Shoot in’ both?

[tenngun]

I got my first hand gun at about sixteen.
I shoot them only to keep self defense skills up, Ie I don’t shoot them for fun.
Shot rifle guns for years last twenty or so mostly smoothbores.
How many folks out there are jacks of all trades and how many are drawn to just one type of shooting

 

[SDSmlf]

Definitely in the ‘jacks of all trades’ camp here. Shoot and hunt traditional muzzleloaders, rifled and smooth bore, flint and percussion; shoot cap and ball plus single shot handguns. Also competitively target shoot and hunt with a variety of firearms that we don’t discuss here, plus some ‘stick and string’ options such as the longbow, compound bow and crossbow.

And just as a side note, usually hunt in three states (not so sure this year), and have some locations that I only use a muzzleloader during the ‘regular’ gun season, while only using archery type weapons around the house no matter the season, for the challenge and wanting to remain stealthy. I like options.

 

[Sidney Smith]

My main interest with regard to firearms is rifles. In whatever configuration, I've always neen drawn to rifles and enjoy shooting them the most.

I have a few handguns( the unmentionable variety), mainly for self defense, but I do enjoy shooting them occasionally to keep my skill level up.

I've got several shotguns, from a smoothbore muzzleloader to again, unmentionables. In all honesty, if I didnt hunt, I probably would not even own a shotgun. They are my least favorite firearm.

 

[nhmoose]

I like anything that shoots. I have shot competition pistol, high power rifle. I shot trap and skeet for years. I started BP with 2 kits from CVA a pistol and a caplock 45. The pistol I have no idea where it went but the rifle is with a grand nephew who has taken two deer with it.

My twin nephews both shot deer with it. One Nephew went into the gun business and through his boss started BP competition shooting with him. That got all the rest of us involved.

I shot the light bench and x-sticks as my favorite. Here in New England there was shoots every weekend from may first till October 15th or so. The matches at different clubs was organized by the 1st Congress of New England and the NMLRA sanctioned Territorial shoots

Then there was the Fort Ticonderoga shoots that was our holy grail shoots. 3 long weekends a year. [Top competition east of Friendship] Then there was what we considered our home range The Barrington Anniversary Shoot or what was call Eddie Beals big Deal. I miss Ed and Maggie terribly.

All during these years I still shot trap and skeet weekly. When my son was 12 he got interested in Emma Gee's after a day visiting the Maine Hiram Maxim shoot. Got us involved in NFA. We still shoot NFA but that is not for here.

So yea some of us shoot everything and I see no problem with that. I still shoot daily on my own range. Flintlocks are my favorite just because they actually work and settled this country of ours. Not Winchester.

 

[Brokennock]

I do, or have, shot most everything. Started shooting .22 pistols and rifles around age 5. Shotguns, skeet shooting to get ready for bird hunting, around 15 or 16, archery a little before that, centerfire pistols around 12 or so. Didn't start centerfire rifle until around 18, no need for it here until then. Muzzleloader stuff didn't come into my life until I was in my 20s.
I don't shoot skeet anymore, I'm horrible at it, it used to be fun anyway, the fun factor is gone for various reasons. Don't shoot centerfire rifle much anymore, just enough to keep familiar, again no real need. I still run some practical pistol training, mostly 1 on 1. I still compete in IDPA but have limited it to just local stuff, no more regional, state or national matches in a few years. I do run my local IDPA club and help out at a few others nearby.
My interests are leaning more and more toward my flintlocks and quiet time spent in the woods with them.

Some might say I was kind of a jack of all trades, but am now digressing.

 

[mushka]

I shoot everything from a BB gun to .50BMG, with a few emma Gees thrown in. Been shooting since the mid 50's. Am a Distinguished rifleman since 88. Handguns, rifles, shotguns, plus bows & arrows, crossbow, slingshots, atlatl's. These things have kept me sane in a sometimes crazy world. MZ guns are relatively new for me but I love them. I am slowing down quite a bit due to age and infirmaties but I shoot something at least once a week.

 

[hanshi]

I've shot more guns/calibers that I could ever count. I like handguns a lot, taught shooting at the police academy way back. But basically I'm a rifleman. And the rifles I shoot are almost exclusively flintlocks - an occasional percussion thrown in on occasion. That's about it for me. I'm drawn to flintlock longrifles and rely on them.

 

[Col. Batguano]

For myself, I shoot that which challenges me the most, and I can achieve some positive results with as well as measure improvement. For me that's offhand rifle at paper. Usually flint LR's in small caliber. My hands are too shaky to shoot pistol worth a darn. Shotgun gets boring.

