By Mike Nesbitt | Contributing Editor
Proof positive it takes more than a drop in the mercury to keep the lead from flying, was the recent turnout of a hardy band of lever-action rifle shooters in cold temperatures out in Washington state.
Our first Lever-Gun Match for the year was shot on a very cold, crisp morning and the low temperatures added differing problems to the challenge of the ordeal.
First of all, the combination lock on the club’s target shed was frozen, so Tom Witt, our match director, had to grab some other targets which were on hand just so the match could go on. One of those targets is one that I complain about every time I shoot at it. More about that later when I reveal the basis for my complaints. And I’ll tell you more about the match too because even though all of the shooters were cold and chilly, it was still too much fun to miss.
These Lever-gun Matches, held at the Capitol City Rifle & Pistol Club near Olympia, have been mentioned before but no two are completely alike. This one was different in target selection, which I’ve already hinted at. The generalities of these matches is that we shoot them with lever action repeating rifles in black powder calibers, with ammo using black powder and cast or swaged lead bullets. Among our shooters, the most popular caliber is the good old .44-40, although some other calibers do manage to sneak into the line-up. I’ll mention some of those along with the shooters who use them. To my knowledge, we have the only club that puts on these matches, which are not like cowboy action shooting, although some of the same types of guns are what we use.
The .44-40 I use is an Uberti copy of the 1873 Winchester, as imported by Cimarron Fire Arms with the 30-inch barrel. It’s the rifle that “does it” for me and I will recommend them heartily for anyone who might try one. The loads I use are contained in Starline cases, and my favorites are nickel plated, are loaded with 35 grains of Swiss 3Fg powder under a bullet cast from Accurate Molds’ #43-205C, which, when cast with a 30-1 lead/tin alloy, weigh about 210 grains. The 35-grain powder charge does very well in the 30-inch barrel and those loads have been chronographed at 1,350 feet per second. (That’s 50 fps faster than the old standard black powder load of 40 grains when fired in a 24-inch barrel.)
Accurate Molds’ #43-205C is a good bullet to use because of its very large single grease groove which holds a lot of bullet lube. My bullets are lubed with BPC from C. Sharps Arms and with that lube, with the grease grooves on the bullets completely filled, there is no need to wipe or clean the bore during this 30-shot match. And my targets support that statement because my best target for the day was shot last.
This match took place during the cold snap that swept across the northern states. It wasn’t as cold here as it was in the plains states but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t freezing. Only seven shooters braved those conditions to participate in the match which wasn’t too bad considering the sub-freezing temperature.
The target I’d like to complain about is one we call “the nightmare,” although more than one target sometimes carries that nickname. This target features five small animal heads, two squirrels, a crow, and two ground hogs. The object, of course, is to do well on headshots. My complaints are focused on the squirrel head on the right side of the target, it’s simply a line drawing which, to a lot of shooters like me, can’t be seen at 25 yards.
And that was just how we shot at it, offhand at 25 yards, firing two shots at each of the heads. My score was pretty low, I’ll admit that. I’ll also admit that the big part of my problem was because I was shivering… Even in my very heavy mackinaw jacket, I was cold and found it very hard to stand still for those ten shots. Out of the 100 points possible, my score was 38, but that wasn’t the lowest score.
Allen Cunniff had the high score, shooting a 67-X with his iron framed Henry replica in .44-40. A few of the other shooters also did rather well. Allen, of course, is one of our better shooters and he went on to win the match.
After shooting the nightmare, we posted the double bullseye buffalo targets at 50 yards, with instructions to shoot five shots at each of the bullseyes. This is where my shivering seemed to be better controlled, although the temperature really didn’t rise, and we shot from the sitting position while using cross-sticks, buffalo hunter style. Resting that 30-inch barrel over cross-sticks is a very steady way of shooting and, partly because we often shoot our Sharps rifles that way, using the cross-sticks is easily a favorite way of shooting for us.
According to safety and our range rules, I didn’t load my rifle’s magazine until I was on the firing line and in my shooting position. And, while I do enjoy shooting with the magazine loaded more than loading the rifle single-shot, I only put five rounds in the magazine at one time. The reason for that is two-fold; first, if a ceasefire was called, we would have to empty our rifles and put them in the rack behind the firing line, second, because loading five rounds at a time is a dandy way to keep count of your shooting while shooting five shots at each bullseye.
While aiming at those bullseyes on the 50-yard target, I held the front sight right on the X, halfway into the black. As it turned out, I should have held the front sight at 6 o’clock. All of my shots went a bit high. But my groups were pleasing. And both of my bullseyes held the same score, 39 points each for a total of 78 and that shows some consistency.
Again, Cunniff’s target held the highest score, with a very impressive 92-X at 50 yards. Jerry Mayo used his copy of an 1866 Winchester, also in .44-40, to shoot a good score of 80 and that put my score of 78 in third place for that target. Mike Holeman was just behind me with the score of 73-X shooting another ’73 copy in .44-40 with a 30-inch barrel.
The final 10-shot target was a single bullseye buffalo target posted at 75 yards. This target was also shot from the sitting position while using cross-sticks and I had to adjust the height of my sticks just a bit for the longer range. But soon I was settled down again, “peeping” through the Lyman tang sight and holding the front blade on the bullseye while squeezing the ’73’s trigger with my cold and numb finger. A couple of our shooters elected to shoot offhand while we enjoyed the sitting position. That is their option. One of those shooting offhand was Bob DeLisle with his original Model 1892 Winchester short rifle in .32-20. Bob is a fine shooter who knows what he’s doing but I think he would have done better to sit…
As is my habit, I loaded my ’73 with five rounds, shot those five, then loaded the rifle with the second “batch” of five shots. My shooting went well, and I aimed slowly and carefully, as everyone of us should. In fact, I was the last shooter to finish on this target. No problem there, our shooting in these matches is not timed as it is in cowboy action shooting. And my being careful with both sight picture and trigger squeeze paid off, my score was 89, the high score for that target.
Cunniff was right behind me with his score of 85-X and Holeman was at Allen’s heels with a score of 82. And when the scores for all three targets were added up, that’s the order of how we finished, Allen took 1st with a total of 241-3X points, Holeman placed 2nd with 216-X points, and I barely made 3r place with 205 points.
The way Witt awards the prizes is a little different but very good, the top three shooters each win a meat prize. (That means my .44-40 is a meat-maker!) We each got a package of Lil Smokies which would make a fine hot lunch. But then all shooters, in order of their total or aggregate scores, were called again to the prize table where they can select an item of their choice from the donations made by C. Sharps Arms and other generous donors. It’s no real surprise that the top three shooters each picked a stick of BPC lube…
There was also a short “after-match” shot with .22 revolvers. That was a separate match, shot offhand at just 10 yards for score. Cunniff also won that, barely beating Witt by just an X! Each shooter pays an extra $1 to enter the after-match and the winner takes the pot.
Then we adjourned to the Littlerock Saloon where our comradery continued but in a warmer atmosphere along with a hot lunch. The soup of the day was beef and barley which went well to ‘warm the inner man.’ Of course, the menu has several dishes available.
Our small Lever-gun Matches might not have the following of very many other clubs, but we think they should. These matches are shot for fun and fun they are. Give some black powder lever action shooting a try, you’ll probably get hooked even if it’s usually not so cold!
