The Russian Ministry of Defense intends to utilize (read destroy and melt down) 4 million older model guns by the year 2015. These will be pulled from the stockpiles of estimated 16 million guns that are no longer in service with Russian Armed Forces. Roughly 6.45 million of these guns are no longer serviceable.

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Well done to SA Hunters and especially to Adriaan Woudstra for another successful show, I’ll definitely be looking forward to next year.

I was working in the Honey Badger Armaments stand this year,but unfortunately this meant my time to browse was limited. On the up side though ,I did get to meet quite a number of Gunsiter’s at the stand.

Managed to do a quick walk around, taking a few quick snaps for those of you who couldn’t make it.

Finished setting up, and ready to go!

Southern Arms/Bernhard Agencies who won best stand.

Roger and MRS Techniques

Mischa Beare and Chantel James, Brand Manager for Magnum and HiTec.

Mario and Pieter from Zimbi Books and Guns

Formalito

Eric from ECM with a nice selection of the toys we all want

Safari & Outdoor had an impressively large stand with lots and lots of nice goodies

Some of the team from Gun Africa who managed to put together out a high class Gun magazine , in a matter of weeks and launch it at HUNTEX

Khumba and Cornelis working hard

Rescomp with Pierre on the right

Dave Sheer Guns

Travelo with a .338 Lapua Magnum in the foreground

JJ Wapens also had a large stand with a lot of nice stuff.

There were of course many more stands and exhibitors, unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to get down stairs to see the knife guys this year.

There are a few more pictures in the forum, takes a look and join the discussion here: www.gunsite.co.za/forums/Huntex-2012-photos

Smith & Wesson’s new M&P SHIELD™ is a slim, concealable, lightweight, striker-fired polymer pistol. Available in 9mm and .40 S&W, the new M&P SHIELD features a slim design combined with the proven and trusted features found in the M&P Pistol Series.

From the pistol’s easily concealed one-inch profile to its optimized 18-degree grip angle, the M&P SHIELD offers professional-grade features that provide consumers with simple operation and reliable performance. Chambered in 9mm and .40 S&W for proven stopping power, the M&P SHIELD features a high-strength polymer frame with a black, Melonite® coated stainless steel slide and barrel. Both models are standard with a 3.1-inch barrel, which contributes to an overall length of 6.1 inches and an unloaded weight of 19 ounces.

For fast tracking and smooth target acquisition, the M&P SHIELD is standard with a 5.3-inch sight radius and has been enhanced with a short, consistent trigger pull measuring 6.5 pounds. Featuring a quick and audible reset made possible by the striker-fired action, the M&P SHIELD allows multiple rounds to be placed on target both consistently and accurately.

Specs for the 9mm M & P Shield:

• Model: M&P9 SHIELD™
• Caliber: 9mm
• Capacity: 7 Round & 8 Round
• Action: Striker Fire
• Barrel Length: 3.1″ / 7.874 cm
• Front Sight: White Dot
• Rear Sight: White 2-Dot
• Overall Length: 6.1″ / 15.5 cm
• Frame Width: .95″ / 2.413 cm
• Overall Height: 4.6″ / 11.684 cm
• Weight: 19.0 oz / 538.7 g
• Frame Material: Polymer
• Barrel/Slide Finish: Black Melonite® 68 HRc
• Trigger Pull: 6.5 lbs. +/-
• Sight Radius: 5.3″ / 13.3 cm

Shooting USA – Smith & Wesson’s M&P Shield

Smith & Wesson

Advanced Armament Corporation decided to design a 30 cal round that will from the start be a commercial SAAMI spec round available for manufacture by Commercial ammunition manufacturers. This a philosophy in contrast to the similar 300 Whisper which has been a wild cat round from the start although I understand that may change in future.

The 300 AAC Blackout plastic tipped, left, compared to 300 AAC BLACKOUT 125 match, 300 AAC BLACKOUT 220 subsonic, 5.56mm, and 7.62×39mm.

The design objectives of AAC were:

• Create a reliable compact 30-cal solution for the AR platform
• Utilise existing inventory magazines unmodified while retaining their full capacity
• Create optimal platform for sound and flash suppressed fire
• Create compatible supersonic ammo that matches 7.62×39 ballistics
• Provide the ability to penetrate barriers with high-mass projectiles
• Provide all capabilities in a lightweight, durable, low recoiling package.

