Bob - yes it is neat to see that many - thousands. People fly in from Europe (and everywhere else too I suppose) for it.
Tom
The long range seems to be 1/2 mile. I know they shot incredible distances at the Creedmore (sp?) back in the 1800's. These are all types of arms from smoothbore muskets and shotguns to rifled Kentucky, Tennessee and mountain guns, and modern bench type as well. You see everything under the sun, including a canon accuracy shoot I'm told. It really was something to witness, for sure, and I've tried to capture the feeling of actually being there as best I could.
They are even making rifles right on the grounds. Some of the ones shown were $10,000+ rifles although this is by no means the norm or necessary to compete. The vast majority were sub $500 pieces.