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Report from the 27th World Muzzle-Loading Championships

Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2016 6:55 pm
by Mike M.
Well, I'm back...and finally over a nasty cold I caught on the way home enough to post.

I headed out to the World Championships in Sarlospuzta, Hungary. Flew into Budapest. Interesting city, rather small. Despite the fact that the Warsaw Pact collapsed 26 years ago, Eastern Europe still shows scars. In particular, the level of development was distinctly behind that of Western Europe. Budapest struck me as being a rather small city, not a great metropolis like London, Paris, or Vienna. Here's some photos I took from Buda Castle.

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We stayed in Kecksemet, a town about an hour south of Budapest. It was about the size of Lexington Park. Good hotel.

The range itself was at a resort. Here are some photos:

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and the resort-to-range shuttle.

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Overall, the U.S. Team did OK, not great. I only had one good event, but it was enough to win us a silver in the replica percussion revolver team match. We did have one pistol shooter, Bob Lineaweaver, who set a new world record with the original revolver at 50 meters - which won not only that match but the revolver aggregate. (and people wonder why I put such emphasis on practice at 50 yards) Our shotgunners did OK.

The British team did quite well in pistol and shotgun. The Germans dominated most of the rifle events, as they normally do.

Hungary was a very interesting country. Most of the people I ran into spoke some English. Very nice folks. Good food if you like a meat-and-potatoes diet.

I did get involved in a major rules change...which took up an entire day. There were some rules concerning replica arms that needed major clarification, and I took the initiative to tackle a rewrite. Got elected to the Executive Committee for my trouble.

Re: Report from the 27th World Muzzle-Loading Championships

Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2016 1:02 am
by 6string
Hi Mike,

Thanks for an awesome post! I'm glad you took the time to write this up. I take it you shoot for the USIMLT?

Anything else you can offer to enrich our knowledge of these type of matches would be most appreciated!

Thanks,
Jim

Re: Report from the 27th World Muzzle-Loading Championships

Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2016 2:57 am
by j-team

Re: Report from the 27th World Muzzle-Loading Championships

Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2016 11:53 am
by Mike M.
I was team captain for the U.S. Team this cycle. Meant I got to drown in paperwork.

The rules issue related to the definition of a reproduction firearm. The wording originally in use implied that any report arm had to be an exact copy of a specific, identifiable-by-serial-number original firearm. This left some very popular designs, notably the Feinwerkbau History #1, out in the cold. It also left many other guns in question.

What I proposed was a division. Reproductions of military arms would have to copy a specific type. Civilian arms would NOT have to copy a specific original arm, but must have features appropriate to the period of the original arms. There were also a bunch of small tweaks to other rules.

The matches themselves cover a wide range of arms. We've got matchlock pistol, flintlock pistol, percussion pistol, and percussion revolver matches. On the long gun side, there are events for matchlocks, flintlock muskets, flintlock rifles, percussion military rifles, and percussion target rifles. Not to mention flintlock and percussion shotgun matches.

Most matches are on the international pistol target (B-17). 13 shots, best 10 for score. No separate sighters. And nicking the scoring ring doesn't count...we score to the center of the bullet hole.

We had about 380 shooters in total, from 28 or 29 countries. The U.S. fielded 17 competitors. BTW, we are recruiting. All disciplines. The 2018 Worlds will be in Eisenstadt, Austria. But the U.S. Team will be largely picked at the 2017 Can-Am shoot, currently planned for Barrie, Ontario, next August.

Re: Report from the 27th World Muzzle-Loading Championships

Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2016 3:47 pm
by j-team
Mike M. wrote: What I proposed was a division. Reproductions of military arms would have to copy a specific type. Civilian arms would NOT have to copy a specific original arm, but must have features appropriate to the period of the original arms. There were also a bunch of small tweaks to other rules.
That is an excellent proposal, reflecting the real spirit of the discipline in my opinion.

Re: Report from the 27th World Muzzle-Loading Championships

Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2016 6:17 pm
by Mike M.
Well it went through, pretty much by acclamation. A good thing.

FWIW, full match results are at http://mlaic.org/2016/08/22/final-resul ... pionships/

Re: Report from the 27th World Muzzle-Loading Championships

Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2016 3:48 am
by Spencer
will my cap and ball .44 Ruger now be acceptable in MLAIC?

Re: Report from the 27th World Muzzle-Loading Championships

Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2016 4:56 am
by j-team
Spencer wrote:will my cap and ball .44 Ruger now be acceptable in MLAIC?
You mean one of those ugly modern things with adjustable sights...

Re: Report from the 27th World Muzzle-Loading Championships

Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2016 11:18 am
by Mike M.
Spencer wrote:will my cap and ball .44 Ruger now be acceptable in MLAIC?
No. Revolvers were mass-produced. You would need a repro of a specific type or original gun.

Re: Report from the 27th World Muzzle-Loading Championships

Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2016 2:32 am
by 6string
Thanks for posting the videos and other detailed information.
I was amazed at the potential with the matchlocks and the flintlock shotgun. They must really have their lock tuning perfected to get such fast ignition times.
I appreciate the information concerning the scoring specifics, namely the scoring reference being the center of the shot, and the best 10 out of 13 rule.
As we get to scheduling our club matches for the new year, I might try getting some black powder precision matches scheduled on our open "fun" match dates. Our black powder participation has dropped off, as has our bullseye/int'l pistol participation. Maybe this would be a good way to inspire both groups.

Again, my thanks for posting all this great info.

Best Regards,
Jim

Re: Report from the 27th World Muzzle-Loading Championships

Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2016 3:17 am
by SamEEE
Looks like a good time! I must learn a little more about the discipline. Fantastic videos.

Re: Report from the 27th World Muzzle-Loading Championships

Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2016 2:44 am
by SamEEE
Interesting video from one of the winners - with a Walker revolver no less.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLnbuAwIjDY