Expectation for off hand accuracy with a Flintlock

[majg1234]

practice practice and trigger control is what it takes,the site will wander around a lot but develop a technique that will put it on paper,My buddy and I used to shoot a lot of off hand targets with 44mag smiths @ 100yrds we could routinely hit (4-5/6) 2 liter coke bottles with 3" Lew Horton revolvers and full house 44 loads,when we broke out the model 60's and 36's and did the same people just shook their heads (who said snubbbies aren't accurate) but @ that time we were probably putting upward of 5-6K rounds down range in any given year with various
pistols

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

Good advice here! For years I did offhand Schuetzen shooting and found the best practice to be 22 gallery offhand dry-firing. And for BP practice, this can even be done when not at the range, using your flint arm charged with just a prime ... outside of course.

My best advise would be to learn to CALL your shots. When you reach this level, you are truly following through with your sight picture all the way through the ignition, shot, and beginning of the recoil stage thru the follow-through.

 

[CoyoteJoe]

if a shooter can put all his rounds into less than a 4" group offhand at 100 yards with a completely modern AR_15 match gun

:surrender:
I'm lucky if I don't shoot the toes off the guy next to me. Fortunately it seems everyone has just finished shooting and is packing up & leaving when I arrive at the range.

Is it just possible that people who like their toes may have seen you comming? :haha:
Many years ago I got into paper punching at the state level. On standard NMLRA targets one has to shoot a perfect score with several X's to win at 25 yards. At 50 yards you can drop a point or two but still better have some X's. At 100 you need 45 of 50 points to win. I never in my life did better than 3rd place. Now I'm so shaky I probably couldn't keep them on the paper.

 

[mmahlock]

Here is one of my off-hand targets shot at 50 yds. This target is from one of the monthly shooting matches I attend here in Washington. The furthest distance between these shots is 2 1/2 inches. I'm not the best shot in the world but I can hold my own against the group I shoot with. I occasionally win a match. Not with this target though.

 

[roundball]

So...reasonable expectations / goals for the average individual standing on his hind legs using a Flintlock and a center mass hold ??

Thanks for some real examples...sort of a baseline reference for when I get into the offhand learning curve.

 

[Leatherbark]

I hold a fist size group offhand at 50 yards. This means that all of them are not in the black of a standard 25 yard target shot a 50 yards. My 100 yard off hand group is about the size of a cantaloupe at best. Most of the time its like a basketball size.

Bob

 

[Erzulis boat]

With my deer/pig hunting rifle (58 cal. Transitional Long Rifle)I can make 'em touch at 25, 2-3" at 50, and 8-10" at 100- this represents an "average" I suppose.
With my 36 cal "Poor boy" my groups up to 50 are very tight, I don't shoot that one at 100, never shot anything farther than maybe 30 yards in real life with that one (cottontails/squirrels etc.)
This is offhand of course.

 

[roundball]

At the moment my plan is to just use 6" paper dessert plates and/or a 2' tall A-frame with its 6" steel hanging plate suspended in the middle...sprayed with a fresh coat of black paint its easy to see where the light gray lead splotches hit / get a group size.

Every time I reach a yardage where I consistently hit it, I'll push it out another 15-20 yards and just keep at it over many range trips. Should be a good project / challenge for a change of pace next year

 

[123.DieselBenz]

Here are a few targets from the Alien invasion online match http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/260010/:

4" total of 1/4" & 3 3/4"

3 1/8" total of 1.5" and 1 5/8"

1" out pucker dot

That is some fine off-hand shooting!

 

[ODG34]

That's the thing about shooting. On any given day someone will outshoot you. :surrender:

 

[Leatherbark]

I dont know if it is just me, but all of my offhand shooting has required me to adjust my sights to shoot slightly left from a rest. When I shoot offhand the guns reaction from firing swings to the right and hits dead on.
(when I yank the trigger at the right moment of course)

Once again it might be the way I hold the gun. I pull it snug against the shoulder and have my left had underneath close to the lock area (like target shooters do).

I do most all my shooting offhand now or like you do from field positions because of the matches I shoot in.

Good Luck

Bob

 

[hanshi]

In my case, make that EVERY given day. :surrender: