Hit target at 200 yards

[btech]

I blew some minds at my rifle range Tuesday. I was hitting a 2'x2' metal target at 200 yards with my Zouave rifle. I was shooting a 570 RB, 0.010 lubed patch and 50 grains of 2F Pyrodex. All the guys with modern guns were amazed. Kinda amazed me too.

 

[JonnyReb3]

What kind of hold over were you figuring in? Just curious and it sounds like a good time to me, lower recoil and a half second later a nice satisfying "THWAP!" :grin:

 

[jamesthomas]

I did that last Sunday when I broke a few clay birds at the 50 yard berm offhand with my .50 cal. I can hardly see out to 200 yards so that was some good shootin' :thumbsup: . And some folks say these "old guns" ain't accurate. :rotf:

 

[George T.]

I shoot the same ball with either .015 or .018 patches but I use 65 grains of powder. We have a round gong that is 12 inches across at 110 yards.
I have no problem hitting it but I have never shot 200 yards. I will though. Geo. T.

 

[btech]

The wind was blowing a little, so I aimed a little high and a little to the left. Pulled the trigger, the smoke cleared and then I heard a "clang". Everyone on the range stopped and looked at me. Nobody was more surprised than me. One guy accused me of rolling it there.

 

[AZbpBurner]

Good shootin'!!

 

[Billnpatti]

If you hit the target at all, it would be amazing to me. With a charge of only 50 grains of 2f, you would not have a very high MV. At 100 yards your bullet would probably drop 6 to 8 inches. After 100 yards, the trajectory would be more like a mortar. I would expect the bullet drop at 200 yards to be something around 35 to 40 inches. You would have to consistently hold that much over your target to hit it at 200 yards. Then you would have to be able to read your wind over that distance. All in all, if you hit it only once, it could be pure luck but if you could do it more than once, you are to be commended as one fine rifleman. :thumbsup:

 

[Rifleman1776]

Those CW guns were sighted for long range hits. Knowing his gun and a proper hold his results are well within the realm of possible. Still requires very good shooting abilities.

 

[matt denison]

If you hit the target at all, it would be amazing to me. With a charge of only 50 grains of 2f, you would not have a very high MV. At 100 yards your bullet would probably drop 6 to 8 inches. After 100 yards, the trajectory would be more like a mortar. I would expect the bullet drop at 200 yards to be something around 35 to 40 inches. You would have to consistently hold that much over your target to hit it at 200 yards. Then you would have to be able to read your wind over that distance. All in all, if you hit it only once, it could be pure luck but if you could do it more than once, you are to be commended as one fine rifleman. :thumbsup:

Not to belittle btech's ability but more in response to billnpatty - a 2' x 2' (24 inches by 24 inches) is a generous target. I have launched .600 round balls at that yardage with as little as 30 gr. of FFg and somehow gotten the ball there for a hit on an oxygen tank that was cut in half.

On the same subject as btech found out it is fun to stretch the envelope a little and make Kentucky windage shots at long range with muzzleloaders, 'specially pistols. Try it, you might be suprised how easy it really is and how much added fun.

 

[Deadeye]

Very true, when you live in the "wide open spaces" you find that a 2'x2' target at 200 most would be hit about everytime shooting offhand, even with a smoothbore and no rearsight. last yr at the Beaver Creek Rondy ,last target of the pistol match was a 6"x10" piece of small oxygen cylinder at 250 yds. (we didn't know at the time how far it was, found out later)one shot offhand, .45 single shot caplock that I made,12" barrel,BONGGGGGGGGG! I can still hear it ringing.
Deadeye

 

[zimmerstutzen]

The club at Shippensburg PA had muzzle loader sillywet matches as part of their rendys years back. Out to 300 yds. While the targets were probably larger than 2 x 2, it took some omph to drop them. My 45 would hit them but couldn't knock them down. The 54 did good on the pigs at 200, but I was using 75 grains IIRC Still required at least of foot of hold over.

Read somewhere that most rifled muskets of the civil war were supposed to be set at the factory for 250 yds. Soldiers were taught to aim for the belt buckle so anything closer would be a good hit to the abdomen

 

[SwanShot]

Good shooting mate :thumbsup:
I reckon it would be a good competition to have just such a target and each competitor shoots 10 rounds, taking it in turn to fire a single shot while the previous guy reloads. Scoring would be by the number of hits. If there is a tie, then it is a shoot off, till someone misses.

 

[MSW]

nice shooting! i'd bet a bunch of those modern shooters couldn't match your shot.

:hatsoff:

 

[Cowboy2]

Something to keep in mind is those military guns were designed for massed/volley fire. I think the idea of long range sights had more to do with the idea of 20 (or 50, or 200) guys shooting into an area (like a gun emplacement or a mustering line of infantry) creating the odds of a hit(s), not a single individual's marksmanship.

 

[Carl Fowler III]

Always liked shoot'n long distances when I lived out west...the dust would let me know where my shots were landing and it was simple to make adjustments...good shoot'n and isn't it nice when you can prove the accuracy of these " antique " rifles to non-believers! :grin:

 

[George]

What range is your gun sighted for? And, do you know, is 50 gr. Pyrodex pretty much equivalent in power to 50 gr. BP?

Spence

 

[fleener]

At friendship the round ball sil range has a bear that in 36 inches tall and about 11 inches wide that most shoot off hand. With that slow off a round the wind can kill you. My son was shooting at that same targets at 120 yards he would hit the one next to the one he was aiming at.

Fleener

 

[Deadeye]

At the Pacific Nationals, a few yrs. ago, those standing Bear targets (1'x3') were part of the smoothbore shoot, set at 200 yds. Can't say that everyone hit them but many did. 1st and 2nd places were won with Centermark Fucil de Chasses in .62. Deadeye

 

[TraprMike]

lots of Kentucky windage