Claudio Flores Wins 100 Yard Extreme Benchrest 2024

The big news from Extreme Benchrest 2024 is that Claudio Flores wins the 100 Yard Benchrest Pro Class finals! He was shooting an American Air Arms EVOL HPS in .30 caliber.

Above, Claudio looked cautious after finishing his card.

Of course, winning the signature Pro Class 100 Yard Benchrest event at EBR is always a momentous achievement for any shooter. But Claudio’s win is the most significant in the 13 year history of the event.

This is because it makes Claudio the first person ever to win the event TWICE!!!

Below. But he looked much happier after the results were officially announced!

Claudio won previously in 2018 shooting a Brocock Bantam Sniper XR. This time it’s clear that he can shoot an EVOL just as well.

Further confirmation of Claudio’s status as one of the all-time great benchrest shooters is his score of 235 7x. That means he hit the bull no less than seven times and dropped only 15 points from the maximum possible score of 250.

Claudio was 4 points ahead of Jeffrey Hernandez – another previous Extreme Benchrest winner. Jeffrey scored 233, also with 7x using a .30 caliber Thomas. Again, fantastic shooting!

Third place was taken by Jayson Barnes with a score of 233 6x shooting a 30 caliber FX Dynamic… The same score as Jeffrey, they were differentiated by just that single pesky “x”. Congratulations to Jayson and Jeffrey, too.

These three 100 Yard Benchrest Pro Class winners emphasized the international nature of the whole competition. With competitors attending from as far away as Australia and South Africa, Claudio comes from Chile, Jeffrey from Panama and Jayson from the USA – Utah, actually.

So Extreme Benchrest 2024 really was an international event in every sense!

And the prizes? In addition to the kudos of winning, Claudio Flores wins a check for $7,000.00 from Airguns of Arizona as his winner’s prize. Jeffrey receives $3,000.00 and Jayson $2,000.00.

Below, here’s all ten 100 Yard Extreme Benchrest Pro Class winners.

The other 100 Yard Benchrest winners were as follows:

Fourth – Holden Ivey 230 6x, Daystate Red Wolf, .30 caliber

Fifth – Todd Hatfield 227 5x, FX Impact, .30 caliber

Sixth – Val Simmons 226 8x, Karma Red Panda, .30 caliber

Seventh – Hisham Abou Hamdan 226 6x, Daystate Red Wolf, .22 caliber

Eighth – Thayne Simmons 226 5x, Karma Red Panda, .30 caliber

Ninth – Dusty Powers 225 5x, Karma Red Panda, .30 caliber

Tenth – Fadi Kiwan 224 7x, BRK Ghost, .22 caliber

Its interesting to see that .30 caliber guns were used by nine out of the 10 Pro class winners. (Correction, that should be eight out of ten, of course).

Congratulations too all for some outstanding shooting!!!


The post Claudio Flores Wins 100 Yard Extreme Benchrest 2024 appeared first on Hard Air Magazine.

 

[Solo1]

thanks for the info guys! Good to hear some inside info!!

 

[Danman]

Hi Tristan, as I mentioned in my recent post, the AEAs need barrel cleaning much more frequently than the JSB, probably due to the harder lead composition. I have been shooting the 45s all year in competition (won 100Y BR in Oregon EFT GP and 100Y BR, made finals at RMAC, was 5th 100Y BR at the Utah EFT GP and 100Y BR, mostly from a .30 FX Superior 700mm liner in my Skout Epoch. For EBR, I dug out the ten tins I had saved of the 50.5 AEA and practiced with them a week prior (3 tins) and then at EBR I used them. I did OK in the 75-yard qualification relays, finished 2nd in my group (483) right behind Thayne. In the finals, I only lightly cleaned my barrel Saturday evening, and paid the price, which resulted in a flyer 6 and 7 on my card, score 223. I think had I properly cleaned the barrel, and they were 9's I would have finished 5th (228). Yesterday after I got home, I looked closer, and the lead was impacted in the grooves near the muzzle... Totally my fault. This is from a barrel that RARELY needs cleaning when shooting JSB pellets... With the AEA its required every 200 to 250 rounds.

