BassCliff
Professional
Hey there boys and girls!
It was a beautiful, relaxing day down at the Bristol Ranges. My buddy Bill was expecting LOTS of mosquitoes after the recent rains but there was none. The weather was partly cloudy, mid-70s, just lovely. I forgot to bring enough cash for my range fee so I stopped by the front office. I knew there was no electricity back on the "wilderness" ranges so I had to use my debit card up front. The guy behind the counter said, "Oh, you're a poof." I almost got offended until I realized what he meant. After paying at the pistol/rifle range, when you sign in at the black powder range you write "PUF" in the PAID column. That means Paid Up Front.
I headed down the one lane road with two-way traffic to the wilderness ranges.
It was a bit busy today. Even the airgun range had ten or twelve cars parked next to it. There was no parking in front of the black powder ranges so I pulled around in front of the cowboy gun area to park not too far away. This place looks like it could be fun.
There were at least a half dozen black powder guys shooting guns and shooting the breeze. They were even shooting a canon. Pretty cool.
Bill had arrived about 15 minutes before I did and he introduced me to another Bill. Bill was shooting his Southern Mountain flintlock.
Bill shook my hand and asked if I'd like to shoot it.
I thought that was mighty hospitable of him. It seems like that's how all these black powder shooters are. They're all so neighborly. So I said, "Sure! Thanks!" So I'm looking out at the 25 yard range thinking, "Hmmm, I don't want to shoot paper."
So I chose the 8" steel there, second from the left in that group of four.
My friend Bill said he'd take video. Wouldn't you know it? I had a flash in the pan. Bill refilled the pan on his flintlock and I tried again. Another flash in the pan. Bill said, "Well, I guess I dry-balled it." He told me don't get old, sometimes you forget stuff. There was no powder charge behind the ball. He had to pull the ball out with an extractor, a screw fitting on the end of his ramrod. He drilled into the lead ball and pulled it out. I watched him reload the powder, wadding, and ball again, the sprinkle some more powder in the pan. Success! Here's proof. You can hear the steel ring after the successful ignition.
Here's Kevin shooting his muzzle loader on the bench next to us. Kevin is Tom's brother. I met Tom a couple weeks ago the last time I was here. Sorry I don't know the make of Kevin's rifle.
Another colorful character on the black powder range came by showing off the rifle he built from parts. It was pretty amazing. A modern scope on top of the "under barrel" hammer. I think it had a 48" barrel.
Finally we got around to shooting some pistols. I'll bet I shot less than 20 pistol rounds in the three hours I was there. This activity proceeds at a very relaxed pace.
These are a pair of 36 caliber pistols. Left is an 1860 Army revolver and on the right is a (Navy?) 5 shot "concealed carry" pistol of the day. Below I'm just pressing the ball on top of the powder. Then I'll seal it with wax and place the percussion cap before firing.
I did pretty good with the 1860 Army pistol at 25 yards.
Then I tried the smaller 5 shot "concealed carry" Navy pistol.
I was told that was pretty good considering these pistols were generally used at distances of 20 feet. The technology of the day wasn't terribly accurate. Of course, anything in my hands will not be terribly accurate anyway. Here's Bill shooting the small pistol at the steel.
We did not shoot my AK today. We were having such a good time with black powder and listening to the old guys tell stories that we just ran out of time. Since the .22 range is right next door I did manage to shoot about 75 rounds from my RS22 "Tactical".
There are so many targets it's almost hard to pick one. Most of them are sooo small.
I managed to hit a few of the larger steel targets out to 50 yards. But I think I need to zero my sights again after installing the new stock. I don't know if I bumped the rear sight or the barrel sits funny in the new stock. Here's Bill with his Henry .22 lever action. He was ringing quite a bit of steel.
Bill tried my RS22 Tactical and liked the fiber optic sights. I told him I'll get those sights lined up for next time.
So today wasn't a training day at all. It wasn't very much of a practice day either. It was just a day in the fresh are and sunshine, hanging out with friends, enjoying their company, learning about old technology, and sending a little bit of lead downrange. It was kind of a great day. Now it's time to get home so I can let my dog out. By the time I get there he will be ready.
Since Mrs. BassCliff is out of town until Monday, I just might stop by my local indoor range for a quick 50 rounds or so after church tomorrow. Maybe I'll take my .22 rifle and check the zero. It's gotta be done, right?
Thanks for hanging out with me. You guys are pretty cool.
