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Posted: 9/22/2014 11:43:25 PM EDT
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Howdy guys!
I know a lot of my customers post here so I figured it would be a good way to share some awesome news. Pat Bieck, one of our brothers (Ferret50 owner/shooter) set a new World Record at a FCSA (1000yd) match in Alliance, NE. The class was Unlimited Gun and the group measured 2.045" with a score of 50x2. This group is the second smallest on record and only .075" away from the absolute smallest for all classes. Congratulations to Pat, who I know has worked very hard for several years perfecting his technique to achieve this accomplishment. I cant express how excited I am that we have crossed this milestone, the culmination of many years of hard work and taking the higher, less traveled path. It wouldn't have been possible without the support of my awesome customers thoughout the years. Thank you very much! Dave 
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Dave,
Congrats to you for building an awesome upper!!! Can you give any details out about the upper and the rest of the rifle? Congrats to the shooter for doing his part and shooting one of the best groups for a 50 second only to Lee. I know if it was me I would feel about 12" taller than the next shooter. |
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Thanks guys!
To be honest, the shooter is the most important element when talking groups like this. Yes, the gun must support that level of shooting, as does the scope, rests, ammo and it helps a lot to have near perfect conditions. Anyone who has shot Alliance knows that perfect conditions rarely exist there. Well, the match had been delayed 3 hours due to rain but when it cleared it was dead calm and Pat was ready to take advantage of the opportunity to show us what he could do. I admire all shooters who go to match after match, shooting group after group, working their system and holding themselves to a high level of performance. Its partly a numbers game and you have to be on for that rare opportunity and that will only come when you are out there doing it on a regular basis. Im waiting on pictures from Pat and will be talking to him later this week to get the whole scoop. Im thinking this is worthy of an article or two and may just have to write one of them. For now though I can share what is public information and still maintain respect of privacy for what this competitor is doing. The rifle is one of our Supercomps, so its our upper on our steel lower. Im not sure if he was using our monopod or has it in a rear rest. The front for sure is in a rest and he built an attachment, similar to our front support, to ride the bag. I know that a couple years ago he rebarrled the rifle and the big improvement there is the chamber. At the time we didn't have a good borerider chamber (now we do) and this is necessary to get the most out of the awesome bullets that are available. He was also using an Armalite brake. I will also try to get more info on his ammo and loading. Dave |
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Those of us that were there at Alliance were highly excited for Patrick. I was working the Pits during that relay and on the opposite end scoring another shooters target. My shooter was keeping me busy with his 35"+ group, but the hubdub in the pits was what was happening on target 3. After seeing the group, I called the line for a dial caliper to measure the group. I believe I heard a roar of excitement of all shooters on the Line after that announcement. Patrick and others showed up in a car with caliper. Due to threat of rain, I had target removed from frame and replaced with a new target. The Record target was set such that if rain occurred it could be placed inside easily. After the initial measurement was completed, I pushed Patrick and Randy, our Alliance Match Directors, to hurry up to complete before it rained. We did complete about 1 hour before heavy rains occurred that would have destroyed the Targets.
I gave the 8GB SDHD chip from my camera to Patrick so he could write up his version of the Match Report, which is his FCSA Match Directors responsibility. Randy is a contributing writer to this document which will be published in our FCSA VHP magazine. By the way, I won the Unlimited Class for both Score and Aggregate Group. I was using an AR-50 action which I rebarreled to a 34" Feddersen barrel and uses an A-max Match Chamber (???) and 808 grain brass Lehigh bore-riders with 244 grains of 20N29. Note to all about Patrick, he is a very nice guy who has EARNED all the honors he receives for this accomplishment. In another Class he was shooting, one of his turret knobs fell off his scope. He finished that Class of competition by holding the internals of the scope in place using his off-hand index finger. He still did well. Dave, if possible, quit using the State Arms muzzle brake and use the Armalite muzzle brake instead. Availability will be an issue, I have tested both on my State Arms rifle and the Armalite brake is best by a wide margin. (Patrick was shooting a highly specialized bullet - he will need to divulge the secrets of that design and material.) |
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In June 2010, I shot a 5-shot group that measured 4.938" center-to-center at Alliance in conditions similar to Patrick's.
That Match was rained out and declared a FUN Match. Several years later, Patrick shot a 4.750" group for which I congratulated him and said thanks for raising the bar. I have worked to shoot better groups with outstanding 4-shot groups only to have my 4th shot go elsewhere and 5th back where it belongs. While struggling with my groups, I see Patrick and his Dad, Frank who started shooting at age 75, continue to improve with their ability and placings. They as a team usually place very high in all the scores. Patrick deserves all the HONORS he receives. NOW I need the get back to work on developing a new more consistent loading for my rifle. Patrick has raised the bar again. |
| Its cool and all. Shows how far the industry has come and is going. But its kinda hard to get excited when its a gun that weighs what 50lbs? 3 foot wide bipods and who know what kind of rear rest. I watched some bullseye thing on tv with 50's and the dam guns weighted so much they had little kids out there shooting them and the dam gun didnt hardly move. It really takes the fun out of it when its more like a robot your messing with rather than a gun. Still cool to see what the perfect conditions and gun can do. |
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Sure it takes a really good gun, but this is just one part of the whole. There is the ammo, weather conditions. And a shooter that knows when to add some English to the hold. Hell I shot some .22LR comp some years back. One piece rest, adjustments for wind-age and elevation. Tickle the trigger and let it slide back an inch or two in recoil. Slide it back to the front stop after manually reloading. But the difference was who could read the breeze or wind. That little pill would blow all over the place at 50 yrds with a half inch bulls-eye. So, I know there is more to it than a gun that weighs 50 lbs and hardly moves in recoil. And we aren't talking about a target that is a stone throw away.
So my friend, you sound like sour grapes. Why so? |
| Not sure what you were watching, but Patrick's Ferret50 does not weigh 50 pounds, does not use a 3 foot wide bipod, and the Armalite muzzle brake severely reduces felt recoil. My daughter when 12 was shooting my stock AR-50. Patrick's gun or mine are not rail-guns, we shoot the same guns in Heavy Class. |
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Patrick has worked very hard to become a great shooter.
Regardless of the rests, or the gun, the shooter has to be able to read the winds and the conditions to shoot well. Congratulations to Dave at Spider Arms for building a great rifle. Patrick was shooting a Cutting Edge 802 solid copper bullet. Cutting Edge is a great company to work with and makes solids for all calibers. |
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