Quote:
Originally Posted by Reiver
I will probably be in the group that won't shoot it to that extend....I've only put about 400 rounds thru the gun to date.
What exactly was failing...breech block tolerances or what?
I was aware of the early accuracy issues but was also aware, prior to purchase, they had been addressed.
The steel hardening issue is info I've not heard before but it makes sense if they are not proofing to the same standard as the US rifles.
|
It was the triggers, hammer notches, and sears (depending upon which rifle - some, like the Rolling Block, don't have a sear in the modern sense). The basic actions really don't require the best steels or the best hardening - they are so vastly over-built due to being 19th century designs that relied on shear mass rather than good metallurgy, that when constructed of modern steels of any decent quality they hold up quite well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by madcorgi
Jeff--
Do they no longer hold 1000 yard matches? Seems like they would be a lot of fun. When we all met up for drinks, your wife told me that you'd fire the gun, and several seconds would go by before you'd hear the round hit the target.
|
The whole mid range and long range black powder match scene dried up around here over ten years ago. We used to shoot about half a dozen, maybe eight matches in this area at one time, each of them a two day match. Most were "stage" matches of 200, 300, 400, 500, and 600 yards. Some went to 800 yards (Douglas Ridge, outside of Portland) or 800 meters (General Volks Range in Chilliwack, B.C.). We shot 1,000 yards on range number KD22 ("known distance") at Ft Lewis three or four times per year.
At 1,000 yards, we're looking at about three seconds of flight time. Long enough to drop the breech block, extract the cartridge, put it back in the box, and lean over to look in the spotting scope. If you hurried.
It was common practice to shoot into the berm off to the end of the target stands to get a rough idea of elevation before going on paper for your two sighter shots. We would just look for the "splash" in the dirt. This was the spotter's job, and to report back to the shooter if elevation looked good enough to go on paper.
We shot in teams of three. Shooter, spotter, target puller, rotating each relay. If there were any FNG's, they would be teamed with experienced shooters. One day, said FNG was spotting for me on the first relay of the day. I told hime I was shooting into the berm on the left end of the targets, and to let me know where they hit, elevation wise, relative to the targets. No sooner had I fired, he took his eye out of the spotting scope, and said "I didn't see anything". *Sigh* I saw it hit out of the corner of my eye...
So, I told him to count "one thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three..." before taking his eye off the scope and reporting. He was astonished... "was that really yours?" Yup...
It's kind of weird at first, pausing to consider how long the bullet is in flight at 1,000 yards. A lot can happen to it in three seconds. It's a real challenge "doping" not only the wind, but mirage at those ranges. The target isn't where it looks like it is... The "trick" was to focus the spotting scope at about 800 yards, then look through it to see which direction the shimmer - the mirage - was going. Left, right, up, down - that huge air mass between you and the target is moving, and taking your bullet with it. Fun stuff...