why no bench stuff?

[Comfortably_Numb]

That's a great old gun.

 

[ronaldrothb49]

Not many post on any of the sites I follow on bench shooting. When I first started shooting Light bench and Cross sticks all I had was a .40 offhand rifle, Thats all I could afford. Amazingly the first cross stick match I shot I placed 3rd. I was hooked. I kept shooting with that little .40 and I regularly placed in the matches. took me a couple years to save up the money , round up the parts and build a rifle. Had a 1 inch .45 caliber Dixie gun works barrel. A Hawken half stock precarve, a storey mule ear lock, A cheap set trigger and a set of Lyman Sights. It only weighed 12 lb. so I was giving up some weight. My first time out with it I got my first win with a 50 and 5X's. Got a nice rotating trophy with the names of several old time Friendship shooters who had held that trophy over the years. It sits on my mantel today no one ever beat me for it. The picture is from the 1986 Levi Garret Indiana Territorial 100 yard AMS Cross Stick. I did have a set of Redfield sights at that time. My point, you don't have to spend a fortune to be competitive in Light Bench and Cross stick you just have to know your equipment.

 

[tgfrench]

My local group has several matches throughout the year where fellow members shoot their bench guns with excellent results.
They also tend to get their hats handed to them in off hand matches by those who regularly shoot the more traditional rifles.

 

[NorthFork]

I've been shooting original slug and picket rifles for 30 years, and post about it here from time to time. Not much interest in such things with this group, but I still post.

Here is a video from a match at Canal Fulton OH. Rifle built by H.V. Perry in 1885. Still shoots great when I do my part.

Well you should post more then!

 

[necchi]

Probably the same reason I got out of cartridge rifle bench competition. All in all, it's boring as hell.

Yeah, ya sit there and watch your heart beat, all the while wishing you hadn't had that second cup of coffee!

 

[Notchy Bob]

I've never participated, but it looks interesting. I started reading my dad's Muzzle Blasts magazines when I was nine years old. Bench rest shooting with patched round balls was big back then, in the fifties and early sixties, and most of the participants seemed to have rifles built out of random parts. The rifles were sometimes pretty crude. These are two of my favorites, both owned by Don Coble:



Mr. Coble was one of the top competitors in benchrest shooting in his day. I believe he was from Ohio.

If there is interest, a dedicated sub-forum on this board might generate some conversation and even bring in a few folks who had not thought about it before. I know @Uncle Miltie has posted a few times in the relatively new Antique Firearms section, showing old target rifles. His posts have been well received. I know I always enjoy them.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

 

[The Crisco Kid]

There was a lady in Haines, Alaska a few years ago that had some beautiful slug guns for sale. Heavy barrels, nice wood, the whole works. They had some kind of primer ignition I think. I could have bought the two or three she had for pennies on the dollar since she was moving and had to get rid of them. They were built by someone named Bieson or something like that. She and her husband had both shot at Friendship years ago. I was moving too at the time so I passed them up. I asked around trying to help her sell them but there is a very limited interest in that sort of shooting.

 

[Comfortably_Numb]

Vic Beeson was probably the builder

 

[Mulebrain]

Me shooting my 32lb heavy bench target rifle built by Bill Large.

 

[ResearchPress]

@ResearchPress is a member here and is involved in long range Muzzle Loading.

Long range and bench rest are quite different disciplines - historically, long range was fired without artificial rest. Today under UK and MLAIC rules a sling is permitted as support out to 600 yards and beyond that a sling and/or wrist rest may be used. From a British perspective bench rest shooting was not a 'discipline' that I recall historical reference to or that I can think of any m/l matches today.

David

 

[Uncle Miltie]

Long range and bench rest are quite different disciplines - historically, long range was fired without artificial rest. Today under UK and MLAIC rules a sling is permitted as support out to 600 yards and beyond that a sling and/or wrist rest may be used. From a British perspective bench rest shooting was not a 'discipline' that I recall historical reference to or that I can think of any m/l matches today.

David

The long range matches were a completely different form of shooting based on military shooting of the time. There are rules regarding weight and other things and of course fired from the prone position.

In the US target shooting was not based on military forms of shooting; rather, it was all about accuracy. Telescopic sights, loading muzzles, cloth and paper patched bullets likely originated in the US, as did 2 piece swaged bullets.

Rest shooting was a big sport in the NE US, with large sums of money as prizes or side wagers. It is a form of shooting most don't know about. Those who read the old Shooting and Fishing magazines can read all about these matches as well as the prizes. Ned Roberts also makes mention of this type of shooting in his book.

It was never done in Europe, nor is it today. But it is in the US, these days by only a few. It is no coincidence that the sport of modern benchrest shooting had its start in the same area of the country where old-time precision rest shooting started in the 1830's.

