hunter's pistol, gun choice 1911 and shooter skill ?

j1132s · Post by **j1132s** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 11:59 pm

I'm thinking about shooting my first hunter's pistol silhouette match this Sunday with a S&W 1911 pistol in .45ACP w/ adjustable sights.

I'm only able to shoot 3" groups at 25 yards off hand with various factory 230gr ball ammo. I've never shot this pistol further than 25 yards yet.

Should I not even bother using this pistol? (Since I think a 3" group at 25 yards will very likely mean no hits at 40m and above.)

What is an acceptable group size?

thanks.

ajj · Post by **ajj** » Thu Mar 08, 2007 6:39 am

What have you got to lose (except a match you didn't attend.) Sounds like a lot of fun to me.

dwainasaurus · Post by **dwainasaurus** » Thu Mar 08, 2007 10:07 am

You gotta go!

I took my Glock 24 and had a blast. Sure I was lining up against a bunch of revolvers with long barrels and proper target sights but I didn't let that get me down. My Glock has adjustable sights but I didn't bother. Figuring hold over was easy enough. The targets are big enough that despite my lack of skill, I still got about 25% of them. Nothing is as satisfying as watching a big chunk of steel get knocked on it's @$$ a 100 yards away using a pistol. And I can't remember having so much fun.

j1132s · Post by **j1132s** » Thu Mar 08, 2007 6:52 pm

Well, I suppose you are right, but it'll be disappointing and a bit embarrassing to get a score like a zero

I'm going to sight-in my 1911 and bring it to the silhouette match just in case if I decide to shoot it. (Personally, I don't think .45ACP FMJ ball ammo is the most stable for long distance shooting, but I guess I'll see.)

atomicbrh · Post by **atomicbrh** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 12:58 pm

j1132s: Update us. Did you shoot the 45ACP in the Match? If you did not you should have. I think you will hit targets. One of my family's favorite things is trying to hit a IPSC/USPSA cardboard target at the 100 meter Smallbore rifle rail with a box stock Colt 1911 with homemade bullets using the two handed standing positon. It is great fun and you can make more hits with a good spotter using a good spotting scope than you would ever think possible. The first part of shooting well is to have total empathy. In other words, mold your mind to the point where you can never be "embarrassed" or "disappointed" at a Match. I shot single digits when I started in Smallbore Rifle Silhouette and it did not bother me at all because I was having fun. I think that a good way to improve marksmanship skills is to push your skill to the limit in odd, wild, seemingly impossible attempts at hitting targets that you are not supposed to be able to hit with weapons that are not supposed to be capable of doing what you are doing with them. Go! Have Fun!

Bobby R. Huddleston

ajj · Post by **ajj** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 6:25 am

I shot a zero my first rifle silhouette match. It was a highpower match. I was shooting an iron-sighted Swedish Mauser. With a Timney trigger. It was a ton of fun. Should I have been embarrassed?

atomicbrh · Post by **atomicbrh** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 8:41 am

ajj said: "Should I have been embarrassed?" My one word answer is: NO!

ajj, See you Friday between 12 and 1.
Bobby R. Huddleston

j1132s · Post by **j1132s** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 1:27 pm

atomicbrh wrote:j1132s: Update us. Did you shoot the 45ACP in the Match?

Well, my sight in results weren't too encouraging, so I didn't bring/shoot the .45ACP (although I did shoot my .22LR pistol at the match). My 1911 sight in "group" at 40m from a rest was something like 8"; I don't think this is going to be a competitive-enough gun for me for silhouette.

I'll be going to attend a smallbore rifle silhouette match this weekend; will update you guys on it.

j1132s · Post by **j1132s** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 1:30 pm

ajj wrote:I shot a zero my first rifle silhouette match. It was a highpower match. I was shooting an iron-sighted Swedish Mauser. With a Timney trigger. It was a ton of fun. Should I have been embarrassed?

Well at least you don't have to walk down range to reset your targets;
I'd think something like a "1" would be worse

I don't think too much about the embarrassment factor, but since I'm in a match, I'd like to be competitive and have some kind of chance to win something and not be near the bottom. Otherwise, I'd just practice some more before attending a match. That's just me.