23rd Matthew Quigley Shoot

[Bent Ramrod]

The Quigley Shoot this year at Forsyth was a great success, despite some uncooperative weather. Thursday and Friday were nice and clear for sight settings, with moderate, generally steady winds. Saturday it rained all morning, with clouds and systems blowing in ad hoc through the afternoon. Sunday was better, with no rain but the winds seemed to be shiftier, both in force and direction.

I shot the Octagon in a drizzling rain late in the afternoon. Really wanted that Eight Straight pin, but I flinched on one shot and overcompensated on another. Still, I did at least as good on every target as I'd ever done, and considerably better on some than previously. Got more first shot hits this time, so I'm beginning to get a basic understanding of what that windage screw thingie is supposed to be doing.

Here's some of us waiting behind the road for the relays ahead of us. More than 600 people shot this year. The winning score was 45/48, amazing considering the weather. Two people got 8 for 8 on the Bucket, offhand, at 350 yards, something nobody had done before. Me, I was "above average." I didn't find it an easy achievement, either.

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I got a shot of the GOEX distributor demonstrating his wares. The round object is a bowling ball. The finger holes made an interesting whistling noise as the ball lofted over the hills, probably into Canada.

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Buz, Al and their families get all the credit for making the shoot a success. I can't organize a closet; but the Shoot was systematic and orderly despite the large number of shooters, and everybody got an equal opportunity to shoot at freshly painted targets.

[APDDSN864]

Sounds like a ton of fun! I will be there, one of these days. :-o

Ed

[leeggen]

Where is the pics of the firearms that were there????
Sounds like it was a sucess!
Cd

[bruce drake]

Landing in Canada?

Just great...someone else getting us involved in another shooting war...

Bruce

[Bohica793]

The Quigley is on my bucket list. Hope I make it there one day.

[ghh3rd]

I didn't know where Forsyth was, and did a search and found your match http://www.quigleymatch.com/. It looks like a really good time, inspired by one of my favorite movies.

[Bent Ramrod]

It's hard to get pictures of firearms as mostly they're in carts and everybody is constantly moving around. Also, you have to adhere to a schedule, either shooting or spotting or waiting for your relay to come up, and of course if you aren't shooting or spotting, it's kind of a faux pas to wander up to the firing line and take snapshots of the people who are trying to concentrate on targets. That's about the only place the guns are really "on display."

There sure were a lot of great guns around, though. About as many Sharps as Rolling Blocks, with fewer High Walls and Trapdoors, Ballards in the minority and a handful of H&R Buffalo Classics and CPA Stevens. One guy was even shooting a muzzle loader. He kept up with the cartridge shooters pretty well and made a surprising number of hits. Don't remember any Hepburns this time, except maybe one or two on tables for sale on the Commercial Row.

I remember reading in a book about the hide hunters that the residents of the nearby towns listened to a steady, rolling barrage of gunfire coming from all directions, day after day, for weeks and months, until the local herds were shot out. You could get a sense of what that must have been like out there at the Match, except that along with the gunfire, there was also the ding-donging of the steel targets, like a huge pinball machine. The black powder makes a kind of "Boom/CRACK!!" sound, the BP substitutes a thinner sound with more crack and less boom, and the smokeless loads a thin crack. You could tell who was shooting what without even looking for smoke. Everybody was great about shooting techniques and loading data; I have a bunch of ideas to check out when time permits. Right now it's washing clothes and washing cases.

It's a 2 or 2-1/2 day drive up there from here, but definitely worth it for the scenery, let alone the shooting. I definitely plan to be there next year.

[Lead pot]

BR

It was a great shoot and the final numbers on the leader board was exceptional for sure.
I took three rifles and just a little over 1500 rounds and just about got most of the loaded cases empty between the Quigley shoot and the week before and after I spent at Baker Mt. and the Big Hill shoots.
Here are some photo's that show the rifles that where used.

http://bjlanesimages.com/quigley-shoot-14

[Bent Ramrod]

Thanks for the pictures, Lead Pot. You got up closer than I did, for sure. That really was historic--two people getting all eight offhand on the Bucket. Nobody had done that in 23 years. Except for Tom Selleck in the movie, of course.:mrgreen:

I shot about 75 shots before the actual match to verify sight settings, practice, and just for fun. We got there in time for two days' shooting and looking around. I definitely need more practice.

[Lead pot]

Those photo's are not mine. They were taken by BJ Lane's Images and are for sale on line.

[rfd]

cool stuff, thanx for the update and pix. the quigley is definitely on my bucket list, too.

would love to know the setup scoop on those h&r buff classics and how they fared in the shooting ....

http://i.imgur.com/1XgaFVG.jpg

[Bent Ramrod]

I saw a few, most of them being shot by younger shooters. They were hitting at least fairly regularly. All those I remember seeing had front sights like yours, maybe with a spirit level, but the rear was a Vernier tang sight rather than a barrel ladder sight. Several were in .38 caliber, from the sound.

The top ten winners were supposed to turn in equipment and load lists, but I can't find them on the site. Maybe more detail will come out in Black Powder Cartridge News.

[rfd]

i thought about getting a vernier tang site for the buff classic, but [1] it woud cost more than the rifle :mrgreen: , and [2] unlike most of the popular s/s quigley rifles (rolling block, falling block, trap door, etc), its a tip up action that separates the barrel from the stock and therefore would probably not be as consistent. i'm working on getting a .45-70 s/s silhouette rifle, but probably later than sooner as the price tag read-to-shoot will be nearer $3k. yikes! 'til then, the buff classic has proven to be at least ok - just wish it had a better trigger.

yup, the next issue of bpc news will more than likely have the top ten quigley shooter equipment list.