Silhouette Shooting

[paulg]

This has probably been addressed in former posts so at the risk of repetition I was wondering how many here shoot silhouette and what guns and loads you use? Do I need to buy a TC to be competitive or once I am comfortable with my 4" 29 again can I be competitive with that? Also is there anyone here from central Florida that knows of local matches to be attended? Thanks.

[Lee Martin]

I don't shoot silhouette competitively, but most range time is on steel. In my opinion, it's hard to beat a 375 SuperMag Seville. Mild recoil, extremely flat shooting, and they hit hard:



Favorite load is a 245 grain cast bullet and a full case of AA1680.

-Lee
www.singleactions.com

[5shooter]

I shot silhouette back in the 80's and loved it! Now it is all but dead in our neck of the woods. I think it would be far more popular today if the classes didn't cater to Contenders and bolt action pistols. They need a revolver only class! To be competative shooting a revolver right out of the box in the production class you need a Dan Wesson or Freedom Arms to shoot with the bolt or break open outfits. The other reasonably priced revolvers need a little tweaking to be competative, but this forces you into the unlimited class where most revolvers are at a huge disadvantage. If there were classes for production and modified 5 and 6 shooters, I think silhouette would still be popular here.

[paulg]

Yep, that oughta do it!! That's nice, but I'm guessing I'd need to sell a kidney or two in order to afford it. If I had known, in my younger years, what an expensive obsession these sixguns could be I would've got me a better edumacation so's I could get me some of them there fancy six shooters. Thanks for the pic Lee.

[paulg]

Hey I read the Wikipedia thing about silhoutte. They say it started in Mexico with live animals staked at different distances. They changed to steel cutouts in 1948. Good thing PITA wasn't around back then. Course they may still be using live targets in Mexico. I think they call them Border Patrol now. God bless the men and women on the border!!

[AxeHandle]

The 200 Meter stuff never got fired up anywhere close enough for me to play. Did shoot NRA Hunter's Pistol in the early 80s. The Hunter's Pistol rams at 100 meters made a good revolver very competitive. Had a buddy who was making a plan to shoot Hunter's Pistol about 10 years ago. He was a revolver nut and planned to shoot FAs. I told him at that time that if he wanted to be competitive he needed to buy a TC Contender. A few years later he traded me his 32 H&R FA 97 and 22LR FA 97 for a TC, a couple of barrels, some scopes, and a few bucks.. Doesn't mean that you can't be competive with a Revolver but IMHO it will take a little more work..

[Ken O'Neill]

Jul 26, 2011 10:14:39 GMT -5 5shooter said:

I shot silhouette back in the 80's and loved it! Now it is all but dead in our neck of the woods. I think it would be far more popular today if the classes didn't cater to Contenders and bolt action pistols. They need a revolver only class! To be competative shooting a revolver right out of the box in the production class you need a Dan Wesson or Freedom Arms to shoot with the bolt or break open outfits. The other reasonably priced revolvers need a little tweaking to be competative, but this forces you into the unlimited class where most revolvers are at a huge disadvantage. If there were classes for production and modified 5 and 6 shooters, I think silhouette would still be popular here.

Huh?? The IHMSA has had a revolver only class since 1980 or '81 in both the freestyle long range big bore 200 meter course and the .22 100 yard course.
In the Standing category, revolvers, single shots and semi autos do compete against each other, but beaucoup matches including State and Regional Championships have been won by revolvers shooting against the other action types. Bolt actions are only permitted in the Unlimited Category, not the various Production categories.

paulg, you can shoot your 4" 29 in IHMSA matches in the Standing (Big Bore-200 meter) or Field Pistol (standing- 100 meter/yard) categories, or in NRA Hunter's Pistol or Long Range competitions to get your feet wet to see if you like it. You can get by in the lower classifications while you learn, but you will require a longer barrel to become competetive in the higher classes.
Yes, DW's and FA' s have dominated the upper classes of competitions for years, but I shot my way into International Class (the highest) in the early 80's in both the Standing and Freestyle categories using box-stock Ruger SBH's ( 7 1/2" and 10").
PLENTY of fun is out there to be had with those stock revolvers.

Regarding calibers, the .41 Mag., .357 Maximum, or .44 Mag. are equally capable of ruling the roost across the long range courses in capable hands.
If one only wants to shoot the 100 yard IHMSA Field Pistol or NRA Hunters Pistol courses, a bunch of smaller calibers are quite adequate. I like the .32's and .357's but many have preferred even smaller calibers.
I don't know about matches in Florida. Contact the IHMSA for best results.

