Don Bower marks the group details on a ruler and gave it to me.
This is Don Bower demonstrating his long distance shooting for the gun writers of American Rifleman Magazine-1995. This is one of the actual photos taken for the article given to me by Don. Also, I still have the original article.
Don Bower made this load sheet to document a 3 shot group.
Above is the Bower 6.5mm SS Ruger #1 and I can remember the excitement after testing it for the first time at 200 yards with my loads. I don't think I'll ever get a group like this again with any gun. 3 shots, less than a quarter inch at 200 yards. The red and black writing are Don Bower's notes written on the back of the photo below.
7mm Super Bower, the pistol pictured way up above resting on the sandbag. This is my first Bower gun and I've shot many excellent groups with it..
This is the gun in Don's basement loading room. He had a shooting pipe so he could test rounds in the shop. This gun has a very interesting story and Bill Ruger is a small part of it.
I've bungee jumped and skydived. This looks like a blast !!!
The above photo of the 50 BMG guy was taken a long time ago, prior to the 50 BMG Craze. The 50 BMG is stupid large as far as I'm concerned. If I had the place to shoot ultra long distance I would load and shoot 338-416 Rigby improved or 338 Lapua. Even the Barret 416, which is based on a short, necked down 50 BMG case is too much for my interests.
WTF ? The above groups marked 1st and 2nd were shot on the same day with the same gun, load and conditions. Now I'm thinking that some loads got mixed up. The excellent .570 group, pictured way above was also shot on the same day with the same gun and load. I need to get in contact with David Caruso, forensic ballistics expert, CSI Miami. We need to figure this out.
The above groups were shot with the 6.5mm CV Super Bower Contender pistol or the Bower 30 Alaskan Contender pistol. This will give you a pretty good idea of what's going on at 300 yards. Some days are better and some are worse. I counted the WTF flier because this stuff happens.. 825+.937+1.250+1.437+1.562+1.730+1.875+2.500= 12.116 divided by 8 = 1.514" average at 300 yards. 1.514 divided by 3 = .5046 at 100 yards. 5046 times 5 = 2.523 at 500 yards. I have definitely shot better than 2.523 at 500 yards. My best is 1.375" x .75" at 500 meters, 3 shots from a Contender pistol with a 14" barrel. I don't expect people to believe this stuff until they see it or do it themselves. Don Bower claimed consistent 2/5 M.O.A. accuracy at 500 yards. That's 2 inches at 500 yards and this has been done for years using Don's methods.
Check out the nerds of benchrest shooting- www.youtube.com
Check out the 3 minute video about the 6mm PPC rail guns. This is extreme precision shooting using high tech custom equipment. These guys remind me of rain man and this type of shooting takes it farther than I'm interested in. Also, I don't see much joking around. Meet the serious crowd. competition shooting for these guns is at 200 yards. Experts can do five shot groups making basically an
enlarged hole on the target. There is a 6mm PPC unlimited class and this is where you will find the Rail guns. The rail gun guys have lots of time and
patience. Basically, they're the nerds of benchrest shooting.
