having fun

carrottop · Post by **carrottop** » Wed May 05, 2004 6:37 pm

first let me thank all of those that have spent hours and days perfecting loads and data for black powder rifles , without which we who have little time ,less equipment, and surely less motivation would not have the statistics necessary to reload BP. having said that, I continue to the laity of BP. Knowing that the original owners of some of the finest firearms that ever hit the west ie: Sharps in all calibers, melted lead over open fires ,measured powder without the aid of elctronic scales, and cleaned brass without tumblers or ceramic media. It amazes me that they were recognized as the foremost sharpshooters in the world ,and are still heralded to this day with outstanding feats of markmanship. Having said all this, I would like to say to those who more closely identify with me than with the elite of the BP shooters, please this is not about whocan hi a target at 1000yds 8 out of 10 times , (you only have to hit it once) its all about having fun. Competition builds character, but shooting for fun brings satisfactiion ,and joy no other sport could possibly even come close to.

Lee Stone · Post by **Lee Stone** » Wed May 05, 2004 7:09 pm

Amen brother Carrottop! Truly, amen.

A.Bruiser · Post by **A.Bruiser** » Wed May 05, 2004 7:38 pm

Competition builds character, is fun and you do get satisfaction from doing your best.

A.Bruiser

Ken Hartlein · Post by **Ken Hartlein** » Wed May 05, 2004 9:31 pm

Shooting for fun is wonderful!! But, shooting competition for me is FUN, and I enjoy it and I shoot competition FOR fun. Fun is Fun, just depends on how you do it. Nothing I've done in the past few years is more fun than going to an NRA sanctioned silhouette match or a buffalo gong match. Going to the range and just shooting is fun too, also going out to a friends ranch and just shooting pear leaves is fun. Shooting competition is FUN!!!

Bad Ass Wallace · Post by **Bad Ass Wallace** » Wed May 05, 2004 10:17 pm

Shooting is for pleasure, the standards of performance I set for myself, if I achieve that standard in a match and it happens to win a place; that's a bonus.
To feel the Sharps & smell the smoke;I've still had a wonderfull day!
http://img50.photobucket.com/albums/v15 ... d_West.gif

Bumper · Post by **Bumper** » Wed May 05, 2004 10:44 pm

Putting your frustrations down range is what its all about. I smile when the smoke appears and the smile widens when I hear the clang. This sport of ours is "FUN" at practice or in competition. Rbump

8iowa · Post by **8iowa** » Thu May 06, 2004 7:45 am

Florida is basically a "matchless" state so I haven't had the opportunity to shoot in competition. However, when my son and I get together to burn black powder in our Sharps rifles life is really good.

nohorse · Post by **nohorse** » Thu May 06, 2004 11:52 am

8iowa: I am with ya on that friend! Competition or not; when ya drag the Sharps outta the case, set up on the sticks and crank out that first round...man...when the smoke blows and the ground shakes I get hooked all over again!!!

crazeyiven · Post by **crazeyiven** » Thu May 06, 2004 8:33 pm

To Lee Stone's comment "Amen brother Carrottop! Truly, amen." I can only add Ditto!

pete · Post by **pete** » Fri May 07, 2004 9:36 pm

Good post carrottop. When it comes to Sharps or Remington rollingblocks too for that matter my interest lies primarily with the history of the frontiersman and it's fun becoming more familiar with the ties these rifles have with that era. It's also fun to hunt with them, using these rifles once in a while for their main intended purpose, seeing how well they work in actual hunting situations and not just reading about it. I also want to do some silhouette shooting since the first and only match I've been to was such fun. I'm definately no elite shooter and couldn't be one if I tried but it's fun shooting competition at my own speed which is pretty slooow. As long as the elites don't put others down for not being elite it's all good fun. So far so good.

Dave Shaw · Post by **Dave Shaw** » Sat May 08, 2004 5:21 pm

Hi guys

Have to agree with Bumper and the days frustrations, for me ALL shooting in like a cross between 'zen' and chess. you have to be in control of yourself to get every thing right when pulling that trigger, the chess bit is playing the mind game to treat each and every shot as the first and only one to count, not thinking about how badly the last one went - your fooling only yourself if you try some 'trick' to get the end result your looking for.
With BP I like this the most as you have to work at it from both ends - developing the load, casting/case prep/powder charge/compresion etc and the trigget time you HAVE to put in.

spook2 · Post by **spook2** » Sun May 09, 2004 9:11 pm

Hear-Hear ! !

I have never taken any other weapon to the range and have it so consistently create interest, almost without exception, somewhere in the vicinity of awe and wonder. And when some hamburger with a fancy scoped, sm*****ss something-or-other, looks at his group, and then looks at mine, it just dont' get any better. 'Cept of course, on a day when those steel critters are dropping like flies down range.