Diggle Benchrest Success

[Big Al]

Yesterday was the fifth round of the six round UKBRA 600yd Benchrest Championship at Diggle Ranges near Oldham.

As well as competing in the Heavy Gun class myself I had two customers shooting with rifles I built for them, one in Light Gun, the other with me in Heavy Gun.

It was another very successful day in many ways. 

Im delighted to congratulate Simon Mearns aka Si Snipe on his second consecutive Light Gun class win, along with his other good results this season he enters into the final round with a fighting chance of wining the Light Gun Championship at his first attempt - good luck for next month Simon.

If one success wasn't enough Darrel Evans aka Foxingtonight took the Heavy Gun class win while also breaking the UKBRA 600yd Heavy Gun Aggregate by setting a new 4x 5 shot aggregate record of 2.290" - this included 5 shot groups of 1.181" and 1.765"

This additional new UKBRA record means rifles I have built now hold 4 of the 8 available long range benchrest records, Im very pleased with this considering its my first season of competitive shooting and/or building competition rifles for others.

If those great success stories weren't enough for one day the Good Lord also smiled on me again. I was able to secure enough points with a third place in the Heavy Gun class today to win the UKBRA 600yd Heavy Gun Championship with one round still remaining. 

To add the 600yd Heavy Gun Championship to my recent 1000yd Heavy Gun Championship success is something I am very proud of. Ten months ago I had never fired a rifle in any kind of competition, now Im a double UKBRA Heavy Gun Champion and also a double Heavy Gun record holder at 1000yds. 

Thanks must go to all of you guys who have followed my exploits via my Facebook page and who continually provide me with the inspiration and motivation to be successful. Also many thanks to those of you who have put your trust in me with your rifles, as always there will only ever be one standard, a standard that is proving itself in the highest levels of UK long range precision rifle shooting.

My passion is for building accurate rifles of all kinds so dont think I only build competition rifles, far from it. Be assured that whether you need a rifle for stalking, vermin control, long range shooting of any kind or the highest level of competition shooting I will build it with the same level of care, attention to detail and ultimate precision that I give to my own successful rifles. 

Variety is the spice of life but there will only ever be one standard!

[The Gun Pimp]

Alan - very well done - you have been a breath of fresh air to UK benchrest - raised the bar and given us all something to aspire to.

[1066]

Well that's certainly something to be proud of Al - Excellent results.

[No i deer]

A big well done Al.

Good luck Simon at winning the light gun and Dar for a new heavy gun record.you didnt let one slip this time then .a great couple of small groups mate from your new improved Big Al accuracy international 6.5x47

Good calibre that.who needs a 6mm wildcat  

[justin credible]

Well done Alan, a fantastic achievement. 

[brown dog]

Impressive. Congratulations!

[No i deer]

Which are the 4 of the 8 missing from your impressive collection...?

[Danpd]

Top work that man 

[SteveW]

Very impressed Alan, long may it continue.

Congratulation to Simon & Darrel too.

 

[Big Al]

57 minutes ago, No i deer said:

Which are the 4 of the 8 missing from your impressive collection...?

All the Light Gun ones.

[Morse]

Well done Al. Great success for you in the championship. Looking forward to the 1k series again. Si / Darrel good effort on your shooting. Good grouping and a new records looking forward to the next shoot, and watching more quality kit and shooting on the line. Shame I had to give Sunday a miss this time. 

[lambsey]

Well done Alan, Si & Darrel great to see records being broke.

I'm sure it was like a summers day up at the Diggle with no wind?? Great shooting.

 

[foxing2night]

What a fantastic day, good shooting good friends, and a new record set, thanks to everyone for there kind words and support,

and big Al for a nice crisp ten pound note!!

Darrel

[pengo]

1 hour ago, Big Al said:

All the Light Gun ones.

It looks like the Big Dog might be having it's coat clipped in readiness for next season then, Alan.......

[pengo]

9 minutes ago, foxing2night said:

What a fantastic day, good shooting good friends, and a new record set, thanks to everyone for there kind words and support,

and big Al for a nice crisp ten pound note!!

Darrel

Nice shooting again, Darrel. And you should get another medal for winning and receiving the £10 note......

[That bald headed Geordie]

51 minutes ago, foxing2night said:

What a fantastic day, good shooting good friends, and a new record set, thanks to everyone for there kind words and support,

and big Al for a nice crisp ten pound note!!

Darrel

Was the ink still wet?

[Big Al]

12 hours ago, pengo said:

It looks like the Big Dog might be having it's coat clipped in readiness for next season then, Alan.......

He might get re-homed Paul

 

[Big Al]

12 hours ago, That bald headed Geordie said:

Was the ink still wet?

The state he was inLes he wouldn't have noticed if it was still wet or drawn freehand on a square of bog roll.

I think we should introduce drug testing into the rules, Tramadol abuse could easily be performance enhancing

[bradders]

13 minutes ago, Big Al said:

He might get re-homed Paul

 

So out of curiosity, what's the barrel life on something in that chambering?

