U.S. Team Wins Muzzleloading World Championship

[Jeff Higgins]

Held over the week of 27th August – 2nd September 2023 in Várpalota-Veszprém, Hungary the five man U.S. team won at mid range (300, 500, and 600 yards), and absolutely dominated at long range (900 and 1,000 yards).

https://ltc-hw.nl/LRWC-2023/

Lee Shaver, gunsmith extraordinaire and publisher of The Single Shot Exchange captained the team (he also built all of their rifles). My old friend and match nemesis (he only beat me once in 20 years of shooting against one another) Dave Gullo, proprietor of Buffalo Arms in Sand Point ID joined him, along with Chip Mate out of Phoenix along with his wife Debbie serving as everyone's "Girl Friday" (taking care of all of those little things so the shooters can shoot), Steve Farringer from Indiana, and finally Tony Martello from Wisconsin. Chrystal Bentlage-Gerbitz (who answers the phone in Lee's shop) served as Team Adjutant.

This team won both the mid and long range championships and with them the Grand Aggregate. They dominated at long range (900 and 1,000 yards), building a 62 point lead over second place, and winning the Grand Aggregate by 81 points.

Congrats on a job well done!

[masraum]

Cool!

They should have worn coonskin caps!

[Jeff Higgins]

[Por_sha911]

The obviously didn't use smokeless powder.

[Jeff Higgins]

Heh heh... funny, some of the bigger matches allow black powder substitutes, like Pyrodex, Triple Seven, and others (but never smokeless). I have, however, shot in local level black powder cartridge rifle matches that allow the use of smokeless in the hopes of attracting more shooters.

I have never seen any of the substitutes, nor any smokeless loads, demonstrate that they are even remotely competitive with original black powder insofar as long range accuracy in these kinds of rifles (modern high velocity bottlenecked cartridges are another matter entirely). Black powder is an amazingly accurate propellent. Being a very low yield propellent, it requires a great deal of it (compared to smokeless) to achieve any kind of velocity and, even then, velocity is very limited.

What this translates into is that small variations in charge weight or volume have little affect on velocities. My acceptance standard for my long range black powder cartridge loads was an extreme spread of ten feet per second or less over a ten shot string. There is no way on Earth that any smokeless load could ever achieve that. These low extreme spreads help in two ways, less vertical dispersion and more consistent wind drift at long range. If you want to win matches with these rifles, it is pretty much imperative that you use the real thing, original black powder.

[id10t]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

Heh heh... funny, some of the bigger matches allow black powder substitutes, like Pyrodex, Triple Seven, and others (but never smokeless). I have, however, shot in local level black powder cartridge rifle matches that allow the use of smokeless in the hopes of attracting more shooters.

I have never seen any of the substitutes, nor any smokeless loads, demonstrate that they are even remotely competitive with original black powder insofar as long range accuracy in these kinds of rifles (modern high velocity bottlenecked cartridges are another matter entirely). Black powder is an amazingly accurate propellent. Being a very low yield propellent, it requires a great deal of it (compared to smokeless) to achieve any kind of velocity and, even then, velocity is very limited.

What this translates into is that small variations in charge weight or volume have little affect on velocities. My acceptance standard for my long range black powder cartridge loads was an extreme spread of ten feet per second or less over a ten shot string. There is no way on Earth that any smokeless load could ever achieve that. These low extreme spreads help in two ways, less vertical dispersion and more consistent wind drift at long range. If you want to win matches with these rifles, it is pretty much imperative that you use the real thing, original black powder.

Yup. Been doing some load work up on a 223 bolt gun. Half a grain of powder is the difference between a 1moa group and a 3moa group

I dont think my ML would even notice a 5 grain difference, much less 0.5gr

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

The obviously didn't use smokeless powder.

Many years ago (in the 70s) my dad built a percussion cap muzzle loader from a kit. I had an uncle that lived in the booneys. One time we visited my uncle and dad took the rifle. They loaded it up and fired it. It scared the hell out of me (I think I was probably 5-7). I remember 2 things, a huge boom, and that my dad was completely engulfed by a cloud of smoke.

[David]

I’m not a hunter or even much of a shooter but it’s my understanding there’s a muzzle loading deer season between bow and open season. I’ve seen some of these muzzle loaders at the gun shop and they look pretty exotic compared to 250 year old technology. I assume this is the same type modern technology used in competition.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by David

I’m not a hunter or even much of a shooter but it’s my understanding there’s a muzzle loading deer season between bow and open season. I’ve seen some of these muzzle loaders at the gun shop and they look pretty exotic compared to 250 year old technology. I assume this is the same type modern technology used in competition.

Absolutely not. The rifles used in competition are very strictly limited to originals or authentic reproductions of originals dating from the 19th century. The "modern" muzzle loaders commonly sold today to take advantage of muzzle loading big game seasons are forbidden for use in these competitions. They should not be allowed for hunting either, but that's another topic entirely.

