What would you use ?

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Which one

  • Custom fast twist with blackhorn and sabotless

    Votes: 12 50.0%
  • Original fast twist Knight with heavy lead.

    Votes: 12 50.0%

  • Total voters
    24
The old fast twist original knights were very accurate. At least the ones i have had were. Just not sure if they are as accurate as a Bestill Custom for example . But both are more accurate than my abilities so why not compete with a classic. I can only shoot up to my potential so even if you gave me a $5000 dollar gun i probably would finish in the same place as if i was shooting a $500 gun 😀

Your post here says it all my Friend, and you were Honest about it, as I know you would be :lewis:

We all know our limitations, or at least reasonably close. As much as some folks might not like to hear, or admit it? Fact is, not everyone is Capable of Getting the most out of a Rifle, let a lone a High end Custom “Match Grade“ Rifle, If you know in YOUR Heart that you can’t? (And ONLY YOU Know) Then why Bother spending the money on a High end Custom Rifle? Unless you just wanna say “Hey, look what i have here” And that’s cool to :lewis:

Here is something that caught me off Guard awhile back, I was standing in BACO Visiting with Dave Gullo (Current World Champion, Dave Has been World Champion 2 or 3 Times, The Man has More Shooting accomplishments than i could ever begin to Remember?) Dave knows how I serious i am with my Shooting, He looked at me, Kinda Shrugged and said “Get AWAY from those Green Mountain Barrels :rolleyes:” I looked at him like you gotta be Joking? NOPE He wasn’t, he was DEAD Serious. He told me to get something like a Krieger, a Match Grade Barrel, It was then that i told him about my RICE “Match Grade”4140 Chromoly Barrels, How well they Shoot for me, and that i do see a Slight difference in them vs my Green Mountain Barrels. Dave said “There ya go :lewis:

I LOVE my Green Mountain Barrels, i have shot MANY MANY AWESOME Groups with them over the years, But FACT is, My “Match Grade“ Rice Barrels will beat them ANY, and EVERYDAY of the Week, Most of the time It’s little, But it’s there :). This is NOT To Brag or Boast in anyway, Shape, or Form, But Fact is, I shoot well enough that i am capable of seeing the Difference

So to me the High End Custom Rifle with “Match Grade“ Barrel is worth it. If i were to Compete at Friendship or anywhere else for that matter, I would be IN IT TO WIN IT!! I see 2nd place as the 1st Place Loser. This is why i don’t Compete, I shoot because i love it, It is relaxing, and Fun to me, the way it should be :lewis: When i Use to Compete in Trap, and Archery, I did VERY well, to Exceptional in Both, But i began to HATE it, and eventually i got out of Both Hobbies, It just wasn’t Fun to me anymore, it was SERIOUS Business to me, Like a Fight, I HAD to Win. That is my Mentality, and has Been all of my Life.
 
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I'm not into competitive shooting. I just love to shoot to relax and unwind and see if my rifles are still hitting where they should be. Naturally, I like to change loads, powders to see if I can find something that makes my rifle more accurate. But I just love being out and making smoke. I have enough stress in my life, I don't need more in seeing if I can beat the competition.
 
Colonel Townsend Whelen said, "Only accurate guns are interesting." Over 50 years of shooting under my belt. I too enjoy shooting but mostly to work up loads for hunting and confirm accuracy before hunting. My favorite over the years was a .243 Winchester in a Ruger 77. I made it my mission to exterminate groundhogs to the best of my ability. I always strive for dime sized groups at 100 yards. But that's the best I can do personally. I'm not a perfectionist at anything. The folks who shoot competition are.

I have a different attitude toward my guns than most. I consider them as tools. I dont care about pretty or classy. No safe queens here. Case in point. I have a .338 Win Mag I used for elk hunting. Ruger 77 ( I own a lot of Rugers, working mans gun.) I had a very difficult time getting it to shoot accurately. Eventually I bedded the front of the barrel with bondo and put a hose clamp on it. Success. I hose it down with a textured paint so get rig of reflection. (I absolutely do not like a shiny gun) I killed my first elk at 375 yards with it. Bullet hit close enough to my intended point of impact. I have two young fellows wanting to buy that gun because they know what it will do.

So, for all this target shooting stuff, I admire your abilities. Im a hunter. I never stood over a dead animal and said I missed the hair I was shooting at. Having said that I want my guns as accurate as I can get them. Never know when you have to shoot between two trees or some obstical between you and your quarry. Most of my best animals have had some kind of challenge to the shot. An accurate gun is a pleasure.
 
I take Competition of any kind Serious, Fun & Serious are 2 things that don’t play together with me. Simply Put, When i get Competitive, it becomes Serious to me, And the Fun in it goes away. I respect those that enjoy Competitive Shooting, The same as they should respect me for not liking it
 
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I agree with Lewis very much,,if I'm competing I'm sure there to win and I'm going to do everything within my power and the abilities of my equipment to win,, again not having any muzzleloaders around me all my life and just jumping into the middle of them reading all I can and learning myself, muzzleloading has become as I've said before a meditative solitary peaceful enjoyment for me, I relish it,, but even as I shoot and practice alone I find myself always trying to improve my group always competing somewhat against myself I think that's healthy too,,there is no second place and I will always be a sore loser but hopefully a mature one
 
I agree with Lewis very much,,if I'm competing I'm sure there to win and I'm going to do everything within my power and the abilities of my equipment to win,, again not having any muzzleloaders around me all my life and just jumping into the middle of them reading all I can and learning myself, muzzleloading has become as I've said before a meditative solitary peaceful enjoyment for me, I relish it,, but even as I shoot and practice alone I find myself always trying to improve my group always competing somewhat against myself I think that's healthy too,,there is no second place and I will always be a sore loser but hopefully a mature one

I am a Loaner, and have been all of my Life. Muzzleloading quickly became a DEEP Passion of mine, I live for, and Love it :lewis: My enjoyment comes from Loading up & Heading for the Hills here at Home, Setting up Targets across Canyons, Mountain Sides, Etc. And then Testing my Ability to Put Bullets on them. My only companion 99.9% of the time is my Video Camera. I don’t know that many people here (By Choice) and definitely none that Share the same interests as myself, The few people that i do know are Centerfire Guy’s, With ZERO interest in Muzzleloading
 
I take Competition of any kind Serious, Fun & Serious are 2 things that don’t play together with me. Simply Put, When i get Competitive, it becomes Serious to me, And the Fun in it goes away. I respect those that enjoy Competitive Shooting, The same as they should respect me for not liking it

I'm close to being in Lewis's boat here except I am not competitive. When I am shooting I generally like it best when I have the entire range to myself, which is usually early day and during the week. And my attitude is that I have only one person to impress, that being me. I have all of the guns I hunt with sighted to a "t" with specific loads and components. During the off-season I shoot often, using bullets other than what I hunt with but with everything else identical and focus not on the bullseye, but on shooting form. I usually burn up Hornady XTP's since they are cheap and if within 15 grains of weight and the same caliber will shoot almost identical to the Barnes bullets I hunt with. I shoot at a variety of ranges just to stay in touch with every aspect using each gun. In the end its not what someone else is doing or has done that puts meat on my table, so in that regard I could care less. I take my shooting serious using what I have for stock guns and for me that's the "fun" part of it.

I love reading about the competitive shooting here though. I think it would be a hoot to go watch a Friendship match and may do so one day if I can entice Ma with some other stuff that has her interests. While the competition isn't my bag of oats I do admire those who have the focus and stamina to shoot competitively.
 
Off topic, but a contributing factor for me would be initial investment. Some folks raising a family and such, just cannot afford anything close to custom.
We all have that barrier at one time or another. Enjoy those times. A good shooter doesn't need to be custom. Get what you can afford and make the best gun you can out of what you have. Read on the internet how to do a trigger job; bedding scopes, lugs, actions, barrels, and such. Lapping is a good way to improve most guns. Find the bullet, sabot, powder, primer combination that works best for your gun.

Ill bet If you take an entry level gun and do your very best to make it the most accurate gun you can you and your gun will be better shooters than 95% of the muzzle loader shooters out there. Maybe better than 99%. I hunt with a group of guys and most cant hit a barn unless they are standing inside of it. They only get the gun out to go hunting. But as long as they are happy I leave it be.

What you learn from improving your entry level gun will give you insight and expertice to make your next gun that much better. You will learn what qualities you are looking for. Its all a learning experience. Frankly you do not want a custom gun to start with. You wont have the skills to bring the best out of it. Just my $.02.

