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 7 November 1998
Circulation 925
IN THIS ISSUE
THE EDITOR'S NOTES
Attending Gun Shows
CHANGES TO CENTERFIRE CENTRAL
Caliber Update
FEATURE ARTICLE - RIFLE TOURNAMENTS OUTLINE
By Gregory Garland Part III
GUEST WRITER - WORKING WITH THE 22 HORNET
Robert (Scott) Fairing
INTERNET RELOADING CLASS
CenterFire Central
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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
A favorite pastime of mine is hitting the local gun
shows. The last
weekend of October, the quarterly show was in
Friday evening and runs through Sunday afternoon.
The last few shows, I have tried to go on Friday evening, as the crowds
are a little lighter.
I find it amazing, the differences you see in prices. For
example, the
"World's Fastest Gun Bore Cleaner" from National Tech-Labs,
(208) 345-5674, Which, in case you have not seen or
tried one, is
pretty neat. Basically it is an oversized shoestring with a bore brush
made into it. One end of the cleaner has a length of cord attached 36"
long, with a weight on the end of it. You simply drop the weight
through the barrel and pull. The wire brush runs through the barrel
first and the remaining portion of the cleaner trails behind and picks
up the crud. Of course it takes different sizes for different
calibers/guns, just another "Gotcha". Here is a picture
http://www.centerfirecentral.com/images/boreclnr.gif
Anyway, I decided that one would be nice in my backpack for the
upcoming deer season. I watched for the cleaners as I made my way
around the room and it was not long before I found them. The vendor was
asking $19 each. I had seen them at other shows and thought they were
about $16. Hey the $3 bucks might as well be in my pocket, so I waited.
Sure enough, found another vendor, $15. Figured at that price, I might
as well pick up one for another caliber as well. Ended up 2 for $29,
even better.
There were other glaring examples throughout the show,
you could have
an H&R Topper in 30/30 at one booth for $140 or an H&R Topper in 410 at
another booth for over $225. I could find nothing wrong with either
gun.
I enjoy visiting with the vendors, they are all a
great bunch of
people. They put a lot of time and effort into bringing this stuff out
for us to drool over, but for my money, they can be certain I will shop
for the best buy.
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CHANGES TO CENTERFIRE CENTRAL
2 additional calibers have been added to the Pet Load Entry Screen and
are also available when Viewing Visitor Pet Loads.
7mm STW and 45/70
These calibers both had data entered by visitors but
were not listed
and could not be viewed.
I appreciate input from site visitors who bring these things to my
attention. My intention is to maintain CenterFire Central to be as
complete as possible. However, with so much going on, there is plenty
of room for things to slip through the cracks.
Constructive critisism or just plain old suggestions
are appreciated.
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THIS MONTH'S FEATURE ARTICLE
OUTLINE FOR COMPETITIVE HIGH POWER RIFLE TOURNAMENTS
Part III
By Gregory Garland
Copyright 1998
READING THE WIND
Much as been written about reading the wind, and there are those who
insist that sight adjustment for wind changes is as mathematical and as
mechanical as is adjusting the telemetry of a rocket ship on its way to
the moon. I happen to think that while computers can accomplish great
things in telemetry with algorithms etc, I think that wind doping is a
large part mechanical, but that the actual "read" on the conditions
is
mostly intuitive. Some forces in nature seem to work in harmony with
each other, wind at long ranges is not one of them. I
have seen wind
flags pointing at each other at about the 300 yard line once at a range
in
The competition does not stop, however, for wind to calm down. You
shoot in the conditions you get.
That said, there are tools available for the
competitor to assist him
in this daunting task. The first is his scorebook in which will be
contained windage diagrams to help him to determine
how much dope to
put on his sight for a given change in conditions. To determine the
conditions and any changes in conditions, the competitor has both his
spotting scope and the range flags to assist him.
Since one must first make a determination as to conditions
before
adjusting his sights, that is where this discussion will begin.
The competitor must devise a system that works for him. It may not be
the same system that works for someone else, but he must be methodical
and systematic about this skill, and not deviate from it during his
course of fire. First, when in the preparation period, focus the
spotting scope as clearly as possible on the target. Then back off the
point of focus a couple hundred yards towards the competitor, so that
the target appears blurry when viewed through the scope. The
competitor will then be able to observe the mirage as it rises from the
ground downrange. The direction and angle of the mirage is a great
help in determining what the wind is doing at any point in time. Also,
watch the range flags to see in what direction they are pointing
generally. Mirage is a good tool for determining direction and speed
of "full force" wind, that is, wind coming from more or less 90
degrees
from right or left down range, but it isn't too much help on
determining direction of wind coming straight from behind the
competitor, or from directly downrange. Here the wind flags can help
quite a bit.
