Long Range Rimfire match with the 1897 Cowboy

Last week I shot the Long Range match with my iron sighted 1897 Cowboy.  It was a LOT of fun.

Most of the shooters arrived with scoped bolt rifles - Anschutz, CZ, Remington and Ruger -  plus one 22lr AR and one with and Old Stevens single shot.  I was the only iron sighted "competitor."

I really like the match format.  It uses the same 1/2 size silhouettes at twice the distance of the Cowboy smallbore levergun match.  Shooters get 10 minutes to sight-in on the swinger target and shoot their 10 shots for score.  Plenty of time though I found that shooting a lot of sighters is fatiguing on the eyes and concentration wains toward the end of the scoring string.  PACE is key.  Except for the 50 meter chickens, which must be shot Offhand, shooters may shoot from any position and use a front rest or bipod.  I choose to use the excellent Okanogan Shooting Sticks from the sitting position.

I started on the 100 meter boars.  I had enough elevation in my rear elevator (with three notches to spare) for a right on the belly hold.  I managed four of the first five and then faltered hitting only one out of the next five.  I had plenty of time left and should have paused to rest my eyes. 

The 150 meter Turkeys required a bead covering the target even with the top of the head from the top notch on the elevator which made judging windage challenging.  I paced better but only managed a single bird.  bummer.  lots of near misses though...


The 200 meter Rams required some (~4') hold over.  There was just enough breeze to require an off center hold and from the top notch.  I was able to topple 3 of them.

Shooting the Chickens Offhand evened the playing field between the iron sights and the Scope classes.  I tied for top score on the Chickens but felt disappointed as they were still a few standing when I was done.  Turned one sideways...

38-55 Winchester Starline Brass - A Case Study

Starline finally did a run on the 38-55 2.125" brass and 500 of them arrived on my Doorstep


I tried to bump it up to 1,000 but they didn't have the inventory...  


Starline 2.125 and Winchester 38-55 brass


Right out of the box


Side by side comparison

The Lee 379-250 RF shoots very well in both W's and my 336 Cowboys.  With the Winchester brass the Lee bullet must be sized to .379" in order to cycle into W's and mine will cycle them as cast.  His shoots the .379" sized bullets very well and mine has a definite preference for the larger as cast variety.


Lee bullet as cast


The as cast Lee bullet in Starline Brass wide dimension is .395"  Loaded with the (excellent) RCBS Cowboy dies, crimping die set ~5/8 of a turn past touching.


The Winchester brass loaded with an as cast Lee Bullet.  This round will cycle easily through my CB but NOT W's.   With the Starline brass and the fatter as cast bullet it will cycle easily in his rifle.

The OAL for the Lee bullet in the Starline 38-55 2.125" case is 2.530" using all of the crimp groove. It cycles flawlessly through my CB.  Comparatively the OAL I've been using with the Winchester/Lee combo is 2.500"

A 2.550" OAL will cycle through the Marlin 336 Cowboy's chamber.


In tests over the chronograph there have been no appreciable differences in velocity between the Starline and Winchester Brass.  Accuracy too seems to be unaffected.

Postal Matches

I enjoy postal matches, especially the creative varieties.  Over at http://postalmatch.blogspot.com/ there is such a match that is a lot of fun.  I shot it today with the Single Six.  Word of caution...  READ the rules carefully.  I thought I did great until I re-read the rules to score my target...  OOPS!  I can be such a doofus sometimes!

Even if you don't send in your entry, it is a fun match to do.

$5.95 - $1.00 (penalty for not "signing" my target) = $4.95