2024 Desert International Target Rifle Championship

[JonnyV]

We can video how great your PP loads shoot and Post the groups here.

The risk one assumes by agreeing to be on video lol!

[semtav]

We can video how great your PP loads shoot and Post the groups here.

The risk one assumes by agreeing to be on video lol!

You'd be welcome to put me on there, but you'd have to put a disclaimer on the video.
"For entertainment only, not intended for educational purposes"

[mike herth]

I'm happy to see all this encouragement for PP shooters, and from DD himself, sort of. But he has me convinced to try GG in my Shiloh (hope bobw doesn't see this). I have just one GG mold from long ago (Postell) and ain't buying any more. As for PP, KW has me convinced to wet wrap. Now if we could just get some shooting weather, I couldn't keep wiping patches on the bench in the wind the other day.

[semtav]

I'm happy to see all this encouragement for PP shooters, and from DD himself, sort of. But he has me convinced to try GG in my Shiloh

Watch out, he'd probably have you shooting powder coated bullets behind smokeless powder if he could.

[JonnyV]

I'm happy to see all this encouragement for PP shooters, and from DD himself, sort of. But he has me convinced to try GG in my Shiloh

Watch out, he'd probably have you shooting powder coated bullets behind smokeless powder if he could.

The above statement may be a “slight” exaggeration…

[desert deuce]

I have to wonder if SEMTAV engaged in a bit of modified plagiarism:

SEMTAV: "Plus if we could get Bob and Dean out of their easy chairs, we'd have a slew of fun loving shooters."

The primary purpose of the Desert International is to provide a high quality event that is fun for the shooters. Perfect for fun loving shooters.

[JonnyV]

I think next year, I'm gonna pass on the silhouette and concentrate on a few days of practice with my 22. Truth be told, I could go hard in for a three day 22 match....

[JonnyV]

Day one of 22 at 200 yards, day two at 300, and then day three could be the “22 Iron Man” (no spotter) at 300 yards…then commence with the big guns at 500 yards on day 4.

[desert deuce]

Unlike other esteemed posters on this thread, and quite a few others on other threads, I clearly am capable of rational thought.

To the point: I have rationalized that those wishing to view the compiled equipment lists that were submitted by the shooters at the 2024 Desert International Long Range Black Powder Target Rifle Event may 'soon' be able to do so.

Now to the RATIONALE: Two avid and dedicated Black Powder Target Rifle Aficionados have established places that anyone can go and find valuable information about our sport and I plan to forward to them the compiled equipment list for posting on their site. This is not to slight Shiloh Forum in the least. The idea is to give a nod to current competitors working to promote our sport in current times. With that said, Kenny Wasserburger and Johnny V, exclusively, may post the list should they desire to do so on their new media. It then falls to those interested to DISCOVER their sites and glean the information I am being pestered to provide.

So go ahead and discover these two sites and wait patiently for the list to be posted. The term 'soon' is subject to interpretation.

[mike herth]

I'm not a scope user and wonder which shooters at the DI are using a scope and the impact on the scores. Is there a clear advantage of scope over irons, especially at 1000 yards? Some matches have separate classes for irons and scope, is there a clear difference to support that distinction? Just curious, I intend to stick with irons.

[semtav]

Mike.
In regards to the paper patch question.
It's really irrelevant who showed up with paper patch and how they fared.
Winter before last when I decided to quit posting tripe on the forum for a while. I went and studied a lot of posts and articles on results of shooting paper patch loads at matches.
I kept seeing a common thread in those that had udder failures. They either threw together a paper patch load and headed to ( pick your match. )
Or they decided to try a new ( pick your poison)
A new bullet a new powder, a new gun, a new load, ad nauseum.

And many of these were normally high placing individuals.

What I have deduced from this is, find a good load and method of shooting that load and practice with that load for a long time. And once you have it do not deviate from it one iota. Don't put your other leg in your pants first when you get up, don't drink a different brand of coffee, do not change one damn thing especially regarding your paper patch loading and shooting regiment until they have been thoroughly tested under all conditions before you take them to big match.

Paperpatching is fun and rewarding for those that really appreciate the challenges, but it is not forgiving and any little slip up can be met with devastating results even with the best of regiments.

So forget what others are doing and decide what you really want to do and stick with it.

[JonnyV]

Mike: the consensus so far (mostly accepted) is that scopes don’t give any scoring advantage over irons (at least out to 800 yards or so). I shot my first two Quigley’s with irons.

