One smooth hole.

[Latigo]

No. Honest!


It was mid-may when I set up to shoot a 200 yard target at the range out back of the place. By the time I was ready at noon the temperature was a mild 75 degrees. I rode the Rhino downrange and stapled a solitary target to the frameworks. Dead center was a black one inch paster.

My shooting bench was the old redwood pic-nic table I had used for years, but it was solid and made a good bench. I set up the number 6 shot bags and took the Swiss k31 rifle out of the case, attatched the bipod to the rail under it, uncapped the scope and began adjusting the height of the shot-bags.
I set up the spotting scope on the tripod, broke out the custom loads and inserted 5 of them into the magazine.

I proceeded to send five rounds downrange at three second intervals. I checked the target though the spotting scope and said "Yep" to myself.
"Yep, what?" came from behind me. Worden Hardy had walked up behind me just after the last shot.
Hello, Worden. Yep, I put all five of them through the same hole again, sez I. "All five through the same hole?" sez he. Yep........ all five. "Let me see that scope".... and I moved over for him to look.
"There's only one hole in that target. Dead center. What makes you think all five went in the same hole?" sez he. They always do, sez I. Every time.
Worden is standing with his hands in his pockets rocking back and forth on his heels looking at me through slitted eyes. "Uh huh. All five through one smooth hole. Right".

And I never could'a proved it if it hadn't been for those five dead coyotes that had been trotting in single file, three seconds apart piled up behind that target.
Yep. One smooth hole.

Well, maybe not quite that, but this rifle with a hBN burnished barrel and hBN impact coated 175gr Berger VLD's came close.
Range, 100 yards
Temp 29 degrees
Wind 0
Shot from the bench inside the heated ShootShed.

The rifle is the Swiss zfk55. The caliber is 7.5x55 The magazine holds 5 rounds and all five went right where you see them and (the biggest deal for me), its repeatable.

Latigo

 

[Butch Lambert]

I guess all of us BR guys better quit! We can't shoot that good everytime. I guess you put us all out of business. Anyone want to buy my BR stuff?
Butch

 

[Latigo]

Me! I'll take it!
The zfk55 is definitely not a BR rifle, but with a 1" hbar and an extremely heavy receiver it does very well. Repeatable for me is .75moa with this rifle and from an Accurite shooting device it will repeat. With me doing the holding its close, but not 1/2"moa every time by any means.
The rifle is in the stock with locking screws and the barrel is factory free-floated. If you can perform, so will the rifle. The hBN system made a huge difference. Prior to that it was a solid moa rifle anyway.
I'm happy, and I'm an avid reader of your board. Great stuff and some great shooters here, though I don't count myself among them by a long shot.

Latigo

 

[Fred J]

I guess it's possible

Do it again.

 

[Latigo]

It will be one of the rifles we're shooting tomorrow if the weather permits. We have our own 500 yard range here so its just a matter of weather for us.
As for the rifle, this wasn't the first run by any means, but it was only the third time with hBN.

Latigo

 

[brian roberts]

Did that rifle come all decked out.................

like that?? Where from?? How much extra did it cost over others they had?? I haven't seen a brake like that before, it must be very efficient, isn't it?? Neato, I read on here that Dave Tooley has some RWS brass for sale in that caliber.....

 

[Donald]

I have a K31 Swiss that is a very good shooter, but not that good. When it had a scope on it I once, read once, put five rounds in .066 at 100 yds. using the GP11 surplus swiss ammo. Which is really match grade. I have it set up with the open sights now for our bolt action military matches. First two this season canceled because of weather. Maybe next month we will see what this swiss will do. They are awsome shooters for military rifles. Not BR by any means but better than most off the rack new rifles. Love mine. Gonna try some 135 MK's in it soon.

Donald

 

[Latigo]

Brian, its not a k31. Its a zfk55 Swiss Sniper rifle. There were only 4,100 ever made. Current cost is a nominal $4,000.00 for one in the condition of mine.

This is a k31, now brings around $250 to $350 for a very good one.

This is a zfk55.

They only share a couple of small things in common, like a couple of springs.

