At a wood walk I was at years ago, there was a target about 25 yards away. The target wasn’t that difficult but there was one twist. You walked up to the line with your rifle loaded but unprimed. On the side of the line there was a large rectangular wooden box, the side facing the shooter was covered with plexiglass. Inside the box were a series of alternating pieces of wood which faced downward. At the top was a small hole for a roundball . When you were at the firing line, you reached over, picked up the round ball and dropped it in the hole at the top. As the ball was going down towards the bottom, it was bouncing off the slanted wooden slats. As it was traveling towards the bottom, the shooter had to bring the rifle to half cock, prime the pan, fully cock the lock, aim and fire before the ball exited the bottom of the box. I think there were different scores-1) shooting before the ball came out of the box but missing the target and 2) shooting before the ball exited the ball and hitting the target and 3) having a non- discharge or shooting after the ball hit the plate below the box. If your rifle wouldn’t fire or the ball came out before you shot, you earned a goose egg. I don’t remember how long it took the ball in the box to exit the bottom, but you had to quickly prime and shoot. The shooter that hit the target before the ball hit the plate under the box obviously earned the maximum score. Even though everyone had hearing protection, you could still hear that ball hitting each paddle-it was like a clock ticking. I don’t recall anyone counting how many “ticks” there were , but it added a little stress to the target. It was a fun target to shoot, it probably just took a little time to construct the box.
