RonRC
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2011
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Shooting a "Mountain Rifle" Made by Tom Watson
It has a 1" Sharon Barrel stamped with the name on the top flat and a heavily striped stock. It was stained such that the stripe appears to be almost iridescent, and changes in the sun. The final finish is many coats of Tru-Oil. The weight is 9.6 lb. The Lock is an L & R with an L & R double set trigger.
I shot at 50 yds and 100 yds using 490 balls, 0.015 patches and 60 grains of powder. Most shots were done with my elbows on a shooting table. A few were taken freehand.
I won't post any targets as none were particularly exemplary and I didn't keep them. The key was that I was able to keep all of the 50 yd shoots in the 5" colored target area on 8 x 11" paper using iron sights.
I was able to hit the 8x11" paper at 100 yards with every shot.
No big deal, but it was significant for me. At 50 yds, my eyes can just see the 1" orange bulls eye. It looks like a small dot. At 100 yds, I can see the paper! There is no way with iron sights that I can align the sights on the center of the target because I can just barely resolve the target paper.
It is obvious that the rifle has the potential to shoot better than I can shoot it. It holds remarkably steady, even shooting free hand.
It the ranks among the best shooters I own, with one or two other rifles its approximate equal. If I were to shoot in competition, I would either use the Watson built rifle or an Al Anderson built rifle with peep sights. The peep sights give the Anderson rifle the edge. If I was constrained to use regular iron sights, then I would choose the Watson.
Ron
It has a 1" Sharon Barrel stamped with the name on the top flat and a heavily striped stock. It was stained such that the stripe appears to be almost iridescent, and changes in the sun. The final finish is many coats of Tru-Oil. The weight is 9.6 lb. The Lock is an L & R with an L & R double set trigger.
I shot at 50 yds and 100 yds using 490 balls, 0.015 patches and 60 grains of powder. Most shots were done with my elbows on a shooting table. A few were taken freehand.
I won't post any targets as none were particularly exemplary and I didn't keep them. The key was that I was able to keep all of the 50 yd shoots in the 5" colored target area on 8 x 11" paper using iron sights.
I was able to hit the 8x11" paper at 100 yards with every shot.
No big deal, but it was significant for me. At 50 yds, my eyes can just see the 1" orange bulls eye. It looks like a small dot. At 100 yds, I can see the paper! There is no way with iron sights that I can align the sights on the center of the target because I can just barely resolve the target paper.
It is obvious that the rifle has the potential to shoot better than I can shoot it. It holds remarkably steady, even shooting free hand.
It the ranks among the best shooters I own, with one or two other rifles its approximate equal. If I were to shoot in competition, I would either use the Watson built rifle or an Al Anderson built rifle with peep sights. The peep sights give the Anderson rifle the edge. If I was constrained to use regular iron sights, then I would choose the Watson.
Ron