Chunk gun shooting.

[Armored farmer]

Ft Lamotte chunk gun match.

Recent rains kept us from fieldwork so I was able to attend the annual club chunk gun match. .

10 shots fired from prone, rested. Open sights. 60yds
Score is the sum of the distance from the bullseye to the center of the ball hole in the target.
Usually a score of 10 or less is very good.

This is my .45 flinter resting on a homemade rest or "chunk". My shooting mat is a deluxe from Midway but most guys just use an old rug or hunk of tarp. I use mine for other shooting disciplines, so i splurged on a nice one.

We rushed the shoot along because of the ominous storm clouds approaching and the radar returns.

Usually my rifle lays them in pretty tight, but I hadn't shot since early March at my annual Cabin Fever shoot, so operator error was possible.
We had a quick lunch provided by the club.
. The scorers were still at work when the storm blew their tent away. Several competitors scrambled to get it under control and remove the fabric cover. Somehow the scorers kept things together enough to declare winners.
I was pleased with a third place showing among known marksmen competing. My prize? Two pork steaks and a pound of ground chuck! I don't know the actual score as things were pretty intense right about then. There were limbs blown down all over the area.

Our club match is patterned after the Alvin York Memorial match held in Pall Mall Tennessee. There you will see custom barreled match grade guns specifically designed to shoot chunk gun matches. Notice the flat rest on the forestock , and the sight shaders

It was good to see the guys again, and a nice break from work.

 

[Captain*kirk]

Very nice! We got those same rains up north here. Glad to see you made a productive day out of it!

 

[Jim Watson]

Interesting event of the old days.
A gunsmith here works on modern guns but his sport is muzzleloader benchrest. He shoots in the round ball, open sight division. His balls are carefully cast and patched with Teflon coated denim. His "open" sight is a Redfield International with eyepiece made as a broad flat plate, a fine slit from edge to center to make it an "open" sight.

I read that some matches were "shooting for a beef".
First four prizes were quarters of a steer, fifth place was hide and tallow.
Privilege of digging balls out of the bank or stump was also a prize that varied from first to sixth depending on availability of lead.

 

[Blkhrt13]

That’s pretty neat. Folks don’t think being into firearms is different to every shooter. But it do. I’d never have known about the sport were it not for this post. I learn everyday. Congrats on placing man.

 

[JCooperfan1911]

And not a young man in attendance.

A shame. One thing I’ve noted about the black powder crowd is they have no new blood to replace the old. Truly a hobby on the brink of extinction, which is sad given the rich history involved.

 

[Armored farmer]

Interesting event of the old days.
A gunsmith here works on modern guns but his sport is muzzleloader benchrest. He shoots in the round ball, open sight division. His balls are carefully cast and patched with Teflon coated denim. His "open" sight is a Redfield International with eyepiece made as a broad flat plate, a fine slit from edge to center to make it an "open" sight.

I read that some matches were "shooting for a beef".
First four prizes were quarters of a steer, fifth place was hide and tallow.
Privilege of digging balls out of the bank or stump was also a prize that varied from first to sixth depending on availability of lead.

The winner of the match was shooting Teflon coated patches.
I have tried them but the leave a build-up in the bore that needs wiped out every shot or two. I didn't care for that much. I like shooting a fouled bore.
Another competitor had a perfect "spider" (correct term for a perfectly centered ball).
Spiders are very rare indeed.

 

[Armored farmer]

And not a young man in attendance.

A shame. One thing I’ve noted about the black powder crowd is they have no new blood to replace the old. Truly a hobby on the brink of extinction, which is sad given the rich history involved.

So true.
It's too bad. It is a great sport with such good folks. It is inexpensive shooting sport.
I was almost certainly the youngest there.

 

[Armored farmer]

I'm going to concentrate more on trying to attend shoots.
Our territorial shoots are fun too. These guys know how to shoot, and they know how to cook! Our club hosts a cast iron cook-off as well as shooting events and rendezvous.

Always a good time.
The one shooting sport where home-made and old-fashioned are still in style

 

[1KPerDay]

great shooting! Tell us about your beautiful rifle.

 

[Armored farmer]

great shooting! Tell us about your beautiful rifle.

Sure.
I have posted before about it.
It is custom built by our clubs most prolific builder. My rifle was his 62nd build. He is over 100 now.



The master in his tiny shack shop.

Some of his creations.

My rifle is a study in early Lancaster, Penn style .45 caliber Green Mountain barrel. Davis lock. AA curly maple stock blank. Honey locust stain on the wood. Lancaster rear sight. German silver blade front from Track Of the Wolf. Browned barrel, triggers, and lock. Brass furniture primitively engraved with Masonic symbols of the ancient fraternity to which I belong.

It was not uncommon for original rifles to have masonic markings.
It was finished in 2012


I'm proud of it. It's a looker and a shooter.

 

[paul harm]

Back in the 80s I built a chunk gun with a Bill Large barrel. He was known for his great shooting and barrel making in chunk gun circles. The barrel was 48" x 1 1/4", 54 cal.I made it as a flinter, put shades on the sights, and made the sights which were open, all per Bill's instructions. The sights were Partridge sights and a 3x5 menu card was used as a sighter. The front blade was .100 thick which made it look slightly narrower than the menu card. The back sight was opened up so it looked slightly wider than the menu card. Bill said to keep everything even on the top and it would be like shooting a peep sight. He also cherry ed out a 535 RB mold to 542. I had a little brass hammer to start the ball. God would that gun shoot one hole groups. But being a pistol shooter, I sold the gun. A couple of years latter the guy who bought it told me if he did everything right he would win the match. There's a picture of it somewhere and if I ever find it I'll post it.

