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

August 2009 Issue

Club
Features

Support Your local

Gunshop

feature F Class &

articles Centerfire Benchrest News
Target Shooter 1
FT Scope Review • 303 ammunition review • New Products • and lots more…..
2 Target Shooter
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.

Target Shooter 3
 Welcome to the 5th month

.......of Target Shooter
13 Basic Rifle Sections
Maintenance by
6 Shooting Sport News
Vince Bottomley
9 Shooters Calendar

11 Support your Local Gun

30 Gallery Rifle Shop
Basics Part 2 by
Gwyn Roberts 15 Thurnscoe Mini Rifle Shoot
by Ross Burrough

35 Volquartsen 19 HFT Scope Tests by Tim
Custom Long Finley
Barrel Pistol 27 World Benchrest
by John Robinson Championships by
Graeme Smith
40 Ammunition
Testing and 44 Air Rifle Equipment Part 5
by Stanley Shaw
selection Part 2

By Carl Boswell 52 Project Rifle by Vince
Bottomely
48 303 ammunition
comparisons Part 2 55 Shooting Website of the
Month
by Nigel Greenaway
61 Mattersey Steel Challenge
by Gwyn Roberts
68 Gun of the Month
56 Redding T7 &
Forster Relaoding 64 Gallery Rifle Basics by
Gwyn Roberts
Presses by Laurie
Holland 69 Club Feature

72 F Class World
Championship report by
65 Miniature TX200 Vince Bottomley
Air Arms Rifle
by Andy Dubreuil

4 Target Shooter
 Association Pages
77 UKBRA

78 UKBR22
Editor(s).
79 F Class UK Carl Boswell and Vince Bottomley
Advertising and Office Manager
82 Quigley Association Andy Dubreuil. email; admin@targetshooter.co.uk
Contributors
85 HFT News Vince Bottomley Andy Dubreuil John Robinson
Laurie Holland Tim Finley
86 Gallery Rifle Carl Boswell Brian Walker
Nigel Greenaway Gwyn Roberts
87 UKPSA Stanley Shaw Ken Hall
Webitorial

Thanks to your loyal support, we have established an enviable readership base in just four months
which is more than double that of any other UK shooting publication.

And it has been a whirlwind four months for three guys with no experience of producing a
magazine, let alone an on-line one. Of course, we would not be here if our writers and
contributors hadn’t stuck with us and freely given their time and creativity. We are delighted to now
be in a position where we can actually pay them a small remuneration for their valued efforts and
we thank them sincerely for their commitment and loyalty.

With a ‘free to view’ magazine, our income is of course wholly dependant on advertisers coming
on-board and having faith in a completely new venture. Yes, our income is currently minimal but
our passion is limitless and we hope that you will support those advertisers who are supporting us.

Although it was our passion for target shooting that brought us into the wonderful world of digital
publishing, we have had to face the same reality as anyone attempting to start a small business in
today’s credit-crunch economy and even with ‘electric ink’ it is difficult to avoid becoming embroiled
in the tedium of company law, banking, VAT and the like.

Without your fantastic support it would have been all too easy to throw in the towel and concentrate
on our day jobs but, with over ten thousand of you logging-on every month, how could we!

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
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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
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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
Youngmans Sporting Guns have just announced,
in conjunction with Oi Engineering, the launch of
a new product: The BSA Ultra Bi pod
Adaptor. This new product allows the
attachment of a Harris style bi pod to the BSA
Ultra with the pod fitted where it needs to be
near the muzzle of the rifle.

The Bi pod Adaptor is exclusively available from:

Youngmans Sporting Guns
19-20 Market Row
Great Yarmouth
Norfolk
NR30 1PB
Tel: 01493 859814
Fax: 01493 331022
www.youngmans.com
email: sales@youngmans.com

N RA have announced a major new bench testing, a factory visit, comparative firing
contract with RUAG for the supply trials, and use of some of the country’s top
of 7.62mm (.308) ammunition. shooters the NRA was delighted to award RUAG
Ammotec the contract for the supply of their
The National Rifle
product.”
Association (NRA)
has agreed a major
Philip Unwin, Managing Director of RUAG
contract with RUAG
Ammotec UK added: “This is an exciting
Ammotec for the
opportunity for RUAG and we are confident that
supply of RWS Target
shooters will be pleased with this new RWS
7.62 mm, 155gr
Target ammunition. To meet the necessary
ammunition for the
requirements RUAG worked closely with
world-famous NRA
the NRA to develop a unique round that
Imperial Meeting.
would give optimum performance at both
short and long range. The ammunition uses
Jeremy Staples, Managing Director of the
a Sierra Match King 155gr bullet, loaded in
National Shooting Centre, said: “For many years
an RWS case with powder from RUAG’s
the MOD have supplied the NRA with 7.62mm
wide range of own-manufacture powders.”
ammunition in lieu of payment for range hire. This
He added: “RUAG is also supporting the
agreement ended in 2007, and it was essential
NRA by sponsoring the 2009 NRA Imperial
that the NRA found a quality supplier who could
Meeting Grand Aggregate which attracts over
provide the ammunition at an acceptable price.”
1000 competitors. The Imperial Meeting is
the most high-profile meeting on the NRA’s
He added “We undertook a series of tests
calendar and we are proud to be associated
with four potential suppliers and it quickly
with such an important and prestigious event. “
became clear that RUAG, who have an excellent
reputation for producing top quality ammunition
For further details contact Brigitte Rushmore,
such as RWS and NORMA, were the clear front
National Shooting Centre on 01483 798816.
runners. Following extensive trials involving

6 Target Shooter
W EBLEY LAUNCHES ALL NEW AGS VALUE MAX™
RANGE OF ECONOMY SPRING AIR RIFLES.
Webley (International) Ltd (Webley) of Willenhall, West
N ew stuff from Fox
Firearms
Midlands, UK, the iconic British Shooting company
established in 1790, announced today the introduction at
the CLA Gamefair, Belvoir Castle, Grantham, Leicestershire
(24th-26th July 2009) of a new line-up of full power spring
powered air rifles under their well respected “AGS ™” brand.
“For some time now our customers have been requesting a UK
full-power spring powered air rifle that would meet the budgets
of consumers who have an occasional pest or vermin control
problem; those that wanted an inexpensive gun for occasional
hunting and those that simply wished to ‘plink’ in their gardens”
said Mike Hurney, CEO of Webley, “With the introduction of the
AGS Value Max ™ concept of Full Power – Low Price and Brian Fox found a really
with an impressive array of features, including fibre optic open good alternative bi-pod to
sights, precision dovetails for the fitting of telescopic sights, a the Harris at IWA. This one
sculptured, ventilated muzzle break, manual safety catch,
is made in Finland and will
anti-bear-trap feature and a ventilated recoil pad
fit any normal sling-swivel.
(synthetic stocked models) we have met that need” he added.
“When developing the range I visited a number of factories to The legs will fold forward
establish those with the right level of investment in high-tech CNC or backward and it is very
machine facilities and a positive attitude to product development sturdy, light and well made.
and quality control to ensure that we could deliver a high quality The same firm also make
product, in large volumes, at a very competitive price. I am a rear mono-pod which
confident that we have the right partner and I will be working very comes with an accessory
closely with the factory to ensure that we continue to feed back rail which can be inletted
customer and consumer response to refine and enhance the into the underside of your
range going forward.” stated Paul Garrity, Webley’s Senior butt-stock. See www.oulun-
Technical Manager. tyostokeskus.com
The range at the time of launch comprises three break-barrel
models all available in .22 and.177 calibres the AGS SPR 10
W (Wooden stock), AGS SPR 10 C (‘Mossy Oak’ Camouflage
stock) and the AGS SPR 10 CF (‘Mossy Oak’ ‘
Carbon Fibre’ stock)

Another scope – from

Besonder Optisch!

Don’t ask me the origin of

this one but Brian asked
me to have a look at it and I
must say it looks very good.
It’s an 8-32 with 30mm tube
and side-focus. Contact
www.foxfirearmsuk.com
for more details.
Availability:
August 2009. RRP: from £89.95

Target Shooter 7
H arbour Arms Snap Caps.
Remember when you bought your first rifle and
the advice you received about not dropping the
firing-pin on an empty chamber? So, you also bought
a snap-cap so that you could safely drop the firing-pin.
When you bought your next rifle - maybe in a slightly
more ‘exotic’ calibre - you probably found that you
couldn’t buy a snap-cap as they only tend to be
available in the popular calibres. OK, dropping the pin
the odd time is not a problem but, if you are a keen
competition shooter, you could be doing this half a
dozen times in a single day and you will find that most
of the custom action makers do not recommend this.
competition cartridges, like 6BR, 6XC, Dasher, 6.5x47
Lapua, 6.5-284 etc., etc., right up to the 338 Lapua
Magnum plus of course, all the popular calibres as well.
The snap-caps have a brass spring-loaded plunger to
cushion the firing-pin strike and are beautifully made
from solid aluminium which is bright red anodised so
that they cannot be mistaken for a live round. They
are sold as a set of two for a paltry $12.95 or around
£ 8.00. At the moment there is no UK distributor but
I’m sure Eric would love to hear from one. If you
order direct please add £7.00 for postage and packing.
Check out the Harbour Arms website at
www.harbourarms.com

For firearm instructors, dry-firing is essential and

using a snap-cap is just good sense. Alternatively,
lots of serious shooters like to ‘dry-fire‘ practice
off range. Similarly, when setting-up a competition
trigger, repeated dropping of the pin is often required
to achieve the correct adjustment.
As a keen competition shooter and law enforcement
instructor, Eric Kennard noticed that lots of other
shooters also bemoaned the lack of custom
snap-caps so, he decided to do something about it.
Eric now offers a range of snap-caps in all the popular

N ew hunting shooting fishing web Peter Carr, the National Gamekeepers Organisation’s
Geoff Garrod and Tom Blades, head of game and
television channel launches gamekeeping at the British Association for Shooting &
Conservation (BASC). Subjects the panel is covering are:
There has never before been a TV channel devoted to UK
• Can the UK’s wild places survive without
fieldsports. Now Fieldsports Channel is producing half
game keepers?
an hour a week of programming in two fortnightly shows.
• Will the Conservatives delver on their manifes
The first show is Fieldsports Britain, a half-hour
to commitment to repeal the hunting act?
magazine programme that promises the best of UK
• Do fish feel pain?
fieldsports. It launches free-to-view online from 7pm
• Why do the British find trophy hunting
on the Glorious 12th August, the opening day of the
distasteful?
grouseshooting season and fortnightly thereafter.
• Is there still a snobbish divide between
Presented by well-know shooting magazine
over-and-under and side-by-side shotguns
editor Charlie Jacoby, Fieldsports Britain starts by
Charlie Jacoby says: “We want to use
counting down to the repeal of the hunting ban, by
Shooting Politics not just to entertain our
previewing the grouse season, by setting out to catch
audience but to inform them as well. We want to
a brown trout, a bass and a sea trout all in Devon and
deliver the latest thinking on a range of pro-fieldsports
all on the fly in 12 hours, and by celebrating the best
subjects so that we fieldsports supporters can fight
of the kit innovations at this year’s CLA Game Fair.
our corner against the anti-fieldsports noisy minority.”
“The 12th August Fieldsports Britain show will be
a humdinger,” says Fieldsports Channel presenter
Charlie Jacoby. “Forget BBC Countryfile - this is the
real countryside and it’s out enjoying itself. You won’t
see stickmaking, dry-stone-walling or tractor-racing on
Fieldsports Channel. You will see a show that brings
you the best of British hunting, shooting and fishing.”
Fieldsports Channel’s other show is Shooting
Politics, which launches its half-hour debate
programme free-to-view online from 7pm on 19
August and fortnightly thereafter. It was filmed at the
CLA Game Fair with a panel consisting of CLA deputy Picture by Don Brunt
president William Worsley, Sporting Rifle editor

8 Target Shooter
Calendar of events over the next two months
If your club or association has events you want to publicise here then email us.
Sun 09 Aug NRA Shooting Club Day (National
Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley)
Sun 16 Aug RNTRC Catastrophe Match (National
Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley)
Thu 20 Aug NRA Shooting Club Day (National
Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley)
Multi-discipline NRA Shooting Club Day.
Sat 22 Aug to Sun 23 Aug Tullibardine (Tayside)
Open Meeting (Blair Atholl (Scotland))
Two day Open Rifle Meeting with classes for TR,
F Class and F(TR). This is the Centenary of the
competition which started life as the Perthshire
Open in 1909. http://www.westatholl.org.uk/
Sun 23 Aug LMRA v BBC RC v Kent RC
(National Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley)
Wed 26 Aug to Sat 29 Aug Jersey Open
Championships (Jersey (Channel Islands)
http://www.jerseyrifleassociation.com/
Sat 29 Aug NRA Open Day at Altcar, Merseyside
(Altcar (England))
The NRA is hosting another pre ticketed Open
Day event at the Altcar range, Southport. Visitors
will be able to try shotgun, air rifle, fullbore rifle,
sporting rifle, laser clays, precision snap,
practical and historical rifles to name but a few, all
with one-to-one coaching.
Sat 29 Aug to Sun 30 Aug Gallery Rifle National
Championships (National Shooting Centre (NSC),
Bisley) A similar format to the Action Weekends
and Phoenix Meeting but you can also compete
to be crowned a National Champion. This event
is predominantly for Gallery Rifles, (Centrefire and
Smallbore) and Long Barrelled Revolvers and
Pistols. Competitions include Multi-Target,
Advancing Targets, 1500 Match, Timed and
Precision and the Speed Steel Challenge.
However, catering for the fullbore shooter, we
have some short-range competitions for older
military firearms and the McQueen shoot for any rifle.
Fri 28th to mon 31st August The UK Nationals
run by the UKBR22 – will be held at Portishead
Club, Bristol
50m outdoor - Rimfire Unlimited and Light Varmint
25 yrds indoors – Rimfire Unlimited and Light
Varmint - 25 yrds outdoor - Air Rifle Unlimited and
Hunter (10.5 pound)
Sat 05 Sep - NRA Open Day (National
Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley) - The NSC is
hosting, on behalf of the NRA, another series
of pre ticketed Open Day events. Visitors will
be able to try shotgun, air rifle, fullbore rifle,
sporting rifle, laser clays, precision snap,
practical and historical rifles to name but a
few, all with one-to-one coaching.
Sun 06 Sep - Welwyn Phoenix RC Guest Day
(National Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley)
Guest days for potential new members -
please apply via the website link below at
least ten days in advance.
http://www.welwynphoenixrc.org.uk/
Friday - 11 Sep 2009 British Pistol
ChampionshipsThe Championships run
from 11th to 13th September. Location:
Lord Roberts Centre
Sat 12 Sep - Start of Probationary Members
Course 2009/4 (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. http://www.nsc-bis-
ley.co.uk/common/asp/courses/courses.
asp?site=NSC
Sat 19 to Sun 20 Sep - Surrey RA Open Meeting
(National Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley)
The Surrey Rifle Association - Autumn Open
Meeting, a great weekend’s shooting with high
quality competition. Queens I, II and III format.
http://www.surreyra.org
Thursday, 24 Sept - Commonwealth Shooting
Federation (ED) The competition runs from
24th - 27th September. Contact: Isle of Man
Sat 26 to Sun 27 Sep - The English Eight Club
and Irish Eight Club Autumn Meeting
(National Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley)
Match Rifle & F-Class Rifle
Target Shooter 9
 Duracoated AR15 in .204 built to
customers specifications

Strictly by
appointment only
Savage benchrest in a
custom anodised Mcree
Precision chassis

Full Spec Custom .22LR Spikes

Tactical M4  Duracoat Specialist.
 .22 AR’s Specialist .
 Full Custom and
Semi Custom Rifles
built to order.
 Custom 10/22’s built
to order.

10 Target Shooter
‘Support your local gun shop’
North West Custom Parts
With the advent of the
internet, it’s possible to run a
successful business without
having conventional shop
premises but I’m pleased
to say that although NWCP
does not occupy a shop with
a street frontage, it does exist
as a building and behind its
heavy steel doors lies a
veritable Alladin’s cave for
shooters.
Give your ‘run of the mill’ Remington to Wayne
In a few short years, and he can turn it into something special.
proprietor Wayne, has built
up an interesting portfolio The latest component to be added to the
of items which he imports – mostly from the portfolio is the McRees Precision stock. This
States of course and he has a good stock of is a ‘modular’ stock, CNC machined from
parts to interest the smallbore and fullbore billet aluminium which can be had with
rifle shooter alike. different fore-ends and butts to suit the
tactical shooter, hunter,
He carries a huge stock of goodies for benchrester or F Class shooter. The
lovers of the AR15 rifle which will interest stock is a ‘drop-in’ with inlets to suit most
centrefire and rimfire users plus he imports popular and a few not so popular actions. The US
the excellent tactical stocks from Bell & military are currently evaluating the McRees
Carlson, which have recently been adopted as a sniper-rifle stock and we have a review
by the Remington factory for their new tactical elsewhere in Target Shooter.
rifle. These stocks are ‘drop-in’ with an
aluminium bedding-block and will take most Visit the NWCP website at www.nwcus-
of the popular barrelled-actions. Wayne also tomparts.com and give Wayne a ring if
has magazines, scope mounts, moderators, you would like to visit the shop which is
sights etc. situated on the north east side of Manchester.

Wayne also offers a custom

paint service using the DuraCoat
process and he is turning out some
very nice tactical patterns – as good
as any I have seen and best of all,
it’s all done on site so turn-round is
quite speedy. If you are not
familiar, this mil. spec. epoxy-based
coating can be applied to almost
any surface from metal to fibreglass
or plastic and is very hard-wearing
– even when used on rifle actions.
NWCP also offer their own muzzle-
brakes, which are made locally on
CNC equipment and look very good Proprietor Wayne with some of his Bell &
and are very competitively priced. Carlson stocks.

