Selling pre-fit barrels, sounds easy right? But what is pre-fit? Is it just a chambering in the barrel or is it a chambering headspaced to certain tolerances that will fit in most rifles, leaving room plus or minus so the vast majority will work? But how is that better than a chamber cut to specific and exact tolerances to match your receiver? Wouldn't that be more accurate? Let's say you have a new barrel. What chamber do you decide to cut into? You know that with any chambering, once done it is like a tattoo that can never be changed or removed. Whether you like it or not, the chamber is now a permanent partner to that barrel. So you wrestle with the decision of what 6.5 caliber chamber to cut into your 6.5 rifled barrel. You only get one choice, one option, one swing and it's permanent. "So what" you say! "That is just the way it is, has been and will be forever". Wait for it..................... not anymore! There is an alternative and better option!What is a universal barrel? It is a barrel ready to build with all the machining done to accept any caliber from that family of cartridges. Not a pre-fit, but a perfect fit to any chamber you would like to put on it. Have chamber remorse? We can fix that. We can take your 6.5 Creedmoor chamber off your universal barrel and put a 6.5PRC on it. Pre-fit - Nope, a perfect fit. Any other builder or gunsmith have this option? We don't think so. Would it be a nice option to have, though? We think so. When it all matters!Making a 1/2 MOA rifle is not hard to do with the quality of components on the market today. Things can be left go to the "acceptable" tolerances of most builders and manufacturers. But, when you are looking for that rifle that will perform over and over again and at a higher level, think sub 1/2 moa or a true quarter MOA capable rifle, then this all matters! Not just the the finished perfect part, but the perfected processes and details that go far beyond the average builder's passion that most will simply walk away at the start of this conversation. Think about a $500,000 machine. Capable right? Yes! Fallible by humans, of course. But, a sub 1/2 moa rifle has as much to do with the perfected process as it does with the perfect machine!
It is not just having a world class machine tool, it goes well beyond that. It gets into the set up of the barrel, the jigging, the custom tooling, the custom fixtures, the custom holders and even custom spindle bore liners, each made by hand to support the barrel opposite of what is being machined. When you are trying to make the perfect rifle over and over again, this is the level of attention that goes on behind the curtain makes all the difference and where average and the best part ways. Making a true sub .5 MOA rifle is not by accident or luck. It is 100% on purpose with a commitment to accept nothing less. So we don't take it lightly announcing something like a Universal Barrel. It's not a tag line, a sales pitch or play on words. To make this possible, the workings behind the scenes resembles the thought, care, passions and technical know-how that one would think we where designing rockets. But in same strange way, isn't that what we are doing? Isn't that the approach you would want to be taken? That level of expertise, passion and commitment from the team and to the end user. Pre-fit can be found with fittings at a hardware store, but perfect is intentional, every time!
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Some of the greatest advice I can give you from a person who just loves to shoot and wants to grow as a marksman is...you have to avoid falling into the trap of just shooting what you are the best at. We all want to do well and show off our skills. We all want to leave the range fulfilled and feeling like we are actually good as something. But unfortunately, that is not where growth happens. You must make an effort to train what you are the weakest at in order to grow as a shooter! When I was younger and wanting to grow my skills and level of marksmanship, one of the biggest benefits to me was to come away from an event with a new position or stage that I have never done or seen before. And I blew it. And, although, int the moment, it felt awful to blow a stage of a match, that to me was always worth its wait in gold. As strange as it may sound, I was always excited to get home and face this new challenging shot or position to improve upon it. You see, when at a match I didn't care about the stages I did well on. I always looked for things I didn't do well on. I loved it when I came away from a stage scratching my head and saying "well that was something new." Mentally, it would go in a notebook for when I would get home as to something I wanted to practice, study, learn, then, improve on. I think for most shooters, shooting prone or off a bench is where they shine. But be wary of always getting into the habit of shooting that position all the time. In real world hunting or match shooting in the field, get ready for the brow beatings. Because you will be outside your comfort zone and your shooting and score will show it as will your results hunting. I think comfort is a good word to use because we don't want to do things as human beings we are not good at. If you are terrible at one sport but like to be considered an "athlete," you are going to drop that sport like a bad habit and be on the hunt for something that you will be more of a natural at or at least a competitor at. And for the record, although there are some who take the sport of shooting well, I do not believe most are just "naturally" good at it. To be at the top of their game, good shooters have to practice and practice a lot. And I am sure through the learning curve, they have had some losses and some embarrassing shots along the way. A case in point and what led me to this blog. We had a Police Sniper team here training with us recently. And I cannot say how much I was impressed on their abilities to shoot off of a tri-pod. Their lead shooter said one of the wisest things I have heard in quite sometime. He said "we do not train prone as the likelihood of that shot being taken in a real world situation is little to none. So, we train at our weakest skill set and one that will probably have to be used in the field someday, and that is off a tripod. So, 90% of our training is off one." Well said, well done and for the record it showed. Probably one of the best groups I have even seen shooting from tripods bar none,
If you want to start placing and winning in matches or if you want your hunting trip to have a better chance of ending with success, then you merely need to become a well-rounded shooter. You do not have to be the best at any position. Work to be average or above in all positions and you will move up the ranks every time. You may be beaten with a sling by a world-class cross-the-course shooter, but just hold your own with him. Because the next timed stage or position he may just struggle with and you will make up lost ground like crazy. Most shooters shine at something, some position, some hold. Few can stay middle of the pack in every position. To do so, you simply have to constantly train on your weakest positions, not your strongest. Do this long enough and the results will amaze you. Kahles SKMR3 Reticle in MilsLet us start at the beginning. You are a new shooter or hunter and want to shoot at distance. The allure of someone doing all the math and printing out your yardage on a turret or reticle sounds enticing. The thought that you don't have to learn MOA or Mils sounds appealing. The idea that someone will do all this work for you to bypass this learning process sounds like a win. Or is it? The thought of someone coming up with a "simple way" to put your D.O.P.E. on your rifle turns my stomach. They sell you on the fact that if you look behind the curtain, your brain may melt or you will be overwhelmed forever on the mystical and magical powers of the great and powerful Oz (insert fire, smoke and yelling here). Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain! Just write the check and let us take all this burden off you. I hope by now you are seeing the humor. But on a serious side, if you fall for this trap in the long run it will hurt you on learning some core truths to running a rifle at distance. 1. You have to be able to modify your D.O.P.E. to current and constantly changing weather conditions, altitude and, more importantly, density altitude. And to be truthful, it is one of the simplest things you will ever have to learn in life. If you peak behind the curtain you will see, BDC is all a gimmick, nothing but noise, smoke and mirrors. A way to work you around just simply using your MOA or Mil adjustments with no end user control. BDC's are complicated, complicating, inaccurate and will hamstring you as a shooter and a marksman. 2. Once you learn Minutes and Mils, it frees you to simply learn to get your rifles D.O.P.E. and apply it to the rifle. More importantly, it allows you to true your trajectory for what your rifle really needs, not what someone or some ballistics calculator thinks you need. These are all 100% guaranteed to be wrong. Or more importantly, 100% impossible to be correct for your rifle. Why? Because they have no way of knowing the curvature to your bore (rifling), your true BC of your bullet as it is deformed in your rifle or lastly what your speed will be once your rifle has broken in. Because, after shooting 150 to 200 rounds it you will pick up speed and your dope will have to be corrected for it. This is what your rifle looks like in your barrel! Surprised?3. It is hog wash of your BDC covering you 2000 feet plus or minus from where you will be hunting on the map. I could shoot so many holes through this that Swiss cheese would be embarrassed if we used it as an example. Airplanes do not land or find the ground according to the altitude on a map. They land on the altitude based on measured air pressure. Google and read more if you are interested. But the short version of this story is, it is not the map you have to worry about. It is the simulated altitude we call density altitude. As the DA rises, you are shooting in thinner air. As is lowers, you are being simulated shooting closer to sea level. And this moves up and down drastically based on heat, height and humidity. So you could be at 5000 feet on the map, but shooting at 3000, 5000 or 7500 feet on any given day. This is where you miss or put a bad shot down range. On average, a 1000 foot change in DA can move your point of impact up or down at 1000 yards 3.5" to 10" or more depending on your rifle and caliber.
