Trade Rifle Range Report

[Dave Rosenthal]

Took my Lyman trade rifle to the range yesterday. It's a .50 cal caplock. I use 70 grains of 3F and a 370 gr. T/C Maxi-Ball. Just finished shooting a 93-100/2-X score on a standard 100 yard military target, when along comes a guy with an AR-15 clone that shoots 7.62mm NATO. He sets-up his targets, shoots less than 2 mags of ammo (approx. 20 rds. total), gathers his things (including the fancy bench rest mounts) and says "you shoot good" and then leaves! We were both shooting from 100 yds. His targets were "O-K", but nothing to write home about, if you know what I mean. Anything like this ever happen to any of you guys before??

Still puzzled,

Dave

 

[cowpoke1955]

Smokin,
I have see this situation more than once. Muzzle loaders have to take things slower and concentrate. People seem to forget the basics when they have a fancy, hi tech weapon. Hi teck does not replace skill. Spray and pray has nothing over a single, well placed ball! :thumbsup:

 

[renovato]

Actually, I've seen that happen a number of times when I go to the range. Especially with handguns. I love watching a feller with a BP revolver outshoot the spray and pray folks.

It's especially funny to watch someone with a smokepole outshoot the "tacti-cool" guys and their guns with stuff sticking out and hanging off. All the can openers, curb feelers, mudflaps and vertical foregrips in the world do not replace a single, well aimed shot.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

Seen a feller with a new bolt-action 7mm mag shoot all of his expensive ammo just trying to get his scope sighted in, I had blasted my .50 cal at an apple sized target offhand at 50 yds until wasn't much left of it - kinda made me feel a little 'smug' I guess you'd say.

 

[MikeChapin]

I have seen this many times. The scariest are people coming in to sight in their rifles for deer season. I will be shooting 100 yards offhand with round ball and flinter and do better than many of these people with a hi-power and a scope off a bench. Makes me feel sorry for the animals they are chasing.

 

[PreglerD]

A true tale says: " The rubbish starts behind the stock." :rotf: When you know what I mean.
I have made the same expirience especially with hunting "colleges" who thougt ML's are old inaccurate guns, but never had shoot one before.When they see the accuracy of an ML at the range their eyes go up. Another expirience was last week with my police colleges. I took my Deerhunter .50 to the police range where we did some training with our service pistols (SIG Sauer P 225 and Heckler und Koch MP 5, submachine gun). Most of the guys were laughing when they saw the the ML, but then I did three shots at 40 meters free handed, all were within 2'' circle. Seeing that nobody laughed anymore and everyone wants to shoot with the Deerhunter.

:thumbsup:

 

[GreyWhiskers]

When I was about 20 I was shooting my Hawken at the 50 yard part of a range. a guy next to me was shooting a Mini 14. I shot 5 shots and in the same time he shot about 30. When we walked downrange he was amazed that 4 of my shots were touching. His target looked like he was patterning a scattergun. :rotf: GW

 

[flintlockmdj]

I once bought a used T.C. Patriot from Charlie Richie of "Backwoodsman Magazine". The first time I took it to the range there was a group of my friends there shooting there modern handguns at a police sillouete target at 25 yards. The closest shot to the hart was about 4" off so I loaded the Patriot for the first shot and cut a perfect X. No one was more astonished than me, I put it back in the box and into the truck. I woulden't have shot that pistol again that day in front of my friends for anything.

 

[renovato]

Most Mini-14's are known to do that no matter how skilled the shooter, and mine is certainly no exception.

My rifles shoot ok, but most centerfires seem to be more accurate. No big deal at the distances we normally shoot. What amazes me most is the accuracy of black powder pistols and revolvers. Some of them rival high dollar modern handguns.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

Ya guys, I know what you mean. Sometimes the rat-tat-tat-tat-tat of a mini-14 does indeed look like a shotgun pattern :rotf: .

Not to get off of the subject at hand, but in the case of the MP-5, are you using a silencer and sub-sonic rounds in Germany? What about a laser sight?

Folks that don't yet shoot BP, don't have any idea what fun they're missing .

Dave

 

[JCW]

It's all about who's pulling the trigger.

 

[PreglerD]

A full auto MP 5 and silencers are not avaiable for normal shooters in GE. Only police and army are allowed to use them. Special Forces like the GSG 9 use the MP 5 SD, which has a integrated silencer and works with subsonic ammo.

 

[bucktales]

Besides shooting ML's, I also enjoy shooting my old milsurp rifles and handguns. Pretty neat when a 100y.o. battle rifle outshoots an expensive hunting rig with all the bells and whistles.
Same goes with pistols when I shoot my vintage Broomhandle Mauser. I get the strangest looks. :grin:

 

[CrackStock]

My old club traded a weekend per month of running a public range for a place to hold our monthly shoot and meeting. I was a NMLRA instructor, so I pulled a lot of those weekends. I would fire with my MLs during slow times and I saw a lot of people launch a lot of rounds in the general direction of the target after. They would eventually go down range and see my target and the comparison to theirs was often quite favorable to me. When they would see the old smoke pole without fancy optics, they would be even more impressed.

I am not into excusing poor shooting, but one thing I have to say though is that most military style rifles are not made for a high degree of accuracy. They are designed for the average shooter to hit minute of man in a short period of time.

Most of us MLers take the time and effort to load and then want that shot to count. Our MLs are also generally intended to make that one shot count.

Just a thought from when I saw these things regularly.

CS

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

Yeah, I know just what you mean .

And the huge .50 cal. holes in the paper make the .22's look sick :barf: .

It's really nice to know that I'm not the only one who has witnessed shooters that don't know which way the mag goes into the gun!

Dave

 

[spudnut]

We outshot the National guard with smoothbores at 50 yrds about 20 years ago at a public demonstration.But up against the State Police we got whipped good.