Very good info indeed guys. When u clean your barrels are you just usually pulling some patches till clean or getting in there with a wire bore brush and brushing out the choke (if it has one!) and getting the grooves clean as well? My .22 Ghost shoots Mrds fast and I was advised to polish er good as it kept loosing accuracy fairly quickly after a clean... It definitely helped! Thanks.

 

[Centercut]

Very good info indeed guys. When u clean your barrels are you just usually pulling some patches till clean or getting in there with a wire bore brush and brushing out the choke (if it has one!) and getting the grooves clean as well? My .22 Ghost shoots Mrds fast and I was advised to polish er good as it kept loosing accuracy fairly quickly after a clean... It definitely helped! Thanks.

The AEA 45 and 50.5 require a brass brush to get everything out of the grooves near the choke in the barrel.

 

[AtlasAirguns]

Hi Tristan, as I mentioned in my recent post, the AEAs need barrel cleaning much more frequently than the JSB, probably due to the harder lead composition. I have been shooting the 45s all year in competition (won 100Y BR in Oregon EFT GP and 100Y BR, made finals at RMAC, was 5th 100Y BR at the Utah EFT GP and 100Y BR, mostly from a .30 FX Superior 700mm liner in my Skout Epoch. For EBR, I dug out the ten tins I had saved of the 50.5 AEA and practiced with them a week prior (3 tins) and then at EBR I used them. I did OK in the 75-yard qualification relays, finished 2nd in my group (483) right behind Thayne. In the finals, I only lightly cleaned my barrel Saturday evening, and paid the price, which resulted in a flyer 6 and 7 on my card, score 223. I think had I properly cleaned the barrel, and they were 9's I would have finished 5th (228). Yesterday after I got home, I looked closer, and the lead was impacted in the grooves near the muzzle... Totally my fault. This is from a barrel that RARELY needs cleaning when shooting JSB pellets... With the AEA its required every 200 to 250 rounds.

Okay thanks for the input I didn't know if I was the only one noticing the difference.

 

[AtlasAirguns]

Yes, that barrel came off the line on Tuesday and was installed on wednesday. While we are still learning about the behavior and finish of the Sub-MOA barrels but I can make a few statements.

1) Very little seasoning is required; maybe 10-15 shots.

2) They seem to shoot a lot of pellets with no cleaning required. I have not cleaned the barrel I was shooting and it show no sign of fouling yet.

AeA and fouling. - Both Claudio and I started with JSB 44 grain. Dawid Dysrom convinced us to try the AeA 45 grain and I must say they are superior to the JSB in terms of accuracy and BC. AeA pellets are extremely clean and accurately formed without any sign of oxidation. Absolutely to fouling of any king at this point.

I spoke with Travis Whitney who has some involvement with the AeA company and he described a very modern and technical process of manufacture for these pellets. I have no doubts that this factory has raised the bar for both quality and design; completely unexpected but welcomed.

While I have not had any 50s to test I have heard amazing things about them.

Thanks Tom for the input. I have not shot AEA out of Sub-MOA yet. Interesting info about lack of fouling. Do you think that is due to less choke or land and grove pattern?

I have heard aggregate scores that are higher with AEA with my friend's tests. I only tried a couple tins and it just wasn’t enough data to see a significant different, except for the fouling circa 80 pellets to 150.

Cheers

 

[American Air Arms]

Thanks Tom for the input. I have not shot AEA out of Sub-MOA yet. Interesting info about lack of fouling. Do you think that is due to less choke or land and grove pattern?

I have heard aggregate scores that are higher with AEA with my friend's tests. I only tried a couple tins and it just wasn’t enough data to see a significant different, except for the fouling circa 80 pellets to 150.

Cheers

Maybe or related to the internal finish we apply at American Air Arms. The 5R style rifling is intended to avoid sharp intersections at the land/groove in both the pellet and bore; most agree this is superior to "straight wall" rifling in regards to leading.