The brass we use is Swiss RUAG National Match brass. My Dad and his partner were the ones who first imported the brass around 13 or 14 years ago. We sorta have an inside track. This is who we are. www.swissproductsllc.com

I should explain that when we're developing load data for Swiss rifles we use a shooting device called the Accurite. It receives the entire weapon, has crude and fine elevation and windge adjustments. It absorbs all of the recoil and returns to zero. If the rifle and the load are capable of sub-moa, it will repeat every time. All I have to do is squeeze the trigger.

We also use it for working on rifles. This is the Accurite.

Once a load is dialed in I switch to the bench or prone.

Latigo

 

[bluechip]

Next time

No. Honest!


It was mid-may when I set up to shoot a 200 yard target at the range out back of the place. By the time I was ready at noon the temperature was a mild 75 degrees. I rode the Rhino downrange and stapled a solitary target to the frameworks. Dead center was a black one inch paster.

My shooting bench was the old redwood pic-nic table I had used for years, but it was solid and made a good bench. I set up the number 6 shot bags and took the Swiss k31 rifle out of the case, attatched the bipod to the rail under it, uncapped the scope and began adjusting the height of the shot-bags.
I set up the spotting scope on the tripod, broke out the custom loads and inserted 5 of them into the magazine.

I proceeded to send five rounds downrange at three second intervals. I checked the target though the spotting scope and said "Yep" to myself.
"Yep, what?" came from behind me. Worden Hardy had walked up behind me just after the last shot.
Hello, Worden. Yep, I put all five of them through the same hole again, sez I. "All five through the same hole?" sez he. Yep........ all five. "Let me see that scope".... and I moved over for him to look.
"There's only one hole in that target. Dead center. What makes you think all five went in the same hole?" sez he. They always do, sez I. Every time.
Worden is standing with his hands in his pockets rocking back and forth on his heels looking at me through slitted eyes. "Uh huh. All five through one smooth hole. Right".

And I never could'a proved it if it hadn't been for those five dead coyotes that had been trotting in single file, three seconds apart piled up behind that target.
Yep. One smooth hole.

Well, maybe not quite that, but this rifle with a hBN burnished barrel and hBN impact coated 175gr Berger VLD's came close.
Range, 100 yards
Temp 29 degrees
Wind 0
Shot from the bench inside the heated ShootShed.

The rifle is the Swiss zfk55. The caliber is 7.5x55 The magazine holds 5 rounds and all five went right where you see them and (the biggest deal for me), its repeatable.

Latigo

Next time when you take a picture of your target, don't zoom in so close, we would like to see the other four bullet holes too.

 

[Boe]

bluechip,
That's funny!! When I read it I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants. I know it's just in fun. Boe

 

[Jan]

I like the....

...moving backers too!

 

[Latigo]

Well, anyway none of this is why I'm here. All of my experience is with US Military and Swiss firearms. I'm here to learn what you do. I have a 22-250, a .308 and a .270, all bolt actions, and I'm here to learn.
I have a good reloading room in the armoury, good equipment and I'm a good student. My Dad has done it all for 50 years, but not benchrest shooting.

Latigo

 

[Bill Ohio]

Well, maybe not quite that, but this rifle with a hBN burnished barrel and hBN impact coated 175gr Berger VLD's came close.
Range, 100 yards
Temp 29 degrees
Wind 0
Shot from the bench inside the heated ShootShed.

Latigo

Swear on the holy Obama and the evil queen Pelosi that your "group" has five shots. Because it sounds/looks about as credible as the Democrat agenda.

 

[Latigo]

Those are names I never say out loud except when accompanied by other epithets, but I will swear on the name of General Henri Guisan, one of my heroes.
Don't be too astounded. This was at 100 yards using the Accurite in the Shootshed.
Here's another one, same day, same rifle with the seat depth 15 thousandths deeper.

And this was the first target of the day with a cold shot at 1:00 and the other 4 in the group below it. Seat depth was only 10 thous back from the ogive against the lands.

Using hBN in this rifle intensified the seat depth being critical to POI.

