Hunting rifle class silhouette rifle rules

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pdeal
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Re: Hunting rifle class silhouette rifle rules

Post by pdeal »

On a lighter note...

On the facebook silhouette group someone mentioned that they had picked up the "Gun Digest book of Metallic Silhouette Shooting". It looked pretty cool so I looked on ebay and there were a few there and I bought one. It's kind-of fun to look at. I think there may be another one or two of them up there incase anyone else wants one. Anyway, In the beginning of the book the author wrote about the beginnings of silhouette in Mexico as live animal shoots. Man those people seem to have known how to have fun! I think maybe the Tequila helped a little.


Also, regarding gages for Silhouette, I have a pile of left over delrin from some jobs I did last year. I've been looking at it trying to figure out a million dollar product to make from it but no ideas yet. If there is any interest in developing some gages that would be helpful to match operations I would be glad to contribute this material and make some gages. My guess is we're talking pretty simple stuff so I could probably do it for a little more than the cost of shipping. If anybody is interested in this PM me or maybe better to start another thread to figure out what's needed?
atomicbrh
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Re: Hunting rifle class silhouette rifle rules

Post by atomicbrh »

Pdeal, do a search for these phrases and it will show double ended multipurpose tech tools of all kinds:
"WKA NKA AKRA" tech tools
Sox and sons probably has more than 40 years making tech inspection tools for sanctioning bodies.
RIX tech tools in Cleveland, TN. makes the same stuff.
Those two companies make some unique no go designs you may have not thought of.
I am wondering if you can write a program that makes a 1.501" gauge on one end and a 2.001" gauge on the other end with 3/8 inch round about 4 to 6 inches long in the middle for a handle. A secondary goal is to make the no go gauges where it is difficult
for the ham handed tech people to force them into a space that is exactly 1.500" or 2.000". There is always somebody out there who will try to force no go gauges.
Kujones
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Re: Hunting rifle class silhouette rifle rules

Post by Kujones »

What a great thread and great question to get it started. First of all AuMiner, its a shame that your wife's rifle was DQ'd at a state match when the local matches allowed it. Sure, equipment matters but not to the point where it wins matches. The Master class shooters are just better shooters. I bought a Anschutz 1712 and Evilio stock after 4 years but am still catching up to a couple of CZ's.
Why the lack of new shooters? Any of the shooting sports appeal to specific personalities and Silhouette is no exception. This is a precision, detail sport. At our club we make real effort to make new shooters welcome. We set out the larger targets, don't charge the entry fee and an experienced shooter invariably offers to walk them through the match. Beyond that it's up to the individual to decide if they want to come back. Considering the number of categories: Smallbore; Lever Action - smallbore, pistol and high power; Air Rifle; High Power there certainly isn't a lack of opportunity for anyone with almost any budget to participate.
I love Silhouette and intend to shoot as longs I can.
K Danz
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Re: Hunting rifle class silhouette rifle rules

Post by K Danz »

As a shooter who has shot many types of competitions, I have to echo a few statements in this string.
I have shot almost every silhouette game except Air Guns for 40 years. Still do. I also shoot steel challenge and USPSA. (I'm the match director for USPSA at my club) Fact of the matter is, silhouette shooting is hard. A new shooter who arrives at their first match with a Marlin 22 and a Tasco 4X scope and hits 5 out of 40, is gonna leave a bit frustrated. That same shooter can go to a USPSA match, with an out of the box Glock, fire 150 rounds, add in a little shooting on the move and it will be a lot more exciting. And they have the satisfaction that they hit everything they shot at. The difference between a D class shooter and a master, is the D class shooter shoots a 32 shot course of fire in 40 seconds and the master does it in 14 seconds. Same raw score in points, but the master does it way faster and wins the match. And they both shoot the same box stock Glock, or Sig or CZ etc. in what's called Production Division. (if you want to spend some money, there are divisions where you can do that)
The younger generation is used to playing video games where if you just keep getting more "lives" in your game, you get better and move up the leader board. It's all about instant gratification. And if that's what you're looking for, Silhouette isn't going to be your game. IMO, that's why we see so few younger shooters.
Addressing the "Equipment race" I remember the Nationals many moons ago where the rules for Hunter rifle got changed for what I would consider a BS reason.
Now the intent of Hunter rifle in those days, was that you could walk into a gun shop, plop down $400, come out with a Ruger, Savage, Remington etc, that looked like a hunting rifle and shoot a match. At the Nationals, (many years ago) someone was using a custom rifle which met all the criteria of a Hunter Rifle as far as what it looked like. Someone filed a protest and said since the guy that built the rifle only made like 3 guns a year, that was a custom gun. Ultimately, the gun was allowed because Greg Connor said the guy that built the gun had a "manufacturers" license vs a gunsmith. The rationale was that we can't shut out the little guys competing with the big gun makers. And that's where I call BS.
Going back to USPSA, the Production division referenced above is for stock guns with very few modifications allowed. It has to make a certain weight limit and fit into a "BOX". The other key part of the division is that for a gun to be allowed in "Production", there is a requirement that there be a minimum production of 500 guns of that model to be allowed in the Production division. When I mentioned that to Greg, that's where I got the "little guy vs big guy" statement. You very well could have done something similar. Now I don't care what ATF license you have. You only build 3 guns a year, you're not a manufacturer.
But in typical Greg Conner fashion, "...it's a done deal. move on..."
Now I will say, I've built 3 custom High power guns, (two that meet the current Hunter class specs) and I also have 3 custom guns for USPSA.
I love cool guns too. But I think we would have been better off with the old Hunter rifle rules.
Anyway, rant is over.
I will continue shooting as many games as possible till I'm unable to do so.

I would also like to end with this. You can have the most accurate rifle ever built. Top of the line barrel, trigger, stock etc. (I have such guns)
I am a AA shooter who hasn't fired a AA score in 3 years.
If I hand that gun to a master shooter, they will still shoot a 35 and kick my butt. Same in USPSA. If I'm shooting the exact same stock Glock as a master shooter, they're gonna beat me every time.

It all comes down to skill, and skill comes with practice. And I feel the younger generation today don't want to
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