From the Bench - UKBRA News
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This column also appears every month in Target Sports magazine
December 2008
Competitions
Our first 600 yd shoot of the winter season took place at the beginning of November and in spite of the cold weather we had a fantastic turn-out. Many shooters were sampling the discipline for the first time and there were some great groups, though the blustery winds meant that a few shooters suffered penalties from being blown off the target.
Laurie Holland shot a 2.7 inch group with his 6BR Remington on his way to second place in Light Gun class and Phil Gibbon dominated Factory Sporter with his 6.5-284 Savage with a magnificent 4.8 inch agg. and a small group of 3.99 inches. Thanks to all who supported the event and particularly Jack Searle and Eddy Robinson who fed us all, on the firing-point, with a great barbeque.
Results:
Light Gun 1st Vince Bottomley 22Dasher TGP Stiller 3.371 in. (av. of four, 5-shot groups)
2nd Laurie Holland 6BR Walker Remington 4.335
3rd Steve Dunn 22BR Dunn Stolle 4.428
Small group: Vince Bottomley 2.171 inches
Factory Sporter 1st Phil Gibbon 6.5-284 Savage 4.886 inches
2nd Jason Foster 6.5-284 savage 9.422
3rd Toni Young 308 Remington 10.915
Small group: Phil Gibbon 3.995 inches
Benchrest round-up
The UKBRA's long and short range championships for 2008 are now decided so let's have a look at who won what and what they shot.
At 100 yards, Ian Dixon came out tops in the Heavy Varmint Class. Ian has shot benchrest for about fourteen years and is a veteran of several World Championships and regularly shoots on the Continent but this is his first UKBRA Championship. Ian's rifle is built around a BAT S action and chambered in 6PPC. Pete Walker of Walker Custom Rifles in West Yorkshire does all his barrel work but Ian builds his own carbon-fibre stocks. Ian's rifle is actually built to the Light Varmint weight of 10.5 lbs rather than the 13.5lb. HV class, which allows Ian to shoot in both classes at international shoots but in the UK, we only tend to shoot the HV Class. Ian's best agg. of the year was 0.218 inches for five, 5-shot groups. Ian prefers Fowler bullets and in line with 99% of BR competitors uses Vit N133 powder, Federal primers and Lapua 220 Russian brass to form his 6PPC cases.
Bill Martin is our Factory Sporter Championship winner at 100 yards and Bill has had some remarkable groups this year with his 223 Remington VS. For the Factory Sporter Class, rifles must be as 'out of the box' but triggers may be 'tuned' and the barrel re-crowned but non-standard parts cannot be fitted to the rifle. Bill has shot with us for about five years now and has steadily improved as he hones his shooting and reloading skills. With a tiny 52 grain 223 bullet, wind reading is all important and clearly, Bill has clearly mastered this as well and his best agg. of the year was a stunning 0.324 inches and he also had two astounding groups in the 'ones'.
At 1000 yards, Vince Bottomley won the Light Gun Class using my BAT actioned rifle chambered in a shortened version of the 6-284 which he calls the 6mm Xtreme. It easily drives a 115 grain moly-coated DTAC bullet at 3250 fps., though barrel life will be short - probably around 500 rounds with the New Zealand True-Flite barrel. The stock is a Bill Shehane wood laminate Tracker and a Vais muzzle brake. All-up weight for the Light Gun Class is 17lbs and to stay in-weight Vince must use a one pound Weaver T36 BR scope rather than the more preferred but heavier Nightforce. Chosen powder is Reloader 22, Lapua cases and Federal Match primers. Best agg. of the year for four, 5-shot groups was 7.81 inches and a best group of 4.235 inches, plus three five-inch groups and three six-inch groups.
Phil Gibbon has dominated the 1000 yard Factor Sporter class in this, his first serious year in benchrest. Phil bought himself two of the new Savage target rifles - one chambered in 308 for F/TR Class shooting and the 6.5-284 for benchrest. Right out of the box, the 6.6-284 Savage would shoot groups below ten inches (best group 6.9 inches!) and Phil had little competition, taking four straight wins from the first four shoots. Phil uses Lapua brass, Vit N165 powder and Lapua 139 grain moly-coated Scenar bullets. Phil's best agg. of the year was an 11.10 inches - not too shabby for a factory rifle. For the money, these Savages take some beating. Check out www.ospreyrifles.com if you fancy one. Incidentally, for 2009 there will be a dual-port version available which will make it possible to run the Savage really quickly, just like a custom gun.
New stuff
We do get quite a few new bullets introduced every year but this latest one from Sierra is exciting news as it is a 308 155 grain bullet. The 308 Win. is probably the world's favourite cartridge and the advent of the F/TR class has revived interest in this cartridge as a long-range target round. Clearly, the new bullet is targeting this discipline and has already been trialled by the US F/TR team with positive results. The new bullet comes with factory-pointed meplat to improve BC - a first for a factory bullet. It still employs a tangent ogive just like the existing 155 Palma Match bullet so no VLD stuff to worry about. Sierra are predicting January for the US release date but hopefully we will get them in the UK in time to test for the 2009 season.
Start 'em young!
Thirteen year old Delia Harrop has shot rimfire benchrest for about a year now at her local club and competes in the Yorkshire postal league. Delia has made remarkable progress and was persuaded to enter the Eley Benchrest Postal Competition. Amazingly, she managed to qualify for the final at Bisley's Lord Roberts Centre.
A 250 mile drive to Bisley from her home in Linthwaite, West Yorkshire and then competing with a host of other finalists could be a daunting experience for a thirteen year-old who had not previously shot outside the confines of her club but the delightful Delia took it all in her stride and even came away with a trophy for fourth-place in her class.
At the moment, Delia has to borrow a rifle and all her pocket money goes on ammunition, making her achievement even more remarkable. It's difficult to get kids involved in shooting these days and youngsters like Delia are surely our future. Delia is a left-hander and I'm hoping that there is a kindly dealer out there with an old left-hand Anschutz 54 gathering dust on his shelves who would be willing to help out this talented junior - she is sure to attract the right kind of publicity.
E-mail me on vinceb@6ppc.fsnet.co.uk if you can help and we will certainly give your dealership a plug.