TripleJ Precision

Team – Well...I broke one of my own rules. Did it pay off?

To say I was nervous heading into Day 2 of the 2026 WA Fly State Titles would be an understatement.

For starters, my rimfire system hasn't exactly been behaving itself lately.

After an average day in the centrefire events, I knew I had a mountain to climb if I wanted to drag myself back into contention for the overall Three Gun standings. Hence no photos.

Then came the big decision...do I stick with the batch of ammunition I've tested multiple times? or do I trust the batch that absolutely smoked during practice the afternoon before?

If you read my last post, you'll know exactly what advice I give, never take a batch into a major competition after only testing it once. Yet that's exactly what I did.

Well... almost.

I wasn't reckless enough to put all my eggs in one basket. I had tested it once but I packed the other batch of ELEY Limited Match that had also performed reasonably well, just in case the miracle batch from the day before turned back into a pumpkin overnight.

The warm-up target was going to make the decision for me and to my surprise, it didn't just shoot well, it absolutely smoked. In fact, I honestly think it shot even better than it had the afternoon before and really made the Vudoo Gun Works system sing.

I genuinely can't thank Keiton Puzey enough for saying, "I've got a batch sitting in the back of my safe... give this a go." Without that conversation, the day may have looked very different.

The match finished like this:
🎯 57.01�🎯 57.01 (Screamer Target)�🎯 50.01�🎯 55.02�🎯 56.02
Total: 275 with 7 Flies.

On most weekends, that score would be enough to win, but not this weekend.

Stuart Pethybridge put on an absolute masterclass, shooting a new State and Range Record with a 279 and 5 flies.

Keiton backed it up finishing second with a 277 and 5 flies, including a new National and State Record for the smallest group.

I actually had the best seat in the house because I was spotting for both Stuart and Keiton throughout the match. Watching those two put on that performance was something special but as they say, “A shooter is only as good as their spotter”

Now even though they both beat me, they both finished with only 5 flies, and yet I finished with 7 flies, just saying, isn’t it the Fly State Titles…….😂

At the end of the day I finished:
🥉 3rd in Rimfire
🥉 Equal highest fly count for the day with 7 flies
🥉 3rd Overall in the Two Gun (Rimfire/Centrefire)
🏅 4th Overall in the Three Gun
🎯 16 flies across the three matches — four more than anyone else over the entire weekend.

Now, what did I learn?

Ironically, this weekend both reinforced and challenged my own philosophy. The batch testing absolutely paid off as without spending that afternoon testing every batch I had available, I never would have discovered the ammunition that ultimately carried me through the match.

But I also broke one of my own rules by taking a batch into a State Title after only testing it once, would I recommend that? Probably not.

Would I do it again under exactly the same circumstances? Maybe.
Because every decision in shooting comes down to the quality of the information you have available at the time.

The advice I share on this page isn't a list of rules that everyone must follow, it's simply what my own testing, successes and failures have taught me over the years.

Please, take what helps, but question everything.

Then go and test it for yourself.

Because that's how we all become better shooters.

TEST. DON'T GUESS.
BATCHES WIN MATCHES.

Team - firstly I have to apologise for the radio silence lately.

Work has been flat out and every spare minute has been spent preparing for an upcoming competition, so social media has taken a back seat.

A couple of weeks ago we had the WA Fly State Championships for both Centrefire and Rimfire, and while the results weren't what I was chasing, the weekend taught me one of the biggest lessons I've had in a long time.

The weekend started with the Centrefire Light Rifle. Things looked promising early, but like fly shooting always seems to do, a couple of targets came along and reminded me who's really in charge.

When you're restricted to running 90-grain projectiles, you're already starting with one hand tied behind your back. That’s not a reflection on the fantastic Curtis Custom Valor QC but thankfully, there might be a solution to that problem in the pipeline.

I finished 6th with a 217 and 3 flies, not terrible, but not good enough.

The Heavy Rifle wasn't much kinder, a few good targets mixed with a few that absolutely punched me in the mouth.

Another 6th place, this time with 224 and 6 flies.

Some weekends you're the hammer, some weekends you're the nail, this was definitely the latter.

Fortunately, after the day's shooting the range was opened for practice, and that's when the entire weekend changed.

