It takes a tremendous amount of dedication and a want to win. When one has reached that point in life they will find the time.

J.Louis

Hello, Schuetzenmiester..I here ya on the fun part...When I do make it out to range..I want to relax..have fun..and perhaps LEARN something.  It seems everyone is in a big hurry today!..even the guys at range all seem to want to shoot fast..and as soon as the all clear is called..practically run down range & back!
   I guess that is what I like about single shot rifle shooting...especially if using black powder...it forces you to slow down.  
   The other day..I had whole range to myself..there I was with the little No. 3 Ballard .25-25, shooting Swiss 3FG.  I got into a Zen-like zone...fire..extract..deprime with Simmons tool..drop case into soapy water..run barely damp patch thru..leave bore wet & fire again.  Time seemed to stand still!
    And at home, after rifle was cleaned & put away, cases tumbling in hot soapy water...I felt I learned a few new things, and even though I was tired..it was a GOOD tired feeling!

Historically speaking,  ranges were more common and shooting in the back yard or in the farm wood lot or down the lane added the opportunity without a long commute. And even then the wides-spread availability of the trolly made getting to the range a lot quicker in many cases.
Another factor to might have been that a lot of these guys were offhand shooters and they did not have to haul and deal with all the impedimenta that we burden ourselves with.

The old-timers worked hard and longer hours than most of us do now, but remember that life was a lot less demanding (in some ways) back then.  No TV or Intenet, little league, very little organized spectator sports, etc etc to suck up time.   And has been said, the top shooters, the ones were read about, were probably far from the average in the commitment to shooting.  Some appear to have been Semi-pro and made money off the sport.  Others were men "of means" who could afford it.   then too we hear nothing about the domestic prices they might have paid for their achievements.

In terms of modern practice,  A quality pellet rifle or even a good 22 rf with CB (primer only) ammo can give good alternative offhand practice anyplace you have 30 feet of clear space in which to shoot.  I shoot in the basement in bad weather and from inside the back door into the back-yard when it's nice.  I've been shooting the Aguila "sans-poudre" ammo in one of my 22's and it makes about half the noise of a kids cap pistol---less than my Pellet rifle even--and the accuracy is good enough for my level of off-hand shooting. Like most, [i]making[/i] the time is my problem. I ought to be practicing right now I suppose

I'm guessing a little research would reveal that competitive shooters a century and more ago were not wood choppers and cow milkers and didn't own a horse. Interesting the image we have of life then. I'd bet further that a lot of the good shooters then were gentlemen of some means. They were not shooting $3 boys rifles ordered from the catalog or bought at the local feed store.

And yup, no TV, no internet, no text messaging, no kids soccer... I'm saddened at the amount of parent planned activities kids today have to endure. The days are gone for most kids when mom says, "Go outside and play," and you grab your Daisy BB gun on the way out the back door.

... don't forget military personnel.  Run down this list on names ... (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

Colonel Sir. H. St.John Halford was gentrified and a BPR gun crank of the nth degree. His book is well worth reading if you haven't 
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

Just think of all the money you can save at Schuetzen,  why you only need ONE cartridge case,     Ri-i-i-i-i--i-i-ight

Quote:
Only three (3) 10 chickens pins have ever been given out and Brian has two of them. He said as turned from the line after missing #12, "guess that will have to wait for another day." Am guessing he is not going to rest on his laurels.