AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Black Powder Shooting => Topic started by: alacran on October 01, 2023, 03:54:51 PM
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(https://i.ibb.co/MskP8Rc/Screen-Shot-2020-06-01-at-8-59-29-AM.png) (https://ibb.co/nbMQ3D7)
Taylor Sapergia posted this target for the June 2020 match. It was well received and we had a lot of entries. Squirrel season is open in most states and this is a good practice for them.
Rules are simple 5 shots standing at 25 yards. The scoring is self-explanatory.
This is a challenging target, so enter as many as you like.
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Soon as I get home from the lake, will have to cast up some balls for the "target" rifle.
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Nice target, will get out and try it some day. I always steady my squirrel shots by leaning against a tree. Are we standing unsupported, or hand against a vertical support with gun in hand?
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March 2020, seems to me. IIRC. On the 20th, I had to fly home 10 days into a 6week vacation in Australia. That was a fun target. IIRC, Justin U., from Chetwynd, B.C. won that one.
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Probably no one remembers but I am the one who started this "postal match" during the COVID epidemic as a way for all shooters to be able to get out and shoot when many clubs were shut down. This I believe was the very first target we shot at. Not many liked it but it got us all off and going. I still have some printed and will show everyone just how poor of a shot I am, good luck to all.
Before I posted this target, I went to my targets, on my PC. The date marked on my screen shot of this target said June 2020.
I was pretty sure Taylor was running the show. I tried searching under June 2020 postal match and nothing came up. I then searched under squirrel targets and one of my replys was there.
Indeed Taylor posted this match on June 2020, and he gave a brass knapping tool that he made for a prize.
There were 17 participants and Justin Urbantaswon top honors.
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LOL - Only out a month. lol
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Alacran is correct - I sponsored this match in June of 2020 and provided three copper headed knapping hammer/turn screws as prizes for first, second and third. Although I didn't participate for score, I shot three different rifles at this target one of which I post here for clarity of target, date, etc.
(https://i.ibb.co/BPpMj6m/June-2020.jpg) (https://ibb.co/LPF76gM)
(https://i.ibb.co/Kj67JJS/DSC-0004.jpg) (https://ibb.co/BVLj99F)
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He cheated, though, using that heavy .25 cal. Allegany rifle. :o
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Nice target, will get out and try it some day. I always steady my squirrel shots by leaning against a tree. Are we standing unsupported, or hand against a vertical support with gun in hand?
Offhand for me has always meant to stand unsupported in any way. Nothing touching you or your gun.
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Looks like a fun and challenging target for offhand, I’ll definitely give it a shot
Tony
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Nice target, will get out and try it some day. I always steady my squirrel shots by leaning against a tree. Are we standing unsupported, or hand against a vertical support with gun in hand?
Offhand for me has always meant to stand unsupported in any way. Nothing touching you or your gun.
I shot 3 actual squirrels last Friday. One I leaned against a tree, one I had no other shot but offhand, the last one I shot I was laying on my back as that was the only way I could make the shot, the rifle was held only by my arms. I always aim for the head and sometimes I don't succeed in that endeavor. When that happens some meat will be ruined. That is why I like this target, if you miss the head, you will ruin meat and that is definitely a minus.
So to answer Foresterdj, OldMtnMan's definition of offhand applies to the position to shoot this target.
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Where can this target be found? Will need to print off a few.
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I’ve got a -30 so far. I was shooting to the right yesterday.
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I printed some off and will try to give this one a shot soon. Looks fun. To get it to print right, I had to copy the picture into Word and then stretch it to the page size.
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Here is the target I used in 2020...you should be able to print it full size right from this image.
(https://i.ibb.co/b5WbCsH/Screen-Shot-2020-06-01-at-8-59-29-AM-2.png) (https://ibb.co/0yDs6CB)
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I can turn it into a PDF when I get home.
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Went out today and have no excuses, as it was a perfect Pacific N.W. day. 57 degrees slightly overcast and no wind. The range was empty so I had no distractions. As I said earlier I detest this target. if you have a traditional muzzleloader with primitive sights it is almost impossible to see this target. I was using my Jim Kibler built .40 caliber SMR with a .395 ball and a greased ticking patch. 40 grains of Goex 3F and 4F in the pan.
I started by trying to shoot the squirrel in the head that got me a whopping score of ZERO. I then decided to "bark" him I got one in the bark in the white 8 score and one went high and actually got him in the head for 5 points making this score a 13. I finally decided to try one more time shooting at the head hitting him 3 times in the 5 point area, the other 2 shots were both high one barely hitting the paper for a score of 15. Probably won't go back this month and try again but someone had to get this ball rolling, so pitiful as they are these are my scores for the month.
