Target Shooter

1
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 7th month

.......of Target Shooter
Sections
13 Experience the
Imperial Part 2 by 6 Shooting Sport News

Chris White 9 Shooters Calendar

11 Support your Local Gun

Shop

25 McRee’s Precision Stock
20 GSG-AK-47 System by Vince Bottomley

review By Tim Finley 30 257 Roberts Ackley

38 The 12-50x56 PM Improved by Richard Wild
11/P Telescopic Sight
36 Gun of the Month
from Schmidt & Bender
by Vince Bottomely 50 Profile on Rory McAlpine
by Hayley Platts

58 Full Bore Ballistic Analysis

by Bryan Litz
44 Batch Testing
64 Website of the
at Eley Month
by Carl Boswell
71 Gallery Rifle Basic Part 4
by Gwyn Roberts

76 Training Body and Mind by

Andy Dubreuil

53 Sniper Rifle No4 77 Club Feature

Mk 1 Part 2 By Nigel
Greenaway 79 Malta, Sun, Sea, Sand and
More by Stanley Shaw

94 Letters

95 Advertisers Index
65 Commonewealth
Custom From Fox
Firearms by Laurie
Holland

4 Target Shooter
 Association Pages
84 UKBRA

85 UKBR22
Editor(s).
86 F Class UK Carl Boswell and Vince Bottomley
Advertising and Office Manager
88 Quigley Association Andy Dubreuil. email; admin@targetshooter.co.uk
Contributors
90 HFT News Vince Bottomley Andy Dubreuil Chris White
Tim Finley Laurie Holland Richard Wild
91 Gallery Rifle Carl Boswell Hayley Platts Bryan Litz
Nigel Greenaway Gwyn Roberts
92 UKPSA Stanley Shaw Ken Hall
Webitorial - October 2009
We are rapidly approaching the close of the summer season and what a summer! Not the weather of course but lots
going on in shooting – plenty of national matches, a World Championship and a new British World F Class Champion
and a Gold Medal winning GB Team!
During the coming months, some of us will go inside, preferring the warmth of a heated range rather than braving the
cold of the English autumn and winter. I don’t blame you but personally, I don’t mind the cold and I’m happy to continue
shooting outdoors. Winter is also the time when we tend to buy our new gear for the coming season and maybe order
a new rifle in preparation for spring, when the roller-coaster starts all over again.
This year, in addition to a hectic shooting programme, we have also had the added excitement of developing Target
Shooter. It has been a great pleasure and a privilege to reach out to you, the target shooter, via the world wide web but
convincing advertisers to go with an ‘unknown quantity’ is more challenging. With your loyal support however we have
survived – if not exactly prospered!
From a zero starting point we now average a phenominal 10,000 readers per month. Even though we offer a totally free
magazine, we still find shooters who haven’t heard of us and have yet to read Target Shooter. Yes, the on-line maga-
zine concept is new and shooting is a sport steeped in tradition and maybe, in some cases, the two are yet to meet!
To help with this we have bought-in new software, allowing readers to download the magazine to their own computer
and read it at leisure rather than on-line. Hopefully this will assist those who are less able to spend time reading the
magazine ‘live’ via the internet. You, our loyal readership base, are our most valued asset, as you are best equipped
to spread the word and get your fellow shooters acquainted with www.targetshooter.co.uk
Winter brings plenty for the shooter - we can look forward to Bisley’s Trafalgar Meeting in October and, although we
will not be officially promoting the magazine, we will be there, with the rest of you, buying bits and pieces, searching
out the bargains at the trade fair and hopefully having a relaxing day and maybe a shoot. At the end of October, it’s the
F Class ‘Europeans’ - another great weekend of competition and our writers will again be shooting alongside you and
bringing you the latest match results. It has certainly been a busy year for Bisley, which is great of course as it means
that our sport of shooting is far from ‘in recession’ and the trade fairs have provided a great opportunity for dealers to
showcase their products to a ‘captive audience’.
As Vince stated in last month’s Webitorial, we would like to have lots more information from clubs so we can help pro-
mote any events that you are running. We are here because above all, we eat, sleep, walk and talk shooting! E-mail
us with your news, be it local, regional or national and let’s get the whole of Britain shooting!
Until next month.

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

Andy Dubreuil - admin@targetshooter.co.uk
Copyright © Trinity Digital Publishing Ltd

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

Target Shooter 5
 Shooting Sport News

P armoor Stocks start from scratch with a complete blank.

Here’s a new stock and it’s made in the UK. If you would like to know more, e-mail
Red cedar is used as this is very light and stephen588@btinternet.com Suggested
the stock weighs in at just 24 ounc- retail price is £195 plus postage.
es and that’s before inletting. This
should make it the ideal basis of a
10.5lb gun for rimfire or centrefire
benchrest.
The shape is typical of modern
benchrest stocks and reminds
me of a Tom Merideth design,
with three-inch wide fore-end
and a half-inch flat on the
underside of the butt. If there is
a demand, inlets could be
offered but personally, I would prefer to

B olt Knob gun. Design is similar to the Badger Ordnance

OK, maybe you can’t get excited about a bolt
knob but I can! As soon as I got this one from
North West Custom Parts www.nwcustomparts.
com I just had to bung it on my Barnard 07 tube
tactical knob with one or two subtle changes and
it comes anodised in a variety of colours. The
retail price is £20 - though you may have to get
your favourite gunsmith to fit it depending on your
rifle.

6 Target Shooter
S hooting Mat

This one is from America and is

being imported by our friends
at North West Custom Parts. It
packs up nice and small yet is
well padded and very comfy to lie
on. Like most stuff from America,
it is very well made with various
pockets and things. Retails at £85
from www.nwcustomparts.com

It has been a good year for the UK on an
international level. With a total score of 123 from the
3 matches, James Woodhead from England has just
won the FT World Championship , held in South Africa.
Our congratulations to him and the UK team that went
over there. John Costello, also from England came
second, with Mark Bassett of Wales coming in third
place. With an overall score of 469, the English
team also came in first place for the team event.
Well done to all concerned.

Position Number First Name Last Name Country Group Shoot 1 Shoot 2 Shoot 3 Total
1 8 James Woodhead England 3 46 38 39 123
2 11 John Costello England 3 43 38 42 123
3 115 Mark Basset Wales 1 38 39 36 113
4 59 David Combrink South Africa 2 41 34 38 113
5 72 Hennie Breytenbach South Africa 2 44 33 36 113
6 9 James Matthew Osborne England 1 39 35 38 112
7 113 Dorian John Falconer Wales 2 36 36 37 109
8 5 Andy Calpin England 2 37 34 37 108
9 58 Curt February South Africa 1 40 31 33 104
10 106 Werner Breedt South Africa 3 37 30 34 101

Target Shooter 7
B enchrest goodies from Fox
Firearms
loading presses - used by most
centrefire BR shooters to re-size
their brass on the point and some
of the superb Harrell powder
measures. Brian also has Harrell’s CNC
muzzle brakes and is selling all his stuff
at the price you would pay for it in the
States – in other words you save the
cost and hassle of shipping. Visit the
Fox website at www.foxfirearmsuk.com

Harrel Tunner

Brian Fox has just received his first

shipment from Harrell in the USA. He
has a box full of tuners for the rimfire
benchrest guys which look really nice.
I’ve never had a close look at a tuner
before and like all Harrell products they
are well made and beautifully finished.

Also in the shipment were the portable

I PSC European Shotgun

Championships 2009

The photos are from the award

ceremony at the IPSC European
Shotgun Championship. Held in
Oparany, Czech Republic. 14th
- 19th July 2009. Also known as
ESC09.

Venessa Duffy won Ladies Standard Semi

Auto. Along with Sharon Sell, Josie Adam
and Caroline Norman we took first team
prize in the Standard Semi Auto.
Andrew Duffy was Ladies team manager.
See the UKPSA pages at the back of the
magazine.

8 Target Shooter
Calendar of events over the next month
If your club or association has events you want to publicise here then email us.
4 Oct Instructor Workshop (Methods of
Instruction) Course (National Shooting Centre
(NSC), Bisley)
A new one day training workshop for those
wishing to become either NRA RCO Assessors or
Club Coaches in the future.
From 10 Oct To 11 Oct 2009 NSRA/Eley
Finals (all except prone & 3P), Bisley - Lord
Roberts Centre
11 Oct NRA Shooting Club Day (National Shoot-
ing Centre (NSC), Bisley)
Multi-discipline NRA Shooting Club Day.
Targets have been booked on Melville and at
100, 200, 600 and 1000 yards. All disciplines
welcome.
17 Oct to Sun 18 Oct Trafalgar Meeting
(National Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley)
As the enjoyable memories of the Imperial
Meeting fade, the thoughts of many shooters of
an historical inclination turn towards the NRA
Trafalgar Meeting.
17 Oct to 18 Oct Freelancers Fiasco
(National Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley)
The Freelancers Fiasco 2009 Open shoot
(Organised by Langar Rifle Club) have fixed
this years dates for the 17 and 18 October.
Comprising a Queens I, II and III, the
weekend welcomes all competitors to join us
for a relaxed wind down of the shooting season
of 2009.Download entry from the NRA website.
22 Oct NRA Shooting Club Day (National
Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley)
Multi-discipline NRA Shooting Club Day.
Targets have been booked on Cheylesmore
and at 100, 200, 300 and 900 yards. All
disciplines welcome.
24 Oct to Sun 25 Oct Target Rifle Skills
Course (National Shooting Centre (NSC),
Bisley)
This weekend course is aimed primarily at
those who have recently taken up target
rifle shooting to help them develop their
individual skills
24 Oct - Long Range Rifles Branch, 600yd
Whitworth/Rigby Cup & Annual Dinner,
Bisley
24 Oct to Sun 25 Oct Gallery Rifle - Autumn
Action Weekend (National Shooting Centre
(NSC), Bisley)
This is the last of the 2009 main Gallery Rifle
Action Weekends that encourages ‘Action
Shooting’ for the Gallery Rifle community who
visit Bisley. This includes competitions for
Gallery Rifles (centrefire and smallbore), Long
Barrelled Revolvers and Pistols. There are
also competitions for those of you who have an
interest in Target Shotgun.
30 Oct to 01 Nov - European F Class
Championships (National Shooting Centre
(NSC), Bisley)
07 Nov Start of Probationary Members
Course 2009/5 (National Shooting Centre
(NSC), Bisley)
This course is primarily a course in safe
handling and provides an introduction to
Target Rifle, Gallery Rifle and Black Powder
Pistol. Each course consists of four separate
lessons. Course date to be allocated once
entry conditions are fulfilled. All
applications for Probationary Membership
should be made to the NRA Membership
Secretary.
14 to Sun 15 Nov Club Coach Course
(National Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley)
Candidates should be experienced
shooters who have already completed a
Club Instructor course. This course covers
coaching techniques, and methods of
instruction. Candidates will be formally
assessed on the range and in the delivery of
classroom lesson. Qualified Club Coaches
may run NRA Probationary, Skills and Club
Instructor Courses.
14 Nov NRA Shooting Club Day (National
Shooting Centre (NSC), Bisley)
Multi-discipline NRA Shooting Club Day.
Targets have been booked on Melville and at
100, 200, 500 and 1000 yards. All disciplines
welcome.
Target Shooter 9
 Welcome to GT Shooting.
The premier shooting sports shop in Surrey

Fullbore & .22LR Optics

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

Our premises are located at

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

Tel: 020 8660 6843

Fax: 020 8660 6843

10 TargetWe are conveniently situated near the M23 & M25.

Shooter
Opening times: Tuesday to Saturday 10.00am - 5.30pm
‘Support your local gun shop’
Aaron Wheeler, Brighouse, W.Yorkshire
Gunsmith Aaron Wheeler is certainly
bucking the trend by starting a new
business venture despite the current
recession.
West Yorkshire shooters will already know
Aaron through his involvement with the
gun trade in the area for over 25 years but
now, he has his own premises, situated
on Bethel Street bang in the centre of the
village of Brighouse.
I must confess I was surprised to see
the very smart exterior of the shop and
going through the door didn’t disappoint
either and Aaron has fitted out the shop
superbly. The walls are lined with full gun
racks and the shelves are heavy with
ammunition and reloading components and
all the other accessories you expect to see
in a good gunshop.
Aaron’s strength is his in-depth knowledge
of firearms, particularly historic and the gun
racks carry a good stock of classic military
rifles as well as modern stuff. Shotgunners
and airgun shooters are also well catered
for.
Although the shop has been open a scant
two months Aaron reports that business is
brisk and due to the amount of work he is
taking in for repairs, moderator fitting etc.
he has had to close the shop on Mondays
just to keep up with the demand.
Target Shooter wishes Aaron well in
his new venture and we look forward to
seeing his website at www.aaronwheeler-
gunsmith.co.uk which is currently under
construction.
Target Shooter 11
 Forster Co-Ax Press
The simplest, most powerful and most accurate press on the market,
bar none.
The press delivers perfect alignment of the die and the case because
the shell holder jaws are designed to float with the die, thereby
permitting the case to center precisely in the die.
Dual floating guide rods ensure perfect alignment.

Forster Benchrest Reloading Dies

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

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

12 Target Shooter
 Experiencing the 2009 Imperial
Part 2
Chris White continues his odyssey of the 2009 Bisley
Imperial Meeting
‘The Times’ at 300 yards on Monday morning
should have earned an HPS cross but for shot
six being ¾ MOA high on a called good shot.
This was followed by another elevation anomaly
in the Wimbledon which did not cost any points
but should have rung a very loud alarm bell.
At the time I thought it was ammunition related.
St George’s 1 (300 yards again) on Tuesday
morning again displayed elevation problems in
a re-run of the Yorkshire meeting with two high
unexplained shots. My massive group at 300
yards in County Short Junior cost Durham a
medal and I pleaded with my Captain to drop me
from the Long Range team and let me coach.
Highlight of this event was coaching County
Cadet Force member Connor Atherton to a 49
at 900 yards in his first ever serious team shoot.
Tuesday night, the day before Queen’s I, is not
the time to be doubting your equipment and I
gave no more thought to elevation. A point was
lost at 300 to elevation but 500 and 600 were
tight elevations. Too many points were lost
to wind to make the second stage but some
honour was snatched from the day by getting
a 50.7v in the ‘Conan Doyle’ at 900 yards with
a true wind which varied between 10½ and 6.
Incidentally this was only good enough for 15th place!
The day’s post mortem lead me to consider the
by Chris White
elevation anomalies in the short range rifle. These
had, I thought, started to occur shortly after a new
rearsight iris/filter assembly had been fitted. Since
I had not made either George’s II or Queen’s II,
I had only one shoot left, the Prince of Wales at
600 yards on Thursday morning. Should I shoot
my back-up rifle or stick with the Barnard? The
master plan was to take the iris off the Steyr
and fit it to the Barnard and see what happened.
In the event I forgot. The message one was given
and since I was number three I had a quick peep at
the target through my sights. I needed to open the
aperture up a bit. As I put my hand on the ring I felt
an almost imperceptible click. Surely the devil was
not loose. How could I make such a fundamental
mistake? Checking your aperture assembly is tight
in the rearsight should be routine. I grabbed the 12
mm spanner from my bag and addressed the lock
nut. Rock solid! However there was no gap between
the assembly back plate and the lock nut. Spanner
on back plate. This nipped up about a 30th of a turn.
I thought the wind was pretty unreadable and I was
busy trying to set the sights to the mean of what I
thought was on the way with really temperate sight
alterations since many other shooters seemed to
be loosing points by reacting to changes which
appeared to be there but weren’t. I’d got to about
shot 11 when I realised that I was shooting to
about ½ minute and with only one out of the V bull
Target Shooter 13
- I wasn’t shooting for a medal but for the trophy.
Hell appeared to be let loose when the guy on
my right, a very good friend and sound wind
judge lost a shot well out down wind. This
immediately preceded my 14th to count. Looking
along the line there was a string of them. With no
mirage I studied the up wind flags which looked
the same. Based on where my buddy’s shot had
gone there had evidently been a 1 ½ minute drop
off which he hadn’t seen. I couldn’t see it either. I
rarely correct on other people’s shots but in this
case felt compelled to and tempering rashness with
judgement took ¾ off and settled into the aim. For
no reason other than gut feel I slipped the sight
half a click right to make the three quarters into
seven eighths. It saved the point since shot 14 was
clinging on the edge. Shot 15 went with the mean of
the last four shots on the gun. It probably wasn’t the
best shot I’ve fired in my life but it was good enough.
In my opinion the resultant 75.13v, shot under trying
conditions, was one of the best shoots of my life.
75.14v took the prize but of five 75.13v, three were
better than mine on the countback. Tied second -
counted to fifth! This should be the ‘here endeth
the lesson’ point but there is still a sting in the tail.
With nothing better to do I entered the ‘Barlow’
in the afternoon. This is a ten-shot shoot at 900
yards. Squadding was ignored and the range
14 Target Shooter
officer detailed us to a target. In my case
target 23. Unfortunately four of us hove up there
and my old friend Dr. Gray Robertson from
Australia was unceremoniously kicked up hill
which did not amuse him. I don’t blame him. With
the benefit of hindsight I wished it had been me.
At the start of the shoot it rained pretty heavily
and I lost a point early on to a questionable shot
delivered on a less than optimum sight-picture.
The rain soon died out and a mirage became
visible. Wind was pretty readable between four
and six with a good mean at five and moving
the odd half minute either side of the mean was
a sound and successful strategy when out of the
blue I was given a miss after a bull and two Vs. The
challenge produced naught. Now I’m not arrogant
enough to say that I never miss the target at long
range but with ammunition of this quality and in
such relatively benign conditions, I think I would
have known. This turned a 49 into a 44 which left
me fairly hacked off. This was on the same butt as
the Cambridge incident - was it the same marker?
Now there is another tale here which did not
involve me but it needs telling. I was squad-
ded on the second detail of the Barlow but the
first detail and the 300 yard detail of Queen’s 2
were due to start at 2.30pm. Shortly before this
the heavens opened and I was drenched just
 The hard-working Imperial butt crew do a very good job on
the whole

shutting the caravan door. Those about to shoot tion of what was actually being used. The results
the Queen’s were on the firing point. Within a surprised me a little since I expected up to date
couple of minutes of 2.30pm there was a massive equipment to be very much to the fore, which it
lightening strike very close. My experience of wasn’t.
shooting in Canada is that you are kicked off the
range if there is any prospect of electrical activity.
To round the week off, myself and Steve
This does not appear to happen at Bisley. It ought to.
Penrose coached Newcastle University to
second (again!) place in the ‘Musketeers’, a
For the interest of readers I did a sample of esult which the team captain described as
equipment used in the Prince of Wales. “Simply awesome” and third in ‘University Long’.
From a statistical point of view this was fairly
random since although I chose which range to From a shooter’s point of view there are two
take the sample from, the squadding is supposedly events in the Imperial which overshadow
random. Therefore the results, whilst not strictly everything else. The Grand Aggregate is
scientific should be a reasonable representa- regarded by many as the true test of skill,
Target Shooter 15

whoever wins it may have had some easy details
but they will also, inevitably had some difficult ones.
Good shoots are not good enough! To win the
Grand every shoot must be an outstanding shoot.
It came as no surprise to most of us to discover,
when the dust settled, that the Grand had been
won by Jonathon Underwood, who has twice,
recently shot 150.30v on Century range. That is
all thirty shots in the V bull. To describe that as
awesome is a little inadequate. Whilst few would
deny that the ammunition was good, most would
agree that wind conditions were rather testing. Out
of a possible 705 Jon had scored a stellar 700.
Bearing in mind that 100 of these possible 705
points are to be gained at 900 yards and 50 at
1,000 and given the conditions, anyone dropping
five points over those three shoots alone would
have had to have had three jolly good shoots.
Whilst the Grand may be the ‘shooter’s shoot’
what really grabs the imagination is the Queen’s.
16 Target Shooter
Queen’s winner Nick
Tremlett is chaired off range
Jonathon won it in 2006. This year it was the turn
of an old friend of mine, Nick Tremlett. Nick is a
renowned international wind-coach and an
outstanding Match Rifleman, having won the
‘Hopton’, the Match Rifle aggregate four times
and taken the silver medal twice in the last ten
years. If anyone was in any doubt, he has now
proved that he is an outstanding all-rounder. In
a nail-biting finish, Nick scored 298 ex 300 just
pipping John Warburton who made 297 and
Andy Luckman - who won in 1995 – on 295.
Of the next seven shooters, five were all ex
winners - Jim Paton, Glyn Barnett (2). Martin
Millar, Anthony Ringer (3) and Jon Underwood. One
could say the cream generally comes to the top!
Next time we will have a quasi-scientific look at
just how good the RWS ammunition appears to be.
 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

Lawton repeater action in 6mm BR

Please feel free to contact us to
discuss your proposed custom
rifle
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE LADS AT BORDER BARRELS ON THEIR SUCCESSFUL
F-CLASS SHOOT AT BISLEY WHERE TWO OUT OF THREE TEAM MEMBERS USED
LAWTON ACTIONS TO BUILD THEIR RIFLES!
ALSO, CHECK OUT VINCE BOTTOMLEY’S “GUN OF THE MONTH” FOR SEPTEMBER
WHICH WAS BASED ON A SURGEON ACTION
Please feel free to contact us to discuss your proposed custom rifle. We are please to
advise shooters that ALL preparation and finishing of our custom rifles is now carried out on
-site! This includes our latest development which is the introduction of Duracoat which we
only apply to properly prepared surfaces and oven bake to give the best and most durable
finish.

We are proud to announce our new stainless steel

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.
Rimfire Magic action. This is now offered as an
alternative to our own Rimfire Magic aluminium action
which has proved so popular that we are currently
engraving and proofing our second batch of fifty! The
new stainless steel receiver is a similar shape to the
Ruger 10/22 action which allows it to accept any
10/22 style scope base or of course it may be used in
the Nordic Components kit to provide a .22 AR-15
style rifle with the associated reliability of the 10/22
system. We offer the stainless receiver with a bead
blasted finish or Duracoated with the latest Duracoat
SL which contains PTFE and other chemicals to give
a high lubricity finish (shown above in semi-gloss
black)

Everill Gate Farm Tel: 01226 756332

Broomhill, Wombwell Fax: 01226 751321
Barnsley S73 0YQ e-mail: enquiries@rimfiremagic.co.uk

Our retail shop is open Thursday to Saturday from 9.30am to 5.30pm toTarget Shooter
allow us 17
time in the workshop.
The ultimate visual experience

The Choice of Legends

LotuTec™

Only the best is good enough for one of the world’s

greatest rugby league players, Keiron Cunningham.
Keiron’s choice is the Victory Diavari 6-24x56 with
illuminated reticle from the Carl Zeiss range of
binoculars and riflescopes.

www.zeiss.co.uk/sportsoptics
18 Target Shooter
RingWerx
In collaboration with Harrell’s Precision
P.O. Box 4733
Roanoke VA 24015
+001 540 353 0368
John@ringwerx.com
Dealer Enquiries welcome!!

The ultimate in precision mounts

Off set scope mounts have been

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All our scope mounts are machined from

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Also available are bolt down style for 1.350 For more details click on this advert
round receivers i.e. Turbo & Bat in 30mm off
set, 1” off set and 1” straight.
to email
Also available in the UK from Fox Firearms
visit www.foxfirearmsuk.com

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Parton, Castle Douglas, Scotland DG7 3NL
Tel: (01644) 470223 Fax: (01644) 470227 www.jacksonrifles.com

• best-selling, proven design - made by Europe's

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• low-maintenance all-welded construction with tough parkerized coating - no need for internal cleaning
• wide range of muzzle attachment threads

SAK-Products Air Rifle/Rimfire silencer

• Excellent performance on rifles up to .17 and .22 magnum rimfire
• Black or silver - standard ½"-20 UNF or ½"-28 UNEF thread
• No springs or plastic parts
• 34 mm diameter, 160 grams, adds only 5" (127 mm) to length of rifle

Ultra-lightweight sound moderators

jet-Z, S-series and new NorthStar CMM-4 rimfire/air rifle – 105 g (3½ oz)
over-barrel sound moderators Shoot to win CMM-4 centrefire – 220 g (7½ oz)
We are happy to give advice and information to retail customers, Target
but we Shooter
only supply the trade 19
Jackson Rifles is a trade mark of Forge Consulting Ltd, RFD 108 (Dumfries & Galloway) sr0909bg
 GSG-AK-47

By Tim Finley
The .22 rimfire semi auto rifle market has been Above - The GSG AK 47 with mount and
dominated by the ubiquitous Ruger 10/22 for scope - it looks and feels the business
decades. In this country it has been the rifle most purely aimed at the .22 rimfire sporting and target
used by the club shooter for speed and precision market. The rifle has been made to the
The magazine takes 24 rounds same dimensions as the original rifle.
Having shot a real AK I was keen to
see if it felt like a real one and more
importantly how it shot. York Guns
supplied me with a wooden stocked
example along with two magazines
and an optical sight mounting
bracket. I would need this list item as
the open sights fitted to the rifle are of
no use if I wanted to ascertain the rifles
accuracy at 50m. The magazines for
the gun are 24 shot and made to the
same width as the real magazines.
They do not of course take the
7.62*43mm rounds of the real gun just
very much smaller .22 rimfire rounds.
They cannot take any more than 24
rounds, the GSG-5 magazines are
events as well as relatively new sport of mini rifle. billed as 20 but you can squeeze 22 into them.
There is a new kid on the block or should I say Keeping the GSG AK-47’s magazines this wide does
two new kids as the latest rifle from the firm has not spoil the looks of the gun as if that had only made
only just reached our shores. I am talking of the them the width of a rimfire round. It also makes them
German firm GSG, standing for German Sport Guns. easier to handle in a magazine change situation in
Their first offering was a model based upon the
Heckler and Koch MP-5, this model the
GSG-5 has been taken up by the club
shooter, me included. I have used mine It is stamped MADE IN GERMANY
exclusively for mini rifle events at my
club. Being fortunate enough to win all
four of the events I have shot this year.
The firm’s new offering distributed in
the UK by York Guns is the firms take
on another classic firearm. The AK-47
is world famous, or infamous depend-
ing upon your point of view. GSG did
not enter into the project lightly they
actively sort and obtained the approval
of the original rifles designer. Mikhail
Kalashnikov only agreed to put his
name to the project as the rifle is

20 Target Shooter
speed shooting or mini rifle
events. They even hook into I fitted a scope for the 50m testing. The optical sight bracket
the action as a real AK mag is a must buy.
does, there is a lip at the front
of the mag and you hook this
into the front of the mag well
first then pull the mag back
towards you from the bot-
tom and the mag clicks into
place. The magazine release
latch is in front of the trigger
guard and you grip the mag
and the latch at the same time
and push the mag forward
and down. After taking the
rifle from the packaging and
fitting the rear stock the rifle did the gun also acts as a dust cover over the round
indeed feel like I remembered an AK to be. The gun is ejection port. Here the breech is forward of the front
fitted with the same open notch and post sights, the of the lever. Pushing the lever up with the bolt closed
stops the bolt from moving back
The big lever safety catch is ALL AK47 far enough to cock the action
as well as preventing the trigger
for being operated. The lever is
also used to hold back the bolt
with an open breech as it has a
hook which latches over the bolts
cocking handle. Pushing the lever
down to the firing position when in
this mode releases bolt, also the
trigger cannot be pulled with the
safety on and also if there is no
magazine in the rifle. For accuracy
testing I fitted the side mount, this
clamps onto a moulded section
on the left hand side of the action
and has a 127mm long Picatinny
rail. I fitted a low mag scope and
proceeded to see what groups
very good tool kit and instruction manual also comes I could get at 50m. The gun was very consistent
with a tool for adjusting the height of the foresight. with around an inch and a quarter ten shot groups
I make no apologies for not
using the sights fitted to the
It made short work of the steels
gun, fitting an optical sight
enables the shooter to
place their shots more
accuracy The action of the
rifle is not modelled upon
the real weapon this as we
know is a gas operated
system, the gas feed tube on
this gun is purely a fake one.
The gun uses the same bolt
and bolt carrier as the firm’s
previous model. They have
designed the safety catch to
operate somewhat the same
but on the real gun the large
lever on the right hand side of

Target Shooter 21
shot off a bench. The gun is Shooting mini rifle with
very difficult to bench shoot the GSG AK47
due to the very long curved
magazine hanging
underneath the action. This
level of accuracy is to be
expected as this is not a
bench rest rifle, it is a semi
auto large magazine capacity
rifle for speed shooting short
range events. My own GSG-5
is not very accurate compared
to my bolt action Volquartsen
carbon fibre barrelled bolt
action rimfire rifle, but you
cannot expect it to be, horses
for courses as they say. I
never done with my GSG-5. The groups at 50m could
intended to test the AK in anger as it were by using
have been influenced by the trigger weight,
on my Lyman electronic gauge the AK gave
trigger pull weights of around 4.5kg. In
comparison the GSG-5 comes in at
2.5.kg. Interestingly the comprehensive
manual had the trigger weight for the AK
at 2.5kg. The model on test was more like
shooting a real AK as their triggers are
not the best, again you do not need or
actually want a light trigger for speed
shooting. With a fire and movement event
such as mini rifle shooting a light trigger
is even less desirable on safety reasons.
The GSG-AK-47 is also available with black
polymer furniture as well as a range of
tactical hand guards. I really liked the
A 10 shot group at 50m wood stocked version myself, it is more in
keeping with the look of an AK. I would
recommend the optical sight rail and at
it to take part in a real mini rifle event. For this I
A single hole double tap group with the AK47
removed the scope and fitted a Hawke low
profile reflex red dot sight. This kept the height
GSG
of the dot/sight line as close as possible to the
barrel centreline, this is an advantage when it
comes to shooting the 10 yards IPSC targets.
The less you have to think were to aim off the
faster you are at getting the shot or shots off. I
zeroed the gun in at 17 yards and then checked
it at 25 and 10 to see where my aim points
were. I did not expect much as I had only fired
50 rounds or so though the gun before using it
in the mini rifle event. Consisting of two stages
I came 3rd in that round as I got use to shooting
the rifle quickly. The second longer stage I won
which gave me the win overall. I did not expect
to win and the accuracy of the rifle for mini rifle
is more than adequate. Looking at the groups I
got on the second stage double tapping was an
eye opener, one of them was a single ragged
hole with two shots in it, and something I have
22 Target Shooter
least one (really two) spare magazines. York Guns
are in the process of making a threaded adaptor for
the AK which utilises the existing thread in the front
of the guns barrel shroud, then goes into a ½ UNF
so any rimfire rated moderator can be fitted. I also
tested the GSG-5 moderator made by York Guns, this
simply screws into the thread made for the guns
fake moderator, it is 128mm longer and heavier
than the guns original barrel shroud but it does
work and is a clever way of fitting a moderator to
the GSG-5, for those who want to use the guns for
short range pest control or need a bit more hearing
protection or recoil reduction when target shooting it is
relatively cheap. There is a lot of talk from the Ruger
shooters that these “air soft” guns are unreliable etc
etc but as a person who has actually shot mine for
over year I can say the only two jams I have had
have been down to me, one where I stupidly held the
magazine while shooting and the other when
operating the cocking handle at the wrong time. I
have only ever used quality sub sonic ammo in my
rifle. Both the AK and 5 are marked up with HV for
high velocity rimfire ammo. The firm stating that
the guns will work with HV and quality sub rimfire
rounds. I have never used HV ammo through any
of my rimfire guns, suffering no feed malfunctions
down to ammo issues. I only used sub sonic ammo
for the testing and competition shooting of the
AK-47 also, with the result of not one single jam.
Do not go for the cheapo stuff however as that is
not as reliable. The only problem I did have was
not being able to clear an unfired round from the
breech when finishing a stage of the mini rifle event,
Bench resting is not easy due to the magazine, but the
whole thing looks and FEELS like an AK47. The rifle has
very plain but functional wood work
hooking it out with a finger nail solved it, but I could
have just as easily removed the magazine and
fired the round into the butts to make the rifle safe.
After winning a mini rifle event with the AK I must
say I am impressed with it, opposed to the GSG-5 at
least it looks like the gun it is supposed to be, unlike
the 5 model which has had to have the ugly extended
barrel shroud fitted to comply with the UK gun laws.
As an alternative to the Ruger 10/22 it is worth
considering, it already has a 24 round high capacity
magazine which unlike the Ruger works every time
and sufficient accuracy for speed and mini rifle events.
Specification
Country of origin Germany
Manufacturer German Sport Guns ( GSG)
Model AK-47
UK distributor York Guns 01904 487180
Action Semi auto
Calibre .22 rimfire
Stock Wood and Polymer (Wood on
test)
Barrel length 450mm
Pull length 350mm
Overall length 927mm
Weight 3155g ( without Magazine)
RRP £564 ( Wood)
£540 ( Polymer)
£38 for spare 24 rnd mags
and £56 for the sight rail
Target Shooter 23
24 Target Shooter
McRees Precision Stock System

Vince Bottomley
There are quite a few aftermarket stocks Above - Your scribe Benchresting the
available at the moment, which allow you McRees at 400 yards
to pimp your boring factory barrelled-
action and turn it into something a bit special. ready pillar-bedded and was finished to a
good standard – ready for lacquering – but
Replacing your factory stock will hopefully when I screwed the action into the stock, the
improve the handling, appearance and most barrel wasn’t central in the barrel-channel. More
of all, the accuracy of your rifle. Many such work. Hardly what I would regard as ‘drop-in’.
replacement stocks claim to be ‘drop-in’ – in
other words it’s just a matter of taking your Aftermarket stocks are not cheap either. Most
barrelled-action out of the factory stock and come from America and with the current dollar/
screwing it into your new purchase. pound exchange rate, import duty, shipping, VAT
and Parcel Force handling charges, stocks like
That’s the theory at least but, in practise, the excellent McMillan A5 tactical are topping
some further work is often required. I recently £600 and that’s before we buy bottom-metal etc.
fitted an aftermarket ‘drop-in’ laminate stock
to a Savage barrelled-action. The stock came When Wayne of North West Custom Parts in

This is a McRees tactical folder for the Remington and uses the AI
detachable magazines. Paint job by Wayne at NW Custom Parts.

Target Shooter 25
Manchester showed me the McRees stock, it
looked expensive – for the simple reason that
it was beautifully CNC machined from billet
aluminium and that don’t come cheap! The closer
I looked, the more I was impressed. These stocks
are built to the same standard as a custom action!
A McCrees stock consists of three basic
components which bolt together to form the
complete stock. This allows McRees to offer
their stock in several configurations. The original
stock was developed as a tactical stock and is
currently being evaluated by the US military but
let’s take a closer look at each of the components.
The middle bit
This is the part which holds the barrelled-action
and McRees currently offer inlets for just about
any standard factory or custom action you can
think of from the humble Remington, through
Savage, Winchester, HS Precision, Surgeon,
RPA, Howa etc. There are two basic middle
bits – one for Remington size actions having a
nominal diameter of 1.35 inches and larger one
for bigger actions like the Surgeon XL etc. up to
1.6 inches in diameter – over thirty different inlets
This shot clearly shows the lap joints either side of the
26 Target Shooter
are available with more being added all the time.
The centre-section can be had with a solid
bottom, with or without integral mag. or machined
to accept a detachable magazine. The trigger
cut-out will accept the factory or aftermarket
triggers and an AR15 style pistol grip completes
the job.
The back bit
Rifle butts have changed a bit in recent years.
The main function of the butt is to make
contact with the shooter’s shoulder to take
the recoil. A cheek-piece is favoured by some
– preferably adjustable and if you shoot F
Class or Benchrest and use a rear-bag, then
some form of bag-riding ‘rail’ is needed. This is
exactly what you get with a McRees and some
clever thinking has incorporated much more.
The back bit is again CNC machined from billet
aluminium and attached to the middle bit with a
half-lap joint with two quarter-inch socket-head
screws. The rubber-cushioned butt pad will
adjust vertically and the cheek-piece can also be
adjusted. The detachable bag-rider sensibly
middle section
 The ‘middle bit’ showing the action bed. This one has a solid bottom but it also comes
machined to take a detachable mag.
mounts parallel to the bore and the whole stock available and Wayne can also offer an in-house
can be had with a hinge - if space is a problem - Duracote service which can be as wild as your
which enables the butt to fold through 180 degrees. imagination – Wayne has already done a bright
red one! The pic shows one of Wayne’s camo
The front bit finishes which gave me the idea for the TS Project
Now this is where the McRees gets really Rifle paint job which appeared in last month’s issue.
clever. Again machined from billet aluminium, the
fore-end attaches to the middle bit with another How does it shoot?
half-lap joint but this time using four screws. Yes - you may be thinking - it’s all very
The fore-end is basically a flat-bottom U shaped well looking at photographs but what is a
section which can hold a bi-pod, sling or even McRees stocked rifle like to use. Well, I was
act simply as a hand-grip or impromptu rest and expecting Wayne to fix me up with that nice
it blends-in with the middle section . It is slot- tactical rig but instead I have a stock with the
ted on the sides and underneath to save weight benchrest fore-end, a rather flashy anodised
and aid barrel-cooling. It also looks pretty good. finish and a Savage 6.5-284 barrelled-action
But here’s the clever bit – if you shoot a bit of on loan from Osprey Rifles. This is the solid-
F Class or benchrest you can have a different bottom Savage ‘target’ action of course, so no
fore-end with a three-inch wide flat to fit your magazine or anything like that but it does have
machine rest. If you don’t want to go to a full the bag-rider rail on the butt. It just needs me to
three-inches, then McRees also offer a 2 and mount a scope and we can do some shooting.
2.5 inch fore-end. Thanks to the accuracy of
CNC machining, there’s no need to worry about Although I’m fairly familiar with the 6.5-284,
alignment. I don’t own one at the moment, so it meant
literally digging in my scrap-bin for some
Wayne was able to show me a few old brass – OK, not recommended and
different stock configurations and one or two are definitely not my style but ‘needs must’ and I
beginning to appear at tactical shoots at my local managed to salvage about 25 cases. Not only
range. A variety of factory anodised finishes are had these been fired to the extent where the base

This 400 yard group measures two and a

half inches!