 

[paul harm]

This post got me to thinking. On our way back from Fl. one year we stopped at Bill's place in Ohio. He was showing me through the shop and I noticed this big gun with a long barrel. It had a real fancy nose cap on it. Now at the time Bill seemed quite old to me and I couldn't figure out how he inletted the cap. He just laughed and said, " Reverend Harm, you don't know how to pour a nose cap ? You carve in the wood what you want and wrap some heavy paper around it. Then you melt some 50/50 solder and pour off the top into a small ladle. The lead being heaver than the tin will have sunk to the bottom and you'll have tin to use for your nose cap". I ask won't the paper melt when the hot tin hits it ? He replied " no, it will cool too quickly ". That's what I used on the chunk gun.
I used the same idea on many of the period knives I made where the blade went into the antler. A good way to hide epoxy.

 

[Armored farmer]

The best third place trophy I ever sunk my teeth into!

 

[doubleh]

You are never too old to learn. I learned two new things from this thread. I had never heard of a chunk gun before reading this and never given a thought about how to obtain tin other than just buying it. As a side note I know of no one that shoots traditional blackpowder guns in this area but me. There are some that use inlines for deer hunting but that is it. I am sure there are a few more than me as I have seen a couple of used sidelock cycle through the LGS in the last few years. I might be wrong and they were purchased for wallhangers.

 

[Armored farmer]

I think BP guns are the essence of shooting sports.
Taking game with BP guns shows a high level of sportsmanship.
I am a gun nut and have what most normal people would consider a large collection of centerfire guns, but for pure joy of shooting, nothing compares to the flintlock.

 

[Appalachiannative]

And not a young man in attendance.

A shame. One thing I’ve noted about the black powder crowd is they have no new blood to replace the old. Truly a hobby on the brink of extinction, which is sad given the rich history involved.

I don't shoot competitions but I am getting into black powder more and more now at 32 years of age. Sadly I know what you mean. Most guys my age who have firearms at all have an AR-15 they bought just because the government doesn't want them to have it OR they have all sorts of very modern weapons and think I'm crazy for owning these "muskets" as they refer to my rifles. My brother in law is the only BP guy I know who is my age and he's the one who introduced me to it

 

[Appalachiannative]

The best third place trophy I ever sunk my teeth into!View attachment 1080496

Shoot if I had one of those big ol guns you were using and a way up there I'd love to shoot in this some time. Looks worth it. I wish we had just ANY kind of BP meet here in WNC

 

[Appalachiannative]

I think BP guns are the essence of shooting sports.
Taking game with BP guns shows a high level of sportsmanship.
I am a gun nut and have what most normal people would consider a large collection of centerfire guns, but for pure joy of shooting, nothing compares to the flintlock.

Amen! I just shot my new flintlock for the first time today. I know. Broke my personal rule about shooting Sunday. But I've worked the last few Saturdays. Anyhow I had so much fun that two hours went by like nothing. Now gotta go take the Mrs and my Grandma out for BBQ as promised but will definitely be shooting it again tomorrow.

 

[paul harm]

You need to join the National Muzzleloading Rifle Association. They list local shoots in their monthly publication, Muzzle Blast. I'm sure there are some shooting in your area. If not maybe it's time you started a muzzleloading club of your own. You and your brothern law are the first two members.

 

[Armored farmer]

You need to join the National Muzzleloading Rifle Association. They list local shoots in their monthly publication, Muzzle Blast. I'm sure there are some shooting in your area. If not maybe it's time you started a muzzleloading club of your own. You and your brothern law are the first two members.

Very true.
Good articles and info of all kinds.
It's an old fashioned magazine that I still look forward to getting each month.
Put the phone down and get involved in a magazine like the good ol days!
Find clubs and shoots and rendezvous.


Check out MUZZLELOADER too.

 

[ms6852]

What a great post. Definitely seems that whether you win or lose the only thing that matter at the end of the day was everyone had a great time. I have not yet fired BP on my Sharps like we had talked about and my chance of getting into it was a man that lived in the same neighborhood and we became good friends briefly as we had similar interests. He was strictly into shoot BP and than his job moved him to Colorado.

 

[paul harm]

I joined both the NRA and the NMLRA as a life member back in 71 after I was out of the service. One of the best moves I ever made. Last I knew you can still buy BP over the internet. Last time I ordered it was 20#s to save on the hazmat fee.

 

[Mike OTDP]

Shoot if I had one of those big ol guns you were using and a way up there I'd love to shoot in this some time. Looks worth it. I wish we had just ANY kind of BP meet here in WNC

+1 on the NMLRA. I know some guys in the Raleigh/Durham area who are serious BP shooters, can provide information if you like.

 

[Appalachiannative]

+1 on the NMLRA. I know some guys in the Raleigh/Durham area who are serious BP shooters, can provide information if you like.

idk how often I could afford to travel that far. I'm about 25 minutes south of Asheville

 

[ThomasT]

I used the same idea on many of the period knives I made where the blade went into the antler. A good way to hide epoxy.

If you have any pictures of those knives I sure would like to see them.