The Beeson Range, a shooting range outside of Etna Green, IN, held target matches July 11-14, 2024. The Beeson Range is the national home of the American Single Shot Rifle Association (ASSRA), which was established in 1948 to promote the responsible use, study, and preservation of single shot arms from 1850-1917.
ASSRA sponsors 7 national matches each season at Beeson, 3 of them emphasizing centerfire rifles and 4 where .22 rimfire events are the priority. Rifles are originals from the indicated period, reproductions of them, or modern takes on those rifles. Qualifying firearms have falling block actions, are break action rifles, or traditional muzzleloaders. Bolt actions are excluded from competing since their actions are significantly different mechanically.
American guns include Ballards, Winchester High and Low Walls, Maynards, Remington Rolling Blocks, Sharps, Sharps Borchardts, Stevens 44s and 44 1/2s, BSA Martinis, and traditional muzzleloaders. The style of target rifles presently used originated with ornate and highly specialized single shot rifles primarily in Germanic regions of Europe. They were called Schuetzen rifles, from the German for “shooter” or “protector”, and the target events began much earlier when local militias there developed contests to hone their skills and to have an excuse to drink beer to celebrate the winners. They started over a thousand years ago with longbows then progressed through crossbows, matchlocks, muzzleloaders, and so on, to breechloaders. From the late 1800’s up until the first World War, competitions with these rifles were extremely popular and prize money and fan interest and participation was on par with today’s professional golf tours.
Many different targets are shot at an ASSRA match, mostly from the bench. Centerfire rifles are almost always shot at 200 yards-always with cast bullets with no gas checks. The .22s are typically shot at 100 yards, but there are also 200 yard and 50-yard events.
The Europeans shot in their contests while standing, unsupported by any type of rest-and they still do-probably explaining their dominance in Olympic events. Perhaps that’s a carryover from the longbow days. Shooting standing and unsupported is called offhand shooting, and ASSRA offers a number of offhand targets. During the July 11-14 shooting, a German style offhand match was held at Beeson. The target type was a variation of a European target called a King target. In that contest everyone shoots at the same target and the single shot closest to the center of the bullseye determines the winner. In our contest, everyone shot the same German Schuetzen .22 rifle (Made by Emil Kerner and his son between 1890 and 1913 in Suhl, Germany, with a Krupp steel barrel.) at a reproduction of a vintage Germanic target, offhand, at 50 yards. Each shooter first paid for one or more shots and then shot them. Once they were done others did the same thing. Entrants were allowed to continue to purchase shots to try to improve their standing until no one was left that wanted to purchase another shot. At that point, first, second, and third places were determined by their distances from the bull’s center and prizes were awarded. Thirteen hearty souls participated.
If you are interested in target rifle shooting, beautiful rifles, firearms history, and friendly people to interact with, please consider attending one of this season’s remaining matches at Beeson. On weekdays and Saturdays, ten 45-minute relays are shot with posting and pulling targets between relays. Shooting those days starts promptly at 8 am and usually goes until about 5 pm. On Sundays, shooting typically goes from 8 am until 11or 12. The one Centerfire Match remaining on the schedule is August 29, 30, 31 and Sept 1. Two more rimfire matches will be held this season: August 23, 24, & 25 and October 4, 5, and 6. Come and check us out!
The club has a few single shot .22 rifles and ammo available for visitors who are interested in a little instruction and a chance to shoot some targets with them to see what it’s like. Most of our events are shot with scoped rifles, but some are specifically for rifles with iron sights. The club rifles are set up with both configurations so that you may shoot either or both. Remember, the most serious shooters at our events are competing for national championships, so it’s very important not to interrupt their concentration while they’re in the process of shooting. Always make sure not to approach a shooter with questions unless they are obviously done shooting for the moment. The best time to approach members is if they’re in the clubhouse or at least away from the shooting bench. There will almost always be one of the less competitive shooters available to visit or to help you get set up to try a rifle.
ASSRA’s website at assra.com has a Forum with match schedules and threads about these guns. Topics include collecting, gunsmithing, load development, hunting with them, and many others.