NMLRA rules for matchlocks

Canute Rex · May 11, 2014

I just got a notification for a territorial shoot in my area. I'm wondering about shooting my matchlock in the smoothbore competitions. They are listed as flint, but there don't seem to be any NMLRA categories for matchlock.

Are we hemp burners excluded from territorial NMLRA competitions? I read that the territorials don't count in terms of national standing because they are too variable in how they do things.

I read the rules for the NMLRA national shoots and they explicitly rule out matchlocks. :td:

Can someone enlighten me on where matchlocks stand in terms of territorial competition?

Alden · May 11, 2014

Are u sure that's recent -- they still active?

freekforge · May 11, 2014

I talked to some nmlra guys at the nra convention and they said match ignited firearms are a no go

Canute Rex · May 11, 2014

Thanks, freekforge. Did they give any reasoning behind that? Apparently matchlocks were ok at some point. Maybe that was just at Friendship.

Does anybody organize a separate "match-match"?

Musketeer · May 12, 2014

Just sneak one in. Take your flintlock and wear a piece of slowmatch as a belt (like Jethro Clampett). When you get up to the line, surreptitiously remove the match from your belt loops, clamp it into the jaws on your flinter, and leave the frizzen open. Bingo! Instant snapping matchlock. :hatsoff: :blah: :haha:

Alden · May 12, 2014

I planned, organized, developed and supervised historic arms shoots and they were open to anything through a Win '94. Best press-photo was of me shooting a matchlock in Elizabethan period dress...

Canute Rex · May 12, 2014

"wear a piece of slowmatch as a belt"

So I'll be standing there on the firing line with a glowing match in my lock and my pants around my ankles. Somehow I think people will notice. :grin:

My friend who got me into matchlocks and I are trying to spread the gospel of the glowing match up here in Vermont. Maybe eventually we'll have enough people for a matchlock competition up here in the northeast. In the meantime the woods walk and primitive biathlon folks around here are tolerant and even encouraging.

Again, I'll ask: What is the reasoning behind banning matchlocks from NMLRA competition? Safety? Our "no-flinch" advantage? Simple prejudice?

Rifleman1776 · May 12, 2014

I read the rules for the NMLRA national shoots and they explicitly rule out matchlocks.

Can someone enlighten me on where matchlocks stand in terms of territorial competition?

It has long been my understanding they are prohibited for safety reasons.
I have seen a few, carefully controlled, demonstrations but that is it.
Personally, I favor the restriction against them.
Just too dangerous.

Alden · May 12, 2014

I suppose an argument can be made... But people have managed to reenact safely.

buzz · May 12, 2014

No smoking near powder there's the reason with
Match cord it a chance of ignition that is to much a of hazzard
Thats not needed
Yes reinactors? But then theres not the uniformed shooting onbthe same firing line
The shoots i been to out west keep caps and rock in there respective groups

Musketeer · May 12, 2014

Canute said:
So I'll be standing there on the firing line with a glowing match in my lock and my pants around my ankles. Somehow I think people will notice. :grin:

:haha: :hatsoff:

The "no smoking" (no open flame) makes sense to me. It seems like it'd make keeping things safe up and down the line a lot more difficult.

buzz · May 13, 2014

I never shot a regular nmlra match yet but the rowdy matchs i been to are. Very keen on safety
Witch is best
Slow match still common on cannon shoots i have been to
But then you not shooting close together
I like the idea though of a special match shoot match shooters doese freindship allow matchlocks?

Canute Rex · May 13, 2014

With flintlocks there is open flame every time the pan ignites. Sometimes it spits a ways, too.

The friend who got me into matchlocks made himself a match holder for range shooting. It's a 3' tall steel rod with a mesh cylinder (intake filter for a well pipe?) with a lid on the end. He sticks it in the ground next to his firing position and puts the glowing end of the match in it - only takes it out when he's ready to fire.

I'm going to make a brass match holder patterned on the British Grenadier style, though hung on the left hip. Not HC/PC, but extra safety trumps that.

For that matter, a matchlock can't fall off its half-cock notch and go off. The whole process of setting it off is much more deliberate.

But I'm just spending pixels here. I doubt the NMLRA would be moved by such arguments. Local woods walks and primitive biathlons for me.

Alden · May 14, 2014

Don't let it bother ya -- no-one knows who they are anymore.

tecum-tha · May 14, 2014

For safety reasons alone, you would need your own part of the range. How many people are shooting matchlock and how many would participate at the national matches???
I think that pretty much answers the question.

Many Klatch · May 14, 2014

Hemp burners are not included in NMLRA shoots because there isn't any demand. If you get a couple dozen Matchlock shooters together and talk to the NMLRA they will probably find a way to hold a special match for them. They now shoot Black Powder Cartridge Rifles on the range in Friendship on off weekends so you could probably get a weekend specifically for Matchlocks if you so desired.

If you had a dozen or so shooters that attended one of the big shoots at Friendship you could probably get a special match for Matchlocks on the Primitive range rather than the mainside range.

Just get your ducks in a row and then ask. It won't happen real quick because it will have to get past the Chief Range Officer and the Board but it probably could be done.

Alden · May 14, 2014

If you can get a dozen Matchlock shooters together...

a) Congratulations, and

b) you'd probably be powerful enough to stage a coup against the NMLRA!

Canute Rex · May 14, 2014

"b) you'd probably be powerful enough to stage a coup against the NMLRA!"

Not if it rains. :grin:

Well, there are only two of us here in Vermont, my pal Steve and myself. But we recruit.

Steve was at a woods walk/target shoot last weekend (that I had to miss for *work*, of all things) where there was a three way tie for first. They decided to have a one-shot tie breaker and Steve volunteered his .62 Leonard Day matchlock. First shooter closed his eyes and missed the whole thing. The second shooter hit the 8-ring. The third hit a 10x. There was a general "Hmmmmmm" at that.

I have let people try my previous matchlock, "The Club", and they have been intrigued by the trigger pull. One woman said that she wanted her husband, who built her present rifle, to make her one. And that's after shooting a clumsy shoulder-hammer.

So maybe someday we'll have the required dozen.

zimmerstutzen · May 15, 2014

I just began the process of gathering the components to build a matchlock, but was intending to build a large bore rifle. I realized there are safety considerations for match shooting. My feelings are that there is as much chance of an accidental discharge with a flintlock. In fact with an appropriate safety rule, they can probably be every bit as safe.

wulf · Jun 24, 2014

And I just finished making two matchers and a match lock mechanism and have no place to shoot them...probably a very limited selling market as
well.

NMLRA rules for matchlocks

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