First shoot

[Sheriff Dill]

Today was day one of my first shoot after 3 years of watching our son shoot. 
 

Thought I was prepared. Read first stage over and over again told myself I had the sequence down. 

Got online first shot with rifle……. yup you guessed it wrong target. Started day with a “P” and several misses. 
Looked back after finishing stage and saw the ear to ear grin on my son’s face. 
 

Wish I had started shooting with him sooner. Had a blast and cannot wait to go back tomorrow and finish last 4 stages. 

[Blackwater 53393]

First shoots are something to remember with humor and hold as a benchmark for seeing how far you have come a year or so down the road!!

 

Never mind the grin on the kid’s face!!  Check the one on yours!! You’re gonna find that you are happy just to be among folks like yourself who enjoy what they’re doing and want to share it with everybody!!

 

WELCOME!!  Now you have an excuse to spend your kid’s inheritance!! 🤣

 

BE SAFE!  HAVE FUN!!!

[Dapper Dave]

I remember my first stage, it was awesome. Welcome to a great sport, sir!

[Calico Jack]

1 hour ago, Sheriff Dill said:

Today was day one of my first shoot after 3 years of watching our son shoot. 
 

Thought I was prepared. Read first stage over and over again told myself I had the sequence down. 

Got online first shot with rifle……. yup you guessed it wrong target. Started day with a “P” and several misses. 
Looked back after finishing stage and saw the ear to ear grin on my son’s face. 
 

Wish I had started shooting with him sooner. Had a blast and cannot wait to go back tomorrow and finish last 4 stages. 

I can see, like me, you are always open to a learning opportunity! I will be sure to PM you after my first match so we can have a laugh about it! 
 

I wouldn’t mind a little friendly rivalry since we are getting started at the same time. Plus it’s been a while since I’ve gone back to visit New Hampshire. I know you’re up that way, so I look forward to shooting with you!

 

Well done and congratulations on finishing your first match! You were safe and you had fun, so you won the day!

Edited June 28 by Calico Jack
Grammar

[Sheriff Dill]

26 minutes ago, Calico Jack said:

I can see, like me, you are always open to a learning opportunity! I will be sure to PM you after my first match so we can have a laugh about it! 
 

I wouldn’t mind a little friendly rivalry since we are getting started at the same time. Plus it’s been a while since I’ve gone back to visit New Hampshire. I know you’re up that way, so I look forward to shooting with you!

 

Well done and congratulations on finishing your first match! You were safe and you had fun, so you won the day!

Are you coming up for the NH State shoot ?

[Sheriff Dill]

And to add more proudness this was the first shoot where we shot the ammo we reloading. Everything went bang the way it was supposed to. Win win today. 

[Calico Jack]

38 minutes ago, Sheriff Dill said:

Are you coming up for the NH State shoot ?

When and where? Could possibly be - we will see how my employment status holds up the rest of the year lol 

 

[Doc McCoy, SASS #8381]

I thought you did well for a first shoot!  A couple Ps and some misses are normal.  It took me a few years to get my first clean match.  

[Texas Maverick]

23 hours ago, Sheriff Dill said:

Today was day one of my first shoot after 3 years of watching our son shoot. 
 

Thought I was prepared. Read first stage over and over again told myself I had the sequence down. 

Got online first shot with rifle……. yup you guessed it wrong target. Started day with a “P” and several misses. 
Looked back after finishing stage and saw the ear to ear grin on my son’s face. 
 

Wish I had started shooting with him sooner. Had a blast and cannot wait to go back tomorrow and finish last 4 stages. 

Even the best of the shooters get a brain fart when that stinkin buzzer goes off sometimes and you forget where you even are much less what the shooting pattern is. LOL. It happens to all of us.

 

TM

Edited June 29 by Texas Maverick

[Sheriff Dill]

23 hours ago, Calico Jack said:

When and where? Could possibly be - we will see how my employment status holds up the rest of the year lol 

 

Holderness NH August 15,16 and 17th 

[Sheriff Dill]

Finished up shooting today. 

Had no procedurals phew. But my son had 3 squibs. Luckily they just barely stuck in the beginning of the barrel and on his last shots not allowing me to load my first round in to the gun. Got 10 misses but it was easy to clear and nobody for hurt. 
 

Guess I spoke too soon about ammo. 
 

But overall it was a great shoot and was nice to to find a new hobby to do with one of my children. 
 

SD

[Calico Jack]

12 minutes ago, Sheriff Dill said:

Holderness NH August 15,16 and 17th 

Possibly next year then. More time to plan. The weekend before that match I have a family reunion, which means I’ll need the next weekend to recover lol 

[Eyesa Horg]

Welcome aboard Sheriff Dill. You did a fine job and it was wonderful to shoot with you and Giraffe Pepper together. Wasn't the rain a fun addition 🤣 See ya in a couple weeks at the Vermont State shoot.

[Sheriff Dill]

24 minutes ago, Calico Jack said:

Possibly next year then. More time to plan. The weekend before that match I have a family reunion, which means I’ll need the next weekend to recover lol 

What better way to recover than with the smell of gun powder and sunshine 

13 minutes ago, Eyesa Horg said:

Welcome aboard Sheriff Dill. You did a fine job and it was wonderful to shoot with you and Giraffe Pepper together. Wasn't the rain a fun addition 🤣 See ya in a couple weeks at the Vermont State shoot.

Thank you sir. I’m glad I could give you a good laugh and thanks for not laughing to hard. We will be there for set up and side event also 

[Eyesa Horg]

9 minutes ago, Sheriff Dill said:

What better way to recover than with the smell of gun powder and sunshine 

Thank you sir. I’m glad I could give you a good laugh and thanks for not laughing to hard. We will be there for set up and side event also 

Looking forward to it. Ellie & I will be getting there Wednesday morning for setup. Hope Giraffe doesn't catch a cold, dang that boy was soaked yesterday! But despite the weather, we all had a good time! Although my enthusiasm did slip a couple times on Saturday! 😂

[Texas Maverick]

16 hours ago, Sheriff Dill said:

Finished up shooting today. 

Had no procedurals phew. But my son had 3 squibs. Luckily they just barely stuck in the beginning of the barrel and on his last shots not allowing me to load my first round in to the gun. Got 10 misses but it was easy to clear and nobody for hurt. 
 

Guess I spoke too soon about ammo. 
 

But overall it was a great shoot and was nice to to find a new hobby to do with one of my children. 
 

SD

Sounds like no powder was dropped into case. Primer only will cause this.

 

TM

[Edward R S Canby, SASS#59971]

If the OP is loading on a progressive reloader, a powder check die can eliminate squibs.  Otherwise, one must view each charged case carefully to determine whether the case is properly charged.  This is pretty easy with black powder or a fluffy powder like Trail Boss or Unique (both currently unavailable).  With a high density, ball powder this is more work.  There are usually squib rods on range at CAS matches.  Unfortunately, they get frequent use.

[Sheriff Dill]

49 minutes ago, Texas Maverick said:

Sounds like no powder was dropped into case. Primer only will cause this.

 

TM

I went through the rounds I had back here at the house and shook each one. If I didn’t hear anything inside I took it apart and found 3 without powder. Pretty sure they were from the first batch l loaded when I set press up. 

[Sheriff Dill]

21 minutes ago, Edward R S Canby, SASS#59971 said:

If the OP is loading on a progressive reloader, a powder check die can eliminate squibs.  Otherwise, one must view each charged case carefully to determine whether the case is properly charged.  This is pretty easy with black powder or a fluffy powder like Trail Boss or Unique (both currently unavailable).  With a high density, ball powder this is more work.  There are usually squib rods on range at CAS matches.  Unfortunately, they get frequent use.

I recently bought powder cop dies. For the next batch of rounds I load. I didn’t have them for this round. We purchased some rods from X Mark last year that we have in our cart at all times. They worked flawlessly. 

[Kid Rich]

We visually check every round as it is being  loaded and Shirttail shakes all of hers before a match.

kR

[Horace Patootie, SASS #35798]

1 hour ago, Kid Rich said:

We visually check every round as it is being  loaded and Shirttail shakes all of hers before a match.

kR

After reloading, I weigh each reloaded round and take apart any that are outside of certain weight parameters.  So far, they have all been good, just variances in bullet or case weight.

Horace

[Rip Snorter]

I had trouble with a powder measure. had a questionable production run and tried weighing to avoid taking apart a couple hundred rounds.  Variations in cast bullet weight and the weight of cases made by different manufacturers compared to relatively light powder charges was enough to call the method into question.  Your call, I took them all apart.

[Eyesa Horg]

46 minutes ago, Horace Patootie, SASS #35798 said:

After reloading, I weigh each reloaded round and take apart any that are outside of certain weight parameters.  So far, they have all been good, just variances in bullet or case weight.

