1

SMOKE SIgNALNewsletteroftheAlamoMuzzleLoadingGunClub,est.1964

20 late September 20

At 6 Sep. Sunday’s patched round ball match

Bill K. shot this very impressive 50 xx score at 25 yards on the vexing raccoon/ mapache target.

The other shooters present signed the target, and Bill won a special patch for this marksmanship!

Congratulations and kudos to Bill! Mighty fine shooting indeed.

RANGE NEWS:

Afterapunishingstringoftriple-digitsummertemperatures,somerainfinallycame.Asa

result,somebrushbegantocropupinthefiringlines.Thiswasnotedbyanumberof

shooters.

2

Acollectionofshotgunshellhulls,.410bore,werefoundfarinfrontofthepavedfiringline

onthe25-yardrange.Again,thisdemonstratesthatpeopleareviolatingtherulesandfiring

closetothetarget,andoffthecovered,pavedareaofthefiringline.Bynoweveryone

knowsthatthisisaviolationofthesafetyrules.Ithappensveryoften,andcontinuesto

occur.

Social-distancing—skirmisherstyle:

IanStraus’sre-enactorshooton22ndAugustwasheld.Hereportedthat“We had twelve participants besides me, including Gareth who is a member of the gun club. We shot a couple of relays at 50 yards to get people sighted in. Then shot my usual shoulder to shoulder 1/2 size silhouettes, a volley and then fire by file. At this range and silhouette scale it's like shooting at a man size target at about 120 yards. Got a little better than 1/3 hits. The we sat out the thunderstorm. It's good that our range has a covered firing line.. Finished with a 'war'. a team event shooting at half gallon milk jugs. I got Gareth's parents to referee the teams. After three rounds one team of 6 had lost three (three of their jugs hit) vs. the other teams one. A hit and the ref taps the matching person on the shoulder, tells them they are out. It makes you think about how in an actual skirmishing fight one side would gain fire superiority.”

Seepicturebelow.

3

IhavebeenadvisedthattheearlyOctoberTexasMuzzleLoadingRifleAssociation’sBrady

StateShootisON!Goodluckandgoodshootingtoparticipants.

Itisoftenthecasethatshootersinterestedinmuzzleloadingandblackpowdershooting

sportscontacttheAlamoMuzzleLoadingGunClubandaskabouttheavailabilityofbona

fide,genuineblackpowder.Ioftenwonderthismyself.Idoknowthereareothermuzzle

loadinggunclubsinotherregionsofTexas.Memberssometimespoolforamail-orderofa

mixedcaseanddistributethepowderamongthebuyer’sclub.Thehazmatfeescanbe

somewhatlessenedthatway.VendorssometimesbringpowdertoeventsliketheBrady

4

StateShoots.IwasupinAustinnotlongagoandspokewithsomefolksatMcBrides,which

yearsagousedtosellpowder,butnolongerdoes.TheNationalMuzzleLoadingRifle

Associationhasamaptodeterminewhereoneoranotherdistributormightbelocated.If

youfindyourselfonalongdrive,youmightconsiderpickingsomeupandavoidingthe

shippingfeesandhazmat.Herearesome:

SchuetzenPowderdistributors—

TravelersAntiques&Trading100Duncan,Claude,TX79019(806)679-9016.

JacksPowderKeg282BootyLane,Kisatchie,LA,71468(888)245-9631

jackspowderkeg.com

PowderInc.400Co.Rd.3455,Clarksville,AR72830(479)705-0005powderinc.com.

Goex—Burdett&SonOutdoors1055TexasAve.S.,Ste.104,CollegeStation,TX77840.

(979)695-2807.CathyorBarry.

PracoGun&Pawn?2201W.WacoDriveWaco,TX76707www.pracopawn.com(254)753-

5511.

10Ring.com12779JonesRd.Ste.103BHouston,TX77070(281)894-7464.

SCORES:Sunday6Sep2020

ClassA: 25ydsquirrels 25ydRaccoon 50ydBear 50ydBuffalo

1.BillKnipscher48 1.BillKnipscher502x1.JohnBurke,Jr.32x1.DennisRich43

2.ClifDenny35 2.DennishRich41x2.Dennishrich29x2.BillKnipscher39

3.DennisRich29x3.JohnBurke,Jr.343.BillKnipscher293.JohnBurke,Jr.32

ClassB:

5

1.RichBeardsley321.RichBeardsley291.IanStraus40x1.JohnBurke,Sr.35

2.DaveCarlson252.IanStraus292.GaryQuandt262.GaryQuandt32

3.JohnBurke,Sr.253.GaryQuandt253.RichBeardsley183.RichBeardsley27

ClassA.Rifleaggregate:1.BillKnipscher1662x2.DennishRich1423x

3.JohnBurke,Jr.127x

ClassB.aggregate:1.RichBeardsley1062.GaryQuandt1053.IanStraus104x

ClassApistol:1.ClifDenny77x2.JohnBurke,Sr.743.GaryQuandt64

ClassBpistol:1.Ianstraus61.

