate match.
The loading techniques were the main vari-
30 Target Shooter
ance from country to country. Thailand
shooters had long interchangeable magazine tubes
extending the gun’s length to around five feet long and
holding around 25 standard 12g rounds making
them heavy as well as somewhat unwieldy. The
Germans and many others favoured chest plate rigs
holding cartridges such that the gun could be
inverted and two or four cartridges at a time could be
loaded very fast in a grab-force down motion. Many,
particularly the Serbian modified team used the older
plastic “Prodec” clips and proved particularly adept
at fast loading on the move even though the gun is
taken from the shoulder and inverted to load like this.
The British teams favoured box (or stripper)
loaders with four cartridges grabbed using
the weak hand and loading with the gun still
mounted in the shoulder or dropped slightly to cut sight
acquisition times down between loading and shooting.
The thoughtful stage layouts and squad rotation
ensured a keen momentum as the days progressed.
It would take too long to describe all of the 22
stages, but several do deserve special mention here...
One was a fast slug stage with a line of six IPSC card
targets requiring one hit on each spaced about 2 foot
apart at a distance of around 12 meters. What made
it difficult was the fact that only the two outer targets
were stationary. The four central targets were on fast
moving bobbers (a mechanism like a windscreen
washer arm that has a target mounted on the end).
These were behind a wall of tyres such that they
disappeared at the end of each stroke so you couldn’t
sight on them at rest and had to take the shot while
they were in motion. This was coupled with the
additional problem that each arm also had a no-shoot
target mounted on it as well - so a miss might incur

targets through a low aperture on the
a significant penalty. The final complication was the
start position - holding the shotgun in the weak hand,
in Option 2 (magazine loaded - no rounds in the
chamber), with a bottle of water held in the strong
hand. On the start signal, the bottle was dropped
into a box to activate the release mechanism; the
gun had to be brought to the strong shoulder, racked
to chamber a round before engaging the targets.
At 12 metres it’s not always easy to see a hit on
a moving target causing many to shoot more than
required, or miss but think they’d scored. The
fastest shooters were doing this stage in around
7 seconds - amazing performance that drew
much vocal admiration from the watching crowds.
Stage 4 was a fast 8 plate shoot through an
aperture with a screen of water obscuring the
view. To make it harder, a no-shoot target was also
included to prevent a wild blag and requiring
accurate fast shot placement. This was from a
fully loaded (Option 1) start position - the best
shooters completing this stage in just over four
seconds!
Shooting matches of this level for days is tiring and
when Friday arrived, I think all competitors were
glad to have completed the competition. “I’m bushed
Keith Wilson reloading as he shoots
long Stage 5
but would do it all again next week” said one of the
shooters as he packed his gun away after a final slug
stage.
The weather had been favourable apart from one
morning of rain - not too hot and always with a
hint of breeze. The club facilities were fantastic
and I know I speak for all who attended when I say
how well the competition was run by Roman Sedy
and his team. Hot food was always available with
large eating areas. A webcam allowed those back
home to see us which was a thoughtful touch.
Ammunition and accessories for on sale, stalls
catering for shooters had plenty of room and even
scrutineering was carried out in a slick fashion.
For those lucky enough to have qualified to a
certain level, there was still a day of shoot-offs
on the Saturday. These are simple man v man
stages incorporating a compulsory reload and were
shot at a separate range near Pisek. A host of UK
team members took part in these tense, quick-fire
events before returning to Pisek that evening for
the final closing speeches and awards ceremony.
The final ceremony was another blaze of celebra-
tion in the historic and spacious Pisek House of
Culture. Pisek nestles along the banks of the Otava
Target Shooter 31
 shooter.

Other Team winners were as follows:

Modified Division :
1st: Italy,
2nd: Russia,
3rd: Finland
The UK contingent at the Opening Ceremony Open Division:
1st: Czech Republic,
river, shadowed by the remains of the 13th century 2nd: Italy,
castle founded by Bohemian kings lured by the rich 3rd: Slovakia
promises of gold mining and river borne trade. The Standard (Auto) Division:
area is much rebuilt having seen fighting and style 1st: Finland,
changes over the centuries. Now, Gothic and Baroque 2nd: Slovenia,
meets post-war concrete and cobbled streets abound. 3rd: Russia
Packed into the house of culture, over 400 Standard (Manual) Division:
shooters, organizers, friends and patrons enjoyed a 1st : Italy.
wonderful evening as the parade of winners took their 2nd: Germany,
places on the stage to accept medals and trophies. 3rd: Slovenia
As the third, second and first place winners in each
After the event, I asked IPSC Arbitrator Neil Beverley
category stood proudly bearing their national flags, the
how he felt about the success of the competition. Neil
winning nation’s anthem rang out to standing ovation.
had visited the range several times before the event
Without wishing to repeat all the details covered and spent an immense amount of time ensuring the
in last month’s ESC Short Article, it was the British stage designs were fair, safe and true to IPSC stan-
Ladies team that took Gold medal for the Ladies dards. “I have had a wonderful time”, he said as he
category, easily beating Finland into second place. surveyed the crowds at the closing ceremony. “The
amount of work put in by
the Czech hosts has been
unbelievable – so much
effort behind the scenes.
But I would also like
to thank all the IROA
Range Officers, Range
Master Barry Pollard, Match
Director Roman Sedy and
his assistants Jiri Sedina
and Kvido Klecanda, Jiri
Marek and Radovan Lisy
and the build and support
teams for making this such
an unforgettable match…
and”, he added with a nod
The triumphant Ladies Team with their team manager after to the packed room, “…to
receiving their medals and trophies. the shooters themselves
Vanessa Duffy, Josie Adam, Andrew Duffy, Sharon Sell and who really do get better
Caroline Norman each ESC. I think we all
learn new lessons from
shooting cross-nation as
Vanessa Duffy, current chair of the UKPSA also we do.”
stepped up to take a gold medal as European
Ladies Champion 2009. It was a proud moment for Back now as the nights draw in and the leaves begin
the whole UK Team. to fall, the UK shooters are looking to the final match
Barry Sullivan(GBR) won 3rd place Senior in of the UK Level 3 season at Harlow in Essex on 24th
Standard Auto. Jim Starley (GBR) was highest October to put some of those lessons into practice,
placed junior shooter. Pete Starley (GBR) was and of course, to have a last chance this year for
highest placed senior Modified shooter and Mike some excellent and enjoyable practical shooting.
Scarlett (GBR) was highest placed super-senior
32 Target Shooter
 Target Shooter 33
 No.4(T) Sniper Rifle – The Number 32
Scope

By Nigel Greenaway
Following on from last month’s article, that
highlighted the features and markings that
distinguish a No.4(T), it is now time to turn
the spotlight on the telescopic sight or
Telescope Sighting No.32 plus the other
equipment that makes up the Complete
Equipment Schedule for a No.4(T) sniper rifle.
adjustments were in 2 minutes of angle
increments (2 inches per 100 yards) allowing
for 16 minutes of windage left and right for 32
minutes in total. These adjustments are a bit
course, especially at the longer ranges, so a
Mk2 scope was introduced in April 1943 which
had one minute adjustments for both elevation

No.32 Scopes
The original No.32 Mk1 scopes
went in to production in 1941 with
a sliding brass ocular sun shade
which, given the reasonably
stout recoil of a .303 and a nice
smooth butt plate, seemed ideally
designed to cut chunks out of
your eyebrows. Mk1 scopes had
elevation adjustments in 50 yard
increments and ranges marked in
100 yards from 100 to 1,000 yards
to match the trajectory of the .303
MkVII round.
Deflection or windage
Right -: Three No.32 scopes – a
Mk1, a Mk2 in the middle and
lower a Mk3.

34 Target Shooter
and windage – much better!
Unfortunately both these early scopes were a
pig to zero and you really needed three hands
to do it. To overcome this problem a new Mk3
scope was introduced in October 1944 which had
slipping scale rings for both elevation and
deflection. The scales had a raised
projection which enabled the tip of a round to be
inserted to push or slip the scale round to the
correct zero whilst holding the drum steady
with the other hand. Once zeroed at a specific
range, say 300 yards, the elevation would read
‘3’ and windage ‘0’. Thereafter the bullet drop
compensating elevation scale would cater for all
ranges up to 1,000 yards. It worked well and
many Mk2 scopes were retrofitted with the
Mk3 drums in a refurbishment programme
authorised in November 1944 but largely
implemented during the 1950’s. Officially this
variation was designated as Mk2/1 and a few
scopes were re-engraved but many were
not. There were about 1,000 Mk2/1 scopes
manufactured from scratch by Vickers U.I.Co.
in 1944. Production of the Mk1 amounted to
about 8,620 with Mk2’s reaching 7,880 and
Mk3’s reaching 12,500 for a grand total of
about 30,000 scopes. This number is greater
than the number of rifles converted but many
Mk3 scopes were retrofitted to early rifles
when the Mk1 scopes were withdrawn from
front line service by September 1951. You
can see how this official upgrading during
Base Workshop overhaul begins to make a
mockery of what is a ‘correct’ No.4(T) plus
scope.

The Mk3 scope was so good that it, and a very

few Mk2/1, were converted in to the L1A1 scope
for fitting to the L42A1 sniper ifle introduced in
1970 - itself a conversion of the No.4(T). No.32
Mk3 and Mk2/1 scopes have a reputation for the
drums seizing up. This is because the grease
inside eventually hardens like a glue. Careful
stripping and replacement of the grease will
cure this. Do not try using penetrating oil –
read Peter Laidler’s book instead which has full
stripping instructions. The later scopes will have
either have one or both markings - a red W
(waterproof) and/or a blue B (bloomed to
enhance light transmission) painted on the
scope tube.

Each of the eight No.32 scope manufacturers

Target Shooter 35
 Top and middle are brackets by Rose
Brothers, lower bracket is by Dalglish
had its own way of engraving the scopes, mostly
with their logo but sometimes not, but all using
the Government code of OS466A for the Mk1,
OS1650A for the Mk2, OS2039A for the MK3
and the very rare OS1400GA for the Mk2/1.
No.32 scope manufacturers
UIC – United Instrument Company (Vickers)
WW – William Watson
H.B.M. Co – Houghton Butcher Manufacturing
Company
AK&S – Alex Kershaw & Son
CT&S – Cooke Troughton & Simms
TH&Co – Taylor Hobson & Co
KL – Kodak Ltd
REL – Research Enterprises Ltd.
Scope Brackets
There were two British and one Canadian
manufacturer of the brackets that held
the scope to the rifle. Rose Brothers of
Gainsborough in Lincolnshire marked their
brackets with either JG or KD and they have
a more rounded profile compared to the
squarer and slightly thicker ones made by
36 Target Shooter
Dalglish of Glasgow who marked theirs N92. Other
markings will be successive numbers, like 18
and 19 or 202 and 203, on the side of the cradle
cramps or scope rings as we would call them
today. Some of the early scopes having single
letter prefixes or suffixes. The reason for these
numbers is to prevent the cramps being put back
on the wrong cradle. After 1950 the bracket had
the rifle number stamped on it, usually beneath
the rear cradle. Original brackets without a
number will have been sold out of service before
1950. Sometimes you will find brackets with two
or three different rifle numbers stamped on them
with the previous numbers struck through as
armourers maybe salvaged them to use on
other rifles ( a decision that would not be taken
lightly due to potential collimation problems). The
Canadian REL made brackets always had the
rifle serial number engraved on them in the
middle between the two cradles.
Roger Payne has, over the years, made
batches of 100 brackets, cast out of malleable
iron and machined just like the originals. We
have worked together on what is the 5th batch
 A reproduction bracket
and they are now ready. They are made to tight
tolerances to ensure that they collimate within
acceptable limits when fitted to genuine rifles.
Experience and minor tweaks have made each
successive batch better and the quality is so high
that, to quote the noted authority on the subject,
Peter Laidler, when answering a question on
one of the internet collector forums “…about 50
or so of Roger Payne’s brackets were utilised on
the latter rebuilds of the L42’s destined for War
Reserve stocks and they were indeed
perfect. It’s ironic that some of the L42 owners
out there who would probably shudder at a repro
anything, probably have an MoD fitted repro
bracket. Does that make it a repro? The owners
of those rifles can at least be assured that they
have one of the dedicated War Reserve Stocks
held at xxxxxxxx in Berkshire. The steel stock
and quality assessment was done at the material
labs at Shrivenham and even that was the same
horrible black-heart (or was it white-heart...?)
malleable cast! It’s such an old formula that I can’t
find the mix in Machinery’s handbook any more!”
They are difficult to distinguish from an original
Dalglish made bracket and have helped pair up a
scope with a suitable rifle which would otherwise
have continued to gather dust in a corner. The
value of a complete rifle, even if the rifle and scope
are mismatched, is far greater than the sum of
its parts so the brackets are a great investment.
Scope Tins and Canvas Cases
There were two types of tin or Case Sighting
Telescope No.8. The early ones had
rounded corners, which were quite
expensive to make, so a simpler square
cornered version was made. Manufacturers were
Belling & Co of Enfield, marked B&Co and Berrys
Electrical Company, marked B.E.Ltd. The
Canadians also made rounded cornered tins
plus the canvas case. In November 1944
the Case Sighting Telescope No.8 Mk2 was
introduced. This canvas case was initially
made by Mills Equipment Co. but there were
five other manufacturers – they are quite scarce
today. During the refurbishment of No.4(T)’s
in the 1950’s more of the rounded corner tins
were made by S.G.C. and could be dated 1954,
1955 or 1956. During the conversions to the
L42A1 sniper rifle in the 1970’s and 1980’s more
rounded tins were produced by Pressed Steel
Metal Work Co, marked PSMW and dated 1973 or
Cooke & Perkins, marked C&P and dated 1983.
Chest, Small-Arms, No.15 Mk1 Introduced in
February 1942 the basic design was copied from
the Bren Gun chest but with repositioned leather
handles on the sides and new fixing blocks to
hold the rifle and the scope tin plus the Scout
Reg. spotting scope. These chests are now very
scarce.
Leather Slings and Lens Caps
The American 1903A1 Springfield Rifle two part
Target Shooter 37
 Top to bottom, an
early round cornered
No.8 Mk1, middle is
a square cornered
No.8 Mk1 and then the
Canvas Cased No.8
Mk2 , lastly reverting
to the round cornered
tin for the L1A1 scopes
for the L42A1 sniper
rifle of the 1970’s

leather M1907 sling was used. These tend to with a few other tips on how to get the best
be the early WW1 made ones with brass claws. accuracy out of these fine old rifles.
Although it could be used as a single point
sling this method seems to have been taught
in the early training literature but not the later
publications. This explains why Leather lens caps with the metal stud were used
an additional sling swivel was throughout the life of the No.32 scope, but the variation
fitted forward of the magazine with the retaining ring was also quite common
so that it could be used as a two
point sling. Later in the war an
experimental webbing sling was
made, based on the ’37 pattern
Bren sling attached to a separate
15 inch section in the style of the
1907 leather sling – arriving too
late in the war, it never went in to
large scale production. Two types
of leather lens cap were used,
one with a retaining loop and the
other without – see photograph.