Because the range is hours away, and thanks to WA's new fi****ms legislation making range access even more difficult, I haven't had the opportunity to properly test ammunition at 200 metres.

As a result, like many shooters, I'd fallen into a trap and convinced myself that because several batches produced fantastic targets, velocity numbers and tiny SDs at 50 metres, they'd naturally perform at 200 metres.

That assumption got absolutely destroyed. I laid out seven proven batches of ELEY Limited Match, along with RWS Sportmunition R50 and RWS Special Match.

These weren't random boxes, these were batches that had already proven themselves at 50 metres on paper and over the chronograph they looked fantastic, however, at 200 metres...

Most of them were rubbish and that's exactly why I keep saying...
* velocity numbers don't win matches.
* Price tags don't win matches.
* Brand names don't win matches.
* BATCHES WIN MATCHES.

Only one batch of Eley Match looked remotely competitive.

Then the weekend took another turn. The reigning 2026 Fly National Champion, KP Puzey, wandered over and said, "I've got an old batch of Eley Match sitting in the back of the safe if you want to try it."

At that stage I had absolutely nothing to lose. The result was….

Wow! This batch absolutely hammered everything I'd brought with me.

Here's the funny part...It wasn't the batch with the best velocity numbers, it wasn't Tenex, it wasn't the most expensive ammunition, it was simply the batch my rifle wanted to shoot.

Once again...The target didn't care what was written on the box, they only care how that ammunition performed in my system, on that day, in that barrel.

Now I had a problem. The State Titles were the very next morning, I'd only tested this batch once.

Every fibre of my being was telling me to use it...but it completely contradicted one of the biggest principles I've spoken about over the last few months.

Never trust a batch after a single test.

I've always said if you're serious about winning, a batch should prove itself on at least two separate occasions before taking it to a major competition.

So what do you do? Stick with ammunition you already know isn't performing...or throw your own rule out the window because one batch looked sensational?

Sometimes the hardest advice to follow...is your own.

You'll have to wait until the next post to find out what decision I made.

Team - Here's a harsh truth...

Buying the most expensive ammunition on the shelf doesn't make you more likely to win. It just puts a bigger dent in your bank balance.

One thing I've seen countless times over the years is shooters arriving at a competition, registered match or State Championships proudly saying,

"I bought the most expensive ammunition the shop had because I really want to do well this weekend."

I completely understand the thinking.

"If it's the most expensive, it must be the best... right?"

Wrong. That's not how rimfire works, buying expensive ammunition that you've never batch tested is no different to buying a lottery ticket, you're just gambling and hoping.

Turning up to a major competition with untested ammunition simply because it was the most expensive box on the shelf gives you a better chance of finishing near the bottom of the leaderboard than standing on the podium.

I've batch tested at ELEY Limited on three separate occasions and I've seen both ends of the spectrum. I've had batches of Tenex that absolutely smoked! I've also had batches of Tenex that shot terribly, in that system. Does that make it bad ammunition?

Absolutely not.

It simply wasn't the right batch for that system at that point in the barrel's life.

Those exact same batches could have been phenomenal in another one of my systems...or in yours.

Here's something many shooters don't want to hear, “The target doesn't care what you paid for your ammunition.” It only cares how that batch shoots in your system.

Turning up to a competition with untested ammunition because it was the most expensive box on the shelf isn't confidence, it's hope and hope isn't a shooting strategy.

The shooters consistently standing on the podium aren't guessing. They're testing, they're gathering evidence and they're removing variables.

They're turning up to the competition already knowing what their system is capable of.

Every major improvement I've made in shooting has come from replacing assumptions with evidence because the targets done lie.

That's why I've become so passionate about two simple philosophies:
BATCHES WIN MATCHES.
TEST. DON'T GUESS.

Team – Well... I thought I'd found it.

Following on from my last post, the first thing I did was pull the barrelled action out of the stock.

While I had it apart, I cleaned the underside of the action and the inside of the stock before putting everything back together.

Then something caught my attention. As I began torquing the front action screw, it felt... odd, not rough, not tight, just... wrong.

The feeling instantly reminded me of what I'd experienced in Sydney on checking the action screws after flying.

