It was only 6.3degC but it was a good day to shoot rounds 5 & 6 of the winter BP league cards. There was bright sunlight throughout and no breeze.
Round 5 - an 83 ex 100
On the round 5 card I managed to get 11 of the 13 shots on to the black. No 10's or V-bulls and all the scoring shots either 8's or 9's.
Round 6 - an 88 ex 100
On the round 6 card I was a bit disappointed to drop 3 shots in to the white, but pleased with the two shots in the 10 ring. My positioning and sight picture was more consistant with a nice grouping of shots just below the 10 ring.
My normal setup was used: 9gns of Krank's Fine, .354 ball and Ox-Yoke 0.010 lubed patches.
Stats
Detail scores: 83 + 88
Running average: 79.4
Personal best: 88.1
Barrel count: 157
After shooting the two cards, I also tried out a new setup to see if it worked OK: 9gns of Krank's Fine, .350 ball and a 0.015 dry patch lubed with 'aqueous cream'. The cream, available in 500mg tubs from the 'Pound Shop', worked OK but seems to a bit on the thick side and needs further diluting with added water or oil. I will see what gives the right consistancy.
No shooting this weekend as I went to the Trafalger meeting at NRA Bisley to restock on black powder bits and pieces.
Got spotted by another Club member and ended up being roped in to help out with RO duties for the Classic [pre 1919] and Veteran [pre 1946] class Service Rifle competition [shooting tin-hat targets at 200yds]. Lots of fun, and a great chance to see rifles such as SMLE, No. IV, Long Lee, Ross, P14 and some odd calibre training rifles in action.
After a chili and chips lunch at the Army's club house, a stroll round the arms fair resulted in purchases of .015 lubed patches, No. 11 percussion caps, .350 lead balls and 1kg of Swiss No.1 powder.
Still need a few other things, so I'll generate an order to Krank's to get those.
This weekend:
For shooters who prefer flintlock and percussion rifles and pistols, the Trafalgar Meeting at NRA Bisley.
http://www.nra.org.uk/common/asp/Calendar/events.asp?site=NRA&id=2887
In addition to the shooting there will be an Arms Fair held in the Bisley Pavilion.
An ideal opportunity to stock up on blackpowder, balls, percussion caps and patches.
Todays visit to the range was to shoot rounds 3 and 4 of the Winter season black powder league cards. Using the 'normal' load of 9gns Krank's fine, 0.010 oiled patch and .354 ball, the first card shot scored an 83 ex 100:
83 ex 100
No V-bulls this time. The group is very slightly to the left, but the overall elevation this time round is quiet good. Before the detail I raised the rearsight half a turn clockwise [the maximum permissable on the pistol]. Usual loading sequence with a wipe out between shots. After each load when finished, I checked my aim point using the closed eye method, adjusted my feet position if any left/right correction needed, then came own to the rest position before going through the aiming/firing sequence.
After shooting the card, I stepped away from the firing point during the next detail to have a rest/chat/gossip/rehydrate...
The second card shot as round 4 was completed using the same loading. aiming and firing sequence. This gave a final score of 84 ex 100 with one V-bull:
84.1 ex 100
This card's group is more central in both windage and elevation. A very pleasing morning's shoot, especially as both cards beat my current average!
Stats
Detail scores: 83 + 84
Running average: 78.2
Personal best: 88.1
Barrel count: 130
My thanks to Don who has given me a batch of un-lubed 0.012 plain patches to try out. Once I sort out a suitable lube to use, I'll process the patches and then give them a try with the 0.354 ball. This might make the ball starting harder [0.366 overall compared to current 0.364], but might give tighter groups.
"Targets" aimed for [1] all 13 shots in the black, [2] all shots within the 8-ring, [3] more V-bulls...
The Club 'Black Powder Captain' confirmed that we can start shooting cards for the winter season on the Kent County Black Powder League. Shot over 10 rounds with the best 10 of 13 shots to count per round. Each division consists of 10 shooters, sorted by average. Every one shoots and the best shot in the round scores 10 points, the second best scores 9 points, etc. The highest possible competition score at the end of the season being 100 points.
Round 1 card = 76
The round 1 card scored a 76, with a reasonable group but about three inches too low. No 10's or V bulls. The flier at 8 o'clock was a loading mistake by me. With cold fingers, I could not tell by feel that I was using three patches instead of the normal one. Otherwise the detail went well with no hiccups other than the heavy 'fog' caused by a lack of breeze to clear away the smoke.
Round 2 card = 80
The round card also started to form a low grouping, so I tried to compensate by manually adjusting the sight picture, hence the higher shots on the card. This gave a better score of 80 ex 100, with 1 V-bull. I will now look at raising the rearsight which should result in the raising of the barrel to compensate, which should then give a higher grouping on the card.
Set-up was 9 grains of Henry Krank's fine[FFFg], 0.015 lubed Ox-Yoke patch, .354 Pedersoli ball and Dynamit Nobel 1075 percussion cap.
Stats
Detail scores: 76 + 80
Running average: 76.9
Personal best: 88.1
Barrel count: 104
The downside of shooting blackpowder pistol, the cleaning afterwards.
Twenty-six shots later and it is time to clean the pistol. The tools for the job include: a can of WD-40 to spray down the barrel and a .36 nylon brush wrapped in a 2by4 to swap out, some non-scented baby wipes to clean off the outside of the barrel, especially around the nipple, a .36 mop and some 2by4 pieces to apply a light film of gun oil.
I have now replaced the glass tubes for the measured loads of black powder, with smaller plastic vials. Although slightly harder to open, they take up a lot less space so I can carry more measures with me.
I'm currently getting a woodworking friend to make me a wooden block that will have two rows of 13 holes, suitable for the vials of black powder. That way I can keep track of how far I am through the detail sequence of 13 shots.
Also new to the shooting bench layout, are thicker 0.015 lubed patches from Ox-Yoke that I'm now using, and the ball seating mallet [which has already proved very useful].
