Chris-NZ

The very closest this scope will have its parallax adjusted for will be 100yds or 100m. So used on your rimfire, there will be marked parallax under say 40yds let alone 20yds

I can only manage an ES of 5

As Andy has said, just choose a "hunting bullet" and get out and shoot some deer. I have no confidence ballistic gel will be an accurate predictor of bullet performance in an individual case. Whether or not you strike bone on the way in is a major variable. Having said that, experience has taught me bullets vary widely in penetration for example. SSTs are very explody and shred internals, very rarely exiting. TTSXs on the other hand have massive penetration and I'm lucky to recover one in five as most exit. The LRABs in my .280 Ackley do expand reliably and still kill well at range- last one about a month ago sacked a sika hind at 565 and it cartwheeled down the steep slope. Most I have recovered on the far side of the animal.

I'd actually suggest running the 6.5 parent through a 6x47L body die first, then through the final FL die. This avoids the risk of crushing cases during the forming process- the body die only shifts the neck a touch. Don't ask me how I know..

A "bowed" barrel isn't necessarily any issue. Very few barrels are drilled dead straight and it even if they aren't, it doesn't seem to affect accuracy. My gunsmith had a batch of Bartleins, one of which was dead straight and the other a pronounced curve in the bore. The bent one clearly outshot the perfect one despite identical chambering. My son's FTR rifle has a 32" Broughton which was left over from a batch of barrels brought in for NZ team rifles. It wasn't used as it had an obvious curve in the bore. Anyway, it was eventually fitted to my old RPA CG-2000 with the curve indexed up and that thing is a -real- tackdriver.

Hundreds of Tikkas done here with no ill effects. My gunsmith buddy uses a CNC mill and once you get the carbide cutter speed and feed rate right, the cutter cuts very smoothly and can do a lot of barrels. His last cutter didn't wear out but was killed by a sudden mains blackout. Surprisingly, Tikkas despite having a hammer forged barrel don't seem to grow the bore diameter measurably under fluting unlike many buttoned barrels. No matter what barrel gets fluted, it's going to release some degree of stress I guess.

20secs of that video "review" was all I could take. That turkey needs to get his hand off it and scoff a huge slice of SHUT THE **** UP. The way he works a bolt speaks volumes.

Definitely have a look at Edgewood bags. The options are height, width between ears, hand v no-carry handle and the ear material

The problem is far from specific to Tikkas. Many shooters have a hopeless cleaning regimen and leave patches of carbon that result in pitting. Only a borescope can really tell you how effective your cleaning efforts have been.

I had a look through one at a shoot last Saturday. The image quality is very good and they're solidly built it seems. My only concern and that of another guy who was contemplating getting one is that the eye relief is very unforgiving especially above 35X. In his case, it was the deal breaker as his neck isn't very flexible and he finds shuffling round to find a sight picture a problem.

That amount of rust is technically known as Fek'all. I'd suggest you invest in some CorrosionX and use it religiously.

(Off topic) Speaking of muscle cars, last time I was in Oklahoma, I got dragged round some exotic car yards and this thing was pride of place at one outfit. '70 Cuda with a 426 Hemi, all matching numbers with a genuine documented 36,000 miles. Asking price : US $420K

That I'm afraid to say bears all the hallmarks of corrosion that has occurred under areas of heavy (mainly carbon) fouling. There is also copper streaking so I'd suggest your cleaning needed to be far more aggressive. Be interested to hear what the agent has to say.

It's all to do with the state of the bore- I've seen it a 1000 times fullbore shooting. The first (clean bore) sighter almost invariably goes low and the true elevation is apparent by the third shot though the second is usually near enough.

My (now deceased) gunsmith who was originally an electrical fitter built a bespoke one for the editor of NZ Hunter. It was based on a portable commercial unit but he modified it and added a variable digital timer. It is mounted on a Rockchucker press and works well. I use it occasionally, mainly on my valuable x47 and .284 target brass.

Update- just ran across this on our local forum: Export Changes at Brownells As some of you are aware, the US changed the classification of most firearms and firearm parts under ITAR regulations. Most firearm parts, including scopes now fall under the Department of Commerce, not the Department of State. Brownells have implemented these, here is an update from them: "Per your inquiry, there has been realignment of SKUs, as the majority of items are moved from State to Commerce, meaning categories and commodity codes are changed. Very few items are staying under the Dept. of State. With this change Dept. of Commerce utilizes Low Value Shipments, LVS. So…you can order without securing an export license and we document the values of the shipments under their categories. This can be used*and no documents are required by you as long as the value is less than $500. The limit is $6000 a year, once hitting that amount, then an export license would be required for the shipment of Dept. of Commerce items. The Dept. of Commerce does not assess a fee for export license applications. Our Dept. of State has maintain a very few items and those items could also move. * We do not have a listing as each country can have different restrictions, however any item that has a part associated with fully automatic firearms (at this time) stayed under the Dept. of State*and they require an export license for any of these items, regardless of value or quantity. * Applying for their export license, fee $250." So there is no requirement for the $250USD export fee any more for most items from Brownells.

I don't think anything has really changed yet in reality. It was all mooted but seems to have ended up on the backburner. The bigger issue is freight costs- they really slug it to you now and the option of surface is long gone. I've always kept funds over there and it was great in the old days but my buddy in OK isn't called up much these days to do shipping.

As soon as I see the words "high energy" used in conjunction with a powder, I start to wonder about barrel life. Generally, ya get nuthin' for nuthin'.. Beyond that, if it truly is more temp stable and lower fouling, that's a combo that would appeal to some shooters.

The easiest way to use JBs is to get a highly worn bronze brush of the same cal, or a smaller diam brush, say a .270 in a .30 cal barrel. Wrap your patch around the brush and lather with JBs. This gives the necessary pressure against the bore and you can work it back and forth in the throat area without the need to do full-length runs down the barrel.

I agree that 25X is generally adequate for most work, certainly varmints, but F-Class can be another story. Round here, our Clubs generally have a small white aiming square on the target two minutes above the centre for F and FTR shooters to aim at. Its dimensions are roughly an inch at 300 and maybe 1.8" for 5/600. I robbed the 8-32 NXS off my spare 6.5x47L half way through the season to use on the new .284 which is just for 1000. While I was lining up another NXS, I temporarily threw on an old 16X Tasco SS which, while not having great optics, actually dials acceptably. What I discovered is that the slightly coarse reticle fully covers the aiming mark. Still managed some good scores but you definitely need at least 20X for this application. I should have robbed the 5-25 Swaro off my 6BR varmint gun as the finer reticle and hugely better optics would have done the job better.

I would have thought a very thirsty toy but def fun

It's exactly the same situation here. Even though you're putting no-one at risk being out shooting on your own, the official line is Don't do it. It's doubly painful for guys who were just packing up to head out for the roar.

Like most intelligent countries, if it hasn't come to lockdown with -essential- activities only, it soon will. I couldn't hold my hand on my heart and say shooting is essential. 48hrs to go here before the full lockdown. I can see a heap of brass prep being done as a warm-up..

Why is a push for electronic targets "disturbing"? I shot a long time with manual marking and a bad marker is both infuriating and unfair. Having used electronic targets for a good five years, I'd be very unhappy to go back to manual marking.

Can some of you guys please post some pics of yours. I has a PCP rabbit session yesterday and was frustrated by not having an intermediate height rest under some big trees that just had head clearance.