I could barely hit the side of the mountain yesterday.........

[oldracer]

I generally do okay at our monthly muzzle loader matches but yesterday I could barely hit anything! I was using both my home built Leigh High with the 42 inch barrel and also the light weight "mountain" Hawken! With the Leigh High I shot a test shot and was an inch to the right of the 30 yard bull, so I shot one more and did NOT see any impact hole so I shot another and same result???? So I switched to the light weight Hawken and it was an inch low so I shot the match with it and came in the middle. Same powder, patch, ball, cap as always, same smoke and level of "bang"! I switched back to the long gun for the fun shoot and shot about 50% when the last time I nearly got 100%? The only thing I can think of is I was flinching or something similar?

This is why this muzzle loading is waaaaaaaay more exciting then this AR-15's!

[Baja_Traveler]

Sounds like my issues with BPCR - one day I'll do pretty good, the next it's like I've never picked up the rifle before.

Which muzzle loader match are you shooting?

[tdoyka]

ahhh youse guys with black powder long guns with a primer, jeesh!!! youse gotta use a flint and steel with a little bit of four-f!!!

i know all about flinching on a muzzleloader. when i was a kid..well we'll just say alot of powder did not bring home the deer!!! it takes a while but you'll get the hang of it.

[NavyVet1959]

Sounds like you need to find a bigger mountain...

[OverMax]

I shot a test shot and was an inch to the right of the 30 yard bull, so I shot one more and did NOT see any impact hole so I shot another and same result????

A hole in a hole and a third in the same hole. You're just a good shot and didn't know it feller._

[johnson1942]

cryo treat your barrels and i bet your problem goes away.

[oldracer]

I generally shoot the match we have on the first Sunday every month at the Dulzura CA range. We shoot a small paper bull for five shots at 25 yards and the 3 rounds at three different steels at 50 yards. Cost is $5 and we get medals when we can hit anything........

[Maven]

Sounds like a lot of fun, oldracer!

[bedbugbilly]

oldracer - don't let a day like that throw you . . . the older I get, the more days like that I have! The biggest thing is that you're having fun . . and that's what it's all about!

[Baja_Traveler]

I generally shoot the match we have on the first Sunday every month at the Dulzura CA range. We shoot a small paper bull for five shots at 25 yards and the 3 rounds at three different steels at 50 yards. Cost is $5 and we get medals when we can hit anything........

Oh yea - I keep forgetting about that one because I am down on the main range shooting the levergun silhouette match the same day.
When Roger finishes my half stock hawken .50 I'll have to come join you and blow off silhouette for awhile.

[Southron]

Sooner or later, everyone has a bad day at the range. Your bio-rhythms might have been "off. The planets were mis-aligned, your personal gravity waves might have been way off, etc. I remember one day when I was "struck blind" ever time I stepped on the firing line [at least that is what I told everyone at the range marveling at my poor shooting.]

One advantage of shooting muzzleloaders is that to check IF you are flinching, just look for the smoke blasting out of your muzzle when you shoot. IF you see the smoke, you are NOT flinching.

[Old Scribe]

Poo poo happens to all of us.

[Hickok]

When I was into bowshooting competition, our local archery store owner and bow tuner, who always shot with us, had an empty squirt bottle like dishwashing soap came in. Nothing in the bottle but air.

When someone was having a bad day and shooting terribly for no good reason, he would take the bottle and go over the bow and the arrows, squeezing nothing but air on them. We called it "Group Tight-n-er", as it guaranteed to make you shoot better or your money back!


Helped the confidence, eased the tension, relieved the stress, and gave everyone a good laugh!


Yes and with bow, rifle or handgun, some days for me it just doesn't go right.

Gotta mix up another bottle of that secret formula "Group-Tight-n-er" and treat my guns with it! Hey, it can't hurt to try it, it really helps sometimes!

[idahoron]

Hickok, I did the opposite at bow shoots. I would hook up with a good shooter. Then I would say Wow that bow shoots pretty well for being that far out of tune.

[oldracer]

Well last Monday I went out and did a couple hours and the shooting was much better. I think that I was not feeling well combined with trying too hard was making me flinch and that has pretty much stopped. I'll practice some this Wednesday on my range officer day for 6 or 8 shots to see how I feel but I am feeling better since I got my Barrett's Esophagus burned out and it has about healed up so I can breath better and such.

[Hickok]

Hickok, I did the opposite at bow shoots. I would hook up with a good shooter. Then I would say Wow that bow shoots pretty well for being that far out of tune.

Ah yes, the old head game! Get them to start thinking and doubting and then they mess up!

[mooman76]

We all have them days. Some days it seems like we can't hit anything and others like we can't miss.