I was told that all AEA and JTS pellets are measured in the line by a computerized optical comparator that has programmable tolerances. If the pellet fails, it is automatically removed from the line. This combined with the geometrical accuracy that is visibly evident is most likely why the seem to be more accurate; they are pre-sorted in essence.

BC on the AEA 45 is ever so slightly better than the JSB 44. 0.055 vs 0.048 in the Sub-MOA barrel at 1:26 twist.

 

[AtlasAirguns]

Maybe or related to the internal finish we apply at American Air Arms. The 5R style rifling is intended to avoid sharp intersections at the land/groove in both the pellet and bore; most agree this is superior to "straight wall" rifling in regards to leading.

I was told that all AEA and JTS pellets are measured in the line by a computerized optical comparator that has programmable tolerances. If the pellet fails, it is automatically removed from the line. This combined with the geometrical accuracy that is visibly evident is most likely why the seem to be more accurate; they are pre-sorted in essence.

BC on the AEA 45 is ever so slightly better than the JSB 44. 0.055 vs 0.048 in the Sub-MOA barrel at 1:26 twist.

Thanks for the info - very informative. Yes on LW when I clean I can see significant shards which are less pronounced with JSB style lead. When I’ve pushed through said pellets, the head and skirt contacts with lands make a significant depression on the lead but without the same quantity of shards being generated from land contact with AEA. It sounds like the Sub-MOA barrels avoid this issue. The JSB depressions on head and skirt I’ve usually made up for with sizing, but any deformations probably cause free bore and flight issues that is evident in my atrocious attempt at a low level shooter .

Cheers

 

[Centercut]

Maybe or related to the internal finish we apply at American Air Arms. The 5R style rifling is intended to avoid sharp intersections at the land/groove in both the pellet and bore; most agree this is superior to "straight wall" rifling in regards to leading.

I was told that all AEA and JTS pellets are measured in the line by a computerized optical comparator that has programmable tolerances. If the pellet fails, it is automatically removed from the line. This combined with the geometrical accuracy that is visibly evident is most likely why the seem to be more accurate; they are pre-sorted in essence.

BC on the AEA 45 is ever so slightly better than the JSB 44. 0.055 vs 0.048 in the Sub-MOA barrel at 1:26 twist.

Did Claudio shoot the 1:26 twist? I thought he shot the 1:49?

 

[wolfmangreg]

Seeing the same phenomenon described by several here with my .25 Cricket Carbine & AEA pellets, re: superb accuracy, but frequent cleaning (including brass brush) required. Goes south somewhere between 75-100 shots.

 

[KodiakJac]

In several pictures above you can see Claudio's rear bag. Does anyone recognize the brand? I'm looking for a bigger, fatter rear bag that I can move around more easily, and Claudio's looks like it might be a contender.

Thanks!

 

[igolfat8]

That’s a fairly standard size squeeze bag.

 

[KodiakJac]

That’s a fairly standard size squeeze bag.

Thanks, and I found it. It is a GRS Shooting Pillow. I have a partially paralyzed left hand, and I need a softer rear bag that I can squeeze more easily. Hoping the GRS Shooting Pillow will fill the bill.

 

[igolfat8]

@KodiakJac , you can usually change the density of most any squeeze bag by the type of fill and also the amount of fill. I've used rice, crushed walnut hulls, Airsoft plastic BBs and Polyfill as well as sand. Sand is the hardest and BBs can be the easiest to squeeze while the Polyfill is a happy medium between the two.

You can go to the Dollar Store and purchase a few cloth lady's rectangular makeup bags, with a zipper or a zippered pencil pouch. They are a great size for a squeeze bag or they can be stacked to provide additional elevation. Then take a ZipLoc bag and fill it with the materials above. The materials can be found at WallyWorld, except for the sand though they may have it? Stuff the filled baggie inside the makeup bag and zip it up. The baggie will keep the material from leaking out of the make up bag. Then you can experiment with different materials, and fill levels, to find one that suits you, all for just a fraction of the $$$ cost of what a commercially made bag would cost.

 

[KodiakJac]

@igolfat8

Thanks...all good ideas. I've done it with sand, but always too hard. Will try some of your other fill ideas!