Triffid

As someone said, you can't shoot .338LM at Bisley. As you've worked out, this means a trip elsewhere and of course joining another Club. Personally I can't see the point of spending ££££ on a rifle that I can't use on my local range. However there are ballistically very similar cartridges which you can shoot at Bisley, albeit under the HME restrictions. The limit is 3281fps and or 7000J, which makes the 'sweet-spot' a 210-220 grain bullet at 3280-3250fps. A strong contender in this category is the 300 Norma Magnum: you won't be seriously out-classed alongside the 338's when you get out to the Mile, but you can still shoot it every weekend if you want to (and can afford the barrels). Triffid

This article goes into pressure signs. https://www.primalrights.com/library/articles/understanding-pressure "Ejector ring is basically ejector wipe, without the wipe! With ejector ring, you can see the imprint of the ejector relief in the bolt face, but the brass is not subsequently smeared upon extraction. This can be due to the case rotating with the bolt as the bolt is rotated rather than the case being stuck in place. A false positive reading of ejector ring can be caused by sharp or jagged edges on the ejector relief. Some polishing compound and or light filing can usually take care of this. " Triffid

I think you need to check your arithmatic. 25p looks about right to me. Triffid

Thanks Ronin, that looks like a great method of doing it to get an accurate case volume measurement, but given my experience with meths/water/rise-aid etc, I'd be concerned that there is entrapped air and/or bubbles within the case. How repeatable is that method? Have you tried it measuring case volume at different bullet seating depths to 'calibrate' the volume against seating depth with that particular bullet? However I'm doing this to batch my cases according to volume, and the exact figure isn't important. So the upturned case method is not really suitable. Triffid

I have revisited my experiment since May, using some of the ideas above. I've now got the variation on re-weighing a single case down to a few milligrams - perhaps 0.05 grain - so well worth doing. The technique I used is 1. Use Meths. It's great. No bubbles to contend with and the cases dry out quickly afterwards. I even give the case a good shake when its part filled to 'wet' the inside - this gives lots of bubble with water/detergent/rinse-aid, but none with meths. 2. Get the light right using a flexible task lamp. 3. Move the scales so the top of the case is at eye height. 4. Get a hypo-needle and syringe from ebay, This makes the amount of liquid you add very controllable compared to a plastic dropper pipette. 5. There's a 'sweet spot' when you're filling a case when the meniscus is completely flat. Trying to hit the same amount of curvature on the meniscus didn't work for me. You can only see the 'sweet spot' when the light is right and your eye is at the right level. Sounds all complicated, but I weighed 120 cases in an hour. Just got to get to the range now to see whether it makes much difference in reality! Triffid

Use a resin fixing alongside threaded studs. https://www.screwfix.com/c/screws-nails-fixings/resin-fixings/cat840022 Triffid

DPD for Europe, UPS for America. Internally I usually use Collect+. Cheap and never let me down. And never EVER (again) Parcelfarce! Triffid

Yes, but the devil's in the detail. I squash the bullet a little with a hammer first to make sure it's oversize, and lubricate the barrel first. It should be a pure lead bullet, as alloyed ones are too hard(?). And don't use the steel end of the cleaning rod, make sure you've got it covered with a brass jag or similar. Triffid

Here's a great resource for reloading the 44. http://www.gmdr.com/lever/lowveldata.htm One of the keys to using cast bullets is an accurate fit - 2 thou greater that the barrel I think is the normal recomendation and the reason why various diameter bullets are available. I recall the Shellhouse will size to whatever you want. But you have to slug your barrel first. Triffid

Back onto original subject . . . I spent quite a few hours a couple of months ago trying to batch a load of 6.5cm cases by volume, because of exactly the issue Pops is talking about Over 50 cases, I got a range of 52.0 to 52.9 gn water capacity. However I decided to look at how repeatable my measurements were, weighing ten cases twice each. I found my measurements varied by up to 0.2 gn, which rendered the whole process rather pointless. I tried using some rinse-aid in the water to drop the meniscus effect, but that made little difference. Possibly my eyesight just isn't good enough to give the consistency I need! So now the offending cases are still sitting on my desk. My next plan is to try a completely different liquid and I was thinking of meths. I'm not bothered by the exact figure it gives, just that it's repeatable. Triffid

If you do run out of adjustment length for your die/press setup, the easy fix is to mount the lock ring on the underside of the press, instead of on top. I've had this problem using Lee dies in a Dillon 550 press. Triffid

I did a bit of looking on some US forums. There is some talk of discrepancies when the battery is running low, with suggestions that using an external battery. I have no experience with the Labradar, but those first shot on each string being consistently 50-60fps lower than the next nine makes me think that it's the instrument. Triffid

You're focusing on the ammunition. Could it be something to do with the chronograph instead? Is there a delay between each string? I recall Laurie Holland experiencing something like that in his primer tests. Triffid

Gardners version: FCSA version: There's a third party involved here. Triffid

If you just want a spring, try this company. https://springsandthings.me.uk/ I wanted a lighter spring for my Howa HACT trigger. They had ones the right diameter, in different thicknesses of wire and cut to any length you want. Delivered the next day for a couple of quid. Job done. Triffid

Have you seen this review? https://ultimatereloader.com/2019/04/08/fourteen-reloading-presses-compared-single-stage-shootout/15/ Triffid

Cut & Paste job There has been a lot of speculation and mis-understanding so here is an account of what has happened regarding Eskdalemuir 2 Mile Range. Marc Gardner set up the range in partnership with the landowner over 2 years ago and it was an incredible achievement involving a significant amount of work and site meetings with all the authorities necessary to get the Approvals and permissions in place. Whilst the firing point and targets themselves are all sited within the boundaries of Over Cassock Farm, the Range Danger Area encompasses neighboring properties for which Marc had taken on the Lease for sporting rights, alongside this, the neighboring landowner gave Marc and his club, Gardners Guns Rifle Range permission to use the additional landmass for use as the RDA and to 'Over shoot'. Two years and a lot of blood, sweat and tears later and the range was starting to gain worldwide renown with bookings for both our club and outside clubs increasing and interest from all over Europe to use the facility for specific training events, then the owner of Over Cassock dropped a bombshell on us just before Christmas saying he was going to close the facility and we would need to vacate by 31st March 2020. Obviously we were upset, however, we have had another range in development for the past 8 months that was aimed at being a purpose built College of Policing Training facility which we could utilize for our membership instead, so plans were made to move our base of operations to the new site for a seamless transfer at the end of March. As part of the Scottish Government Home Office Approval for Eskdalemuir 2 Mile Range and our club, we are legally required to notify them of any changes including a move of venue, which we have done, we also had to notify Police Scotland Firearms dept, and due to the fact we were in the middle of a planning application on the site which needed to be withdrawn, Dumfries and Galloway Council were notified also. Our own firearms dept, Cumbria Constabulary have also been notified as they are in charge of our club on the other side of the border. Moving forward to just after Christmas and we were told by our club members that they had been told by the farm manager of Over Cassock that the range wouldn't in fact be closing but that the FCSA were taking over instead and we were told that this had been negotiated between the FCSA and landowner for a number of months previously. At this point we tried, without success to point out to the involved parties that the range could not exist without the additional permissions given to Marc personally, and via the lease, due to Over Cassock not having sufficient landmass for a legally required Range Danger Area, and requested that the landowner reconsider his position with regards to asking Gardners Guns Rifle Range Club to withdraw. We have received no replies to this other than a change of date asking us to withdraw by 12th Feb instead of the previously agreed 31st March. Following on from several phone calls to Marc this weekend it is apparent that FCSA have gone public with their intention to take over the range despite our advise that it is no longer fit for purpose, and Marc was contacted by Police Scotland advising us to ensure non of our club members shoot at Over Cassock as the range is no longer fit for purpose. Going forward...... GGRR Club members will still have a long range shooting facility, no need to panic, just drop me an email for more info helen.gardnersguns@gmail.comMarc is confident that any of you that has previously visited our 2 Mile range will have their socks blown off at the new one!

Firstly work out whether you prefer Mils or MOA's. Then whether First Focal Plane or Second. Once your armed with this information, the number of scopes in your list will be much smaller. Also what magnification you want - at 1000m I use about 20-25x magnification, but others in my club like it higher. For 1000m you'd benefit from scopes with fine adjustment in the turret- I've found the 0.25 minute clicks are too coarse, so use 0.125 minute ones. At 1000m bullet drop on my favourite 6.5CM load is around 35MoA, so you'll need a scope with at least 70MoA of vertical adjustment and I'd suggest 100MoA would be more sensible OR get a rifle with a 20MoA rail. A friend has a Tik-Tak in 6.5CM and apparently they don't take replacement rails very easily, so he struggles with it at 1000x and will have to resort to swopping-out his favorite scope for one with greater elevation or using the adjustable Burris Signature mounts (which I've found to be a bit of a pain in the neck). Talking of mounts, don't forget to budget for a decent set. The cheapest I'd go for are the Warne ones, which I've found reliable, but you can go much more £££ than them. As for a brand, that's really personal choice. I like Sightron SIII 's so much I've got two. Others in my club love their Vortex's, IOR's etc. If you want something European, don't be scared of second-hand. Reticule choice is similarly a personal choice, but if you want to do more tactical shooting at different ranges, then the more complex reticules are better. Triffid

I've just done my first bedding job and am very please with the result. I used Devcon (from ebay) and pretty much followed Nathan Foster's technique, which is on YouTube. Assuming your rifle has a wooden stock, you might be better using Acraglass or Acragel as you can dye the bedding compound brown; Devcon is a medium grey colour. Triffid

2720 fps. Sierra 142gr SMK. 41.5gr H4350. Triffid

With the Howard Leigh ones, when you get them make sure they are the genuine ones, not fakes. See here how to identify the fakes: https://canadianfirearmsblog.ca/identifying-counterfeit-impact-sport/ I bought a pair from Amazon for my wife: when I checked them out they were fake. They had no padding inside the shells at all, so were about as effective as holding a plastic cup over your ears. Amazon refunded no question. Assuming you've got genuine ones, you can get gel ear pads for them: I've tried these and found they make a big difference to the comfort of the ear defenders. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Honeywell-ZOHAN-Replacement-Defenders-Protectors/dp/B07G9BNFY4 I've tried the CENS in-ear ones electronic ones which ate batteries and I found uncomfortable. I wear a pair of Peltor SportTac's which are comfortable and effective, but they don't deal with indoor shooting well. I also keep a pair on Sonic Aid ear plugs in the car in reserve and a pair of Decathlon own-brand electronic ones as loaders for when I'm coaching. Triffid

There is a simple way of aligning scopes with no equipment other than the rifle . . . Firstly make sure its unloaded, for reasons which will become obvious later. Fit the scope in its rings with the eye-relief correct. Tighten the rings so they gently grip the scope, but still allow you to rotate it. With the rifle-muzzle pointing straight upwards and the rifle butt on the floor, align the middle of the toe and heel of the rifle butt along a line on the floor - a floorboard join or a straight line drawn on a piece of paper. Look down the scope the 'wrong' way so you're looking at the floor. You should be able to see the reticle superimposed on the flood-board join. Rotate the scope until they are parallel and tighten up. This takes a few seconds to do and aligns the scope with the stock of the rifle (which you hold!) rather than its action. Triffid

Thanks Rob, Tikka rail arrived safely. Triffid

I will take the 20MoA picatinny rail please. PM inbound Triffid

I was there on Saturday morning, not taking part in the F-Class Championship, but with a target at the extreme right of Stickledown all to myself. Apart from a rather fickle wind, what I did notice was a constant stream of Italian competitors coming to relieve themselves into the heather at the side of the range! Congrats to Furrybean. Triffid