I started out in the early 1970's W/ a Getz barreled "C" wt. .50 for target and deer. The plain hard maple stock ran the weight up to an 8+ lb. rifle. The barrel had 7 grooves round bottom rifling around 1turn in 56" . In .50 "C" Wt. , it was good and stiff and would group 3" @ 100 meters all day every day. Last years of competitive shooting were offhand metal silhouettes out to a knock down bear cub @ 200 Yards. Used this rifle until about 1988 when , I quit competitive shooting. This rifle was deadly in the deer woods as you could still hunt and take longer shots W/ good success. Longer shots to me means under 80 yards , but there are so many sizes of deer in the winter woods , and before range finders , I was fortunate to have made a number of kills slightly over 100 yds.. I never wounded a deer at those ranges , and when I didn't hit all were clean misses.
I felt a change was in order , so built a copy of a British American Revolution era military Jager by Durs Egg , copied from one in the Tower of London firearm museum by Kit Ravenshear. It had a 31" .62 cal. Getz barrel and would cut holes at 50 yds. . Good enough for the Pa. late flint season. Killed some deer w/ that one.
Got restless again , and lengthened the barrel to 37' w/ straight 1" .62 . Had longer sight plain , and still lighter weight under 7 lbs. Did some damage to the deer population w/ that rifle. By 2010 , my eyes were so bad , I couldn't see either of the sights , or the target.
I went back to a .50 cal 7/8' , 37" in. length w/a home made tang peep sight. I can again see both sights and the target. Going back to the range after a basic "sight in" and my excitement level is maxed. Have to practice , practice , etc.... oldwood