The Firearms MagEzine
A publication of
CenterFire Central
http://www.centerfirecentral.com
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The Firearms MagEzine
is no longer published
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VOL. 1 ISSUE 2 JUNE 1998
Circulation 500
***IN THIS ISSUE***
THE EDITOR'S NOTES
Summer Sales
FEATURE ARTICLE - RECOIL
Understanding recoil and dealing with it.
PRODUCT REVIEW - PACT MODEL 1 CHRONOGRAPH
The editor reviews the Pact Model 1
INERNET RELOADING CLASS
From CenterFire Central
NEW SECTIONS IN THIS ISSUE
*In The Spotlight - Arms and Ammo
*Reader Letters - 1/2 MOA Rifle Report (Part 1)
RESOURCES
Other resources for related information
SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
SUBMIT AN ARTICLE
ADVERTISING OPTIONS
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A WORD OF CAUTION
CenterFire Central and contributing writers are not responsible for
mishaps of any kind which may occur from use or misuse of data or
information published, electronically or otherwise by CenterFire
Central. Activities involving firearms, ammunition, components and
equipment require strict safety precautions and training which are not
detailed herein.
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EDITOR'S NOTES
Summer time presents some great opportunities for shooters.
Neighborhood garage sale signs line the streets, estate sales and
auction ads fill the newspapers.
It may take several sales before you run across any shooting sport
related items but when you do, some bargains can be had.
You should see the look on a crowds face when an
auctioneer holds up a
press and says "who'll start me out" "do I hear $20". They
don't even
know what they're looking at. I bought a Spartan Press and a 3pc die
set for $7.50 a few years back at a consignment auction.
I had a garage sale a while back and put a little bit of reloading
equipment in the sale. A zillion people walked right by it and had no
idea what it was. Then a couple of older guys walked in, picked it up,
smiled, paid the price and left.
Go ahead, stumble through a few sales when you get a chance. You might
pick up some great equipment at a fantastic price. Watch for loading
manuals in the boxes of books, you can never have too many of those.
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THIS MONTH'S FEATURE ARTICLE
RECOIL
At almost 6' tall 185 pounds, one would think that I
could tolerate
recoil. I drive a pick-up truck, wear boots, change my own oil, heck I
am just an all around macho kinda guy right?
Except when it comes to being stomped by a 8 pound
stick of wood and
metal. I HATE RECOIL !
Fifteen to twenty shots with a large caliber and I am over it. I am not
sure if it is the noise, the muzzle blast or the felt recoil. Maybe it
is all three.
Recoil is a funny thing. Sitting at the range, you know you're going to
feel it so it is not a surprise, but it hurts. Even a shoulder pad or
heavy coat really do not seem to help much. If the
cross hairs are
lined up on a game animal however, you barely hear the gun much less
feel it.
For years I accepted that my "deer rifle" was going to hurt and it
was
just part of practicing. Today, my aging father, still
shoots his
30-06. His accuracy is gone, he flat can't hit with that gun anymore.
Now he says that he is too old to buy a new gun and learn new tricks.
That is stubborn, but that is a whole different story.
I guess my point is, he fell in love with the gun as a young man and
has never known any other rifle for deer hunting. I would caution you
against such a narrow frame of mind. It truly is saddening to see his
frustration at his inability to hit. Although he could never cut a
small group with it he was confident that the heavy load would do the
job.
Had I known 20 years ago what I know now, I would have at least
attempted to talk him into trying a different caliber.
WHAT AFFECTS RECOIL
Recoil is a result of a combination of things, with probably the two
most significant factors being volume of powder charge and bullet
weight.
Other factors include rifle weight, velocity, and powder velocity.
Load From a Disk For Windows http://www.loadammo.com/
ballistic software and others I am sure, can quickly tell you a pretty
accurate
felt recoil energy in pounds.
The formula in it's self is complex and beyond my comprehension, but
here it is.(ref Lyman 45th edition).
