Target Shooter

TARGET SHOOTER MAGAZINE
October 2012 Issue
JOE WEST STOCKS REVIEW Shooting News
Pistols in Serbia
MR PUCKLES AMAZING GUN
Practical Rifle Shooting
NOTEBOOK FROM AN F/TR NOVICE
ANNEAL OR NOT - WE FIND OUT
paralympic shooting
NOW Read WORLdWIde BY OVeR 10,000 dedICaTed ReadeRS IN OVeR
SMALLBORE SHOOTING
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Welcome to the new look October 2012 edition of Target Shooter Magazine
Webitorial October 2012

All sports have national and international governing bodies not just shooting. But, because on the contentious nature of our sport, governing bodies often need to be more than simply regulators and rulemakers. Great Britains National Rifle Association has certainly had its share of problems over the years, with massive changes in firearm laws - resulting in two gun bans, along with substantial debts not of its own making. Recently, we have seen a night of the long knives where several NRA staff members have received redundancy notices and, more significantly, two new high profile appointments have been made. Andrew Mercer is the new NRA Chief Executive and Richard Blackmore assumes the role of Head of Membership and Training. Both have sound business/managerial backgrounds - though not in shooting. Is this important? In my opinion no! These gentlemen will be able to look at the NRA as they would look at any other business organisation and I do hope that high on their agenda will be a visit to the regions the places far from Bisley where the NRA is often seen in a less than favorable light. The role of the NRA has widened from its original charter when it was established in 1859. Defense of the Realm was the issue then. Now, it is the defense of our sport, which is under threat both nationally and internationally.
We wish Andrew Mercer and Richard Blackmore every success in their new roles after all, shooting and the many businesses it supports are dependent on a strong NRA. The NRA must strive to PROTECT and PROMOTE shooting. Anything else is icing on the cake!
Vince, Yvonne & Steve

Vince Bottomley - vinceb@targetshooter.co.uk Yvonne Wilcock - yvonne@targetshooter.co.uk Steve Thornton - steve@stevethornton.co.uk
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Editor - Vince Bottomley vinceb@targetshooter.co.uk Advertising and Office Manager - Yvonne Wilcock. yvonne@targetshooter.co.uk Compiled, Designed & Web Production by Steve Thornton. www.thorntonconnect.com Contributors - Vince Bottomley - Laurie Holland - Ken Hall - Don Brooke - Chris Parkin Tony Saunders - Dave Tickle - Craig young - Liz Woodhall David Thompson - Mike Davenport Back Page Photography by Steve Thornton - ThorntonConnect.com Cover Photography by David Thompson Disclaimer
The website www.targetshooteronline.com 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. 3
Contents
Page 6
October 2012 Issue
VI Open Delta Cup 2012 - Level III IPSC Championship Match Belgrade Serbia by David Thompson. The VI Open Delta Cup IPSC Championship was hosted by the Delta SJA, Belgrade. Held from 24th to 26th August, this Level III Championship match consisted of 30 stages put together by Match Director Spasoje Vulevic and his team for a 500 plus round count. Page 26 A LOOK AT THE MOSIN-NAGANT M1891/30 SNIPER RIFLE by Laurie Holland. In the days when I only shot Historic Military Rifle, Id never been particularly impressed by Nagants affordable but nasty things, especially those vicious little carbines with a bayonet folded alongside the forend and their horrendous muzzle flash and blast when firing surplus military ammo.
Mr James Puckles Gun by Mike Davenport FCA. Defending King George your country and Laws, is defending yourselves and the Protestant cause. Such a statement made on the patent application may have been more effective then in a country which did not wish to return to absolute monarchy and which had religious beliefs unlike those existing today in the United Kingdom.
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A Visit to Joe West Rifle Stocks - by Chris Parkin. Cant see the wood for the trees? Those of us wanting to either improve a current rifle, or put together a new one, had to metaphorically journey across the Atlantic to find suitable replacement parts, especially in the form of rifle-stocks. Since the design of the earliest rifle, shooters have found walnut to be both beautiful, strong and a relatively lightweight wood - if not particularly hardwearing and resistant to atmospheric change. In times of war, damaged supply chains (and prices in peacetime) had often diverted guns into the realms of less desirable woods like beech. Page 54
Contents Continued & More...

Page 68 Diary of a novice F/TR boy - Part One by Peter Baxter. Following a query about Lauries missing third article in the July edition of his Affordable F/TR series I was asked by Vince to write up my initial experiences setting out on the F/TR road It may not be pretty, but here goes! ...
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This Smallbore Business by Brooksie. Reading the lighter wind stuff.Weve covered serious wind shooting over the last couple of issues but, sometimes we are lucky enough to shoot in the very light weather conditions. In my experience this does not happen very often, and Murphys Law dictates...
THE HANDLOADING BENCH by Laurie Holland. Another look at cartridge case annealing. Id hoped to finish my look Page 90 at new powders which we started in the September issue but have run a bit behind in testing the selected trio IMR-8208 XBR and a couple of Czech Lovex extruded propellants so Ive postponed my final report for a few issues but this delay does let me slot in an update on case annealing.
Regulars
& more
Page 70 FROM THE BENCH Page 24 PRACTICAL RIFLE Page 100 SMALLBORE - BROOKSIE Page 46 UKPSA LATEST NEWS
Page 86
A Barrel Block Stock from True-Flite. In our July issue, we gave you a glimpse of a new barrel-block stock from New Zealand barrel makers True-Flite. Barrel-block stocks are not common and, until now, were most likely to be seen on heavy, long-range bench guns.
Page 74 DISABLED NEWS Pages 70 & 76 RIMFIRE BENCHREST Page 104
VI Open Delta Cup 2012 - Level III IPSC Championship Match Belgrade Serbia by David Thompson
VI Open Delta Cup 2012 - Level III IPSC Championship Match Belgrade Serbia
By David Thompson
Russias Maria Gushchina produced another match winning performance to win Ladies Production at the Delta Cup Open with her 9mm Tanfoglio Stock III
The VI Open Delta Cup IPSC Championship was hosted by the Delta SJA, Belgrade. Held from 24th to 26th August, this Level III Championship match consisted of 30 stages put together by Match Director Spasoje Vulevic and his team for a 500 plus round count. The Range Master was Milan Trkulia, assisted by his range officers. The SJA Delta range complex is located at Zemun, just outside Belgrade.
This year the Sixth IPSC Open Delta Cup in Belgrade, Serbia was part of three 2012 Triple Crown Extreme Series of IPSC matches, the venues for which were in the Czech Republic and Rhodes, Greece. In the last seven years the Delta Cup match organisers have invested a lot of work with the desire to make this event a memorable match and to present Serbia as a successful organizer of IPSC competitions and an excellent host. Year after year the team and the match sponsors have worked to apply new ideas in to this event.
Slovakia CZ Shooting Team member Andrej Hrnciarik took the top Junior and ninth place overall in Production Division.
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Delta SJA Belgrade

Practical shooting club Delta SAJ Belgrade was founded in May 2000 in Belgrade. The nucleus of the club membership was from the anti-terrorist unit (SAJ) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Serbia. This Serbian Military Unit is based just outside Belgrade, on the banks of the River Danube. One of the objectives of the establishment of the club was training members of the SAJ in pistol, rifle and shotgun shooting, by using the principles of the IPSC practical shooting sport, which emphasizes precision shooting at speed. The club members compete mainly in the IPSC Divisions of Production and Standard. The first Delta SAJ competition was in May 2000.
Entry into Serbia with firearms is a straight-forward process. You present your own countrys licence or European Firearm Pass and passport to the police at the airport or boarder crossing. You are issued with a visitors licence listing what firearms you are bringing into Serbia for the duration of your visit, which costs the equivalent of 15 Euros. On leaving Serbia the visitors licence is returned to the police at your exit point. The pre-match for officials, range officers and those who were working at the match was held over 22nd and 23rd August and the competitors started arriving on Thursday afternoon to register for the main match, which started on Friday 24th August. After the opening
STI European Team member Irene Canetta was placed in second place in Ladys Open Division, only 0.4 % behind the winner.
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speeches we were treated to a parachuting display by the Serbian SJA Delta Special Forces, who jumped from a height of 1200 metres onto the sports field in their base. The competitors then dispersed to their first stage and match got under way by 10.00 am and consisted of 30 stages, shot Friday, all day Saturday and was concluded by early Sunday afternoon. In the main match the competitors were grouped into squads, some of up to 15 shooters, with 08.30 am starts on the Saturday and Sunday. Each stage was run by a range officer and/or an International Range Officers Association (IROA) official. All the range officers put in a lot of effort to keep everything running smoothly and on time and with minimal delays. Match Statistics
All five IPSC Competition Divisions were represented at the Delta Open. This also spread into the various categories of lady, junior, senior and super senior. Production and Standard Division were the most popular with 121 and 41 competitors respectively. Open Division had a total of 29 shooters in this category. The number of competitors in Production Division has steadily increased so that it now exceeding Open and Standard Divisions in popularity. This is borne out in other major matches around Europe. Revolver Division and Classic Division both had two competitors each. A total of 195 competitors completed the match.
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Another round cycles through the Sphinx 9mm pistol being used by Russias Anastasia Chernenko. Anastasia was a member of the Russian team which won Ladys Production Division at the 2010 IPSC World Shoot in Rhodes, Greece.
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30 Stage Match
The 30 stages were spread around the SJA Delta range complex. This range hosted the 2010 IPSC European Handgun Championships. The range consists of multiple shooting bays with 180 degree arcs of fire. This means that in all the stages the targets can be to the left and right of the competitor, as well as to their front. Additional shooting bays were added to the range complex for the 2010 IPSC Europeans. This gave the Delta Match organisers a lot of scope in how they set out the 30 stages. The match consisted of short stages of 12 rounds, medium stages of up to 24 rounds and long stages of up to 32 rounds. The round count for the match was advertised as 500 rounds, but competitors were using up to and sometimes over 600 rounds each to complete the competition.
As well as static full sized and partial versions, the IPSC Classic targets consisted of moving and swinging versions placed between two and 30 metres from the competitors. Many stages used different forms of metal reactive targets. Full size classic poppers, mini poppers and round plates complemented the paper targets in each stage. All of the stages offered different degrees of challenges, with different ways to complete the stage. The walk through after the briefing gave each competitor the chance to decide on their match plan for the stage, as where to take each target or perform a re-load. With lots of pepper-poppers, swingers and a couple of longer-range steel and paper targets, difficult targets were combined with run and gun targets in most stages.
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Israels Tal Shapira finished in third place in Ladys Open Division.
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Results
In Open Division CZ Shooting Team members Martin Kamenicek and Miroslav Havlicek from the Czech Republic took first and second place with Lithuanias Rinat Bektemirov in third place. In Ladies Open Division Martina Sera from the Czech Republic, STI European Team member and Italys Irene Canetta and Israels Tal Shapira took first, second and third place. In Standard Division Gyorgy Batki from Hungary took the top spot. STI European Team member and Germanys Gregory Midgley and Italys Max Bragagnolo were in second and third place. In Production Division Frances Eric Grauffel chalked up another win over CZ Shooting Team members Ljubisa
Momcilovic and Robin Sebo. Production Division is also popular with lady competitors. Just 0.34% separated current Ladys Production World Champion Maria Gushchina from Svetlana Nikolaeva. Both girls are part of a group of Russian Lady Production division which finish in the top places in every match they attend. This IPSC Division was the most popular at the 2012 Delta Cup, with some 62 % of the total field. The start up costs to purchase the equipment required to take part are lower. As well as being the perfect entry level into IPSC matches Production Division at the top level is also as competitive as any other Division. The Delta Cup VI was shot over three full days with excellent catering provided on site. All competitors were treated to a barbeque on the Friday evening,
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Bulgarias Lyubomira Tosheva with her 9mm CZ75 Shadow was one of the 121 competitors in Production Division.
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which was a welcome treat from the competition organisers. This military complex also has a 25 metre swimming pool. As temperatures during the competition reached 41 C many people took the opportunity to cool down in the pool, or use the showers around the pool both during the lunch break and at the conclusion of each days shooting. The Level III IPSC Delta Cup was very well run in a relaxed (and warm) atmosphere in Serbias capital city. For Further Information www.ipscdelta.org.rs
As temperatures during the competition reached 41C many people took the opportunity to cool down in the pool..
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Competing in Standard Division Katalin Bodo was one of the Hungarian competitors who took part in the Delta Open Cup. STI European Team member Irene Canetta was placed in second place in Ladys Open Division, only 0.4 % behind the winner.
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European Team member Gregory Midgley reloads his STI Edge .40 S&W calibre pistol. Italys Stefano Massa was the second placed senior in Production Division.
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CZ Shooting Team members Robin Sebo, on the left and Ljubisa Momcilovic go head to head in the Steel Shoot Off Final.
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In Ladys Open Division Martina Sera from the Czech Republic took first place and Israels Tal Shapira was in third place.
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FROM THE BENCH ...

VINCES REGULAR COLUMN WHEREBY ACCURACY NUTS CAN KEEP UP TO DATE WITH THE ACTIVITIES OF THE UKBRA AND ACCURACY RELATED ITEMS
Competitions
Our season is rapidly drawing to a close with only one weekend of competitions left and although the 100 yard competition is pretty well wrapped-up, its still all to play for at 1000 yards.
With series 100 yard HV Championship leader Jeanette Whitney not shooting today and last years HV Champ Ian Dixon also side-lined, our September competition presented an opportunity for an outsider to shine and they did! Mike Perdeaux, who has yet to win a benchrest competition seized the opportunity to take his first HV win but Gary Stewart - who shoots in our new Custom Class - beat the lot of us including Mike! This was a fantastic result by Gary, although there is no doubt that his 22BR foxing rifle built by Pete Walker on a BAT action is certainly up to benchrest standard. Garys great result somewhat took the shine off second-placeman Andy Woolley, who shot his out of the box factory Sako to a stunning 0.3702in. agg.
Custom Sporter
1st - Gary Stewart, 22BR Walker BAT, 0.2554. 2nd - Andy Woolley, 6PPC Sako, 0.3702. 3rd - Darrel Evans, 6.5x47 Acc Intl. 0.4124. Small group - Gary Stewart, 0.162. For our 1000 yard shoot the following day, we had another great turn-out but again, the wind was challenging! Nonetheless, we soon had some great sub. six-inch groups posted the smallest a 4.25 incher from Nick Stirrup shooting his Valkyrie Rifles 284 F Class rifle. In Factory Sporter Class, the competition was equally fierce with some amazing groups from bog-standard factory kit. Sean Broxham, Alan Ford and Alan Seagrave all managed groups that were well under teninches but Alan Seagraves 7.25 incher took the smallgroup award, with Sean Broxham taking the Factory Sporter Class win.
Results: Light Gun (av. of four, 5-shot groups)

1st - Phil Sammons, 6.5-284 PRS Stolle, 7.75. 2nd - Jeanette Whitney, 243 Imp. Stiller, 9.437. 3rd - Bruce Lenton, 7mmWSM RGR Lawton, 9.556.
Results HV. (av. of five, 5-shot groups)

1st - Mike Perdeaux, 6PPC Stolle, 0.2652. 2nd - Bruce Lenton, 6PPC Stolle, 0.2742. 3rd - Graham Francis, 6PPC BAT, 0.3254. Small group - Bruce Lenton, 0.157.
Heavy Gun
1st - Nick Stirrup, 284 Valkyrie, 7.875. 2nd - Les Holgate, 284 BAT, 8.889. 3rd - Les Prior, 284 BAT, 9.566. Small group - Nick Stirrup, 4.25.
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FROM THE BENCH ...
Alan Seagrave with his amazing Tikka or should it be the amazing Alan Seagrave with his Tikka?
Factory Sporter
1st - Sean Broxham, 6.5-284 Savage, 10.968. 2nd - Alan Seagrave, 6.5x55 Tikka, 12.687. 3rd - Alan Ford, 308 Remington SPS, 14.281. Small group - Alan Seagrave, 7.25.
If your winter shooting is winding down, why not give 600 yard benchrest a try? You can bring along your absolutely standard factory rifle or any custom rifle including your F Class gun. No need to put your rifle away just because winters here! Incidentally, the UKBRA AGM will follow the 1000 yard shoot on October 21st and all members are encouraged to attend.
Forthcoming Events
With just one 100/1000 yard weekend left on the calendar for October 20/21st we move into our winter series of benchrest shooting at 600 yards. Diggles 600 yard covered benchrest range is close to the clubhouse so its a case of shoot your groups and go in for a brew and a warm!
E-mail me at vinceb@targetshooteronline.com
for more info.
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A LOOK AT THE MOSIN-NAGANT M1891/30 SNIPER RIFLE By Laurie Holland
A LOOK AT THE MOSIN-NAGANT M1891/30 SNIPER RIFLE

by Laurie Holland
Carbines are cheap - an obr. 1938 engineers model (no bayonet).
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LAURIE HOLLAND LOOKS AT THE MOSIN-NAGANT M1891/30 SNIPER RIFLE.

