Good day at the range

[High Desert Hunter]

DD when are your local shoots? Been wanting to make the 5 1/2 hour drive out to Tucson for one of the matches there just to witness first hand what works and what I am doing wrong. When I shot Sunday after Church, I noticed the glare made it more difficult to stay centered on target, I usually shoot in the morning before the winds come up, and in the summer before it gets hot.

Dave

[Don McDowell]

Anybody can hit that big ol target out there it take a rifleman to hit an edgeways 2x4 at 1000 yds, or to pick out a rock and send it thru the 9 ring.

.. Man ..that is good to hear Don... perhaps then ..there's hope for me after all.

J.B.

Don't let the bastards wear ya down Gavin, if you can't find something funny in the worst of screw ups you'll turn into a grumpy olcrumudgen. Keep on having fun.

[desert deuce]

HDH, the monthly target matches at Phoenix and Tucson have fallen by the wayside largely due to lack of participation.
The target matches were discontinued at Raton by NRA over serious competitor protests.
I have shot in long range matches at Capitan New Mexico and those too have been discontinued.
Silhouette is still held monthly at Tucson and Phoenix.
Desert International Phoenix 7 consecutive days of mid range and long range black powder target rifle shooting. Cartridge Rifles and Muzzle Loaders.

[Don McDowell]

And there in lies the problem, matches lost due to lack of participation. Something we all as shooters need to work on to see if it can be brought back.

[desert deuce]

The prospect of some semblance of a target match at Raton is currently causing a few whispers. Talk is cheap.
Through purposeful overt hostile action NRA Competitions Division killed the target matches at Raton with the full knowledge of NRA leadership.
Producing a quality black powder target rifle match is no small task. Doing one at Raton properly seems, at best, a remote possibility.

[High Desert Hunter]

Allegedly my local range is going to get a 600 yard leg someday, until then I have to make the drive to Raton or Tucson. Covid and reloading shortages really drove a stake through the heart of a lot of shooting sports. The AR crowd has come back, and their numbers are as strong as ever at the local range, many are Air Force members from the local base, but just not many black powder folks, even our muzzleloader club is small and not really growing. I know my rifle is too heavy at 13.5 lbs for some matches, but I want to shoot, I am not worried about official scores, I imagine they will be laughable anyhow. Cost is another reason people aren't flocking to the sport, they can afford a $500 black rifle, maybe even a $1K PRS type rifle, but the $3 to 4 thousand entry fee for BPCR is a show stopper.

Dave

[Don McDowell]

Word has it that a person is working close with the new NRA folks to bring back a national match, that would be a good thing . The biggest problem I can see is getting range time. With the huge crowds going to high power stuff range time for BPTR is very limited

[Gamerancher]

The MLAIC World Longrange Muzzleloading Titles are set for October 13-17 this year at Whittington.
I'll be part of the Aussie team competing, while it's not BPCR silhouette, it sure will be good to be back at Raton after a 5 year hiatus.

[High Desert Hunter]

Most of these young GIs I work with want a gun they can pull out of the box, slap an optic on, and bang steel at 1000 yards with factory ammo. I don't get it, they don't want to be part of the equation, just instant gratification. If I'm successful at my buffalo quest, I'll take great pleasure in knowing I made the bullet, I put the rounds together, I chatted with guys here, learned, and the culmination is hearing that big lead bullet strike, or if I ever get to shoot silhouette, watching them fall. I pray this sport sees a renaissance in the very near future.

Dave

[desert deuce]

It would be worth the trip to Raton to see Game Rancher in action doing the front stuffing thing.
The U.S. Team will be there, or so the rumor goes, and that too would be a sight to behold. Lot better than watching diapered bullets dry.
By far, the two best public ranges in the United States for long range black powder target rifle shooting are, Raton and Ben Avery Phoenix.

The problem with both is the demands for use by competing groups, not necessarily all are shooters, make range scheduling spotty at best.
As I have learned by experience, either range in late June-mid August is not suitable for BPTR competition. Possibly those dates tend to be available because nobody else wants to be at those ranges in those weather conditions either. I know I don't. Been there, done that.

I know to some the following factors border on heresy, BUT, it is not necessary for a National Match to be held at Raton, and, as the front stuffers will find out in October, Raton is relatively remote and a somewhat difficult venue to access for competitors traveling by air. At Ben Avery one can see aircraft landing and taking off from Sky Harbor Airport when standing on the 1,000 yard firing line with 4-lane highway in between and motels and restaurants everywhere. By comparison, Raton harkens back to the Kit Carson days.

[High Desert Hunter]

Raton is definitely out there, a lot of appeal for me, but I am driving from the South end of the same state. I love the surrounding area, but it is not near the airport, and NM is a big state. The winds add another dimension to the Whittington Center, living in the Southwest, wind is a given (except when it's 100+ and you can't buy a breeze), but the swirling and ever changing wind there was unreal. I know here, when I let these youngsters shoot my rifle, they always smile and think it's cool, but the wiping between shots for some is too much work. Trying to an ambassador for a sport I've never competed in, but want to survive because it is an amazing part of our history just as the muzzleloader is.

[Don McDowell]

I do know the tubb range as of last week was available the last weeks in August this year
Range time at a range capable of handling a true national NRA match is going to be a difficult find
I am hoping the people trying to resurrect the match succeed in getting something put together some where

[Gamerancher]

Hey DD, when you say, "Raton harkens back to the Kit Carson days", I reckon that's part of the appeal.
In the past we've flown into DFW and done the drive, usually in a round about way, taken our time to visit folks and had a good look around.
The rest of the team haven't been before so it'll all be new to them. I wish it tied in with some silhouette or BPTR but it is what it is.
I'm in regression, gone from modern H.P silhouette to lever-gun to BPCR, now front-stuffers, it'll be sticks and stones next...

[desert deuce]

It actually only takes 1 day sighting in and four or six days of record fire to put on a Raton historic National BPTR Match.
Remembering that the rule passed that the nationals is the aggregate of all shots fired as in the IRONMAN. IIRC
The last week of August would be almost as good as it can get if past weather patterns are any indicator.
Way too hot in Phoenix in August, 125 in the shade is not unusual.

[Don McDowell]

I think as it would be a national championship match the practice day should go by the way side
If someone with access to range insurance and the ability to coordinate with the match going on just prior to that for target building wanted to they could reserve those dates get the match set as a registered match and Bptr would have its foot back on the door
It would be good to get a registered match out here in the high lonesome as anybody that hasn’t fired in a registered match since the 2018 nationals is no longer classified