RobinC

Now Sold Have Fun Robin

Hi Pete The original Sportco M44 did have the lugs in the barrel which limited you to using Sportco barrels only. TSE in Queensland, Oz, who now own Sportco, (you can still order one new!) and fully support them, make the adapter which basically converts the action into a conventional but still very short action, so you can now fit any barrel. I have a TSE adapter, it was fitted by Mik at Dolphin, and you would not know it was not the action. It has a new (years waiting list!) 1 in 8 Bartlein match barrel. I've always liked the Sportco action since their inception many years ago, they are very stiff and produce a very accurate rifle. Both the Wife and I used them for TR, she got to the Queens final with one. Its on a Rem 700 footprint, but unlike many Rem 700 clone 2 bolt lug actions, Sportco didn't just copy but completely designed these as a pure single shot 3 bolt lug target action, and very successfully. This one, Mik also did the favoured Aussie action mods for me, in that there is now a middle action screw, and no rear action screw, and the rear of the action tail is milled off to make the action shorter. That makes them very consistent over a long match course, where some conventional two action screw rifles the bolt gets stiff as the action heats. It is a superb rifle, very accurate, cost me a bundle to build, just a shame I've built my bucket list Walther KK500 stocked Barnard 223, so its redundant, and cluttering up my cabinet! Are you interested? I will be going to Bisley on the 27th/28th April and will be free on the Sat 27th afternoon, I could take it for you to see? email on robin.carter80@ntlworld.com. Have Fun Robin

I realize this is a bit specialised, but it is a superbly accurate, just built, only just run in rifle. Last chance? I need the space in my cabinet!!!! I can take it to Bisley on April 27th/28th The first £1850 buys it Have Fun Robin robin.carter80@ntlworld.com

You think that's difficult, try taking Firearms there now! Under the Theresa May deal we retained European Firearms Passes (EFP) but the nice Mr Johnson with the oven ready deal negotiated them out! But that was along with all the fishing rights, and just about every thing else, ...... Oh dear, you did not know about UPS? I have purchased goods from Germany and the EU, and the worst and most problematic carriers I have ever experienced? Yup UPS. A couple of examples. A parcel sent to me from Germany that held normal goods, nothing at all to do with firearms, but sent from a German gun manufacturer, being sent to me. It was held on UK arrival (not UK customs, UPS do it on behalf of UK customs) for 6 weeks arguing they needed a firearms import licence, and this with out even opening the senders customs declaration stating what the contents were! After multiple phone calls from me and the sender, they eventually accepted an email from me stating they were not gun parts, and cleared the parcel. And they never ever opened the customs docs, they arrived to me on the out side of the parcel in a clear plastic envelope!! They had also invoiced me and taken UK import duty with in a day of collection in Germany. 9 weeks later when the goods actually arrived after they also lost it in the UK, a week after I received it, they sent me a further invoice in the post for customs duty of........ 23 pence!!!! But at penalty of £100 if not paid! After multiple phone calls, they first would not explain it, just said it was a legitimate customs charge, but eventually said it was because of the change in the exchange rate from when I paid, to the date it arrived to me!!!! And they only submitted the charge to UK customs after it arrived and the rate had changed so I owed them another 23 pence! I opted for revenge and inconvenience to them, over legal action, and paid it in 23 one penny cheques, and sent recorded delivery to be signed for, and sent to their head office. My bank agreed it was a legal means of paying, and the cost was worth it for the hassle they would have had! And they cashed them as well! I had the final laugh as well as when I told the sender about the final hassle they complained to UPS head office in Germany, and UPS just got officious and the sender cancelled their contract, they used DPH after that and my deliveries from Germany are excellent. Have fun Robin

I don't quite understand this post? Are you asking how this should be dealt with? Yes, the bullet leaving the case by the primer on an empty round has happened, usually a mistake by a hand loader ( no one is perfect!) and exceptionally rarely, even with factory rounds. Yes, if there is no powder in a case, in some cases the primer has enough charge to exit the bullet from the case, and still remain in the barrel. There are simple procedures that should be followed in such an incident. A competent shooter, and a competent RO should be aware that this can happen. I have been present as an RO when this happened, and it was safely resolved by checking, and clearing the barrel before the shooter was permitted to continue. The shooter if holding an SCC should be competent enough to realize that even if they are aware that the primer has gone off, that the recoil was not apparent, and that no shot had reached the target, and If when the case was ejected there was no bullet, a competent shooter, and a competent RO who was made aware of the situation as they should have been in an RO'ed shoot, would inspect and check the barrel before continuing. If the shooter has not realized the primer has fired, they should follow the failed round procedure, i.e notify the RO, wait 30 seconds and remove the round, again an SCC competent shooter and a competent RO would check the barrel if there was no bullet in the case. A shooter shooting alone (such as is permitted at Bisley) should be competent enough to follow the same procedures. Even a good level shooter who has an unexplained "No Score" will immediately check that the barrel is clear. To fire another shot onto the blocked barrel is simply gross negligence. Have Fun Robin

