Walther KK500 smallbore rifle (Olympic Target Rifle)

[ChampCarStar]

No real reason for this post other than to show off a .22 rifle that's not very common.

My Walther KK500 smallbore rifle. It served me well in international competition. I retired from International Events after Olympic Trials for Tokyo, but I'm keeping the rifle. I may make a comeback in the future.

Right now I'm building a National Match AR-15 for Service Rifle competition.

[faris1984]

Nice rifle.

[marcopolo_9mm]

cool man!

[MyOdessa]

Very nice rifle.

[ChampCarStar]

Thank you.

Before the Walther KK500, I used an Anchutz 1907 Precise.

Both are great rifles.

[Wheellock]

Thank you.

Before the Walther KK500, I used an Anchutz 1907 Precise.

Both are great rifles.

Wow! Those are awesome. Post some target pics.

[ChampCarStar]

Wow! Those are awesome. Post some target pics.

Here are just a few.

If you are unfamiliar with the rifle shooting event in the Olympic Games, we shoot a 50 meter 3-position match (40 shots kneeling, 40 shots prone, 40 shots standing). The 10 ring of the target is 10.4 millimeters wide.

We use only iron sights. There is no magnification. The rear sight you see mounted on the rifle is just a very precise diopter sight. There is no glass in the sight.

We don't use any support such as a rest or stand to support the rifle when shooting. The kneeling and prone position are shot using a sling. Standing is offhand with no other support equipment other than our shooting jackets and trousers.


In major competition we don't use paper targets anymore. We use electronic targets which use a series of sensors to precisely calculate where the bullet passes through the target. Each shooter has as monitor which shows the the position of the shot and they can make adjustments as needed. The targets are so precise and the shooters are so skilled now that scoring includes decimals. A perfect center shot is 10.9 points. A millimeter from the center is 10.8. and so on.


10 shots on a 50 meter paper target.



NRA conventional 3 position is shot on a slightly different target at 50 yards. This is a perfect 200x20. 20 tens, all Xs


For training I would shoot indoors at a local range on a reduced size 25 yard target. This is 5 shots from the standing position.

[covingtonhouse]

I have a question or three about ammo...... what do you use? Is the rifle chambered for a specific load? And are you weighing cartridges before shooting for consistency?

[ChampCarStar]

I have a question or three about ammo...... what do you use? Is the rifle chambered for a specific load? And are you weighing cartridges before shooting for consistency?

Our rifles are chambered for .22LR match ammunition. The chamber will be a little bit tighter than normal, so non-match ammo may not fit.

We are limited to 3 main manufacturers of ammo: Eley, Lapua, and RWS.

Stuff like CCI, Federal, Remington, is just not accurate or consistent enough for our needs.

We also can't just buy ammo and expect it to work with our rifles. We send our rifles to rimfire testing centers. The testing center for Eley is in Winters, TX and Lapua is in Mesa, AZ.

There the test center will shoot groups using dozens of lots of ammo to see which one groups the best. Whichever shows the best performance is what we will use and it is not uncommon for us to purchase 10k or 15k rounds of .22 at a time.

However, the prices for this specialized ammo can exceed $20.00 per box of 50 rounds, so it is quite expensive.

Below you will see some images of a basic analysis report from Eley showing the performance of a few different lots of Eley Tenex.







There is really no need to weigh individual cartridges. These high end manufacturers have extremely good Quality Control and their processes ensure high levels of consistency in weight, dimensions, velocity, etc.

We do the testing because the different lots of ammo are made on different machines with different dies of varying ages and at different times of the day. So those miniscule differences can affect how a cartridge performs in a rifle.

[RandyD]

Fellow smallbore shooter here. I have an Anschutz 2013 Supermatch rifle. My rifle likes Lapua Midas. I have not shot competition since 2003, when my daughter was born. I have been wanting to get back in to shooting matches. If you want to shoot matches, there is LAR&R in El Monte. I know they shoot 3P and prone.

[ChampCarStar]

Fellow smallbore shooter here. I have an Anschutz 2013 Supermatch rifle. My rifle likes Lapua Midas. I have not shot competition since 2003, when my daughter was born. I have been wanting to get back in to shooting matches. If you want to shoot matches, there is LAR&R in El Monte. I know they shoot 3P and prone.

LAR&R is my home club. I only live about 15 minutes away from the range. I'm also the USA Shooting Club administrator there and help set up and run the Preliminary Try Out matches so juniors can qualify for junior Olympics and USAS Nationals.

We've done some upgrades in recent years. We have SIUS electronic targets from Switzerland. The same targets used at the Olympic Games.

My rifle likes Lapua Center-X currently. Which is great as it's cheaper than Midas and Eley Tenex.

[Wordupmybrotha]

No real reason for this post other than to show off a .22 rifle that's not very common.

My Walther KK500 smallbore rifle. It served me well in international competition. I retired from International Events after Olympic Trials for Tokyo, but I'm keeping the rifle. I may make a comeback in the future.

Right now I'm building a National Match AR-15 for Service Rifle competition.

Was it cold in the shooting facility?
When millimeters count, you must factor in every variable, I'm assuming. How does ambient temperature affect your point of aim?

[ChampCarStar]

Was it cold in the shooting facility?
When millimeters count, you must factor in every variable, I'm assuming. How does ambient temperature affect your point of aim?

The middle photo is from a World Cup Selection match at the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit Range at Fort Benning, GA. It was cold enough that I wore my U.S. Biathlon Team beanie that I got about a month earlier when I was a guest of the U.S. Biathlon Team at the IBU World Cup Biathlon in Soldier Hollow, UT.

You can see my album from the Biathlon World Cup here. Lots of photos and videos from the range. Biathlon also uses rimfire rifles.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/s8dbDS5nLVHTK4hy5

The canvas and leather jackets and trousers we were are standard. We wear those at every event. The help provide stability in every shooting position. The USA Shooting Nationals are held in the summer at Fort Benning. So 100% heat and 100% humidity are common. It's not easy to stay cool in those suits for a 3 hour long 3 position match.

The most skilled shooters do analyze every detail. Many external conditions can affect the rifle and most importantly the athlete shooting the rifle. We do shoot outdoors so wind is a main factor. Even the slightest breeze can affect the trajectory of a small .22 bullet.

Cloud cover and light often affect our sight picture. While we use iron sights only, the rear sight is often fitted with an adjustable aperture. You can open and close the aperture to let more or less light in. It will often also have colour filters to help improve contrast and it will have a polarization filter to cut down on glare in extremely bright conditions.

The affects of temperature are mostly on the shooter. I have shot in 100 degree weather where the heat puts great strain on me. I have shot in freezing conditions where I am actually physically shivering at points during a match.

Even altitude will have an affect. We tend to notice our shots impact higher and the velocity of our rounds increase slightly when we train and compete at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO.

But the most important aspect of any type of shooting, especially this discipline, is the mental game. Much of the reading material we were given by the sport psychologists was about golf. We are trying to shoot the 10 ring of the target with each shot. That process is very similary to trying to sink a put on a green.

[Wordupmybrotha]

^^^Very cool! Thanks for that info