Shooters News for the MN area -- Apr 25, 2012

The Week Ahead
With temperatures forecast to be in the Mid 50s, mostly sunny sky's, and just a moderate breeze from the East, traveling shooters will be heading to the Eau Claire rifle club for a weekend of historically great matches.  On Saturday, Apr. 28, the shooting contest will be a Mid Range 4X20 prone match to be shot all at 600 yds.  On Sunday, Apr 29, the competition will change to an "Over the Course" style match, with shooting from the Standing, sitting, and prone position, at 200 yds to 600 yds.  With the Eau Claire rifle club, being only a 2 hr drive (in the Corvette) from Mpls., this has always been a popular and well attended match.
   Match Program--- click here         Weather forecast for Eau Claire --  click here

Last Weekend   
Traditionally, in the past, the full-on shooting season in the Minn area has started with a weekend of matches at the Eau Claire Rifle Club on the 4th weekend of April.  This year a couple rifle clubs of winter deprived shooters pushed the season a little and scheduled matches last weekend. Elk River Sportsman's Club held a wind clinic, and Mid Range prone match.  I understand this match was well attended, but no results were forwarded to me for posting. GRRC held their ever popular annual Service Rifle Clinic and "Fun" match.   
    From Kurt Borlaug:  "Gentlemen, We (GRRC)  completed our clinic yesterday with 21 shooters, the last relay getting a bit damp. The Vintage Match had to be canceled due to weather. Our next event will be May 5th and will consist of two 30 shot Games matches, followed by GRRC's first Vintage Sniper Match."
    Maybe the weather will be better next year.

Rear Sight Diopters --  Testing and selection 
 Capt. Bob Peasley has recently finished doing some testing of Rear Sight Diopters and written up two reports for this blog. I have added these two excellent articles to my "Old Eyes and Iron Sights"  series. All 7 articles on this subject are available to be read or downloaded on the blog (right hand column).          
Scroll down here to see both of Capt. Bob's articles on Rear Diopter testing.         

Two Weeks Out
    Make your plans now.

   May 5th --  CMP Military rifle match at GRRC --- Match program:  Click Here 
   May 5th --  Vintage Sniper Rifle Team match at GRRC  --- Match program: Click Here
   May 5th & 6th -- 2 day OTC NorthStar Rifle Club --- Match program: Click Here

That's all Folks !
Hawkeye

Old Eyes and iron sights -- Part #7

Rear sight diopters --Testing and selection

BY CAP-N-BOB 

April 24 promised to have blue skies, light winds, 70 degrees and low Mosquito count.  So I headed off the North Star Rifle Club for part 2 of lens testing and a few more pictures. Today’s test was under clear blue skies vs. cloudy but good light on test 1.

As you will recall from part 1, I was checking various lenses for a rear sight on a Palma rifle with a .3 front lens. Photo #1 shows Old Glory set up in my deluxe sandbag rest …. This testing was done with the Neergaard lens kit by holding the various power lenses between thumb and forefinger, then moving the lens up and down between the rear of the sight and my eye.

Click to enlarge Picture

          

Since that first test my good friend and high power team mate Kevin Bangen has developed a new, revised and improved version of the holder shown in part 1.  See photo #3.   Photo #5 shows the actual lens that drops into a slot at the top of the holder.

Some sources have indicated that the Neegaard lens might work better with a longer sight radius. So today’s testing started with my # 2 Mid Range Prone rifle chambered in 240NMC.  It has a 5” bloop tube on a 29.5” bbl. with a 22MM front sight and a .3 lens.  So the only thing different between this test and the first was the 4 ½” longer sight radius. 

Starting with the +1.5 lens every lens down thru – 1.5 was inserted in the holder clamped on the rear iris.  All the lenses made the front sight just barely sharper. To the best of my ability I could see no difference in the clarity of the target between any of the lenses. It was certain that none of the lenses made the target look worse but if there was an improvement it was very small. I would insert each lens into the holder and take a quick look then pull it out of view and try & compare how the sight picture compared with and without the lens.  After doing this with 10 lenses I think for me at least, I can see just as well with no rear lens and the .3 front with a bloop tube. The Micro Sight was then inserted and all lenses checked as described above.  The Micro Sight did not help with any lens and in fact was probably just slightly worse. I tried the Gehman rear sight with the 1.5 magnification and it too was worse than no lens at all in the rear.  And finally I removed the .3 front lens and looked thru the Gehman 1.5.  The target looked sharp and the front sight was sharp.  But the target looked about like a 200 yard center. It would have been VERY difficult for me to call any shots with the pin head looking target inside the great big aperture. I believe the old adage about there being no free lunch applies here.

