York Shoot

[Michigan Flinter]

 The York shoot is comming up soon.Does anyone have the info on it ?If so please post it for all of us who are going. Thanks Eric D. Lau  Riverdale Mi.

[smokinbuck]

Eric,
Haven't heard officially yet but I think it will be held on March 26. That's a definite maybe until the letters and schedule arrive. I do know that, once again, there will not be shooting on Friday preceding the shoot.
Mark

[ERH]

haven't heard anthing yet. It cant come soon enough . Its my favorite shoot of the year.

[Sequatchie Rifle]

Look under the events and announcements category- there you will find all this year's info, including registration forms!

[yip]

i heard about the york shoot on this website, and i must say , i'm ignorant about how its shot. can anybody explain the shoot?

[Militant_Hillbilly]

It's an over-the-log match shot prone at 60 yards. You can only shoot round balls and your rifle has to have fixed sights. The targets are white cards with a black circle that has an X printed on them. How it works is like this: you make your own sighter target, something that you can get a good aiming point on at that distance. You have a practice session before the match where you have the chance to fire a few rounds at your sighter to get an idea how your rifle is shooting. The match starts as soon as the practice session ends. You take your first target card and try to center the X where the ball is likely to hit. You go back to the firing line, fire your first round for the record and after everyone has shot, the line goes and  pulls their first target and posts their second target. You repeat this until you've fired 10 rounds in total. The targets are turned in and are scored from the distance from the center of the X to the center of the hole in the target where your ball struck. The closest to the X wins that relay and the shooter who has the lowest total distance for the 10 rounds that are shot for the record wins the match.

After you get the hang of it, it's incredibly addictive. The York match is an amazing thing to see and to be a part of. The people who shoot there are some of the friendliest and most helpful people you would ever meet. I went there in 2006 as a greenhorn who knew nothing about what was going on and made several friends that first match that helped me learn the ins and outs. Now I wouldn't miss this match for the world.

[yip]

  thanks m.h. 
          but i have a few questions, how big is this target? is there a time limit? i'm thinking of trying this, it sounds interresting. particulars are welcome.we run a muzzleloader shoot at our club, and thanking of doing it, twice a year, just for kicks. any info would be great.

[Don Getz]

Yip....to elaborate a little more than the Hillbilly above.    You will receive ten targets, about 4"x6", with a 4" round black
spot on it, with a white X on the black spot.   You will be required to place certain information of each target....name,
calibre of your gun, number each target from 1 to 10, and a line for the measurement.    You are allowed to make a "sighter" target, which amounts to anything that you can see well and aim at.   When you are at the shoot, you will see
all kinds of things....big black dots, little dots, square black blocks, donuts, etc.    The object of the game is to shoot a real
small group in your sighter target.....ideally they would all be in one hole, although this never happens.   Also, this group
can be anyw here on that sighter target.   You are melely trying to shoot a group, and you don't really want that group to
be right where you are aiming......that would do nothing but tear up your aiming point.   After that practice session is completed, everyone on the line will post their first target.  You will do this by placing that first 4x6 card with the X on it,
behind your sighter target with the X right in the middle of your group.   You are hoping your shot will go back into the
same group and be close to the X.    Relays have no time limit.  The line stays open until everyone has fired at his target.
After you pull that target and posted the next one, you will turn in your target to someone collecting them.   They are then
taken to a scorer who will measure the distance from the middle of the X to the middle of your bullet hole.   This is measured in thousands and that measurement is written on the card.  At the end of the match, your measurements are
totalled up with the shortest measurement being the overall winner.  There is also a prize give to the shooter who is closest to the X on each target.    Hope this helps...............Don

[Bill of the 45th]

Yip, the target is a small four inch black circle with rings and an x on it.  What the Hillbilly didn't completely explain is that some people make their own spotter, others use a standard 50 yard target.  The catch is that your match target is posted behind the spotter, so you shoot at your spotter the whole match, and only see your target after you change it.  It's one of the more fun things to do without taking your clothes off, and you don't really have to have any special equipment to get started.  There are TC's, and Lymans, along with the custom guns.  At the York period costume for 1910 era is suggested, and there is an award for best one.  There is also a dollar pocket watch given to the person who travels the farthest, and that's generally over a 1,000 miles.  This is a meat shoot, and the worst you can do is two pounds of ground chuck.  It takes place on the historic York farm, and his Kids and Grandkids even participate.

Here's Eric standing on a stool loading, you can see the different spotters down range.

The prize wagon, with Sgt. Yorks son standing on the left, with Mel Hankla, and Ron Borron on the wagon.

The firing line, with close to a hundred shooters, and there are two relays, one in the morning, and one in the afternoon.

[Bill of the 45th]

Here's a couple more pic's  of the shoot.

The banner

Behind the lines, some serious work

Changing targets, and a reminder

High tech loading bench

Bill

[yip]

  bill; i'm a little thick, so heres a few questions. do you put your scoring target the one with the x on, behind your spotter target? do you but the x behind the point of impact on your spotter? this sounds like fun, i think i'll give it a try

[Don Getz]

Yip....Yep, you got it right.  You place your target behind your sighter target, with the X being placed close to the middle
of your group that you shot earlier.   Put a staple in the target to hold it in place.    Then the fun starts.  Lets suppose
you shoot a nice tight group of 4 or 5 shots.   You place your X right in the middle.    Go back and, after they open the
line for shooting, you lay down and shoot.....darn, it went 2" to the left.   Now what do I do with my next target.   If I
move the X over to my last shot, I guarantee you the next shot will be right back in your old group.   Geez, I really miss
the game...........Don

[yip]

don; 
         thanks for enlighting me, it sure sounds like fun.i'm gonna purpose this to my shooters, i hope its gonna go over, can't wait.    thanks   yip

[Bill of the 45th]

Yip, shoot me a PM with your address, and I'l send you a copy of a target.

Bill

[smylee grouch]

Do they limit the number of shooters at the York shoot?   Smylee

[Dave R]

Yes 230 maxum shooters!

[Bill of the 45th]

Smylee, if you Google the York Shoot, you should get a link on how, and where to register.

Bill

[SPG]

Gentlemen,

Would one be treated like a whore in church if he just shot directly at the score target? We have been shooting Chunk matches in Cody and I have been shooting at the X-center target. Given our wind situation, this makes it easier to hold off for the wind at the moment of firing...which is always different from the wind at the time of posting the target.

Steve

[smylee grouch]

Steve: I did that once and my first shot was a spider, my next two were wider.  Smylee

[Don Getz]

Steve........you are not required to use a sighter.    If you can see that 4" round black bull real well, sight your rifle in to
hit 2" high, assuming you use a 6 o'clock hold.   You should be able to X it every time.......ha, ha...........Don

[SPG]

Don and Smylee,

Appreciate the comments and would agree...those spiders are hard to kill.

The biggest problem here is the switching wind. For instance, at one of our recent shoots one had to give the wind about 6-8 inches, right or left, depending. This could change easily by the time you walked back to the line and may stay that way for a half-hour...or 30 seconds. Putting up a sighter can really get you confused. I'm actually putting the black target on a white background, blade front sight and holding center as the wind can also turn to head or tail. In these conditions, any string under 10 inches is good.

I'd sure like to make the York match one year but it is a long way from Old Wyoming...

Steve

[Roger Fisher]

Gentlemen,

Would one be treated like a whore in church if he just shot directly at the score target? We have been shooting Chunk matches in Cody and I have been shooting at the X-center target. Given our wind situation, this makes it easier to hold off for the wind at the moment of firing...which is always different from the wind at the time of posting the target.

Steve

You need not use any spotter; but most if not all do

[Skychief]

What is an average string?   How about a top three string?

[Skychief]

Anybody know how long a trip it would be from Indianapolis area?

[smylee grouch]

SPG: Its not as far to Phoenix and there will be some chunk gun matches there from March 2-7.    Smylee