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Andy, I have a belt-fed cz 59 semi in 7.62x54. After 4k rounds of mil surp best China crap ammunition ( corrosive primers) the first 2” of rifling is missing. Usually use a 50 round belt with it after which the barrel will remove your fingerprints if you touch it. Barrel is hard chromed lined or was (so are cz 58s). Replacement barrels are cheap. Hard Chrome seems the cheapest way to extend barrel life or nitride maybe. Accuracy becomes an issue though keeping chrome consistent- if memory serves at one point Tanner ( Swiss) once offered chrome lined match barrels for their rifles.

Practical competition / long range use: 338 LM: +/- 1200 rounds if you don’t go mad with pressure/ velocity. VV N 170 / 165 single based powders. I don’t believe manufacturers blurb with double based “cool burning” powders, eg n570, n565 - yes a little less pressure spike but for much longer burn time. No free lunch. 308: +/- 5000 rounds More cryptic barrel life is about 2 seconds.

Gyr I did a write-up of the S&B a few months ago.... in addition to that The glass in terms of resolution on the S&B is outstanding - I have had a lot of top tier scopes but believe this to be the best..... so far. The LRR reticle. I am a big fan and also a fan of red dots in general on carbines and pistols so do take that as a bias. 1. Low light / night - the reticle is excellent in that it’s just a small centre cross illumination so the target doesn’t get washed out with the reticle. The variable brightness works well from daylight visible to being usable in full darkness. 2. My eyes are getting older around 15x I like to illuminate the centre cross a bit to draw my eye. The mil scale is usable at this magnification. At 5 to 8x you have a good field of view but the reticle becomes almost like a thin plex reticle to my eyes - if I need to use it at that magnification I use the illumination it’s like a magnified red dot. I like it but then I also use a Kahles k16i at 6x with illumination on a practical rifle.  3. Using the illumination during the day- I can “find” the reticle easier and quicker - an example would be banging steel plates from 300-800m under time pressure - I tend to use 20x and a fair bit of brightness on the illumination- it’s much faster than trying to find just the black reticle. 4. Target shooting - prone. I use all the magnification I can get ( weather, sun permitting). 45x is very usable and you don’t need a spotting scope. I don’t use the illumination when target shooting for groups- I have tried it and not found any difference in groups or score - just I guess habit not to use it. 5. Size- it’s not a small scope if it matters. The 3-27x is smaller and also the 5-25x has the LRR reticle. For me the bit of difference in weight and length was not worth sacrificing the extra magnification for. So far after 6 months my impressions have been very positive- I don’t think anyone would be disappointed with it as a general target / practical scope. atb David 

If there is a lesson from this - then prep at national level is what will save lives. S Korea got hit with SARS 1, since then they have had PP supplies, ventilators and social / travel protocols in place to deal with further outbreaks. They have managed well in this crisis. On a personal level some of the less glam stuff can help - there are simple face mask patterns on the internet - our daughters have been sewing them up from old clothes - it does not help you against getting the virus but it can stop you transmitting it in droplet form. ( I have yet to convince the family that S12 mask are the way forward ).

John, Andy and Terry you are spot on with the mechanics of running a competition. I know that you are very experienced. My 2p as a range owner, instructor and someone who genuinely enjoys running courses is that things get Donald Ducked very quickly as soon as personalities enter the equation be it from organiser, sponsors or “leading” competitors. Really the organiser needs to run everything as a very tight ship or it will go pear shaped fast. Competitions tend to develop a “feeling” and a following and a large part it will be down to the personality of the organiser (s) and their motives be it financial or for charity or whatever may form part of that “feeling”. I like running courses on my range - I am in control of who, what and how.... and so far every course has been a positive experience for me and my guest I think. But my experience with competitions has been the complete opposite when I have let my range be used (for free) by local shooters for competitions - 1st experience bad, 2nd experience was bad - no third as I banned any more competitions on my range. I felt like a doormat being walked over. There is a distinct difference between a course and competition. The first is a learning experience the latter is more of an ego trip for some competitors. In general sponsors are the easiest aspect to deal with - it’s on a business level. They understand complex words like yes and no. Competitors, particularly if they happen also to be sponsors or if a sponsor has a team seems to have a negative impact. Really competitions are just as much as reflection of the competitors as the organisers - look at the early days of practical Pistol vs USPSA / IPSC I am not sure that I like the “evolution “.

