By Joe Cota
Our Big Bear Valley Charcoal Burners monthly shoot is tomorrow. I’m the only flintlock shooter in our group; everyone else shoots percussion. We shoot rifle, pistol, and shotgun.
My rifles are both .54 caliber flintlocks. My 12-gage side-by-side blackpowder shotgun is by Armi Filli Pietta Gusago, Italy circa 1986. It’s a very fine gun. Although it’s percussion, I’ve been looking for a 10 or 12 gage flintlock. They are hard to find but one will eventually turn up.
Here’s a photo of another beautiful blackpowder rifle.
The one above is a .50-caliber Pennsylvania long gun acquired a few years ago from a retired cop who showed up at the range looking to get rid of it. He said he only fired it only once after he bought it and then only about 5 shots. The gun looks new but I still need to figure it out. I cast both 0.490-inch and 0.495-inch balls for it and was thinking about taking it to the range to see if I can get some good groups with it. It’s very long and unwieldy compared to my Hawken, which is the rifle you see in the other photos. The sights are tiny, too, so it’s hard to focus on the front sight.
You and Joe should come up and join us during a shoot. I’ll post a few photos from our club shoot tomorrow. Cheers and have a great weekend.
We have a heck of a lot of fun burnin’ charcoal. I’ll post a follow-up blog to let you know how I did!
We could use more shooters. Beginners are welcome and loaner equipment is available for those interested.
Get on out to the San Bernardino Mountains of Southern California on the second Saturday of the month from April through November and burn some charcoal! We shoot rifle, pistol, and shotgun; flintlock or percussion (no cap and ball revolvers).
Editor’s Note from Joe Berk:
The Three Joes: Gresh, Cota, and Berk!
Joe Cota, I’m embarrassed to admit the only black powder gun I have is my Uberti Colt Walker, and per the match rules, it’s not eligible. But you’ve got me thinking…maybe I need another gun…
As you know, I’m local in So Cal. Joe Gresh is in New Mexico, so it’s not likely he’d be able to make it. Let me know about the next match, though, and I’ll try to make it out there to grab a few more photos for the blog (not that we really need them…your photos are excellent).