2018 GSSCC pictures

Match Results

A big thanks to Jim Doolittle, Ron Carter,
Phil Thalheimer and
everyone else involved for their hard work in making this a great event.

Hope to see you all again next year! 

2018 review of Consolidated day 2, big guns!

Saturday was nothing to write home about.  New gun with new extractor and high hopes fizzled.  My sloppiness with my beloved 39A got me exactly the results I deserved.  Practice!  The big gun was next.  30-30 Marlin CB.  I have spent many hours attempting to find the right cast bullet, size, lube, powder, amount of said powder.  I doubt the journey will ever end.  My first year at Consolidated, I manged to get 10 turkeys.  I like this range. I also managed to ring a few rams.  No doubt the Consolidated rams need some oomph to ensure they fall.  I load up some special hot loads which, now that I have been shooting my M1, don't seem all that hot.  21g of 4198 vs the normal 19.  For chickens, I play with my $.05 load..  Cheaper than a 22LR to shoot.  Got to love that.  Of course my time, lead and reloading equipment is free right!  Back to the match.

It was a cold day no doubt.  Just chill you to the bone raw cold.  I think some were happy this was only a 40 shot match.  Get into the car and warm up on the ride home.  We started on Rams.  Joy!  7 down, none stood defiantly after my 31141 bullet with 21g of 4198 hit.  I had an AD which was a waste.  Was I going to repeat Saturday?  Argh.

I think we had seven relays.  This time I managed to have the right bullets on the line at the right animal, right firing spot.  Shooting 3 different recipes is not the wisest thing to do.  But, it is where I am right now and I just have to keep my head attached.  At least I remembered that from last year!

Chickens capitulated to my diminutive 3118 bullet with a mere 6 grains of Unique.  Did I say how much fun it is to shoot those little pills?  I often wonder if they would work on Turkeys.  They fall down when it but I have not tested accuracy at 150 yards.

Pigs.  There would be no more mental mistakes on the pig line.  I put the focus on and managed another 10.  For those curious about my 3 recipes, the Pig and the Turkey get the same load.  Hats off to my spotter for keeping me focused.  I think the spotter plays a large role in this game.  But having someone by your right elbow reminding you of why you drove 350 miles is helpful.  Seven relays, it is easy to either lose focus or work yourself into a lather by the next time you are on the line.  A common characteristic of big matches so figure it out we must.

So what happens in a 7 relay match?  You learn what others are doing.  Among the Cast Bullet types, we are a minority at a match like this, powder coating seemed to be the hot new solution to all things us cast shooters fight.  Bullet velocity, leading, diameter, you name it.  I read a lot more after seeing the buzz in PA over PC.  I sure would love to give it a try.  Just my current situation, testing range, time, I don't know I could get it properly evaluated.  My problems, misses, are not due to an inaccurate bullet. It is due to practice and mental discipline.  Currently I am going to stay on the porch as it relates to PC.  But I am watching the traffic closely to ensure I am not missing something.

Turkeys.  Cold and the wind is now kicking up as weather seems to be moving in.  With 27 knock down out of 30 shots, the need to focus is high.  Mark and I both had decent scores going into turkeys and all we had to do was execute.  Well crap.  I imploded on the first bank by missing EVERY turkey.  Yup.  Zero for 5.  I fear I may have been a little hard on my spotter.  I think we got a bad start and I started chasing things.  By chasing things, he said low, I broke high for the next shot because I knew where my last one broke.  I know how to call my shot.  And then, you start second guessing yourself.  Before you know it, 2 minutes are over and you stand there is dismay.    We conferred after that little moment of unpleasantness.  We stayed focused on the job at hand.  Reviewed the facts.  Developed a game plan.  And checked the sight settings again.  Everything was correct.  Pulled another and final five beautiful home cast bullets onto our towel being held with push pins to the bench.  Did say it was windy?  This time the result was better with 4 out of 5 finding their mark.  But too little, too late.  The damage was done.  31 animals should have been 34 out of 40.  But not this year.  If I was serious, I would go to a range with 150 yards and with that same load work on drilling the turkey on paper, with wind.  See what happens.  Was it really me?  Although I don't think I was "nervous", I may have tried too hard for perfect breaks.  Who knows.  Learn from it and move on.  I don't think jacketed bullets would have prevented whatever the event was that occurred.  Maybe I need to powder coat them....oh...ya....it's the jerk behind the trigger.

