Black Death Challenge

[Brian in FL]

The problem I have had is that I shoot by my self 99.99% of the time. I shoot at least once a week and usually several times per week. My buddy and I have us a little range set up next to his pond, I actually use it way more than he does. I dont have a range officer or witness to varify my score. And I dont need one. There is a thing called honor, and you either have it or you dont. I have a few of those targets in my pile with 5 shots in the 1/2 inch target, matter of fact I even made me up my own target with about 20 of those on one page to shoot at for the heck of it. If a guy is gonna cheat he is gonna cheat, he can have someone sign his target that didnt see it. I have not sent one in because I wont ask someone to "witness" and sign my target, that they didnt see. I can sleep at night just knowing, that I can do it, and that is good enough for me.

Ranch Dogs postal match for centerfire lever only guns is nice because it is set up on the honor system. Alot of folks dont have the luxery of taking a witness to the range, but they are honest just the same.

Well when I said I shoot by myself most of the time it is not really true, quite often my 5 year old is with me. we go shooting a lot. he is my target , tape, marker, carrier and he even gets to shoot his 22.

I don't understand the problem with shooting while you're alone. Just pull the target down and let someone verify it after the fact.

[S.B.]

What dimention does the target come out when printed?
Steve

[Brian in FL]

8.5 x 11.

[Gunjunkie]

You would have to take that up with TTG  .. ..  Brian..  I don't know if they have changed any rules or not in the last year or so..
But, I didn't see an age limit on the witness .. 

[Brian in FL]

I wouldn't expect that there are any rule changes with regard to the size of the target paper. And I don't believe they'e changed the size of the individual targets. By the way, I am #58 to max the Black Death Target. There are a number of friends from Marlin Talk on the list as well. The best was Birdman of Auburn's 50 yard max with open sights using a Marlin 39. That's kind of incredible even with a Marlin.

[cherokee charlie]

This sure sounds like a fun game.  I could not find the rules.  The link was not working.
I am in a group that shoots steel silhouettes with 22's out to 212 yds.  Strange yardage but we are restricted due to property lines.  Chickens at 84 yds, pigs 105,turkeys 154 abd rans at 212.(Cherokee Gun Club-Gainesville)

We also have a squirrel division where as you shoot the same targets but you can only have a 3x9 scope w/o adj. obj. and it must be a stock rifle.  I started off with Marlin 782's which are very accurate but I soon moved on to other brands.

Would someone please post the rules for me? 

[Big Shrek]

Unfortunately the Black Death site is down hardcore because someone screwed it up with Viruses...when you downloaded targets, you got a not-so-friendly friend with it.
<UPDATE - site fixed!! YAY!!>

[Brian in FL]

PM me with your e-mail address, and I'll e-mail you the Black Death Targets as attachments. They are PDF files.

[Gunjunkie]

I didn't have any issue downloading the target ..

[Hal.1895G]

Big Shrek -
Yeah... uh... so I opened this thread started on the first post, read two pages, skipped to page 5 only to find out that I shouldn't have downloaded the targets - which I did without any issue that I know of... could you (or anyone) tell me what I have to dig out of my hard drive now?

Thanks!

[Big Shrek]

They should be fine now.  The pages were pulled for evidently three-four days after a few people got nasty stuff.  evidently they're back up like normal now. 

Doesn't hurt to check everything out real well though   I had AWG & some other insta-virus checker, they let me know that when I downloaded it I had a problem, but they couldn't remove the trojan virus...so my main comp is being repaired & updated...slowly.  Since I was a Boy Scout, I always have a spare of any important item

I think my next comp is gonna be an Apple, nobody really writes viruses against Apples.  And they're perfect for non-computer type people who are boring as heck & only write gun posts/papers/books & play Diablo 2

[Hal.1895G]

I think my next comp is gonna be an Apple, nobody really writes viruses against Apples.  And they're perfect for non-computer type people who are boring as heck & only write gun posts/papers/books & play Diablo 2

That cracked me up!

Thanks for the quick reply!

[Amos Iron Wolf]

The link to the rules gives me the dreaded 404 error. Could someone help me get the rules pleas.

I'm primarily wanting to know the rule regarding shooting at 25 and at 50 yrds. I assume that 25 yards is standing with no support or leaning against anything. Using the sling is okay?

For the benched 50 yards shots what are the rules regarding rests. I have a Marlin 783 .22 mag and a Remington 582 (both great shooters with regular ammo that look and feel good.) that I shoot benched for fun with a Harris Bi-pod as the only support. No rear bags or anything else. Is that acceptable?

Fist post, so HI! I've lurked in and out from time to time, but came on board with the purchase of a used 2006 GSLTD Guide Gun in .45-70. But I've really come back to my roots with the 783 and the Remmy. Nothing like popping small rocks and shotgun shells on the 50 yard berm for putting smile on your face!

[Brian in FL]

For both 25 and 50 yards you can use any kind of rest you like. Bipods would be acceptable. I assume you've got the targets. If not PM me with your e-mail address, and I'll send them out to you.

[dogugotw]

I have no clue if this is the right place to post this, but here goes.

Some time back I downloaded the Black Death target and finally got around to giving it a try.

<bit of background>
I'm fairly new to shooting; just started back up after an ohhhh 40 year lay-off from when I was a teen.  My intent is to hunt deer (new to hunting).  I have a .270 JC Higgins model 50 that's as old as me, a new Marlin .22 981T, a Sears .22model 6C, and a pellet gun.  I want to be competent at shooting when I take a bead on a deer so I figured the Black Death target would be good for gaining proficiency.  I'll start off at 25 yards with the pellet gun, then switch to the the Marlin, then practice with the .270 to minimize costs.
<end of background>

OK, so my eyes ain't what they used to be but how the heck does anybody actually aim an open sight gun at that target at anything over 10 yards?  At 25 yards with open sights, I can see the targets but there is pretty much no way I can accurately find the center.  Is there some trick for those of us with less than perfect vision?  For now, I'm sticking with a scope but would love to be able to work with open sights.

2nd question - I know I'm new at this, but when I try and shoot off hand, I'm waaaay wobbly and I'm swinging on and off any given target.  I know it's possible to be accurate while shooting off hand and wonder if there are any specific tricks or techniques that might help.  Are there specific muscle groups I should be exercising to help stabilize my aim?  Obviously, as I add bracing (tripod, tree, bench, etc), the wobble gets less.  I've tried to find some good books on shooting techniques and haven't had much luck - any favorites you have?

Rules question - I've seen a couple of posts on 'cutting the black' invalidating the target, but 'rips' don't.  I've been shooting regular printer paper and I'm having some trouble telling the difference between a 'rip' and a 'cut'.  Is the idea that you're trying to determine if the actual bullet hits the black vs the bullet being inside the white but the paper just tears because of the impact?

Thanks for any tips.