TYRVR

Karl, I spent the weekend at the range. Each year the state of Virginia sponsors a competition similar to the olympics called "The Commonwealth Games" besides the usual individual and team events associated with track and field, there are shooting events, I set up and ran the metallic silouhette matches, Saturday we hosted modern rifle shooters and surprisingly...a large percentage of the rifles used were C&R/surplus military pieces the largest segment being K31s scoped and un-scoped, the second and third place winners used K31s we also had a CETME and several M1As and Garands...one 03, and one Krag (mine) Sunday we shot black powder catridge rifles, Sharps, Ballards, rolling block Remingtons, Hepburn designed Remingtons and a few Stevens copies made by CPA in Pennsylvania.......it was a long match......lasted late into the day and with temperatures in the low 90s.....it was a test.....but...we made it all the way and got some good press coverage and made some money for the Virginia Amatuer Sports Association, I hope that next year I can incorporate a military rifles only match, be fun to see nothing on the line but old warriours.

On my toes? don't think so.....we did not do ballet in the U.S.Army, strictly a Marine thing, in fact I think that Chesty Puller got his name from tugging at his leotard.

Tony: I have seen numerous examples of a "Locksmith" dog* and yours is certainly a fine example of the breed! * Locksmith Dog......kick him in the butt and he makes a bolt for the door!

Jerry, try "Heritage Arms" A.K.A. "Europeon American Arms" both are the same firearm with a different name, meanwhile I'll look around the shop.

Jerry, it looks like a nice club.....I have not heard of it but that don't mean squat! if nothing else go to one of their matches as a visitor and ask around of the members and tell them what you are interested in doing and see what happens.

Jerry, go to the Shiloh Rifle web site, click on the shooters forum, there are dozens of shooters from Texas there and they can put you onto a nearby shoot, www.shilohrifle.com

Next Saturday and Sunday, the Roanoke Rifle and Revolver Club will host the Commonwealth Games, a state level olympic style competition for the average citizen. It will be my honour to direct the N.R.A. style black powder catridge matches, this consists of using any breech loading single shot rifle chambered originally for black powder catridge calibres, such as the Sharps, Ballard, Winchester High Wall and several other brands of target/hunting rifles popular during the latter half of the 19th century. The course of fire consists of ten animals on stands at four different distances, (chickens at two hundred metres, pigs at three hundred metres, turkeys at 483 Yards (?) and rams at five hundred metres.) The shooter fires at all the animals from the rest position using "crossed sticks" except the chickens, which are shot off hand. This sport has been shown on the Outdoor channel several times, the silouhette sport is one of the few that anyone, regardless of sex, age or health restrictions can be competitive, one of the best shooters in our club is near eighty and he almost always wins his class, (classes are determined by average targets downed over a three match period and are in no way exclusive otherwise) I love to watch as some 90 pound Grandmother touches off a big ol'Sharps .40-70 and see a 40 pound steel ram topple at over a quarter mile away........this sport allows the use of rifles that for many years sat in corners and in collections gathering dust because it was Great Grand-Paws buffalo gun, folks are discovering that Great Grand-Paw could shoot! When you consider how few modern produced rifle/scope hunting rifles being taken afield today could compete with these old black powder rifles with just iron sights. If you have the chance to attend a match of this type in your area...check it out! spectators can tell just how well a shooter is doing at the same time as the shooter does. This is a somewhat expensive sport for beginners as the rifles used in the sport are not cheap, expect to pay a thousand dollars and up for a quality rifle, and the other gear such as spotting scope and reloading equipment can easily exceed another thousand, but once the equipment is gathered the sport it's self is cheap, bullets, powder and primers are priced in the same range as smokeless supplies, so, if you would like to see what Great Grand Paw used to kill off a million or more buffalo in a twenty year period, stop by and see.

On second thought...I am a little peeved that certain ones of us did not get positions suited to their strengths..... Miss"T"- moderator of all things good, RGRWJB - "moderator of arguments about really silly stuff, Z1r - moderator of Kuhnhausen refutation, Gothmog - moderator of all things with a temperature below 32 degrees, TYRVR - moderator of inter-racial differences and asian birth legitimacy.

Karl I agree about the handsome part entirely as I am a ugly man, GOD intended me to be judged for my actions.....not my looks. I am not feeling leftout, just wished to bring to the attention of all, how smart these three gentlemen are.

I have been coming by here and the old place for quite a-while, never knew that Karl,ShooterTom and Fritz knew so much about things! I see that with but one exception all the subjects are to be overseen by the three folks I have named....just proves the old theory, "Can't tell the book by the cover and can't judge the daughter by the mother".

For target or special use rifles, I ask the customer to bring me a sized case from HIS dies, and then use that case to set the headspace.

Humph! porters and ales and stouts......sounds like a bunch of brits! now if you want beer, try some of the stuff I drink, it's called "Old Distended Bladder", brewed in the same trucks that deliver it, costs a buck eighty a six! I sent some up to Va.Tech's testing lab a few years ago....the results came back telling me my horse had diabetes.

Despite what the heading on this board says...today IS the Fourth of July! A time to celebrate the one most important act in history, the founding of OUR nation, it is OUR nation, blacks-whites-indians- dinks-wops-polacks-bohunks and any other race or religion you can come up with...it is OUR nation, remeber to observe and if you think that America was founded by Christian whites alone.....go to Arlington National cemetery and read the crosses., I am not a liberal or much of anything, but I know that if this "Noble expieriment" is to survive.....we must ALL pitch in, GOD made us all different but he put a heart and soul in each of us, and as long as America is in existence...... the hearts and souls of those in need and suffering from domination will have a lode star.......THE UNITED STATES of AMERICA!

What "Bestest" said......