Target Shooter 27
had expanded and would hardly fit the shell- wiping the floor with everyone in the Factory
holder but they also had turned necks. Far from benchrest class! To prove this was no fluke, the
ideal but today, we are testing the handling of the Savage recorded a 3.5 inch group in the 500
stock rather than the accuracy of the Savage. yard Diggle Fly shoot a couple of days later
in the hands of another shooter, in extremely
Having borrowed a set of dies – another blustery conditions.
set-back – no powder. I’ve always used Vit
165 in this cartridge with 139 grain Lapua So there we have it. The traditional wooden stock
Scenars but the nearest I had was Hodgdon was replaced by plastic and fibreglass. Then
4831SC. This is a little bit faster than Vit 165 so along came Accuracy International with that great
I dropped the load by a full four grains to play concept using an aluminium chassis and plastic
ultra-safe and put ten rounds together. I didn’t side-plates, which could be had as a ‘folder’ if
even check the seating depth as I didn’t want required. Others, like Sako have followed suit
to alter the borrowed dies but I did check that with their own versions in plastic and aluminium.
the rounds would chamber (using a dummy). Now, McRees has taken it one stage further
offering a serious tactical stock CNC machined
I had a spare 8-32 Nightforce with Weaver rings from billet aluminium to military specifications
that fitted the Picatinny rail on the Savage so and yet still catering for the competition shooter.
I am almost ready to shoot – I just needed to
boresight the scope. When I arrived at the North West Custom parts are the sole UK
range, a shooter was already testing at 400 importer and carry a good inventory. Prices start
yards so I joined in and cheekily asked if I could at around £550 and anodising adds about £50 or
put a few shots on his target! After a couple of you can opt for one of Wayne’s Duracoat paint
sighters on the sand backstop and another cou- jobs in any colour you like. But remember – no
ple on target to zero, I was ready to shoot a group. bedding, no bottom-metal and the adjustable
butt and cheek-piece which usually cost extra
I simply wanted to see how the McRees stock are included.
performed under benchrest conditions so
the idea was to put five shots down in rapid Our 6.5-284 Savage, as tested, weighs in
succession, noting how well the stock returned at 15 lbs. 5oz. without scope. With a 36X
to battery and how it generally handled. The Sightron, Leupold or Weaver, it should
answer – quite well; some PTFE stock-tape nicely make weight in the 17 lbs. Light Gun
would make it a bit slicker in the bags though class for 600/1000 yard benchrest. For F Class
it would be fine for F Class. Even the AR15 Open, with its 22lb weight limit, you could
pistol grip was OK as the 6.5-284 has a bit of use a big Nightforce and still be well under.
recoil so it gave me something to hang on to.
NWCP report that sales have been
In benchrest competition, like to get 5 shots off surprisingly good with stocks being shipped all
in about 15 seconds but the unfamiliar layout over Europe so give Wayne a call on 0161 408
of the Savage action with right bolt, right port 1155 if you are at all interested and of course our
was naturally slower than a right bolt, left port test rifle is for sale if you fancy a good F Class or
benchgun and it must have taken me long-range benchrest rifle. A new 6.5-284
about 25 seconds. I peered through the Savage F Class rifle in the factory laminate stock
Nighforce to have a look at my 400 yard group. will now cost around £1800 so our McRees
I was shocked to see four shots in about a stocked example is something of a bargain for
one-inch group and a fifth shot about an inch the £1850 that Wayne has it advertised for on his
and a half out of the group! (See pic) Wow – website and this includes the 20MOA Picatinny
that’s some rifle, especially considering my old rail.
brass and the totally guessed load and a bar-
rel that had only two proof rounds down it! I Check out McRees Precision at www.
shudder to think what this gun would do mcreesprecision.net and North West
with some decent brass and a bit of load Custom Parts at www.nwcustomparts.com
development. No wonder these Savages are

28 Target Shooter
 Please mention
Savage single shot PTA action McRee's Custom Chassis, custom
bench rest configuration in a red and gold splash custom anodised

when using
Voodoo Tactical Shooting Mat and Rifle Drag Bag
advertising in the
magazine
 Holds up to 48" rifle
 Heavily foam padded
 Numerous pouches
 Drag handle, center handles and backpack straps Strictly by

To ADVERTISE in this
appointment only

 Duracoat Specialist.
space
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
.22 AR’s Specialist .
Full Custom and Semi
Custom Rifles built to
contact us at
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Custom 10/22’s built to
order.
customer.services@
targetshooter.co.uk

Target Shooter 29
 The 257 Roberts Ackley Improved –
retrospective or tactical renaissance
By Richard Wild
My journey into super-accurate rifles and Above -: A tactical rifle for all seasons. Enough has
precision long-range shooting really started by been written about the AI stock to fill volumes, but
accident. Basically, I wanted a better stock for the Remington 700 action, match trigger, extended
a Ruger .223 but bought a stock for not only the bolt handle and 10 round magazine makes for a
potent rifle that meets the needs of a range of shooting
wrong model but also the wrong action-length
positions.
as well. These are the sort of accidents that you
the short, thin sporter-weight barrel which just
can’t take lying down - I had to get a new rifle.
wouldn’t do. I wanted a barrel that would make
After a long time searching for an old Ruger the most efficient use of the powder-charge and
Model 1 with the long tang safety in the long fit in with the whole ‘long range rifle’ theme and
action, I finally came across a model in 257 I wanted a cartridge that would reach out and
Roberts. While the bore was good, it still had still group at less than MOA out to 1000 metres.

Sticking with the heavy bullets for tactical shooting appears to be

the best way to go. From left: 85 grain Nosler BT, 100 grain Sierra
MK, 100 grain Nosler BT, 115 Berger VLD (perhaps the pick of the
bunch) and 117 Hornady SST

30 Target Shooter
I had thought of the 6.5x55 Swede but, while the The Ackley case before
ballistic coefficients are impressive, the velocities and after fire forming. The
weren’t high enough for me. The hot factory 22 unformed case, on the
calibres were of passing interest, nevertheless I right, shows its 7x57
wanted a wildcat but one that was easy to use for a heritage with sloping
beginner. Then the 257 Roberts Ackley Improved ioned case. The straighter
with the 40-degree shoulder was suggested. case walls and 40 degree
This was a turning point and I had to find out shoulder of the Ackley
more. The Nosler Handloading Book Volume 4 case are evidence of how
had a lot of detail on this cartridge. The reloading much the case changes at
specifications indicated that after fireforming, the first firing.
Ackley case would hold about 3% more powder
for an increase in velocity of about 200 - 300 fps.
and it is more powder-efficient than the 25-06.

Fireforming turns the basic 257 Roberts case

into the .257 Roberts Ackley Improved (AI)
case. While there are a number of different
techniques that one can use, both with and
without bullets, I chose to use a cheap 120-grain
bullet over a light 38 - 40 grain load of Varget.
This had the dual effect of changing the
case from its gently sloping shape with a 20
degree shoulder into a slightly larger, straight-
walled case with a somewhat radical 40 degree
shoulder. As an aside, fireforming also allowed
me to learn about the new rifle’s shooting
ability off the bench while running in the barrel.

The 257 Roberts Ackley Improved cases

are a good first step into the world of wildcat
cartridges. The rifle will chamber factory
ammunition with little or no velocity loss but the
straighter case walls produce a more uniform
powder burn while the 40 degree shoulder will
reduce or eliminate case stretching and last
longer.

The greatest challenge for the 257 Roberts AI

comes from the lack of available loading data.
Not only is there no standard loading data for this
cartridge but the ignorance, repetition and lack
of development since PO Ackley launched the
cartridge is noticeable and frustrating. A search of
the Internet quickly shows that few shooters use
the 257 Roberts AI and even fewer write about it.
The greatest disappointment for fans of
the 25 calibre has to be the lack of match
projectiles weighing over 100 grains, with Berger
the only manufacturer offering a match bullet and
finding stocks of the 115 grain VLD in Australia is
a challenge. Since the 6mm cartridge has a good
range of heavy match bullets to choose from
and the 6.5mm shooter can pick from a range
of 107 grain to 142 grain bullets, it is a source of
continual frustration that there is not a similar
range of choice in the 25, which lies between the
two. It seems likely that market forces will slowly
kill off this calibre in favour of the 6 and 6.5mms.
While I originally designed this to be a
long-range varmint rifle, its utility as a long-range
benchrest rifle was quickly recognised. There
is no better way of learning how to shoot small
Target Shooter 31
 rig was long ago relegated
Close up of the neck and shoulders. to the bin, its life as a hunting
The extra case capacity is rifle also over and sold on to
immediately evident in the relative finance fancier equipment.
positions of the old (on right) and But there was always the
new shoulder position and angle. suspicion in the back of my
mind that I could do more
interesting things in a
different situation with the
25 calibre.

The purchase of an
Accuracy International
Chassis System (AICS)
stock and Remington
700 action offered an
opportunity to develop
the 257 Roberts AI as a
tactical-rifle alternative to
the 308 and 6.5s
currently doing the rounds
of the tactical circuit.

This Short Action

Remington 700 has been
tweaked along the way with
a 20 MOA Nightforce rail,
extended bolt knob and
Shilen target trigger. A
targets well at long range than get out there and Nightforce NXS 5.5 -22 x
do it - every week in rain, hail and heavy mirage. 50 scope with the MLR reticle rounds out the
package.
The National Rifle Association of Australia
(NRAA) targets have a central bull that is just The 308 length of the AICS magazine means
on one MOA at each range out to the 800 metre the Roberts can only be loaded to an overall
mound at the McIntosh Rifle Range in Canberra. length of 2.865 inches. This gives enough room
With a high power target scope, accuracy that for the 100 grain Sierra Match Kings to load and
I had only read about was now possible. The feed without impacting too much on the overall
100-grain Sierra HPBT Match and the 95-grain powder capacity. There is no evidence of powder
Berger HP (sadly now discontinued) performed compression with the 51 grain load being used.
exceptionally well except in very high wind However, the Berger 115 grain VLD has to be
conditions when the bullet’s relatively low loaded singly to get the best results from the
ballistic coefficient (compared with the 6mm and load. An overall length of three inches gives
6.5mm match bullets) struggles to buck the wind. the best results with a load of 49 grains of
AR2209 (the case could easily take more) but
1000 yard shooting was the first real challenge theoretically the 2.865 inch magazine length
for the rifle, the cartridge and myself. With a is possible without impinging too much on the
muzzle velocity of 3300 fps, the bullet remains powder column.
supersonic at the target and my best five-shot
group at 1000 yards was a creditable 8 inches. Resurrecting my loading-data from the late
1990s provided sound starting point for testing
Time passes, rifles fall out of favour and calibre the AICS on Known Distance (KD) targets. Even
choices change. The 257 Roberts AI benchrest from a 24 inch barrel, the 100 grain Sierra Match

32 Target Shooter

Close up of the Accupod.
I like it, not heavy, doesn’t
get in the way when folded
and provides on target
stability.
Kings shot flat and hard. But accuracy on the
smaller F-Class targets was disappointing.
Despite having a decade more of skills and
cunning, the 257 Roberts AI had not developed
at the same rate as I had and results were much
the same as when I competed with it on a full time
basis.
Nonetheless, 600 metre groups with the
mild Berger load were pleasingly accurate
and the 115 grain VLD appears to be a much
better shooting proposition and seems much
less wind sensitive than the 100 grain Sierras.
Moving away from string shooting at KD
targets and slightly different animal
emerges. The 257 Roberts AI enjoys
shooting under true field conditions. The mild
recoil means the bullet can be tracked into
the target as part of a normal follow-through.
A couple of test shoots derived from the 2007
Simo Häyhä Finnish Sniper competition
provided a useful test vehicle for the cartridge.
Choosing the wettest Sunday afternoon in
Canberra for a while
provided and ideal
situation to try five shots
from the sitting position at 95
metres and then five more
prone from the bipod from
220 metres at Fig. 14 Hun’s
Head target.
Really, this is where the 257
Roberts AI shines. In the
wet, with 117 grain Hornady
SSTs, shooting clover leafs
from the sitting position was
hardly a challenge. The
AICS stock makes positional
shooting easy but the sitting
stage calls for an improved
tripod for really precise
shooting under a time
pressure.
The extended bolt handle
makes for a fluid cycling
action, which does not
disturb the sight picture. Apart
from the aesthetic, there
are a number of reasons to
replace the very basic
factory bolt-knob, the
main one in my book being the extra
leverage which contributes to a fast, rolling
action similar but not quite as good as the SMLE.
Moving back to 220 metres and changing to 100
grain Matchkings demonstrated no discernible
decrease in effectiveness. Dropping into the
prone position, in a muddy field liberally coated
with sheep and kangaroo droppings, five shots
formed two one-hole groups. The decision to not
adjust elevation was obvious in this group but the
257 Roberts AI shoots so flat that only a minor
adjust would be required to centre this group.
As an aside - whilst I am not a strong
supporter of tacti-cool gear - using an Accupod on
the AICS proved to be an unexpected accuracy
bonus. It makes for a stable tripod when shooting
prone but retracts when not required and doesn’t
alter the rifle’s balance when shooting offhand.
Overall, the time spent rebuilding and
re-testing the 257 Roberts AI was not
wasted. It does not cut the mustard as a BR type
Target Shooter 33
 The pick of the loadings is just that little bit
too long for the magazine. The 115 grain
Berger VLD is a great choice for the 257
Roberts AI for range and tactical shooting.
There is space in the case to load the
bullet that little bit deeper and still reach the
cartridge’s full potential.

target rifle but then it wasn’t meant to.

Rather, it is a dour and flat shooting cartridge that Disclaimer:
handles rapidly changing circumstances with a Note that these loads work in my rifle. Any
grim, can-do attitude. It does, however, show such loads may not work in yours and you
some promise as a tactical cartridge and can should work up your loads accordingly.
show the newer 6.5s how things can be done.

34 Target Shooter
 Osprey Rifles - ‘The Savage Specialists’

Custom Rifles Built On The Savage Precision Target

Action From £1500 Complete.
Rebarrelling, Recrowning & Threading Services
Custom Rifles Built On Other Actions - POA
F T/R Rifles a speciality

URL : www.ospreyrifles.com
Email : stuart@ospreyrifles.com

Tel : 0161 4083555 / 07515

284315
Target Shooter 35
 Gun of the Month
At first glance you may wonder why we have chosen
this rifle as Gun of the Month. Surely it’s just an ‘out
of the box’ factory rifle – a common or garden
Savage. Not quite.
Yes, it is a Savage. Yes, that’s the factory’s laminate
stock but look a bit closer. The factory butt-pad has
been replaced with a Tubbs fully adjustable pad. The
Savage barrel-nut has gone, so has the recoil-lug
and yes, that small ejection-port marks this action
out as the Savage ‘target’ action with solid bottom –
not a factory option with this stock. The target action
employs three retaining screws but the middle one is
used to secure a recoil lug in this rifle. Furthermore,
the front screw must be ‘repositioned’ by 0.125
inches in the ‘two screw’ stock to take the target action.
And doesn’t that 28 inch stainless steel barrel look
just a bit chunkier than the standard offering? It should
do, it’s a 224 True-Flite with 1 in 8 twist, tapering from
1.25 inches at the breech to one-inch at the muzzle.
So, a little bit special but what about the
chambering? Yes, it’s a wildcat called 22 Christel
or 22 x 47 if you prefer. In other words, it’s based
on the Lapua 6.5x47 necked down to 22. Why
‘Christel’? That’s what the lady wanted. The 22
x 47 is a newish wildcat and a fairly unusual one
at that and there is no standard specification as
yet. Therefore, you must spec. your own reamer
and although there are one or two about, no two
36 Target Shooter
will be exactly the same so, why not choose your
own name for your personal wildcat? This makes
sense as there could be a small number of 22x47
rifles in circulation but if the chambers are slightly
different, the ammunition won’t be interchangeable.
This is therefore a 22 Christel and you must use
rounds tailored to fit this chamber. The neck is what
we call ‘no-turn’ - in other words you don’t have to
neck-turn your brass but you will benefit from a closer
than standard clearance in the chamber-neck area.
The rifle is throated to shoot 80 grain Sierra
Matchkings at ………………… well, if it’s a
UK range it will likely have a muzzle velocity
restriction of 3275 fps but the Christel will do
much better than that so the Danish lady who
commissioned the rifle will have to throttle it back for
the UK but who knows what she will shoot over there.
The very first 100 yard 3-shot group fired in the Savage
produced a stunning 0.192 inch group! And that’s off
a bi-pod in a howling wind with no load-development!
The 36 power Weaver benchrest scope is mounted
in QD Leupold nickel rings on a NW Custom parts
aluminium Picatinny rail.The rifle was put together by UK
Savage specialists Osprey Rifles www.ospreyrifles.
com
 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.

www.FoxFirearmsUK.com
Tel: 0161 430 8278 or 07941 958464
PUTTING SHOOTING FIRST
VISIT OUR WEBSITE TO SEE THE VERY BEST VALUE CUSTOM PRECISION RIFLES FOR TR, MATCH,
F-CLASS, AND BENCH-REST—WE ARE NOW SELLING A FULL RANGE OF HARRELL PRODUCTS
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SUPERB BARNARD ACTIONS, AND RECORD-BREAKING TRUE-FLITE AND BARTLEIN BARRELS

WE ALSO STOCK PROFESSIONAL BORESCOPES (from £533) AND A RANGE OF HIGH-POWER

SCOPES FOR COMPETITION AT AMAZING PRICES (eg 8-32X50 WITH 30mm TUBES FROM £100)
ALONG WITH STUNNING BINOCULARS AND SPOTTING SCOPES

SEB LAMBANG BENCH RESTS AND ACCESSORIES ARE THE BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE. WE
STOCK HIS FULL RANGE AT LOWEST POSSIBLE PRICES, ALONG WITH THE BUDGET
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SEE WEBSITE FOR FULL SPECIFICATIONS AND CURRENT STOCKLIST
EVERYTHING WE IMPORT IS BY FAR THE BEST
VALUE IN Shooter
Target THE UK 37
 The 12-50x56 PM11/P Telescopic Sight from
Schmidt & Bender

by Vince Bottomley

You could say that this is the scope the world The Schmidt mounted on my test rig –
has been waiting for – the world of long range
Laurie’s 6BR Remington
rifle shooters that is – be it civilian or military! We
waited for what seemed a lifetime for S&B to come anyone else. Until they introduced their 5-25
up with a 5-25 but thankfully they have followed up however, they had not offered a scope to
quite quickly with the very desirable 12-50 power. really excite the serious long-range competition
Having said that, although it’s been ‘available’ for shooter. S & B have always concentrated on the
quite a while, do you know anyone who has one? civilian hunter-market and the serious Police/
Have you seen a review of one? The likely answer is Military user and for some unknown reason, a
‘no’ to both questions but Target Shooter has one! ten-power scope was once regarded as ‘sufficient’.
This was perhaps true ten or fifteen years ago
Undoubtedly, Schmidt & Bender are at the very but Nightforce changed all that and we suddenly
top of the optics ‘tree’ – or should I say ‘rifle realised that it was much easier to hit your
optics’ for as the S&B website points out, they target if you could actually see it! If you are using a
don’t make binoculars, cameras, spotting-scopes rested-rifle, you just can’t have too much
and the like – they make riflescopes, pure scope-power.
and simple and they arguably do it better than
Twenty-five power is now regarded as ‘the
minimum’ for anyone who
Here’s the 12-50 Schmidt shoots serious long-range
(top) with my 8-32 Benchrest competition and if you walk
the line at any of the GB
Nightforce F Class League shoots
or a 1000 yard benchrest
shoot, you won’t see much
below 32 power. Yes,
Nightforce offer a
12-42 power and they don’t
come much better than
Nightforce but, when I
speak to shooters about
their 12-42’s, most prefer to
use them at lower power. I
own two 8-32 Nightforce
scopes and I must say they
are excellent on full power –
particularly the BR version
and of course, we now have

38 Target Shooter
 Another big number that I never thought I
would see on a Schmidt & Bender

the remarkable 10-60 power March scope but
there are too few out there to give any meaningful
feedback. Now Schmidt & Bender are finally in the
game can they offer anything that others can’t?
When was the last time you twiddled your scope-
turrets the wrong way or lost count of your clicks?
I’ve been around long enough to know better but
I’m certainly not immune. If you use a Schmidt,
you just can’t make that mistake. For us, it’s an
embarrassment and dropped points – for a
police marksman, it could be a disaster. S & B
always worked on a single turn of the elevation-
turret to take you from zero to 1000 yards –
foolproof.
However, even with a 34mm body-tube, the
5-25 Schmidt wouldn’t adjust from zero to 1000
yards in a single turn of the turret for any of the
popular cartridges, so they devised the

Not just a nice view - in the distance you can see the pylon I use for comparing
image resolution – not scientific maybe but a good field test

