Range report - Trafalgar Meeting at Bisley Ranges

[perry owens]

Spent an interesting but chilly day helping out at the annual vintage rifle meeting at Bisley Camp, the UK NRA headquarters.

UK NRA Headquarters ( the tents are part of the trade show)
My station was on the advancing target range for leverguns and percussion pistols at 50 and 25 metres.
On the levergun side Marlins outnumbered Winchesters by about 15 to 1. I never saw a Rossi all day. Receiver peep sights were first choice, with tang sights next.
The remarkable thing about the percussion pistol competitions was the poor reliability of them. Advancing target calls for three strings of five shots rapid fire as the target moves towards you. I don't recall any competitor completing the course without a malfunction, invariably cap-related. Colt clones predominated, with a few Remingtons and Starrs.
Quite a few competitors turned up dressed in Civil War uniform - your Civil War, not ours:-

Union and Confederates on the advancing target range.
It was good to meet up with fellow Levergunner Gamekeeper for the first time, although my duties prevented us from having a good chinwag. Perhaps we can get together for a CAS shoot sometime.
All in all a good day, not shooting but at least putting a little back into the sport. And good to see leverguns alive and thriving in the UK despite the efforts of our government.
Perry Owens

[Nath]

Nath.

[gamekeeper]

It was a very interesting day as always and great to meet Perry Owens, I should have taken my Winchester 94 to help even up the Marlin/Winchester divide!
I met a few old friends there that were selling guns on a stand but I only bought a few primers. I did see a 73 in 32/20 that I quite liked but the £4,250 ($6,674) price tag was way out of my league.
Next week there is the "Antique Gun Fair" at Bisley, I hope I can persuade Shirley to spend another day looking at guns I can't afford.

[the telegraphist]

Thanks for that Perry. Cannot understand all the misfires though.

[perry owens]

Thanks for that Perry. Cannot understand all the misfires though.

Main problem seemed to be bits of cap falling between the hammer and frame and stopping the hammer striking the next cap hard enough. Sometimes fragments went right inside the frame, jamming the mechanism completely. Many competitors blamed misfires on poor quality caps but in my experience the real problem is that the nipples that come with the gun are often different lengths and one or more chambers will consistently misfire. Savvy CAS shooters throw away the original nipples and fit good quality ones like Treso and take the time to find caps that fit properly.
In advancing target you only have 15 seconds to get off 5 shots so a jam or misfire will trash your chances.
Perry Owens

[awp101]

Quite a few competitors turned up dressed in Civil War uniform - your Civil War, not ours

A Halberd or pike won't jam but I don't think any of these guys would have turned down a Colt or Remington...

[KirkD]

Great report. I always enjoy reading these reports from the UK and especially enjoy the photos. That '73 must have been in pretty nice condition for that price. It seems to me that it would be much cheaper to import an original '73, even if it has to be proofed. A 32-20 '73 would have no difficulty at all in passing a proof test. There is a lot of meat in the chamber walls compared to the 44-40 version.