In the days when I only shot Historic Military Rifle, Id never been particularly impressed by Nagants Affordable but nasty things, especially those vicious little carbines with a bayonet folded alongside the forend and their horrendous muzzle flash and blast when firing surplus military ammo.
There are actually many pluses in Nagants but one finally drew me into ownership the availability of affordable scoped sniper models, uniquely amongst the last centurys service arms. At the time I bought mine, 500-550 got you a 3.5X PU scoped 1891/30, maybe 100 more needed for one fitted with the better PEM 4-power scope. The supply of new sniper 1891/30s into the UK has since dried up but prices havent risen that much. Who or what were Mosin and Nagant? The first was Sergei Ivanovich Mosin, a career ordnance officer in the Imperial Russian Army then based at the government Tula ordnance works; the latter Lon Nagant, a Belgian inventor. Mosin had been producing smallarms designs from the early 1880s, initially to adapt the armys 10.6mm Berdan rifle to magazine operation, later to replace it.
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Russia had appointed a commission to choose a new smokeless cartridge and rifle system, trying other nations designs as well as asking inventors to submit fresh prototypes; Mosin and Nagant being the leading contenders. While the commission initially chose the Belgians entry, political pressure was brought to bear on its members to reconsider, so Mosins design won after all. As consolation, Nagants feed system and magazine designs were bought and incorporated and he seems to have been employed to improve Col. Mosins design in the process.
Early Models
The results of this collaboration (or compromise) was the trekhlineinaya vintovka obrazets 1891-ago goda which translates as three-line rifle, model of 1891 and produced in Infantry, Dragoon and Cossack versions. A line was a measurement equivalent to 0.1in., so a three-line rifle was 0.30in. calibre. In overall form, these models were unexceptional for the period, except for the Russians going for even greater length than most, the Infantry model having an 820mm (32.3 inch) barrel, the Dragoon and Cossack models being slightly shorter with 760mm (29.9in.) tubes. A long (nearly 20in.) cruciform bayonet was an integral part of the Infantry and Dragoon (mounted infantry) set up, intended to be fixed at all times in the field, the sights regulated accordingly. The Cossack (cavalry) model was identical to the Dragoon except for its inability to accept a bayonet. (A true carbine with 510mm/20in. barrel stocked up to the muzzle was later introduced as the obr.1907 for cavalry regiments.) As with other contemporary smallbore designs, many changes were soon made, especially in the light of
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The most widely seen Nagants on the ranges, the obr. 1944 carbine with its folding bayonet. They produce a huge muzzle flash and blast with surplus ammo.
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{above} The 1891/30 in sniper form is the cheapest such WW2 era rifle costing 600.00 gbp or maybe even less.
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{below} Obr. 1891/30 rifle with bayonet, sling and accessories. reckon on 200/300 gbp for this collection.
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Mosin-Nagant bolt...
hard experience gained in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05. (Fought over Manchuria and Korea, the Russian Bear was badly mauled on land and sea by the Rising Sun). The original heavy-bullet cartridge was found to be ballistically inadequate and the sights on the obr.1891 rifles were both poorly designed and badly set up in the factories. The Type L cartridge was introduced in 1908 with a 147gn bullet at 2800fps to overcome the first issue and the rifles saw various updates around 1908-10, the most obvious being the addition of a barrel handguard from the rearsight to front cap. Sling swivels were replaced with slots through the buttstock and forend wood, the sling attached to the slots by small dog-collars and a transverse bolt to reinforce the birch-wood stock. These post 1910 obr.1891s look little different at first glance to the M-Ns we know, the action and overall stock shape remaining unchanged for the next half-century. Incidentally, these M-Ns retained clunky-looking arched saw-tooth notched rear-sight assemblies calibrated in another ancient Russian unit the Arshin (pace) equivalent to around 28-inches.
.... and field stripped.
Unique Features
The one thing that didnt change and barely has since was the hybrid Mosin/Nagant action and magazine assembly. Starting at the bottom, it has a slim singlecolumn 5-round magazine with integral trigger-guard and a hinged floor-plate for rapid unloading. The follower is a plate tensioned by folding, hinged arms and flat springs and there are no guide ribs in the box, good feed being the result of channels cut into the inside walls of the receiver forging, to guide the cartridge up and into the chamber. The receiver itself is a heavy forging machined flat underneath and originally finished with hexagonal flats on the upper body. It has a Mannlicher type slot through the top of the action bridge. The bolt is a twin-lug assembly consisting of a bolt-head including the lugs and non-rotating extractor body with an integral rib and bolt-handle, a connector and guide bar that holds the other two together. At the back, there is a massive cocking piece, also with a top-rib and large round cocking knob.
Bolt-head.
The five-round magazine is surprisingly sophisticated with an easily released hinged floorplate.
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The bolt cocks on opening and all models, bar the sniper rifle, have a short handle that sticks straight out to the right. Field stripping the bolt is undertaken by grasping the body and cocking piece, pulling the latter back and turning it slightly anti-clockwise before easing it forward to uncock the action. The bolt-head and connector bar are now simply removed by rotating them slightly and pulling them off, leaving the front of the striker and firing pin exposed. Various bars, blocks and slots are aligned on reassembly so the bolt cannot be put together incorrectly and still fit in the receiver. The lugs are vertical when unlocked 90 out from the Mauser system, also allowing the top lug to act as a rib in the action slot. Alongside the long rib on the bolt body and shorter one on the cocking piece, the bolt is supported and guided throughout its entire travel giving smooth operation. The vertical lug position also avoided the need to cut raceways in the receiver walls reducing machining and producing a more rigid component. Unusually for bolt-action military rifles, bolt/cartridge operation is push-feed, the latter not held by the boltface/extractor blade in its passage from the magazine. Normally, this could lead to serious problems if a user short-strokes the bolt under combat stress, thereby double-loading the rifle - that is a second cartridge rammed into the rear of one previously chambered but not fired or extracted causing a breech explosion. However, the designers overcame this as well as solving the perennial rimmed cartridge feed problem with a unique magazine disconnector. It projects a square tab through the left receiver wall holding all cartridges bar the top one down in the magazine box, and stays in that position until the bolt is fully closed and locked when it retracts to free the cartridges. As the bolt is unlocked, the tab is again pushed into the receiver well restarting the cycle. If a user shortstrokes the bolt leaving a chambered round, the disconnector remains in place, so the next forward movement of the bolt wont pick up a second cartridge. Another unique feature in the M-N design is the boltstop/trigger/sear mechanism which has only four parts. The trigger has a broad top section with a slot
Uniquely for 20th century military bolt-actions, the Nagant is push-feed.
Magazine disconnector the small square tab in the left receiver wall seen at the rear of the ejection cut.
Disconnector out and cartridges are held down in the magazine, so the bolt cannot pick one up.
Disconnector withdrawn allowing the cartridges to rise and let the bolt chamber the top one. 33
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machined through it fore and aft. The sear/triggerspring is a flat piece of steel with a projecting square block on its top/rear surface acting as both sear and bolt-stop. The front of this component is fed through the slot in the trigger from behind then attached to the underside of the receiver with a screw, the rear end with the sear floating free and projecting upwards into the lower edge of the receiver as normal. The trigger is held in lugs under the receiver body by a heavy pin. As the trigger is pressed it pivots around the pin moving its top end forwards and down which in turn presses on the spring/sear assembly lowering it to release the striker. Simple? yes. Crude? horribly so and you pay with terrible trigger operation, the single-stage movement being long, heavy, creepy with a marked spongy feel as if a bit of pencil eraser has fallen into the mechanism. The four early models were manufactured at Tula near Moscow; Izhevsk in eastern Russia (now the Baikal/ Izhmash plant); Sestroretsk, near St. Petersburg. With these plants taking a long time to get going, the first half million were made in the French Chtellerault arsenal. Somewhere around 11.5 million obr.1891 rifles and obr.1907 carbines were made during WW1, two million of them abroad the French production and one and a half million by Remington Arms and Westinghouse in the USA.
The sniper rifle is standard 1891/30 apart from the scope sight and turned down bolt handle the latter is far superior ergonomically to the short, straight-out model on the basic rifle.
The hefty PU mounting plate.
Born in the U.S.S.R.

The rifles todays shooters see and use are overwhelmingly from the Soviet era, few early models surviving. You have a choice of only two models, each in two variants rifle (infantry and sniper) and carbine (with and without integral bayonet). The Soviets updated the rifle in the 1920s, result the obr.1891/30 that went into production in June 1930. Based on the 1891 dragoon rifle, the barrel length was reduced slightly to 730mm (28.75) and new sights employed a tangent rear calibrated from 100 to 2,000 metres and post foresight in a hooded protector. Solid barrel-bands were secured by spring clips inletted into the forend replacing hinged, screw-tightened types. A revised bayonet with spring-loaded catch was adopted.
The superior PE scope and lower top-mounts.
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The only change to the action was to the receiver profile a simple round outline replacing the hexagonal flats to simplify machining. You often see 1930s vintage 1891/30s with the old receiver form though there seem to have been enough already made and in store to supply the assembly lines until the Great Patriotic War spurred a vast increase in production levels. Almost uniquely in the inter-war period, Soviet military doctrine rated sniping highly. The USSR not only retained the skills in its forces but developed sniper versions of the obr.1891/30 with various German scopes. (Martin Pegler says in Out of Nowhere A History of Military Sniping that the NKVD state security organisation and predecessor of the KGB funded the work.) Genuine original sniper rifles are identical to the basic model except for being carefully built from selected components, the addition (obviously) of the optical sight and mounts plus the standard bolt body being replaced by one with a longer operating handle turned down to lie alongside the stock. With its 1.23 metre (4ft) overall length and near 9lbs weight, the 1891/30 was less than ideal for artillerymen, sappers, signallers and mounted troops, so the rifle was cut down by nearly nine inches to produce the obr.1938 carbine with its 509mm/20.05in. barrel. The only other changes were the adoption of a smaller rearsight calibrated to 1000 metres and the weapon wouldnt accept a bayonet. The 1891/30 was frequently found to be excessively unwieldy in WW2 service, especially with the bayonet fixed as per standard doctrine, with troops fighting in confined spaces in cities, riding on tanks or in trucks. The carbine was therefore often illicitly used by frontline infantry and this produced demands for a version that would accept a bayonet. This led to the final significant model, the obr.1944 carbine which is identical to the obr.1938, except for a bayonet permanently attached to the muzzle, folding alongside the stock when not in use. Around 17.5 million obr.1891/30s were made between 1930 and 1945 and at least two million (probably many
The superior PE scope and lower top-mounts.
Izhevsk factory marks, and 1943 manufacture date.
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This Finnish rifle retains the original Obr. 1891 rearsight many were replaced by a much improved sight.
The Finns used a two piece stock to avoid splits in extreme winter temperatures.
All Finnish Nagants other than the Soviet 1891/30s captured in the 1940 Winter War use original Obr. 1891 hexagonal form receivers nearly everything else was replaced.
Finnish infantry rifle.
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View through the PU scope note the foresight hood protector visible bottom centre which must be used to obtain a consistent eye position.
Finnish infantry rifle.
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more) carbines. The primary manufacturer was Izhevsk recognised by an arrow inside a triangle symbol on the barrel reinforce plus the USSRs hammer & sickle emblem inside a wreath. Tula also made 1891/30s, but switched to other weapons during some periods and was evacuated over the winter of 1941 / 42 when it looked like the Germans were going to overrun it at the high point of Operation Typhoon, their drive on Moscow its mark is an arrow inside a five-pointed star.
Non-Russian M-Ns
Finland was an unwilling province of Imperial Russia at the time of the Bolshevik revolution. As in other parts of the empire, Reds tried to seize power but were defeated by White Finns in a bloody civil war that gave the country a precarious independence. Her armaments were Russian which the Finns rebuilt and improved extensively building an armaments industry almost from scratch in the process Tikka, Sako, Vihtavuori and Lapua are survivors from these times, in fact SAKO is an abbreviation for some very long Finnish words that translate to Civil Guard Gun and Machining Works Limited and was set up in the 1920s to manufacture and refurbish these rifles alongside other weapons. Eventually, the country built its own designs of MosinNagant type rifles from scratch and these are the best models going if you can find one. The Finns also captured hundreds of thousands of Soviet obr.1891/30 rifles in the 1940 Russo-Finnish Winter War including many sniper examples and kept them in service for years. The final Finnish M-N type rifle was the TAK85, a heavy-barrel synthetic stocked 7.62mm NATO calibre sniper rifle but which like all Finish builds, other than refurbished 1891/30s, used Tsarist-era hexagonal obr.1891 actions.
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Some years ago, I was lucky enough to come across an early obr.1891 built (or rebuilt) by the Finns, owner Steve Ross generously letting me take some close-up photographs. This is an example of the Finnish Jalkavenkivri (infantry rifle) m/91 built out of a mixture of refurbished Russian and newly manufactured components by VKT (Valtion Kivritehdas State Rifle Factory) in 1942. It is marked SA showing it was the property of the regular army (Suomen Armeija).
Scopes and Mounts