I didn't mean you in-particular Barn. Hope I didn't offend you. I'm just saying in general we all need to walk before we can run. Ive been shooting and reloading center fire for at least 35 years. I still learn a little here and there.
 
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Just out of curiosity I was wondering what many guys would use if they chose to shoot at the Friendship muzzleloader competition and why .
Would you use a Custom fast twist with blackhorn and a sabotless bullet ( fast and furious:)) or
An original fast twist Knight with heavy lead. ( slow and steady )
I would go with the former because I see it as under represented in competition. The Knight Mountaineer with heavy lead and Swiss is a tried and tried combination. I'd like to take a Knight 500 and feed it Blackhorn with high BC solids custom sized for uniform diameter and bore to bullet interference
Just out of curiosity I was wondering what many guys would use if they chose to shoot at the Friendship muzzleloader competition and why .
Would you use a Custom fast twist with blackhorn and a sabotless bullet ( fast and furious:)) or
An original fast twist Knight with heavy lead. ( slow and steady )

using large rifle primers for ignition. I'm assuming (having never actually been to Friendship) that we're being limited to black powder and substitutes? So no smokeless? I could definitely get into something like this...
 
I would go with the former because I see it as under represented in competition. The Knight Mountaineer with heavy lead and Swiss is a tried and tried combination. I'd like to take a Knight 500 and feed it Blackhorn with high BC solids custom sized for uniform diameter and bore to bullet interference


using large rifle primers for ignition. I'm assuming (having never actually been to Friendship) that we're being limited to black powder and substitutes? So no smokeless? I could definitely get into something like this...
No smokeless at Friendship is correct.

You should make the trip to one of the matches. However...... TAKE A RIFLE! You'll kick yourself if you don't.
 
No smokeless at Friendship is correct.

You should make the trip to one of the matches. However...... TAKE A RIFLE! You'll kick yourself if you don't.
I'm in Ohio so Indiana is no problem...now if we can just figure out a way to keep the nanny state politicians from mucking it all up with their long term political aspirations, we might actually have an event this year. I'd never dream of showing up empty handed to an event like this...I have a duly tweeked bullet to bore Prairie Rifle that shoots surprisingly well for a sporter weight rifle and I just bought a Paramount that I have high hopes that I might be able to coax into shooting respectably... assuming on overbore rifle such as this can be coaxed into shooting beyond what the ELR sycophants pass for accurate. We shall see...
 
No offence taken. I'm still a virgin in this field, not to have fired a round yet.

I didn't mean you in-particular Barn. Hope I didn't offend you. I'm just saying in general we all need to walk before we can run. Ive been shooting and reloading center fire for at least 35 years. I still learn a little here and there.
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I took up competitive 3D archery in the 1990's. I won several of them in our area. I shot in the state bow shoot a couple times but never pulled out a win. My daughter did win the state competition twice in her age group. Once was in a shoot out in front of the club. It was the most awesome shoot off I have ever seen. I was so proud of her.
I had to give up archery due to a accident at work that messed up my elbow. I can't draw a bow back without it feeling like my elbow is separating. My archery days are done.

I have shot in a lot of Sporting clays shoots. I actually have never lost. That means I need to never shoot in them again :roll:
I won a SxS sporting clays championship event that Was a pile of fun and showed a bunch of Doctors who was boss.

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I have never been interested in the shoot at friendship. If I actually looked into it I would probably love it but I have too many irons in the fire now. I would love to shoot in the Quigley shoot some day.
I went to a muzzleloader Turkey shoot once. I won that with a inline rifle. The club didn't have a rule against them. The only rule was I had to use a PRB. The old timers threw a fit and banned my rifle from the events. That pissed me off and I borrowed a rifle and shot only three shots for the year. They held 13 shoots that you total number of points added up to shooter of the year. I only shot in three shoots and tied for 3rd place for shooter of the year. I didn't even try!

I also am too competitive. A lot of the time I take it too far and my family doesn't like to be a part of that kind of focused mind set. I competed in hunting dog events, and I had to have the best dog at the event or I was not happy.

Now days I don't get to shoot as much as I used to. Spare time is a commodity I just seldom have. When I do I try to make the most of it. and training for a competition is just not where I plan to use my limited amount of time.
That said Man would I like to shoot in the Quigley.
 
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