long range shooting with m/l

[ResearchPress]

Here in the UK we have been shooting Enfield rifles and Match Rifles at long range for many years. The Muzzle Loaders Association of Great Britain holds National Rifle Championship matches for Enfields at 200, 300, 500 and 600 yards, and for match rifles at 200, 300, 500, 600, 900 and 1000 yards.

In addition the Long Range Rifles Branch of the MLAGB holds other matches, including the Asquith Cup which is an aggregate match for Enfields firing 15 shots at each distance, 600 and 800 yards. Plus the Metford Trophy, another aggregate match of 15 shots at each distance, 1000, 1100 & 1200 yards for match rifle.

This year (September) the 7th MLAIC World Long Range Championships will be held at Camp Butner, North Carolina. There will be matches fired at 300, 500, 600, 900 and 1000 yards. I'll be there with the British Team.

David

 

[paulab]

wow! i got way more responses than i had hoped for! i know that long range appeals to a minority of m/l shooters but once you try it watch out! i bought a pedersoli gibbs repro. a couple of years ago and love shooting it. i decided to build the rigby kit offered by pecatonica for my hunting gun. happy with that too although neither have a provision for a ramrod. you have to carry one seperately. not a big deal at a shooting match or if you hunt from a ground blind.[took a nice 8 point at 23 yds.] the real problem with mid or long range shooting is finding a place to do it. most sportsmens clubs usually have only a 100 yd. range. if you check around for clubs that shoot service rifle or h.p. silhouette in your area, they might go all the way out to 600 yds. most of the 1000 yd. ranges in this country [with some exceptions ] are military ranges that allow certain civilian organizations to use the range for matches only. check with your state rifle and pistol assn. for ranges near you. if any of you want to buy or build a l.r. rifle remember....IT HAS TO HAVE A FAST TWIST BARREL to stabilize those big bullets. .45 cal 1:18 twist is typical. you also MUST use a vernier style tang sight so you can get enough elevation for the longer distances. i know that it's kind of tough to leave your "comfort zone" and jump into another discipline that you know absolutely nothing about, but WHAT THE HECK! the longest journey starts with the first step.

 

[faw3]

If its the Ned Roberts The Muzzle Loading Caplock Rifle you GOT to read that one! Fred :hatsoff:

 

[faw3]

If you'll look back as far as this goes back now days you could find some real good things on them ( Ive been off a few months to health) IF we could get Davy our picture man and knows where to find it all for us the last 5 years or so maybe hell drag up Dons 50 something pounder bench rifle, we do some of that here in Tex. I fell in love with the first pic I saw of the 45 cal Lee Heister bench flintlock, full stock 90% curl stock 2 to 2 1/2" barrel and it is art and shoots even better. I shoot a 451 for 1000 yds, 50 cal for 1 and 220 ( 40 rod rifle)yards. Now for hunting if your going out to 200 use a 54 or 58 and scope unless your dan good, I only know 2 people that can snap a deers neck at 200 and he used a CVA 54 Mountain Rifle and a -----aqmount by weight of 4f. " takes more SKILL to do it close than at 100 yds or more.' I wasnt sure what this met Im guessing the good thought ..doing it like a Longhunter, other than that use a big rock if your just sitting in a tree! (sorry to those that sit in stands it ian't hunting to me, I used one of my 41 MLs on ANY hunt I went on except one place in MISS that the law was shotguns in state parks (40 some odd yrs back) Now if your after food for the kids now days I throw out what I wrote, you got to feed those kids. But ya a real good handfull of guys shoot LR on here. They have taken of the state your in (Im sure it was on here when I had to go get cut up some more) You'll find its a real state thing, South LA and Tex, and from what I get to read and states with space I guess, we used to blow and go in the everglades till the law got bad they knew we didnt hurt nothing and picked up before we took off but some people don't want ya haveing fun. ( The law never gave us a ticket or problems)Have fun Fred :hatsoff:

 

[JayDee Flohr]

I built this U/H about a dozen years ago just for something different. It's a .38 cal and comes in right at 25 lbs.
This caliber is too light for real long range work and the furthest I've shot her is 300 yds. and that was before adding the scope.
As others have said, it's hard to find a place to shoot long distances. Sure is fun to shoot on the rare times I take it out.