Horace

I tried that, one of Ellie's that a neighbor helped load is likely missing powder as I found one uncrimped, gauge checking them after he left. With only 2.8gr of Clays, the bullets and brass can vary that much. Try as I might, I can't hear a damn thing shaking them!! They'll have to be used for practice that we don't do, but I'm not taking apart 300 rounds 

She wants to just use them, but I figure that squib show it's ugly face on the last stage of the he clean shoot she so strive for!

[Texas Maverick]

23 hours ago, Sheriff Dill said:

I went through the rounds I had back here at the house and shook each one. If I didn’t hear anything inside I took it apart and found 3 without powder. Pretty sure they were from the first batch l loaded when I set press up. 

We are experiencing bad primers here. I had 35 out of 120 a couple of weeks ago during a match. When I got home and pulled them they all had powder but did not go bang. This past weekend we had 3 shooters with FTF and they pulled a couple of the bullets apart at the match and they all had powder. Not sure what is going on with Federal right now.

 

TM

[Boggus Deal #64218]

7 minutes ago, Eyesa Horg said:

I tried that, one of Ellie's that a neighbor helped load is likely missing powder as I found one uncrimped, gauge checking them after he left. With only 2.8gr of Clays, the bullets and brass can vary that much. Try as I might, I can't hear a damn thing shaking them!! They'll have to be used for practice that we don't do, but I'm not taking apart 300 rounds 

She wants to just use them, but I figure that squib show it's ugly face on the last stage of the he clean shoot she so strive for!

Supposedly there is a test with a funnel to hear powder in a cartridge. I’ve never done it but I know people who do.

[Eyesa Horg]

10 minutes ago, Boggus Deal #64218 said:

Supposedly there is a test with a funnel to hear powder in a cartridge. I’ve never done it but I know people who do.

I'm gonna try that again with a different funnel

[Rip Snorter]

43 minutes ago, Texas Maverick said:

We are experiencing bad primers here. I had 35 out of 120 a couple of weeks ago during a match. When I got home and pulled them they all had powder but did not go bang. This past weekend we had 3 shooters with FTF and they pulled a couple of the bullets apart at the match and they all had powder. Not sure what is going on with Federal right now.

 

TM

Are you wet tumbling and possibly not drying the cases enough after?

[Horace Patootie, SASS #35798]

54 minutes ago, Eyesa Horg said:

I tried that, one of Ellie's that a neighbor helped load is likely missing powder as I found one uncrimped, gauge checking them after he left. With only 2.8gr of Clays, the bullets and brass can vary that much. Try as I might, I can't hear a damn thing shaking them!! They'll have to be used for practice that we don't do, but I'm not taking apart 300 rounds 

She wants to just use them, but I figure that squib show it's ugly face on the last stage of the he clean shoot she so strive for!

Well I'm using 5.2 gr. of WST in 45 Colt so it's working well for me. Certainly a squib ahead of a good round could be a hazard.

Horace

[Sheriff Dill]

46 minutes ago, Eyesa Horg said:

I'm gonna try that again with a different funnel

How do you do the funnel thing ?

[Sheriff Dill]

1 hour ago, Rip Snorter said:

I had trouble with a powder measure. had a questionable production run and tried weighing to avoid taking apart a couple hundred rounds.  Variations in cast bullet weight and the weight of cases made by different manufacturers compared to relatively light powder charges was enough to call the method into question.  Your call, I took them all apart.

I shook 1000 rounds. I had case boxes that I filled first with loaded rounds and the one with squibs was one of the very first boxes I filled after setting up my press. I could hear powder in all of the other cases. I think I found them. 

[Rip Snorter]

Best of luck!  When in doubt, stop & check.  With ears on, I didn't hear the squib and lightly damaged (reparably) a favorite pistol.

[Texas Maverick]

1 hour ago, Rip Snorter said:

Are you wet tumbling and possibly not drying the cases enough after?

I do wet tumbling but don't use the cases for about two to three weeks so they are definitely dry here in the 90+ heat in Texas. I have enough empty cases to fill 6 of the animal cracker large plastic tubs. So it is a while before I get to the newly cleaned cases. I put the clean ones at the back of the row so it takes a while to get to them. I keep around 2 tubs of clean cases and pour them into my case feeder when needed. Been doing it this way for 6 years without any issues until now.

 

TM

Edited July 1 by Texas Maverick

[Sheriff Dill]

1 hour ago, Rip Snorter said:

Best of luck!  When in doubt, stop & check.  With ears on, I didn't hear the squib and lightly damaged (reparably) a favorite pistol.

My son really couldn’t hear them either. By the grace of God they were the last round he fired in the rifle on his stages. And they only went in barrel about 1/2 inch if that. 

[Shooting Bull]

Shooter ready

 

Standby