[paulg]

Thanks for all the info. Sounds like I can have fun with just what I have. I've shot several local IPSC matches with my Hi-Power and had just as much fun as the guys with the low drag, high speed, dishwasher safe wonder guns do. Looks like the same holds true with IHMSA.

[sixshooter]

Anyone ever use a M.O.A. for silhouette shooting? I had a chance to get one a while back and passed. They used to be fairly popular in IHMSA, right?

[Ken O'Neill]

I don't own one, but they are usually very very accurate. They did indeed receive some measure of popularity, but nothing like the Contenders, Merrill/RPM's or even the BF's.
The loading/unloading gyrations one has to go through with them always turned me off, but that's just me. LOTS of single shots will shoot perfect scores; I never felt the need to go through the extra annoyance of so many steps to reload.

[golfswithwolves]

I shot in the IHMSC in the 80's too. It was a lot of fun competing with my good old Ruger SBH with a 7 1/2" barrel. Unfortunately (as I see it), the club allowed an equipment war to start- I think that there was originally a price limit for revolvers that a person could use. A shooter very soon needed to buy a Dan Wesson revolver (expensive) to have a realistic chance to be in the game . That is when I stopped the sport. These days I understand that a Freedom Arms silhouette revolver is the winning combination to have for competition.

[paulg]

Well after reading everyone's responses I've looked for any sillouhette shooting here in central FL. with little luck. One local gun club has a contact # for sillouhette shooting but so far I've had no luck with a return call. Which brings me to my next and probably controversial point. In order to be a member of this club you have to pay your $160.00 annual fee, you must be a member of the NRA and NO concealed carry is allowed on the range. I know most of you will crucify me but I am no longer an NRA member. The second ammendment gives me the right to bear arms and my vote usually goes to the man/woman that supports that right. Also I got sick and tired of my e-mail and snail mail box always being full of their exclusive offers and constant reminders that my dues are "due" in 8 months. But what bothers me more than the required NRA membership is that you can't carry concealed. In the last year and a half there has been one murder suicide and two suicides on local gun ranges. Forgive me but if some nut job shows up at the range with such matters on his/her deranged mind the gun I have that they don't see is likely the one that might save mine and someone else's life. I just find it odd that a gun club would not allow their members who can legally carry concealed do so on a gun range. And if I pay $160.00 for the priviledge of shooting in a semi private environment I want to practice my draw and presentation of my concealed carry pistol. Sorry to go on but this really bothered me.

[robl]

"I just find it odd that a gun club would not allow their members who can legally carry concealed do so on a gun range. And if I pay $160.00 for the privilege of shooting in a semi private environment I want to practice my draw and presentation of my concealed carry pistol. Sorry to go on but this really bothered me. "

Bothers me too.
As for the NRA, I loath many of their marketing strategies. I just ignore them. I met a few Paid NRA employees I'd just as soon slap as talk to, I find Tanya Meteska to be despicable. But, I am a Lifetime member because it is still the best thing going for local range development and 2nd amendment rights.

[paulg]

Rob why don't you tell us how you really feel! :-) I understand how you feel about about range development. There is one free public shooting range here and it takes me about an hour to drive there and usually a 45 min. to an hour wait to shoot. NRA does work for more ranges but when I read the rave reviews the NRA gave to Harry Ried because Reid was integral in acquiring a big range in Nevada well I lost all respect for the NRA. The NRA really backed Charlie Crist here in Florida for Gov. too and Crist was nothing more than a liberal in conservative clothing. Crist now works as an attorney for one of the big ambulance chasing law firms here in FL. There's more that makes a good man or woman than just supporting the 2nd amendment. Of course this is just my opinion.

[ihmsa80x80]

I shot silhouette for 26 years and have used most everything to compete with. Your 4" 29 can be very competitive in any of the standing categories. For the freestyle events, the short barrel may be a handicap only in finding a comfortable, SAFE shooting position. You will not be competing in the top classes against the Contenders or bolt-action guns, until your shooting SKILL matches those other shooters.

M.O.A.'s are still very popular in silhouette, just as the Freedom Arms is, mostly because they are ACCURATE, not expensive. I have a .375 SuperMag Seville like Lee's, except for the Goodyears on it, but my favorite revolver is their .41 Magnum version.