Moving across borders into the USSR, the development of a sniper version of the obr.1891/30 had been mandated in the first Five Year Plan of 1932. This was achieved through purchasing a four-power Zeiss design, the Model VT. The Russians subsequently produced a modified version the VP (more usually called the PEM and its predecessor the PE by collectors). With internal windage and elevation adjustment through graduated turrets, they were advanced for their time.
Authors 1891/30 on the range for load development note the high scope and low buttstock.
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Unfortunately, some other bunch of bureaucrats subsequently decreed the Red Army needed a selfloading rifle for trained marksmen, snipers, and selected NCOs. The Tokarev SVT38, which soon became the improved SVT40, caused problems for the sniper through an action that couldnt accept conventional mounts, requiring a rear-fitting effort that locked into grooves on the receiver sides and curved up from behind the action then forwards like the letter U turned onto its side and the open end facing forward. Since it couldnt handle the PEM scope, the shorter, lighter 3.5-power PU model was developed and was designated the standard Soviet military rifle model. Whilst officially classed as an 800 metre rifle, most PU-equipped SVT40s are reckoned to have had a maximum effective range of 300. But, production had been irrevocably switched to the PU, so it now had to be adapted to the 1891/30 which was later reinstated as the primary sniper model. The 1891/30 PU mount is a hefty two-part construction made up of a rectangular base plate screwed to the receiver side and a one-piece mount to hold the scope. The mount is attached to the plate by a ball and socket joint up front and its tail slotting inside three lugs on the rear of the base plate. These lugs hold two vertical adjustment screws, one pointing up, the other down, and a large securing/tensioning thumbscrew angled inwards and forwards. Thanks to the ball and socket arrangement, the scope can have its relationship to the bore adjusted in both planes to set it up for correct windage and at a desired elevation/range, only using the scope turrets to suit the shots range and conditions. Elevation is adjusted using the two vertical screws, windage through grinding the inner surface of the mounts tail or shimming it as required this work done by a unit armourer. This initial set-up is important as turret adjustments move the reticles not the sight picture, incorrect mounting seeing them off centre with the rifle sighted-in.
Noble Sniper
Sniping was a much more mainstream infantry activity in the Red Army both before and during The Great Patriotic War culminating in the sniper cult that grew around publicly known figures like Noble Sniper Zaitsev. Vassili Grigoryevitch Zaitsev (1915-91), is probably the worlds best known military marksman outside the USA, as well as being the star character in the Hollywood Movie Enemy At The Gates about Stalingrad and portrayed by Jude Law. Apart from Zaitsev and post-war Russian premier Nikita Kruschev (Bob Hoskins in the film) being intimately involved in resisting the 1942/43 German siege of the city, the former using a PEM equipped 1891/30 and the huge public persona built up around Zaitsev for morale and propaganda purposes, almost everything else in the movie is historically inaccurate! In particular, the duel between Zaitsev and head of the German sniping school at Zossen which is the heart of the movie story is widely debunked now by military historians. Nevertheless, Zaitsev played a significant role then and later. A junior lieutenant at the time of the Stalingrad battle, he reached a tally of 650 confirmed kills by the end of the war. It has also been estimated that other snipers he had personally trained killed over 3000 of the ememy. He was one of several highly publicised and successful practitioners, although precious few survived the war. Women were widely employed in the role too. Cynics aver they had a greater propaganda than military value but this is grossly unfair, many displaying above average skills and motivation. Female snipers including the top-scorer Lyudmila Pavlichenko who often preferred the semi-auto SVT40 over the Mosin-Nagant. Pavlichenko was a history student and accomplished target shot before the war who refused to accept the non-combat nursing role she was initially told was all that was available to women. After fighting as an ordinary infantry soldier, she talked her way into the sniper programme, subsequently chalking up 309 kills in less than a year before being
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badly wounded. (She was later sent to the USA on a goodwill tour, met President Roosevelt who gave her a commemorative Winchester rifle and survived the war as an army major and national hero).

different head and eye position for each shot. Why on earth wasnt a screw or lace-on cheekpiece provided, like that on the Enfield 4(T)? After my first testing session on the bench, I had a bad crick in the neck and colourful set of bruises on the shoulder/upper arm suggesting there had been a lot wrong with the hold. So, the next time out, I took a great deal more care in how I held the rifle to ensure the butt was properly in the shoulder and my body squarely on to the bore, as well as wearing a PAST Magnum Recoil Shield! Much more effort also went into getting a consistent head/eye position in relation to the scope. There is a way of achieving this despite the comb position. The rifles post foresight and tunnel protector are just visible as a ghost image at the bottom of the PU sight image and the trick is to ensure the main scope reticle post is in the same position against this image for every shot. After doing it for a while, it becomes automatic to look for the foresight and line the reticles up accordingly. (Ignoring this and aiming the rifle with normal reasonable care saw very substantial lateral deviations had occurred when the reticle position was checked by dialling the foresight image back in!) The PU reticles consist of a thick vertical post tapering to a point with a lateral line on each side to help centre the target it looks good, but is rather coarse, not helped by the 3.5 power optics, so there will usually be some aiming error affecting the group. The 148gn LPS surplus ammo grouped in around four inches Ive seen a lot worse in some military rifles and cartridges. The 182gn Type D was terrible, so was quickly dropped. PPU 182gn commercial ammo from Henry Krank was a lot better, with some groups running just under two inches but the off lateral flier spoiling some. Handloads? Well cover that in the accompanying handloading series but 1-2 inches is on. Quite remarkable for this ancient agricultural beast with its heavy, creepy trigger, thin barrel and poor eye position!
PU Scope
Although wartime photographs suggest Zaitsev and other top snipers used PEM equipped rifles, I bought a PU model, better representing the bulk of the 185,000 M-N sniper rifles built between 1933 and 45. It was also 100 cheaper, no minor factor in my choice! The downside in choosing the PU is its lower magnification and smaller field of view compared to the superior PE and even more so, its even higher position above the action which makes it very difficult to obtain a consistent head/eye position giving rise to parallax problems. Despite its small tube and lens diameter, the PU image is nevertheless good with fine resolution. I should say at this point, that as with virtually all such Soviet sniper rifles sold here, it is an ersatz model, an ordinary refurbished 1891/30 having been modified to accept the mount/scope which may well have been manufactured much later than the rifle. As a shooter, not collector, this doesnt bother me one jot! Cycling the action with the rifle unloaded, the longer turned-down bolt handle transforms the rifles operation compared to standard Mosin Nagants with their short, straight handles. The action was also extremely smooth, easily on a par with a good Enfield or Mauser. However, loading the rifle and chambering a cartridge brought deterioration. This is not due to any deficiencies in feed, grittiness occurring during the final part of the loading cycle as the extractor snaps over the case-rim and/or the cartridge-head is centralised and forced into the recessed bolt-face. This gives resistance and a notchy feel to the bolt-handle being turned down. Steel-cased surplus ammo. is none too smooth during extraction either, especially the high-pressure Type D which saw a lot of effort needed to open the bolt. The high scope and low buttstock comb give a terrible hold and sight-picture with it being all too easy to use a
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Historic Arms
Mr James Puckles Gun

by Mike Davenport FCA

By Mike Davenport FCA
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Such a statement made on the patent application may have been more effective then in a country which did not wish to return to absolute monarchy and which had religious beliefs unlike those existing today in the United Kingdom.
Mr Puckles gun was granted a patent on 15th May 1718. Described by him as a machine, this was probably the first realistic and practicable attempt at a machine gun before metallic cartridges were invented. It preceded the Gatling gun by at least a hundred and fifty years.
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Historic Arms

Defending King George your country and Laws, is defending yourselves and the Protestant cause.
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Historic Arms

At the time most other multi fire weapons discharged all their charges in one initial fusillade, like Orgue des bombades and were difficult to reload once the battle got underway. Indeed in a trial in St Jamess Park in London it fired 63 times in 7 minutes - in the rain. Its design was basically that of a revolver but the chambers had to be rotated by hand and tightened into a chamfered breech by means of a handle with a quick thread attached to the back of the cylinder. This is very similar to the action on the Nagrant revolver and insures a good gas seal with more velocity. The
which would make it more lethal than Congreves rockets used over a hundred years later. The bore in the existing guns is between 1.2 and 1.6 inches. Square shot would have been more devastating to the person and would have caused a wider spread of fire. Square shot was loaded into shotgun cartridges and sold under the title of dispensante cartridges in Belgium. My father paid me 5 pence a pound when I made this shot with a guillotine in 1950. Its prime use was for bolting rabbits at close range - no use for high pheasants! One wonders why the gun was not more successful. Unfortunately Mr Puckle was involved, as were many others, including Hugh Walpole the Prime Minister, in the South Sea company financial fiasco. His attempt to float a company to make this gun was met with typical cynicism reserved for the British who have to rely on other countries to develop their inventions. Curiously copies of this gun have turned up in Russia. Some guns were produced but the company went into liquidation because the Army could not see any use for them! There are copies in the Tower of London and I remember seeing one when I was fourteen but I had no idea that two or more were taken into the field of battle with an expedition which was made to take the islands of St Lucia and St Vincent in the West Indies in 1722. These were bought by John Montague, 2nd Duke Montague for the expedition. There is however no record of them being deployed. It is interesting that the Duke later became the Master of Ordnance in 1740, too late to save the Puckle company, but it shows that he appreciated the firepower of which these guns were capable. Two of these exist today in former Montague houses. Mr Puckle described his gun as being suitable for the defence of bridges, breaches, lines and passes, ships, boats, houses and other places. I have no doubt that they would have been successful in this role and obviously the Duke of Montague thought so as he probably kept them to defend his houses, in case of any future civil insurrection.
Mr Puckle was involved, as were many others, including Hugh Walpole the Prime Minister
gun was fired either by a lighted match-cord being placed in the touch hole or by a flint-lock attachment on the top of the gun. For those with Army training the first IA (immediate action) on a misfire would be to unscrew the cylinder and move on to the next charge. The second IA in the event of a second miss-fire, would be to take off the cylinder, and replace it with a freshly loaded one. Mr Puckle, a practising lawyer had thought of everything. The gun also had spare barrels and cylinders for firing square shot, as he proclaimed round shot for Christians and square shot for Islamic Turks. He also stated that it could fire grenade shells
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Historic Arms

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This SMALLBORE Business
This Smallbore Business

by Don Brooke
Reading the lighter wind stuff

Weve covered serious wind shooting over the last couple of issues but, sometimes we are lucky enough to shoot in the very light weather conditions. In my experience this does not happen very often, and Murphys Law dictates...
How often have I seen the early morning lack of wind, then as soon as the 9.00 am start time approaches, Murphy dictates that the flags will moveevery time! In Australia, very few small-bore ranges are situated away from the coastal fringe and as such are subject to cool sea breezes. Very pleasant! You also do not get the subdued sighting conditions that are prevalent over the European ranges. The early morning glare can be quite troublesome. However it is within the mornings that most matches are fired world wide and I have often used a wind reading method that I call ..
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I have found that if you carefully judge the upper and lower points of the flags to stay within the ten ring and, only fire when this condition is within the arc, you will stay inside the ten ring (See Fig.1) I have found a high incident of success when using this wind combat method, as any shot fired within the
If you examine Fig.1, you will see the illustration I call the arc of tolerance and the effect on shot placement. This drawing is of the full value winds from left to right and you can see the system illustrated in firing a shot within the tolerance indicated. Showing a light breeze from the left. The lower point of the arc results in the A shot, while the higher point of the arc gives the result B. Any shot fired within this tolerance will stay inside the ten ring. Light breezes are a snack to shoot straight through the wind value, and often result in very high scores. See text.
The Arc of Tolerance

Nothing much changes in the normal wind read of velocity and direction, or the rise and fall of the wind flags as you have learned but, reading the tip of the flags in very light wind conditions is quite rewarding.
Fig.3 three shows a frontal fishtail wind, where the arc of tolerance still applies, but only in a directional approach, while the rear fishtail winds (usually half value winds) have the same effect when reading the arc in a horizontal plane of effect, in both fields. (Fig. 4). This illustration indicates a direct frontal breeze, showing the effect on shot placement. Notice the effect on elevation, even on a small bore shot. This effect is even more dramatic on a full bore longer range shot, fired within the arc, and is often mistaken for a poor shot release, particularly B (trigger shot!)
tolerance you yourself established within the sighter shots will stay within the ten ring, with a good shot released. You will soon learn to read the tolerance and be able to nominate an exact impact point on the target very accurately. This then gives a higher rate of confidence, as the shooter becomes more aware of the effect and understands that, within that arc of tolerance, there is very little chance of shot loss. I used this method when I fired my first world record score on Gunnedah range in Australia, way back in 1974.
Figure two indicates the shot value when the lower point of the arc is reached, together with the higher velocity of the wind in the opposite side of the arc of tolerance, that is the upper side of the velocity across the range in front of you. Figure two, indicates the maximum arc that can be tolerated, with the high point B of the arc resulting in the close shot indicated. In light breezes these can easily be seen, and the shot suspended. See text.
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In fact, the frontal fishtail winds also have a warning sign by the feel of the wind on exposed surfaces of skin, such as the wrists of the trigger hand, and the face. Quite easy to tell which direction the wind is coming from but, be aware, that if you feel the wind on your face, it has already travelled the full length of the range in front of you. Conversely, if you have an open rear wall on the shooting bays, you can feel the wind direction on the lower body or ankles, behind the neck or ears, together with the trigger hand, if it becomes a rear fishtail wind. This obviously will indicate a change in wind direction well before it reaches the flags out on the range. Light breezes from the rear quarters, are the very best wind conditions to shoot in, for small bore, but can be quite difficult for 300m and full bore shooting. This is only because the shooter becomes aware of any direction changes before the shot is fired! These winds become problematical only after the wind reaches moderate speed levels. The light breezes are a complete snack to shoot in Also, a great deal depends on the weight of the flags and so many are trapped with this problem during a performance. For instance, there may be some dew, or even rain on the flags, particularly if they are left out on the range during the night and a top-line shooter would be very aware of this. One of the first questions I ask of a range officer when I arrive at my allocated firing point for a match, is When were the flags placed - have they been out all night? Do not hesitate to inquire of this; no one is going to castigate you for a question are they? Heavy wind flags obviously have a more severe effect on bullet impact and so the Arc of Tolerance needs to be carefully judged during your sighter shots, and there is a distinct difference between the heavier rain affected flags and those that are dry.
52 Figure 4 showing the arc blowing away from the shooter, down range. Any shot fired outside the arc, can be very close to the extreme edges of the ten ring, even with a 300m rifle. Once more note the difference in the elevation point of impact compared to those in the previous illustrations.
Rain affected flags generally are lazier in their movement but do indicate that, if they move, then the wind effect is there.If you ignore the movement of a heavier wind flag, judging it to be within your parameters of the Arc of Tolerance visually, you may well find a shot outside of the arc and into the nine ring. Be very careful of shots like this under wind reading. Also be aware that as a long match goes on, wet flags have a tendency to dry out and obviously may vary the dimensions of the arc of tolerance you have decided to develop. Conversely, if it rains again, therefore refreshing the flag weight, this will alter things as well. A shooter using the arc of tolerance as a combat method, will find that their wind judgement develops to a very high degree of accuracy, thus allowing the use the shading the aim, to also reach a high degree, providing the shooter has trained the aiming sequence to encompass the variable methods available to them.
Dont forget the old adagethe harder I train, the luckier I get!
Fascinating stuff is small bore, eh? Brooksie...
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Joe West Rifle Stocks
Chris Parkin Visits

Cant see the wood for the trees?
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A Visit to Joe West Rifle Stocks By Chris Parkin
Cant see the wood for the trees?

Those of us wanting to either improve a current rifle, or put together a new one, had to metaphorically journey across the Atlantic to find suitable replacement parts, especially in the form of rifle-stocks.
Since the design of the earliest rifle, shooters have found walnut to be both beautiful, strong and a relatively lightweight wood - if not particularly hardwearing and resistant to atmospheric change. In times of war, damaged supply chains (and prices in peacetime) had often diverted guns into the realms of less desirable woods like beech. True composites of fibre-glass, carbon fibre and graphite - rather than the injection-moulded plastics that some manufacturers like to confuse us with, have found favour in the accuracy and durability world as they offer superb mechanical properties of strength and stiffness combined with relatively light weight and environmental stability - build it, bed it, zero it... job done.
This heavily offset cheekpiece was made to assist a customer with a visual problem.
These composites have always attracted a strong following but, time-consuming `hands on` craftsmanship never comes cheap when combined with the need for expensive patterns and durable moulds from which to shape your desired item.
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Inletting was good and the rifle bolts straight in but any gun benefits from Synthetic bedding and pillars.
Recently, with the everyday availability of CNC machinery, thanks to a general descent in its cost, has led to a plethora of chassis style stocks machined from billet aluminium and, although functionally adequate, we are starting to deviate widely from what the average shooter carries as a visual representation of a rifle - either sporting, target or tactical in purpose. Since 1957, the Rutland Plywood Corporation of Vermont in the USA has been producing plywood - a derisory name we normally associate with inexpensive building materials but, over 20 years ago, a Rutland material called Stratabond has re-defined plywood and gunstock manufacture. Nowt more complicated than a deluxe version of plywood, Stratabond features thin layers of high quality birch, stained to colour and bonded into blanks using a variety layers to create a very solid timber product.
This laminate is produced virtually free of voids and irregularities and the adhesives used between layers are so strong that if a stock does crack, the break originates within a layer of the birch NOT at a joined surface. Stratabond laminated hardwoods are the number one brand of laminated gunstock material in the world, with 17 available colours and seven standard lay-up patterns.
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Inletting was good and the rifle bolts straight in but any gun benefits from Synthetic bedding and pillars.
I digress
Anyway, when materials like this were first used as gunstock blanks, with stock copying machines using a ball tipped stylus and identically profiled router cutter, classic stock designs could be reproduced with all the colours, ergonomics and imagination any shooter could muster. As we step forward in time, coupling this material with the aforementioned CNC machinery has led to massproduced replacement stocks for popular rifles exhibiting superb material characteristics at a very modest cost. The density of the material dictates a defined difficulty in matching the lightweight of a walnut or composite product but in terms of cost, stability and sometimes even more importantly, versatility, the sky is the limit with a material exhibiting a distinct dislike of warping, bending or cracking. Colours both tasteful and in some cases not so and, as it reaches the end-user, its still capable of modification or personalisation to the shooters taste.
Distance selling
We have mainly found this laminate available in US manufactured stocks but believe it or not, I have yet to find a manufacturer that does not use the blanks manufactured by Rutland Plywood in Vermont. You know your product is good when it is used worldwide. Now, it is starting to migrate east and we see stocks like the GRS range brought to these shores from Scandanavia by Jackson Rifles and finally, a GB manufacturer based in Norfolk - Joe West Riflestocks. Joe and his Dad Simon, are long-time shooters and run a bespoke kitchen manufacturing service which has sowed the seed and allowed the facilities and finance to start importing and holding large stocks of the stratabond blanks here in the UK. The range of colours available is mind-boggling to say the least and so is the variety of stock designs and shapes that have quickly become available.
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Colour and inlet options are virtually limitless, here we see an Anschutz.
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I first met the pair at the British Shooting Show in February and was lucky enough to be invited along to their workshops in Norfolk to see the vast time and effort that had gone into starting up the new business. The origins of the work started with Simon helping out a friend who needed a stock modifying to offer a heavily offset cheek-piece to assist with an eyesight problem. This initial work led Simon to realise the potential in this material and that manufacturing this type of stock was already within his skillset. Couple this with the increasing difficulty of importing small quantities from US manufacturers and seeing a market for the right product within our shores. Looking at a number of blanks brought in to test manufacturing setup and capability with stock copying machines to clad his own personal fleet of sporting
firearms, these guys are serious. From rimfire bunny guns to the high-end F Class rifles gaining popularity day by day, UK shooters will often seek to modify a gun to personalise it, as an alternative to acquiring another rifle. Although I have outfitted quite a number of my own firearms with laminate stocks and bedded, tweaked, shaped and modified them, the number of designs Joe and Simon had to show at such an early stage amazed even me. I could see the amount of enquiries developed from the Newark show has definitely set the ball rolling. The first bulk order of laminate from Vermont could not arrive quickly enough. Speaking to the pair whilst viewing the designs led me to show a couple of my own rifles that had been built around similar American sourced stocks and conversation spun back and forth with regard to
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The heavy block on the end allows your smith to accurately align all elements of the rifle build and easily fasten it to his milling machine.
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finishing products, inletting standards, designs offered on sale and how much personalised modification should be offered to the customer - Joe stating that designs and styles were very fluid and open to suggestion. Any current fore-end for example can be mated up with any buttstock design - with pistol grips, thumbholes, vertical grips for `tactical` rifles or flowing slim designs for that lighter hill-stalking rifle. Shown to me were palm-shelves and finger-grooves let into the primary rough-hewn stocks, tailor made for the specific hands of the end user. I asked how this was possible without performing a personal `handfitting` service and was shown rough blanks created from cheaper softwoods that could be sent out to customers near finished for them to slap car body filler onto, personally sand to fit themselves and return for patterning the final creation in the Stratabond coloured blank. Two of the stocks I took with me to deconstruct were F Class and F/TR stocks, which to the untrained eye, looked very similar but when the details were discussed, subtle differences became apparent. The wide forend on the F Class stock combined with a flat underside to the butt allow a rifle to track accurately under recoil and return to battery with a gently nudge from the shoulder is far more important to the competition shooter than custom-fit finger-grooves and the like. The visually similar F/TR stock had a slimmer fore-end and needed a slight taper on the underside of the butt to allow a little rear-bag sliding to control fine elevation adjustments. The use of ski feet on F/TR bipods means a flat underside on the guns forend maintains their angle when meeting the ground rather than the taper found on say a hunting stock fore-end. The challenging 8.25 kg weight limit of the F/TR Class also dictated that none of the bells and whistles are employed when every gram is precious - such as adjustable cheek-piece or finger-grooves on the pistol grip, yet a strong forend is needed with plenty of meat to support that likely 32 inch barrel.
Finger grooves and a palm shelf are not for all but add a personal touch.
I cut a chunk off the front of the cheekpiece so I dont have to remove it to extract the bolt. It is securely fastened with Allen bolts in stainless steel fittings.
The bolt knob slot was enlarged before finishing.
Of course, current trends amongst both classes are seeking to extend the forend as long as possible to improve stability and tracking of the rifle. Research
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Its good to have a British stock-maker who is prepared to listen to shooters needs...
like this from the Wests has already led to longer blanks being ordered to accommodate these requirements.
Happy to help, eager to learn

The proof of the pudding is in the eating and whilst there, I ordered a stock for a plain Jane Remington 700 in 308 that I use as a test bed for various scopes. It is hard to look at a `tactical` stock without seeing some of the generic styling tweaks that derive from manufacturers like MacMillan and Manners amongst many but, long-standing use has shown these configurations to be very effective. I went for a varmint forend and a vertical pistol grip/tactical rear end on the stock. As for extras, I chose Woodland laminate colours that seem to feature on quite a few of my guns with the inlet for the standard BDL action/Floorplate setup. As for as `bells and whistles`, I found it hard not to specify an adjustable cheek-piece and was overjoyed to be offered a millimetre-perfect length of pull specification, including a one-inch Decelerator recoil pad. Im only 5`11 but find so many standard stocks to be short. With a 13 length of pull, I invariably add spacers to go 14 -14 .
was well clear of the Third Eye Tactical bolt-knob fitted to this gun and decided that once the adjustable cheekpiece was set in its stainless-steel mountings and clamped in place with two small Allen bolts, it would be much easier to inlet the top front corner of the cheekpiece than take it on and off each time to remove the bolt. All this was accomplished with nothing more than standard woodworking tools that many of us have and demonstrates the simplicity with which modifications can be completed prior to finishing. As I sometimes shoot left-handed, I did not specify any grip modifications and the vertical profile was comfortable with a thumb up hold. Other than the bolt-knob cutout, the stock was absolutely symmetrical in design for my south-paw yearnings and the action, bottommetal and action bolts fitted together with no further modifications. The Remington varmint barrel channel I had specified was perfectly executed and presented a very consistent 2 mm gap along the full length of the tube. The retail customer will always want a stock that will just bolt straight on but regardless of manufacturing standards and action tolerances, no inlet is PERFECT and I would be a liar to state that I do not intend to do a full pillar and Devcon bedding job myself to this gun long term but, let us see how we get on to start with. Since my stock was completed, Joe has already invested in further finishing machinery to improve inlets and the thinking is even more well developed when they can supply your gunsmith with a partially finished blank with attached blocks at either end. These can act as datum lines and fastening points to attach to their own milling machine beds when setting up rifles like F-class or benchrest rigs needing ultra-
Last time it was 3 months

My stock arrived four weeks later when the bulk supply of blanks had arrived in Norfolk from the US. It was exactly as specified with a 95% perfect inlet and rough sanded finish requiring only a few hours to finish, although like all paint/finish jobs, better spread over a few days to allow drying time. The external machining finish on the stock was excellent with no bumps, lumps or dents to sand out and other than making a few personalised tweaks before final finishing, looked much closer to home than some unfinished blanks I have worked with before. I enlarged the bolt handle recess a bit to make sure it
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Target Thumbhole Stock
precise parallel barrel/underside alignment. They keep adding strings to their bow!
Time for the elbow grease

Joe had supplied a good finishing pack with the gun, bursting with descending fine grits of sandpaper, steel wool, latex gloves and a bottle of Birchwood Caseys Tru-oil which I have used for similar jobs before. The one aspect of sanding a laminate that surprises most people is that it is a hard material so although using some elbow grease to do, it will always reward the effort put into it when done well. The extra advantage of Tru-oil is it is a very forgiving product. Painting and oiling are not my forte but after incrementally sanding finer and finer grits of paper and grain sealing with the Tru-oil, every further coat can reveal small
imperfections which are easy to re-sand in localised areas and continue to build the finish. If you put too much on, sand it back a little more and vice versa. You can get a feel for it as you go and learn from mistakes without feeling you have messed anything up. I like products like that! Well, five coats later and its done but I shall no doubt change my mind and sand here or there to refine the ergonomics at some point. Im very pleased with the stock, the inlet and how it was specified, delivered and I thought the finishing supplies were very generous. I might slim down the cheek-piece a little to suit my personal preferences but that is exactly it, MY PREFERENCES. Joe West has a great future - the stock comes in at a similar price to imported products but is supplied sanded to a higher level and provided with a finishing kit. It was delivered when promised and included a far more personalised service regarding precise design attributes. Designed
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Target Thumbhole Stock

and made in the UK with more options available than I can list, check out the website for more information. What is not to like? Prices starting from 200. Contact www.joewestriflestocks.co.uk Tel: 0777 071 0331 or 0778 853 5673
Another opinion from the Editor

Ive just had the opportunity to put together a rifle for a shooter using a Joe West blank intended for F Class. Although the design of the butt with its finger grips was a little fussy for my taste, overall I was impressed with the stock. I really liked the adjustable cheek-piece. The cut line was almost invisible and the raising system was equally unobtrusive and ultra-simple no plastic knobs or wheels, just two tiny holes to insert an Allen key. The supplied finish to the laminate was good enough to
The finished gun looks great and is very stable to shoot.
lacquer after a light sanding no heavy machining marks to remove. Its good to have a British stock-maker who is prepared to listen to shooters needs and produce a quality product at a competitive price. Waiting for stocks to arrive from overseas can be frustrating as well as expensive and I hope that shooters and gunsmiths will support Joe West and help the business grow. It can only benefit GB shooters in the long run - Vince.
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Photo by Steve Thornton
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Diary of a novice F/TR boy. Part 1
Diary of a novice F/TR boy...
Dont use your 20 inch stalking rifle size matters!

So off to my first shoot. These days, it is not a case of careful selection of clubs as in our region, clubs are dwindling and with no disrespect to the members, the age is going in the opposite direction. I went along on a guest day and was surprised by the welcoming repartee and the level of instruction. It brought back memories of 303s and Bisley (yes, I could shoot a little when I was younger). My only problem was my rifle all of the others had seemingly been dosed with Viagra. Now dont get me wrong, I love my Remmy 700 SS with Bell & Carlson stock, Timney trigger and Swarovski 6-24x50 scope but it just looked puny compared to everything else. There is also the fact that I cosset this rifle. Five shots maximum then let it cool before the next string. Here, it was going to roast hotter than hell the guilt had already started Dont worry about cooking (twice) your poor little light-barrelled stainless steel remmy 700 that you love to bits... and which now has a throat to marvel Lee Marvin. It can still do the job once or twice
Part One by Peter Baxter
Following a query about Lauries missing third article in the July edition of his Affordable F/TR series I was asked by Vince to write up my initial experiences setting out on the F/TR road It may not be pretty, but here goes!
I had decided I would like to get back into target shooting following a lapse of nearly forty years doesnt time fly? I chose F/TR due to failing eyesight and the thought I would get better scores with all the gizmos but without the gross expense of F Class Open. The expense is still there but, three zeros after the first digit makes for a happier marriage than four. My FAC was due for renewal, so I discussed it with my FEO and justified adding a new 308 rifle. I recently started reloading so, with a lot of help from friends, I am up and running or would be if I could get my FAC issued. Note to Editor when they said they were keeping bobbies on the beat, I didnt know all backroom staff had been issued with size 12s and sent out of the FAC Office onto the streets!
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The point of no return just how much embarrassment would this be?
On the firing point rifle off the point until folk under cover, stick it up the range when told to, bolt in, look at the target number, listen to the instructor briefing on flags and wind. Message One, go I had the sense to put the trajectory calculations into the Swarovski programme on the website to get the rough distance on the lower crosshairs - two down for 300, bottom one for 500. A bit of very useful instruction for the first ten shots on doping the wind, then left to do the next five on my own not so easy without Mr C (aka The Champ) but
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only dropped a further shot. Duh! Great score at 300 (OK I think 73 ex.75 is great!) then back to 500. The reason shooters use Nightforce scopes etc. is that there arent too many bars in the reticle to confuse the eye. Second shot, target goes down Maggies
Diary of a novice F/TR boy. Part 1

drawers, probably into the bank. Only explanation was wrong crosshair used Yup - the novice factor strikes again! Dont use a stalking scope, especially when you use the wrong crosshair and shoot into the bank (nil point!)
Do count the V bulls (if you have got any...)

