NEW! - Jeffersonian

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properly it would topple right over. When
we were told by some ofthe club members,
who had previous silhouette experience,
that we would be lucky to get five for our
first shoot, I think we both got a little
nervous.
When the shoot began, I went first and
my son acted as spotter. I fired the
standard 40 rounds for a score ofonly 11. A
guy who usually shoots in the 90s in the'
standard target matches should have done
better. It looked so easy. When I learned
that the high score was only 15, I felt better.
We sat out several rounds, while waiting
for my son's tum, and tried to pick up any
, pointers we could. I felt that although'the
Creedmoor style had been my choice as
the best position, the prone position would
be safer and steadier for my son.
This style of shooting, with a spotter
positioned next to the shooter, is perfect
for the more experienced marksman to
make sure proper safety procedures are
followed, while performing his spotter
duties.
Although my son's score was only three,
~ TURK
150 ME
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The .22 LR cartridge has fine
knockdown power, all ranges.
Although designed for bullseye shooting, the .22 High Standard Victor auto
is a good choice for shooting either paper or metallic silhouette targets.
those great shooters were a state away at a
big meet.
'IT GETS IN YOUR BLOOD"
After everyone had finished shooting,
one woman asked if she could try her
hand. She did well. While she was firing
the course, the meet director asked if my
son would care to shoot just the chickens
(at 25 yards) for practice. His kind offer
was quickly accepted and appreciated.
This ended our first silhouette match.
It was one of the most enjoyable shoot-
ing sports I have ever been involved in.
There is something about the first clang
and seeing the target going over. It gets in
your blood. Everyone who shot agreed and
said they would be back.
Silhouette shooting reminds me of
shooting gallery type fun. But the dis­
tances (25; 50, 75 and 100 yards) simulate
actual field conditions. I have always en-
and he was disappointed with his shooting
performance, he quickly bounced back
and vowed he'd do better next round.
There were 40 shooters, and after all had
fired the course, about 35 ofus signed up to
shoot again. This time, when my turn
came, I was rewarded with hits on the first
five chickens; I missed two ofthe next five.
Things started going downhill after hitting
four of the first five javelina; only one fell
of the second five. Turkeys were next and
, seemed to be the most difficult targets. joyed target shooting and will continue to
Only two fell in each stage. The rams were do so; but even though the competitivenext,
and again only two fell in each stage. ness is still there, silhouette shooting seems
This is when I found out only good hits re- more laid back and friendly. It may be the
sult in the silhouettes going down. It hurts fact that the crowd participates more than
to hear a hit and see the target just wobble in most shooting sports.
and remain standing.
Hitting five targets in a row was met with
My score card read 21 and ,even though the same kind of enthusiasm as a touchit
was only a little over halfofthe possible down or homerun. This is something that
points, it was the top score of the second has been lacking, up to now, in most shootshoot.
ing sports: Audience participation.
A score of 21 seemed pretty good until The handguns used varied. Single shot,
we overheard one of the club memb(irs autos and revolvers were all evident. After
talki.ng to another about getting ready to checking the rules, I thought my High
shoot. It seems the club invited several ex- Standard Victor would work beautifully.
perienced .22 silhouette shooters to tryout I've used it for years, and ifthere is a miss I
the range, in an effort to iron out the bugs know it is me, not the gun. This auto is set
before the first open match. There was a 40 up to fire low velocity ammo at 50 feet.
fired and several high 30s. We looked at I fired with the sight setting unchanged.
the 21 in a new light and felt lucky that It became clear that guessing at the proper
AMERICAN HANDGUNNER • JANUARYIFEBRUARY 1983
holdover is not the way to go. The meet director
told us that the'common method is
to set up four sight settings in practice, by
keeping track of the number of clicks between
each target. An alternative method,
and one which is very accurate, is to use a
feeler gauge between sight and frame and
write down the difference between each
setting. The idea is to keep a six o'clock
hold at all ranges. You will find that even
the 100-yard rams seem easier to hit using
this method.
There were many types ofammo used. I
fired Remington low-velocity cartridges
because my gun was tuned for it. The lowvelocity
.22 LR ammo proved powerful
enough to knock over even the rams, ifthe
target was hit properly.
High-velocity .22s also worked fine and
have a little more knockdown ability, plus
a slightly flatter trajectory. The light, ultrafast
.22 Stingers and Yellowjackets really
pushed the chickens over, knocking them
back hard and fast. They did well on the
pigs and turkeys, too, but they seemed too
light to knock over the rams consistently.
The lighter bullet appears to break up before
its energy is transmitted to the target.
The best bet seems to be either low- or
high-velocity .22 LR ammo that shoots
well in your gun. I suggest trying several
brands to find which are the most accurate
for you.
The shoot I attended went even faster by
the use of mini-bikes to get down range
quickly to re-set the targets.
There are classes for the novice on up, so
you don't have to worry about being out~
gunned or embarrassed.
Why not take your .22 and have a go at
it. Bring your son or daughter along. Ifthe
clang of the metal does not get ~
you, the look in their eyes wilL ~
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