72,500 shots with 9 misses

[Wprinkle]

This is probably total BS but... Form and his 50,000 rounds a year is apparently amatuer hour for this guy... If my math is correct and it usually is not.. That is 17.64 shots per minute.......

 

[MallardSX2]

Probobly could hear a damn thing. Lol

 

[atmat]

A quick google has websites like Texas State Historical Association and Texas Sports Hall of Fame repeating the story, so maybe there’s truth to it. Like much of history, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was exaggerated though.

Both he and his wife were competition and performance shooters.

Apparently he liked to do art with his gun:

 

[TaperPin]

That old story is cool. The Nylon 66 shooter was similar.

I wonder what distance is ideal for shooting 2-1/2” blocks? At ten yards they are a 25 MOA target and at 5 yards a full 50 MOA. I’m guessing somewhere between those two.

 

[TaperPin]

Interesting. . .

 

[Formidilosus]

This is probably total BS but... Form and his 50,000 rounds a year is apparently amatuer hour for this guy... If my math is correct and it usually is not.. That is 17.64 shots per minute.......
View attachment 953949

It’s real. The exhibition shooters of yore actually did it.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Not BS

 

[Macintosh]

72500 targets in 68.5 hours=1058 targets per hour
1058 targets in 1 hour=17 per minute
17 targets per minute=1 target approximately every 3 seconds
9 misses out of 72500 targets = he missed 0.012%, for a 99.988% hit rate on targets thrown in the air, with a rifle.

If real, that's pretty darn mind blowing. When did he have time to reload? Wondering if he had a loader handing him a fresh loaded rifle?

 

[Axlrod]

Of coarse it's real, It was with a Winchester!

My favorite John Wayne line, when they were forming a posse: " Let's break out some Winchesters!"

 

[RockAndSage]

There are a lot of shooting feats nobody would possibly believe, without seeing it for themselves. When it's repeatable and on-demand like this, it's nearly super-human.

I've had the good fortune to see some almost otherworldly shooting, and even to train a little under two of these guys in particular when I was really young, with handguns. A bunch of these guys were people nobody's ever heard of...but it's truly hard to describe how fast, accurate, and impossibly good they are/were. I've been chasing those performance ghosts ever since.

It's like...there's good. Then there's damn good. Then there's world class. But at some point, these rare few just blast right past "world class" and enter into a performance realm that just can't be believed without seeing it. It might sound goofy as hell, but at that point it's almost like an expression of soul, not skill.

My all-time favorite is Bob Munden - never met him, but was pricing out getting one of his non-fastdraw guns built when he passed. It's the only gun regret I have, not getting one built by him:

 

[Formidilosus]

I guess I lose sight of the reality that for most people the study of shooting is not, and was not a life long dedication as it was and is for me. The exhibition shooters (and competitions) of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s were witnessed by tens of thousands of people in events that were comparable to the “World Fair” in size and scope. People today have a very limited view of what was, compared to what is.

We have regressed in a lot of ways; maybe most.

 

[RockAndSage]

I guess I lose sight of the reality that for most people the study of shooting is not, and was not a life long dedication as it was and is for me. The exhibition shooters (and competitions) of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s were witnessed by tens of thousands of people in events that were comparable to the “World Fair” in size and scope. People today have a very limited view of what was, compared to what is.

We have regressed in a lot of ways; maybe most.

...while also generally looking back on the past generations as lessers.

It's a double-whammy in self limitation. Then add in the distractions available via electronics, and misinformation... it's a pretty potent recipe for regression.

 

[Formidilosus]

...while also generally looking back on the past generations as lessers.

It's a double-whammy in self limitation. Then add in the distractions available via electronics, and misinformation... it's a pretty potent recipe for regression.

Indeed. As well the two world wars did more to kill actual high level knowledge of shooting as a whole than anything else. The path the shooting world was on was spectacular: real data, real information, and with shooters/competitor’s shooting massive quantities of ammo per year. In just a couple of decades it went from custom rifles proof groups from the builders being 20 to 50+ shots per group as a standard, to “well the only thing that matters is the first 3 shots”.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

I have seen movies of these record shooters. They had lots of guns, waiting, loaded for them. All the shooter had to do is aim and shoot. If he had a jam or other problem, just pick up another loaded gun waiting for them. Annie Oakley was another one.

My Uncle was a world record Skeet shooter. He practiced so much, he could close his eye and break the bird. His team (5 shooters) set a world record NSSA that can never be broken. They all shot .410 shotguns and shot 500 bird matches, 100 birds per shooter). All never missed a bird....500 straight. It can be tied, but never broken.

 

[RockAndSage]

The path the shooting world was on was spectacular: real data, real information, and with shooters/competitor’s shooting massive quantities of ammo per year. In just a couple of decades it went from custom rifles proof groups from the builders being 20 to 50+ shots per group as a standard

Had no idea about the data and volumes here...it's super interesting, but frustrating to learn. Especially in wondering where we'd be if those trajectories hadn't been derailed...

 

[Formidilosus]

Had no idea about the data and volumes here...it's super interesting, but frustrating to learn. Especially in wondering where we'd be if those trajectories hadn't been derailed...

It’s a tragedy.

Remember, it was “chootin squirrels with muskets…

Flintlock hunting rifles with real adjustable aperture sights. Almost every period original flintlock and percussion hunting rifle in this museum had adjustable apertures-




Real shot group sizes-

 

[RWT]

Grew up in San Antonio and my Grandfather used to talk about AD Topperwein. I believe it’s as accurate reporting for the time allowed for. People actually seeing it and not AI generated.

 

[RockAndSage]

It’s a tragedy.

Remember, it was “chootin squirrels with muskets…

Flintlock hunting rifles with real adjustable aperture sights. Almost every period original flintlock and percussion hunting rifle in this museum had adjustable apertures-
View attachment 954079



Real shot group sizes-
View attachment 954080

That is so damn cool.

One of those guys I mentioned, was doing the black powder rendezvous circuit when I was a kid. I saw him smacking down boar silhouettes out past 600yds, seated unsupported (elbows on knees), with an original, non-reproduction .80 caliber rifled flintlock, patched round-ball. They were enormous slugs, with a crazy flight-time. Modern repros are pretty standardized with bore size, and I have no idea who made that .80 cal, but it was a hell of a thing to witness.

Those targets in the photos you shared, just amazing. More stuff people wouldn't believe without seeing it, especially with a muzzleloader. What was the museum? I'd love to check it out.

 

[Macintosh]

@Formidilosus What museum?

Had to look up how far a rod was. 5.5 yards. So 9 rods=49.5yards, 11 rods=60 yards, 20 rods=110 yards.