Gents (and Ladies),

We will be having a very informal big bore shoot, on Saturday June 5, at the Sparwood Rod and Gun Club shooting range. Anyone is welcome to attend. At this time I don't believe that there will be a formal "admission" charge, but donations for the Sparwood Club Range Improvement committee will be accepted and appreciated.

There is room for camping nearby. A few of us will be staying over the night before, and possibly even he night after.

A BBQ and some smokies/burgers will be provided. Bring your own refreshments, etc.

If you are interested in coming out and have any questions, send me a PM. I will post directions to the range here if there is any interest.


Here are the directions:

For those with GPS's, the Range is located at lat=49.654411537, lon=-114.729239578

It is 15.7 km east of Sparwood on Highway 3, or 25.3 km west of Blairmore on Highway 3, depending on which direction you are coming from. It is 4.5 km from the BC/AB border.



Coming from the west, look for the Alexander Ck Road turnoff, just before the 4th bridge after going by the BIG TRUCK in Sparwood.

Coming from the east, it is just over the 1st bridge, very soon after passing by the Weigh Scales.





Shoosting will begin around 10 AM and continue until about 3 PM. It will be VERY INFORMAL....no competition...just an opportunity to meet some folks interested in big bores, punch some big holes in paper or DWJ (dangerous water jugs), maybe try some out that you've never had the chance to before.

There will be LOTS of food on the Q, so just bring a refreshment or two (alcoholic versions for after the guns are put away, and the socializing moves to the campfire), and maybe some munchies.

There is some room for camping at the range, although it might be a little mucky with all the rain. There is also a campground in Sparwood, and a couple places where you can set up just east of the range (behind the rest area, or even up the Alexander Ck road.

Hope to see you there.

Cheers
Chris

Sound like fun. I will try...

The boss still wants to shoot the big guns since she missed out last time.

I will come. The better half want's to come as well.

Possibly, though of course I no longer possess anything bigger than a .375HH

Frans

Frans did you sell the 416?

Sounds great guys. Hope to see you there!

quote:

Originally posted by Graylake:
The boss still wants to shoot the big guns since she missed out last time.

There should be a few 470 Mbogos, and other things for her to try. Canuck32 and 470Mbogo have both said that they plan on coming.

quote:

Originally posted by Frans Diepstraten:
Possibly, though of course I no longer possess anything bigger than a .375HH

Frans

There shouldn't be a shortage of rifles to play with, Frans.

I'll be there with a few doubles to shoot also

I can possibly combine it with a long-overdue visit to a friend near Cranbrook. Just need to figure out if it would be better to show up at the shoot with a sore head, or the visit with a shore shoulder. :-)

Frans

I have added some directions and maps to the original post above.

Cheers
Chris

With all of the rain and Snow last weekend, I am now way behind on spraying and there is no way that we are going to be able to make it.

If anything changes I will show up. But it does not look good....

Have a couple for me......

Greylake,
The weeds aren't going anywhere.

quote:

Originally posted by Graylake:
With all of the rain and Snow last weekend, I am now way behind on spraying and there is no way that we are going to be able to make it.

If anything changes I will show up. But it does not look good....

Have a couple for me......

Well, I hope you don't mind me hoping for rain on Saturday in your neck of the woods!!

Looks like 470Mbogo won't be making it either. Talked to him last night and he's tied up with his boat and such.

Hopefully Trump is still making the trip?

There will be lots of local guys with big bores anyhoot.

Frans...you coming??

Darn, wish I were still living in Calgary, we left 10 months ago after nearly 5 years there. We did spend a night in Sparwood once when they closed the pass as we were heading home from our place in Sandpoint Idaho. Quite tragic, high winds, ice and a multi-fatality accident. But boy, there sure wasn't much in the way of places to eat there, A&W I recall? Have fun!

Just back on-line after the shoot this weekend. Had a great time, despite the meagher attendance! There were only 7 of us shooting, but that just meant more ammo and burgers for each of us.

I'll post up some pic's and video in the next day or three.

Here's a quick list off the top of my head of what rifles we had there:

50 BMG
577 Nitro Express (Searcy)
500 Nitro Express (Merkel)
500 A-Square (CZ)
505 Gibbs (CZ)
2x 470 Mbogo (mine and Canuck32's)
458 Win (CZ)
416 Rigby (CZ)
416 Ruger
416 Taylor
450-400 in Ruger #1
375 RUM
2x 375 H&H
375 Ruger
340 Wby
338 RCM

9mm Walther
45 ACP Springfield 1911A1
357 Mag Ruger Blackhawk

Report to be continued later....

