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 I
have tried to refrain from writing an editorial on the
ongoing controversy regarding Spirit of the Game or what
calibers, powder, powder charges, and powder factors are
used by those that participate in our sport. This
issue has been somewhat overdone in the past couple of
years, and people are probably tired of hearing about
it. However, it seems that I just can't help
myself. So, I am going to expound on a few
specifics.
I try to be tolerant of
others and realize that we each have our own
perspectives of how the shooting disciplines should be
played. Black Powder Cartridge Rifle Silhouette
(BPCRS) requires the use of black powder only, and when
loading black powder the case needs to be completely
filled for safety reasons and the powder compressed
slightly for both accuracy and safety reasons. If
one is not comfortable shooting a .45/90 or .45/70 at
steel targets at ranges from 200 to 500 meters, then
they move down to a smaller caliber such as a .40/65 or
.38/55. These later two calibers have much less
recoil due to using a bullet of lesser weight and a
smaller powder charge, yet their cases should still be
completely filled. The .38/55, and on occasion
even the .40/65, will not always knock the ram over at
500 meters depending upon where it is hit, but that is
the trade-off. Deciding on what caliber and rifle
to use is naturally the shooter's choice, but they
must adhere to the rule that requires the use of black
powder. They are not allowed to use smokeless or
even duplex loads. Unfortunately, such does not
seem to be the case when applied to the game of cowboy
action shooting. From my perspective, when one
shoots in a black powder category, their cases must be
filled with black powder or an approved black powder
substitute slightly compressed by the bullet. I do
not believe that it is in the Spirit of the Game if you
use a duplex load (combination of black powder and
smokeless powder) or add a filler such as corn meal or
media in order to reduce recoil and the amount of black
powder you have to see through to make you more
competitive. It certainly isn't a load anyone
would have used in the Old West! If a person
doesn't like the recoil of a .45, .44/40, or .38/40
and wants to be more competitive when shooting black
powder and still stay under the umbrella of what
represents the Spirit of the Game, they could drop down
in caliber and shoot a .38 Long Colt, a .32-20, or a .38
Special. However, even then the velocity of a
fully loaded black powder cartridge is 100 to 150 feet
per second (fps) or more, above the velocity levels that
many competitors use today. The data on page 224
of John Taffin's Action Shooting Cowboy Style shows a
Cimarron 1851 Navy Conversion with a 5" barrel using a
.38 Long Colt cartridge and 17 grains of black powder
produces an average of 755 fps. The .32/20 with 20
grains of black powder and a 115-gr. bullet averages 835
fps. Okay, lets look at the .38 Special.
With 20 grains of black powder, the .38 Special falls
within the 700-800 fps range. Research shows that
early smokeless powder loads for the .32 S&W, .38
Special, and .32/20 were as follows: 720 fps, 785 fps,
and 1,015 fps.
Editorial
Continued
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