Badges and vacation time has been approved-5 Days PTO
Hotel reserved-$250
Drive to Vegas-12hrs, $200
Attending SHOT show for the first time - Priceless
Just wanted to let everyone out in blogland know that we'll bring all the cool stuff pertaining to Long Range and accuracy from SHOT show in Jan.
-Steven Kipp
Monday, December 14, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Reloading Part 4: Inspecting
After cleaning is a great time to inspect all(and I do mean every single one) cases to make sure they'll be safe to fire.
Inspecting brass is one of the most important steps that you will do while reloading.
Inspecting brass is one of the most important steps that you will do while reloading.
That was so important it needed to be said twice. Remember that you are first setting off an explosion and then burning a highly flammable substance in an enclosed space between both of your hands and in very close proximity to your face with the intent to send a a very hard metal object flying away from you at up to speeds of up to 4000 fps which is about Mach 3.5 EVERY time you pull the trigger.
If you question whether a case is good or not throw it out. Do you want to bet your life on case that is worth a few cents? Remember how close to your face you'll be setting this off in the near future?
Things to look for:
-Cracking of the case -- look at the top and bottom (Shoulder and Rim)
-Excessive bulging of the case -- If the case is bulged it probably means a weak case and has reached its limit.
-Bright rings near bottom -- Also a sign of a weak case, discard it.
-separation of the rim from the rest of the case
-Dings, nicks, cracks or major deformation
These are just a few things to watch out for, remember if there is a question it is always good to try to find an answer, but don't shoot anything unless you are confident of it.
This is one of the most important steps for safety(there are a couple more). You can always buy more brass, more ammo and more tools. I haven't found a store to get another hand or eye yet.
When in doubt, chuck it.
-Steven Kipp
Inspecting brass is one of the most important steps that you will do while reloading.
Inspecting brass is one of the most important steps that you will do while reloading.
That was so important it needed to be said twice. Remember that you are first setting off an explosion and then burning a highly flammable substance in an enclosed space between both of your hands and in very close proximity to your face with the intent to send a a very hard metal object flying away from you at up to speeds of up to 4000 fps which is about Mach 3.5 EVERY time you pull the trigger.
If you question whether a case is good or not throw it out. Do you want to bet your life on case that is worth a few cents? Remember how close to your face you'll be setting this off in the near future?
Things to look for:
-Cracking of the case -- look at the top and bottom (Shoulder and Rim)
-Excessive bulging of the case -- If the case is bulged it probably means a weak case and has reached its limit.
-Bright rings near bottom -- Also a sign of a weak case, discard it.
-separation of the rim from the rest of the case
-Dings, nicks, cracks or major deformation
These are just a few things to watch out for, remember if there is a question it is always good to try to find an answer, but don't shoot anything unless you are confident of it.
This is one of the most important steps for safety(there are a couple more). You can always buy more brass, more ammo and more tools. I haven't found a store to get another hand or eye yet.
When in doubt, chuck it.
-Steven Kipp
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Airports and Firearms
While this post is also about pistols it can be applied to long guns as well.
Much to my wife's dismay I insisted on taking a handgun with me on our recent trip to carry concealed. She thought (and I thought so too) that taking it with us and flying would be a great big hassle.
It turns out that it was relatively painless.
Obviously it had to be checked. I placed the suitcase it was in on the check in counter and said "I need to declare a firearm." After that the person behind the counter instructed me on what to do, and all was well. Then taking it over the X-ray machine with the TSA personel, I told them "I have a firearm in the bag." The asked if it was unloaded, locked and declared. I said yes, as I had just done this at the counter. The TSA had me wait while the bag passed through so I could open the case if need be, but had no further problem.
So here's what you need if you want to take a firearm with on a trip that you'll be flying:
A) The Gun(s) must be in a hard sided case that cannot be easily pried open.
B) You need a lock on the case. It cannot be a small TSA approved lock, get a pad lock. You, and only you, keep the key to the lock.
C)THE GUN MUST BE UNLOADED -- make no mistake, check it, check it again, and look a third time. THE GUN MUST BE UNLOADED.
D)Ammo can be in the case, but again, not in the gun. It can, however be in the magazines provided it meets other restrictions. Ammo also must be either the manufactures original container or be completely encased--check the website for rules.
E)You can also have more than one gun in a case.
Check the TSA website and the Airline web site(s) to see the specific rules. Do not take these as the rules you need to pack by. Get, Read and Understand the actual rules. These were for informational purposes only, and are not complete.
One more disclaimer: Make sure where you are going allows what you are bringing. Each state is different and the rules change with the state (and sometimes city, county or regional) lines. If you are leaving the country, do your homework. I don't know much more than that about international travel.
Here's hoping you have a safe holiday season of travel.
-Steven Kipp
Much to my wife's dismay I insisted on taking a handgun with me on our recent trip to carry concealed. She thought (and I thought so too) that taking it with us and flying would be a great big hassle.
It turns out that it was relatively painless.
