Inherently dangerous

[Mike]

While I don't have a long record of attending other matches, I do want to agree with Kurt, Quigley is the one! And, in my opinion, referring to shooting as being "inherently dangerous" is a poor thing to say or at least a poor way to say it. All of shooting's "safety rules" must be recognized and adhered to or accidents can happen. That certainly applies to loading the ammunition too so safety must be observed long before the shooter gets to the firing line. Mike

[MikeT]

No matter what your feelings are about the Quigley is, it is still the best around.
A lot of hard holders shoot this match and it is a tough match!
If I ever get top place at this shoot it would hang above every other match award on my wall.
As far as safety at the Q. I walked the line and shooters on line all have their rifles on the sticks pointed down range.
I still don't know for sure what caused the problem short of what the conversation was after it happen. I know Tony was running around looking for a bullet puller, but if it was for checking a few loads I don't know.
Accidents will happen. This will not pull me away from this match as long as I can shoulder a rifle.
There is more danger going the 1800 miles to this shoot then shooting it.


Kurt

Kurt,

All of my rifles come complete with a bullet puller. It is normally referred to as the muzzle. It works every time.

Keep on hav'n fun!
MikeT

[Kurt]

Mike and yours works very good!!

[Tom Herman]

Then they have serious and dangerous equipment failures which is directly a result of smokeless powder and then claim shooting is inherently dangerous.

Cody (or anyone else), can you tell me exactly what happened? Curious on the type and quantity of smokeless used, the rifle, its age, and any other details.
Many Thanks!

-Tom

[Don McDowell]

No one knows for sure except for the shooter.

[Semtav]

Does anyone shoot the military and lever action silhouette matches that are cast bullet only ? If so, what are you using for powder?

[bryany]

Nope and don't know but I'd suspect they shoot smokeless.

Accident's happen but they seem to happen more to some folks than others.

Bryan

[Don McDowell]

Does anyone shoot the military and lever action silhouette matches that are cast bullet only ? If so, what are you using for powder?

From what I can tell they shoot smokeless. Most the military rifles are built for and shoot cartridges that have a saami spec of 60K PSI, most of the levergun cartridges are saami spec'ld at 35K and over. Quite a bit different than a Sharps replica chambered in a cartridge with a Saami spec of 28000 CUP or less.

[J.B.]

Gong matches are flat out 'fun' and I would hazard a guess to suggest a lot of people wouldnt be shooting these rifles at paper or Creedmoor matches if they hadnt first had their appetites tempted by a hit on steel at some distant range. The Quigley has become a bit of a pilgrimage for some of us and we've enjoyed it every time. I've similar feelings to Kurt on this and feel the Quigley is the unofficial World Championship for this type of shoot. The 'inherently dangerous' tag sounds just like a legal caveat to me and included to preclude any over zealous lawyers getting their 'knickers in a twist'. I've seen people cutting up a steak that were more of a danger to society than most I observed at the Q. While there would appear to be a good argument to make it a 'BPO' ( black powder only ) shoot, this would clearly make a dent in the people who have chosen not to shoot black for whatever reason and up to now have enjoyed the trip, the social intercourse and the shooting challenges that the Quigley provides. Any accident is unfortunate ..whether its a crash on the way to the range or a reloading mishap. I'm so relieved when my plane touches down in L.A. ( yes...even L.A ) without incident that shooting with 600 others seems a walk in the park. I'm certainly not against it perhaps becoming a BPO shoot as I now shoot bp but it will discriminate ( there's that word again ) against others that dont and wont make the change for the sake of perhaps one shoot a year. Back here we constantly pay the price for one persons careless mistake or premeditated action without a thought of the injustice to those who havent done anything wrong. Penalising the masses for the sins of one..is a popular edict around here. Education might be a better route than prohibition. Just a thought.

Gavin.

[Don McDowell]

I don't think making it or any other gong match a bp only is a good route to take. I do think especially in the case of the Quigley as massive as it is, there needs to be some load testing prior to registration, just to try and weed out a potential disaster.