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This month, my overall contribution to this particular issue of
the IHMSA NEWS will be a little unusual in that quite a bit of it will be
devoted primarily to optics. There are so many fine optical products out
there that can be used by silhouette shooters, that one could devote every
column, indeed every whole issue of the IHMSA NEWS to this one subject and
not come even close to adequately covering the area. Well, this time we’ll
attempt to make a just a small dent in that particular mountain of optical
products out there that I found especially interesting.
Alpen 16 X 52 Binoculars
We’d all like to own the best sports optics that money can buy,
but the fact is that very few of us can. We’ve got rent to pay, doctor
bills, and there are kids to feed (sometimes even grand kids). It’s funny
how those kinds of things have a way of cutting into to our recreational
budgets. Folks who are new to the sport of silhouette shooting also tend to
be cautious when buying equipment. After all, they’re not sure if they’re
going to like it or not. We’re sure, but they’re not - yet.
So what’s a person who either doesn’t have a lot of money or is
unsure about making a large financial commitment to silhouette, or both, to
do when it comes to buying something to spot the targets with? Well, one
alternative is Alpen’s 16 X 52 Magna View binoculars which retail for only
around $65. (By the way, the numbers indicate that the binocs are 16 power
and the objective lenses are a whopping 52mm’s in diameter).
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"These Alpen binocs offer huge objective lenses at a very
reasonable price." |
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Alpen, which is a relative newcomer in the world of sports optics,
has quickly gained an enviable reputation as being a company that provides a
degree of quality in its products well beyond their prices. Indeed, they are
a four time winner of Outdoor Life magazine’s "Great Buy" award.
As I’ve said in previous columns, binoculars provide one advantage
that even the most expensive spotting scope can’t - stereo viewing. Why is
that important? Because stereo viewing will help your spotter see your
misses far, far more effectively and therefore will be able to better give
you the information you need to make the appropriate adjustments so you
won’t miss again.
Of course the main characteristic of these binocs are the big,
fully coated, objectives lenses. Besides helping to boost brightness, they
also assist in providing a generous field of view for their relatively high
magnification power. Indeed, field of view at 100 yards is over 22 feet.
These are really nicely styled BK7 porro prism binoculars which
are armored in Alpen green rubber. The underside of the body even has a
couple of molded indentations to place your thumbs for increased comfort and
grip when holding them. The focus adjusting knob on the center spindle is
also rubber covered and is oversized to make focusing easier and more
precise. I found focusing to be smooth with no binding or unevenness. Both
eye pieces are also rubber covered and have folding rubber eye cups to block
out stray light and to increase contrast. Speaking of blocking out
extraneous light, a quick look down the twin bodies revealed that they were
ribbed on the inside to reduce internal reflections - a nice feature.
Of even more interest to silhouette shooters is the fact that they
are fully tripod adaptable. Just unscrew the cap on the front of the focus
adjusting spindle and screw on the Alpen tripod adaptor (optional
accessory). When I mounted these binocs on my tripod, I had no problem
seeing seeing both hits and misses on all of the targets - even at 200
meters.
I was frankly pleasantly pleased with these inexpensive
binoculars. They give you a lot of features usually found on only much more
expensive products. If they have a disadvantage, it’s the fact that they
aren't weatherproof. However, considering the type of shooting that many
people do, that’s not very much of a disadvantage for them at all. This is a
good solid inexpensive product that is also backed by a lifetime warrantee.
Alpen products can be bought at any number of regional sporting goods chains
across the country. They can even be bought at WalMart. If you don’t have a
dealer in your area, just go to their web site at
(www.alpenoutdoor.com)
and they’ll sell to you direct. Nice for the price.
Burris Lever Locking Rings
I’ve always liked Burris scope bases and rings, especially their
Weaver styled "Zee" rings. So when when Burris announced they they would be
offering Weaver style, lever locking type rings for 2004, I was very
interested. This was especially true since I’m constantly moving scopes on
and off guns all the time and that’s where these kinds of rings really
shine.
As you would think, the new Burris rings are primarily
distinguished by their one inch long locking levers located on the side.
Rotating the levers a couple of turns are all that’s necessary to screw the
beefy steel locking clamps of the rings against the Weaver rail on your gun.
Since no tools are involved, this completely eliminates the possibility of
messing up the screwdriver slots usually found on the cross-bolts on regular
Weaver style rings. The use of fine threads on the Burris cross-bolts also
insures that when the rings, with scope, are detached and then later
reattached, that they’ll be within a cat’s whisker of their original
position. Indeed, when I removed and reattached a scope with these rings on
my XP-100 6 TCU, my next shot was within one bullet diameter of the last
shot before the scope was removed, and that could have easily been an aiming
error on my part.
These levers also have another very handy feature. There're spring loaded
so they can be pulled outward and then rotated to any of 12 different
positions in a 360 degree circle. This means that they can then be
repositioned so that they won’t protrude in any awkward orientations - like
across the gun’s ejection port.
