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In this issue:
Status of Wolf Creek / Tom Lowe Ranges
Re: A Heretic (re)cants
Rifle training questions
Stuff for sale list
Germany Tour Summary (long)
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[Letter from Tony Yetman]
As many of you know, the Fulton County Board of Commissioners voted
on October 3rd to close the Wolf Creek Olympic Shooting Venue (aka:
Tom Lowe Shooting Grounds - Olympic Complex). For those of not
familiar with it, this is arguably the premier facility in the world
(well, in the Western Hemisphere) for international shooting
disciplines. It's host to the USA Shooting National Championships as
well as the Atlanta ISSF World Cup. It is, to say the least, an
incredible place to shoot.
On Wednesday of this past week a group of us got together and made a
presentation to the Board of Commissioners showing the economic
impact of this facility on the county and metro Atlanta as a whole. I
met privately on Thursday with Mike Kenn, Chairman of the Board of
Commissioners to reinforce our position and to make a proposal to
privatize the management of the complex away from the county Parks &
Recreation Dept. Believe it or not, they listened! We have received a
TEMPORARY stay of execution on the closing of the facility while they
explore other management options.
On Thursday, we incorporated a non-profit group called Wolf Creek
Action Committee, Inc. We are a non-profit organization whose
purpose is to obtain a contract from Fulton County to manage Wolf
Creek. Any and all surplus above our operating expenses will go to
fund scholarships for junior shooters - this is a condition of our
non-profit charter. We desperately need money to fight the coming
battle and prepare a suitable business plan for our proposal to the
county. We are offering adult memberships for $20 per year and
juniors for $10. Membership carries with it the right to vote in the
election for the Board of Directors. As a non-profit organization, we
will also gladly accept any donations above the $20 membership fee.
Our current Board is as follows:
President - Tony Yetman
Vice President - Scott Pilkington, gunsmith to the US Olympic
Shooting Team
Secretary - Diane Simoneau
Treasurer - Judy Hill
Burl Branham, retired coach of the AMU Shotgun Team
Bob Mitchell, Chairman of USA Shooting
The last remaining board position will be filled by a representative
of the CMP who is yet to be named.
Please mail memberships/contributions to:
WOLF CREEK ACTION COMMITTEE, INC
Judy Hill, Treasurer
P.O. Box 490750
Atlanta, GA 30349
USA
You CAN fight "City Hall" and win! Thank you all in advance for your
support and please accept my apologies for a very long post that is
somewhat off-topic.
Tony Yetman
Kennesaw, GA
[End of letter]
--
This committee - including the board and the supporting cast - is a
solid group that is focused and serious. Although, as local shooters,
we want a place to shoot (which could be much smaller), each of us is
totally committed to preserving the full complex for the entire
shooting family to allow its continued use as a national and
international venue. USA Shooting (USAS) and the Civilian
Marksmanship Program (CMP) are behind the group 100%. There is much
significant activity already underway with significant progress
already made. Events are unfolding rapidly at this stage.
Everyone is working without any compensation. 100% of membership fees
and donations go toward achieving the goals of the organization. We
have already had several people pledge and donate - though have a
long way to go.
We have been - and are - working hard on this project and welcome
your support in the form of membership, financial contributions, and
volunteer effort. We are "staffing" volunteers for the following
needs (among others), many of which can be done long distance, and
welcome your offers of participation:
Business Plan Development (as part of the team)
CPA (review and advise)
Legal (augment/complement team)
Lobbying
Corporate Sponsorship / Fund Raising / Development
Liaison (with both shooting and non-shooting organizations)
Other � you suggest to us!
Also, you may wish to visit the "Save Wolf Creek" forum:
http://network54.com/Forum/157862
Tony's email is:
mailto:[email protected]
Finally, be sure to use the postal address listed above!
We have a long way to go... having only just begun. We very much
appreciate your support and assistance.
"Feel Center!"
JP O'Connor
Atlanta, Georgia
[Editor - everyone in the US on my list should be contributing in some fashion, whether it be monetary, skills, letter-writing, etc. WE NEED TO SAVE THIS RANGE!]
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I just wanted to respond to the comments by Tom Mulvey about cant and so on.
Tom: I have always felt that it really makes little difference if you cant or not, so long as you do it the same every time. Like you mentioned, consistency is the key. When I shot highpower in the Guard, I always canted the rifle into my cheek, like I do in sb/ar, and everyone always told me that I could not do that and succeed. I must admit that I was not the best shooter at the match, but I was not the worst either. I always finished in the top 1/3 or so. This was partially because I really did not care if I won or not, since I was only shooting hp because I had to. Anyway, canting is okay and don't let anyone tell you different.
On my older model Anschutz, I have the butt plate permanently set at a cant so I don't have to bother with it. Works for me.
