April 24, 2006 BLOG
NEWS, FEATURES, PRODUCTS, and RELOADING TIPS. BLOG ARCHIVE.

COMPETITION--Records Fall at NBRSA 600-yard Nationals: The 2006 NBRSA Nationals wrapped up April 23 at the Sacra-mento Valley Shooting Center (Sloughhouse). Match Director Ed Eckhoff reports: "We had 42 shooters at this year's event which nearly doubled the attendance of the past two years. Conditions were pretty good--light overcast, mild winds, a bit of mirage, but not too bad." In these conditions, the top competitors had some very impressive performances.

In Light Gun (17 pound) class, Greg Wilson dominated with his 6.5-284, claiming Single Target Small Group (1.075"), Three-Target Agg Group (1.427"), and Six-Target Agg Score (299/8X). Greg also finished first in Two-Gun Score (863/16X) and finished second in the Six-Target Heavy Gun Group and 12-Target Two-Gun Group. Bob Hoppe was right on Greg's heels in Light Gun, winning the LG Six-Target Group Agg (2.092"), LG Single-Target Score (50/4X), and LG Three-Target Agg Score (150/9X). Bob also won the Two Gun (12-target) Group with 3.264". Jim Gallant led the Heavy Gun pack, placing first in both Six-Target HG Group (4.146"), and Six-Target HG Score (580/16X), and first in Three-Target HG Group AND Three-Target HG Score. AccurateShooter.com FORUM regulars performed well too: Lynn Dragoman shot a 1.095" (second smallest LG group), Roger Amos (ExPiper) had the third smallest LG group of 1.270", and Bert (LongShot) Seltzer shot the smallest Heavy Gun group of the weekend, a 2.743" (98/4X). Pending certification, it appears some new records were posted at the match. Greg Wilson's 1.075" group and 1.427" Three-Target Agg would both be new NBRSA records. The Three-target is particularly impressive as this drops the existing record by nearly half an inch. This editor predicted that we might see a 1.5" Agg this year, and we certainly didn't have to go far into the season to get it. Great Shooting Greg! Congratulations to Greg Wilson, Bob Hoppe and all the shooters. Ed Eckhoff and his Sloughhouse crew ran a great match as usual. Click Here for an MS Word file with all the results.

HIGHPOWER PRONE--Parker Breaks 200-yard Record: AccurateShooter.com contributor Scott Parker pulled off an impressive feat this weekend. Shooting in a registered prone Highpower match at the Five Dogs Range near Bakersfield, CA, Scott posted a 200-16X score to establish a new NRA National Record. Scott reports: "In the third [stage], I fired a score of 200-16X a new national record at 200 yards. Keep in mind the X-ring is very small--about 0.8 MOA. The rifle was my Barnard /Mastin 6mmBRX which has been featured on this site. I just had a new Broughton 5C, 8-twist barrel chambered and fitted. This barrel now has 188 rounds through it. (My previous barrel was also a Broughton 5C and it also was a tack-driver.) The load was 33.5 grains of N-140 with moly'd Sierra 107s into the lands. I used CCI BR-4 primers. The velocity runs 3045 fps. Barrel length is 31 inches + a 4.5 inch sight extension. This yields a sight radius of about 42 inches. Sights were an RPA Trakker rear and an RPA ladder front. The conditions were dark and wet. I was soaked by rain early into my third string. My Aggregate was 597-32X for the three matches. I wish to thank my rifle smith, Mike Winkler, for producing the finest and most accurate rifles I've ever shot, and credit German Salazar and Tom Luhman for their help with my position. And most of all, I want to thank my wife and boys for their support and willingness to part with me on shooting days."

BENCHREST GEAR--Kelbly's Introduces New Trigger: New BR Trigger Hits The Market: Kelbly's has started shipping its impressive new BR trigger designed by George Kelbly, Senior. Several top BR shooters have been testing these for a few months now and the reports have been very positive. We inspected one during the San Gabriel Benchrest School. It looked very well made, and Lou Murdica, who has been testing a prototype, said it works great.

The new trigger can go lighter than a Jewell benchrest trigger, yet a simple change of a screw position allows you to bump the pull weight up to over a pound. No other trigger offers this amount of versatility with an ultra-low minimum pull. Jim Kelbly reported: "This trigger has coated surfaces to make them work smoother. There are no side plates as the trigger has a totally machined body. Four pin holes let you adjust the trigger weight by moving pin from one hole to another, along with a screw adjustment for fine tuning. The pull weight is around two to three times less than any other BR trigger available. If you think you have a light trigger now, you are in for a surprise! Pull weight is consistent every time. We shipped 30 last week." The new Kelbly trigger retails for $240.00, weighs 2.5 ounces and fits actions compatible with Remington triggers. For more info go to Kelbly.com or call (330) 683-4674.