"Muskrat" Mike
(https://i.ibb.co/BnFHzYy/10-2023-1.jpg) (https://ibb.co/LNHDksx)
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Cleaned it up a little and increased contrast.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YGlY7wFinCtQ_8QsPs-LwPrbPL1JB-iR/view?usp=sharing
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I was on the road all day yesterday. I could not respond. Thank you Jakob for cleaning up the target.
I had copied Taylor's screenshot. You should have been able to click on it and it would have come full screen. You could print right off of that just like Taylor said. I tried it myself before I posted it.
When Taylor ran this match I made one copy. I took it to our PO and had 15 copies done for $ 2.00.
A Lot cheaper than going through all that toner.
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It needed improvement (for older eyes). Thanks Jakob!
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Cleaned it up a little and increased contrast.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YGlY7wFinCtQ_8QsPs-LwPrbPL1JB-iR/view?usp=sharing
Thanks!
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Interesting. I get this when clicking on print as well as attempting to save it to my computer, Jacob:
The page isn’t redirecting properly
An error occurred during a connection to drive.google.com.
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Interesting. I get this when clicking on print as well as attempting to save it to my computer, Jacob:
The page isn’t redirecting properly
An error occurred during a connection to drive.google.com.
Yeah, I wish I had a better solution for hosting these.
here's a dropbox link, but a few people also had issues with that last time.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ibmuxrnq1897dz9xj1txb/ALR_October.pdf?rlkey=spe03ko3wg9o2lc3yhg4j7dgm&dl=0
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That one worked for me to save it to my desktop. However, I keep getting a message printer off line and I cannot get it on-line for some reason.
Used top be, shutting off my computer and restarting it, my targets would print on the restart, but not now. This is nothing to do with the squirrel target.
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Cleaned it up a little and increased contrast.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YGlY7wFinCtQ_8QsPs-LwPrbPL1JB-iR/view?usp=sharing
I printed a few from the PDF and they came out very well. However the squirrel was slightly bigger and the top of the word bark is slightly cut off.
It could be a problem with my printer. I suggest that you shoot whatever works best for you. Jakobs PDF is pretty good.
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Mikes picture is slightly smaller than Alacran's or Taylors.
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Ok, this is a dedicated PDF hosting site. It's a little slow on my side, but I'm curious to how it works for other people:
https://www.docdroid.net/KgBFDKx/alr-october-pdf
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Just printed a copy and it worked fine. I can use it to scan and make other copies. Hope to shoot this when my range reopens.
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Just tried your new link and it still printed slightly bigger than the one in the screen shot. I went into the printers settings, and printed it at 90% and it came out the same size as the screen shot. Again the size difference is not that significan.t
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Well it is the middle of the month and it appears that MuskratMike, is the only one not afraid of this squirrel. Either that or the scores are so bad that only Mike has the stones to show his target. Just saying.
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I'm just getting back into shooting and a muley hunt next fall. I'd like to shoot the postal shoots as soon as I get the gun and all the stuff to shoot and clean it. I gave everything away. My vision is crummy but i'll do my best. I don't need to come close to winning to have fun. Shooting is fun enough.
I'll do every shoot. I forgot. Do you shoot year around of take the winter off? Colorado is kind of brutal in the winter and I drive a Jeep with no top. brrrrr
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All of the matches so far, have run all winter long. The spring, fall and winter are the only times I can shoot it as the summer time, is fishin' time.
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Ok, thanks Daryl.
I was thinking about another forum. They only shoot 6 mo a year from April to Oct.
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Afraid of shooting at the squirrel? That's nonsense and somewhat insulting. Some of us have other commitments, meaning I'd rather be shooting, but medical stuff, etc. come first. :(
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OldMtnMan, you get winter in Colorado?
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OldMtnMan, you get winter in Colorado?
Not "Old Mountain Man" but been here 60 years.
Depends on where in Colorado. Where I live we've come to call it the new Phoenix. But there are plenty of places where we have 9 months of winter and 3 months of late fall!
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Similar- we call it 8 months of winter and 4 months of poor sledding weather.
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OldMtnMan, you get winter in Colorado?
Not "Old Mountain Man" but been here 60 years.
Depends on where in Colorado. Where I live we've come to call it the new Phoenix. But there are plenty of places where we have 9 months of winter and 3 months of late fall!
Haven't lived here but came here to hunt since I was a kid with dad and brother. Only lived here 16 years.
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Daryl and I made an effort to shoot this month's Postal, but got rained out...maybe tomorrow?
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Got "medical world" sorted out and shot the October target a little while ago. I "killed" him, but not entirely by head shots or barking. I used my Lyman .50cal. percussion rifle with both a .488" RB (Lyman mould) + .018" pillow ticking patch* and a .495" (.497" as cast, Lee mould) with a .012" drill cloth (?) patch (material came from JoAnn Fabrics and is made by "Sew Classics"). Powder charges were 50gr. Graf's (Goex) and 55gr. Percussion caps were Win. #11 Mag. Lube was 1 Ballistol : 6 water: No bore wiping was necessary with this combination.
