Is this a bad idea?

[BBroadside]

I have the opportunity to take part in an event described as:

Informal gathering of shooting enthusiasts. Shoot at poppers, plates, dueling trees. Targets for .22lr and larger calibers. None larger than .45 and no magnums, please.

I just got my Enfield No. 2 and I have yet to fire it. I also have yet to get into handloading (maybe later this year).

Would it be foolhardy to just show up at the range and give the revolver it's first go in a competition? (To my untrained eye, it looks like it is in good shape. No visible cracks and the cylinder spins smoothly. Does it still need a trip to a gunsmith?)

Is it possible that it would be so far off target the other competitors would feel I was being rude? I know the factory 38 S&W ammo I got (a pretty good deal ... the box was open) will have a different trajectory than 38-200, but I don't mind holding over (or under, I forget which).

I don't belong to the range yet (plate shoots are open to the public) and I don't want to be a jerk on my first day.

 

[kle]

It might be worth it to have a gunsmith look it over for any problems before shooting, but I generally don't worry about it and go ahead and shoot it.

You'll probably end up holding high, I think, to get shots to land on-target.

As long as you're not shooting anyone else's target or being unsafe, you should be fine.

 

[kd7nqb]

As somebody who just recently bought a gun and then used it to shoot an event that I was 100% unqualified to be at. I can tell you that I have NO REGRETS. The VAST majority of people in the shooting sports are far more interested in sharing their sport than anything else. The guys I got paired up with were just welcome to see a new face and really gave me tons of help that I would not have gotten by just doing it myself.

So I say go for it and dont even give a damm about your score. However I would certainly try and take your gun out and at least get some trigger time on it. Especially since you are using non-standard ammo.

 

[JackOfAllTradesMasterAtNone]

Informal gathering of shooting enthusiasts.

This is exactly where you want to go with a new gun to you. A formal competition is just that, and you'd expect some protocol to be observed. But an informal gathering is where someone will test something they're not not yet comfortable to shoot in competition yet. Personally, I'd get a few shots down range with that new gun before going to this gathering..

A couple years ago my nephew and I attended a Bullseye Regional championship where the guy stationed next to him was a total newbie. Never shot a competitive match in his life. Now.. We're all a bunch of fierce competitors but we do enjoy helping the next guy out with advice at the ready. But this guy had equipment malfunctions, didn't understand the rules or the next course of fire. Shooters next to him did try to help him out. But he was finally asked to leave the match since he was disrupting many shooters from their competitive routines. In BE, everyone shoots at the same time. Not one against the clock at one time. In a regular NRA or especially a fun match I am quite sure he would have been helped out for the duration of the day. But he was... and I cringe at typing this... Not welcome at that match. He had much disregard for his fellow shooters.

-Steve