Target Shooter 39
 Here’s the turret ‘lit up’
showing that we are
on the yellow elevation
scale
‘lighthouse’ style elevation-turret which displays a
yellow indicator when you get onto the second
rotation. The same turret appears on the 12-50
and it’s still as ugly but now most shooters have
already seen it and you don’t get those strange
looks.
The bottom ‘white’ scale gives us 32
minutes of elevation and then up pops the
indicator and we are on the top ‘yellow’ scale for
another 32 MOA, taking us to a whopping 64
minutes of elevation. To the civilian shooter,
this pop-up indicator might seem to be a bit a
novelty but it works and that’s the important thing.
OK, you might be thinking – 64 MOA is no big deal,
my cheapo Chinese jobby gives me that. Yes, but
you inevitably ‘lost’ half of it just mounting and
zeroing the scope. With the Schmidt, you zero,
then reset the turret and you still have your
full 64 MOA – that’s the difference and that’s
impressive! Of course, if your mounts are way out of
alignment, you could still lose some adjustment.
Although 64 MOA seems an awful lot of adjustment,
it will still only take you out to 12-1300 yards with a
.308 but it will nicely take the 338 Lapua Magnum
out to around a mile and don’t forget, the British
Army have ditched the 7.62 Nato in favour of the
338 Lapua Magnum as their sniper rifle cartridge.
Why aren’t all scopes made this way, you
40 Target Shooter
might ask. Well, in lots of cases, it isn’t
necessary. For example, benchrest shooters
love top-quality optics but rarely adjust their
scopes. GB F Class League shooters rarely
shoot at less than 800 yards so a scope with
modest adjustment combined with a 20MOA
tapered scope-rail will be more than adequate.
The mildot reticle - previously the first choice
of S&B - ideally must be placed in the first
focal-plane. The whole point of a mildot
reticle is its range-finding ability. Everyone is
offering mildots – even the Chinese but
seemingly they don’t realise its purpose and
the mildot reticle is placed in the second focal-
plane. In other words, its size doesn’t alter as you
zoom-in on your target - the mildot is therefore only
useable as a rangefinder at one magnification and
seldom is this the top magnification. What’s more,
you will need the manufacturer’s instructions to
determine the setting at which the mildot can
be used as a true range-finder. Clearly farcical
for the professional user and a total waste of
time for the target shooter as we always know
the distance we are shooting at. However, the
mildot can at least be used to judge ‘aim-off’
accurately and for this reason - providing it is fine
enough - it is still a valid competition reticle and
certainly preferable to the once-popular ‘duplex’.
Thankfully, with the PM11/P, Schmidt have
finally acknowledged the target shooter and
their ‘sport’ reticle is offered in the 2nd focal
plane – in other words, it stays the same size
irrespective of the power setting and we don’t
now end up with a uselessly thick reticle at max.
power which could easily obscure the F Class
shooter’s tiny half MOA V bull! The ‘sport’ reticle
is very similar to the Nightforce NP200 reticle
– a tiny central dot with horizontal lines either
side and a vertical line below with another dot at
the bottom. Excellent for the target shooter, of-
fering precise aiming and horizontal levelling.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this
review, these scopes are still as rare as the
proverbial ‘rocking-horse manure’ and the only
reason we have this one for test is down to Laurie
Holland, who somehow managed to get his hands
on a ‘sample’ and has now loaned it to me. Not
only that, Laurie has also mounted it on his 6BR
Remington – a proven accuracy tool in 600
yard benchrest competition – plus, he has even
brought me some ammo.! All I have to do is shoot
but first, we’ll have a closer look at the Schmidt.
That 34mm body tube is finished in the
usual satin-black hard anodising and there are
rubber-rings to aid grip on the zoom-ring and
the ‘one-turn’ ocular focus. All figuring is tasteful
and incised into the aluminium so that it won’t
wear-off with use and click-value is marked
in quarter- minute divisions on this scope but
no doubt a metric/mil version is available.
Overall length is 417mm – about the same as the
Nightforce NSX – and it tips the scales at two and
a half pounds with the A.R.M.S rings. These rings
are about the only ones available for a 34mm tube
– remember, S&B make scopes – not mounts!
The object and ocular lenses are again similar
in size to a Nightforce at 56 and 35 mm. These
lenses are ground from special batches of
Schott Werk glass. This glass is only made
in small batches and if it doesn’t come
up to the demanding Schmidt and Schott
standard it is not used. This in itself could place
restrictions on the output/availability of these
scopes. Both have anti-flare coatings of course
and the body-tube internals have also received
an anti-reflective treatment. The accompanying
literature claims that the scope is waterproof to
a depth of three metres, which is nice to know
as we all have to shoot in the rain – frequently!
A few years ago, scopes had two turrets, then
three and now four!. The previous PM 11
model had an ‘either or’ choice - side-focus
or illuminated reticle – now, we can have both.
An illuminated reticle has no merit for the
target shooter and sensibly, our scope has just
three turrets. The side focus will take us from 50
metres to infinity in a single rotation and the
windage turret offers 16 MOA in either direction.
Let’s do some shooting. After focussing the
reticle with the eyepiece adjuster and a couple of
zeroing shots on my 100 yard target, we’re ready
to put the Schmidt through its paces. The first
test is a ‘return to zero’. We fire one shot on
full-power, then wind-down the zoom-ring to the
minimum setting and fire another shot. Few scopes
now fail this test and the Schmidt comes through
with flying colours with both shots touching.
Test number two is ‘round the angles’ . This
test checks the accuracy of the windage and
elevation turrets and ensures that the scope
returns to zero again. We use the same aimpoint
in the centre of a large target and I’m winding on
8 MOA of elevation and 8 MOA of right windage
to place shot one in the top corner of the target.
Before I take the second shot, I wind-off 16 MOA
of elevation and take another shot which impacts
in the bottom right corner. Now it’s 16 MOA of left
wind for the third shot in the bottom left corner.
Finally, we wind on another 16 MOA of elevation
and take shot four. If you are following me, we now
have a target with four shots – one in each corner
and, if I wind-on another 16 MOA of right wind,
the fifth shot should go through the same hole
as the first – given the limits of rifle, ammo and
the ‘nut behind the butt’. The first and fifth shots
are less than half an inch apart and by measuring
diagonally, we can verify that the ‘square’ is a
true square. The sides of the square should
measure (16 x 1.047) 16.75 inches – they actually
measure 161/8 to 16 1/2 inches. This is an
excellent result. Even expensive scopes can
exhibit a 10% error – the Schmidt is less than 3%
and as far as I can recall, this is the best result I have
ever obtained. Eye-relief is about three inches
for me.
Even shooting on a target just 100 yards away,
I can tell that the Schmidt optics are something
special and I can’t wait to have a look at my
favourite skyline electricity pylon about 6kms
away. No scope has ever out-resolved my 8-32
Nightforce BR in this test though the 5-25 Schmidt
ran it very close and the 8-32 Sightron definitely
gave an equally sharp and more contrasty image
Target Shooter 41

so let’s see how the big Schmidt fares. I’ve always
reckoned that the lenses in my old ‘benchrest’
Nightforce have the edge on the NSX model so
that’s what I use as my ‘benchmark’ for scope
testing. Not scientific but fair. With both scopes set
on 32 power, I just couldn’t see any discernable
difference but the Schmidt was totally devoid of
‘fringing’ or chromatic aberration, whereas there
was a small amount present with the Nightforce.
I mentioned earlier that shooters using the
12-42 Nightforce or the March preferred to use
them at less than maximum settings – how
would the Schmidt perform at its maximum.
The answer? Superbly! When I would up from
32 to 50, the image quality was still there –
pin-sharp, no fall-off whatsoever. This for me
is the key difference between the Schmidt and
its rivals – you will want to use this scope at
full power, whenever the occasion demands.
So, the 12-50 Schmidt ticks all the right
boxes – superb optics, side-focus, heaps of
accurate adjustment and all the controls
move with that precision feel which exudes
quality. Any criticisms? A slightly finer crosshair/dot
reticle as we use in benchrest would be my
preference for target work and would a sun/rain
42 Target Shooter
The lighthouse turret and
the numbers that count –
64MOA!
shade be too much to ask? Otherwise - perfect!
At the present time, I can’t give you a
retail price for this scope as no one is currently
advertising them but I would guess that it will be
similar to the big March, which means that you
may not get a lot of change out of two grand. Yes,
that’s a lot of money but this scope is the best
in its class. Yes, the 10-60 March will match the
scope on top-end power and it comes in a neater
package and I would love to compare the optics
but you just know the Schmidt is built like a tank
and will give a lifetime of service. It comes from
a European stable which offers an excellent 30
year after-sales back-up that includes a free 10
year service. For the professional user, it has no
equal and it would certainly be my first choice for
serious F Class competition though it would take
my 308 F/TR rig way over the 8.25kg. weight limit!
Finally, thanks to Laurie Holland for the loan of
this fabulous scope. I’d like to think that Target
Shooter has a world scoop with this report as
I’ve certainly not seen another review. York Guns
(tel: 01904 487180 or www.yorkguns.co.uk) are
the UK importer if you wish to place an order.
 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 43
 A Visit to Eley Batch Testing Facility

By Carl Boswell
Finally, I have got around to the article that I above - Rifles are locked in a fixed vice bench
have wanted to write for over a year! If readers after being put into specially made machined
remember, I was going to write something about the stocks
benefits of batch-testing ammunition back in 2008. company has a long history associated with the
Sadly, the week before I tried to visit Eley, they development of rimfire ammunition and a few
were faced with the untimely death of Bert Brookes, of their breakthrough ideas in ammunition
the customer range officer at the factory. As manufacture have been adopted by other
promised, I would like to dedicate this article to Bert, companies in their endeavours to make more
for his contribution to shooting sports, his amazing accurate ammunition.
level of knowledge and the support he has given More recently, the company has launched a whole
to countless shooters worldwide over the years. new range, taking old brands out and introduc-
ing some new ones like Eley Team. I believe that
For this article on ammunition testing, I am at this is a serious attempt to commit to the target
last going to Eley to batch-test again. Eley is shooter, bringing in the Tenex bullet ‘design’ to a
the rimfire ammunition manufacturer that is new model of ammunition that is more accessible to
synonymous with the term ‘accuracy’. The the club shooter. As raw materials are
escalating in price and Eley brands
Batches for testing - 17 on this specific day. are used by target shooters around
All for the price of £30 the world, this is quite a significant
development.

Eley has a complete customer range

for batch-testing at its factory and
this is where I headed on a pleasant
summer day with fellow shooter
Colin Renwick. As mentioned in
previous articles, batch-testing could
and should be your initial starting point
for selecting the ammunition that will
best suit your rifle.

44 Target Shooter
 Each specific batch of ammunition may
or may not ‘shoot’ in your rifle. You can
easily see this if you go batch-testing. Some
batches will open up to a 24mm group over
40 shots, whilst others will group as low
as 14mm. A huge difference, especially if
you are aiming to knock out a target-ring
no bigger than a pin head at 50 metres.
For those that have never experienced
batch-testing, please take my word for
it - it is staggering to see the difference
between one batch of ammunition and
another. I think in this one statement we
come to the real point of batch-testing
– it allows you to test a good number of
different sample batches in clinical
conditions, without the expense of
buying lots of different boxes yourself and
trying to test on range. Let’s face it, you
are lucky if an RFD will actually let you buy
one box at a time to test. You are much
more likely to be sold 500 rounds at a time.
This may or may not shoot well, so this
process is a bit of a gamble and could be very
expensive. Batch-testing at the facility Eley
offer takes any ‘ad hoc’ methods out of the
Martyn Buttery, Customer Range Officer process. It also costs a mere £30 for the test,
at Eley which uses at least four hundred rounds.
The new range officer at Eley is
I have produced a variety of articles on rimfire Martyn Buttery – ranked sixth in the UK
ammunition over the last few months. This has in ISSF shooting disciplines. He is, as he says,
included the number of ways of preparing them ‘a good all-rounder’ shooting both rimfire and air.
and testing them for competition. When it comes Martyn carries with him a wealth of shooting
down to it, we are experience in relationship to his position, both
talking mostly about
‘off the shelf’ Martyn setting the rifle in the fixed block
ammunition of ‘very for testing
good’ to the ‘cheaper’
qualities and the one
thing I would always
do is batch-test
ammunition for specific
competitions -
including what I
will shoot over the
coming year – as I take
my sport seriously.
This article lends itself
to those of like mind
who are prone, three
positional or benchrest
shooters and generally
all who shoot .22LR
ammunition in
competition.

Target Shooter 45
 the natural recoil of
the rifle determine the
accuracy of the
rifle/ammunition
combination. I can
see the merits in both
methods. Free-recoil
testing from a bench
should be capable of
producing just as tight a
group as a fixed/locked
bench but of course,
many of the shooters
who test at Eley shoot
off-hand and don’t
have the benefit of a
good benchrest set-up.
Rifle harmonics may
be different to your
Martyn setting up the computer system to record normal stock when
scoring using the system
at Eley but we are
gleaned by himself and that passed on from Bert. testing ammunition
You could not be in safer hands when attending Eley . consistency and results show that the
On arrival we are met with obviously heavy process works. If you look at the scores of the top
security but it is done with a sincere good will. shooters who have tested this way, most if not all
Martyn escorted both Colin and me into the would come to this same conclusion.
test-range facility. This looks small, but good Before we started, both Anschutz actioned rifles
things come in small packages. After sorting were placed into the testing bed by Martyn, set at
out details of the rifles and having a chat – the their normal torque setting of 5 nm. These were
other hobby that goes along with shooting – we locked into the testing bed and we started the
moved into the testing area to make a start. initial firing sequences. The first part of the
For years, shooters have discussed the mer- process is to trial the ammunition that we were
its of locking down a rifle to a test-bed or letting currently using. This
can then be compared
to those that are on offer
during the day. Twenty
shots were therefore
fired then we were
ready to go through a
further 17 batches of
the ammunition which
was available to us
on the day we tested.
The fascinating thing
I find when batch
testing is the different
group sizes that the
barrelled-action will
shoot. Last year, the
Anschutz factory
barrel I had shot up to
a 24mm 40 shot group.
My rifle with view down the 50m tunnel This was the same with
Colin’s this year.

46 Target Shooter
 fired, with one coffee
break in the middle
for another chat with
Martyn. At the end of
the morning we had
a variety of data to
look at and compare.
Colin had three
batches to consider
and I had six to choose
from. The one that
best suited my needs
was slightly lower
velocity than the
others but there was
very little in it to be
honest. The one thing
to remember about
Groups sizes come onto the 22 LR ammunition is
computer screen as you test that is does perform
differently than other
ammunition in one
However, that was one batch and a 40 shot simple fact - the lower
group can go as low as 14mm - the current range the velocity the better this is for accuracy. If the
record. The best batch tested in both rifles bullet is moving slower it creates less drag in the air
produced groups of about 16mm, which is great. and thus lower drift. I chose mine and Colin chose
The Lilja barrel I have changed over to this year his batch, which was excellent and beat mine by
provided analysis information that the barrel is a couple of points and three-tenths of a millimetre.
pretty consistent over the 17 batches tested – so Calculations of the best batch can be determined
this batch process also provided confidence in in four ways;
that purchase. Two birds with one stone – cannot
be bad! • 40 shot group size
From some of the pictures within this article you • Distribution of 40 shoot score
can see the way each shot and ten-shot group
comes up on the
computer screen for
the shooter to review
as they proceed.
Although you get all
this information at the
end, this is quite an
important feature of
the process. I tend
to analyse and judge
what each batch is
doing throughout the
process. Martyn looks
at this data either on
range or in his office,
where everything is
displayed on his
computer screen as it
happens. 4 X 10 shot groups recorded for later
The testing process analysis
took a few hours and
over 550 rounds were
Target Shooter 47
 the minimum purchase after a batch test is an
order of 5000 rounds. Overall a great morning!
As a side note, the batch-test turned out to
be a very sound investment as I have just
won the 50 metre Light Varmint and Unlimited
classes at the UK Rimfire and Air Rifle
National Championship held the weekend after
batch-testing session at Eley. In addition, I
was also fortunate to win the aggregate cup
for both 50 metre events. This new batch of
ammunition is slightly better in my rifle than
the one I chose last year – and I thought
that was good! So mightily impressed,
both by the quality of Eley’s service and
the product I have chosen. My thanks to
Martyn and all at Eley for putting up with
me – yet again! It is much appreciated.
So there you have it. Eley have the
facilities to test your rifle and match it to the best
ammunition available. Where you go to from
here is up to you! Maybe even a few future
national or international champions out there
will start to develop testing processes for
themselves. What make of ammunition you
use is down to you. However, when you have a
world class ammunition manufacturer on your
Analysis prints to aid sellection doorstep, this is probably the first step to take.
of the batch I hope the last few articles have been
informative and do help people, even if some
• Consolidated 40 shot score of the ‘processes’ I describe are a little fussy.
• Each 10 shot test group X 4 tests Unfortunately consistency is the ‘name of the game’
From this information, shooters can choose the and all shooters are aiming towards this goal.
batch that best suits their needs. In most cases If you wish to book as slot at the Eley
the above data will match. customer range then you will need to book
One really nice thing we did not expect was a this via the Eley website at www.eley.co.uk
visit from Andrew Lane, the new Eley MD, who where there is an online request form to fill out.
popped over to say hello and have a chat. I know All I would say is book well in advance as it is
he was busy, so this was much appreciated. becoming very popular. Shoot well until next time.
After this we said our goodbyes for the time being,
leaving the Eley range happy but slightly poorer, as

Eley Tenex - with podium to help you access

rounds from the new box during a match

48 Target Shooter
World Cup Success
- Every 50m Prone Medal 12/12
- 87% of Gold medals in the 50m events
- Total of 45 medals won by ELEY
2009 ISSF World Cups

Champions shoot Tenex

www.eleyammunition.com
ELEY - the home of Tenex
Target Shooter 49
 PROFILE ON RORY MCALPINE
By Hayley Platts
This month I am pleased to feature another
of Scotland’s bright young prospects in the
shooting world, and despite his age is adding
some impressive results to his sporting CV.
Rory began shooting at the age of twelve
when he saw a notice at school recruiting new
members to the school rifle club. Rory was
intrigued by this new challenge, decided to
give it a whirl and found it was something he
took to and really enjoyed. The discipline he
chose was .22 prone rifle shooting, and more
recently has started to expand his shooting
horizon to include air rifle shooting.
Rory is now 18 and is proud to hold the post
of Captain of George Watsons College Target
Rifle Club where he trains around three times a
Up and coming Rory McAlpine in competition
50 Target Shooter
week. Additional to his live firing at the range,
Rory says he does the majority of his training
at home and tries to build in lots of different
exercises to keep the interest during the slog of
a hours of training. Whilst he varies the types
of training he does, Rory says it is important
that each exercise has an end goal to
it, to stretch yourself and make the work
meaningful and challenging. Currently
coached by Sinclair Bruce and has achieved
enough in his shooting career so far to be
included and part of the Scotland Fast Track
programme, for those aged under twenty five.
Rory is in his last year at George Watsons
College and it is good to hear that they have
been supportive in his sporting endeavours
although are perhaps understandably not
over keen on Rory taking too much time off
from his studies.
Rory’s choice of rifle is the Anschutz 1913
combined with Eley ammunition.
In the last 12 months Rory’s international
shooting career has really taken off. He won
bronze at the Youth Commonwealth Games
in India in October 2008 and has followed this
up at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival in
January this year. In his favourite prone rifle
event Rory moved two steps up the podium
to take the gold medal with a score of 591.
In 2009 Rory has followed up on his 2008
achievements representing Great Britain in
Plzen for the Shooting Hopes event, finished
12th in the British Championships and was a
member of the British Team that travelled to
Croatia for the European Championships.
During competition Rory applies some
mental discipline and strives to stay as calm
during a match as he does on the training
INTERSHOOT
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range. Rory does also point out that he does
not feel nerves are a bad thing, and can of
course be turned into a positive emotion if
kept under control.
Outside of shooting Rory enjoys some other
more unusual outdoor pursuits including
sailing, and what Rory describes as ultimate
frizbee. Musically, Rory is a dab hand with
the guitar.
On the subject of why Rory feels that shooting
is a good sport to recommend to others, his
response was the fact that you’re always
trying to get better and achieve the perfect score.
If you are having trouble with your shooting
and not achieving what you hope or expect to,
Rory’s top tip is to completely erase those
shots that have already gone, as he says
“you can’t change them” in other words solely
concentrate on the ones to come.
Jackets from........£95
Gloves from..........£23
Slings from...........£30
You could be shooting for
under £150!
Also the latest top end
jacket - the ahg Anschutz
Scorpion Fusion from £550!
Target Shooter 51
52 Target Shooter
 No.4(T) Sniper Rifle – The
distinguishing markings on scopes
and rifles.