4October:Thismonth’sfirstSundaymatchon4Octoberwillbeacross-stickssilhouette

matchat50and100yardranges.

CivilWarMatch:OnSaturday,17OctobertherewillbeaCivilWarmatch,withindividual

scoresforCivilWar-eraweaponcategories.Therewillnotbeateamskirmishthistime

around.TheAugustnewslettererroneouslyputthedateinSeptember,whichwascertainly

notthecase.An“e-blast”offeredacorrectionofthemistakeandindicatedthecorrected

date.

1November“firstSunday”TurkeyShoot:RecallthattheNovembershoot,whichthisyear

willbeacrosssticksmatchatBuffalotargetsat50and100yardsisalsotheThanksgiving

“TurkeyShoot.”(“Whybuffalotargetsifitisaturkeyshoot?”Youmayask?)Theprizesfor

topscorerswillbegiftcardsratherthanactualturkeysthisyear.Therewillalsobea25-yd.

pistolshoot.

6DecemberHolidayShoot:TheChristmasseasonkicksoffon6December.Ourlastfirst

Sundaymatchwillbethe“knifeshoot”withaknifeawardedtothechampion.Thiswill

consistofroundbulltargetsat25and50yards,andthelastpistolmatchoftheyearat25-

6

yds.Wearemakinginquiriesforthe2021yearlybusinessmeeting.Assoonasmore

informationisavailable,itwillgoouttothemembers.

TexasSingle-ShotRifleAssociationFallMatch:OnFridayandSaturday,16-17October

2020,thebreech-loadingfallmatchwillbeheldatDietzvillenearNewBraunfelsTX.

TEXAS SINGLE SHOT RIFLE ASSOCIATION

FALLMATCH:OCTOBER16-17,2020@8:00AMOldMuzzleLoaderRangeatDietzville,onRangeRd.NewBraunfels,TX

COURSEOFFIRE

ALLMATCHES10SHOTSANDRE-ENTRYEXCEPTNOS.#5,#10,#11

200-YARDMatches:#1AnySightBenchRest/ASSRATarget5#2AnySightOffhand/ASSRATarget3or4#3IronSightBenchRest/ASSRATarget3or4#4IronSightOffhand/ASSRATarget3or4

JedKraiiMemorialAggregateofMatch1&3#5CliffPayneMemorial-1OH&1BR

100-YARDMatches:#6AnySightBenchRest.22rf/ASSRA6-bull#7AnySightOffhandASSRA#1or1-1/2#8CowboyLeverASSRATarget3or4#9MilitaryASSRATarget3or4#10Ehrenscheibe 1shotatapaintedtarget100and/or200-yards(Winner

providesnextyear’starget).

#11100-shotbenchrestat100or200-yds.(Maybefiredover2days)SCORING

7

4

Rimfirematchesarescoredtoleadededge;Centerfirematchesarescoredtocenterofholeexceptmatch#11.Shotsoutsidescoringringswillbescoredbymesuredowntoten.

ACCOMMODATIONS

Snacksprovidedforlunch.Bringyourowndrinks,lawnchairs,etc.FREEdrycampingwithouthouses,noelectricity.

Formoreinfo:Geo.Harris—georgeharris94@yahoo.comBillWimberlyvesperb1941@gmail.com830.832.8884

Source:TheUK’sNationalFirearmsCentre/RoyalArmouriesinLeeds.

Percussion underhammer rifle known as a Buggy Rifle

Percussion underhammer 'buggy' rifle, by Nicanor Kendall, Windsor, Vermont, American, about 1835-1838. Underhammer action inset into the stock. The stock is probably of American cherry of thin section, the furniture is of a high nickel copper alloy which is cast and incised with decoration. A butt trap is inset

8

in the right hand side of the stock. The heavy octagonal barrel is fitted with four ramrod pipes, a leaf backsight and a blade foresight. The ramrod is missing. Stamped on the tang is SMITH'S IMPROVED PATENT STUD LOCK, and on the barrel is N.KENDALL WINDSOR VERMONT PATENT.

Some of the earliest North American percussion firearms were these under-hammer types, manufactured in New Hampshire and other New England workshops and rifle works.

Nutrias in Bexar County? So it seems. Our neighbors from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries have a website on how to prepare and eat these invasives. The link https://nutria.com/site14.php

Goes to a heart healthy crock-pot nutria recipe, but also has links to other recipes and an entire 1963 Nutria for home use cook book! https://nutria.com/uploads/NutriaForHomeUse1963recipeBook.pdf

See you at the range!

--D. Carlson