This Weeks Sharpshooter

This weeks Sharpshooter blog is out.

Barbour Partridge Shooting Game

This is an addictive game from Barbour.

Random Website of the Month

Rate My Tweed

The Differences Between Weaver and Picatinny Rails

Ever wondered what the difference between a Weaver and a Picatinny rail is? This article from Brownells explains all.

Essentially because the Picatinny Rail is covered by a Mil-Std they should all be the same otherwise they are not a Picatinny rail. Weaver rails however, can vary in size depending on the manufacturer.

The Figures below are the dimensions of a Picatinny rail.

Zeroing - How to Zero in Two Shots

The method below should get you on target in 2 shots saving time, ammo and barrel life.

1. Set your rifle up on something solid where it will stay on target without any support. A good set of bags is best.
2. Remove the bolt and boresight the rifle. Sighting through the bore aim the barrel at the target (I've found a 2" black dot on a white background at 100yds  or  4" dot at 200yds is best). make sure the rifle maintains this position.
3. Without moving the rifle, click the reticle onto the target.
4. Fire a shot as you normally would either off your bipod, bags, freehand or whatever.
5. Set the rifle up in a rest as you did for number 1.
6. This time aim the scope at the target. Make sure the rifle maintains it's position.
7. Without moving the rifle click the reticle onto the BULLET HOLE.
8. Your rifle should now be zeroed.
9. Fire a second shot or preferably a group to confirm your zero.

The Secrets of the Houston Warehouse

The Secrets of the Houston Warehouse article is a very interesting read about pure, unaffected rifle accuracy. It's written by benchrest shooters so it's heavily centred around benchrest shooting but I think most shooters will find it interesting.

What gets me though is the fact they had a 300yd indoor range unaffected by wind etc and they spent most of their time messing about at 100yds!

iSnipe is back!

The latest update of iSnipe has brought back the old functionality. The one of the previous updates introduced a new user interface that made iSnipe difficult to use quickly and therefore made it useless in the field. It also introduced a few bugs which stopped some of the features such as the shot incline working properly.

This new update has brought back the option of having the old user interface which is much easier and quicker to use. It has also fixed (as far as I can tell so far) all the bugs.

Shooting Skirt

Here's a novel idea.



I've been thinking of something similar to hold my anemometer whilst target shooting.

Available here.

Shooting Blogs

Some interesting blogs:

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/

http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/gun-nut

http://www.nrablog.com/

http://thepackingrat.net/

http://jamesmarchington.blogspot.com/

If only we were allowed them

We might not be allowed them but the Brownells AR-15 Builder is still fun to play with:

Barrel Life Calculator

Here's a useful tool from 6mm-BR a Barrel Life Calculator. Don't expect it to give you an exact to the bullet estimate of when your barrel will be shot out but it will give you a starting point.

There are a lot of other things to consider like alloys and what you consider to be poor accuracy too. In my experience it give low estimates but is a good comparison tool for lets say deciding what calibre to go for.

NB: The powder heat potential list is in the comment in the cell you enter the heat potential in.

New Sharpshooter Blog Out

This weeks Sharpshooter blog is out.

OnTarget Precision Calculator

OnTarget Precision Calculator can be used to accurately measure groups. The target image is imported from a scanner or camera. Target distance and hole size are defined, then circles are positioned over the bullet holes. Group information is automatically calculated and displayed.

V1.1 is FREE too.

How to Chamber a Barrel

I wouldn't recommned having a go at chambering your own barrel unless you are confident in what you are doing but the following articles will give you an idea of how other people do it:
http://www.riflebarrels.com/articles/50calibre/chambering_50cal_rifle_barrels.htm

http://www.homegunsmith.com/cgi-bin/ib3/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=1;t=17186

Long Range Hunting June Articles Out Now

The June Articles from Long Range Hunting are available on their website now.

Guns Magazine

I can't believe I haven't seen this one before now. Guns Magazine is an American subscription magazine but with free digital editions. The August edition is out now and free to read online. I've also added it to my links page.

Being an American mag, it features those things we're not allowed anymore quite heavily but still an interesting mag. There are also quite a few back issues online too.

Long Range Shooting Game

Great for when your bored at your desk and would rather be out shooting, this game is a long range shooting simulation that give you the chance to practice your mil-dot ranging and wind/elevation corrections etc. The full version is better but the demos are good too.

Top 10 iPhone Shooting Apps

The top 10 apps for shooters:

10.  iSnipe - This used to be my favourite ballistics app until one of the recent updates. The user interface was one of the best and it has some nice features as well as being very accurate at predicting elevation and windage out to long ranges. The latest updates have made it slow to use so it's no longer practical in the field, hence it's demotion to number 10.

9. BulletFlight - Another ballistic app. Nice user interface and uses once of the most accurate ballistic calculators available but the high cost keeps it down at number 9 because it doesn't offer anything more than some of the cheaper ballistic apps.

8. Modern Weapons Small Arms - An encyclopedia of guns. Useful facts about most firearms that you never needed to know. Has come in useful for settling debates at the range a few times though. Only really covers military firearms. Would be better if it covered sporting firearms too.

7. Army Sniper - The U.S. Army’s official field manual in an app. Army Sniper includes over 800 pages of content.

6. Histance - Not really a shooting app but it can be used as a GPS range finder. Select a "New Location", choose the location on the map, drop the pin and it will tell you the straight line distance between you and the pin. And its free.

5. Shot Group Calculator - Take a pic of your group and then with a bit of drop and drag it will work out your group size and other useful statistics. A little bit expensive for what it is at £5.99 but still a nice app.

4. Wind Meter - This app works by directly measuring the volume of wind flowing over your iPhone microphone and converting it into an effective wind speed reading. Although it will never be as good as a dedicated anemometer, it is fairly accurate based on the comparisons I've done so far.

3. Density Altitude Calculator - The name pretty much says it all. Doesn't automatically get the information needed which would be a nice feature, so you need to have it all before and enter it manually, and doesn't accept humidity. Otherwise a great app for shooters, even without humidity it will get you reasonably close and hopefully the next update will correct for this.

2. ShotPlot - From the producers of iSnipe. A way of recording your shots/scores on a variety of different targets. It will also work out statistics, do mil-dot ranging and unit conversions. There are similar apps that do this but this one is by far the easiest to use.

1. Ballistic FTE - Simply the best ballistic app for the iPhone. Has the best calculator and features ad once you get used to how it works, it is the easiest and fastest to use. Has all the features (and more) of BulletFlight but at nearly half the price. Make sure you get the Field and Tactical Edition (FTE) with the HUD though.

Sharshooter Blog out

The 15th June Sharpshooter blog is out now.

Must be one of the few "naturalists" that talk sense.

Bushnell Fusion 1600 Rangefinder Binoculars Review

Summary:

Good build quality and optics with fantastic rangefinding performance at a third of the price of the nearest competitor.


Earlier this year I bought a pair of Leupold RXB-IV Rangefinder Binoculars. The first time I took them out I managed about 3 or 4 readings before the battery went flat. No big deal I thought, must have come with a duff battery. I was initially impressed that they came with a battery but anyway......... I replaced the battery and tried again only for the same to happen again. The same happened the third time. I though the chances of three batteries being flat are slim so I did an internet search for Leupold RXB faults which returned quite a few results of people experiencing similar problems, including one review that said out of 21 units 11 were defective!

I contacted the Sportsman Gun Centre where I bought the Leupold's and explained the situation. They arranged to send them back for repair or exchange. After about a month I got a reply that because they were no longer being made they could not be repaired and did I want to swap them for one of Leupold's rangefinder monoculars? NO! There was a reason I bought binoculars and not a normal monocular type range finder. I like to carry as little gear around with me as possible and the bino's are 2 in 1.

After a bit of haggling with SGC I negotiated a deal to pay a bit more towards a pair of Bushnell Fusion 1600 Rangefinder Binoculars (I would just like to say at this point what great service I received from SGC. They bent over backwards to sort the problem as quickly as possible).

Now for the review bit. I've been using the Bushnell's now for about 6 months and I am very impressed. The optical quality is not quite swarovski standard but they are not far behind and for the money they are brilliant.

A while back I used them during an unknown distance comp out to ranges of 800+ yds on steel fig 11 targets. It was quite a foggy day and other people using Leica Geovid's and similar were struggling to get readings through the conditions but the Bushnell's works flawlessly in all but the worse fog. As long as you could see the target it would give you a reading.

The best reading I have had so far from them is 1536yds off a tree trunk which is pretty amazing when you consider that Bushnell only claim performance on trees etc (non-reflective targets) out to 1000yds. Previous rangefinders I've owned have never been as good as the manufacturer claims but in this case they actually exceed the claimed performance.

The SCAN, Brush and BullsEye modes are nice features too. Depending on what mode you have them in (which is easy to select with the 2 button operation) you can set them up to ignore certain targets. The different modes are described in more detail in the instruction manual.

All the controls and adjustments are easy to use even with gloves on. They are big enough to be easily worked but not so big as to be accidentally operated. The unit as a whole is mostly well though through.

Features:

• Rated range from 10 to 1600 yards
• Bow mode: provides line-of-sight, angle and true horizontal distance from 10-99 yds
• Rifle mode: provides line-of-sight, angle, and bullet-drop info for most of today’s popular calibers
• VSI (Variable Sight-In) allows sight-in distance options of 100, 150, 200 or 300 yards sight-in distance in rifle mode
• Continuous scan and prioritization modes to go with the first return or distant returns
• 10x magnification
• 42 mm objective lens
• Selective Targeting System - Automatic SCAN, BullsEye & Brush modes
• Multicoated optics and RainGuard (R) lens coating for maximum performance
• Uses 1 CR2 lithium battery for long life
• Accurate within 1 yard

Well, that's all the good bits but I do have a few niggles with the Bushnells.

One thing I liked about the Leupolds was that they gave you the horizontal distance equivalent out to their maximum range. The Bushnells will only give you this out to 99 yds in bow mode. Admittedly you can use the built in ballistic calculator to give you the corrected drops but these are only for standard cartridges at certain velocities and chances are that your calibre won't match exactly. I prefer to use my own drop charts anyway which is why I would like to know the horizontal distance. The Bushnells do give you the angle though so it's not difficult to work it out.

Depending on how close your eyes are together the display will be at an angle. The display is designed so that the display is level when the bino's are at their widest. If the lenses are any closer together it appears at an angle. Again, I'm being pedantic really but still it would be nice if it were level.

The display can be quite dull if it is a bright day or at certain backgrounds. It is still readable (just) in the brightest conditions but a if it were a little brighter it would be better.

They are heavier than your average bino's of a similar size but then they are lighter and less bulky than a pair of bono's and a separate range finder. This is also partly due to the excellent build standard. They do feel as though they are well put together and could stand a fair amount of abuse. Good for me as I am good at breaking kit.

For:

• Quality Optics
• Performance at very long range
• Price
• Lot of features
• No need to carry a separate rangefinder
• Variable Sight-In
• Build quality

Against:

• Fairly heavy
• Display at an angle depending on distance between lenses
• Only gives horizontal distance out to 99 yds
• Display could be brighter

The Dreaded Donut

The Dreaded Donut or Doughnut seems to have come up in general shooting conversations quite a lot recently, but there doesn't seem to be that much information on the internet about the subject, other than a few forum conversations, so I thought I'd write a bit about them.

Donuts form because the brass on the shoulder of a case is thicker than the brass in the neck. Donuts can be created in a couple of ways:

1. When a case is necked up more brass is required to form the larger calibre neck. This brass comes from the thicker shoulder brass. As you enlarge the neck part of the shoulder becomes the neck.
2. When a shot is fired there is always amount of brass flow from the shoulder area into the neck. This is why we have to trim our cases occasionally. This flow of brass from the shoulder to the neck could cause the formation of donuts which will get worse after each firing.

In both cases it is the thicker brass of the shoulder entering the neck that creates a donut.
 
There are two main ways of dealing with donuts. You can either internally or externally turn your necks to remove the donut or you can seat your bullets so they don't contact the donut. If you chose to remove the donuts you can use either a standard neck turning tool once the neck has been sized or an internal reamer such as the Forster Neck Reamer once the case has been fired.
 
The links below have more information on the subject:

http://home.comcast.net/~jesse99/6XC_DonutCutter.html

http://home.comcast.net/~jesse99/donuts.html

http://home.comcast.net/~jesse99/doughnuts.html

http://www.6mmbr.com/260aiforming.html

New Sharpshooter Blog out

 

The 8th June Sharshooter Blog is now available on the Shooting Times website.

Long Barreled Pistol Test Case

There has been an interesting development in the law regarding LBPs. See here for more details.

Pressure Signs - Truths and Myths

There is an interesting post on 6mm-BR today about pressure signs. It discusses which commonly used pressure indicators are reliable and which aren't.

New Links

I've added some new links to the links page.

The Diggle Egg Shoot 2011

On the 30th May the annual Diggle Egg Shoot took place. This year because it is Diggle's 150th Anniversary they were planning on holding a special one off, never to be repeated 1000yd shoot but because of lack of interest this was cancelled at the last minute and the usual 100, 300, 500yd comp was held instead.

Despite the weather which was appalling there was a good turn out. About 30 people attended this years egg shoot.

Because of the weather it was decided to shoot from the covered firing points. I much prefer firing prone but under the covered firing point you have to fire off benches which I have to say Diggle has some of the better ones that I've used.

The course of fire was the same as usual for the first two rounds. 3 shots from 100 and 300yds at a gopher target for score and group. Usually the last target round is shot at 500yds but because of the weather everyone voted to move back to 600yds and use the covered firing point, so rounds three and four were 3 shots at the same gopher target as used at 100 and 300yds for group and score and 1 shot at a chicken egg at 600yds.

The thing I like about the egg shoot is no sighters or wind flags are allowed. So although it is known distances you must know your drops and be good at wind reading without any aids, much like you would if you were hunting. There is also an element of KYL (know your limits) in that the head is worth more than the body target on the gopher but is a smaller target. So there is potential for a very high score if you think you can hit the smaller target but if it goes wrong you have more chance of scoring nothing. Considering that some people haven't even hit the paper at 500yds before it's easy to get zero at the longer distances.

Wind wasn't a problem this year, unlike previous years. What little there was, was coming straight down range from 12 o clock but on the firing point you couldn't feel any, which I think will have helped a few (including myself) with the scores this year. Usually even if there is not much wind it can be tricky to read it at Diggle.

Prizes are given for group at each range as well as an overall prize for best score and to anyone who breaks the egg. The results will be published in next July's Target Shooter.

New Sharpshooter Blog out

The 3rd June Sharshooter Blog is now available on the Shooting Times website.

RCBS Launch ReloaderHub.com

RCBS have launch a new website called ReloaderHub.com. At first glance this looks like a high quality website and a useful reloading tool. It has some nice features like the Reloading Calculator which will work out the cost of your reloads if you know the cost of the components. Being American though this is calculated it dollars although if you ignore the $ sign and enter the price in pounds it will still give you the correct price per reload. Another nice feature is the regular Competition's that RCBS intend to run regularly. This month there is chance to win an RCBS Reloading Starter Kit.

Having had a quick look around it seems a bit crude as a source of reloading info. Trying to find reloading data is not easy as it is submitted in a forum format and as a result is littered with general forum chat too. But, as the site is only a couple of months old I'm sure the problems will be sorted out over time.

Case Dimensions

If you are building a rifle or you are a reloader it can be useful or even essential to know your case dimensions. The best place to get this information is from SAAMI who were set up to maintain standards in the Firearms industry.

They have case/chamber dimensions/drawings for most rifle, pistol and shotgun cartridges on their website and for even a few of the more popular wildcats. They also have some useful resources such as a table of unsafe chamber and cartridge combinations. This is not to say that other combinations that are not listed are safe.

Anyway, its well worth looking at their new (ish) website.

New issue of Shooting Sports USA out

The June Issue of Shooting Sports USA is out now.

New issue of Target Shooter

The June Issue of Target Shooter is out now.