Black powder on smokeless ranges

[BackDraft]

…So basically black powder from a traditional gun is the sound and smell and sight of the birth of Liberty, and you may politely ignore them.

Thanks for the thought. I believe my retort, if ever needed, will be “This type of gun guaranteed the right for that/those gun(s).

 

[Robin101]

Never had any problems at any rifle range, maybe a bit of good-natured kidding back and forth, curiosity, and an underlying sense of respect.
Robin

 

[TobJohn]

Ya know, every range is different.

On my local range, not every bench shoots at all three distances, 50/75/100. So IF I want to check the sights at 50, then go up to 100, I have to sit in the middle benches, but if I want to do 75 and 100, I'm on the right end.

Besides, who can predict the wind?

So no, I don't load and fire for speed when rec shooting so they only have to worry about a small cloud one every couple of minutes.

There's always some Fudds that are members. They complain when my son shoots his modern semi-auto, and complain when I shoot my flinter.

I've had a guy tell me I have to use the bench, no standing to shoot (NOT the rules),
I've had a guy tell me I need to yell a warning like "Fire-in-the-hole" when I'm going to shoot my flinter (NOT the rules).
I've had a guy tell me to use the pistol range (against the rules) because my Bess won't hit 50 yards let alone farther,
I've had a guy tell me that I had to wait, to shoot alone (NOT the rules) because my Bess ball trajectory might curve and hit another shooter seated next to me on another bench, and another who sorta said the same thing but that the lead ball might bounce straight back at the shooters if it hit a rock...

(Actually the yahoo who said the ball would curve I informed him that such was true but it was because the ball would sometimes hit the bayonet when fixed on the barrel and THAT impact would cause the ball to turn 180 degrees, but since I wasn't using the bayonet, all was fine )

I smile and ask them to refer to the rule book posted on the range (most don't know a laminated copy is right there) and show me the rule....

So basically black powder from a traditional gun is the sound and smell and sight of the birth of Liberty, and you may politely ignore them.

LD

Luckily, the leadership of my club seems very knowledgeable and mature, so that helps a lot. I had read so many horror stories of entitled Fudds, which was what made me worried.

 

[Woodwright]

I recently took a matchlock of mine to my local gun club I just joined for some test shots. It is explicitly allowed but I felt a little self conscious due to the smoke and using a lit match and gunpowder.

Are there courtesies you guys take while shooting muzzleloaders on primarily smokeless ranges, or other advice you would have? I tried to shoot far away from the other shooters and went when it was less busy. I did not grow up shooting, so am unfamiliar with less obvious range etiquette. Should I just go for it in the future and assume other shooters won’t be bothered?

I try to use our public range on days and times when shooters will be at a minimum. Being a public range, you have no idea who will be shooting around you and how safe they are. I also try to set up as far away from the other shooters as possible.

 

[TobJohn]

I try to use our public range on days and times when shooters will be at a minimum. Being a public range, you have no idea who will be shooting around you and how safe they are. I also try to set up as far away from the other shooters as possible.

I am extremely fortunate that the club is less than 15 minutes from my house, so going forward, I think I’ll plan on going during my lunch breaks when I’m working from home.

 

[Fitzhugh Williams]

I have had even black powder shooters freak out when I was practicing the de Gheyn drill.

 

[rchas]

Many years ago, i was a member of a range outside of Raleigh, NC. I had been a member for 2-3 years and had never run into a problem until one weekend I was sighting in a new longrifle. I had set up on the station farthest to the right on the line, down wind, and not under the shed that covered half the line. nevertheless, as soon as I started shooting I heard a couple of people yelling "that s--t stinks!", "let us know when you'r setting that d--m thing off!, "those things shouldn't be allowed here" and other sundry unpleasant comments. It was very apparent I wasn't welcome. Fortunately the place was close by so I started going after work to shoot blackpowder - avoiding the weekend crowd.

Fortunately I am now blessed with enough space to shoot on my own property, and with a muzzleloading club.

 

[Rebel bull]

Many years ago, i was a member of a range outside of Raleigh, NC. I had been a member for 2-3 years and had never run into a problem until one weekend I was sighting in a new longrifle. I had set up on the station farthest to the right on the line, down wind, and not under the shed that covered half the line. nevertheless, as soon as I started shooting I heard a couple of people yelling "that s--t stinks!", "let us know when you'r setting that d--m thing off!, "those things shouldn't be allowed here" and other sundry unpleasant comments. It was very apparent I wasn't welcome. Fortunately the place was close by so I started going after work to shoot blackpowder - avoiding the weekend crowd.

Fortunately I am now blessed with enough space to shoot on my own property, and with a muzzleloading club.

I also am blessed with my own range out to any distance that would be even considered long for a unmentionable

 

[TobJohn]

I have had even black powder shooters freak out when I was practicing the de Gheyn drill.

I’m mad for you!

 

[Nav]

Avoid carpeted benches and tables too. It's a thing at my gun club that I don't agree with at all. About half the benches and tables are carpeted. Carpet grabs and holds BP (and unburnt smokeless) allowing it to build up till it creates a dangerous situation. Don't load or even mess with it on a carpeted bench/table. I think carpet and guns don't mix period, but I'm sure it's there because people don't want to scratch their iron.

