OK, OK!!! I am going to air my ignorance......

[Robbo]

Gentlemen

Pardon my ignorance, but if I don's ask, I may never know. But what the heck is a "chunk gun".

Never heard it here in the antipodes ... :hatsoff:

 

[ChrisPer]

Me either but look what I found after reading a bunch of threads the Search feature threw up.

Thread with chunk gun rules

 

[Many Klatch]

Chunk gunning is a part of muzzleloading. The guns are used laying down with the muzzle laying on a chunk of wood (hence the name). Over time the guns have evolved to be more competitive. Most of them weigh less than 15 pounds. They are allowed to have full length shaders over the sights, so you will see these guns with removable tin covers running from the front sight to the back sight so that the sun does not affect how you see the sights and the target.

The target is always shot at 62 yards (why? nobody knows). The target is a small black square with a fine line X printed on it. You are allowed to use a "sighter" when shooting at this target.

Sighters are used like this: Put the sighter on the backboard, shoot a shot at the sighter. Take the sighter off the backboard and put the bullet hole on the sighter over the X in the target. Shoot through the same hole. At least that is the theory. Recently, one shooter here in Indiana, put 10 rounds into a target and had a string measure of 2.75 inches. That meant that none of his shots were more than 1/4" from the center of the X.

In chunk gunning a match is one shot. The closest to the center of the X wins. I have seen matches where .001" separated 1st from 2nd place.

The chunk guns can be either flint or percussion.

You can play this game with your own off hand rifle. Just set up your targets at 62 yards, print up some X's and learn to shoot with a spotter. Instead of printing X's, the original targets were pieces of wood, charred over a fire with an X cut into the face with a knife.

Many Klatch

 

I think the 62 yds comes from the old time shoots, where rifles were fired offhand at 30 yds and over a rest at 60 yds--where 62 exactly came from I ain't sure--maybe someone's stride pacing off "60"? But the 30 and 60 go way back--if I remember right there are late 18th cent citations of those distances...

 

[bwhoffman]

where I shoot, the 75 yard aggregate is actually 63 yards. Ive measured it. dont know why but thats how it is.

 

So, -- kind of like Bench Rest ML? :winking:

 

[J.D.]

Those ranges may have had their roots on the old measure of rods. 16 1/2 feet comprise a rod;

16 1/2 feet X 45 rods = 742.5 feet = 61.875 yards

I remember reading Ned Roberts talking about shooting 40 and 60 rods, so that makes sense to me. :hmm:

 

[Wehrmacht]

J.D., you have hit the nail directly on the head! It's all tied in to the old Gunthers Chain of 66 feet which surveyors used here in the Colonies/States until recent times! A chain of 66 feet is four rods of 16.5 feet, and a chunkgun range is,in theory, 11 rods or 60.5 yards and the half yard is dropped for convenience I guess. The chunkgun matches that I fire in are all 60 yards. Maybe I can get some photos posted of the last Alvin York Memorial Match which went down the last of March.

Old ways die hard in some cases,and the 66 foot chain is still used by foresters of my generation for all land measurements and timber cruising. All of my field maps are drawn in chains,either 1"=10 chains, or some increment of 10 chains, but in recent years I've also put a scale in feet on my maps.Some people simply can't appreciate the historical importance of the old ways :haha:

 

[spottedpony]

Those ranges may have had their roots on the old measure of rods. 16 1/2 feet comprise a rod;

16 1/2 feet X 45 rods = 742.5 feet = 61.875 yards

I remember reading Ned Roberts talking about shooting 40 and 60 rods, so that makes sense to me. :hmm:

is this new math? :rotf: according to my calculator 742.5 feet = 247.5 yards
62 yards should figure out to 3.75 (and change) rods

 

[Robbo]

Thanks Guys.

Chunk gun shooting sounds like a lot of fun. Might give it a go. Don't know about the shader though :winking:

Thanks for the information and sorry about the language indiscretion the "h-e - double hocky sticks" thingo above. That word would not raise an eyebrow in the best of company here, but I don't wish to offend.

Best Wishes

Robbo

 

[Wehrmacht]

Robbo,

Here's a suggestion. Punch in:
[url] http://www.fentressco.com/shoot.html[/url]

and you can see some photos taken at the Alvin York Memorial Match this past March. There is a good photo of a flintlock chunkgun with shaders that looks just like my rifle and many more that you would see on the line.