My previous article covered the development
and introduction into service of the No.4(T) sniper
rifle in late 1941. This article will give a detailed
description of the markings of the rifles to
assist current owners and future purchasers in
identifying whether the rifle in question is genuine.
I have personally handled upwards of 75 No.4(T)
rifles and after awhile one gets a feeling for what
is genuine or otherwise. However, there are two
well known experts in the United Kingdom who
By Nigel Greenaway
Above - A 1944 made BSA Shirley No.4(T)
showing the T on the receiver side wall near
the ejector screw and the TR on the butt
socket near the trigger
between them have handled thousands of
these rifles so I shall be drawing heavily on their
experience and published articles and books.
Peter Laidler is an ex-armourer and current
curator of the Small Arms Museum and wrote two
books - one on the No.4(T) sniper rifle and one on the
No.32 scope. Roger Payne is a
Registered Firearms Dealer
and collector of WW1 and WW2
British and Commonwealth
sniper rifles and has had several
articles published. A fellow RFD
and collector – David Tomkinson

Left - The right hand side

of the rifle where you can
just see the letter ‘s’ below
the bolt head. This was
stamped on the block where
the old Trials rifle magazine
cut-off would have hinged.
The red W on the scope
indicates that it has pass
waterproofing tests. The
sling swivel forward of the
magazine is also present.
Target Shooter 53
D6E examiners mark of the upright battle sight that would
which is stamped on the otherwise foul the scope) there is a 1/8
left rear body next to the inch high stamp of the letter ‘s’ (sans
bolt-way after serif). This was stamped on the block
where the old Trials rifle magazine cut-off
conversion to a
would have hinged. Another distinguishing
No.4(T). The
mark is the ‘D6E’ examiners mark which
telescope number is stamped on the left rear body next to
is stamped on the the bolt-way after conversion to a No.4(T).
upper wrist of The telescope number is stamped on
the wooden butt the upper wrist of the wooden butt and
the rifle number is stamped just forward
of this number on the top part of the
wooden socket which disappears into the
metal butt socket when the butt is
screwed onto the rifle. On the underneath
of the butt is the Holland and Holland
wartime manufacturer code S51 (always
shares a trade stand with Roger at the Birmingham present even on the 1941 rifles). The rifle
International Arms Fair and they always have a serial number is stamped along the underneath of the
nice selection of either matched or mismatched, but fore-end at the muzzle end, instead of the more
otherwise genuine, No.4(T) sniper rifles for sale. usual way of stamping across the camber of the wood.
My thanks to David for supplying many of the close
up photos used in this article. Roger and David Other standard features – front (three mounting
have handled many of the early No.4(T) rifles and screws) and rear (two mounting screws) body pads
herefore have seen how the distinguishing markings were soft-soldered and screwed to the side wall of the
developed over a period of time before evolving in receiver to accept the mount bracket. The screws on
to the accepted form of markings on 1944 and 1945 the front pads could work loose after as little as 1000
dated BSA Shirley rifles. The standard markings are: rounds so a solution was to stake metal from the
pad in to the screwdriver slots of the screws using a
Rifle Receiver, Butt Socket and woodwork – a punch. This became an official modification in March
Holland and Holland examiner’s letter T stamp 1946 so many rifles subsequently going through
(serif font) is present on the receiver sidewall, repair shops or refurbishment would have been so
usually quite close to the ejector screw. On modified. It is not uncommon to see multiple punch
the left hand side of the butt socket below the marks on the front pad whilst the rear will usually
manufacturer’s markings is a TR (sans serif font so just have one punch mark. From late 1944 triangular
quite different from the T on the receiver wall). This sling swivels were fitted in place of the front trigger
mark was stamped by the manufacturer on rifles that guard screw (bedding screw) and many early rifles
exhibited tighter than usual groups during accuracy had these retrofitted. Cheek pieces fitted on British
testing and was thus earmarked for conversion to a rifles were most commonly made from beech but a
Telescope Rifle. On rifles that did not require the back significant minority of 1944 produced BSA rifles had
sight to be re-zeroed or exchanged for the modified oak – sometimes giving a pleasing tiger stripe look
Mk1 back sight (the modification was the removal (as on my rifle). It was stipulated that split foresight

On the underneath of the butt is stamped the

Holland and Holland wartime manufacturer code S51
54 Target Shooter
Three different woods were used for cheek pieces. On British rifles beech was the most
common as seen on the lower L42A1 sniper rifle but a significant minority of 1944 produced
BSA rifles had oak – sometimes giving a pleasing tiger stripe look as on the upper rifle. The
middle Canadian rifle has a walnut cheek piece.
blocks should be used but many 1944 produced rifles conversion, the majority (85% is Roger’s
will be found with solid foresight blocks. Only Mk1 estimate) were supplied by BSA Shirley with the
rear sights were used with the battle sight ground off. remaining 15% being made up by Enfield, R.O.F.
Enfield made rifles and conversions Mention has Maltby, Savage and Long Branch. BSA’s markings
already been made of the 1403 Trials Rifles that also evolved during the war, starting with a B from
were converted at Enfield. Roger is of the opinion 1941 to 1943, which changed at some point in 1943
that only Trials Rifles were converted by Enfield – to their wartime code of M47 which changed again
all of those that he has inspected did not have the in late 1943 to M47C. The serial numbering system
Holland and Holland S51 code on the butt and they also changed but by early 1944 had settled on a five
all had an Enfield examiner’s mark on the front top digit number starting with 3, usually, with a single l
flat of the front body pad - a mark not encountered etter prefix. The latest production block of ‘T’
on any other No.4(T)’s. Most rifles noted are dated conversions being the ‘X’ prefix in 1945. No 1946
1931 or 1933 with an ‘A’ prefix and serial numbers dated rifles have been observed although some of
up to about 2500 e.g. A0794 and A2215. Woodwork the last Kershaw made No.32 Mk3 sights are dated
is walnut and they retain all the original Trials Rifle 1946. Early 1941 BSA rifles were stocked up in beech,
features. although of a colour that is darker than the typical
post-war ‘blonde’ beech. By 1943 it seems that BSA
BSA rifles Shirley rifles were exclusively used for conversion.
Peter Laidler has calculated that 23,177 No.4(T)
sniper rifles were completed by Holland and R.O.F. Maltby
Holland, the last few in April 1946. To this can be The Royal Ordnance Factory Maltby converted rifles
added the 1,403 Trials conversions plus 1,524 Long were nearly all marked ROFM 1941 on the receiver
Branch No.4(T)’s to make a grand total of 26,104. side wall and the initial part of this will be obscured
Whilst no actual figures exist of the breakdown of by the front body pad with either no letter prefix to
different manufacturers’ rifles supplied for the five digit number or a letter in the A or B series.

Target Shooter 55
Roger has only ever seen one 1942 rifle. Original
rifles have butts marked S51 indicating that all the
conversion work was carried out by Holland and
Holland and not Enfield as some have
speculated. The presence of the ‘T’ and ‘TR’ stamps is
inconsistent, most without but some with one or
the other. It is more than likely that these marks,
usually of a non-standard style and size, were added
by ordnance armourers at a later date whilst rifles
were being repaired. The ‘S’ mark is absent on all
Maltby converted rifles. Enfield examiners marks,
if present, are located on the right rear body under
The main distinguishing mark
of Canadian made sniper
rifles was a sans serif ‘T’ on
the left hand receiver wall
the point where the bolt handle joins the bolt body.
Occasionally a genuine two groove barrel is seen.
Only No.32 Mk1 scopes would have been fitted
but it is not unknown for a later mark scope to be
fitted ‘officially’ as part of an upgrade on an otherwise
serviceable rifle. This point also applies to the Savage
made rifles. There were probably fewer than 1000
Maltby conversions and a similar number for Savage.
Stevens-Savage
The American manufactured Savage rifles were
converted from very early No.4 Mk1 production
and a very few Mk1*, probably at the point when
production changed over to the different bolt release
system on the Mk1*. Serial numbers seem to be in the
12, 13 and 14C blocks. The odd two groove barrel will
also be observed – this was supposed to be a reject
feature if spotted by Holland and Holland! There is
some speculation that a second batch of Savage
rifles were converted by Holland and Holland
near the termination of the sniper rifle conversion
contracts in 1945/46 but were not fitted with
scopes. Unfortunately these rifles do not exhibit the
standard markings, which by this date had become
standardised, so there are considerable doubts
about these ‘scope less’ rifles.
Long Branch
Worthy of an article in its own right, the history of
the Canadian Long Branch made No.4(T)’s is very
interesting. They tried to develop the No.4(T) in
56 Target Shooter
to a more modern sporterised sniper rifle with a
half length fore-end, a Monte-Carlo butt, rubber
butt pad and a 5x magnification scope – all at a
considerable weight saving. The British rejected it
saying 5x magnification was too much and seemed
to go out of their way to place obstacles in the way
of future development! A great shame because
all the trials showed that the users loved it! The
Canadians did have six different scopes, Mk1, Mk1A,
Mk2 and Mk3 which were the same or very similar
to our three marks, plus one which was originally
designated a No.32 Mk4 but, because it was a
completely new development which owed
nothing to the No.32, was subsequently
re designated the C No.67 Mk1 (3.5x24mm). Due to
production difficulties in churning out enough scopes
through the Quebec based Research Enterprises
Limited (R.E.L) the Canadians ordered 350 ‘off the
shelf’ American Lyman Alaskan All Weather scopes
which they designated the C No.32 Mk1 (TP) – TP
stood for Trade Pattern. For a long while research
showed that only 1,141 Canadian No.4(T)’s were
made but Clive Law’s excellent book – Without
Warning, revealed that all the rifles using No.32
Mk3 scopes were produced after the war bringing
the grand total to 1,524. The Canadian markings did
not follow any of the British stampings and the main
distinguishing mark was a sans serif ‘T’ on the
left hand receiver wall. About 500-600 Canadian
No.4(T)’s were accepted in to British service and
these tend to have the scope number stamped on
the upper wrist of the butt. There are other specific
Canadian markings but these are beyond the scope
of this article.
The next article will cover the ongoing development
of the No.4(T) with the introduction, in British service,
of the three main marks, plus one hybrid version,
of the No.32 scope plus the associated scope tins,
lens caps, wooden rifle chests and training literature.
Sources:
The Armourer Militaria Magazine, Issue 57 May/
June 2003 – WW2 Sniping Rifles by Roger Payne
International Arms & Militaria Collector – Magazine
No.20, 2002 – Roger Payne and David Tomkinson
article on the No.4(T)
An Armourer’s Perspective .303 No.4(T) Sniper Rifle
– ISBN 1 85367 144 4. Peter Laidler’s bible on the
history of these rifles.
Telescope Sighting No.32 – An insider view of
the Snipers Rifle Telescope - Peter Laidler - last
reprinted in 1993 - a very comprehensive booklet on
these scopes and how to strip and reassemble them
(if you are very brave).
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Target Shooter 57
 Fullbore Bullet Ballistic Analysis

By Bryan Litz
Above - 155gn bullets are popular in GBFCA F/TR, although heavier bullets are permitted.
2008 F/TR champion Russell Simmonds (nearest the camera), and the GB F/TR team
captain Stuart Anselm behind both use 155s
With several developments around ‘fullbore’ some earlier work on these designs. What do I
bullets in the recent past, I decided to update mean by ‘fullbore’, a term in general use in the
USA, but which may have a different meaning
American ‘Fullbore’ shooting is based on elsewhere? It refers to International Fullbore
UK and British Commonwealth ‘Target Rifle’, and Palma competition shooting whose rules
both restricted to .308 Win / 7.62mm with dictate the use of the .308 Winchester cartridge
bullets weighing less than 156gn in single- loaded with bullets weighing less than 156gn. I
shot rifles with long barrels and iron sights understand these limitations also apply to
British Commonwealth ‘Target Rifle’, and to the
ammunition used in the F/TR division of
F-Class shooting in Canada and Australia.
On top of that, 155gn bullets are a popular
choice in club and regional level competitions.

Design
These rules fixing the weight, calibre and
cartridge restrict the bullet designer severely. With
Palma, Fullbore and F/TR rifles single-shot types
utilising barrel lengths of 29-32”, muzzle velocities
(MVs) also fall within a fairly small range, generally
between 2,950 and 3,050 fps. All that’s left is
the bullet’s profile or shape, which determines
aerodynamic drag. The efficiency with which the
bullet’s ogive parts the air to make way for the
bullet, and the effectiveness of the boat tail in
reducing base drag are the key factors that
differentiate their performance. Hang on, have
I forgotten ‘accuracy’? Inherent precision
(usually referred to as accuracy) is obviously a
vital attribute in determining success, but that is
mostly dictated by manufacturing quality which
is very high nowadays for all main contenders.

58 Target Shooter
Wind
A most important step in any performance
analysis is to decide what measure of merit you
care about. In this case, it’s wind deflection.
Assuming our bullets offer equal degrees of
precision, the design that is less wind-affected
makes the competitor’s reading of the
prevailing conditions easier, so is likely to
produce the best score. With all models being
driven at similar MVs, we have a simple rule of
thumb: the design with the lowest drag profile will
have the highest Ballistic Coefficient (BC), and
suffer the least amount of wind deflection.
In order to calculate wind deflection, we
need to know the bullet’s BC and muzzle
velocity. I’ve assumed 3,000fps throughout,
so any difference in ballistic performance
is down to BC. To perform a meaningful
analysis, we need accurate information,
and unfortunately BCs advertised by the
bullet makers are questionable for various
reasons and may not be directly comparable
thanks to differing methods used to
calculate them. In order to make
comparisons, we need BCs measured
using a common method that’s repeatable. To
obtain this, I devised an experimentally based
Bryan tested this trio two years ago – then
the leading fullbore contenders. Left to
right: ‘Old’ Sierra Palma MK (2155); Lapua
Scenar; Berger VLD. The Scenar was
found to be the ‘winner’ by a fair margin
measuring system in which a number of sample
shots are fired over 1,000 yards with the bullet
passing over acoustic sensors placed at
precisely measured equal intervals on the
range. The sensors are activated by the
bullet’s supersonic ‘crack’ and use wireless
transmitters to advise a computer loaded with
a specially adapted ballistics program of the
sectional flight times. In essence, the pro-
gram runs BCs iteratively until values are found
that match the actual times (hence velocities)
over each section. It should be noted that this
method gives repeatable results within +/- 1%
between test shots, results moreover that are in
agreement with other published, credible
sources.
Today, two newcomers are challenging the
Lapua. Left to right: ‘New’ Sierra Palma
MK (2156); Lapua Scenar; Berger 155.5gn
Match BT FULLBORE.
Target Shooter 59
There is another problem with manufacturers’ BCs BC range runs from 0.228 to 0.223, under 3% which
– they are referenced to the G1 standard which introduces far less error into ballistic calculations.
ultimately compares their aerodynamic However, as readers are likely to be familiar with
performance to a projectile shape that bears G1 BCs, average values are provided in gray as a
little resemblance to the modern long-range reference. It should be noted that there is no
rifle bullet with its long nose and marked direct link between the values of the two sets,
boat tail. Fortunately we have a much better each used in a suitably calibrated ballistics
alternative in the form of the G7 standard projectile. program, so G7 values running at half the level of
(Figure 1.) their G1 counterparts is of no significance in itself.
If we define performance against G7 standard
results, we get BCs that are much less sensitive Octet
to velocity than the G1 standard. For example, Let’s look at the bullets, listed in Figure 2 in
the 155 grain Berger VLD has a G1 BC that varies order of decreasing BC. Scale profiles are
from 0.465 at 3,000fps to 0.402 at 1,500fps, a 14% provided showing relative shapes and propor-
difference. However, if you use the G7 standard, the tions in the left hand column. It’s noticeable
that the more aerodynamically
efficient bullets are longer than
those at the bottom of the stack, in
particular having longer noses – an
important factor in drag
reduction. Moving across, the
sectional density (SD) is given.
As this is the bullet’s weight (in
pounds) divided by its calibre
Berger 155.5, Lapua 155 Scenar, HBC BJD, New Sierra, Berger VLD, PMP, Old Sierra, Hornady A-Max squared, and all of our fullbore
bullets have the same weight and
Average Average
Bullet SD i7
Manufacturer’s diameter, they have an identical
G7 BC G1 BC Claimed G1 BC SD of .233 lb/in2, except for
the marginally heavier 155.5gn
Berger FULLBORE at 0.234 lb/
0.234 0.988 0.237 0.464 0.464
Berger 155.5 Fullbore
in2. The next metric in the chart
is the bullet’s form factor, i7,
referenced to the G7 standard.
0.233 0.988 0.236 0.462 0.508
Lapua 155 Scenar
This represents the bullet’s drag
as a ratio to that produced by
the standard bullet, so one with
0.233 0.989 0.236 0.462 n/a
155 HBC BJD (Australia)
a value below 1.0 produces less
drag than the standard projectile,
0.504, .470,
one above 1.0 more. Because
0.233 1.018 0.229 0.447 .430, .380 by the length and shape of fullbore
Sierra 155 Palma (2156)
velocity bands bullets are restricted by the weight
limit of 155-155.5gn, low for the
0.233 1.039 0.225 0.439 0.439 calibre, the designer has his work
Berger 155 VLD
cut out to get i7 below 1.0, and
only three achieve it.
0.233 1.041 0.224 0.439 n/a
155 PMP (South Africa)
Moving on, we have the bullet’s
0.450, .443, G7 BC obtained by dividing the
0.233 1.092 0.214 0.417 .417 by velocity SD by the i7 value. The BCs
Sierra 155 Palma (2155) displayed have been averaged
bands
using the bullets’ measured
0.233 1.100 0.212 0.415 0.435
velocities and flight times from
Hornady 155 A-Max 3,000 fps at the muzzle to be-
yond the point where their
Figure 2. Ballistic performance comparison for 8 Fullbore bullets.

60 Target Shooter
 The old and new Sierras together for
comparison. Note how the new bullet on the
right has had the nose section stretched to Top Trio
give a sharper front-end.
the smallest 0.5%.
So, onto the results. The top performers proved
to be the new Berger 155.5gn Match BT
FULLBORE, the long established Lapua Scenar,
and a bullet that was new to me, the Australian
HBC, this trio producing practically identical BCs,
certainly within the measurement uncertainty of
my testing. Let’s look at each in turn. The
Berger is an inherently accurate bullet, in its
short life winning the 2008 US Palma Individual
Trophy at Camp Perry (450-26X) as well as
setting a new midrange (iron sights) US National
Record of 450-39X. The Scenar’s excellent ballistic
performance is no secret to top shooters, and
it was well ahead of the pack until the last year
or so when other companies caught up. Lapua
advertises a G1 BC of 0.508 for this bullet and my
experimentally measured value at 3,000fps was
0.497, a mere 2% difference at these high speeds,
but note that my average G1 BC for this bullet
over 1,000 yards is 0.462, a much lower value.

The HBC BJD bullet was a surprise (to me at any

rate), a friend down under sending some to test
out of mutual curiosity. These bullets have an
aggressive secant ogive and a long 7-degree
boat tail which is a splendid combination that
results in very low drag. To my knowledge,
there is no advertised BC for this bullet, but my
measurements indicate that it’s among the
speed dropped to 1,500fps. It should be
best ballistic performers in its class. HBC stands for
noted there was very little difference between any
individual bullet’s highest and lowest individual The ‘New’ 155gn Sierra Palma MK on the right
G7 BC readings over these distances / velocities. has also had its meplat ‘pointed’ (reduced in
Finally, we have two columns displaying G1 diameter) to reduce drag
BCs – those based on my velocity / flight time
measurements over the 3,000 – 1,500fps range,
and the manufacturers’ claimed figures. As I don’t
use G1 BCs in ballistics calculations because
of the problems they create in modelling bullet
behaviours at long ranges, they are provided
solely as a point of reference.

