July Cody Turkey Match

[SPG]

Gentlemen,

The July meeting of the Cody He-Man Turkey Killers came off on a beautiful day, bright sunshine and relatively mild winds. 10 shots at 60 yards on the turkey head target. Just enough breeze (3-5") to make it interesting and a good time was had by all. We broke in a new shooter, Dennis Davis, to the Mysteries Of The Flintlock and he swore that he would be back. I had a great time shooting a recently acquired Don King .40 Reading rifle ( made in 1964) for the first time, and it seemed like it knew it's business. The Reverend Robinson broke in a newly finished .40 flintlock and Mr. Phariss campaigned his .50 flint swivel breech. The best spider of the day was shot by Wilson Crawford...unfortunately, on Mike Otterberg's target. We will all remind him of that for some time to come.

If you haven't tried this match at your club, give it a go. I guarantee that you will generate some enthusiasm.


Aggregate 10-shot strings-

Steve Garbe- 7.162", 10 turkeys
Dan Phariss- 14.428", 6 turkeys
Rev. Robert Robinson- 17.298", 4 turkeys
Ron Gerondale- 18.978", 3 turkeys
Mike Otterberg- 19.200", 2 turkeys
Bob Jam- 22.004", 3 turkeys
Wilson Crawford- 29.860", 2 turkeys
Dennis Davis- 35.384", 2 turkeys

Equipment List-
Mike Otterberg- .45 Garbe Underhammer, Goodein 1-60 twist, .445 ball, .020 pillow ticking, water soluble oil, 65 grs. Goex 3Fg, aperture sight, wiped, CCI caps.
Ron Gerondale- .50 Pedersoli flintlock, 1-60 twist, .490 Speer ball, .005 linen patch, Wonder Lube, 70 grs. 3Fg Swiss, wiped, aperture sight and shaders.
Wilson Crawford- .50 Thompson, .495 Speer ball, .015 ticking, mink oil, 65 grs. 2Fg Swiss, wiped, CCI caps, barrel sights.
Dennis Davis- .40 Gardener flintlock, .395 Hornady ball, .010 ticking, Wonder lube, 60 grs. 2FG Swiss, wiped, barrel sights.
Dan Phariss- .50 Phariss Swivel breech flintlock, Green Mountain barrels, .495 cast ball, 77 grs. 3FG Swiss, .018 denim patch, Beef tallow lube, wiped, barrel sights with shaders.
Robert Robinson- .40 Robinson/Hatfield, Green Mountain barrel, .395 Hornady ball, .012 linen, backer patch, water soluble oil, 55 grs. 3Fg Swiss, wiped, aperture sight.
Bob Jam- .54 Lyman, Hornady .530 ball, .025 ticking, Bore butter lube, wasp nest backer, 80 grs. Swiss 1 1/2Fg, wiped,  barrel sights.
Steve Garbe- .40 D. King 'Reading' flintlock, 1-66 Douglas barrel, .395 cast ball, .020 ticking, sperm oil, 55 grs. 3 Fg Swiss, wiped, barrel sights.
 
 

[okieboy]

 Hi SPG, could you post some targets and explain how the match is runand the targets scored? Is this shot as bench or prone or sitting? Although shot at 60 yards and string measures listed, I am taking it that spotters are not used as in chunk shooting. This sounds like a lot of fun.

[Daryl]

I'd guess it's the same "Plank Shoot" that Steve and Dan have previously posted over the last couple years.  I'm hoping to be able to change my 'chunk' shoot at Rendezvous BC to a "Plank" shoot in years to come. To many of the older, more competitive shooters cannot get up and down any longer and might compete if only having to kneel on a well padded blanker or some such pad. 'd think we'd need about 1/2 dozen 'planks' to keep the shooting running along, only having one single afternoon for the competition.

[SPG]

Okieboy,

We shoot from the sawhorse and plank which is not nearly as steady as the prone "chunk" position...sort of a cross between offhand and prone. Turkey head target with an X in the center of the turkey head. No special spotters are allowed, everyone shoots at the same target. Figure the wind and take a crack at the turkey. We shoot ten, one-shot targets, paying on each like a chunk match and then we add the strings for the 11th match which is an aggregate. If we have enough people, we pay for most turkeys hit also. Many times the shortest string does not necessarily mean the most turkeys hit.

Load from the pouch, any pre-1850 iron sight, shaders allowed. It is a traditional "practical" rifle match...you have to know your rifle and how it shoots in the wind ( which we get a lot of). I reckon if you can do well at this match, you  could probably hit a real turkey...

Daryl,

We typically have 8-12 shooters, one plank, start at 10:00 AM and are done by 2:00, scoring included. Everyone watches you make a shot, and of course, there is no "Hoorawing" allowed...or  at least, not much. Knowing that there's a bunch of cutthroats watching you make your shot contributes greatly to focus, and there's lot's of free advice on conditions.

Steve

[Daryl]

TKS Steve - I'd expect from 35 to 50 for a plank shoot. We've been getting 30 at the chunk match and it's a stretch to get all the shooting done and scored - starts at 1PM sharp and scoring over by 5:30, I think it was last year.  Council fire for the day's roundup and prizes for the day is at 7PM. 

In the intersts of not spending 3 hours measuring, I think we'll not score the really nasty targets from now on, as we've been scoring all of them - accurately measuring, recording and adding up strings for roughly 10 shots (some don't get 10 hits) for 30 shooters & that takes too much time.

My thanks for the targets, Steve.