Obviously it had to be checked. I placed the suitcase it was in on the check in counter and said "I need to declare a firearm." After that the person behind the counter instructed me on what to do, and all was well. Then taking it over the X-ray machine with the TSA personel, I told them "I have a firearm in the bag." The asked if it was unloaded, locked and declared. I said yes, as I had just done this at the counter. The TSA had me wait while the bag passed through so I could open the case if need be, but had no further problem.
So here's what you need if you want to take a firearm with on a trip that you'll be flying:
A) The Gun(s) must be in a hard sided case that cannot be easily pried open.
B) You need a lock on the case. It cannot be a small TSA approved lock, get a pad lock. You, and only you, keep the key to the lock.
C)THE GUN MUST BE UNLOADED -- make no mistake, check it, check it again, and look a third time. THE GUN MUST BE UNLOADED.
D)Ammo can be in the case, but again, not in the gun. It can, however be in the magazines provided it meets other restrictions. Ammo also must be either the manufactures original container or be completely encased--check the website for rules.
E)You can also have more than one gun in a case.
Check the TSA website and the Airline web site(s) to see the specific rules. Do not take these as the rules you need to pack by. Get, Read and Understand the actual rules. These were for informational purposes only, and are not complete.
One more disclaimer: Make sure where you are going allows what you are bringing. Each state is different and the rules change with the state (and sometimes city, county or regional) lines. If you are leaving the country, do your homework. I don't know much more than that about international travel.
Here's hoping you have a safe holiday season of travel.
-Steven Kipp
Monday, November 16, 2009
Reloading Part 3: Cleaning Brass
Cleaning the brass is a rather simple procedure. It requires a brass cleaner(either a vibrating or rotary cleaner), media and, of course the spent brass.
I throw my spent brass in the cleaner with the spent primers still in the casing. I've also tried this with the spent primer removed and the only difference I noticed was that the media needed to be cleaned out of the priming pocket if the primer is not left in there.I'm using a Hornady vibratory brass cleaner with Lyman Turbo Tumbler media. I put about 3.5 lbs of media in with 100 casings of .270 WIN brass and turn it on for 4-6 hours. One note of safety is that I tend not to leave it running while I'm out of the house...better safe than sorry.
I've heard that that you can leave the brass in the cleaner longer if
you want to have more of a shine on it. Personally I don't see a benefit to it. There are also several different kinds of media you can put in with your brass, depending on how pretty you want to make it. I've only tried this Lyman stuff, but it does work so I've kept with it.Hopefully when you're done the brass should come out clean and ready to go.
-Steven Kipp
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Reloading, Part 2: How to do it
When I started reloading, my first question was: "How do I take these four parts (case, bullet, powder and primer) and turn them into a usable round?" This is very important question because I didn't want to wing this. Remember, in using a firearm you are creating an explosion in very close proximity to your hands, face and other stuff you don't want to hurt. More importantly the explosion in wrapped in metal from the barrel and action. The only thing worse than being next to an explosion is having shrapnel fly at from point-blank range. The point is anyone reloading needs to know what they are doing. Let me repeat that: anyone reloading NEEDS to know what they are doing.
The best way to learn is to have someone show you how to do it. There is no substitute for hands-on experience. There are some good videos and books out there, but I would refer someone to these as additional material once they have learned what to do and how to do it safely. I will not try to teach anyone how to reload here on my blog, for safety reasons. Personally, I had my father-in-law teach me how. It was an enjoyable afternoon of manly bonding and I even scored some brownie points with my wife for it. There are a lot of up sides to reloading, besides cheaper ammo.
So find mom, dad, a friend, a relative, a friend of a relative, or the little old lady next door that packs the .44 mag to the grocery store and learn what, and what not to do. You might even make some new friends doing it.
-Steven Kipp
The best way to learn is to have someone show you how to do it. There is no substitute for hands-on experience. There are some good videos and books out there, but I would refer someone to these as additional material once they have learned what to do and how to do it safely. I will not try to teach anyone how to reload here on my blog, for safety reasons. Personally, I had my father-in-law teach me how. It was an enjoyable afternoon of manly bonding and I even scored some brownie points with my wife for it. There are a lot of up sides to reloading, besides cheaper ammo.
So find mom, dad, a friend, a relative, a friend of a relative, or the little old lady next door that packs the .44 mag to the grocery store and learn what, and what not to do. You might even make some new friends doing it.
-Steven Kipp
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Reloading, Part 1: Do I have to?
I'm going to do a string of posts about reloading, and this first one is about the necessity of it and is it worth it.
First, the big question is: "Do I need to load my own ammo to shoot accuratly at long range?" I would say it is a definite no. Factory ammo is very good if you are willing to buy the good stuff, and in most things gun related you get what you pay for. It's probably not going to be the $20 a box stuff that works just fine for hunting. Of course, some calibers are more expensive than others. You can't shoot a 50 BMG for the same price as a 270 WIN if you go shot for shot.
