Mr. C. Tries Handgun Metallic Silhouette Shooting

It looks like everyone who attended the NRA Convention has had a good time. I would have liked to attend, but early this year when I was planning out my trips and matches, there just wasn't either the time or the money to attend everything. Maybe next year.

Last weekend Wayne F. and I went over to the Kitsap Rifle & Revolver club for another one of John D's great fun steel matches. The stages were challenging, and the socializing at the 19th. Hole Pub alone was worth the trip. It was great to meet some new shooters along with Bryce from the Gig Harbor club, and the usual suspects from KRRC. One of the highlights was when the scores were totaled seeing that first year shooter Wayne and his S&W 22A (tuned by yours truly!) had the fourth best time of the day! Great shooting, Wayne!

Yesterday I tried something new over at Holmes Harbor Rod & Gun club, where I'm also a member. Steel Silhouette shooting. I took my High Standard rimfire race gun that I usually use for steel challenge and decided to give it a try. The 4 MOA red dot was about the size of the 100 yard targets! The big question was if I was going to hit any of the targets at all, since I was sighted in for 25 feet, and the targets ranged from 40 yards to 100 yards. I did a little testing the night before and made some wild guesses as to how much I would have to move my point of aim to compensate. The time issue was going to be interesting, too. Usually I shoot five shots in a match in somewhere between two and four seconds. In silhouette I get two minutes for the five shots. Hmmmm. I wonder If I should take a cup of coffee to the line so I'd have something to do when I'd finished shooting? In speed steel you never wait for the perfect sight picture, as soon as you acquire the target you shoot and get on to the next target. When things are working for me I have the gun in motion all the time, and I never actually stop at any particular target unless it's a very small one and a long ways (for speed steel) away. Needless to say, my "Skill Set" was hardly appropriate for silhouette shooting!

I gave it a try, and to my surprise I managed to luck out and hit at least one out of five on every shot string! I considered that a major success. I ended up a long ways behind the winner, but I wasn't last either, and several other shooters weren't doing a whole lot better. The important thing was that I got to the range, gave it my best, and had a lot of fun trying a new shooting discipline.

While at the match I watched a number of shooters shoot in a class where you are allowed any shooting position you like as long as only your hands are touching the gun and the gun is not touching the ground. Those guys are a whole lot more flexible than I am, for sure! I DO have a heavy 12" target barrel for my High Standard, and it's got a good scope on it. I'll have to see if I can hit anything with it.........

Note: Silhouette match pic's will be posted in a day or so.