Blunderbuss Blog
Sooted and Booted Part III- Finally Got To Test My Brass
01/08/2010
Yes I said back in June that
I had a To Do List to test out the brass that was sooting up on
me when fired.
Here is what I planned To Do
-
Seat the bullet deeper into the case neck.
-
A tighter neck size with neck size die.
-
Lee factory crimp bullet to allow pressure build up.
-
Increase the powder charge by .1 or .2 of a grain.
Finally I got to fire those
rounds and low and behold they are still sooting up my action, chamber,
bolt face and the brass.
I excluded the factory crimp
procedure as firing over a chronograph showed that with the bullet
seated deeper into the case it actually had a higher 'fps' than when I
seated the bullet closer to the lands (even though in my rifle the
bullet would never reach the lands). This showed that it was
possible that the deeper seating was allowing more pressure to build up.
However this all made no difference as the cases were still left sooted
from neck to head.
Therefore I am residing to
the idea that these 150+ cases that I worked so carefully on have been
rendered useless in my rifle. Yes it was a lesson learned and an
expensive one at that. Now I must get my hands on new or once
fired brass to replace this loss so that I can continue with my
handloads.
To try and salvage something
from this I may be able to find a buyer for the cases. Just because the
cases soot up on me when fired in my rifle that does not mean that all
6.5x55 chambers are similar to mine so they may be fine in a Sako or Sig
perhaps!
RTFM or Look It Up Online
07/07/2010
There is a lot to be said
about 'jumping the gun' pun intended. When it comes to learning
about your kit. The internet indeed is a great source of mostly
free content but should always be double checked with a reputable
company.
Following up on my blog
entry
'Learning A Little About The Rifle- In Particular The Action 02/07/10'
below here is some information I found regarding the Steyr.
Like A Rifle With Air Bags
The heart of the Scout is Steyr's unique safe bolt
system, first seen on the SBS-96. Previous Mannlicher rifles had rear
locking lugs; the SBS design has four front lugs.
The ejector is locked into a safety ring with
integral parts shrouded in the bushing. This design permits excessive
pressures (120,000 psi) to be expelled through the bore rather than
backwards through the action. Additionally, the bolt has gas ports to
relieve excess pressure from a pierced primer, enabling the SBS to
withstand three times the normal pressure of a .308 cartridge. It's a
feature that factory rep Erwin Derntl compares to an air bag in an
automobile: "You never see it unless you need it."
Steyr Pro Hunter Manual From Steyr Arms
Here is a
link to the Steyr Pro Hunter manual
Extract
From www.gunsite.co.za
What constitutes "better"? and "better" in what?
If it's accuracy then the Tikka will most probably be just as accurate
as the Sako and I doubt very much that the Sako is more accurate than
the Steyr.
If it's bolt strength I would really like to see how the Sako is better
than the Ruger and I know its not better than the Steyr as the Steyr SBS
is one of the strongest bolts in the business with 4 locking lugs and
the only one with a receiver featuring a proprietary patented safety
bushing that encases the extractor to give added safety in case of
unexpected excessive chamber pressure (it has been tested with pressure
proof rounds to withstands 120'000 lbs/sq inch of pressure) .
If it's safety I think the Steyr has got them beat with the extra safety
locking mechanism of the SBS which features a lock choice on the safety
device that cammes the firing pin out of alignment so that the loaded
rifle CANNOT be fired because the firing pin cannot reach the round even
if the rifle is dropped HARD.
The Steyr Pro Hunter has a feature that the Tikka has - adjustable
length of pull on the stock by way of spacers. Easily adjusted on the
Steyr to make it possible for kids to shoot the rifle for example. On
the Tikka it can be made longer only. The only thing with the Tikka is
that I have now been waiting for more than 4 years from 2 distributors
to get spacers for the Tikka and with the Steyr it's no problem - it
comes with the spacers installed.
and
The Steyr in addition has a bushing or collet in the receiver in front
of the chamber that encases the extractor and add more strength to the
locking mechanism and pressure integrity of the bolt.
The Tikka indeed has a small breech and it would be quite difficult but
not impossible to insert a round from the top and imo just about
impossible to get a finger in there to manipulate the rounds and stop a
double feed - it was just not designed to do that.
Of the three (and most probably of all others - I do not know of another
design that is the same or similar but there might be) the Steyr is most
probably the only rifle that was DESIGNED to be loaded from the top
should the need arise - the reason for me stating this is that the
magazine catch mechanism is designed in such a manner that there is an
indent stop/catch before the magazine is seated fully to alllow for the
bolt to move freely backwards and forwards without touching the rounds
in the mag and therefore without chambering a round which allows you to
drop a round from the top without having to depress or manipulate the
rounds in the mag that are pushing up to be fed, thus there is no
inclination to double feed.
