Schuetzenfest '89: world championship single shot rifle match

Shooting Industry, Dec, 1989 by Art Blatt

Schuetzenfest '89 World Championship Single Shot Rifle Match

Less than 25 miles from downtown Los Angeles, the Angeles Shooting Ranges located in San Fernando, California, was the host gun club for this gala event held over Memorial Day weekend.

The Angeles Shooting Range is one of the finest shooting facilities in Southern California with over 100 covered firing points. A newly installed Handgun Silhouette range along with training facilities for local law enforcement agencies, makes this range one of the busiest on the West Coast.

Although ammunition is for sale at the range, inventory is kept to a minimum, thereby deliberately not attempting to compete with local gun shops. For this reason, the Angeles Shooting Range is high on the list of "recommended places to shoot" by gun dealers.

For this world-class shoot, the list of sponsors contributing to this magnificent four-day shoot was impressive. Household names like Winchester, Thompson/Center, Savage, Lyman, Redfield, Pachmayr, Sturm Ruger and CCI/Speer/RCBS/Outers/Weaver and Leupold contributed both cash and merchandise to the impressive list of winners. Other major contributors were MTM, Budweiser, PMC, Tasco, Miller Life. Fort Knox, Bushnell, Simmons, Hollywood Tool and EMF. Other donors were Accurate Arms, American Arms, American Security Products, Break Free, B-Square, Buck Knives, Case Cutlery, Colorado Shooter's Supply, Creedmore Sports, C. Sharps Arms, Dixie Gun Works, Douglas Barrels, Forster Products, Guns & Ammo, Gun World, Hansen Cartridge, Hart Rifle Barrels, Hercules Powder, Hodgdon Powder, Hornady, Iver Johnson, Javelina, Lansky Sharpeners, National Gun Sales, Navy Arms, Nikon, Pelican Products, Penguin Industries, Pentax, PMC, Pony Express Gun Shop, Quinetics, Redding, Rifle Magazine, Safariland, Springfield Armory, Steiner Optics, Tasco, Timney, Tru-Square, WD-40, Weatherby, Westfield, Williams Gunsight, Zeiss Optics and Ziegel Engineering. Some of these manufacturers set up operational booths, displaying and demonstrating their products. Hands on use by spectators creates enthusiasm and potential local dealer sales. In total, there were over $12,000.00 worth of prizes and merchandise up for grabs.

Gun dealers throughout the United States greatly benefit from these specialized rifle matches. Why? There are about 14,000 competitors affiliated with the American Single Shot Association. During the spring and summer, there is a major match going on somewhere across our land. These single-shot rifle shooters are great good-will ambassadors - even in anti-gun territory. Many competitors dress in contemporary clothing, which include top hats, bowlers, and fancy vests. Their casual appearance, which dates back over 100 years, helps attract local media. Often, TV stations and newspapers will assign coverage to these shooting matches as they are distinctly early Americana. They are colorful, somewhat laid back, yet hotly contested between the aspirants.

All of this helps the local gun dealer in sales and possibly more important, image. This is truly one of shooting's sports that is purely target shooting. The rifle and equipment is not used - currently - for the taking of big-game. Even the most dedicated varmint hunter wouldn't use a 100-year old Ballard on prairie dogs. Unlike para-military weaponry, single-shot rifles do not carry the stigma associated with so-called "firepower."

The Schuetzenfest '89 World Championships was composed of 18 separate matches which included off-hand and benchrest positions. Both center-fire and .22 rimfire rifles were used with the following restrictions. All rifles must be single-shot variety, no bolt actions, hammer of hammerless, lead bullets, no gas checks, any sights (certain matches). Original Rifle: an unmodified rifle action of a design produced prior to 1915.

World-Class matches of this magnitude will bring out the finest shooters and theirhighly specialized equipment, which of course, produces very high scores. And, what makes these high scores even more astonishing is that many of these rifles date back to the 19th century! Only cast lead bullets can be used - sans gas checks - and the courses of fire range from standing on one's hind legs and firing 10-shot strings at 100 and 200 yards with iron sights! Other matches allow the use of any sighting arrangement with 16 to 24X scopes being the shooter's choice. There's a weight limit of 20 pounds, however, most rifles with sights average between 12 and 15 pounds.

Interestingly, these single-shot rifles are loaded a bit differently than one might imagine. First, the soft lead bullet is seated into the breech with the use of a special tool. The cartridge case is decapped and reprimed and a light load of 12 to 15 grains of powder is dumped into the casing. The case is then slipped into the breech behind the already seated bullet. This type of precision loading technique can produce astonishing accuracy from many of these century-old rifles.

Most of the center-fire rifles range from 30 to 40 caliber, with .32-40 or .33 being the favorites. Muzzle velocity is in the 12 to 1,500 fps range firing a 180 to 200-grain bullet. The .22 Long Rifle matches are the toughest, especially on a windy day where the flight of the bullet can often be deflected six inches at 100 yards and two feet at 200 yards. To win one of these matches takes years of learning how to "dope the wind," and reading "mirages."