Target Shooter 11
12 Target Shooter
 Vince Bottomley

Basic Rifle Maintenance

Part 4
Although this is not strictly classed
as ‘maintenance’, it is an essential
function which most of us will have
to perform from time to time.
Although it is a fairly straightforward
procedure, it can often seem
anything but.
There are dozens of different scope
mounts available but recently, the
Picatinny system has thankfully
emerged as THE mounting system.
This is a system developed by the
US military - no doubt following
frustration when trying to swap
scopes from one rifle to another.
It is basically what we knew as the
‘Weaver system’ but the cross- slots
in the rail could vary slightly in size
and spacing from one rail to another
The rifle must be properly supported for bore-sighting to be effective
and even the rail could vary in width
by a few thou. With the Picatinny like the Farrell or the ones supplied by Nightforce
system they don’t. If you are looking for a scope or Badger Ordnance though several others have
mounting system for a new rifle, it makes a recently come onto the market. If you shoot out to long
lot of sense to go for the Picatinny. You could distances, get one with a built-in taper – 20 MOA is
realistically buy one good scope and use it on usually sufficient. Avoid using a two-piece rail – one
several rifles. piece rails are more accurate and can often usefully
However, to make the system really effective, stiffen an action. Steel rail is the best but it’s heavy –
firstly choose some good quality mounts for the half a pound typically and if you are struggling to make
Picatinny rail . Look at the photograph. All these weight, an alloy rail can give you a significant saving.
mounts will fit the Picatinny rail but choose Before you start to mount your scope-rail,
carefully – good quality components pay off in the degrease the action surface and the underside
long run. Like everyone, I’m always on the look out for of the rail and apply a thin smear of Araldite, then
a bargain but play safe and invest in a pair of mounts do up the screws lightly to just pull the rail down.
preferably made by a scope manufacturer and you It’s hard to avoid getting glue on the threads so
won’t go far wrong. I can recommend Leupold, a bit of wax polish will help here. Clean off any
Burris and Nightforce but there are many oth- excess glue which is squeezed out with a cotton-bud.
ers, like the excellent A.R.M.S. mounts. I avoid the This will ensure perfect bedding of the rail onto the
vertically-split ones shown in the centre of the action. Let the Araldite set overnight before
photograph. continuing. Now, remove the screws, apply a tiny
If you are looking for a Picatinny rail, I would smear of lube to the threads then nip them up tight.
recommend a good quality one-piece steel example
Target Shooter 13
 ruined action.
Now, mount
your scope
rings on the
rail. For best
support, place
the rings as
far apart as
possible but
ensure that you
have enough
leeway to slide
the scope fore
and aft a little
for eye-relief
adjustment.
Nip up the
mounts onto
All these rings are intended to fit the Picatinney rail. The rings on the left are made of bits the base and
of bent steel and are not suitable. Choose quality steel rings like the Leupold on the right. remove the
Avoid vertically split rings (centre) as they can’t be lapped and are not quick-detachable top clamps.
Quality com-
Remember however that these are tiny threads and ponents will en
will strip easily, so don’t overdo it! Also, check that sure alignment errors are minimised but some may
the front screws are not too long and impinging on still be present, so the first job is to lightly lap-in our
the barrel-tenon threads. The holes in the receiver rings. This will also remove any ‘high-spots’ which
are usually drilled right through and if you screw into could ring-mark our scope-tube. If there is a serious
the threads and chew them up, it will make barrel misalignment problem, it will be at least highlighted
removal very difficult and could result in a by lapping, if not eliminated. Wet & dry paper (320

Bubble levels on turret and scope-rail will help get your scope roughly
level but final adjustment is best done on range

14 Target Shooter

Lapping rings using a mandrel and
paper. Plug the ejection port and mask the trigger.
grade) wrapped around a suitably sized mandrel is
required for the lapping. Remember to mask-off the
ejection-port – we don’t want any abrasive particles
in there! It’s not necessary to lap the top clamps
but check for any obvious high spots or burrs and
remove using the mandrel and wet & dry paper.
Once you are happy with the rings, we can drop
in the scope. Please don’t be tempted to wrap any
sort of tape around the scope. We are mounting a
one-inch diameter tube in one-inch diameter rings
(or 30mm) and a turn of masking tape will swell the
diameter by about 10 thou. This means that when you
tighten the mounts you will be creating pressure on the
body-tube. Trust me, correctly aligned and lapped
rings will not mark the scope and will not allow the scope
to move under recoil. A metal-to-metal fit is the best
engineering joint between two precision components.
Although final alignment of the crosshairs (vertical/
horizontal) will inevitably be done on-range, you can
get it close by using a couple of cheap bubble levels
– one on the scope-rail and one on the scope turret
(see pic.). Do up the screws on the ring-clamps evenly,
making sure the gaps at each side are near enough
equal when finished, for a professional-looking job.
One thing we haven’t mentioned is ring-height.
This is governed by two things – the scope’s
object-bell must obviously clear the barrel so, larger
the objective, higher the rings but, as long as your
scope clears the barrel, I see no point in mounting it
any higher than you need to. Secondly, if you have
to use high rings, you may find that it’s difficult to
get a decent cheek-weld on the stock. If your stock
doesn’t have an adjustable comb, something like
the Hunters of England ‘snipers cheek-piece’ will
solve that one. Personally, as a benchrest shooter, I
prefer not to rest my cheek on the
stock (except when shooting
off-hand) so this is not an issue for
me but I know some shooters like to
‘snug up’ to their stock.
The final issue we need to address
is eye-relief. When you bring the
rifle into your shoulder, whether you
are prone off a bi-pod or standing
off-hand, having the correct eye
relief will make that first shot and any
subsequent follow-up shots so much
quicker. Of course, we also need to
consider recoil – get too close to that
ocular and you could end up with a
nasty cut eyebrow! So, if anything,
you might find it’s safest to stretch
a little to obtain your eye-relief. Get
someone to measure how close
you are to the scope – about three
wet & dry inches is average for eye-relief and far
enough away to prevent scope-bite.
Now we can focus the crosshairs.
Point the scope at a light-coloured
plain background – a nice blank grey sky is ideal
and turn the eyepiece until the reticle is in sharp
focus. Although you may re-focus the scope on your
target at different distances, you should never need to
re-focus the reticle. Finally, check for parallax. With
the scope focussed and pointing at your target and
the rifle solidly supported fore and aft, peer at the tar-
get and move your head very slightly up and down.
The crosshair should stay in position on the target.
If the crosshair moves as you move your head, we
need to slightly adjust the focus until we get rid of the
parallax and the crosshair stays in position.
The next job is to bore-sight. To do this, the rifle
needs to be firmly supported fore and aft so a
bi-pod and back-bag will be ideal. Remove the
bolt and choose a distant object – like the ‘T’ top
of a telegraph pole – the further away the better.
Look down the bore and position the rifle so that the
top of the telegraph pole is in the exact centre of the
bore. Now, when we look through the scope, we
need to see exactly the same image - the top of the
telegraph pole. Adjust the scope turrets until you can.
It’s almost impossible not to disturb the rifle when
you do this so another check through the bore to see
we are still looking at the telegraph pole and a final
tweek of the turrets and we are almost ready to shoot.
Almost? Let’s think about what we have just done.
Although the line of sight through the bore and
the line of sight through the scope converge at the
telegraph pole which may be several hundred yards
away, we’ll assume for now that these two lines of
sight are parallel. If we were now to take a shot at
our target at 100 yards - assuming we have done our
sighting work perfectly - the bullet would impact about
1.5 inches low - as this is the height our scope is
Target Shooter 15
 To get the two to coincide, turn the
turrets and ‘wind’ the cross-hair onto the
ctual bullet-hole – no need for guess-work.
Your econd shot should be pretty close.
That’s all it takes – bore-sight and two shots.
Forget collimators, lasers and the like –
bore-sighting is quick, easy and free! A
few rules though:
1. You must support the rifle solidly,
front and rear.
2. Always choose a distant object like a
telegraph pole. Further away the better –
Burris ‘Signature’ rings with the plastic ‘offset’ at least 300 yards - for best results.
shims are very useful if you run out of elevation or 3. Re-check your bore sighting a couple of
windage adjustment times – it’s almost impossible not to move
mounted above the barrel. So, we can add one the rifle when you twiddle the turrets.
and a half minutes of angle (MOA) on the elevation 4. Remember to add the distance between your
turret to compensate for this. In fact it would scope and bore – usually between 1.5 and two inches.
probably impact three or four inches low as we have 5. Don’t forget to consider the trajectory-drop, which
the bullet’s trajectory-drop to consider. With a 308, it will of course depend on your cartridge and the
will typically be a couple of inches at 100 yards, so distance you intend to zero at. If it’s 100 yards, one
wind-up another two MOA. to two inches will do for most popular cartridges.
Now take your first shot at your target at 100 So, the next time you come to mount a new scope
yards. If you have done your job well, I would remember, 95% of the work can be done off range. You
expect the impact to be within six-inches of your can mount the scope, bore-sight, focus the reticle and
aim-point and probably more like three. To make adjust for eye-relief in your back garden but please,
your final adjustment, set the butt of the rifle on don’t frighten the neighbours! When you get to the
your back-bag again and position it so that the range, three shots maximum should have you zeroed.
cross-hair is on your aim-point. Although the scope
is now pointing at the aim-point, the barrel is
clearly pointing elsewhere – i.e. your fall of shot.

Here’s a one-piece aluminium Ken Farrel Picatinny rail on a Savage

action with Leupold QD steel rings. A really good mounting system

16 Target Shooter
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Target Shooter 17
email: sales@timhannam.com
 Thurnscoe Rifle Club Minirifle Shoot –
June 2009
The weather forecast for the Doncaster region gave
rain all day for Sunday 7th June which luckily for
the guys at Thurnscoe Rifle Club shooting Mini Rifle
proved to be inaccurate. Despite threatening clouds
the rain stayed away and our second open Mini Rifle
competition went ahead as planned.
Again we had a good turnout, including some
probationary members shooting the competition
for the first time. In conversation afterwards a
couple of these guys admitted that they had felt
nervous beforehand as they had never shot a
course of fire that involved movement, however
having completed the two stages under the watchful
eye of the RO, they all expressed their enjoyment
and intention to take part in the next competition.
The first course of fire began at the start position
approximately 30m from the first target. Starting with
a magazine loaded and the breech forward on an
empty chamber the competitor moved forward to a
barricade with a twelve inch aperture in the centre.
In a crouched stance the shooter loads the rifle and,
shooting through the hole, they engage 9 targets
Competition Winner
Target Shooter writer
Tim Finley
18 Target Shooter
By Ross Burrough
at a distance of 20m placing a shot on each. Each
target is coffin shaped and approx ten inches tall by
six inches wide and divided into three scoring zones.
Applying safety the competitor then moves forward
to the next position and from a standing stance at
15m using weak shoulder puts another shot on each
of the nine targets. Again with safety applied the
shooter moves to the final shooting position at 10m
and from a kneeling stance places another shot on
each of the nine targets. For this course of fire a
Comstock scoring system was used. This means
that even though only one shot is required on each
target at each distance the shooter can fire more
if he believes the previous shot was a miss or low
score. This can ensure better scores but has the
disadvantage of increasing the time taken to
complete the course of fire. The RO who
accompanies the competitor records the time taken
to complete the course and then totals the points
scored on the targets. The highest three hits are
recorded from each target and the overall score is
divided by the time to give a finishing score.
Even with high capacity magazines, the minimum
amount of rounds required to complete the course
necessitates a magazine change at some point and
most shooters elected to do this at the start of the
10m kneeling section.
Results for this 1st stage as follows:
1st Jeff Steed Ruger10/22 135pts
2nd Tim Finley GSG-5 124pts
3rd Paul Harper GSG-5 121pts
Stage 2 and the first firing position is at 25m and
requires you to knockdown six steel plates before
moving to the next firing point. At 20m engage two
targets through a hole in a barricade with two shots
on each target and move to 15m. At this distance you
shoot from behind another barricade with two shots
at each of two targets from the left-hand side and
the same from the right. This proves more difficult
as your feet must not be placed outside an area the
width of the barricade and so requires weak shoulder
shooting. Finally knock down the last six steel plates
at 10m.
The course of fire requires a minimum round count
of 24 and only the
Ruger 10/22 used Equipment Feature -
by Jeff Steed carried GSG-5
enough rounds to
complete the course
without a magazine
change, however this
is only achievable if
all the steel plates are
taken down with one
shot each. Miss and
a magazine change
becomes necessary.
Unfortunately this
proved the case with
Jeff who needed to
load a fresh magazine
to take his final shot
at the last steel plate.
The introduction of the
steel plates at two legendary HK MP5 and boasts a 22 round single
distances has proved challenging as mentioned stack high capacity magazine making it ideal for Mini
above as any missed plate can affect planned Rifle competitions. Initially fitted with open sights,
magazine changes and so slow your time. as per the original, the GSG-5 has an extensive list
of accessories including scope mounts and scopes
Results for stage 2: both red dot and traditional as well as 3 different
stocks including an extending and folding option. A
1st Tim Finley GSG-5 130pts tactical fore end with 3 weaver style rails is available
2nd Paul Harper GSG-5 97pts allowing the fitment of torches, lasers and grip
3rd Jeff Steed Ruger 10/22 94pts attachments. The original model incorporates a
barrel shroud which imitates a moderator. This is
The points from all stages are added to give overall cosmetic and covers the barrel as, due to UK firearms
competition winners. Results below: legislation, the barrel would not be long enough if
imitating the un-moderated version of the original
1st Tim Finley GSG-5 254.58 pts MP5.
2nd Jeff Steed Ruger 10/22 229.30 pts York Guns have recently gained the distribution
3rd Paul Harper GSG-5 219.78pts rights for GSG in the UK and an actual moderator
is now available. GSG have also introduced two
further models. One is a copy of the MP5 SD2 made
Congratulations along with some club medals and famous as the fully suppressed MP5 used by special
liquid prizes go to the guys above. Thanks go to Paul forces world wide and also an AK47 copy both in .22.
Harper and Tim Finley for their help as RO’s. Full
results are available on the website, www.freewebs/ Previously the Mini Rifle competition world
thurnscoerifleclub was dominated by the Ruger 10/22 in various
incarnations as this offered one of the only
Feedback from the guys taking part is that as semi-auto .22’s on the market which had 25 round
this discipline varies so much from traditional magazines commercially available. Although
shooting that practice sessions are needed to help highly accurate due to match chambers and
perfect different shooting stances and develop barrels this also proved to be a problem with the
tactics. To this end the club will look at a dedicating Ruger as the chambering was so precise in most
some evenings over the next few months as practice that any kind of dirt or wax build up from the
nights. ammunition would, more often than not, cause a
miss-feed.
Equipment Feature - GSG-5 Although not as accurate over longer distances as
my match 10/22, the GSG is accurate and has been
Last year saw the introduction of the GSG-5 made highly reliable and will cycle any ammunition from
by German Sporting Guns (hence GSG) to the UK .22 Mini-mag to subsonic ammunition.
market. The GSG-5 is a .22 semi-auto replica of the

Target Shooter 19
 Milbro’s New Snap Close Tin

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Air Rifles and Pistols Reloading equipment
Used rifles and Pistols and more...

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www.gtshooting.co.uk

Tel: 020 8660 6843

Fax: 020 8660 6843

20 TargetWe are conveniently situated near the M23 & M25.

Shooter
Opening times: Tuesday to Saturday 10.00am - 5.30pm
Hunter Field Target Scope Test
Part 4

Tim Finley
Quite fitting that this forth part to find the perfect Above - Test line up part 4
HFT scope series should feature a Mark Four
scope. A Leupold Mark Four that is, the other
scope is a Falcon Menace and both share ½ Falcon in test
mil-dot aiming marks, something that today’s cradle
top HFT shooters are wanting more and more.
Saying that the reticles are not over fussy to
look thro and use either. The Menace, it’s a far
eastern sourced fixed ten power scope with
a 42mm objective lens. Coupled with side
wheel parallax adjustment, target turrets, a
80mm long screw on sunshade and flip up lens
covers, it’s quite an impressive specification.
The 10*42 spec is the same as three other
scopes I could mention, however it differs
from the others due to the reticle. It has a at ½ mil spacing’s in-between the dots. The
normal mil-dot’s, but with small tick aiming marks second scope is a purely firearms/full-bore
tactical scope from the American maker
Leupold. For anyone who knows
Leupold MKIV in test a bit about optics they will have
cradle heard of a Mark Four. For many
years a US military scope their
rugged build quality and superb
lens have been much sort after.
The scope in this test is a 2.5
to 8 times mag 36mm dia front
objective lens MKIV model. If it
seems an odd set of numbers
in the specification it is nearer
a nine times magnification. It
was originally made as a 3-9*36
scope but the spec was changed
to 8 when it was found out to
be 8.7 rather then a true nine
Target Shooter 21
 mag, to keep the lawyers happy. The reticle is
Falcon enhanced another special one, it is called a Tactical Milling
mildot Reticle or TMR. It was designed as an enhanced
Mil-dot rangefinding reticle and the milliradian
spacing’s are perfect for ranging and aiming on
HFT targets too, thanks to the half mil tick lines
in-between the full mil spacing’s of the longer lines.
It’s true to say that HFT courses have evolved
and the scopes we use have evaluated along
side the ever smaller and smaller kill zone
dia meters used. Ultra small hit zones such
as 15 or even 10mm in diameter call for more
accurate aiming at the smaller targets. So, half
mil marks allow more accurate rangefinding and
AGS mag ring
more precise aiming once you have
determined the distance to the targets by
bracketing.
The test I perform on any potential HFT scope
starts with setting it to a 23yard parallax. This is
done by placing a test target as that measure
distance and altering the parallax until the reticle
does not move off the aim point
when the head position is altered
Falcon eye bell behind the scope. On the Falcon
is was easy as it has a sidewheel
P/A, which did line up with the 23
yardish mark on the scope, nice,
not all the scopes I have tested
do line up with the markings on
the scope! The Leupold was just
a little more tricky as being a
firearms scope with no parallax
adjustment it had been factory set
to 100 yards. This would have to be
manually altered. There is a front
locking ring on the objective end
and this can be cracked off using
gentle pressure from a Baby Boa
device used for fitting oil filters etc.
Falcon turrets Once the locking ring has been
screwed off the threaded lens
carrier can be seen and the lens
screwed out while checking the
reticle on the 23yd aiming mark.
Scopes are better held in a cradle
or clamp when resetting parallax
as you really need the scope hold
steady with the ability to move
your head fully around the back
of the scope, not easy if its stuck
on a rifle. On the MKIV it only has
to screwed out about 2mm to
reset to a shorter P/A and the

22 Target Shooter
 locking ring can be screwed back
Leupold reticle illumination into place so you would never
know it had been altered. With the
scope set in the aforementioned
cradle mounted on a camera
tripod I set out test cards at 15, 25,
40 and 45yards. These cards have
scaled Mildot spacing’s for each
distance on them, so the exact
parallax error at each range can be
read off. Moving the head moves
the reticle on the scoped reticle
and the full distance it moves it
simply read off. It also allows a
chance to gauge optical quality of
the scopes, especially critical at
45 yards. With the 40 yard card I
Leupold TMR reticle can see how each scopes image
appears at the two extreme
distances. They should be pin
sharp at 40 yards and just slightly
blurred at 45 yards, that is to be able
to use that feature as an additional
rangefinding tool. The Leupold
was optically better at all the
ranges, not surprising as it costs
over four times as much as the
Falcon. The reticle on the Menace
was far better than I thought when I
initially looked through the scope
on opening the package it came
in. At the range it was much
sharper and clearer than I initially
gave it credit for. It was easy to
4-12b rainguard differentiate between the small dots
set at mil spacing’s and the tiny ½
mil tick lines. The TMR does have
the edge reticle wise for me with
the small gap in the center makes
for even more precise aiming, i.e.
at a fleck of paint, or pellet strike
on the target. Both have large
finger friendly target style turrets
for windage and elevation
adjustment and both have ¼ inch
click values at 100yards, coming
with an allen key to adjust the
scales on the turrets to zero once
a suitable zero has been achieved
(35 yards in HFT). The Leupold
has the now famous M1 US sniper
MKIV turrets style turrets, much copied by
other scope manufactures. Both

Target Shooter 23
are 30mm body tubed
scopes. Both have plastic flip Locking ring removed
up scope covers, the Leupold
ones being embossed with
the firm’s logo. The Falcon
comes with a sunshade and
the MKIV cannot be fitted with
one. The parallax error values
I found are on chart three with
the specs price on chart one
and the optical tests and my
ratings in chart two.
I rate the Falcon as the best
under £200 HFT scope I
have ever tested. For my
money the Leupold it’s
optical quality and the added
illuminated reticle make it the the Falcon leaving money to spend on a new stock
clear winner of all my four HFT scope tests. I or £826 for the Leupold, I have gone for the MKIV.
see an illuminated reticle as a major advantage, Part five will cover the new kid on the block
it has 11 brightness settings and lights up the the Bushnell Elite 2.5-16*42 6500 which
center mil-½ mil lines in red. Set on 5 it cannot Pete Sparkes has already won a UKAHFT
be seen when shooting in normal daylight, but round and the first focal plane 4-16 Barska
when looking at a target under a bush it goes Benchmark. I’ll also give a full round up of
a light brown colour. In really black out target the whole mega series of HFT scope tests.
conditions, say when they are set inside
barrels etc, you can clearly make out the For the Leupold MKIV contact Riflecraft at
reticle without masking out the target. This enquires@riflecraft.co.uk
feature will gain shooters targets over non For the Falcon see their list of retailers
illuminated reticles, of that there is no doubt. You on their web site www.falconoptics.com
pay your money you take your choice? £200 for

The test cards set out at the

range

24 Target Shooter
 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

Target Shooter 25
26 Target Shooter
2009 World Benchrest Championships in
South Africa - Australia takes Gold

Graeme Smith
The tenth World Benchrest Shooting 200 metre matches and although there were some,
Championships, held in Pretoria, South Africa was most shooters were happy to stay under the inch. In
true to tradition by being different to all previously the Light Varmint 200m event, just 16% of the groups
held events. The most important difference being were under half-inch, 64% half to 1 inch and 20% over
the end to the dominance by the USA in the Teams the inch, which gives some perspective of conditions.
Championship which this time was won by This time of the year, although mid-winter in South
Australia 1, followed by USA 1, and Italy in third
place. History shows that the USA usually dominate
the Team event with Gold, Silver and Bronze but
finally the rest of the world of benchrest has caught
up.
The individual awards however saw a return to
status quo with USA shooters Gene Bukys and
Tony Boyer taking Gold and Silver but 2001 World
Individual Champion, Brendon Atkinson of Australia
took the bronze medal.
Some of the other unusual highlights which made
the competition different to all others were the range
conditions – at an altitude of 4300 feet above sea
Africa, is in fact the dry season on the high Veldt.
level, humidity as low as 25% and the wind drift -
The grass is high and tinder-dry with wild fires the
at least to me - seemed significant. One would order of the day. To have the event halted and all cars
normally expect many sub half-inch groups during the
and equipment moved onto the range in preparation
for a local fire that had got
out of control was certainly
A hive of activity - reloading for the matches something different!
Fortunately the fire did not
jump the highway beside
the range so we were able
to resume activity in due
course but a somewhat
tense time existed for a
while!
All shooters were
accommodated at Game
Ranches, generally only a
ten-minute drive from the
range. Entries however
were almost 50% down
on the record 176 entries
from the 2007 event in
Austria with a number of
mainly European teams
not attending, probably
because of the perceived