These tests were a follow-up to some

previously carried out for three bullets – the original
Sierra Palma MK (#2155), the Lapua Scenar, and
Berger’s Match VLD. They were tested again
alongside the additional five models earlier this
year, and their resulting BCs modified slightly
based on the larger number of test shots’ data
now available. I was gratified to find the ‘new’
results barely varied from those carried out two
years ago, the largest BC variation being 1.3%,
Target Shooter 61
GBFCA F/TR options: 155gn bullets on the
left; a match prepped cartridge with ‘pointed’
155gn Lapua Scenar; heavy bullets (210gn
Sierra MK and 210gn Berger VLD) on the
right. The 210gn bullets’ much higher BCs
are offset by a 400-500 fps velocity loss at the
muzzle
High BC, and BJD for Bob and Jan Dyer who make
them in their company, R & J Sportsgoods in Darwin.
Auspicious Beginnings
Next we have the new Sierra Palma MK
bullet (#2156) which has a very much
improved BC over the ‘old’ version (#2155 which
remains in production). The new Palma bullet
has only been out a short time, (barely reached
the UK with the main importers still awaiting
supply – Editor), but has already proven itself in
international competition. The US Rifle Team used
this bullet in September 2008 to win the Spirit of
America International Fullbore Rifle Match. It was
so new that supplies were delivered direct from
the factory to the range, with the team coaches
swapping out the bullets from the ammo that
the shooters brought to the match! The winning
result is a testament not only to the bullet’s
excellent ballistic performance, but also to its
inherent accuracy in so many different rifles with no
62 Target Shooter
load development. My average measured G1 BC
for this bullet is 0.447, while the average of Sierra’s
advertised values is 0.446, practically identical.
The Berger 155gn VLD comes next. Once this
company’s top Palma model, it now represents
just another option since the introduction of the
155.5gn FULLBORE model. As with the old
Sierra Palma MK it remains in production.
The 155gn PMP bullets are from South Africa,
and were also provided for testing by a good
friend abroad. PMP stands for Pretoria Metal
Processing, and the samples I tested were from
lot #66. Dimensionally, they are similar to the
old Sierra Palma MK (#2155), but have a very
small meplat (tip) diameter. The meplats on
the samples I tested measured only 0.052” in
diameter which is extremely small for a factory
(un-pointed) bullet. Again, I don’t have an
advertised BC, but the measured figure came out
just where I expected it to be according to the
bullet’s shape.
Old Guard
The old model Sierra Palma bullet, which saw
heavy use in international competition over two
decades by many countries, now finds itself
near the bottom of the performance league. An
inherently accurate bullet and still a very good
option for short and midrange matches, this bullet
simply lacks the design features to compete with
the superior ballistic performance of the newer
offerings at long range. Finally, the Hornady
155gn A-Max comes in just below the old Sierra.
The plastic tips ensure very consistent BCs, but
are not sharp enough to make up for the other
areas where this bullet’s design is lacking. The
short boat tail is too steep at a 13-degree plus
angle to achieve significant base drag reduction
and the ogive is very short. As we’ll see next month,
this combination results in hefty wind deflection
compared to the better designs, and it remains
barely supersonic at 1,000 yards from 3,000fps
MV. If Hornady wants to offer a better Fullbore
bullet, they’ll have to turn to a design that’s more like
their outstanding 208gn 0.308” A-Max which has a
long boat tail at a shallow angle, and a long ogive.
Next month, we’ll see how these G7 BCs
translate into wind deflection and retained
velocities at 1,000 yards, and I’ll model poten-
tial shooting scores on long-range Fullbore and
F-Class targets in varying wind strength scenarios.


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SECTION 5
firearm solutions to suit you

Section 5 deals in all forms of these specialised weapons -

revolvers, semi-automatic pistols and rifles, and dart guns.
We have one of the largest and most comprehensive stocks of
these weapons in the UK, ready for immediate sale, magazine or
cylinder restriction, De-Activation or export to approved countries.
TRAINING

DE-ACTIVATION

HUMANE DISPATCH

Email: sales@sect5.co.uk Web: www.sect5.co.uk Tel: 07549 945 292 Fax: 0845 280 1620
Target Shooter 63
 Shooting Website of the Month
This site is located ‘down under’ but if
you are a benchrest or F Class shooter or
just an accuracy nut, it is well worth a look.
BRT – Benchrest Training – is operated by
two of the nicest folk in shooting, Stuart and
Annie Elliott. The Elliotts are known
throughout the benchrest world and both are BR
shooters of the highest level being part of the
Aussie Team that beat the previously undefeated
Americans in the South African Benchrest World
Championships this year.
With a wealth of experience at world level,
the Elliotts can now offer offer benchrest
training anywhere in the world and many
countries have already benefitted from their
coaching. Their windflags are as recognisable
as the Sidney Opera House to benchrest
shooters and are used by many top shooters
world-wide.
There are plenty of pics on the site which will
give you a flavour of benchrest shooting and F
64 Target Shooter
Class – the Elliott’s
latest passion. There is also a tips &
tricks section which is worth a read and will no
doubt grow.
Finally, the Elliots are now supplying accuracy
bits and pieces including March scopes. The
Aussies are no different from we Brits – most
of the good stuff comes from the USA but if
someone else does the importing it takes the
hassle and waiting out of the equation.
We at Target Shooter wish Annie and Stuart
all the very best with their venture – they are a
great couple and deserve to succeed.
BRT Shooters Supply – www.benchrest.com.
au
COMMONWEALTH CUSTOM FROM
FOX FIREARMS

By Laurie Holland
Target Shooter has given a lot of coverage to New Above - The Barnard / True-Flite / Bell & Carls-
Zealand company Barnard Precision with my F/ son 6.5mm rifle
TR tube-gun, Vince Bottomley’s report on his
another Kiwi outfit, True-Flite NZ Ltd that makes
Model 07 tactical rifle and Brian Walker’s visit to the
button-rifled match quality barrels
The Barnard ‘Model S’ is a precision-made single-shot match from top-grade US supplied 416R
quality action that has the same external dimensions as the stainless blanks, available in many
Remington 700. calibres, twist rates, profiles and in pre
or unchambered form. Fox Firearms is
a Barnard agent and the importer for
the barrels, offering them to gunsmiths
for custom build, or as in this case, the
basis of budget pick ‘n’ mix job using
a pre-chambered tube. With over 70
barrels in stock, plus several actions,
there is a good chance of getting what
you want quickly. Even if the barrel
has to be ordered from New Zealand,
delivery times are reasonable. The
third major ingredient in the mix is the
stock. If you’re in the market for an
company. This month’s offering has an interesting
F-Class or TR rifle, Fox Firearms offers good
USP or unique selling point, being a quality
looking, attractively priced rifles using an
quasi-custom rifle available at a lower outlay than
appropriate version of the Canadian Robertson
if you go down the traditional build-it-from-scratch-
Composites H&H competition stock, the Barnard
gunsmith route.
single-shot Model Paction, and a match or Palma profile
This results from the
accuracy and consistency
with which two components,
the action and barrel, are
manufactured, as well as
the use of bedding-block
stocks. Barnard actions are so
precisely and consistently
made, bolts are
interchangeable between
action bodies and the
company says a competently
manufactured pre-threaded
and chambered barrel will
marry-up to the appropriate
action and provide correct
headspace straight off. The Barnard ‘S’ action has a
Competently made pre- simple, but immensely strong
chambered barrels? Enter receiver

Target Shooter 65
 for review, anything
I fancied within
reason. I only made
two stipulations – it
should be
accurate and in
6.5X47 Lapua
calibre. I’d no idea
what I’d get apart
from the make of
action and barrel,
and was
subsequently
rather enigmatically
advised it would
be left-hand and
‘tactical’ – a
magazine rifle
All Barnard actions use bolts with three optimised for easy
good-sized locking lugs handling and rapid
operation?
True-Flite barrel in an appropriate chambering. The rifle was ready
Bedding block versions of the stock design are in around six weeks despite being built from scratch
employed to reduce workload and costs – strewth, and turned out to be an‘interesting mix’ – a polished
clever people these colonials! 30” Palma profile barrel like you’d find on a TR rifle;
left-hand single-shot Barnard Model S action; the
‘Interesting’ ‘tactical bit’ being the stock, a matte black model
My test rifle was also made using this formula, but from Bell & Carlsson. Up top, there was a Warne
despite trying to keep those other one-time colonists rail, an 8-32 power Hakko ‘Tactical’ variable, all held
in North America out of the picture, US bits now together by Warne tactical rings. While thanking my
appear – a Bell & Carlsson composite stock and benefactor and opining what a fine piece it was, I
Timney trigger. Let’s go back a step as I’m getting was privately having less flattering thoughts given
ahead of myself, and recount how I got here. Brian the rather ‘unconventional’ parts-combination!
Fox, proprietor of the eponymous gun supplier asked
me late last year if I’d like a Barnard / True-Flite Bedding Block
As with Brian’s Model P based custom rifles,

This version of the Bell & Carlsson stock is

adjustable for ‘pull’ from 13.25-15”, as well as
having an adjustable buttplate and cheekpiece

66 Target Shooter
 incorporating the bedding
block around the action
broadening out to a wide
forend incorporating an
accessory rail. At the
back, pull and cheekpiece
height are adjustable, so
everybody should get
comfortable, and it can
be set up for a variety of
The forend has a built-in bipod / accessory rail shooting tasks. What I
didn’t spot was that it had
started life in right-hand
the model ‘S’ action and B&C stock
combination doesn’t require bedding.
Barnard makes this smaller diameter
version of its strong three-lug action with
external dimensions identical to those
of the ubiquitous Remy 700 short-action
as there are more inletted and speciality
stocks and aftermarket trigger assemblies
on the market for this design than all other
makes put together. Splitting the barrelled
action and stock revealed a Timney
trigger (you have to supply your trigger
for the ‘S’ unlike the ‘P’ which includes an
excellent Barnard designed and made unit
in the price). The only ‘bedding work’ was
a small amount of machining of the integral
bedding block to provide clearance for the
trigger, otherwise it was bolt-on job. The muzzle has a nicely recessed crown
having tapered down to 0.91” diameter at this
Let’s look at the stock. This model, point
product code 2958-7, features a
deep ‘wrist’, a narrow, deep section
The Hakko 8-34X56 Tactical scope offers a bright image and
superb resolution, target turrets and side-knob focussing, and
has been mounted using a well-made Warne rail and tactical
mounts

Target Shooter 67
 6.5X47mm Lapua cartridge (centre-left) alongside a
.308Win for scale with 123gn and 139gn Lapua Scenars
configuration and had been altered to suit the
action, the original bolt-handle slot filled and
refinished so well it didn’t show. The only
giveaway to those who know their stocks was
the usual rough-textured surfaces on the stock
body had been removed to match the smooth
filled-in area. It was also originally designed for
magazine operation, but with the solid-bottom ‘S’
action installed had an empty space above the
hinged magazine floorplate, lacking a magazine box.
Thoroughbred
The action uses a three-lug bolt as with all
Barnards and provided the slick-operation I
expect from this company’s products. It might have
the 700’s dimensions, but this is a far superior
design. As well as three lugs and Barnard build
quality so things that should bear on each
other do, and things that shouldn’t touch don’t,
they’re built concentrically – no ‘truing-up’
needed here. The receiver is rigid with relatively
thick walls, small loading / ejection port, and solid
bottom. Look wise they’re functional rather than
beautiful, but this can be improved by replacing the
black anodised aluminium alloy ‘lollipop stick’ bolt
68 Target Shooter
handle with aftermarket steel jobs with larger coloured
knobs – a simple unscrew and replace swap-job.
There is another plus in choosing this action that I
didn’t appreciate at the time, but do now that I have
my own 6.5X47L rifle – a rebarrelled FN Special
Police Rifle with a version of the Winchester 70
action. The Barnard, as with other thoroughbred
competition actions, has a small diameter firing pin
tip which is a close fit in the bolt face. This provides
support to the small-rifle primer used in 6.5X47L,
6BR and other such small-cased high-performance
cartridges. As pressures rise to the full working
level, primers flatten normally and only ‘crater’ or
worse when the load gets too ‘hot’. Conversely,
factory actions (Savage 12 precision models
excepted) have larger diameter firing pins and you can
expect to lose potential velocity through premature
primer related problems. (This primarily afflicts small
primer cartridge designs not those using the LR type.)
Anyway, stock alterations for the left-hand
action aside, the rifle had been put together with
less skilled work than your usual custom job – no
threading, chambering, crowning, and headspacing
 Fox / Barnard Model ‘P’/ True-Flite F-Class and
below F/TR rifles using Robertson H&H stocks
incorporating a bedding block
the barrel on the action, plus full bedding job to in-
stall the result in the stock. Brian doesn’t build rifles,
contracting this task out to a couple of gunsmiths,
but it’s closer to an assembly than full ‘smithing
operation for a big reduction in build time and costs.
Performance
So, to the range to see how it performed – the
short answer is “very well indeed”. Despite the
apparently mismatched ingredients, a well
designed adjustable stock, slick action, crisp
trigger, and excellent Hakko optics made it a
pleasure to shoot and quickly produced good
results on the paper. The latter was despite two
barriers – the most unpleasant winter weather we’d
had for years, and a barrel that needed a lot of
running in (shoot one, clean etc) before it stopped
coppering. Ammunition consisted of handloads
using new Lapua brass, 123gn Lapua Scenar
match bullets and modest Vihtavuori N540 and
N150 charges from the Vihtavuori manual working
up from starting loads. Despite the shoot / clean
egime, the N540 combination soon produced a
quarter-inch 100yd 5-shot group, and the whole
series of N150 loads gave between 0.35” and just
under the half-inch despite a three grain charge
range. I would have liked to try the rifle off a
bipod in a McQueens, or F-Class competition –
the left-hand action would have been no barrier in
the former, you quickly adjust to it – but lying out
on Diggle Ranges in sleet or freezing rain, you
had to be joking! So, what does it cost? Thanks
to the pound holding its value against the NZ
dollar, and the large reduction in skilled work
needed in the build, it’s very reasonable. As tested,
the rifle would cost £1,900 without scope and mounts
(the Hakko 8-34X56 Tactical is priced at £375,
and Warne Tactical rings at £70). If you wanted a
Jewell match trigger instead of the Timney, add
£100; if you don’t need the adjustable buttstock,
knock £200 off. I’ll stress that this rifle was built as
a ‘demonstrator’ to show a section of the range of
components on offer, not to offer single-shot 30”
barrel left-hand ‘tactical’ combinations to the market!
For further information on Fox Firearms’ wide
product range as well as custom-built rifles, visit
www.foxfirearmsuk.com, or contact Brian on 0161
430 8278. Incidentally, Fox Firearms also supplies
True-Flite barrels as blanks for those who want to have
them chambered and threaded by their gunsmiths.
Target Shooter 69
 Over 10,200 guns for sale
82,000 visitors per month
Over 115 dealer stock
live online

Sect 5 Dealer Humane Dispatch, De-Acts,

70
Exports Please call 0845-458 9666
Target Shooter

In some of the Gallery Rifle disciplines
such as the 1500, Timed & Precision 2 and
Phoenix A matches you are required to shoot
from both the kneeling and sitting positions, so
here a few tips to help you achieve a stable
platform from which to shoot. Probably the
most common mistake made by novice GR
shooters when shooting from the kneeling or
sitting position is tilting or dropping the head
down too low in relation to the scope, which
will often result in a different point of impact on so that the muscles are not under any undue
the target causing you to lose valuable points
in the process! Whichever position you have
to shoot from, the most important point to
remember is to keep your head as upright as
possible and align your head up squarely with
the scope so that you attain the same contact/
reference point on the stock with your cheek as
you do when shooting in the standing position. If
this is done consistently then the point of impact description to the rear of the fore end which will
on the target should remain the same regardless
of which position you release the shots from.
Starting with the kneeling position (1) for a right applies just enough rearward pressure to hold
By Gwyn Roberts
handed shooter, kneel down on your right knee
and sit back on the heel to take the weight
of your body. The left foot should be planted
firmly on the floor and the lower part of the leg
should be kept upright at around 90 degrees.
Placing the back of the arm just above the
elbow on the front edge of the knee should
then provide you with a good flat contact area
to help hold the rifle in a good position. The
right elbow should be held in a relaxed position
tension or this can lead to unwanted instability.
Depending on your physical stature and the
profile of your stock, some shooters may find
that the rifle ends up being held in a position
that is too low to naturally acquire a proper
head/sight alignment in the kneeling position.
I have this problem with my Marlins and a
simple fix is to add a small block of some
help elevate the rifle so that the correct head/
sight position can be achieved. The fore end then
simply rests in the palm of the left hand which
the butt pad into the shoulder. When practicing
shooting in the kneeling position, make sure
that the position you adopt aligns your body up
naturally onto the target without your having to
twist or tension any muscles in order to hold
it there. Also experiment by placing your right
knee (2) at various angles in relation to your
body to find which gives you the most stable
position, as it will vary from person to person.
Some of you may find the kneeling position a
bit uncomfortable to start with so make sure
that you only hold this position for a maximum
of 20 – 30 seconds at a time when practicing
before standing up to allow the blood to
circulate properly again. This is also around
the time it should take you to fire off 6
well aimed shots when shooting during a
Target Shooter 71

competition! Placing the foot too far in front of the
knee (3) can cause you to push your body weight
backwards causing instability and discomfort
whilst conversely, having your foot tucked in
under your knee (4) or putting all of the pressure
onto the ball of the foot will push your weight
forward causing a balance problem. This often
72 Target Shooter
leads to a tendency to pull the front of the rifle
downwards when releasing the shots. If you
find it impossible to place your elbow in front
of your knee cap then you should try and place
the lower part of your fore arm just in front of
the knee joint. Note: Placing the tip of your
elbow directly on top of your knee will
produce a pivot point making it virtually
impossible for you to hold the rifle steady and
should be avoided completely. Due to either
physical problems or injuries, there have been
a few occassions over the years when some
shooters have found it easier or slightly more
comfortable to shoot with both knees on the
ground (5) and sit back on their heels. This
position is very similar to a normal offhand
position as the body angle in relation to the
target is pretty much the same and the knees
are placed around shoulder width apart which
allows the body and head to remain in an
upright position. A good friend of mine and his
better half use another kneeling position (6)
when they shoot the 1500 match. It requires
good flexibility and the right physical size to
adopt this position, and although the head to
scope alignment isn’t perfect, it does
produce some very good results for those that
can achieve it! In this position, the left forearm
should wrap around the top of the left knee
then keeping the left leg upright, the rifle simply
sits in the v shape created by the bend in the
arm. The left hand gently rests on the right fore
arm and the right elbow drops down naturally
by the side of the body. The right foot is turned
inwards and the shooter sits down on top of it,
making sure that no other part of the body
physical size and flexability will usually
makes contact with the floor otherwise penal-
determine the most stable position that you
ty points will be incurred! This position is only
can adopt, although some positions will only
recommended for use with a rimfire semi auto
suit the semi auto type rifles. Once again,
rifle and is unsuitable for underlever rifles due
keeping the head in an upright position will
to the racking action needed to operate them.
help you retain a consistant point of impact
The sitting position offers a wider variety of
on the target and another important point to
choice for the shooter and again your
note is that when your feet make contact with

Target Shooter 73

the ground they should do so with either the
sides or soles of your feet flat on the ground.
Placing just the heels on the ground will
obviously act as a pivot point and cause the
ankles to rotate slightly causing positional
instability. When shooting an underlever,
I find that this position (7) allows me to rack
the lever smoothly and quickly and still keep
my sight focussed on the centre of the target,
whichever magnification I am using at the time.
The right leg is extended outwards over the top
of the left foot to keep it grounded and help
it act as a brace, and the right foot is turned
over so that the flat edge provides a stable
contact area on the ground to stop the ankle from
rolling around. The left foot is planted flat on
74 Target Shooter
the ground and the left knee is raised so that
the fore end of the rifle can rest on top of it.
The left hand is cupped with the lower two
fingers gripping the front of the knee, whilst the
other two grip the fore end to make sure the
rifle is held firmly in place. Leaning backwards
slightly allows a good head/scope alignment
and the right elbow drops down naturally under
no tension by the side of the body. It is impor-
tant when in the sitting position to make sure
that as many limbs as possible are anchored
against another to ensure maximum
stability is achieved. Another position
to try is with the legs crossed over with
the sides of the feet flat against the
floor. Then, lifting the knees slightly to
bring the rifle up to the correct height,
the elbows can rest either on the
outside (8) or on the inside of the
knees (9) so that everything locks up
together. This will also produce a very
stable hold to shoot an underlever
from. The most accurate sitting
position that I have managed to find
when shooting with a semi auto rifle
(10) is to lift my knees up higher so
that I can wrap my left forearm arm
around my left knee. I then rest the rifle
between the ‘v’ shape that is created
and lightly rest my left hand on top of
my right forearm. This ensures that
everything is locked together and should
guarantee you all 10’s or X’s at 50m, with a bit of
practice of course! Another variation (11) which
also gives excellent results is similar to picture
no.7 except shooting with a 10/22 allows you
to brace your forearm against the right knee to
give an even more stable platform.
 all improve in certain areas. When I
practice for the 1500 match I use 4
separate target centres at 50m and shoot
6 rounds kneeling on the top left, 6 sitting
on the top right, 6 weak shoulder at the
bottom left target, then the final 6 from
the strong shoulder on the bottom right
target. This way there is no doubt about
any shots you may think you have pulled
from a certain position as the results
will be there in front of you. It will also
highlight any variations you may be
having in points of impact on the target
from certain positions. This way you
can either work on achieving a better
head/scope alignment in that position or
visually see any corrections you may
need to give if you end up having to aim off
slightly in the future. In the next issue I’ll
look at ways to speed up your loading and
It is always worth spending quite a bit of time reloading technique along with how and where to
practicing all of the positions that we shoot place and carry ammunition for GR competitions.
from in Gallery Rifle competitions no mat-
ter what standard you shoot at, as we can

