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My initial enthusiasm for the hunter style matches began to wane, as is common among the fickle. I'd put a rifle together that would do the deed. It shot well. But it was nearing the edge of the weight limit and it was taking the starch outta me. Remembering that I had seen three versions of LRI's Murder Hornet fluting at the 2026 NRL Hunter Grand Slam Finale, I opened their website for a closer look. It's almost like taking a new car for a test drive. I bought into it. I sent it in. I paid the …

This poor action has to feel used and abused. After all - it's mine. It wasn't the first custom action I'd ever owned, but it was the first one that got much use. I traded a Manner's stocked long action Defiance with a 6.5-284 Bartlein for this Butch's white labeled Stiller, to retire a Remington 700 when I got serious about shooting PRS. Barrels came and went, and bullets disappeared in the general direction of all the AR500 steel I could lay eyes on. For the last few years a #3 Bartlein in 6mm …

It wasn't the spectacular scenery. It wasn't the second to none well organized match. It wasn't even the warm welcome that has me looking forward to competing in a hunter match. It was the realization that even I could learn to pitch like that. Having never been to a hunter match, I was no different than any other guy walking the planet with preconceived notions about "what is". And being of the slow sort, it took until that Sunday to lock in the idea that maybe, just maybe, I could play the gam …

I'm one of the holdovers from a slower time. My reloading is pretty basic, tedious, but pretty accurate. This combination of parts is going to become 6.5 Creedmoor ammo to be flung outta a 30" Brux barrel: Lapua SRP brass - new Sierra 142 Match Kings Hodgdon H4350 As you can see from the picture, I'm using an arbor die - Micron Precision - from Bullet Central. There was a time I would roll a round across the table to see if the tip wiggled, kind of a poor man's concentricity test. That doesn't …

Match Director Extraordinaire Darrick Davidson did it again. At the Rush Lake range he put on a match that went as seamlessly as any match can go. He was as everywhere as anyone can be. Starting on time and ending in good time, a good time was had by all. Stage one had the shortest and longest ranges, at 300 yards and 900. I can do that, but the Diamond at 498 - I HATE DIAMONDS! But that's a personal problem as you well know. There were more 12 round stages in this match …