Before you jump off this page to go look for reloading stuff, let me warn you reloading is not cheap to set up. I'm sure we've all heard that reloading is cheaper than buying factory ammo. If you count only the round you make, yes. Remember you're going to spend $500-$1000 just to get started without making a single usable round. Then you still have to buy all the components. you need for making what ever individual round you want, including more equipment(dies).
So is it worth it? I figure with my 270 it'll cost about(using round numbers for ease) $2 per round for factory ammo that is close to what I'd make myself. I figure I can make it for 50-75 cents. Let's use 75 cents to be on the safe side. So for every round I make I save $1.25 and get exactly the load I want down to .01 grain of powder and .05 mm tolorance on the shell, bullet and overall length(the ability to have exactly what you want is something you will not find with factory ammo)
The second big question is how much am I going to shoot? If I'm just hunting once a year, I'll use maybe a box every year to sight in and take into the field. In that case it's going to be a savings of $1.25 x 20 rounds x 1 year which equals $25 a year. It's going to take at a minimum 20 years to pay off the investment I made into the equipment. If I want to shoot three boxes a month the math looks like this: $1.25 x 60 rounds x 12 months. The savings is $900 a year. In that case I've paid it all off in a year of shooting reloads vs factory ammo. So it really does depend on how much you want to shoot. The more you shoot the more savings you have. The dirty secret is most of us just shoot more because it is cheaper to do so, and end up not saving any of that money. Personally, I'm happy to do that.
One last thought is what else do you want to reload for? Remember the $500-$1000 is a one time deal until you want to upgrade your equipment. Each caliber after that is probably $50-$100 for new dies and any other little parts you need. So if want to reload because you want to do a lot of shooting with a 270 WIN, and you like hunting with a 303 British, you can get set up for it without needing to shoot it more than once a year, and still not sink more money in it than would be practical.
One the other hand if you have more money than you know what to do with, by all means get some reloading gear, even if you just go hunting once a year. You get exactly what you want out of your loads and it's generally an enjoyable activity.
-Steven Kipp
First, the big question is: "Do I need to load my own ammo to shoot accuratly at long range?" I would say it is a definite no. Factory ammo is very good if you are willing to buy the good stuff, and in most things gun related you get what you pay for. It's probably not going to be the $20 a box stuff that works just fine for hunting. Of course, some calibers are more expensive than others. You can't shoot a 50 BMG for the same price as a 270 WIN if you go shot for shot.
Before you jump off this page to go look for reloading stuff, let me warn you reloading is not cheap to set up. I'm sure we've all heard that reloading is cheaper than buying factory ammo. If you count only the round you make, yes. Remember you're going to spend $500-$1000 just to get started without making a single usable round. Then you still have to buy all the components. you need for making what ever individual round you want, including more equipment(dies).
So is it worth it? I figure with my 270 it'll cost about(using round numbers for ease) $2 per round for factory ammo that is close to what I'd make myself. I figure I can make it for 50-75 cents. Let's use 75 cents to be on the safe side. So for every round I make I save $1.25 and get exactly the load I want down to .01 grain of powder and .05 mm tolorance on the shell, bullet and overall length(the ability to have exactly what you want is something you will not find with factory ammo)
The second big question is how much am I going to shoot? If I'm just hunting once a year, I'll use maybe a box every year to sight in and take into the field. In that case it's going to be a savings of $1.25 x 20 rounds x 1 year which equals $25 a year. It's going to take at a minimum 20 years to pay off the investment I made into the equipment. If I want to shoot three boxes a month the math looks like this: $1.25 x 60 rounds x 12 months. The savings is $900 a year. In that case I've paid it all off in a year of shooting reloads vs factory ammo. So it really does depend on how much you want to shoot. The more you shoot the more savings you have. The dirty secret is most of us just shoot more because it is cheaper to do so, and end up not saving any of that money. Personally, I'm happy to do that.
One last thought is what else do you want to reload for? Remember the $500-$1000 is a one time deal until you want to upgrade your equipment. Each caliber after that is probably $50-$100 for new dies and any other little parts you need. So if want to reload because you want to do a lot of shooting with a 270 WIN, and you like hunting with a 303 British, you can get set up for it without needing to shoot it more than once a year, and still not sink more money in it than would be practical.
One the other hand if you have more money than you know what to do with, by all means get some reloading gear, even if you just go hunting once a year. You get exactly what you want out of your loads and it's generally an enjoyable activity.
-Steven Kipp
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Staying sighted in.
Out at the range last night I ran into a problem. I had previously sighted in both my rifles, but had to once again. Did I do it incorrectly? Did both the scopes get knocked off zero? Are both the scopes low enough quality that they are moving the zero internally? I'm really not sure.
I know that between shots the zero stays where I put it so I would think that the zero should be staying put with respect to the scope. It may be getting bumped around too much for the rings and bases. I put some, not a ton but some, money into getting good quality rings and bases. So my initial thought is that I didn't sight it in correctly last time. I'll take the rifles out again next week to see if the zero has stayed.
