THe Imperial Historic - 12 and 13 July: a report
Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 11:48 am
This is becoming a yearly pilgrimage to Bisley - for quite a few years, I have been shooting the Imperial historic arms shoot, a yearly event at Bisley, UK.
My friend/Gunsmith and I left early friday morning, and after an uneventful channel crossing, we arrived in Bisley at 15:00. After putting up our luggage at the SLRC, we 1st got our papers,arranged our squadding, and then went for a walk, taking in that special Bisley atmosphere.
Of course, some of the usual suspects were there, like TJ - friend and archrival (he shoots extremely well), and Richard and his #!%* trapdoor, even though he also has a Martini.
This shoot is a yearly event, and even though essentially short range (max is 200yds), it is a very good shoot due to both the friendly atmosphere and the number of matches organized - much than can be shot in the complete weekend!
I had brought along 4 rifles this year, to shoot in 8 matches:
Gallery rifle:
50yds Historic sporting rifle - Weber & Ruesch Martini 38-40
50yds Classic rook and rabbit rifle - BSA 310 Cadet
25yds Historic sporting rifle - Weber & Ruesch Martini 38-40
Vintage and Classic rifle (200yds)
Miniature Service rifle - BSA 310 Cadet
Classic (pre-1919, nitro allowed) any rifle - Match martini #2 Musket
Vintage (BP only) any rifle - Match martini #2 Musket
Vintage Service rifle prone - Westley Richards ZAR 577-450
Vintage Service rifle standing - Westley Richards ZAR 577-450
We started out saturday morning with classic and vintage any rifle at Century, with a gentle to moderate breeze from the left blowing, which also had a bit of a headwind component. It was gusting a bit, just enough to have to keep track of the wind when shooting.
In Bisley tradition, all matches are shot with 3 shooters/target, each shooting in turn and keeping score for the shooter next to him.
I was on a detail with my Friend and TJ, who was shooting Vintage service rifle with his '88 Mauser - and quite well too!
Each match at 200 consisted of 2 sighters and 10 shots for score.
We started out with the Classic any rifle, but shooting our smokepoles (yes, you are allowed to shoot in a higher class with BP rifles). My initial sight settings proved to be sound, so I was pretty much centered up after the sighter, and went on to end with a 48/50.
Next came the Vintage any rifle, and with the practice I already had, I managed to better my score to 49 (pesky 4...), which made me quite happy.
Saturday afternoon was for gallery rifle, which was 'not so hot', except for a decent 132/140 for the classic Rook and Rabbit rifle (again, TJ bettered my score, like each previous year!).
Sunday morning was reserved for the military rifles, especially vintage breechloader, where I shot my Westley Richards ZAR Martini both prone and standing.
I had taken the risk of taking along loads with the new .469 bullet, still relatively untested, but all came together and I finished up prone with a pretty good 44/50 - which definitely proves that the new bullet of my own design is a success, all 530+ grains of it!
Standing was harder as it was quite some time ago that I shot the rifle offhand, but in all I was pleased with my score of 33.
On the other hand, I never could 'get into' my cadet, so my score was pretty mediocre for the miniature service rifle - I kept struggling to find a good hold.
In all, it was a very nice weekend, which confirmed me 2 things:
- The #2 Musket match rifle is really performing now, and hopefully ready for the next long range match beginning of August.
- The ZAR shoots really well - but most important, the bullet designed performs also extremely well, holding up at longer ranges. Which goes to prove that 577-450 can be competitive accuracy-wise with the right load combination - and a .469 bullet configured to fit the throat of these military rifles
No pics unfortunately - I was too busy shooting and dragging my gear from 1 range to another....
My friend/Gunsmith and I left early friday morning, and after an uneventful channel crossing, we arrived in Bisley at 15:00. After putting up our luggage at the SLRC, we 1st got our papers,arranged our squadding, and then went for a walk, taking in that special Bisley atmosphere.
Of course, some of the usual suspects were there, like TJ - friend and archrival (he shoots extremely well), and Richard and his #!%* trapdoor, even though he also has a Martini.
This shoot is a yearly event, and even though essentially short range (max is 200yds), it is a very good shoot due to both the friendly atmosphere and the number of matches organized - much than can be shot in the complete weekend!
I had brought along 4 rifles this year, to shoot in 8 matches:
Gallery rifle:
50yds Historic sporting rifle - Weber & Ruesch Martini 38-40
50yds Classic rook and rabbit rifle - BSA 310 Cadet
25yds Historic sporting rifle - Weber & Ruesch Martini 38-40
Vintage and Classic rifle (200yds)
Miniature Service rifle - BSA 310 Cadet
Classic (pre-1919, nitro allowed) any rifle - Match martini #2 Musket
Vintage (BP only) any rifle - Match martini #2 Musket
Vintage Service rifle prone - Westley Richards ZAR 577-450
Vintage Service rifle standing - Westley Richards ZAR 577-450
We started out saturday morning with classic and vintage any rifle at Century, with a gentle to moderate breeze from the left blowing, which also had a bit of a headwind component. It was gusting a bit, just enough to have to keep track of the wind when shooting.
In Bisley tradition, all matches are shot with 3 shooters/target, each shooting in turn and keeping score for the shooter next to him.
I was on a detail with my Friend and TJ, who was shooting Vintage service rifle with his '88 Mauser - and quite well too!
Each match at 200 consisted of 2 sighters and 10 shots for score.
We started out with the Classic any rifle, but shooting our smokepoles (yes, you are allowed to shoot in a higher class with BP rifles). My initial sight settings proved to be sound, so I was pretty much centered up after the sighter, and went on to end with a 48/50.
Next came the Vintage any rifle, and with the practice I already had, I managed to better my score to 49 (pesky 4...), which made me quite happy.
Saturday afternoon was for gallery rifle, which was 'not so hot', except for a decent 132/140 for the classic Rook and Rabbit rifle (again, TJ bettered my score, like each previous year!).
Sunday morning was reserved for the military rifles, especially vintage breechloader, where I shot my Westley Richards ZAR Martini both prone and standing.
I had taken the risk of taking along loads with the new .469 bullet, still relatively untested, but all came together and I finished up prone with a pretty good 44/50 - which definitely proves that the new bullet of my own design is a success, all 530+ grains of it!
Standing was harder as it was quite some time ago that I shot the rifle offhand, but in all I was pleased with my score of 33.
On the other hand, I never could 'get into' my cadet, so my score was pretty mediocre for the miniature service rifle - I kept struggling to find a good hold.
In all, it was a very nice weekend, which confirmed me 2 things:
- The #2 Musket match rifle is really performing now, and hopefully ready for the next long range match beginning of August.
- The ZAR shoots really well - but most important, the bullet designed performs also extremely well, holding up at longer ranges. Which goes to prove that 577-450 can be competitive accuracy-wise with the right load combination - and a .469 bullet configured to fit the throat of these military rifles
No pics unfortunately - I was too busy shooting and dragging my gear from 1 range to another....