Here is an example of what is legal for use in these competitions. This is a reproduction of an 1870's Gibbs target rifle as made by Pedersoli in Italy.

[Tobra]

Man, those Italians make some sweet reproductions of old guns

[John Rogers]

I have had a Pedersoli Gibbs rifle now for 6 years or so and it took me 3 years to find one that I would not have had to mortgage the house to buy. Mine came from a 3 gun competition shooter in Texas that was moving to mounted cowboy shooting. They are made for the 1000 yard competition matches and meets those funny British rules that govern that sport. It weighs 2oz less than limit, trigger pull is exact to spec and the barrel has "Pope" type of grooves that are cut by a 100 year old machine! The checkering of the stock is all done by hand which can be seen if looked at closely.
John

[id10t]

Originally Posted by David

I’m not a hunter or even much of a shooter but it’s my understanding there’s a muzzle loading deer season between bow and open season. I’ve seen some of these muzzle loaders at the gun shop and they look pretty exotic compared to 250 year old technology. I assume this is the same type modern technology used in competition.

All state dependent. We here in Florida get one ML season about 3 or 4 weeks long starting mid/late October, after Archery and before General Gun.

Some states reverse it, some states have split or multiple seasons. Penssylvania has a split season and the one that starts after Christmas is flint-lock only - no percussion, etc. and just don't even mention the word "inline"

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by Tobra

Man, those Italians make some sweet reproductions of old guns

They sure do. They have upped their game tremendously in my lifetime, having gone from some pretty poor quality more or less "novelty" kinds of guns to some pretty darn nice stuff. When I first started competing in the early '90's in the mid and long range black powder cartridge rifle game, one simply had no chance of winning with any Pedersoli (or any other Italian) reproduction. National and world championships are now being won with them.

While all of my match rifles are American made reproductions or originals, I do own two Pedersoli long guns that I use for hunting. This one has been my main "go-to" hunting shotgun for going on 40 years, a side by side 10 gauge percussion gun that I built from one of their kits. Pedersoli have cleverly bored it to an actual 11 gauge, so we can use modern wads meant to fit inside of ten gauge shells. I use traditional cardboard and cork, but if I wanted to tighten up patterns a bit, it will accept plastic shot cups. Interestingly, this was sold through and branded as a Dixie Gun Works gun, and nowhere on it does it actually say "Pedersoli". Dixie demanded much higher quality from them than was typical for their "Pedersoli" branded stuff at the time, but it did serve to demonstrate what they were capable of when they tried.



This one is a double rifle of .72 caliber, or 12 gauge, firing a .715" diameter round ball over a pretty darn stiff charge of black powder. This one arrived complete, I did not build it from a kit.

Unfortunately, Washington does not allow us to load both barrels during a muzzle loader season, so I have wound up only using it during modern firearms seasons. It's kind of heavy at over 12 pounds, so it's kind of a lot to carry and it doesn't get out much. The quality of it is fantastic. Oh, and at 1 in 144", it has got to have the slowest twist I have ever seen in a rifled barrel. Enough to stabilize a .72 caliber round ball, though.

[David]

I imagine these reproductions are a fair bit more accurate than the originals

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by David

I imagine these reproductions are a fair bit more accurate than the originals

That would appear to be intuitively obvious at first blush, what with modern manufacturing techniques and everything. In actual practice, however, it turns out that originals can be every bit as, if not more accurate than modern made reproductions.

Here is my Ballard "Pacific" model, manufactured in 1878, chambered in .45-70. All original, "lock, stock, and barrel". I used it to win many, many mid range (out to 600 yards) matches over the years. It is shown here with its hunting sights installed - I used it to kill one of the biggest mule deer that I have ever taken. When used in the matches, it wears an MVA "Soule" type rear sight along with an MVA globe and spirit level front. This rifle will shoot with, and often out shoot, any modern reproduction.




Here is the match rear sight that I use on all of my rifles, from Montana Vintage Arms. It's known as a "Soule" type, named for its inventor back in the 1880's. Windage is adjusted with the micrometer barrel, elevation via the vernier scale on the side. It has several aperture sizes that are available by turning the little wheel. The lower position is its 200 yard setting, the upper its 1,000 yard setting on the 1874 Sharps on which it is mounted. I have bases for it for all of my black powder single shots, so all I have to do is move the staff from rifle to rifle.







Here is the globe type front sight I use, also from MVA. The apertures are interchangeable in it as well, by swinging the little clip on top out of the way and removing the little spring steel aperture disc. The spirit level is critical to long range success, once that rear sight gets a ways up the staff. Any canting of the rifle affects vertical dispersion.

We see a real mix of originals and modern reproductions at these matches. Either is entirely capable of winning.

[Henry Schmidt]

Over the years I've had a few:
Only ones remaining are personal favorites.
The last one is a Colt 45 converted to black powder.