Easy to read aggregate scores in PDF.

2018 review of Consolidated day 1

I am back into my blog after a year hiatus.  That is a topic for a different post.  Today, I thought I would share with you just how much fun it is to shoot silhouette with a bunch of other folks that share the same passion and or form of self torture.  This is my third year and I have yet to come close to a repeat of my first year.  Yet every year I seem to learn more.  And in some cases, learn the same lesson twice.

2018 found us up 4 travelers from the cold and soggy climate of NH.  Ron and I were solo but Phil and Mark, his first time, were joined by their significantly better halfs which made the trip all that more entertaining. 

All of my match prep work involved hand loading in my "remote reloading bench" in Ohio.  No range time as I don't have a range in Ohio but I found reloading a way to escape. My efforts to get my Daisy airgun going have not been very, ah, concerted. But why not, go to your first match of the 2018 season, shoot a new gun and hope for the best. 

PCCLA - Click on photo for larger image

I kept a nice old 1892 in 32-20 in the NH family.  She has been refinished and rebored but she should shoot.  She does shoot.  I just have not figured her out yet.  Although I had all sorts of excuses around varying brass case length and lollipop posts, I think the main issue is me.  PRACTICE!  You simply cannot shoot something well you have not sorted out.  More sorting to come.  When you lay down a 5-7-8-5 for c-p-t-r, you have got to walk away a tad more in that "self torture" mode than "I love this game" mode.  To shoot 8 turkeys yet only 5 chickens tells you I don't have my sight picture well sorted.  Ah well.  There is always the 44 mag which fared well at Bradford in 2017.  But I had such high hopes for this gun.  Paper and practice is the bottom line.  Results to the left.





Lunch was provided and was hot and yummy both days.

SBCR - Click for larger image

The afternoon was the gun I shoot best.  The gun I know. My 39A made in New Haven in 1985.  But, I left a few short line animals here and there and you simply cannot do that when you are a Master Class shooter in SBCR.  8-9-6-8.  31 will not work in PA.

10 of the 20 master shooters competing were 32 or higher.  Take note, the top gun was a rather low 35 so that called for a lot of shoot offs to sort them  all out.  10 shooters fell in the 32 to 35 range.  That sure demonstrates the importance of the rule:  "EVERY SHOT MATTERS!"  Never take a shot just to get over with it.  A 32 would have tossed me into the shoot off sorting game but not this year.  That one pig is all she wrote.  No excuse and you will see later I drilled that into my head.  In all cowboy shooting, 10 chickens and 10 pigs is a must.  These are the key "point getters" and you simply must get them.  Not a 8 or 9, but 10.  Practice on paper until you can get 10 EVERY time.  Woulda, coulda, shoulda.  If I had followed my own coaching, a 34 would have been a nice place to be with a clean "short line" and one more Turkey.....there is always next year.

Easy to read PDF results for aggregate scores

Friday in review at Consolidated

Another beautiful day in PA.  Arrived at the range at 9 am and there was already a large team of people setting the animals.  At Consolidated, they have the rather ingenious solution of both storing and transporting animals.  Old converted dual axle horse trailers!  Just drive a along the 5 rails for each animal and toss out the animals. 

The 100m range is set up for both 1/5th and 1/2 scale animals in meters and they can put 5 x 4 or 20 people at a relay so there will be 3 relays.  I guess I put that in for fellow match directors. 

PCCLA will be shot in the AM.  Phil and I are going to shoot rimfire for PCCLA.  You will get a report on that in the next post if that decision was a good one or not.  I simply don't shoot the 44 Rem Mag that much to feel as comfortable with it.  My limitation.

Ron and Phil are both shooting well.  Phil concluded the CCI Velocitor were not going to work for the PCCLA rams so....."Aim High" will be the mantra.  The Browning BPR at 1,435 muzzle will hopefully buy me a few rams.