[Big Al]

1 hour ago, bradders said:

So out of curiosity, what's the barrel life on something in that chambering?

32.5gr of N150 pushing a 105gr bullet down a 6mm hole firing 5 shot strings.

Your guess is as good as mine, its still competitive after 1400 rounds but Ive priced it to reflect the round count and the possible need for a rebarrel in the to too distant future.

[The Gun Pimp]

Benchrest is hard on barrels - we shoot five rounds as quickly as possible (12 - 15 seconds if you're good) so the barrel never gets chance to cool.

Small cartridges like the 6BR or 6PPC will 'peak' at around 1200 rounds - then 'plateau' out to around 1800 rounds. At around 2200 it's had it as a competitive benchgun.

With larger chamberings such as the 7mmWSM, think 400 rounds.  However, you will only shoot 180 to 200 rounds per season so not all bad.

[bradders]

Didn't notice a price to be honest Al, just curious about barrel life in general and when people think they're done.

I've had numerous conversations with people over the years about it, from top gunsmiths to top shooters to average shooters, and what's done for one isn't necessarily the same for others....depending on shooting ability and expectations

 

I know a guy in the US that shot High Power for the Army team, 2x Presidents 100 winner amongst other accolades.

He once told me he wouldn't ever go to a big match like Perry with more than 1200rds on a barrel, and we're talking .223 here!!

But back then budgets were big and barrels were cheap/free

 

So how many rounds down your barrels per year?

[Big Al]

40 minutes ago, bradders said:

Didn't notice a price to be honest Al, just curious about barrel life in general and when people think they're done.

I've had numerous conversations with people over the years about it, from top gunsmiths to top shooters to average shooters, and what's done for one isn't necessarily the same for others....depending on shooting ability and expectations

 

I know a guy in the US that shot High Power for the Army team, 2x Presidents 100 winner amongst other accolades.

He once told me he wouldn't ever go to a big match like Perry with more than 1200rds on a barrel, and we're talking .223 here!!

But back then budgets were big and barrels were cheap/free

 

So how many rounds down your barrels per year?

The barrel on this rifle started life as a 6 Dasher and it won me the 1000yd Championship but I also did a lot of testing with it during the summer so by the time it had 1000 rounds down it I felt it had lost its competitive edge, there was a fair bit of fire cracking in the throat and the lands had pushed forward over 0.040". I replaced it for the last round of the 1000yds with a 6.5 I had spare and chambered it 6.5x47, I then shot 6.5x47 for the first few of the 600yd comps this season.

I then chopped off the old Dasher chamber and re-chambered the barrel that had done 1000 rounds into 6BRA and took 0.5" off the muzzle end as well. This freshened up the rifle and it shot small groups very well again, like 5 shots into low 0.1s on more than one occasion. On Sunday it still managed a 1.6" group at 600yds and a respectable overall agg so its still seems to have some competitive life left in it but exactly how much is anyones guess. I have told this to the prospective purchasers and priced the gun accordingly on a POA basis.

Barrel life and accuracy can be a little subjective but if you want to remain at the sharp end of the wedge I feel its better to replace them sooner rather than later, I know how a barrel needs to shoot to be competitive and if I see that change I want to know why. You dont want a barrel going off at the end of a championship if your in contention and your builder then telling you the proof house queue is a mile long.

Of course its different for me being in a position where I can chamber a barrel at short notice but the same should apply to anyone who is competitive and takes winning seriously.

[Nick 53]

Out of curiosity in Fclass rifles once the barrel starts going they say you can re crown and get some additional barrel use. On Benchrest is this done to these rifles when the barrel start going ? Or do they just change for a New Barrel?

 Cheers Nick 

[gbal]

Nick,I think Al has already given a summary answer.

Once a 'barrel has gone'-and that means different things,depending on your precision criteria,then it can only be restored (a bit) if the reason  for it's decline is  removed/reduced.

Crown damage can be effectively dealt with,by a recrown.If it's close to  muzzle rifling damage,the barrel can be corrrespondingly shortened and recrowned.

But  most of the damage is at the chamber end-and is unavoidable -very hot gassesunder pressure (crown damage is typically clumsy cleaning etc)Even so,it can be mitigated by cutting back a few inches and rechambering (a more expensive proceedure).

   That may well give some extended and acceptable barrel life-but at 25 + ? MV fps  lost per inch removed ,it will also mean losing 100fps minimum MV,and that is  quite a price to pay in  competitive long range target shooting,even if precision were restored (no guarantee).Of course,if you start with a longer barrel,you might have some inches to play with.

It may be more tempting for a varminter,as absolute precision must haves are a bit less demanding and ranges less extreme.but how do you cost  out a "miss" -at any level-bearing very much in mind that relatively fine differences in  precision of the rig/ammo may not be the weakest link as distance increases.

gbal