Steyr has really put a lot of thought into the SBS rifle design
especially in regard to bolt design and strength, safety design and
features, magazine design and features, stock design and features, and
the assembly of the receiver and barrel to ensure the utmost accuracy
from the outset.
Learning A Little About The Rifle- In Particular The Action
02/07/2010
After my last outing with
the 6.5x55 and the sooted rounds I set about cleaning the rifle.
For cleaning the Race Ways, Action and Chamber I use the Sinclair lug
recesses kit with the cotton pads.
Now I am no gun smith and do
not know much about the internal mechanics of the rifle but two weeks
after this cleaning I have gained some knowledge of the Steyr.
Last weekend I wanted to
fire some rounds that I put together as part of my ongoing tests to
discover why my handloads are causing soot to spill out over the
internals of the Action. When I had all my kit setup and the
Chronograph in place I took the Bolt and went to slide it into the
Receiver, but it would not slide in all the way? What the heck is
going on I asked myself, why is it resisting? I could feel it being
stopped inside the Action but why and how? So I looked down the Action
with a torch to see if I could find any obvious obstruction but there
was nothing there. I then checked that the Bolt was 'set' and it
was. Now scratching my head I had no idea why the Bolt would not
seat properly. I began thinking that perhaps the extractor was out
off line on the Bolt Face so I took the Bolt apart and tried to seat it
once again, but still the dilemma continued. I spent about twenty
minutes baffled by this until I decided it was above my rifle knowledge
so I did the safe thing and packed up my kit and put it away until I
could speak to someone more knowledgeable on the subject.
The next day on the range I
asked a couple of experienced shooters what the problem could be and it
was spotted that one of the lugs (this may or may not be the correct
term) looked out of place. He took a long screwdriver and gently
slide it into the Action and was able to move the 'lug'. We
figured this couldn't be right, but then tried the Bolt once more but it
would not seat. The lug had now moved to far in the opposite
direction and was still stopping the Bolt from seating fully. I
was now thinking oh no this looks like it could cost me a small fortune
to be fixed if something is moving inside the Action.
On Tuesday I emailed Steyr
and I received a reply the next day to say that this moving 'lug' which
is actually called a 'Safety Bushing' was by design. Still unclear
and sceptical I asked for more details on why it moves and how it
suddenly has moved now as I have the rifle for over two years and never
experienced this before.
The simple answer from
Christina in Steyr was this...the
safety bushing turn out of position during cleaning the barrel.
So during the cleaning process the tight fitting cotton pads on the lug
recess cleaning kit had actually moved this safety bushing as I twisted
the cleaning pads to swab out the Action.
Here are Christina's answers
to questions I asked -
It is safety bushing,
and it is always “loose” – free to move, because this part locking
chamber and bolt!!
...the
safety bushing turn out of position during cleaning the barrel.
Then
you have to turn it with a screw driver in right position. It is no
functional - or quality defect!!!
I know
the safety bushing is not completely closed!! It’s
construction-conditioned.
These words to me
were a relief indeed as I thought not only was this problem going to
cost me to get resolved but I would be without my rifle for the entire
summer if it were to be sent back to Steyr in Austria.
I would like to
thank Christina in Steyr for her prompt reply and also for taking a
phone call from me due to my concern over my rifle.
I have included
some photos below highlighting the safety bushing that caused me
so much uneducated angst. Now on Sunday I hope to get to test
those rounds I have in my efforts to cure the Sooting of the Action
and Chamber.
Sooted and Booted Part II- The To Do List
21/06/2010
I would like to thank
everyone involved in all the discussions, recommendations and feedback
that I received over the past couple of weeks. A special thanks to
two very knowledgeable forums
Greybeard Outdoors and
The Handloaders Bench, my international friends on our
Facebook Discussion Board and Mr Marko Nikko. I have taken
onboard all that was said and have come up with the following To Do
List to test on my handloads.
Here is what I am planning To Do
-
Seat the bullet deeper into the case neck.
-
A tighter neck size with neck size die.
-
Lee factory crimp bullet to allow pressure build up.
-
Increase the powder charge by .1 or .2 of a grain.
I am hoping to test the above next Saturday and when
I do, I will post my results in my next blog instalment, the following
Monday or Tuesday.
NOTE TO SELF I had better ensure my shooting /
safety glasses are in my kit to help protect against any blow back of
powder should it occur.
Sooted and Booted Part I - My Brass, Bolt and Chamber
11/06/2010
Reloaded
once fired Full Length Sized Brass that was trimmed for the 6.5x55.
I have a
question: On Sunday I shot my once fired Full Length Sized brass that
was trimmed back to the same length as the shortest case in the 200 or
so cases I have of Lapua 6.5x55. (This brass was only fired once in
another rifle hence my FLS (Full Length Sizing it).
The Load
used was 45gn (on Sunday) and 44gn (on Monday) of Vhitavouri N160 with a
139g Lapua Scenar HPBT copper jacket. This is almost the max load that
is specified in the reloading manual for this round.
My
dilemma is this;
All the
brass was treated the same through preparation from cleaning to FLS, but
I wanted to experiment with neck turning so I decided on 3 methods with
10 cases selected at random in each of the trials:
Trial 1
I neck turned and
removed brass all the way around the neck and down to about 1mm / 1.5mm from the shoulder.
Trial 2
I neck turned
only the high spots all the way around the neck and down to where the shoulder meets
the neck.
Trial 3
I did not
perform any neck turning so this brass was Full Length Sized only
similar to those in Trial 1 & 2.
I also had loaded rounds from my 2009 lot which I used to foul the
barrel and set the scope for 100M. I sighted in and shot these from the
bench of a front and rear rest and the brass came out
clean as expected when ejected, only the neck was sooted.
Now to
my test subjects;
I fired
three sets of three shot groups in each trial above and no matter what
trial the
brass belonged to it came out filthy and covered in soot. My bolt face was
also black with soot. This was not so with the rounds I had loaded from
the 2009 lot that I used to sight in the rifle with and to foul the barrel.
I thought
perhaps this is due to the brass being Full Length Sized and not fire formed as yet!
So Sunday evening I cleaned up the brass, and on Monday morning reloaded
the same brass now fire-formed and neck sized only and off I went to
test my loads.
Unfortunately I had similar results to the previous day. The 2009 lot of
rounds I had, came out clean and the freshly reloaded brass was covered
in soot the belt and webbing of the case head was filthy and the bolt
face filthy also, See photos below. I kept removing my bolt after
each 3 shot group to wipe the bolt clean.
Now do
you think this could be due to the cases being trimmed a little to
short?
Are the case
necks not expanding enough to seal the chamber (even so there were cases
used that had not been neck turned at all)?
Would the
brass need to be annealed even so it’s only been fired once?
See Photos below and
Click Here For Video Link To You Tube.
All
thoughts are welcome?
Sleep Deprivation and Mental Fatigue
31/05/2010
My God why did I decide not to take my
own advice. I have examined my little book of excuses and I have
now got a new category to add to it. It's called social
networking. I stayed up late on Saturday night talking on Skype
and Facebook with a bit of YouTube thrown in for good measure.
This I believe was the beginning of the end for me come Sunday. I
didn't get to bed at my usual time before a shoot and woke up Sunday
morning peeling back my eye lids just so I could see my breakfast bowl.
However as the morning moved along I felt ok but my concentration was
waning. I was running the commands and clock for the first 3
matches and this may have zapped the last bit of goodness out of me.
When it came to my turn to shoot I
could not maintain my hold as long a I usually can and therefore began
to sway a little and this was evident when the chickens did not leave
their sunny perch after my rifle reported down range. I began
taking shots that were out of character for me. Just because I
have a great rifle and bullets matched to the barrel does not mean the
targets will fall due to shear fear, you still got to hit them.
My trigger control and follow through
were off the mark. Looking at me you would think nothing was up
but as we measure our internal self through external actions and results
I was in bits, a broken man, my dry cough, physical and mental tiredness
and now hunger had all crept up on me and decided 'today Matthew is
not your day'. How can it be I asked myself? Where had
all those 33's and 35's gone that I shot during the previous two weeks?
Why have they deserted me now at the moment I had been working towards?
Questions, questions questions, hundreds of questions and not one
satisfying answer to ease my horror.
The only explanation I have is that,
the lack of half arsed sleep that I do get as is, was ripped to shreds
with the late night chit chat and I am now vowing to be in bed at 10PM
on June 26th the night before our next national shoot. Now I must
cast these negative thoughts from me before I begin to carry them as
tension in my shoulders, arms and back.
Relaxation Is The Key To
Good Shooting
20/05/2010
I was of on my holidays for a week
soaking up the culture and ancient cities of Rome with the colosseum,
ruins, trevi fountain, Vatican city and the jaw dropping Sistine chapel
and then to Florence for the Ponte Vecchio bridge, Uffizi Gallery and of
course the magical Michelangelo's David. No access to email,
no work calls and no conversations on shooting, it's been a while since
I had a break like this in quite some time. Just good food, good
wine, plenty of walking and sightseeing, a break this body and mind
needed..
