Muzzleloaders club to celebrate 40th anniversary

By Joshua R. Russo, Journal staff | Sunday, July 27, 2008

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RAPID CITY — A club that celebrates the past has two celebrations in the near future.been involved with black-powder rifles for 51 years. He started with a Remington .36 caliber, and eventually he rebuilt a .44 caliber. Club members shoot several different caliber, roundball ammunition — .32, .36, .40, .45, .50, .54, .58 and .62 calibers.

The Muzzleloaders of the Black Hills will celebrate 40 years on Aug. 16. Two weeks later, the club will host its annual rendezvous.

The anniversary celebration is open to the public, and it will be in the backyard of club member Jerry Root’s residence at 2021 Third Avenue, across from Meadowbrook Golf Course, in Rapid City. Randy Gaskins, who is the “booshway,” or man in charge of the Black Hills Rendezvous, said the anniversary celebration is also a good time for people to get their first taste of what the club has to offer.

“This isn’t just for the oldtimers,” said Gaskins, who is one of the original members of the club. “It’s kind of amazing. I’ve basically grown up in it and with the people involved in it.”

The muzzleloaders shoot both flintlock and percussion muzzle loaders, weapons of choice during the French Indian War, American Revolution and War of 1812 periods of American History.

The club features several events and shooting events. Key among which is the Black Hills Rendezvous at Hat Mountain from Aug. 28 to Sept. 1. Like several area mountain men rendezvous — including the Fur Trade Days rendezvous in Chadron, Neb., in early July — those attending the rendezvous are required to dress in pre-1840 dress and have equipment suited for the same time period. Those attending the rendezvous at Hat Mountain will also have tents from that time period, and they will try to cook over an open fire, if permitted.

Len Winter, a past president of the Muzzleloaders of the Black Hills, says that club members are drawn to black-powder rifles because of their unique place in history and the degree of difficulty in shooting the rifles.

“They’re dirty, messy, but fun to shoot,” he said.

Winter said the majority of people that join the club buy a black-powder rifle, but the intrigue of shooting one leads them to eventually build their own rifles. Winter, who has several rifles of his own, has

“It is so much more gratifying to harvest game with a rifle that was used 100 years ago,” Winter said.

Like it has for the past 40 years, the club usually has its competitions near Fort Meade near Sturgis. The club shoots every third Sunday of each month, and it has a monthly meeting on the second Wednesday.

“We’re glad to have people come out,” Winter said.

The shooting competitions are scored by string measurements off an “X” target. Points are awarded based on the shot’s proximity to the center of the “X”. The competitors shoot 25 to 50 offhanded, then they shoot 50 to 100 shots with the gun propped on crosssticks — two pieces of wood used to support the gun.

Also planned in the near future is a memorial shoot in September. Winter said the shoot honors former members of the club.

For more information about the Black Hills Rendezvous, call Randy Gaskins at 605-347-0195 or Mark Kirchgesler at 605-255-5933.