So I backed the screw out and tried again with exactly the same feeling but on the second attempt...the threads let go.

That was the first clue and after measuring everything again, I realised I'd made a mistake right back at the beginning.

When I originally measured the action screw protrusion against the depth of the threaded holes in the action, I hadn't noticed that the front threaded hole is recessed before the threads actually begin.

The result? The front action screw was only engaging around 1–2 mm of thread... if that. No wonder it stripped. No wonder I was having issues, the threads had obviously stretched.

I remeasured everything properly, fitted the correct length screws and headed to the range thinking..."Surely that's the problem solved." And to be fair...for a while...It looked like it was.

My final 10-shot string in sighters was a 105.5. The first competition string, another 105.5, then came...10.7, 10.5, 10.5, 10.8 and everything felt fantastic. The rifle was behaving exactly as it should.

Then...9.6 way low, followed by...9.9 high then another 9.9 high again and immediately I knew something still wasn't right. Those weren't shots that matched either the way I was shooting or the way the rifle had been behaving only moments earlier.

The remainder of the match became another battle with unexplained elevation changes. The final score was 623.3 (594), a score I'd normally be happy with...But not this time, because the score didn't reflect how well the rifle had been shooting.

Once I got home, I pulled the rifle apart again and that's when I discovered...I'd managed to make two mistakes.

Firstly, despite all my measuring, I'd either measured the front action screw or the action incorrectly because the replacement screw was actually too long and was bottoming out.

Secondly, and this one's completely on me, I had accidentally fitted a pair of longer spare action screws into the rear. So in the end...EVERY action screw was bottoming out.

Sometimes the problem isn't a faulty component. Sometimes...

The bloke holding the 3mm Allen key is the problem. 😂

Thankfully, I've now corrected all of the screw lengths, checked the engagement properly and everything is torqued exactly as it should be. Now it's simply a matter of getting back to the range this week and seeing whether we've finally found the culprit.

Hopefully the weather plays its part...because I'm running out of theories to test.

Fortunately...I'm not running out of determination, one thing this whole process has reinforced is that precision shooting is exactly that...Precision.

Sometimes a couple of millimetres of thread engagement is all it takes to turn a rifle from a laser into a mystery.

As frustrating as this journey has been, I hope it's helping others understand the importance of methodically working through a problem instead of simply replacing parts and hoping for the best. That's exactly why I document the process.

Not because I always get it right...but because every mistake teaches you something and if sharing my mistakes helps someone else avoid making the same ones, then they're worth sharing.

Until next time...

TEST. DON'T GUESS.
Because...
TARGETS DON'T LIE.

Team – It's been a couple of weeks since my last update on the prone rifle... and to be honest, I'm still lost….

After my last session, where I finished with a 619.5 (594), I knew something wasn't right. On paper, that sounds like a reasonable score, but scores can be deceptive.

When I broke the match down into 10-shot strings, the rifle was telling a completely different story. There was excessive vertical, random flyers and no consistency.

The score hid the problem...The targets exposed it.

So I headed back to the range convinced I had narrowed the issue down to two possible issues:
* The sights.
* The ammunition.

I took two proven batches of ELEY Limited and even packed a spare rear sight so I could swap it over if things started going sideways.

Then something happened that completely threw me, I shot a new personal best at that range...625.8 (595).

Great result...Or so I thought. When I looked closer at the target, the same pattern was still there. The rifle was still producing unexplained height and the same random flyers high right and low left kept appearing.

The score had improved...But the underlying problem hadn't.

I deliberately changed nothing throughout the match because I wanted as much information as possible to find what is happening.

At the end of the session, I was left shaking my head. What on earth is going on?

Heading into the next training session, one thought kept coming back to me. Had the barrel simply come back into tune with that batch of ammunition?

It certainly wouldn't have been the first time I'd observed something like that, and it aligned with what I've previously called The Living Barrel Theory.

Rather than changing multiple variables and guessing, I left everything exactly as it was.

There was only one way to find out...Test it.

Unfortunately...That theory was quickly ruled out, the final score was another 619.8 (594).

But once again...The rifle became almost impossible to read. One 10-shot string would group beautifully...the next would completely fall apart for no apparent reason.