Later, Don Williams, Oregon
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Dear Michael
1'st question
I'm starting to start thinking in prepare the 2002 season.
I practice Air Rifle and 50 m prone
My results are in Air Rifle 545
and in 50 m prone 545 / 550 also ( once I get 565 ) ( I practice a LOT less
than air rifle because i don't have a good range nearby )
I don't have too much information or possibility of talking with people that
could help me to make some evolution.
I feel i get stucked.
Could you please help me, sharing information, talking etc. ( be my virtual
personal trainer :-) ) ?
2'nd question
we start a junior team with 9 boys between 12 & 16 years old in air rifle (
break barrel, open sights, portuguese federation targets )
They are starting now, some of them ( the majority ) never has give a shot
before.
What is the basic training for this phase?
Give them the minimal reference in position and let them shot to start
feeling the rifle? Shot a lot? Only shot?
Have you some training planing? Those who I have are for "made" shooters.
With best regards
Miguel Neiva
Portugal
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Anybody got anything they want listed in Stuff for Sale, due out about the
end of this month? Anybody got anything now listed that ought to be
removed? Most of you know the drill....please provide me with your input
within a week or so. Web site list will also be updated as part of this
process.
John Crossman [email protected]
Steilacoom, Washington
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This is a summary of the inaugural Pilkguns Shooting Tour that recently occurred. In the interest of brevity and keeping this on-topic, I�ll expound only on those portions of the tour that would be of interest to the shooting community. The rifle shooters were in the majority for the group and I am one of those so I�ll likely be slanted more to the rifle side of things. I have tried to hit the major details without carrying on endlessly. Since everyone asks, security leaving the US was quite variable from business as usual with hardly any wait at all to having every piece of luggage searched through and lines miles long. The flight back to the US from Amsterdam had an interrogation of a few minutes where they asked some fairly specific questions about stuff we had in luggage and they were doing random searches. That delayed our flight about an hour to process everyone through. All flights except our last connecting flight home was at least 3/4 full.
We landed at Munich at 0920 on 6 OCT and departed straight for the Octoberfest and the Bavarian Shooting Federation �tent�, which was basically a real building and more appropriately named a �beer hall� IMHO with lots of eating, drinking, singing and smoking. I didn�t actually count the number of 10m firing points available but it was in the range of 60-100. The range was not too busy while we were there since it was the last day of shooting (shooting isn�t allowed on Sundays officially). Several members of our group did elect to participate in some of the contests and I believe the entry was 30 DM (~$14). One of our group fired the very last shot of the Octoberfest and was presented a special award. They had several different match formats you could shoot, which I didn�t understand, but the normal 40 shot match for air rifle was led by Debevec, Horneber and Pfeilschifter with perfect scores in the master class. The whole Octoberfest experience was quite thrilling to me, but I think it caught most of by surprise when the entire hall sang along to several American songs as well, including John Denver�s �Country Road�. We left at 1700 for the guest house which was back near the airport. It turned out the hotel, Gastof Nagerl in Marzling, had its own 22-point 10m range though we didn�t shoot on it. As we later learned, it�s quite popular to have ranges within guest houses or restaurants.
7 OCT Got up late and toured a castle and the neighboring Luftwaffe airfield and aviation museum. Then traveled about 120km north to Allersberg where we stayed at Gastehaus Sperling.
8 OCT Left for the RWS plant at 0745. It was about a 30km drive to Furth. The Engineering Manager, Hubertus Dowidat, gave us a tour of the facility, which covers 35 hectares. They have indoor proof ranges of up to 500m to insure their ammo is safe and accurate. They have a separate 50m test range that includes a freeze chamber to 21C for biathlon for their top grades of rimfire. We then saw their shotshell process, which at one time included a shot tower but they purchase the shot they use now. They start with unprimed cases from Fiocchi or other European suppliers and add their own primer. All components are kept in separate locations and fed through the floor to the machines below. The powder room is anti-static and only small quantities are kept in the feeders or transported at a time. Downstairs they have 1 high-speed loader with 10 stations and 8 loaders from Vasini, the only European supplier of shotgun loading equipment. They run lots of 120000 rounds, which is usually 1 day of 3 shifts. It takes nearly a day to setup a machine to run a different load. Next we saw some rimfire manufacture but visitors aren�t allowed to see R50/R100 production (or pellets). They were producing Target Rifle while we were there. The priming compound is a green liquid that is poured into the cases and shaken until it solidifies into a �pill�, which then gets pressed so it squeezes out into the rim. The cases then run through a sorter machine to load them into pallets for the powder/bullet loader. It was too difficult to hear specifics, but the bullets get formed from a long coil of lead wire. They can make 25000 bullets from one wire and this constitutes a lot for R50, but the lower grades have a lot size of 4-5 times that. After being loaded they are lubed by passing pallets through a trough of hot �wax� for about a minute. Then it routes over to the packaging machine where they are placed into the plastic tray and passed over a mirror for a visual inspection before being placed into the carton. We then saw some centerfire cases being made (they manufacture 43 different centerfire cases), from the initial brass strip rolls through several drawing operations and then turning the belts/rims, primer pockets, etc to machines that checked min/max on critical dimensions. They make all the components except for the powder. Some things I found interesting are that they are not so safety conscious as the US as they don�t require safety glasses or hearing protection on the production floor. It was also peculiar to me to see smoking and drinking (beer) on the floor.