Today’s next test was the same as described above but with Palma rifle # 2 on a Stolle action.  This rifle wears a 30MM Right Sight with a .37 rose tint lens from our favorite Snake Oil Salesman, Bob Jones. The results with this front sight were similar to the results with the bloop tube rifle.  In fact if anything I think the sight picture was just slightly better with no rear lens at all.

The instructions with the test lenses indicated it might be better to remove the rear sight and look through the big hole as there will be greater sensitivity to focus changes by looking thru the largest aperture available.  So I tried this and everything was a complete blur until I got to the + 1.50 and + 1.75 lens. I doubt I would have hit the target had the sight picture been that poor with the rear sight in.

At this point about the only thing I want to try is the above with a .5 front in my # 1 MRP rifle. I hope to have that report next week.

So many rifles, so many lenses, so much testing, so little time.

Capt. Bob Peasley 
                                 Download this article -- click here

Old Eyes and Iron Sights -- Part #6

Rear sight diopters --Testing and selection  

By CAP-N-BOB

The long lonely bitter winter of 2011/12 is nearly over in Minnesota so I headed to the range to test rear sight lenses today.  I used my Elisio stocked Palma rifle with Phoenix Precision sights.   The front sight is a 22MM with .3 Anschutz lens. But first here is a web site to see a neat lens test kit.  http://www.shootingsight.com/ Click products and scroll down to see the kit. Pictured below is a single lens. 

There was no shooting was involved, just looking thru lenses.  I set the rifle up in sandbags pointed at a 600 yard target.  The first test was without the Micro Sight from Creedmore or Sinclair.  The quality on my sight picture was about an 8 to 8.5 out of 10 with just a Gehman iris in the rear sight and the .3 lens in the front sight. I then started with the +. 100 lens between my glasses and the rear sight. I went all the way down to -.100 in .25 increments. Nothing improved or changed much that I could see. The front iris around the target was very sharp but the target was a little fuzzy on all 8 lenses.

I then installed the Micro sight and repeated as described above. At +.100 down thru +.25 everything was still fuzzy and unacceptable.  At -.25 thru -.75 the front iris and target were better, back to the 8.5 out of 10 area. At -.100 and below the picture deteriorated rapidly.  Keep in mind I’m NOT an eye doctor and do not play one on TV and thus can’t explain the below phenomenon. I looked thru the sights with the Micro Sight lens taking a few quick looks as if taking a quick shot  then looking away trying to memorize the sight picture.  When putting the negative power lens between glasses and rear sight there was a slight but noticeable improvement. Upon removing the test lens from the sight picture there was a very noticeable reduction in the quality of what I saw. There was much more of a reduction than the improvement seen with the lens in place.  It went down to about a 5 or 6 out of 10.  When again moving the lens into the sight picture there was a slight improvement and a major reduction when removing it. In other words, the original sight picture was not as good as I remembered it to have been prior to looking thru the test lens. This phenomenon was apparent with -.25 thru -.75.  Perhaps it is a focus issue. Maybe it takes a few seconds for the eye to adjust to the change going one way but not the other.  Or not!

A shooting friend/tool designer has designed a neat little device for holding the test lenses in place on the rear iris. It clips on to the rear iris thus eliminating any movement when being held between 2 fingers. See below picture of the prototype. If it works out we may market them at $79.95 at Camp Perry

After this testing I removed the Micro Sight and installed a Gehman 9530 rear iris. This is the model with the adjustable iris and focus built in. The target immediately looked about 3 times bigger but still very slightly fuzzy around the edges.  It was clearly easier to hold on this big target and see very small movements.  With the other lenses I could not see the small movements and I have no idea if this is a good thing or not. 

The maker of these test lenses recommends that the testing be done at the intended shooting distance. I would assume the results seen at 300, 500 and 600 yards or 800, 900 and 1000 would be very similar. If not it will be totally impractical if one needs a different lens for each yard line.  As you might imagine, the zeros change SUBSTANTIALLY when changing lenses in the front or rear. 