CARTRIDGE NEWS--6.5x47 Lapua: The new 6.5x47 Lapua case is in now in production and the first batches are appearing in Europe. In our previous BLOG we reported that Grafs.com is now a direct importer for Lapua products. Graf's first container full of brass and ammo is now in transit. In that container will be a large quantity of Lapua 6BR brass and Scenar bullets. And we're told that there's about a 70% chance that the container will 6.5x47 Lapua cases. Graf's has pre-ordered 50,000 pieces of 6.5x47 Lapua and they hope it will be available by early May. Those interested in the new cartridge should call Graf's soon and place orders. We expect the first shipment could sell out within a few weeks.

BARGAINS--Half-Price Hazmat Fee at Natchez: Natchez Shooters Supply is picking up $10.00 of the hazmat fees on your order if you order at least 10 pounds of powder and/or 10,000 primers. The special is good through May 15, 2006. Qualifying powder weight is based on actual powder weight, not including container. Compared to typical Hazmat fees, that's a 50% savings. Put together a powder order with a shooting buddy, and you should easily meet the 10-pound minimum for the discount. We've heard rumblings that primers may be going up in price soon industry-wide, so you may want to consider a bulk buy of primers also.

GUNSMITHING--New Micro-Adjustable Reamer Stop Available: There's a new tool available that should make the gunsmith's job quite a bit easier. It's such a logical, clever design, you wonder why somebody didn't think of it years ago. Reader RustyStud provided this report: "The photo shows a new tool called the Lambeth/Kiff Micrometer Adjustable Reamer Stop (Patent Pending). This is a add-on device that controls the depth a reamer can cut. It uses the reamer itself as the micrometer pinion and the barrel tendon face as the anvil. It does not matter where the tail stock or carriage is located, it measures off the reamer. It functions with a floating reamer holder too. These new Micrometer Reamer Stops have 50 indexing marks and will allow for .0005" adjustments. The gunsmith can preset the Micrometer Adjustable Reamer Stop to about .020" out and ream without worry. Then re-measure, adjust once, and make the final cut right on the money. These tools will be available in a couple of weeks from Dave Kiff at Pacific Tool & Gauge, Nat Lambeth at ngl_services@juno.com and several gunsmith tool suppliers."

VARMINTING--80gr Berger Varmint is Super-Accurate: Eric Stecker was kind enough to supply some of Berger's latest 80gr Varmint bullets for testing. These were formerly called the Berger MEF ("Maximum Expansion Factor"), but now the box says "Varmint -- Match Grade." Our initial testing, in a standard 6BR with 8-twist 3-groove PacNor barrel demonstrated that "Match-grade" was no boast. These things shoot! At 100 yards, the first two shots went into the same hole. A nice 5-shot group formed up under 0.2". And to keep things interesting, this was with a varmint-style stock and only one flag about 30 yards out. By comparison, 75gr V-Maxs were grouping in the mid-fives in the same gun. Reader ShCal of San Luis Obispo recently tried the latest Berger 80s and also got great results, shooting under 0.5" at 200 yards.

TRAINING--NSSF Offers Program for New Shooters:
The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), is partnering with shooting ranges across the country to instruct first-timers in the safe, recreational use of handguns. Cyndi Dalena, NSSF director of shooting range promotions, notes that: "NSSF's 'First Shots' program gives range owners and retailers an opportunity to educate the public on local requirements and offers newcomers a chance to try shooting." Upcoming First Shots events this spring are scheduled as follows: April 26 at the Smith & Wesson Shooting Sports Center in Springfield, MA; May 14 at Center Target Sports in Post Falls, ID; and May 20 at Sprague's Sports in Yuma, AZ. First Shots events provide the public with a chance to learn the rules and requirements of handgun ownership along with comprehensive information on safety, shooting sports opportunities, individual and group training and range access. It also answers new shooters’ questions regarding firearms and firearm ownership. For more information on First Shots and upcoming events, visit Video Intro to Action Pistol Shooting.

GUNSTOCKS--Bill Shehane Offers New Stock Designs: Bill Shehane, recent 1000-yard Shooter of the Year has been under the weather lately, but he managed to send us this sneak preview of two new stocks he has in the works. The first is a laminated stock for F-Class and long-range benchrest. The second is a drop-in varmint stock with a advanced barrel venting system. Both offer very low profiles to resist torque and to improve tracking. We will provide full reports in the weeks to come once the first finished rifles are built on the new stocks. For more info, go to ScopeUsOut.com or call Bill at (704) 824-7511.

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