The random flyers returned, height everywhere, shots drifting high right and then low left, completely opposite to what the conditions suggested.

Every shot felt good, every shot broke cleanly, yet I found myself almost hoping each one would land in the middle rather than expecting it to.

That's not how a precision system should behave, so where am I now?

At this stage I've ruled out a number of possibilities, but one keeps coming back into my mind...the bedding.

Now before anyone says it...Yes, the rifle sits in a metal stock with a bedding gasket. On paper, there shouldn't be anything wrong with it, but that's exactly why troubleshooting can be so frustrating.

Sometimes the thing you least expect is the thing causing the problem, so that's my next mission. Pull it apart, inspect everything, because this whole process has reinforced something I've always believed...

Don't become attached to a theory, become attached to finding the truth.

Every time I head to the range, I form a hypothesis, then I test it. If the targets prove me wrong...I move on to the next possibility.

That's not failure, that's progress. Every possibility I eliminate gets me one step closer to finding the real problem.

As frustrating as this has been, I hope sharing the journey helps someone else who finds themselves chasing a mysterious accuracy issue.

Sometimes the answer isn't obvious, but hopefully my process will help someone along the way. Until next time...

TEST. DON'T GUESS.
Because...
TARGETS DON'T LIE.

PROJECT CZ455 – THE GIANT SLAYER STRIKES AGAIN

Team – Well... the Giant Slayer made another appearance over the weekend.

The RBA State Championships brought together some of the best shooters and equipment in the state. There were rifles built on Trident, Turbo, Vudoo and Anschütz actions, all capable of winning in the right hands.

Yet once again...Project CZ455 refused to read the script.

In the hands of junior shooter Zac, the old CZ proved that accuracy doesn't come with a price tag.

It comes from a precision system, The Precision Triangle!

More importantly, it comes from the person behind the trigger.

Zac guided Project CZ455 with nerves of steel and the discipline of a shooter far beyond his years. Watching him over the weekend was genuinely impressive. He never looked rushed, never looked flustered, and simply trusted the process.
The results speak for themselves:
🥉 3rd – Light Varmint
🥉 3rd – Heavy Varmint
🥈 2nd – Two Gun Aggregate
🏆 Top Junior

An outstanding achievement against a field packed with some of Australia's best shooters.

Project CZ455 might have done its job...But make no mistake—Zac was the one steering the ship using a batch of ELEY Limited Match.

The rifle can only perform as well as the shooter behind it, and Zac deserves every bit of the success he earned over the weekend.

He has an exceptional future ahead of him, and if he continues applying himself the way he has, I have no doubt we'll be hearing his name for many years to come. Congratulations, Zac. You've done yourself proud.

I'd also like to congratulate Adrian on an incredible State Championship performance:
🏆 1st – Sporter
🥈 2nd – Light Varmint
🏆 1st – Heavy Varmint
🏆 1st – Two Gun Aggregate
🏆 1st – Three Gun Aggregate

A dominant display across the weekend and thoroughly deserved.

Finally, I'd like to again acknowledge the people who helped make Project CZ455 what it is today.

A huge thank you to Jason Lowey Products Australia for their outstanding gunsmith work and to Allan Swan Gunsmithing & Swan Rifle Barrels for supplying a barrel blank that continues to perform well above expectations.

Project CZ455 continues to prove exactly what I've been saying from the beginning...

The Precision Triangle doesn't care what logo is on the action.

A balanced system...Quality ammunition...Time spent testing...

That's what wins matches.

Because at the end of the day...

TEST. DON'T GUESS.
Because...
TARGETS DON'T LIE.

Team - A PRECISION BARREL IS A LIVING SYSTEM

Many years ago, when ISSF Prone was still an Olympic event, I ran two of the amazing Bleiker Precision Engineering AG barrelled actions. These actions are the F1 of rimfire world!

One was my match action, the other was my training action.

The idea was simple, I would preserve the barrel life of my match rifle by doing the majority of my shooting with my training action. My match action and its tested ammunition were put aside and only used for competitions.

About two weeks before a major event, I would swap to my match action and begin training to make sure everything was perfect before competition.

On paper...It made complete sense, in reality...Something strange started happening.