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 Training Body and Mind.
Picking up a rifle, pointing it at your target and
pulling the trigger doesn’t mean that’s it - job done -
especially if you are hoping for a medal or at least a
decent place.
You can have the best rifle, ammunition and equipment
but unless you able to control certain things within
you, all that stuff won’t be as effective as it could be.
Breathing
One of the hardest things to do behind a gun is
controlling your breathing and I don’t think there
is a right way for everyone but, relaxing your
breathing is something that you have to practice
and engage in so that each time you have it right.
Firstly, you have to understand your breathing
and learn how to slow it down so that you are in a
relaxed state. If you sit in a chair or lie in bed, rest
your hand on your chest and close your eyes, feel
how your chest rises up and down as you inhale
and exhale, just breath normally for a couple of
minutes. Now take a deep breath then exhale through
your mouth. From this point onwards inhale slowly
and then exhale slowly through your nose just to the
point that it’s comfortable. This can feel strange but
if you are behind a rifle, the slower you inhale and
exhale will give you better control behind the shot.
The slower you can breathe the lower your
pulse-rate. So when do you release the shot?
Some will say on the exhale but many of us have a
tendency to hold our breath. You have to realise that
if you do this then your pulse rate will rise quickly
so, if you hold your breath, then don’t take it to the
point where you go blue in the face as all your effort
will have gone to waste. There is the point between
inhale and exhale and this is the key point as you’re
still able to control the breathing for the next shot.
Practising how you breathe is an essential thing
to learn to control when you’re behind the gun so
take time to practice - even as you fall asleep or
even watching TV. Then, take it to the range and
practice behind gun. Without control there is no
control.
Match Nerves
Having the jitters before a big match afflicts
most of us – especially newcomers. How many
76 Target Shooter
By Andy Dubreuil
times have you thought “I know I am going to get
beaten - I don’t think I’m good enough - there are better
shooters here than me - I’m rubbish”. Negative thoughts
are not the best foundation for a good performance.
You could read books on how to think and
behave in a positive manner and how to take control but
why waste your money when all you need to do is think
about YOU. It’s not about who is around you or what
scores you have seen posted before you are about to
shoot, it’s what’s in your head that you need to think about.
You have a rifle like everyone else, you have the
same ammunition as everyone else and you have
the same conditions as everyone else. In other
words, you have the same opportunity to equal
anyone’s performance.
You are on an equal footing but to get a better score,
forget everyone else and shoot against yourself - just
like you would when shooting alone. Set your sights on
beating your personal best. You know you can hit the
centre of the target - you have done many times before
so why not now? Focus on how you achieved that the
last time you did it. If you get a bad shot, then think how
you corrected that the last time it happened. One bad
shot doesn’t mean that is the end, I have seen many
great shooters loose it when they have a bad shot and
almost throw the toys out of the pram. Keep your cool,
that shot has gone, you can’t bring it back or take it
again so don’t dwell on it, put it behind you and focus
on the next shot. Pause if you need to, concentrate on
controlling that breathing again then apply yourself to
the job in hand.
When it’s over, it’s over. If you have beaten your
competitors you have done your job. If you have
achieved a personal best, then be proud of that
fact – win or lose. Most of all, you should be
satisfied by the way you handled yourself and
happy that you have given your best no matter what
position you finish. If you have got that medal, it proves
that you kept your nerve whilst others fell foul of theirs.
All good shooters have a ways of working with
their body and mind and you just have to find the
elements that suit your type of shooting and apply
them. You are no different than any other shooter
on the line and once you have that mindset, then
you could be the ‘best of the best’ as long as you
shoot against yourself and not the whole world!
PSSA, Diggle Ranges
Club Feature
Diggle is a former military range, established
in 1897 and passing into civilian hands in
the nineteen-seventies and now owned and
managed by the Pennine Shooting Sports
Association.
The PSSA caters for just about every shooting
discipline including F Class, Target Rifle,
Benchrest, Practical, Tactical, Lever-action,
Classic Military Rifle and Quigley BPCR. Club
competitions are held every weekend and in
addition, the PSSA hosts around 30 national
shoots throughout the year which are open to
non-members. Visitors fulfilling legal
equirements are also welcome to shoot on a
day basis for a nominal fee.
Above - Pennine cup shot at Diggle 2009
Shooting is available at all ranges from 100
to 1000 yards with 100, 300, 600 and 1000
yard firing-points under cover and the ranges
are open seven days per week throughout the
year. The Club boasts a splendid Range House
with catering facilities and limited ‘bunkhouse’
accommodation is available. Plentiful, safe
on-site parking and disabled access make
Diggle one of the finest shooting venues in the
country.
A number of commercial organisations, police
etc. already hire the ranges and the club is
keen to expand this option. Enquiries in the first
instance to vinceb@6ppc.fsnet.co.uk
Enquiries from individuals
seeking membership are
welcome and can also be
directed to this e-mail
address.
I am indeed fortunate
to live close to such a
fabulous facility but
distance is seemingly no
object and members
travel from all parts of the
country to take part in our
shoots. If you are seeking
to take part in competition
shooting you will receive a
warm welcome at Diggle
Ranges.
www.diggleranges.com
Target Shooter 77
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MALTA – Sun, Sea, History and more …..

By Stanley Shaw
Malta, for some is an unknown country. For Maltese culture. Hunting formed part of the
many others, Malta is a holiday island resort in every day farmer’s life and was the pastime for
center of the Mediterranean sea. Malta has a vast the rich. The British gave Malta it’s independence
rich history, a typical Mediterranean culture and in 1969 and Malta was gradually moving towards
exquisite traditional cuisine. Malta’s culture and being governed totally by Maltese. In 1974
traditions blend in with European and North Malta became a Republic and the British Forces
African influences. This is the result of past completely left the island in 1979. The only
dominance of the by earlier civilizations and p o s s i b l e
empires, from the early Phoenicians to the British shooting sport
Empire. was shotgun
clay pigeons or
Unusual for such a small island, is the hunting but, as
concentration of historic sites. The megalithic time passed,
temples, the jewel fortified city of Valletta Malta evolved
built by the Knights of St.John, to other more and so did the
recent strongholds such as Rinella Battery Fort, s h o o t i n g
housing one of the largest naval guns ever traditions.
employed by the British Empire, the 100 ton
Armstrong Gun. All monuments that stood against It is only 100
time, sieges and wars in Malta’s turbulent past. years ago
For many years the shotgun was part of the that shooting as a sport started to appear and
gain popularity. The
oldest shooting sport
organization, the
Malta Shooting Sport
Federation (MSSF)
was the first
organisation that
evolved in Malta dat-
ing back to 1908.
In those early days,
shooters from all over
the country would
meet at organised
shoots and shoot on a
variety of targets.

Eventually, clay
pigeons became
the only targets
IPSC pistol shooting is popular in allowed in sport
Malta shooting, thus it was
necessary to have
Target Shooter 79
 Sun, sea and pistol shooting..... those
were the days!
a more suitable location to allow for adequate
practice of Olympic Trap. Mr. Paddy Stubbs, with
determination and financial assistance of the MSSF
members, inaugurated a new Olympic Range in
Bidnija, limits of Mosta in 1977.The sport evolved
to the extent that today Malta has no less than
six Olympic Trap ranges, including one in Gozo.
MSSF is today affiliated as a full active
member of the UIT which later became to be
known as the International Shooting Sport
Federation or ISSF. This earned the Maltese
athletes the right to participate in shooting
competitions overseas besides giving Malta
the right to organise international shoots. Today
enthusiast shooters and athletes in Olympic
disciplines of Trap, Skeet, Double Trap and
10 metre air rifles, together with the popular
compact sporting and down the line, occupy
practically every weekend. MSSF gave an active
contribution to the new Arms Act 2005, and now is
looking into the possibility of expanding further to
provide for other shooting disciplines.
Bone fide Maltese arms collectors and sports
shooters had for many years yearned for
official recognition of their activities. These
were heavily suppressed by the authorities on
account of the wide discretion granted to them by
the colonial Arms Ordinance of 1931. In 1985 a
80 Target Shooter
small group of dedicated enthusiasts set up the
Arms, Armour and Militaria Society (AAMS).
This organisation immediately set to work on a
gradual culture change. It organized the first
exhibition of collectible arms the year after and in
1989 it obtained a Police permit to organize the
first muzzle-loading target shooting event in Malta.
Intensive lobbying led the AAMS to be
commissioned to submit a draft bill for
cabinet consideration. Towards end of 1995,
policy changes were announced for the first
time, Air guns and replica muzzle-loaders were
allowed in Malta while collectors could now
acquire firearms that were 50 years or older.
It took several years more to convince the
authorities to proceed with the introduction of an
entirely new law based on the EU Arms Directive.
By this time AAMS evolved into an association of six
clubs while a splinter group set up the Association
of Arms Collectors and Target Shooters (AACTS).
AACTS was founded in April 2002. The situation
of gun collecting and target shooting in Malta was
at the time undergoing major changes. AMACS
campaigned for the introduction of all forms of target
shooting disciplines and no limitation on calibers.
AACTS and the MSSF adopted a cautious
approach in the hope that limited gains could be

enhanced at a later date. However determination
won the day as the Arms Ordinance was repealed
and the Arms Act came into force on 15th August
2005 with the publication of Legal Notice (LN177)
following an earlier unanimous parliamentary vote.
One development followed another. The major
associations exploited the possibilities of the new
law. They affiliated themselves with important
international shooting organisations that do
not necessarily fall under the ISSF umbrella,
FT and HFT is a popular form of shooting in
organizations such as IPSC, IDPA,
IMSSU, NARA, WBSF, and many others, thus
ensuring that future shooting events are held
on internationally-recognized standards. In
2008 the first independent clubs were licensed
for the first time ever. These are dedicated to
and focus on particular shooting disciplines .
The fist license issued was to the Malta Allied
Airgunners Club (MAAC). MAAC which is entirely
dedicated to air gun shooting disciplines that are
not under the ISSF banner. MAAC main interests
are Field Target, Hunter Field Target and Air Rifle
Bench rest. Later in 2009 a license was given to
the Gozo Target Shooting Club (GTSC) a club with
special interest to cartridge fire arm target shooting.
For the time being there are two army
shooting ranges available for civilian fire arms target
shooting, both are designed for pistol/carbine
shooting. The major associations are given time
slots to operate, however this limits sporting
activities such as IDPA, IPSC, Bench Rest and
others from starting at full swing due to army strict
standing orders. On these ranges, pistols and
carbines with calibers up to 9mm are allowed but
45 is only allowed in the Gozo Army range. Higher
caliber pistols, center rifles and rim fire
rifles, although are available to sport
shooters, are still not allowed on the army
Malta
Target Shooter 81

ranges. Private ranges therefore are a must for
shooting sport in Malta to develop and grow.
Fortunately some of these ranges are being
given the ‘green light’ after a long and bumpy
road. Hopefully, in a short time they will
obtain the licenses to operate. The government is
also promising a National Shooting range of the
highest standards for many years - a range able
to accommodate both national and international
competitions, in all types of shooting disciplines.
In the mean time, what is available is being fully
utilized. Those organisations dedicated to
cartridge shooting, utilize the slots provided
by the army in their ranges in Hal-Safi (Malta)
and Qortin (Gozo). Olympic skeet and trap is
operated in a number of licensed ranges exist
around the island. MSSF, who are responsible
for ISSF Olympics disciplines in skeet, trap and
Mini rifle next to the surf
82 Target Shooter
indoor air rifle accommodates its members at their
ranges in Bidnija.
MSSF shooter athletes are now reaching higher
places in international events. William Chetcuti
in the China 2008 Olympic games, reached the
highest place ever – eighth - obtained by a
Maltese athlete in Double trap. Outdoor air
rifle Clubs such as MAAC, who are specially
dedicated to air rifle shooting sports like Field
Target, Hunting Field Target and Air Rifle
Benchrest, shoot in dedicated areas within
privately licensed clay pigeon shooting ranges.
Air soft shooting sport is also gaining popularity
and special permits are released by the Police
that allow licensed air soft clubs and enthusiasts
to organize skirmish games in controlled areas.
Malta’s main industry is tourism. Shooting sports
tourism development will be an added feature
to Malta’s sun, sea, history and culture. Malta
would be a perfect venue, for international target
shooting sports. The opportunities are there but
we need to exploit them and the authorities must
act before it is too late. All the local target shooting
organisations must work together and look ahead.
Having the adequate infrastructure will make
it possible for all types of target shooting sports
to be held. Maltese target shooters will benefit,
as will the Maltese economy. Malta, in the near
future, may offer venues for international events,
an added bonus to the target sport shooters
looking for an activity holiday.
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Target Shooter 83
 VINCE’S REGULAR COLUMN WHEREBY
ACCURACY NUTS CAN KEEP UP TO
DATE WITH THE ACTIVITIES OF THE UKBRA
Competititons
With our earlier than usual deadline for the
September issue, it was too late to include
the results of our 22/23rd August benchrest
weekend. It turned out to be a very good
weekend for me personally as I took wins at 100
and 1000 yards – my first of the year - better late
than never!
The weather for the whole weekend
was warm and sunny but the Diggle
winds are never easy and Sunday was
particularly testing for the 1000 yard shooters.
Nonetheless, Les Holgate put in a very tidy
four-incher, which was easily the smallest group
of the day.
At 100 yards, Laurie Holland returned to form
with the 204 Savage taking Factory Sporter
win and small group and Phil Gibbon put his
factory Savage 6.5-284 to good use at 1000
yards though Ian Kellet stole the small-group
award with his 8.5 inch group in Match 3.
Results:
100 yards Heavy Varmint
1st Vince Bottomley TGP 6PPC BAT 0.2302
inches (av. of five, 5-shot groups)
2nd Ian Dixon Walker 6PPC BAT 0.2816
Adrian Evans shoots a standard 308 Remmy
but he’s had single-figure groups at 1000 yards
84 Target Shooter
3rd Bruce Lenton 6PPC Stolle 0.286
Small group
Vince Bottomley 0.126 inches
Factory Sporter
1st Laurie Holland 204 Savage LRVP
0.4304 inch
2nd Darrel Evans 6PPC Sako
0.5204
3rd Andy Woolley 223 Remington
0.6006
Small group
Laurie Holland 0.283 inches
1000 yards Light Gun
1st Vince Bottomley TGP 243 Imp. BAT
9.927 inch (av. of four, 5-shot groups)
2nd Steve Dunn 7mm Dunn BAT 10.168
3rd Don Burrows 6.5x55 BSA 10.362
Small group
Les Holgate 4.737 inches
Factory Sporter
1st Phil Gibbon 6.5-284 Savage 13.62
inches
2nd Ian Kellett 6.5-284 Savage
15.232
3rd Bruce Lenton 6.5-284 Savage
15.355
Small group
Ian Kellett 8.588 inches
Forthcoming events
Next benchrest weekend (and the
last of the series) is 3/4th October
at Diggle Ranges. Our winter 600
yard series starts on Sunday 15th
November. E-mail me at vinceb@6ppc.
fsnet.co.uk for more information.
 In association with
he next European Championship will be
held at Plzen in the Czech Republic, 2010.
The 50m range here is one 5 lane section
of the 30 lane stand.
European Championship and World Cup 2009
News just in over the last few days is that the dates
for the European Rimfire and Air Rifle Benchrest
Championship are now in. As this is being held at the
Plzen range in the Czech Republic, a time frame had
to be established with the military authorities. This is
between the 26th July and the 8th August 2010.
Obviously the Championship itself will only take
about 6 days, with room for alternative shooting
during that period.
A world cup event will also be held during
this championship, as a few countries outside
Europe will be attending, including South Africa.
Two for the price of one which cannot be bad!
This is good news and I know that Ladislav Ninger,
the Secretary of the ERABSF is excited to get this
event going. In his own words though, ‘now the real
hard work begins’.
Those in the UK that have qualified for the matches
at this event, via the recent UK nationals, regional
matches, etc, have been informed and we have
started to draw up the teams.
Plzen is about 80km outside Prague and we are
looking at ways of getting the whole team there.
Obviously fights are the first point of call, but include
their own brand of complication.
An alternative we are muting is
travelling in a team coach. We
are not sure how this much cost
– there might even be a shooter
out there that owns a company
that could give us a good quote. I
know that those
organising the team will keep us all
informed over the coming months.
Prague is a beautiful city and this
time I hope to at least see some
of it instead of shooting every day.
We will see, as it would be nice to
have a day off during this event.
Bald Eagle Rests
I have just heard that Bald
Eagle, the US company who
makes rest has been taken over by
Woodstock International. The
company hopes to be trading
these rests, both new and old
designs, in the next few months. The original Bald
Eagle rest is very similar to the standard version
offered by Cicognani in Italy. I personally find this
style of rest comfortable and easy to use, although I
have modified the mariner’s wheel so it is quicker to
use. So let’s see what they come up with – hopefully
it will be as good as the original or even better.
Contact Bald Eagle at; http://www.woodstockint.
com/brands/bald_eagle.aspx
Final thoughts
The summer season is nearly over! This is a time
that I usually have about six weeks off to reflect and
plan for the next year. One thing I have done in the
past is develop some of the equipment I need, such
as windflags. These little devices really do help your
benchrest shooting and it is something that I would
recommend anyone doing over the coming months. I
have written a few articles over the last few years about
how to develop your own – some complex and others
not. If anyone wants a revamp of these pieces, just
let me know. They cost little to make, only your time.
Until next month.
Target Shooter 85
 The Long View
News from the GB
F-Class Association

GB F Class Championship – Round 4 – the ‘norm’ so we thought we would try it. It worked
Diggle Ranges 19/20th September well so we hope to carry on with it in the future.

This year, there are only five rounds in the Friday afternoon was set side as an
GB F Class Association Championship rather informal practice day and as per usual several
than the usual six. Blair Atholl is missing as a competitors took the opportunity to get a
venue this year and Bisley had an extra shoot, few shots down range to check their scope
the intention being to give as much practice settings. The weather forecast was good for the
as possible to those UK shooters hoping to entire weekend, once again bucking Diggle’s
contest the World Championships last July. reputation for poor weather. For the record, the
last three Diggle League Shoots have taken
This strategy clearly paid off and the GB Open place in warm sunny conditions. Those of us who
Team won the gold medal and the GB F/TR shoot there regularly know that whatever the
Team took the silver. A lot of shooters put in forecast you go to Diggle with waterproofs but
much time, effort and money and many were maybe now we should also pack the sun cream!
rightly feeling ‘shot-out’ after the ‘worlds’
and looking forward to a break before the Saturday’s shoot started with 2 sighters and 15
Europeans at the beginning of November. to count at 800 yards, followed by the same at
Unfortunately, we already had a September 1000 yards. Although the change in the marking
League Shoot scheduled at Diggle but would system certainly speeded things up, we didn’t
the entry suffer? want to change the format at the last minute so
competitors had plenty of time to do what they
Seemingly not, there was still a healthy do best – sitting around in the sun talking about
interest with numbers only slightly down – you guessed – guns! Next time, it would
on the previous year, which was nice as certainly be possible to increase the round count.
both our new Individual World F Class
Champions – Gary Costello (Open) and The additional spare time factor is always
Russell Simmonds (F/TR) - had entered the handy to have and in this case it saved
Diggle shoot. Not many sports can claim that! the day for one local shooter who had to
go home to get the right bolt for his rifle
There was also something else new with the but, by the time you read this he may have
Diggle shoot – for the first time, the F/TR edited it out! OK, I admit it – it was me! (Vince).
entry was greater than the Open entry. Not by
much but it conformed the continuing trend of At the end of day one it looked like this,
growing interest in F/TR. Also, it would be the with both our World Champions in the lead:
first time that we would not be using competitor-
marking of targets at Diggle - we would have paid Open
markers. On every other F Class shoot, this is 1st Gary Costello 146.13 F/TR

86 Target Shooter
1st Russell Simmonds 140.7 As with all the GB League shoots, a lot of the
2nd Mark Daish 145.15 work is done behind the scenes so we must
2nd Adam Bagnall 137.5 thank Ian Dixon (targets), Stuart Anselm
3rd Peter Hobson 144.9 (stats), Jeanette Whitney (RCO) and of course
3rd Steve Rigby 136.6 our butt crew made up of Diggle members.

