Range Report

[mbarrad]

My son and I went to the range yesterday with my 1873 trapdoor to see how she faired. I was relieved that the thing did now blow apart. Weather was beautiful at around 75 degrees with a light 5 mile an hour wind. I shot 100 yard and 200 yard targets. At first I did not hit paper until I lowered my aim. I managed a decent (for me) 8 inch grouping at 100 yards and most of my shots hit paper at 200 yards. I figure I will get better as I get used to the rifle. I was shooting Black Hills 405 grain loads which are very accurate. Overall impressions were good. Not too bad of a recoil due to the weight of the rifle. I initially thought the loading procedure would take too long between shots, but once you get a routine down, it goes pretty fast. My son was brave enough to shoot the trapdoor which you can see in the pic below. I also took my 1896 Krag out, which turned out to be a blast! Pics are below.

Me finishing up my shot

My son just shot

Information

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[TerryS]

Does picture #1 show someone forward of the firing line ?

[mbarrad]

Does picture #1 show someone forward of the firing line ?

No. The stakes in the ground represent the firing line. Those guys were ok.

[AKA Hugh Uno]

the Black Hills and other cowboy ammuntion tends to be VERY mild shooting ammunition. If you load up a 400 grain bullet to 1250+ fps, or 500 grain to 1200+, you will notice a good bit of difference. The trapdoor rifle is actually a fairly light rifle (8-9 pounds) although perfectly fine for militray use of course. You should put your target paster (aim point) 10 to 12 inches BELOW where you want the bullet to strike. A decent shooting TD rifle should be capable of 4-5 inch 100 yard groups with the ammo you are using (assuming a steady rest and good technique).