All is not lost. As a shooter choosing a BDC turret or reticle you are missing out on one of the most important learning processes you can go through, something that will put you in control of the shot without question or uncertainty. That is learning to use MOA or Mils to get your D.O.P.E. and then mastering the weather to fine tune the long range shots with confidence. When it comes to long range or precision at distance, it is weather first, ballistics and, then, fundamentals. That is how a shot should be made. With knowledge of all three and the know how to adjust the first two when changes are needed, you will grow with confidence. More importantly, you have now looked behind the curtain and realized that there is no wizard and this in not magic. It is knowledge that you too can learn and grow from and become the shooter you've always wanted to be. 8/24/2023 0 Comments The difference between hosting an event and running an event. The dangers in hosting a social firing line/event.One thing to keep in mind and a struggle with bringing in and training new trainers is teaching the separation of the social part of the event from the running of the line and the safety of the participants. Assume will always make an ass-of-u-me. This is the danger, assumption that everything will always turn out fine and the complacency that follows. And it is complacency the can and does cost people their lives. When people get involved in the shooting world and helping at events, it is first and foremost because it is fun. It is a great time to be around the sport and the people who enjoy doing it. You meet interesting people and there is always stories and conversations about everything shooting. Before you know it, the match is over and you are thinking of what a wonderful time you had. How great is was to be there and to be part of the event. So you volunteer or offer your services again. As time goes by, it becomes more about you being at the event and having a great time being a part of it than the responsibilities you signed up. It is easier to engage in side conversation, talk shop about your most recent purchase or new reloading data or the latest article you read on that hot new caliber. Your head is turned, your eyes are not where they belong and your ears are not listening to anything other than the sound of your own voice. Then BAM. It happens. Right there next to you and under your watch. Paint whatever picture of whatever accident you can think of and insert it here and you are responsible. I don't want to paint a grim picture, but this is the gremlin you battle. When bringing on new instructors or training new range officers, this is what we focus on. Keeping your wits and all your senses at full alert every second you are there on the firing line. You are the last hope or chance someone might have at preventing an accident and possibly saving that person or some innocent bystander their life. The bottom dollar. This is the sign that gets everyone thinking I should do this or I can do this. $! And although I am all for more shooting range and events to enjoy, this simple sign of a dollar brings people to hosting events because they can and because they see money. I have been to many matches over the years and decades. I have seen both sides. Great run events that where professionally ran and scrupulously managed for safety. I have seen matches where the end couldn't come fast enough so the days tally can be counted and celebrated. Shots rushed, people herded through stations like cattle and range officers where more like ticket takers at a sketchy amusement park filled with carnies. "Step right up folks and take your shot", can you see and hear it? Time will and does take its toll on even the best range officers, the newness and excitement can wear off. Or you have a day where you just don't want to bother or be bothered. You get tired, it's the same old, same old. This is the point I promised myself many years ago that if I reach, I will close the school permanently. Yes, I do this for a living and have been blessed to be able to do so. But I have always done it to share my love and passion for the sport and the art of marksmanship. And although I have to pay bills and payroll, I never really did it for the money. When I retire, I will probably still work and share my passion and at that point probably for free to give back all the good that I have been blessed with over the decades. Practical Tactical October 14th, 2012 So, to those who work so hard at matches and events, I always say thank you and have nothing but the most respect for those that would choose to help over shooting an event. It takes a pretty special person to do that. For those that are thinking in the future of joining the ranks. Keep in mind and always be mindful as to why you are there and the responsibilities that are yours now to bear. Keep in mind that even though your are calling shots, running targets and running stages, you are there to serve and to be the eyes and ears for those that are deaf and blind. The line in the sand that says "not on my watch". And above all be wary of the sirens song to draw you into the socialization and the fabric that makes up its net. This trap is set, it is always there and an easy snare for the split second you let your guard down.
Monetary gains are a bonus and a reward for the efforts and hard work done, earned through the hours of the kings guard standing silently, alone and always at attention. You have earned your salt, spend it well at the days end. And for those looking in from the outside, to the gains and glory of those standing watch. If you choose to join the ranks, leave both of these notions behind. Look to it as an honor to serve, as a service to those around you and to the loved ones of those attending. They are counting on your diligence for every waking moment those attendees surround you. Do not let the social aspect draw you in or the greed of an easy dollar tempt you. Do it for the right reasons. 8/17/2023 0 Comments Preparing For A Match/Hunt And The Dangers Of Doing It Too Close To A Match Or Hunt.I want to take a few minutes and write about training for new shooters and the dangers of doing it too close to the start of the match or hunt. So we had a great customer call in who is getting ready for his first match and obviously very excited. He is getting ready and making a very common mistake new shooters will do and that is just a few short days before the match or hunt, you decide to go to the range one more time to check things out.
Then bam, it happens. Something is off a little. The round is a little too far left or right. Your zero is off, or you made a wind call and a bad one at that leaving the bullet .5 mils left of the target. Then, the inevitable happens, Bam, the panic sets in that something is wrong. I have received this call and email many times, often with some panic in the voice or a feeling of anxiety and urgency in the email. I want to share with you some sound advice for new shooters and it applies the same for both match and hunting preparation equally. I want to share with you my advice for this subject that I have given many times. For new shooters it will help you get to the starting line with your head in a good place and started off on the right foot You have to resist the urge to go one more time to check things or to practice bumped up against the shoulder of the start date. When you are one to two weeks out and practicing, this should be just to make sure everything is right and tight. No serious training, just a zero check to breath and maybe some fun easy targets to get some trigger time. But no serious training or final modifications to your loads or your rifle should be happening in this time window. All of that should have already been done previously with your focus now to just put a couple rounds down range for fun and to congratulate yourself for doing a great job doing on all the hard work and training to be here right now at this point in time. Relax and just shoot a little. Now the advice, do not and I mean "DO NOT" go the range days leading up to your departure. Once you are less than a week away, step away and prepare yourself mentally and physically. Get your kit sorted and packed. Get your dope and equipment prepared. Go over your equipment pre-flight checklist and check all your batteries. But, resist at all cost the urge to go to the range one more time. If you do, the anxiety and pressure building will play itself out in your shooting, and things can go wrong in a hurry not because there's a problem with your kit, load or rifle. It's your head. You are under pressure and worried. Give yourself a break and stay away from this potential explosion of a pressure cooker moment, Keep in mind, nothing of real value is going to come from training this late in the game. It would be like training the morning before the game. It's a little late...you got what you got at that point. The only thing that can and often does happen especially to new or newer shooters is all the above. Remember, you don't have to be perfect. Remember that you did the work and earned the right to take the shot or be at the match. Remember why you are going in the first place...to have fun and grow and learn as a shooter and marksman. Give yourself a break and a chance to go and enjoy what you have earned and you will be surprised on how much more fun you will have and oftentimes how much better of a shot you really are. The wind meter is a great tool, but often times not used as correctly or looked at correctly for those that want to grow into great wind callers. The wind meter will tell you the speed of the wind. It will also provide some input on the direction it is coming from. But it will not teach you to read the wind. Too often, shooters' eyes are focused on the screen of the meter and not out in the environment where they should be. The meter should be a training tool, stepping stone or a bridge to span the gap of what the speed is and how it looks and feels in the environment.