Additionally, once the wind has reached about 15 miles per hour,
mirage begins to lose its usefulness, as it will appear to run straight
across, and variations in wind velocity will not be discernible from a
reading of mirage. After about 15 mph of wind is steadily on the
range, the wind flags are the competitor's most reliable tool. A good
score book will contain diagrams which will help the competitor to get
a read on what the wind is doing. After initial sight correction is
made for a given condition, the competitor will have to accept that as
"zero" for the conditions at that stage on that day, and adjust his
sights according to the changes in that condition, either for velocity
or angle. The wind charts in his book will help greatly.
A note about wind direction: less than full value wind will have an
effect on elevation as well as windage.
SIGHT ALIGNMENT/SIGHT PICTURE
Sight alignment is defined as the relationship between the front and
the rear sights. Sight picture is defined as the relationship between
the sights and the aiming black downrange. Sight alignment is a
critical dimension. It is far more important than sight picture in
assuring that a given shot will strike the target consistently with
other shots fired with that same alignment. Even if sight picture is
not perfect when firing a shot, one may still be well within the 10
ring. If sight alignment is off, even a little bit, one can lose
several points as a result.
To assure proper sight alignment, the rifleman's focus should be the
front sight. The relationship of the front sight to the rear sight is
easily verified if the front sight is the point of focus. Since the
eyes do not accommodate several focal points at the same time, when the
front sight is the point of focus, the rear sight will appear blurry,
as will the target. However, the amount of light coming through the
rear aperture around the front sight will be easy to see, and the front
sight will be easier to center in the rear aperture by using this
method, thereby assuring good sight alignment.
Additionally, focus on the front sight will go a long way to
eliminating distortions of the aiming black caused by mirage on still,
hot, days. If you look through your sights and focus on the target on
a still, hot, day, the aiming black will appear to move about and
change shape from a nice circle to various oblong shapes, and your
shots will be all over the place. If on the other hand, you focus on
the front sight, the aiming black will stabilize in the front sight,
and your shots will be more consistent.
SIGHT ADJUSTMENT
Most sights are graduated in fractions of a minute of
angle (MOA).
One minute of angle is approximately one inch at 100 yards, 2 inches at
200 yards, 3 inches at 300 yards, and 6 inches at 600 yards. Many
sights are graduated in 1/2 MOA or 1/4 MOA, and thus each "click" on
the sight will shift bullet impact accordingly at any given distance.
If you are shooting at 600 yards, and your bullets are impacting the
target six inches to the left of the center of the X ring, adding on
one minute of windage to the right will bring the
point of impact to
the center of the X ring. Similarly, if striking 3 inches to the left
of the center of the X ring, adding on 1/2 minute of windage
will move
the point of impact to the center of the X ring.
CLOSING
The author hopes that this article has been of help to
the rifleman
contemplating competing in this great sport. The discipline which one
learns in preparation for any sport is valuable in many areas of life.
The sport of highpower rifle shooting has much going
for it. It is a
lifelong sport that one can enjoy from an early age well into
retirement. Unlike other sports, the likelihood of an injury stemming
from this sport is extremely remote. The U.S. Shooting team reports
that in the life of their sport, not one person has been injured. This
says a lot for the safety of the sport. Unlike sports involving balls
where strong emotions sometimes help performance, this is a sport of
total self control where even a slight amount of anger or anxiety will
really show up on one's scores.
Most competitors will welcome new arrivals like yourself,
and gladly
share with them the storehouse of knowledge they have built up over the
years, because this is not a zero sum game. That fact that one
competitor does very well on a given day does not diminish the
likelihood that another will not also do very well on a given day.
While there is competition between people, the real competition is
within the self. That one competitor shows steady improvement does not
in any way impact the improvement another may also realize.
I hope to see you all at the range soon!
1 The percentage referred to is more simple than it
may appear at first
glance. If one takes into account the "possible" score in a given
match, and then divides a "possible" into the actual score a
competitor
receives, he obtains his percentage. In a 50 shot match, one has a
possible of 50 "10's", or 500 possible points. If one shoots 450 out
of 500 points, one shoots a 90% for that match. If he repeated this
performance for 240 shots, he would be classified as "Expert".
