Lovely to drop in and see all the goodness: of the participants AND the guns. This little niche is one of my few regular stops on the 'Net.
Also, nice to see USFA get some quality recognition. In my book, they are quite the current top notch, for SAA fit and finish. Everything 'clicks up' to battery with bank vault precision. And, they are no slouch in the accuracy dept. Like a can of peanuts, it's hard to stop with just one.
My first was a very early and plain .45 Colt 4 3/4" Rodeo model [now properly aged and holster worn]. At an annual charity fun-shoot get together of pistol and gude gonne folks in Grayling, Mi, the Bragging Rights amount to a 12" steel target on a stand at 270 yards. No bench rest,no prone. Support over sitting knees, with backrest if you wish, ALA Keith.
With the sun just right, I have watched the last third of the slug's silver-flash trajectory in flight, as it dropped steeply into the plate, followed by that satisfying 'tonk' when it was knocked off the stand. While a good, tight modern revolver carrying enough bullet freight can do that regularly, I get a real kick out of doing it with a fixed-sight, Nineteenth Century device.
On the Frontier Sixshooter Community Discussion Board and over in the Gunblast.com write-ups, the Flat Top Target USFA's are highly regarded. Me? I kinda crave the new special-order Sheriff's Model Bisley.
http://www.usfirearms.com/html/bisley-sheriff.htm http://www.usfirearms.com/html/bisley-sheriff.htm Already have a blued Storekeepers Model [has ejector rod] with a 3 1/2"bbl. Have found that short 'quick' gun likes to shoot right 'under the sights', as Seyfried likes to say.
A custom-shop Bisley Flat-top Target, in a caliber of your choice, would be a wonderful shooting partner and a great legacy to be handed down in a family. Brian Pearce has followed this company closely, and his commentary on same may be found in Rifle/Handloader over the past couple of years.
And, if anyone around the Great Lakes wants to try their hand at plate plinking around July 1st of each year, the
Tom Stevenson Memorial Shoot at Grayling is a fine place with lots of freely shared shooting goodies. Included is about everything Freedom Arms, and the assorted 'name' custom folks produce. I must say that another participant's .454 FA in six inch bbl, was the most eerily accurate iron-sighted handgun i have ever shot. Akin to a fine rifle. Note that it was a strong medium loading, and NOT a MAX-+ wrist-wrecker.
The week following the
TSMS, Grayling hosts a competitive full-sized cannon shoot. The bumper sticker on one trailer, hauling a Napoleon & caisson read,
"If you can read this, you are in range."