Turn out yesterday at your club/clubs??

[Roger Fisher]

I guess I'm the one in a thousand guy. I was at a shoot in Booneville Calif. on a drizzly day with my two nephews several years ago. The boys were all fired up to shoot, but I didn't want to take the chance of an accident, resulting from a hang fire, or wet powder. The boys were not at all happy. An hour later, a guy made a shot, and when the gun didn't sound right, he assumed his powder was wet, and that the round had cleared the barrel, it hadn't. He was going to blow down the barrel, but didn't get the chance. When he looked down the barrel the remaining powder went off, the .54 cal. ball hit him just above his eye. The bullet didn't have enough velocity to go very far, but had enough to enter his head and stop under his skull, above his eyebrow. It didn't even knock him out. He was able to call for help. The boys learned two valuable lessons that day. One is don't put anything in front of the  muzzle unless you want a hole in it. The other is you never know how tough somebody is by looking. I would suspect that if you decided to thump this old boy in some friendly saloon scrap, you might have your work cut out for you. If a .54 cal. ball in the head didn't knock him out, I don't think your best haymaker is going to do the job.
 The fastest growing event my club has is one called the "Shootwhatchabrung". As the name implies any safe functional firearm will have an event. These are all novelty targets shot at close range. The targets change at nearly every event, with one exception. We alway have a rope cutting event open to all shooters, and firearms, that involves cutting a rope with a premium bottle of some sort as the prize. They can't  get enough of this event. We started doing it on New Years day, and then St. Patrick's day, and they now want some more.

                       Hungry Horse

Thanks, Horse, I rest my case.  As said before blowing or looking down that muzzle is poor training for the less knowledgeable and impressionable..

[ROSIE]

I guess we're fortunate our monthly shoot at jefferson co. longrifles still averages 25-30 shooters but very few under 30 yrs old

[Candle Snuffer]

Snuffer,
Don't feel like the Lone Ranger.  We had 10 guys that wanted a monthly woodswalk.  I contacted a landowner friend who gave us permission to set one up.  I was out of town when they did it.  Came back to discover they had hung a bunch of metal trash from coathangers.Last year the property got selectively logged and the walk was in general disarray.  I gathered up what few decent targets they had and took them home.  I also made up a bunch of new ones.....enough for 22 stations.  Drilled them all and fastened chain to them and painted them.  Called for a work party last April.  three of us showed up....myself, the landowner who was recovering from a heart attack, and a diabetic.  We cleared all the logging debris from the trail and burnt it.  We harvested enough posts to hang all the targets from, buried them, and hung the targets.  In May, 5 shooters showed up, including we three.  In June, only we three showed up and we haven't shot since.  Excuses, excuses, excuses.  I got fed up and told them to contact me when THEY want to shoot.  Haven't had a call yet. Just cause you build it, don't mean they will come.

Sorry to hear this, T*O*F...  I know our numbers were getting low so that's when I decided to try and start organizing some fun type shooting events like the clay targets.  In the past when we did this everyone seem fine with it and enjoyed it.  I just don't know what to think anymore.  Maybe folks are forgetting how to have fun.  I also know about getting little or no help at all with putting on events.  Seems like most folks have an excuse not to help out.  What a shame.

[Habu]

Hungry Horse, any further details of this incident?  Like maybe when it happened, the name of the club, or the name of the injured party?  After 4 hours trying to verify it, I've been able to find nothing further. 

[Vomitus]

Horse,me too.

[Jim Thomas]

NMLRA Range Safety,  rule #1090

Blowing down the barrel-   There will be NO blowing down the barrel of any firearm during NMLRA matches in any manner that requires placing the head in front of the muzzle.  A flexable blow tube may be used at the shooters option, provided that the shooters head is not in front of the muzzle.




 

[heelerau]

I have a suspicion that we have an ageing black powder population here in Australia as well.  I suspect if I hooked up with my first club , the Adelaide Black Powder Muzzle Loading club in South Australia I would still be the youngest member at 51 yrs of age. I occasionally shoot with the Perth Black Powder club, unofficially as I don't have a lot of free time, and note not many shooters under 45. I have taught my daughter to some degree, and will with any willing and eventual grandchildren, girls or boys.   I wonder if it will all nearly die out and then resurrect again  after most of us have died off? like must have been the case in the early 20 century, you chaps had bill Large, we had the likes of Lyn Caldwell.

Cheers

Gordon

[Bob Roller]

Bill Large probably began his mechanical career in 1917 when he took his father's pocket watch apart and fixed it. I also knew his father,Nick Large who was a real gentleman and I was hurt when he passed away in 1965.
Bill had a brother,Frank Large who was a math teacher in Southern Ohio and Bill for a long time taught Vocational Arts (machine shop and wood working). His wfe,Shirley Martin Large was an elementary school teacher as was the third born daughter,Jeanette.
Bill had 160 students combined one year and he asked me one morning "How many do you think will be a mechanic"? and I said maybe 10 and he said there was "One that might"

Bob Roller

[Hungry Horse]

 Hey, guys, the Booneville Rendezvous was sponsored by the Sonoma Valley Muzzleloaders. The event was about eighteen years ago. I don't know the gentleman's name, but we heard later he lost the sight in one eye. The clubs response was fantastic. They had an ambulance there in a heartbeat. They are a good group of people, and their event is as safe as any I shoot at. And, safer than some I quit shooting at.
 In the aftermath, we came to the conclusion, that rain running off of the shooters hat brim had mixed with the powder, and created a wet plug in the middle of the charge. There must have been just enough dry powder at the breech to move the ball up the barrel, and make the odd report. Unfortunately the wet powder didn't stop the reaction, it just delayed it long enough for the gentleman to get his head over the muzzle.

                   Hungry Horse

[Luke MacGillie]

Made the trip up to Brown County this morning to shoot with my "Home" club, the Thundercreek longrifles, 8 shooters plus an RO.  I was not the youngest shooter, which is good

Next weekend is Buck Creek, a slightly shorter drive, and in the same county, I would guess there could be anywhere from a dozen to 2 dozen shooters, will probably depend on the heat......

[Roger Fisher]

First Frontier shot our monthly shoot yesterday 16 shooters 90 degrees covered range paid off.... paid cash..... fairly good shoot.  attendance down from usual 25 plus shooters....

[Jim Thomas]

10 shooters for our smoothbore shoot yesterday Roger.  I can't remember if that is up or down for us.    Had a much larger turnout for our workbee the day before....so I'm not losing all hope.  The place is looking great.     

[Charlie B]

We shot the Kentucky Cup match yesterday, had 50 adults and 9 junior shooters.