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Long Weekend Away, first Shoot with Muzzle Loader

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Jacko50

32 Cal.
Joined
Apr 7, 2014
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G/Day Folks, hope you have all had a good Easter. It's a long Weekend here in Australia and I am not long back from 3 Days away. A great Mate took me up to a Black Powder Club he helped Start Up years ago near Biggenden in Queensland.

There was only a dozen or so Shooters that attended but they where a great Mob and made me very welcome. The Competition was opened with an Axe and Knife Throw. I had not thrown a Tomahawk or Knife for 20 Years at least and I managed to make them Stick on Target and was announced the winner. I was promptly disqualified for something I can't remember but it was Funny as all get out. I was Happy.

Next I was loaned a Thompson Centre 54 Calibre Hawken, Caps, Powder and Round Balls and taught how to Load and shoot it. Once I had this squared away we started the Shooting Discipline. Starting at 100 metres we started the Walk Up Shoot. As we advanced to each Flag and Shot I had no idea where I was Hitting so I just kept aiming straight at the Target and touching the Shot off. At the end of the Walk Up I was amazed with all but 1 of my Shots squarely in the 6" Black Dot I was aiming at and some damn near centred!



I was announced the winner again and promptly disqualified for wearing a silly hat. Great merriment ensued. As the weekend went on everyone who Won was disqualified for whatever the Range Officer could dream up. One fella was disqualified for having Bushy Eyebrows so you get the spirit in which we competed.

Too busy Shooting and making new Friends to take many Photo's but here's a few of some of the Rifles and Pistols I got to Shoot.

The Hawken and the Sharps 45.120 impressed the Heck out of me. I shot the Sharps at the 320 metre Target offhand and managed to ring the Gong so was happy yet again. I enjoyed the Cap and Ball Revolver more than the 44.40 Revolver as it fitted my hand better. I'd not shot a Handgun before and the Cap and Ball has me intrigued !



A Pic of the 320 metre Shot. I did not get the opportunity to shoot the Hawken at it. I did get to shoot my 45.70 Lever at it and once I worked out Kentucky Windage had a Ball Ringing the Gong




A bit rude Folks BUTT great Fun to Shoot this Target with the Handguns. My Mate and I challenged the Fella's to a shoot off, us with our Traditional Bows and them with the Pistols, call it a Draw !



I'm hooked and soon as I can will be buying my first Muzzle Loader. The Thompson Centre Hawken was impressive but a 2 Band Enfield intrigued me as it appealed to me as a handy Hunting Rifle. I was also drawn to the Flintlock Pictured, lovely Rifle - I have some Saving and thinking to do!

At the end of the Shooting I was fortunate to be presented with a lovely Suede Rifle Case and a Tackle Box. Cant thank the Gentlemen at the APRA Club enough for welcoming me, sharing their Knowledge, Firearms and Companionship.

regards Jacko
 
Happy Easter! Thanks for sharing the great pictures and story! That sounds like a great time and the range looks fantastic.
 
Ha Ha sounds like a new convert to the darkside.lol Its just like eating chips just can't stop at one.
Welcome to the forum.
 
:rotf: Now ya went and did it,got yerself hooked.Good luck and enjoy the world of BP. :thumbsup: Griz
 
It is a beautifull range , I shot there with those guys a lot during the 90's :thumbsup:
 
I'll leave that to your imagination and there is a million really bad Puns to use if you miss your mark also :grin: I think they scored them 10, 9, 8 etc from the Centre. Scoring was haphazard and the Rules changed regularly.

I used that white gripped Revlver pictured above to shoot those Targets and tried it left handed with both eyes open. Shot a beautiful tight group on the Target next to where I was meant to be shooting :haha: I'm a natural left hander but right eye dominant. Shooting a Pistol right handed feels very strange to me. Guess it's something you get used to.

1601phil, I must ask who you remember from back then as most of who where there attended back then. My Mate Cleve had not been there for 9 Years and was a little disappointed the Shoot had quietened down from the Day. The Lads talked of when they Catered for nearly 300 Shooters at this Shoot

One thing I did not mention before was I had a crack at Shooting Clays using my Selfbow and Arrows, what a Hoot. Did not break any but came soooooooooo close

A crowd of Visitors also turned up Saturday Arvo. The APRA Club again impressed me as they invited them to join in the Shoot and Powder appeared from everywhere for them to Burn. A young Lady proved a good shot, she hit the 320 metre Gong off hand 3 out of 5 times shooting a 2 Band Enfield.

regards Jacko
 
I used to travel 3 1/2 hrs to get there ,sort of come in on the end of the boom ,even joined the club as well as being in my local one .People just drifted away ,Raglan is now the big easter event, TinCan Bay and FraserCoast and Ripley have big events and we will have big news soon . :)
 
Good one, Jacko :thumbsup: . Be warned, though, that if you do get interested BP stuff is messy, smelly, noisy, slow - and addictive!! (Nice setting, btw). Our club is pretty small - about 20 members - and shoot at one end of the range, which is a very long undercover range. Often, while I'm standing there ramming a ball down I'll look at the (modern) cartridge shooters further up, with their modern bench-rested repeaters going "bang", and I feel strangely smug and superior (particularly when mine goes "boom" and sends out a cloud of smoke :grin: ).
 
dikman I'm more than interested Mate. I'm saving to take my Wife down to the Great Ocean Road in late August and then up to Mildura otherwise I would already have bought myself a .50 Cal CVA Hawken the local Gunshop has for $420.

I'm haunting Track of the Wolf, Dixie and have saved Forbes Wholsale to my Favourites Bar. I have found Patterns for making all sorts of accessories and devour everything I can find on the Net

regards Jacko
 
Glad ya got yerself hooked on the hobby! Sounds like you're off to a great start! Congrats & send more stories & pix when ya get a chance.

Dave
 
Long trip, Jacko, that'll soak up mucho $$$! The G.O.R. is an iconic trip, though, done it a few times on my m'sickle. I particularly like it around Apollo Bay/The Otways area.

That Hawken sounds like a pretty good buy - used BP guns are hard to come by in this country, and flinters even more so! I just bought a (hardly) used Pedersoli Frontier flintlock for $495, and reckon I got a good deal (I actually wanted a Hawken-style, but beggars can't be choosers, as they say).
This is a great site for info and help, and if you're into casting your own bullets then google cast-boolits, an excellent site for anything to do with casting.

One thing I like about BP shooting is that there's all sorts of things you can make/build to go with it - but man, it can sure suck up the money!! :haha:
 
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