Some weeks my training action would shoot better than my match action, other times it was the complete opposite. I found myself constantly questioning which rifle I should take to a competition. Remember stock etc remained the same, I just changed barrelled actions.

At the time, I couldn't explain it. I just accepted it as one of those frustrating parts of rimfire shooting.

Then I had a conversation with John Patzwald, one of the most knowledgeable, generous and helpful people I've ever met in this sport, and he made a comment that completely changed the way I thought.

"You should always have at least two match rifles... because one will always be out of tune."

At the time I accepted it because it came from someone whose knowledge and experience I respected.

But I never truly understood why, but that one conversation sent me down a rabbit hole that has lasted for years.

Thousands of rounds, hundreds of ammunition batches, countless hours behind the rifle.

The more I tested...The more I observed one consistent pattern.

A precision barrel is a living system.

It isn't static, every shot changes it, not dramatically, not enough for you to notice after a few boxes of ammunition.

But over hundreds and thousands of rounds, the characteristics of the barrel slowly evolve.

The bore continues to be polished with every shot, carbon and fouling build up and are removed.

Every projectile also pushes traces of fouling and unburnt powder further down the bore, continually changing the internal condition of the barrel.

Over time, the relationship between the barrel and the ammunition changes.

Then I experienced something that reinforced everything I had been observing.

I once visited my local gunsmith to test a newly arrived batch of ELEY Limited Match ammunition. I tested it, It shot terribly. So I crossed it off the list and walked away.

A couple of months later, good batches had become hard to find but that same batch was still sitting on the shelf, which told me it probably hadn't shot well in anyone else's rifle either.

With nothing to lose, I thought..."Why not?" I tested it again.

This time…It was one of the best shooting batches I'd ever put through that rifle.

Did it make sense? Not at first, the ammunition hadn't changed, the rifle hadn't changed, the only thing that had changed was the number of rounds that had gone down the barrel since I first tested it.

My testing has repeatedly shown that the barrel itself had changed, not enough for you to see, but enough to completely change how it behaved with that batch of ammunition.

I've now observed this too many times, across different rifles and different batches, to dismiss it as coincidence.

That's why I never throw away a batch that stops shooting well. I simply label it...Put it aside...And test it again later, because chances are...

The barrel will continue to evolve, and one day that batch may come back into tune.

This is what I now call...

The Living Barrel Theory.

I'm simply sharing what years of testing have shown me.

As always...If your testing shows something different, I'd genuinely love to see it.

Because that's how we all get better.

TEST. DON'T GUESS.
Because...
TARGETS DON'T LIE.

Team – Firstly, apologies for the radio silence.

I've been a bit under the weather and away with work, so I haven't had much opportunity to get behind the rifle. That also means I haven't been able to continue the detective work on my prone rifle.

Unfortunately... the mystery continues.

The next item on my troubleshooting list is one that will probably have a few people scratching their heads.

Has my ammunition gone out of tune?

I already know what some of you are thinking...

"Hang on... didn't you just post that you don't run a tuner on your prone rifle?" Yes.

No, I haven’t completely lost the plot.

What I'm talking about has nothing to do with a barrel tuner, it’s what I like to call, “The Living Barrel Theory”.

Every single round you fire down a rimfire barrel changes it.

Not by wearing it out, rimfire barrels will last an incredibly long time, but every shot does leave its mark.

With every shot, the lead projectile is constantly polishing the bore, ever so slightly changing its internal characteristics over thousands of rounds.

It's not enough to wear the barrel out, but it's enough to alter the way the barrel behaves.

Then there's the powder.

No cartridge burns 100% of its powder, meaning tiny amounts of carbon and unburnt powder can be left behind with every shot.

The next projectile is then travelling over those deposits, gradually pushing them further down the bore until they're eventually removed during cleaning.

Whether it's the gradual polishing of the bore, carbon fouling, powder residue, or a combination of all three, the barrel is constantly evolving with every round you fire.

And as the barrel changes, so can its preference for ammunition.

That's why a batch that was unbelievable six months ago may not be the best choice today.

Then, after another few thousand rounds......it might come back into its sweet spot all over again.

Welcome to the wonderful world of rimfire.