Why not come over next March and join us at the York Shoot :hmm:

 

[Robbo]

der Forster

I might well do that. The guns look awesome. Matter of fact, one looks a lot like a gun a saw at the museum in Gettysburg. It was a percussion gun of about 45 cal I think but the barrel was completely round, and of over 2" in diameter and about 30"+ long. It had what I assumed was an early telescopic sight on it - as it ran the full length of the barrel, but it might well have been a shader, come to think of it.

This particular gun would have to have weighed over 20lbs. the barrel was massive. Apparently the confederated used it to great effect from the top of Little Round top (I think), picking off Union gunners at long range (or was it the other way round). Either way, those guys could shoot ....

Thanks for the link

Robbo

 

[Zonie]

So, -- kind of like Bench Rest ML? :winking:

Will, not really.
Most bench rest shooters are sitting on their rears.
With Chunk Gun shooting (as I understand it) your laying on your stomach (often shooting over a log).

I don't know why, but "blue denim bib overalls" seem to be the standard wearing apparel.

zonie

 

[Many Klatch]

Zonie, chunk gunning was real popular during the Depression. A lot of the shooters dress up like the shooters in the old photographs. The dress standard is bib overalls, dress white shirt, tie and felt fedora hat with workboots.

The fun thing about chunk gunning is that a match is only one shot long. So most of the time is spent BSing with friends. Most shooters bet quarters on who in their group has the best shot. You don't care if you don't win as long as your pile of quarters keeps getting bigger and your friends piles keep getting smaller.

Many Klatch

 

[trent/OH]

Overalls are popular because every shot requires getting down on the ground to shoot, and getting back up again. Overalls prevent having to see too much "plumber's crack".

 

[Wehrmacht]

I've seen several old photos that Andy York,Sgt. York's youngest son has, and overalls were the uniform of the day! EXCEPT....Sgt York, in the photos that I've seen, always wore a suit, coat and tie to the matches! The community doctor and another well educated man did also.

I always dress just exactly like my Grandfather who reared me dressed when we went to town on Saturdays. Bib overalls,white shirt buttoned at the neck,Fedora hat,white socks rolled down to the tops of my brogans! Only thing different is my Grandad always had a little .32cal revolver in his left rear overall pocket, and I don't carry :haha:.

A chunkgun match is scored by what's called a "string measure". Ten rounds are fired at the target which has an X in the center. The distance from the X to the center of the hole caused by the ball is measured and all 10 are added togather giving a total distance in inches.The lowest string measure wins,and at a typical chunkgun match the winning string measure will usually be around 4 to 5 inches which indicates that no round struck more than a half inch or so from the X! Not bad shooting at 60 yards :applause:

 

[Slamfire]

Apparently the confederated used it to great effect from the top of Little Round top (I think), picking off Union gunners at long range (or was it the other way round). Either way, those guys could shoot ....

Thanks for the link

Robbo

For yore better understanding of the battle, Joshua Chaimberlain's 30th Maine Regiment held Little Round Top against several assaults on the second day of the battle. Had they failed, the Army of Northern Virginia, may well have won the battle. On the third day the 30th Maine was moved, to a quiet area, for a rest. Most of the artillery barrage before Pickett's Charge landed in that "quiet area", just after they arrived. :barf:
The Confederate sharp shooters fired from Big Round Top and Devil's Den.
:winking:

 

[Robbo]

Thank you for the correction. I know the battle of little round top was one of those small things that have BIG outcomes.

The rifle was as I recall it used by the condfederate sharpshooters - allegedly to very great effect. Must have been from Big Round top as you say. It was your war after all, not mine.

Best Wishes

Robbo :v

 

[J.D.]

is this new math? :rotf: according to my calculator 742.5 feet = 247.5 yards
62 yards should figure out to 3.75 (and change) rods

Yeah, can you tell that I barely got a "C" in college math? :rotf:

I don't know how I got those figures, but they looked right at the time. I must have forgot to take my meds...or took too many. :blah: :rotf:

Sorry 'bout that,
J.D.

 

[BLAHMAN]

So, -- kind of like Bench Rest ML? :winking:

........

.......I don't know why, but "blue denim bib overalls" seem to be the standard wearing apparel.

zonie

It's in the Rule Book: page 53, 4th paragraph, section "B"...... :haha: