Old school bullseye guns

moosedog those are a thing of beauty, thank you for posting the photos, I'm envious. I loved shooting Bullseye, I miss it a lot. I once had the honor and pleasure of meeting Mr. Roy Jink's when he spoke at one of our annual award's banquets here in NY. That is the IPA League, Mr. Jinks was President of the League at one time and was kind enough to make the trip and be our guest speaker that year. I was keyed in on his every word, I knew what a special night that was and that it was one I'd remember forever.

I had tried my hand at a few other shooting competitions but one match of Bullseye and I was hooked. There was something very special about Bullseye, I considered it a "gentleman's sport". I met a lot of wonderful folks, kind and courteous, I'd walk into a range full of strangers and feel right at home, before a match was over I felt part of a family, every time. I never felt I was competing against anyone other then myself, always striving to improve and do better. And where else could you stand elbow to elbow on the line next to top shooters and have them make you feel an equal? And everyone was always willing to help each other, I never left a match feeling it wasn't fun.

One day I'd love to read some history on the Bullseye sport, mostly where and when it originated from. I seen a lot of photos at ranges of generations of Bullseye shooters from years gone by, somehow I wished I could go back in time and been there but I doubt it would have really been any different, good folks and good times. If anyone knows of where I could find some reading on the history of Bullseye or has any info or stories I'd be ever so grateful if you would share.
 
6string said:
On the other hand, Modern American Pistols and Revolvers by one time president of the USRA, A.C. Gould (1894) is a treasury of early bullseye history and of the revolvers used.

It's available in reprints.

Best Regards,
Jim
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Thank you Jim! I'll have to look up the USRA and see if they can hook me up with a copy. I have some metals from the postal matches I shot with them over the years, it was a great way to get more shooting in. Winning metals was never expected but a nice bonus and they serve as good memories. To get them out of a drawer I built a display case for them, have it on the wall over my reloading bench, not the best pic but what I have right handy.

ETA: I found it on Amazon, Thanks again Jim!
 

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Nice revolvers, bulleye shooting with a revolver is a lot of fun. Those K series target pistols are a joy to shoot.
 
I still use a 60's era model 17 for .22 bulleye shooting and a bit later vintage 14 for centerfire. Shoot them as well or better than every auto I have ever used including the much vaunted model 41.
 
I thought I'd show a pre war bullseye set featuring a first year K-22 and a 38 M&P Target from 1921. They are housed in an NRA case made by Hartman Luggage Co. of New York in the 1930's. Bill
 

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bracebeemer said:
I thought I'd show a pre war bullseye set featuring a first year K-22 and a 38 M&P Target from 1921. They are housed in an NRA case made by Hartman Luggage Co. of New York in the 1930's. Bill
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Wow, that's a nice collection! History right there, the stories they carry! Love the old shell boxes and supplies, nicely put together collection, don't ever separate it!

I have a small collection of vintage ammo boxes, odds and ends of hunting and shooting related items. I always loved anything vintage with the shooting sports, if the price was reasonable I'd pick something up and find a place for it in my office/reloading room. I'm afraid it will all get tossed into boxes and sold for pennies in a yard sale when I'm gone, no one else in the family has any interest in my stuff.
 
Bullseye was always one of my favorite matches. We have a range (for rimfire only) in the basement of our Jr High School, (built in the 30's). 20 positions with cable & trolley target systems. We had convinced the school about 15+ years ago to improve the air handling and have good air exchange, by keeping it clean we passed an EPA inspection last fall. I ran the winter league for about 30 years, and can say we filled the 20 points one relay and about half for the second relay.

I have mentioned it to quite a few that bullseye is the foundation for about all pistol shooting. Once you learn the stance, hold, trigger, sight picture, breathing, follow through it can all be transitioned over to about any other pistol shooting.
 
I started Bullseye shooting in the mid-60s and it was a popular activity then. I quit in 1984 when I moved to an area which had no organized shooting activity of that sort. Early on, many Bullseye shooters used revolvers for the .22 and "any CF caliber" events. Then it seemed everyone was using semiauto pistols for all events, with shooters using their .45 pistols for the "any CF caliber" event. And everyone used .22 autopistols, usually customized Hi-Standards, sometimes Rugers. I used a Colt Match Woodsman. For awhile I used a K-38 revolver, but it just was not competitive with the .45. Just as the K-22 revolver was not competitive with a good .22 semiauto. And that is a brief story of the downfall of the K-series revolver (and also Colt revolvers) in Bullseye matches - they just were unable hold their own against customized and accurized semiautos in serious Bullseye competition. Of course today Bullseye shooting has been eclipsed by all of the so-called "Combat Themed" shooting games, and interest in Bullseye competitive shooting has waned in most parts of the country. Not exciting enough, I suppose.
 
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DWalt said:
Of course today Bullseye shooting has been eclipsed by all of the so-called "Combat Themed" shooting games, and interest in Bullseye competitive shooting has waned in most parts of the country. Not exciting enough, I suppose.
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You know, today the world has to go fast.
Fast food. Fast cars and bikes. Fast processors in PCs. Fast track at the airport....
Here in Italy we are going to appreciate even more Slow food vs fast food, bike commuting vs car, and so on.
We need to stop sometimes, and think, meditate.
Thinking is dangerous because forces people to awareness...
Bullseye shooting , for me, is meditation and relax. I love.
 
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Moosedog - thanks for the photos of those pretty guns. Also, thanks for the words about Al Hemming - I have several boxes of .38 Special wadcutters from Hemming Reloading Service and never knew the story behind them.
 
Here's my model 16-3 with a K-38 muzzle brake on it. After a while, it worked loose and my groups went downhill fast. I tightened it about as much as the one on my K-38, but I suspect that the K-32 barrel is just a fraction smaller in diameter. I understand that S&W may have made some muzzle brakes for the K-32. I have never seen one, so if anyone has one please show and tell.
While shooting the 16-3, I was able to shoot this slow fire 95-4 maybe 5 X (didn't plug it) which I am happy with.
About this 16-3. It is quite a story. It was shipped to Peterborough Gun Shop in Ontario Canada August 31st 1972. I hooked up with it's owner on the early internet and he was a Canadian Bullseye Shooter. I bought it for $500 in 2001. It had the target hammer and trigger which I like but it had some finish issues where it may have been stored improperly. I got a form 6 from the ATF and after jumping thru hoops on both sides of the border, it was received by a gun shop in Maine. It was a True Value Hardware that had an FFL.
You can imagine my excitement and anticipation to get this gun. Several weeks went by and no gun. I finally called the True Value and found out that the person in charge received the gun and then went on vacation. While he was gone, things piled up on his desk and some one stacked items on top of the gun. It was forgotten until I finally got in touch with him about three weeks later.
I later had S&W refinish it. Sometimes acquiring a certain gun is a memorable experience.
 

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moosedog said:
Here's my model 16-3 with a K-38 muzzle brake on it. After a while, it worked loose and my groups went downhill fast. I tightened it about as much as the one on my K-38, but I suspect that the K-32 barrel is just a fraction smaller in diameter. I understand that S&W may have made some muzzle brakes for the K-32. I have never seen one, so if anyone has one please show and tell.
While shooting the 16-3, I was able to shoot this slow fire 95-4 maybe 5 X (didn't plug it) which I am happy with.
About this 16-3. It is quite a story. It was shipped to Peterborough Gun Shop in Ontario Canada August 31st 1972. I hooked up with it's owner on the early internet and he was a Canadian Bullseye Shooter. I bought it for $500 in 2001. It had the target hammer and trigger which I like but it had some finish issues where it may have been stored improperly. I got a form 6 from the ATF and after jumping thru hoops on both sides of the border, it was received by a gun shop in Maine. It was a True Value Hardware that had an FFL.
You can imagine my excitement and anticipation to get this gun. Several weeks went by and no gun. I finally called the True Value and found out that the person in charge received the gun and then went on vacation. While he was gone, things piled up on his desk and some one stacked items on top of the gun. It was forgotten until I finally got in touch with him about three weeks later.
I later had S&W refinish it. Sometimes acquiring a certain gun is a memorable experience.
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Nice scaring experience :) ... do you mean that the delivery service forgot your weapon? It sounds incredible!
However, I'm a maniac about grips, and I see a very nice set of Fitz target !
 
That muzzle brake on the K32 is exactly like the one I have for my Model 25-2. The gun and the brake are nickel-plated and were bought separately about 20 years apart.
 
I never shot formal bullseye however I enjoy shooting bullseye and ppc target guns very much. I also use my bullseye gun boxes weekly. Thank you for sharing
 
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