With the disappointing result of the BRC Open
International now behind me it was time to pick up the 'annie' once
again and relax back into shooting a few silhouettes. So yesterday
evening after work I unleashed the annie from its confines of a dark gun
safe and brought it back to the range. As the grass is now taking
shape and growing, the range is looking great with each new day of
growth. I set about putting up 40 targets and once I had my gear
to hand, settings dialled in and double checked, zipped up my vest, took
up my position and I dropped my first target. Happy with the first
shot I continued and dropped all 10 chickens, moving onto Pigs I dropped
those 10 also. Now Turkeys, I dropped the first, missed the second
and third, hit the fourth and missed the fifth. So with a windage
adjustment to the right, I set off on the top bank of five and had a
clean sweep dropping all five. A good recovery indeed.
Finally the Rams were in sight. I dropped number one, missed the
second, dropped three, missed four and dropped five. Just high and
going over the backs on the two I missed I chose a lower aiming spot.
So with this valuable feedback I moved onto the top bank of Rams and
taking a nice hold on the centre of each Ram I dropped the five one by
one. Giving me not only a great result but a relaxed shooting
experience with no pressures from anything or anyone, just one shot at a
time and learning as I went.
I was amazed at my performance as I usually wear a
pair of boots and certain sweater when shooting and this day I wore my
runners and found no problems. Therefore I find myself asking the
question, perhaps shooting is not all about what you wear and the little
rituals you think about including all the pre match talk that builds up
anxiety but more importantly what you Do Not Think? Take the
shooting as just another one of those things you enjoy doing and do it.
Leave the worry to others.
Missouri Magic
- Peery Steals The Show At BRC Open
03/05/2010
The
conditions were perfect, sighting in had gone well and the anthems of
Finland, France, Germany the USA and Ireland echoed
across the range as the 4th BRC Open International got underway on
Saturday 1st May.
The lower
classes had fired the opening shots of the day in the build up to what
would become a spectacular feast of shooting ability from our home grown
shooters and those from across the water.
As the Master
class shooters took up their positions it was Marko Nikko from Finland
and Susan Peery from the USA who went storming ahead. It was a
spectacle to enjoy as an onlooker but for the Irish competitors it was a game of catch up.
With Marko
Nikko finishing his morning Silhouette Rifle shoot on a 36/40 and Susan Peery on a 34/40, France's Robert Astier
was in stealth mode as he clocked up a 31/40. The best of the
Irish Matthew Canning was trailing with a 29/40 after a bad run on the
Turkeys and Rams.
With the
nerves almost abated a welcomed hot lunch fuelled the afternoon matches. This time Susan
Peery as cool as you like began to clear each bank of 5 targets with
superb ease. Her calm composure I believe was enough to will the
targets to fall from their feet. A work of genius! Marko
Nikko was struggling with his hold as he wavered and lost a few shots on
the way to the last string of targets resulting in a score of 35/40 in
the Hunting Rifle class trailing Susan by a mere 3 points.
In joint
third France's Robert Astier and Ireland's Fabian Connolly both
level on 32/40 and Ireland's Matthew Canning sitting on 31/40 were still
in the mix for a top three finish.
Day 1 had
come and gone and the post-mortems had begun in ernest. Some tired
faces looked out over the BRC Silhouette arena knowing they had to pull
some magic from the hat to bring their scores up.
On Day 2 first up
in Silhouette Rifle was
Ireland's Canning and Connolly who were head to head all the way until
the last few targets, where Connolly landed a catch of 33 and Canning
finished on 32 after another dismal display on the Rams at 100M where he only
scored 4 from 10.
Peery and
Nikko were next up and with all to play for. Peery had no doubt in
her mind that she had the ability to drop the full forty as did Nikko.
Perhaps it was nerves, perhaps the hold just didn't sit right for Marko
but he began to lose a few early targets as Peery once again made a
clean sweep of each bank of Chickens and Pigs. It was only at the
Turkey bank when the report of her borrowed rifle didn't take a Turkey
from its feet. The shot and possible 40/40 was lost. As
Peery moved to Rams she cleared the lot as she joined the elite class of
shooters who have scored a 39/40 on this range. The wheels looked
to have come of Nikko's wagon as he finished on a score of 33/40.
As the AAA and lower classes battled it out, they put on a good show as they
jostled to top their respective class. With a German contingent of
eight competitors ranked from AAA to Unclassified they were set to take
home the spoils of class medals as the odds were stacked in their favour.
With the
closing stages of the competition easing itself into the afternoon
chill, Peery and Nikko were shot for shot in a battle for first and
second place in Hunting Rifle with Astier, Connolly, Walsh and Canning locking horns for
third place. An inform Peery did what she did best and once again
cleared target after target to finish up on another impressive 38/40
with Nikko trailing by four shots to finish on 34/40.
A smile on
Peery's face was the signal. The title race was over and first
place was on its way across the pond to Missouri USA as Susan Peery was
totally on form at these games in both Silhouette Rifle and Hunting Rifle.
