Black
Powder by Chris Risebrook
Blackpowder from Chris Risebrook
Having acquired and shot a muzzle-loading rifle in the shape of the Swiss Beuret, the next item number on my ‘list of things to do before shuffling off mortal coil’ was to shoot a rifle at 1000 yards. Hitherto, I have never shot beyond 600 yards and that was nigh on sixty years ago. So I took my gorgeous blonder to Bisley.
First thing was a trip to the zero range and, here I must admit to a moment of pure nostalgia. It was like going back in time. I have a photo, taken some time in the 1950s, of me zeroing a Marlin 1894 22 and the place has not changed a bit - except that in the photograph I am wearing a jacket and tie and a Tyrolean hat (the last word in sartorial elegance sixty years ago)! Oh yes, the targets are now four quid (4 GBP) each and they used to be one and six (less than 10 pence)!
It didn’t take long to get zeroed for 1000 yards, so we repaired to Stickledown range and of course, it was raining! Not the usual ‘coming down like stair rods’ rain but persistent, gusty drizzle, which drives into every nook and cranny and with it, lousy visibility. But look on the bright side, at least there was no heat haze!
To my amazement, the 303 was right on the money and kept every shot on the target, just using a two- point webbing sling, aperture sights and homeloads. No great score but when you think about it, at this range the rifle was really designed to keep the enemy’s heads down and that’s exactly what it would have done. To its credit, it was easily outshooting some very fancy machinery, firing factory ammuninition through stainless steel fluted barrels, off bipods, and with scope sights for which you would need a second mortgage.
As for the homeloads, I used 174 grain boat-tail bullets over 43gr. of Reloder 15. (I could not bring myself to load up the full recommended load). With this load, it opened and ejected easily with no signs of pressure whatsoever but the usual caveat applies - this load is safe in my rifle but is not necessarily safe in yours and so no responsibility is taken for this data. Always load from the manual, and start ten per cent down.
The only problem was the recoil. I had purchased a rather unpleasant looking rubber butt shoe, which looks vaguely obscene. I will leave this to your imagination but possibly an elephant contemplating birth-control might find a use for it. The combination of a short butt, long arms and an even longer nose meant a thump in the
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