The equipment:
The first image is myself and mine. Sights varied considerably (no scopes), but the standard was a long-range tang sight capable of sub-MOA adjustments (dependant on shooter's close-rang eyesight). Front sights ranged from exposed blade (myself) to hooded crosshairs complete with bubble level. Some front sights were windage-adjustable.
The second pictures are of an
original rifle. This one was used professionally by the holder's great-grandfather, who was a professional buffalo hunter and later Army scout. The rifle dates from about 1875, and the original barrel was replaced in 1880 by the Cooper shop in Bozeman, MT. The pictures are deceptive: this barrel does
NOT taper, and the rifle weighs over 20 pounds. This is the original barrel shown, and the rifle was used in the competition by the great-grandson. The rifle is currently owned by a collector who purchased it to prevent it from being part of a private collection, and it is currently up for sale to the right buyer.
The shooting:
Spotters were permitted, and though the rules said the spotters and coaches must all be competitors, this was overlooked by pretty much everyone. In the above picture I'm taking windage corrections from the official who was also scoring.
Many people sat on pads or stools: I noticed that the height of the seat increased with the age of the shooter
I preferred to use the lowest position permitted.
The ballistics:
Some videos to come shortly. Muzzle velocity was about 1100-1300 fps, which is around the speed of sound, to put it into perspective. The lightest bullet weights in .45 were probably 300, but the handloaders all started out at about 405, with 520 being preferable if the twist could handle it. These are some
very stable bullets in flight. Wind drift isn't hot, and drop is terrible, but predictable (ballistic coefficients can be surprisingly high for these bullets).
After each shot, I had time to quickly pull the rifle aside and lean my head upwind (using blackpowder causes a dense cloud of smoke in front of you) in time to see the bullet impact on the target. If you hit dirt, the puff was barely visible, and if you saw nothing, a few seconds' wait might produce an audible *ping* to let you know that you had contacted metal.
Accuracy was much better than anyone might expect: non-shooters literally doubted it was possible to hit any target at that distance with such equipment. In reality, anything under 600 yards was reasonably simple provided you put in some effort. The top shooters were pretty much 8/8 at each of the six stations.
Obviously, I was using an Uberti 1885 highwall.
I do like it considerably, and while I don't regret the purchase, you do get what you pay for. It was much less expensive that some other (custom-shop) options, and you can see this in a few areas, most notably the fit between the metal and wood. The rear sight isn't worth a darn, either.
Also, Uberti's copy appears to differ from the originals. While I've read that after a certain year the originals also were of the type that only went to half-cock after working the action, most people are familiar with the earlier models, which went to full cock. Ubertis are of the type that move to half cock.
I have a feeling this is why I had such trouble with mine: the action would
not disassemble properly for cleaning, due to interference with a projection off the trigger. I had to (carefully, slowly) remove some metal for it to come apart as originally designed. Without doing so, there was no way to "field-strip" it: a 100% disassembly was required to remove the block.
I have a feeling this is just poor engineering by Uberti. Perhaps other models that more closely follow original specs wouldn't have this issue. At any rate, the internals are remarkably simple, and the fix was a simple one. I'm sure any competent gunsmith could do a much better job than I did in 1/4 the time.
Overall, it's a nice rifle. With a high-quality rear sight installed (visible above) I was able to be quite competitive.
The only faults I can find with this rifle are in the little details. However, since it's such a simple and classic design, such rough spots are easily polished: if you're a perfectionist, these areas
will need attention.
Just ask if you'd like to see any detailed pictures of the rifle.
