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Shooting at a mark.
Here I am not talking about "Mark ," as in a real person...that would be like "firing at Will"...:eek: :D
But "mark" as in a small mark on a target or small target in general.

Many times one will come across the phrase : "Shooting at a mark" when reading a first person account or narrative from the 18th or 19th century .
Which often meant a group of shooters , taking a few shots at a target...very informally.

Yesterday I was with a group of friends and we had a great time "shooting at a mark"
Our targets were :
Spent shot gun shells...
Soda Cans...
A head of old cabbage....
And old political signs....
The shooting was done at a friends house , and all shooting debris were cleaned up afterwards.
If one decides to do this type of shooting , please clean up after yourself and no glass targets.

With the signs one had to call out which letter of the name , one was trying for...Or which spot on the letter one was trying for.
At 25 -50 yards , the smaller size of the letters on the email address , made for some fine shooting.

Calling your shot , and being able to take only one shot at the target , makes for some excellent practice.

This is my favorite type of shooting...its the being "dared" or "Betcha can't hit that" kinda thing , that is part of the fun.
Of course some good-natured trash talk was also exchanged...:D
With this informal , low key shooting , one can learn a lot about one's shooting and how others shoot as well.

All in all , shooting at a mark with muzzle loaders is a fun practice , as well as one with historical roots.
Andy
 
Hence my business name Proficient=Good at something + Marksman = able to hit the mark = The Proficient Marksman. One of my favorite target shooting games I call Happy Can. It's kind of like keep way, only if you shoot too fast and run out of ammo your buddy can keep shooting while you reload. Winner is the one that knocks the can out of sight.
 
It's the 'modern' version of the old-style archery competition called 'Rovers'. One person on the group selects a mark as you 'rove' around the countryside, and all take a shot at it. The nearest gets to choose the next target, and so on. Used to be popular out here in the rurals until we got too many do-gooders calling in the county firearms teams to deal with this untoward terrorism - a form of paramilitary training that had been going on in rural England since the late 1200's..............
 
tac
Rovers / Roving is very fun.
"Splitting the Wand" with an arrow is a fun traditional shooting activity as well.

I have done both with my osage longbow , and while not made in the English / Welsh style of longbow , it is a great way to relax and connect with one's roots , so to speak.
Andy
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Last time we were in the Portland Saturday Market there was a bowmaker there producing traditional American bows, short and long, knots and lumps and all. I'm sure that you are familiar with the 'Ishi' style of bow? All that stopped me from buying one was the truly eye-watering cost - I can make my one arrows, thanks, I told him.

Funny story #529. I began my love of archery, properly, at school, aged twelve. A local postman, Tom Dooley [really], was the instructor. I began using a second-hand Apollo Merlin - a tubular metal take-down made by the steel company of Accles and Pollock - hence 'Apollo'. It was, I bleeve, a license-made copy of the Swedish Seefab bow. I later moved on to another bird-name bow, the Falcon, their top of the line model with around a 45# draw weight at 28", and at fourteen I was using the full poundage, too. I also finished off a flat bow started by somebody else, and made my own arrows from Port Orford cedar - it said so, right there on the packaging.

I'd often wondered what Port Orford was like and never imagined for one minute that one day some of the best times of my life would be spend there with a few of the best friends a man might have.

This is twilight at Battle rock Beach - Port Orford.

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And us, taking the air........................

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Port Orford cedar arrows are the cats meow for sure.

I have seen pictures of both Apollo Merlin and Seefab bows...but never saw one in real life.

A excellent book on the Long Bow is :
The Crooked Stick : A History of the the Long Bow , by Hugh D. Soar
( If anyone still reads books , besides you and I , tac :eek: :D )

Maybe if I ever get out your way tac , I'll see if I can bring my bow.
Andy
 
Port Orford , home of the Crazy Norwegian fish and chips, a really cool lifeboat station and the now long gone Stan Dishon Motorcycle museum.

And for you stick flickers real Port Orford cedar arrows made in Myrtle Point, Oregon
 
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That "aim small , miss small"...works , for me at least.
When aiming at something , I try to aim at a "little bit " of the target zone...with the intent of hitting that part of the target of course...but also if I miss that "little bit" , I still hit the target.
( Hope that makes sense....:D )
Been doing that long before that movie made the phrase popular.

Mostly though , I just try to make my next shot , better than my last shot.
And practice...lots of practice so that loading , shooting and hitting is all something that is done naturally , without thought , just done.
( Again , hope that makes sense...:D )
Andy
 
That "aim small , miss small"...works , for me at least.
When aiming at something , I try to aim at a "little bit " of the target zone...with the intent of hitting that part of the target of course...but also if I miss that "little bit" , I still hit the target.
( Hope that makes sense....:D )
Been doing that long before that movie made the phrase popular.

Mostly though , I just try to make my next shot , better than my last shot.
And practice...lots of practice so that loading , shooting and hitting is all something that is done naturally , without thought , just done.
( Again , hope that makes sense...:D )
Andy

Yup.
In my crowd, it's: "Pick a Spot". Means the same thing.
 
when i am honing my shooting skills i live by the phrase "Aim small, miss small"

my friends and i will call out what we're aiming for on the target. whether it be a tiny piece of tape we placed on there or the "tip of the letter A in the second word on the target..." it helps. tremendously.
 
