So...finally, I made it up to the outdoor (Wilderness) black powder range last Sunday, along with my son and his fiance. It was a "dual purpose mission"; first, to shoot some of my smokeless guns and sight in my son's NOS Marlin 336 in .35 Remington; second, to shoot his Colt Sheriff C&B and my Goon Walker and my 1874 Sharps.
First we stopped at the CF rifle range and shot the CF rifles for a while. I burned a few 7mm mags and confirmed my rounds were a couple inches high at 100yds (where I wanted them) and then I put a goodly few rounds through the Browning High Wall in .45/70 (smokeless). My son got his Marlin to print pretty much where he wanted it, and then we moved off the Wilderness range.
But first, my son's fiance opted to try the Marlin. She handled it well, despite the fact that a 336 can belt out a sharp little kick. I then asked her if she wanted to try a shot with the 7mil, fully expecting her to politely decline...but, no! She climbed up into the saddle and proceded to put not one, but 3 shots in the kill zone at 100 yards! Amazed, I asked if she wanted to try the High wall, and again, she showed no fear and whomped a few into the kill zone with that gun as well! I told her if she was hunting, she'd be learning to dress out a deer right about now!
We had two cease-fires due to a couple jakes strutting around just beyond the 100 yard berm...cheeky bastards!...and lost about 10 minutes of shooting time as a result!
Next, on to the BP range. We found out on arriving that the BP range closed at three, in contrast to the rifle range (shoulda gone there first, dammit!) and it was already 2:15 so we got down to bid'ness in a New York Minute. I really need to wring out the Sharps with a good sighting-in session, but since we were so low on time I just opted for aiming at the 12" gong at 50 yards just to see if I could make it talk. Well, sir; the first shot rang out loud and clear, and the grin that crossed my mug made the Cheshire Cat look like an amateur! Those 535gr Postells can make 1/4" steel dance like a ballerina! Four successive rings followed, and then the old shoulder was beggin' for mercy so I asked my son if he wanted a crack at it. Does a bear shit in the woods? After two shot/clangs, the grin on his face was bigger than mine! So then I asked his fiance if she wanted to give it a try; again, she nodded the affirmative and we gave her a few instructions on the set trigger, how to not open the breech until putting the hammer in half cock (to avoid shearing the firing pin), and let her do some sight-in with the vernier and globe sights. She touched it off and the gong sang out loud and clear! A couple more and she was done, so my son and her proceeded to load and shoot his Navy Sheriff a bit, while I loaded up the Walker with some .45 Colt BP rounds and gave it a whirl...
(to be continued)