For CLA, Sierra bullets are working great.  My lead killer Ram load is, well, not giving me full confidence so I am going to plan B.  21g of 4198 and not the 28g of 3031.  Unclear at this point without real paper.  They both seems to take down rams.  Ron and Phil are taking the smart path of jacketed.  And Al was most generous and treated the NH team to a brace of Sierra hats.  We might not hit much but we sure look sharp!  Thanks Al for helping us getting us into the modern world of jacketed bullets.  Pro Hunters work great.

A beautiful sunny day in PA.  Almost hot.  The range has been mowed and rails leveled.  Things look great.  No reason to not shoot a 40.  Hillbilly tonneau worked well last night in the rain.  Got the bugs off the windshield using the morning wet. That was a project.  Nice dinner at the Bullfrog Brewery where we enjoyed BFD IPA.  Aka, Brewer For a Day.  Guess you can come in and shadow the master brewer.  Much needed R&R.  or the new word of the week, "Chillax".

Operation Spring Round Up 2017 in PA

Last year John and I had a blast at the phenomenal match held at Consolidated Sportsman in Lycoming County PA.  The match this year will be PCCLA Sat 60 shots in AM.  SBCR 60 shots in PM Sat.  Then on Sunday, a CLA match of 40 shots.

John is traveling and Phil and Ron did a great job of getting all the logistics figured out and all I had to do was bring a truck to carry all the stuff.  I took the week off and scrambled to get things reloaded.  By scramble I mean SCRAMBLE!  Add to the excitement we had a CLA match on Sunday which burned those precious reloads, 56 of them to be exact!

On Wednesday, when I finally settled down to reload and had a small disaster!  My primers were not
seating so I pressed the arm forward "harder".  Well, as the Dillon tech explained, it likely had a small crack in the "crank" which lead to bigger problems.

The good news, I could work the mechanism without the handle.  Stay tuned for a daily update from PA.  Sorry, I can't rotate but you can see the issue!  My replacement part will arrive Wednesday, a little too late for the match.

Redfield 75 Skunk Works

A convergence of issues.

For those of us who follow the NRA rulebook changes, we have been hearing over the past few years about legal and non legal sight systems for the Cowboy Silhouette game.  After what seemed like a great deal of wrangling, after the dust settled, it would seem the Redfield 75 sight was here to stay.  I don't play the Cowboy game very seriously but I do enjoy it as a means to learn more about vintage guns, handloading as well as casting.  I also find it fun to experiment and a good place to start new shooters who are not ready for the 1/5th game.

That brings me to the second issue.  What type of sights do you tell a new shooter to get?  You can't get them at a local store.  Some of the stuff made today is not of the same quality as it was made yesteryear.  Lastly, the good stuff that is made today is not a trivial investment.

With these two issues swirling about I had often wondered what all the hoopla was about these Redfield 75 sights.  Personally, with my big hands, I am uncomfortable with the tang mounted sights but I live with one on my 336 Marlin cowboy gun.  When I first started I had a TK Williams for my 39 and after a few matches I know why the prior owner gave it to me. Then I left Texas and my 39A behind as I knew I was not going to be using it in Memphis.  The steward of my gun put a vintage all steel Lyman 66MC sight her and WOW!  Problem being, Nomad wanted it back.  So I spent a long time waiting for one on eBay and that is what I use now.  Asking a new shooter to wait 3, 6 or even 9 months for one to come up is less than optimal.  These 75 Redfields come up pretty often and they are now legal.  So, I picked one up.  Less expensive than the Unicorn dust all steel Lyman 66MC.

The added challenge and expense of the Redfield 75 is the fact it does not attach directly to the Marlin.  Like any gun the 75 was originally was used, it needed a mounting block.  The NRA rule rub is that at the time 75 Redfields were being produced, mounting blocks for the Marlin or any lever gun for that matter were produced.   The logic is, since target sights like Pedersolies and EVA sights were produced and can be had today for $500 and up, why not allow a $100 solution such as the Redfield 75?  So, there are folks who make these mounting blocks for lever gun which enable you to mount the 75.  The picture to the left is an example.  Mine I found was not as well designed as it could have been.  I had to file the back off to make the sight fit flush but after my annoyance with an over priced 1/2 oz piece of steel was over, it works quite well.  Here is the info from a post on Steelchickens in 2012

Now if you want to go the 75 route, contact:
WWW.outbackgunparts.com
Out Back Gun Parts Inc.
2110 McLean Ave
New Albany, IN 47150

812-945-0480 (Tues - Friday 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM EDT)

Consolidated Sportsmen Road Trip report Day 2, about 150 days later

I figure I can't move forward with my blog without a post for Day two at Consolidated Sportsman Spring Roundup.  This is an NRA Metallic Silhouette Cowboy shooting event where day 1, you shoot PCCLA in the AM.  SBCR in the PM.  Get some sleep, and then return Sunday morning to shoot CLA and then start the journey home. 60 shots for each match.  60 + 60 + 60 for a grand champion perfect score of 180

Day 2 I was still contemplating how close I came to being top banana in SBCR.  The old adage, "Every Shot Counts" kept running through my head.  One animal was all I needed to be tied for first.  I recall being told, "a match is really just 40 little matches, the only shot that counts is the next one".

Focus on taking the next shot perfectly!  That is so important in the game of Silhouette.  Especially when you have a bunch of shooters, often there will be 3+ with the same score.  Ah well, time to focus on CLA.  The 3+ will come full circle in a paragraph or two.

Day two was cold and raining.  One of those 'chill to the bone' type of days with few options other than getting in the truck and warming up.  The weather, plus likely being a little tired from the prior day, made for an extra mental "umph" to get going.  This was clearly evidenced by my first few sighters.  John was watching and telling me my ram loads were hitting the dirt around the turkey line.  Huh????  Panic, check sight settings, look at gun for some major impact.  Nothing.  Panic a little more......look at the ammo box, the GREEN ammo box!  Duh.  GREEN ammo box is for Chicken loads.  BLUE is for everything else.  Grab a few ram bullets and poof....that made all the difference.  What a way to get the heart racing and adrenaline flowing.  Wake up, this is what I live for I tell myself!

There was a reason I had the green box.  We were to start on chickens.  In 2016 I adopted a special low recoil, low cost solution for chickens.  I cast a 115 g Lyman 3118 bullet without gas check.  Unfortunately my mould does not create the best specimen.  Out of round and small at maybe .312".  I Beagle it and size and poof!  Works great for chickens but cast bullet purist would thumb their nose at such an ugly bullet.  I can use Unique, just 6g and no GC.  What is not to like about that frugal bullet?

So, the match began on Chickens.  You really should not miss a chicken.  It does happen but the Chickens and the Pigs are where you build your foundation for a good score. Bullet quality, reload quality is the most forgiving and sight picture is the easiest.  They are also the least likely to remain standing if you do hit them.  Sadly, one chicken ducked and I went over its back.  Duh!  New bullets worked well but the dope pulling the trigger had a failure to execute.  Pigs fared better as I was determined to not let lightning strike twice.

Turkeys.  Inconsistent yet very satisfying in the end.  After missing three in the first bank I had a bit of soul searching to do.  Bear down and SHOOT!  I managed to shoot the next five clean.  I did not change anything, just focused.  Of course the third bank lay ahead.  A 2 and a 5.  I managed to continue knocking the little darlings over.  Not sure when the "10 in a row" popped into my head.  The worst thing to happen to any shooter.

No doubt by number 4 things became very quiet between shooter and spotter.  You just don't say a thing and try to act normal.  "Try" being the understatement.  Happily, the fifteenth turkey bullet, a Lyman 31141 single cavity mould lovingly cast, sized and loaded over the winter, found its mark.  I had managed to shoot 10 in a row at a BIG match in Turkeys no less.  Go figure!

The match was not over.  I still had Rams to contend with and not that bad a score.  FOCUS.  Recall it was raining.  Berms were dark brown soil and the rain only made it darker.  Black animals were tough.  A miss was akin to shooting into a fog bank.  Nothing on the berm moved.  A hit was not much better.  All the water and mud just fell off in response to the impact.  An impact which was not that great in my case.  The first shot was a miss.  Got the next four.  I hit the next five but the last one just sat there.  I was upset.  That too is something you need to toss from the brain cells as frustration is the biggest enemy of a competitive shooter.  Got the 11th ram.  Rang the 12th.  Got the 13th and after that, I am not sure what happened.  I was hitting them and they were still standing.  Stuff happens, my head got the better of me and I ended up with a pitiful 10 rams when I hit 13.  Or that is my story.