I loved it the thrill of waiting for the target to re-appear, the groan with a dropped shot, the genuine awe and pride when you call scores for a colleague in top form. My first outing resulted in V-bulls in double figures, a 73 at 300 and a 69 (with dropped shot) at 500 - with a rifle which doesnt get used much beyond 150 yards in the field. The new 308 will not be a custom-made job and wont arrive for weeks but its main purpose is to provide a tool which does not look out of place and will allow competitive shooting and, most importantly, allow a cheap introduction to the sport to see if the skill available justifies continuing. Oh well, a good scrub of the Remy barrel and wipe down the scope... and hope it still loves me in the morning.
Unfortunately, words like arms race have put many shooters off even trying to shoot F Class but, as Peter has experienced, it can be enjoyed with any rifle. You may not win any medals but the enjoyment of long-range rifle shooting is addictive. We look forward to further reports from Peter when his new F/TR rifle arrives Ed.
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Cadets are selected for the Athelings on the basis of their record as outstanding cadet target rifle shots but it is just as important that in character and personal quality they are of the very highest standard.
COUNCIL FOR CADET RIFLE SHOOTING - THE BRITISH CADET RIFLE TEAM (ATHELINGS) PRE-SELECTION COURSE, BISLEY 14-16 SEP 12
Each year the Council for Cadet Rifle Shooting (CCRS) selects a representative British Cadet Rifle Team (The Athelings), consisting of a Commandant, Adjutant, Armourer and 18 Cadets drawn from School Contingents of the Combined Cadet Force and from Units of the Sea Cadet Corps, Army Cadet Force and Air Training Corps.
The team competes in the National Rifle Association (NRA) Imperial Meeting at Bisley in July and goes to Ottawa, Canada to compete in the Royal Canadian Army Cadet National Target Rifle Meeting and in the Dominion of Canada Rifle Association (DCRA) Meeting. The cadets compete both as individuals and as a British Cadet Team against the National Rifle Team of the Royal Canadian Army Cadets. The tour to Canada is part of an annual exchange programme with the Royal Canadian Army Cadets; it is officially sponsored by the Ministry of Defence.
The selection process is in two stages:

The first Pre-Selection stage selects three cadets from any Unit of the Sea Cadet Corps (SCC), Army Cadet Force (ACF) or Air Training Corps (ATC) and takes place each September, selecting cadets for the following years team. The second Open-Selection stage selects the remaining 15 cadets plus three non-travelling reserves from any cadet Contingent or Unit and takes place in December.
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British CADET RIFLE SHOOTING Continued...
The Pre-Selection stage for 2012, in the form of a weekend training/selection course, was held on Bisley ranges on the weekend 1416 September. Eighteen specially selected cadets were invited to attend, selection based on their background shooting records and recommendations from their cadet units. A group of highly experienced selectors, including some international TR shooters, closely observed the cadets during two days of shooting practices at 300, 500 and 600 yards. The cadets were assessed on their performance, organisational ability, use of the score card, plotting and wind coaching skills along with temperament and general suitability to be a member of a British cadet team. The standard of shooting was very high and, as ever, all cadets demonstrated the ability and suitability to be members of the British Cadet Rifle Team. The three cadets selected for the 2013 team were: Cpl Nathan Boyle, Somerset ACF; Sgt Alice Southall, 126 (City of Derby) Sqn ATC; Sgt Jed Calcutt, Durham ACF.
Colonel John S Wilson OBE DL

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Photography by Steve Thornton
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by Chris Parkin
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attract a number of complaints from users and I must admit, I was no fan. Thankfully, the Ergoprime seems to be a definite improvement on the XR version. Although primers can still be spilled as the pimpled tray does not seem to flip them `anvil-up` as effectively as the old ridged design, they can no longer fall from the top of the secondary `lift` column, thanks to the tiny cover. Once all of the primers are flipped and the lid is clipped on, the device is simple to use with no danger of explosion (did it ever happen?) and, in the case of small primers, certainly less chance of a primer turning over 180 or even 90 degrees and getting crushed as it goes into the case - which I always seemed to manage with the original and XR versions. If Im honest, I still prefer the ergonomics of the original thumb/palm squeezed unit which required less force and seemed to offer more `feel` but I cannot argue that the safety concerns of having up to 100 primers ignite in a single tray, have now disappeared.
The new Lee Ergoprime is the third generation of hand-held priming tools offered by Lee. Previous models the original Auto Prime and the Auto Prime XR - have been improved and changed in terms of both ergonomics and safety features. Whereas previously, the operating lever was pressed with the thumb, the latest version features a lever squeezed in towards the palm by the fingers. The XR version employed a secondary lifter to separate the insertion and feed of primers to improve safety i.e the risk of igniting the whole tray of primers - but primers were easily spilled before they dropped into the feed channel. Now a cover to the feed column prevents this. Small pimples are moulded into the tray - which is again square like the XR rather than round to easily accept most primer boxes. After a jiggle to settle all primers `anvil up` they are guided to a single-width channel to be fed over and then lifted onto the final mechanism that squeezes them into the cases primer pocket. Lee shell-holders are used as before, easily inserted and available in many sizes to hold any case up to 0.532in. diameter (Win Mag. etc. but NOT the Rem Mag. or WSM which is a shame, given the popularity of the latter). Two trays are supplied to work with small and large or magnum primers for both rifles and pistol and the operating lever has a little less mechanical leverage than before, requiring a slightly firmer squeeze over fractionally less travel. A spot of grease smoothes out the mechanism and, whereas the XR seemed a stopgap measure seemingly to calm safety fears, it did
Contact Hannams Reloading 01977 681 639. Price: 33.94
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Edgar Brothers Reloading Centres

A new venture...
Im quite lucky, I shoot at Diggle Ranges and we have a pretty good members shop on site, which stocks an excellent range of consumables and reloading equipment and a lot more besides. Without this shop, I would have to travel around 40 miles to find a stockiest who can supply my week to week reloading needs. I expect its pretty much the same for many readers few gunshops can afford to stock a decent range of expensive equipment - which always seems to be not exactly what the customer wants. And, who stocks those hard-to-get bits and pieces - like de-capping pins? Break one and its reloading over. The chances of obtaining a new one are almost nil. Edgar Brothers have also seen this problem and are attempting to rectify matters by establishing a network of reloading centres throughout the country. The Cheshire-based wholesalers National Reloading Centre Programme will see a hand-picked network of retailers invited to join the scheme. Re-loaders will not only benefit from a full range of reloading equipment and components but knowledgeable sales staff who, were necessary will attend a trade-only BASC reloading course to enhance their knowledge and understanding of home-loading. Edgar Brothers is the sole UK distributor of Alliant, Winchester, IMR and Hodgdon powders, plus reloading equipment and components from Hornady, Nosler, Barnes, Remington and Frankford Arsenal.
Hornadys Director of Sales & Vice President, Jason Hornady, commented that he was excited to work with Edgars to bring the largest offering of Hornady reloading tools and components ever seen in the UK. See www.hornady.com for their inventory. The idea is to eventually have about 30 such centres spread around the country and clearly, it wont happen overnight but contact Edgar Bros on www. shootingsports.edgarbrothers.com to obtain the location of your nearest centre. The nearest Edgar Bros Reloading Centre to me is Osprey Rifles in Oldham, which is about 8 miles NE of Manchester and I decided to drop in and see what was on offer. Proprietor Stuart was still in the process of sorting out all his stock and it was mind-boggling to see the extent of equipment he now carries, from the reloading-press right down to the tiniest of components like those replacement de-capping pins! In between, we have dies, bullets, measuring equipment, case tumblers, scales etc, etc. No matter what your requirement, an Edgar Bros Reloading Centre should be able to help. Looking through all the stuff, I even managed to pick up a couple of useful bits myself! However, as we said earlier, stocking the equipment is only part of the story; the proprietor should also be fully conversant with reloading so that proper advice can be given - to the novice or experienced reloader. Osprey Rifles proprietor, Stuart Anselm is well qualified in this respect after all, he is the current European F Class champion and you dont achieve that without fastidious reloading techniques. Personally, I think this is a marvelous initiative on behalf of Edgar Bros from which, everyone should benefit not least, the shooter.
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UNITED KINGDOM PISTOL SHOOTING ASSOCIATION NEWS
UKPSA News by Vanessa Duffy

These are exciting times for practical shooters in the UK with the World IPSC Shotgun Championships taking place in Debrecen, Hungary this month. However, whilst the UKs top shotgunners are preparing to participate in the largest practical shotgun match ever staged, other domestic practical disciplines have been carrying on throughout the summer months. Practical Long Barrel firearms is a discipline that covers a multitude of different guns and has become known as LBF within the practical community. It Includes long-barrel revolvers, long-barrel pistols, gallery rifle and mini-rifle. Each gun type - known as divisions - is then divided into two, with shooters competing with either a standard or open gun. Standard normally incorporates iron sights and limited rounds, whilst open has electronic sights and larger roundcapacity. All gun divisions shoot the same courses of fire. Some variation to the start position may be required, for instance revolvers and pistols starting in the holster, where rifles may be held in two hands. The different ammunition capacities could result in several different strategies being formulated for each division to complete a stage. This all adds to the uniqueness and fun of practical shooting. The UKPSA runs a series of LBF matches throughout Great Britain, some as Championship rounds, whilst others are grader competitions. This year began with the Southern Championships held at Little Chalfont Club in Hertfordshire. This saw a return of practical shooting to their indoor range with a high turnout of competitors. This was followed at the end of June with a doubleheader match in one weekend in the north. The Scottish Championships were held in Crocketford near Dumfries, with the Reiver challenge taking place the next day in Carlisle. This gave competitors more bangs for making the journey north. Over the weekend, those that shot both
matches, completed 17 stages and shot over 250 rounds of ammunition. Mid July saw LBF Practical again in the north, this was at Bob Dunkleys range, Tall Trees near Middlesborough. This time, it was the Northern Championships. Nine testing stages with the usual mix of long, medium and short stages. Long stages are up to a maximum of 32 rounds with multiple shooting positions required to complete. Re-load strategies play a big part in completing each stage as quickly as possible whilst maintaining accuracy. During August there was a grader competition in the Midlands. Birmingham Shooting Centre became another new venue for Practical LBF. Another great day of shooting at this well supported match. The UKPSA British Championships for LBF continues through until November before this years Champions can be declared. The Home Countries Championships take place in Bedford in October. Then, the climax to the year will be the British Open at Leicester Shooting Centre. The British Champions will be declared after the conclusion of this last Championship match. As well as all these great competitions, the UKPSA introduced a LBF Postal League for 2012. This league runs alongside postal leagues for IPSC Shotgun and IPSC Handgun. The leagues are open to all shooters and are designed to be easily set up within all shooting clubs. Since its introduction the LBF league has had a significant number of participants. Three of the four rounds of the league have been completed. Each round consists of three or four stages, using simple props and standard IPSC targets. Scores are posted or emailed in and results are published after each round. At the end of the year overall winners of the leagues will be declared.
Watch out for Target Shooter next month, when we will be bringing you reports from the first IPSC World Shotgun Championships in Debrecen, Hungary.
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The MTM Patch Catcher

By Chris Parkin.
New in at Hannams Reloading is the MTM Patch Catcher. This neat little tool is a great accessory in either your home or travel cleaning kit. Whether used for a heavy barrelled target rifle or a sporting arm with a muzzle mounted open sight blade, this smart tool will open up, slide over the muzzle and be securely clamped in place using the heavy duty attached rubber bungee. Regardless of exact barrel diameter, a V-groove solidly aligns the patch catcher so that as you clean with your favoured barrel solvent, either with patches or a brush, all solvent, dirty patches and `spray` are held within the catch box for ease of clean disposal and minimal unnecessary damage to your cleaning location which for many might be a kitchen table! Solvent can easily find its way everywhere and even if not, a pile of dirty patches on the end of a table or bench have to be collected at the end of a session, leaving a dirty residue and chemical smell on your fingers which can be a hassle to wash off. The box itself is transparent so you can see what is going on and the lid opens to allow the fastidious cleaner to inspect individual patches for subtle discolouration caused by residual copper in the barrel and at the end, tip everything out and simply swab the internals with a piece of kitchen towel. At 9.35 this is the kind of accessory which I cannot see how I can be without, simple, cheap, effective, whats not to like? Hannams Reloading 01977 681639 www.hannamsreloading.com
The Bore Store

By Chris Parkin
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Looking for extra protection in storage for that delicate or valuable firearm? Chris Parkin checks out the Bore Store from March Scopes UK. Bore Stores are a new product imported and distributed by March Scopes in the UK. Their specially woven polypropylene material is silicone treated, designed to both repel moisture and retain the integral rust inhibitors. Originating from the US these custom made cases are available in 50 standard sizes as well as any custom option required. For any item requiring protection, from small knives, pistols, compact scoped carbines or shotguns up to full custom presentation or long barrelled competition rifles, they offer a convenient package to cocoon your precious heirlooms or corrosion inviting metallic goods. In production and use across the pond since 1985, the thick pile interiors have helped cushion and protect delicate firearms from any unwanted knocks or scratches. As well as additional corrosion protection, it will help shooters give more protection to guns within a limited security cabinet space. The open weave nature of the fabric allows air to circulate so condensation cant build up but the application of grease or oils are not required to fight off the effects of long term storage damage in a well cleaned firearm. A bulky competition rifle with 56mm objective scope was easily swallowed by the case and a secure Velcro closure keeps everything snug. The bipod remained attached and these are prone to marking guns in a cabinet so the extra protection was invaluable. Even though it will fit into the larger sizes, dont forget to remove the moderator though! For - Simple Protection from both chemical and mechanical attack. Price: 11 x 53 & 11 x 54 Comp guns &long barrels etc) 31.50. Shotgun 7 x 52 27.00. Scoped Carbine/ rimfire 10 x 40 27.00. Against - Not a lot! Verdict - For that precious or custom firearm, why not go the extra mile in protecting it? Contact: March Scopes UK www.marchscopes.co.uk 01293 606 901
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GBR Paralympic Shooting by Liz Woodall, Disabled Shooting Project Co-ordinator

Prepare to be inspired. Prepare to be dazzled. Prepare to be moved by the Paralympic Games of London 2012 Lord Coe.
Thanks to the generosity of a wonderful friend who passed on some of the very hard-to-get tickets, I was in the crowd on the first day of competition. It was great to see that there were nearly as many people watching as there had been for the Olympic events. There was an impression that whilst the Olympic spectators had bags of confidence born of experience of big sporting events, those watching the Paralympics were much more amateur spectators, who had come because they really wanted to see these matches, not just to be part of the biggest show in town. They soon got the hang of watching their favourite shooters scoreboards and began clapping when the magic 10 appeared. The constantly shifting positions on the results board were also of absorbing interest to many, with audible squeaks of excitement as names climbed up the list and groans when a duff shot dropped them down. Di Coates, in her eighth Paralympics, admitted that nerves were a problem in the last string of her first match, leaving her in the worst position of all - 9th. Interestingly, the eighth finalist was the Australian
This is not an in-depth analysis of how our shooters performed at London 2012; all that has been done by the media and on the internet in far more detail than I could set out here. Instead, I will try to add a slightly different dimension to the Games experience.
I think the first insight should come from British coach Robin Taylor. His ear-toear grin, flag-waving and blowing kisses during the opening ceremony earned him quite a lot of camera time! Recounting the experience to me, Robin said it was one of the most amazing experiences of his life. He got to bed at about 1.30 am, then lay there thinking Did I really see all that, or was it a dream?. The sobering thought was that he had to be up again at 4.30 am to escort the competitors in the first match to the range. This was Robins last international shooting event; after many years as a valued and much-loved top-level coach, he has now retired from his post with DTSGB, and is looking forward to a well-earned rest.
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Georgina Callingham: Im in the final!
Elizabeth Kosmala, the oldest competitor in the games, who has jousted with Di through many of those previous Paralympics. The home crowd was naturally disappointed that Karen Butler and first-timer Mandy Pankhurst were also below the cut-off.
Disabled Shooting continued...
Afterwards, Di told me that over 30 members of her family had watched her at the Games, none of whom had ever seen her compete internationally before. I gather it is unlikely that Di will try for Rio in 2016. After amassing eight Paralympic medals, she feels she has done her bit, and it is time to change direction. She hopes to be spending more time encouraging the development of the next generation of international competitors. Another brand-new Paralympian performing on the first day was the only GBR pistol shooter, Adrian Bunclark. During that match it was very good to see one of the officials, a jury member, in a wheelchair. It demonstrated very effectively that there other opportunities for disabled people within the sport.
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In the afternoon Matt Skelhon, having gathered himself after an indifferent performance on the
Qualification range in action
Day 3 brought the longed-for up-turn in British fortunes. The account was opened in the SH2 Air Rifle Prone. Eight of the ten shooters scoring 600 in qualification went into the final, including James Bevis and Georgina Callingham - in her first Games. James took the bronze medal, which was no mean feat given the way the finals were staged! During the shooters preparation and sighting time spectators were treated to enough noisy entertainment to keep a three-ring circus fully occupied. Then between each of the final shots there was amplified commentary on who was catching up and who falling back rather like a commentator rushing up to the leading runner in the middle of the 800-metres and saying Do you know the runner behind you is gaining ground?. There are times when competitors chances of success are sacrificed on the altar of television coverage something that it is difficult for shooters to train for, as it only ever happens once in four years.
previous day, followed his Beijing gold with silver in the Air Rifle Prone. Again, all the finalists posted 600 in qualification, as standards rise this is happening more and more, so it looks as if the IPC will need to put their thinking caps on. If after 60 shots everyone goes into the final on the same score, people are going to start asking what is the point of having the qualification! Two days later, Matt wobbled a bit in the first string of the 50-metre Prone match but pulled himself together admirably for a strong finish that took him into the final in 6th place. His reward for putting up the secondhighest score in the final was the bronze medal. Meanwhile, to Nathan Milgate who had been strongly tipped for a medal after performing very strongly in World Cups over the last two years, the Games brought only frustration. Shooting swathed in a Union Jack, he was clearly bitterly disappointed to finish 10th and 11th in the Air Rifle Standing and Prone.
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that she had been in a bubble for three weeks; it had been strange going into it, and it was strange coming out of it back to normal day-to-day life. Team GBs target for the shooting events was at least one medal. They exceeded that handsomely, with five finals placings delivering three medals. Matt has consolidated his position as the leading British disabled shooter. James, Karen and Georgina all have success to build on, and the others have experience to build with. That the achievements of the whole team are receiving proper recognition cannot be doubted. After the postGames victory parade through London Matt said he was astonished at the amount of public support, which was far more than he had experienced in 2008. All the British participants I have spoken to said they could not fault the facilities, and the administrative side of the Games, although some of them found it rather irritating to have to tape over all the manufacturers names on their wheelchairs and some of their kit! It will be interesting to see what becomes of the shooting venues. The Olympic Clay Target range became the Paralympic archery range and there will be nothing to salvage from that by way of legacy for the sport. The indoor ranges are apparently being offered for sale, and all the targetry, etc. was leased for the duration. Well, the Games may be gone, but they certainly are not forgotten. The Disabled Shooting Project has had a steady flow of enquiries from people who say they have indeed been inspired to try target shooting. I have heard of a number of clubs in various parts of the country that have had such an influx of potential new members that they are having difficulty coping with them! Full results of all the Paralympic shooting events can be viewed at http://www.london2012.com/ paralympics/shooting/schedule-and-results/
First GBR medal for James Bevis
For the other first-time Paralympians, Ryan Cockbill, Richard Davies, Adam Fontain and Ben Jesson, London 2012 was a rather overwhelming but invaluable experience. As they are younger members of the British team, they should be hoping to compete in several more Paralympics, and will no doubt be worth watching at Rio in 2016. The last British achievement came on the last day, when Karen Butler reached the final in the 50-metre Three Positions match, and then improved her position to finish 6th. She said that her senior manager, who had never seen target shooting before, came to watch this match. Afterwards he told her that he had had no idea how intense the competition was, and how long her concentration had to be maintained for. Shortly after the Games, Karen explained to schoolchildren
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The Disabled Shooting Project at the NRA Open Day by Andy Dubreuil
During this past year I was contacted by Liz Woodall, who helped setup the Disabled Shooting Project. This organisation exists to aid those with disabilities who want to take up shooting as a hobby or as a sport. With the Paralympics coming to an end and the positive kudos this has inspired, last weekends Bisley event will certainly inspire people to take part in one form of sport or another. The NRA open day gave lots of people the chance to try their hand at shooting for the first time. Im not a big talker on disability, even though Im wheelchair-bound myself but, I know that getting into shooting helped me in learning about what I could do and take part in. Ive been a member of Portishead Shooting Club for about 11 years now and the club treats me as just a normal member with no favours. For a number of years I would go down to the club and bum down a set of steps to get into the indoor range. It didnt matter what time of the year it was, or how cold or wet it was. The sport offers the same thing to me as it does for everyone else - friendship, fun and competition. Ive always been competitive and Ive always said that unless I can compete I have no interest in the sport. Going to my club once or twice a week gets me out and allows me to interact with others. If I didnt have that I would be stuck indoors all the time. Having mental and physical stimulation is something that we all need and, if you dont have that, then life becomes harder to deal with, motivation hits rock bottom and its not a good place to be. The Disabled Shooting Project is working with clubs and associations to gather information about how they can provide accessibility to disabled people who are interested in getting into target shooting. The NRA open day, which the DSP took part in, was a chance show whats available and give them
LATEST NEWS...
Olaf Jones and Liz Woodall
The NRA open day gave lots of people the chance to try their hand at shooting for the first time.
Andy Dubreuil passes on a few tips... 79
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LATEST NEWS...
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that she would never have thought she was able to do. Now whether she will come back and get into shooting, I cannot tell you but at least she has had a positive experience. At the end of the day not all will take up shooting but remember, just one person who does might be the next Matt Skelhon or Karen Butler! This is what the Disabled Shooting Project is about and why there are guys like Alan, Scott, Colin and Carl who are willing to spend time with the disabled, giving something back to the sport that has been good to them and showing it really is for everyone. If you want to find out more about the Disabled Shooting Project or want to get involved then visit their website - http://www.disabledshooting.org.uk/
the chance to try their hand at different disciplines. Rimfire and Air Rifle Benchrest is great as it is one of the few sports that gives the disabled a chance to compete equally against able-bodied shooters. I approached one lady who was walking with a crutch and asked her if she was looking to shoot. She was hesitant because she had weakness down one side and wasnt able to use her right arm that well, she was also a left-handed shooter. I invited her to have a look at the rifle and equipment and she was at first a little overwhelmed with the setup but, we looked at how best she could achieve a relaxed position behind the rifle. We then looked at finding a way where she was able to shoot yet still feel that she was in control - very important to a lot of disabled people. We ended up with me loading the rifle whilst she pulled the trigger. This shows a number of things - she can shoot and take control of her aiming on the target and secondly it gave her the confidence to have a go at something
Finally...
I have to thank Liz Woodall for involving a number of us in this event. What was even more interesting is that we had three more invitations during the day to support other activities during next year. Where we can support opportunities for others it is great, so all can be involved in our sport, whether able-bodied or disabled, old or young. As someone said to me at the weekend, Working with disabled people is seeing where the problem or issue is and coming up with solutions to resolve them. Its all good for shooting sports and for my own sport of benchrest.
More information:
Disabled Shooting Project: www.disabledshooting.org.uk International Paralympic Committee, Shooting: www.ipc-shooting.org International Blind Sport Federation, Shooting: www.ibsa.es/eng/deportes/shooting/presentacion International Shooting Competition, Hannover: www.i-s-c-h.de Clay Target Grand Prix, Lonato: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFKzJ7ZfQzM British Blind Sport: www.britishblindsport.org.uk International Blind Sport Association (Shooting): NSRA: www.nsra.co.uk
Disabled shooting content in NRA Journal, Pull!, The Rifleman, and Target Shooter is available on the Downloads section of the DSP website.
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THE TRU-FLITE BARREL STOCK
by George Granycome
A Barrel Block Stock from True-Flite

In our July issue, we gave you a glimpse of a new barrel-block stock from New Zealand barrel makers True-Flite. Barrel-block stocks are not common and, until now, were most likely to be seen on heavy, longrange bench guns. The theory of the barrel-block stock is two-fold it offers much better support to a long, heavy barrel rather than simply relying on the action to support all that weight. It also means that a heavy, stiff action is less important, as it isnt really doing anything so, a lighter and maybe cheaper action can be used. Although 1000 yard benchrest is popular in the UK, the Heavy Gun Class isnt so we rarely, if ever, see barrelblock guns. However, could there be a use for the barrel-block in F Class particularly the Open Class? True-Flite think so. With a 22lb weight limit for an Open Class rifle, we have plenty of weight to play around with. Those competitors who want to build their rifle up to the weight-limit will inevitably start adding lead to the butt-stock what a waste, when this could be utilized for a longer, heavier profile barrel. But, start swinging a thick 34 inch tube off the average action and it could be counter-productive placing massive loading on the barrel/action joint, those two small action screws and of course, the bedding. This is where the barrel-block system scores. Up until now, the barrel-block system has only been available to the talented engineer and the additional cost of having a block made and installed in a stock would put off most of us but now True-Flite has made it possible! This is an awesome bit of kit. Its beautifully engineered and not too heavy. It will make a great platform for an Open Class rifle.
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The block is bored to suit a 1.25inch profile barrel with a six-inch parallel section which must be turneddown to 29.5mm - to snugly fit the block clamp. The action simply hangs off the back floating in free air! The scope can either be conventionally mounted off the action or, off the barrel-block itself though I notice, with the Heavy bench guns that the guys have stuck with action-mounted scope-mounts, so maybe this is the way to go and why not the action is now much less stressed. Stressed? Yes, an action can distort under firing particularly if its a flimsy action with magazine cut-out in the underside. Shooters have long speculated as to the effect this could have on the scope and thus accuracy. As you can see from the photograph, the stock is beautifully finished in matt-black anodized aluminium and the underside of the walnut butt is flat, to ride the rear bag. The pistol-grip is maybe un-necessary but looks quite nice use it if you want to. The stock is quite heavy and it might be difficult to build an 8.25kg F/TR rifle no point in skimping on barrel profile that would miss the point of the barrelblock stock. However, it could be done with an ultralight bi-pod, scope and removal of the stocks fore-end sides which are simply screwed on. But thats for another time we are talking F Class Open with its 22lb. weight limit. Apart from the butt, the whole stock, including the fore-end is aluminium and designed to suit a three-inch wide front-rest bag as is required for F Class Open guns but, the sides could be removed to save weight if you were to build an F/TR rifle Now, as it happens, the need (OK- excuse!) for me to build an Open Class rifle has just arisen. Seb Lambang of SEB Rest fame is visiting the UK in the autumn and he wants to shoot some F Class! Seb and Brian Fox do a lot of business so Brian has offered to provide Seb with a suitable gun and, if everything goes to plan, Seb will shoot it in the Open Class in the F Class Europeans at Bisley in November.
OK thats our brief. Next job is to choose a chambering. Now Brian Fox is also involved with the GBR action a British made Remington 700 clone so he is anxious for me to use this action, which means we are restricted to the 308 boltface. This gives us a limited choice of suitable F Open cartridges but the 284 Winchester is the one that springs readily to mind. Although not the equal of the 7mmWSM, it will do the job in the hands of a competent shooter as Grant Taylor has emphatically demonstrated in the GBFCA League. To keep it in the family, Brian has given me a 7mm Trueflite barrel in 1 in 9 twist and its a heavy profile tapering from 1.25 inches at the breech to one-inch at the muzzle. A quick call to True-Flite informs me that the barrel needs to be turned down to 29.5mm over a six-inch length to snugly fit the barrel-clamp. At this stage, another little problem reveals itself the stock is actually designed around the Barnard action so, the bolt cut-out is in the correct place for the Barnard but not the GBR action. Mmm.. do we make another cut-out for the bolt or do we move the action rearwards to fit?. If I make another cut-out, its going to look weird and kind of ruin the stock Foxy may want to sell it on after the Europeans. I have to re-position the action. This means that we have a short length of barrel now showing between the action-face and the rear of the barrel-clamp. Not ideal, but not detrimental to accuracy and a better option in my opinion to having two bolt cut-outs. Maybe on future production stocks, they can be supplied without the cut-out, thus accepting a wider range of actions, left or righthanded. You can see the bit of barrel between the action face and barrel-block but the bolt cut-out now lines up.
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Pushing the action backwards reveals another problem the trigger. Its now about half an inch further back from where it should be so I have to move the triggerguard to the rear, which will involve milling the rear of the trigger-guard away. This is a shame as it fits snugly into a recess machined in the underside of the stock. In use, it wont be seenhopefully! The GBR action is designed to take the Remington style triggers so we have a choice of Jewel, Timney etc but, my favourite is the Kelbly I have them on all my bench guns, its a ground-up competition trigger so doesnt come with a safety. Ive also moved the trigger-guard back half an inch or so. Pity, as it no longer fills the recess With the barrel threaded and chambered and the aforementioned problems resolved, Im now ready to do some testing. Amazingly, with a Nightforce 8-32 NXS scope installed, the rifle is only a pound over the F/ TR limit of 18lbs 2oz. This could possibly be recouped
by removing the aluminium sides on the fore-end, which wouldnt be needed with a bi-pod mounted rifle, a lighter scope like the 8-32 Sightron and some weightsaving on the butt. It is of course comfortably under the Open Class limit of 22 lb. My barrel is 30 inches we could easily go to 32 and a heavier profile. Instead of a 30 inch barrel hanging off the front of the action, we now have just 23 inches in front of the clamp, which is supporting the barrel far better than a couple of quarter UNF bedding screws. We are now ready to run in the barrel, sight-in and zero the scope and try and develop a load. Hodgdons 4831SC is the favorite of many 284 shooters so this is my starting point and, sure-enough, we are soon seeing some sub half MOA groups on the target. Bullets are Berger VLD, brass is Lapua 6.5-284 neckedup to 7mm with a Sinclair mandrel, Federal Large Rifle primers and shot without further fire-forming. My first competitive outing at 1000 yards was satisfactory and points dropped could be accounted for by my inability to make more sense of Diggles tricky fishtailing wind. Over to you Seb! (CONTINUED NEXT PAGE)
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As you might imagine, the stock is not cheap - 1430 but, before you dismiss it as too expensive remember, any half decent stock will cost 400 upwards in its unfinished, un-inletted state. Inletting, bedding and painting could easily add another 500 so maybe the cost isnt too far away. If you currently have a spare action like a Remington 700 - you would only need a barrel and you would have an F Open rifle for around 2100, which isnt bad for a full custom rifle.
Interested? Contact Fox Firearms
www.foxfirearmsuk.com for more details.
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THE HANDLOADING BENCH

Another look at cartridge case annealing
By Laurie Holland

New Lapua 308 Win brass showing neck/shoulder annealing discoloration. The factory uses electric induction heating, not a gas flame.
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by Laurie Holland