Target Shooter 27
risks from criminal activity in this part
of the world as frequently reported in
turrets are clearly but tastefully incised.
the media. No doubt there is some risk Note side-focus knob.
associated with South Africa but from
my perspective the way the whole
arrangements were co-ordinated
never at any time did I feel concerned,
in fact we had an excellent standard
of accommodation, great hosts and
cooperation and courtesy all the way.
A trip around the ranch to view all the
wild animals was somewhat different
to seeing them in a zoo.
Although the competition proper is
decided over 100 and 200 metres,
with two weights of rifle – Light and
Heavy Varmint - the final day of the
Championship is traditionally a 300
metre HV match. Few ranges can
actually offer 300 metre benchrest
shooting so this is usually substituted with
another 200 meter match but shooting
ten-shot (rather than five-shot) groups.
At 200 metres, our scopes will normally
resolve a 6mm bullet-hole, except when
the mirage is running but at 300 metres it
became something of a guessing game due
to the difficulty in establishing where your
shots landed. However the smallest group
shot - a tiny 0.471 inches – was in fact a new
world record established by Ian Owen of New
Zealand but again the match was won by the
USA, taking first, second and third places. Ian Owen with his new
The largest group of 16.557 inches was 300m record target
shot by your author whose group of 1.557
inches gained a 15 inch penalty due to shots
on the wrong target! Well someone had to do 14 issued, 7 went to the USA and one each to
it………. Australia, Finland, France, New Zealand, South
In conclusion, it was really great to see the Africa, Sweden and Russia. Our friends from
overall spread of Gold Medals this time. Of the the USA no longer have it all their own way.
Where to now?. The 2011 World
Benchrest Championship will be
held in France where the whole thing
Reticle is focussed by rotating the resumes again and this will be followed by
rubber-cushioned eye-piece. Note Australia in 2013. In the ‘off year’ of
also the zoom ring. 2012 we will be see the WBSF Rimfire
Championship become a reality with the
first event to be held in Australia.
Graeme Smith President , World
Benchrest Shooting Federation
We are indebted and honoured to
receive this report of the 2009 World
Championships from the President of
the WBSF. For the record, we did send
a four-man team from the UK who
finished 19 out of the 22 teams
entered. Full results , etc can be seen at
www.wbc10.co.za

28 Target Shooter
 www.FoxFirearmsUK.com
Tel: 0161 430 8278 or 07941 958464
PUTTING SHOOTING FIRST
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EVERYTHING WE IMPORT IS BY FAR THE BEST VALUE IN THE UK

Target Shooter 29

Last month we looked at the basic types of Gallery
Rifles that we use so here’s a few ideas that will
hopefully help you to start shooting them a bit more
accurately. Starting at the top as it were with your scope
and head alignment, because if this isn’t right to start
with then you won’t get the rest of it right either! In the
standing position keeping your head and body straight
close your eyes and bring the rifle up into your shoulder
into a position that feels comfortable (not where you think
it should be), then move your head very slightly over until
your cheek makes contact at some point with the stock.
Correct setup of your rifle is vital if you are to shoot
to your potential!
30 Target Shooter
By Gwyn Roberts
Then, holding this position open your eyes and check to
see whether your vision through the scope is clear or not.
If not, repeat it again and get a friend to loosen off the
rings and adjust the scope forwards or backwards until
the eye relief is perfect, then nip up a couple of the screws
so that it doesn’t move whilst bringing the rifle back down
again. Put a piece of masking tape on the body of the
tube so that it’s flush against one of the scope rings and
then mount it onto a rifle rest or place it on a level bench.
You can then adjust the scope if needed so that the
cross hairs are lined up perfectly square in relation to the
action of the rifle and as long as the tape remains touching
the ring the correct eye relief distance will be maintained.
Finally, double check everything again on the range by find that placing more weight on either the heels or balls
aiming at a target set at 25m or so, to ensure everything of your feet will cause you to have more vertical plain
is ok then finally tighten up the remainder of the screws. fluctuation when aiming on the target so keep this in mind
when adopting your position. It could also cause you to
The next thing to do is find a stable standing position. This either tighten or relax your grip on the stock which may
area (minefield?) is basically divided up into two parts cause a different point of impact on the target so be
being stance and grip (or hold) and each will need to warned! There are times of course when you may need
have quite a bit of time spending on it, both now and in to put a little extra weight on the front foot to help counter
the future to eventually find the optimum combination. recoil etc but not usually for most types of GR shooting.
Looking up “standing shooting position” on the internet Finally, your feet should be placed at an angle that
will provide you with a huge amount of “expert” allows your body to naturally point the rifle at the target,
guidance by both shooters without any twisting or over
and coaches but much of it is tensioning of the muscles
contradictive. This is mainly to hold it in position. This
down to the advice being is usually in the region of
discipline specific and what 45º to 60º in relation to
works in one scenario, may the target although this
certainly not be the best may obviously change if
solution in another but you shooting multiple or moving
will always find that certain targets, and will inevitably
points that are generally vary from shooter to shooter!
considered to be the “best”
way to do things by many Once you have achieved a
of the parties involved! You reasonably stable stance,
will also quite clearly see the next thing to achieve is
in some photos of a line a good hold or grip! There
up of top class shooters, are many factors that will
whatever discipline they are play a significant part in
shooting at the time who are this from the size and
doing their “own thing” and profile of your stock to the
still producing the results overall weight and balance
so what is right? Whatever of the rifle, along with your
works for you of course! physical size, strength and
sometimes mobility too.
You should always try and Starting at the front, your
keep the head and body in grip on the fore end must
an upright position as this allow you to do two things.
will help you obtain a quick Firstly it must enable you to
and consistent head/eye/ both pull the rifle rearwards
scope alignment on the slightly, to hold it securely
target. It will also ensure (not tightly) into the
that the point
Above - Phil of impactand
Gibbon on his 6.5-284 Norma 12 F is supporting shoulder whilst
the
thetarget always to
combination remains
beat in 600 and 1,000yd UKBRA keeping the rifle as steady
constant which willFS-Class
help you Benchrest as possible at the same
reach your potential! Always time. Too much rearward
keep your shoulders as pressure will cause
relaxed as possible, place instability in the hold, and
your feet roughly about not enough will cause the
shoulder width apart and shooter to grip tighter with
keep your legs straight, but their trigger hand which will
do not brace them as this probably result in a poor
will cause excess muscle trigger release as the hand
tension which can lead muscles are over tensioned
to instability. Knees are Relax your shoulders as much as possible! and not relaxed as they
neither bent, or locked should be. The best grip
straight but simply remain comfortable. Wearing sturdy tension required would best be described as somewhere
flat soled boots will generally provide you with a large between supportive and firm, but not excessive as this too
contact area and the most stable platform to shoot from will cause problems. Using the same grip but at different
whatever type of surface you have to stand on, which is points along the length of the fore end will have quite an
usually quite varied with the type of shooting that we do. effect on the stability produced and again will depend on
Wearing something unsupportive like a pair of trainers a whole host of individual factors so don’t just copy
generally has you wasting time moving your toes around someone else. This is also true regarding the angle at
and stuff trying to get comfortable, especially when you which you position your wrist and elbow in relation to the
are shooting on uneven surfaces. Quite often you will line of sight. The taller shooters may well need to hold the
Target Shooter 31
Pistol grip stocks give good wrist/trigger finger finger and thumb to remain relaxed which will enable the
alignment…….. trigger finger to move much more smoothly! The angle
of the wrist in relation to the trigger should ideally be as
fore end much further forward but this becomes a bit of square as possible so that the trigger is pulled straight back,
an issue when shooting a Marlin as they are pretty slim which will obviously help produce a much better trigger
by design and are relatively short in length also, forcing release. I personally find that trying to hold a Marlin,
some shooters to hold the rifle further rearwards than due to their design (hunting rifle) forces my wrist into an
they’d like to do. Most people will probably find the most uncomfortable forward cant, and places my trigger finger
stable hold is with the fore end sitting flat in the middle of in such a position that I find myself pulling the top of the
the palm, with the fingers and thumb just lightly gripping trigger blade and frame at the same time with the 2nd joint
on the sides, instead of trying to hold it tightly with just the of my trigger finger. This is obviously not contusive to good
fingers in some sort of weird alien hold. The fore end must trigger control so I always slide my hand downwards, so that
fit you, not the other way round so if it doesn’t, change it! when I shoot, just the side of my thumb contacts the side
At the butt end, grip pressure should generally be of the grip which gives me a much better trigger
applied by the middle two fingers leaving the little alignment! Tucking the elbow inwards, holding it out to the
side or somewhere in between will also have an effect on
...... where as Marlins usually don’t! stability and this is where the trial an error part starts. It’s
always a good idea
to use a note book
to record changes,
variations and results
that you find out when
experimenting with
various shooting
positions and a lot of
this position work can
be carried out without
shooting at all to
start with. Here’s
a few suggestions
to help you get the
basic set up:
1. Place a target at
25m and placing
your feet parallel and
roughly shoulder width
apart, simply aim your
rifle at the target and
adjust the angle of
your feet and body
until the scope lines up

32 Target Shooter
Above and below - Experiment to find a point on the slightly each time, and make sure you note any
fore-end that gives you the most stable hold then adopt numbered positions where you find your hold to be
it every time for consistency! more stable on the target. Make sure though that
you have a rest in between otherwise fatigue may
naturally with the target. When you think you have found produce inaccurate results for you. You may well
it, a simple test of bringing the rifle down from the aim, find that a more stable hold is achieved if your elbow is in
closing your eyes and then bringing the rifle back up a lower position when supporting the rifle as opposed to
into the aim again before opening your eyes will show sticking it out to the side, but again experiment using both

you whether you are close or not. Remember, you are
trying to get simple horizontal alignment in relation to the
target, not bring it up exactly in the middle of it! Once the
correct body/feet alignment is achieved, have someone
draw around your feet with some chalk or mark it with tape
so that this position can be quickly be re-adopted each
time you go to shoot so you don’t have to start from scratch
again.
2. Place some tape along the full length on the side of your
stock and number it every inch or so starting from the front.
Start by gripping the stock as near to the front as you can
and bring the rifle up on aim onto a suitably sized target
for about 10 seconds then rest it down for a short while.
This is simply a stability test and all you are trying to do is
consistently keep the crosshairs within a pre-determined
area such as the 10, 9 or 8 ring, and nothing else. Carry
on repeating this practice by sliding your grip back very
positions and see which produces the best results for you.
It will probably take quite a while to find a good, stable
position but it’s well worth it in the end as it will then
allow you to concentrate on other important aspects of
your shooting. Once you have found the “sweet spot” on
the fore end, simply leave a small piece of tape or mark it
somehow close to where your thumb lines up on the stock
so that again this position can be quickly adopted next
time, until your hold and reference point becomes second
nature.
In part 3 we will look at what needs to be done in
order to achieve a good trigger control and shot
release, along with some simple accuracy practices
which will hopefully reduce the size of your groups
and help you gain a few extra points at the same time!

Target Shooter 33
 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,
Reloading Equipment and Accessories. All major brands stocked including BSA,
CZ, Air Arms, Marlin, Ruger, Umarex, Uberti, Cometa, Pedersoli, Berreta, Lincoln,
Webley, Pedersoli, etc.

Email : stuart@ospreyrifles.com

Tel : 0161 4083555

Osprey Rifles
‘The Savage Specialists’

We still have a limited supply of precision target actions

for sale at £500 for your next custom project. The new
RRP is £920 so grab a bargain while you can
34 Target Shooter
URL : www.ospreyrifles.com
Volquartsen Custom Long Barrel Pistol
History
The idea was put to our US partner i-SHOT to ask
Volquartsen to custom make a Ruger Mk111 Long
Grips
Barrel pistol almost two years ago. And together
with help from Nic Volquartsen himself we have
come up with the first prototype that complies with meters no practice or trigger test on the a match 3
all UK firearms legal requirements. The concept
of a 12” barrel was not a problem, but the bar at
the rear of the grip was. But once they got
their heads around the idea that it had to be a
permanent part of the firearm it was all cool,
and they done a very fine job of it. I had first
received the pictures from I-SHOT as it arrived
from Volquartsen, and it looked great. But
Helmie at I-SHOT had it in his hands, and he
told me they had done a superb job and would
leave it to me to put the first shots through. I
was very excited when collecting the
prototype from Heathrow, was it really as good
as the photo`s? I was not disappointed; it was
a work of art, superbly put together. Because
of getting ready for the Phoenix, it was another Load
three long days before I got to shoot it. Did it
by John Robinson
shoot as good as it looked? Well, yes, it was great.
The trigger was beautifully crisp and the recoil very
controllable indeed.
So welcome to the………….
Heavy weight champion of the LBP world,
and I’m not joking. Weighing in at 4lb 4ozs
or 2kg, this heavy weight, is so much more
metal, and engineering than any other LBP.
Whether you’re looking for a .22 LBP
pistol for plinking or competition, the
Ruger MKIIIs are among the best and most
reliable on the market. Add this to
Volquartsen Custom, a leader in the
development of accurate, smooth
operating, customized versions of the
MKIII. You’re now looking at one hell of a
LBP!! Even on first test, with Mike fitting
a 2-6x scope for me, onto the standard
mounts fitted on this LBP so no added extra
involved in getting a scope put on it, he even
sighted it in for me. And with me shooting at 50
with normal timings of the 1500 where I think this
LBP will come into its own, as you can use it over
Indicator
Target Shooter 35

Mounts - detailed view
half the time or 72 rounds on a post your knee or
sitting down. Dropping just 3 points only and one
was very close as you can see, so watch out Layne.
So after the first test is was nice to find out that
Volquartsen First, start by tuning the action
using their, own MKIII accurizing kit, as well as
installing a pretravel adjustment screw to the
trigger to achieve a crisp, clean 2.25 lb. trigger pull.
Which was a treat to use “straight out of the box”.
The Demonstrator V-Magic II came with right
mounts - full side view
handed, high tech Volthane grips as standard, a
slight problem when shooting 1500. So Mike will also
include the Pachmayr Signature grips to allow easier
ambidextrous use and holstering, with future LBP`s.
Volquartsen used a stainless steel “match” digitally
gauged fluted barrel, with an extremely effective 32-
hole integrated compensator on this first LBP. The
fluting decreases weight and increases surface area
for cooling, but most importantly it increases rigidity,
which in turn improves accuracy. And they also used
36 Target Shooter
the same chamber and bore
dimensions, as with each of
their pistol models, so this is
coming from a long history line,
not just a fad for the UK market.
The chamber is hand cut using
their, own unique reamer. The
feed ramp is also hand polished
to ensure proper functioning.
Each LBP will come standard
with a Weaver style mount, and
they will be developing a fitting
for a TL Rear Adjustable Sight
and a .125” wide front
dovetail sight, so this model you
are reading about now will
be the first in a long line
of match grade LBP with
upgrade’s to make it even more
impressive and to suit the discipline that your
intending to use it for. All pistols have a stainless
finish, but a matte black finish is also available as
another option.
Carbon fibre match barrel
Stockade can also now confirm that Volquartsen
will now, make for us the very first Ruger MKIII
custom pistol with a 12” Carbon Fibre Match
Barrel with a 32-holed compensator, as a new
option for our UK spec Custom LBP.
Same quality and precision, with a lot
less weight.
Traveling with safety and safety
functions. This pistol comes with
an operation of, internal locking,
helpful I think. When away from home
or at home if you like. To activate the
internal lock, place the manual safety
in the on or safe position. Then place
the internal lock key into the hole
provided in the pistol and rotate the
key clockwise until it stops, then
removing the key you will now be
unable to move the safety or fire the
trigger. To undo this safety lock just
place the key back in the reverse the
operation. Remember, to place the
key in a safe place so that you do not
lose it (Spare key supplied). A Ruger padlock is
also supplied to go through the slide with the action
open. It also comes with the standard safety, which
is close, and flush fitting so once applied it will sit
in a holster and not disengage, as I have found out
with other LBP’s. The magazine also helps play its
part in safety. The magazine disconnect prevents
the trigger from being pulled if the magazine is
removed, so even if you have one round
remaining in the pistol you cannot use it like a single
 Safety - detailed view
shot pistol.
Load Indicator
I know that you should like ways treat a gun as, loaded,
but this again added little safety feature lets you look
down the left hand side of your LPB and do a visual
inspection to see is you have a round in the
chamber. When the chamber is empty, the load
indicator should be flush with the side of the
receiver. When the chamber is loaded the rear-
most portion of the load chamber indicator should
protrude from the left side of the receiver and a
red dot should be visible for you to see that the
chamber does indeed have a round in the chamber
The full pistol - an amazing bit of kit!
even if there is not magazine in the LBP.
Accuracy and reliability
Although I have not had time to bench this pistol, I have
shot it in 1500 and T&P1 stages in timed conditions.
And just slow precision fire, the results have been
very good with a variety of ammunition and it has not
malfunctioned once in that time for Mike or myself.
My personal thoughts are that I shoot it better,
faster. But I’m a 1500 shooter at heart. We will
see as the Volquartsen LBP will be out and about
at the Nationals and GRAW 4 to see what national
records it can pick up.
Target Shooter 37
Initial target tests at 50m
Last but not least………… their sport. SO!!!!!
This heavy weight also comes with a heavy price They will also have all the products you need for
tag, you can tell this by me saying you will have whatever disciplines you wish to go into.
to Email or Phone for a quote. Ok I give in!!!!!!!!!!
Maximum price is £1999.00. Any savings on
exchange rate or shipping will be passed back to Contact:
the customer; this is because there is a build time Stockade Products Ltd
of three months and the pound V the dollar and www.stockadeproducts.co.uk
shipping costs. Mike will also be including 5 info@stockadeproducts.co.uk
magazines and a set of Pachmayr Signature grips.
STOCKADE PRODUCTS LTD wants UK shooters
to have access to the best possible equipment for

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

Surgeon XL action in .338

Lapua Magnum

Lawton repeater action in 6mm BR

Please feel free to contact us to
discuss your proposed custom
rifle

A very cost effective way to enter the

sport ….SPS Varmint barrelled action
installed in a choice of aftermarket
stocks from AICS, Hogue, Bell &
Carlson etc Supplied with
polished bolt rails, adjusted factory
trigger and refaced and crowned
barrel. May be upgraded to include
detachable magazine system, tactical
bolt knob etc ……

At last…we have received a batch of 1894C .357 Marlin rifles! These are available at £610 with
the action checked and a Wolff reduced power hammer spring fitted. Alternatively we have
them competition ready with a tuned and slicked action and trigger pull of around 2 lbs at £730
We have plenty of scope bases and Trigger Happy kits available, also one piece stainless steel
firing pins.

It’s all happening here right now! We’ve also been awaiting more Taurus LBR’s but a number
of them arrived here the other day. So we have .22 .357 and .44 models in stock again.

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 39
time in the workshop.
Ammunition Selection, Testing and Preparation – Part 2

By Carl Boswell

I finished last time on the point of rim

testing your ammunition. Remember this is
just checking to ensure consistency, like the
other processes I note below. I am sure that
a few of you will be thinking this is a waste of
time and these are other ‘gadgets’ that I have
to buy to keep up. In some respects I would
agree with you. I remember just after the pistol
ban I bought a new blackpowder revolver and
all the bits to go with it. The first thing piece
of equipment I bought was a in line cap
dispenser. This was also the first piece of
equipment to go as I found fiddly and
cumbersome.
Like everything, you should buy only what
you need and if you shoot well with what you
use, keep going! All I can offer you here are
options and opportunities to ensure your rifle
and ammunition are as tuned as they can be.

Visual Inspection
This is the most obvious and cheap method
of testing you can use. In fact it will cost you
nothing but your time. As we have so many
gadgets for ammunition testing which we are
looking at here; we can sometimes forget
that we have our own senses to rely on first.
So what are we looking for? Well firstly this
does not have to be round by round, unless
it is for a match when I find this process to
be very worthwhile. You can just look at your
ammunition while they are still in the box
and inspect then in the case holder. We are postal matches are one target only, so not bad on
looking for anything that would be out of the ordinary. a monthly rotation. However, if you are going in
This could be any extra wax on the bullet, or a bullet for a National or International match, with the aim
that has any lead removed from the shoulders or the to shoot several classes the process can be long
nose section, any chamfering of flat nosed bullets, winded. However, I would reiterate, it is worth it. I
damage or buckling of the case, etc, etc (See know a number of prone shooters that also go
Picture above). Basically, anything that could cause through this and other processes mentioned in
the bullet to loose stability or alter the way it will these articles, to ensure a high level of accuracy.
ignite in your chamber. Let’s face it, if you were
reloading every case, head and possibly primer Weighing Ammunition
would be inspected for damage!? Next up for consideration is weighing your
This can be time consuming process. Most ammunition. This can be done with a manual or

40 Target Shooter

Typical manual scale
Electronic scales can be cheap or
expensive - it just depends on what you
want it for and how much your willing to
pay
Some are still over the one hundred pound mark,
but others like the Frankford Arsenal I use can be
purchased for as little as £30. This makes a
difference as it does not break the bank. There
are a variety of scales around so I will leave it to
you to determine which is better for your needs,
as this is not just an investment for this specific
process but will also to help in reloading. Why do
we weigh rimfire ammunition? A good question!
When weighing and finding a difference from one
round to the next we could be weighing excess
lead in the bullet, case inconsistency, powder
inconsistency or even excess lube. In general, having
weighed a number of different brands of ammunition,
consistency for match rounds comes within 0.1 grain;
0.2 if you want to have more ammunition to shoot
from a batch. The difference within just one box of
ammunition can be as much as 0.7 grains, which
from experience can produce the odd ‘flyer’. This
is what we are trying to alleviate. I have weighed a
variety of ammunition over the last few years and
taking out the ones that show some variance from the
rest of those being weighed has dramatically reduced
the amount of ‘flyers’ I have had. Whether people
see this as accurate or not, it is another test that can
be done and has worked for a great many people.

Ammunition Concentricity
This is a new consideration on the scene and the
product itself has been on the market in the US for
the last few years. It is not widely accepted within the
rimfire benchrest community, but has seen success
and praise in the prone and three position shooting
digital scale, although the former will take a lot of time sports in the US. To be honest I have never seen
so I suggest the latter type. Digital scales have come a concentricity gauge in the UK and I have never
down a great deal in price over the last few years. used one. The point here is they are out there and
for some they are a
useful tool in determining
Rimfire cencentricity gauge - these have started to make their what ammunition is used
way to Europe from mainland USA for a match or not! The
nature of the product is to
look at the concentricity of the
bullet when seated in
the case. For further
information have a look at this
online study; http://www.niel-
sonbrothersarms.com. This
is quite an interesting piece
of work and much of it holds
true. I read it a few years
ago, before the concentricity
gauge came onto the market.
I was taken by the depth of
study and the conclusions the
Neilson brothers arrived at.
However, when you have a
match chambered rifle it also
holds true that the chamber

Target Shooter 41
will, in theory, seat the case and bullet square within
the action. Any deviation from concentric seating will
be corrected by the barrel chamber.
This may be just ‘another gadget’, but time will tell.
I am sure that if people start scoring well having
used it, then others will be getting one in the hope
of increasing their scores. At $365 or £181, it is not
something you may go out and buy straight away.
Ammunition Length (COL)
The easiest way of measuring the length of your
ammunition is not with another gadget, but with a
plain dial calliper (See Pic 6). There could be lots
of attachments or guides for this, but they could
end up damaging your ammunition rather than
confirming they are the correct length. As it implies,
Cartridge overall length (COL), is the overall length
of the round of ammunition. Determining this will
be via the standard .22 round measurements . You
can also find out how this fits the chamber of your
rifle, for perfect bullet seating, by measuring the
chamber yourself or having a competent gunsmith do it.
Remember our centerfire colleagues do this, but
also have the added advantage of fire forming their
brass to the form of their rifles chamber. As you
can see from the diagram the maximum size of.22
ammunition is slightly different from the standard
sizes we may see on the shelf (See Pic 7). With
this information you can get a clear idea about how
variations from one brand to another do happen. This
42 Target Shooter
may not count while shooting your Ruger 10/22 for
a bit of fun, but in a match rifle this may count very
much. Batch testing will obviously alleviate the need
for this test, and others, to some degree by finding
the right ammunition for your rifle, but this test will still
count if you are looking for any variance in that batch.
Batch testing will also cost you the purchase of 5000
rounds upwards and although this is an investment,
not everyone has that sort of money laying around.
Accuracy can be affected by the length of the
cartridge in terms of where the bullet head
actually lies in the rifling (bullet seating) or how far it
has to jump into the rifling. The manufacturer of your
ammunition will have set in place accurate
manufacturing processes and a test for COL, but
if you are using a non match brand, it will have
been made to put through a variety of chambers
which could be a little more loose or tight! Again if
we were loading our own ammunition, we would
put in place a variety of testing procedures to
ensure accuracy at the highest level. This would be
from checking the bullet heads all the way through
to checking the COL of the cartridge. Just because
we don’t actually make the ammunition we rely on
manufacturers to get it right for us, every time! For
the most part this is true and they do. However, with
all of these testing processes it is that one percent
of the time that we need to check for. (It is usually
that one percent that actually counts as well!!). All
this might seem a bit exacting, but from experience
 of accuracy. One question I
A Vernier Caliper is the easiest (and cheapest) way of will leave you with. Have you
measuring a the overall length of each cartridge tested the ammunition in a
variety of conditions, cold,
hot, humid, etc? This could
be at your home range or it
could be at number of venues.
Using ammunition in the cold
or humid conditions can have a
very different affects on where
it lands in comparison to using
it in warmer weather or dryer
weather. Shooting in the rain
for instance will generally send
shots high! Experimenting with
or testing the ammunition you
use is worth the while, as you
can estimate how it is going
of others as well as myself, these processes do to behave in specific
work. It is really up to you to say whether the extra conditions. From these last two articles I hope this is
time, or money in some cases, is worth the effort. the conclusion you come to, as it is not
necessarily about the products that may help you,
I have probably posed more questions than I have but more about knowing what the ammunition
answered in these articles and for that I apologise. you have selected to shoot does and how it will
I may also have missed something, but I am sure behave with the rifle you shoot. For me this is the first
that I will be told if I have? However, in some ways stage of having the accuracy we all need. Good and
that is the nature of shooting, especially in terms accurate shooting until next time.

www.eleyammunition.com

World Class shooters

shoot World Class ammunition
Matt Emmons (USA)
Double Olympic medalist,
ISSF World Cup 2009 Silver Medal Prone - WC3,
Bronze Medal 3P - WC3

ELEY - the home of Tenex Target Shooter 43

 Outdoor Air rifle sports – Starter Equipment Part 4

Above and below - Some scopes will have a
side wheel which is already marked (left) normal
scopes have the parallax ring which is also
marked but it is always a good idea to measure
and mark your range finding for more accuracy
and your shooting distances.
Naturally the best to zero your scope is an indoor 50m
range but this is not always possible, so try to find a
clam day for zeroing your air rifle. Do not attempt to
zero your air rifle if it is extremely windy your results
will not be so ideal Most will go straight to the point i.e.
place a target paper at the desired range and zero in.
Well that is a very quick and dirty method that we like
to avoid, we would like to be slightly more precise.
Stanley Shaw
our adjustment of the turrets as small as possible.
This is done to work our turrets later on as much
as possible to the optical center of the lens as this
is the most accurate part of any scope. For shims
use old negative film, cut a few small strips. Mark
the scope against the top clamps to find the position
and rotation easy. Unclamp the rear clamp until it
allows to slide in a shim or two between the lower
mount and scope tube, then re fix your top clamp.
• Now the pellet should be striking less then
before. If still more then 2 inches include more shims.
If this is less then 1 inch that is perfect. Now its time
to check this at the longest range i.e. 50m. Set the
same card with black horizontal line at 50m focus
on the line and shoot a couple of pellet keeping your
cross hairs on the line. The pellets might fall to the
left or right of the line (don’t bother) concentrate on
up or down. If the pellets strike within 4 inches above
or below the line then it is advisable to remove some
shim material you placed previously at the rear
mount. If the pellets strike within 2 to 2 ½ inches
above or below the line at 50m you are perfectly
working in the optical center of your scope, hence
future range finding with the scope is more realistic.
• Its time to place a new card at our desired
range for set up i.e. 25 meters. On this card we
will make a simple cross (+) from one side of the
paper to the next. First we will be setting the windage
turret. Set the magnification to the card center of the
cross (+).Aim at the center of the cross (+) and shoot

• Take a white card like A3 paper and make

a horizontal line in the center with a black felt pen.
We will then place this at 10m. The from a rifle
rest we focus on the line and place the cross hair
at any point on the line and fire two shots always
aiming on the line. The shots will probably fall low
(do not bother about left or right for now). If the shots
are more then 2 inches away from the horizontal
line then you need to bring up the point of impact
(POI) to meet the point of aim (POA). This is done
by packing shim material between the rear mount
and bottom of the scope tube. We do this to keep
44 Target Shooter

Above and below - Chairgun Pro trajectory POI plot
for our example. One can also play around with
the zero distance to find the optimum zero setting
for the equipment set up and performance. Below
is a Ballistic table generated for the same set up.
Chairgun Pro is a scientific tool hence it offers a
lot of possibilities to explore your performance.
Still at the end of the day you need to confirm by
actually shooting your equipment and fine tuning.
a group of 3 shots. Your should fall at any point up/
down left/right around the center of the cross (+)
but as a group. Your aim now is to get the group
over the vertical line of the cross. If your are left
or right of the vertical then you have to click in the
opposite direction on the turret. If you have a ¼” @
100y scope start with 5 clicks opposite to the POI,
if you have a 1/8” @ 100y scope start with 10 clicks
opposite to the POI. Now again aim at the center of
the cross (+) and shoot another group. Repeat until
the group hits the vertical line and stop. If the number
of clicks make you skip the vertical line then return
back ½ the amount of clicks and shoot a new group.
• Now we will set the elevation turret. You
already know if the groups being shot are lower
or higher then the horizontal line of the cross on
your target. If you are higher then you need to click
opposite i.e. down and vice versa if you are shooting
low. Repeat the same process as for windage until
the group is hitting the center around the cross (+).
• Now some fine tuning is required. Place
a new target with a couple of cross (+). Aim at
the center and shoot one pellet. Now load an
new pellet and aim at the pellet hole on the
target and shoot a new pellet. Identify the
difference and adjust elevation turret and
windage turret in small steps 1 or 2 clicks max in the
required directions. Once you loose track of the
pellet impact us another cross (+) and repeat until
you are hitting the same pellet hole when you aim for
it.
• If you cannot do away with side wind set
windage at not more then 15m. If you have head
wind or wind coming from your back there your
elevation POI is affected. Wind from your back
will lower the POI, head wind will raise your POI.
• Well done your scope is set and zeroed for
25m but we are not done yet with our example.
The shooter wants to use these setting for
Benchrest, FT and HFT so for Benchrest the set
up is done, now it’s a matter of more fine tuning
and learning to shoot the wind. For FT and HFT
however we are not done yet. In FT and HFT one
needs to shoot targets at different ranges hence we
need to understand the trajectory of the pellet in
the required ranges and compare it to the mil dot
scale in a set magnification. For FT one also must
be able to range find his target using the parallax
adjustment on the scope. The best to do this is to
use the maximum scope magnification available for
you. You need to place some markers at 5 meter
intervals from 10 to 50 meters. Then wrap a
piece of masking tape to the parallax adjustment
bell. Start focusing until you can see as sharp as
possible the closest marker. Mark the masking tape
next to the reference mark the distance. Take the
image out of focus and refocus on it if you match
then mark the distance with a permanent marker.
Once you have all the distances wrap some clear
cellophane tape to protect the label. Note the further
targets are more difficult to focus spot on, it would
be easier if you have very high magnification (over
X32) but one can still do and also estimate visually.
There are two methods a quick method and a
slow method to establish your Point of Aim for the
various ranges with using hold over. The slow
method is more accurate but the quick method
can also bring you close enough to make your final
calculations. For the slow method you need to
place a target at least every 5 meter intervals
starting from 10m till 50m. The target needs to be
just a simple cross (+). For each distance you aim
at the center of the cross (+) and shoot a group.
Then the shooter to follow this example must not
the group POI with the mil dot scale in X10 for HFT
and X 24 for FT and take notes. NOTE if you vary
the magnification you will vary the scale of the
Target Shooter 45
 target but by placing the corresponding
mil dot on the center of the target. Each
target must then be hit bull. This takes
some time and sometime it is difficult to
do at the range. Below are the reticle
maps for our example at 10x and 24x
magnification with zero at 25m.
The quick method is to use software
capable of plotting your trajectory
given relative data. Software like the
new Hawke Chairgun Pro works.
Simply download your copy from http://
www.chairgun.com/, install and
then insert the required data and like
magic your trajectory is calculated and
plotted, and that is not all, you have
ready to print reticle showing exactly
were to aim at various distances and
at different magnification. Chairgun
also gives you data regarding the point
of impact at all the distances. This is a
quick method to start but it is always
advisable to confirm the drop data
given from the calculations in Chairgun
Above and below -With the aid of computer software like against the true data. The data required
Chairgun Pro one can already have an estimate for hold to run your Chairgun trajectory path
over for the target ranges. This is generated according to is simple, you will need the following:
your data entry and can easily be confirmed on the range.
1. Muzzle Velocity
image so the POA is different for different
2. Scope Height
magnifications, however your zero will remain the
3. Magnification
same. Once all the range is completed once can
4. Pellet weight and other data (Chairgun
draw a reticle map and mark the mil dot required
has a big library of the most common pellets).
to hit the target at that distance. Once complete
5. Zero Distance
one have to recheck this work by shooting not by
6. Max Distance
aiming the center of the reticle to the center of the
All of this data you know. Chairgun
provides you with a variety of charts
and tables, most important are the
trajectory chart and ballistic table shown
below. With Chairgun you can then play
around with your zero range and scope
magnification to see the effect of hold
over. One can also opt to use dialing in
(click in the elevation turret according to
the shooting range), Chairgun provides
you with this data and procedures how
to be more accurate in scope calibration.
Remember that from time to time check
your zero. As time passes you will learn
and experiment with your starter air
rifle. Some of you will also take their
starter air rifles to a higher level, by
customization of the rifle internals and
stock and eventually upgrading the
scopes, but for now forget it, its time
to enjoy your air rifle and practice your
favorite sport.

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

Sect 5 Dealer Humane Dispatch, De-Acts,

Exports Please call 0845-458

9666
Target Shooter 47
 303 compensation characteristics
and commercial ammuntion - part 2

By Nigel Greenaway
A recent trend in reloading – Optimum Charge Weight Above - 303Sierra_bullet
(OCW) dovetails nicely with the well documented
fps) from the chamber to the muzzle, then back, in a
compensation characteristics of the Lee Enfield
repeated pattern. When this wave is present at the
action. The basis of OCW is finding the optimum
muzzle, there is much turbulence and movement at
point in barrel vibration to compensate for small
the muzzle. However, when this main shock wave
differences in powder load. It is a theory that
has reverberated back to the chamber end, the
recognises the dramatic affect that barrel
muzzle is relatively stable. This window of
harmonics can have on accuracy and directly links
opportunity is the best time for the bullet to exit the
to the 100 year old theory of compensation that is
muzzle. The barrel is basically straight, and
a characteristic of the Lee Enfield action. At the
relatively calm.
same time I will show the results of my favourite .303
The complete opposite of this ideal and therefore
handloads in two different rifles.
the most inopportune point of all for bullet release
is when the shock wave is at the muzzle. For OCW
OCW theory comes from examining barrel
afficianadoes this area is referred to as the
behaviour which suggests that the initial shock
“scatter node” because it will produce a scattered
wave, generated by the powder charge’s ignition,
group, throwing flyers at random. This scatter node
travels at the speed of sound in steel (about 18,000
area can be easily seen
during an OCW test, and
generally 1 to 2 powder
graduations above the
scatter node charge will
have you right in the OCW
accuracy node.

The OCW load or

accuracy node would
have the optimal amount
of powder to push the
bullet at just the right
speed to exit the muzzle
when this shock wave is
at the chamber end of the
barrel. Usually there will
a .1 of a grain difference
in powder charge weight
above and below this
optimum point where the
303 Brass point of impact on the

48 Target Shooter
target is little different because the shock wave is still
towards the chamber end. This is the OCW midpoint
you are trying to find because the end result is that
small differences in charge weight will make no real
difference in point of impact and therefore group size.
Set your charge weight so that the shock wave is
towards the muzzle end and that extra 0.1 of a
grain could throw a real flyer! The OCW load will be
similar but not necessarily identical in two
different Lee Enfield No.4 rifles because different
manufacturers, bore size, wear and bedding will
produce variations. There is no substitute for
testing and it makes sense that there will be
different optimum accuracy nodes with different 41.1 reload
velocities. A starting point will be to decide
whether near service velocities are required or magazine fed or single shot – mine are 3.075 inch OAL.
lighter loads for shorter ranges. If only shooting at All the usual reloading caveats apply as I have found
200 yards then a lighter load makes sense – less these loads to be safe in my rifle but readers should
wear and tear on the rifle and extra reloads from that start at least 10% below this load, especially if using
expensive tub of powder. However, if like me your different brass or bullets. Another tip is to neck size
shooting extends to 600 yards and beyond then
velocity is important – in this case something close
to 2,440 feet per second with a 174 grain .303 bullet.

My favourite handload of 42.5 grains of

Reloder 15 behind a 174 grain Sierra MatchKing
in Greek HXP brass will achieve the service
velocity and a bit more in some tight rifles or
longer barrels. I did not have the time to conduct a
full OCW test but I did test a load that I had picked
up from a web forum that is the talking shop for OCW
reloaders http://practicalrifler.6.forumer.com One of
the members had tested different loads in his Lee
Enfield No.4 using the same components that I use.
He concluded that 41.0 – 41.3 grains of Reloder
15 was the OCW with groups hovering around the
one inch mark. Drop to 40.7 grains or increase to
41.5 and the group opened up to almost two inches.
I tested the 41.1 load against my 42.5 and
achieved groups in my No.4(T) Sniper Rifle of
1.80 inches (4 in 1.1”) compared to just over
one inch with my load. Overall cartridge length
will be determined by the type of shooting,
No4 T Sierra
Kynoch
the brass for as long as possible before full length
resizing. This will extend the life of your brass and
also make it more accurate but you will need to
segregate your brass if shooting more than one rifle in
.303 calibre. Neck resized ammunition can get a bit
tight to chamber so is best NOT used in rapid fire events.
I also used a 90 year old P14(T) sniper rifle to test
some of these loads with the Reloder 15 load of 42.5
grains behind a Sierra shooting in to 1.5” (4 shots
within an inch). I also tried some batch weighed
Sellier & Bellot 180 grain Boat Tail bullets with a
light load of 40.5 grains of Reloder 15. These shot
surprisingly well at under two inches but I would
stress the need to batch weigh the bullets because
the variation is far greater than the Sierra bullets -
but then they are half the price. I would certainly use
S&B bullets for the rapid fire or snap targetry at 200
yards but be prepared for a change in elevation as
they shot 4.5 minutes low at 100 metres in the P14(T).

Target Shooter 49

P14Sierra
The results are tabulated below including my earlier
tests with commercial loads
Ammunition P14(T) No.4(T)
Greek HXP 2.93” 4.50”
Prvi Partizan 3.15” 1.87”
Kynamco Match 1.50” 1.50”
Reloder 15 42.5 Sierra 1.50” 1.15”
Reloder 15 41.1 Sierra - 1.80”
Reloder 15 40.5 S&B 1.95” -
I can’t help but point out the tremendous results
from Kynamco’s .303 Match – a commercial
loading but using many of the components that I
50 Target Shooter
favour -174 grain boat tail Sierra MatchKing heads
loaded in to Greek HXP Brass. If you are not in to
reloading then this ammunition may equal some of
the best handloads – visit www.kynochammuni-
tion.co.uk for more details. On the subject of brass
for reloading I would always recommend boxer
primed HXP but
recent use of Prvi Partizan brass indicates that this
may be even better. It is certainly stronger in that
critical web area about 1/3 inch or 8mm above the
rim which is where .303 brass stretches. See the
visible line in the picture of the middle HXP case fired
out of the No.4(T), the lower Prvi Partizan case fired
from the same rifle hardly exhibits any stretching
whilst the upper case was fired out of the P14(T). I
haven’t got any pictures of Sellier & Bellot once fired
brass but I have seen a friend have total case head
separation on virtually every round on the first reload
using this brass. S&B brass has the reputation of
being very thin and therefore weak in the web area
above the rim – I would not recommend it for reloading.
That concludes the article but I would like to leave
readers with one message – if you really want
to get the best out of your .303 then start
experimenting with safe reloads – you might be
surprised at how accurate these old rifles can be but
take it slowly and read up on the subject if you are
a novice.
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SS06.09/58/a
 Target Shooter Project Rifle – Part 2

Vince Bottomley
In June’s issue of Target Shooter we gathered Above - The AI’s aluminium skeleton is revealed
together all the components for our first ‘project when the plastic side-plates are removed. Note
rifle’ build. To re-cap, this will be a tactical-style cut-out for the Surgeon’s integral recoil-lug
rifle based on the American Surgeon action and the The Surgeon action takes a few design ideas from
Accuracy International stock. Our barrel will be the Remmy 700 in that it uses the Remmy spring
case-extractor and a similar barrel-tenon design
utilising what Remington call their ‘ring of steel’. In
other words, instead of the bolt simply running up
to the back of the barrel, the bolt is recessed into
the barrel. This ‘overlap’ is designed to give better
‘containment’ in the event of a blow-up, so no bad thing.