All that drama put me tied for 1st AAA.  51/60 was bested by three better shooters that day. Al Foust shot a 54, Al Bean a 53 and Chuck Blender a 52.  Three of us shot 51's.  Argh, that chicken sure would have been nice!  In the shoot off I did not show.  Missing my first shot and taking 3rd AAA.  Stuff happens, both good and bad.  What we all known is this, nothing will ever happen if you don't show up at the line with the best plan possible to hit all 60.  Next year......"more bullet, more powder" is the mantra for the 30-30 as well as get my 44 Rem Mag sorted.  148/180 vs. 161/180 is only 13 animals after all!

Consolidated Sportsmen Road Trip report Day 1

The National Champion at work.  I will have to say that the boys in PA take their Cowboy shooting as seriously as the 1/5th game.  They shoot to win and shooting shoulder to shoulder with them was a great experience.  John and I headed South West on Thursday afternoon and then finished the trip Friday.  Consolidated Sportsmen is about 6 miles North of Montoursville, PA.  It is an 8 hour drive, not an easy Friday drive and shoot Sat morning.  Not when there are 50+ shooters.  They were just shy of their max 60 shooters.

On Saturday they had 5 banks.  5x4 makes for 20 shooters on the line at every relay. They had 3 relays which moved along quickly with excellent and experienced target setters.  Berms were dark soil to mud.  Animals were white.  Conditions were excellent and frankly it was a shooters dream.  PCCLA was in the morning.  I had hurriedly loaded up 130 rounds for my 44 Rem Mag.  I have not loaded or shot that gun since 2012.  After ringing many a ram at the GSR last year with my 22LR, I concluded I had better bring a gun that will knock over Rams.  I was rusty with the gun and my results showed with a meager 43/60.  Still, it was great to be enjoying a match and seeing all the others shooters.  It makes me want to spend some more time with the 44 time permitting.  It printed well on paper at 100 yards so the problem was the shooter not the gun.

They served lunch while the animals were switched to the "thin" animals.  A brief practice and off we went.  Now things got exciting.  We started on Rams and the two hot dogs and barbecue must still have been settling in.  11 Rams was not the best of beginnings.  Things took an exciting turn for the better as I cleaned 15 Chickens and 15 Pigs.  Now all I had to do it hold it together on Turkeys.  13 out of 15 was a solid effort to undo the rather poor Ram results.  54 was my ending score only topped by a National Champion with 55.  Of course another Champion, Al Bean also shot a 54 so the fight was on for 2nd overall.  I managed to meet his two hits but missed my 3rd turkey in the shoot off.  Fun to be rubbing elbows with the guys who really know how to shoot.  Sure glad John was able to help me get my trusty 1985 39A running again.  I might add, I use Federal 510 for Chickens and Pigs and MiniMags for Turkeys and Rams.  Anything works that close IMO.

Below are the results from Day 1.  I have to get some sleep.  I will make another post on Day 2.

The 1985, pre safety, 39A lives again

Last year, my trusty 39A decided she was tired of all the attention other guns were getting and concluded the best way to ensure some love and attention over the winter months was to break.  As I covered in an earlier post. the lifter has a rather magical spring loaded pin in it that lost its "capture washer".

Plenty of research and posts on the Marlin Owners Forum yielded the start truth, my era 39A had no parts available.  Plenty of folks purchased what was said to be the solution but it did not function correctly.  Because this gun was in the midst of the re-design for the cross bolt safety, it has a unique collection of parts.

Captured! Click on image for full view.