-Steven Kipp
I know that between shots the zero stays where I put it so I would think that the zero should be staying put with respect to the scope. It may be getting bumped around too much for the rings and bases. I put some, not a ton but some, money into getting good quality rings and bases. So my initial thought is that I didn't sight it in correctly last time. I'll take the rifles out again next week to see if the zero has stayed.
-Steven Kipp
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
IDPA and Long Range Shooting
What does IDPA have to do with Long Range Shooting? Well... not much.
So why am I posting about this? Good question! A: I went to an IDPA match and had a ball. More importantly, here are the two similarities that I observed:
1) Recoil is a huge factor. No matter if you're trying to see the target before it explodes at 600 yards or trying to get in a fast follow-up shot at 10 yards, recoil is a pain in the butt plate. Okay enough bad puns. Point being, managing recoil is a big part of both sports. While it is done in vastly different ways it has to be managed.
2) Anticipation runs very high. If you're waiting for the beep of the timer to draw or the first cold-bore shot of the day, there is a lot of expectation and anticipation. I think in both sports this is the same and has similar negative effects. Relaxation before the first shots seems to me to be the guiding principal. The tricky part is how to achieve it.
So my open question to anyone who is reading this: comments on these two problems? Advice or suggestions are also welcome. And for this post feel free to share about IDPA or action shooting games.
-Steven Kipp
So why am I posting about this? Good question! A: I went to an IDPA match and had a ball. More importantly, here are the two similarities that I observed:
1) Recoil is a huge factor. No matter if you're trying to see the target before it explodes at 600 yards or trying to get in a fast follow-up shot at 10 yards, recoil is a pain in the butt plate. Okay enough bad puns. Point being, managing recoil is a big part of both sports. While it is done in vastly different ways it has to be managed.
2) Anticipation runs very high. If you're waiting for the beep of the timer to draw or the first cold-bore shot of the day, there is a lot of expectation and anticipation. I think in both sports this is the same and has similar negative effects. Relaxation before the first shots seems to me to be the guiding principal. The tricky part is how to achieve it.
So my open question to anyone who is reading this: comments on these two problems? Advice or suggestions are also welcome. And for this post feel free to share about IDPA or action shooting games.
-Steven Kipp
Friday, July 10, 2009
Savage 10-FCP Review
As promised here is the savage 10-FCP review.
I bought this rifle for three reasons. 1) Savage has made a name for itself from the out-of-the-box accuracy that their rifles have. 2)The AccuTrigger and now the AccuStock. I had seen the AccuTrigger before and liked what I had
seen. I was eager to try the new AccuStock as it seemed like a good bedding system for the action. 3) It had gotten good reviews out of the box and I found one for about $750. This was a good deal for a good long range rifle, I thought.
Description: This rifle has a good deal of "big gun look" to it. It is under Savage's law enforcement section, so it's built with purpose in mind. It has a 26" fluted barrel on it with a muzzle brake. It's chambered in .308 Win, and has a synthetic stock on it. The old Savage stocks seemed to be flimsy, where this one is very stout due to the aluminum inlay of the Accustock. The butt end of the rifle still seems like it could use a thicker plastic to stiffen it up, however.
Being a LE model, everything on it is black, even the bolt. The bolt even has the Savage name and logo on it in bronze color. I thought this was a very neat feature. The other nice feature is the double swivel studs on the beaver tail fore end.
This rifle weighs in at just under 9 lbs (I think the spec is 8.9lbs) without anything on it. Add a good sized scope and a bipod and it may well reach 11 or 12 lbs. Personally I like my target rifles heavy, and I may look into adding weight and recoil reduction in the butt end of the stock.
As for accuracy This gun may always shoot better than I do. Here is a target from when I was sighting it in at 100 yrds. The top and right group is from some low-end 180 grain Federal. The other group is from some Federal Gold Medal Match 168 boat tail hollow points. (168 bthp is probably what I'll reload for this.) Each group is three shots. The group with the 168 grain bullets measured at under .5". I shoot this in prone on a bipod.
I must say I'm very impressed with this rifle, especially for being out-of-the-box. So don't get me wrong when I say there are two things I would fix with this rifle. 1) The previously mentioned butt end of the stock. It seems like it'd do the job, but I'd like a lot more rigidity to it. I do not, however, feel as though it might break on me, but I wouldn't want to try to fend off a bear with the back of this rifle. 2) The bolt is not as smooth as I'd like it to be. This could be just my rifle and it is not as though I'm worrying about the safety of it. When the bolt locks, it is solid. I'd just like it to work smoothly when I pull it back and put a new cartridge in it. In the big picture these two issues are minor and I could probably go my whole life without fixing them. (The problems probably won't last the summer, but I digress)
Overall I would recommend this rifle to anyone who asks about a long range rifle, not just those who want one on a budget or out-of-the-box.
-Steven Kipp
I bought this rifle for three reasons. 1) Savage has made a name for itself from the out-of-the-box accuracy that their rifles have. 2)The AccuTrigger and now the AccuStock. I had seen the AccuTrigger before and liked what I had
seen. I was eager to try the new AccuStock as it seemed like a good bedding system for the action. 3) It had gotten good reviews out of the box and I found one for about $750. This was a good deal for a good long range rifle, I thought.