The standard Remington tenon is just 0.700

Surgeon action with the Jewel trigger installed,
plus newly chambered barrel with reamer and ‘go’
gauge. Note the bolt-nose recess in the barrel,
a safety feature which Remington call their
‘ring of steel’
inches in length. Most custom action builders
seem to think that this is a bit on the short side,
especially as we are often using a much heavier
barrel with a custom action. Most custom actions
therefore have a barrel-tenon of an inch or more and
so it is with our Surgeon, so we are really getting the
best of both worlds. Although the two-lug Surgeon
action may appear to be similar to the Remington,
‘fit ‘n’ finish’ is superior, though as this is a ‘field’
action, designed to be used in extreme conditions,
tolerances are not as tight as say a BAT or Barnard.

a Bartlein 6.5mm, chambered for the 6.5x47

Lapua cartridge. This configuration works
exceedingly well and if you are looking to build
an accurate reliable tactical-style rifle, you
won’t go far wrong with these components.
If you recall, our American Surgeon action came
from South Yorkshire Shooting Supplies, the
Bartlein barrel from Fox Firearms and the
trigger, a Jewel supplied by Jackson
Rifles. All these companies are advertisers and
supports of Target Shooter. Our rifle stock will
be a folding example of Accuracy International’s The ‘V’ block bed in the AI stock will
tactical stock and was obtained secondhand.
accommodate almost any circular
action

52 Target Shooter
Our Bartlein ‘gain-twist’ barrel is now set up in the than standard. For a tactical rifle, a proper tight-neck
lathe, through the headstock and we have ‘clocked’ would be a step too far. Tight necks should only be
both ends so that we have the barrel running used in controlled conditions – like benchrest –
pretty true – to within a couple of tenths of a thou. Of where the shooter is under cover, protected from
course, we have only clocked the ends – who knows the elements and there is ample opportunity to clean
what is happening along the rest of the barrel? We every few shots. For a true tactical rifle, which
have however used a DTI with a three-inch long could be subjected to rigorous use in the field in all
‘finger’ so that we can at least clock the barrel in the weathers, I would not even recommend a ‘no-turn’
area of what will be the chamber neck. All gunsmiths neck but our rifle is really just at arget rifle in the
have their own theory on such matters but the tactical style and will be limited to range use.
important thing is to be happy with yourself that you
have done the job to the very best of your ability. Once the chamber and tenon work is finished,
we can spin the barrel around and cut the crown.
For those who wish to know more about this This again requires careful setting up through the
fascinating process, a well known American gunsmith headstock, exactly as we did for the chamber
by the name of Gordy Gritters has produced a very work. I’m cutting a recessed crown though we may
interesting DVD showing the whole process of end up installing a muzzle-brake eventually but
chambering and threading a barrel. It’s available I don’t have one to hand at the moment. Although
on-line from the man himself – try a Google search the 6.5x47 cartridge gives a very modest recoil –
if you want one. especially with the 108 grain Scenar bullet – it’s nice
to be able to maintain a ‘hold’ on the target for any
Our chamber reamer again comes from Pacific follow-up shots and for this, a brake is a great help.
Tool & Gauge in the USA. They offer ‘wildcats’ at
the same price as standard reamers so, as most of
The barrel can now be nipped-up on the
mine are non-standard, I tend to use PT&G most of
Surgeon action and we can install the Jewel trigger.
the time. My 6.5x47 Lapua reamer has what I call
The Remington-style triggers are usually retained
a ‘no turn’ neck. In other words, we don’t need to
with two steel pins though sometimes a trigger
neck-turn our cases but the chamber-neck is ‘tighter’
‘hanger’ is used. In the case of our Surgeon, it’s
identical to the Remington and no hanger is employed.
I’m sure that most of you are familiar with Just a matter of tapping in the two pins….or is it?
Lapua’s excellent 6.5x47 cartridge but here it
is with the 308Win. for comparison. In my I’ve installed a number of Jewel triggers and
experience, the Lapua will outshoot the 308 several other makes as well and the job is usually
even out to 1000 yards and gives much straightforward but not this time. For some reason I
reduced recoil, especially with the 108 grain couldn’t get the trigger to work reliably and ‘reliable’
bullet is THE word when it comes to triggers – safety must
be paramount.

I owe most of my gunsmithing knowledge to Pete

Walker of Walker Custom Rifles in West Yorkshire
so I decided to let Peter have a look at the trigger
and maybe learn something in the process. He
spotted the problem immediately and we soon had
the trigger working and breaking at one-pound
- about right for our tactical rifle which may be
operated with freezing cold fingers! Two ounces is
great for a benchrest comp. gun but don’t get too clever
with a magazine-fed rifle that will be shot off a bi-pod.

The advantage of the AI stock is that our rifle will

not need to be bedded. The Surgeon action will rest
in the machined aluminium recess which will offer
a pretty good bed. Although this type of aluminium
‘V’ bed is a great improvement over a simple inlet
in a wood stock, where ultimate accuracy is desired
a proper Devcon bed is essential. The original AI
military rifle employed a flat-bottomed action bedded
on a flat aluminium base which offered a superior bed
Target Shooter 53
to the ‘V’ block arrangement but the ‘V’ block allows
the stock to be used with almost any circular action.
When I initially tried the action in the stock, the
bolt-handle was touching the recess which is
already machined in the aluminium chassis, so a
bit of work with a file and Dremel is needed. It is of
course essential that the bolt-handle does not in any
way foul the stock – whatever your rifle – or accuracy
will be compromised.
The AI stock is very cleverly designed and the very
strong precision machined chassis is then clad with
two non-structural moulded plastic side-pieces.
Maybe ‘plastic’ is too simple a word as they are very
tough and held in place with several tiny socket-head
screws. Whether or not the ergonomics appeal is a
matter of personal taste – I quite like the way it looks
but I’ll deliver my final verdict after I’ve shot it in
competition.
Just a small amount of trimming is required to get
the plastic sides to fit neatly round the Surgeon
action and then it’s simply a matter of cutting a
couple of quarter UNF screws to length and bolting the
barrelled-action in place. Nonetheless, I have spent
more or less a whole day doing these simple tasks.
OK, so my day doesn’t always start at the crack of
dawn but if you have this work carried out by a skilled
gunsmith you must expect to pay for the work. Not
perhaps as expensive as a full Devcon bedding job,
which would be needed with say a McMillan A5 stock
but maybe not as straightforward as it first looks.
My chosen scope is a 5.5-22 Nightforce NXS
which will mount directly onto the Surgeon’s
built-in Picatinny rail using a one-piece A.R.M.S
mount. This is a very strong mount but the
Nightforce is a heavy scope and needs a decent
mounting system, especially on a rifle which may
be subject to the odd knock in the course of its life.
The matt-black stock and bead-blasted action
does little for the appearance of our rifle so our
final task - after proofing - will be a nice tactical
paint-job. I’ll be going to North West Custom Parts
for this as I’ve been immensely impressed by their
DuraCoat camo. paint schemes I’ve seen recently.
Wayne has a great little shop just on the outskirts of
Manchester and he does all his painting in-house so
turn around is usually quite quick. I should have the
rifle completely finished by next month and we can
sort out a load and see how it performs in competition.

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firearm solutions to suit you

Section 5 deals in all forms of these specialised weapons -

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54 Target Shooter
Shooting Website of the Month
This is top American rifle shooter and ballistics
expert Bryan Litz’s website. It is subtitled
“Technical Information for Rifle Shooters”,
which tells you partly what it’s about. More
fully it’s for those interested in understanding the
design and external ballistics performance of rifle
bullets used in long-range precision competition.
Don’t visit it if you want pretty images, or to drool
over shooting kit – it’s words illustrated by
drawings and graphs.
Bo.....oring! Maybe, but Bryan addresses the
serious competitor who wants to understand
the factors that influence results and make
informed choices about cartridges, calibres
and bullets. He originally set the site up four
years ago to host relevant articles he had
researched and written, and this is still its
main function. It also acts as an introduction
to his part-time ballistics consulting services
and markets his newly published book Applied
ballistics for Long Range Shooting (introduced in
last month’s issue of Target Shooter).
In Bryan’s words: “My sole objective for having
the website is to share good, technical
information with long range shooters. I think there
are many aspects of long range shooting that
seem mysterious and are poorly understood by the
general shooting public.
This lack of
information can
make it hard to
achieve success
and enjoyment
from the activity.
My highest goal is
to help shooters
enjoy their sport
better by providing useful information.”
So what do you get? The main part of the site
gives you access to 15 detailed articles as
Adobe pdf documents. Of particular interest
to British shooters is a trio that looks at, and
compares the performance of three popular
155gn 0.308” match bullets – the Sierra
‘Palma’, Lapua Scenar, and Berger VLD, and
a two-part study of the 168gn and 180gn 7mm
Berger VLDs popular with F-Class shooters.
Altogether, you get nearly 100 pages of
material on this and other subjects, top grade
information that other people originally had
to pay for through buying magazines! There
is a useful ‘Links’ page for precision and
long-range shooting forums, other technical sites
and sources of free downloadable ballistics
software, as well as a page on the book and how
to order it.
www.appliedballisticsllc.com
Target Shooter 55
A LOOK AT THE REDDING T7 AND
FORSTER CO-AX RELOADING PRESSES
(Part 1)

By Laurie Holland
presses were in carrying out a representative task,
then measure the resulting run-out and shoulder
position variations on the cases, the same die used
throughout. What I found was that there was some
variation in run-out values, but this was small and
could be put down to statistical variations bearing in
mind the [2 words deleted] sample sizes. What did vary
noticeably was shoulder position as measured on a
Stoney-Point / Hornady case headspace gauge, the
weaker and less rigid presses producing a shoulder
datum line position up to six thou’ further forward
than on the bigger and stronger models. The best
presses produced small spreads in the readings,
a couple of thou’ variation, maybe half identical.
Conversely, one budget turret press (that to be fair
is really only meant to be used on pistol cartridges)

The big Redding T7

The background to this study is a review of

presses that I undertook for ‘Target Sports’
magazine about a year ago. Although I researched
progressive models, those that I borrowed and tried
were single-stage or turret and when added to my
own collection, totalled 17 models: two hand, 15
bench. I full-length resized twenty to thirty 1980s Side view showing the rear
.308WCF Norma cases that had been purchased support for the turret and
as quality once-fired brass used in a TR match amount of space available (.308
on each press. The object of this exercise was case on the ram).
to see how ergonomic and powerful the various

56 Target Shooter
 a fortuitous result, as this was my own press
having bought it just before I started the review, and
The T7 uses a 1” in case you assume I was therefore biased in its
(25.4mm) dia. ram. favour, I can only say I wasn’t, especially as I hadn’t
got around to mounting and trying it beforehand.
There was another model that I wanted to try, but
couldn’t get hold of until the very end – Redding’s
T7 turret, which I subsequently bought. (With what
I’d started out with, and since bought, I own nine
presses from six manufacturers ranging from an
arbour type using Wilson hand dies to a
progressive. At some point, I’ll do a comparative test
on the results of loading one cartridge on five different
types to see how the resulting cartridges perform.)

Bargepoles
I’ll look at the T7 this month, and the Co-Ax next.
What I can say about them as a duo is that they’re
big, heavy, and expensive both costing over
£200. The T7 is the more conventional design
conforming to the traditional modified ‘C’ form and
looking like a huge mushroom, the turret incorporating
produced cases with a six thou’ variation. Obtaining seven die stations, the largest on the market. While a
consistent headspace (and adjusting the sizer die to single-stage ‘C’ has a fixed top frame arm
suit the rifle chamber) is important to the precision with a single die station, a turret model has a
shooter as headspace variations affect cartridge multi-station top that revolves around the upright
position within the chamber and can give variable leg and is ‘indexed’ to bring each die into play.
ignition, this affected by how much firing pin energy is Traditionally, turret models were mostly used for
used in pushing the case fully forward in the chamber. pistol cartridges, where three dies are involved
(increasingly four nowadays with the growing
Outstanding popularity of crimp dies) and if big and strong
If I didn’t regard any press as ‘bad’, I was more enough, appealed to the American shooter
impressed by some than
others. The two Lee
‘Classic Cast’ models
offer top performance
at remarkably low prices;
the classic RCBS
‘Rockchucker Supreme’
showed why it’s still the
single-stage press for
many. However, one make
really stood out, and one
particular press rang every
bell. The range was from
Redding, its three single
stage models (the ‘Boss’,
‘Big Boss’, and ‘Ultramag’)
proving powerful,
operating phenomenally
smoothly straight out of
the box, and providing
small case headspace
variations. However, the
outstanding press for me The turret with the full
was the Forster Co-Ax, a complement of seven
radically different design dies installed.
from the others. It was

Target Shooter 57
 used and the turret turned to different positions a few
thousand times, these problems got worse as
wear and tear produced an increasingly sloppy
turret fit. The more die positions, the harder the
manufacturer’s job, but Redding has used a
combination of good design, machining expertise,
and sheer size to get around these problems, the
downside is the weight.

Big
Make no mistake, this press is big! Some of
Die stations are machined into the cast turret – that comes from the bits needed to provide a
no steel liners used. Note the turret retaining / powerful tool. So we have a sturdy 14” long operating
spindle. Additional turrets can be purchased and handle with a large plastic grasping ball, heavy
easily swapped to handle additional cartridges. steel operating links with 5½” between pivot points,
who handloads a cartridge needing two dies for and a hefty 1” diameter steel ram. The main upright
his deer rifle on top of the three for the pistol / leg is just under 6” high, around 3½” deep, and is
revolver number. In such usage, the [5 words cast as an I-section for strength, massively wide
deleted] dies usually stay permanently installed. at the front. The operating handle, bottom end of
the press links and ram are all attached to each
If for no other reason, the big Redding had There is a tiny gap between
intrigued me by being the only model of this type that the turret and its rear support
benchrest shooting gurus Fred Sinclair and Bill that closes up as the press is
Gravatt recommend to precision rifle shooters as tensioned in use.
an alternative to big rigid ‘O-frames’. Normally,
precision shooters won’t touch turret presses
with the proverbial bargepole as the turret has to
flex around its spindle / retaining bolt on the main
press-upright a little – if it’s held rigidly, it won’t
rotate or at least require excessive effort. Then,
getting the machining and ‘indexing’ exactly right
so that each and every die is 100% aligned with
the ram / shellholder wasn’t feasible in pre-CNC
machining days, or at least not at a price that the
customer would pay. Moreover, as the press was

The supplied
primer arm other by a massive [2 words – cast iron - deleted]
moves out of casting down below. To support all this [‘cast iron’
the ram as it is deleted] metal, not to mention a near 6” diameter
raised on the 1.2” thick [‘cast’ deleted] turret, there is an integral
sizing stroke 19in² base that has around a half-inch thickness.
for the operator
to slip a primer As noted, the turret is just under six inches in
into its cup. diameter at 146mm for those who think
metrically, and most of its area is 1.2” (30mm)
thick, the seven die stations and the central
retaining / supporting bolt all located in slightly thicker
bosses in the casting, these running at 1.3” /
33mm. To support this little lot, not to mention the
weight of seven dies, the central upright leg of the
press frame deepens at its top to four inches and
bifurcates, a rear section 1.3” (33mm) wide and
0.64” (16mm) deep sitting right out to the rear edge
of the turret to support it under load. To let the
turret turn freely, there is a 0.014” gap between
the two, this closing up under load when the press

58 Target Shooter
 half fell within a one-thou’ modal range measuring
1.6185”-1.6195”. As I set my Forster .308W
‘Bushing-Bump’ sizer die to produce cases at the
rather larger headspace setting of 1.622” to suit my
F/TR Barnard’s chamber, no problems here then.
If I was being really scientific in my testing. I would
have had to carry out this exercise using the die in
each of the seven stations to see if the performance
varied due to any machining / indexing
imperfections, but sizing and measuring 175
cases was rather daunting, and I thought I’d trust
Redding! (If this seems far-fetched, do you
As the ram is lowered to extract remember those long-range revolver shooters
the case from the sizer die, the arm on their ‘flying machines’? They’d find out which
moves back into the ram and chamber produced the smallest groups and
eventually pushes the cup through single-load that one ignoring the other five.)
the shellholder to prime the case.
sizes a case. I measured this gap using feeler Why?
gauges with the turret turned to each die position, However, this still begs the question that many
and it didn’t vary by more than a thou’. This support of you have no doubt been asking ever since
contains a spring-loaded ball bearing that does the setting eyes on the photographs – why would I, or
indexing job, locating in appropriately placed concave anybody else, want a muckle great lump of cast
depressions machined into the underside of the
turret. An optional 100-primer
capacity magazine fed
Smooth primer attachment can
[‘As with Redding’s single-stage models, the’ be purchased.
deleted] The T7 operated silkily straight out of the
box. As with other Redding presses, you need to
set the sizer die to put the press under tension so
the linkage ‘cams over’a little. In addition to this,
there is a positive stop on each side of the lower
frame casting contacted by the operating links at
full travel. As you’d expect, the press had no trouble
full-length sizing .308 cases, although as always,
extracting cases from the die took more effort than
pushing them in thanks to the effort of pulling necks
over the expander ‘ball’. This was despite their
inside walls having been lubed, but in fairness,
both cases and die are a quarter century old, and
modern dies employ much improved expander
shapes and positions. Spent primers fall through
the hollow ram and into a length of polythene pipe
that is a push fit on a stub at the bottom rear of the
ram. A nice piece of design sees primers fall straight
down and into the collector when the on-press
priming arm is retracted – most other presses see
half of them bounce out of the slot unless the arm
is there to direct them. The photos show the neat
on-press priming arrangement – of little interest to
me though, as I always use a hand-held priming tool.

How did the T7 perform with regard to case

measurements? Run-out was fine averaging just
under a thou’ on the neck. Headspace averaged
1.619”, right in line with big ‘O-frame’ results with a
spread of three thou’, albeit only one case each at
the extreme values of 1.617” and 1.620”. Just over
Target Shooter 59
 Spent primers are
neatly collected in
a polythene pipe for
hygienic disposal. Case-neck
run-out was
iron that holds seven dies, and how do I use it? To measured after
answer the second question first, I use it as a sizing.
single-stage press, batch-processing cases on one
die at a time, not turning the turret after each  Make / Model REDDING T7
stroke of the ram to do another job. Apart from Frame Type Turret – modified C‐press
anything else, it takes a fair bit of effort to turn Frame Material Cast iron
the T7’s turret, so it would be very tiring to Weight c. 23lbs
attempt semi-progressive operation. The No. of Die Stations 7. Designed to accommodate tall / Redding competition 
other answer is of course the facility to hold type dies with micrometer tops.
seven dies semi-permanently. I use this press Index Method Manual. (Push‐fit operating handle provided.)
primarily for smaller cartridges with the Additional turrets? Yes (changed by undoing a single large bolt). 
Height 14.5”
.222 Rem case-head size - .223 Rem and Depth 9.5”
.204 Ruger at the moment. This uses five Ram diameter 1”
stations (I expand .223 necks as a Ram travel 3.75” (for sizing, more for bullet seating)
separate operation from sizing). The other two Ambidextrous? Right hand operation only.
stations hold a Redding decapper die, and Priming Via a swinging arm pivoting from below mounted on the 
a Forster bullet-puller. What do I do when front of the press frame. There is a provision to add an 
loading cartridges with 0.473” case-head optional‐extra 100‐primer capacity tube‐fed slide‐bar 
type system mounted on the frame base. 
diameter then - .308W, 6.5X47L, 6.5-284N,
Spent primers? Via a hollow ram into a small diameter polythene tube. 
6mm BR Norma at the moment? We’ll move
onto that next month with a look at the Information www.redding‐reloading.com. 
Forster Co-Ax. Importer: Norman Clark Gunsmiths Ltd. 
(www.normanclarkgunsmith.com, tel: 01788 579651)

The key post-sizing measurement

was headspace which was held
within small variations on the T7,
this example measuring 1.619” a
typical result.