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
It was a beautiful, relaxing day down at the Bristol Ranges. My buddy Bill was expecting LOTS of mosquitoes after the recent rains but there was none. The weather was partly cloudy, mid-70s, just lovely. I forgot to bring enough cash for my range fee so I stopped by the front office. I knew there was no electricity back on the "wilderness" ranges so I had to use my debit card up front. The guy behind the counter said, "Oh, you're a poof." I almost got offended until I realized what he meant. After paying at the pistol/rifle range, when you sign in at the black powder range you write "PUF" in the PAID column. That means Paid Up Front.
I headed down the one lane road with two-way traffic to the wilderness ranges.
It was a bit busy today. Even the airgun range had ten or twelve cars parked next to it. There was no parking in front of the black powder ranges so I pulled around in front of the cowboy gun area to park not too far away. This place looks like it could be fun.
There were at least a half dozen black powder guys shooting guns and shooting the breeze. They were even shooting a canon. Pretty cool.
Bill had arrived about 15 minutes before I did and he introduced me to another Bill. Bill was shooting his Southern Mountain flintlock.
Bill shook my hand and asked if I'd like to shoot it.
I thought that was mighty hospitable of him. It seems like that's how all these black powder shooters are. They're all so neighborly. So I said, "Sure! Thanks!" So I'm looking out at the 25 yard range thinking, "Hmmm, I don't want to shoot paper."
So I chose the 8" steel there, second from the left in that group of four.
My friend Bill said he'd take video. Wouldn't you know it? I had a flash in the pan. Bill refilled the pan on his flintlock and I tried again. Another flash in the pan. Bill said, "Well, I guess I dry-balled it." He told me don't get old, sometimes you forget stuff. There was no powder charge behind the ball. He had to pull the ball out with an extractor, a screw fitting on the end of his ramrod. He drilled into the lead ball and pulled it out. I watched him reload the powder, wadding, and ball again, the sprinkle some more powder in the pan. Success! Here's proof. You can hear the steel ring after the successful ignition.
Here's Kevin shooting his muzzle loader on the bench next to us. Kevin is Tom's brother. I met Tom a couple weeks ago the last time I was here. Sorry I don't know the make of Kevin's rifle.
Another colorful character on the black powder range came by showing off the rifle he built from parts. It was pretty amazing. A modern scope on top of the "under barrel" hammer. I think it had a 48" barrel.
Finally we got around to shooting some pistols. I'll bet I shot less than 20 pistol rounds in the three hours I was there. This activity proceeds at a very relaxed pace.
These are a pair of 36 caliber pistols. Left is an 1860 Army revolver and on the right is a (Navy?) 5 shot "concealed carry" pistol of the day. Below I'm just pressing the ball on top of the powder. Then I'll seal it with wax and place the percussion cap before firing.
I did pretty good with the 1860 Army pistol at 25 yards.
Then I tried the smaller 5 shot "concealed carry" Navy pistol.
I was told that was pretty good considering these pistols were generally used at distances of 20 feet. The technology of the day wasn't terribly accurate. Of course, anything in my hands will not be terribly accurate anyway. Here's Bill shooting the small pistol at the steel.
We did not shoot my AK today. We were having such a good time with black powder and listening to the old guys tell stories that we just ran out of time. Since the .22 range is right next door I did manage to shoot about 75 rounds from my RS22 "Tactical".
There are so many targets it's almost hard to pick one. Most of them are sooo small.
I managed to hit a few of the larger steel targets out to 50 yards. But I think I need to zero my sights again after installing the new stock. I don't know if I bumped the rear sight or the barrel sits funny in the new stock. Here's Bill with his Henry .22 lever action. He was ringing quite a bit of steel.
Bill tried my RS22 Tactical and liked the fiber optic sights. I told him I'll get those sights lined up for next time.
So today wasn't a training day at all. It wasn't very much of a practice day either. It was just a day in the fresh are and sunshine, hanging out with friends, enjoying their company, learning about old technology, and sending a little bit of lead downrange. It was kind of a great day. Now it's time to get home so I can let my dog out. By the time I get there he will be ready.
Since Mrs. BassCliff is out of town until Monday, I just might stop by my local indoor range for a quick 50 rounds or so after church tomorrow. Maybe I'll take my .22 rifle and check the zero. It's gotta be done, right?
Thanks for hanging out with me. You guys are pretty cool.
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