Marko Nikko
had done enough to secure a second place in both events and it was
Matthew Canning who secured a third place in Silhouette Rifle and Robert
Astier just holding on for third place in Hunting Rifle.
Our German
contingent led by Andre Bath and his wife Sylvia had been successful in
their bid for class medals as they took home a number of Gold, Silver
and Bronze.
An
encyclopaedia of shooting experience and knowledge Texan Charlie McClure
received the honour of Veteran Shooter and was indeed no way an 'old
fart' as he put the pressure on in the early stages of the game with his
borrowed Anschutz. His partner Susan Cook had some exceptional shooting
in her first ever competitive match with two score of 20/40 as an
unclassified shooter. A result any new comer to the sport would
sure be proud off.
All in all it was a great match
and to see such close competition and high scores was a welcome sight as
it shows those type of results are possible with good practise and
training of oneself.
Shooters To The Line For The BRC Irish Open International
30/04/2010
This weekend May 1st - 2nd, BRC Shooting Club will once again host the
BRC Irish Open International Metallic Silhouette Shoot.
Competitors from Ireland, Finland, France, Germany and the USA will
compete to take the coveted title as BRC Irish Open Champion 2010.
I have been up at the range for the past few evening after work ensuring
that my scope settings, eye and trigger finger are in tune to knock
those little animals of their feet one by one. On Monday and
Wednesday I was working on my Turkey and Ram shot placement both on
paper and on the targets. One thing I have taken from my evening
of positive happiness is to slow down when take up target acquisition. I
found myself speeding along on two occasions on a reload - fire and
missing out on the follow through and definitely missing three turkeys
in a row which would ruin any result and knock me right out of
contention.
This evening I will make another trip to the range and when done I will
go through my shooting gear to ensure I have everything at hand that is
needed for the weekend of competition, including the camera of course.
I will have results and a short synopsis of the weekend's events posted
here on Monday so be sure to check back Monday for a review.
Fortune Favours The Brave!
Turkey Time
- Getting To Grips At 77 Metres
22/04/2010
As BRC Shooting Club are almost complete with this stage of range
development it was time to use that privilege that I had worked hard for
over the past few months. Yes it was time to get back to
silhouette shooting :-)) This one deserves a double smiley. On
Monday evening past I setup a complete set of forty targets and with my
new Tenex ammo I loaded up and from shot one, I began to drop the
targets one at time. The first ten chickens dived from their
perches quickly followed by ten Javelina's as they run for cover. Now to
Turkeys those troublesome Turkeys, tut. tut. tut, sure didn't I miss the
first one and it left a sour taste in my mouth. So on I went and
after the ten shots I had dropped six. Focus was wavering as I
moved to the Rams and I managed to drop eight from ten. Leaving me
with 34 from 40. Although disheartened by my Turkey result I was
still happy with a 34 from 40 total as I had not got to shoot a full set
of 40 shots in almost 3 months.
So last night off I went again and decided to concentrate solely on
Turkeys to ensure my settings were bang on. This time I put up a
paper target at 77 Metres and ten Turkeys freshly painted so I could see
my hits clearly when resetting.
After a few shots at the paper I began to get my eye in rightly and I
started to group and call the shots when fired. It was a
confidence boost to see that I was able to call almost every shot even
though some where 2 inches or so from the actual target I was aiming
for. Once I was happy with the results on paper I moved to the
Turkeys and dropped 8 from 10 and in doing so learning that on a calm
evening it was only my hold that was causing me to miss. My
'annie' shooting iron setup was perfect. As I have said in the
past Rule No 1: Only squeeze the trigger when you are on target.
So without shame I have attached my results on paper and Turkeys below.
Double click on the image to bring full size for better viewing.
Sunshine and Shooting
- It Was A Day For Sighting In?
11/04/2010
The sun was shining, temperatures were in the high teens, it's what we
call an Irish summer. So you may think that I broke out the BBQ
and chucked a few burgers on the grill. No way, days like this are
much more important than a few char grilled burgers, dripping in HP
brown sauce. On Saturday I gave a helping hand filling bullet
traps with sand and Sunday was my own time for a bit of
planned sighting in. So off I went to East Coast Shooting Club just
outside Roundwood, Co Wicklow with my batched Tenex and Annie.
With targets in place and front and rear benchrest bags set, I finally
got to knock out a few shots at the 40 Meter target.
My long awaited sighting in had begun. Due to the scope having to be remounted after my barrels trip to Eley
the shots were grouping low and to the right. With 8 clicks of
elevation and 4 clicks to the left a pattern began to punch its way
through on the 10 Mil bull. Truly a sight for longing eyes.