Cheers
Canuck

A few pics to start...

Some of the rifles we had:


L-R: 458 Win, 340 Wby, 416 Rigby, 577 NE, 500 NE, 505 Gibbs, 500 A2, 470 Mbogo, 375 RUM, 375 H&H, 338 RCM, 375 Ruger, 470 Mbogo, 416 Taylor.





With credit to the good gents of the S.S Hunters & Game Conservation Association, one of our targets...

I hope you all had a great time.Western Canada is one of the nicest places on earth.I am sure an event like this will only grow in the years to come.Thanks Chris for the pictures.

So sorry I wasn't able to make it. Very glad you guys had a good time and got in a lot of shooting. I seem to recognize a couple of old friends in the gun line up. I hope they performed well.
Take good care
Dave

quote:

Originally posted by 470 Mbogo:
So sorry I wasn't able to make it. Very glad you guys had a good time and got in a lot of shooting. I seem to recognize a couple of old friends in the gun line up. I hope they performed well.
Take good care
Dave

You were missed, Davey. Your old friends performed well in your honor, though. (on a related note, Lonny had the ol' 470 Mbogo loaded up to 2650 fps... )

I will hopefully post up some video clips this weekend....I've encountered technical difficulties with video formats (new camera) and so I haven't been able to edit the clips. I may do a few direct uploads to You-tube, just to get something posted up here for folks to see, sooner than later.

It looks like this will happen again next year, and be bigger, more organized, and better advertised. We got it well scouted out this year, and there are a few motivated locals (that had a GREAT time!) that will take on much of the planning, etc. I will post up a date soon, so that folks can mark their calendars well in advance.

Glad to see you back on AR too Dave.

Cheers
Chris

Here's the first one. Having lots of technical difficulties with software (F*&(*^^ Windows 7). I'll do a few more tomorrow...

This is me shooting Canuck32's Merkel 500 NE at a bevy of charging DWJs!

Here's another one...me shooting Canuck32's 470 Mbogo. Its the same load he has used in Africa...475gr S&H solid at 2650 fps. It has a bit of snap compared to the "traditional" 500gr boolit at 2500 fps that Dave designed the cartridge for.

Well I would not expect anything less but a great time.

Still sitting in my sprayer wishing that I could have made it out.

Next year....

quote:

Originally posted by Graylake:
Well I would not expect anything less but a great time.

Still sitting in my sprayer wishing that I could have made it out.

Next year....

Yep, you and the missus missed out.

We are shooting for early May next year...better for you?

Here's another one....I think I have figured out how to use an editor (Premier Elements 7.0), maintain reasonably high quality and work around the software compatibility problems...

DaveK shoots my 416 Taylor. He fell in love with it at first shot.

Carl shoots Canuck32's 500 A2!

And if the 500 A2 wasn't enough, Carl gives the 577 NE a whirl...

Good show !

great report. Thanks for sharing the videos.

Canuck32 shooting his Searcy 577NE...no problemo...

Ed takes a turn with the very popular 577NE!

Uploading to Youtube can be a pain! This one took a dozen tries....finally got 'er though.

WaltherPPK shooting the 577NE, and liking it! Doesn't take a crystal ball to see a double in his future.

DaveK and the 500 A-Square...

DonP taking WaltherPPK's Ruger#1 in 450-400NE for a test drive. I was pleased to get to try this rifle too...very nice. WaltherPPK used it this spring to take a HUGE g-bear!

Sorry I had to bail out! Now that I see the pics and videos even more so.

Frans

quote:

Originally posted by Frans Diepstraten:
Sorry I had to bail out! Now that I see the pics and videos even more so.

Frans

No worries Frans. We were very suprised how few of you "central Albertans" expressed an interest or made it out. The Sparwood range is pretty handy to you (just over 2 hours driving)!

Looks like it will happen next year, provided there's enough interest, which I expect there will be.

Mid april or July/August would work.

But I would try and make it anytime, just depends on the year.

Good work Canuck.

Hi Chris
sorry to hear about the technical difficulties but I'm still not able to play any of the videos. they seem to be out of time. The video is jerky with many stop starts. The audio is way off and broken up. Is anyone else having the same problems?
Take good care
Dave

They are working good on my computer