Next month - the concluding

article will examine some of
the training literature produced
between 1940-1951 plus I’ll
explain how to zero the scopes
38 Target Shooter
 Gun of the Month
This month we have
had deadline issues
so the rifle we wanted
is not the one you get
this month. So with
that I turn to my own
rifle, as it and I have
had a relatively good
season. Sad I know
that I am the last
resort, but I have wanted to write
about my Anschutz for a while and this gives me a
perfect chance. (By the way sorry about the pic).
The rifle is based on the Anschutz 2013 action
and for some this is not the best choice for rimfire
benchrest, preferring the 1913 or older actions. For
me it has worked, but I am much happier with the
rifle since changing to a Lilja barrel halfway through
this year. The Lilja has brought new life to the rifle
and this is proved with successive wins this year.
Cicognani of Italy originally built this for me, topping
off with the original select Anschutz barrel, a custom
‘edge’ style stock which has a rear receiver to add
extra weight to the rig, barrel tuner with shroud and
light
weight scope rings.
The action itself is pillar/ glass bedded. On top we
have a Leupold x45 competition scope and this has
serviced me well over the three years I have had it.
The whole rifle was built to my specifications,
regarding weight, length and overall features. As the
Euro has gone up a lot in the three years since I
have bought this, so it does not come cheap.
At a recent batch test at Eley, the rifle and new barrel
worked really well, going onto the rimfire benchrest
championships the day after and winning both 50m
titles, with aggregate cup. We will see how my scores
hold up in the world postal, but the 50m unlimited
class in the international league is mine already.
There are a few independent developments for the
2013 action, such as the 6 o’clock firing pin adaption,
which I would like to look into. Unfortunately these
are not made commercially. If anyone out there does
this I think it would possibly be the only modification
this rifle would need.
Target Shooter 39
 Portsmouth Gun Centre Ltd
295 London Road
North End
Portsmouth
PO2 9HF
Opening Times Tel 02392 660574
Mon 9.30 - 5.30 Fax 02392 644666
Tues Closed
Wed Closed E-mail sales@portsmouthguncentre.com
Thur 9.30 - 5.30 Website www.portsmouthguncentre.com
Fri 9.30 - 5.30
Sat 9.30 - 5.30
We stock a full range of Rifles, Pistols, Air Guns, Shotguns, Ammunition,
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Shooter
Nikko Sterling Diamond Sportsman 10 - 50 x
60mm scope
I had my first Nikko Diamond scope back in
2007. It was one of the first budget scopes on the
market with the side parallax wheel and the idea
was as great then as it is now. Trying to change
the parallax on the front of a scope seemed
clumsy - trying to look through the scope while
reaching forward to focus-in. The side wheel is
easier to control and easier to get hold of without
stretching.
A s with any good scope, you try to take care of
it and I did love those Nikko-supplied screw-on
lens-caps - normally only seen on scopes with a much
higher price-tag - I thought that was a nice touch.
As a benchrest shooter, I need a scope with high
magnification and good light transmission and,
Nikko 60mm objective lens
By Andy Dubreuil
The scope about on my Anschutz - it
weighs a fair bit but worth it.
as a mid-range scope, the Nikko did the job. A
couple of weeks ago however, I noticed a ‘fogging’
began to appear when it was a warm day. A scopes
should be able to withstand hot humid days
unless there is a problem with the nitrogen gas
seal. I contacted Highland Outdoors - the sole
distributers of Nikko scopes - to see what they had
to say. They told me to send it back to them for
inspection.
I have to say that Highland Outdoors were
fantastic at turning things around for me,
not only with sourcing the problem but also
sending me a new
replacement scope within
72 hours - that’s what I call
service. When they rang me
however, they explained
that this model is no longer
available and it had been
superseded by the 2008
Diamond Sportsman.
This scope has the same
magnification but far superior
optics but they only had the
choice of the mil dot or NATO
RF reticle. On the old scope I
had the fine cross hair – not as
fine as I would have liked but I
got on with it. So, to help make
the decision between the mil
dot or NATO RF I checked-out
the Nikko Stirling website.
Target Shooter 41
 High visiblity turrets for ease of use
Unfortunately, the pictures were rather poor in
quality to help me to make a decision. I have
passed this on to Highland Outdoors in the hope
that they will pass this on to Nikko and decided to
go with the NATO RF as it did seem more on the
Mag ring details
42 Target Shooter
lines of what I was looking for.
Since getting the scope, I have seen Blackpool Air
Arms website and they have really good pictures of
what the reticle should look like, for future reference.
The scope arrived in a huge box with plenty of
packaging which is reassuring
as I have worked in the transport
business in the past I know how
things can get thrown around! Better
the packaging the more chance it’s
going to arrive in perfect condition.
The first thing I noticed however
- no screw-on dust caps but I will
get to that later. I took it outside
for a first look and wow, what an
image. Nikko have been working
on improving their optics for some
time now and they have done a
fantastic job on producing quality
lenses. Nikko say that they have
redesigned the internals and have
added an additional lens to the
scope and this can certainly be
appreciated when looking through
the scope.

When looking through a new scope, it should
be possible to see a sharp picture edge to
edge and if you see a blurring of any kind then
take the scope back to the dealer and ask for a
replacement – remember, the customer is always
right.
The NATO RF appears very sharp and clear and
the eye-relief is very good and easy on the eye
and they have made changes here with a rubber
zoom-ring but, you can’t buy a screw-on lens-cap
even if you want one which is a bit disappointing.
Another enhancement is the elevation
adjustment, which has been increased by
another 25% and they also now have
screw-on covers for the turrets - not available on the
older model. What I do love is that the turrets
have an angled edge and the ‘up’ and ‘down’ and
‘left’ and ‘right’ are incised on the edge, so in clear
view from the shooting position - no more having
to turn the rifle over to see which way to turn (if
you can’t remember!). Another great touch is the
gold lettering for the turrets contrasted against
the green colour, which for me, was a little easier
to see when zeroing-in. If you regularly shoot
different distances as I do, having quick and easy
turrets to navigate from is a useful bonus and a
saving on time and ammo - nice touch Nikko.
Parallax adjustment is
easy using this hefty
side wheel
The new design of lens combination allows for
better light-transmission, especially in low light
or artificial light. This was something that was
missing in the older model and I always struggled
after a while to see the target without it blurring
on me but not with new model, the image is bright
and crisp.
Dealing with mirage was always a problem
for me to work out and now I know why - I was
seeing the mirage clear enough through the older
version of the scope but with the 2008 version
and the new lenses, I could actually see how the
mirage was moving, making it easier to work out
where to shoot. Having a 50 power magnification
is great when you need to go up to the maximum
but when shooting UKBR22 targets, I normally
stick to around 40 – 42 power simply because I
find that I shoot better at that magnification. The
magnification goes up in 10 point increments and
uses the same rubber-style grip to move up or
down.
As I mentioned, the large parallax wheel is
great but if you find that it’s too much, then
you can easily take it off. It’s held on by two
socket-head screws and removing it does help to
reduce rifle’s weight, as the scope weighs-in at
37.4 ounces but I think this is slightly lighter than
Target Shooter 43
its predecessor. The parallax adjustment is very
smooth so easy to make really fine adjustments
to get that sharp picture either with or without the
wheel and again, gold lettering is used.
Like most scopes, the Diamond Sportsman
has a 30mm tube but with a 60mm objective I
found it difficult to find mounts high enough for
the scope. You can get the Bisley high mounts
but you will find that the scope only just clears
the barrel. Adding riser-blocks in my view is not
the way to go and can cause more problems
than they’re worth. The mounts I have are John
Morrison’s offset mounts details of which you
can find in an article in July’s Target Shooter.
Some Nikko models do include a sun-shade but
not with this scope. I was hoping that my old shade
would just screw on to the new scope but sadly this
is not the case. Nikko say this was not possible
with all the new design features incorporated so
you do need to buy a new shade if you need one.
Highland Outdoor say the new shade will come
with a screw-on dust cap, so you will be able to
protect the main lens from dust which is a bit of a plus
Overall this is a fantastic scope for the
competition shooter with its new optics,
crisper image and better transmission of light and
some great detail in the finer points. If you shop
around you can get it for just under £600 which
you may think is a lot of money but you do get
what you pay for and it’s a sound investment.
If you’re in the market for a new scope then do
checkout the new line in scopes from Nikko Stirling.
I think you may be surprised by their new range.
Specification
Model MFN 10-50 parallax yards ~10
Field of view At 100yds 7.8 - 1.3
Click value 1/8 MOA
Eye Relief 90 - 110mm
Ocular Lens Effective Diameter 35mm
Objective Bell 69mm Diameter
Overall Length 16.9 inches
Ocular Dia 42.5mm
Weight 37.4 ounces
The mildot and Nato reticle

View through the scope at

50m

44 Target Shooter
SECTION 5
firearm solutions to suit you

Section 5 deals in all forms of these specialised weapons -

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Target Shooter 45
 Windflags - the why’s and how’s

By Carl Boswell
This was an article I wrote some time ago, but I’ve above - wind flags at a competition in the USA
reworked it for Target Shooter.
We have to remember, that with 22 rimfire rifle
Shooting rimfire or air rifle target rifle is hard enough shooting specifically, the wind deflection of a
but when you figure-in the wind with all of the bullet is related to the amount of delay in the
probabilities for its movements, the whole process flight caused by air resistance. Not the bullet’s
gets a lot more complicated. Be it rain or shine, time in flight! Bullets shot from higher velocity .22
the wind will be there – to a more or lesser effect. rimfire ammunition - around the speed of sound
- do suffer from more air resistance. There is
To help counter this in competition shooting, we therefore potentially more wind deflection on
tend to use ribbons or funnels or cloth flags to higher velocity rather than lower velocity
show the strength and direction of the wind to aid rimfire ammunition. This result is attributed to the
the shooter. Rimfire rifle and air rifle benchrest extremely rapid rate at which air resistance
shooting takes place over a distance ranging from increases with the increase in bullet speed in
25 yards to 50 meters. the region close to the speed of sound. A good
explanation of this can be found in the NRA
Firearms Fact Book, a book which I find invaluable
at times.
Set of Caldwell flags
The aim of this article therefore is to offer
other alternatives to rimfire shooters and
specifically rimfire and air rifle benchrest
shooters, in the UK. We now compete with
a large number of countries from around the
world and we need to learn from them and more
importantly compete with them on an equal
footing.
Shooters in some countries have been shooting this
discipline for a good twenty years or so and have
vast knowledge. We can also learn from the
extreme accuracy shooters in centerfire
46 Target Shooter

benchrest and even F-classers shooting at greater
distances. The wind flag is capable of imparting a
lot of information to the shooter which can and will
provide them with the opportunity to increase
accuracy in shot placement.
This is why we need wind flags – to
attempt to indicate the amount of deflection
that the wind will subject the bullet to, which
will of course, depend on the wind’s speed
and direction. Anything out there, between
you and the target, that will indicate the speed
and direction of the wind will clearly give you
a better opportunity of hitting your aim-point
– providing you can interpret the ‘condition’.
If we adopt the Swiss mathematician
Daniel Bernoulli’s theories for shooting, we
begin to see what effect the wind has on a .22
calibre rimfire bullet, over specific distances.
The diagram to the left is a metric adaption of
one produced by Joe Haller.
A wind blowing from 3 o’clock with a
velocity of around 9-10 mph, will cause
the bullet to impact approximately 25 to
26mm to the left and about 6mm high.
From the 9 o’clock direction it would impact
approximately 25 to 26mm right and 6mm
low. This change in elevation is down to the
‘Bernoulli Effect’ and the fact that most
modern target rifles have a barrel with a
right-hand twist.
Obviously, a 1 mph wind from the right will move
the bullet a tenth as far. A similar
strength wind from the 4 or 5 o’clock
direction will drive the bullet less to the
left but still slightly high. A wind from
the 6 o’clock direction will raise the
bullet impact slightly and a 12 o’clock
‘headwind’ will drive the bullet
slightly low.
The table below lists the constraints
for 9-10 mph winds and could
theoretically be used. Just remember
the wind always does what you
expect it to - until it doesn’t! Sorry but
there it is! Wind deflection is all about
reading the flags and the information
listed below are at best quite good
‘estimates’.
When actually shooting however,
you will need to consider other
issues like barometric pressure and
temperature.
Target Shooter 47
If you have time to
practice and ascertain
what the conditions of
the day are, you can
correct your shooting
accordingly. Each range
and day will have its
own features that will
increase or decrease
muzzle velocity and
energy - depending if it is
hot or not, for instance.
This increase or decrease
may not be that much,
but it could be significant
enough to alter figures on
the wind deflection grid
below.

Shooting rimfire and air Carbon River wind flag

rifle benchrest is a lot
about looking at what the
wind is doing and trying to interpret that via an
‘indicator’ of some sort such as a flag. Clearly, we
all get caught out, otherwise there would be lots of
perfect scores around!
Benchrest windflags have evolved over the
years in attempt to indicate both speed and
direction. There are a variety of models which can be
purchased or reproduced reasonably easily by
anyone of modest ability. ‘Flag’ is a very loose word
to describe the ones we use in benchrest.
They tend to be very brightly coloured -
for visual acuity and made from light, rigid
plastic often looking more like a child’s
toy than the cloth flags we are used to.

Our flags must be ultra-sensative, as we

want to see instantly what the wind is
doing when firing 25 accurate shots in
30 minutes – or five shots in 15 seconds
if you are a centrefire BR shooter. Flag
designs or ‘windicators’ vary from the
basic plastic propeller type that might
have one, two or even three veins, to 180
degree (showing the speed from left
to right), and 360 degree ‘windicators’
(showing wind-speed and direction at all
angles).

There are many variants of these

models but they all attempt to do the
same job and we have limited space
for pictures of all models available. The
flags and ‘windicators’ are used in a
variety of ways, as can be seen from the
picture showing flags used at a match.

Killough 180 degree wind indicator Other designs to consider are the dual
vain flags that allow the shooter to better

48 Target Shooter
 flags (www.carbonriverwindflags.com), Killough
Shooting Sports (http://www.killoughshooting-
sports.com/) do have a selection of designs to
look at.

The alternative is to make your own, which is

something I have done over the years I have
been shooting Benchrest and with some recent
success. I was sent a wind flag design by a
friend in the US, Doug Weeter, who is a bit of a
mean shot himself. I have found this model very
useful in recent years and it has improved my
understanding of the wind and with it my shooting.

Doug’s design indicates both the direction of

My homemade 360 degree speed
and direction flag, design courtesy
of Doug Weeter
see the angle the wind is blowing at. Some will
use several of the same type of flag and others
will have a variety of types within the same match.
That choice is yours, as is the number you use.
I tend to just use between three and eight. For
better or worse, it’s all I can concentrate on at any
one time! In practise, I tend to look at 3 or 4 main
flags with others in my peripheral vision. Using
more may just come down to training and each
shooter will work in their own way. I know a few
shooters in the US that use up to 15 at anyone
time in the same match! Does this work? For them
yes - it all depends on what you need to inform you
of what is going on between the rifle and the target.
the wind via the main vain, with a ribbon to
supplement this. The red paddle at the top
indicates wind strength as it is pushed by the wind
and calibrated with a weight at the bottom for
different conditions. Therefore I can change
the way this works if I am shooting in light or
heavy winds. At present it is calibrated for winds
up to 10 miles per hour. (To be honest if I was
shooting in winds above this speed then I would
be in difficulty unless they were constant). As this
type of flag shows wind speed from all angles
it is slightly easier to interpret when shooting.
If you would like some plans to make a number
of types of windflags or windicators then go to the
Homemade 180 degree wind indicator

There seems to be a small cottage industry

making flags in the US, with a number of
models available from people who started off
developing them for their own shooting and
have then developed products for the needs of
other shooters. There are a few major suppli-
ers out there like Caldwell, who also make the
cheaper rests and bags. They do have flags that are
readily available via Midway UK and obviously make
them in large quantities. They are a standard prop
type and are reasonably priced for a set of three.

If you want to go for other models that are of a

more custom design then again, you need to look
at the USA as a supplier. Carbon River Wind-
Target Shooter 49
 Suggestions for a wind meter - based on individual weight
calibrations

following website; http://team40x.com/wind/build/

index.html

There are a number of designs and all have been

used successfully in competition. I would just
give credit to the owner!
If the DIY is the way you want to go there are
lots of others out there and I know a few from
Portishead Club near Bristol have experimented
a little with making their own. Lets face the fact
that it will be cheaper, but may involve a little
research and development on your part.

Last, but not least, reading windflags is a

skill in itself. Just having them is not always
enough? Knowing what the flags are trying to
tell you is the difference that will split shooters
scoring high or not in a match. We all get
caught out at some time or another! However
trying to read the wind is another story that might
take a lot longer to explain. Good shooting.

My flag set in situe, although I now go for a

different pattern in their setup

50 Target Shooter
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Target Shooter 51
 Welsh Open 2009
By Hayley Platts
With my foot in plaster having recently
undergoing surgery to break and pin the joint
I was extremely disappointed that for the first
time in many, many years I was not able to
compete at the Welsh airgun Open. This
year the event took place a month earlier than
usual on 3rd & 4th October at the Welsh
Institute for Sport and once again attracted
a good entry to the beautiful city venue of
Cardiff.
I have tapped into the ‘eyes and ears’ of key
organiser of the Welsh Open, Karen Morris,
who for months prior to the event collates the
entries and works tirelessly during the event
in Stats along with her family, and the many
volunteers during the weekend who give up
their time to ensure the event is well staffed
Welsh main hall
52 Target Shooter
and runs smoothly (not to mention after the
event as well).
Having been in contact with Karen for an
update, here are her observations on the
weekend.
You are able to shoot up to four times at the
Welsh Open, and people were making the
most of that this year. Even on the day, people
were asking if they could have another shoot.
Brilliant!
With three weeks to go, the Open was fully
booked.
I hate turning people away, but there were
simply no more spaces. I offered to put those
who weren’t able to shoot onto a waiting list,
in case there were last-minute cancellations.
However, the WAA Secretary, Ian Harris,
kindly offered to run an extra squad on the
Friday.
He organised this extra squad for Friday
afternoon with a limited number of firing
points to accommodate the people who had
made it onto the waiting list. They shot whilst
the rest of the range was assembled. This
extra squad won’t be available next year; it
was just due to the overwhelming number of
people being unable to have a shoot.
There were more first time entrants than ever
before. It’s great to see people venturing out
from the comfort of their own club and seeing
what a national shoot is all about.
Whilst sticking to the ‘spirit’ of ISSF as much
as possible, we also try to make the Open
as relaxed and friendly as possible. Some
of the shooters had never been through
equipment control before, however, Harry
Preston and Iqbal Ubhi were on hand to sort
out any problems these first-timers had.
There were various trade stands selling a
variety of products and happily offering
advice.
There was some good shooting over the
weekend. Victoria Mullin was a junior pistol
shooter who won X class with a score of 572.
She started out in A class and was just so
good that she had to be re-classified to X
class!
In all credit, she was a junior, but elected
to shoot in the finals as a senior & shot
brilliantly.
(You can see from the finals results just how
close the scores were!)
There was a three-way tie for eighth place in
the pistol finals and there had to be a shoot
off between Chris Mason, Jim Newsome and
Peter Friend.
Five shots, with the highest score going
through to the finals.
Chris Mason just took it with the narrowest of
margins of 0.1 of a point!!
All the finals, and the shoot off, were shot on
Megalink targets. This meant that everyone
could see the scores as they were shot. A
very exciting event.
You can see the recorded finals results on
the WAA website, along with the full list of
results. www.welsh-airgun.org.uk
Approximately 11,000 targets were shot
over the weekend. With only four scoring
machines, and over forty different
competitions going on, it makes such a
difference when someone contributes an
hour or so of their time to help out.
A massive thank you to everyone involved for
making the day such a wonderful success.
Welsh Open Pistol Champion 2009 is
Stewart Nangle with a score of 572.
Welsh Open Rifle Champion 2009 is Chris
Hector with a score of 593
Welsh Open Junior Pistol Champion 2009 is
Craig Auden with a score of 558
Welsh Open Junior Rifle Champion 2009 is
James Huckle with a score of 588
Welsh Open Ladies Pistol Champion 2009
is Georgina Geikie with a score of 379 (tied
with Victoria Mullin but a final string of 96
versus 95 took the victory)
Welsh Open Ladies Rifle Champion 2009 is
Sharon Lee with a score of 393.
Welsh Closed Pistol Champion 2009 is Al
Green with a score of 561
Welsh Closed Rifle Champion 2009 is Rhian
Floyd with a score of 581
Hopefully I shall have two good feet which
will enable me to shoot at next year’s event!
and very much look forward to returning to
what is always a buzzing Open shoot which
attracts a large entry of shooters to pit
yourself against.
At this time, no date has been set for the
Welsh Open 2010.
Target Shooter 53
 World Field Target Federation 2009
World Championships – The South
African Experience
Pretoria, South Africa was the venue for this year’s
edition of the WFTF World Championships on 26-
29th September 2009.
This international event was superbly hosted by
the South African FTAA within the Mutango Lodge
complex. The area is situated about 35km north west
of Pretoria in typical South African bush country.
Here, Field Target shooters from England, Wales,
Norway, USA, Canada, Germany, New Zealand,
Malta and South Africa had to survive a grueling
three days of tasks set by the South African
organisers. The dedication, hard work, time and
creativity of the organisers pushed the course
set-up to the highest limits. The majority of
experienced and veteran Field Target shooters
present described this as the toughest course ever
and everyone enjoyed each and every second
Chronograph time!!
54 Target Shooter
By Stanley Shaw
of the experience. For those present, the South
African WFTF World Championships will remain an
experience etched in our memory for life.
SAFTAA designed the course-layout over a distance
of approximately 2km. The course started from the
marsh lands and slowly worked its way up to the
‘baboon’ territory on the mountain top behind
Mutango Lodge. There were three courses,
color-coded blue, green and black, each with 50
targets and various grades of difficulties spread
out in five zones. Reducers were ample on some
courses while others had a degree of difficulty in
positional-shots at long ranges.
Zone 1, nicknamed ‘Valley of Death’ by South
African shooters, was set inside a depression
behind the marsh. Full of burned-down tree trunks,
this zone was a perfect match for its name. Most
targets here were a low inclination from the shooting
lanes. The wind in this area was killing even for the
most experienced shooters, hence the nickname.
Zone 2 was situated on the low flat-lands behind the
marsh and targets were set at medium ranges. The
wind in this area could easily give you a bad guess
as certain reed walls were playing some tricks in
wind deviation. Wild life was abundant, the constant
noise of frogs in the nearby marsh and hovering
birds of prey was a lovely sight.
 Lynn and Natali at their shoot off

Zone 3 was further up and situated at the flat-land
in front of a small dam, just before the uphill climb to
the mountain-top zones. The targets were situated
in the opening between the ravine walls and also on
the facing edges.
Zone 4 was on the way uphill, with shooting from one
side of the ravine to the opposing side over the dam.
Most of the targets here were long-distance shots,
some seemed further than 50m but they were not.
Zone 5 had some intricate shots at the top of the
ravine cliff edges or deep down inside the ravine.
The view here was beautiful.
official start and SAFTAA officials were busy
finalising the finishing touches. The sighting-in
range at Mutango was officially opened for all the
competitors. Most of the foreign teams were already
present, having arrived in South Africa some days
before. All were busy and had spent long hours
in the previous days tuning and setting up their
equipment on various ranges around the area. Some
shooters experienced POI shifts and lower muzzle
velocities due to changes in the atmospheric and altitude
conditions, which differ from their own country.
Of course it’s possible that some problems might
have occurred due to careless baggage handling

Zone 6 took us up the It be hot our there!!!! Shooter on

crest of the mountain and the line
most of the targets were
situated in the bush, shrubs
and trees. Distances were
relatively close and the use of
reducers was a must. Most
targets going up hill were
inclination shots or the
shooting post was placed
in such a way to render an
easy shot difficult.
However the trees and bush
protected most of the targets
from the winds that persisted
throughout the three day
event.

Thursday 26th September

2009, the day before the

Target Shooter 55
 3, 4 and 5 shootoff
but most of the teams cleared their issues or had
no choice but to live with it and make the best of
it. Mutango was now becoming crowded as many
South African FT shooters began to arrive with their
families and campers. The atmosphere was that of
a warm welcome and fraternity between the nations
present for the event.
The weather prediction for Friday 26th September
2009 was typical for England. Thunderstorms and
heavy rain hit the area that evening, sending most of
the shooters to their quarters early for a good night’s
rest to be ready for the next day.
Friday 27th September. The morning was chilly,
heavy overcast clouds and a drizzly rainfall. The
sighting-in range opened at 7.00 am and shooters
were pouring in the area to warm-up and make their
1 and 2 shootoff
56 Target Shooter
final adjustments. The wind was picking up already.
Once you were happy with your set-up, it was time to
take the chronograph test and register. Shooters then
started to line up in groups with everything running
as smooth as silk. By 9.00 am, all the participants
were seated in the Main Hall awaiting the official
opening by the Chief Safety Officer. The expected
safety standards and course set up was explained
in detail, then participants were asked to collect their
score cards and find their buddy. There was some
confusion at first but this was soon settled and better
organized in the coming days. Once you’ve found
your shooting buddy, grab your equipment and start
moving towards the zone and lane according to the
particular course assigned.
At 11 am and on time came the signal to commence.
The World Championship was on. I happened to
start in zone 4 and one could immediately hear the
roaring echoes of air rifles blazing away at the
targets inside the ravine. As the day went on and
shooters met along the paths, one could hear
comments like “ This is practice day – that’s why I’m
not knocking down targets”. Some faces were long,
others were smiling, most were having a good time.
By 3.00 pm, shooters had completed their course
and were handing in their signed-up score-cards in
the main hall. Every one was trying to find out the
highest score of the day while lunch was served.
The top shooters of the day were James Woodhead
(Eng) with 46 x50, followed by Hennie Breytenbach
(RSA) 44 / 50 and John Costello (Eng) 43 / 50.
Everyone was surprised with the overall results - no
50 / 50 this time ! The South African Worlds would be
tough even for the top shooters.
That evening shooters and their families got together
for a traditional South African Braai sharing their FT
experiences, culture and thoughts.
Saturday 28th September. Today is a fine, hot day
and the sun is shining. Shooters flock to the sighting
range before or after breakfast to warm up for the
day ahead. Punctual at 9.00 am, the SAFTAA Chief
Safety Officer briefed the participants and warned
everyone to carry lots of water. The temperature is
expected to reach 38 degrees Celsius and humidity
is a bit higher than usual due to evaporation from the
soil and vegetation of the previous day.
The score-card collection and buddy-system now
is running smoothly . The shooters move to their
assigned zones and await the 11.00 am start
signal. Fifty gruesome targets await all of us. The
wind picks up. The heat picks up - on everyone and
everything. Some shooters struggle with range
South African Team at the award ceremony
finding as mirages tend to fool scope readings. Some
shooters start to experience equipment faults and
failures. Shooters try to catch their breath before
attempting shots. Fatigue could be seen in
shooter’s faces and this reflected in the overall
results. The highest score for the second day was that of
Petrus Johanne Breedt (RSA) with 40 / 50. Following
close behind, Mark Basset (Wales) with 39 / 50 and
two promising Brits, James Woodhead and John
Costello both with 38 / 50.
Sunday 29th September is the last day of the
Worlds every one is trying to make it to the end. As
usual, everything is running to schedule (shooting
started one hour earlier today) and co-ordination is
perfect. The start signal comes at 10.00 am and the
cracking sound of air rifles fills the air around
Mutango. Shooters with probable chances to
rank in the top 10 positions of their category are
eager to know how they are comparing with their
counterparts. Nothing can be taken for granted here.
Fatigue, heat and thousands of flies and other
flying insects can set you off course quite easily.
Equipment could fail when you most need it,
anything can happen. By 2.30 pm, most of the cards
were in and shooting was over. Now we must await
the final results. The highest score today was a
42 / 50 by John Costello. There was tension in the air
as the organizers wanted to reveal a surprise result
but instead, shoot-offs revealed the winners.
At around 3.30 pm, the shooters from various
categories were called for the shoot offs. A target
was set up at a distance of about 20 meters, this
included a 20mm reducer. Sudden-death decides
who wins or looses in this final step. The crowd
gathered around to watch these ‘gladiators’ deliver
their winning shots. The first to go into the arena was
Target Shooter 57
Lyn Strydom and Natalie Terblanche both from RSA
for the 2nd and 3rd place in the Ladies category. For
her first standing shot Lyn smashed down the target
and the crowed roared. Natali was next, she missed
but still the crowed roared their applause for Natali.
Then came three shooters all with a total of 113/150
for the 3rd, 4th and 5th positions. After a lengthy
duel Mark Basset (Wales) placed 3rd whilst David
Combrink (RSA) and Hennri Breytenbach (RSA)
placed 4th and 5th respectively. The last to go into
the arena were two Brits, James Woodhead and
John Costello, who showed from day one that it
was their intention to be World Champion. James
managed to knock down the target after several
James Woodhead - 2009 FT World Champion
attempts from a kneeling position and so earned
himself the title of WFTF 2009 World Champion.
Then the party started with everyone celebrating
with the winners.
It is only fair to mention the top three shooters in all
the categories for record and honor.
Juniors
1st Francois Du Toit (RSA) 92/150
2nd Divan Loretz (RSA) 66/150
3rd Jaco Classen (RSA) 65/150.
Ladies
1st Erica Fourie (RSA) 95/150
58 Target Shooter
2nd Lynn Strydom (RSA) 90/150
3rd Natali Terblanche (RSA) 90/150.
Springer category
1st Scean Orsmond (RSA) 77/150
2nd Paul James (Eng) 76/150
3rd Dale Anthony Foster (Eng) 71/150
Veteran section
1st Alan Keyser (RSA) 88/150
2nd Ron Carlson (USA) 78/150
3rd David Gauge (Wales) 77/150
Team results
1st England 469 points
2nd South Africa 448
3rd Germany 381
A spectacular event was brought to a close with
a spectacular ceremony. Mr. Johan Jansen,
President of SAFTAA and the efforts of his team was
greatly appreciated by all the shooters present at this
amazing World Championship. SAFTAA hard
work sets the standards for future FT World
Championships. The next stop is Hungary in 2010 –
can’t wait!
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"Phoenix A, X & A Class.”

Two British Record Scores at Gallery Rifle National Championships 2009

Target Shooter 59
 Fullbore Bullet Ballistic Analysis Part 2

By Bryan Litz
Let’s revisit our bullet characteristics Above - 1,000yd F-Class targets at Diggle in
and performance table (Figure 3), now Lancashire – a hard test for any bullet fired from
updated to show how the various models a .308W rifle, especially in this upland range’s
stack up at long-range, before going on to strong, constantly varying winds
model how these results might affect scores. The other metric we need for shooting at 1,000yd
Remember, the key comparative performance with the .308 Winchester cartridge is retained
measure is wind deflection, which as per the usual velocity. Ideally, our bullet which starts at 3,000
convention has been calculated for a 10 mph 90° fps remains comfortably supersonic (defined as
crosswind, and shown for 600 and 1,000 yards. travelling above 1,120 fps in
The sheltered 300yd Pickering range in North Yorkshire is well-suit- standard conditions)
ed to .308W and any of the eight 155gn bullets provided handloads at this range as it may
are accurate encounter turbulence on
entering the transonic
velocity zone – a little
above the actual speed
of sound. (Figure 3)
For the top trio, 1,000yd
wind deflection is
predicted at 91.0”, 91.6”,
and 91.6” respectively,
practically identical
ballistically, and they
are still travelling at
a healthy ~1300 fps
velocity. At the other end of
the ‘performance league’,

60 Target Shooter
 Figure 3
the ‘old’ Sierra Palma MK
(#2155) and the Hornady
A-Max move another 15 to
17 inches sideways in the
wind and struggle to remain
supersonic, close enough
to 1,120 fps to see the
Left to right - Berger 155.5, Lapua 155 Scenar, HBC BJD, New Sierra, Berger VLD, PMP, latter have some bullets in
Old Sierra, Hornady A-Max a string risk dropping below
this velocity at the bottom
end of a typical MV spread
Wind
Retained Wind allied to slightly more
Deflection onerous atmospheric
Average Velocity Deflection conditions, such as lower
Bullet i7 (600yd)
G7 BC (1,000yd) (1,000yd)
temperature and/or higher
Inches / pressure. Note that
fps Inches / MOA performance variations in
MOA the hypothetical 10mph
crosswind are much
0.988 0.237 1,302 27.3 / 4.4 91.0 / 8.67 reduced at 600yd, the
Berger 155.5 Fullbore difference between the
‘best’ and ‘worst’
0.988 0.236 1,298 27.4 / 4.4 91.6 / 8.73 equating to just over a
Lapua 155 Scenar half-MOA compared to
three times that amount
at 1,000yd, so having the
0.989 0.236 1,297 27.4 / 4.4 91.6 / 8.73
155 HBC BJD optimal bullet in ballistics
(Australia)
terms confers much less
advantage to the shorter-
range shooter.
1.018 0.229 1,257 28.5 / 4.5 95.9 / 9.14
Sierra 155 Palma (2156) So now that we have
these results, how do we
know what to make of
1.039 0.225 1,228 29.2 / 4.6 98.5 / 9.42 them? The sterile wind
Berger 155 VLD deflection in a constant
10 mph crosswind
performance metric is kind
1.041 0.224 1,227 29.3 / 4.6 99.2 / 9.45
of useful, but what does
155 PMP (South Africa)
it mean in terms of points
in a match? Is there a
real, practical difference
1.092 0.214 1,161 31.1 / 4.9 106.7 / 10.17 between say 91” and 95.9”
Sierra 155 Palma (2155) of wind deflection (the 1st
and 4th bullets respectively
in the list), or is that just lost
1.100 0.212 1,152 31.4 / 5.0 108.3 / 10.32
in the noise? To attempt to
Hornady 155 A-Max
shed light on this question,
Figure 3. Ballistic performance comparison for 8 Fullbore bullets starting out at 3,000 I’ll turn to modelling. The
results of a model are only
fps MV under standard sea level atmospheric conditions (59°F, 29.53 inches mercury as accurate as their inputs.

pressure). The bullet performance can

be modelled accurately, but
Target Shooter 61
 wind.
Running this simulation
multiple times can reveal
how much difference a
certain performance
advantage can make to a
shooter’s score.

The model assumes our

hypothetical shooter is
able to hold X-ring (V-
Bull in British shooting
terminology) elevation,
and in order to generate
equal conditions for the
various bullets, it applies
a crosswind uncertainty
of +/- 2 mph.
(Specifically, the standard
deviation of the shooters/
coach’s ability to call wind
is 1 mph.) In other words,
the crosswind uncertainty
is modelled to be less than
2 mph for 19/20 shots.

Figure 4 shows a visual

representation of a
‘virtual group’ produced
by the computer model
using the aforementioned
conditions and
uncertainties. The table
underneath provides the
numeric values for the
series of runs of the
model, that is 100
simulated 20-shot 1,000
yard matches using the
American NRA ‘Full-
bore’ target. It shows
the minimum and
maximum simulated
scores (in individual
Figure 4 how do you model
‘matches’), plus the average score for the entire
a shooter, and the
series for each of the eight bullets.
effects of bullet
Some apparently strange features of the
performance on score? The way I’ve
results are related to the statistical nature of the
chosen to approach this is statistically. A ballistics
simulation. For example, notice that the highest
program was looped to run for 20 shots. On each
individual ‘match score’ with the new Sierra and
shot a different wind uncertainty is applied to
the Berger VLD is one point higher than those
represent the effect of an imperfect wind judgment
for the three higher BC bullets at the top of the
by the shooter or coach. The idea is that the better
list. This shows that over the course of 100
performing bullets should result in fewer lost
matches, it’s possible to shoot a higher score with a
points because they’re deflected less by a given

62 Target Shooter
 replicated on the rifle range.
The moral is that a slight BC
advantage does not in itself
guarantee a superior score! Just
look at the simulated ‘match
score’ spread for any given
bullet – up to 17 points difference
(out of a possible 200), yet the
difference between the best and
worst ballistic performers is only
4 points over 100 ‘matches’ when
scores are averaged. The take
away from this exercise is that
although the higher BC bullets do
stand to produce slightly higher
scores on average, they don’t
radically alter the limitations
intrinsic to TR and Fullbore
shooting – 155gn 0.308” bullets at
around 3,000 fps MV.

Let’s look at performance from

a different but complementary
angle. If the wind uncertainty is
modelled as +/- 1.5 mph
instead of +/- 2.0 mph, the
average score for every bullet
goes up four points. In other
words, if the shooter or coach
can refine his or her ability to read
the wind by only 0.5 mph that
makes as much difference to the
average score as switching from
the lowest BC bullet to the highest.

F/TR Class
The above analysis was geared
specifically to the US NRA LR
prone target with a 10” X-ring,
20” 10 ring, etc, but the F-class
target has smaller inner rings.
It’s obvious that their reduced
size increases sensitivity to small
errors. For example, a shot that’s
Figure 5 slightly inferior bullet
a solid 10 on the prone target may be a 9 on the
because of the
F-class target. So the question is; how much
statistical nature of
more sensitive is the F-class target to a difference
error. Also note that average scores drop from
in ballistic performance compared to the prone
192 to 191, then 190 for the best performers
target? Common sense suggests that
in descending order as you’d expect, but then
you should be able to resolve a bigger
apparently perversely go back up to 191 for the
advantage in score for a given ballistic performance
PMP bullet, before falling again to 188 for the
advantage, but how much? Again, I’ll turn to
two ‘poorest’ designs. This is another symptom
modelling (Figure 5). For this simulation, we’ll
of the statistical nature of the uncertainties we
consider the shooter/coach to have the same
encounter in target shooting, and is likely to be

Target Shooter 63

wind reading abil-
Figure 6
ity as in the prone
scenario (95% of
crosswind calls within +/- 2 mph), but
we’ll tighten up the precision a bit for
the F-class shooter. We’ll assume both
64 Target Shooter
shooter and equipment are
capable of producing ~5”
(half-MOA) 1,000yd groups
in the absence of any wind,
which is extremely good.
The results in Figure 5
show the same information
as Figure 4 (prone target),
but the first thing to notice is
that the average score has
dropped by 12 points. This
is expected, but what may
come as a surprise is that
the advantage conferred
by a higher BC bullet isn’t
much more profound. Only
four points separated the
best and worst on the prone
target, while this has now
only risen to five in F-Class.
Why is that? Well, think
about how a target works.
It measures accuracy
using scoring rings, so
increasing the number of
rings improves its ability
to resolve a difference in
accuracy / ballistic
performance. To look
at it another way, an
accuracy improvement is
more likely to register on
a target with more rings
because the area of the
target is broken up into
finer segments. The F-class
target has one more ring
than the prone version, so
it’s only slightly better at
resolving differences in
accuracy, especially
outside of the additional ring,
or 10-inches or more from
the centre. Beyond the 20”
circle, the rings are the
same size, only worth
one point less. That’s
why the average score
goes down so much, but the
difference between best and worst performers
only increases a little. (The difference between
British F-Class and NRA TR target ring-sizes/
positions is greater – Editor)
 The notoriously difficult Blair Athol range in the Scottish Highlands provides a real challenge
to the TR and F/TR shooter’s ability to read the wind
Of course, these results/conclusions are
determined by the model’s parameters. The
variables used see shots scattered across
the target face, and the effect of having an
additional inner ring therefore wasn’t overly large.
What happens if the simulation is re-run with less
wind uncertainty seeing shots scattered from
9 ring to 9 ring instead of out to the 7? Figure
6 contains the results of the F-class simulation
being run at half the original wind uncertainty (+/-
1 mph of wind compared to +/- 2 mph). As you
can see, average scores increase, but the relative
advantage of a high BC bullet is still far from being
overwhelming. In fact, the difference now reduces
to four points again. This final analysis reinforces
the earlier conclusion that superior ballistic
performance is helpful, results in higher
average scores over a long run of matches, but the
difference between the highest BC option and a
mediocre BC is certainly not a decisive element
in itself, irrespective of the shooting conditions
encountered.
Barrel Twist Rates
The accepted standard rifling twist rate for
Palma / Fullbore rifles has been 1-13” for
decades. Do these new, longer bullets require more
twist for good stability? The short answer is ‘No’.
However, while the older (shorter) bullets
could get away with a 1-14” twist barrel in most
conditions, the current crop of longer models need
every bit of the ‘standard’ 1-13” rate. In fact, the
longest design is the 155gn Lapua Scenar, which
according to stability predictions, could use a 1-12”
or 1-12.5” twist barrel, although it does work well
from a 1-13” in most conditions. (Many British TR
and F/TR top competitors happily use this bullet
in barrels with the ‘old’ 1-14” twist rate – Editor.)
As with most modern well made match bullets,
it wouldn’t hurt accuracy to shoot these recent
Fullbore designs in barrels with twist rates ‘faster’
than 1-13” – many top US competitors achieve
success with 1-10”, 11”, or 12” tubes. Using
such rates also gives you the option of using
heavier bullets in matches that have no weight
limit.
In Summary
Many readers will be surprised at and a bit
disappointed that the new generation of
high-BC Fullbore bullets produce such modest
improvements in scores in the modelling
exercise. We have to remember that they are
still .30 calibre, weigh 155 grains, and leave the
muzzle at 3,000 fps. These parameters
determine the overwhelmingly greater part of the
ballistic performance of the eight models tested.
Improving a bullet’s BC through profiling its shape
to achieve lower drag is worthwhile, and yields
benefits in the long run, but doesn’t turn night into
day.
Overall performance is maximized by optimising
each component in the system, so the optimal
approach is to shoot high BC bullets and work
on improving wind reading skills. As with many
endeavours, striving for balance is key. Success is
achieved when you take a well rounded approach,
with a true understanding of the relative importance
of each factor, not by considering one element
to be all important to the exclusion of the others.
Target Shooter 65
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HANDLOADING ‘OLD FAITHFUL’
THE .308 WINCHESTER (part 1)

By Laurie Holland
No matter how much new cartridges beguile, I Above - There is a large choice of match
always find myself returning to .308 Winchester quality commercial .308 Win ammunition, these
– with its large choice of superb components, examples employing 167, 168, and 190gn HPBT
tolerance of propellants, and intrinsic accuracy, Match bullets. Not cheap though!
it is a handloader’s dream cartridge. Thanks to
and increasingly look to precision handloading.
F/TR my .308 round-count has rocketed over
Disciplines like F/TR require every element of the
the last couple of years but there’s nothing new
rifle-ammunition ‘system’ to be optimised,
here – I recently added up the 7.62mm / .308W
especially at GBFCA League level whose rounds are
rifles I’ve owned, and the tally came to no fewer
overwhelmingly conducted over the 800-1,000yd
than 12. I also get more requests for information
range mark.
about this cartridge than any other, these rising
now that milspec 7.62mm ammunition has all but
Beginnings
disappeared, and with 7.62mm/.308W the most
It’s no coincidence that .308W started life as a
widely used cartridge at all levels of fullbore
military number, a background that guarantees
shooting in this country. My
original intention was to look 7.62mm/.308W rifles are seen in profusion in club shoots across
at preparing the cartridge for the land, this quartet sharing a target at Strensall split between
long-range F/TR, but decid- .308W and .223R users
ed to expand the focus given
this background. So, I’ll look
at the .308’s background this
month before getting onto
components and loads in
future issues.