The social side of the GB F Class shoots Now, we go to Bisley for the European F
is an important feature and a group of us Class Championship, which is also the
ventured out for the now obligatory final League shoot of the 2009 season. This
‘Indian’ whilst the more sensible settled for ancompetition lways attracts a large entry from all
early night in readiness for an 8.30am start! over urope and with it a fabulous atmosphere.
If you would like to enter, please check out the
Sunday’s shoots would be 2 & 15 at 900 GBFCA website for details www.f-class.org.uk
yards followed by a 2 & 10 at 1000 yards.
The shortened round-count allows those If you shoot F Class or would like to try it
with a long way to travel to get home at a but haven’t yet shot in a League match,
reasonable hour but on reflection, with no please don’t be discouraged by the level of
butt-duty, we could easily have shot 2 & 15. competition. Just bring along your scoped rifle
and join in - everyone has to start somewhere.
The weather was fairly similar to the
previous day with a light wind – Next year, there may be an F Class
particularly on the early details and John training day at Bisley and Diggle to
Cross’s F/TR score of 73.8v was not only the introduce newcomers to the delights of
best 900 yard F/TR score but it also beat the long-range competition. Watch Target Shooter
top Open score as well! Soon however, the and the GBFCA website for more information.
flags were stirring and often telling us very
little, such is the difficulty of shooting in
Diggle’s steep-sided valley. The superb weather
continued however and it was impossible
not to enjoy shooting long-range rifle in such
conditions.

But, would the World Champions maintain their

form? Here’s how it all finished:

Open Class
1st Mark Daish 259.22 (ex. 275)
2nd John Campbell 258.17
3rd Peter Hobson 258.13
4th Gary Costello 256.17
5th Grant Taylor 256.15

F/TR
1st Russell Simmonds 248.14
2nd Steve Rigby 247.13
3rd Adam Bagnall 244.11
4th Steve Donaldson 244.13
5th Paul Dobson 241.5

For the record, Russell Simmonds’ F/TR score

would have given him seventh place in the Open
Class – a remarkable achievement.
Target Shooter 87
 A regular column whereby Ken Hall keeps us up to date
with black powder cartridge rifle shooting in the UK.

E QUIGLEY SHOOTING ASSOCIATION.

TEAM STEEL CHALLENGE.

Sunday 19th July, and once again, wet and

miserable, with a challenging wind. An early mist
delayed the start and so a decision was made to
shorten the usual course of fire by reducing the
number of rounds on the bullseye stage at each
distance. So eventually we started stage
1 at 400 yds, the bullseye stage consisted
of 2 sighters and 5 rds to count, which was
followed by a firer from each team engaging 5
steel javelina silhouettes with a maximum of 10
rounds in a 5 minute period, scoring 10 points
per steel knocked down with a 2 point bonus
per round remaining. The QSA team
scoring 136.7 to the SSBPCRCGB’s 134.13.
Interestingly the team scores on the bullseye The steel silhouettes however were a
targets were very close with the QSA different story………the SSBPCRCGB
knocked down 26 pigs with a 28 point
600 yrd Lineup bonus to the QSA’s 20 pigs and 16 point
bonus, with Mark Stevens and Ian Hull
scoring maximum points for each team.
So at the halfway stage we adjourned for
lunch with the SSBPCRCGB leading by a
magnificent 70.9 points.

After lunch we gathered in the 600

yd covered firing point for Stage 2 of the
competition, a reprise of the bullseye
stage followed by 3 firers from each team
shooting successively at the half size steel
buffalo silhouette for a total of 10 rounds
each. This always provides a nail-biting
finish to the comp, though the half time
88 Target Shooter
lead by the SSBPCRCGB was virtually retain the trophy for another year. A fitting end to
unassailable. a great match.

The afternoon belonged to the Southerners, A hearty thank-you is offered to PSSA

scoring 121.3 on the bullseye to the QSA’s 108,
and also hitting the buffalo one more time than
their opponents. The name of the competition
reflects where the scores lie, the SSBPCRCGB
hit 7 more steels than the QSA allowing them to
members Steve Hodge, Dave Tickle, Dave
Bownass, Dave Malpas, Mike Davenport,
Tony Bradshaw and Glen Wilson for their
invaluable assistance in running the range.

SER NAME 400yd 400yd 600yd 600yd TOTAL POS`N

Bullseye Pigs Bullseye Buffalo

SSBPCRCGB

1 J. Gilpin 19.1 40 20 80 159.1 9th

2 S. Bonfield 23.3 56 22.1 90 191.4 6th

3 M. Silver 23.2 60 22.2 80 185.4 7th

4 A. Buck 23.2 20 15 80 138.2 10th

5 C. Taylor 23.2 54 21 100 198.2 2nd

6 C. Buck 23.3 58 21.1 100 202.4 1st

GRAND
TOTAL 1073.17
QSA

7 I. Hull 25.4 60 22.2 90 197.6 3rd

8 D. Coleman 22.1 10 16 70 118.1 11th

th
9 R. Healey 24.1 56 16 100 196.1 4

10 D. Richardson 23.1 50 19 100 192.1 5th

11 E. Todd 20 30 18 100 168 8th

th
12 J. Barnard 22 10 17 60 109 12
GRAND
TOTAL 980.9

Target Shooter 89
Hunter Field Target News
OCTOBER 2009
Its all hotting up nicely for the 2009
UKAHFT series with the 8th of nine
rounds shot last weekend( The 27th Oct)
Pete Sparkes had a chance of wrapping
the whole thing up. He did not expect to
shoot well as he had all the work to do
setting up the course for the round at his
home club of Quarry. I know from past
experience it is very rare indeed to shoot
well on your own course, especially with
all the running around organising the
event etc. Pete and Dave Ramshead
were shooting in the first session, Pete
stormed in with a 58 after slipping up
the peg on a 35 yarder. Dave shot well
for a 57, these were good scores and
Pete’s and Kieran Turners 58’s were
the top scores going into the second
session. Normally the top shots all shoot
in the same session but a top runner Ross
Hudson who with a 100% in round seven
and round two shot in the second session
to come I with a 59. This gave him 100%
and opened up the series again. Ross
and Dave need a 100% in the final round
at Emley Moor FTC to threaten Pete for
the title. So the pressure is on them if
they do not get 100% then Pete has his
forth series win. Pete Dutton with a good
score can come in 3rd. The Current 6th
place man, the 2008 champ Chris Cundey
could have an influence as he is having
a hand in setting the final round course
out, expect a few tricky targets everyone!
The .22 class is wrapped up with
Johnny Smith having scored 100%
90 Target Shooter
in the first seven rounds to score an
unbeatable 600% for his top six scores,
well done Mr Smith. The two junior
titles have been well attended and
seen some fantastic shooting. Ben
Russell has four 100% scores and is
untouchable for the 14-16 year olds title,
the next three places are up for grabs as
Daniel Smith, Kyle Hampton and Ryan
Martin scrap for the places with only five
percent between the three of them. In
the 9-13 year olds Jack Houghton has
a four percent lead over Larissa Sykes
with Luke Saunders nine behind Jack.
Best of Luck to all the young shooters
for the last round, if only their shooting
enjoyment and the safe way they
conduct themselves were recognised by
the wider press.
The MAD White team have run away
with the title winning the first 7 rounds, I
would say well done but I do not need to,
they tell everyone they see just how good
they are! ( But they did not win at Quarry)
Their second string MAD red team are
third behind Anston. Past winners Quarry
languish at the bottom of the team table.
Lloyd Scott Upton will take the recoiling title
with a 20% point lead over Paul Bretland.
The top six English shooters in the
2009 UKAHFT series will form the
England team for the 2010 World
Championships, so Pete Dutton is
assured of an England team place.
Gallery Rifle News
The results for the GR National
Championships have been out for some time
now so I won’t go over them here except to
congratulate Keith Cox on his usual consistent
performance which gave him top place in the
GR Aggregate. There should be a report in this
issue too. It was a record turn out with over
200 competitors who entered a record number
of events.
The premier event of the national
competition season, the GR Home Countries
National Match, took place on the Saturday
afternoon on Melville. England won with
Wales second and Scotland third. There was a
small reception and prize giving at the English
Twenty clubhouse immediately after the match
to which all the teams and range officers were
invited. A special mention here for those who
worked so hard behind the scenes to make
the evening a success – the two Sues from
the England Team supporters club and the two
Sallys from NRA Shooting Division.
It’s good to see that this year entries are up all
round in spite of the financial pressures and
that new competitors are coming along to join
in. Next time you go to an open meeting why
not take along someone new from your club?
It only takes one positive experience and, with
any luck, they’ll be hooked and join next year’s
competition circuit. You’ll even get a voucher
for a free shoot at the NSC if they compete at
Bisley and aren’t on the national database yet.
Last month I gave a run-down on the three
meetings coming up this month at Shield
Shooting Centre in Dorset and the National
Shooting Centre at Bisley. All well worth the
trip but very different in what they have to offer.
Still plenty of time to get your entries in and
you can enter on the day too if you have a free
day or two at short notice.
Next month there doesn’t seem to be
anything in the UK but there is an international in
Germany. The GB Gallery Rifle Team are
going for a hat trick of wins this season so
good luck to Sharon and the boys. There will
also be other matches over the weekend for
club and national teams.
COMPETITION CALENDAR
October 18 Shield Steel Challenge
Shield Shooting Centre
Dorset
GRSB, GRCF, LBP & LBR
October 17 – 18 The Trafalgar Meeting
National Shooting Centre
Bisley
October 24 – 25 Autumn Action Weekend
National Shooting Centre
Bisley
GR&P, Shotgun & Full
Bore Rifle
November 14-15 International 1500 and
Short Events
BDMP Range, Leitmar
Germany
GRSB, GRCF & 30M1
carbine
(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.
Target Shooter 91

Malcolm Clark shooting at the
Kracow Open Championships.
Photo by Alexsandra Procajlo
Kracow Open Practical Handgun Match
By A. Ellis
Eight UK shooters attended The Krakow Open
IPSC Level 3 handgun match, in Krakow Poland on
28th,29th & 30th Aug 2009. Five were from N Ireland
and three from the mainland. Five entered Standard
division, with two in Production & one in Open.
The match consisted of fifteen stages shot over two
days with a minimum round count of just under 300.
The match was organised to the usual high standard,
very efficient and hard working Range Officers and
officials.
Saturday morning started out overcast and soon
deteriorated to a steady drizzle which lasted till well
after lunch. This suited the UK squad because it
made us feel at home. However, Sunday improved
immensely, blue sky’s right from breakfast but not
too warm, unfortunately still quite muddy underfoot.
This nothing but a minor distraction, since the
shooters were all too busy figuring out strategies
and making sure their magazines were full and
trying to get at least two hits on every paper target.
All to soon the last stage was completed, gear
cleaned and packed away, nothing to do but
while away the time till the prize draw and awards
ceremony. So we sat around and told again the
stories we had told before while our hosts set out
the prize table. There was a wide variety of prizes,
from a cheap cleaning kit to a microwave oven,
First prize was a CZ pistol of some description.
Quite a bit of the proceedings was conducted in
Polish so that’s why some details are a bit sketchy.
Then came the results (in English). Two of the UK
shooters were placed, perhaps more due to their
advancing years than hours of practice. Alexander
92 Target Shooter
Ellis and Thomas McConnell took
first and third in Senior Production.
Thanks go to the Match Director:
Piotr Poniedziałek, Range Master:
Roman Šedy and everyone who
helped to make the match happen.
The UK contingent will return with
more shooters in tow to take part in
this most welcoming of competitions.
Bedford LBR Match Postponment.
Due to urgent repairs to the backstop
the match planned for 10th October
has had o be postponed. It will now
take place in January. The British
Open LBR Championship match is still
on course to take place at Leicester
Shooting Centre on 13th December.
Last PSG 2009 Championship Round.
Get your entries in for the last of this year’s shotgun
Championships. To be held at Harlow on 23rd & 24th
October. 9 challenging stages are planned. Results
will help to determine the 2009 Champions in all
shooting Divisions.
ESC 2009 Short Article: By Tony Saunders
With the holiday season coming to a close, the
crowds in the departure lounge at Prague airport had t
hankfully diminished as the tired, but jubilant, British
competitors arrived en-masse in the heady aftermath of
the Level IV European Shotgun Championships 2009
(ESC 09). Over thirty British shooters had attended
the weeklong Practical Shotgun (PSG) event in Pisek/
Tabor and the ranges at Oparany, seventy miles South
of the capital Prague in the Czech Republic. Almost
300 shooters from 24 IPSC regions met to shoot the
fourth ESC, previously held in Greece, Italy and the UK.
Vanessa Duffy, retired Metropolitan Police officer and
chairman of the UKPSA, had particular reason to be
pleased as she checked her Winchester SX3 through
airport security. An early adopter of Winchester’s
latest gas-operated semi-auto shotgun, she had
experienced a few teething issues with the light and
stylish 12 gauge and very nearly gave up on it. “I was
close to going back to my trusty Browning Hunter
Gold earlier this year” she explained. “Thankfully, Pete
Starley persuaded me to keep it and he made some small
changes to the gun to ensure it functioned smoothly.
I also switched to using Magtech buckshot along with
my Lyevale Express birdshot and Sellier & Bellot slug.”

Caroline Norman
It was quite obviously a winning combination. At the
closing and awards ceremony held in the historic House
of Culture building on the banks of the tranquil river
Otava in Pisek the previous evening, Vanessa climbed
the stage and accepted the gold medal proclaiming her
as 2009 European Ladies Champion to the cheers of
the four hundred strong crowd of shooters, organizers
and civic dignitaries. Vanessa though is no stranger
to this, having won the Ladies Modified division title in
both 2003 at Terni in Italy and again in 2006 at Kavala in
Greece where she won Ladies Standard Auto Division.
The Ladies UK team, managed by Andy Duffy and
comprising Vanessa, Sharon Sell, Caroline
Norman and Josie Adam also took gold
medal for the Ladies team position, beating the team
from Finland into an easy first place. “Unlike the
previous ESC competitions, it was good to
actually have another Ladies team to shoot against.”
Vanessa said. “Although there were other female
shooters, most were either shooting individually or as
part of other teams, such as the team from Thailand”.
A little about team entrants. Each team comprises
four members with a minimum of three team members
scores needed to qualify. This allows a little latitude
should a competitor be disqualified for any reason and
it also allows the best three
individual team scores to
be put forward at the end
of the match. These three
highest scores in the team
contribute to the overall
team score.
Individual scores, whether
the shooter is part of a
team or not, are calculated
in each division (Open,
Modified, Standard,
Standard Manual, Junior Vanessa Duffy in the final
and Ladies) to determine stages
the top three medal places
for overall highest score.
Josie Adam finished 4th overall
thanks to a costly gun jam on Stage 8.
Sharon finished in 5th place and Caroline
Norman, shooting her first Level IV competition
with her own Winchester SX3, came in a very
commendable 10th place.
The UK fielded team entrants in Modified,
Standard and Standard Manual this year as well as
the Ladies. The Modified team came in 5th place,
with the Italians, Russians and Finns taking the
top three places. Standard was dominated by
the Finns in first place followed by the Slovenian
team and the Russians in third place. UK made
7th place. In Standard Manual (Pump), the UK
team made 5th place with the Italians, Germans
and Slovenians making the top three places.
Our very own Barry Sullivan took the Bronze medal
and trophy as Senior Standard Auto. Barry (Bazza), a
strong and competent shooter on the British Level III
circuit, had a mixed first day before settling into his stride
in the latter two days of the competition and shooting a
strong consistent match to win the deserved third place.
Jim Starley was the highest placed junior in Standard
Auto with Mike Scarlett winning top Super Senior
and Warwickshire RFD Pete Starley winning highest
Senior in Modified Division. No award were made for
these places unfortunately, due to insufficient entries.”
Vanessa was particularly please with the levels of
professionalism and commitment from the Czech hosts:
“It was excellent to see so many shooters from so many
countries coming together to compete in a match of this
size and stature. The bar is constantly being raised and
the shooting was of the highest calibre I have seen at a
PSG match. I’d like to thank the organizers, range and
build crews as well as our own Barry Pollard and Neil
Beverley for putting their personal time and hard work
into what I felt was the best European competition so far.”
A full report next month
Target Shooter 93
Letters
I wanted to drop you a note to let you know
that I think your magazine is about the best
shooting sports magazine I have seen, in
both our countries (I am in the USA).
The content and layout are fabulous. And
I thank you very much for making your
magazine
available to me. ( I had no idea that
shooting was that prevalent in the UK....and
I am
glad to learn that it is.)
I will be looking forward to getting each
issue.
Thank-you
Robin T. Leeman USA
Sirs,
Have just downloaded the June
issue of Target Shooter and wanted to
congratulate you on a superb magazine and a
wonderfully innovative online format.
Despite myself I almost prefer this to the
paper magazine I used to love. And the
reference articles will take up far less room
to store!
Many thanks indeed for keeping this
going. And yes, I would be prepared to pay a
subscription for this kind of quality. Please
pass on my best wishes to the editorial
team.
Regards,
Simon Barnett
94 Target Shooter
In reply to Patricks letter last month;
Patrick
In response to request for help to solve your
extraction problems with you No.5 Jungle
Carbine that has been converted to .308.
This might be caused by a number of
problems:
1. Have you replaced the .303 extractor on
the bolt with the correct 7.62mm extractor
which has a deeper claw (they are usually
marked with the Enfield mark D65)?
2. Are you using the more square shaped
Enfield 7.62mm magazine which has a
hardened steel plate on the rear
left hand lip of the magazine which
helps to eject the case? The Sterling
magazine which formed part of the
conversion kit to convert .303’s to 7.62mm
does not have this lip on the magazine and
relies on a relocated ejector positioned
through the receiver wall (which requires
machining).
3. If you are using the correct Enfield
magazine then the different position of the
magazine lips require machining of the
underneath of the magazine well area of the
receiver. This allows the magazine to sit
higher up so that the bolt can pick up the edge
of a rimless .308 compared to the rim of a .303
cartridge.
I hope this helps but if not send me your
email via the publishers and I can send you
some pictures that will help further explain
matters. I also have some of the deeper
extractors if you need one.
All the best
Nigel Greenaway
If you have an issue, question
or comment then please send
letters via customer support on the
website.
 News
Our Thanks for the feedback you have provided to us. The last 6 months have been a bit of a
rollacoaster, but it has been fun. Our readers, approximately 10,000 to 11,000 on average per
month have been great. Hopefully the next 6 months will get even better. Our thanks.

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

Advertisers Index
Arches Supplies 57 NSRA 78
Benchrest Directory 69 Osprey Rifles 35
Bratton Sound Gunsafes 78 Portsmouth Gun Centre Ltd 37
Check-Mate Guns 57 Prestige Airguns 3
Eley 49 Rhino Rifles 24
Equiifix Shooting Bags 82 RUAG Ammotec 29
Fieldsports Channel TV 24 Rude Fat Dog 75
Fox Firearms 37 Section 5 63
G T Shooting 10 Shooting Bags 57
Green Leopard 83 South Yorkshire Gun Supplies 17
Guntrader 70 Southern Gun Company 52
Indelfa industrial electronics 83 Stockade Products Ltd 57
Intershoot 51 Targets Direct 78
Jackson Rifles 18 Tim Hannam 12
Low Mill Range Website UKBR22 - Rimfire and Air Rifle Benchrest 42
Merseyside Armoury 82 Viking Arms LTD 2
Midland diving equipment 43 Westlake Engineering 10
Newlon Precision 63 WringWerx 19
North West Custom 29 Zeiss Optics 18

Target Shooter 95
 Next time in.....

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

96 Target Shooter