Who Is The Better Shot?

[Darkhorse]

In the mid 70's some local boys put on a annual deer rifle match just before season. Rules were, any legal caliber including MZ Loaders at 100 yards, at 100 yards only open sights, 5 shots, any field position. At the 200 yard mark scopes could be used. The targets were life sized paper bucks with the internal organs scoring different values, heart-5 points, lungs-4 points, etc.
I was young, newlywed with a new baby boy and a small income. I wanted to shoot black powder in the 100 yard match but had no gun. I found a .54 TC Renegade on close out and bought it. I knew nothing about shooting black powder but was eager to learn even without a mentor. So I practiced several times a week both on the bench trying lubes and patch material and in different positions. I found my best position was sitting so I really worked on my form and accuracy. When the match rolled around I felt like I was ready. The fact that I would be shooting against modern rifles like .243's and '06's didn't intimidate me to any great degree. Now this would be an "Apple to Apple" contest.
My 5 shots felt good. After the scores were tallied I had tied with a friend shooting a .243 and a shoot off would determine the winner. My friend and several others congratulated me on winning 2nd place. Most considered my score was a fluke.
My next 5 shot group felt good also. Even better when the score was tallied. I had won the match by 1 point. This proved to me that at 100 yards that little .54 with a prb was generally as accurate as all the modern centerfire's shot at 100 yards that day. Or was it the team formed by the rifle and a shooter who had spent every spare moment on the range for nearly a year?
Since then I've owned several factory .54's and found them all to have comparable accuracy. I now only own and shoot 2 flintlocks, I built both of these to feel as close alike as possible. Both locks have been tuned for fast ignition, and to have the triggers almost alike and just the way I want them. One of these rifles have a .54 Colrain barrel, the other has a .40 Rice. Both are considerably more accurate than any of my factory rifles were.
And shooting against the average open sighted CF I think both would give it a run for it's money.

 

[ppg1949]

I'm only a target killer with very tired eyes (I was clockmaker my whole life) and if I don't have a rear aperture sight I can't see the front sight too I did try a lot of lenses but no one was perfect...
When I'm shooting open sight like with Hawken or Pennsylvania rifle I don't see the front sight, so few month ago a friend of mine gives a Lyman Eyepal and now I can shoot open sight and see the front sight really clear: for me it is better than a new lens and I have a perfect perspective...
I can't know if this gizmo is good for everybody but you can try to do something like that with only self-adhesive with a small hole of 0,050" or a bit more...
But that is only good for target shooting, I doubt it's great for hunting.

Erwan, Thanks, I'm going to check out the Lyman Eyepal. Thanks again from this side of the pond.

 

[yellowlab]

Ill try to limit my reference to cf's and optics. I reload with cast bullets in shorter range cf's and muzzleloaders. One big difference is for one type I load at home the other I load at the range. From my experience or lack of, given the same sighting systems (optics vs open sights) and at reasonable distance for a muzzleloader . I can dial a muzzleloader in to shoot very close to a cf. The ability to accurately aim is my biggest concern. "I shouldn't admit to this"But I do sometimes mount a 4x on a few of my newer style muzzleloaders just to test a new bullet or powder, this takes a lot of the (old eyes) error out of the testing. A round ball can be just as accurate as a cf with cast bullets once dialed in. Jacketed bullets be they plastic or copper can also be very competitive within the guns normal ranges.I think I can group rb's with a long gun just as well or better than a short 30/30 both using open sights.

 

[Sparkitoff]

I do not agree that women are inherently better shooters. I am a retired PH and I have had dozen and likely hundreds of ladies as clients. Two observations are predominant. If a lady or group of ladies comes without male companions, you can bet they are good shots and have a pretty good idea of what they are doing. If a lady is with a male companion that is "coaching" them along from the get-go you can bet she is a mediocre shot at best (at this point). I found ladies to be overall more intimidated by the gun, bow, whatever than men. I found ladies to be disproportionately "gentle" with the equipment to its detriment (Not seating a ball all the way, short stroking a bolt or failing to fully seat a magazine on "those" rifles, and not making 3-points of even contact with the rifle. I found that a new shooter with zero experience that is introduced with sound instruction, good equipment and incremental exposure (start with light caliber, low poundage, etc.) tend to catch on and develop at the same rate regardless of ***. Size and strength plays a role to some extent regardless of age or ***, so even an experienced or "good" shot suddenly is sub-par when they are switched to a borrowed rifle or bow or something else unfamiliar. Anyone who takes the lesson serious, pays attention and has a desire to do it will learn, grow and excel. Once they have the basics and a good foundation, their own determination, repetition, equipment and exposure determine the rate of growth that turns into repeatable ability and proficiency. With youth shooting and military service I have not seen anything to make me conclude that women have a disproportionate potential to shoot better than men. I think the inexperienced person seeking lessons from a "professional" or "expert" has a population that has a greater percentage of women and among the totally unexposed and inexperienced, women are often a greater percentage. The generic statements about women being inherently better shooters look to be true when those groups are observed, but overall I don't believe it to be a blanket true statement.