While many users have had

an economy mindset for years
– budget secondhand TR
rifles and the cheapest military
surplus 7.62 available – a
growing number want to get
the best performance they can,
enhance their personal skills,

Target Shooter 67
 mostly 19th century designs
Military surplus supplies have dried up, and
then in service. The British,
even newly manufactured 7.62mm
Belgians and Canadians
cartridges are unobtainable. Note nickel
made a strong play for a
washed steel bullet jackets on these
series of modest sized 7mm
German DAG cartridges dating from 1993
rounds developed in the UK,
but the Americans would have
none of it – .30-calibre and
something approaching .30-06
M2 performance (152gn bullet
at 2,805 fps) was de rigueur,
so we got the 7.62X51mm,
or 7.62 NATO, initially
developed as the T65 series of
experimental cartridges.
Despite it being regularly
stated that the 7.62mm, or
to be precise its finalised
T65E3 progenitor, is a
shortened .30-06, that’s
not how the US Army and
Winchester designers did it.
Its parentage was actually the
.300 Savage, sensibly enough
as Savage had designed
its cartridge with the same
objective 30 years earlier
a sound and flexible workhorse thanks to large
– a short cased round that would match .30-06
dollops of taxpayer funded R&D. Such cartridges
performance with 150gn bullets. However, the
are invariably popular too amongst the world’s
.300 Savage based T65 case couldn’t supply
numerically largest group of recreational shooters,
enough velocity to satisfy the US Army, and was
US citizens, promoting a huge choice of factory
progressively lengthened to hold more powder,
ammunition and handloading components. Our
ending up giving a 144-147gn bullet 2,800fps
subject dates from the late 1940s / early 1950s
MV. One significant difference from earlier
when the NATO alliance countries were looking
British and American military numbers was
for a common cartridge to replace the ragbag of
the adoption of a boat-tailed bullet to give
.308 v 7.62 case-heads, the latter using far heavier / thicker primers. Note the NATO-compliance
symbol in the RG headstamp (a cross within a circle)

68 Target Shooter
 became popular amongst British
deerstalkers, but it took the end of 0.303” Mk7
ammunition production at the Radway Green
factory in the early 1960s for the NRA to start
planning a replacement for Service Rifle,
Target Rifle (TR) that started up during 1967/8
and used military specification 7.62mm.

7.62mm v .308W
I’ve used ‘7.62’ and ‘308’ interchangeably,
which to some extent the cartridges are,
but they, and their rifles, are not identical.
The former has a slightly lower specified
peak chamber pressure, its chamber is a
little bit roomier and longer with a greater
acceptable headspace variation to ensure
reliable operation with dirty or damaged
ammo. There are differences in throat
specifications, but the most significant
variation is in bullet and barrel dimensions.
The NATO bullet is 144-147gn (although
the Americans preferred slightly heavier
Three bullets compared. Left to right: 145gn
models), and usually a marginally smaller
standard RG 7.62mm from1980, note the
diameter than found in commercial 0.308”
crimping groove; 155gn 2004 RG 155gn ‘Bisley Match’;
bullets – sometimes as low as 0.3072” while
155gn Sierra Palma MatchKing (older model), a far supe-
rior product
improved long-range performance.

Actually, the .308W version

appeared first in 1952, Winchester
having been involved in T65
development and recognising its
commercial potential. The military
had to wait for new weapons to
arrive – Britain didn’t adopt
the L1A1 ‘SLR’ rifle until 1957.
Nevertheless, civilian shooters didn’t
rush to the new cartridge even in
the USA. American deerhunters
were initially unconvinced this ‘little’
cartridge could provide enough Bullet bases compared – left: 155gn RG; right:
performance, and the country’s target shooters 155gn Sierra. The RG FMJ has an open base and
were critical of its ‘over-short’ neck, erroneously deep cavity – undesirable accuracy-wise as
believing the .308 was less accurate than the tried gasses overtaking the bullet at the muzzle can
and trusted ‘Oh-Six’ for some years. It soon catch it and influence bullet behaviour randomly

The 7.62mm rifle our NRA turned its

collective nose up at, a short-barrelled
version of the famous FN FAL adopted in
modified form by Britain as the Rifle, L1A1

Target Shooter 69
 or staked into the pocket
to stop them backing out
in generously headspaced
machine-guns, and
have thick cups to avoid
slamfires. Oh yes, they have
to cost next to nothing too.
Although all NATO countries’
production is compatible to
allow battlefield
interchangeability, there
is one major difference
between US and European
7.62 that has had an
influence on civilian practice
– ‘theirs’ is Boxer-primed
and easily reloadable, ‘ours’
Berdan, hence usually
treated as use once and
discard.

Approaches
The advent of 7.62mm
self-loading rifles had
different effects on NRA
regulated shooting
development on either side of
the Atlantic. Our pre-7.62mm
‘Service Rifle’ was already
a prone slowfire discipline
covering 200-1,000yd
shooting, while the US
Above - American military sniper / Service Rifle competition bullets.
equivalent involved three
Left to right: a 174gn M1 FMJBT bullet similar to the 173gn LC match
positions, rapid fire, and
/ sniper design; 168gn Sierra MK, the mainstay of SR rounds for the
compulsory in-stage reloads,
M14; 175gn long-range Sierra MK used in competition handloads and
to a maximum range of
the current US 7.62mm M118LR sniper cartridge
600yd, specialist long range
308s can run up to 0.3085”. That difference sees SR competitions aside.
7.62 cartridges usually provide mediocre accuracy Americans were already using a self-loading
in .308W rifles, as they’re under the optimal size for service rifle – the WW2 era .30-06 M1 Garand –
a .308W barrel’s land and groove diameters – also so adopting the 7.62mm M14 and its civilian M1A
why British TR rifle builders specified ‘tight’ barrels sibling required few changes in attitudes or range
until the introduction of the 155gn ‘Bisley Match’ practices. Our NRA looked at the L1A1, averted its
version. Commercial .308W ammunition using gaze, and adopted the single-shot long-barrelled
full-diameter bullets can generate over-high Target Rifle while sticking with the service rifle
pressures if loaded right up to the CIP / SAAMI cartridge, even enforcing the use of low grade
maximum and fired in a 7.62mm rifle, especially milspec ammo in major competitions.
one of our early tight-bore TR examples built on the
relatively weak Enfield No. 4 action. Long before 7.62mm arrived on the scene,
American shooters had a match version of the .30-
There are other less obvious, but cumulatively 06 using Lake City Arsenal designed 173gn FMJBT
important differences. As a military cartridge, bullets, but often pulled them and substituted the
7.62 has to be able to take a lot of abuse, so has 168gn Sierra MatchKing for important matches –
thick-walled cases and a heavy case-mouth crimp allowed within their SR competition rules. This
into a marked cannelure or crimp-groove. It has practice continued into the 7.62mm era, but soon
to be waterproof, so asphalt sealant is generously all serious competitors handloaded their ammuni-
applied between case and bullet, likewise lacquer tion, again with 168s, often using selected and fa-
on the primer annulus. Primers are usually crimped voured lots of ‘arsenal brass’, such as Lake City

70 Target Shooter
A typical modern 7.62mm TR rifle – David Archer’s with the base cavity topped
Norman Clark built Barnard. David was impressed up with a little lead and
by the RUAG ammunition’s long-range weighing 146gn. Variations
performance in this year’s ‘Imperial’ between production lots were
significant, and even those
selected after range-testing
by the NRA could produce
unpredictable fliers in
prestigious events like
the ‘Imperial’. Rifles were
tailored to the ammunition
with tight-bores, not only to
suit the bullet diameter but
to maximise MV, the light
projectile unable to stay
supersonic at long range, and
a key feature was the use
of a slow 1-14” rifling twist
to suit the short bullet and
match numbers from certain years. Eventually, the reduce the rate of spin to the
US Army caught up and commissioned Sierra to lowest level that still stabilised it to reduce dispersion.
design a bullet with the 173gn model’s excellent
ballistic properties allied to the 168gn SMK’s superb155gn
accuracy – result the current 175gn MatchKing used Eventually, somebody in the MoD discovered
by handloaders, commercial ammunition producers, ‘Palma Rifle’, a long-range civilian discipline
and loaded in the military 7.62mm M118LR sniper / restricted to .308 Win and employing the
ballistically efficient Sierra 155gn HPBT ‘Palma
target cartridge. So, we have the interesting situation
MatchKing’ bullet that far outperformed the NATO
that US shooters in their primary NRA controlled rifle
discipline used military rifles, albeit much enhancedprojectile. The then government owned Radway
in the accuracy influencing bits, but put quality Green facility was commissioned to design an
commercial match ammo or handloads through FMJBT version for use in a new sniper round
them, while we used increasingly specialised and to let the L96A1 (Accuracy International Model
expensive custom built single-shot precision rifles, PM) rifle achieve its potential, defined as a high
but limited their performance by insisting on cheap probability first shot hit at 800 metres. The resulting RG
ammunition best restricted to belt-fed machineguns! ‘Bisley Match’ round became the mainstay of UK TR
shooting for several years, and while a huge
So what did we use? ‘Selected’ batches of run improvement over its 146gn ‘Green Spot’
of the mill military 7.62 followed by the ‘superior’ predecessor, was still inferior accuracy-wise, and
(for that read ‘less bad’) RG ‘Green Spot’ sniper to a certain extent ballistically to commercial or
round that used the light military FMJBT bullet handloaded cartridges using Sierra or other
HPBT Palma match
Many shooters handload precision .308W ammunition for their 7.62mm bullets. This era
tactical rifles. Simon Rodgers used this Accuracy International Model AE ended abruptly last
successfully in early F-Class year when RG’s post
privatisation owner
BAe withdrew from
the civilian market,
and the MoD
terminated the
longstanding
practice of paying
for military use of the
Bisley ranges through
ammunition supplies.
After a year-long
testing and tender-
ing process, the NRA
awarded a contract

Target Shooter 71
 NATO involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan has seen a resur-
gence in 7.62mm use including the low level sniper role by
American forces, originally carried out with resurrected M21
sniper rifles or scoped M14s as seen here, more recently the
M110 ‘SASS’ rifle. (Courtesy of US Army image archives.)
to Swiss company RUAG Ammotec for this year’s
supply finally providing competitors in the UK’s
most prestigious TR event with ammunition of a
quality long taken for granted in Europe and the
USA. These cartridges are loaded with the original
155gn Sierra Palma MK (#2155) a mere quarter-
century after its introduction. The downside is of
course much increased cost, as you get what you
pay for.
Recent Developments
The difference between .308 and 7.62mm bullet
diameters has reduced, so recently built TR, and
commercially produced tactical and sniper rifles
have barrel specs that are only a little on the ‘tight’
side or use standard .308 dimensions. Measuring
a sample 155gn bullet pulled from a ‘Bisley Match’
round produced a diameter precisely on 0.308”
compared to 0.3077” for older 145gn bullets, and
0.3082-0.3083” for Lapua and Sierra match
examples. Note too that while still heavily ‘gunged’
with sealant, it lacks a crimp-groove, and has a
much longer bearing surface than the older type.
Modern tactical rifles such as the Sako TRG
and Accuracy International police and civilian
models shoot very well with good .308W ammunition
despite having ‘military’ chambers – one former
Accuracy AE owner who did very well it did tell
me however that it was important to fireform
cases for the long chamber then ensure the resizing
operation retained close headspace. American
CLR (conventional prone long-range) shooters
looked at our TR, liked what they saw and adopted
it as ‘Fullbore Rifle’. In the USA, Fullbore and Palma
are invariably shot using handloads and are run
under two sets of ammunition rules at the
organiser’s discretion – ‘International’ which
sees bullet weight restricted to ‘less than 156gn’,
72 Target Shooter
or unrestricted. F/TR is
restricted to .223R and .308W
but places no restrictions on
bullet weights in the UK or USA
(unlike British Commonwealth
countries where the ‘less than
156gn’ rule applies), so there is
an ongoing debate about the ideal
bullet for 1,000yd F/TR matches
– an important subject as having
the optimal combination makes
a difference to the cartridge’s
performance at this range,
especially on the small F-Class
target in difficult conditions.
(Keeping shots in the four-ring or
higher needs 18” or less dispersion
at this range, in practice 13” for a
rifle that groups into a half-MOA.)
Resurgent
One cannot look at the cartridge without
noting its rebirth as a military tool. With NATO’s
blanket adoption of the improved 5.56mm during
the 1980s, there were strong pressures from military
bureaucrats to withdraw 7.62mm weapons, sniper
rifles aside, in the cause of standardisation and
‘logistics’. However, the guys who actually put their
lives on the line had a less than flattering view of
the 5.56’s longer-range capabilities, especially the
British ‘squaddie’ saddled with the unreliable L86A1
‘LSW’ light machinegun version of the SA80 rifle.
While 5.56 performed well – in obtaining hits and
its terminal effectiveness – in short-range jungle
wars, serious questions about its performance
arose in the Balkans, even more so Iraq and
Afghanistan where fighting ranges are much
increased.
The result has been retention, in fact much
increased use, of 7.62mm ‘general-purpose’
MGs such as the US M60 and UK L7A1 ‘Gimpy’
alongside the newer 5.56mm FN ‘Minimi’ gun.
Moreover, the Americans became concerned about
the inability of the average GI or Marine to neutralise
opponents with the 5.56mm M16 at any range
above 300 metres resulting in the adoption of a new
rifle – the Knights Armaments SR25 based M110
7.62mm semi-auto sniper rifle firing M118LR 175g
bullet cartridges – issued to considerable
numbers of selected and specially trained rifle-squad
‘marksmen’ who can hit targets at 500-600m
as a supplement to the small numbers of highly
specialised two-man scout / sniper teams. So the
7.62’s role and likely future have seen a huge
turnaround in western armies, the outlook moving
from poor to assured.
Next month – brass and bullets.
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Target Shooter 73

I don’t know anyone who has never had a light strike,
misfeed, stovepipe or Ruger/Marlin moment at
some time or other whilst shooting in a competition,
yet I still regularly see of shooters of all standards
stepping up to the line carrying no spare
ammunition with them whatsoever! Imagine being in
this position and getting a stovepipe with your 10/22
Carry it on your chest……..
or a light strike with your Marlin during the final 6 (literally) when adopting or shooting from a
or on a belt? Do what works best for you! Both ideas are home
made and enable you to change calibres quickly if needed also! in this manner can also cause
74 Target Shooter
By Gwyn Roberts
rounds of a 1500 competition at Bisley, with your spare
ammunition 25m behind you. It wouldn’t be the best
situation to find your self in that’s for sure! Simply
carrying a spare magazine or a couple of extra
centrefire rounds in your belt will at least give you
a chance to clear a malfunction and quickly reload
again rather than just throw away some of your
hard earned points just for being lazy. I always
carry at least 2 spare mags and a minimum of
six extra .44 rounds at every distance I shoot
at, as you never know what may happen on
the day. I can remember one occasion a few
years ago when I was having a lot of jamming
problems with my old 10/22 when I needed
to use 7 magazines in one stage, which only
required 18 rounds to be fired in total. Luckily
I always count my rounds as I fire them from
each position, and although it proved to be very
entertaining for the R.O behind me, at least I
eventually managed to get all of the shots off
within the time limit! With this in mind I always carry
out the intial load with a spare magazine or loose
rounds from either my shooting box or pocket,
so that my ammo belt is always full to capacity.
Having plenty of ammunition with you is one
thing, but carrying magazines/ammunition
in your pockets or bumbags etc is not ideal
as you will waste valuable time turning them
the right way around if you don’t grab them
correctly first time. They can also be a pain
kneeling or sitting position!
Carrying loose centrefire rounds
you to load either too few or
too many rounds if you loose
count half way through the
loading sequence, which will cost
you dearly on your scorecard!
It is well worth spending a little
time and effort when deciding on
the type of holders you will use,
and especially where to locate
them to ensure that the maga-
zines/rounds can be accessed
easily from every position that
you will have to shoot from, and
 clothing or other
“overhanging” parts
of the body when
changing positions
and it will also make
it much quicker and
easier to access your
ammunition. If you
find that your current
holders hold your
ammunition too close
to your body a simple
fix is to zip tie or tape
some 2” diameter
Place your ammo to use in different positions! insulating foam to
the inside of your belt
not just the standing position! Reloading in the sitting to pack it out a bit.
position for example is very awkward if your Some more resourceful shooters have taken this
ammunition is located on the front of your belt as idea one step further and have actually fixed the
you won’t be able to see it easily, or even reach it in round foam to the outside of their belts, drilled the
some cases! correct sized holes where needed, and then use
the whole thing as one large holder. They’re very
Most shooters carry their spare ammunition simple, cheap, and they certainly work well too!
attached to a waist belt, although there are a few who
prefer to carry their centrefire ammunition either in a Making your own holders is pretty easy to do (and a lot
bandolier across their chest, or use an elasticated cheaper also) and they can be made out of anything
wrist or armband type holder. Wherever you decide such as wood, plastic, rubber, leather or elasticated
to place your ammunition it is important that the material. I’ve made my own holders out of aluminium
holders are either held or angled slightly away and nylon which allow me to quickly swap between
from your body. This should ensure that no rounds/ rimfire and centrefire ammunition and they hold the
magazines are knocked out onto the floor by bulky rounds at least 3 inches away from my body which

This home made holder

and the one on the
following page, keep the
ammunition away from
the body and also allow
the shooter to
quickly change between
calibres when required!

