David Bradshaw Photos Vol. XCI Safari Silhouette Pt. 1

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Lee Martin

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Dec 18, 2002
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Arlington, Virginia
Steel poised for SAFARI SILHOUETTE SHOOT at Fusilier Complex in Arnaudville, Louisiana. Two banks of targets at 50, 100, and 200 yards. White targets provide better visibility----at this range----under changing light throughout the day. White also appears larger than black, which may aid sighting; or, inspire a miss through overconfidence.



From left: Philip Braud, Charlie Braud, Steve Bernard, and Neal "Foot" McDonald gather to shoot steel.



Philip Braud with custom Remington XP-100 chambered in .300x.221 Fireball. Philip's load: Sierra .308 180 grain Spitzer flat base over 13.5/Win 296 in reformed .223 brass, kicked by CCI 400 Small Rifle Primer. Velocity 1625 fps.



XP-100 of Philip Braud: Lilja stainless 1:8-inch twist barrel, chambered for .300x.221 Remington Fireball. The .300x.221 predates the .300 Whisper of JD Jones, which, in turn, predates the .300 Blackout. Handgun scope is Leupold 2.5-8x33mm with target turrets. According to Philip Braud, the Leopold 2.5-8x ranks as the preferred glass for optics shooting in handgun silhouette, to include the corps of sharpshooters who ply the 500 meter rifle game with their handguns.

Fiberthane stock with aluminum bedding block by H-S Precision. Bradshaw touted the H-S center-grip stock with aluminum bedding block as the ticket for drop-in accuracy and light weight, winning some fierce sudden-death shootoffs with his (XP 7mm IHMSA). Despite evidence from the firing line, some rifle builders dismissed Bradshaw's reports as bull roar. Fact is, harmonics favor the short barrel. Barrels for the Unlimited pistol are limited to 15-inches.



Charlie Braud with Dan Wesson Arms Model 15-2 VH8 (Vent Heavy 8-inch) .357 Magnum. Charlie Braud meticulously casts bullets for all his silhouette handguns. This M15 wears DWA .100" front blade and rear sight made by Bo Clerke (probably with notch width of .080" or thereabouts).



Dan Wesson M15 is a sideplate revolver, with access to lockwork on the left side (same as Colt Python, with clockwise rotation). Note Charleie Braud's handloads, with cast RCBS 210 grain rifle bullets, powdered by Win 296. To seat and crimp in crimp groove, bullet would exceed cylinder length. Thus, Charlie DEEP SEATS to crimp on ogive. CCI 550 mag small pistol primer lights fuel.



DWA M15 standing breech showing detent ball which locates cylinder ratchet. Note thumb latch on yoke (crane).



Muzzle end of DWA M15 Vent Heavy barrel shroud. Front sight is secured by a screw, since copied by other makers and smiths. Muzzle nut screws onto barrel, acting the stretch, or tension, barrel. Superb accuracy of Dan Wesson revolvers gave rise to theory that the tensioned barrel quells vibration. Fact is, DWA's tend to fine tolerances in the accuracy department——firm groove diameter with uniform bore, firm chamber exits, close chamber-to-bore alignment, and a very short forcing cone. No amount of tension saves a bad barrel.



Neal McDonald sights in Claude the Bull Rider's Merrill tip-open single shot chambered for the .30 Merrill, basically an improved .30-30.



Manufacture of Rex Merrill's single shot was taken over by a crusty, hard corps sharpshooter name of Jim Rock.Production resumed under RPM——Rock Pistol Manufacturing. Senior citizen be damned, Jim Rock shot offhand with the best. The striker-fired Merrill pistol lends itself to an exceedingly clean, light break. Against that, the lockwork is touchy. A thumb safety must be depressed before the trigger is squeezed, a most counter-intuitive maneuver. The grip is high, close to bore axis, encouraging a well-muscled cartridge to thump straight into your hand.



Neal "Foot" McDonald touches off the RPM in .30 Merrill from standing, or what Foot calls "freehand

 

David Bradshaw

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Sep 11, 2012
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933
Abiding thanks to Lee Martins for posting what will be a 3 or 4 part series on the SAFARI SILHOUETTE SHOOT held (28 May 2016) at Fusilier Complex range in Arnaudville, Louisiana. This was a shoot----not a sanctioned or otherwise trophied match. Our intent, to draw in a few handgunners to try on targets at 50 yards, 100, and 200 yards. Hard corps steel shooting was ably represented by Philip and Charlie Braud, while several shooters had never fired a handgun beyond 50 yards. The shoot went smooth as cream.
David Bradshaw
 

contender

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Sep 18, 2002
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Lake Lure NC USA
I was wondering how the shoot went. Too bad it was a bit far for me to travel to,,, or I'd tried to slip away & attend. Looks like a fun time was had by those shown! Looking forward to the other postings!
 

coach

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Aug 28, 2007
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Jacksonville, Maryland
Never saw a Merril pistol or a thumb safety before. That looks like quite a cartridge. Reminds me of the Colt Woodsman. Nice pictures and great looking range. Now to check out the second installment.
 

Don Lovel

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Joined
Nov 10, 2003
Messages
2,519
Location
Red Dirt Oklahoma, Go Cowboys
I got beat in a shootoff at a Sand Springs Oklahoma IHMSA event by a cute little gal shooting a .30 Merrill. Man they really have a loud report, standing on the line next to her I had to wait until after she shot or it made me flinch really bad
 

David Bradshaw

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Sep 11, 2012
Messages
933
Tyrone.... wish you could've made it. You might have shot a separate Ruger at each distance. Or, tried a different gun for each of the six banks (each bank of silhouettes is shot twice). Or, re-entered to go through again.

coach.... Merrills are indeed accurate, with very fast lock time. Against that, it is counter-intuitive to Flex-Reflex to apply down pressure with the thumb when squeezing the trigger in precision shooting.

Don Lovel.... shootoff, eh? Sounds like you were in Standing. Hard to keep your legs from turning to jelly when a concussion grenade goes off beside you. Roughly the effect of a .30-30 load of powder, especially with ball powders such as BL-C2, H335, and Accurate 2520 from a 10-inch barrel.

Don 44.... thank you!
David Bradshaw
 

contender

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Sep 18, 2002
Messages
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Lake Lure NC USA
Yeah, I could have brought enough different Rugers & a few T/C's to play with at each bank of targets etc. to where I would have wore out my shooting arms. But I know I would have had FUN!!!!!!!!
And, most likely I would have missed a lot,, as I'd be full of good Cajun food, & rolling around on a full belly isn't good for accurate shooting. :D
 
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