For the most fun though it's ML'ing artillery. Watching a concrete filled beer can in flight for 4-5 seconds before it splashes down is too fun! I haven't tried making fused shells (1/4 oz of exploding charge is the legal max) but that would just add to the fun.

 

[Leadball loader]

My shooting has been mainly learning the flintlock smoothbore for going on three years. The 20ga flintlock has been the most challenging firearm I have shot.
I started with U Ms as a teen and graduated to cap and ball revolvers and rifle musket then T C cap and flint rb rifles. Now except for cowboy action with period guns my focus is flintlocks. It is the most enjoyable kind of shooting you can experience at a slow relaxing pace! The loading procedure of my smoothbore is the easiest but accuracy has been the hardest!!
LBL

 

[RoaringBull]

If a projectile comes out of the muzzle, I'm game for it! Everything from .17HMR for prairie dogs one time to .50BMG. Short range or long. The long is getting more difficult now with the eyes, but I still love it. Ignition or propellant doesn't matter either. Just love to shoot.

 

[Rodd Boyer]

I'm a "jack of all trades" and master of none!!!! But I hold my own. I've shot in military competitions since the late 80s (high power rifle) and more recently combat matches utilizing both rifle and pistol. I've been awarded EIC (excellence in competition) points for both rifle and pistol. Haven't competed in that since 2017 , I can't keep up with the youngsters in the military anymore.... so i coach them. I'm just now getting into BP matches in my area. Alot more laid back and you don't have to carry all the military gear!
I'm now mainly interested in flintlock rifles and Colt open top, cap and ball pistols.
9

 

[Grumpa]

I have loved guns and shooting, all my life. Earliest were Winchester gallery guns - when I was a kid, and you could still go to an amusement park and shoot real .22s. I have shotguns, rifles, pistols ( my favorites), flintlocks and cap & ball revolvers. I love them all.

Fired my first flinter in 1975, and was hooked. I love to hunt deer with a flintlock, but sometimes I'll choose my 12 gauge riot gun, or one of my pistols, or a lever gun. Just whatever I feel like using that day.

Two years ago, I had the opportunity to spend an afternoon shooting full autos - 1928 and M1 Thompsons, Sterling, Sten and Uzi SMGs, a 1918 Browning .30 caliber machinegun, and the big .50, "Ma Deuce"...they had to drag me off the Range. A day to remember!

Among others, I have met Bill Jordan, Charles Askins, Jeff Cooper, Jim Cirillo....My only disappointment is that I never got to meet my mentor, Elmer Keith.

But life is good. I am re-familiarizing my Wife with pistol shooting, and teaching my son-in-law to shoot. And getting out myself. Hunting season will soon be here....

Richard/Grumpa

 

[tnlonghunter]

Broken down by percentage I shoot exponentially more rifle and archery than anything else. Been that way my whole life. Flintlocks are my favorite rifles, but I like anything developed in the U.S. and Britain prior to the 20th century. I've gor a cap and ball pistol and some later 19th century cowboy irons. I've always enjoyed shotgun as a diversion from rifles but not enough to get into smooth bore ML's. I like shooting pistols, but not nearly enough to be a regular thing.

Nearly all my firearm hunting since I became an adult has been with a flintlock. Partly, that was due to living in states that are shotgun or ML only for deer hunting, so it made more sense to me to use the flinter.

 

[toot]

thanks for sharing.

 

[Art Caputo]

For over five decades I have run the “full” gamut of firearms, shooting sports and hunting. Having a career that involved excessive time demands and travel, to gain proficiency, I would generally concentrate on one or two activities for a given period. For the last 20 years or so I have narrowed these down to a few that I most enjoyed, and focused on mastering them. Upland bird hunting, long range precision rifle(unmentionables) competition/Western-NA hunting, and hunting my favorite quarry, the Northeastern whitetail(where I reside) with traditional bow and muzzleloader......the latter, continuing to be a major passion since my youth. Regardless of the type of endeavor or whether the particular competition or hunting scenario called for it, I have always found enjoyment in maximizing my skill level to achieve the greatest degree of accuracy/proficiency possible(or at least tried).

 

[Juice Jaws]

Shot everything and shot at everything up to a 8 inch. self propelled howitzer . Now mostly just my smooth-bore and a .36 navy.

 

[JoJoLesh]

I am new to BP so I still shoot my other guns, but I find more and more that I am less likely to pack unmentionable guns for range days or to unpack them from the car.

Of course that goes away as my reserve of Black Powder goes down, but I just got a shipment

Also, I always do some work with my carry guns because I want to stay proficient with them.