There will be both reactive and proactive planning. Medically the government is always going to be behind the curve without a well fitting model to act as a guide - but all respect to companies like Dyson etc and people for volunteering to help however they can. Proactive in the sense that each region has a police gold team cv 19 commander in place and army supporting all emergency services. There will be models in place for social controls, restrictions and lockdowns- your not seeing riots like in other countries - bottom line if you can stop food shortages then you can stop rioting. I am Czech based - surprisingly people have accepted very similar conditions / restraints to the U.K. and possibly tighter with some towns in total lockdown and compulsory wearing of face mask in public. Maybe a throwback to a former communist era but I am not sensing “social tensions”. On a positive note be thankful that it’s not an Ebola virus with 80% fatality and be thankful Corbyn is not the PM.

A mate has taken on a dealership here in CZ . When the CV19 situation improves I’ll try to have a butchers and compare against my 5-45x56 pm2 hopefully on a range. I won’t be in a rush to do it though.

Dave, after the CV19 crisis is under control you are very welcome to come out and play with this and other kit. Craig should be coming out in November for the mil comp so maybe hitch a ride with him and join in the comp too. To straight pull one - zoom in on the left hand side - the charging handle and slot is already there as part of the alloy upper. Derek, I think you have shot the ALFA. If not then definitely try it next time you are over.

Dave, excellent work as usual. Just for info as Aks are not as common in the U.K. car circles - if it’s a 100 series receiver it’s possible FAB do a plastic skin kit and full length / integral aluminium picatinny upper.. It’s sold as a full semi-auto rifle as an AK ALFA. Below is a pic of mine with 1-6x Kahles. The charging handle can be reversed L to R in a few seconds- just a thought for a car match type alternative to an AR 15 platform. Mine is in .223 Rem 1:7” twist. Shoots very well to 600m with heavy bullets but hates ss109s.

I sold a 5-40 x 56 ffp March to a mate who does a lot of foxing. It seems to work particularly well with his digital NV devices. He seems to to think it’s due to the lens coatings?

Derek, let CV 19 settle down and then get a couple of flights booked for you and Rory Catch -22, you are very welcome to come and you can try my S2. Please feel free to contact me by PM. We have a good selection of Sigs, Cz’s, Glocks and various carbines. We are much more about developing skills and drills though than a stand and bang experience.

Derek, hope to see you here again soon- you know you need your 9mm fix Catch, I’ve had a Tactical Sports in 9mm ( and for that matter an “open” Czechmate) both we’re in 9mm. The Tactical Sports I had was the “black” version - worked over by Zendle - probably the best pistol smith in Czech.....it was certainly on a par with an Orange. Comparison , the TS is longer and a little heavier than the S2.... does this matter - it depends if you are using a red dot or not. With a red dot the TS is slower doing transitions. With iron sights I found for my eyes I preferred the TS, it might have been sight radius but I think old eyes. Trigger: the TS is single action only and can be made to be under 2lbs with a very short reset. The double / single action of the S2 can come close to the weight in single action but not the reset, however a single action only trigger is available from the factory for the S2 and its then on a par with the TS.....if I was doing steel challenge comps a S2 SAO would be the way I would go definitely. Quality, hands down the S2 is machined better. Both have a cast steel frame and forged slide, no MIM parts in either but the attention to detail is much better on the S2, also the slide on the S2 s internally lightened ( reduces muzzle flip). Orange: The idea of paying substantially more for an Orange - maybe in the TS it’s worth it- and you also got the gas pedal with the TS Orange. However with the S2 Orange you basically just get a barrel bushing and trigger job - seems like the factory got it right with the S2. To me the TS / TSO shines in 40 S&W as a IPSC Limited major division gun that’s cheaper than a 2011. The S2, particularly the Optics Ready is much more versatile - IPSC Production or Carry Optics divisions and better for Steel Challenge too. What are you thinking of using it for?

As Shield is releasing a Shadow 2 LBP .22 rimfire I thought I would share what my new 9mm version looks like. Some of the upgrades may also be possible on the LBP frame. So my brand new Cz Shadow 2 Optics Ready 9mm. A very popular pistol for IPSC Production and Carry Optics classes. Features much improved quality Of engineering over previous models, and a heavy frame to mitigate recoil and muzzle flip. Weight is about 1.3kg. An excellent out of the box trigger. The spec list goes on. The Optics Ready version has a different slide to the normal Shadow 2 machined to accept various adapter plates for major brand red dot sights. This is a growing trend. We have changed the safety to a larger one on the left hand side to easily facilitate “cocked and locked carry “. Reduced the recoil spring from 18 lbs to 11 lbs and are waiting for the Trijicon adapter plate to arrive so we can mount a Trijicon SRO optic which is also one of the best red dots for a competition type pistol as it provides a larger sight window. Othe upgrades will be a reduced reach trigger ( as David has little girly hands) a reduced main spring and professional trigger work. We are aiming for a 6 lbs double action pull and 2 lbs single action will an ultra short reset and Lok Bogie grips.

