IWA 2015 – PART TWO
Continuing with the main subject of this year’s Shooters visit to IWA – rifles, we move to guns for ISSF disciplines.
The large-calibre rifle shooting discipline takes place from a considerable distance, 300 meters, with guns of up to 8 mm in calibre. In practice, the chosen calibres are as flat-shooting or as large as possible so that they are less possibly sensitive to wind and other factors.
Aiming devices are exclusively mechanical and the use of a dioptre sight is allowed.
Depending on the two disciplines (300 m or 300 m standard), rifles may weigh up to 8 kg or 5.5 kg.
There are several shooting positions.
This discipline is, in our opinion, a good base for learning how to shoot long firearms: the athlete who can achieve good results in this discipline will be able to participate in any rifle discipline.
And that is because the principles are the same: position (stability), breathing, aiming and shooting.
So we proceeded to identify large-calibre gun manufacturers.
If in the area of small-calibre rifles, there are lots of manufacturers, from (in alphabetical order) Anschuetz to Walther, large-calibre offers are scarce: we managed to identify Keppeler and Gruenig & Elmiger.
It is true that, in theory, any rifle that meets the requirements may be used in this competition.
After the experience with the ISSF pistol center-fire event in recent years, we, however, gave up such idyllic perspectives. We (that is, we who have started shooting well past the age of 30) have believed for years that we may achieve good results with our regular pistols (modified, that’s true) most of which are in calibre 9×19. That was until we held in our hands a competition pistol, whether it is called Walther, Pardini or otherwise, usually a .32 S&W Long with anatomical wooden grip, when we realised that, if we wanted to constantly exceed the 500-point threshold, we would have to invest in such a pistol and in the ammunition that we needed for training.
So, in the rifle’s case, we tried to learn from experience: it is clear that a specialised rifle, with (a) a chassis that is adjustable from all points of view (the number of settings being, practically, unlimited) and, implicitly, to any body shape, shooting style or position and (b) adjustable trigger, etc creates better premises than my former Schwedenmauser with a wooden stock and trigger with heavy pull (see article on vol. II no. 1 of April 2014).
So we proceeded to analyse the rather scarce offer, as I was saying.
1. Keppeler
The Germans manufacture rifles using their own large calibre (barrel, lock and breech) on their own chassis or on a chassis manufactured by Walther. It’s nothing wrong to use the Walther chassis, with it being the result of decades of development (and, thus, more time and more money invested in research & development).
The calibre range is wide enough: from .222 Rem to .308 Winchester.
I examined both visually and mechanically the guns at Keppeler stand. They made a very good impression on me. The chassis is highly efficient and the system operates smoothly. The gun seems well-balanced despite its weight due to the large calibre.
2. Gruenig & Elmiger
The Swiss are long standing large-calibre rifle manufacturers. Their products are a sort of Formula 1 racing cars of ISSF rifles, and rifles in general.
The chassis is manufactured from various materials: wood, aluminium or, state of the art, carbon (or even hybrid, combining several materials).
The use of carbon seems to be expanding: after aviation and cars, it seems to have found its way into guns as well. Apart from the low weight (which helps if you must hold the rifle for a few tens of minutes in total during the shooting event), the great advantage of the material is the minimal (and practically irrelevant) deformation to differences in temperature. Practically, carbon does not absorb water as wood does and dilates or contracts less than aluminium.
It is true that these qualities are expensive. All products of the Swiss are premium products. As in other areas, quality has its price.
But the value you receive is worth it: from the visual and tactile effect to the way it operates when dry-loading and dry-firing, the system makes your mouth water and leaves you wondering when IWA will allow the public or, at least, those passionate about guns, who also have the habit of sharing their views with others, to test the guns live. Hopefully soon.
The calibre range covers from . 222 and . 223 Remington, through the 6 mm spectrum (PPC, BR, SM, XC), 6.5 mm calibres, .243 Winchester and the 7 mm, to .308 Winchester.
3. Limitations, solutions and “cant’ have it all”
In our country, there are limited facilities that allow you to train at 300 meters. Generally, training options for rifle shooting are relatively limited.
Not to mention the rifle ammunition cost or the impossibility to load your own ammunition, adapted to the gun.
So, as we are creative, we tried to imagine alternatives.
After all, as in any shooting discipline, the principles are partially similar, if not identical, regardless of the discipline (air, small-calibre or large-calibre): the correct and balanced position, breathing, aiming on mechanical devices (not even the best dioptre can change the fact that the human eye cannot focus on a point for more than 4-6 seconds) and shooting.
What happens after you shoot (recoil, for compressed air or small-calibre guns, the impulse, as there isn’t much of a recoil there) influences to a lower extent the result on the target. I’m referring to most shooters and not top athletes for whom each small deviation of a factor can influence the result.
In our opinion, an alternative for a large-calibre rifle training session that costs less and may be implemented with fewer restrictions is the use of compressed air or small-calibre rifles.
There are many more air shooting ranges than large-calibre rifle ranges – not to mention that they may be practically implemented and more easily authorised in any space that meets the legal requirements, which are not very sophisticated.
Small-calibre ranges are not as many, but there are, however, more of them than large-calibre ranges. And, unlike compressed air, firearms “make boom”, so such training session is noisy – an aspect that must not be neglected, especially for beginners.
It is important to train with a gun that has a similar configuration (size, centre of gravity and weight, etc) to the “big one”.
This implies a certain degree of interchangeability: using, on the same chassis, an air system, a small-calibre and, ideally, a large-calibre system.
Unfortunately, it does not exist (yet).
Large manufacturers of rifles for shooting disciplines (from Wather and Anschuetz and everyone in between) only manufacture compressed air and small-calibre guns.
Keppeler allows the interchanging of the small and large calibre, with minimal adjustments.
Gruenig & Elmiger allows changing from small to large calibre by merely unscrewing the two screws. No adjusting shot is necessary.
A chassis that allows you to shoot in all three disciplines has not been created yet. It is probably because there was no demand (enough demand) in this area. It is true that the air chassis is slightly different than the other two, as the air bottle also needs to be adjusted.
We will keep you posted
Sebastian Gutiu