That said… I switched to the DZ scope for my 3rd Q and for the DI match. On the 22 match day, I scored my first (only) perfect score (200 points with 9 x rings). At the Q, I was able to clearly make out the targets even when they had heavy lead splatters covering the entire surface. Iron guys…not so much (at least on my relay). I’m sure that Aviator had no issues but shooters with super powers don’t count.

[desert deuce]

I encouraged Aviator to leave his cape and blue long sleeve jersey with the red capital S on the chest home when attending matches. Guess he took the advice to heart.

[desert deuce]

For not only for your information, but also for your reading pleasure, I should point out some important things about the shooters and the scores.

First, and this is an amazing story: It was as I recall the late spring of 2023 and I was at the Tucson Rifle Club doing ladder loads when this courteous man approached me and asked a few questions about his 45-70 Shiloh sharps. I glanced over at his truck, saw the New Hampshire license plate and connected the license plate and his accent. Over the summer and into the fall I convinced him to try a local silhouette .22 and big bore match. That set the hook. Eventually, and late in the game we discussed him shooting in the Desert International even though he had never fired any sort of paper target match. I loaned him a BACO mould, some 2F Swiss and Federal 150M primers and he went to work after getting a dead wind zero on his rifle. Kirk at Shiloh did some last-minute adjustments on the rifle, he finished load development and finished loading two days before leaving for Phoenix. The rest is history. Jim Fernald shot his first ever Black Powder Target Rifle Match at the Desert International January 2024. Check out his scores. If this "Rough Cut" Yank from New Hampshire can do it anyone reading here can do it also.

Then there is the saga of the dynamic duo from Georgia, Kevin Hurst and Doug Gazaway. As you can tell they both started out doing quite well until the night before the 800 yard event when their vehicle was broken in to and rifles were stolen. As you can see from their scores earlier on they were doing quite well and in spite of bad luck continued on. Hope to see them back in 2025 as they are truly fine gentlemen and competent competitors.

Curtis Stables from North Pole, Alaska, usually ships his ammo components to me and Curtis loads at night in a tent at Ben Avery between events. This year the U.S. Postal Service totally destroyed his shipment of cast bullets. Curtis, last minute, had to cast more bullets and ship them Postal Service proof from Alaska to me in Arizona. Curtis is also one of four volunteers that do target and pit preparations before and during the shooting and since our number one Pit Boss, Skip Burks, had a heart attack and would not be able attend. So Steve Farringer swung by Skip's in Illinois and picked up the target building materials. (Talked to Skip yesterday and he is doing well.) Of note, Steve Farringer had slipped on ice and injured his knee which could have reduced the target crew from four to one because I had partially torn five ligaments in my arm and was incapacitated to the extent I could not pick up a cup of coffee with that arm. Once I received the shipment from Alaska I loaded Curtis' match ammo here at home in Rio Rico because he would not have time to do that at Phoenix. Added to the problem we had to move target operations from the range to the carpenters building and we finished building targets about 5 PM the afternoon before the shooting started the following day. Fortunately, Chip Mate and Kevin Griggs stopped by to lend a hand at the Carpenters building. Even so, some target building/rebuilding still had to be done between shooting events.

And, the Grand Finale with Don Johnson and Blair Svihra starring in, "what to do, what to do when things turn to spit ?" I was spotting for Jon Viebrock for the duration of the Ironman Event. Immediately to our right was the Don and Blair show and since I was only spotting, not shooting, I had a full-time ring side seat. Everything was pretty much going as expected until the last event on the last day for Blair when disaster struck. Important to mention that Blair was pushing the envelope to win both the Steve Rhoades 1000 yard World Championship AND the Dan Theodore Commemorative IRONMAN. Rifles to the line is called. Here comes Blair, rifle in hand and does his routine in preparation to shoot his last ten record shots from 1000 yards of his last relay on the last day of the Desert International without the aid of a spotter. Don just keeping score. Kaboom, his rifle speaks and the first sighter is on paper. Encouraged, Blair pops open the action on his rifle and only part of the cartridge case comes out. PANIC! Despite Herculean efforts the stuck case was not removed. Blair switched to his silhouette rifle, borrowed a scope from another rifle, had to remove the front sight from his silhouette rifle to see the target then commenced to shoot the overall Event winning score.
Not only did he win, he defeated the weather, mirage and wind, he overcame the fickle finger of fate all in one relay.

Never forget, but for Bill Loughrige, President of AZWINS, this event would not have happened. Remember to thank him when you see him.

[desert deuce]

NOW, if we can just get a full length video of SEMTAV and Mike Herth shooting the IRONMAN that should be really entert, I mean interesting.