Here some genius put AstroTurf in front of the firing line. After years of unburnt powder building up it finally went when some cops were firing shotguns...

 

[Mike in FL]

And pick up after yourself.

That is sometimes a huge issue at the range club I am part of. Photos of the mess left behind are posted on their FB page in hopes the culprits may be identified and suffer the consequences of their disrespectful behavior. I always wonder what those litterbugs' homes look like.

 

[NotDanielBoone]

I guess that in some ways I'm lucky. My gun club, Delaware County Field and Stream Association, has a segregated range for black powder right next to the high power rifle range. When on the BP range you have to coordinate with the range master or the shooters on the HP range. We have somewhere around 5,000 members, so it's not as if everyone is buddies, but we all have a common interest. I find that shooting enthusiasts are a caring and concerned group of people. In general they want to help you and have an interest in what you are doing. I've been shooting since I was 8 years old (almost 70 years) and SAFETY has always been the #1 consideration taught me and forever instilled in me. Oh, there are some fools at the range, but polite reminders seem to work. Some of the range masters must have been Marine sergeants, but to be barked at is certainly better than to be bitten or to bite someone else. So, my 2 cents are to be considerate and ask questions. And as others have said, don't get distracted by those with the HP rifles.

 

[rp77469]

Years ago Houston built a huge trap/skeet/clays/pistol and rifle (to 1000 meters) complex in hopes of hosting the Olympics. I shoot there on occasion. Caplock rifles draw attention and questions. Flintlocks draw a LOT of attention. Only problem I've ever had came from some moron who wanted to ask questions as I was loading and he was smoking a cigarette. I barked at him pretty hard to back off and then explained why. They still allow smoking on the firing line, but few shooters there use the holy black.

Sigh. They walk amongst us.

 

[Nav]

 

[CaptainVane]

Many years ago, i was a member of a range outside of Raleigh, NC. I had been a member for 2-3 years and had never run into a problem until one weekend I was sighting in a new longrifle. I had set up on the station farthest to the right on the line, down wind, and not under the shed that covered half the line. nevertheless, as soon as I started shooting I heard a couple of people yelling "that s--t stinks!", "let us know when you'r setting that d--m thing off!, "those things shouldn't be allowed here" and other sundry unpleasant comments. It was very apparent I wasn't welcome. Fortunately the place was close by so I started going after work to shoot blackpowder - avoiding the weekend crowd.

Fortunately I am now blessed with enough space to shoot on my own property, and with a muzzleloading club.

That would bring out my inner ahole.
Move upwind.
Load up barrel maximum powder, no ball, produce max smoke.
Repeat until they losing their mind.
Fark em.

 

[Jaeger]

The best thing to do when shooting BP at a public range is to use pre-measured powder loads. I can't imagine using a container of 3fg to load individual shots with a powder measure. Too much work and too risky. A woodswalk shoot is something entirely different, where I need to practice with authenticity.

 

[Beaverman2]

The best thing to do when shooting BP at a public range is to use pre-measured powder loads. I can't imagine using a container of 3fg to load individual shots with a powder measure. Too much work and too risky. A woodswalk shoot is something entirely different, where I need to practice with authenticity.

I use my powder horn at the range as I bet most of us do. I had a guy recently tell me that my rifle couldn't reach out and hit the target I had at 100 yards and the ball falling to the ground would cause a ricochet, I calmly took another paper target, handed it to him and told him to go out there and hold it and we will see, he declined and shut up.

 

[Ed C.]

Just MPO, but when you go to a gun range you must take some tolerance with you. There will be people doing rapid fire next to you or using those muzzle brakes with their noise that blows out your ears and sends out a shock wave and then there is me that takes a shot with my muzzle loader every 4 or 5 minutes with a puff of smoke. Big deal. If you are not willing to put up with some noise 'n smoke don't use a range.

 

[Paul Kenney]

I recently took a matchlock of mine to my local gun club I just joined for some test shots. It is explicitly allowed but I felt a little self conscious due to the smoke and using a lit match and gunpowder.

Are there courtesies you guys take while shooting muzzleloaders on primarily smokeless ranges, or other advice you would have? I tried to shoot far away from the other shooters and went when it was less busy. I did not grow up shooting, so am unfamiliar with less obvious range etiquette. Should I just go for it in the future and assume other shooters won’t be bothered?

Many years ago I picked up a John Manton SxS 12 G. percussion shotgun. I had never shot trap or even a shotgun before, but I thought I would give it a shot, so to speak. I got up early on a Sat. AM to be first in line at this trap shooting location, I didn't know how many others would be there. The location was in a valley and the day was hot and humid from the get-go without a breath of wind in this valley. As luck would have it, I was the only one there at first, but it filled up quickly. I had shot my first 2 barrels, without hitting anything and heard some grumbling from behind me. When my turn came again, I did my routine, powder, a wad, shot, a wad then the other barrel then a cap and a cap and I was finally ready. Still didn't hit anything and the windless valley filled with smoke. One of the operators came to me and said "we'll give you a refund and take that thing out of here and don't come back with it.

 

[flntlokr]

I do carry a bicyclist's water bottle in the summer so I can quickly hose down a smoldering patch. There's sometimes weeds just in front of the benches, and I don't want to start a fire.

Lose the oiled/greased patches; water based lube doesn't burn.