Saddler before you do..... this is my current set up, not as stable but much neater. Tripod plus an adjustable strap attached to the tripod and front of the rifle. You are not trying to support weight rather using it ( and what ever force you put on the cheek piece) to tension the rifle. Provided you don’t adjust the angle of the legs you won’t need to adjust the strap. The strap needs to be quick adjust- I use a hk mp5 sling but there will be better options. It is a very compact, light option for field use.

Saddler....a home made picatinny bracket to an atlas bipod. It folds away like a normal tripod and bipod, without having to be removed from the tripod. You can use the QD mount if you wished to remover the bipod of course.

The 055 is a good heavy and big tripod, I had one for my AI AW. You can get the same stability and less weight out of a carbon tripod such as a Gitzo mountaineer 2 series but it’s much more expensive. The weight limit is really set by the head to a large extent also - a cheap but good manfrotto 438 ball head puts the C of G down as low as possible and provides a big locking surface on the ball. if you want it for sitting only think to make a trestle out of it. pic 1 AXMC on light carbon tripod - trestle, very stable. pic2 manfrotto 438 head.

The best scope that I have had on my Sako .22 p94s Range was a S&B pm2 12-50x56, this was for 50m shooting. It will parallax down to 10m. I would guess for desired purpose second focal plain would be preferable. I would also look at the “air gun” FT version of this it should give more precise parallax adjustment - however it will be a lot more specialised. Similarly Kahles do a 10-50x56 FT version of their 10-50x56 scope. On the spec sheet of the FT version parallax ranges from 9m to 60m so you can tell it will be a very precise parallax ( in fact Air FT shooters use parallax for range finding purposes for their sport).

Try to get one that sits as low as possible to the tripod yoke. Don’t worry about the head / plate - they can be changed to whatever you fancy, Arca Swiss, rc2 , whatever. A reasonably priced one is Manfrotto in pic below model 438. Fairly cheap is basic for a photo head but basic is good for a rifle head. More refined I would go for a Manfrotto hydrostatic head model 468 MG - smoother. I have had both of these heads.

Pm sent to second pm address.

Pm sent bob.

Bob, as a carry over from the other thread given that you appreciate shorter barrels then the DTA srs is probably worth consideration. I had one of these along with the aw and axmc for a few years it worked well in 338lm and as a 16” barrel 308 covert - required a suppressor otherwise the scope was longer than the barrel. I prefer the AXMC for what I think is a better quality rifle but your mileage may vary. I do think it is one of the platforms to be considered though. From experience of having TRG 21, rpa, blaser lrs2, AWs, cz 700 and others it’s surprisingly hard to come up with anything new or original between the Ax, SSG 3k and DTA that is not boutique. The only one that I have not used would be a Sako M10 but I have picked one up next to a humble Tikka tac A1 and wondered why so much weight.

Bob, I use a 338 AXMC for practical type stuff - as you are well aware they are very robust / reliable platforms. The way I made mine a lot more balanced and portable was by using 20” barrels. Yes you give up some speed but the difference is massive when it comes to positional shooting. FWIW I have not noticed an appreciable real word difference in accuracy out to 800m with the 20 inch barrel compared to the 27 inch. I f you can get hold of an AXMC - unscrew the barrel - feel the weight and balance of the chassis and work out if that is ok for you - if it is your then onto barrel length and or material steel or carbon for your “light” stalking setup. I would definitely recommend 20” for that. pic 20” on left 27” on right.

Should be out mid year. If they are at the IWA I will have a butchers.....I would like one but will wait a year or two to see if some big names jump on the band wagon - I guess they will have to to keep up. Trijicon quality seems good from the couple of SRO optics I have from them. In a sense the issue may be for military buyers it needs to be hard wired but for everyone else Bluetooth will work just fine - eventually I guess we will end up with everything on board scopes - a bit like a dslr camera with manual override - Swaro and Steiner are over half way there now.

I have both. The MSA with gel pads are what I use with rifle. I find they get less disturbed by the rifle stock. No issues with noise using 338lm and they are lighter - The batteries can be a bit of a pain to get out. Peltor - heavier and they have survived plenty of drops - I use them on pistol and carbine courses which are typically full day. / several day courses so I might be noticing the weight more.

Excellent, happy the project came together for you.