How not to win the match....

[Runner]

....or how to shoot a 5 x 2 inch group off the rest at 25 yards!

I headed out for the bench match in Bloomsdale this weekend. I was out of patches, so I stopped by Dunn's to get some on the way. They only had one kind, so I grabbed a package and headed for the shoot. When I got there, the patches are the thinnest I have ever seen. I am guessing .005. I could thumb start a 495 ball if that tells you how thin they are. A smart man would have borrowed some patches. I decided to try them with some lubed shotgun wadding under them to protect the thin patch. I also cut my powder down to whatever is as low as my measure will go. I think that is 60 grains or about that. I fired my first shot, and it was a little low out of the clean barrel. The second and third were touching a little above the first out of the fouled barrel, so I thought things were going to work out. That was the end of the sighters, and time for the match shots. Well, it did not go well. When the fifth shot almost missed the board after feeling like my best shot of the day, I finally broke down and borrowed some patches. Naturally, the rest of my shots hit no where near where they had been hitting before! I was so disgusted that I did not even hang around to BS after I shot.
There was gentleman there with some serious chunk gun type guns this year. I guessed the barrel on the one to be better than 1.5 across the flats and about 28 pounds. The owner said 26 something. I saw someone using a clamp on cant block on the barrel.
It was pretty cold, so the numbers were way down this year. Usually twice that many shooters or better. I still had a good time and I took my brother in law with me to get his feet wet.
If nothing else, the BIL will think out shooting me will be easy next year! Anyone else here attend the shoot? If so, I hope you did better than I did!

 

[J.D.]

I have only attended a couple of reenactments in the last couple of years, so I have been out of the loop on when and where many of these shoots occur.

Is this the same over the log shoot that took place behind a tavern in Perryville years ago?

AS to buying patches on the way to the shoot, at least you didn't run off and leave the pouch and horn on the table.

I once drove an extra 30 minutes, each way, to retrieve the horn and pouch. :redface:

Look on the bright side, you got out of the house, got some fresh air, and had the opportunity to burn some powder. And apparently, no one shot themselves in the foot so there were no injuries and no blood. All in all, that sounds like a decent day to me. :grin:
J.D.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

I did sort of the same kind of thing once. Now I leave "back-up" stuff in the trunk. I have what I refer to as a "grandpop mobile", a Mercury Grand Marquis. The trunk's big enough to hide bodies in! :rotf:

Better luck next time out and don't let it get you down...make the BIL clean your gun since he distracted you :shocked2: . At least you got to make some smoke!

All the best, Dave

 

[Runner]

It may be the same match, but it is Bloomsdale behind the Dew Drop Inn. 55 to 00 over to 61 and you are four miles north. 55 to Y is right there in town I think. I am bad at knowing how to get places, but not knowing the names of the roads and such to tell others! It was a good day! I just did not shoot very well.

 

[shortstring]

I've been hearing about this shoot for years. Sounds like a fine shoot if ever one was had. Wish I lived a bit closer & could make the thing. I mean an X center match held a beer-garden. Just can't get no better than that.

 

[J.D.]

I, too, have heard about this match for years, but have not made the contact with the hosts, and it's practically in my back yard.

It may be the same group hosting the match, but
the location may have moved. I think that old bar in Perryville closed several years ago...probably more than several years ago.

Is this a benchrest shoot, or over the log, and apparently at a range of 25 yards?

I have never shot an over the log match, and would like to try it sometime, but don't have a suitable gun. I would have to rely on the old flint gun and probably wouldn't perform all that well against those folks shooting the bench rifles.

It might be fun to try, though.
J.D.

 

[Runner]

It was my first shoot I ever shot at.

Three sighters. Shooting sitting sideways on a picnic bench using a two by stack and a couple of sand bags on the table. Back of the gun is controled by the shooter. Shaders, vision correction devices like apertures are used by some. 6 shots to hit an X. You spend a large part of the day waiting to shoot or waiting to hang your partners target. Lots of talk and visiting. Many of us see each other there for the first time of the year. Jerry L. and Jim C. are who I am usually with if I am with anyone. I am hard to miss. I look like I just crawled out of the hills, and I might be hungry!

 

[J.D.]

It was my first shoot I ever shot at.

Three sighters. Shooting sitting sideways on a picnic bench using a two by stack and a couple of sand bags on the table. Back of the gun is controled by the shooter. Shaders, vision correction devices like apertures are used by some. 6 shots to hit an X. You spend a large part of the day waiting to shoot or waiting to hang your partners target. Lots of talk and visiting. Many of us see each other there for the first time of the year. Jerry L. and Jim C. are who I am usually with if I am with anyone. I am hard to miss. I look like I just crawled out of the hills, and I might be hungry!

That sounds like a good shoot. Though I'm somewhat of a loner, I do enjoy the company of like minded people, and at my age, I'm in no big hurry to get anything done, I would probably enjoy attending.

IT's amazing to think back to the first shoot I attended. That was a long time ago. Longer than I care to remember.

I began shooting black powder in the late 60's and didn't know anyone else was interested in these old guns. I kept hearing about a BP club in the Hillsboro area, but didn't know how to make contact.

I finally joined the Bullseye club in the early 70's and make a few contacts there. I later joined the Arnold gun club and in the early 80's and ran the BP range and organized the annual rendezvous for several years.

I am now more interested in reenacting, and have memberships in a coupla small national organizations that require a fairly high level of authenticity. Unlike you, my primary problem with authenticity is the fact that no ordinary working man of the 18th century is as well fed as I am. In other words, I'm too fat for an authentic frontiersman. :rotf:

Our paths have probably crossed without our knowledge, and will probably cross again.

Good luck and good shooting.
Thanks again.
J.D.

 

[Runner]

I think being a loner pretty much goes with the interest/drive that keeps all of us involved. I went to a friend's father's funeral off K a couple of weeks back. When people were making comments about the man, a co-worker said something that I hope someone says at my funeral too. He said he and another co-worker that did not like the deceased much were talking about him once. The guy that fought with him all the time said this. "He believes some of the most wrong headed ideas I ever heard, but he lives by what he believes" I think that applies to quite a few of the folks I have met thru this hobby!
I am not really into the exact history details like many here. I am more into the skills involved. At least for today. Soon I will be carrying a gun I made, a knife I made, and a coat I made.
Be careful how you talk about fat guys now! I resemble that group a little bit myself! You have a good day! I am already dragging gear out to go try to smoke a turkey.

 

[J.D.]

He said he and another co-worker that did not like the deceased much were talking about him once. The guy that fought with him all the time said this. "He believes some of the most wrong headed ideas I ever heard, but he lives by what he believes" I think that applies to quite a few of the folks I have met thru this hobby! .

I'm sorry to hear about your friends father. It's difficult to lose a family member, and especially one's parents.

I'll keep him in my prayers


AS you probably have observed, the same could be said for me. At least the worng headed part. I prefer to think I have it figured out and everyone else is wrong. :bull:

I am not really into the exact history details like many here. I am more into the skills involved. At least for today. Soon I will be carrying a gun I made, a knife I made, and a coat I made.

That's fine with me. Everyone has different tastes. I like the history, but I also like the skills. I do a little blacksmithing and have made quite a few knives and nearly anthing else I can think of. Nearly all of my clothing, shooting equipment, and camp gear are home made. It ain't fancy, but it does the job and is as historically correct as I can get it.

Be careful how you talk about fat guys now! I resemble that group a little bit myself! You have a good day! I am already dragging gear out to go try to smoke a turkey.

Since I'm as fat as anyone, I figure I can talk about us all I want. :haha:

Good luck with the turkey.
J.D.