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"Burris lever
locking rings are
convenient to use, strong, and innovative." |
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It also means that you can also position them in what ever manner that
looks esthetically pleasing to you as well - clever idea.
These are very strong steel rings that are nicely pleasing to the eye,
are very innovative, and are particularly easy to mount. You’ll like them.
How Much is Free?
Whenever someone offers us something that’s free, we’re immediately
suspicious. What ever that free something is, we assume that it can’t be very
valuable. After all, free = no value. Right? So if it’s free, it can’t mean very
much. Additionally, even though we don’t like to admit it, quite often we
consider the free thing as something we deserve, I guess because we’re such a
deserving person. "They owe it to me - because."
Well every day IHMSA members get a lot of free stuff that’s extremely
valuable, and that’s the time, labor, and skills of the volunteers that put on
the matches and run the organization. The regular employers of those volunteers
pay big bucks for the very same time, labor, and skills in the workplace that we
get for free. However, because it’s free, we take those extremely valuable
things for granted.
These volunteers are really strange people. They don’t get a darn
thing for their efforts except grief, complaints, and comments on what they
should do differently. So why do they do it? Are they crazy? Beats me. I suppose
that they believe in a cause greater than themselves. I suppose that they want
to make a difference. I suppose they even like to help people. Yep, I guess they
really are crazy.
Volunteerism in this day of "What’s in it for me" is really an
acronym, but thank the stars that we have people willing to do so. You’ve heard
this before, but it should continue to be said. Pitch in and help that match
director. Also run for IHMSA offices like state and regional director and above.
Just paying your fees at a match is not enough. You’re not a customer. You’re a
member with all that implies. If you have an idea to make things better, by all
means suggest it AND THEN be willing to volunteer to step forward and
implement your idea. Don’t just say "Those guys should do this or that" and then
sit back and do nothing except complain. If you think your idea is good enough
to verbalize to all your buddies, it’s good enough for you to volunteer to make
it happen.
Lastly, show your appreciation for that match director. Either take
them out to a nice dinner, or have them over for a barbeque, or give them a
plaque, or shake their hand, or pat them on the back and tell them how you
appreciate their efforts and how much you enjoyed the matches, or all of the
above. And don’t wait until the end of the season to do so. Do it now and do it
often! But what ever you do, DO SOMETHING to show them that their efforts are
appreciated and that you don’t consider their efforts to be free.
Hodgdon Data for the Ruger 204
Hodgdon has just finished developing 35 loads for the new 204 Ruger
cartridge that I reported on a couple of issues ago. Since my coverage, a couple
of new bullets have come on the market from Hornady and Berger which are covered
in the new data. You can get all the info by going to
(www.hodgdon.com)
or calling them on their tech line at 913-362-9455.
If you remember, the new cartridge will develop over 4000 fps when
loaded with a 32 grain 20 caliber bullet. I suspect that those kinds of loads
might be only marginally effective on our steel half scale targets as the
bullets are likely to blow up without delivering their full momentum and leave
targets standing even when well hit.
However, the 32 grainers are the lightest of the 20 caliber bullets
currently available. Other weights are as follows: 35 grs, 40grs, and 50 grains.
I used to shoot half scale with a XP-100 chambered in 223, and used 50 grain
bulk bullets at a little over 2700 fps. The load worked very well and did not
damage targets. Consequently, the 50 grain loads just might be viable for half
scale.
Hodgdon lists six loads for a 50 grainer using a Berger HPBT going
between 3071 - 3167 fps. The powders used are Varget, BL-C2, H335, H4895,
Benchmark, and H322. Of course, these loads would have to be tested to see if
they would damage targets or not. At any rate, there’s no doubt that the 204 is
going to make a name for itself in the varminting world, and who knows, it could
end up being a workable, low recoil silhouette cartridge as well when teamed up
with the right bullet and powder.
Rams Beware
Sierra just announced the introduction of a new 7mm bullet that weighs
in at 175 grains. The new slug was designed specifically for rifle silhouette
shooting and other long range applications. The bullet’s main characteristics
are its long ogive, longer boat tail, and a somewhat shorter body. I’d have to
characterize it as a semi VLD design.
The improved aerodynamics of the long, slender bullet means there’s
going to be more down range momentum being delivered on target and wind drift
characteristics should be improved over their old Sierra standby - the 168 gr
Match King. The new bullet has a ballistic coefficient of .605 and don’t worry
that you’ll need a super fast twist barrel for this long bullet. Since the body
is relatively moderate in length, a 1:9 twist barrel will provide fine accuracy.
175’s used be not uncommon in the old 7 IHMSA cartridge, and reloading
data is still available for it. They were real ram killers. Don’t see why the
175 Sierra couldn’t be used in the 7 BR as well. It’ll be fun to give it a try.
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