Description: This rifle has a good deal of "big gun look" to it. It is under Savage's law enforcement section, so it's built with purpose in mind. It has a 26" fluted barrel on it with a muzzle brake. It's chambered in .308 Win, and has a synthetic stock on it. The old Savage stocks seemed to be flimsy, where this one is very stout due to the aluminum inlay of the Accustock. The butt end of the rifle still seems like it could use a thicker plastic to stiffen it up, however.
Being a LE model, everything on it is black, even the bolt. The bolt even has the Savage name and logo on it in bronze color. I thought this was a very neat feature. The other nice feature is the double swivel studs on the beaver tail fore end.
This rifle weighs in at just under 9 lbs (I think the spec is 8.9lbs) without anything on it. Add a good sized scope and a bipod and it may well reach 11 or 12 lbs. Personally I like my target rifles heavy, and I may look into adding weight and recoil reduction in the butt end of the stock.
As for accuracy This gun may always shoot better than I do. Here is a target from when I was sighting it in at 100 yrds. The top and right group is from some low-end 180 grain Federal. The other group is from some Federal Gold Medal Match 168 boat tail hollow points. (168 bthp is probably what I'll reload for this.) Each group is three shots. The group with the 168 grain bullets measured at under .5". I shoot this in prone on a bipod.
I must say I'm very impressed with this rifle, especially for being out-of-the-box. So don't get me wrong when I say there are two things I would fix with this rifle. 1) The previously mentioned butt end of the stock. It seems like it'd do the job, but I'd like a lot more rigidity to it. I do not, however, feel as though it might break on me, but I wouldn't want to try to fend off a bear with the back of this rifle. 2) The bolt is not as smooth as I'd like it to be. This could be just my rifle and it is not as though I'm worrying about the safety of it. When the bolt locks, it is solid. I'd just like it to work smoothly when I pull it back and put a new cartridge in it. In the big picture these two issues are minor and I could probably go my whole life without fixing them. (The problems probably won't last the summer, but I digress)
Overall I would recommend this rifle to anyone who asks about a long range rifle, not just those who want one on a budget or out-of-the-box.
-Steven Kipp
Thursday, June 25, 2009
3rd Annual Fathers Day Shoot
Every year, for the past three years, Brad and I have been holding a shoot in memory of our dad. We had this years shoot on the weekend before father's day due to ease of scheduling. This event is a full day of shooting everything from handguns to shotguns to rifles. We pack a lunch and stay all day at the range, usually shooting up more ammo than some people own altogether. Needless to say it's a ton of fun.
So why is it that I'm blogging about this here on a blog dedicated to long range rifle shooting only? Well a big part of this years fun was shooting at a good distance with a couple of my rifles. Having gotten into the long distance shooting at last years shoot, this years amount of that was highly expanded. I had purchased a spotting scope, which helped out enormously. I have also obtained a new rifle (Savage 10FCP, review coming soon) to shoot with.
Some of our greatest improvements were in communication between the spotter and the shooter. This allowed for us to hit pop cans at 450 yards by the second shot. Brad even spotted for me on the one can I hit with the first shot. That was indeed a great boost of confidence for me, as well as for Brad. In everything I've read the spotter is the one who does most of the work, and the shoot is just the trigger man.(unless the shooter is the only one there, of course) So I must give the majority of the credit to Brad for that shot.
Below: One water filled container hit with my 270 at about 475 yards.
-Steven Kipp
So why is it that I'm blogging about this here on a blog dedicated to long range rifle shooting only? Well a big part of this years fun was shooting at a good distance with a couple of my rifles. Having gotten into the long distance shooting at last years shoot, this years amount of that was highly expanded. I had purchased a spotting scope, which helped out enormously. I have also obtained a new rifle (Savage 10FCP, review coming soon) to shoot with.
Some of our greatest improvements were in communication between the spotter and the shooter. This allowed for us to hit pop cans at 450 yards by the second shot. Brad even spotted for me on the one can I hit with the first shot. That was indeed a great boost of confidence for me, as well as for Brad. In everything I've read the spotter is the one who does most of the work, and the shoot is just the trigger man.(unless the shooter is the only one there, of course) So I must give the majority of the credit to Brad for that shot.
Below: One water filled container hit with my 270 at about 475 yards.
-Steven Kipp
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Trigger Pull
I always believed that trigger pull is one of the largest components when shooting with a handgun, but I recently noticed that it is just as important when shooting rifles. It's a little easier to stabilize the firearm with a bipod in the prone position, but a stiff slap on the trigger instead of a smooth squeeze will throw a 500 yd shot off enough to miss a pop can. One major reason I found where a rough trigger pull can come from is flinching. Starting out the day, I always had a flinch at the beginning of every shooting day, but managed to get rid of it after getting use to the recoil and noise of every bullet that came out of the barrel. Rough trigger pulls can come from a lack of confidence in the shot as well; pulling the trigger as fast as you can when the cross hairs are exactly where you want them.
You can have all the best equipment in the world, but if your head isn't in the game, the trigger pull aspect of the shot is going to fall short. Some beginning shooters think anybody should know how to make the trigger move back and forth and that this should not be on the mind at all. When, in fact, I believe is one of the largest conscious efforts that should be made on every shot. If the basics fall short, everything else will snowball down with it.
-Brad Kipp
You can have all the best equipment in the world, but if your head isn't in the game, the trigger pull aspect of the shot is going to fall short. Some beginning shooters think anybody should know how to make the trigger move back and forth and that this should not be on the mind at all. When, in fact, I believe is one of the largest conscious efforts that should be made on every shot. If the basics fall short, everything else will snowball down with it.
-Brad Kipp
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Sand bags, continued.
The sand bags described in the previous post worked very well. They were filled with about 10 lbs of fine sand. This made them so they were not bursting at the seems, but had enough volume to where they were useful. I especially liked the fabric that was chosen. It was expensive, but well worth it for making the sand bags last.
I gave a set of 3 to Brad when he was up here(He'll blog about it when the our tech savvy catches up to Google's system). I also gave a set to my father-in-law for fathers day today. He also seemed to like them.
-Steven Kipp
I gave a set of 3 to Brad when he was up here(He'll blog about it when the our tech savvy catches up to Google's system). I also gave a set to my father-in-law for fathers day today. He also seemed to like them.
-Steven Kipp
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Sand bags
It occurs to me that the best place to shoot long distances is from prone resting on sand bags. So I figured I'd make some. I also thought that I might share the experience here.
The fabric is 1000 cordura that was bought for another project. I cut out several rectangles that were 20 1/2 inches by 12 1/2 inches. I then sewed up the sides. I then folded the fabric to form a square that was 10 1/4 by 12 1/2 and sewed up the sides.
I then filled with sand them with sand and sewed up the end to close them.
These should work well and I will be trying with Brad coming up soon. I'll try to post a review to let those of you who just have to know, how they work out
-Steven Kipp
The fabric is 1000 cordura that was bought for another project. I cut out several rectangles that were 20 1/2 inches by 12 1/2 inches. I then sewed up the sides. I then folded the fabric to form a square that was 10 1/4 by 12 1/2 and sewed up the sides.
I then filled with sand them with sand and sewed up the end to close them.
These should work well and I will be trying with Brad coming up soon. I'll try to post a review to let those of you who just have to know, how they work out
-Steven Kipp
Friday, May 15, 2009
Breaking in a gun
Got a brand new Savage model 10 (review to come) and I took it out to break it in. There is some debate on how to break in a new gun. I think I've asked a dozen different people and gotten about a dozen and a half different answers. So the following is what I'm in the process of doing.
I bought a box of cheap federal ammo and I took it out to the range. I'm cleaning the barrel between every shot for the whole box (20 rounds). Some people I've heard clean after the first five and then every 3 for the next fifteen, and from others I've heard clean after the first round for the first ten, then 2 and then 3. I figured that 20 single round cleanings would probably be the best.
Also at the range I zeroed in my 270. I'm getting 3" groups at 100 yds. Some much needed practice is in order.
-Steven Kipp
I bought a box of cheap federal ammo and I took it out to the range. I'm cleaning the barrel between every shot for the whole box (20 rounds). Some people I've heard clean after the first five and then every 3 for the next fifteen, and from others I've heard clean after the first round for the first ten, then 2 and then 3. I figured that 20 single round cleanings would probably be the best.
Also at the range I zeroed in my 270. I'm getting 3" groups at 100 yds. Some much needed practice is in order.
-Steven Kipp
Monday, May 4, 2009
Putting the Rifle Away
No, this post is not about giving up shooting! Who would do such a thing? Today's post is about storing of our beloved firearms.
Until recently I have been storing my rifles, well all of my guns, in their cases. This is, of course, just about as bad as it gets. I've learned that metal objects need to breathe. I recently borrowed a gun case that my brother-in-law built. I have my long guns in that case and are now feeling a little better about it. It seems clean, dry air is absolutely essential when it comes to storage.
Currently I'm not using any sort of drying agent. I already live in a very dry climate, so either it's never crossed my mind or I have dismissed the idea in the past. I'm second guessing myself now. I haven't seen any damage, but I'd rather keep it that way. Any of you out there in blogland have any ideas for a drying agent? I'd love to hear them.
As for security suffice it to say that the firearms are indeed secure and are not accessible. There are plans in the future for top-of-the-line security. At that point I may discuss the situation I have now and why it needed upgraded. That is also the reason there are no pictures in this post.
I always try to put away the firearms after they're clean. I do, however have a life and a job, so sometimes it doesn't get done. But you can be sure they're checked and clean before I go shooting again. (Cleaning will undoubtedly be it's own post in the future)
-Steven Kipp
Until recently I have been storing my rifles, well all of my guns, in their cases. This is, of course, just about as bad as it gets. I've learned that metal objects need to breathe. I recently borrowed a gun case that my brother-in-law built. I have my long guns in that case and are now feeling a little better about it. It seems clean, dry air is absolutely essential when it comes to storage.
Currently I'm not using any sort of drying agent. I already live in a very dry climate, so either it's never crossed my mind or I have dismissed the idea in the past. I'm second guessing myself now. I haven't seen any damage, but I'd rather keep it that way. Any of you out there in blogland have any ideas for a drying agent? I'd love to hear them.
As for security suffice it to say that the firearms are indeed secure and are not accessible. There are plans in the future for top-of-the-line security. At that point I may discuss the situation I have now and why it needed upgraded. That is also the reason there are no pictures in this post.
I always try to put away the firearms after they're clean. I do, however have a life and a job, so sometimes it doesn't get done. But you can be sure they're checked and clean before I go shooting again. (Cleaning will undoubtedly be it's own post in the future)
-Steven Kipp
Thursday, April 30, 2009
BSA 8-32x44 Review
This post is to review the BSA 8-32x44 scope I have on my Stevens 200 rifle. I picked up this scope from Cabela's about 3 years ago. I purchased this for about $100, after checking out the reviews on it extensively. I was cautious because it was such a cheap scope, however I didn't have the money to put a $1000 scope on a $200 rifle.As for features, it is fairly simple. There is a nice black rubberized coating that does not shine. It has an eye piece adjustment for the magnification, and on the objective lens for there is the parallax adjustment. It also has a mil-dot reticle, with 1/8 MOA clicks for adjustment
.
The eye relief is short, about 3.5 inches. The optics are clear, but not optimal. The difference in light is readily available between this scope and higher dollar ones. I was not surprised at this because it was an inexpensive scope. The scope also seems solid and well built. I wouldn't hammer nails with it, but I'm not afraid of breaking it with any sort of normal use either.Mounting this scope I have a tall scope rings on due to the size of both the eye piece and the objective lens. With medium rings, the bolt comes very close to the eye piece and can make reloading difficult. These rings, I've decided, need to be replaced. They close on in an uneven way and don't look as sturdy as they might be. Also because the close to one side it tends to turn the scope as they are tightened. I have also put on "flip-up" covers on it. These are clear to allow me to look through the scope when they are closed if need be.
Additionally, this scope came with screw on/off covers and a four inch sun shade in the box.In the field I've put over a hundred rounds through this rifle with this scope and it keeps the zero very well. The adjustments also seem to on at 1/8 MOA, as far as I can tell.
Overall I give this scope very high marks for the beginning shooter who wants high power when it comes to the scope. I think if you have the money and experience this may not be the scope for you, but I have no problems recommending this scope for someone who can deal with a slightly lower quality scope and wants to save a good deal of money.
-Steven Kipp
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Practice
I went to the range a few days ago to practice prone shooting with a 22 long rifle. I found this to be good practice, but with a "light" feeling. It felt very different than shooting my 270. There wasn't a great deal of anticipation because of the light recoil and because 22 long rifle is very cheap. There seems to be a certain amount of weight with every center fire rifle shot that the 22 does not have. (Note: This does not apply to safety. All guns deserve and are treated with respect and caution) It feels like every shoot needs to matter with the larger guns, where the 22 I can load another magazine and have at it again. I'm wondering if this is more just me, or is normal at the range.
Don't misunderstand me, I think any trigger time is good. Getting into prone and working on form is great with any rifle, even shooting a BB gun in the basement. (Again with proper safety) But could this feeling of "Oh, I'll just throw some more lead down range." missing the point? Or worse yet training me incorrectly? It seems to me that when one is shooting long range, for what ever reason, every shot counts. Shouldn't that be the way we practice too?
What I think I may do to solve this is take Massad Ayoob's advice and make every shot worth something. For example for every shot I miss I owe my wife a dollar. I believe that method would put me in the right mind set.
Do you have any additional ideas? We'd love to hear from you. Comment so everyone can see or drop us an e-mail.
-Steven Kipp
Don't misunderstand me, I think any trigger time is good. Getting into prone and working on form is great with any rifle, even shooting a BB gun in the basement. (Again with proper safety) But could this feeling of "Oh, I'll just throw some more lead down range." missing the point? Or worse yet training me incorrectly? It seems to me that when one is shooting long range, for what ever reason, every shot counts. Shouldn't that be the way we practice too?
What I think I may do to solve this is take Massad Ayoob's advice and make every shot worth something. For example for every shot I miss I owe my wife a dollar. I believe that method would put me in the right mind set.
Do you have any additional ideas? We'd love to hear from you. Comment so everyone can see or drop us an e-mail.
-Steven Kipp
Monday, April 20, 2009
Stevens 200 Review
This post is a review of my current rifle, a Stevens 200. Savage makes the Stevens brand. It even has the chief head mark on the bottom of the grip.
The other aesthetically appealing thing, for me at least, is that “STEVENS” is printed on the bolt. Having the same name as the rifle is somewhat of kick for me. Okay so I’m easily amused.