Target Shooter 75

makes it easy to reload whatever top I’m wearing at
the time. The centrefire rounds contact a wiper blade
inside the nylon block which holds them in place
with just enough tension so that the rounds remain
retained when moving around but are easily released
when required. They also allow about half the length
of a .44 round to protrude out so that I can always
get a good grip on each one, whilst the rimfire ones
simply use a spring clip to retain them so that they
too are very quick and easy to get hold of.
A good technique, used by a good shooter
If you are going to use a leather or
elasticated type holder, you should
always make sure that you don’t push your
centrefire ammo in too deep as this will
make it much harder and slower to retrieve
them. It’s also a good idea if possible to
arrange them into groups of 6 rounds (or 5’s
when needed) and simply leaving an empty
loop inbetween each group of rounds, or
pushing the 7th round all the way down
when using a high capacity holder will make
it much easier to see or feel when you have
loaded the correct number of rounds needed.
reload so stability and economy of
motion is what you should be aiming
for, and this can only be achieved by
keeping the rifle close to your body.
The easiest way for a right handed
shooter to reload an underlever rifle
is to slide your left hand backwards
along the fore end as you start to
bring the rifle down from the aiming
position, until it’s close to the
action. Then rotate the rifle slightly so
that you can clearly see the loading
gate and pull the rifle inwards until
your left arm and the rear of the stock
lock up against your lower body.
Controlling the rifle with the left hand and
working/reloading the action with your
strong hand will always provide you
with a very safe and stable platform to
reload from, and will (providing you have placed your
ammunition holders in a good location) provide you with
the shortest round to loading gate transfer possible.
To reload quickly and smoothly you must limit
every action to its minimum and standing back and
thinking things through sometimes can pay
dividends. Take for example part of match 4 in

Reloading an Underlever type rifle is

pretty straight forwards but there are a few
shooters out there who struggle with it
because of the way in which they are
trying to hold their rifles. Holding it out in
front of you and trying to rest the butt against
your stomach, hip or thigh will cause two
major problems! The first is instability as
the rifle will swing like a pendulem as it’s
creating a pivot point, and the second is
that the hand will move far more than is
necessary each time it has to transfer a
round between the ammunition holder and
the loading gate. Both of these problems will
not allow you to achieve a smooth and fast

76 Target Shooter

This guy has no problems
reloading his Marlin left
handed!
a 1500 match which requires 12 shots to be fired
within 35 seconds (6, reload, 6). Many novice
shooters will rack out the 6th empty case, then close
the action again as they bring the rifle down. They
then feed 6 new rounds into the loading gate causing
them to have to rack the lever again to chamber the
first round. One way to save your self a few valuable
seconds is to simply leave the action closed when
bringing the rifle off aim and leave the empty case in the
chamber. Then load the next 6 rounds into the
loading gate and rack the first new round into the
chamber either on the way back up to, or once the
rifle is mounted back into the shoulder again. Another
way I save some time is to rack
out the empty case on the way
down and leave the action open.
Once the rifle is locked up against
my body, I pick up 2 rounds out
of my holder and drop the lower
one directly into the open action
then quickly close the lever with
my third and fourth digit. This
action then aligns my hand with the
loading gate and I simply
proceed to load the second
round directly into the loading
gate. I use both methods
depending on the type of match
that I am shooting and find
there is little difference time
wise, so just do which ever
method you find to be the easiest.
A lot of left handed shooters
have big problems loading an
underlever quickly because they
try to hold the rifle in their left
hand, and use their right (weak) hand to load the
rounds with! This generally causes the rifle to swing
away from the shooter as they try to push the rounds
into the loading gate making it a slow process, and
above all, a very frustrating one! The fastest and
easiest way for a left handed shooter to reload an
underlever is to rotate the rifle as it is being brought
down out of the shoulder until it is completely upside
down. The right hand should then slide back to grip
underneath the scope or action (or both if possible)
and then pull inwards to anchor the rifle against the
body. The left hand can then be used to load the
rounds giving the shooter much more control and a
Magazine release speed levers do just
that…..
Target Shooter 77
 ......and this blade type will allow you to
lock open the bolt quickly also!
much smoother round transfer into the loading gate!
When reloading with a 10/22 in the majority of the
Gallery Rifle disciplines, right handed shooters will
also generally pull the rifle into the side of the body
and support it in the same way as they would with
an underlever so that the rifle is “controlled” with
the left hand and the action is “worked” (drop the
magazine & lock open the action if needed) with
the right! Adding a speed release lever of some
description to your trigger unit will help produce a
more efficient reload and there are two types of lever
readily available. The first type sweeps backwards
underneath the whole length of the trigger unit and
the magazine is released by simply extending one
digit forward. This type however does not allow you
to lock open the bolt as well meaning that you will
waste a bit of time hunting around trying to find the
bolt release lever. The straight blade type ones drop
the magazine when pushed forward and allows you
to lock back the bolt by pulling both it and the lever
rearwards in one sweeping action making it a very fast
and easy motion saving you some valuable seconds
in time. It does mean that you have to take your hand
off the grip though to drop the magazine out so some
people have modified them so that the lever extends
under the trigger guard giving them the advantages
of both designs, and are well worth fitting to your rifle!
Left handers however may find that when shooting a
10/22 from the strong shoulder, as the bolt
handle is on the right hand side of the action it is much
easier to keep the rifle held in the left hand whilst
sandwiching the butt against the left hip. This way,
78 Target Shooter
“working” the action and reloading with the right hand can
produce a very slick reload! I always make sure that my
magazines are placed in my holders in such a way
that the bullet is always at the end of the magazine
nearest to where my index finger will be when I take
them out of the holder. I use the recess on the bottom
front edge of my Ruger mags as a reference point for
my index finger so that I achieve a consistent grip on
them every time, and canting the rifle slightly ensures
that only a small rotation of the wrist is needed to
transfer the magazine from the holder to the mag well.
Carrying an adequate supply of ammunition at
all times during a competition and holding it in the
correct place for each type of reload that is
needed will help you perform to your potential and
improve your all round marksmanship skills. Make
sure that you take the time to practice your reloading
drills with empty magazines or dummy (no powder/
primer) centrefire rounds in every shooting
position and this will help you to be both smoother
and more proficient on the range. This in turn will give
you more time to actually fire each shot as well as
helping you to keep calm and focussed if you ever have a
malfunction or are under tight time restraints during
a stage. Next month I’ll cover some of the pre match
preperations you should be thinking about, along with
some tips on how to shoot some of the “Shorts” matches!
Rude Fat Dog
RFD 621 Devon & Cornwall

We are the only authorised UK and European

distributor of KID products

The new KID ‘Speedloader’ kit for the standard Ruger TG

Coming Soon: The new KID high accuracy lightweight match barrel

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

Please mention

when using
advertising in the magazine
To ADVERTISE in this space
contact us at
customer.services@
targetshooter.co.uk

Target Shooter 79
Mirfield Rifle Club and Paul Lane
Rifle and Pistol Club

Above - Pennine cup shot at Diggle 2009

Club Feature
The Mirfield Rifle Club was formed in the early the Fitzwilliam Range was lost in a ring road
1950’s. The original ‘Gun License Exemption development. Attempts were made to obtain range
Certificate’ was issued on 3rd February 1955 and time at other local ranges without success, so
home Office approval was granted on 24th March Mirfield became a club without a range.
1960. At one of many EGM’s a decision was made to
Unfortunately during the 1960’s MOD defense cuts try and find a plot of land on which a new range
closed Mirfield Drill Hall. The club eventually found could be built. This took place in 1969 and building
range time on the Air Training cadet range in a commenced. Most of this was DIY and the club
cellar underneath the ATC building in the Fitzwilliam progressed in the 1970’s and 1980’s to what we
Street Huddersfield. have today.
This was not the best of ranges. During heavy Recently a few members wanted to try the new sport
rainfall, wellington boots were required to walk of .22 benchrest and with the help of Mirfield Rifle
down the range to change targets. Ranges and the Paul lane R.P.C committee, four-
Once again fate intervened and in the late 1960’s members joined the UKBR22 and started shooting
postal leagues.
There are about 20
members of the club
now shooting with the
UKBR22, including four
ladies and 5 juniors.
The club has been
successful and won
many trophies in rimfire
benchest.
Members shoot on the
1st and 3rd Saturday
mornings of each
month and if there are
other clubs or individual
shooters that would like
to give rimfire benchest
a try; they are welcome
to come along.

80 Target Shooter
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Target Shooter 81
 VINCE’S REGULAR COLUMN WHEREBY
ACCURACY NUTS CAN KEEP UP TO
DATE WITH THE ACTIVITIES OF THE UKBRA

Competitions award. Ian Dixon had to be content with third place

Our October competitions were the final rounds of
our 100 and 1000 yard Championships and although
they were held on the same weekend, the two days
couldn’t have been more different.
For our 100 yard shoot on the Saturday, the
weather was horrendous – wet with strong switchy
winds which were impossible to read. The shoot is
usually won with an agg. around 0.25 inches but
today, half inch groups were common and the
winning agg. was a ‘four’. This has never happened
before and all credit to the winner Bruce Lenton, who
has improved steadily all year.
We were joined by a group of shooters from the
Bisley-based British Benchrest Club, who in the
main acquitted themselves very well considering the
conditions, with Graham Rolle taking the small group
but it was enough to secure the 2009 Championship,
for the second year in succession.
In Factory Sporter it was another whitewash by
Target Shooter scribe Laurie Holland who, with four
wins to his credit already, couldn’t be beaten. How
Laurie coped with the 204 Savage and its tiny 40
grain bullet in that wind beggars belief, as does his
small-group of 0.246 inches!
Results:
Heavy Varmint
1st Bruce Lenton 6PPC Stolle
0.4078 inches
2nd Russ Gall 6PPC RGR Stolle
0.409
3rd Ian Dixon 6PPC Walker BAT

Good technique and CocaCola helped Ian Kellett and his 6.5-284 Savage to win the 1000
yard UKBRA 2009 Factory Sporter Championship.

82 Target Shooter
0.4188
Small group Graham Rolle 0.235 inches
Factory Sporter inches
1st Laurie Holland 204 Savage LRPV 0.5376
inches
2nd Don Burrows 223 savage 0.6224
Small group Laurie Holland 0.246 inches
1000 yard BR
On Sunday, it was a total contrast - a lovely autumn
day – warm with light winds. It didn’t take long for the
small groups to appear with Mal Roberts putting in
a ‘four’ in the first Match. Steve Dunn followed that
with a ‘five’ and his agg. of 8.007 inches for the four
Matches was enough to win the comp. outright and
clinch the 2009 UKBRA Championship.
In Factory Sporter, the battle of the 6.5-284 Savages
continued with Ian Kellett and Phil Gibbon already
having two wins apiece. This time Ian came out on
top to take his third win of the season and with it the
Championship. Ian’s six-inch group was also good
enough for the Factory small-group award.
Results:
Light Gun by the fact that each of our six rounds has had a
1st Steve Dunn 7mm Dunn BAT 8.007
inches
2nd Mal Roberts 6.5-284 BAT 8.697
3rd Martin Miles 6mm RGR Stolle 9.482
Small group Mal Roberts 4.249
Ian Dixon is the UKBRA HV Champion for the second consecutive year
inches
Factory Sporter
1st Ian Kellett 6.5-284 Savage 11.358
2nd Alan Seagrave 308 Tikka 13.874
3rd Phil Gibbon 6.5-284 Savage 14.558
Small group Ian Kellett 6.903
inches
2009 Season Round-up
It’s been a great season once again with over 80
shooters taking part in our competitions. Although
we haven’t seen any new records, we have seen
some great shooting and I must highlight Laurie
Holland’s performance in the Factory Sporter
Class with the little 204 Savage. Similarly, in the
Factory class at 1000 yards, Ian Kellett has improved
and refined his technique and he well deserves
his Championship win. The four guys shooting the
6.5-284 Savages were a head and shoulders
above anyone else, such is the superiority of these
rifles, so all credit to Toni Young, taking third place
in the Championship with her ‘out of the box’ 308
Remington.
Steve Dunn has won the 1000 yard Light Gun
Championship more times than anyone but there are
some good shooters out there and this is illustrated
different winner. Mal Roberts served his
apprenticeship with a dog of a 308 but it taught him
how to get the best out of a 1000 yard benchgun
and once he got a decent rifle the results started to
appear. He has won a round and he well deserves
his second place in the Championship.
Target Shooter 83
Ian Dixon has continued to dominate the 100 yard Vince Bottomley 2.171 inches
HV class and he wins the Championship for a
second successive year but a few other shooters, 600 yard Factory Sporter Championship
like Bruce Lenton, are steadily improving and
hopefully we can find some competition for Ian next 1st Phil Gibbon
year. Laurie Holland has just acquired a 6PPC rifle
so he will be moving up to HV Class next year. 2nd Darrel Evans