Wg Vg = W1 Vp + W2 Vc
Where: Wg = Weight of gun (lb)
W1 = Weight of bullet (lb)
W2 = Weight of powder chg (lb)
Vg = Recoiling velocity of gun (fps)
Vp = Muzzle velocity of bullet (fps)
Vc = Effective velocity of powder charge
Maybe to you this is simple. I will just let the computer do it for me,
thanks.
I mentioned my Dad and his 30-06. Just for comparison sake, take a look
at these actual numbers produced by the software.
|
Dad's 30-06 |
My .243 |
|
Gun 8.5 lbs |
Gun 8.5 lbs |
|
180 gr bullet |
100 gr bullet |
|
43 grs powder |
34.3 grs powder |
|
felt recoil 14.6 lbs |
felt recoil 6.8 lbs |
|
100 yd energy 2209 |
100 yd energy 1582 |
His track record over the past 10 years has not been good,
mine is
hanging on the wall.
WHAT CAN BE DONE
There are things that can be done to reduce recoil
economically. First
and foremost might be to have a recoil pad installed. We put one on the
06 and it helped some.
In the fall of 1997, I convinced my dad to drop back to 150 grain bullet. The
results, a 3.9 pound reduction in felt recoil, now 10.7 pounds of
recoil, 100 yd energy 1639.
This was a good improvement and he is shooting better at the range. Now
I have to work on 30 years of flinch with him.
My project for the summer is to do some extensive testing with 130
grain bullets, maybe even less bullet, if I get the time. Expected
recoil with 130 is around 9 lbs.
Simply reducing the bullet weight but leaving velocity high can still
leave recoil high. By reducing the bullet weight and velocity, recoil
is lighter at the expense of down range energy loss.
Before you decide that you can't accept reduced energy, consider that
improved bullet placement greatly compensates for lower energy.
We have all heard the stories of killing large game with a rimfire,
not
to say that it can't be done, but this is a realistic approach.
The goal here is to reduce recoil so that you enjoy practicing. If you
enjoy practicing, you will practice more. Come next fall, you should be
able to drive nails with that old deer rifle that you just can't give
up.
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THIS MONTHS PRODUCT REVIEW
PACT MODEL 1 CHRONOGRAPH
I have been using a Model 1 Chronograph now for 3 or 4 years and
thoroughly enjoy it. For years I had guesstimated velocities based on
numbers from the manuals. This approach works but if fails to tell you
much about your particular load.
The Model 1 is the most economical model that PACT makes, it does not
do everything the bigger models do, however for the average shooter, it
is great.
It will record the velocity of up to 20 consecutive shots. Based on
those velocities, it will show you: Low & High as
well as calculate
Average Velocity, Extreme Spread, Standard Deviation and Average
Deviation.
I am not a mathematical wizard so I won't attempt to explain too
deeply.
Low and High are obvious, and are usually interesting numbers.
Extreme Spread is also pretty easy to figure out.
Standard Deviation, a measure of dispersion in a frequency
distribution, equal to the square root of the mean of the squares of
the deviations from the arithmetic mean of the distribution.
Average Deviation, (mean deviation) a measure of dispersion, computed
by taking the arithmetic mean of the absolute values of the deviations
of the functional values from some central value.
The "Deviations", what I comprehend, measure blah, blah blah blah
central value.
In terms I do understand, Standard Deviation is accurate when looking
at a large quantity of numbers but when you're talking a group of 5 to
10 shots, Average Deviation is a more accurate number. Low Average
Deviations are a good thing.
Ok, now that we fully understand "Deviation", as we fire groups
across
our chronograph, our favored load should be one with a
very low Average
Deviation.
In last month's feature article I discussed the dramatic differences
switching components could make. With a chronograph, they become even
more obvious.
Pact is not the only game in town, it just happens to be what I own. I
chose it for several reasons. First and foremost, I did not want the
equipment in front of my barrel, one sneeze and, well you get the idea.
The Pact has a unit that sits on the bench and the only thing the
bullet flies past are the sky screens. Having the unit on the bench
also allows readability. It is right there, no squinting, no
getting up
to go look at it.
The Skyscreens are big, and set up,
they basically form a V shape that
is 12" wide at the top and 14" tall in the center. You can mount them
on a board or purchase the accessory bar on which to mount them. The
accessory bar can be mounted on a regular photo tri-pod, which makes a
pretty handy surface. At the hundred-yard bench, you can shoot at
several different targets and not have to move the screens. The screens
are connected to the unit with 2 cables, one for the "Start Screen"
and
one for the "Stop Screen". The bar and screens make the system a
little
cumbersome, so you have to set it up at the range. I have not found an
alternative approach yet.
Operation is simple, turn it on, wait a couple of
seconds for it to
initialize and you're ready to go. When done with a string, simply
review the fields by pressing the "Review" button. It has an
"Edit"
button to remove bogus numbers. For example; you set the screens too
close to the bench and get a muzzle blast reading or whatever. I only
recall using the "Edit" button a couple of times but it worked.
The whole system runs on a 9 volt battery, yep just like the one in
your garage door opener, which you will probably have with you at the
range, should you ever do something dumb, like forget to make sure you
have a fresh battery in the unit. Of course none of us would ever do
that.
In summary, this article is not intended to compare units. It is simply
to tell you how the Model 1 works and what I think of it. If I lost it
tomorrow, I would buy another just like it. The system does what it
claims it will do and I enjoy having the data available on which to
base my loading decisions. Quality, price and functionality make it a
great piece of equipment.
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IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Arms and Ammo "The Shooter's Discount Supplier"
I know these folks from visiting their booth at the local gun shows.
They have great prices, a wide selection of products and friendly
service.
The company goal at ARMS AND AMMO is "to provide our customers with the
highest quality products and best service at the lowest possible
prices. We try to provide helpful answers and advice to reloaders
both
amateur and novice.
We carry a wide range of products including brass, primers, powders and
bullets as well as loaded ammunition. Reloading equipment,
hearing
protection, scopes, tumblers, cleaning supplies and more. Visit our
site to view our on-line catalog. Mention this Ezine
and receive $5.00
off of the Rock Chucker Master Reloading Kit #09367 or receive a $2.00
discount on any reloading dies in stock."
Visit their web site http://www.armsandammo.com or email them
at arms&ammo@u-n-i.net
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READER LETTERS
1/2 MOA Rifle Report Part 1
by J. A. Smith
Several times my shooting buddies and I, who most are also into
performance cars, have always wondered why none of the gun magazines
have ever published a running report on a rifle. One that
involves step
by step accurizing and testing of each service.
I subscribe to several car magazines, mostly Mustang oriented ones,
that do this all the time. So I thought I'd try this for myself, and
after talking to
in this Ezine.
Choosing a rifle for a base was the first step. I thought about this
for a second, that's all it took, I couldn't think of any better one
then a Remington 700. The VS is the most appropriate to me because with
a little work on the stock I really wouldn't need to replace the stock,
and that is the other half of the equation, doing this on the cheap.
One problem I didn't want or need any of the caliber's it is available
in from the factory. The short action Rem. VLS
(Varmint Laminated
Stock) comes in 6mm Rem. That was the one, I have a
warm place in my
heart for the 6mm and so came the problem of getting one in the VS
configuration.
No problem I asked my local dealer and he obliged after almost no arm
twisting. We just swapped stocks now I have a Rem
700VS in 6mm to work
with.
Next installment I will break the barrel in, to fireform
the cases and
shoot some groups for a baseline with factory ammo. That should suffice
till I decide on a dedicated scope for this rifle. Then I will do some
load development followed by glass bedding and trigger work. So see you
all next time with some baseline groups and maybe if I am lucky groups
with handloads before and after glass bedding and
trigger work. Take
care and happy shooting.
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OTHER RESOURCES
Handloading For Hunting http://www.accs.net/users/drquick/
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Copyright 1998 by CenterFire Central
All Rights Reserved