*Sometimes a smaller diameter RB a la Black Powder Maniac is worth using since you don't have to strain yourself or your [wooden] ramrod to seat it.
P.S. There are 2 shots to the head +3 in the tree trunk on the lefthand target and 3 to the body on the righthand one.
(https://i.ibb.co/zXTbGmv/IMG-6501-2.jpg) (https://ibb.co/v36mZcn)
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Well, we got out this morning, then he bought me lunch at Timmy's on the way home.
Just about time to clean the rifle, but first.
.69 (14 bore) Caplock
90gr. 2F Schutzen
.482gr. .682" round ball of close to pure lead
10 ounce denim (.021")
Water soluble oil and water, 1:10, I think it is.
Ist shot is marked on the first target. I double loaded it, one ball, 2X powder.
It was a little loud and did kick a bit. 2nd shot was the other head shot, then - oh well.
3rd target, first shot was in the melon. Next 4 were in the body - lung shots. Shows I can flinch exactly the same, shot after shot.
4th target was my best for score. 15 or 20. (I'd score it a 15) Not good enough. Maybe we'll get out again.
(https://i.ibb.co/KwKKQ3x/IMG-3364.jpg) (https://ibb.co/PQDDbfG)
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Nice day for a postal match today. Daryl and I shot four targets (in a futile effort to improve our score). He was using his squirrel/target rifle, ie: .69 cal, and his scores don't reflect the killing effectiveness of that 14 bore rifle.
I shot my 9 1/2 pound T. Allison .25 cal Western PA flint rifle in with a .250" round ball (buckshot), 8 oz. denim precut patches, lubed with Ballistol/water @ 1:10. 4Fg GOEX in the pan, and 30 gr. 3Fg GOEX charges. I found it difficult to find the squirrel's head in the sights with the target in shadows as it was...it's not an easy target. I think the squirrels were seeing the flash and jumping the shot.
There was no mention in the OP's first post about how the target is scored, ie: half ball or just a touch for the higher score. So I didn't score my targets, leaving it to the sponsor's better judgement.
(https://i.ibb.co/Ph3T0zc/0-1.jpg) (https://ibb.co/G2BsN3W)
(https://i.ibb.co/Wc0kGwN/0-2.jpg) (https://ibb.co/HrCtBsL)
(https://i.ibb.co/7kstqnc/image.jpg) (https://ibb.co/nPxMF72)
(https://i.ibb.co/80Sy883/4.jpg) (https://ibb.co/yXbzssT)
Just for your entertainment, here's a picture of our first targets, together with a round ball for comparison...and finally, a picture of a .250" ball on the patch ready to ram. I love shooting this rifle.
(https://i.ibb.co/tb6yJq2/0-3.jpg) (https://ibb.co/BgJ8Cy6)
(https://i.ibb.co/bWVzTYJ/0-4.jpg) (https://ibb.co/YRSpmJZ)
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The targets remind me a joke one in the NAPR magazines back in the late 70's or very early 80's, remarking on
John Baird's use of a .69 cal. rifle on squirrels.
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I'll do every shoot. I forgot. Do you shoot year around of take the winter off? Colorado is kind of brutal in the winter and I drive a Jeep with no top. brrrrr
Heck, even I shoot all year long. (Fort McMurray, AB)...as long as it gets above -10C and not too windy.
Going to get one of those small portable propane heaters this year, which should make it more comfortable.
I should get out to shoot the target this weekend, however the gun is currently sighted for hunting (100 meters), so this will be interesting.
Between work, hunting and adding this monster to the family, it's been hard to find time..
(https://i.imgur.com/h0lfIOcl.jpg)
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-10C didn't used to be too cold to shoot when we were a bunch younger. That's 14F. It is nowadays, though.
We used to shoot down to -20F, which is -28C, but that was a long time ago - mid 1980's. We actually found
out that at -40F = -40C, that main springs break.
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I don't have any meat on my bones now. I don't handle the cold like I used to.
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Glad you all got out and shot the Squirrel. I believe the first time Taylor hosted this target we used the half ball rule. So, it is with this target.
I'll start with Maven's targets, the left target scores a 10, the right one scores -30.
Daryl's targets from left to right score; 0, 5, -35 and a 15.
Taylor's from top to bottom score; 15, 0, -10, and a 20, which puts him in the lead.
However the one of Taylor's target that I like the best is the third one where he circled the squirrels head almost perfectly.
If that had been the object of the target, it would be hard to beat. But then again so is a 20.
To recap the highest scores, Taylor has a 20, Daryl has a 15, the Muskrat has a 15 and Maven has a 10.