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WORKING WITH THE 22 HORNET
By Robert (Scott) Fairing
I have shot the hornet for about 6 years. It is a great round and I
love shooting it. Here is some of what I have learned, mostly the hard
way.
Always keep in mind when reloading the hornet that is was designed to
be a hot 22 rf, not a slow
222. If you keep your pressures low and, as
a result velocities low, you can get great groups and good case life.
I have a
leaves the rest of the neck to help center the bullet in the chamber. I
also put my case in the chamber of my TC the same way each time, this
can be done by putting the R-P at the top or by filing a small notch in
the rim and putting that at the top of the chamber each time you shoot.
Bullet seating depth can make a huge difference in pressure, as with
all small case capacities. I have an old CH press that I take to the
range with me and C-Clamp to a bench for hornet load development. I
start by loading my test loads with the bullet as far out as the barrel
will allow. Seat bullets farther in the case as I test and watch group
size change and pressure signs begin to appear.
The hornet was designed for 40 to 45 gr bullets and
early twist rates
were for these sized bullets. Most reloading books say that heavier
bullets will not expand because of lower velocities. Don't believe it.
My 14" contender will stabilize 52 gr. bullets and newer bullets like
the Nozler Ballistic Tip and the new V-Max bullets
will expand for the
hornet.
I swage a 52 gr. bullet with Corbin swage dies that use a spent 22 rf
case for the jacket. An expensive hobby, but a lot of fun.
My favorite
load before the moly is 10.5 gr
of IMR 4227 and one of my home made
bullets. This combination averages only around 2000 fps but has been
the recipe that has sent many
hunting ground". I am getting kind of soft in my old age and one shot
kills have become very important to me. That is the way I would like to
go rather than drag myself down a hole and take a couple of days to
die. The last two shot kill I had with this load was three years ago
and that was my fault not the bullet's. I have not
been to the range
with the moly bullets that I loaded this spring. My
range is pretty wet
and shooting in the kind of weather is not much fun. I will let you
know when I do get some results.
Most of my hunting is done in
an 800 acre canyon with a year round trout creek in the bottom. She
raises alfalfa in a 30 acre field with prime rockchuck
housing on 2
sides. She asked me several years ago to "deal with that problem" for
her. She is a widow and the Bible commands us to take care of the
widows so what choice do I have? The hornet has been the only barrel I
have used and it has served me well out past 175 yards.
If (or when) you do split a case, here is my favorite method of
removing it. Take a 1/4 20 tap and insert into the chamber. Gently push
and turn until you feel the case slip. It will then slide out on the
tap. With moderate loads you may never need this.
Since I wrote this I have been experimenting with AA 1680 and moly
coated bullets. I swaged 40 gr and 33 gr bullets using J-4 commercial
jackets. I shot about 25 rounds and noticed a real difference in the
moly coated barrel. group
size went below 1" at 100 yards and a friends
crony showed a 5 shot average of 2975 fps! Faster than I ever
expected
to see with this round. There are no signs of pressure. Here is the
load:
Case Remington nickel plated
Primer CCI small pistol
Powder AA 1680 13.5 gr
I came home from this trip to the range and swaged 100 33 gr
bullets
from the same jackets. Using the same load I got good group size but
have not had the opportunity to shoot any through a crony.
Sage rats are out in
able to cross the mountains and try this new combination on a few of
them.
I would like to hear about others experiences with this round. I
think I will start to put together a list of your addresses for future
reference.
New Information added
Several weeks ago I had the opportunity to take a mule deer doe at 250
yards with this load. I was hunting with another hornet shooter for
rockchucks in the above mentioned canyon when several
deer took over
the alfalfa field. I shot high a couple of times to get them to leave
the field. They just looked at me and kept on eating. The ranch foreman
was with us and told me to kill one as he had several agriculture tags
and entirely to many deer. I had been shooting
squirrels at the same
distance all day so I held for a spine shot just behind the neck and
took my shot. She folded up and never even kicked. I am NOT suggesting
that the
hornet should become the next deer round, but that with a well placed
shot, it will do the job.
In HIS Service
Robert (Scott) Fairing
Canby, OR
E-Mail: fairing@juno.com
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OTHER RESOURCES
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Copyright 1998 by CenterFire Central
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