Like all technology, it is only good at one thing....data. But, you have to do the work to learn what that looks like in the field, how it is felt on the skin and what that means or how does that translate to a speed that you can then use to make your call. The wind meter should be the tool to teach you the wind, not just used for speed. You should be able to look at the environment and all the things that surround you and use them as tools or gauging blocks to calculate a wind speed or in the beginning to start guessing. Then, use the wind meter to see if you got it right or how far off you were. When I was young with a daughter of about 5-7 years old, I took my wind meter with me everywhere. Taking dogs for a walk and to kids' soccer games. My wife often would look at me like wives often do, with that confused and questioning your sanity look. But I would feel the wind, look at it., and ry to see how it is moving and what was it's rhythm. Then, I would pull out the old yellow Kestrel and see how close to the actual speed I really was. This went on for years, varmint hunting and even match shooting. I would try to read the wind first, then use the wind meter to see if I got it right. One thing that led me to this post is the simple fact that too often at the schools, students focus on the screen. They fail to look beyond the meter to see that those conditions look like in mother nature. She will show you, but you have to do the work and have the patience to learn her. To be honest, I don't think she cares if you get it right or wrong. But she will show you the answer if you just look. At the school, I often get grief now and then from students asking "where are the wind flags?" I tell them there are a thousand of them out there, can't you see them. They often look at me confused. I then explain that we don't put man made flags up and never will. But, I also explain that mother nature has hundreds out there, you just have to take the time to learn where they are and how to read them. Now, I am not trying to come off as a guru or a wind whisperer. To be honest, this is a hard road to walk as it requires patience and the ability to allow yourself to make mistakes and be wrong without giving up. This is the learning curve that, once mastered, separates the good from the great. Use the wind meter to train yourself to read the environment and eventually the tool will be used to just verify what you already know. www.wolfprecision.net https://youtu.be/wJniurPogrE https://www.patreon.com/posts/ep51-hornady-iii-86404778?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link One nagging question is whether or not a rifle chamber is a verb or a noun. Can you change one to the other? The funny part is, the rifle is made up of tangible working components. All of them are a noun except (unitl now) the rifle chamber. The chamber was a service, a job, something you had done. Don't believe me? Walk into a gun store and ask to buy just a rifle chamber and see just what funny looks you get.
The ACE system completes the rifles transition into a true all-component status. The chamber is now a stand alone working part of the rifle, a tangible usable and reusable part separate of the barrel. We don't thow away an action when the barrel is shot out, nor the stock. That would be crazy. But, we throw away what could be one of the most important parts of the rifle, the chamber, every time. As it was, up until now, it was simply a service provided to the barrel. In the future, picking the chamber as a selected component is now a reality. Buying a good one and using it over and over again has finally came to fruition. The only service that a builder or gunsmith provided that you could not complete the rifle without them, was the chamber. That is now no longer the case! The future of a true component based rifle system is here, with each and every part a stand alone entity with the ablity to be changed, swapped or re-used at the owner's will or discretion. You no longer need to rely on the service of a third- party machinist or shop. Think about the process of rebarreling a rifle as it once was. Your prized rifle is now shot out. It is no longer the tack driver it once used to be. With a heavy heart, you pack her up and send her off with the hopes that she makes it there to the smith and back. And, with the hope that he treats her with the same love and care you have shown the rifle for years. Then, when you get her back, with anxiety, you load her up, take her to the range and hold your breath with fingers crossed for the first few rounds. Is it going to be the same rifle she once was.? Maybe, maybe not. Fast forward to 2024. Your prized rifle is now getting close to giving up it's best accuracy. It's barrel is slowly being worn down and she is just hanging on. You prop her up on the bench and with careful love and attention, take your chamber off the old barrel and put it on the new. You give a little extra cleaning attention to her while you put her back together and later that evening at the range she is shooting like she did when she was brand new. That is the future; that is progress; that is the ACE system and that chamber is now a noun, no longer a verb dependent on someone else. And this chamber is yours. In reloading, there are many mindsets and techniques, many of which can lead you down a path of heartache, confusion, pain, suffering, sorrow and yes even death. Many reloaders obsess over things they have read or secret formulas they have heard of, thinking that this is the secret they have been waiting for. This new process will most certainly make them the best shooter in the world.
Now on to the truth. Many of the things you read, hear and see being peddled by forums or influencers is not just hog wash, but many times just flat out stupid and dangerous and puts not only yourself in harms way, but selfishly putting others in harms way as well. A young man called to ask some questions, over a 30 minute conversation, the conclusion was made "you cannot get there from here". You have gone down the wrong road so far, that getting from A to B, or from dangerous to safe is no longer possible. With all good intentions, the advice was to shoot factory ammo until he could buy all new components and with a reloading manual start from scratch following the instructions step by step. It is my belief that if more new reloaders would follow this simple advice, they would make better, safer and easier to find loads than they ever thought possible. And, in the end, making it a win / win for everyone, including the person shooting next to you whose life is possibly in your hands. Our last podcast, Episode 163, was taking this matter on, but I would like to go a couple steps further. Over the years I have had many people help here at the shop make ammo and have been through the questions with every rifle we make. Some good, some bad and some dangerous. Most never had bad intentions and were neither gullible or stupid. The things they read or watched or were told seemed to make sense. They believed the mindset of "do this special thing and you will have a leg up on your opponent or an advantage in the field on a hunt". But some don't or didn't care if what they were doing was borderline dangerous or even crazy. Those want a win at any cost and are willing to take the risk, even when it is at your expense. Our process here is simple, clean, efficient and it works. I reload to shoot, not the other way around . With well over 200K rounds and counting of match winning and accurate training ammo, I have learned some things along the way. Break out a reloading book, follow it line by line, step by step and use the best components possible and finding accurate loads can be easily done in just one or two range trips. Make the process stress free and repeatable every time and you will get repeatable, successful results. But always, always keep safety first. Not just yours, but look at the shooter left and right of you and ask how you would feel exposing them without their knowledge to the threat of a rifle coming apart just feet from their faces. Think about the family and friends depending on you and them to make it home safely. Picture having to face their children and having to explain why you just had to run that high pressure "hot load" or reuse that tired brass or follow unsafe, unproven reloading or annealing processes. Don't be selfish or foolish, instead focus on both accurate and safe reloading practices. 4/17/2023 0 Comments Reloading Made SimpleGoing into our 3rd year for teaching the art of reloading, we are not just proud of the class, but we are proud of the students who have taken the time to attend! Seeking out knowledge and wisdom to help get the most of anything you do in life is not just a good investment of your time and resources, but is crucial to get through the weeds and bushes of the mountains of both good and bad information available everywhere. It is not uncommon for folks to mention that just the first morning of class alone was worth the price of admission. By the end of day two, many students realize that there were many costly mistakes made in both making their ammo and in resources lost by buying the wrong equipment. Prone and a bi-pod1/2 moa average on the first try with 5 shot groups!3/17/2023 0 Comments Learn to make manual wind calls.How do you start the process of learning how to make manual wind calls. Using apps and programs are great, but there are times when you need to have the skill set to make quick and accurate calls. This is where knowing how to manually make wind calls will pay dividends. It could save the hunt or win the match for you. This is a skill set that most don't practice or even understand completely. Separate yourself from all others on the firing line and learn to make and have confidence in your ability to make wind calls.
Don't let yourself get caught in that all too familiar "oh shit" situation where your app doesn't turn on, your phone is dead or you simply don't have the time to use it. In these situations a manual chart tied to your rifle and the simple knowable of how to use it can and often will save the day. There are those who don't know, those who don't care and those who will never win. Be prepared and master the skill of shooting in the winds with all the tools. But don't let yourself become dependent on it and know how to make the call without it. It just might mean the difference of going home empty handed or with the trophy of a lifetime. |
Jamie DodsonPresident of Wolf Precision and inventor of the ACE. Archives
April 2024
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