This weekend the 39A traveled up to Rumney for a second attempt to fashion a repair.  The first trip, the little pellet tin with the small parts got left behind in Hopkinton and there was nothing to do.  The second time, I opened the tin which I use to hold all things small and easily lost.  John surveyed the collection of screws, 39A parts, Lyman 17A globe inserts etc.  As we attempted to measure just what diameter we needed, John suggested just using the center of a globe insert.  After playing with 2.6, 2.8 and 3.0, it was concluded the 2.8 would be sacrificed to act as a washer.  What you see to the right is the inner ring cut out of the outer ring and then pressed over the pin.  Then some rather crude peening of what remains of the pin began.

Not pretty but she functions well.  Sometimes ugly works.  Amazing how much more a digital photo can show you, even after using magnification to see what we were doing.  Someday I hope to find a 1985 39A and see what an original looks like.

I also learned a few things while trying to repair my bent magazine tube.  We have all had the magazine tube follower fly closed and the small pin ding the outer tube.  I found a 23/64 drill bit and a brass drift allowed me to get things back to normal.  Then, I had the bright idea to clean inner magazine tube.  DUMB IDEA!  A little gummy oil actually prevents the follower from falling too quickly.  Now mine falls down with the slightest bit of gravity risking another bent outer tube..  Tip of the month, don't clean it unless it really needs it.

Rainy Day project, casting for CLA.

No progress on the 39A.  I am hoping some brilliant tip will come up before I start some back yard gunsmithing.  So, on a day like today, it was time to get some more bullets cast for the 30-30.  This year, I am paying attention to alloy and working on getting to a harder bullet, same bullet physical characteristics from weight to hardness.

Not much to report really.  I have struggled a bit with my quest for bench rest accuracy out of a Lever Gun with cast bullets.  I am learning but mostly on what not to do.  I am hoping I will find something that works soon. 

My mould is an old 31141 single cavity.  I picked up the correct handles so I don't have to borrow them.  The old Ideal mould, after some TLC, is working fair.  This batch of bullets are a bit mottled (or what I call eczema) in places and I suspect that is due to zinc in the melt.  I hope the issue impacts looks only and not accuracy.  Now comes the fun part.  Sizing them.  I scrounge range trash cans for the 9mm ammo boxes with Styrofoam holders.  They treat my little gems in good shape as well as assist with keeping things organized.  Now if I could just find the right load.  I made 325 bullets today.  It would be nice to load them all up and just shoot.

2016 Tentative Schedule NH Silhouette matches

Pemi-CLA              APR 24
PA Consolidated    APR 30-MAY 1

PFFG                       MAY 1
PSI-100m                MAY 15
Pemi-CLA                MAY 29

PFFG                       JUN  5
PSI-100m                JUN 19
Pemi-CLA               JUN 25
Pemi-100m             JUN 26

PFFG                      JUL 3
PSI-100m               JUL 17
Pemi-CLA              JUL 23
Pemi-100m            JUL 24

PFFG                      AUG  7
PSI-GSR                 AUG 20-21
Pemi-100m             AUG 28

PFFG                     SEPT  4
PSI-100m               SEPT 18

PFFG                     OCT  2
PSI-100m               OCT 9

39A mfg 1985 pre crossbolt safety carrier pin issue

39A action without pin, lever open

Sometime in September I think my rock solid, highly accurate, much loved and used by many Marlin 39A jammed.  This is a gun that simply never jams, never fails to eject, always feeds slow or fast just plain stopped working.  Range triage discovered the problem was beyond a Leatherman and the gun was bagged and that was that.  Image to the right is the action open with no pin in the carrier.  When the lever is cycled, the carrier does not raise as it should.

Carrier removed, looking front (left) side of carrier and pin/spring

Over the New Years, John and I embarked upon a more detailed diagnosis in hope of finding the right part to order and install on some cold winter day.  After looking high and low for the missing parts that were no longer in the gun. It occurred to me that I had kept the tiny bits in my tiny bits pellet tin where all such small parts go.  Happily they were there less the "washer" which was missing from the start.  Image to the right is the small pin which is .121" in diameter.  I cannot locate my feeler gauge to get the thickness of the groove where the washer is captured.  The more I look at the photos it would seem the real question is, what is the original "minor" diameter of the pin.  It does look to be held in place by peening the back of the pin.

Pin, pushed through hole in carrier showing back side with missing "washer" to hold pin in place while spring pushes the pin to project out on front/left side of carrier.