With my zeros set I could now estimate the 60, 77 and 100 Meter
clicks needed for elevation based on my experience to get me
shooting into the ball park. As I made my way through my first box
of 50 rounds from the bench, I was becoming more and more impressed at the
tight groups the new Tenex was producing. There were a few loose
shots now and again, but this was down to my lack of bench rest technique not
being up to any competitive standard. On my final 100 Meter target
I placed 4 shots around the 10mil bull with the fifth taking a stance
and moving out the the left leaving me with a frown in protest.
It was time to get into my signature stance for some off hand shooting,
now that I had recorded my elevation settings. At the 40 Meter
target after two wild shots as I fought with my positioning I settled in
and began punching a group through the bull, Nice :-). Moving out
to 60 and 77 Meters I had similar results but not as tight a group at
77. With the last few shots of the day I was a bit wild as I
snapped at the trigger as the target dot swooshed over the mark but then
it started to come together as I dropped a few in close to the
10 Mil bull and one right on it at 7' o'clock.
It was all coming back to me after some two months absence from shooting.
My next step will be to get back onto my own clubs new range to see how
I fair out there. The range opening can't come quick enough as the
BRC Open International is only a couple of weeks away and this lad needs
to get in the practise if he is to score high.
My new toy in reloading! - The Wilson Cartridge Case Trimmer
06/04/2010
I had said back on March
10th that I would demo my new reloading toy the Wilson Cartridge Case
Trimmer. Now here it is. I have had to split my Introduction,
Assembly and Setup of the Trimmer into three steps as 'You Tube' do not
allow any video to exceed 10 Minutes in duration.
I hope that this video
compilation will be of interest to you, especially if you have not
performed any case trimming. Please recognise how important case
trimming is needed during the reloading process. Case trimming
does not only help with cartridge uniformity and accuracy but is
necessary to avoid having an accident when enjoying your hobby and
sport.
Step 2 Assembling The Wilson Cartridge Case Trimmer
Another weekend of range development!
30/03/2010
The final stages of BRC
Shooting Club's development of the clubhouse and range are within sight.
It's estimated that another two weekends of work and we may be ready to
reopen and take part in that favourite pastime of mine ...hmmm, what is
that past time? let me think! ahh yes! I know! it's called silhouette
shooting :-).
Thankfully last weekend the
weather held out and the sun did show its face between the clouds.
I must remind you that my contribution to the work I do on the range
is merely a fraction of what has gone on before me over the years and
most recently in the past few months. However on the range
this weekend saw the last of the steel bullet catchers for the 100M Rams
put into place by hand and target boxes painted. Wheeling carrying
and holding that steel in place was as good as going for a weights
session in the gym as my upper body was somewhat stiff on Monday
morning.
Well done to everyone who
has contributed to the recent work thus far as the club would be nothing
without a willing membership who give up their time to not only develop
the range but to develop our shooting sports experience.
The
winter has passed, it’s time for a Body & Mind Spring Clean
22/03/2010
With
the harshness of the winter frost and snow just about behind us it's
time for a spring clean of the body and mind.
The
evenings are getting longer; the daylight is now in our favour, yes the
time has come to dust down the running shoes and shorts and get back on
track for a season of silhouette shooting and another Dublin marathon.
Like a
new barrel on your rifle it requires a breaking in period or you are
sure to do irreparable damage to that factory or custom shooting stick.
So the same mantra should most definitely be applied to exercise.
Exercise and a controlled diet is indeed beneficial to the whole body
and to your off hand shooting. It must be approached with the respect
it is due, as to minimise and reduce the risk of damage to your bones;
joints and connective tissues or you will soon bring a halt to your
shooting enjoyment.
I already
walk 3 miles to work each day in all weathers and this has been the
ground work for my body to prepare for the stress it will receive over
the coming months. With my mind set on jogging from work I stuffed my
work clothes into my backpack and laden down like a work horse I trotted
off up along the canal on the first of hopefully many fresh mild
afternoons.
At a
constant pace and a few stop go’s to cross the bridges along the canal I
reached the front door of the house in a pool of sweat and as I rooted
around for the key in my pack I knew immediately I would begin to feel
the benefits of this jaunt in the morning, when I would awaken with some
tender muscles. All would be ok as I have been here before.
The first
few runs are the hardest, but once the body begins to adapt and your
eating habits change then everything begins to fall into place and
distance only becomes limited by the mind. Your body grows stronger and
your mind joins in on the fun as you become focused and more in tune
with your abilities. This can only be good for the hand eye
coordination needed to drop those chuckling chickens, Pondering Pigs,
Tormenting Turkeys and Rebellious Rams one shot at a time, to get you
ahead of the game.
So if you
are driven to improve on last season’s scores and have not thought of
taking up another sport or activity and substituting high energy, easily
digestible, fruit and cereals for the processed meat based, energy
sapping, breakfast roll then give it some serious thought. Who knows
you might even surprise yourself as you watch your shots take more and
more targets of their feet with each practise session and match you shoot.
