My Sniper teamate got a new Rifle

[JConley]

This is great!! My Sniper teamate and I now have matching Whitefeather M-25 tactical rifles with matching Nightforce NXS 8-32X 56mm scopes. We took them out yesterday and trained for an upcoming competition. According to Springfield, only 200 of these rifles have been made. We were able to shoot out to 525 yards on this range, and we were able to maintain a 5 inch group at this distance. (the wind was hard to calculate) I am going to get some 1000 yard practise in the next few weeks.



In case you are curious, when we calculate how much to adjust the scopes, we are using a ballistic calculator on a Palm Pilot that takes into account air temp, humidity, barometric pressure, bullet airodynamics, wind, and altitude of when the Rifle was sighted in, and the current field conditions. We have a handheld weather station that measures all of this information, and it is about the size of a cell phone. I discovered that when I type in the exact weather info, the ballistic calculator is accurate to within 1 click of the scope (1/4 MOA)



Some people like Golf for a hobby, and in a way we do too. Golf balls make great 100 yard targets



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[HillCountrykid]

Are those . 308's? Nice looking rifles. A little more fancy than my Model 70. I'm hoping Santa brings me a M1A or Garand some year. Or maybe a 50 BMG. That's for what the . 378 Weatherby can't take care of.



Oh yeah, GO HORNS!!!



Brian

 

[WDaniels]

yes they are . 308. Carlos Hathcock(The Whitefeather) shot a pre 64 model 70 bolt action 30-06 with national match 168 grain spicer boat tails. He lamented loseing that rifel when he changed to the remington model 700. You don't need fancy, you need reliable.

WD

 

[Todd G]

Man, those are bad-a$$ guns. I saw the American Shooter episode when they talked about that rifle. I went to the website and about passed out at the price. You guys have some serious hobbies

 

[JConley]

Our wife's passed out also. As long as we win the comps, we should be OK with the spouses.



We needed semi autos since some of the events are speed drills. We won the last sniper comp since we we able to shoot fast and accurate. We were able to shoot one event in less than half the time of the bolt guns, and we were just as accurate as they were. While they are working the action, we are taking the time to get a better sight picture.



We are going to compete against a team that has a H&K PSG1 ($15,000 Semi Auto sniper rifle his teamate has the next version down, and it costs around $8000) the end of October. That gun is limited to a fixed power 6X scope. I wonder if he is going to see the target at 1000 yards with a weak scope like that. I am looking forward to shooting against these guys!!!

 

[EMDDIESEL]

We had 4 Whitfeathers in stock. Have 2 left. Nice rifle, but the fit and finish on the stock to reciever mounting was not the greatest (We actually sent one back to be cleaned up) and i CONSTANTLY get asked "Why do they call it a Carlos Hathcock Whitefeather rifle when he NEVER used an M1-A/M14". There was also a recall on them we recieved notice from Springfield about. If you have not recieved anything from them, call them.

The ultimate test was one of our customers who owns a Whitefeather met us at the range (300yd) and while the M-25 is accurate, 2 other people shooting the M1-A/M21 shot better then then the M-25. Still a very nice rifle though.

 

[JConley]

I just got the recall fixed last week. I have no idea why his name is on it either. For what I paid, it should have my name engraved on the thing.



Tell your customer this rifle is VERY picky on the ammo. I get 2 to 3 inch groups with one factory load, then get sub MOA with another load. It took me months to get this thing dialed in. My teamate got his rifle because the previous owner couldnt get the accuracy he wanted. He was trying to use light rounds, and this rifle hates them. If you arent using the right ammo in this rifle, you may as well buy the M1A standard model because you will have the same accuracy. I bet if he had the right ammo, things might have been different. Springfield says the rifle will shoot 1/2 MOA, and it will IF you use the correct ammo! Tell him to try a box of Gold Medal Match, and see what happens.



Here is a 306 yard shot at a dead hard drive that I shot on Sat.



