Canute Rex
40 Cal.
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2012
- Messages
- 397
- Reaction score
- 303
About a month ago I picked up a 54 cal smoothbore matchlock from Leonard Day in Westhampton Mass. What a shooter! A friend of mine has one of his 62 cal matchlocks, but I found that to be a little light in the muzzle, so I opted for one gauge down. It hangs on target beautifully.
Went to that friend's house right from Mr. Day's and put my first four shots in a 3" circle at 25 yards offhand. Right out of the box, no load development. (70 gr 3F, .430 ball, .010" patch) That never happens. In fact, that's what my friend said when the fourth shot went home. Then he tried it and nicked the 3" circle at 9 o'clock.
Last Sunday I went to a shoot up in northern VT (Derby Line - nice folks up there) and competed with it. I hit all the novelty targets, including shooting a marble out of a cardboard square and splitting the ball on an axe. I did less well on the paper targets. I have to work on keeping a consistent sight picture. I started out strong and then began to fall apart.
Still, as long as I did my job the gun did its job.
Anyway, I won the smoothbore category. A bunch of people wanted to try out the matchlock afterward and I obliged them. A number of them were able to hit a turkey head target at 25 yards, first try. I'm trying to recruit more people into the ranks of the hemp burners.
Kudos to Leonard Day for making a matchlock that shoots like a laser beam. Nice looking and a comfortable shooter, too.
Went to that friend's house right from Mr. Day's and put my first four shots in a 3" circle at 25 yards offhand. Right out of the box, no load development. (70 gr 3F, .430 ball, .010" patch) That never happens. In fact, that's what my friend said when the fourth shot went home. Then he tried it and nicked the 3" circle at 9 o'clock.
Last Sunday I went to a shoot up in northern VT (Derby Line - nice folks up there) and competed with it. I hit all the novelty targets, including shooting a marble out of a cardboard square and splitting the ball on an axe. I did less well on the paper targets. I have to work on keeping a consistent sight picture. I started out strong and then began to fall apart.
Still, as long as I did my job the gun did its job.Anyway, I won the smoothbore category. A bunch of people wanted to try out the matchlock afterward and I obliged them. A number of them were able to hit a turkey head target at 25 yards, first try. I'm trying to recruit more people into the ranks of the hemp burners.
Kudos to Leonard Day for making a matchlock that shoots like a laser beam. Nice looking and a comfortable shooter, too.
It's really great to get an accurate gun. Most people have no idea how accurate a smoothbore matchlock can be. :shocked2: A quality builder can make the difference, but it sounds like you're a good shooter, too. It's harder to shoot with that smoke in your eyes, but there just ain't nothing like a hemp burner. Now if Arkansas' distinguished leadership would allow matchlocks for hunting, there would be more dead critters and a few more happy campers. Keep smoking that Hemp!(the right way, ha!) Tree. :thumbsup:
