Osage Orange Sharpshooters
News September 2006

Event Schedule
Dalton Range 2006 -Saturday 8AM
Oct. 14, John C. Garand Match

Springfield Bench Rest Club--Billings
Wed Oct 18, 5 PM
Sun Oct 29, 1PM

John C. Garand Match
As most everybody knows, our autumn John C. Garand Match is coming up October 14, Saturday, at 8am. The cost is $30 and includes ammunition and prizes. Pre-registration is highly advised. Print off an entry from our website (referenced above) and send it to me with your check. We've been having some rain lately, and we've been lucky over the years…only or two of our activities have been interrupted by the weather. But just so you know, when you send in your money, we hold it until after the match. That way, if we have to return checks (or even cash) we can hand it back to you or take care of it in some other appropriate way. I'm just thinking ahead. It could rain.

Other Dates
The Joplin Rifle Pistol club has a highpower match on Sunday, October 15 at 9am (8:30 registration), so if you're looking to get 2 days of shooting in, come on along. Registration is the day of the match. It's 88 rounds and a good chance to try out the new AR-15 you're going to win.

The Kansas Service Rifle Championship is Saturday, September 23, with a leg match on the 24th, followed by a 30 round Garand match. That's a lot of shooting! Even if you haven't registered, there is always room on the firing line. And the more people show up, the better is the chance that some of our members will win leg points. A number of us will be bunked into the Super 8 Motel in DeSoto, and if you can get yourself there Friday night, we can take care of everything else. Come on along. Call me. I'd love to take you, and I'll pay for the gas.

Also, don't forget the Missouri Long Range Championship (which is not really long range, since that officially begins at 800 yards, and this match is all 600 yard events). October 7 and 8 is the date, and the Sunday event is a team match. We usually have enough folks to make up at least 3 teams (4 persons per team, everybody fires 40 rounds). I hope some day we can have 20 guys there and have 5 teams; what a hoot that would be.

Raffle
The following two paragraphs appeared in last month's newsletter. They are still appropriate
The AR-15 rifle raffle continues. As you know, this is a raffle for a full-blown, match-ready AR-15 service rifle. It has a brand new Rock River National Match lower with a real sweet trigger, and a White Oak Precision upper with the pinned sights, interchangeable apertures, float tube, and 1:8 twist Shilen barrel. The upper was bought used, with about 400 rounds on it. It looks brand new with nary a scratch.

Steve Kemm informs me that he has sold about half the tickets necessary. He will be happy to send you the stubs if you wish to buy tickets by mail. Just send him $5 per ticket and he'll take care of the rest (it would be a good idea to include a stamped, self-addressed envelope for the return of the ticket stubs):

Steve Kemm
1718 N. Yulan
Springfield, Missouri 65803

Remember, you must be a current member to purchase raffle tickets.
We really would like to have the drawing for the rifle after the John C. Garand Match, but we really need to get within 5-10% of the cost of this rifle before we draw. As you know, our raffles are designed simply to defray the cost of the equipment rather than as a money-maker. In fact, we have lost a bit on the last few raffles. I've bought A BUNCH of tickets, and I already have 3 AR-15s.

AR-15 Parts and Thoughts
A frequent question we hear at OOS meetings is about the feasibility of re-building a stock AR-15 into a competition gun with good sights, float tube, and good trigger. The best advice we can usually give is to sell what you have at a gun show, then go buy a complete new rifle (or at least an upper). Let me explain the reasoning behind this, but then let me contradict myself at the end.

First, if you have a "standard" AR-15, especially a Colt brand, you can usually sell it in the wink of an eye at a gun show. Maybe you paid $700 for it 5 or 10 years ago. You can probably get that for it now. And if it is a Colt, all bets are off. For some reason or other, gun-show folks seem to love Colts, and they command a premium price.

Second, what does it cost to rebuild one into a competition gun? You will need to think about a barrel ($200). Some barrels with a 1:9 twist can be made to shoot at 600 yards, but you will be happier with a 1:8 or faster twist barrel. And, to the cost of the barrel you may as well add a front sight that is windage-adjustable, just because it will make the gunsmithing easier ($45). Then you MUST have a float tube ($150), and that will probably require a new gas tube ($10). At this point you may still have sights on your rifle that are only one-minute adjustable. They may work fine for a while, but half-minute adjustments are much better, believe me. I would recommend sending it to White Oak Precision to have the sights reworked ($75). All of the prices don't include shipping. So you'll invest the better part of $500 upgrading your current upper. And then you have to bring it over to my house and have me help you assemble it. And even though I guarantee every bit of work I do, you'd be much happier with a real gunsmith giving you a real guarantee. A new upper from White Oak Armament sells for $700. A new White Oak trigger sells for $115 if you want to upgrade your lower. The best way to get a competition AR-15 is to buy a good one. Get one from White Oak.

Now for the contradiction I promised. Let's say that you believe what I wrote, but you'd rather have a little fun and do it yourself, save money, whatever. I have 2 barrels that I'm looking to sell, and one of them might help to get you started. Both are 1:8 twist Shilen barrels from White Oak. They are very heavy contour and very accurate. I put 5,000 rounds on both barrels. Last Wednesday I shot a 483 at Billings using one of the barrels, and at our Sept. 2 match I shot a 490 with it. If you want to buy one to assemble a competition rifle, I'll sell you one for $75. I can guarantee that each one will shoot at least 490.

Powder, Ammunition, etc.
We have a bunch of "new" ammunition for sale acquired from Leroy Kelley, the owner of the Miller range. Besides a bunch of surplus .223 ammunition (selling for 10 or 15 cents a round, depending on brand), we now have about 1500 rounds of the Talon .30-06, which is basically the same as GI. It's been de-milled, re-primed, and reloaded to comply with our inane laws. But it was GI ammo that has been re-processed without ever being shot. It will go for the same price as the other .30-06, which is 25 cents per round.

Then, I acquired a whole bunch of .45 ACP ammo, all of it new, and all of it jacketed. We have American, UMC, and Sellier and Bellot brand. All of it will sell for $6 per box of 50, which is about half the going retail price. If you shoot .45, we have your ammo. Leroy still has thousands of rounds of .45 ACP with lead bullets if you're interested.
Sometime soon I will try to put together an order for surplus 4895 powder. I had some trouble finding a supplier, but Swampy alerted me to the fact that Wideners has a bunch of it. After shipping and hazmat charges it will be close to $95 a jug (8 lb). If you are interested, let me know, and I will get some money from you. I realize that this about the 3rd time I've tried (failing to follow through the first two times because of supplier shortages), and also this is no longer a real bargain. Let me know if you want any. I won't order until I get a commitment for all 6 jugs.

Questions or comments????
Contact Bill Corcoran
(417) 862-8618
E-mail <WilliamCorcoran@MissouriState.edu>