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That was some pretty impressive shooting Taylor, where you managed to just barely miss the squirrels head with every shot. Like there was a force field on it. I have days like that too.
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Yeah, Justin - I was watching it happen. We both had a laugh about it.
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(https://i.imgur.com/2qVY6rBl.jpg?1)
A nice big 0.
Only had time/body heat for one. Already -5C and my patches were freezing over. (I was working on another gun first).
Will try again next weekend.
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Not a bad group. Tough target.
(https://i.ibb.co/kq165TT/0610201501.jpg) (https://ibb.co/gtVFm88)
This is the best I could muster back in 2020. I hope to go out and shoot this for fun before the month is out. Right now I'm trying to fill the freezer.
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Went out today before the Pacific N.W. rains start tomorrow to try for a better score. That didn't happen. Lousy scores so I didn't bring the targets home with me. Here's to hoping the next month's target is a simple round target with scoring rings.
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I hear ya Mike.
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(https://i.ibb.co/tq7g2Mw/2-CE6211-D-0-AC0-4013-9-F86-FA3865-CF333-C.jpg) (https://ibb.co/K2Mdsjc)
(https://i.ibb.co/Db0gX8C/9417-CE1-F-F9-E0-47-A2-90-AF-BC49-CAECB56-F.jpg) (https://ibb.co/CtRsdM7)
Finally got out today. My .36 cal. Bedford was misbehaving though. Every third or fourth shot was a hang fire. Was really hard to see the target until the sun came out for a few minutes. Still got three good ones in a row on the barking target. Still have a couple targets printed and might get back out. However, its fall turkey season in Tennessee and my flintlock is still clean.
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Good shooting Okabow. You are currently in the lead with a 24.
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Taylor and I got out again. This is the best I could do.
The middle one (18 score) has 6 shots on it, 5 by me including a total miss and the 10 shot was Taylor - WITH MY RIFLE!!! LOL
Took him a while to get it to go off. Just over 4# trigger, but fairly crisp.
Anyway - 90gr. 2F Schutzen 10 ounce denim (.021") 10:1 water:WaterSol.Oil .682" pure lead ball.
25yards offhand.(off the hands)
(https://i.ibb.co/Z2jSp4p/ALR-Oct-2023-Postal-Match.jpg) (https://ibb.co/jJNzP0P)
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I shot my squirrel rifle again today....25b cal. T. Allison inspired rifle with #3 buckshot at .250", 10 oz denim precut patch soaked with Water/Ballisol 10:1, 30 gr. 3Fg GOEX, 4Fg GOEX in the pan.
Daryl and I discussed whether my first shot was half in or not, and until I dropped a ball into the hole I couldn't be sure. But I believe it to be half ball in/out for the higher score. So, 3 5's and 2 8's equals 31/50. My other targets today were out of the competition. I got Daryl to shoot my .25 flinter for the last shot of the day, while I shot his .69. He laughed for a solid 5 minutes after shooting the 9.5 pound squirrel rifle...instant ignition with zero recoil and ounces for trigger pull. When I shot his rifle, I was sure I was still in half cock, and that there must be blood squirting out from under my finger nail. But when it went off, it was crisp with no creep and no backlash. The sights were apparently on the squirrel's head when it popped.
Sunny afternoon but we were in the shade, temperature around -8C or so...chilly on the fingers and toes. But arguably the best day we'll have til next spring. Everything frozen here...winter's comin'!!
(https://i.ibb.co/pX7W8xr/image.jpg) (https://ibb.co/Jk1x4KF)
(https://i.ibb.co/n6V9FV8/0-1.jpg) (https://ibb.co/3482n8Y)
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I got out this morning and shot my squirrel twice before cold feet made me bail on any other targets. I should have quit on my first target at 25, only shot a 5 on #2. I will try again tomorrow.
(https://i.ibb.co/CtKsWRD/20231028-120915.jpg) (https://ibb.co/GJQ3FzN)
The credit for shooting this original barrel restock goes out to Rich Pierce who freshed it out to .37 for me. Shooting a .360 RB .010 patch over 40 gr of 3F.
(https://i.ibb.co/3cRPCMp/20231028-121000.jpg) (https://ibb.co/Zx2bMYB)
It is a joy to shoot even if your toes are froze
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IT took me some time to come to a conclusion on Taylor's target. After further review the call is a 26.
I had to get out a target and use 1/4 inch brass rod to make the call. Dave B did a very good job on his target, cold feet and all, gives him a 25.
So far this is a horse race with Taylor in the lead with a 26, Dave B is hot on his heels with a 25, and Okawbow very close with a 24.
Great shooting guys!
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Ended up working all weekend, so wont be able to shoot again. Fun target.
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Congratulations to Taylor for winning the October match with a 26. Also, congratulations to everyone who shot it. Looking forward to what Taylor has in store for us in Novembers match.