Schuetzen Rifle

I just dug my target rifles out of the deepest darkest reaches of the small arms locker.
OK, OK. I'm showing off.
But first, a little history.
...WARNING... BORING OLD MAN CONTENT...WARNING...
From about 1880 to WW1 Schuetzen Matches were a popular sport with a large following. Big city newspapers covered matches in the same manner as Baseball. The shooters were nationally known. Even today many people know of Harry M. Pope. The great barrel maker and marksman. Harry set off hand and bench rest records that stood till the 1960s.
The current game has simple rules.
1. You must use plain base lead bullets. ( No jackets, no gas checks.)
2. Rifles must be single shot. (No bolt actions)
Any sights, any stock.
Most matches are fired at 100 or 200 yards.
There are bench rest courses but most are standing off hand.(no shooting slings allowed).
It's a fun time. You can see modern custom guns and vintage originals. You can also see people shooting NEF Handy Rifles in the same match as a Sharps Borchardt. It's a great gun show just walking down the firing line.
Now on to my favorite toy. It was built by a well known custom knife maker who has since gone on to build rifles professionally. He started with a Ruger #3 action, did a speed lock conversion with a single set trigger. The barrel is half octagon in .32/40 Marlin/Ballard. He made the dovetail casehardened scope blocks from scratch. The stock is traditional off hand pattern with nickel silver hooked butt.
I'll post picks of my other rifles later.

That is a gorgeous rifle.

Thats not boring but then I am an old man. Your custom Ruger #1 is an awsome rifle. I also enjoyed the history lesson. Don

Ever since reading a long article about Shoyen in one of my dad's ancient Gun Digest's (which I think I still have) I've always been fascinated bt the meticulous perfection of these rifles. Especiall how they would load the bullets throogh the muzzle so it was engraved by the rifling and seat it in the chambered case that way. At least that's how I think they did it. It's been a long time since I read up on these. Those old rifles, like your personal custom one, are very elegant rifles.

Beautiful rifle!

Bear with me because I'm going off memory here. In the late 80's they decided to have regional shoots. They claimed they wanted to narrow down the field in Boulder, Colorado because so many competitors were showing up and they wanted everyone interested to have a chance. They had the first regional shoot here in Midvale Ohio and I just had to attend, as a spectator of course. The only thing I took was my spotting scope.

It was a wonderful sight and was hosted by the Midvale Shooting Club & Bullseye Bar-B-Que sauce. There were a lot of contenders with various rifles and the newest model was a Ruger #1 in .45-70. Unfortunately he never made it past the first round. There were falling blocks and rolling blocks of various calibers but those shooting the heavies were the favorites. In the end the only competitors that really had a chance were those that regularly attended the original event in Boulder and most had custom built Schuetzen rifles worth some big bucks. A lot of the guys shooting were dressed in the traditional garb and were very protective of their loading/shooting secrets. They used bullet seaters to seat the bullet into the breach then placed the charged case in behind it being careful not to lower the muzzle below horizontal so the powder remained at the rear. A couple of the better shooters even had a dimple cast in the base of the bullet and made sure it was placed in the breech in the exact same position every time. Black powder was also the mainstay.

A lot of shooting was done that day and in the end it came down to just two competitors. The shoot off was at 200yds shooting off hand, with open sights at a packet of bar-b-que sauce! It was tense to say the least since one guy would shoot and they'd have to wait to see if the sauce would run down the target since no one was allowed down range. It took both shooters three shots before one finally missed!
Absolutely amazing to think they were shooting plain lead bullets with black powder, off hand AND with open sights!

Don't know if they ever hosted the event again but I had a great time that day and one I'll never forget.

Not boring, but then I am old also. Funny, the most recent Little John's auction had an item that grabbed my attention. Winchester high wall, with custom stock (schutzen BR style) in 219 Donaldson Wasp, with a Lyman target spot scope mounted. I've been going back to their site to see when they post the results of that auction to see just what it brought.

Anyone interested in Single-Shot rifles, especially the old ones should know about The American Single-Shot Rifle Association, of which I am a life member. They have shoots every year and put out a really nice periodical. They are mostly into the older stuff, Winchester Highwalls, Sharps and Remington stuff, but there are several people making reproductions now that are awesome.
My Dad was a lifetime collector of Single-Shots, and I have access to his collection, including some rifles by the most well known barrel makers. These are fascinating rifles.

Jim

My first true passion was single shots I am still addicted to them today...nice gun!!

Got to love the single shots!

Chapter 2.
Thank you all for your comments. It's nice to know others like these things. I find it sad that so few are willing to "Stand on your hind legs and shoot like a gentleman" as my old friend Charlie Dell used to say.
But on to the next item.
This is what happens when an old Gunsmith gathers the misc. junk in the shop and makes a little something.
I call it the Brown Remchester for obvious reasons. Here is the recipe if you would care to try for yourself.
Take a Remington #2 Rolling Block action.
Add a Winchester Model 75 target Barrel. (Make an adapter collar because the Winch. barrel is too small to fit the Rem. action.)
Fold in a nice hunk of American Walnut and bake.
Top with a 12X Lyman Supertarget Spot Scope.
Now take it to the range and win matches.
I shot this rig in the 200 yard rim fire bench rest match. I didn't win them all but whoever won had to beat this rifle.