• This community needs YOUR help today. We rely 100% on Supporting Memberships to fund our efforts. With the ever increasing fees of everything, we need help. We need more Supporting Members, today. Please invest back into this community. I will ship a few decals too in addition to all the account perks you get.



    Sign up here: https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/account/upgrades

Is This Group Okay?

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Jul 26, 2014
Messages
4,556
Reaction score
4,508
Location
Southern Illinois
Guys I had my Pedersoli .54 smootbore percussion pistol (Harpers Ferry) out at the rang the other day. Was shooting one handed standing. The gun has a basic brass blade front sight and no rear sight. This is my first 5 shot group at 10 yards:

cgvbhnm.jpg


PH0951.jpg


Groups is about 1" from center to center. Pretty much a cloverleave with them big .54 balls. Load was as described in picture. Gun certainly prefer 2Fg powder as I've since learned.

Is this an okay group at 10 yards from a smoothbore pistol, one handed, standing? Someday I would like to enter the NMLRA pistol competitions or NSSA smoothbore pistol competition but do not know if this is good enough.

Thoughts?
 
The elevation is understandable. I was simply aligning the tip of the front blade to wear the entire blade is visible but the top of the barrel is not, if that makes sense. Putting the tip right on the bullseye. I put a stick on orange bullseye to aim at since I know the gun shoots high at this range.

But since it is hitting to the left... I'm really not sure. Could it be my grip, or the front blade alignment? Seems fairly straight from what I can tell. Odd.

I will say, I felt good about myself with this group. :) This gun is so shootable. It has a rather muzzle heavy feel, a fantastic trigger, and hangs right on. I have trouble making such a small group with my "modern" guns!

Must have put close to 300 shots through this gun so far, have had it since 2015 when I bought it new. It is always a treat and has never ever failed to fire except the first time or two at the range when I was just learning to shoot black powder pistols.
 
Low left misses are the most common to new (right handed) shooters, but groups like that are not common to new shooters. You certainly know how to align the sights and release the shot correctly and have very good repeatable loading skills to produce a group like that. New shooters miss low left because they are anticipating recoil-their groups also look like they were shooting a shotgun at the target. Experienced shooters who shoot low left usually find something going on with the sights. Grips can be an issue too, and these pistols are more or less like holding a dowel; but where your group is so tight I’d look at the sight first.
 
If the bottom orange sticker it is shooting high left.

The right hand corrections chart avail from www.gunlink.info shows The left hits as if a 9 o'clock to correct poi says too little trigger finger. If it is closer to 10 or 11 o'clock the problem is pushing or anticipating recoil.

With that great grouping it is not the latter IMHO

I would try getting a little more finger on to the trigger and see what happens.
 
Gee Smokey, you are making me feel bad. It seems whenever I start to think I'm doing pretty good or at least OK, someone puts up a target like yours. I have a long ways to go but at least I know it is possible. Thanks for inspiring me to do better.
 
Smokey Plainsman said:
Someday I would like to enter the NMLRA pistol competitions or NSSA smoothbore pistol competition but do not know if this is good enough.

Just saying.....If you want to shoot in competition you need center X's not good groups. :v
 
Colorado Clyde said:
Just saying.....If you want to shoot in competition you need center X's not good groups. :v

Actually last time I watched any competitions you needed good groups so you could consistently get those center x's.. Just sayin..
 
Adui said:
Colorado Clyde said:
Just saying.....If you want to shoot in competition you need center X's not good groups. :v

Actually last time I watched any competitions you needed good groups so you could consistently get those center x's.. Just sayin..

Groups mean nothing if you don't hit the center.....One center hit follow by 10's,9's, and 8's will easily beat the group above ......even if the group was a singular hole......

I've lost a lot of competitions because I had good groups. Meaning I got beat by a guy with a larger group....Usually targets are scored from center......Not by measuring group size.

