8th annual Cabin Fever shoot

[Armored farmer]

Today was our annual club shoot at our farm.
It was sunny but windy and 50s.
My old buddy doesn't shoot BP, so he volunteered to fry fish for the meal afterwards. Mrs F made coleslaw a d baked beans. Club members brought several desserts.

We had slabs of smoked bacon for the high scores of the three relays. I had a fourth target ready, bur everyone was ready to get inside out of the wind and enjoy the fish fry. We also had the March madness bball tournament in the shop TV.


There were two Kibler kit rifles being used. One was a .45 Southern Mountain rifle, one Woodsrunner.

This was a Pecatonica River kit

And this was the most interesting rifle there....
Can anyone name it? It is a historic peice.

A great time washad by all.

It's quite a bit of work to get ready for this event, but everyone enjoys it, and we enjoy hosting it.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

Looks like a good time was had by all.
And that's a nice looking Ferguson rifle too.

 

[Armored farmer]

Looks like a good time was had by all.
And that's a nice looking Ferguson rifle too.

Well done @Shanghai McCoy.
Ferguson is correct of course. I didn't know how widely known the design was.
I read a book about Ferguson when I was a boy....it seems like it was Louis L'Amour? I'm not sure.

 

[entropy]

Shanghai beat me to it, but as a student of not just firearms history, but military history, I of course knew it also. That will probably be a retirement project, building one, as well as a Hall rifle.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

I read a book about Ferguson when I was a boy....it seems like it was Louis L'Amour? I'm not sure.

There was a Louis L'Amour book that featured a Ferguson rifle in it.

 

[Armored farmer]

According to legend the British capt. Ferguson was the best marksman in the the Kings service. It was written that he supposedly had a group of mounted Revolutionary Officers in his sights. Being a British officer and gentlemen, he considered shooting the men in the back to be unsportsmanlike. He called out for them to surrender, but they hurriedly galloped away.
According to legend....(?) The Revolutionary officers were none other than General Washington and his staff.

Ferguson was killed in action shortly afterward. The Ferguson rifle faded away due to the high rate of fire wasting ammunition. (Supposedly)

 

[Jackrabbit1957]

Nice Ferg! The Ferguson went away after it's improvement guy Patrick Ferguson was killed at the battle of Kings Mountain. Since he was the main guy trying to get it into production and along with the cost of producing the rifle the bean counters got their way and cancelled the program. It cost around 2 British lbs to make a Brown Bess, a Ferguson set them back around 8 lbs or more to make. Plus there was a war on and troops to pay so the bean counters won and then so did we.

 

[Armored farmer]

I think k I have settled on the perfect prize for this group of shooters. It is a classic prize for our sport.....MEAT!
I bought four pkgs of thick cut bacon. Then added a pkg of ground venison and apkg of venison cubed steak, all commercially processed and packaged by our excellent hometown processor. Those were the prizes for the high score on each target.
Since we have three deer in our freezer, I set out another half dozen pkgs of ground venison for whoever wanted it. Some of the guys that don't hunt were glad to get it. And mrs Farmer was glad to have some room in the freezer.
Win-win!

 

[Ugly Sauce]

There was a Louis L'Amour book that featured a Ferguson rifle in it.

Yes, the title was: "The Ferguson Rifle". First Louie Lamour I ever read, still my favorite. I moved into/rented a house, in my younger days with some friends, ($100.00 a month, split three ways) And there was a whole pile of Louis Lamour books. I was going to throw them away, but the word "rifle" caught my eye, being a gun nut even then. Wound up reading the whole pile, still have them all, and have re-read most everyone of them a couple of times. The collection stretches five feet on one of my book shelves.

So who belonged to the Ferg? Where did they get it? How did it shoot? I bet everyone wanted to shoot it. I sure would.

 

[Armored farmer]

Yes, the title was: "The Ferguson Rifle". First Louie Lamour I ever read, still my favorite. I moved into/rented a house, in my younger days with some friends, ($100.00 a month, split three ways) And there was a whole pile of Louis Lamour books. I was going to throw them away, but the word "rifle" caught my eye, being a gun nut even then. Wound up reading the whole pile, still have them all, and have re-read most everyone of them a couple of times. The collection stretches five feet on one of my book shelves.

So who belonged to the Ferg? Where did they get it? How did it shoot? I bet everyone wanted to shoot it. I sure would.

The rifle belongs to a historian who is a member of our club. There are club members that are not shooters, but history buffs. This guy is both. He has written a few books that were published. I have one that is about the Corps of Discovery.
He knows details about Ferguson and the rifle. He told me about the battle of Kings Mountain and the story about Washington and his staff. He has even hiked to the burial site of Ferguson.
We shared a loading table at Cabin Fever this year. I watched him load the Ferguson and he did offer to let me shoot it. I was busy with details of the shoot so I took a rain check....but regret that now.
He had the rifle made for him by some outfit that specializes in replicas. He told me the name but....well....you know.
I withhold his name here....but we call him Cap.
He has a collection of historical pieces including a sxs flintlock 20ga. A charleville musket. The Ferguson. Others.

 

[J-Bar]

A wonderful way to kiss winter goodbye!

 

[.45Coltguy]

Real nice event you hosted Farmer and a really nice shop! Nicely done and looks like everyone enjoyed themselves.