HBR newbie

[boltman13]

I got my start in BR shooting HBR with a tight neck 308 in a McMillen HBR Stock, and a Lilja 1:14 twist . Berger had a flat base 135 that shot great but they discontinued it. The Berger 125 FB didn't do as well in my rifle. I used Sierra 150 MK's for some matches with average results then on a whim I tried a box of Speer 135 gr TNT's that almost equaled the Berger 135's. I then scored some custom 135's from a fellow shooter and they were the best I ever shot. I was planning to re-barrel with a 6.5X47 necked up to 30 cal. but instead switched to Varmint for Score and a 6BR. I only shoot club matches now but when this barrel is replaced it may be with a 30BR. When I started in HBR the 10# weight limit, 30-30 case capacity, 2.5" wide forend, and 6X scope all were required and I struggled at 200 yards with mirage in the summer. In VFS I can use a much higher powered scope

 

[spaulding21]

A History of Benchrest Shooting

Here is Bob Pease's article that started my interest in this Hunter Class BR.

 

[AlNyhus]

A History of Benchrest Shooting

Here is Bob Pease's article that started my interest in this Hunter Class BR.

Spencer, thanks for the link to that.

Here's a link to some more articles from the late Stan Ware's 'Benchtalk' forum.

Benchtalk

 

[alf]

When I built my 1st (only) HBR rifle, the 308 was still king, so that's what I had it chambered in. Dan Dowling had built a couple 3 rifles for me in the past, but he didn't have a suitable reamer for a HBR barrel, so he recommended Don Mulhall, as he had a good 308 reamer. This was about the time the 168's were losing favor. Must have been around the same time that Guy started making bullets also, as I shot his 135's in that barrel with N-201. I always like to say I bet I was the only guy in the nation shooting that Norma powder, ha ha.

I managed to pick up a Weaver T-6 from a guy in Mn whose name escapes me...Mike? I sent that scope off to get cleaned up, while Don had Skip Otto flute the shit out of it to make weight with that T-6 anchor. I still remember Don telling me Skip wanted 50 bucks to flute, so I sent off the money. Afterwards Skip was whining because I never gave him anything for shipping! Nobody mentioned that. Fun times....

When that barrel gave up the ghost, I ordered my own reamer & made the switch to the 30x47, still shot Guy's 135's, & again fueled by the N-201. There was no Lapua 47 brass yet, and beings I refused to use the 300 Savage brass, I spent a week making 20 cases at a time from full length 308 Lapua. More fun times!!!

When Leupold came out with the 6X, I bought one from Premier, I think because it was only offered in a duplex? Anyway, I was waffling between the 3/8 & 1/2 dot, worried the 3/8 would be too small, & the 1/2 too big. I was told the 3/8 was actually closer to 7/16, so that's what I ordered. Worked out perfectly.

After 20 or so years, I finally decided to concentrate more on 1K BR so I ended up selling the whole shebang.