How often and where do you shoot?

[loophole]

I'm curious as to how muzzleloading guns and rifles are used. How many folks shoot at a ML club, and how many at a club or range which allows modern guns. Does any one hold small, weekend rendezvous or go into the woods with friends to shoot under primitive conditions? I haven't been to an NMLRA rendezvous in years--quit going because the didn't have a hat full of shooting at most of them--what's the storey today? Are there any reenactments which allow shooting?

 

[walruskid1]

since i'm unemployed at the moment, i shoot twice a week at a gun club. i'm usually the only guy shooting a smokepole. why does that thing have the hammer on the wrong side? how does the cap stay on? are they accurate? then i shoot a 1 hole group at 50 and baffle them.

 

[pondoro]

I run a 4-H club and go shooting every week! But the kids do most of the shooting. I go with "grown-up" kids about once a month, and when I go I shoot black powder on ~ 50% of the trips.

At my club we have a muzzleloading shoot once a month. I am not a competitor but I have helped run the ML shoots. We get 20-30 people, some dressed 20th century, some dressed "period." None of them dress 21st century!!!

My club allows cartridge guns and muzzleloaders. In order of popularity I would say the members are into pistols, old military rifles, sighting in hunting rifles, muzzleloaders, and finally shotguns.

 

[roundball]

Except during hunting season, I shoot Flintlocks every weekend year round...just a small country place that is 99% action pistol matches, but there is a pole shed off to the side with a bench and a 300yd strip for sighting in the occasional rifle...I've never seen anybody else with a muzzleloader, much less a Flintlock.

I get there right after first light on Saturday mornings, shoot a 40-50 shot range session at a 50yd steel hanger or coke cans and am usually packing up by the time anybody else shows up.

And in spite of deer hunting being my life long love, I'll say for the first time publicly that I'll be glad when deer season is over so I can get back to shooting Flintlocks!!
:grin:

 

[WV MZL HUNTER]

I shoot up around 5 cans of powder a year.
Our club has around 800 members.
A few of them are retired and go to the range every day. Some day I will be with them.
Most black powder shooters cannot shoot enough.
We do not get tired of this sport.

good shooting!

 

[Stony]

My club has a black powder range which is restricted to muzzleloading, pre-1894 weapons using black powder, .22 rimfire, shotguns (just before and during the deer season) and cowboy action guns. I go either on Saturday or Sunday every week and I do duty 6 times a year as a range officer. Last Sunday there were 6 of us with flintlocks, 2 with percussions and the rest with shotguns. There is a "modern" rifle & pistol range at the club as well but we are very laid back on the black powder range. Generally we have a cease fire only when someone wants to change or reset their target. We have a number of Civil War re-enactors with their carbines and such. We have a cowboy match the second sunday of the month 8 months out of the year and several CW skirmishs as well. In this area (Northern Illinois/Southern Wisconsin) there use to be a rendvous every weekend during the late spring to early fall but now it seems to be once a month.

 

[CrackStock]

In Louisiana, I shot at least monthly at our club which used a state owned range. I also assisted a YHEC team and shot with them pretty often as well. I hunted during the deer rabbit and squirrel seasons and shot a couple during the week.

Now, there are fewer opportunities in SC, so I shoot a lot less, but I did shoot today!

I applied for a position in Tennessee near a great ML shooting group, so... Who knows?

CS

 

[AZ-Robert]

I get out to shoot about three times a month.

Once is the monthly gathering of the local ML club. A primitive spot on public land near the middle of nowhere (Sonoita, for the locals). Spend about a half-day in informal competition at ranges between 50 yards and 100 yards.

The rest of the time I go to the county range just to fiddle with loads or try to improve my offhand shooting. I usually go in the mid-morning on a weekday when I know it won't be crowded. Range is open to the public -- sometimes I'll be the only one there; sometimes I'll have the SKS commando right beside; and sometimes there might even be another ML there.

But shooting is something I make time for, not something I use to fill my time. I won't let too much time go by between range sessions.