 

[Carbon 6]

I do not agree that women are inherently better shooters. I am a retired PH and I have had dozen and likely hundreds of ladies as clients.

Don't know what a "PH" is, but I think women are inherently better shooters.
I say "inherently" because they have "inherent" qualities that can make them better shooters, and Instructors.

They are "inherently" better, but not automatically better..

I will make one blanket statement about women shooters. Spend some time shooting with a great woman shooter and you will learn something valuable you could not have learned elsewhere.

 

[Dr5x]

It never crossed my mind to compare apples with oranges or muzzleloaders with modern rifles as far as accuracy is concerned..
I had my several one hole groups bench rest at 50 yards but never witnessed results like those from the usual deer hunting rifle used which I believe to be in the .30 caliber area. During "Zeroing In" season I did some coaching of the modern folk hoping to speed them on their way.
I always figured the modern rifle had the advantage but now i'm not so certain.I believe the modern rifle might have some advantages when shooting the longer ranges but I don't know about the under 100 yard ranges.
I converted a number of those folks to muzzleloaders because they thought their T/C hawkers were more accurate than the rifles they had previously been shooting.
I THINK WE MAY HAVE THEM WITH ALL THE FIDDLES AND AJUSTMENTS WE CAN DO TO FINE TUNE OUR RIFLES.IT WOULDN'T BE FAIR TOHAVE THE MODERN RIFLE CONDEMED TO USING AMMUNITION OUT OF THE BOX. WE NEED TO COMPETE WITH A CARTIDGE RELOADER.
DOES ANYONE KNOW SUCH A PERSON WHO WILL GIVE US FIVE SHOTS, BENCH REST AT A THREE INCH BLACK ROUND TARGET AT 50 YARDS? THAT WILL SET OUR BASE AND WE WILL SEE WHO COMES CLOSEST OR EXCEEDS THE ALLEGED SUPERIOR RIFLE.
THERE'S THE CONTEST I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR I ALREADY HAVE THE PRIZE SELECTED.
AS I THINK I;M SO HOT, I WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO COMPETE BESIDES MY RIFLES ARE IN KANSAS CITY WHERE THEY LIE CRYING OUT "DADDY. DADDY" BUT I CAN NO LONGER HEAR.
THE 3 INCH TARFET I OFFER IN MY BOOK WILL DO BUT ANY BLACK CIRCLE, 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER WILL DO.
DUTCH SCHOULTZ

This proposed contest has been cancelled. I didn't realize Bambi is facing the same quality weapons as is Mustaph ben Kid'n.
Dutch

 

[SamTex1949]

The "eyepal" is very interesting ! I found it at the Amazon website for about $20 and change. As for the female species being a better shooter Here is what I observed as a Montana Hunter Ed instructor. Most of the XX class came with out any preconceived notions and once any fears of sounds and recoil were over come the young ladies most often did out shoot their counterparts in shotgun and rifle.

 

[mushka]

In my somewhat limited experience with teaching marksmanship to people, my findings were that female students had more problems with the weight of the firearm than the male students. The female students were more accepting of instruction than the males a lot of the time. As has been mentioned there is a little macho in male gun handlers that the females don't possess. I don't think that they became better shots than the males in the instruction
phase. I found that after class more of the males continued to shoot and hunt than the female students did.

 

[Col. Batguano]

PH = Professional Hunter

 

[ugly old guy]

I'm always happy to see women who are not fearful of a gun (long gun or pistol/revolver) or bow and can consistently hit what they are aiming at.
I'd like to find and claim one (I'm not greedy; I don't need more than one at a time.) who enjoys camping, fishing, (that will/can bait her own hooks) and hunting, who is not "above" cleaning the catch, or skinning and butchering the critters.
If she knows how to paddle a canoe, that would be good for a few bonus points, as well.

 

[herbpagel]

I have a granddaughter who is going to grow up to be an ideal female companion of that type that ugly old guy has in mind. She gets her deer, usually every year, camps and fishes, too. She is inheriting her share of my rendezvous stuff, including the long guns. The other 14 grandkids will get some of it. She is not afraid to field dress a deer. Her groups with the bp rifle are pretty darn good. She sets up the lodge for me at rendezvous. Pretty good for a 13-year old. Right now, she's a good companion for a grandpa.