[Jeff Higgins]

One of my old shooting buddies has an original Pope Ballard in some oddball .33 caliber. Came with all the original accroutements; false muzzle, mold, and a handfull of cases. Very pretty, very accurate.

I'm not so much into Schuetzen as the mid and long range matches. Shooting a Schuetzen match with one of the old breach/muzzle loaders is a lot of fun, though. The traditional shoot one shot and head to the back of the line to prepare the next one is a relaxing way to spend a day.

For those unfamiliar with the process, the bullet goes in from the front and the case goes in from the back, and never the twain shall meet. A false muzzle, which has a tapered leade in which to start the bullet, is pinned to the muzzle. A ramrod with a stop is used to seat the bullet to a predetermined depth in the bore, just ahead of the case. A case full of powder, with a blotting paper wad to hold it in, is inserted from the breach. The same case, just one, is typically used for the life of the rifle, for every shot it fires. It is scraped, cleaned, decapped, recapped, and recharged between shots.

Each target has several shooters on it, taking turns shooting as the rest prepare their next shot. The target is pulled and scored for each shot, and when everyone has ten shots, final scores are tallied. In the old days, most matches lasted all day and 10-20 targets (100-200 rounds) were fired for score by each shooter. Lots of beer drinking during the loading and waiting phase, by the way. They were Germans or of German heritage, after all.

Some of the most accurate rifles ever made are breach/muzzle loader Schuetzen rifles. The famous Rowland Pope had the absolute 200 yard group record for most of the 20th century (fired the group right at the turn of the century), shooting lead bullets and black powder.

One look at the official 25 ring target will impress anyone; the 25 ring is quite small, like 1"-1 1/2" diameter. And to be competetive, you better be shooting into the 230's and 240's on it. Offhand, 200 yards. Try that with your choice of any modern rifle; you will have a very difficult time getting anywhere close to those scores. The rifles are beautiful, the game is very demanding.