Our 600 yard Championship, which runs over the 3rd Toni Young
winter, has probably had the best attendances of
any of our shoots. Maybe one of the reasons is Small group of the year
that the need for specialist equipment is less of a
requirement. The classes are identical to 1000 yard Darrel Evans 2.684 inches
BR but smaller cartridges like the 6BR are very
effective. Phil Gibbon won the Factory Class with 1000 yard Light Gun Championship
his 6.5-284 Savage and I managed to win the Light
Gun Class with my little 22 Dasher. Toni Young again 1st Steve Dunn
took third place in Factory Sporter with that 308
Remington, proving that her 1000 yard third place 2nd Mal Roberts
was no fluke.
3rd Vince Bottomley
Here are the final results of the 2009 UKBRA
Championships but you can see a full listing at www. Small group of the year
ukbra.co.uk
Phil Sammons 3.525 inches
100 yard Heavy Varmint Championship

1st Ian Dixon 1000 yard Factory Sporter Championship

2nd Bruce Lenton 1st Ian Kellett

3rd Vince Bottomley 2nd Phil Gibbon

Small group of the year 3rd Toni Young

Russ Gall 0.101 inches Small group of the year

100 yard Factory Sporter Championship Bruce Lenton 6.794 inches

1st Laurie Holland Congratulations, not just to the winners but to

everyone who took part and helped out to make our
2nd Darrel Evans shoots a great success. We look forward to seeing
you all next year.
3rd Andy Wooley
Yes, we can put our guns away for now but
Small group of the year remember, our 600 yard winter series starts on
Sunday November 15th. All are welcome to attend.
Darrel Evans 0.161 inches E-mail me on vinceb@6ppc.fsnet.co.uk for more
information.
600 yard Light Gun Championship

1st Vince Bottomley

2nd Simon Rogers

3rd Ross Burrough

Small group of the year

84 Target Shooter
 In association with

Rimfire: - 50m/yd Light Varmint

everyone can feel that they are
1 John Farrell Paul Lane RPC UK 1239 36 Gold
2 Miroslav Hosek CBR Czech 1219 25 Silver
attaining their goals.
3 Christine Stockham Portishead UK 1199 16 1
Rimfire: - 50m/yd Unlimited (13.5lb Whats great about the postal is
Division 1 that you can shoot at your own
1 Carl Boswell NMPC UK 1247 47 Gold
2 Graham Redhead Paul Lane RPC UK 1244 27 Silver
club with other BR shooters
3 Roy Sanderson Oundle UK 1243 40 1 alongside you. However a
Division 2 number of people are now
1 Paul Barker Keighley UK 1229 38 Gold asking for regional ‘Head to Head’
2 Terry Grey Oundle UK 1226 20 Silver
3 Alan Evans N Walsham UK 1220 20 1
competitions and this does make
12 Rosie Evans (J) N Walsham UK 1189 18 Junior Gold perfect sense and I hope to see
Rimfire: - 25m/yd Sporter (7.5lb) this develop next year - it will be
1 John Richardson Paul Lane RPC UK 1239 45 Gold good to shoot alongside different
2 Morris Turkington Paul Lane RPC UK 1229 33 Silver
3 Tom Thomson Galloway UK 1220 35 0
faces each month.
Rimfire: - 25m/yd International Sporter (8.5lb)
1 Mike Welsh East Bristol UK 1244 62 Gold I am at the stage where I have
2 Jim Alcock TDSA UK 1238 37 Silver
had a few weeks off from
3 Mark Golloghly Buxted UK 1221 30 1
Rimfire: - 25m/yd Light Varmint (10.5lb) shooting, with a few weeks left to
Division 1 go of my rest period. It gives me
1 Jim Alcock TDSA UK 1250 89 Gold time to reflect and think about what
2 Darrell McIlreavy Galloway UK 1249 90 Silver
I an going to do for the following
3 Tim Barrett Galloway UK 1248 72 1
8 Christine Stockham (J) Portishead UK 1245 63 Junior Gold year, plan training, build up and
Division 2 repair resouces I will need for the
1 John Richardson Paul Lane RPC UK 1233 40 Gold following year, etc.
2 John Armstrong St Giles Yarners UK 1225 42 Silver An interesting question I would
3 Gus de Vries FSBSA SA 1198 35 1
Rimfire: - 25m/yd Unlimited (13.5lb >)
like to pose to you. How do you
Division 1 achieve ‘downtime’ and prepare
1 Patsy Tyrrell Wexford Ireland 1250 109 Gold youself for a new season.
2 Wellwood McCall Galloway UK 1250 83 Silver Emails to; ukbr22web@yahoo.
3 Jim Alcock TDSA UK 1250 61 1
7 Bunty Jenkins (J) Paul Lane RPC UK 1249 81 Junior Gold
co.uk
Division 2
1 Robert Dobie Galloway UK 1249 78 Gold World Postal
2 Bill Sandford Gally Hill UK 1249 54 Silver The ‘World’ Postal is another
3 Sue Harney British Airways UK 1248 67 1
event shot with three cards at a
Division 3
1 Alan Evans N Walsham UK 1243 57 Gold
national or similiar event. The UK
2 Tony White Paul Lane RPC UK 1243 57 Silver shot their cards at the nationals.
3 Wendy Morrell (L) Paul Lane RPC UK 1243 54 1 This event will be coming to a close
Division 4 in November so we hope to have
1 Stephen Parker Paul Lane RPC UK 1238 58 Gold
2 Rosie Evans (J) N Walsham UK 1235 44 Silver
a full report next month. This
championship is shot with even
more countries internationally.
The UK Nationals are now over and the Summer
International Postal Championship has drawn to a
The Winter Season.
close. The top scores for rimfire and air rifle are on
The winter season starts in October and by now
the following two pages.
some of you will have shot your first card. Just a
This year has been hard fought, as you can see by
reminder to get these in within the first few weeks of
the scores. Lots of names that you see each time,
November. A further reminder that ‘subs’ will be due
but each class has been divided into divisions so

Target Shooter 85
 Air Rifle: - 25m/yd Sporter (12x 12ftlb)
Division 1
1 Paul Gould Buxted UK 1238 40 Gold
2 Gary Kingaby Buxted UK 1237 36 Silver
3 Andy Simpson Buxted UK 1229 26 1
Division 2
1 Scott Grayson Buxted UK 1225 39 Gold
2 Graham Readhead Paul Lane UK 1214 29 Silver
3 Stuart Gould Buxted UK 1212 36 0
Air Rifle: - 25m/yd International Sporter (6.5x 6ftlb)
1 Enrico Retori SSC Italy 1191 16 Gold
2 Elio Liuzzo SSC Italy 1174 19 Silver
3 Marco Buono SSC Italy 1165 16 1
Air Rifle: - 25m/yd Hunter (10.5lb 12 Bill Collaros - has had a good
Division 1 2009 Season
1 Ron Harding Cheshunt RPC UK 1241 49 Gold
2 Gary Morrison Buxted UK 1238 51 Silver in January so get saving now.
3 Graham Freeman Buxted UK 1238 38 1
Division 2
1 Gary Kingaby Buxted UK 1220 36 Gold
More International News.
2 Paul Gould Buxted UK 1219 33 Silver Some of you will know Bill
3 Alan Grayson Buxted UK 1218 30 1 Collaros from his role of President
Division 3 of the WRABF. I have just received
1 Elio Liuzzo SSC Italy 1196 24 Gold
2 Peter Cotton Cheshunt RPC UK 1196 22 Silver
a bit of news that he has has just
3 Fred White Portishead UK 1194 23 0 won the New South Wales Rimfire
Air Rifle: - 25m/yd Unlimited A (13.5lb 6ftlb) BR championship with a score of
1 Benedetta Contini (L) SSC Italy 1192 26 Gold
599 ex 600.
2 Filippo Fantoni SSC Italy 1186 19 Silver
3 Maurizio Mazzantini SSC Italy 1176 22 1
Air Rifle: - 25m/yd Unlimited B (13.5lb 12ftlb) The other person that won the
Division 1 prone championship was Warren
1 Ron Harding Cheshunt RPC UK 1247 55 Gold
Potent with a score of 104.4.
2 Gary Morrison Buxted UK 1241 53 Silver
3 Andy Simpson Buxted UK 1240 42 1
Division 2 Well done to Bill, who has also
1 Gary Kingaby Buxted UK 1233 37 Gold won the New South Wales Winter
2 Enrico Retori SSC Italy 1222 32 Silver League with a score of 1000 ex
3 Alan Grayson Buxted UK 1216 28 1
1000.

To introduce our selves 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
86 Target Shooter
 The Long View
News from the GB
F-Class Association

Les Holgate keeps us up to date with F Class
matters and the activities of the GB F Class
Association
With the ‘Europeans’ taking place at the same time
as the November issue of Target Shooter goes
on-line, it means that my planned event report will
have to be held over until the next issue. It seems
crazy to say it but that will be the Christmas issue!
compete and win the 2009 World
Championships. So, mission accomplished but
that’s not the end of the GB F Class League,
more the beginning. We now have the support,
infrastructure and ranges to stage great
competitions and build even stronger teams to
take on the best that the rest of the world can
offer. With that in mind, here’s what we have lined
up for you in 2010:

I had planned to do a ‘What’s happening next March (Date to be confirmed) – Training

year’ write-up for the December issue but it looks
like I’ll have to swap things around so, here’s
what the GB F Class League have in store for all
you ‘effers’ next year.
The F Class World Championships and the
weekend at Bisley. Prior to the Worlds,
several GB squad training weekends were held
but other shooters have expressed an interest so
it seems only fair to offer it to all. It will actually
more of an introduction to F Class and will be a
useful refresher or ideal for someone who has

You owe yourself a visit to Blair Athol

Europeans are now history and you might think
you can take it easy and return to a normal
life. Don’t even think about it! The GB League
was originally founded to develop F Class
shooting in the UK and to build a team to
yet to try F Class. The full agenda is yet to
be finalised but will include: wind reading, F
Class rules and muzzle energy limits, plotting,
reloading, basic equipment and obviously
shooting! Hopefully, Diggle will also run a similar

Target Shooter 87
event for northern-based shooters but this will be
midweek. Look out for actual dates in this column
or on the GB F Class website www.f-class.org.uk
April 10/11th - Round 1 of the GB League
will be at Diggle and following a request for
some shorter range shoots, the distances
covered will be no more than 600 yards. If you
are worried about the weather at Diggle this early
in the year, don’t be - at short range, if we have
to, we can shoot from undercover!
May (DATE TO BE CONFIRMED) - Round
2 Blair Athol – A welcome return to Scotland
for the F Class road-show. This is definitely
one of the most picturesque and challenging
ranges in the UK. I like to think of it as Diggle on
steroids! If you are a keen long-range shooter
you owe it to yourself to visit Blair at least once.
This will also be the first long-range shoot of
the year and we get to shoot on the excellent
electronic targets again. Always a great weekend
of shooting and socialising north of the border.
June 12/13th Round 3 Diggle – The first
long-range shoot of the year at Diggle, book
early as places are strictly on a ‘first come first
served’ basis. Diggle, as with Blair Athol, has
limited firing points - you have been warned.
July 3/4th Round 4 Bisley – This competition
could take place during the Match Rifle
weekend and had previously involved shoots out
to 1200 yards, which was very interesting. It is
astounding what that extra 200 yards does to
even the best of ammunition!
August (DATE TO BE CONFIRMED) Round
5 Blair Athol – Remember to see the organiser
so you can stop in the Athol Arms Hotel. This
really makes the trip as most competitors stay
here and we generally take the hotel over
for the weekend. When you need to try to
88 Target Shooter
understand where it all went wrong on the day,
there will be plenty of experts in the bar to help
you!
September 11/12th Round 6 Diggle – Last
trip of the year to the Pennines and don’t
forget as it is Diggle, the weather could be doing
anything. Make sure you take waterproofs and
sun tan cream just in case! For the last two
September shoots, the weather has been
gorgeous!
October 22-24th Round 7 Bisley – The
Europeans. This is the last League shoot of the
year and also the biggest with over 100 shooters,
so not to be missed. The individual competition
is Friday and Saturday, followed by the four-man
team shoot on the Sunday. If you can make a
team before you come then great, if not put a
team together over the weekend.
(Best four from seven shoots to count for League
placing)
November (TO BE CONFIRMED) Bisley Fun
Shoot – Basically a wind-down to the year with
some fun competitions and other stuff to be
decided closer to the time.
So now, when you are thinking about what
to put on your Xmas list to Santa, why not
include a satnav - you might need one if you
are a follower of the GB F Class League!
If all that isn’t enough F Class shooting for you
and you fancy a trip abroad with your gear, keep
your eye on the GB F Class website. One trip to
Canada and America is already on the cards and
a few shooters are also planning to do the US
Nationals.
 A regular column whereby Ken Hall keeps us up to date
with black powder cartridge rifle shooting in the UK.

END OF TRAIL SHOOT Oct 10th 2009.

In the early days of the American mid west,

it was customary at the end of the hunting or
trapping season for the trappers to gather where the
riverboat was to land in order to meet the
traders and deal for the best prices for their hides
and pelts. Whilst waiting for the trading to begin,
some sort of entertainment was needed to keep
things sociable, especially once the liquor tents
arrived. It was natural for these hunters and
mountain men to want to show their prowess with tall
tales and examples of their skills and marksmanship.

Friendly (and sometimes not so friendly)
competitions would be organised, usually with Ken Jones at full recoil
some items of kit or provisions as prizes. Axe
eagerly awaited by competitor and opportunist alike.
and knife throwing, offhand shooting with muzzle-
loading flint and caplock rifles and pistols, as well as the
With the expansion west came the days of the
occasional wrestling contest would keep the
cattle trails, as enormous herds of longhorns
men occupied as they awaited the riverboat’s
were driven eastward to feed the ever-growing
whistle. These meetings or ‘rendezvous’ as
population. At the end of these cattle drives, the
they became known, gradually attracted many
men would continue the ‘rendezvous’ tradition and
famous hunters and trappers and were
organise ‘end of trail’ events, along the same lines as
Steve Hodge with his lever-action their predecessors.

The Quigley Shooting Association organises its

own annual End of Trail event in the old prairie
town of Diggle, nestled in the Pennine foothills.
The event this year consisted of a deliberate pistol
competition, an offhand muzzle-loading rifle
competition and an offhand breech-loading black
powder cartridge rifle comp.

Event 1, for muzzle loading pistol, consisted of 24

shots at a standard pistol target from 25 yards.
This was won by Ken Hall using a Euroarms .44 cal

Target Shooter 89
 At 600 yards we
shoot at the buffalo
silhouette and John
Ellin managed to sort
his sight setting to
score 51 points, with
Carl on 50 points and
Ian Hull with 45 points.

