The clinic was great! It was better than my expectations. I was able to shoot at distances of 400 yards, 550 yards, 660 yards, 800 yards and a 1,000 yards with my XP, Don's XP (The Pig/Pink Panther/Mirage-names change when he puts a different paint job on it), and Marc's Contender in 22 Bower (or Super) I get the cartridge names confused sometimes. Oh, and Don's 429--it has some recoil, yet is very manageable, not mention accurate @ 200 yards.
The combination of class room and hands on shooting makes for a very educational, practical, and of course great time. I hate to say this but I think I had more fun there than I do some years hunting elk in Colorado.
I don't think you really want to know about all the shots made this past week at extreme ranges. You may not believe it all unless you were there. Even some who were there could hardly believe what they were seeing others do, not to mention accomplishing themselves. Many have doubted Bowers and others stories in the past, but there were many this week who saw amazing things accomplished with specialty handguns. But if you really want to hear tall tales (the truth) I'm sure you can pull it out of us. There were 10 students in the Seminar (lots of hands on instruction).
xphunter

Xphunter,

Sounds like a hell of a good time, must say that I'm a bit envious of your experience. As with you, I often find that I get alot of enjoyment out of doing alot of long range shooting.

The saticfaction of punching a target at extreme range is truely great, sometimes, as you say, as good as hunting.

Hows your 7.82 problems working out, been gone a while, I assume they are fixed.

Good Shooting!!!

50

50,
This is a seminar you will defintely want to attend in the future.
The base problem has now been solved on the Patriot. I am going to fiddle with my bullet seating depth on it maybe even getting into the leade. As you have found out about Lazz brass so has the 1,000 yard bench community. It is made to handle high pressure, but it is so inconsistent that no one will use it for a 1,000 yard bench gun. This was a part of an interesting conversation I had with Greg Tannel (Gre-Tan Rifles gtrtooling.com). I went by his house on my way home from the seminar. He did some trigger work on my 284 XP-100 (outstanding!).
I may end up sorting brass on the Patriot to find better consistency. Since this was made for elk only, the amount of brass I use in the field will be cheap in comparison to the cost of the tag, travel, etc. I have had 3 shot groups from .4 to .7 (good loads). I will start with those loads and back them down a touch then start seating my bullet further out. Load development will also be done with the Swift Scirocco.
My 284 XP-100 was a shining star at the seminar. It has never let me down and it certainly proved itself this week. I shot a 3-shot group of 1.5 inches at 550 yards. Centered a piece of angle iron and split a bullet at 660 yards. And I had a 5-shot 12 inch group at 1,000 yards. Even Don Bower wanted to shot my XP-100. With one shot he centered the ram @ 500 meters. I am defintely going to find a way to get to ranges that have 500-1,000 yard targets.
xphunter