Smoke and Thunder — Black Powder Championship at Raton, NM
This week the NRA Black Powder Target Rifle Championship is being held at the Whittington Center in Raton, NM. Top Black Powder Cartridge Rifle (BPCR) shooters from around the country have come to Raton to test their skills during a week-long event with targets set from 200 to 1000 yards. Today through Thursday, mid-range matches continue at 200 to 600 yards. On the firing line you’ll see many handsome, custom-built BPCRs (Sharps, Ballards, Browning High Walls, Rolling Blocks) with exquisite wood, hand-checkering, and color-case-hardened receivers.
The 800-1000 yard Creedmoor matches will be held Friday and Saturday, August 24-25. Interestingly, for safety reasons, there are minimum bullet weight and muzzle velocity requirements for the Creedmoor matches. These BPCR shooters launch some seriously heavy projectiles downrange:
| Caliber | Minimum Bullet Weight (Grains) | Minimum Bullet Velocity (FPS) |
| .38 Cal | 408 (375) | 1300 (1375) |
| .40 Cal | 408 | 1280 |
| .44 Cal | 450 | 1240 |
| .45 Cal | 510 | 1200 |
| .50 Cal | 600 | 1200 |
