Range Report- this weekends competition

Dave951

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Well, this weekend was the last skirmish (match) of the year for the North South Skirmish Association. We shot in Statesville at Allison Woods and to put it mildly, had a ball. Individuals started shooting for score on Friday and continued into Saturday. At 11a, the Carbine match kicked off. Smoothbores shot at 130 and we shot the Cannon match at 4p. I don't care what type of match you've shot, and I've shot pretty much every flavor, nothing gets me pumped like shooting artillery live for score.

Muskets shot today at 915. A skirmish like this one is shot completely offhand and was broken into 6 events.

1)- 25yd ladder shoot- 3 sticks 1.5x12 hung on two wires like rungs on a ladder.
Pretty tough but it took our team 7 shots total.

2)- 50yd pigeon board- 15 normal sized clay pigeons and 5 "mini" pigeons.
The wheels pretty much fell off the wagon for us on this event

3)- 50yd 4in tiles- 10 tiles hanging on wire, 4in, and a can of shaving cream. Have to hit the tiles first, penalty for not hitting shaving cream last.
Oh yeah, we mowed this one down. My 84yo dad whacked the travel size shaving cream can with his 58cal Springfield.

4)- 50yd "Puff" board- 5 drywall targets hanging on wire 5in square with two stars on them. Hits count based on where it hits the board. This is a speed shooting event.
We did just ok

5)- 50yd "chunks"- 10 wood chunks, about 3in square, hanging on wire.
We left 3.

6)- 100yd 6in tiles- 7 tiles hanging on wires
We got em all!

Carbine match had a couple twists with targets like poker chips and eggs hanging from wires and at 50yds, golf balls in the puff boards (I managed to hit one with my 1863 Sharps!)

All in all, we didn't win anything, but had a fantastic time plugging away at some pretty hard targets with muzzleloaders and other Civil War era guns!
 
That sounds like a hoot! Not much into that kind of shooting, but I would have loved to see it
Glad yall had fun!
 
That explains the cannon I saw being pulled down 21 on a trailer.
Are these events open to the public?
 
That explains the cannon I saw being pulled down 21 on a trailer.
Are these events open to the public?

Yup, open to watch. Have to be a member to compete. We were shooting a pack howitzer. It's rifled with about 4 in bore. If you show up early before small arms competition begins, it's very possible I could get you some trigger time with Civil War weapons.

Artillery course of fire at Statesville is at 100yds (pretty darn close) 12 shots. Bullseye and 6 hanging 6in tiles. Tiles left count against your score so the strategy is to confirm sight settings on bullseye first with a shot or two, then start whacking tiles but save at least 4 rounds to finish the bullseye for 5 scoring shots. Team next to us was shooting a pack rifle. Their first shoot took out the x and most of the x ring. Their next six had tile chips attaining near Earth orbit. The remaining ones obliterated the black on the bullseye. Yup, they won. We placed fourth out of 8 guns but still had a ball. Where else can you shoot cannons in competition?

At Nationals, it's the largest number of Civil War cannons live firing anywhere in the country and we even compete with mortars. Course of fire is different as well.
 
That does sound like fun. Probably cheaper to buy and feed than an MG too. I assume these are all reproductions? Custom built or are they available commercially?
 
Depends, there is a fair number of originals that saw service in small arms and artillery that we shoot live. Some are parts guns put together from surplus. Many are repros. Of the guns I use, none are originals and yes, they are waaaay less expensive to feed than modern centerfire (I love to pull that trigger again and again and again and again......). Hard to do that when you only have one shot and it forces you to take much more careful aim. I'm currently competing with a 62 Springfield, 42 Macon, and 63 Sharps and I'm on the crew of the pack howitzer. Several of our team shoot originals like Maynards, Smiths, Burnsides and Springfields.
 
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