The Gun Pimp

On 2/7/2020 at 8:12 PM, Moorlander said:

Crap with the NRA has been going on for years , alleged corruption etc , its a real shame , it needs to be run by vetted former business people with a clean track record.

https://savebisley.com/nra-litigation/

Wow - no idea of any of this - an amazing read!

13 hours ago, No i deer said:

The gunpimp might to be able to point you in the right direction.

I thought I saw a photo of a hunshead on a Diggle photo a while back.

Gunpimp says - McQueen

On 1/4/2020 at 2:09 AM, Handbrake said:

I am a F Open shooter from Country Victoria (originally an Essex boy and London worker). My club uses 3 electronic targets with mounds at 300, 500 and 600 yards. We have a regular club shoot on Saturdays with a break during the hot Summer. During the competition season, we also run development and practice days most Wednesdays. Additionally we have Pennant, Long distance up to 1000yards, OPMs with other clubs and obviously State Queens. 

I am seriously contemplating coming back to the UK permanently or for 6 months at a time (competition season in the UK) to spend more time with family. 

Location is not a major issue as my family is spread over various parts of the country but I do want to shoot regularly without too long a drive and hopefully with electronic targets. 

I did not shoot when I lived in the UK so my knowledge of ranges is pretty much by reputation and some advice from Mik at Dolphin.

Bisley and Diggle are obviously on the list and I would be grateful for the benefit of the forum’s experience and suggestions on any other ranges

If you are interested in Diggle (10 miles NE of Manchester) we shoot TR/F Class twice per month at all distances from 300 to 1000 yds using electronic targets. No SSC needed.  PM me (Membership Sec) if you want more info.

1 hour ago, Ronin said:

I always allow up to an inch of material to support the barrel forward of the action face then machine back to make neat 

Rifles with heavier barrels benefit from this extra support 

I must admit, I never do this - that's the hottest bit of the barrel - leave a 'cooling' gap around it!  

You won't see a benchrest rifle so bedded.  I've built the last two 1000 yd record breaking benchguns - both with 30 inch heavy profile barrels - you don't need bedding forward of the action if you've done your action bedding properly.

Other reason - don't work with a switch barrel.

Stacks of stuff on You Tube

2 hours ago, Brillo said:

Here’s a question for the gunsmiths on here.

If a barrel is set back completely, that is the whole tenon cut off and the barrel re-chambered, will the barrel life still be the same or is it likely to be longer? Assume bullets not pushed at light speed.

My previous experience of barrels going south is through throat erosion or fire cracking at tge start of the rifling, so weird logic says re-chamber should extend the barrel life.

If you do your own barrel work, then chopping off the chamber plus maybe a bit more - depending on what the borescope reveals - is something I frequently do.  Example - my 6mm Dasher had done two seasons of benchrest - about 600 rounds with testing.  I could maybe have squeezed another season out of it but it would likely 'go south' half way through the season so, top n tail and squeeze another year out of it.

However don't expect the kind of accuracy you'll get with a new barrel.  If you do it yourself, it costs nothing and gives me another season rather than scrapping the barrel.  If I had to pay a gunsmith to do the work then - no.  It will cost just as much to chamber and thread your old barrel as with a new one so you may as well start with a new tube.

3 hours ago, Private Marker said:

@The Gun Pimp do they take the shot marker system down at Diggle? They don't at Bisley. Sometimes they can be left up for days. Can't be good for them. 

Yeh we take 'em down after the shoot.  Takes about half an hour to strip and repackage the electronic bits and put the frames away.  We have two sets - one set for benchrest and one set for F Class.

Couldn't agree more - the first car I got with electric windows I thought "When that fails the window will be stuck in the 'down' position and it'll be raining".  That's exactly what happened but who'd go back to wind-up windows?

We get some pretty horrendous weather at Diggle but our Shotmarkers have survived a whole day in the rain on many occasions.  Yes, we have taken simple measures to waterproof them but on the whole they are superb.

4 hours ago, John MH said:

Excellent shooting, I do have a question on the use of the Shotmarker (I have one and they are excellent) when setting 'Records' given that the stated accuracy of the system is to within approx 1/4" depending on wind conditions (affecting the target not the bullet); would record claimed on a Shotmarker be valid or would it have to be verified on paper (difficult to do if the target has multiple hits on it?

Yes - nothing like verifying the shots on a paper target - though even this can be subject to errors.

I once remember a group being shot on a very wet target at 1000 yds.  It was measured by butts using a digital caliper equipped with spikes to go through the bullet-holes.  But, the wet target had 'wrinkles' and when we got the target back to the Range House after the shoot for a proper measure and flattened it out - the group was about a quarter-inch bigger. Clearly the real group size was 'as measured' in butts but the paper said different....

Once we started using electronic targets, we have to accept the result - though I think we said we would draw a line under the existing paper-target records and preserve them.