60 Target Shooter
 By Gwyn Roberts
This year’s annual Steel shoot at the excellent penalty that would be added onto your overall time
Mattersey range complex on July 12th was a at the end! Match 1 for the pistol calibre guns (GRCF
charity match in honour of its late Chairman Jim / LBR) was a straight forward stage with six Bianchi
Brown, who sadly died of cancer last year. Jim was plates set out at 10m. Starting loaded at 45deg with
probably best described as a “colourful character” as many rounds as you liked, every plate had to fall
who also happened to be one of the best revolver to stop the clock in each of the allocated 5 runs, with
shooters in Europe! This is always a great match to take every timed run to count. Simple enough, then it was
part in whether you are a novice or seasoned shooter, onto Match 2 for a bit of “2 position” shooting! This
as the R.O’s always go out of their way to help you one allowed a maximum of 20 rounds per shooter and
and make you feel welcome, and are a great bunch consisted of two banks of 10 plates out at 25m
of people! The main match is open to GRCF & GRSB requiring you to engage every target using a weak
rifles and LBR & LBP revolvers / pistols so you are shoulder / hand hold. The left hand bank had to be
spoilt for choice depending on what firearms you own. engaged from a sitting position and the right hand
bank from the kneeling position which to me was quite
This year each calibre match would consist of 4 stages amusing for 2 reasons. Firstly, I couldn’t adopt a proper
which equated to at least 120 rounds being needed to kneeling position because of a cartilage problem so I
finish each one. Looking at the match descriptions in had to “stand” upright on my 2 knees which isn’t a very
our squadding notice everything seemed to be around stable position to use, and secondly, was the size of
15m with a few stages out to around 25m, so it didn’t the plates that we had to shoot at from this position!
seem it would be too difficult to hit the targets, or so we I kid you not they must have been the size of large
thought! Typically, unless a particular match required plums and certainly provided us all with a challenge.
you to knock down all of the targets in order to stop Quite a few shooters struggled on this one and there
the clock, each plate left standing incurred a 5 second were quite a few plates still left standing after some
runs but it was a great match to shoot and gave plenty
Match 2 – Targets on the left, plums on the of opportunity for you to have some friendly banter
right! with your fellow squad mates when it was their turn
to shoot! Match 3 had 40 plates and you carried with
you a maximum of 40 rounds to engage them with.
The first bank of 10 plates had to be engaged from
behind a barricade, then moving forwards to the
next 3 shooting “boxes” with an empty chamber and
actions open you engaged a further 10 plates from
each distance. For those people who don’t practice
their reloading skills this stage proved to be very costly
time wise. Match 4 required 30 rounds for 30 plates
at 25m that had to be shot from behind a Bianchi
barricade. You could use it for support if you wanted
to, or you could simply shoot around the side of it as
long as you engaged 20 plates from one side and 10
from the other. Those who shoot the Bianchi match
certainly made up some time on this one and having
some “normal” sized targets to shoot at also helped!
Before switching over to the smaller calibre match, we
all had time for a quick fizzy drink and sample one (or

Target Shooter 61
 ber of people were a little bit too enthusiastic and
expended all of their rounds before managing to drop
the stop plate. This meant that they incurred a 15 second
penalty for failing to
finish the course of fire, plus additional penalties if they
missed other plates making it a very costly mistake to
be made. The simple advice of “just make sure you
hit every plate” falls on deaf ears many times during
a steel shoot; irrespective of shooting standard and
this is what makes them such a great pressure match
to take part in. Match 3 was the “pool” shoot with 14
plates split into two banks of alternate red and white
plates and a separate black stop plate. Shooting this
time from the standing position, you started with an
empty gun with the action open and on the “beep” you
stuck your hand into a bag and pulled out a golf ball
that could be painted either red or white. Once you saw
which colour you had drawn, you then loaded up and
Toni Tedesco taking a well earned break! had to knock down every corresponding colour on the
two banks before reloading to engage the stop plate.
4) slices of Jamaica cake that had been made by 12 Two mags of 5 rounds were allowed for the “colours”
year old Toni Tedesco, and very nice it was too! She with another purely for the stop plate so again it would
also managed to sell £51’s worth of it which will all be prove costly to miss too many with the first shot! Match
going to the McMillan appeal so thanks again Toni! 4 was definitely the one that I enjoyed the most as it
consisted of 22 plates and a stop plate which had to
On the rimfire matches, Match 2 had the targets set at be shot from the weak shoulder / hand only. Three 10
10m whilst all the rest were shot at around 15m. Match rounders were allowed plus another for the stopper
1 started off with an interesting array of 35 plates in and once again the plates weren’t all that big, which
mixed banks that were numbered from two to eight. seemed to be the case on every range we visited
Bank two had 2 plates together, bank three 3 plates during the day. Again, counting your rounds for the
etc, etc and you started off with 4 x 10 round mags reloads was the way to go and it’s surprising just how fast
plus another 10 rounder that could only be used to and accurate you can be if you keep your mind on things!
engage the stop plate with. This meant that you had 5
spare rounds in case of any misses, and quite a few In addition to the “main” matches the Mattersey crew
people were glad of them on the day for obvious also put up the Bianchi “Mover” and for £3 you could
reasons! This was a tricky stage as you had to shoot practice the whole 48 round course of fire, and this
everything whilst sitting in a
chair, and in numerical order
which meant that you could
not move to the next group
until every plate from the
previous bank had been
knocked down. The fast-
est way to shoot this one
was definitely to count your
rounds so that you always
had the last round of each
magazine in the chamber so
you could then simply drop
the mag, insert a new one,
then continue firing without
having to re-rack the action
each time. This is easier said
than done though especially The rimfire Match 1 needed plenty of concentration to shoot well!
when the banks where at
different heights, and in different locations making proved to be very popular on the day. I really wanted to
it pretty hard to locate the plate numbers through a spend a small fortune on this range but unfortunately
telescopic sight, but that’s life! Match 2 was a straight didn’t have enough time as there was also the shotgun
speed stage with 5 smallish plates and a stop plate speed range to visit as well as shooting in the Man v
that was shot 5 times, each with one 10 round maga- Man event. The shotgun layout has two arcs of 5 steel
zine and with all runs to count. Again, a small num- plates with a stop plate on each one that is wired up
62 Target Shooter
 definitely equalled out on the
smaller plates where shooting a pistol /
revolver with a red dot on top was no
match for a rifle with a magnified scope
on it! In the end, I think the results on two
particular matches made all the
difference between winning and
losing on the day. Match 2 in the
fullbore event which required you
to shoot the “big plums” from the
weak sitting and kneeling positions
certainly produced a wide spread of
overall times but Mick Tedesco had
no such problems on this stage and
went on to shoot an excellent match,
taking the overall win in the centre fire
class with a total time of 323.93sec. In
the rimfire class match 4 which was
the shoot everything from the weak
Using the barricade for support in Centrefire Match 4 was shoulder / hand stage, also produced
the way to go! some quite varying times and this is
to a large electronic score board. This displays the where I picked up some good time
“winner” along with both shooters’ time so that the which helped me to take the overall rimfire class with a
spectators can keep track and see who the guys to time of 143.14sec.
beat are. Pete Harvey and Byron Wood made sure
everything ran smoothly and safely on this range and As this years Mattersey Steel was a “Charity” match
quite clearly the two guys to beat were Pete & Jim no-one was expecting anything other than results and
Starley of Midway UK fame and eventually it was Jim thank you’s at the “prize giving” but surprisingly we were
who posted the fastest time of the day to take the greeted with two tables covered in goodies which were
win, along with an engraved tankard kindly donated a mixture of both raffle and sponsorship prizes. The
by Pete Whomersley in memory of one of his close main sponsors of the day were Midway UK who very
shooting friends. Their Win-
chester SX3’s are probably the
best section 1 shotguns cur-
rently available and performed
flawlessly, and owning one
is certainly on my wish list of
things to buy when finances
allow it! The Man v Man match
was made up of the top 8
shooters from the rimfire rifle
class from the main event
results and provided plenty of
friendly barracking from both
competitors and spectators
alike with nationalities and
woolly animals being the main
topic of conversation for some Pete Starley and son Jim enjoying themselves with their SX3’s in
reason! Like every other match the shotgun pit!
we shot throughout the day this
was also a very enjoyable shoot and again brought home
with a big bang, to only shoot as fast as you can hit the kindly donated over £500’s worth of shooting products
target. Missing, even by a few millimetres will cost you which ranged from chronographs to shooting bags,
dearly and the guy who eventually kept his head on the and everything in between. I’ve known Pete for over
best, was Adrian Ashby who took a very deserving win. 12 years now and he really is one of the nice guys out
In the main matches, both the centre fire Underlever on the shooting circuit, as both a competitor and match
rifles & LBR’s competed together along with the rimfire sponsor, and would like to thank him once again for all
semi auto rifles and LBP’s. The shorter guns definitely of the support that he continues to put back into our
had the advantage on each of the reloads taking just a sport at many of the major open competitions around
couple of seconds instead of 12 or more, but things the country! York Guns are also to be thanked for their

Target Shooter 63
generosity for providing 500 cartridges and some
section 2 pump and semi-auto shotguns to use in the
shotgun speed steels match, as well as some other
goodies for the prize table. Ruag Ammotech, GMK and
Tim Hannam also provided some excellent prizes to
be handed out, along with some very desirable hand
made leather holsters and belts made by various other
people. Mattersey RPC covered all of the range and
target related costs and also donated two nicely
engraved tankards for the 2 overall winners. They also of
course, thanks to the very professional and friendly R.O’s
provided us with an extremely enjoyable and safe days
shooting to whom we all extend our sincerest gratitude!

Cancer has affected the lives of many of us with

my father being diagnosed with it only three days
after shooting this competition but thanks to the
organisers, shooters and donators, they managed to
raise an amazing £1500 for charity on the day! It was
agreed beforehand that a third would be given to the
Help the Hero’s campaign, while Mick Tedesco has
chosen to donate his third of the total to the Marie Curie
Hospice in Newcastle and mine will be going to Cancer
Research UK. Thanks again to everyone involved and
I’m sure Jim would have been very proud of you all!
Centre fire Match Overall
Name Match 1 Match 2 Match 3 Match 4 Total
Mick Tedesco 24.98 86.42 130.02 82.51 323.93
Gwyn Roberts 26.29 99.19 128.32 79.02 332.82
Paul Stockill 34.33 94.50 116.57 90.78 336.18

Rimfire Match Overall

Name Match 1 Match 2 Match 3 Match 4 Total
Gwyn Roberts 52.40 24.65 34.28 31.81 143.14
Mick Tedesco receives his trophy from Pete Clive Ferguson 55.44 21.43 35.77 45.55 158.19
Whomersley Pete Starley 66.19 27.18 33.81 48.16 175.34

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John Nash and his miniature TX200 Air Arms Rifle

By Andy Dubreuil
John has been a member of Portishead Shooting winds and had a cross wind that was so heavy that
Club for around ten years now and can be found he had to aim 16ft off to the left to be able to hit the
every Sunday morning weather permitting sat at his target. This was with open sights as there were no
benchrest shooting his air rifle without a care in the
world. He just loves having a shoot just for the fun
of it, nothing more and nothing less.
Our John has been shooting since the age of 7 and
believe it or not, it was his mother that got him into
shooting, he was telling me the very sombre story
of how his mother was a nurse after the 1st World
War and was based at a hospital in the North West
frontier near to the Kyber Pass and at that time
nurses were with issued with a pearl handled .25
pistol. The sad part about this was that it was not
issued for protection but to take their own life if the
need came for it! It makes you think of the dangers
that were around at those times and even now with
the world as it is.
John reminisces that you could walk into a Post
Office and for 12/6 purchases a firearms license
over the counter, those were the good old days!
But his mother encouraged him to shoot and he
remembers that when he used to shoot in the
garden and if he hit the box at the end of the garden
he would run into the house to tell his mother “I’ve
hit the box mum” only to be praised and told to go
out and do it again, what a teacher.
John has been shooting for a staggering 71 years John with the rifle
and has seen and used all sorts of rifles over the
years and had many full bore rifles and pistols.
He tells me that in the days that he use to shoot scopes in those days and just used a cardboard
a 7.62mm converted P-14 rifle with a Cronenberg disc calculator and most times he was almost bang
barrel, he shot at Bisley on a day that had gale-force on the centre.
John has many shooting accomplishments -
Championship of Gloucester, Championship of
The detail in this minature rifle is amazing Somerset and Champion of Home Guard and a
room of silverware form when he was in his prime.
Unfortunately his shooting career was cut short by
a nasty car accident which left him with no less than
17 broken bones in his arm. The surgeons were
not sure if they could save his arm but after many
operations John was back on the mend but was not
able to pick up a rifle as normal and the Police took
away his firearms license. But he would not give up
shooting and went on to shoot air rifle and had tried
many different ones till came across the Air Arms
TX200.
The Air Arms TX200 is an under-lever spring-

Target Shooter 65
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66 Target Shooter

Its even amazing that this scaled rifle works
in every way as the orginal
action air rifle and is a great rifle but quite heavy
compared to some of the more modern air rifles
of today. John’s accident made it difficult for him
to carry on shooting in the normal way and being
the inventive person he is, he bought a camera
tripod that he converted to rest the rifle on so that
he could shoot – true dedication. A friend one day
saw him shooting off this tripod and said to him
that he needed to get a lighter gun, well this got
John thinking and being the joker he is he made a
cardboard cut-out of the TX200!
John had been a engineer most of his working
life and had a workshop at the back of his house
where he would do some tinkering now and then
and it dawned on him that maybe he could make a
miniature version of his TX200, but at the same time
why not make a miniature that actually worked!
So John got to work, taking his TX200 apart and
measuring every single component so that he
could make a 1/3rd version of the air rifle. His first
one took him only six weeks to complete. The hard
part for him to make was the springs, on his first
attempt he had look around for the smallest
springs he could find and even tried springs from a
throw-away lighter but they were not small enough,
so John even had to make these by hand and then
temper them to give them stability, this in itself took
him a fortnight to make.
Once he had completed the rifle, he then turned
his attention to making a scope to fit onto the rifle
and he wanted this to be as real as possible and
working. But at the time when John began this
project there was no manufacturer able to provide
him with lenses so small, but he didn’t let this put
him off and got hold of some cellulite and cut them
to shape and even scored a crosshair to make it
as real as he could. This wasn’t just a replica, it
is an actual working model and he did want to go
that extra yard and actually make pellets for it but
there are limitations to some things and John used
copper wire that was the same size as the bore.
John could actually cock the little miniature rifle
and load it with these bits of wire and fire it and
to his amazement they were coming out at 50 feet
per second. The last thing John did was make a
two-stage trigger for the little rifle. I admire John’s
patiece and engineering skills to make such an
amazing thing but to make it so that it actually
worked is just on another level.
It wasn’t long before the word on John’s
achievements got out due publication in a
magazine. John received letters from Europe,
America and even from as far away as
Australia but a gentleman from London caught his
attention as he was bed-ridden seriously ill and
wanted to purchase the little miniature rifle, so John
forwarded the rifle onto him and then went about
making another for his grand children. With John’s
health he could not continue making these rifles
even though many people wanted one but he
decided to make a third one for himself which he
still has today. It’s almost a decade ago that John
started this and he keeps the miniature Air Arms in
its own little gun bag in a very safe place. John told
me that he did see the original that the gentleman
in London had purchased for sale in a magazine
after he had passed away for £400.
... and yes even ths scope works. Amazing!
John now has an Air Arms S410 which he has
modified and loves benchrest shooting and in
John’s own words “God willing I will be taking
part in the UKBR22 Nationals in August here at
Portishead”. It just goes to show it’s never too
late even if you’re in your late 70’s to take part in
competition and I look forward to seeing John
taking part and hopefully picking up a medal or two
at the nationals.
Target Shooter 67
 Gun of the Month
This month’s Gun of the Month was easy. This is bag-rider and re-finished the whole stock.
the gun – and the man, Gary Costello – that won
the ICFRA World F Class Championships in the The rest by the way is a Farley ‘joystick’ rest
last week of July at Bisley, beating over 200 of from America.
the best F Class shooters from around the world.

Chambering is 7mm-270WSM and the rifle

was built by American gunsmith legend Alan
Warner. The action is an aluminium Stolle
Panda with left-port, right-bolt configuration.
Trigger is of course a Jewel and the scope
is a March 10-60 mounted in Kelbly rings.

There is a bit of history with the Alex Sitman

Master Class laminated stock. It was broken in
two at the thumb-hole during shipping and at
first it looked as though it was scrap and might
have to be re-stocked but Gary took it along
to his gunsmith, Pete Walker of Walker
Custom Rifles in West Yorkshire and it came
back better than new. Pete also in-letted the
underside of fore-end for that aluminium

68 Target Shooter
EAST GRINSTEAD -
THE CLUB ON THE MERIDIAN - OR IS IT?

Club Feature
roofed shooting facility was constructed. The
Felbridge Rifle Club remained at the site for some 15
years attracting some 70 members, some of whom
are pictured in1948. Gwynne Powell remained a
member of the Club until his death in 1990.

The facilities were basic and maintenance

Rifles 1909 - By kind permission of the
Felbridge & District History Group
intensive. On one occasion the building collapsed in
high winds and later suffered a fire. Locals claimed
to have heard the ammunition exploding. However,
purchasing the land proved to be a shrewd move as
the plot was sold for development in 1965,
providing funds for the construction of a new range.

The East Grinstead Target Shooting Club (EGTSC) In 1964 Gwynne Powell was instrumental in
is set in rolling parkland comprising the former
grounds of East Court Mansion close to the centre
of the town. The Club specialises in prone 0.22”
target shooting, having an indoor 25 yard range and
an outdoor 100/50 metre range. It has one of the
best Clubhouses in the South East.
Target shooting clubs have been active in East
Grinstead for at least a century. The Sussex
County Daily Telegraph Shield shows the East
Grinstead Miniature Rifle Club as winners in 1909.
Some of the team may well be included in the
picture ‘Rifles 1909’. Although there does not
appear to be any direct link with the former East
Grinstead miniature rifle club, EGTSC is proud to
be carrying on the tradition.
The origins of the current club can be traced to the
end of World War II. In 1945 members of Felbridge
Platoon, 9th Surrey Battalion Home Guard based
at Hobbs Barracks north of East Grinstead were
looking for some social activity to keep the unit
together. Arnold Kelf, resident in the area since
1930, told the story when he was interviewed in
1978. The first idea was darts, but then came the
idea of a Rifle Club. He advertised in the East
Grinstead Courier and his first response was from
Mr Howell ‘Gwynne’ Powell. Felbridge Rifle Club 1948 - By kind
Using Gwynne’s local knowledge land was acquired permission of the Felbridge & District
at Imberhorne Lane, Felbridge, and an asbestos
History Group

Target Shooter 69

Shooter’s eye
yard ranges
negotiating a new site leased from East Grinstead
War Memorial Limited, a charity responsible for
administering land gifted to the town in 1946 by
ocal benefactor Alfred Wagg (of Schroder Wagg).
Wagg’s intention was to provide a memorial to those
people of East Grinstead who lost their lives in the
Second World War. East Grinstead War Memorial
Ltd (EGWML) was incorporated in 1949 to provide
and maintain the estate and to encourage and
promote public recreation, education and other
charitable projects. Together with East Grinstead
Town Football Club, EGTSC are tenants of EGWML,
to whom we are most grateful for their ongoing
support
Construction of the new range began in 1965 with
most of the work done by the members who
included some professional builders. They did a
good job. The Clubhouse and facilities remains one
of the best in the South East, including a full size
snooker table, central heating, male and female
toilets. Building work continued and the outdoor
range was opened in 1967. The Club was firstly
renamed the ‘Felbridge and District Rifle Club’ and
became the ‘East Grinstead Target Shooting Club’
in the early 1990’s.
The eighties was the high point of the club with
a membership of some 110. This prompted
significant use of the snooker table as members
waited for their turn on the firing point.
On one occasion the Club played host to Granada
TV who needed facilities to shoot some film of
Malcolm Cooper shooting air rifle for part of a
children’s TV programme. They spent the whole
day setting up for each shot, filming for a minute
or two and then resetting for the next shot. By the
end of the day they had captured some 30 minutes
of film. This had the benefit that Malcolm and his
wife Sara, both being of Olympic standard, had a
lot of spare time and spent most of it chatting to the
members. The highlight of the day was when we
70 Target Shooter
found out just how
good Olympic
standard is. Malcolm
had come equipped
for the air rifle filming
so he had to borrow
a jacket, rifle, and
sling to show the TV
crew some 0.22 rifle
shooting. Having
strapped himself in
his first shot was a
nine at 3 o’clock. He
view of the 50m and 100 adjusted the sights
and his second shot
was a spot ten at
4 o’clock (i.e. very
slightly off centre). He adjusted the sights again.
The remainder of his shots were all spot tens!
The Greenwich Meridian Line crosses the 100
yard range a few metres away from the firing point.
Occasionally someone with a Satnav says that the
line is not on zero degrees longitude and must be in
the wrong place. In fact it is not zero at Greenwich
either. So what’s going on?
Satellite navigation refers to an internationally
agreed ‘Prime Meridian’ maintained by the US
Department for Defense. As everything on the
Earth is moving about due to tectonic plate shift an
‘average’ position for the network is established.
Currently zero degrees longitude in the UK is about
100m east of the Greenwich Meridian Line. So,
yes, EGTSC is still the Club on the Meridian.
The Club hosts a Double Dewar open shoot every
year in April followed by an open English Match in
September. While the majority of competitors come
from adjacent counties entries from Birmingham,
Devon, Sunderland and Jersey are not unknown.
Over the years, several of our members have used
the facilities for training of several hours a day
required to achieve the necessary standard to shoot
for England and Great Britain. Some have made
the grade and returned from Commonwealth and
Olympic Games with medals of various colours.
The Club currently has around 60 members and
continues to encourage more people to take up
target shooting. We shoot a large number of postal
competitions and run our own 25 yd, 50 and 100m
e-mail scored Meridian Leagues. If you need a
good competition without postal charges for
target scoring the EGTSC Meridian League is worth
a look. Check out the Club’s Website on www.
egtsc.co.uk . New members are always welcome.
Graham Rowcroft
Chairman, East Grinstead Target Shooting Club.
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The Third F Class World Championships

By Vince Bottomley
The F Class World Championships are held
Shoot in a kilt – but only if the wind is blow-
every four years, with the inaugural event held in
Canada in 2001. This was followed by South Africa ing towards you!
in 2005 and four years later we are now at Bisley. Britain F Class Association was formed.
Membership quickly doubled – and trebled as GB and
Mik Maksimovic shot as part of the GB team Continental shooters discovered a sport which was
in the two previous shoots and, when the third both challenging and great fun. League shoots were
Championship was awarded to Bisley, he was held up and down the country and we now have an
determined to put together a team capable of taking established calendar based around Blair Atholl in
on the very best long-range riflemen in the world and Scotland, Diggle in the north west and of course,
hopefully beating them! Bisley.