I suggest any one hand loading or even just using hand loaded ammo they have not loaded, read very carefully the code of practice, and sign it, and have it added to their SCC. Its a common sense document. The General Principles section is quite comprehensive, and should be read carefully, its not stupidly over onerous, and if (IF!) complied with, should end the crazy loads used by some allegedly reputable NRA members and shooters. Personally I think many will continue until the day they are checked with out advance warning! As for the reference in the NRA Hand loading news, that those that don't load, but do use hand loads from others don't need to sign or have it added on their SCC, it is contrary to the signing section of the CoP, which clearly refers to those that USE hand loaded ammunition requiring this on their SCC, which correctly also then puts the onus on the user to be sure that the source is reputable. Have Fun Robin

Pete, teach her how, and get her to help, in a full year we shoot 1500 rounds, so we both share the work. For those with unexpired 4 year SCC's direct, as an NRA member, it is a simple matter of completing the form and signing the CoP, and sending it to the NRA. The wife and I both did ours on the 27th Oct, and today we got new revised SCC's. As pic, with hand loaded added in the bottom right corner Well, that was painless, Have Fun Robin

The code is commonsense for any decent hand loader, the problem is now many don't comply, and many have been loading for years, and have got away with it, (so far!). Signing a CoP will not change them, and compulsory training won't either, no amount of training will change them, its not they don't know, its that they don't care, and I suspect some clubs will sign them off as a formality, as some do now for SCC's. In some forms of NRA match competition shooting, loading considerably over the "Reliable Source" loads is common place, and some by people we all would expect to be responsible NRA members, and competitors. The only way to stop that is for the NRA to declare it reckless, dangerous, and if doing it in competition consider it cheating, and to test regularly, and ban offenders. Will it happen? Hmmmm......? I've attached the CoP for non NRA members :- https://nra-org.uk/wp-content/uploads/nra-code-of-practice-for-handloading-firearms-ammunition.pdf Take care, and Have fun. Robin

The NRA have now notified members of the requirement to add handloader to Shooters certificates of Competence (SCC's). The qualification is very much more simplified than first mooted which initially suggested requiring verification of competence by a course,, and its now very simple, and requires no more than signing that you have read, understand, and conform to their handloading code of practice (CoP). For those who have their SCC annually through a club, must send their signed CoP to their club who must file them, and handloader will then be added to their new SCC starting in January. For NRA members who have a non expired 4 year SCC through the NRA, again they must sign that they have read, understand and conform to the CoP, and post or email to the NRA membership dept, the NRA have a direct email to handle this handloadedscc@nra.org.uk . They then say they will add, and reissue those members SCC's from Jan to March. A simple process, we already done ours, completed, scanned, and emailed to the NRA, and I keep the master signed copy with our FAC's They state it will not apply to those who just use handloaded ammo, but don't load it, it only applies to the loader, not sure I agree? Its a start, but looks more like a rear end covering exercise, and won't stop the deliberate overload offenders. Have Fun Robin

This is a serious target rifle, not a .223 plinker, No sensible offers? So what about a silly one, First £2000 will get it! Have Fun Robin

As my continual step to retirement, another opportunity for you to buy a very special rifle! The action is a special custom Sportco M44, shortened action, and with the middle action screw and recoil lug action screw. It was originally 7.62 (.308w), but is now in .223 Remington and is stamped as such. The bolt head was new supplied by TSE (current owners of the Sportco rights), and the action is fitted with a TSE adaptor to carry the new Bartlein 1 in 8 twist 640 mm (25") barrel shaped to my own match profile. It is chambered to .223 Wylde. The barrel and action was by Mik at Dolphin guns. The action is ceracoted mat black. .223 is elligable for ISSF 300 mt, NRA target rifle TR, and most competitions, as well as just being fun to shoot any time! The fitted trigger is a Bix'n Andy 20 gm two stage, adjustable in all directions, and for weight. The Rifle also comes with a spare Sportco single stage 1500 gm trigger eligable for TR. It is bedded on a machined alloy bedding block, screwed into the full bore Keppeler stock. The stock is a Keppeler K0 5, modified by me with alloy inserts to the slimline fore end of the new KO 9 model stock, it is metallic black with polished alloy. The grip is a Walther KK300, the cheek piece is a special built walnut on alloy modern target flat shape, and hinged sideways to clear the bolt for loading, and is fully adjustable in any direction. The butt plate is a custom (built to order) Walther KK200 type adjustable in all directions, and with a removable butt hook. The sights are a Gehmann 590 compact with Centra iris, and a Centra Cube foresight complete with a Crystal Hi end element, and a Crystal 0.5 eagle eye. The rifle also comes with a Parker Hale 5c TR eligible and suitable 4 click per minute rear sight complete with a Sportco mounting bracket. It has been meticulously run in, and shot for one 300 mt match course with a good score and shooting perfectly, a total logged barrel use of under 200 rds, it shoots very well with NRA supplied 69 gn GGG ammo, but even better with my special 80 gn hand loads, even in Bisley wind! I will supply a box of each to a buyer. Why am I selling if its so good? It was built as my lock down project, and any that look on Stirton forum will know that I have now built my bucket list .223 rifle, a Barnard in a Walther KK500 stock, and I don't need two .223's! And even though I love this one I need the space in my cabinet! The first sensible offer in the region of £2500,a fraction of what its cost to build can have it! Pic attached, but any interested party can email me on robin.carter80@ntlworld.com Have Fun Robin