After this fun filled day of testing I decided to try more or less the same tests at 100 yards.  The improvements or reductions seen at 100 yards were not nearly as apparent as they were at 600 yards. My conclusion is that the Gehman 9530 is best for me on my Palma rifle. Your mileage may vary. However I may order a -.50 to use in conjunction with the Micro Sight on one of my MRP rifles.

And finally, keep in mind your results and zeros will be different if you use a .37 or .50 front lens.

 So many rifles, so many lenses, so much testing, so little time.

   Capt. Bob Peasley 
            Download this article --  Click Here

Shooters News for the MN area -  Apr 12, 2012

The Week Ahead  
  Here we go-  I hope you are all loading up ammo for the summer shooting season as fast as you can, because the a full season of rifle matches is about to begin.
  This weekend we finish up the winter Sm Bore season with the "Indoor 4 position Gallery Championships" up at the Fergus Falls Rifle Club.  click here for Match program    

Highpower  
  The outdoor Highpower season  starts on Saturday, Apr 21st, with a Rifle Clinic and CMP Games to be hosted by the crew at GRRC.  The  3 hr clinic will cover the fundamentals of Service Rifle marksmanship, and have live firing demonstrations to show prospective shooters how a Highpower match works.  This clinic will be followed by a 50 shot OTC match (all at 200 yds), open to all shooters. 
     Click Here for Clinic program
     Click Here for CMP match program

That same Saturday (4/21), will also feature a "Wind clinic and Fun shoot" at the Elk River Sportsman's Club.
     Click Here for Program  

  "The event will consist of a wind reading/shooting clinic followed by a delicious lunch. After the lunch, (2) 20 shot matches will be fired at the 600 yard line of the club’s KD Range. These matches will be 2 shooter/team events with the intent of practicing your wind reading skills by coaching your teammate. The instructors will be Steve Knutson and  Rick Hunt, both coaches for the US National F-Class Team. This is a rare chance to learn from the best coaches in the country!"
 Sunday Apr 22, Elk River follows up with an 80 shot Mid Range match to be shot at 600 yds.     

GRRC Highpower practice schedule 2012 --  Click Here  

Eau Claire Rifle Club
From Randy Gregory:
"Shooters,  Sorry for the late start this year. The (Eau Claire) club has had some changes in people running matches this year. Please send your entries to my me by mail, email or call at my shop.

Regards,  Randy"  

 Eau Claire's first matches  Apr 28 Mid range, 29th OTC--   

                 Click here for Program  

Small Bore
 Western WildCats 2012 Final Results grand agg. Click Here  


300 Meter Int,. 

From George Minerich, MRRA Pres.:300 Meter Prone State Championship Results March31, 2012, St. Francis, MN
Competition was hot with 17 shooters vying for the Minnesota 300 Meter State Champion Title! Saturday’s prone match shooting conditions were good with some wind. Competitors shot on the 300 M International Electronic C 1 Target. The first match is unlimited sighters followed by 60 shots for record in 75 minutes using iron sights. The second match is any sight, unlimited sighters and 60 shots for record in 75 minutes. There was enough wind to keep the match interesting!           

Keeping with International Rules the State Champion is determined by the Iron Sight Match (1) Match 1 (Iron sight):
Lance Peters is the MN 2012 300M Prone State Champion shooting a 587
Matt Griffin was First with a 584, Phillip Klanderud 578 – Second and Chuck Diehl Third shooting a 575.
Match 2 (Any sight): Phillip Klanderud 591 – First Place
Matt Griffin was 2nd. with a 585 and Erik Rhode Third shooting a 575.
Match 3 (Match 1 & 2 aggregate):
Matt Griffin is match winner with a great score of 1169
Phillip Klanderud with a score of 1169 – second place (based on last 20 shot series)
Erik Rhode Third with a score of 1143"
left to right:
Chuck Diehl (3nd. ) Phillip Klanderud (2nd) and Matt Griffin (1st), Lance Peters, State Champion
    300M   3 Pos. State Champ Results:   Click Here 
    300M   Prone Champ results:  Click Here 

 

That's all folks!

Hawkeye