 

[Vbull]

I've built 3 LR muzzleloaders to date. One was on a T/C Renegade stock with a Green Mountain .45 cal. 1:18 twist barrel. It shot very good all the way to 1000 yards. But, due to its light weight was a real kicker. The bullets were either 520 gr paper patch or 540 gr. grease groove bullets on top of 100 gr of Swiss 1.5 powder.
The latest 2 are built on the H&A underhammer action. Both sporting GM barrels. The stock configuration is different between the 2 rifles. Specific to the competition. One does not have a forend and is made to be used off cross sticks. This is for NRA (U.S.) BP Target rifle competition. The other has a full pistol grip and forend so it can easily be shot with the use of a sling or wrist rest.

Here in Rhode Island, we shoot 3 matches each summer in NRA BP Target Rifle competition. These are midrange matches. 200 and 300 yards prone off cross sticks or 3 position. We don't have 600 yards, so we shoot the 600 yard stage on reduced targets. Both cartridge rifles and muzzleloaders compete together. Frank Monikowski

 

[Idaho Ron]

I shoot out to 300 yards for target shooting a lot. I don't shoot in matches I do shoot against my son for milk shakes and cokes. It is his scoped 243 vs my TC Renegades.
Shooting even out to 300 yards takes time and practice if it were as easy as sproulman thinks there would be a lot more guys doing it.
I have three rifles I use out to 300 yards. Two 50's with 1-28 twist, and a 45 with a 1-18 twist. To go much farther I am going to need a different rear sight. Ron

I don't see where sproulman or anyone else said long range shooting is easy. Sproulman's comment is obviously about the skill it takes to get within 30-40 yards of a deer, rather than just sniping it at 100+.

My point is, it takes a lot of work to get to the point a guy can make long range shots. In fact I am going to say it takes MORE work to get a rifle to shoot well out to 300 yards than it does to get within 30 yards of deer. A lot of guys that shoot that far are just aiming into the sky and seeing if it hits. It takes a LOT of work to make the shots hit consistantly. Ron

 

[ResearchPress]

In fact I am going to say it takes MORE work to get a rifle to shoot well out to 300 yards

.... and that's when the real fun starts! Getting equipment tuned and for optimum performance is the first part. Once the rifle is shooting well and as ranges extend that's when shooter's skills really need to be developed in understanding conditions and how they will affect the flight of the bullet. There's an awful lot of weather that can happen in 1000 yards.

David

 

[PreglerD]

In Denmark there is every year a tin bucket shooting with bp guns at 400 and 600 meters. Some guys use also Hawkens and they are able to hit with PRB at 400 m.

Regards

Kirrmeister

 

[paulab]

greetings....nice job on the underhammer! if you pay attention to the wind, that little .38 should do ok out to 600 yds. heck...i know for a fact that they will knock over a 50 lb. ram at 500 meters [the steel silhouette species]. another type of l.r. shooting that i forgot to mention is the l.r. "gong shoot". these seem to be more popular in the western u.s. probably because they have the distance to do it. after all, if you own a 35,000 acre ranch, 1000+ yds. isn't an issue! some people aren't interested in paper target shooting but give them a chance to ring a gong at long range and they are all smiles! i've shot my l.r. muzzleloader at b.p. ctg. silhouettes out to 500 meters and it's a hoot! for those of you who have access to a 200 yard range and would like to SIMULATE shooting at 600 yards, purchase the mr-52 target. it is scaled down to exactly duplicate shooting at 600 yards. you can shoot from either sitting or prone X-sticks. of course you don't have to deal with the wind and mirage effects like at 600 yards but it is a GREAT way to see what mid-range shooting is like. cheers