Graham Smith

I would suggest reading a lot and getting a really good idea in mind of what you want, how much you want pre-assembled, the degree of accuracy, barrel length, gas system, etc, etc. In particular if you are going for a 3-gun rig, hunting, target, etc. There are a lot of discussions on this board about the pros and cons of different things. Spend a few days to a week digging through them and then start asking some specific questions.

The other guy may be confusing the initial calibration and checking a popper that doesn't fall but he got it wrong either way.

I’ve noticed a tendency for this thread to get rather silly. If that silliness does not stop immediately, I will be forced to complain to the management forthwith. Signed, Emeritte P Titwaddle, Col (Mrs)

I have som Rainer 135s I don't need. PM me if you are interested.

My main concern with the 6mm bullets is throat and barrel wear. I read that the 6mm Creedmoor is less prone to that than other 6mm calibers like the .243, but I'm not sure how much better better is - if you follow. It will be interesting to hear how you like this new barrel. Why the switch and why this particular caliber?

There was a fairly long discussion of match times and the factors that effect them a couple years ago and there's no one correct answer. A big match can go fairly fast and a short one can go fairly long but there is a balancing point. For 60-70 shooters, 6 stages, 140-150 rounds, it's going to take roughly 4 hours to move everyone through, not including setup and tear down. And that's assuming everything flows well and there are no backups. Backups are the killer - if you have too many people per squad and there's any backup then you end up with a squad that's sitting waiting and the time starts to pile up. There are some things that can be done to speed up the process but it all comes down to number of people and size of the match. A good throughput is about 4 min per shooter for a 6 stage match. Multiply that by the number of shooters and the time adds up fast. The really odd thing is that the time shooting is probably the least important factor. Getting the shooter ready, scoring, and resetting take the most time and it's about the same for a medium and long COF.

I couldn't disagree more. This video should be shown to every RO class and it should be a part of the annual RO exam, much like the accident videos they show high school kids in drivers class. Everyone who holds a timer or a clipboard should see this. Everyone who shoots this sport should see it and understand that this sort of thing can happen. USPSA should take this to heart and make "Range is Hot" a part of the official commands, before "Make Ready".

One load I would suggest will work well out of a 20" barrel regardless of distance. SMK 155gr Palma Match bullets over H4895. The bullets have a very high BC which gives them good wind resistance. H4895 is a versatile fast burning powder which makes it a good choice for shorter barrels. The advantage of this load is that you can load at a lower velocity for accuracy at shorter ranges which makes it a lower recoil load to shoot. If you do need to go to 1000yd, you can increase the load a bit and have ballistics close to the 175gr match bullets.

At the risk of repeating myself, semi-auto or bolt gun? What barrel length? What degree of accuracy? These things matter. Just about anything will get you reasonable results, even some cheap off the shelf ammo will work at 200yd if all you are trying to hit is a 10" plate.

Depends on action, bullet, barrel length, target, and distance. Are you are talking about long range bolt action with a 24"-26" or 3-Gun AR or what?

Now that I'm looking at this, I'm seeing that this is an issue all across the country and has been for a few years now. I've lived in a metropolitan area for the past 25yrs and a package left on a porch will be there for about 30 seconds before the guys following the UPS driver around have picked it up.

Nice Monty Python finish! Never did get a response to that line. What I didn't mention is that FedEx and the Post Office are prone to doing the same thing. Our regular mail carrier is a nice lady who always brings a package to the door and rings the bell but if she's not working that day, who knows. And I get the fact that if a package says to just leave it, they can do so, but why they can't take the extra second to ring the bell that is right there in front of them is beyond me. Is it really that much of a burden????

I may just sign up and see if I can leave an instruction to "Ring Bell" or "Deliver to Office Manager". Worth a try.

Here is the verbatim text from an online chat I had today with UPS.

If this was a two day match, I'm guessing it's a level 2 match. But I don't follow why someone would be shooting both days. I also don't follow how the person running the chrono could have shot it, or why there wasn't a backup. IOW, what kind of match was this?

Sir Terry has finally had the opportunity to meet DEATH in person. Those familiar with his fantasy books will know that DEATH was a recurring character, even starring in several books. Sir Terry was afflicted with early onset Alzheimer's a few years ag but managed to keep writing and produced over 70 books in his lifetime. He was a British icon rivaled in the writing world only by J.K. Rowling in popularity. I will miss him more than words can say.

FWIW, here is a good article that discusses three similar cartridges including both the Creedmoor and the Lapua. It's slightly out of date but it's still a good practical comparison. http://demigodllc.com/articles/6.5-shootout-260-6.5x47-6.5-creedmoor/

Poorly worded on my part. It's not a caliber that I've seen offered that much - or at least it wasn't last year when I was looking at options.

As the other said, it depends some on what you want to use it for. Given the general acceptance of the 6.5 Creedmoor, it's an easy choice because you can buy good ammo and there's a lot of reloading choices for it. The 6.5x284 Norma is a barrel burner. The 6.5x47 Lapua is excellent, but you will find it's a harder rifle to find or build.

This is not the first time I have heard of that practice and I'm pretty sure it was mentioned in a CRO course. Whether it was mentioned as something OK to do or not, I can't recall. That said, my club has this come up from time to time and as far as I am aware, the RO has the shooter remain where they are while someone goes downrange to fix whatever the problem is. In fact, in one case, I was the shooter and noticed a target that wasn't pasted and the RO had me stand while he went and pasted the target. That was, perhaps, not the best idea.

And the long range people I know and shoot with say just the opposite. Neck size 3-4 times then bump the shoulder, but never FL size. Sometimes I think that this stuff has become a crazy mix of old and new ideas and should really involve chicken entrails and some guy in a feathered mask mumbling chants as you load your ammo. People find something that works and that's what they swear by.

I have both the RCBS and Hornady and the Cam-Lok is a heck of a lot easier to use.

For a semi-auto, yes. But I just can't agree with that for a bolt gun. And I know a number of long range shooters who will agree with me. There's no reason to overwork the brass like that.

I'm really only talking about a quick field cleaning. If I am at home, I have cleaning rods.. I've used a Boresnake at the range and like it but as I said you almost have to stand the rifle on end to get the leader through.

There should be no need to FL size new brass for a factory bolt action rifle. And there should be no need to FL size brass that's been fired in your rifle unless it was over pressured and hard to remove (in which case I wouldn't use it at all). My guess is that you don't have the sizing die setup correctly and are going to have to get that fixed and possibly trim the brass. Different dies are adjusted differently. Follow the MFG directions. BUT, once you have correct brass and have fired it, don't FL size it again. You should only need to neck size and, perhaps, bump the shoulder back a tiny bit.