Catch-22

US scopes are ITAR restricted.

You'll need to purchase from a UK dealer who has gone through the proper ITAR export process. You can do the export paperwork yourself (I’ve done this) but it’s lengthy, costs a fair bit and is a bit of a hassle (especially just for a scope).

Dies are fine.

Rangerfinders I think it depends. The powerful ones (eg Vectronix) will be ITAR restricted (same as scopes) but the cheaper (and arguably less useful ones) may not be. I don’t know for sure.

Personally I wouldn’t risk trying to bring through anything, except for dies, in your luggage without the right licenses. You could end up in the clink State side!

I too use a dry lube for the inside of the necks now I US clean. A little swipe of a cotton bud dipped in HbN (which I use for bullet coating) works well.

Here’s a article on Accurate Shooter about this very issue:

http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2013/05/ultrasonic-cleaning-case-neck-friction-and-bullet-seating/

You can order direct from: (think Thomas is one of the founders)

https://-.no/int/thlr/thlr-field-shooting-mat

What’s does Hornadys website suggest?

Edit: admittedly not a whole lot. Pretty poor that a major bullet manufacturer fails to publish suggested twist rates for their products on the website. 
They used to put them on the box, like Berger does. Do they still do that anymore?

1 hour ago, No i deer said:

So what mix would I need for cleaning brass and what mix would I need too clean my stainless muzzle brakes and mod..?

Refer to the thread I linked you to in the comments above. In there is simple instructions for a good U/S solution.

Personally, I think as license holders we all have a duty to ensure anyone in possession of a firearm is doing so safely. Safety is the primary consideration. 

I would say that if you know this character would never be granted a certificate (because of his character) then there’s a potential danger to the safety of others. 

If it were me and I knew someone who shouldn’t / isn’t permitted to possess a firearm, then goes and does something stupid with it (or just has an accident) and someone gets hurt, it would play on my conscience that I didn’t say or do something about it.

There’s also the potential of negative publicity to the firearms community if something happens. We all know that when something bad happens in the news, there’s always a crack down and tightening of the laws against law abiding certificate holders. We all get tarnished with the same brush. By nipping it in the bud and letting the police sort it out before it becomes a public matter, is definitely better for the shooting community.

The issue will be that he or others may discover that you spoke to the police about it, which could make it tricky for you (some characters can be like that). But I’d argue the safety of others is paramount.

Went down the same route recently.

Some good advice was given. In the end I went with a 3L U/S cleaner. I can clean about 200x 6.5x47 cases at one time or maybe 85x .338NM cases. It easily fit two muzzle brakes. It would fit a smaller moderator but probably wouldn’t do my long and chunky OLC .338 moddy.

With the above in mind, I’d suggest going for a 6L or larger U/S cleaner.

Got bulk acid and bicarbonate off eBay for cheap.

And a food dehydrator as mentioned was helpful. Can dry loads of cases at once. Just fit my brakes. Definitely wouldn’t fit a moddy though. 

Links to the kit I got in the following thread.

http://ukvarminting.com/topic/47369-ultrasonic-cleaners-recommendations/

I agree - the TM is great and does work very well.

But for me it comes down to time and convenience.

The TM works well but I found it takes quite a while to throw each charge, settle, trickle/adjust, settle. Also as I don’t have a dedicated reloading room (use the dining room table) it takes a bit of time to properly setup for each reloading session. 

The Autothrow/Autotricker with A&D scale throws arguably a more accurate charge more quickly. And setup time for each reloading session is just less faffing...for me anyway.

Just my opinion and no bashing intended.

Very interesting, unusual and not something I’ve seen done to a T3 before.

When the rifle is shouldered, how easy is it to manipulate the bolt fully? Or do you use the left hand to hold the rifle by the forearm, pop the butt out of the shoulder pocket and then cycle the bolt?

good luck with it!

Boom 💥

Wow, surprised these haven’t gone yet 🍿👀

It all happens in a fraction of a second. The moddy overgasses the barrel, forcing a back pressure as already noted. 

Bet you if you shoot the same load with brake or nothing on the end, you won’t have any sooty cases, other than the ‘sine-wave’ on the necks. With the moddy, you’ll continue getting the sooty cases.

If you’ve had the moddy a while but this is the first time it’s started doing this, it could be your mod needs an internal clean, especially around the initial blast chamber and first set of baffles. Maybe there’s a buildup of carbon in there which is aiding the over-gassing??

So you’re saying cases were more sooty with the moderator, less sooty with the brake?

That makes sense because the moderator overgasses it a bit. After the shot, some powder residue would flow back into the barrel and the chamber as the gasses in the moderator slowly dissipate. As the brass has already sprung back from the chamber walls, any gas floating back down the barrel from the moddy will make the entire case sooty, not just the neck.

I think it’s very hard to truly diagnose with just two 3x shot groups.

I would shoot some more groups (eg 5x groups) but all from the same position, with as little movement as possible and without too much of a delay between each group. So don’t shoot a group, standup and walk around then shoot some more. Stay prone and focussed on target.

I bet the problem is position, specifically rear bag stability. Concentrating specifically on shooting technique I think should be the first thing to rule out. 

If it’s still not obvious, get another shooter behind the gun and again try some more groups.

If that’s not resolved the problem, then look at the rifle setup in more detail. 

1 hour ago, Ronin said:

If they were, “everyone “ would have them 😄

Regarding cost - many people have a custom rifle built - the cost being upwards of 4K minimum (on a custom action) and around 2k for a used but perfectly functional factory gun on a Tikka or Remington or Howa or ,,,,( enter name I’ve left out)

I think the SSG / STR has a great deal going for it 

versatility to swap barrel in couple of minutes 

two stage trigger

integral rail (SSG)

versatile action to accommodate long and short calibre ,,,,,

single  stack five round mag 

designed especially for target shooting ,,,,,   

Three lug bolt - fast cycling 

etc etc etc 

 

 

Couldn’t agree more. I enquired into having an STR200 importer here, along with a Vision chassis a while back. Unfortunately no one was willing to export from Scandi and the Vision was still in prototype phase and wasn’t being produced for commercial sale. Went a different route in the end.

Still, shortly due to have an Impact 737r in a MPA Comp chassis arrive. 🥳

Good luck with project ‘Scandi Shooter’, sounds like a great future build.

Yeah that’s sort of my point, unless you see a used SSG3000 at a good price, it’s not really feasible. Buying new is v expensive, especially if you want to then rebarrel it into something a bit more exotic than .308w and drop it into a chassis that’s better than the factory stock. Quickly becomes a £4-5k gun.

Just a shame the actions aren’t as well marketed/promoted/available here as say the T3 is, which would make a very good, arguably better, rival to the T3s.

It’s a real shame the STR200 isn’t readily available here in the UK, along with the breadth of pre-chambered barrels etc as is available in the Scandi countries.

I’ve long wanted one as the basis for building a slick running gun on.

1 hour ago, One on top of two said:

I contacted the chap at phenix to buy a spigot and was told that unless I bought a bipod from him he would NOT sell me t(e item I wanted .

as a result I ordered without any fuss from Germany . 
a real shame as I stated at the time as I would have liked to keep the money in the U.K. 

ho - hum 

Shame - his loss I suppose. 

Personally I think it has a lot to do with the actual stock taking and CMS/CRM systems a lot of online retailers have. Many simply aren’t utilising the latest stock management systems that are able to display real-time stock levels to customers.

Whilst frustrating for us the end consumer, I don’t believe many of the retailers are being purposefully underhanded, I think they’re either naive or haven’t the cash to splash on updating their antiquated systems.

Most/all of the online retailers I purchase from do either clearly state 0 stock  (but can back order) on the product page, or do so within the checkout basket, and reiterate this in the order confirmation email. 

I think we’ve also got to bare in mind the retailers are beholden to the importers. The importers can only bring as much as they can into the UK, often relying on export licenses from the US and other nations as well as EU quotas. Shipments arrive in bulk 2-4 times per year. Demand is high, supply is low...and expensive. This translates to stock which should be on shelves but simply hasn’t arrived yet. 

3 hours ago, Trigger73 said:

After someone mentioned to look at the Fortmeier, I did and really like the look of them.  There is a clip that Richard Utting made on his YT channel regarding different bipods and there is a good review of the fortmeier. 

I'm chatting to a chap that has the bipod for sale but no picatinny attachment, turns out that they're quite expensive on their own. 

If I fail to secure a Fortmeier I may go down the Dolphin route as was linked earlier, not too sure if anyone has any feedback with using one though? 

Thanks for the pics, looks a great day out! 👍👍

Ps.. Where did the pistol grip hand stop come from? 

There’s a chap on here called @Breacher who imports the Fortmeier bipods through his company. Nice chap. You can order whatever type of spigot mount you want along with the bipod itself (12 o’clock - top mounted or 6 o’clock - bottom mounted).

http://www.phoenixtactical.co.uk/fortmeier-bipod.html

As my rifle has the flexibility to add sections of picatinny rail wherever I like, I opted for 12 o’clock as it provides a more stable shooting position. 

The walnut grip is made by Nill in Germany. They mostly do top end competition pistol grips but also offer some custom grips for AR10/15, HK PSG-1 and SIG 556. Nice - very comfy and works very well with the thumb shelf on the right side of the lower receiver.

https://www.nill-griffe.com/Rifle_Stocks_32.html

I too use the Fortmeier / Phoenix attached in the 12 o’clock position. 

Owned Harris, Atlas and now this. Harris best for quick deploy (stalking or PRS type shooting) but casually on the range the Fortmeier is rock solid and stable.

48 minutes ago, One on top of two said:

Sassen have been doing cut rifling for a while now , 

ive had plenty of the button cut on my hunting rifles , that was when they where know as Border barrels . 

I have had nothing but praise for the lads over the years , always done an excellent job.

even toying with a sassen for my creedmoor. 

