Who is doing all the Enfield target shooting??

[Frederick303]

Patrick,

At times I do not do a very good job at proof reading, I suppose it is my grammar school education....

I meant to write antique pattern arms using black powder propellant....

Oddly enough if we do a Mauser match we can get folks to come out, I guess that is because there are simply millions upon millions of Mausers here.

[Patrick Chadwick]

At times I do not do a very good job at proof reading,

Me too. It drives me mad that however often I proof-read my texts, the next time I look - there's another typo!

BTW. A useful tip is to turn off any auto-correct or auto-complete function on your PC. As I write both English and German, and sometimes both in the same text, auto-correction tries to turn English into German, or German into English ... or both into gibberish. It's quite enough work correcting what I have written, without also needing to correct what the computer thinks I ought to have written!

[enfield303t]

There is a military match at a club near me that is held around 8 or 9 times a year. Many categories depending on what you are shooting and your sights or optics. The odd Lee Enfield shows from time to time. There is also a military handgun match as well.

Three position, standing, kneeling or sitting and prone at 1, 2 and 300 meters. It is a FUN match and advertised as such and if you can't take some good ribbing then it would be best not to participate. Advanced sniper shoots at 2, 3 and 400 meters and that is the most competitive category but still lots of fun. Try using a SKS with surplus ammo standing at 300 meters and realize just how bad you can shoot on any given day. LOL

Cost is 5.00 for non club members and free if you do belong, usually have a few snacks/drinks free gratis and certificates for first three places in each category.

Held the end of the month on a Sunday and if anyone is in the Okanagan and wants to attend I would be happy to send a email with the dates, it really is a great hoot and I know you would enjoy it.

[Colonel Enfield]

Where do you find the black power antiques? And should you be shooting at antiques anyway?

Jokes aside, there are more genuine antique blackpowder guns floating about in still workable condition than many people think, particularly in the US. Personally I wouldn't be firing a 120+ year old gun unless I was absolutely, 110% sure of its provenance and safety to fire (for example, it had belonged to a family member or close friend AND had the OK from a knowledgable gunsmith), but from what I see on other forums, plenty of people do fire them - at targets both paper and four-legged.

I do agree there's possibly a bit too many competition categories nowadays, even for modern guns - for example, the SSAA Combined Services discipline can be divided at a basic level into "As issued or faithful reproduction", "Modified/Accurised", "Pre-1946 Sniper", "Post-1946 Sniper", "Black Powder Cartridge", "Training Rifle" and I think there's one or two others as well.

Within those categories there's different sub-categories which include categories for carbines, long-barrel rifles, antique rifles (musket and cartridge), modern "tactical" rifles, rifles made after 1946, and single-shot rifles. As has been noted by others in the thread, that technically results in a situation where a shooter could win their category by default (if they're the only person with a single-shot rifle at the competition, for example), or another situation where a 1942 Savage No 4 Mk I* is in a different category to an otherwise identical 1950 Longbranch No 4 Mk I*.

For what it's worth, in my observation the sub-categories are usually ignored - If you want to shoot a Jungle Carbine at 300m while everyone else is using Swedish Mausers or M1917 Enfields then that's up to you and good luck.

[desky85]

Just thought I'd post these couple of links

Sunshine Coast ANZAC Memorial Competition, North Arm - April 2015 - Queensland Rifle Association - QRA

303s at the QRA Queens - Queensland Rifle Association - QRA

There is a fair bit of interest in shooting these old girls in Australia. It seems to be gaining in popularity yearly. I love them!

[Res]

plenty of shoots for them in New Zealand as well, finding good target sights is sure getting harder

[cormon]

In the 80's a lot of formal target shooting was done with Mausers, Enfields and Garands. Nowadays, the younger shooters are not attracted to formal competition that much, and if they do, AR15's etc. are used because they are regarded as modern, can be easily upgraded/personalized and accurate. Also the ammunition/ components for the larger calibers are getting very expensive. Lee Enfields are getting dumped, there is simply no demand for upgraded Lee Enfield rear sights.

BUT. The European firearms laws are about to be changed in all EU countries, simply forbidding all legal semi-automatic rifles such as AR15's, AK's, due to the recent terrorist attacks in Paris with (illegal) AK's. So, may be the use of the Lee Enfield and the demand for Lee Enfield accessories will pick-up again.

[Colonel Enfield]

I think a huge part of the appeal from modern guns is they just work - they're all pretty accurate "out of the box" and don't require any fiddling around with to get great results with.

We're all fond of old rifles here but I think we can acknowledge they have their quirks which means getting the most out of them is part of the experience, but for folks in their 20s with limited time and funds, they don't want to be messing around with esoteric jiggery-pokery when they can put a mag in their gun, point it at the target, and know any time the bullets don't go through the centre when they pull the trigger is due to an operator error rather than a century-old gun not liking the only brand of ammunition available in the local gun shop.

[Seaspriter]

there are more genuine antique blackpowder guns floating about in still workable condition than many people think, particularly in the US. Personally I wouldn't be firing a 120+ year old gun unless I was absolutely, 110% sure of its provenance and safety to fire (for example, it had belonged to a family member or close friend AND had the OK from a knowledgable gunsmith), but from what I see on other forums, plenty of people do fire them - at targets both paper and four-legged.

So True Colonel. My father had 88 flintlocks in his collection when he died, and he did occasionally shoot a one. I still have a half dozen of the best ones. But I'd never shoot them -- after 200 years they are all questionable, even with a small charge. And, if you've ever shot a flintlock, you know how inaccurate most of them are -- even if rifled. I'll leave my 18th and 19th century weapons on the wall -- great history, but not for today's use. There are plenty of black powder repros that are made for modern shooting. My father used a repro Brown Bess regularly in ceremonies, but it couldn't even hit a modern target at 100 yds!

All my shootable antique collection is 20th century (WWI or II), military grade, well made from the start, and in good to excellent condition to start. I have no fears about loading a standard cartridge and pulling the trigger on these.

[Mk VII]

I think a huge part of the appeal from modern guns is they just work - they're all pretty accurate "out of the box" and don't require any fiddling around with to get great results with.

There are people who are interested in shooting [the above group] and people who are interested in guns. And there are people who are interested in guns and shooting. The later usually are the most clubbable.