Reference

By understanding how rangefinders work, you’ll be able to employ them more skillfully in the field. This article should equip you with the fundamental principles. Laser rangefinders (LRF) all work using the same basic concept. The rangefinder emits laser beams at the push of a button. Those beams bounce off distant objects and the rangefinder’s high-speed clock measures the total time it took from when the beams left the unit until they returned. Since we know how fast the beam was traveling (speed of light) the unit can simply use that time measurement to calculate the distance it traveled, and ...

Back in 1993, Precision Shooting Magazine printed a landmark article about the findings of a group of benchrest shooters who turned a huge Houston warehouse into a precision shooting laboratory. The warehouse, owned by Virgil King, included a 325 yard long straight-away through the heart of it, which provided an ideal shooting environment where the breezes never blew, the mirage never shimmered, the sun never set and the rain never fell. So began the most insightful, revealing experimentation into practical rifle accuracy ever conducted. Over a period of six years, the levels of accuracy achieved in the Houston Warehouse went ...

You know NASCAR? Yes, I’m talking about the racing-cars-in-a-circle NASCAR. Before NASCAR, there were just a bunch of unaffiliated, regional car races. NASCAR brought structure by unifying those races, and created the idea of a season … and an overall champion. NASCAR identified the top races across the country (that were similar in nature), then combined results and ranked competitors. The Precision Rifle Series (PRS) is like NASCAR, but for rifle matches. The PRS is a championship style point series race based on the best precision rifle matches nationwide. PRS matches are recognized as the major league of sniper-style rifle ...

There are a lot of articles and forum threads out there comparing MIL and MOA, but most either aren’t objective or they’re overly complex. I’ll try to avoid both of those pitfalls in this article. Executive Summary A few months ago I asked Bryan Litz whether he personally used MIL or MOA. Bryan is an expert among experts in the shooting community, and after reading his books I’ve gained a respect for his scientific approach to decisions like this. His response was so concise and objective, I thought it could serve as the executive summary for this whole comparison: “You ...

I’ve had to reference back to these torque specifications a couple times, and thought it’d be helpful to post. It is a list of the recommended screw torque settings for most rifle parts, like action screw torque. These come from a lot of different sources (including manufacturers on the phone), but one great one is Brownell’s “Torque Specifications for Gunsmiths” Article.  As that article explains, these specs are subject to change as companies change their manufacturing processes, materials, and design.  However, many people believe consistent torque is at least as important as the actual number of inch/pounds (especially when talking about action screws).  Here is an excerpt from that article that ...

Oehler Research definitely makes the best chronographs in the industry … hands down, no argument.  I had a chance to talk with Ken Oehler at the 2013 SHOT Show, and have to say it was one of the most enjoyable conversations I’ve ever had with someone regarding ballistics.  Ken knows his stuff, and is an expert among experts in shooting sports.  I’ve used an Oehler 35P, which is the pro-sumer grade model they offer (i.e. model targeted at professionals or high-end consumers) and can say they are a joy to use … and VERY accurate.  You get very few errors and ...

The table below contains the maximum Cartridge Overall Length (COAL) for popular detachable magazines for rifles.  This is important to consider when picking a rifle cartridge to ensure you have enough clearance to “chase the lands”, which just means as your chamber throat begins to naturally erode from use you seat your bullet further and further out so that it maintains the same relative position with the rifle lands.  Many people start with their COAL almost maxed out in their magazine, and as their chamber throat starts to wear they are forced to choose between loss of accuracy from not ...

I wanted to create a portable reloading press stand that I could mount my full-size RCBS Rockchucker Press or smaller RCBS Partner Press to.  The plans I came up with were simple to build, used easy to find materials, and the finished product has worked exactly like I was hoping.  The stand is very strong and stiff, which is critical when designing a reloading press mount.  It is ergonomic and natural to use on either a table top or a work bench surface.  I just use one or two Irwin Quick-Grip Clamps to hold it securely to the surface.  The stand has “window cutouts” ...

When the 7mm Remington Magnum was originally released, it was met with overwhelming demand.  Every rifle manufacturer rushed to offer rifles chambered for the new cartridge, and in the rush some of the chamber dimensions varied slightly from different manufacturers.  This variation in the 7mm Rem Mag chamber dimensions has carried on to today, and there is still more differences in the chamber dimensions than for virtually any other rifle cartridge. What’s a chamber print? A “chamber print” is an illustration of the chamber reamer used to cut a rifle’s chamber.  It contains all of the key dimensions related to ...

I’ve found myself needing to reference this info a lot while making data cards. It indicates the standard atmospheric pressure at different elevations. Pressure can vary quite a bit from the “standard” listed here, and although that won’t make much of a difference at short or mid ranges … when you get out to 1,000 yards or beyond it can make a noticeable difference. If you know the specific pressure the day you are shooting, it could really help your ballistics tables be more accurate. Having a Kestrel that can measure the instantaneous pressure is the best solution. Altitude (ft) ...