Vintagers Shoot
 

Last weekend Beverly and I attended our first Vintager Shoot.
What great fun! And they don't keep score! Wonderful to see and talk vintage guns.
We met up with fellow Parker member Bob Lyons shooting a beautiful 16 ga hammer gun.
Hope to meet more PGCA members at the August events.

Not keeping score is one of life’s greatest pleasures.

They don't keep score?! Isn't that unamerican?

These days- “everybody gets a trophy.”
But of course I kept score and there is no one more competitive than Beverly.

Looks like a good time Clark. What shoot was this?

Great fun,
Good people.
There were a few rules .
No denim, no camo.
Only sxs. I’m in farm clothes all the time so it’s nice to put on a tie to shoot my classy Parker.
Next month at on the 15th at Addieville
And a driven bird or driven “clay bird” shoot the following week in Vermont.
That is supposed to be really something and they do keep score for that one.

Clark tell us what you and Beverly were shooting. Grade, gauge, etc

I shot a 12 ga vh imp cyl, mod and. Vh 16 more or less sane choke - both 28”
Beverly : 12 ga ghe 26” skt and skt 20 ga full and full

The original Vintagers organization professed "no scoring" in their credo. Good luck with that.

True Bill - It was for shooting Gentlemen and their Ladies.





.

Ladies shoot? Lol

Although I was not dressed in the proper attire. I got a pass this time however next time i don’t think I will get the pass.
The guns I used were okay 16 gauge Parker hammer gun and a 12 gauge Parker DH hammer gun.
Most of them were shooting English guns.
It was a lot of fun and nice group.

The other group.
Still can’t figure how to turn the photos

Why would someone not keep score? It is a means of comparison for an individual to track his/her progress, or lack thereof. To further that line of thought, why would anyone go to the effort to shoot targets and not do what they can to improve?

This is not intended to start a debate on the merits of scoring or not scoring, it's just that the concept is just so foreign to me. If one wants to keep up with what percentage they shot it is much easier to allow a squad member to score for them than trying to concentrate on shooting the targets and keeping up with hits/misses yourself.

Maybe we're just crude rednecks, but a lot of the fun my shooting buddies and I have are ribbing each other and trying to implant a thought into the other's mind to miss. We are very competitive, but are close friends who would have each other's back whenever needed.

I am sure that the individual shooters kept score of how they shot. If they had a good day or a not so good of a day. I think this was just a shoot where there were no "winners", no scoreboard etc. Just a fun event without the rules of competition. At least that is how I view it.

Here ya go Bob....

I keep a scorecard but I've never shot well enough to turn my card in... but we have fun and try to improve. I simply don't shoot often enough to be especially good at it.

At least the grouse in VT don't point at me and slap their thighs guffawing at me when I miss... or at least I don't think they do...:shock:



.

I, personally, get little pleasure from shooting with no scoring if I am paying an entry. I was raised from preteens in competition shooting and it is just "in my blood". I do sometimes shoot sporting clays with a geriatric group with no scoring. However, there is little point in scoring because we shoot everything from .410 to 10 gauge and several of us are in our eighties.

Vintager's Shoot
 

Those types of shoots are a lot of fun. That first picture of your wife with the target off the end of her barrel is great, as is the follow up picture of the shot. The thing that surprised me the most about the participants, of some of the shoots that I have attended, was how much a lot of those people knew about their guns.

I always keep score for myself at skeet , trap , sporting etc . Heck I even keep score at pheasant partridge tower shoots at each peg shots vs hits . I shot skeet/trap to darn long so if I do t keep score and or average it doesn’t feel right .

Everybody ought to do a few things now and then without keeping score; it's relaxing and good for the soul.

Not everyone. We are not all wired alike by The Almighty.r

I enjoy shooting and always kept score and was very competitive when I was young same when hunting how much game in the bag. now I got rid of my competition Guns away and only shoot antiques and a couple or more modern SXS now Its about watching the dogs the guns and being outdoors and the fellowship. I still try my best but even bad days are fun. one thing I never picked up on was the playing dress-up part! I think a tartan wool shooting vest and cargo shorts is about as correct as a torch job on a Parker. but thats just me.

“To each his own.”

My competition Guns are “antiques”. And admittedly I’m way over obsessed with scores and averages. Probably not healthy.

Love the pictures of Beverly, btw. Impressed with her ability to keep her head on the stock.

She uses Velcro patches John.





.

I'm not surprised they don't keep score. Think of the place and times that they are trying to emulate. The large shoots in the late 19th and early 20th centuries on the European and British Isles rich or nobility's estates were huge social occasions. Men, women, and older children would kill for an invite. Everyone shot. More business was done, fine guns admired, introductions made, gossip passed, and marriages arranged than anywhere else. When foreign leaders visited they didn't take them golfing, they arranged a shoot. Other than a small group of the top shooters it could be considered bad form to asked how someone shot. For most it was probably secondary to the occasion.

Well said Mr. Brown.





.

Maybe that's the problem with me then, I'm not trying to emulate anyone, rather just be the best I can be.

No problem with you, Sir. Just keep competing and keeping score...and taking those speedy dove with your long barreled .410s.:bowdown:

I'll keep practicing the shots I have trouble with using Elaine's hand thrown clays...and keeping track of my shooting while hunting (not sure why, I think I've been doing it so long that it's now in my DNA).

The vintage gun world is a large universe and accommodates all of us.