Now resolved, cancelled and refunded Have Fun Robin

The NRA has really shafted us, again!!! We had a 300 mt bookings in the "shed" for Friday the 5th and Sunday the 7th, so to make it a full long week end to justify coming down, hotel, etc. We booked a range 19 target at 300 yd, electronic, with Gazebo for Sat the 6th all day Now the NRA has at the last minute (today!!!!) given us the Sat 6th in the 300 mt shed, and its now too late to cancel and credit the range 19 booking, I tried, they wont!! So I have a 300 yd electronic target with gazebo, available for Sat 6th, all day, morning and afternoon. You'll need to be NRA acceptable, i.e. an individual member with SCC, or an NRA club. Its all booked and paid for, cost £270, fair offers? Other wise it will sit wasted? I leave on Friday morning, if you are interested. email me urgently to robin.carter80@ntlworld.com Have Fun Robin

A bit of 300 mt promotion!!! Despite the NRA doing its best to shut down the 300 mt discipline by restricting access to the ONLY 300 mt range in the UK, (the Shed at Bisley), we will be taking advantage of one of the very few dates we get this year on a coming week end in May. the 5th, 6th, 7th. Friday the 5th May afternoon only, its in the "Shed", and Sunday 7th May all day, in the "Shed". A small group of us have also booked a 300 yd electronic target on range 19, with a gazebo (we don't do cold and wet!), on Saturday the 6th May all day, morning and afternoon, to make a week end out of it, and justify travelling and hotel. If any one is interested, they are very welcome to visit us on range 19, see what 300 mt is all about (even at 300 yds!) we look forward to meeting any of you, and have a chat, and you will see some very trick rifles, (none with scopes!), shooting very tight groups from a standard prone position. We will just be practicing and having fun, so you are very welcome to come and chat. Have Fun Robin

Thanks Pete, Don't worry Pete, the Bisley wind is plain evil, and wind judging is a cross between witch craft and perception, the best wind judges are top shots who can first call shots perfectly to separate wind and what was down to them, and they spend a lot of time at Bisley just watching as well as shooting. I think I understand it, until I can't!! With not a clue why!!! Difficult wind I can only generally understand it after the shoot, with analysing the results, which is not a lot of use! So if wind judgement is good .223's are OK at 600, for 300 mts the ten is tight 100 mm, and the X ring is 50 mm. They certainly shoot as tight as the 6 mmBR's, just the shock with our load was how well they handle wind, we think at least as well as the 6 mm, and probably better with a good ballisticaly stable load. 300 mt match is a good test of a load, as its a 60 shot match, so all have to be tight, Wife's PB is 594 ex 600. The 30 shot 300 mt group pictured in my previous posts above was shot in a gusting gale, and with no wind adjustment, its clearly a wind group, the not centre shots are high left and low right, but the mean wind shots are clearly very tight with a lot of X's, that's .223 any would be happy with that group with a 6 mmBR in those conditions. Our load is Lapua cases, BR4 primers, 80 gn Sierra MK's, 25 gns of Vhit 540, with a COAL of 2.525. I basically copied this load from a US contact, and I did also liase with Laurie on it, it was all done during lock down, and I've done little development since as we have been short of range time since, just fine tuned the COAL to get a fine touch. I'm not fused with speed, just accuracy, but I did take the opportunity to put them through a Chrono when some one else was testing, and they did 2980 through our Barnards with Barlein 25" barrels. We are so short of range time now, I'm getting some RPA Trakkers, so we can use them to practice at other distances and have easily adjusted sights, as the small bore sights we use for 300 mts with no scales are not ideal for other distances. Fun game this! Have Fun Robin