westerner wrote on Jan 2
nd, 2022 at 1:02am:
They did. Pope and others shot there rifles in BR matches and made rifles for BR shooting for others. Sad but true.
My argument would be percentages, and what seems to be the assertion that I was responding to. That the purest or most popular form of shooting at a Schuetzen park or match was benchrest in the day.
There was a fair amount of money to be made for the the top shooters of the day. What was the percentage of prize money offered at the average Schuetzenfest, for the top BR score?
No doubt that there was competition shooting from the bench with highly specialized equipment. This was likely started as a way to remove shooter error and promote the barrel maker or gunsmith. Pope’s accuracy promises were based on shooting from a machine rest for a reason.
I think this quote sums up this argument perfectly. If true, this type of shooting has nothing to do with shooting skills, and everything to do with equipment. Multiple people being able to hit a lifesaver at 200 yards on the first trigger pull with a 32-40, multiple years in a row, is an unbelievably accurate setup.
Quote:his is something that I always did for multiple years that was also open to the public. At our once yearly Turkey Shoots that I also ran for four years. I also got my ass chewed more than once because everyone I helped took a Turkey and three Chicken's home and the max one could win at the 200 yard bench event. The club was actually loosing money by all of those who were being successful with my help and shooting my breech seating 32-40 rifle. The target was a 1 inch lifesaver hanging on monofilament fishing line on a target frame and without any backer.
Compare that with the type of shooting skills required in the 22 shoots described in this thread. Multiple targets at random distances, from multiple positions, scored as hit or miss, do or don’t in the allotted time.
Personally I think the testing of shooting skills vs best equipment, when compared the the accounts of the typical Schuetzenfest I have read, shooting from the bench is arguably less traditional.