For clarity, Border produced both Cut rifling (under the Border name) and Button rifling (under the Archer name).

With the Border collapse, two lads stayed in Dumfries and formed GB Barrels Ltd, offering Cut rifling only.

Another two chaps partnered with Sassen Engeering in Birmingham. For a while they offered Button rifling only. Now they’re also offering Cut rifling.

I believe GB Barrels have their steel deep drilled by Sassen Engineering (unsure if it’s via their former colleagues or simply the Sassen parent company), then do the actual Cut rifling and lapping process in house.

26 minutes ago, Trigger73 said:

 

@Catch-22 huge thanks for the offer, I'd happily take you up on that, but currently I'm still waiting for the membership secretary to get back to the emails I've sent him 😶😁

No problem, we’ve all been there and it can appear to be very daunting, joining a club, getting an FAC, THEN deciding what you want to shoot, reloading etc etc. 

Fyi, you can always ask the FEO to swap .308w for a 6.5mm. That’s a 1-for-1 variation and won’t cost you anything. 

Regarding ODRC, there have been issues with email accounts. Make sure you sent it to: odrcmembership@gmail.com

Other emails won’t work. Leave it a week or two and check your junk mail. If still nothing, try again or pipe up here and I’ll see if I can speak with him. Tbh, Simon is very busy and there’s often a delay with things. 

There is a shoot on 19th Oct at Rogiet. I’m hoping to attend but my rifle is currently away having an extra barrel spun up. If it’s back in time then I’ll come along. If you’re there just look for the gun that looks like a pile of scaffold tube. That’ll be me! 

My thoughts, for what they’re worth 💩

If you’re joining ODRC (I’m a member - great club and you’ll enjoy shooting with us!) then note the shortest range is 600m (Rogiet and Kingsbury). A lot of the others are between 900m to 1300m. The range locations are such that the winds are a real bugger. Excellent to learn how to read the wind, but a bugger to shoot sometimes.

With the above in mind, if you’re planning to shoot often on said ranges, I would look at a good wind bucking calibre, or bullet for calibre, selection.

So as mentioned, the 6mm and 6.5mm are good and slippery in the wind. 6.5mm Creedmoor is a good performer, has lots of off the shelf ammunition available (unsure if you reload??) and lots of factory/semi-custom/full-custom rifles kicking around. Really any of the 6.5mm rifles will be a good fit (6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5x47Lapua, .260rem, 6.5x55 Swede). 

Yes you can by all means shoot a .223rem, but the challenge will be what bullets will be suitable. So most factory rifles in .223rem have very slow twists (eg 1-14”, 1-12”, 1-9” twist). With these, you’ll likely only be able to shoot the 55gn to 69gn bullets accurately before stability falls off. If you want any hope of getting to 600m+, in heavy winds (15-25mph is common) and doing so accurately, you need to shoot the 77gn, 80gn, or 90gn bullets. These are very long and require a barrel with a fast twist, like 1-8” , 1-7” or faster. With that in mind, you’re likely going to need a custom barrel that is throated for those long bullets. This gets expensive for mere plinking and isn’t what I’d recommend...unless you see a second hand custom .223 with fast twist and long throat for sale at a steal.

You could go .308w, solid performer and cheapish to feed. Though if you want to push it out to 900m+ accurately, then I think you either push the good lighter bullets (eg 155gn Lapua Scenar) at fast speeds (2900fps+) or shoot the heavier bullets (eg 185gn+) though this again will be dependant on the twist and throat of barrel you have (eg 1-12” should stabilise up to 168gn bullets. If you want to go 185gn+, I’d say you really need 1-10” or faster). 

With all the above in mind, personally I think a good solid 6.5mm bullet is best. Most of the newer factory rifles in 6.5mm Creedmoor have an appropriate twist and will allow you to shoot the 140gn+ class bullets for which the cartridge was designed to shoot. This will give you great capability, in a mild shooting case, that’s cheapish to reload, all the way out to 1200m...possibly even more. 

I know a few people who shoot the Sabatti tactical rifles in various calibres, and each one has been an excellent shooter. They’re also incredible value for money. Also don’t discount a Tikka T3 or the newer Tac versions. 

Also have a good trawl through the Sale section here, some gems appear from time to time.

But before you buy, go speak to ODRC members and ask to shoot their rifle. I think most people would be only to happy to let you. I would. That will give you some real experience with different rifles and calibre's. Ask question about what they load, how far the shoot. Watch their targets on the line - who’s getting the v-bull 90% of the time. Go talk to them and ask about their setup. I’m sure that would really help you decide which direction you want to go in.

Pop over and say ‘Hi’ when you get your membership! 👍

I’ve used CDI Precision in the past for a Tilka M595 I had. Very well made, flawless function. Worked with AICS mags.

I think they do them for all the usual actions (eg Rem700s etc etc)

http://www.cdiprecisiongunworksstore.com/detachable-box-mag-systems-bottom-metal/