Where the only certainty is uncertainty.

My advice? Never throw away a selected batch just because it stopped shooting. If it tested well in the past put it aside.

Come back to it in a few months, test it again.

I've seen this happen countless times.

There's even been ammunition sitting on the shelf at my local gun shop that I have tired, it didn’t shoot, and apparently didn’t shoot in anyone's rifle.

Months later I've tested exactly the same batch...and suddenly it's become one of the best batches I've ever put through my rifle.

Does it make sense? Not really.

Is it normal in rimfire? Absolutely.

Anyway...cool story bro, back to my rifle.

I finally managed another training session using exactly the same batch of ammunition I took to Sydney.

Same climate, same range where it had previously shot brilliantly. The result?

Exactly the same as Sydney.

Ten shots would absolutely smoke, then the next ten would look like I'd handed the rifle to someone else.

The strings were: 102.2, 104.9, 105.0, 103.4, 100.8, 103.2 for a 619.5 decimal.

The conditions were almost perfect. Yet the rifle would group left......then right......then left again......with absolutely no pattern.

Something isn't right.

So the detective work continues.

At this stage I've narrowed it down to two prime suspects:
👀 The sights.
👀 The ammunition.

Time to eliminate another variable, because blaming the rifle without evidence is what amateurs do.

Finding the problem is what precision shooters do.

Stay tuned...

Team – Looks like it's back to the drawing board after last weekend.

After last Thursday night's training session, a 598 (625.6), I travelled to Sydney for a competition full of confidence. The rifle was shooting well. The ammunition was shooting well. Everything appeared to be exactly where it needed to be.

As a precaution, I took a second batch of ammunition with me that had already been tested and proven in the rifle. Experience has taught me that travel, weather and rifle systems can sometimes do strange things.

As I always do after travelling, I checked my action screw torque and headed to the range.

The morning was bitterly cold and the first few sighters looked reasonable, then everything went sideways. Shots started appearing all over the target with no consistency whatsoever.

I had two choices:
* Continue and hope it got better.
* Or change ammunition.

As they say, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

So I changed batches but unfortunately, the second batch wasn't much better. The rifle was double grouping, groups were moving unexpectedly, and despite making sight corrections, the rifle simply wasn't behaving the way it should.

I finished the day gutted and with more questions than answers.

At that point I had two options.
* Hope the problem fixed itself overnight.
* Or start problem solving.

I chose the second option and the immediate thoughts for the issues were;
* Was it the cold?
* Had the ammunition stopped performing?
* Was there a carbon ring in the chamber?
* Had something moved during travel?

The one thing I didn't have to worry about was tuner-related issues because I don't run a tuner on my prone rifle. One less variable to investigate.

That afternoon I tested both batches again. Terrible.

I bought two additional batches of Eley Match. Same result, groups attached.

I stripped the rifle, cleaned it, retorqued everything and tested again. Still no joy. After a thorough clean, the rifle improved slightly, but it still wasn't performing anywhere near the level it had only days earlier.

Eventually I reached the point where I was physically and mentally exhausted. There comes a time when continuing to chase a problem becomes counterproductive.

So I stopped and came back the next day with a simple plan, trust one batch and focus on shooting.

The rifle was slightly better but it still wasn't where it should have been.

I could get it grouping. Midway through a string the group would simply move and start forming somewhere else.

One example perfectly summed up the weekend.

I shot an 8.5 right followed by a 9.3 right, made a four-click correction, Then followed it up with a 10.8, 10.7, 10.9 and 10.6.

The first string with the 8.5 was a 99.7. The second was a 104.7, nothing was different.

I left Sydney frustrated, because of the result and I still don't know exactly what caused the issue.

This isn't a pity post. It's a learning post.

I am going through the steps I took which will hopefully help you in the future if you are faced with the same issue, and hopefully I might have raised something here you hadn’t thought of which you could try.

The lesson is simple:
When something isn't working, don't just throw your hands in the air and hope it will magically fix itself.

Start asking questions, work through the possibilities, eliminate variables, test your assumptions and keep moving forward.

Every problem has a cause, the challenge is being disciplined enough to find it.

Hopefully training this week will provide me some answers.