Then we left to tour nearby Nurnberg and came back that evening to eat and shoot at the club RWS sponsors. Germany has 12000 clubs and 1.4 million members in the shooting federations. This club had 600 members and most were not RWS employees. It had 10 50m points with carriers and 16 10m points. Michael Moritz was a former national air rifle champion and the current coach for the adults. Unfortunately, it is normally closed Mondays so there were few people and we were not able to borrow equipment so only those who had brought their own could shoot. We also had some trouble getting rimfire ammo from RWS because of some misunderstandings I guess. We all had a great time though.
9 OCT Toured Rothenburg and then went on to Oberndorf, where we shot with one of the oldest clubs in Germany (formed in 1558). Their current building was only 104 years old but it had a great view of the town from its tower. They were not too big of a club but had a nice space saving design, which included points at 10, 25, 50 and 100m with carriers at 10 and 50m. We ate a traditional local dinner and then shot against their members. Of course, we lost (something about shooting after beer and a full meal go figure) but it was great fun. They had an awards ceremony afterwards for the top 3 air rifle and air pistol competitors from our group.
10 OCT Toured Feinwerkbau. Started in 1948 with non-firearm items and began producing air rifles in 1958 and air pistols in 1965. It is still a family owned business that has 165 employees. It was surprising to me how much work is still done by hand even though they do have many CNC machines. They don�t produce too much, something on the order of 60 air rifles and 25 air pistols per day. They didn�t show us smallbore rifle production but did mention they hammer forge the barrels though some of the processes they go through are contracted out. Their airgun barrels are purchased though they wouldn�t reveal the supplier. All barrels are checked for straightness. The wood stocks are contracted, but they mill their aluminum stocks. The air cylinders are machined from a solid piece of aluminum alloy and are tested to 300 bar. We found out later that they are one of just a few who are licensed to make pressure cylinders. Most of us got to shoot some of the air rifles on their test range. That is where they do a final adjustment of the velocity. We left at 1100 for a nearby castle and then drove to Ulm where we visited ahg-Anschutz, which is run by Dieter�s son, Uwe. Even though they are not really a showroom setup, many of us were like kids in a candy store, pouring over the brochures, catalogs, and the displays they did have out. The store really isn�t very big but sure makes you drool if you�re a rifle shooter. A fair amount of money was spent by several people. We then drove on to our hotel and then went to a club in Burlafingen for dinner. It had 200 members and was founded in 1958. It had a newer building built in 1990 so it was really nice with 19 10m (plus a silhoutte), 4 25m airgun points (for what?), 2 25m rapid fire bays, 6 50m and 2 100m. The restaurant there was very nice as well. It was fairly late so we didn�t shoot but came back the following night for a competition.
11 OCT Toured the Anschutz factory. Founded in 1856. Even though their facilities are larger than FWB, they only have 155 employees. They have indoor ranges for 10, 50 and 100m including a freeze box for biathlon. In fact, the Russian national biathlon team was their testing rifles. They manufacturer nearly everything they need, including some of the machines and their own dies for pressed and stamped parts. Oddly, they purchase the air cylinders from outside (tested to 300bar) rather than get the certification to build them. Like FWB they have several hand operations for various things. Barrel steel comes from Belgium. The barrels are air-gauged to .001mm and are straightened by hand. Hunting barrels are choked by lapping while match barrels are choked by the profile. Stainless .22 barrels are very hard to work so they have a pretty high scrap rate. Critical parts are 100% inspected since the government inspects every rifle. An interesting thing I learned was the threads for the sights are rolled onto the bolt rather than machined because it�s more precise. Stocks are made outside and they have found in their experience that cast is stronger than milled because of the heat treating and no machining stress (though I still don�t agree with that). They fire for accuracy as a barreled action first and fix it if possible if it doesn�t meet specs and then put it into the stock and fire again to verify. The test targets you get with the rifle are from the first firing. They do 4 groups from 2 lots of one brand and 4 groups from 2 lots of another, usually Eley and RWS though they have pretty much any match ammo available to test. They do hold back the best rifles for the top shooters who come in. They also chronograph the air rifles in addition to doing groups. They make about 2500 rifles a month with 2 shifts in most areas. I noted I didn�t see any beer on the floor or in the caf� either.