I won't even mention what a flier can do to your score..... :shake:

A good group only counts if it is centered around the center of the X
 
Hi,
Which groups are referring to?
The ones below the target, or the ones on the target?
For the ones on the target, if you move the target down 4 " and a little to the left you would be bang on.
Practice, son, practice. :grin:
Fred
 
I think that Smokey knows that the groups need to be centered for a high score.

Yes you have a good group for 10 yards. Now you need to know where the group is for competition ranges for a smooth bore pistol. Then its time to learn to adjust the group to the center for high score.
 
Smokey Plainsman said:
Guys I had my Pedersoli .54 smootbore percussion pistol (Harpers Ferry) out at the rang the other day. Was shooting one handed standing. The gun has a basic brass blade front sight and no rear sight. This is my first 5 shot group at 10 yards:

cgvbhnm.jpg


PH0951.jpg


Groups is about 1" from center to center. Pretty much a cloverleave with them big .54 balls. Load was as described in picture. Gun certainly prefer 2Fg powder as I've since learned.

Is this an okay group at 10 yards from a smoothbore pistol, one handed, standing? Someday I would like to enter the NMLRA pistol competitions or NSSA smoothbore pistol competition but do not know if this is good enough.

Thoughts?

I went to the NMLRA web site to look at the rules for smoothbore pistols. For Smokey, the rules are somewhat disappointing.

NMLRA Rules:

6102.3 ”“ Smoothbore Pistol
6102.3a ”“ Description ”“ A flintlock pistol with unrifled bore having a minimum diameter of .433 inch.
6102.3b ”“ Grip ”“ may be checkered. Plow-handle or saw-handle grips are permitted.
6102.3c ”“ Sights ”“ adjustable sights are not permitted. Dovetail mounts are permitted.
6102.3c.1 ”“ Front ”“ May be of a height necessary to group at 25 yards. Maximum thickness shall be .100" (7/64").
6102.3c.2 ”“ Rear ”“ maximum height 5/16" and maximum width 1/2". Sight notch may be a “V”, or “U” with parallel sides or a squarebottomed notch.
6102.3d ”“ Ammunition ”“ Round ball ammunition only. No conical bullets are allowed.

6104 ”“ NMLRA INTERNATIONAL HANDGUN ”“ may be fired in any match.
6104.1 ”“ Events
6104.1a ”“ Cominazzo ”“ single shot smoothbore flintlock pistol, with a minimum bore diameter of .433 inches and that complies with Rule 6102.3.
6104.1b ”“ Kuchenreuter ”“ single shot percussion pistol, rifled bore, any caliber that complies with Rule 6102.1.
6104.1c ”“ Mariette ”“ percussion replica revolver that complies with Rule 6102.2.
6104.1c.1 ”“ round ball or picket bullet only.
6104.1c.2 ”“ to prevent the use of revolvers as single shot pistols, competitors must load five chambers for each of the first two strings.
6104.2 ”“ Target ”“ NRA B-19 International Target (see Rule 10160) fired from 25 yards. Thirteen shots fired with ten high to count. Scoring in
accordance with Rule 10730.

Looks like most of the Smoothbore matches are for flintlock systems except for the Kuchenreuter and that is for a rifled barrel.

Lately however, that accuracy is better than my pistol shooting with a rifled bore.
 
That is a good ten yard off hand group but my standard reply for such occurrences is let's see you do it a second time! I almost never get any takers which means it is probably not the usual size grouping they could expect.
When you can do the same more often than not you won't need to ask if it is OK.
 
M.D. said:
When you can do the same more often than not you won't need to ask if it is OK.
I appears the whole point of posting the target and asking if it is OK was not to see if it was really OK. The point was to show off a decent group in the first place and get praised. Is there anyone here that needs to be told that a 1" or tighter group is decent???
 
Colorado Clyde said:
A good group only counts if it is centered around the center of the X

Very true, a good group in and of itself will not win. however, to be consistently in the x's one must first develop a good group by load and practice. Then one adjusts the sights to make that group hit the x. THIS will win every time. (unless the guy next to you has a tighter group also hitting the x...)

Basically, I am saying you are right but you are only telling half the story.
 
Back
Top