Great Friendship Target

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For those of you who ever wonder just how accurate muzzleloading rifles can
Be, and just how good the "Big Boys" shoot at Friendship, here is a 50 yd
Bench match target shot yesterday. There are two in the top left bull. If this
Was fired on just one bull, it would have been 7 shots in one little small hole.
This is not a fluke, this is how they shoot. I once saw a guy put three 58 cal
Balls in the same hole in the "X" ring at 50 yds with his Zolie Musket offhand!!
I was watching thru my scope and seen the paper move as the ball passed thru.
I tell you you, these boys can shoot! I have seen 10 "X" 's in a row at 100 yds
Also there, shot by a 65 year old woman bench. Just thought I would let you
know what is done in the real world.

 

[Patrick R]

Nice target. For my targets I'm tryng to keep them inside the 8 ring......

 

[Mike OTDP]

Decent shooting. This is what Phil and I have been trying to get through to people - a good ML firearm will shoot as well as anything short of the very best Olympic target rifles and pistols...and will give them a run for their money.

 

[Crawdad1]

Great shooting!!!! Phil, did you feel good enough to shoot your revolvers?

 

[gifford]

The shooter was 'in the zone'. Great shooting. Takes 'keeping them in the black' to a whole new level.

 

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I'm really not there. We go to Friendship in June. I just have access to the
pictures taken there. I'm home near Kansas City Mo. In a little town called
Excelsior Springs where I was born.

 

[J-Bar]

Phil, what would be the typical powder charge to produce such an outstanding result?

 

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I wish not to get into a debate about powder charges. I do know what they shoot
at Friendship and what I shoot when I was able to shoot rifle. The normal rule
there and the one that I use is one and a half calibers in grains to whatever
caliber you are shooting. What that means if you shoot a 45 like mine you would
use 68 grains of powder. Round it off to 70. This would be triple F. You probably
would get your best accuracy with double F. Add about 10-15 grains when going
to FF. This would put you at 80-90 grs. Another rule is if you have a chronograph
use enough powder to get you 1900-2000 fps. This will be your most accurate
load. All this is assuming you are using a bore dia. ball with .015-.020 thick
patching preferably coated with Teflon, and your twist is for round ball like the
one in 60 inches on my 45. As you go up in caliber your twist would be slower
and if you go down, faster. I know all will not agree to any of this, but this is
how it's done at the Nationals at Friendship. If you have a better way, just go
there and show them how it is done. They would love to see you.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

Never been to friendship, but have been to some regional shoots attended by GOOD shooters. Came close with my 100 yd bench a few times. Kept throwing one or two into the 9 ring. What is very disheartening is seeing some guys shoot better offhand than I can normally do from the bench.

But, they reaffirm my faith in muzzle loaders as superbly accurate.

 

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Yes, that happens. Two come to mind around here that do that. JL Hargis and
Richard Brinkman. Two old farts, but they still can shoot!