History intrigued Raymond Hanson when he was a kid, especially the mid- to late 1800s when the West was being settled. Buffalo hunting was part of this, and the rifles used during that time were of particular interest to the young boy from northwest Minnesota.
They still are.
The reigning world champion long-range muzzleloader marksman, Hanson began some years ago shooting these retro firearms at targets 300 yards down range. Then he aligned his sights at 500 yards, and finally 600 yards.
Today, he never shoots at targets that close. Instead he configures the iron sights of his replica Billinghurst Under Hammer at focal points 1,000 yards away.
Hanson, 67, who lives near Mahnomen, won his world championship title last year shooting in Australia in a match in which he and his colleagues also won the World Long-Range Muzzleloading team title, prevailing over South Africa, the perennial favorite.
"It was a great match for the U.S.," Hanson said. "Additionally, we won the mid-range title [300, 500 and 600 yards] and the grand aggregate championship."
This weekend, U.S. long-range muzzleloading team members will shoot in a match about 1½ hours north of the Twin Cities, near Harris, hosted by the Gopher Rifle and Revolver Club.
As interested as hunters might be in guns, few can match the passion with which Hanson and his long-range muzzleloading colleagues study the minutia of firearms, ballistics and marksmanship.