Results of Pa. Levergun Championship

[Sixgun]

Dudes & fellow Shootists,
Its been another year at the Pennsylvania State Championships held at the Tiadaghton Sportsmans Club in Lycoming County, Pa.. My buddy "Gunny" (retired Marine D.I.) and myself shot our usual "two classes below" of what we should have shot. The laughter, lyin', and showin' off did us in. Our very own Leverguns board member Jack Kort (w30wcf) did his usual outstanding job of shooting in the "triple A" scores in all three diciplines. (smallbore, pistol caliber and bigbore). Jack uses a Winchester 1894-1994 half oct pistol gripped rifle in 30 WCF for the big bore competition and knows how to use it. He also uses cast bullets of the turn of the century design, old W.R.A.C.O brass and yes, old original "Lightning gunpowder from the 1930's

The three of us stayed in a 10 cent 8 X 8 room at a campground and it got a little "stinky" in there. Exhaust fans were a must after we all ate large amounts of baked beans . We had a blast and its a real shame that 3 days go by so fast. Below are a few pics and their descriptions.

Jack ---at left--(w30wcf) in recoil shooting at the rams. Beside him is Brian Wakefield, the Pa. Champion shooting a Marlin 45-70. Brian shot a 54 x 60, 54 x 60, and a 48 x 60!
,

Jack and my buddy Gunny relaxing after pulling the trigger 120 times. Gunny uses a Marlin .444
,

Me and my shotgun butt 1886 (made in 1888) in 45-70,

[mav]

Thanks for the pics. Looks like a beautiful day. Did the filter fabric give you good contrast with the targets? I hope no one went blind after yesterday's weather.

[Sixgun]

Mav,
Weather was great. It rained very slightly on Friday night. It was only cloudy on Saturday. The hurricaine did not make it up to us.
How did you know about the fabric? Was that you I was talking to on Saturday?
Yes, the fabric did help to see the targets but screwed us up because we had a hard time seeing where our misses were. (and there were lots of them!)-----Sixgun

[KirkD]

Great photos. I like that original '86! Thanks for the report.

[rjohns94]

nice report and pics. thanks for the pics

[Tycer]

Very cool!

[Griff]

Congrats to you all.

[Ysabel Kid]

I'd be grinning from ear to ear too if I owned such a beautiful '86!

[Cimarron Red]

Thanks for the report, Jack. The pics make me homesick! I wish I could have been there.

Have you made it up to Dusty Ed's Buffalo Shoot recently?

[J Miller]

Great report. And now I have faces to go with two more forum members. Howdy guys.

I'd like to try some of Johns old tyme bullets and some of that ancient powder too.

Joe

[Noah Zark]

. . . we all ate large amounts of baked beans. We had a blast . . .

I bet you did.

Great report, sounds as if y'all had gangs of fun.

Noah

[Cimarron Red]

Noah,

I've spent a night in Sixgun's bean vapor-permeated tent. 'Twas enought to make my eyes water! Of course, we contributed equally to the thick concentration of methane gas.

[cas]

Yeah... I knew who won the bean blasting contest. The still undefeated champion.

(stay away from the campfire)

[Sixgun]

Reds,
No, I have not been to Ed's buffalo shoots. The date coincides (sic?) with our monthly silhouette match. BTW, you better get ready for some of that methane. I'll be out your way in a couple of weeks with a crate of Bush's Baked Beans. I'll fix YOU .------------Sixgun

[mav]

Sixgun,
I was there Saturday but I don't think we spoke. I was taking it all in when John was prognosticating about heavy vs. light bullets with you and Brian before the matches started. I'm kind of a newbee, most of it was over my head.
Maybe next year I'll shoot the big gun with the big dogs.

[KirkD]

Noah,

I've spent a night in Sixgun's bean vapor-permeated tent. 'Twas enought to make my eyes water! Of course, we contributed equally to the thick concentration of methane gas.

Boys, I really hope no one ever lights a match in a situation like that.

[w30wcf]

Sixgun,
Thank you for the report and pics. Glad to see that you made it home ok. I had a great time visiting with you, Gunny and the rest of our levergun brothers and......sisters.

The youngest shooter there was a 9 year old girl! I overheard her ask her older sister when shooting at one of the steel chickens : "Well.....Did it go high or low?" There were several other female competitors as well. Great to have the gals involved.
(I'll post some pictures later this week).

Smallbore - most popular guns were, by far, Marlin 39A's

Pistol Cartridge - Marlin '94's outnumbered all others. Calibers used: .25-20, .32-20, .357, .44 & .45 colt.

Rifle cartridge - Winchesters and Marlins were pretty equal in number. By far the most popular caliber was the .30-30. Other calibers used were: .32 W.S., .38-55, .444, .45-70 and .45-90(Sixgun).

I'm looking forward to 2009.

w30wcf

[Cimarron Red]

Hi, John,

What was the more popular rear sight -- receiver or tang?

[Sixgun]

Reds,
As for the sights I would say the receiver sight beat out the tang sight by about 30-40%. The serious guys used receiver sights and the "fun guys/semi-serious", (like me ) choose to be authentic with our tang sights. Also, the serious guys (and/or unknowledeable) use jacketed bullets, which I personally frown on. ------------Sixgun

[Cimarron Red]

Sixgun,

That's in line with what I see at the Whittington Center. Shooters such as you and I who shoot cast bullets at or a bit above BP velocities need the easy elevation adjustability of a tang sight. I use 15 minutes of elevation to get from the 50 meter chicken to the 200 meter ram. If you shoot jacketed bullets and drive them a lot faster, you can get out to the ram without making adjustments except perhaps by using slightly different holds.

Although it certainly would suit me if lever action silhouettes were limited to cast bullets, I wouldn't want to kick another shooter's dog. So I'm okay with jacketed bullets.

[Jarhead]

Nice looking lever Sixgun! Sounds like you had some fun...."Blazing Saddles" and Blazing Leverguns! Nice to see you hangin' out with another "Jarhead" too.. But, by the sounds of things, I doubt he will let you borrow his gas mask...

[Cimarron Red]

Sixgun,

Any truth to the rumor that the silly-wet targets were warped by gas escaping from your tent?! I heard they had to shim some of the turkeys to keep them standing on the rails.

[Sixgun]

Nice looking lever Sixgun! Sounds like you had some fun...."Blazing Saddles" and Blazing Leverguns! Nice to see you hangin' out with another "Jarhead" too.. But, by the sounds of things, I doubt he will let you borrow his gas mask...

Jarhead,
I'll take a Jarhead anytime over well, (I don't know-lots of people! ) Like most Marines, Gunny is a guy I sure can trust my back to, plus he has lots of stories on how he busted down raw recruits. (Like the time he sent a "brother" into a dark hole (old bomb shelter) for two days!) It seems like he took great pleasure in this type of behavior!
Anyway, he's a teacher now at a military institute and when I see him on Saturdays, his voice is all screwed up from screaming at the students all week.

Reds, The only thing that warped was our sense of humor I know the owners of the campground cabin we rented had to air that thing out, along with a gallon or two of bleach.

Oh, BTW, there were several women there who shot in the forties, one had a 48 x 60! These babes can shoot and they are all the wives/girlfriends of good ole' rednecks.---------------Sixgun

[dr walker]

Thanks for posting, great pics. You have one nice looking rifle. Looks like everyone had a great time.