Since I got a truly excellent barrel and a good scope for MY TC Encore, I understand the sentiment of aim small, miss small much more. I was shooting the other day and I was truly irked at how wide my groups were seeming with my 327 federal. While they were not touching like I was hoping for, what looked like a great big group in my scope was actually about 20 rounds in a half dollar sized group.

Now realize, this gun was being shot from a bipod with practically no recoil, and almost no wind. I was actually quite miffed until I got my target. (I am trying to get good groups, and to be honest, I know the limiting factor is yours truly.) Then I saw what that size actually was, and I was actually quite impressed. I was shooting steel with it today, and once I got it sighted in all the way for 150 yards it was a hoot. (At 200 it loses too much velocity and you can't honestly tell you hit some of those steel plates, as the clang is barely audible through my ear protection, and the plate doesn't always move)

But it is funny, back in the day I was happy to hit a man sized target consistently, and I have noticed my consistency in the rings has stayed roughly the same, but my targets are much, much smaller. And a lot of it is trying to hit a smaller target. (That and shooting handloads out of a very accurate single shot) That and not shooting with speed. Though I will confess I fall into a rhythm with my break action that would have been a speed demon in the Revolutionary War.)

I am mostly shooting at a range, but today for example at a sillhouette range I was hitting say the rabbit sillhouettes only and missing the pigs.
 
While the black powder looks so fun. The big boom and cloud of smoke. I'm honestly a bit scared of the recoil. I've had back surgery and sold my 12g due to the recoil being uncomfortable. Any thoughts from the black powder man?
 
While the black powder looks so fun. The big boom and cloud of smoke. I'm honestly a bit scared of the recoil. I've had back surgery and sold my 12g due to the recoil being uncomfortable. Any thoughts from the black powder man?
One of the benefits of shooting black powder is that one can use as much ( within safety limits ) or as little black powder as you want....plus the recoil of a muzzle loading firearm is not as sharp or harsh as a modern cartridge arm.

Stock fit of course will also play a part here , as well as the weight of the firearm.
Andy
 
One of the benefits of shooting black powder is that one can use as much ( within safety limits ) or as little black powder as you want....plus the recoil of a muzzle loading firearm is not as sharp or harsh as a modern cartridge arm.

Stock fit of course will also play a part here , as well as weight of the firearm.
Andy
Well if they won't let me build ARs anymore I know my next hobby
 
I can shoot my ML's with booming loads, or more genteel loads. Amazingly, my 58cal Musketoon - shooting a 535gr Minié bullet - works just as well with 45gr at 50m as it does if I stoke it up with the US Union's service load of 60gr. Saves both shoulder and powder in one. I've never tried a .451cal rifle with less than 70gr, though, but if you watch capandball on Youtube he is getting excellent results with only 60gr behind his 535gr bullet. Having a near ten-pound rifle also helps some, though :)
 
Shooting at a mark.
Here I am not talking about "Mark ," as in a real person...that would be like "firing at Will"...:eek: :D
But "mark" as in a small mark on a target or small target in general.
Scary...thought I was in someone's sights again. Don't need that crazy badness again after that pimp had me mistaken for another o_O
 
Shooting at a mark.
Here I am not talking about "Mark ," as in a real person...that would be like "firing at Will"...:eek: :D
But "mark" as in a small mark on a target or small target in general.

Many times one will come across the phrase : "Shooting at a mark" when reading a first person account or narrative from the 18th or 19th century .
Which often meant a group of shooters , taking a few shots at a target...very informally.

Yesterday I was with a group of friends and we had a great time "shooting at a mark"
Our targets were :
Spent shot gun shells...
Soda Cans...
A head of old cabbage....
And old political signs....
The shooting was done at a friends house , and all shooting debris were cleaned up afterwards.
If one decides to do this type of shooting , please clean up after yourself and no glass targets.

With the signs one had to call out which letter of the name , one was trying for...Or which spot on the letter one was trying for.
At 25 -50 yards , the smaller size of the letters on the email address , made for some fine shooting.

Calling your shot , and being able to take only one shot at the target , makes for some excellent practice.

This is my favorite type of shooting...its the being "dared" or "Betcha can't hit that" kinda thing , that is part of the fun.
Of course some good-natured trash talk was also exchanged...:D
With this informal , low key shooting , one can learn a lot about one's shooting and how others shoot as well.

All in all , shooting at a mark with muzzle loaders is a fun practice , as well as one with historical roots.
Andy
1606770399373.png
 
While the black powder looks so fun. The big boom and cloud of smoke. I'm honestly a bit scared of the recoil. I've had back surgery and sold my 12g due to the recoil being uncomfortable. Any thoughts from the black powder man?

Below is a picture of me shooting my Hawken rifle.
The load is : 80 grains of 2F with a .15 patch and a .530 round ball.
I use this loading for almost all of my shooting and hunting.
Notice how I am reacting to the recoil...as in not much at all.
Andy
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