The 300BLK is a .30-caliber round with excellent application in the standard AR platform. The round is used in the standard AR 5.56 magazines (although care should be taken when reloading to observe OALs provided by AAC to enable the round to fit and function properly in the standard AR magazine – this is due to the rim inside the magazine which may influence alignment if the ogive of the bullet does not interface properly with the inside diameter of the magazine.)

The benefit of the 300BLK over the 7.62×39 is the fact that the round fits into the std AR mag due to it very low taper in comparison to the 7,62×39 as well as slightly improved ballistics over the 7,623×39 and a wider variety of bullets.

The benefit of the 300BLK over 7,62×51 is the much lighter platform rifle, lighter recoiling, more controllable and true sub-sonic application possibility.

The 300BLK offers excellent terminal ballistics at South African bush contact ranges of up to 300 meters and would be an excellent high capacity rifle and round combination for anti-poaching units.

Details of South African available powders and reloading data for reloading the 300BLK will be made available as soon as the first rifles and components arrive. It seems that in line with reloading of the 300BLK in supersonic with USA available powders the powder to use would be S221 and for sub-sonic it would be S265.

MUZZLE ENERGY COMPARISONS (courtesy of AAC at http://300aacblackout.com/)

9” BARREL @ Muzzle

5,56 /M855 2558 ft/s. 901 ft-lb

7.62×39 / 123gr 2022 ft/s. 1117 ft-lb

6.8 SPC / 110gr 2157 ft/s. 1136 ft-lb

300BLK /123gr 2130 ft/s. 1238 ft-lb (37% over 5.56, 9% over 6.8 SPC, 11% over 7.63×39)
16” BARREL @ Muzzle

5,56 /M855 2938 ft/s. 1188 ft-lb

7.62×39 / 123gr 2245 ft/s. 1377 ft-lb

300BLK /123gr 2315 ft/s. 1462 ft-lb (23 over 5.56, 6% over 7.63×39)

6.8 SPC / 115gr 2400 ft/s. 1471 ft-lb (1% over 300BLK)

6.8 SPC / 110gr 2540 ft/s. 1576 ft-lb (8% OVER 300BLK)

Resources and information:

AAC web site http://300aacblackout.com/

Interesting information and Forum discussion on the 300BLK http://www.silencertalk.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=128

NEA-15 Rifles will soon be available from Honey Badger Armaments in this fantastic new cartridge.

Read more about the Range Day and see the pictures and videos on the Forum

Specs

Barrel length excluding flash hider = 230mm
6 Groove barrel with a 1:7 twist rate.
Weight empty 3.2kg/7lb
The rifle has a max length of 730mm and a stock folded length of 501mm.

General.

The rifle action is gas piston driven with the piston located above the barrel and forward of the bolt carrier (in contrast with the AK/Galil/LM system). Control and return of the piston is managed by a captured recoil spring system with the recoil spring placed around the piston (This setup is derived from the Sig 551 – the 552, which has been replaced by the 553, utilised a recoil spring system similar to the AK/Galil/LM design with the recoil spring positioned rearward of the bolt carrier). The bolt carrier and the piston are linked by the removable charging lever. Disassembly of the bolt carrier and piston is achieved by detaching the removable charging lever.

A polymer overmolded charging lever is located on the right hand side of the receiver (similarly positioned to the lever on the AK/Galil/LM rifles). The bolt locks open on an empty magazine (contrary to the AK/Galil/LM mode of operation).  Bolt release is managed by utilising the bolt release button located on the left hand side of the receiver which works great for speedy and easy charging of the rifle after a loaded magazine has been seated in the lower receiver.

The magazine is seated with the familiar “rock in” motion used on the AK/Galil/LM etc. Each magazine features tabs for side by side locking of 2 (or more) mags together without the use of magazine couplers. A magazine can be seated even with the top round protruding forward out of the magazine (a situation that can occur when two mags are coupled side by side due to top placed round inertia movement under recoil impulse). The mag does not feature the fairly large lip catch found on AK/Galil/LM mags and this allows an empty mag to drop free with the push of the mag release paddle.

Ambi safety levers that rotate from safe to fire with a 45 degree movement are located on the lower receiver. The safety levers remind one of the safety lever system used on the AR platform.

Upper and lower receivers are detachable from one another, in a manner very similar to the AR platform, by sliding the two contained pins outward (engineered as only the Swiss would). The upper receiver is attached to the barrel and has a non-removable dustcover which also has the bolt carrier rails attached to it. The lower receiver contains the trigger group and has the stock attached. Trigger pull is smooth in take-up with a crisp break and short reset.

The piston and the piston gas tube are removable from the front of the rifle. The front hand guards are locked into place by the gas tune and can be easily removed by unlocking the gas tube.

The upper receiver has a B&T picatinny rail with a small fold-up rear BUIS recessed in to the rail. The front BUIS is small with a fold open front sight blade. Both BUIS are minimalistic but all that is needed for BUIS utility.

I mounted a Trijicon RMR RM06 on the forward portion of the rail where the receiver and rail ends  which allows co-witness with the BUIS if needed and does not  interfere with manipulating the charging lever with the support hand reaching over/under the receiver  or with manipulating the lever with the strong hand. Imo the RM06 compliments the rifle very well.

After the rifle has been charged and a round loaded in the chamber and barring a malfunction that necessitates the charging lever to be worked it is not necessary to utilise the charging lever to keep the rifle running and loaded due to the slide locking back on an empty magazine and the availability of the slide bolt carrier release button described above.

The muzzle is protected by a B&T Rotex flash hider which in my opinion does nothing to help hold the muzzle down onder recoil impulse. I have a suspicion that a standard A2 type “bird cage” flash hider would be more effective. I am waiting for an Ase Utra BoreLock flash hider that I will try to see what the effect will be. It is quite difficult to find a flash hider or brake in 14x1LH thread not made for a 7,62×39.

Overall quality and finish is Swiss perfect in all areas and aspects. The bolt carrier is perfectly finished with no tool marks evident and the bolt shaft is polished to a very high sheen for perfect movement within the carrier. The bolt carrier and bolt are overall extremely well made and finished.

It is rumoured that several Special Forces units in the world are using the Sig 553 SOW (Special Operations Weapon) and more specific GSG-9 (Germany), GIGN (France), GEOG (Argentina), DEA (USA), Navy Seals (USA) and the US – Air Force.

I found it interesting that very little review information could be found about the 553 and I attribute this to the possible lack of 553 rifles in the USA. The USA owners and users are usually a huge and very valuable source of information when it comes to rifles like these, but not so in the instance of the 553.

Article by Khumba, GunSite SA Forum Moderator and Member.

Many thanks from the GunSite SA Team for this continbution.

As I was working on a long-range hunting load for my 300 WM, I had an existential experience, you might say, a catharsis. You know, a bringing to the surface of some deep repressed emotion in an effort to identify a nagging truth that keeps popping up and antagonizing me. I had tried Amax, Berger and Sierra Game Kings, and guess what? The Sierra Game King won the day on accuracy. I really tried to get the same consistency out of the Amax and the Berger, but my rifle would not cooperate with me. I asked myself, why was I working on another load when I already have 10 loads for my Savage 116FHSS 300WM, all of which provide 100 yards accuracy under an inch? Why another one? They do allow me the versatility of being game and condition specific when in the field, but why another load? I just wanted a 600yd load, to use on long shots down gas lines and for shooting across big open fields.

I will admit that I am at a point in my life, where I am tired of trying to always tweak the next load, the next miracle bullet, and then labor in the field hoping that it delivers and meets my expectations or at least in some way comes close to the published hype. I have through the years taken a lot of game and enjoyed my hunting very much, but find myself always haunted by the green boxes sitting on my shelves. It seems like they have eyes and are gazing at me in disbelief, for not using them as much as I have in the past.

For 30 years there has been this green thread laced throughout all of my experience of shooting, reloading, hunting and taking game. Yes, the foundation for my experience with hand loads and using them on game – was first laid years ago with Sierra bullets. From time to time I would continue that green thread, weaving it through my experiences in the field. Funny thing though, I don’t kill anymore game nor do I kill game any better with the new whiz bang, super-duper bullets of today in all those years with Sierra bullets. In fact, when I culled game over a two-year period, it was the Sierra Game King bullets that did the majority of that work. And when I switched to a bonded bullet like the Speer Hot Core, the Swift Scirocco or a monolithic bullet like the Barnes X during that time – I found myself quickly going back to the Sierras, especially the 165gr HPBT. For more than 30 years now, I have taken coyote, deer, hogs, black bear, bobcat, beaver, coon, and wild dogs with conventional cup core bullets. I have close personal friends that have taken more than one bull elk with 165gr Sierra Game King SBT out of a 300 WM and 300 WSM.

Through the years I have taken game with Sierra, Nosler, Remington, Swift, Hornady, Barnes, Speer, Hawk, Woodliegh, and Winchester bullets. I have experienced these different makes of bullets in the field, and they have given me an empirical understanding of bullet performance. In looking back through all my diary notes, Sierra bullets have dispatched 75% of all the game I have taken in the field.

With that said, it brings home the following point. I find myself gravitating back to those green boxes. Even though there are many options out there for me to use, when it comes to different types of bullets – and I have certainly tried many of them on game. I think I know why I keep coming back to Sierra. The reason is simple! They are consistently accurate, predictable in the field, and most of all, they dispatch game efficiently and with remarkable quickness. When a hunter puts a premium cup core bullet where it is supposed to go, and uses the appropriate weight and design for the game hunted – they will have outstanding success.

I have found Sierra bullets to be heads and shoulders above the many choices out there, especially when it comes to being consistently accurate over the range of different cartridges and rifles I have owned. I am talking about hunting loads and bullets, not match loads, because I don’t compete in matches. I am not saying that other bullets that I have used in developing hunting loads are not as accurate. Some specific loads using other bullets have been more accurate at times, but in the overall use of bullets for my different rifles and cartridges when loading for accuracy Sierra has been the most consistent. My main hobby through the years has been developing loads, then taking them to the field and testing them on game. After all these years, I still tend to reach for that familiar green box. This is especially true, when I am having trouble getting accuracy with a certain cartridge and rifle combination, while using different makes of bullets.

It is easy to be caught up in the popular notion – that only bonded or solid copper bullets are the best choice for use in the field. I have not experienced problems with cup core bullets in taking game through the years, before the advent of all the new specialized bullets of today. So, what has changed? The cup core bullets have not changed! Therefore, an obvious prejudice and bias for bonded or monolithic type bullets developed in my thinking. Why not? They were touted as the next best thing since sliced bread and everybody who was anybody was using them. Why would I want to be different and resist the obvious? Frankly, through the years I have had to track more game farther when using bonded or solid copper bullets than when using cup core bullets. I consider Sierra and Berger to be premium bullets. Premium bullets are not limited to just bonded or monolithic designs, by any stretch of the imagination.

Years before using the bonded bullets and later the all copper bullets, I dispatched hogs, whitetail, mule deer and black bear with cup core bullets. Success was the order of the day when using these conventionally designed bullets. We have been bombarded over the last 20 years with the notion that conventional cup core bullets are not worth the effort and much less dependable when taking game. It is almost as if the marketing of bullets today has been successful in creating the notion – that the only real premium bullets are either bonded or solid copper. I have been at times just as guilty as many who have bought into the notion that Sierra bullets and other cup core bullets are not dependable – when taking game from coyotes to bear – and that is simply not true. I used them and have not experienced any lose of game, and we are talking about a lot of game taken with cup core bullets.

Amazing how we will adopt an idea or belief, because someone wrote an article in a national publication. Yet, the new concept (without a bonded or all copper bullet we can’t have real performance) that we have been encouraged to accept is undermining what we have actually experienced in the field – telling us that our experiences are inferior. Yep, let’s throw out all the empirical evidence of a lifetime spent in the field, because something comes along that seems to have more bells and whistles. We are told it is better and who are we to question things? We are just the average hunter, who goes out year after year with bullets that have worked for years, and got the job done. Now we are told there is a new and better bullet in town and our old bullets just won’t cut the mustard. I agree that the newer bullets are better for some applications, as the older cup core bullets are better for other applications – but the idea being pushed in some quarters today, is that we need to drop what we have been using and only use the new design exclusively. Yes!! The do it all better bullet for true performance in the field – while we are left with that nagging question that looms in our mind, “how did we get it done in the field for all these years, without this new wonder bullet?”

When one considers the devastating performance on game, the accuracy that is consistently achieved with Sierra and Berger type bullets – plus the bang for the buck spent – they are still a viable option for the hunter today. I for one could in all honesty use bullets that come out of those green boxes sitting on my shelves, for the rest of my hunting life – and not be disappointed. I am looking to simplify my game specific loads, by following my own empirical experiences of proven success through the years in the field – I’m popping the top on those green boxes more often.