The Ultimate in Rifle Accuracy (Book Review)
15/03/2010
‘The Ultimate In Rifle Accuracy’ by Glenn Newick and published in 2004
is described as ‘A handbook for those who seek the ultimate in rifle
accuracy whether it be for competition, testing or hunting’.
From the image above
you may
have already
judged this book by its eye catching cover, were
you can
see
that ‘The Ultimate In Rifle Accuracy’ is primarily focusing on
centrefire benchrest shooting. As a shooter I can safely say you would
be doing yourself an injustice not to have this 210 page gem of a book
on
your bookshelf arsenal whether it is for pleasure reading or to take
something from
and
adapt to your chosen shooting sport.
Glenn starts off as all firearms lessons should and that’s with an
introduction on safety followed by a colourful history of gunpowder and
the rifle. Followed up by bench technique, wind shooting,
reading
mirage and some in depth case preparation which I found to be a very
interesting
read as I am in the process of preparing
200 full length sized 6.5x55 cases. Finally there is a chapter on
barrel
cleaning technique. This gave me an insight as to how import
cleaning
is
to a shooting irons accuracy and competitive life.
Although time has moved on since the first publication of this book and
I do not own a heavy custom match barrel I do believe that what I have
taken from this book will indeed provide me with some off the best
possible advantages in rifle shooting technique and gun care.
In summary
I have read this book from cover to cover and on my journey through the
chapters and humorous anecdotes I have sifted out valuable nuggets of
information that are applicable to all purpose shooting
fundamentals and therefore can be applied to a hunting class rifle and
the sport of metallic silhouette shooting.
Although there are a number of black and white photos in the book they
are not all crafted by a professional photographer so this gives the
book the feel of ‘yea it’s a book written by a shooter for a shooter’
capturing a moment of shooting history so they can tell the
grandchildren over a cup of tea.
Topics such as case preparation, reloading tools, wind reading, mirage,
barrel cleaning are all relevant to any long range shooting sport.
Even more
so in silhouette shooting as it’s all done off hand where the stability
of the rifle rests with the ability of the shooter and every little
advantage you are given with your rifle may indeed be the difference
between a hit and a miss.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in shooting
sports and gaining the most from
their rifle and own ability.
Reloading 'The Long Gun' 6.5x55SE (My Basics)
10/03/2010
As a relatively 'newbie' to the Bigbore rifle
calibre, I have spent some time receiving practical instruction
on reloading not to mention many hours with my eyes glued to YouTube and
my head down reading reloading articles on the bus from work and while
some talent show or the like was muted on the telly. Now further
down the line I thought I would demonstrate my attempt at reloading.
Since these videos were put together I have obtained
a few additional reloading tools, so later this year when I update these
videos to include Full Length Resizing of Brass I will use my new toys,
'the Wilson case trimmer, RCBS flash hole deburring tool, RCBS primer
pocket brush and Lyman pocket primer uniformer'. I will post the
updates on YouTube and link them here in my Blunderbuss Blog.
Please note that these videos on reloading are NOT
for educational purposes. You should always seek advice from a
highly trained and qualified reloading instructor before you begin to
reload.
A Helping Hand 01/03/2010
This weekend I was up to my knees in mud while I
joined a number of our club members on Saturday and Sunday in our
shooting range upgrade work. The BRC Shooting Club committee are
indeed committed to the task of achieving authorisation and have been
putting in back breaking work with the help of a core foundation of
members to have this project completed by the end of March 2010.
As I have not been out running any great distances on the roads this
past few weeks I can sure as hell feel the muscles in my forearms, lower
back, and legs after two days of drilling wood, carrying concrete and 8
foot planks of timber as we built our Ram target holders and put them in
place. It was not all serious work, work, work as I had a bit of
craic with the other lads who also turned up to give a helping hand.
Winter Olympics & The Biathlon
26/02/2010
I have always been interested in the Olympic Games both Summer and Winter. Now as I have watched the biathlon in the winter games I am
going to write down an idea I have had gestating in my mind for more
than 2 years now.
As a shooter and someone who is interested in physical fitness through
cardio training i.e. running. I wonder if there is anyone out
there in the Silhouette shooting community that would be interested in a
new breed of silhouette shooting event (perhaps in some purists eyes
it's a
half breed event). Anyway here goes I am throwing myself to the
wolves on this one.
I would like to know if anyone that enjoys a bit of physical activity
such as running or jogging and also who shoot silhouettes either
with pistol or rifle would be interested in taking part and
helping organise a biathlon type silhouette shoot. I have been
thinking that perhaps to begin with, competitors would start with a
distance of 1km to be covered as fast as possible on two legs by running
(no firearms would be carried) and then firing 5 shots at chickens (within a time frame or penalties
would occur) and then back to run another 1km and fire another 5 shots at pigs.