By Laurie Holland
Id hoped to finish my look at new powders which we started in the September issue but have run a bit behind in testing the selected trio IMR-8208 XBR and a couple of Czech Lovex extruded propellants so Ive postponed my final report for a few issues but this delay does let me slot in an update on case annealing.
The Giraud annealing machine with feed hopper not available outside the USA.
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By Laurie Holland
Hard or Soft?
First, a quick look at annealing. Its quick because Target Shooter included a detailed report on the subject by Les Prior in its August 2011 issue. (still available free from the Archive section). I thought I could usefully return to the subject having recently seen a home annealing set-up in action for the first time and being thereby converted into a believer. So what is annealing anyway? Heres a definition from a science website: Annealing is a term used to denote any heat treatment in which the microstructure and therefore the properties of a material are altered. Annealing typically refers to heat treatment in which a cold-worked metal is softened by allowing it to recrystallize. In practice, we soften parts of the brass case by heating it up rapidly to the required temperature range. While iron and steel are hardened by many heat treatments, copper and its alloys are invariably softened. For cartridge brass, (70/30 copper/zinc alloy) the key figure is around 500F exceed that throughout the case wall and the metal permanently softens, so treatment usually involves heating to 650-800 degrees to ensure the process occurs as well as providing uniformity across the desired area. Note that annealing brass is not a graduated process you MUST exceed a particular temperature for a given period of time. Doing otherwise simply doesnt work as you dont partially soften the metal with less than full heat treatment. However, the temperature/time factors are linked running at temperatures well above the minimum required reduces the application time and is preferred by expert and professional practitioners. It not only speeds things up, saving on gas costs but also reduces heat transfer within the case to areas we dont want to anneal - a really important consideration. But first, lets remind ourselves why we might consider annealing cases.
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When you buy your shiny Lapua, Norma, or RWS cases as unprimed brass or factory match ammo, the manufacturer has put a great deal of effort into getting its hardness right and, thats far from being constant throughout the item, a gradient applied from head (hard) to shoulder and neck (soft). Cases are cold-drawn and formed in a large number of steps starting as small brass discs (coins to use the correct terminology). This work-hardens the metal making it stronger but more brittle and thats a good thing at the back end we want a really tough casehead, web and lower body to avoid them becoming distorted under firing pressures and hence not reusable. More important still, to contain superheated gas at maybe 60,000 or more psi pressure so it doesnt wreck our rifles, eyes and good looks. Therefore, its vital that any annealing doesnt allow excessive heat to transfer to this end of the case and soften the head/ web area simply putting your brass into an oven for an hour with a 650-deg setting will anneal your cases alright but ALL of the case from end to end! On very rare occasions a manufacturer gets it wrong and a batch of brass or ammo goes onto the market with soft heads. I encountered such some years back in the form of 270 Winchester calibre 130gn PSP sporting ammo that had a known case problem but nobody could remember exactly what. Nine rounds were fired and chronographed without problem, the 10th felt and sounded the same and produced an MV within a few fps of those of its fellows so no change in the pressure generated. Trying to open the bolt to eject the fired case was another matter tight! When I got it open, I found the case-head nearly swaged into the bolt-head recess and the extractor/ ejector having to be manually worked off, the primer falling out of its now very oversize pocket. There was no need to use a micrometer to ascertain that the case-head and web had expanded by as much as the rifle chamber allowed - fortunately without rupturing. Nevertheless, this is a very dangerous condition and such batches are recalled by manufacturers as soon as problems are reported.
THE Bench-Source Vertex HANDLOADING BENCH model with burners Another look at cartridge case annealing By Laurie hand installed forHolland torch bottles.
Keith Snows Bench-Source is fired up.
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By Laurie Holland
A scrap case painted with Tempilaq heat sensitive paints is used to check timings.
Whilst we need hard case-heads, the other end of the case must be soft and ductile in order to provide correct tension on the bullet and to expand on firing. This not only releases the bullet cleanly but must do so consistently between rounds, otherwise we may get velocity spreads and other accuracy problems. As the drawing process work-hardens the brass, the manufacturer re-softens parts of the emerging case body and a near final step is a carefully controlled annealing of the neck and shoulder to get their hardness just right. As well as performance and consistency aspects, this process is important for ammunition storage life and re-usable case-life to handloaders. In fact, if the neck / shoulder area is really hard, stored rounds eventually split of their own accord from the neck-tension on the bullet. This is sometimes found in elderly surplus 303 military cartridges loaded with near case-length cordite propellant strands. Thanks to the nature of the charge, it was inserted as a pre-formed bundle into a partly made case before shoulder/neck swaging, precluding final annealing - for obvious reasons. Not so extreme but still over-hard necks and shoulders will see reloaded brass quickly fail as the firing and resizing cycle progressively hardens the metal so expansion/sizing/bulletseating produces longitudinal neck splits after a couple of firings. There isnt any safety issue here but such cases will never produce consistent ammunition and their short life makes for poor economics.
Here we go, the rotating shell-plate nearly fully occupied. The machine indexes it to the next case automatically after the set time elapses.
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Hard Work
Even where the manufacturer gets everything right with the new case and rest assured Lapua, Norma, and RWS do get it right virtually 100% of the time firing expansion and resizing/bullet-seating gradually re-hardens necks. How much and how fast largely depends on how much theyre worked, this being partly a function of the pressures produced, also on the amount of dimensional change incurred during the cycle. Some of that is down to case and chamber dimensions, the rest handloading tools and practices. Lets use the cases fired in my own 308 Win. rifles - a custom Savage PTA based F/TR rifle built by Osprey Rifles and the factory Howa 1500 Varmint affordable F/TR rifle Im currently working loads up for and trying in club competition - as examples. The Lapua and RWS brass I use in this pair share a neck-wall thickness close to 0.015in., so a cartridge has a neck O/D of 0.308in. (bullet) + 0.015in. + 0.015in. (case) = 0.338 inches. Fired and expanded examples measure 0.339-0.340in. for the Savage; 0.345-0.346in. for the Howa, so a case used in the latter undergoes a much greater amount of work during firing and returning it to the loaded condition, that is 2 X 0.008in. against 2 X 0.002in. for the Savage. (Actually, those values will be higher as there is a thou to thou and a half springback from the fully expanded position as chamber pressures return to zero.) However, resizing involves more than simply returning the case to its loaded round O/D as some grip is required on the bullet and the case is thus re-sized to a smaller dimension. I use bushing dies and select a 0.336in. bushing size with these two makes of case. However, use a Lee (and I dont imagine Hornady, Lyman, RCBS etc will be any different) full-length sizing die with the expander stem and ball removed and necks measure 0.3315in. after sizing, again after some springback, so the Howas RWS case is reduced from somewhere around a true 0.347in. fully expanded in the rifle chamber to 0.330in. in the sizing process, 0.017in.

By Laurie Holland
Placing a case in position 1 note the essential heavy glove.
The ghost image of the top of a case (third left from burners) is an annealed example dropping out of the shellplate into a tray below.
The Bench-Source machine is compact. There are out of view Calor Gas cylinders feeding the twin burners.
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By Laurie Holland Then the expander-ball is pulled through it to bring it back up to around 0.335in. O/D. So, brass used in the tight-chambered custom-built rifle and sized with a bushing-die undergoes a total movement of around 0.009in. ending up with very light neck-tension. The Howa case by contrast sees just over 0.030in. total change - over three times as much and, has much more case-neck tension (and resulting stress on the metal) if sized with a standard FL sizer. Using a Lee collet neck-sizer or Forster or Redding bushing-die reduces the amount that the Howas brass is worked considerably, now to around 0.018in., also leaving it with a lighter neck-tension on the bullet. Judicious die selection and careful adjustment in the press reduce the amount the case-shoulder is set back or bumped on each sizing too - beneficial for accuracy and reducing brass working and hardening in this section. There are other reasons for annealing its an integral part of some case-reforming operations, especially where the parent case is severely shorted - turning body-wall metal into the offsprings neck/shoulder. Expensive specially made cases for historic arms, often fired in slack chambers, are frequently annealed to preserve their lives Ive seen turned (as opposed to drawn) 450/577 Boxer cases (for military Martini-Henry BPCR rifles) which cost 3 each in the days when that was serious money, that had to be annealed after every firing or they would split.
I never worried too much about this in the past as my 308W match cases would see primer fit start to deteriorate after half a dozen firings with hot loads. Theyd be relegated to practice and load development duties before neck hardness issues apparently arose. This was an unscientific judgement but I can say that there was no noticeable change in the amount of pressure needed to seat bullets or variability between cases you can feel this on the very sensitive Forster Co-Ax press. Conversely, Winchester 223 Rem. brass used in an AR type straight-pull rifle with a lot of chamber neck clearance, plus sizing in a Hornady FL die produced noticeable neck-tension variations by the sixth to seventh loadings, neck splits appearing shortly afterwards. All cases in a batch were scrapped after the first splits appeared, fortunately at modest cost at the time. Lets take a couple of extreme views on this matter. I was recently shown Lapua 308W cases that had undergone 26 firing/loading cycles without any treatment and their owner still produces competitive GBFCA match 1000 yard F/TR scores with them. (An endorsement of Lapua case quality, if I ever saw one!) On the other hand, I speak to effers whove become annealing enthusiasts National League Open shooters who re-anneal their 7mm WSM cases after every firing and claim performance improvements, especially in long-range elevation consistency. (This says something about the pressures some shooters run these cartridges at!) So, assuming we have an annealing service available, how often should we have it done? My unscientific gut feeling is maybe every five or so cycles for sensible loads in cartridges like 308Win., more frequently for the very high performance (and smaller calibre) magnums. It has become more of an issue for F/TR shooters for two reasons - the first being that most of us have backed our loads and pressures off after those early heady days when we ran everything at full throttle. I expect a double-figure firing life from my match brass
Heat
We know that firing and re-sizing our cases hardens the shoulder-neck metal but, how quickly is it subjected to the aforementioned variables plus how much pressure will your loads produce? Its probably influenced too by neck wall thickness and neck-circumference i.e. calibre.
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now, comfortably into double figures in fact. The other is the increasing prevalence of Lapua Palma Match (small primer) cases in high performance long-range 308 Win. loads they really do have to be abused to suffer expanded case-heads and primer pockets, so a 20 or even 30 + firing cycle life is apparently on the cards. At some point or other neck/shoulder annealing will be needed in such a life. Note the caution here but, so far as I know, 6PPC Benchrest shooters with their super-thin case-necks and hardly any brass-working in minimum clearance chambers requiring very light sizing get up to 50 firings from a Lapua case and never see a need to re-anneal.

By Laurie Holland
Obr. M1891/30 and PPU factory 7.62X54R 182gn ammo on the range one of the slightly modified Finnish examples that had been captured in 1941/42.
Seeing is Believing
Anyway, this was all academic until recently, as the average handloader had no way of reliably annealing cases. Past methods mainly involved standing cases in a tray of cold water, applying heat to the neck/shoulder with a blowtorch until the metal glowed, finally tipping the annealed case over into the water to cool it. (The water acted as a heat sink to stop the lower body and case-head / web areas being softened.) Apart from the suck it and see approach to how much heat was applied, it was difficult if not impossible to apply it evenly around the case using a handheld torch. The big change is the emergence of home workshop size, affordable and reliable small scale annealing machines plus the essential Tempilaq heat sensitive paints that are used to check on metal temperatures and set the time the brass receives the flame. In fact, the availability of Tempilaq paints has allowed a revised low-tech approach to be introduced - the Hornady Annealing System. This consists of three different size case-holding cups that fit cordless screwdrivers or drill chucks and a bottle of 475F rated paint. A short stripe is painted on the top of the casebody just below the shoulder, the case set to rotate at around 100 rpm in the drill and a portable propane torch flame played on the neck-shoulder until the paint starts to melt. This is timed, two or three sample cases done and you know how long to apply the heat for. It apparently works well although some reckon the paint
7.62X54R Straight-Pull Izmash Tigr-04 version of the SVD Dragunov. The cartridge works extremely well in this application.
Three rimmed 1890s vintage cartridges. Left to right: .303 British Mark VII, 7.62X54R handload, .30 US Army (.30-40 Krag). All three would have been loaded with 200gn plus round-nose FMJs originally. 97

By Laurie Holland rating should be higher the contrary argument goes that the neck will be much hotter than 475 as the marker stripe is applied lower down. It sounds both slow and a bit iffy to me. You have to supply the drill and torch of course. I suspect nearly all home-annealers here use the American made Bench-Source machine which costs around 600 by the time you get it here and pay duty and VAT. You need burner nozzles and gas bottles on top of that. There are several other makes and designs on the US market including the high capacity Giraud model that holds several hundred 223 Rem. sized cases in a hopper and feeds them automatically to the heating section. The US State Department says this makes it a volume ammunition manufacturing system, so requires an export licence under the ITAR rules. Girauds website says the maker will not accept non-US orders as a result.
The 7.62X54R is usually compared to .308 Win (left) performance wise, but is more powerful and closer to .30-06 factory loads.
to strike the neck squarely at its hottest point just ahead of the light colour internal cone. My introduction to this procedure was thanks to fellow F/TR shooter and keen deerstalker Keith Snow who lives in Dumfriesshire. Keith has made several modifications to his Bench Source machine, the main one being a conversion to gas supply from large economical Calor Gas propane cylinders with appropriate burners. Keith (telephone: 01461 206750; email: info@annanflyfishing.co.uk) offers an annealing service at 7.50 per 100 cases (6/100 for batches of 400 or more). Customers must de-cap and clean the brass beforehand, it being important to remove all powder fouling off the outside of the neck and shoulder vigorously brushing the inside of the neck is enough, a return to polished bare metal not needed here. Keith showed me how two different grades of Tempilaq are used to set the machine timing up and check the setting is still OK before he did the 308 Win. cases Id brought along - a box each of Norma and Lapua, both with six firings from new. A scrap 308 case had a hightemp paint stripe applied to the top end and low (under 400-deg) to the lower body. If the latter changes colour, the cases base has likely got too hot and its scrap - for safety reasons. Happy with the results, 100 cases were annealed in only a few minutes.
Rims. Left to right: .303 British Mark VII, 7.62X54R handload, .30 US Army (.30-40 Krag). Note the heavy bevel on the Nagant round.
Looking at various models on their makers websites, I found one, two, and three burner nozzle systems in use, the Bench-Source using two. Most rotate the case during the heating part of the cycle to ensure even application around the neck and with heat being applied at a constant rate, their adjustment invariably consists of variable timer mechanisms that see the case moved out of the flame(s) after a set number of seconds and a new case introduced. The other form of adjustment involved is the ability to move the nozzles to suit different cartridge case sizes and set the flame
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Do they perform?
I cant say Ive noticed an improvement as such, but I used the Norma examples in the 1100 and 1200 yard competitions at Bisley in the GBFCA League LongRange meeting with good results and... the proof of the pudding, etc. I wont go into detailed operation of the Bench-Source device, instead I refer you to Les Priors feature in the August 2011 issue.

