Sometimes the ordinary can be really satisfying.
This is a group shot with my 1949 Marlin 336A .30-30. Load is 4.3 gns Red Dot with #311008 bullet, velocity 1050 fps. Range is 25 meters. Group was shot offhand in the 10 second Rapid stage of our monthly Lever Action shoot. Sights were Lyman 66LA rear with 17A front (.200” element). Score is what counts, and 48 is pretty good for me. Scoring rings are an inch apart.
Our (Australian) Lever Action competitions are shot at 100, 50 and 25 meters, no wind flags and no spotting until afterwards. Targets are a mix of bullseyes and animal targets. The 100 meter stages are shot from some sort of rest – leaning post, sitting post, or “any field position” (usually prone with a post rest). At least two of the 50 meter stages (bullseyes) are shot offhand. The single 25 meter stage is always rapid and may be a bullseye or an animal target (usually the pig). The full shoot comprises 8 targets x 5 shots each, for a possible score of 400.
Rules creep has happened in our game too, so “Lever Action” has come to include BLR .222s and such, but thankfully our local competition has not been swamped with such heresies.
There are separate shoots for rifles with peep sights and “Classics” (pre 1939 cartridge) with open sights. In the National competition there is also a shoot for rimfires, which normally are included in the “Open” category.
The outrageous cost of jacketed bullets has kept most of the shooters using cast, though the majority of bullets come from commercial casters. Still, it’s nice to have all that hardball going into the mound for recycling by those of us who cast our own.
It was a pretty good morning really, with a score of 348/400 for the whole shoot. I used to say that my aspiration for our shoot was to one day come last with a score of 300 – since that is our benchmark of a “good” score.
You are only as good as your library.
