Posted on 09/27/2017 3:56:32 AM PDT by marktwain
On Saturday, 16 September, 2017, my friend, Curtis Eykamp, was showing me a bit of Australia. He wanted me to see a captured Turkish gun from WWI, in Manila, NSW.
We were traveling from Gunnedah, through a gorgeous countryside, dotted with cattle and the ubiquitous road killed kangaroo. Many people have noted the resemblance to the inner valleys of Southern California, (with different trees, and kangaroos).
Roy Eykamp, a few months short of 100 years old, was along for the ride.
Off in the distance, I spotted a white square on a berm. “That looks like a range”, I said. “Maybe a thousand yards. Here in Australia, a thousand meters.”
Half a mile further along, red flags blowing in the wind made it clear that a shoot was in progress. It was the Nioka range, developed by Matthew Miegel, on the Nioka property.
A muzzleloader club was having a shoot at the range. They were only too happy to talk to a Yank writer.
One of the peculiarities of the Australian mesh of regulations put in place in 1996, was that pre-1900 muzzleloaders are not considered legal guns, but reproductions are. You may own a pre-1900 antique, but you are not allowed to shoot it without a gun license. Reproductions require licenses to possess, and they must be registered.
The club was having a good time loading and firing muzzleloaders, mostly flintlocks. The range was a full 1000 meters long. The targets were closer for this shoot.
The 1000 meter target will be used in the “Buffalo Shoot” to take place next weekend. The theme of the shoot is a loose recreation of the Adobe Walls battle that occurred in 1874 in the northern panhandle of Texas.
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
adaption should be adapting
“....You may own a pre-1900 antique, but you are not allowed to shoot it without a gun license. Reproductions require licenses to possess, and they must be registered.....”
Screaming BS! Australia is a peoples republic now.
On Dec. 5 1864 an unidentified Confederate soldier in Fort Sumter saw a Union soldier moving in Battery Gregg, 1390 yards away. The Southerner was likely using a Whitworth Rifle when he lined up his sights on the Union soldier and fired, killing him.
The rifle was sighted in for 1400 yards and would hold a 9 foot spread for 10 shots.
Unfortunately there was a ceasefire in effect at the time of the kill.
Thanks for the article.
My high school agriculture teacher had family members at Adobe Walls 2. I’m told he had a paper patched bullet from there. I never saw it. His widow is still here.
Interesting link about Billy Dixon’s background.
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-billydixon.html
There is dispute of whether he actually hit the medicine man or the horse he was riding on. Either way, at 1500 yards is was an incredible feat.
I read elsewhere that a reason that Adobe Walls 2 was attacked was there was a store there supplying guns and ammo to buffalo hunters, with huge supply of guns and ammo.
Interesting discussion on black powder sniper rifles at
https://civilwartalk.com/threads/longest-sniper-hit.16731/
I’ve shot a repro Enfield. It is VERY accurate as long as you get used to the big drop.
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