By Laurie Holland
The famous Lapua D-Series stepped boat-tail FMJs were original designed before WW2 for the Finnish 7.62X53R version of the cartridge for long-range firing in machine-guns.
Surplus ammo. 148gn LPS left with brass cases and steel bullets; 182gn Type D on right. Note the square flake (Yuk!) powder from the LPS round in the foreground.
Most loads data are for 0.308 dia. bullets, but .303 cal (0.310-0.312) like the Hornadys here usually work better. (Right) Three bullet diameters, although you need callipers to see the difference. Left to right: 175gn Sierra MK HPBT (0.308); 174gn Hornady FMJBT (0.3105); 174gn Sierra MK HPBT (0.311).
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Practical Rifle
Practise 1
This enabled the first detail to assemble on the firing point for the start of the Urban Contact Match a Practise fired in four almost continuous stages standing at 100 yards, kneeling at 75 yards, standing & kneeling at 50 yards and standing at 25yards. At each distance 10 rounds are fired onto either fig.12c or fig.14 targets (for the unsure amongst us, the fig.12 are
by Dave Tickle
Practical Rifle National Two-day Match

Diggle Ranges UK 1st & 2nd September. By Dave Tickle.
The first weekend in September saw Diggle Ranges host the return of a two-day match for the Practical Rifle League. Saturday was planned as a short-range match with seven practises (requiring 100 rounds minimum) including the Diggle version of the Urban Contact match. For Sunday, we planned a long-range match from 400 out to 1000 yards.
PR veteran and eventual winner Nigel Greenaway
affectionately known as medium/little targets and the fig.14 the traditional Huns head. After each distance rifles are made safe then, after a flash of the targets, firers have 10 seconds to advance to the next position, make ready and await the appearance of the targets for the next stage. All firers have a personal RO hot on their heels, ensuring safety is not compromised in any way. This complete Practise saw 28 shooters shoot, score and patch in the twohour window allocated - to allow the start of another competition run by the Quigley Shooting Association taking place on the same day. The eventual winner of this Practise was Nigel Greenaway scoring 167 ex.200 narrowly beating Dave Wylde by 1 point and Steve Sheldon by 2 points. We now moved onto the 100/200/300 yard range and the main part of the short-range match began in earnest, with 2 stages of 10 rounds to be fired at each distance, with sighting-shots only permitted at 200 & 300 yards.
Day One
Signing-on was bright and early at 6:45am - for those who didnt realise there are two 6 oclocks in one day this came as a bit of a shock! Some had travelled through the early hours to make the start time and, once booked-in, commenced to consume copious amounts of caffeine in an attempt to start the days shooting bright-eyed and bushy-tailed... After the mandatory safety brief, all 28 shooters were squadded and despatched to the 100 yard range. As is often the norm at Diggle, the weather can play a part and this morning, a thick mist obscured the danger areas. Thankfully, the good-weather controller smiled on us and the mist soon vanished as if by an act of magic.
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Practise 2
At 100 yards is the Warmers Five, 10 second exposures in which one round in the standing and one in the kneeling position is required, returning to the standing-alert position in between exposures and designed exactly as it says on the tin - warm you up!
Practical Rifle
by Dave Tickle
Practise 3
Sitting Snaps Five, 3 second exposures of the fig.14 with the fig.12c permanently exposed requiring five hits on each.
Nice to see a lady shooter enjoying Practical Rifle
Once all squads had completed the Practises at 100 yards, we dressed back to 200 - with a couple of fool-hardy souls ignoring the warning not to take the short route through one of Diggles many bogs much to the amusement of the more sensible ones following the safe route! 200 yards gave shooters the opportunity to fire two sighting-shots and then Practises 4 & 5.
Practise 5
Sitting & Prone, requiring shooters to have two magazines of 5-rounds on the ground and be in the standing-alert position awaiting the appearance of the fig.11 and the fig.12c for 60 seconds. On appearance of the target, the shooters were to adopt the sitting position, load and make ready and engage either target with five rounds and, once completed, adopt the prone position, reload and engage the second target with a further five rounds. After all squads had completed the Practises came the hike up to the 300 yard firing-point. For those of you are not familiar with Diggle, it sits approximately 1000 feet above sea level in the foothills of the Pennines. Going out to 1000 yards it is rugged and would well suit the Armed forces as an alternative to Brecon and it left some of the less nimble and older shooters huffing and puffing somewhat. The 300 yard Practise again afforded shooters two sighting-shots with Practises 6 & 7.
Practise 4
200 yard Snaps. Ten, 3 second exposures of the fig.14 at various places within the shooters target area and then...
Neil Beeby makes the brass fly at 600 yards
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Practical Rifle
by Dave Tickle
Day Two
the day started misty except far denser
Sunday was designated as the long-range match - 8 Practises in total, two at 400,600,800 & 1000 yards yes folks those little black rifles aka mouse guns will and can shoot out to a 1000 yards. We allowed two sighting-shots at each distance. However, as this was the Nationals, I allowed it to be a two-gun match (short-range guns for the Saturday match and long-range guns for the Sunday match). The general choice for the long-range match being a good old Remmy 700 in 308 in various guises, with a couple of brave souls opting for a 338 Lapua Mag. and a brand new out of the box LMT. Todays start was a little more civilised - the plan to be booked-in, safety briefed and squadded and on the firing-point at approximately 08:15 ish. However, as with Saturday, the day started misty except far denser now and in danger of jeopardising the match. So, shooters took to drinking copious amounts of tea and coffee, talking about ballistics, powders, loads, grains, heads, whilst I took to patrolling the car park and range road and glaring at the clouds - willing them to lift and give us a glimpse of the long-range danger areas. Unsurprisingly the mist remained defiant and, as we were now burning good range time, I took the decision to come up with an abridged version of the match, if we were ever to get out on the range. This cunning plan was to shuffle all the Practises forward and shoot them at 400,500,600 & 700, which, at 9:30am when put to the waiting shooters, was accepted unanimously and the decision was made to wait until 11am before we abandoned the match. Thankfully, the weather gave us a few fleeting glimpses of the hill around an hour later, resulting in a
Practise 6
Being the Quick Change. Shooters start in the prone position with two magazines of 5-rounds on the ground. Fig.11 & 12c targets making one 40 second appearance, with the signal to load, make ready and start shooting is a 10 second exposure of a fig.14. Four rounds to count on the fig. 11 & 12c and two on the fig 14.
Practise 7
Is an old Diggle PR favourite. Shooters in the pronesupported position, rifles made ready with a magazine of 10 rounds and the fig.11 & 12c targets make one exposure of 10 seconds but shooting only commences on the appearance of the fig. 14 - which must be hit twice and then disappears before shooters may engage the two other targets with a maximum of four shots on each. That completed Saturdays course of fire and Saturday evening involved a social gathering of competitors the shooters at a local hostelry to wine, dine and hand out awards for day one and of course, re-live the highs and lows of the day... remembering the old shooters saying A hit is history and a miss is a mystery!
A 338 Barrett - an expensive way to make holes in paper... But it could have been good at 1000 yards
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mad scramble for shooters getting their gear together and onto the firing point. At 10:55 we were able to assemble the first squad on the 400 point whilst Eric ONeil was briefing his butt crew. 10:57 brought two sighting-shots shortly followed by;
Practical Rifle
by Dave Tickle
Practise 5 Long Range Choice.

One 60 second exposure of the targets with up to five shots to be fired on the left and right fig.11. During this, the fig.12 hand-held would make two 10 second exposures giving the opportunity for the shooter to engage with one shot for 10 points/hit (max. two hits). After a speedy change of shooters and butts team, we re-commenced the second rotation completing the match around 3:30pm. Whilst shooters enjoyed a late lunch, scores were compiled, checked and verified by 4.00pm for prize giving. Congratulations to Achim Dreyer, the winner for Sunday with Steve Smith (not the Meerkat one) and Steve Sheldon coming in second and third place respectively. (See pic below)
Practise 1
The 400 Twins. Two fig.11 targets on a triple (using the left and right targets, nothing for a centre hit), shooters had three, 10 second exposures to fire any number of shots but only 5 on each to count).
Practise 2
(Also at 400) The Attack. Ten, 3 second exposures of the fig.12 target hand-held at varying positions over the shooters target area one shot at each exposure, over a two-minute period. Practises 3 & 4 were at 500 this being a very easy transition compared to B range yesterday.
Overall results for the weekend.

Winner of the Rose Bowl
1st 2nd 3rd Nigel Greenaway Steve Sheldon Joe Cookson 633 points 575 points 558 points
Practise 3 The Stand Off.

Shooters standing alert with one, 15 second exposure adopt the prone supported position and engage the centre target with two shots (remaining in position) followed by four of 10 seconds - again two shots per exposure.
Practise 4 Four & Six.

Fired on the centre fig.11 but with four 10 inch steel plates in an individually marked box (our normal plate box split by means of mil surplus white mine tape and identified by a number above) which had to be completely knocked down before engaging the fig.11 all within a 50 second exposure time. During another easy transition to 600 yards it was decided that as time was against us and some of our shooters having a long drive home, we sadly decided to stop the match at Practise 5 and rotate teams to allow all competitors the opportunity to shoot the match, a decision that was not taken lightly.
Many thanks to Eric ONeil, Pete Russell, Ian Lord, Phil Gibbon, Steve Smith and Chris Fleischhack for all their help before and during the weekend and all competitors making for a great weekend. Also grateful thanks to Julian & Chris of the Church Inn for their excellent hosting on the Saturday evening.
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Rimfire Benchrest
A Wind-reading Master Class by Craig Young
the way from Inverness! To my knowledge, this type of course had never been done before in the UK and I guess we were all a bit nervous to start with but, once underway, we were on a roll. We spent the morning talking about wind-flags and how to set them up and the basic reading of them - some myths were also put to bed. We also talked about ammunition, cleaning and handling a rifle and various technical details to do with the sport. The great aspect of this course was the sharing of information with others. If youve done well in your sport and have an interest in helping others coming along, then you need to constantly learn. It doesnt matter what the question is, even if youre a beginner - having a bunch of people together gives a platform to talk and try to understand. You hopefully come away with a boost to your confidence, which helps when you have to take those all-important crucial shots. Forums and websites can be a place to learn but, you cant beat sitting down with someone of Craigs calibre and looking at equipment, understanding how it works and how to improve it. Craig used and tested rifles to ensure tuning was accurate, something that shooters can struggle with. Its these tit-bits of not-socommon information that can and do help on the day! One shooter having major problems with his rifle and, although he had purchased something to make his rifle better, he had misunderstood what the seller was saying to him. Now, he has a better understanding and was offered help in getting it right. You cant get something like that off a forum - only by be being hands-on are you able to see and understand the problem. The afternoon was spent shooting and having a one to one help with Craig. Having someone watching you as you shoot and making suggestions of how to improve and trying different techniques behind the rifle - some that youve never tried before - can only be beneficial to your shooting technique. Many of the participants found this very useful, making the point that its like having a second pair of eyes to help with personal understanding. We all came away with a few new tricks that we had not thought of and participants
A Wind-reading Master Class

By Craig Young Shooters in the benchrest community love not just their sport but the camaraderie that goes with it and Saturday the 11th August saw a first in the United Kingdom - a specialist course for rimfire benchrest shooting. Here was an opportunity to get together for a day, have some fun and glean some priceless information that will hopefully improve our shooting.
Craig Young (left) with Carl Boswell .
Craig Young from the USA had offered to run the course whilst over in this country on his visit to the Olympic Games and pass on his knowledge of shooting rimfire benchrest for the past twelve years. With Craigs input, we put together a one-day course that we called Mastering the Wind, held at Portishead Shooting Club just outside Bristol. Although aimed primarily at rimfire benchrest shooters, the course reached out to wider range of competitors, including air rifle shooters eager to pick up some tips. We also had a lady Prone Rifle coach all
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will go away eager to test these out to see what works for them. We asked all those who took part for feedback and so far, its all been positive. The course was held under the umbrella of the NSRA and, in the future, we may see more courses developed to encompass other aspects of the sport, specifics on air rifle and/or rimfire etc.
Rimfire Benchrest
A Wind-reading Master Class by Craig Young
We would like to thank Craig personally for taking time out from his holiday and provide his expertise. We would also like to thank Ken Stockham and Portishead SC for the use of their range and Andy Dubreuil gets ready to shoot... facilities. Last, but not least, thanks to those shooters who came along to the course, especially since it was just about the best day of the year weather-wise - they could have been on the beach somewhere!
Craig will next be in Europe in 2013, visiting and shooting at a variety of venues on the continent. Start booking now!
Looking down the range - Plenty of indicators...
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Kelbly 179mmX130mm
6/16/10
7:16 AM
Page 1
Introducing Kelblys Tactical Rifles. bringing benchrest precision to the tactical market. With loads of options to choose from, and pricing that shatters the competitors.
Introducing the first hunting and tactical scopes with 10 times power ratio on a variable scope. March 1x-10x-24mm and 2.5x-25x-42mm. 1/4 clicks and 25 MOA per revolution. All lenses in scopes are cemented in place, and do not rely on O rings to hold point of aim. Argon gas purged.
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Dolphin Repeating Rifles Dolphin Stock in Hard Anodise Choice of Long F/TR, Short or Open front forend With Morgan recoil pad Choice of colours available Barnard SM or RPA Quadlite Timney Trigger (Jewel 40 extra) 17 or 25 moa scope rail Bartlein, Lilja or Krieger barrel (Choice of twist & profile) Choice of calibre available 5 Round AICS magazine
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Dolphin Single Shot F/TR Rifles

Dolphin Single Shot Rifles. (Two above). Dolphin Stock in Hard Anodise Choice of Long F/TR, Short or Open front forend With Morgan recoil pad Choice of colours available Barnard S or RPA Quadlite Timney Trigger (Jewel 40 extra) 17 or 25 moa scope rail Bartlein, Lilja or Krieger barrel Choice of twist & profile Choice of .223 Rem or .308 Win or any other calibre suitable for a 308 bolt. WEIGHT 6.5Kg (with med Palma Barrel)
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Options - (Only when ordered with Rifle) Spiral Flute Barrel 160 Straight Flute Barrel 120 Interrupted Flute Barrel 160 Duracoat Barrel 60 Water Transfer Print stock 180 Dolphin Trakker Rest(long) 150 Dolphin Trakker Rest(short) 140 Dolphin Muzzle brake 100 Long F/TR additional forend 100 Short additional forend 80 Open/Bench rest Style forend 140 VAIS style Muzzle Brake 120 Thread for Moderator; 60
Including fitting , proof and invisible end cap.
2360 including VAT

LATEST NEWS Stocks now available individually inlet for Remington 700, Barnard S & SM & RPA Quadlite. Coming soon ~ Savage. Only 630 inc VAT. Folding modular stock version coming soon. Keep visiting our website for latest products...
Holland Style Muzzle brake;

Including fitting & proof .
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All prices inc VAT
Dolphin Gun Company - Southwold - Donington on Bain - Lincolnshire - LN11 9TR - England Telephone +44 (0) 1507 343898 or +44 (0) 774 7771962. www.dolphinguncompany.co.uk - mik@mikdolphin.demon.co.uk
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October 2012 Issue

JOE WEST STOCKS REVIEW Shooting News

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The Choice of Champions

1 Click 0.05 Mil Turrets

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Contents Continued & More...

Page 74 DISABLED NEWS Pages 70 & 76 RIMFIRE BENCHREST Page 104

Delta SJA Belgrade

Israels Tal Shapira finished in third place in Ladys Open Division.

Scope rings, rails, moderators, bipods and much more!

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The hefty PU mounting plate.

Born in the U.S.S.R.

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