It was a still day for Darrel's shoot (as still as we get at Diggle) so I don't think the targets were affected too much by the wind. Over the Christmas downtime we are going to do some tests to establish the effect of the target 'tilting' due to the effect of wind.

Eskdalemuir is a fantastic facility and, with the growing interest in ELR - with several countries now hosting competitions other than America - this range could be a great venue for European competitions. The ELR rules have been revised (in a sensible direction) and it would be great if Mark were to get involved and perhaps host a shoot next year.

Nick, a tumbler can be used.  All you need is a small round container with a screw-on lid which will hold about 100 bullets. Put a small amount of moly powder in with the bullets and seal the lid with a bit of tape. Lob it in your tumbler (with media still in place) and leave for a couple of hours. Tip bullets into an old towel and remove surplus powder. You will now have 100 bullets which will give you less velocity than un-coated ones. You may be able to recoup the lost velocity with more powder - if there's room in the case. But, after all that - what have you gained? Hannam's sell the moly powder.

I really just built mine as a light (to carry) gun for McQueen comps. I must admit, I was shocked at the 3000+fps velocity out of a 22 inch barrel. Got a 50 in the first ever comp so more than happy with the accuracy.

A couple of use are getting good velocity and accuracy with Vit N160 using 105gn Bergers.

Check out my load dev. in Target Shooter on http://www.targetshooter.co.uk/?p=3076

7 hours ago, Maidment78 said:

So over the last few shoots I have learnt so much, and I had a tough lesson last weekend when I dropped a lot of points as my mat is wobbly as hell with the rear bag on it.

the second detail i shot with the bag and elbows on the grass and the mat way back and what a difference.  

So the question now is is there a mat that a bag can sit on? Do I just cut a hole in mine for the bag to go in, any suggestions?

Maidment - I just bought one.  These mats are made by a top F Class shooter.  See my write-up on http://www.targetshooter.co.uk/?p=3125

16 hours ago, Nick 53 said:

Hi, 

Does anyone know were you can sell your old and knackered brass. My local scrap merchant won't deal with it even though the brass is de-primed. 

Thanks nick 

Nick, ask Brian Fox - he knows a place in Ashton.

Just had a look at their website - got some decent looking gear at good prices - might go and have a look.

Kevin - bargain of the century!  I'm thinning my stuff out, otherwise I couldn't resist it at that price.

On 2/23/2018 at 8:46 PM, hunter686 said:

I use this method to great effect. My current match round was picked up in the very first test (about 10 rounds) and I havn't changed it 700 shots. Apart from to chase the lands. I'm looking for to 1/3 MOA out that gun to 1000 yards 

One-third MOA at 1000 yards!  Good luck with that - this year, in the UKBRA 1000 yd Championship, I would estimate that around 700 5-shot groups were shot - no one got a 1/3 MOA group!  Please bring your rifle along to one of our shoots and clean-up!

3 hours ago, Ronin said:

The Shehane alters both the shoulder angle and straightens the wals of the case (I have both cases in front of me and used this extensively in competition)

And why did he do it? Well, I was lucky enough to shoot with Bill at the Hawksridge 1000 yd benchrest range way back in 2004 and I asked him.  The reason he took out the taper was simply to aid extraction when 'running the gun' - i.e getting five shots of in about 10 seconds.

1 hour ago, gazzarM1 said:

Shied out of going to the range myself today ......around here a wetsuit would have been appropriate

John,

Have you done any load dev with the 33XC yet?  Powder choice etc?

On 5/27/2019 at 3:10 PM, John MH said:

.300NM alongside 33XC and 37XC, base dimensions very similar.

Great pics, great weather - thanks for sharing.

1 hour ago, widu said:

Hello to all on here , and hope you don;t mind me joining in with a post . I have just joined the UKV site  but not new to the shooting world been throwing projectiles at all sorts of critters for for almost 50 years.  JUST wanted to say what an amazing rifle Sandtrap.  May I ask what action and barrel you have used , as I am seriously  thinking of joining the PRS competitions  next year if possible, and trying to decide on which way to go with putting together a smoke pole. hope you don,t mind me asking , i have been looking at the MDT  ESS chassis style but not decided yet. 

Many Thanks and good shooting .  WIDU.

I've just build a rifle on the MDT ESS chassis - you might like to have a look at it on Target Shooter http://www.targetshooter.co.uk/?p=3051  

1 hour ago, jcampbellsmith said:

Anybody got one of these? https://crispinengineering.co.uk/index.php/smt-solo/ Any comments? Thanks JCS

We are currently using Shotmarkers (Diggle Club and the UKBRA) but we have some experience of the Silver Mountain targets.  Click on the link to read the Target Shooter review.

http://www.targetshooter.co.uk/?p=2813