Experimental sights/experimental ammunition and gongs

[Eric Johanen]

I shot steel again on Saturday at WI. Rapids and due to the damp conditions and threat of rain we doubled up on the 600 so as to utilize the canopy on the firing line. This was a good test of 600 yard ammo. Overcast with not much wind except for intermittent head winds. A bit dark for my ageing eyes ( scheduled trip to the peeper doc Thursday so that can be improved). I used my Shiloh Rough Rider fitted with the target sights and managed to squeak out a 3'rd place in traditional class. I used a load with Swiss 1.5 fg, Sagebrush 535 grain PJ "Money Bullet" mini-groove, first 2 lube grooves exposed, Winchester neck sized brass, 70.0 grains of powder and a .060 plastic over powder wad and a CCI BR2 primer. I put 5 minutes more elevation for 600 and was rewarded with 2 nice hits on my sighter's, this is 5 up from my paper patch load. Went for score and ended with 15/30 at that range. 5/6 on the large disc. Up 1.5 minutes on the next smaller one and scored 4 hits. Up 1 and went 3/6 on the 18" disc, 1 hit on the 12" and 2 on the 8" targets. Those last 2 targets are really small through the sights at 600. (Like white head pimples). My misses were very close so I was pleased with the performance of the load. Went 5/6 on the 220 yard prone, just a miss on the very small disc. Close but no ding! Off hand on the 220 large disc I hit ZERO. We were supposed to shoot all the offhand on the large disc and I made sure my partner understood what was the proper target and he managed well. When it was my turn up I shot the targets in sequence and thought this is really difficult as they got smaller and smaller. On the drive home I realized my screw up! I could have hit at least a few if I shot them on the proper target!! Well, everyone has a plan until the first punch is thrown. Just got a bit tired and brain faded at the end. Great match and a lot of fun! Rifle and load worked out well. Shooter still needs improvement!! Thank's to the crew for a very good shoot. Laid back and very much fun.

[Eric Johanen]

I can see why gong shoots are an attraction. Distance, irregular target shapes, immediate feedback from a hit (they do sound nice) and a pretty good test of your rifle, loads and shooter. The Merrill WI match with targets from 200 to 500 is nice match. Last one I attended I used my Shiloh 44-77 Hartford with the barrel sights and just went to get zeros at longer that 200 yards. It shot pretty well and had some favorable comments on shooting with the barrel sights. You get gross accuracy with lack of fine windage adjustments but with targets wider than the front sight good work can be done. When the target width gets close to blade width it does increase the difficulty as there is no room for windage errors. Younger eye's could really smoke them but tired old eye's you do have to allow for some very close but no cigar's during the competition. I have noticed that things seem a lot brighter with them rather that using aperture sights. With the aperture sights I have problems with less that bright light conditions, Does not seem to be a problem with the open barrel sights as lots of light for the eye and even with less than perfect conditions the target and area around it is brighter. I am really liking these sights and will continue to use them on a regular basis.

[Kurt]

Eric I also find the barrel sights brighter then the tang sights and I shoot just as good using barrel sights as long as the winds don't kick up to high then my Lawrence on the Sharps get to be a problem. I wish the Sharps rifle Co. would have come out with a battle sight more like the Michigan 73 Springfield sight that had some windage. I like this sight and it works better then the Buffington for me.

[Don McDowell]

My military Borchardt has notch on the sides of the slide that look to be good for about 5 minutes each.

[Eric Johanen]

If I remember correctly, the 1879 Springfield sight has windage on the staff slider bar and worked very well. The sight base on my Shiloh Military Rifle has a bit of windage by wigglying the rear sight a little right or left. On my C. Sharps using the C. Sharps sight base and a Shiloh rear sight also has a nice gap and left/right can be adjusted some by moving the rear sight left/right. It is not much but every bit helps. Better than Kentucky Windage for sure. Practice and notes are a big help in getting on the target and staying there. Great fun and pretty darn effective as long as the target is not too small.