My Third Great Uncle MOH Recipient

[RattlesnakeJack]

Willie:

19th Century Military cartridge rifles are a blast - literally as well as figuratively ......

A couple of images of me shooting in the Single Shot Battle Rifle class at GAF Grand Muster 2008 -
(click each thumbnail to enlarge .....)

   

In keeping with my British Empire persona (my uniform in the above pics is Queen's Own Rifles of Canada, circa 1885) I am shooting a .577/.450 Martini Henry rifle, which chambers a rather 'substantial' cartridge (service load 85-90 grains black powder with 480 grain bullet.)  Here is one on the right of a 'wimpy' li'l .45-70 for comparison .... the cartridge on the left side is another British Empire service round I shoot .....for the .577 Snider-Enfield, which the Martini-Henry replaced -

[Fox Creek Kid]

RJ, do you live near a lead mine to "feed" all those Big Bores? 

[RattlesnakeJack]

Well .... almost!  A friend of mine  (longtime black powder - and now cowboy action - shooter) got 'discovered' by the local contractor engaged by our telephone company to replace the big old lead-cased multi-strand cables with fiberoptics ---- a "free" way for them to dispose of this "hazardous material" - already have more lead than we can shoot off in a lifetime, probably! 

It's wheelweights for hardening material that seem to be getting more difficult to acquire  .....

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[Willie Dixon]

wow... that is a huge round!!!

I love big guns, ever since shooting out a go-fast boat in the Coast Guard with a .50 cal sniper!

so... the GAF... I'm intrigued, and I have questions...
how does it work?  Like CAS like NCOWS and SASS or is it a once a year thing or what?

are there anybody either in Southern California or the Flagstaff, Prescott Az area?

thanks!

[River City John]

www.grandarmyofthefrontier.org

Start here, then visit The Barracks Forum.

[RattlesnakeJack]

GAF basically started out as an internet discussion group for people who cotton to the idea of combining their interest in Victorian-era military history with 'frontier action shooting' - such as those of us who adopt a military persona for our shooting within SASS and NCOWS ..... but has been developing into an active shooting organization in its own right.  The annual Grand Muster has been held for several years now, and folks are beginning to put on other shoots (locally/regionally) following the GAF concept.  Even the GAF Musters permit 'regular' frontier action shooters to participate - in 'Scout' class - with their usual firearms (i.e. pistol caliber lever-action rifle and one of their two regular revolvers .... no shotguns, normally, in keeping with the Victorian-era military theme.)
 
As for contacts, go to the "Rosters" section of the GAF website, where there are maps showing the Departmental breakdown - clicking on the appropriate Department on the map of the US will bring up a listing of the HQ and Divisional officers, and members in that Dept.   As you'll see, California is in the Dept. of the Pacific and Arizona is in the Dept. of the Platte .....

Actually, if you start 'hanging out' in The Barracks here in Cas City, you'll soon begin to develop a better 'feel' for GAF - introduce yourself there, and somebody from your vicinity will undoubtedly respond ....

[Willie Dixon]

thanks.

for some reason the GAF website doesn't like my computer too much... that's why I asked the questions here seeing as that's where my topic headed. I can't even find the "Rosters" section!  Probably because my parents have the screen resolution set really low so they can read it!

Thanks for the help