Mik’s quest started on a freezing cold For those who enjoy competing with the 308
November morning in 2005 at 8.30am on Winchester cartridge, the GBFCA has followed the
Bisley’s Stickledown Range. Mik had thrown out a
rest of the world and added an F/TR Championship
challenge to GB F Classers to come and shoot. We did.
and we are now beginning to attract some
Forty odd shooters turned up and the Greatsponsorship – mainly from Aimfield Sports and
Sightron but
hopefully more will
The successful GB Open Team working as a
follow.
well-oiled machine.
It was decided that
the top places in
the GBFCA League
for 2008 would form
the basis of the
two GB Teams to
contest the World
Championships
and two team
captains, Des Parr
(Open) and Stuart
Ansem (F/TR)
were appointed.
The Open Team
will consist of eight
shooters and the F/
TR, four shooters.

72 Target Shooter

Organiser Mik Maksimovik sorts out
another problem – now he can take a
well-earned break!
Following a day of practice on the Sunday,
the event opened with the World Individual
Championships on the Monday and Tuesday.
Competitor Les Holgate has documented this part
of the event in his Long View column elsewhere
in Target Shooter so this article will be devoted
to the Teams event which was contested on the
Wednesday and Thursday.
Six nations fielded a Team in the Open Class –
Great Britain, Ireland, USA, Germany, Netherlands
and South Africa. Disappointingly, no Australian
Team and Canada, who’s George Faquharson
invented the discipline, did field a four man F/TR
team but not an Open Team. Encouragingly, Spain
bravely entered an F/TR team, the country’s first
foray into the sport of long-range rifle shooting.
What they lacked in equipment, they made up for in
enthusiasm. We hope to see more of them in the future.
Coming into the shoot, the American Team were
favourites having won in Canada in 2001 though
the host team took the honours in South Africa but
America’s Mid Tompkins had won the individual
championship. The Americans were posting a daily
‘blog’ and pre-championships, they sounded pretty
confident. The ‘Individuals’ on Monday and Tues-
day was a good indicator of who’s hot and who’s not
and although USA had some impressive individual
results, it must have come as something of a shock
to see that the top ten places in the World Individual
Open Class were occupied by GB shooters. In the F/
TR Class things were a little more encouraging with
USA having six shooters in the top ten, though GB
shooters Russell Simmons and George Barnard took
first and second places withAmerica’s Stan Pate in third.
Team America hosted a soiree on Tuesday evening
in the Canadian Lodge which was well attended
and gave competitors an opportunity to mix and
socialise before the main event got underway the
following morning. For me it’s great to meet and put
a face to those internet ‘nom de plumes’ and I got
the opportunity to speak with Darrell Buell, Captain
of the US F/TR squad. With all the development
we have recently put into F/TR, I was surprised to
learn that two of the Team - John Weil and Monte
Milanuk - would be shooting standard factory Savage
FTR rifles as part of the Savage sponsored team.
The course of fire for the Teams was exactly the same
as for the Individual event – 800, 900 and 1000 yards
on each day with two sighters and fifteen to count
at each distance. For those unfamiliar with World F
Class team shooting, this is a coached shoot and
individual shooters will string-shoot with the help of
their wind-coach and a plotter. For Day One on
Wednesday, it was dry with a testing wind but none
theless some impressive scores began to appear. It
soon became apparent that the battle for Gold would
likely be between GB and the USA though South Africa
were staying in touch. After 800 yards only one point
separated GB and USA with South Africa 9 points adrift.
After 900 yards, GB opened up a useful
six-point lead which had increased to 19 points
by the close of shooting. Day One scores were:
Great Britain 1719.116v
USA 1700.126v
South Africa 1688.110v
Germany 1631.98
Ireland 1618.80
Netherlands 1569.82
Barring an absolute disaster, the fight for Gold
was going to be between GB and the USA.
The GB team uses the 7mmWSM whereas
the USA prefer the 6.5-284. The ideal Open
cartridge has been the subject of much debate.
Individual yardage winners:
800 yards John Brewer, USA 75.11v
900 yards Adam Brough, GB 75.5v
1000 yards Cherryll van Niekerk, SA 71.4v
Target Shooter 73
Incidentally, Adam Brough is just eighteen years old!
So how was the F/TR going? Answer – a bit
better for America – here’s how they finished day one:
USA 807.40v
Great Britain 785.43v
Canada 755.35
Germany 737.16v
Ireland 736.24v
Spain 646.10v
Individual yardage winners:
800 yards Matthew Wolf, Canada 74.6v
900 yards George Barnard, GB 73.4
1000 yards Jeff Rorer, USA 67.2v
Day One passed without rain and the forecast was
good for the final day. Conditions were indeed good for
the 800 yard stage and GB increased their overnight
lead to 36 points. South Africa were still fighting and
matched America at 800 yards, both with 571 points.
At 900 yards, going into the lunch break, GB pulled
further ahead and were now leading by 42 points
with only one yardage left. The F/TR teams were
still battling and GB had pulled back seven of the
22 point over-night deficit with a cracking 900 yard
shoot scoring 267.11v to the USA’s 250.10v and
strong shooting by Ireland had hoisted them into
third place, leap-frogging Canada and Germany.
The GB F/TR Team took the Silver Medal.
74 Target Shooter
We had a short rain-shower at the end of the
morning detail and more rain over the lunch
break but the final 1000 yard stage started in
sunny but blustery conditions – it wouldn’t last.
Again, GB took a whopping 17 points out of
America on the final 1000 yard stage which
was hampered in the final stages by a heavy
shower and although it lasted only a few minutes,
teams could not afford to stand down for too long.
Here’s how it finished:
Great Britain 3436.240v
United States of America 3377.234v
South Africa 3337.188v
Republic of Ireland 3218.158v
Germany 3188.154v
Netherlands 3134.160v
Individual stage winners:
800 yards Jeff Traylor USA 75.10v
900 yards Gary Costello GB 74.6v
1000 yards Larry bartholome 74.6v
Could the F/TR Team salvage some glory for
the USA. With a healthy 15 point lead it looked
likely but in F/TR at 1000 yards, it’s not too
difficult to be blown into the two-ring and big points
can easily be dropped. Well, the Brits did manage
to pull back a few points but the US Team were
 The victorious GB Open F Class Team receive
their medals.

strong and John Weil’s score of 69 was better Mik Maksimovik. He can feel proud of the GB Team
than several of the Open Class shooters managed and of Great Britain’s World F Class Championship.
at 1000 yards – and that’s with a factory Savage! The next one will be in four years time at Raton New
Mexico but the GB F Class Association
Final scores were: continues with its League shoots throughout the year
– visit www.f-class.org.uk for further information.
United States of America 1581.76v
Great Britain 1569.74v
Republic of Ireland 1508.47v
Canada 1502.59v
Germany 1423.33v
Spain 1258.19v

Individual stage winners:

800 yards Jeff Rorer USA 72.8v
900 yards Dale Rathwell Canada 70.6v The Gold winning US F/TR Team
1000 yards John Weil 69.0v

Prize giving was carried out on-range

under a clear blue sky and warm sun – the best
weather of the week. A Gala Dinner wrapped
up proceedings and everyone I spoke to was
well impressed by the way the Championships
were conducted. Chief Range Officer Doug ran
a pretty tight ship on the point but with good
humour and I heard few complaints regarding
marking and the hard working butts crew were
well applauded by shooters at the end of each day.

No event of this size is down to one man but there

is always a driving force and full credit must go to

Target Shooter 75
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EN352-2
 VINCE’S REGULAR COLUMN WHEREBY
ACCURACY NUTS CAN KEEP UP TO
DATE WITH THE ACTIVITIES OF THE UKBRA
Competitions
In July, we tend to take a break from
benchrest competition as this is the
main holiday period so although there
were no UKBRA competitions, the tenth
World Benchrest Championships were
held in June in South Africa. This is the
first ‘Worlds’ I’ve missed since 1999
but we did send a GB team as always.
Well done Martin Miles, Steve Newman,
Gerrit Van Rooynan and Phil Sammons
for flying the flag.
The Championships were established in 1989 and
the American team have taken the Gold Medal
every single year and usually the Silver and Bronze
as well. This year, there was a major upset and
Australia won the Gold! The American’s did get the
Silver but the Italians took the bronze – I wish I had
been there to see it.
Elsewhere in Target Shooter, you can read a match
report written for us by the Captain of the Kiwi
Benchrest Team, Graeme Smith, who is also
president of the World Benchrest Shooting
Federation. It sounds like there were other upsets
– like a bushfire which threatened the range and
halted shooting!
New stuff – Another British Action
A couple of issues ago, we carried a report on a
new custom action from Russ Gall of RG Rifles in
Aberdeenshire. I’ve seen the pictures but I haven’t
yet seen one in the flesh.
Now another new British action is about to hit the
streets. Like the RG Rifles example, it’s basically
a Remington clone and as this issue goes on-line I
have just managed to get this pic of the prototype –
Fox Firearms are involved but more next month.
Scopes
New UK Sightron importer – Aimfield Sports – have
received their first shipment of scopes and you will
recall that July’s Target Shooter carried a report for
the 8-32 model which is proving very popular with
the F Class guys. I’m currently playing with the fixed
36 power which weighs just 17 ounces and is a great
replacement for the now obsolete Leupold 36BR or
the Weaver T36.
My initial impression is that this scope will be a
winner – not just for rimfire and centrefire benchrest
but also for F/TR shooters where weight is a
problem. I’m really looking forward to shooting it
in competition so look out for a report very soon.
The Sightrons are made in
Japan and amazingly,
Aimfield Sports (via your local
dealer) are selling this scope
for an amazing £370 – a
bargain and much cheaper
than the alternatives.
Events
Our next benchrest
weekend at Diggle Ranges is
the weekend of 1/2nd August.
Any shooter is welcome to
attend and shoot or even just
come along for a look.
E-mail me for further details
on vinceb@6ppc.fsnet.co.uk
Target Shooter 77
 In association with

time we meet. Personally I am

working on a new stock for an air
rifle, which I hope to write about
in the September issue.

News just in is that the World

Rimfire and Air Rifle Benchrest
Federation (WRABF) has
finally been formed, with many
of the countries that have
supported the world postal and
world championship events
now taking a leading role in
developing these two sports. Bill
Collaros from Australia has been
voted in as president of this new
A discrete 10.5 pound rifle, based on federation, and knowing Bill I
the Annie 1913 action, with new Lilja believe he will do a tremendous
barrel job for all rimfire and air rifle
benchrest shooters.
As a reminder of this, we
have the second European
Well the nationals are coming up thick and fast. Championships next year in the
Only a month to go and I know a number of people Czech Republic – this being led by Ladislav Ninger the
are getting prepared. A few new barrels have been secretary of the ERBASF. The following year we have
winging their way into the UK from abroad. I know of a the second World Championship in the USA. So lots
few Lilja barrels that have been brought in, apart from going on and we look forward to developing the UK
the two that Brian Kelly and myself got a short time ago. team for both of these events.
Roger at South Yorkshire Shooting Supplies has Finally, there are a number of ‘local’ matches coming up
said that he has had a few other enquiries so that in the near future. A team from the UKBR22 has been
must mean that some of you out there are also invited to shoot in Germany during October. There is
considering it. Lilja also produce barrels for other also a match in the South, at Buxted club around the
actions. The lead time for this could be up to nine weeks. same sort of time. This is an open shoot and the type of
However, Brain bought his barrel originally for his 2013 thing we would like to see a lot more of. John Farrell has
action. He has now modified this for the 1913 action he developed this type of interclub shoot over the last few
has, making it a discrete 10.5 pound Light Varmint rifle. years. It’s brilliant to see it happening more and more.
It would be interesting to see what other modifications Any news you would like to put into this section,
people have made and to hear about the new kit that then contact me at; ukbr22web@yahoo.co.uk
has been brought in. This is the great thing about ‘head
to head’ matches, as we all learn something every

78 Target Shooter
 The Long View
News from the GB
F-Class Association
Round 3 of the F class league also coincided
with the third F Class World Championships
being held for the first time ever in the UK at
Bisley, so you would certainly get more ‘bang for
your buck’ with this one! This was the one not to
miss as we would not just be competing against
the best in the country but also the best in the
world - it was destined to be the largest gathering
of F Class shooters ever with approximately 140
Open class shooters and 70 F/TR competitors in
attendance. Of these, around half were from
overseas.
The competition would comprise a practice day on
Sunday, then individual championships would be
contested over Monday and Tuesday and
finally the Team Championships would be
Wednesday and Thursday but, as it followed the
annual Imperial Meeting, for some it would be three
solid weeks on Bisley ranges.
Even though the first day was Sunday, by mid
afternoon Saturday most of the competitors had
arrived and could watch the impressive closing
ceremony of the Imperial and take the opportunity to
renew old acquaintances.
For Sunday practice, some individuals and
national teams had booked their own practice targets
and the GB F Class Association had made a block
booking of five targets for members. Once the
shooting was over for the day the official opening
ceremony took place on the lawn outside the
Pavilion with each country raising its own flag. Then the
competitors adjourned to the Pavilion for a
complimentary free drink and buffet laid on by the
GB F Class Association. Competitors then retired
to their accommodation or in the case of the tour-
ing Diggle Dollopers, off to Team HQ - actually the
caravan belonging to Stuart Anselm, GB F T/R
Captain, complete with all necessary refreshments -
thanks Yvonne!.
On Monday, the first detail kicked off at 8.00 am
and the course of fire would be 2 + 15 at 800, 900
and 1000 yards with FT/R up first followed by two
Open details, all preceded by the free sighting in
session - sorry that was a typo - I meant blow-off shots!
The weather forecast wasn’t good but at 800 yards
it was dry and winds were light. Even though the
conditions were good, it is still a remarkable
achievement to keep all your shots in the five-ring
with a 308 but that’s what two shooters did, Mike
Miller (USA) 75.9v and Dale Rathwell (Canada)
75.7v, with Paul Phillips (USA) not far behind on
74.10v.
Conditions remained pretty much the same for both
Open Class details and it was hard to see how
much you could improve on those FT/R scores
but no less than 35 Open Class shooters hit the
maximum 75 and that shows how much F Class
has advanced in the last few years, even though
the target is smaller. Eventual Open Class winner
at 800 yards was Jeff Traylor (USA) with a 75.15v.
I don’t care how good your rifle is and what the
conditions are - to hit a five-inch diameter V bull
fifteen times at that distance on a range you are
not familiar with is something special. Jeff was
closely followed by Cheryll van Neikerk (South
Africa) on 75.12v and Shiraz Balolia (USA) on 75.12v.
At 900 yards FT/R were again first up but now
the weather was starting to change, the rain was
coming and the wind had increased but that didn’t
seem to upset the F T/R guys and Stan Pate (USA)
put in a remarkable 75.7v to win the stage. It would
have also put him in 3rd place in Open! Not far
behind him was Mike Miller (USA) with a 75.1v and in
3rd place Andrew Penfold (GB) 74.2v. Highest Open
score went to Gary Costello (GB) with an outstanding
75.11v, with legendary USA shooter Mid Tompkins in
second on 75.8v and third Robert Bock (USA) on
75.3v, these being the only three guys to shoot 75’s.
Back at 1000 yards, the wind had increased
Target Shooter 79
considerably, testing the limits of the 308
calibre and scores started to tumble as many
shooters explored the 3 ring for the first time. Some
mastered it though and top F T/R shooter was Ian
Dixon (GB) 69.2v with Russell Simmonds (GB)
not far behind on 67.4v, closely followed by Paul
Eggemann (Germany) 67.2v. In Open Class, in
similar conditions Grant Taylor (Scotland) won with
an impressive 74.4v followed by Gary Costello
(GB) 74.3v and USA’s Jeff Traylor in third on 73.3v.
With the shooting over for the day some went
home to lick their wounds but others could pat
themselves on the back for a job well done.
Day One results:
F/TR
1st Russell Simmonds (GB) 213.15v
2nd George Barnard (GB) 212.14v
3rd Mike Miller (USA) 211.12v
4th Terry Perkins (Canada) 209.12v
5th Stuart Anslem (GB) 208.10v
Open
1st Gary Costello (GB) 223.25v
2nd Jeff Traylor (USA) 222.26v
3rd Grant Taylor (Scotland) 222.18v
4th Middleton Tompkins (USA) 220.25v
5th Des Parr (GB) 219.21v.
(Please note that first place man Gary Costello had
only dropped 2 points all day!)
With Monday’s shooting over but the competition
only half way through, the evening was left to
80 Target Shooter
individuals to make their own entertainment which for
some meant a visit to the local ‘eat as much as you can’
Chinese restaurant. It would be an early night though
as several in the party were well placed in the
competition.
Tuesday’s forecast didn’t look good but
amazingly, the rain didn’t trouble us all day. Pity the
same couldn’t be said of the wind!
FT/R were first off again at 800 yards and after the
blow-offs it certainly wasn’t as calm as the previous
day with the wind ebbing and flowing and pushing
many out into the 4 ring in both FT/R and Open
Class but not Monte Milanuk (USA), using a standard
factory Savage F/TR rifle, he shot a stunning 75.9v
- a score that was good enough for third place in the
Open Class! Peter Scott (Wales) took second on
73.8v and third was Gary Rasmussen (USA) 73.7v.
Conditions remained similar for the Open guys and
again, those who could avoid the odd ‘four’ would
finish close to the top of the board. Eight shooters put
in 75 or better and top spot went to Brian Otey (USA)
with 75.13v, with Martin Townsend (GB) in second
on 75.11v and Rick Jensen (USA) third with 75.9v.
When we dressed back to 900 yards, the wind
had noticeably picked up and was also changing
direction considerably thus dropping the scores
for all but a few of the top shooters. In F/TR, John
Weil (USA) was ahead by two whole points with an
excellent 73.7v, again shooting a factory Savage,
followed by Matthew Wolf (Canada) 71.6v and Jeff
Rorer (USA) third on 70.4v. Conditions didn’t improve
for Open Class but that didn’t seem to make any
New F Class World
Champion Gary Costello –
for more details of Gary’s
rifle see our ‘Gun of the
Month’ feature.
difference to John Campbell (GB) who put in a 74.6v.
Next best would be Martin Lobert (Australia) 73.7v
followed by John Carmichael (GB) also with 73.7v.
The final shoot of the competition was at 1000
yards with the round-count increased to 2 and
20. The wind was even stronger now and 2’s
and 3’s were not unusual for FT/R shooters.
Highest placed was Stan Pate (USA) with an 85.2v,
with Russell Simmonds (GB) second on 85.1v
and George Barnard (GB) taking third with 83.3v.
These three were in close contention for the
overall title and it was not initially clear who had
won until the official scores were posted. The first
ever FT/R World Champion is Russell Simmonds.
Russell had won the GB F Class League the previous
year and has now proven that he is truly world class.
The top five places in F T/R are:
1st Russell Simmonds (GB) 437.23v
2nd George Barnard (GB) 432.23v
3rd Stan Pate (USA) 430.25v
4th Jeff Rorer (USA) 428.22v
5th Ian Dixon (GB) 424.18v
It was equally close in the Open Class and the whole
Championship could be won or lost at the final
distance. It was still tricky and the best at mastering
the wind was John Carmichael (GB) 94.6v, with
second place going to Dan Brough (GB) 93.8v with
Des Parr (GB) on 93.7v. in third spot. If you remember,
the previous day’s overall leader was Gary Costello
and with Gary finishing in 9th place at this distance,
had he done enough to win as some of his closest
contenders had taken points off him? The
leader-board had changed considerably - John
Campbell jumped from 24th to 5th. John Carmichael
jumped a staggering 26 places from 30th to 4th but
Grant Taylor held his third place and Des Parr’s
solid performance secured second spot. But Gary
Costello had done enough. He had put in a near
perfect shoot on both days and by holding his nerve
(and resisting the temptation to clean his rifle) had
now become the World Open F Class Champion!
Did it make a difference Gary? We will never know!
The top five Open Class competitors were:
1st Gary Costello (GB) 458.44v
2nd Des Parr (GB) 456.36v
3rd Grant Taylor (GB) 455.30v
4th John Carmichael (GB) 454.37v
5th John Campbell (GB) 453.36v.
But the drama for Gary and the rest of us didn’t
end there. There are trophies for the 800, 900,and
1000 yard aggregate of the two days and the
aggregate score for 800 yards was a tie between
Gary Costello and Larry Bartholome (USA) on
149.20v. The shoot-off provided a perfect dramatic
end to the whole competition as both competitors
made their way to the 800 yard point for a ‘one
sighter and five to count’ shoot-off.
Both sighters were ‘fours’ and with Larry shooting
much quicker than Gary it was becoming difficult
to figure out who was actually winning. Larry had
put in a 24.2v ( 2 v’s, 2 5’s and a 4). When Gary
stopped shooting I think several people like me
were unsure who had won but the man who had
held is nerve for the rest of the comp had still kept
his eye on the ball and could add this trophy to his
tally. Gary had shot a 24.3v ( 3v’s, a 5 and a 4).
So the individual championship was over and
for some the Team event was still to come. All in
all there were some stunning performances and
it boiled down to what it usually boils down to –
consistency. So congratulations once again to both
Russell and Gary making it a clean sweep for GB
shooters.
If you recall, this started off as an article on the GB
League shoot, so where does that put them League
points wise? Who knows and I doubt they care
bearing I mind that they had both just become World
Champions!
The final accolade must go to Mik Maksimovic
and his team at Bisley for arranging a comp this
big that went off without any incidents – well done
guys. If you are wondering who shoots what I can
tell you that all the top GB shooters had 7mm’s with
third placeman Grant Taylor building his own gun!
Bearing in mind the conditions we usually shoot
in, this proves what many GB shooters already
suspected ‘a good big ‘un generally beats a good
little ‘un!’
If you live in the UK and shoot F Class but didn’t
manage to make it to Bisley - you should have! But
if you want to attend the next GB League shoot
it will be held at Diggle Ranges 19th and 20th
September. Just email me at mrmister@tinyonline.
co.uk and I will send you an entry form. But don’t
hang about entries are limited. Who knows, you
could be shooting alongside the world champion.
For a full list of results please visit the NRA UK
website www.nra.org.uk
Target Shooter 81
 A regular column whereby Ken Hall keeps us up to date
with black powder cartridge rifle shooting in the UK.

Mark and Carole Silver discuss tactics

1000YD BILLY DIXON SHOOT – 18TH July 2009 outpost 1000 yards away known as Adobe
Diggle Ranges. Walls. (Well, Diggle ranges bunkhouse actually!

On a grey, damp July morning it was just
possible to discern the outline of Quanah
Parker’s leading scouts, as they attempted to
assess the marksmanship capabilities of the
band of intrepid defenders gathered at the small
82 Target Shooter
The year is 1874 and 28 men and one
woman are all that inhabit the few buildings in the
Texas panhandle, known as Adobe Walls.
Among them are several buffalo hunters
including Bat Masterson and a certain Billy Dixon,

The Indian targets through the scope
who was so proficient that it was claimed it took 15
skinners to keep up with him. Chief Quanah
Parker, son of a Comanche war chief and a
captured white woman, Cynthia Ann Parker, were
The winners Jake Rich and Carole
waging war on the white man in response to the
theft of his tribe’s land and had been persuaded
by a medicine man, whose magic made them
immune to the white man’s bullets, to attack
Adobe Walls. permitted as the only aid, no optic sights
On the morning of June 27th the men were
Winner John Gilpin cleans the bore
awakened around 2am by the cracking of
a collapsing ridge pole and so fortunately
were well awake as the attack was launched,
after some fierce fighting during which the
defenders suffered four dead, the Indians
withdrew to a safe distance, and for the next four
days continued to sporadically attack the outpost.
On the second day of the siege a group of
Indians appeared on a distant bluff presumably to
plan their next attack. Feeling more than a little
miffed by now, Billy borrowed a “big fifty”
(probably a Sharps .50/90) and let loose a shot.
Seconds later a figure was seen to fall from his
horse causing obvious consternation to the
Indians as they promptly withdrew to a safer
distance after stopping only to pick up their fallen
comrade.
Four days later reinforcements arrived in
the shape of the US Army and when it was
deemed safe to do so the distance was
measured from Billy’s position to the bluff where
the Indian was seen to fall, a total of 1,538 yards.
Billy later enlisted as scout with the US Army and
went on to fight in many Indian battles, and was
awarded the Congressional Medal of Honour for
his actions. For the rest of his life, Billy Dixon never
claimed the shot was anything other than a lucky one.
On his retirement he built himself a home at Adobe
Walls and was buried there after his death in 1913.
The Quigley Shooting association runs an
annual competition based on Billy’s famous shot
using modern replica firearms of the period, fitted
with open iron sights and fuelled only with black
powder. The competition consists of two stages.
Stage 1 being two sighters and ten shots to count at a
standard bullseye target to get the range and sight
setting. Stage 2 is again two sighters and ten to
count on a scaled down mounted Indian figure
target. Traditional crossed-stick rests were
allowed. The winner is determined by the
number of hits on the Indian, followed by hits
on the horse, one point being awarded for
hits on the backing which miss the silhouette.
With the infamous Diggle breeze snaking up
the valley and spasmodic rain showers, some
difficulty was expected. Although everyone
managed to score hits on the frame, only three
firers hit the mounted figure. Carole Silver, shooting
her Sharps .45/110 had fired eleven shots without
a hit, and then on her last shot scored a hit on the
figure to take third place. Richard Healey scored
a hit on the figure and three hits on the backer to
Target Shooter 83
take runner-up, but (dead-eye) John Gilpin took
the trophy again by scoring a hit on the figure,
three hits on the horse and three hits on the backer.

JULY QUIGLEY COMPETITION.

Saturday 11th July, weatherwise what a
complete contrast to the last Quigley . The
infamous “Diggle Breeze” was on its’ annual
holidays and instead, a barely noticeable wisp of
wind kept coming and going with unpredictable
frequency. As there are no wind flags on the
prairie, then we also don’t provide wind flags on the
range for Quigley events. This time, as the wind Ian Hull waits his turn at 400yds
was so slight, any variation was almost impossible
to detect and so most firers were caught out at
maintained his standard to score
46, with Ken on 38 and Dennis
Richardson on 36 points respectively.
Ken Dennis and Richard at 600yds
The final scores are as follows.
Pos. Shooter. Rifle. Score.

1. Richard Healey Sharps 45/70

101
2. Ken Hall Sharps 45/70
87
3. David Coleman Sharps 45/70
77

least once and made the odd “flyer”. The Quigley

target is most unforgiving and a miss on the 5 zone
by a fraction of an inch can result in a zero score.
Stage 1 at 400 yds, consisted of two sighters and
fifteen shots to score at the Quigley bucket at 400
yds. Richard Healey led stage 1 with 55 points,
just ahead of David Coleman on 47 points and

See if you can spot this one boys

Winner and runner up Rich and Ken

Ken Hall on 46 points. After lunch, stage 2 was the
buffalo silhouette at 600 yds and Richard

84 Target Shooter
Hunter Field Target News
percentage point lead over
that old FT shooter Dave
Pete Sparkes in action Ramshead. Dave beat me in the
shoot off in the world HFT champs
and I know what a tough competitor
he is, it’s tough at the top and it ai’nt
over yet. Chris Cundy who started
well has two hundred percents from
the first 5 shoot’s but has been a bit
inconsistent of late with a 53 only
good enough for a silver at round six,
I know the feeling Chris I was robbed
in round one too( sob!).
On to equipment and the
Bushnell 6500 scope is becoming
Things are ‘hotting’ up in the 2009 UKAHFT more popular and will feature in the
series, six of the nine rounds have now been last part of my HFT scope tests next month,
shot and with only three to go a clear leader in Pete Sparkes has used his to shoot two
the open series has immerged. That can really hundreds and a 98.305 out of his last three
be said for those shooting the .22 caliber grade rounds. German match rifles are seen more and
in the series; a certain Johnny Smith has won more too, mainly from the Steyr and Walther
all the six rounds so far. It’s fair to say he will stables. I have to admit it is not where I thought
win the title, I for one am very interested to see HFT should be going, i.e. the Same route as
if he can make in nine one hundred percents. Field Target shooting with mega expensive rifles
Moving to the 9 to 13 juniors group these is a but without a budget cap there is no way to keep
clear leader there too now. Larissa Sykes has the costs down and we all know that even talk
scored three hundred percents to have an of budget caps can cause major upset, look at
almost 20 percentage point lead over Luke Formula one. I started HFT with a Logun Gemini
Saunders who has scored one top score then an Air Arms 400, now even I have had to
so far. I then turn to the 14 to 16 age group, move to a Steyr in order to keep competitive at all.
where the stars of tomorrow are always With only 200 unique shooters in the open
found it is Ben Russell with 4 100% scores class at the six rounds so far attendance
who lead’s from Kyle Harrison. Ben was also is down on previous years but everyone if
smiling in round four at MAD when he won a new suffering under the current financial climate, it’s
Ripley Elite in the raffle at the end of the shoot. still good to see the sponsors digging deep and still
Nice one Ben. Two other shooters I would like supporting this sport. The big prizes still go to
to mention are “Little” Stephanie Kirkwood the person lucky enough to be drawn out in the
and Dave Martin. Both are shooting out their raffle so that is a major incentive to get out and
skins this season, with Steph scoring a 100% shoot one of the last three rounds in itself. I’ll
at Tawd Vale, I hated the course myself as I see you at Anston and Emley, if only to see if
only came away with a silver badge, shame! Johnny Smith can win again and if Pete can
In the Open title that evergreen master of the resist the surge of Dave Ramshakle. Oh, and
HFT art Pete Sparkes has two 100%’s and a 5 remember to bring your HFT pistol along too.

Target Shooter 85
 Gallery Rifle News

Quiet time of year with holidays around the COMPETITION CALENDAR

corner but plenty still going on to keep you all
busy. August 8 to 9 Frome 3 Gun
Shield Shooting Centre
This month you have the two meetings we
highlighted in the last issue. The Frome 3 August 29 to 30 National GR
Gun at Shield in Dorset and the National GR Championships
Championships at Bisley - two contrasting National Shooting Centre
competitions. Bisley

The first tests your speed, accuracy and the
ability to solve problems (if you don’t just go
blank after the buzzer!) while shooting – a
must for those who like a challenge and an
enjoyable day out at a friendly shoot.
The second is where anyone can compete
with the best in the country at the home of
shooting. Lots of your favourite events
and open to all comers – Bisley is not just
for the “elite”, it’s for everyone and many
of the events are classified so you can
come along with a realistic chance of going
home with a medal. (Don’t forget to bring
your certificate of safety and competence.)
September 19 Pinewood 1500
National Shooting Centre
Bisley
(Either contact the organisers direct or go
to www.galleryrifle.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.gal-
leryrifle.com for more news and information.

Next month there is only one in the

diary, the Pinewood 1500. This is an
old favourite with a good prize table The GB Team L to R is Jim Smith, Dave
Holt, Steve Lamb, Andy Pain, Andy
organised by another old favourite, Peter Watts.
Jarman, Keiran Barry & Gerry
Congratulations to the National Gallery
Rifle Team on a convincing win over the
McCarthy from the SSAI
Republic of Ireland and Germany at the
international match held in Fermoy, Co.
Cork. A special mention for Andy Jarman
who achieved a personal best of 1499 (ex
1500) – very few competitors have ever done
that. Only one more point needed next time!!

Also in this issue is another article in the

Gallery Rifle skills series. This month it’s about
stance – the first thing to get right on the line.

86 Target Shooter
PRACTICAL SHOTGUN CHAMPIONSHIP
MATCH AT CARLISLE 4 - 5 JULY 2009
Words and Photo’s by George Granycome
For those of us who live in the south, Carlisle
is undoubtedly a long way to go for a practical
shotgun match. Especially in these days of ever
more expensive petrol, but it was always, is now,
and looks to be for evermore, one of the most
worthwhile journeys as far as shooting is concerned.
Carlisle Small Arms Club is fortunate in having a
On the left was an 12 plate birdshot stage
properly built rifle range certified for solid slug. The
where the shooter started sitting at a table,
club always makes best use of this and this year
and next to it, what I always like the best, a
Josie Adam, tackling the Long Stage on her way to
coming runner up in the Ladies Standard Auto category.
put on three great slug stages, the first through
three apertures using paper targets requiring
two hits on each. The second, again with paper
targets, one round on each, but with a no-shoot
bobber obscuring targets, and the third an
unloaded start with some partial paper targets
and a clay pigeon. Slug clay pigeons are static
– this one was fastened to a stick stuck in the
back-stop, and for my money a static clay is a
much trickier shot with slug than a flying clay with
birdshot.
There were 24 shooters on the Saturday and
another 17 on the Sunday. Shooters were
divided up into three squads and as with all
IPSC matches each competitor had one-on-one
supervision by a qualified UKPSA Range Officer.
The slug stages were shot first and once we had
all shot these we found time to stuff our faces with
Carlisle-burgers at the on-range galley whilst
the three slug stages were transmogrified into
birdshot and buckshot stages. The day then
proceeded with one squad shooting these new
stages in the rifle range area whilst the other two
squads each shot birdshot stages to the left and
right of the main range.
long 24 plate stage with a lot of
movement, the last 15 yards being
steeply uphill. On the right was
a similarly large stage, but with
not so much movement but an
unloaded start with both cartridge
belt and gun on the ground. It
was tricky but fast and furious.
Finally, two speed shoots, one
shot from a seated position, and
then, on almost the same group
of targets, a weak shoulder stage.
Weak shoulder shooting always
sorts the men from the boys, or
the girls from the women and
even possibly the boys from the
women and the girls from the men.
The point of a good practical
shotgun stage is that it should not be a mere
blag, but that it should pose a question on how
best to shoot it, that question having several
possible answers. It is then up to the
shooter who must see all the angles and decide
on the best answer for himself – everything is
shot against the clock – the shot timer held by the
RO – and so speed is of the essence. So is not
missing! That is only the first bit. When his turn
comes the shooter must front up to the line and
actually load and shoot according to his plan.
Very often – almost always – the plan will go awry
and so the shooter must improvise, must change
his plan, must not panic, must stay calm, and
must think clearly.
Target Shooter 87
 selected and pre-assigned and had
their bottoms smacked at twice the
intensity of lesser matches.

At this stage of a match report it

is normal to say “pity about the
weather” well the weather was
fantastic! All-in-all it was a beano
of a match. Last year, on the way
home, braving the traffic jams on the
M6 we vowed never again to travel
north, but this year even the traffic
jams had evaporated and we arrived
home saying that we cannot wait for
Vanessa Duffy is making her way up hill in the long stage. next year’s Carlisle match.
Closely watch by Mike Darby the men’s Standard Auto Great prizes were awarded to the
winner. Having secured the win the previous day he is deserving.
now carrying out Range Officer Duty.
For those of you who are not
Neither is it any good to claim that your ammo familiar with the shotgun scene, on an away match
is poor or your gun is not working properly. like this many shooters will stay overnight at l
Practical shooting is exactly what it says, practical, ocal B and Bs or with friends and so there is the
and if your gun does not work it is your fault as you opportunity to party at a convenient pub or
should have fixed it beforehand. If your ammo is hotel. This year was no exception. Indeed there
wrong and does not feed or work the gun or sticks are people for whom a hangover is the norm – but
in the chamber then you should have tested it only after all the shooting is done and dusted.
beforehand. In many ways it is a pitiless sport, Practical shotgunners of the world unite! Go
unforgiving of poor equipment or a poor mindset. north! You have nothing to lose but your
There is only one slim nutmeg of consolation: if your prejudices! To find out more on IPSC
stage goes hopelessly wrong, you miss targets, shooting in the UK visit www.ukpsa.co.uk
you shoot down no-shoots, you fumble your loads,
you run out of ammo, the gun busts, you make a
Match Results
fool of yourself, you burst into tears, you can be
Standard Auto
certain that as you walk away red-faced with shame
1st 100% Mike Darby Blue Team
and embarrassment or sobbing with self-pity, you 2nd 90.98 Barry Sullivan Harlow
are the only person who feels that way. Everyone 3rd 85.76 Jim Starley Borders
else, including your best chums, will be falling about
laughing, even rolling on the ground with glee. 1st Senior Barry Sullivan Harlow
1st Junior Jim Starley Borders
The Match Director, the person who sets up the 1st Lady Vanessa Duffy Blue Team
match, as distinct from the Range Master who is
responsible for the range officials, safety and Standard Manual
indeed all activities within the range, on the day, 1st 100% Iain Guy Shield
was none other than the charlady of the UKPSA 2nd 97.48 Neil Smith Borders
herself, Vanessa Duffy. Under her direction the 3rd 85.74 Martin Davies Borders
UKPSA has recently promulgated guidelines 1st Senior George Granycome Shield
for match directors, and so as now being one
herself it behoved her to put her money where her Modified
mouth was. Never have we seen such a well run 1st 100% Pete Straley Borders
and efficiently organized match. Checking in was 2nd 93.36 Colin Alden Harlow
smooth and efficient. You never even noticed 3rd 86.43 Kevin Strowger Carlisle
paying the entry fee. Guns were properly checked 1st Senior Pete Starley Borders,
beforehand, and verification sheets issued and
filled in. Score sheets were not in gold leaf
but could have been. Range officers were pre

88 Target Shooter
Letters and News
We have had really good feedback from the last 4 issues and even more things to make us think
about how we can deliver a better magazine to you.

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. 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
AIM Field Sports Website NSRA 71
Air Arms 66 Osprey Rifles 34
Bratton Sound Gunsafes 71 Portsmouth Gun Centre Ltd 34
Bulzeye Pro - Eller Company 26 Prestige Airguns 3
Check-Mate Guns 51 Rhino Rifles 12
Craig Whitsey 51 RUAG Ammotec 29
Eley LTD 43 Rude Fat Dog 64
Equiifix Shooting Bags 76 Section 5 56
Fieldsports TV 50 Shooting Bags 51
Fox Firearms 29 Shooting Shop 76
G T Shooting 20 South Yorkshire Shooting Supplies 39
Green Leopard 76 Stockade Products Ltd 38
Guntrader 47 Targets Direct 71
Indelfa industrial electronics 76 Tim Hannam 17
Kynamco ammunition - Milbro Pellets 20 UK Custom Shop 51
Low Mill Range Website UKBR22 25
Merseyside Armoury 76 Viking Arms LTD 2
Midland diving equipment 25 Westlake Engineering 12
North West Custom Parts 10

Target Shooter 89
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September 2009 Issue

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90 Target Shooter