When the scores

were totalled, Carl
Hanson had his first
win of the season
and Richard Healey
had done enough to
come in second place.

Dave Bownass, Dave Malpas &
Results.
Dennis Richardson

Remington 1858, with a score of 179. Runner-up was

Ken Jones, using his Ruger OldArmy in .44 cal, with 176. Name Rifle / Cal

Event 2 was for muzzle loading rifle and consisted of 1. Carl Hanson Sharps .45/90
five shots at a modified turkey target at 100yds. Ken 2. Richard Healey Sharps .45/70
Jones took this one with his Lyman Plains Rifle in .50 cal. 3. Ian Hull Sharps .45/90
4. Dave Coleman Sharps .45/70
Event 3, also for muzzle loading rifle, consisted of 5. John Ellin Sharps .45/70
five shots at a ‘V’ notch target at 100yds. Ken Hall hit
nearest the ‘V’ to win this with his .50 cal Ardessa Our final Quigley shoot of the season takes place
Hawken. on 21st November at Diggle Ranges. Please
come along for a shoot or just maybe a look,
Event 4 consisted of 10 shots at a reduced buffalo if you are interested in this form of shooting.
target at 100yds with breech loading black powder
rifles, Dave Bownass won this with his trusty ’66
‘Yellowboy’ in .45LC.

Event 5, also for breech loading black

powder rifles consisted of 10 shots at a
reduced silhouette of a mounted Indian, Dave
Malpas won this using his Hi-wall in .45/70.

SEPTEMBER QUIGLEY COMPETITION.

The year’s penultimate Quigley Competition was

held 26th September. Although the weather was
kind enough not to rain, the usual Diggle wind
prevailed. The scores generally reflected this and
were about average for this competition.

At 400 yards, we shoot at the Quigley ‘bucket’
and Carl Hanson took the lead with 59 points,
with Dave Coleman close behind with 58 points
Quigley winners Carl Hanson and Richard Healey
and Richard Healey in third place with 55 points.
90 Target Shooter
Hunter Field Target News
Again for November Mr Peter Sparkes takes up the
scribing, with a few comments form me. He gives us
the low down on the last shoot of the UKAHFT series
where one of three shooters could win the 2009 title.
Ben Russell
Well the final round of the championship was
finally here, with 3 possible winners, I had been at the
top of the table since round 2, Ross Hudson & Dave
Ramshead hot on my heels. Both Ross & Dave needed
Steph Kirkwood
a top score and 100% on the day to overtake me, but if I
got 100% their score would be irrelevant. The pressure
was on Dave on Ross as Pete had been there before.
Emley Moor has a new ground and this was the first
time most of the UKAHFT shooters have been there.
With its tall trees and wide gullies and hills it is a real
testing ground. The weather looked like is was going to be
interesting with the forecast predicting 20mph winds with
35mph gusts and for once they seemed to have got it right!!
All 3 of us were spaced out around the course so there
would be no added pressure, I started on lane 19, Dave on
27 and Ross on peg 6. It wouldn’t stop the jungle drums
sounding as we shot but we all knew what we had to do.
I missed 2 back to back shots early on, with the wind
catching me out, both Dave and Ross started on
fire, whispers of how each shooter were doing was
going around and as always never take any
notice as there were different reports every five minutes.
As I stated above the wind would play a major role as
shooters all over the place were shaking their head as at
times it was difficult to read, string blowing one way the leaves
another. A good old Yorkshire tester if ever there was one.
As it was coming to the end of the course, I had held it
together to finished on 58, only missing those 2 at the start,
Dave Ramshead came in with a 56, Ross had 3 lanes to
go and still only 1 down, this meant if he got all 3 he would
be crowned champion, he got his next one, but his last
but one target was a nasty 40 plus yarder high on a bank
and the wind just took it and Ross finished on a 58, so this
meant I took my 4th title 2002,2006,2007 & now the 2009.
On a personal note well done to Pete for proving there is
life in the old dog yet but I still want him to explain to me
why he wants to change rifles again after winning the series
with the Walther? And it’s great to see Jane Sparkes back to
her wining ways, I suppose it’s because I was not there to
hinder, I mean help her with her standing shots. Full results
for the end of the series will be on the UKAHFT web site.
Also well done to the Emley lads for putting on the course
and for stepping in to hold the Gathering in three weeks time.
Scores for the final round were:- 6 shooters finished on
58 and after a shoot off, with Nick Thomas just missing out
1st Kieran Turner 58
2nd Vince Blackman 58
3rd Ross Hudson 58
4th Richard Woods 58
5th Pete Sparkes 58
The days other results
Ladies Class
1st Jane Sparkes 54
Juniors 14-16
1st Kyle Hampton 55
Juniors 9-13
1st Larissa Sykes 54
Recoiling Class
1st Steve Oultram 49
.22” Class
1st Johnny Smith 51
Target Shooter 91
 Gallery Rifle News
This is the time of year when meeting organisers are
getting to work on next year’s competitions. If your club
is thinking about putting on an open meeting and would
like some advice and assistance the GR&P section of
the NRA will do what they can to help. Just drop an
email to gallery@nra.org.uk.
If more clubs put on open meetings we will be
able to create informal regional competition
circuits which will benefit everyone. The clubs
may make a little money and competitors will
find it easier (and cheaper) to travel locally. New
competitors will gain valuable match experience
which will encourage them to travel further to more
venues. Club members will learn what it takes to
organise and run a meeting and improve their skills
as Range Officers. A well run meeting always has an
effect on the competitors and they take back a
positive message to their clubs. They also take back
what they have learnt about how to improve their
shooting and best practice in safety standards.
Some of you may have been following what has
become a fairly hot topic and that is what is the
definition of Gallery Rifle Centre Fire (GRCF). It seemed
fairly straightforward ten years ago but we have moved
on and it is time to revisit it. The new definition, which
is in the draft stage at the moment, will address the new
developments in rifle design and also the continuing
interest in classic and historic rifles. Three gun types
are proposed as follows.
GRCF (“Standard”) allows any lever action rifle which
has an integral tube magazine. There is no list of
calibres but, as is currently the case, downloaded full
bore rifle calibres are not allowed.
GRCF Classic covers rifles that are eligible to
compete in the Trafalgar and Imperial Historic Arms
Meetings.
GRCF Open is for anything else – rifles with different
actions, detachable magazines etc.
The idea is to keep it as simple as possible while
allowing as many competitors as possible to take part
on an equal footing.
92 Target Shooter
We are now near the need of the competition season so
now is the time to change your ammunition, sights etc –
not just before a competition, as so many of us do to our
cost! Plenty of practice time and a couple of Christmas
shoots in December which are now part of the regular
calendar.
Also a few dates for 2010 so you can start planning your
year. Entry forms will be starting to come out in January.
COMPETITION CALENDAR
November 14-15 International 1500 and Short
Events
BDMP Range, Leitmar
Germany
GRSB, GRCF & 30M1 carbine
December 5 Gallery Rifle Christmas Shoot
and Social
National Shooting Centre,
Bisley
December 30 Christmas Shoot
Shield Shooting Centre, Dorset
NATIONAL SHOOTING CENTRE DATES FOR 2010
March 27-28 Spring Action Weekend
May 28-30 The Phoenix Meeting
July10-24 The Imperial Meeting
August 28-29 Gallery Rifle National
Championships
October 23-24 The Trafalgar Meeting
October 30-30 Autumn Action Weekend
(Either contact the organisers direct or go to www.gal-
leryrifle.com for entry forms.)
GR&P = Gallery Rifle Centre Fire (GRCF), Gallery Rifle
Small Bore (GRSB), Long Barrelled Pistol (LBP) and
Long Barrelled Revolver (LBR)
Please go to the Gallery Rifle website www.galleryrifle.
com for more news and information.
The 2009 practical season draws to a
close with the completion of the last PSG
Championship round at Harlow on the 24th
October. The British Open LBR match will be
held at Leicester on 13th December. Entry form
and match details are available on the UKPSA
Member’s Forum.
A full report from the Home Countries PSG
Championships will be given in next month’s
edition of Target Shooter but brief details from
the challenging 9 stage match are as follows.
Again we saw our Serbian friends doing well.
ESC09 Modified Champion Igor Jankovic
switched to Standard Auto, but the limited
rounds in his shotgun didn’t hold him back to
allow him to take first place. Top Senior was
Barry Sullivan, with Vanessa Duffy top Lady.
Winner of Modified was Branislav Raketic,
he was also top Senior with Les Bailey
winning the Super Senior title. Top Open
shooter was Nick Hockley. Iain Guy was
winner in the Standard Manual division, with
George Granycome picking up the top Senior
prize. This match completes the UKPSA PSG
Championships. Best three scores from all four
Championship rounds will determine this year’s
Champions. The results are being crunched
and will be announced on the Forum. Our
Champions will be presented with their trophies
at the AGM in January.
Shotgun Festival at Bisley.
Feb 21st L2 LBR match at Bedford.
March 6th & 7th Shield Hardy PSG match.
April 3rd & 4th L2 PSG and LBR Grand
Tournament at Carlisle.
May 21st & 22nd L3 PSG at Harlow.
For any member wanting to become a range
officer there is Range Officer’s Seminar
provisionally booked for the weekend of
27th & 28th February at Carlisle. This will
hopefully run along side a basic safety course.
A new source of cardboard IPSC targets
will soon be available, Multiplex will be
supplying our new cheaper approved target
ready for the 2010 season. Arrangements
are also being finalised for the new
Association polo shirt, jacket and baseball cap
to be available for purchase. As always up to
date information can be found on the member’s
Forum.
Any one wanting to learn more about practical
shooting and the UKPSA can visit our website.
www.ukpsa.co.uk.

The AGM will be held at Canada House,

Bisley Camp on Sunday 17th January. Reports
and elections are highlights that all members
should not miss.

New for next year will be the introduction of

centre fire, under lever Gallery Rifle as new
divisions, it is planned to run these along
side LBR and LBF at L2 matches. More
details will be released outlining the types
of rifles permitted. Next year’s Shooting
Calendar is being compiled and 2010 will see the
introduction of some grand tournaments at
both L1 and L2, combining LBR, PSG and PR.
Early dates for your diaries are Feb 20th L1

Target Shooter 93
Letters
Carl,
I trust you may remember me from our previous
conversations. I was and still persevere to
introduce BR to my local club. While I am making
progress. The uptake is regretably slow. This,
as I am sure you have experianced, is due to
specialised cost of the front rests etc. We
currently improvise with a kind of affordable
“Logrest” approach.
To the point of this communication. I am
intending to persue the conversion of my
Steyr LG110 air rifle to BR. Having read your
informative article (and realising it would be an
imposition). I am wondering, since I am local
to you. if it might be possible to afford me the
opportunity to look over and take basic
measurements your featured woodwork. I
am quite well known in the local and Bisley
communities and can give any security
referances you may require.
I make this request of you since I am not
familiar with the regulations or the desirable
features neccessary to perfect this project. I
am a competant stockmaker of many years
experiance and so have the craft, but this
exercise requires some expert technical and
class rule knowledge which I do not posess.
Thanks in anticipation of your kind indulgence.
Rod
Hi Rod. Yes starting up in benchrest can be
expensive and your approach is novel but
worrking in the right direction - you are
starting which is half the job. I made up some
wooden rests when I first stated. You don’t have to buy
expensive to start with as there are cheap Hoppes
and Caldwell rests out there, starting from around
forty pounds and bags around twenty pounds.
This is not that pricey and is in the realms of
getting club gear to start you all off - if your club
will help all the better. I know how hard it is, as
rimfire and air rifle benchrest did not even exist in
this country when I first started.
Its funny that I am about to help make a second
stock for an LG series rifle. The template is there to
measure, although I would say that mine was very
much a prototype. You now have my email so by all
means contact me for further data.
If you have any other questions or need for help,
please contact me, as if I don’t know I know lots that
will. Cheers, Carl
94 Target Shooter
Hi Target Shooter,
I can’t find a torque setting for the 2 pallor
screws for my 1422 anschutz 22 rifle. Does
anyone know these figures as the manual
doesn’t have the settings? I would appreci-
ate it very much. This would be the 2 screws
that attach the stock to the receiver. Thanks
Cregg
Hi Cregg. Torque is one of those things that
I would work up to, depending on a lot of
factors such as if you have bedding, what type of
bedding, the condition of the stock, etc.
Personally I would start at a low setting and see
what groups you are getting. I tend to work with
newton meters to be honest, shooting a 2013
action set at 5nm, with pillar bedding in a wood
stock. If you prefer there are a number of online
convertors to change newton meter data into
inch pound data or visa versa;
http://www.asknumbers.com/TorqueConversion.
aspx
I believe the 1422 is a 54 action and the
absolute limits for this would be about 38 to
40 inch pounds, but be very careful on the
upper limits. Again this depends on the quality of
your setup. Personally I would start at about 24
inch pounds and work up to what suits the rifle
accuracy the best. Each rifle will be different so
saying that everyone will shoot the same at the
same torque setting may the answer you want,
but it depends on your own beliefs.
For better answers than I can give on older
models, a good place to visit would be rimfire
central forums. I would start here first. There is
an Anschutz forum that has its own section and a
lot of answers can be found here for a variety of
subjects or by posting you own question. Let us
know how you get on.
http://rimfirecentral.com/forums/index.php
Carl
If you have an issue, question
or comment then please send
letters via customer support on the
website.
 News
Our Thanks for the feedback you have provided to us. Christmas is nearly with us and the TV ads
have started already.The last 6 months have been a bit of a rollacoaster, but it has been fun. Our
readers, approximately 10,000 average per month continues and this is great. Hopefully the next
6 months will get even better. Our thanks.

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

Advertisers Index
Arches Supplies 59 Prestige Airguns 20
Benchrest Directory 88 Rhino Rifles 27
Bratton Sound Gunsafes 66 RUAG Ammotec 33
Check-Mate Guns 59 Rude Fat Dog 79
Clear View binoculars 81 Scope Coats 27
Eley LTD 57 Section 5 45
Fox Firearms 40 Shooting Bags 59
G T Shooting 13 South Yorkshire Gun Supplies 19
Green Leopard 81 Steyr UK 26
Guntrader 73 Stockade Products Ltd 59
Indelfa industrial electronics 81 Targets Direct 66
Low Mill Range WEBSITE The Outdoorsman Limited 51
Merseyside Armoury 81 Tim Hannam 11
Midland Diving Equipment 45 UKBR22 - Rimfire and Air Rifle Benchrest 86
NSRA 66 Viking Arms LTD 2
Phoenix League 15 Westlake Engineering 13
Portsmouth Gun Centre Ltd 40 Zeiss Optics 3

Target Shooter 95
 Next time in.....

It was our intention to use the picture below for the front cover of the magazine this month. News of a new European
Champion superseded this. Nigel will be continuing with his No4 T articles next month, so will be glossing the front cover.

96 Target Shooter