Lincoln County Gun Club 200 - 500 yard gong match.

[Distant Thunder]

The accompanying results from the email I received regarding the July 3rd gong match held near Merrill, WI.

There were actually more shooters than listed but for whatever reason some did not turn in a score card. One shooter I know was shooting 2 different rifles testing loads in each and for that reason did not turn in a card.

It was 93 degrees with humidity in the 55 to 60% range. Winds were coming right up our backsides and switching from 5 o'clock to 8 o'clock and made staying on target at 500 yards in particular difficult at times. I'm not sure of the wind speed but it was definitely gusting to 15 to 20 mph at times. We didn't have any down rage flags to watch this time so the trees and what we could feel on our backs were all we had to guess when to shoot.

JKR shot a relined high wall in .38-55 200, 300 and 400 yards and I spotted for him. I have to say that little cartridge made an impressive showing for itself.

When He switched to his Shiloh .45-70 with my lucky #6 elliptical paper patch bullet and OE 1 1/2 I was even more impressed. We are allowed only 2 sighters at each distance and with the shifty tailwind it really wasn't enough to get a handle on the switches and get centered up good. I think he only missed one on his first sweep of the targets and by then I had a good idea of what was a good wind. On the second 5 I had him hold up a few times and the result was 5 shots in no more than 7 inches and 4 of those you could have covered with a coffee cup! Pretty impressive for OE in those winds. It's actually fun to spot for Jim with his Shiloh and that bullet, they go right where they should every time. He finished with 30/40 (if I remember right), good shooting, Jim!

I'm still working with my .44-77 and my "Metford" paper patch bullet. I sure could have shot better especially offhand (5 at 200) where I waited until the last target to connect! That's really average for me, but I always start out with higher hopes.

The switchy wind made it tricky to stay on at 500 and I leaked 3 into the dirt. The gongs, for the most part, are of generous size and include 2 pigs, 1 each at 200 & 300, 2 turkeys at 400 and 2 rams 500 just to make sighting with irons more of a challenge.

Because I was shooting with a scope I was in modern class. I like my scope and with my eyes aging more quickly that I'd like I will probably not stray too from it anytime soon.

The second shoot at Lincoln County Gun club has finished! Here's the results...

Traditional Class:
Tim Bonnie - 31
Matt Steckel - 22
Tom Deshoyer - 14
John Drescher - 11
Mark Steckel - 10

Modern Class:
Jim Kluskens - 33
Zachary Kania - 15
Corky Atkinson - 13

Looking over the list I can think of at least 4 shooters who did not turn in a score card for whatever reason. This was the second match at Merrill since they were reinstituted this year and the turnout was pretty good with a few new shooters included.

These matches are very relaxed and just fun matches with no big prizes on the line, just bragging rights and I for one am happy to see Jeff Berg take on running them. I've been going to these matches for something around 20 years I think and I would hate to see them end.

If anyone in the area is interested in finding out more about the matches I would be happy to pass along Jeff's contact info, just PM me.

I won't really be able to get a true idea of how my .44-77 load is shooting until August when I have a series of paper matches to shoot. I believe the load is doing well, the shooter I'm not too sure about. I do know I am enjoying the heck out of this rifle and cartridge I only wish I had gone down this road 17 years ago.

[JKR]

This was my first gong match. I must say, I really had fun. My intention was to shoot the 38-55 at 200 and then switch to the Shiloh. However, I was having so much fun and had such a good spotter, that I decided to keep shooting with it. I was using a heavy post front insert and a 6 o’clock hold which gave me some problems with the smaller silhouettes. I have only 49 cases so I didn’t have enough ammo to finish out and had to switch to the 45-70 for the 500 yard.
This was good because I had some OE loads to test. I was using 88 grains with a poly wad and a 1/8” felt wad as was suggested to me by Don. I was hitting well with it and Jim thought it looked real good, so I’m anxious to try it in a paper match. I’m beginning to think this bullet will shoot well with any reasonable load! I ended up with 30 hits. DQ’d myself for switching rifles so didn’t turn in my card.

The guys there put on a great little match and even had a shade canopy over the firing line.
Only found two wood ticks.
JKR