What drew me to this rifle in the first place was the price. It was the first year Savage had come out with these Stevens rifles and it was tagged at $199 from Bass Pro. It didn’t look like much when I bought it, and I wasn’t expecting much taking it home. I was mainly after a big game hunting rifle. I was extremely surprised when I got this rifle home and learned more about rifles in general. It had many features of a good rifle, but I hadn’t the knowledge or experience to look for them before I had bought it. Point being, I lucked out.
Starting from the business end of the gun, I found it had a free-floating, blued barrel. It is 22” long with a 1:10 twist. The barrel is also light and tapered, with a rounded crown on it.
Moving back we get to the stock. It’s a gray synthetic stock that is mostly hallow. Being hollow does give it a bit of a flimsy feel to it. It is, however, strong enough that I don’t worry about it. There are standard swivel studs (one on the fore-end and on the shoulder rest) that I have mounted a bi-pod and attached a military style sling. On top is my 8-32x44 BSA scope. I’ll get into the accessories with later posts.
The action is chambered for 270 Winchester. It has a standard cylindrical bolt with the afore mentioned “STEVENS” mark on it. The bolt is smooth and feels strong. The head of the bolt also has some checkering on it, I am assuming for slip resistance. But the best part of the action, other than the fact that it is safe and works, is the safety. It is on top of the action where your thumb rests as you are ready to fire. It is in a very natural position, which makes operating it very easy and natural to operate.
The trigger is a standard trigger, as the Stevens brand does not come with an option for the Accu-trigger. It seems to have a nice break on it, but my experience in that area is limited. The pull weight is still set at what ever it rolled off the factory line at. I do not have a scale to measure it. Overall it has a nice, but not great, trigger. On the back of the rifle I have mounted a Limb-Saver recoil pad, which helped with the recoil from this some what light rifle.
Needless to say, at this point the gun shoots much better than I do. Therefore I have no idea what it is capable of in terms of accuracy. The exception is that both my brother and I hit a soda can at ~415 yards with about a dozen rounds of zeroing in, each.
I am very happy with the rifle.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Beginning
Our (Brad and myself) interest in long range shooting developed out of a tradition we started in 2007. Our dad had died in 2005, and one of his favorite things to do was to go shooting. On fathers day weekend in 2007 we headed out to some national grasslands and spent most of the day shooting in his memory. We continued the tradition next year up here in Wyoming at a range that stretched 500 yards. Most the time we spent was with shotguns or pistols. But I had brought a rifle and we tried to hit a couple of soda cans at about 415 yards, just for the fun of it. We found this to be quite enjoyable, to say the least.
Our set-up, if you could even call it that, was a 270 win. rifle with an 8-32x44 scope on it. The person not shooting spotted with a 4x scope on the back of a 10/22. Not ideal, but we managed to hit those pop cans after about a dozens rounds each. For ammo we used 150gr. Remington Core-Lokt. We laid down in prone, or something close to it, and fired off a bipod. Before we ran out of ammo the result was the following:
Neither one of us has any formal rifle training. We both have a good knowledge of physics and of guns (safety, operation, ammo and so on.). Hitting those cans was probably half luck and half persistence. But what we experienced was a great amount of excitement when an orange explosion of soda greeted us after many rounds of trying to hit the cans. I find reactive targets have that effect. And so began our interest in trying to hit things at great distances with a rifle.
-Steven Kipp
Friday, April 17, 2009
Introduction
We started this blog to make notes of how my brother and I are getting into, and learning about long range shooting (hence the title). I looked for a time and found very little info on this matter on the web, and even less that was current. Knowing almost nothing about shooting at long range we wanted to document what we're doing to learn about this and also carve out a spot where people could come and see what we've tried, done, messed up on, and found helpful. A place that someone else can find answers to "Gee, that's something I might like. How can I get started?" We would also love some input from people who actually know what's going on with long distance shooting. Help is always appreciated.
We have several main goals in addition to making a log of what happens with this endeavor. One is to review products for the shooting world. These will usually be things we buy to fill whatever need we may have for shooting. Another goal is to pass on some of this knowledge about equipment, technique and other helpful hints. The third is, as mentioned, to gather some additional information from anyone willing to give input. Every gun owner I've ever meet has been kind, helpful, and most willing to share his or her knowledge with others. I think that speaks a great deal about the kind of people who enjoy firearms.
There are a few things that this blog is not. First and foremost: this is not a place where we want to talk about purposefully doing unsafe things. Examples of an oops at the range to warn others is usually a good thing, but anything suggesting somebody do something unsafe is unwelcome here. Secondly: Anything referring to doing something unlawful is also unwelcome. We will remove any comments referring to willingly doing something illegal or unlawful. We are the good guys and gals that own and use firearms in a safe and responsible manner, and I'm sure all of you, as well as my brother and I, don't want to see anyone get hurt. So we're going to keep it safe out on the range, and all come back intact.
If you want to contact us directly, please feel free to e-mail us at: LongRangeDiscovery@yahoo.com
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