All Moulds except .730 have been sold pending receipt of $

[Jim Cunningham]

See ya around boys,

Having had the chance to get some trigger time in on a Garand, I discovered I prefer M1's to muskets. I wasn't a bad shot with a musket, but never turned in a 100 offhand target as nice as the one I fired earlier today with my M1.





Now that I'm shooting surplus ammo, I don't need to cast bullets, and therefore I don't need these molds anymore.Any interested parties may contact me via email at Jimscabinets@frontiernet.net.



All moulds except the .730 round ball have been sold pending receipt of funds.

Thanks to everyone, and best wishes for skirmishing success.

[RaiderANV]

Dang Jimmy,,,,and I never got that free diet soda at the Nationals fer suckerin' ya into jionin' ta begins with :?


You'll be back,,,,those service rifle match guys ain't near as goofy & fun as this N-SSA "family" :wink:

[Lou Lou Lou]

Good luck in your future endeavors.

[Mansionyac]

Every time I fire one of my M1's it becomes my favorite rifle again, and that Greek stuff does shoot great, out of my M1's and my 03A3!

[hwaugh]

Jim - I would take the Rapine .575 wad cutter. Please send me your mailing address and cost of shipping.

Harry Waugh - Terry's Texas Rangers

[satwel]

Hi Jim,

I'll take the Rapine .575 315 grain mold. I sent a PM to your email address.

Thanks,
Tony

[Jim Cunningham]

Hi Pat,

I had a great time, and really appreciate your having introduced me to skirmishing. It's a great hobby with good people ,and I really enjoyed it. Sadly, I just don't have the time anymore. In the present economy, I find myself working longer and harder. (The economy is so bad now that even a picture is only worth 450 words)

Wherever I travel (in the US at least) I always find an opportunity to shoot. But, the shooting always involves modern arms. While out west I had the chance to shoot both a Garand and M1A, and found that I really liked the way they handled. Needless to say I bought one of each when I came home, and have literally been having a blast.

Even though I can always find time to shoot, I don't have time for the bullet casting, preloading, travelling, and cleaning that are an integral part of skirmishing. While I enjoyed skirmishing, I'm just a better shot with either my M1 or M1A. I used to think I could shoot a muzzleloader just as well as a modern rifle at 100 yards. Maybe some folks can, but I can't. For me competitive shooting has always involved shooting better than my prior scores. I never shoot against other competitors, I shoot with them against my former records. When I can shoot an M1 or M1A better offhand than I can a musket, it seems pointless to continue shooting a musket, because I know I can beat that score. No matter what medals I win skirmishing, they will always be second place awards because I will know that I could have outshot my score with a Garand.

Perhaps when skirmishing more nearly resembles golf, I'll return to the sport. We could call it SKOLF. All skirmishes would be conducted at attractively landscaped ranges, targets would be hung by caddies, teams would consist of foursomes, and of course caddies would load and clean for us. At 100 yards I could call for my tile (shooting) iron, and at 50 I would call for my Clay (shooting) iron. We would naturally preserve the shared golf and skirmish traditions of getting blind a-hole drunk after a days round of skolfing.

Best wishes to everyone in the N-SSA and in particular to the members of the New England Region. Have fun, be safe and shoot straight.

[Edwin Flint, 8427]

Jim,

Hate to see you leave. I can understand the time factor for skirmishing vs. Modern. The nature of skirmishing is such that it requires a great deal of time. It's a lot easier on the time to shoot the modern and not the BP.

What I found was that skirmishing is much more challenging than high power shooting which is why I like it so much. I, on occassion, go back to my old friends at high power matches and find the techniques I use in N-SSA have made me a much better Garand/03 Springfield shooter. I still can shoot with the top 15-20% of them without practice. Freehand, I can shoot with the best 10% of them.

As in any shooting, sooner or later, problems will occur with your shooting form. It happens to all of us. I think you will find that you will have wished you had kept the muskets. When your M1/M1A shooting go south, go back to your musket. It will make you go back to the basics of shooting that lead to that 78 2X out of 80 possible.

Not too long ago, I was shooting next to a fellow that was having trouble with his Garand. I watched him for a few minutes while cleaning my musket. He brought the range owner over to try and see what was wrong with his gun. He could find nothing wrong. I muttered too loud, "It's not the gun" to a friend. The guy heard and said here you try it S*&^% A%^. I took a moment, re-sighted the sights at a 25 yard target a friend had up. I then took a full clip and shot his human silhouette at 100 yards 80 8X, sat up and shot another clip 80 5X un-rested. I suddenly had a new best friend wanting me to show him how to shoot. I spent most of the rest of my time giving an impromptu shooting class to this guy and his buds rather than sighting in the musket I was working with.

I strongly believe, it is my N-SSA shooting that allows me to pick up anyones`rifle and out-shoot most of the people out there.


Good luck in the fututre. Hope when time allows, you will return to us. If you can find it, the best surplus ammo is Lake City Ammo. Super stuff. You will also find the HP matches group are not as friendly as most N-SSA members, particularly if you start becoming competitive.

[Jim Cunningham]

Thanks Edwin. I liked skirmishing, and the 40 years I spent muzzlerloading. I do think muzzleloading helped me master shooting basics, and contributed to my shooting skill. I simply don't have the time for it anymore, and appreciate how much time can be saved by shooting surplus ammo in a semi auto rifle.

The Lake City ammo is very good, but difficult for me to come by. The Greek stuff seems more plentiful and thus far the results have been very good.

I shoot the M1A in .308 marginally better than a Garand, but find it's getting difficult as well as expensive to get .308 ammo.

I did save one nice original Enfield P53. I teach kids to shoot, and the P53 seems to get their interest. In true Civil War fashion I didn't leave the N-SSA without recruiting and equipping a substitute. The man who purchased my gear is a great shot, and a nice guy who will make a great skirmisher. I'm confident that my training of young shooters will continue to supply the N-SSA with new recruits.