The Gun Pimp

With a competition/competitive benchgun, the condition of the barrel is everything and, if you intend to buy a secondhand gun, you must assume the barrel (be it 6.5-06 or 6PPC) is past its best.  So, really you are buying (or selling) a secondhand action, trigger and a secondhand stock. Unless you are regularly shooting these in competition and have some results to prove they are still shooting to benchrest standards.

It's such a small (but discerning) market - we have maybe two dozen 100 yd BR shooters in the UK - and it's not growing. I could probably list 10 guys who have a 6PPC gathering dust.  

600/1000 yard BR is far more popular, with 60 - 70 shooters regularly competing but your 6.5-06 is perhaps not a fashionable cartridge.  Ten years ago, the 7mmWSM was king but 400 rounds barrel-life........... Now, smaller cartridges like the 6BR, Dasher, BRX, 6.5x47 etc. are most popular.

Love that Hall action though......

Callum?  Nice. 

Yep - plenty shooting 600 - 1000 yard benchrest and of course F Class but sadly 100/200 BR is on the wane at the moment. 

But, like everything, it all comes down to price.

Nice looking rifle - who put that one together if you don't mind me asking.  That RB/LP Hall is a really desirable action.

Yep - I just read this Laurie.  Let's hope it doesn't take too long. 

Get a mk1 iPad s/hand for about £50 - mine won't run most of the apps I originally loaded so pretty useless but perfect for the Silver Mountain targets.

Unfortunately, from hundreds of yards away, you have no idea how good the marker is.  How conscientious is he/she?  Ever been in butts at Bisley with the paid markers? 

That might change. 

A whole bunch of GB F Class League shooters at Diggle will be taking 'personal electronic devices' to the firing-point this weekend - in the form of an iPad/tablet to use with the electronic targets......

Interesting. There are other methods but, if you don't plot - and you are shooting in pairs or threes - then every shot is like your first sighter.

Looks a bit fiddly but try it and let us know how you got on.

Personally, I don't like to adjust the scope for every shot so prefer to aim-off and keep a plot of the aim-point and shot hole.

OK Nick - just make sure the outside of the neck is nice and clean.  It will take you about 5 mins to do a box of 50.

Vince

Nick - we have the ultimate annealer at Diggle - the AMP Annealer - google it.

Ask Santa if you can get to use it! 

Santa says YES!

You could read Laurie Holland's latest review of the new Tier One bi-pod on www.targetshooter.co.uk

What sort of velocities from what length of barrel an you obtain with the heavies from the dasher Vince?

Just over 3400fps with the 80 gn bullet. Barrel? I think my current one is 30 inches

Thanks Vince,

I have narrowed it down to a few possibles,

 

22br

22 dasher or

22x47 lapua.

 

I want a mag fed rifle for foxing that doubles up as a good varminter. 75 grain plus bullets are preferred for this rifle

The 22x47 Lapua struggles to match the Dasher's ballistics - for your purposes the 22BR will do all you want.

Yup Elwood - experimenting is my idea of fun - but it's nice when it gives you a result in competition! Just comparing the 6mm Smack with the 6XC..................

I love the 22 Dasher. But, if you're not intending to use it for competition - you mentioned mag. feeding - it's definitely not worth all the bother of case-forming.

To be honest, the March range of target scopes is the only one which addresses just about every requirement of the target shooter - weight, optical quality, build quality, magnification range, useable/useful reticles, great turrets, adjustment range etc.

If they were £1500 there would be no other choice for the target shooter.

Another one for 'our' SPUD - super quick with orders and stocks all the accuracy stuff no one else does.

New year - new magazine! We've relaunched Target Shooter and it's FREE again!

For 2014, we've diverted away from the formal magazine layout and we are going for a more 'rolling' format - i.e. we will add new articles as and when we get them so there should always be something new to look at. Our website remains the same www.targetshooter.co.uk

This issue has a great article on barrel-tuners for fullbore rifles, plus the usual match reports, Association news, equipment reviews etc.

Have you tried www.espfrance.com Not tried myself but one of the guys at Diggle said their Bergers were cheaper than UK prices even with postage. But, don't forget the Lapua 'L' bullets. Laurie have you tried these in 308 yet?

 

I saw that on a utube vid, What is the point?, it does not show up the shooters skill, just the proficiency of the.. well I wont call them rifles, Machine builders!!! I suppose its a case of "what ever floats ya boat".

All 'outdoor' rifle-shooting still comes down to wind-reading so, the 'shooter skill' is still there. But yes, the guys who shoot and build 'em just have a passion for precision and take it to the limit.

Basically, the F Class target has half MOA rings - the same target is usually used at 900 and 1000 yds. F Class works on a one MOA bull so, the bull-five ring should be (approx) 10 inches, V bull 5 inches, the four-ring will be 20 inches, the three-ring 30 inches etc. To do it another way - go to the GBFCA website and download the plotting sheets - these are a facsimile of the target with a one MOA grid super-imposed.

Malc,

Several Factory Sporter shooters use this technique in benchrest - it works well with a heavy factory trigger. Can be a bit painful with a 308!

Cheers

Vince