Eggman
02-29-2012, 06:43 PM
The recent Henry posts got me thinking about my experience observing the repeater competition sometime back. I had finished my shooting for the day and took some time to observe this unique competion. I happened to take up a position behind the 8th Virginia, which turns out to be one of the deadliest repeater teams the N-SSA puts on the line. Upon commencement of the pigeon board event, I was stunned to observe down range nearly continuous orange pigeon debris raining down to the ground along the target line, while at the same time .44 cases were raining to the ground back on the firing line. It was an awesome spectical. I was amazed that these men could hold such a rifle so front heavy so steady and break so many targets, but then again they only had to hold it up there for about a minute.
The next relay I moved down the line a bit to watch some of my friends from a Deep South unit, we'll call them the Wizzard's Associates. Now these guys were able to create the same cloud of .44 cases flying through the air as the Virginians, but there was a lack of pigeon debris falling. They continued to work their way through the 20 or 30 rounds these rifles hold in there magazines, but hits on targets were still lacking, and the hit rate was not getting any better as the event progressed. Also, as time progressed, the muzzles of the guns seemed to be waving in the air more and more, somewhat like a high school drill team would wave their flags around during a half time-show. The guys were definately under stress trying to hold their muzzles up in the proper orientation toward their targets. Which gave me an idea:
A number of years ago I was looking at a portrait series of the Army National Guard. The first one depicted the very first Guard unit, the Jamestown Militia, drilling with their matchlock muskets. These muskets, like the Henry, were very front heavy, so the Jamestown authorities had the good sense to provide the Guardsmen with forked sticks to enable the men to hold their muzzles up properly, a most fastidious decision.
The thought came to me, maybe this is a practice the N-SSA should allow for repeater teams not as proficient as the Virginians. I was thinking maybe the A-2, A-3, and B teams might be allowed the use of forked sticks to hold their muzzles up, the sticks to be discarded once the teams reach A-1 status. It would reduce shooter fatigue and frustration while continuing a longtime American tradition.
The next relay I moved down the line a bit to watch some of my friends from a Deep South unit, we'll call them the Wizzard's Associates. Now these guys were able to create the same cloud of .44 cases flying through the air as the Virginians, but there was a lack of pigeon debris falling. They continued to work their way through the 20 or 30 rounds these rifles hold in there magazines, but hits on targets were still lacking, and the hit rate was not getting any better as the event progressed. Also, as time progressed, the muzzles of the guns seemed to be waving in the air more and more, somewhat like a high school drill team would wave their flags around during a half time-show. The guys were definately under stress trying to hold their muzzles up in the proper orientation toward their targets. Which gave me an idea:
A number of years ago I was looking at a portrait series of the Army National Guard. The first one depicted the very first Guard unit, the Jamestown Militia, drilling with their matchlock muskets. These muskets, like the Henry, were very front heavy, so the Jamestown authorities had the good sense to provide the Guardsmen with forked sticks to enable the men to hold their muzzles up properly, a most fastidious decision.
The thought came to me, maybe this is a practice the N-SSA should allow for repeater teams not as proficient as the Virginians. I was thinking maybe the A-2, A-3, and B teams might be allowed the use of forked sticks to hold their muzzles up, the sticks to be discarded once the teams reach A-1 status. It would reduce shooter fatigue and frustration while continuing a longtime American tradition.