This would continue until the final 5 shots at Rams would mark the
completion of your match 4x1km and 20 silhouettes. The event would be based on time.
Time penalties would be incurred if targets were missed or shooting
after the allotted timeframe in a 5 shot string.
It may be a fun event and one that will inspire more people to take up a
physical activity to promote wellbeing and healthy living and bringing
along that little competitive edge that is needed in life.
So let me know your thoughts! email:
Matthew
Preseason Preparations for 2010
25/02/2010
What have
I been up to since my success in the National Championships?
Once
the Championship was over I took a few weeks out of silhouette shooting
to just chill and relax. Although I made an appearance at my club on a
Sunday morning I felt no obligation to have to pick up the rifle to go
through my pre shoot preparations. Instead I sat back and had a
few cups of Green tea with a few biscuits and friends. We talked about
the upcoming regulations being put on ranges and how this would
financially break a small club, which would undo any progress made in
the shooting sports arena within Ireland.
Expanding my
Knowledge
24/02/2010
I have been fortunate enough to have a 9 to 5 to help keep me actively
shooting throughout the summer. However in the long dark and
somewhat cold evenings of winter I have been doing
a little more reading of novels and online shooting related articles which
interested me. 'You never know where you might pick up a snippet of
information that may be useful in silhouette shooting or adopted to be
used in training or practise'. Check out
www.rifleshootermag.com
it's a wealth of information on shooting related matters.
Ammo Batch
Testing
22/02/2010
Just
this week my Anschutz has been tested in the Eley factory to have
it matched with an Eley Tenex batch of ammunition. This is in the
hope that I can perform at my optimal best in 2010. The report back
from Eley is that I have a batch of ammo that will shoot near perfect
groups for a sporting rifle so my optimism is running high for a
successful 2010 calendar when we get underway in March or April.
Over
the years I have done my own batch testing but this is an expensive game
of hit and miss as I never had the opportunity to test ammo before I buy
it. So when the opportunity arose for my barrel to be tested at Eley I
was more than pleased to take up the offer. The professionals know more
of batch testing that I do and for a fixed price they can test a number
of
different batches of top grade Tenex ammunition with thousandths of an
inch computerised accuracy in a controlled environment.
The Right
Tool For The Job
20/02/2010
Just
recently I have invested in a Torque wrench for my 'Annie' so that
I can snug down the stock screws to the same tension each and every
time. This should help bring the rifle back to the same position after
it has been taken down and put back together when cleaned.
Although for the torque driver I had a hard time sourcing an 8mm hex
fitting with an 8mm blade for the stock screws but fortunately one of
our club members who works in the building trade was able to get his
hands on one for me and it looked like it was made to fit. Thanks
Ray.
A Clean Barrel Is An
Accurate Barrel (Or Is It)? 17/02/2010
I have succumbed to the idea of 'a clean barrel is
an accurate barrel'. I already do this for my centre fire rifle
but for the Rimfire I would not clean the barrel as often. Once at the end of
each season was my usual process before putting it away for the winter.
My reasons I believe were valid as my thinking 'probably old school'
was each time I cleaned the barrel it needed allot of fouling to bring
the accuracy back and this cost time, and lots more money on ammo. However I
am determined to test if the 'a clean barrel is an accurate barrel'
theory will work on the Rimfire as this is a sworn step in Olympic target
rifle circles.
So I
have a been reading up on barrel cleaning methods and I have now decided on a
barrel cleaning process and product that I will stick too. In the
Smallbore rifle 'my annie' I will use a solvent called Bore Tech
'Rimfire Blend' this will be used in conjunction with a nylon
brush and 1 inch square triple twill patches on a jag with a 1 piece Dewey
synthetic coated rod to 'avoid any damage to rifling'. I will follow
the directions on the solvent bottle so will not repeat them here.
On
the centre fire rifle I will be using Bore Tech Eliminator, a correct
sized bore nylon brush and correct sized VFG bore cleaning felt pellets
on a VFG adaptor jag attached to a 1 piece Dewey synthetic coated rod.
Please see these Bore Tech products at
www.boretech.com.
Purpose of
a Clean Barrel
The
purpose of a clean barrel I am informed is so you know exactly where the
first few shots will land each and every time when a clean rifle is
fired. This may indeed be an inch or more high or low or to the left or
right of the target you are aiming at, but supposedly and consistently will
be the same point of impact with each firing in similar weather
conditions with minimal or zero wind.
My
'Blunderbuss Blog'
15/02/2010
I
will keep you posted on my shooting progress and other relevant matters
that I think are of interest to you. As
the doubting Thomas in me airs on the side of scepticism in the barrel
cleaning program. You know it 'nothing ventured nothing gained'!
