Ouray Gun Club 1909

[bcp]

OurayGunClub1909.jpg

Zoomable source and photo information at:

http://cdm16079.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ ... 2/id/11563

Bruce

[Ray Newman]

Nice looking display of sing shot Schuetzen rifles.

[crs]

I drove through Ouray this past August and there is precious little land flat enough for a house, much less a gun range. They may have been firing across a draw or canyon.
Bunch of hardy souls to have lived there back in 1909.

[Thunder50]

LOL, yep, not alot of flat ground around there. Might have been a few miles North of town

[jkbrea]

From the link....
Going to check the targets would be a workout.

Description and identifications hand-written on back of photoprint: "This was a main building north of town. To get to it, onewent north on the main road, crossed the river and fields until almost to the opposite cliffs. The other side of building had row of windows, each with ledge. Men stood inside, rested gun on ledge, fired at targets on hillside."; FormerlyF12864.; Title and date hand-lettered on front of original.; R7100128011

[Cimarron Red]

The rifles appear to be all Ballards with the exception of a Stevens on the far left. Great photo! Thanks for posting.

[Bill in Oregon]

Red, I was noticing that too. I may have to dig out my copy of Ned Roberts' single shot book and re-read his comments on the Ballard.

[Cimarron Red]

Bill,

I never could warm up to the Ballard - split breach block and all - but in its day it was one of the favorites of target shooters, especially in the Schuetzen game. I believe that Marlin discontinued the Ballard in 1890-'91, so the rifles in this picture would have been around 20 years old or more at the time. I've shot several of the now-discontinued Cody/Ballard rifles, and they seemed to be well-made. Truth to tell, though, I'm a high wall guy.

John Dutcher's book, Ballard, the Great American Single Shot Rifle is the best book on these rifles.

[Booger Bill]

I found this picture in my grandpa`s stuff. It`s similar. I surmise this picture is from around Bettendorf Iowa.

[Bill in Oregon]

Red, the Ballard was not without its quirks, but I always thought it the loveliest of the golden era single shots. The one that really transfixed me was a Ballard No. 5 Pacific in .40-90 Everlasting that I spotted in a small gun shop here in Oregon probably 30 years ago. The owner would not turn loose of it under an circumstances. I late found that this model was also one of Ned's favorites. I'm not so much a High-Wall fan mainly because it arrived mostly after the buffalo were gone, but there is no disputing its superior attributes as a target rifle.

Bcp: Clicking on your link gives a full view of the photo, with a boy standing on the right and a guy in a donkey cart on the left. The smoke curling from the stove pipe suggests a nice, snug shooting shack. I passed some pleasant hours in just such a shack with other singleshot shooters at the Central Oregon Shooting Sports Association range east of Bend, Oregon. Good memories.

Bill, is your grandfather identifiable among those gentlemen?