F-Classer Wins State Title with Home-Built Savage

Kudos to Forum Member John Dunbar (aka JD12)! Just this past weekend John won the Wisconsin State F-Class championship shooting a “home-built” .284 Winchester with a Savage target action. John designed and fabricated the aluminum stock himself. It features a central barrel block clamping a 32″ Brux barrel. Get this — John completed the rifle only 5 days before the match: “I finished machining/assembly on Monday night, did load workup Wednesday and Thursday nights, loaded rounds Friday night, and headed to Lodi at 4:30 on Saturday morning.” John also made his own co-axial front rest. He reports: “The rest worked really well this past weekend but as always there’s some small tweeking to do.”

John tells us: “I want to thank Jim See from Center Shot Rifles. He did the barrel chambering and installation and action work — he does excellent work. I also want to thank Ken and Norm from Brux Barrels. Their barrels shoot — no questions asked.”

The rifle is chambered as a straight (non-improved) .284 Winchester, with 32″ barrel. At the match, John shot 180gr Bergers pushed by a stout load of Hodgdon 4831sc. John notes: “Most of the experienced shooters at Lodi, WI told me when barrel gets a few hundred rounds through it, I may have to drop the powder back as they found the barrel might speed up. The gun only had about 80 rounds of development loads through it before [the Championship match at Lodi]. I have some RE17 sitting here to try but now i’m thinking why screw with something that’s working!”

John’s rig features a Savage target action (with factory Accutrigger) trued up by Jim at Center Shot Rifles. On top is a Sightron SIII 8×32-56 scope (Hey we told you they were good). Take a look at the rear bag in the above photo. Notice that the ears are set off-axis? John explains: “The rear bag is a SEB from Ernie in Gillette, WY. It has the twisted ears on it so you can rest your hand right along side of stock. I really like it this way — it’s very comfortable.”

“How Do Bullets Fly?” — Great Online Resource

Ruprecht Nennstiel, a forensic ballistics expert from Wiesbaden, Germany, has authored a great resource about bullet behavior in flight. Nennstiel’s comprehensive article, How Do Bullets Fly, explains all the forces which affect bullet flight including gravity, wind, gyroscopic effects, aerodynamic drag, and lift. Nennstiel even explains the rather arcane Magnus Force and Coriolis Effect which come into play at long ranges. Nennstiel’s remarkable resource contains many useful illustrations plus new experimental observations of bullets fired from small arms, both at short and at long ranges.

Shadowgraph of .308 Winchester Bullet

A convenient index is provided so you can study each particular force in sequence. Writing with clear, precise prose, Nennstiel explains each key factor that affects external ballistics. For starters, we all know that bullets spin when launched from a rifled barrel. But Nennstiel explains in greater detail how this spinning creates gyroscopic stability:

“The overturning moment MW tends to rotate the bullet about an axis, which goes through the CG (center of gravity) and which is perpendicular to the plane of drag, the plane, formed by the velocity vector ‘v’ and the longitudinal axis of the bullet. In the absence of spin, the yaw angle ‘δ’ would grow and the bullet would tumble.

If the bullet has sufficient spin, saying if it rotates fast enough about its axis of form, the gyroscopic effect takes place: the bullet’s longitudinal axis moves into the direction of the overturning moment, perpendicular to the plane of drag. This axis shift however alters the plane of drag, which then rotates about the velocity vector. This movement is called precession or slow mode oscillation.”

Raise Your Ballistic IQ
Though comprehensible to the average reader with some grounding in basic physics, Nennstiel’s work is really the equivalent of a Ph.D thesis in external ballistics. You could easily spend hours reading (and re-reading) all the primary material as well as the detailed FAQ section. But we think it’s worth plowing into How Do Bullets Fly from start to finish. We suggest you bookmark the page for future reference. You can also download the complete article for future reference and offline reading.

CLICK HERE to download “How Do Bullets Fly” complete text. (1.2 MB .zip file)

Photo and diagram © 2005-2009 Ruprecht Nennstiel, All Rights Reserved

Colt Recalls 1911-type Pistols

Colt Mfg. has announced a RECALL of its popular 1911 and 1918 WWI Replica pistols, and other 1911-style firearms. Colt states: “Colt’s Manufacturing Company LLC has determined that the Slide Lock Safety and the Recoil Spring Guide Pad in certain Colt model pistols were not manufactured to Colt specifications and must be replaced. All of these Colt models were sold after March 2007″. Serial numbers affected by the product recall are:

1911 WWI Replica (O1911) From: 4597WMK To: 5414WMK
1918 WWI Replica (O1918) From: 1001WWI To: 3431WWI
New Agent (O7810D) From: GT01001 To: GT04505
Combat Elite (O8011XSE) From: CG10000E To: CG11293E
Defender (O7000D) From: DR33036 To: DR35948
Talo Night Defender (O7000NDF) From: NDF0001 To: NDF0400

Free Shipping Offered by Colt
If you log on to the Colt Recall Page you can obtain a FREE FedEx shipping label to return your O1911, O1918, New Agent or Combat Elite, or to receive a replacement part for the Defender Models.