 

[Slamfire]

I don't have a club for shootin' at, but I shoot whenever the mood stikes me, my range is about 100 yards from the house. Bein' as how it is down in a hollar, its a lot farther to get to the house than to the range. :youcrazy:

 

[Cruzatte]

I try to get out to our club once a month for the whole week end. Our shoots are on the third Sunday of each month. Sometimes I miss a monthly shoot because of work related travel

I'd like to get out more often myself, say once a week.

Cruzatte

 

[hornetk4]

I'd like to go out and shoot every day , but I just don't get around to it like I want to . There is always some other chore that is over due to be done , when I do get out to shoot my ML or centerfires all I have to do is take a walk outside in the yard as I live on 30 acres and I am surounded by hundreds of acres on three sides . The only down side is it's desert land so if your not careful you can thin out the critters if you shoot too often .Basicaly we have ground squirrels rabbits and quail I like to chase the quail around with my 12 gage ml shotgun but what I realy want to get is a 36 cal flinter to chase the squirrels .

 

[chadh1]

When I get the chance to shoot, I either shoot at a friends farm or at the ML club in Beloit with my dad. I shoot a .54 cal with .535 ball and a .15 patch. Traditions deerhunter kit. Shoots with the shotgroup tight at 100 yrds.

 

[MikeChapin]

I shoot about once a week at the range here in town depending upon the weather. I also shoot at our club's monthly shoot. That range is about 30 miles away at the foot of the Big Horns.

When I shoot at the town range there are mostly center fire shooters there. Some are curious and most show a lot of curtisy. It's a small town with a big range so it is rarely crowded and then only the week before hunting season.

 

[biliff]

I shoot at a club that has separate ranges for BP, centerfire, rimfire, pistol, action and shotgun shooters (its a large club, 2000+ members).
If it's not hunting season, I shoot once a week at the BP range then move over to the skeet range. If it's hunting season, then the only shooting I'm doing is at fur or feathers.

 

[more powder]

Well i shoot about 3 or 4 times a wk ecept this time of year hunt about everday till i get elk.No clubs around here but have shooting range sat up in the hills with targets out to 800yds 6miles from house.

 

[aragorn]

About once a week when I can, on a weekday afternoon. All of my BP shooting has been on our 100 acre farm, on an 80 yd range I cleared in our back woods. Usually about 20 rounds each time, depending how cold it is.

 

[guncobbler]

I shoot at an IWLA range in Fairfax, VA. We are in a built up community so our berm is 75 feet high and we have baffles to keep the stray shot from going over the berm. Nice safe range with good range officers volunteering 7 days a week. We have an active ML group that has the range to itself on Sunday mornings. I get out about once a month but would get out more often if it were closer. Looking forward to owning some land where I can shoot at my pace. GC

 

[Jon in MI]

Our club has a primitive range that we have an Old Farts shoot every wednesday morning on. We cook and shoot from 9 to about 2 and have a great time. We keep it mostly primitive and very casual.

Jon

 

[PeterBjoern]

I'm curious as to how muzzleloading guns and rifles are used. How many folks shoot at a ML club, and how many at a club or range which allows modern guns.

My BP club has pretty good range facilities at a larger range complex which also has ranges and facilities for modern rifles and pistols.

Our BP club has a range strictly reserved for BP shooting so we have it to ourselves available for shooting in the summertime Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Sat and Sun and in the wintertime Wed, Thu, Sat and Sun.
So there's plenty of available shooting time at the range.

I normally try to go shooting 3-4 times a month on Saturdays or Sundays.

We have our clubhouse at the range decorated as a western saloon and I sometimes go there even if I don't intend to shoot, just to have a cup of coffee and a talk with the guys. It's only a 15 minute drive from where I live.

Here dinner is being served outside our salooon clubhouse :

 

[JCW]

I generally shoot at a private range that is open to the public for a $7.00 fee. It is open to all firearms except shotguns. I try to get out there two or three times a month. I also have a couple of spots in the NF that I go to, weather permitting. I do have an air gun range set up in my garage that gets used four or five times a week. Practise is practise.