Wait, what about those big animals like elk, moose and brown bear? There is an impressive list of hunters who have used conventional cup core bullets to dispatch the big ones here in North America. Isn’t it great that we can use the bullets we have come to like and that gets the job done for us – whether it is one of the old bullets or one of the newer designs. That is what is so great about hunting in America – we have so many good options. But to say that only the newer designs will give you consistent performance in the field on game is simply not true.

This last season, like those earlier seasons in my hunting life, I decided to switch from my use of bonded or homogenous copper bullets and used only Sierra bullets. That familiar satisfying experience took place again – game on the ground in short order. Those Green Boxes – they still have the same good stuff inside of them.

Round 2 SA Championship Northern Gauteng

Diligentia, Vis, Celeritas (DVC) meaning accuracy, power, and speed

2nd Round of SA Championships was held in Pretoria 2^nd to 3^rd July

The match was hosted by the Pretoria Defense Practical Shooting Club at the Eeufees range situated in Northern Gauteng.  Shooting took place over two days with a total of 16 stages and a round count of 285. This was the 1^st match after National team selection and the National Team members were able to assess their preparation for the World Shoot in Greece later this year.

An excellent shoot was put on by NGPSA and its provincial clubs. The match ran on time and hardly any delays were experienced by shooters. The weather was excellent the whole weekend and the prize giving function held at Braza Menlyn was a winner in itself. The match had good props, good range layouts and was fun to shoot. The match was also a good yardstick for the national team members as well as the other shooters going to the World Shoot in Greece.

The actual match flowed well with hardly any time wasted waiting for a stage.  As far as I could see the match was running on time and in some instances even ahead of time.  Some breakages did occur and in the detail I was in some of the competitors did have to catch up with a stage latter in the day.

Officials, Administrators and Organizers

Once again we would like to give a big thank you all the Officials, Administrative personnel and organizers of the match. The match went down well and any range issues or breakages where attended to immediately. Early Sunday morning preliminary scoring was available for each competitor at the 1^st stage of the day.

The stage briefings had an interesting format as some stage information was available on an information board situated on the relevant range and the Range Officers provided only the necessary procedural information required to complete the stage.

The Match

The match consisted of 16 stages with a total round count of 285 rounds. It was a smaller match in comparison to the 1^st match of the year but this was only a 2 day match. Target distances varied from 2 meters to 35 meters and the targets included from 6” steel plates, mini paper targets, no-shoot targets, Pepper poppers, mini poppers and normal IPSC targets. The props included barricades, swingers, bobbers and a nice elevated platform to run up and down. Target placement was good providing the opportunity to shoot on the move.  It was  a well-balanced layout testing accuracy and speed. A good challenge faced by shooters was the use of the new mini targets. These were also found on some of the swingers as well.

As an example Stage 15 (See below) was a 32 round stage which included mini targets, small plates and required accurate shooting with two swingers also bearing mini targets.

SUMMARY

• 16 Stages, 285 Rounds, lots of plates and mini targets
• 200 Competitors:
  69 Open Class
  52 Production Class
  79 Standard Class
  Ladies 11
  Junior’s 8
• South Africa, Zimbabwe

Competitors

A total of 200 competitors took part in the 2 day match. The breakdown of competitors per class was as follows:

• Open – 69
• Standard – 79
• Production – 52

It was nice to see more junior competitors at the match as well.

Categories in the different classes included Men, Ladies, Juniors, Seniors and Super Seniors.  Medals were awarded in most classes.

Results

The results reflect the technicality of the match.  All 3 classes were won by local shooters.  The results also reflect the preparation by the members that have been selected for the national team. It was very nice to see the juniors becoming more and more skilled and even starting to compete with the well-established shooters.

Junior Development

At the next Nationals in Welkom on the 2^nd and 3^rd of September all junior shooters will be squadded together so that they can receive coaching on how to shoot the match.  This coaching will be done Albert Wessels and I. The aim of getting all the juniors into a single squad is to promote competition as well as to ensure that they get more benefit from experience shooters at a national level.

As part of Junior development CZ sponsored 3 CS Shadow production handguns that have been given to 3 of the junior shooters.

CR Speed has also committed to assist with the junior development by means of sponsorship.





Sponsors

As in any sport we would also like to thank the sponsors that contributed to assist NGPSA to host the match.  We ask our shooters to please support the sponsors as they are supporting you in your shooting.

By Pierre Wrogeman