Latigo

 

[brian roberts]

All I got to say is...............

THANKS for posting those pictures of, and the info on, such interesting equipment!! You certainly are fortunate to have the equipment and the facilities to make those fleeting Montana "summer days"(anything over 60)so much fun. Thanks again!!

 

[Latigo]

As of last fall we don't mind the weather, Brian.
This is our ShootShed built at the 100 yard pad. Another at the 300 and 500 yard pads will be built during the summer. For winter the ShootSheds have firing ports and tunnels.

(This is from my own forum)
------------------------------------------

Trusses are up and I'm headed out to do the roof with my brother in law. We're anxious to be shooting. Its only 34 out here today.

We built a 20" exterior tunnel that attatches below the firing port with the firing port flipped up.

The interior tunnel extends 10" into the building. Both are lined with Aurelex sound deadening material, the same kind we use in the recording studio control room.
We use a solid redwood table and have Auralex foam on the right side to catch brass. The redwood table will go as soon as we build a solid custom shooting bench. The walls are not paneled yet, but it doesn't matter for right now. It stays warm and comfortable to shoot inside. The only sound is a dull thud when the rifle is fired.

Cold, rainy day in Lost Prairie, but not inside the ShootShed.

Firing port door.

EXT tunnel hung below with the port door locked in the up position and before the end edge cover cap was screwed on. You can see the edge of the 2" thick Auralex foam.

Side showing both EXT tunnel and the INT tunnel.

The INT tunnel with the burlap covering 2" thcik Auralex. The burlap absorbs the muzzle brake gasses, We don't get anything in the ShootShed and the dark area is from the Wilson, and its a worst case muzzle brake. Everything else except the zfk55 will be straight forward gas expulsion.

So, two additonal things. The burlap has a 1/2" x 1/2" wire mesh pulling it back to the depth of the Auralex now and the interior is going to get acoustic ceiling panels on both the walls and the ceiling instead of chipboard. I'll take a shot of the finished INT and EXT ports when I get a chance.

I'll bet there are better setups, but so far this one is working in temps in the low teens and near zero, and that's why its designed the way it is. I can't wait till spring when we can paint all the trim and make it look professional. So far we've put better than 100 rounds of 175gr SMKs downrange and the only complaint is that I need to build the perefect shaped interior shooting bench next week at the shop. Dad or I will take pictures when its installed.
We'll keep targets, a stapler and cleaning gear inside. If you look at the early construction pictures you can see that the west side is actually framed for a window. We'll be putting in an openable triple thermal pane next summer. It will have a 2" exterior recess for a solid block of thermal foam during the winter. The roof is vented for air flow and to stop condensation.
Next plan is to add a shed roof on the north side this summer for the Rhino. We use it to run downrange to the targets now. We'll use concrete piers and 4x4 treated posts on 24" centers for the uprights and T1.11 siding and horizontal bracing on the west and north sides to close it off. The east side faceing downrange will have a barn type swing open door.
If there's time tomorrow Dad's working the zfk55.

Latigo

 

[JJ-IA]

I guess all of us BR guys better quit! We can't shoot that good everytime. I guess you put us all out of business. Anyone want to buy my BR stuff?
Butch

Nope.
Not if it cant agg in the mid .1's or lower every time in good conditions.


Latigo.
Cool rifle and great groups.
I've never seen one of those rifles before, thanks for sharing!

 

[Latigo]

Thanks, JJIA. It won't be used for the kind of shooting I want to learn about here. I've been doing a lot of reading here for the past week and I'm really anxious to get started.
I ordered a Wilson meplat trimmer and pointer on friday. I ordered that one because it indexes on the ogive and not the base. I've been doing the ame sort of thing with my .308.
I'm using the Wilson case trimmer now, weighing cases and projectiles getting ready.

Latigo

 

[skeetlee]

Looks like the first bullet key holed and the other blew up on there way to the target!! LOL!! Im just kidding. good shooting!!
I wonder why i am spending so much money for these BAT actions, and krieger barrels???? Looks like i need one of those and ill be set!!

 

[bluechip]

scope

Latigo, what power scope are you using?