The kids and I finally made it out to shoot today. I've been wanting to shoot the Sharps since I got it. I also had a few pistols that I haven't been able to shoot, so we rang them out today too. Mainly the 3rd Dragoon I got a while back, and I needed to test the 1860 Army conversion I just finished up.
So we loaded up this afternoon and headed to our spot in the local mountains. There wasn't anyone there, so it was nice and quiet. At least until we started shooting!
First round through the Sharps went off perfectly. It landed about 3" to left of where I aimed on the target. A couple taps on the dovetailed front sight, it was right in line. It printed about a 3" group in 4 shots at 75 yards. Not too shabby for it's first outing. Next time though, I need better caps. The CCI Re-enactor caps suck. They pop just fine, they just don't always torch off the 65 grains of 3F in the chamber. I just ordered some RWS caps. They're supposed to be much more reliable.
Next up is the Dragoon. Definitely like shooting this pistol! It fits my ham sized hands like a glove. I'm going to have to work on the loading lever latch though. It dropped the lever on every round. Not a big deal really, just an annoyance. A little file work will probably fix it. I didn't use excessive loads either. 35 grains 3F was the standard for the day.
The kids got in on the action too. You can't keep my daughter Veronica from the pistols. She loves them, and she's a natural. She can hit the 12"x12" box we were shooting at every time out to 15 or 20 yards or so with the G.U. Navy. She loves that pistol!
Today she decided she wanted to try the "Big Gun". Dad's .45 Colt Open Top. I coached her on the recoil, and she took it like a champ. Check out the recoil in the picture! She's only 15 and doesn't weigh 100 lbs soaking wet.
And look at her face immediately after! She was a bit surprised! But once she knew what to expect, she ran another cylinder full through it, without a flinch.
My son did well this time too. He's only 9 and was a little apprehensive last time. He fired one shot and was done. Today he ran a couple cylinders through the Navy, and had a blast. He's hooked now!
For the first time, we got some really good "fire" pictures too. Check these out.
We also got some good video. I'll be editing it tonight, and I'll post it up tomorrow.