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[KPhillips]

Do you guys ever have those competitions locally. I would love to come out and watch you guys shoot some time.



kerryp

bastrop, tx

 

[Shovelhead]

So if you didn't remove the sticker, is the hard drive still in warranty?



Nice shot.

:--)

 

[Bill Lins]

Yessir, Mr. Conley- I'm with the Society for the Protection of Dead Hard Drives and we take issue with your shooting that poor, defenseless hard drive. We are looking into the feasibility of legal action in the District Court of Travis County to force you to stop torturing these helpless devices. Of course, a healthy donation to our organization could make all this go away. Please contact me, Will Grabbit, Esq. c/o the law offices of Sue, Grabbit, & Runne.

 

[The patriot]

Great rifles!! When I bought my first M1A, my brother and I were picking off clay birds we set up on the 300 yard berm, offhand.

We were doing pretty good too.

I went home, and ordered a few parts, one was the TiN coated gas piston.

What a mistake! The POI was way off, and it wouldnt group worth a dam.

Old parts went back in, OK now.

Even whn you clean the gas system, the POI, and group size changes, so I do it every 1000 rounds, and check my zero when done. No suprises that way.



How do you like the Nightforce scope? I've heard good things about them.



Eric

 

[JConley]

Patriot... Funny you mention the gas system becase I just did a very detailed cleaning of the gas system, and my groups were horrible yesterday. I started out over 2 minutes off on elevation. By the time I had about 50 rounds through it, I was within a click or two of my origional settings. I am going to remember this. .



The Nightforce Scopes are incredible! Here is an good article that talkes about them. Nightforce Article





Hey Bill. You will have to find me if you want to protect any more drives. I have a couple hundred more of his cousins that are scheduled for an attitude adjustment. Tracer ammo and Armor piercing ammo does a wonderful job.



Kphillips. The only comp open to the general public is near Fort Worth the weekend of Oct 25 (the same weekend as the Texas Rally ) Unless you are shooting, I think they are boring to watch

 

[The patriot]

Did you torque the gas system plug? I think it's 35 Ft/Lbs. ??

Most guys just make a file mark in an inconspicous place where the plug meets the gas cylinder, this way you can get it real close w/o lugging around a torque wrench with you in your repair kit.

Sorry to bore you if you already know this.

Eric

 

[hank]

Fancy rifles don't mean squat! Real marksmen shoot NRA Highpower competion with service rifles (DCM legal for leg match). As that old gunny once said "marksmanship starts at 600 yards". Been there, done that.

Americal Division Sniper School

Class of June, 1971

Chu Lai, Republic of South Viet Nam

 

[The patriot]

Hank, do you shoot at Camp Perry?

I didnt make it this year.

Eric



PS JConley, put that gas system together dry. If you put anything on it (gun oil, etc. ) it only cruds up faster.

Again, if you already know this, sorry to bore you.

 

[hank]

Patriot:



Nope, didn't make Perry this year. I usually shoot local matches (Roswell and Capitan) with an occasional State Championship up at Whittington Center near Raton. Fact is we got a Roswell march this Saturday at 0730. The competition is usually pretty keen what with the Air Force team coming down from Clovis. Those guys get all the practice ammo they want! Most are either Master or High Master shooters. We also get lots of wind out here in the high desert, keeps things interesting.



BTW WDaniels, it's "spitzer" not "spicer", that's OK I knew what you meant.



Running the gas piston dry is not recommended, running a few drops, (3 or 4) of Hoppe's #9 in the gas cylinder will keep things happy on the M1A. To check that your piston is free (helps with accuracy) lock the bolt back with the muzzle straight up, now point the muzzle down and listen for the click as the piston slides forward, if you hear it, your in business.

 

[JConley]

Next year I want to go to Perry!!! I am going to the Wilson matches in 3 weeks on the Texas Guard Pistol team. That should be fun.