We then went more into downtown Ulm to the Walther factory, which was founded in 1889. They have 130 employees. It was in what looked like a normal office building from the outside. It was 8 stories and fairly compact with a fair amount of product movement taking place between floors. They test their defense pistols to 5 shots at 25m within about 4� and their match rifles with 10 shots at 50m within 16mm (and they normally use R100 for that though they mentioned they get a rare flier). Their smallbore barrels are glued and then pinned. It takes 300C to break the seal. Pistol barrel blanks start at least 2� in diameter and get turned in several operations. Aside from the defense and sport pistol barrels, they purchase the airgun and smallbore rifle barrels from Lothar Walther. Pistols meant for police use must go through 20000 rounds without a significant amount of wear or malfunction while consumer pistols go through half that. They take a sample of 5 pistols every 3 months to determine these standards. We learned the F within the pentagon you see stamped on the airguns is the government stamp to show it is safe to sell to 18 year olds who are not in a club. It means the airgun shoots at less than 175m/s. The airguns must shoot within 1m/s during the test groups and must group within 6.5mm for air rifle and 7.5mm for air pistol for them to approve it. They first test just the barrel, then they test again with the sleeve in placed but not glued, and then they glue the sleeve and put it into a stock to test again. They also purchase their air cylinders from outside though their�s are thicker and are tested to 450bar. They make about 6000 air rifles a year. They sold 50000 P99 handguns in the US consumer market last year.
We then walked around Ulm for a while and then went back to Burlafingen to shoot and have dinner. I shot my first live air pistol match with a borrowed LPM-1 and came in 4th for us with a 332. They presented awards to the top 4 in our group for each discipline so I got a club beer mug. Woohoo! Naturally we lost again, but I don�t think any of us have had such a good time getting beaten that badly! Since I�m a collegiate coach, it was shocking to learn that they really don�t have any collegiate shooting programs here. It all seems to stay in local clubs.
12 OCT drove back to Munich and stopped at Kustermann�s house which doubles as their factory for those who wanted to get fitted for clothing. Then it was off to the Olympic ranges and the hotel right there between the 10m and 50m halls. 100 50m points with about 40 that can go to 300m and 100 10m points. It was built in the days before quotas so they had a larger number of shooters to accommodate. We didn�t get to see the 25m or finals halls because Ralf Horneber was busy with a coaching class. It was disappointing there was more trouble getting ammo and no opportunity to get some coaching ourselves. I found the design and appearance of the ranges more impressive than Atlanta. While they have done a lot of renovations in the past several years, it�s amazing the facility is 24 years older than ours. I didn�t care for the Polytronic electronic targets over the Sius though.
We ate dinner at a club in Freising. We finally left someone behind even though a count was done so he had to take a taxi to the club. This was a newer and smaller club, being formed in 1990 and having about 60 members. It had just 8 10m points in the attic of the local guest house. The president, Helmut Veidt, could be mistaken for an American if it wasn�t for his strong accent. He wears cowboy boots, collects Corvettes and lives in Florida during the winter a lot. We actually won this match! We think they must have rigged the results, but a win is a win so they had to buy the schnapps. We all got medallions commemorating the occasion and Scott Pilkington was presented with a large, traditional commemorative wooden shooting plaque. Everyone also got club stickers and pins. This was a pretty late evening since we didn�t get back until after midnight and had to be on the bus by 0700 the next morning.
13 OCT Visited Neuschwanstein castle and then to the residence of Annette von Weech, our tour organizer, for some snacks and drinks. We then ate at a local restaurant before heading back to Munich to get packed up.
14 OCT On the bus at 0600 for the airport. Finally ran into a major snag as the airline personnel at the counter claimed their airline no longer accepted firearms. After a couple hours, they managed to get things cleared up, but it caused one couple in our group to miss a flight and get home a day later than scheduled.
SUMMARY Awesome. Things went pretty well aside from being unable to purchase ammo there for some reason (Scott was told in advance it wouldn�t be a problem) and the trouble with the airline when leaving. Food was great. People were great. Beer was great. It just doesn't get any better than this. It was a very fast-paced tour though, which did wear on some people. The shooters wanted more time at the factories and clubs and the non-shooters wanted more sightseeing and shopping time. This was an excellent inaugural event though and I was thankful my wife and I were two of the guinea pigs. I plan to go again sometime in the future.
Michael Ray
The Editor
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End of UIT Mailing List #2
Michael Ray - DBA & Systems Engineer
Rose-Hulman Inst. of Tech. Rifle Coach
UIT Shooting Page -
http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/1190/index.htm