 

[Uncle Miltie]

My local group has several matches throughout the year where fellow members shoot their bench guns with excellent results.
They also tend to get their hats handed to them in off hand matches by those who regularly shoot the more traditional rifles.

Many of the benchrest shooters where I am from in Ohio were or still are formidable offhand competitors. Folks who don't compete with benchrest rifles think shooting with them is easy: it's not.

 

[Uncle Miltie]

I've never participated, but it looks interesting. I started reading my dad's Muzzle Blasts magazines when I was nine years old. Bench rest shooting with patched round balls was big back then, in the fifties and early sixties, and most of the participants seemed to have rifles built out of random parts. The rifles were sometimes pretty crude. These are two of my favorites, both owned by Don Coble:

View attachment 236483

Mr. Coble was one of the top competitors in benchrest shooting in his day. I believe he was from Ohio.

If there is interest, a dedicated sub-forum on this board might generate some conversation and even bring in a few folks who had not thought about it before. I know @Uncle Miltie has posted a few times in the relatively new Antique Firearms section, showing old target rifles. His posts have been well received. I know I always enjoy them.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

Don Coble was from PA, and shot at our club in Ohio for many years.

In addition to being a fine rest shooter he was the best offhand competitor in the NMLRA for many years: one of the greats indeed. I am too young to have met him but older folks in our club spoke of him often.

 

[ColonialRifleSmith]

Personally, the thrill of ML's is the nostalgia of the flintlock, open sights, powder, patch and ball. Once you add all that other stuff to it, it kinda' takes away from the original idea of ML'ing. Much like going to in-lines. However, that's part of what makes ML so great. It's so versatile, it can be adapted to anyone's liking. How can you take the thrill out of a bull's eye at 500 yards with a ML. That's amazing. Semper Fi.

PS, What was the distance on the shot of the 2 spades?

 

[t.willis]

There was a lady in Haines, Alaska a few years ago that had some beautiful slug guns for sale. Heavy barrels, nice wood, the whole works. They had some kind of primer ignition I think. I could have bought the two or three she had ersinefor pennies on the dollar since she was moving and had to get rid of them. They were built by someone named Bieson or something like that. She and her husband had both shot at Friendship years ago. I was moving too at the time so I passed them up. I asked around trying to help her sell them but there is a very limited interest in that sort of shooting.

Ken Bersin(sp) from upstate NY was a well known builder and competitor.

 

[Mulemauler]

There are bench matches at all of the bigger state and regional shoots in Okla., Texas, and Arkansas and Long Rifles of the Canadian has monthly Over-the Log and table gun matches. For years I used a 42 pound rifle with a barrel by Breeson but got to where I just couldn't lug it from the loading rack to the shooting bench 20 plus times. My bench gun today is about 14 pounds.

Slug guns have never been a big thing around here.

 

[longcruise]

One of the local clubs occasionally puts on a bench shoot. If you are in this area you can watch their site for matches that pop up on their calendar. Fort Lupton Muzzle Loading Club

Also there will be a bench match at the upcoming State Shoot

https://www.csmla.net/events/upcoming-events

 

[Tenring]

You won't like this either!

I am a PRS Shooter with unmentionables not with ML and I must say with out a doubt they are pieces of Art Work, that just screams long range.

 

[ronaldrothb49]

The club I started shooting with back in the 70's had a lot of active bench rest shooters. They shot 2 matches each month. One was a primitive match where you never knew what it would be till ya got there. The other was 15 shots at a six bull. It was scored as 5 individual matches and an aggregate. You could shoot 25 yards offhand or 50 yards from a rest. The heavy bench shooters had no advantage in those matches. The club also had a rule 3 wins and your out which gave more shooters the chance to take home a prize from the blanket but then the prize only had to be worth $5.00.

I think the first light bench rifle I made I had maybe $250 in it and I won just as many matches as the guys with the fancy expensive target rifles with the false muzzles, sealed ignitions, adjustable stocks and expensive sights. One of the best cross stick shooters I met at Friendship the only way I can describe his rifle is it looked like a junk yard dog. It was an old barrel of unknown origin with a drum and nipple. Just a plain percussion lock and a single trigger. The stock wasn't even finished but then it kind of looked like it had been carved out with a hatchet. The barrel was Duct taped to the stock and it didn't have a butt plate so he could make the weight limit. That guy was hard to beat.

 

[Comfortably_Numb]

I am a PRS Shooter with unmentionables not with ML and I must say with out a doubt they are pieces of Art Work, that just screams long range.

It's a Ballard schuetzen rifle, action made in 1885 in 32 40 and topped with a Lyman Super Spot 25X. Matches are shot at 200 yards offhand and bench. That gun goes just under 15lbs. I can hold it off hand but I'm only good for a couple shots. I had surgery on my left shoulder in '17 and am now dealing with a lot of arthritis. My off-hand days are over!