How did you start in Silhouette?

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hermit5
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How did you start in Silhouette?

Post by hermit5 »

In the late 80s,I read about silhouette in American Rifleman.I’m not sure if it was pistol or rifle,but the concept of hitting animal targets and knockdown was interesting.About 1990 I was driving on RT 770 in Pennsylvania between Warren and Bradford and saw a club.
McKean County Rifle Club and there was a sign with silhouette animals on it.No one was there,but I recognized the berms and target stands.Happened to have a 100’ measuring tape and the distances didn’t make sense.Didn’t think much more about it for awhile.
Then while sitting in a local bar a guy next to me was from Bradford so I asked him about this club.He explained he was a member and they shot Hunters Pistol silhouette.He invited me up on a Wednesday night and his father let me shoot his Thompson Center Contender in 22 cal.I was hooked.By 1996 I was Master with all 4 pistols and 7 times Pa State Champion.Toot,toot.Bradford also held National Championship for Pistol silhouette.During this time I learned that not far away in Ridgway,Pa they had the Nationals for SB and HP silhouette.So a road trip there to see their setup.SB silhouette followed shortly with what I had.A Remington nylon 11 with 7/8 4x scope.
That was followed by a Browning A bolt with 15x Simmons that fell apart.Up graded to a Remington 541T with Leupold 6.5x20EFR.At that time 70% of rifles on the line were this setup.Was still saving for a hp rifle and Christmas bonus afforded a Remington 700 SS in 7-08 and another Leupold.Shot this rifle both classes as it’s affordable with one load 168s at all animals,one scope.Took me to AAA eventually.Acquired a 308 and another Leupold and 168s all animals.Hit 15 turkeys in a row with this 308.Met my friend and mentor Al Foust because of this.All rifles were as issued factory as per the rules and 2# triggers.
Fell into the BPCR rabbit hole after that and made it to AAA .About this time Leveraction was just stating.Jumped in with cross bolt safety 39A,carbine 357,and 20” 336 3030.Later 30-30& 357 were replaced with Cowboy version just because.Short barreled guns took me to AAA or Master.Oh, a 45-70 CB was involved prior to rule change on rams.Grand Slam CLA rams eluded me till Nationals at Raton.With 45-70 and 300 gr Sierras.YAHOOEY.
Somewhere in all this CMP military matches came into the picture.This was also from reading American Rifleman and seeing M1 for sale ads.
In conclusion,no one introduced me to these silhouette shooting sports.I saw the stories and investigated them on my own.No one at that time was reaching out for newbie shooters.
These videos by Eric and posts by Dustin are important to reach out to potential shooters.It’s an expensive hobby when reloading and travel are involved.Oh well, I gave up drinking to afford this sport.Best thing I ever did.I have 5x as many friends at the range than I did at the bar.
The highlights of 30 years are to innumerable to tell,from first 5 in a row,to multiple state championships,and National Championships participation.
Thank you for this sport.
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Re: How did you start in Silhouette?

Post by Heavybarrell »

hermit5, that was a wonderful article! Plus, silhouette is the reason we met and I am proud to call you "Friend". Mark Varner and I worked together several years ago, he always asked me at work to go shooting silhouette with him. After about a year or so of beating me down, hounding me, I agreed. I should've known he was leading me down a rabbit hole when he said and I quote, " I am not responsible for what happens after this match". Well, after thousand and thousands of dollars I still dabble in this great sport. After about four years of shooting, my youngest son (12 at the time) asked me when he could start shooting. I said whenever you want! (I was waiting for this question) My son, Mark and I spent countless weekends running around the state shooting for several years. Not only did I get to meet and become friends with a bunch of great people through this sport, I got to make so many memories with my son. One day my wife overheard a conversation I was having with some friends about silhouette shooting, one friend asked if it was expensive, I said, I spent thousands and thousands of dollars on guns, scopes, ammo, equipment, motel rooms, food, gas. She had no idea, but did agree that the time I spent with our son was priceless memories and how fortunate we were to be able to do it! Now I'm waiting on Grandkids to ask! Lol. Hopefully until then we can get Mark out of retirement for smallbore.
durant7
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Re: How did you start in Silhouette?

Post by durant7 »

Two great posts. I will share my journey.

I recall shooting 22LR rifles at summer camp when I was 12 or so. Anyone else remember those round NRA patches you earned as you shot ever higher scores? Well, unknowingly, I really enjoyed that sport. My father had quite a collection of firearms but we never used them except for occasional plinking at random tin can in some sand pit. Years later he asked if I had any interest in the firearms. I said I enjoyed the 22LR and it would seem he sold everything but the 22s. He passed away unexpectedly. A mess. One of the outcomes was my mother wanted me to remove all the guns from the house. So, on one trip home for Christmas, I purchased a gun case and flew 2 rifles and a pistol down to Texas.

Back then, RimfireCentral seemed to be the most active spot. I posted some questions about my new to me rifles to learn more about them and how I might find a use for them. Ernie Kuney, aka Nomad, replied and filled me in on my Winchester 52B. Suggested I bring it to Haltom City Rifle & Pistol Club in Fort Worth. He had a 52B Sporter vs. my 52B Marksman. I got in my car one cold morning and showed up at HCRP with my father's 52B. There I met Ernie for the first time. He admired my rifle briefly and then told me to put it away and said "we'll shoot mine today". I was really there about the 52B knowledge pursuit. Not about shooting but heck, why not. It was then when my head exploded as I was introduced to the sport of Metallic Silhouette. 1/2 Scale animals, scoped 22LR. Fun shoot. Accomplished shooters were knocking down 37-38 animals. Me, I don't even remember. I remember Ernie's odd ammo. European stuff in a round "Pringles like" container. It was a hoot. I remember looking at Rams and wondering how in the world a 22LR would ever find those tiny animals so far away. I had grown up plinking at 30 feet, not 320 feet.

I can recall walking back from resetting the animals, carefully avoiding the fire ant hills. Ernie said, "If you are going to play this game, you need to pick up a NS522". Here I was, first day at a range in 25 years and I am being told to buy a gun. I had never purchase a firearm in my life. Or even thought about it. I was not there to add to my family "heirloom", I was there to figure out how to use it. Ernie was blunt and said my Marksman was too nice to D&T, buy a suitable gun and come join the fun.

I did not know an NS522 from a Remington 541. I knew zip. But I found a NS522 used for $200 at a used gun shop Ernie told me to call. Here I was driving all over DFW area buying a gun. Many emails back and forth with Ernie. He then prescribed a Weaver KT15 scope. A few weeks of eBay lurking and I picked up a scope. Met him at HCRP and he kindly loaned me some rings and taught me how to mount a scope. That seemed like a dark science. But he set me up and I was off to the races with my very own SB Hunter class silhouette rifle. A true adventure.

I shot the fun match for about 6 months learning the sport and more importantly, being welcomed into the HCRP shooting folks. Fenton, Charlie, Clayburn, Ken, Mark, Don, Jerry, the list goes on. They were an entirely new set of friends and provided a much needed outlet other than work and kids. It was fun. Every month I learned more about the sport. Learned about the NRA Book. Classification system. Different guns. I was a sponge soaking it up. New knowledge is something I enjoy. Then I heard them all talk about "Traveling" to other matches. Whoa! I needed to travel too?

The big match back then was Winnsboro, LA. Everyone who was anyone went to Winnsboro LA. Somehow I managed to engineer a work trip in LA so I could pop down on Friday and participate in the largest shooting spectacle I had ever seen. 100s of shooters. There I met another group of great people, Motl, Pharr and others from Texas who the HCRP gang knew. Enjoyed the Coon-Ass Challenge where Ernie, Sandy, John and Jud managed to come in 4th. It was one big family and it was fun. Then one day I told Ernie I had to go to Portland OR for work. He said why not go to Pe Ell? The sport just grew and grew and I met the Winsteads, Keith and the list goes on. All with my trusty NS522.

Long story short, the game is responsible for many of my friends. When I moved to NH I found the silhouette family which I have enjoyed for the past 15 years. They don't travel as much but still good friends and memories. I recently picked up the phone and talked with the Jerry as if it was yesterday after 20 years. I guess my point, the sport is much more than how many animals you knock over. Let's face it, go to a 100+ shooter match, I am not expecting to win. I am shooting against myself and hoping I can do about the same as I do at the local matches as it is a head game for me. Was it expensive? True, I do have a fair amount of capital tied up in top of the line equipment from brand A rifles, air and rimfire, to brand L scopes. And the expensive brand M Cowboy lever guns. I would argue than unlike golf clubs or fishing gear, they have all brought joy and appreciated along the way. Unlike golf clubs or bass boats which depreciate. I do think the days of used $200 NS522 or $300 39As are over. But, they are out there and I don't believe will depreciate. I regularly loan out my NS522 to those interested. I spend more time educating, promoting the game than I do practicing which is a miss on my part. But my choice.

Like the posts before me, many friends, many shared fun travel stories both on and off the line. I would not change one thing. I just hope I can introduce others to the sport so that they may have as many fun memories as I have had.
hermit5
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Re: How did you start in Silhouette?

Post by hermit5 »

Great story Judd.
Thank you
H.Plummer
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Re: How did you start in Silhouette?

Post by H.Plummer »

Great stories!
My story is much shorter.
I made a phone call, attended two matches as an observer and at 62 years of age I hope to shoot my first match this spring. Let the games begin!
P.S. I really have spring fever! Snow and subzero temps in our immediate forecast.
hermit5
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Re: How did you start in Silhouette?

Post by hermit5 »

I thought for sure there would be more great stories on how we all got started in silhouette.
c4p6t7r188
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Re: How did you start in Silhouette?

Post by c4p6t7r188 »

hermit5 wrote: Mon Apr 17, 2023 10:32 am I thought for sure there would be more great stories on how we all got started in silhouette.
After reading the stories mine feels underwhelming.

I got in to guns late in my life and I love competition, so when looking into gun competitions I watched tons of videos on NRL22 and built a rifle for it etc. I kept looking on the internet for matches in my area and I couldn't find any for NRL22. I even took lessons on how to shoot courses before my first match!

I looked at what local ranges had to offer and one had silhouette. I looked into it and there weren't many videos on it, but the ones I watched got me excited to try it. I showed up for my first silhouette match with a Steyr Zephyr II with a Athlon scope and only two other shooters were there. I never felt more relaxed in my life and had such an amazing time! I have no idea how I shot a 28/60 on my first match and I finished by shooting five chickens in a row. I wasn't aware of the pins going in and now it's all I want!

Since my first silhouette match I shot 3 NRL22/PRS22 matches and they just didn't bring that challenge/progress that silhouette has; also I didn't find NRL/PRS matches relaxing at all...a much different crowd and a different energy. I didn't like that it was a new course the next month and I didn't know if I was improving or was I just faster on this style of course etc.

Now all I do is think about Silhouette and count down the days for the next match and look at forums or FB for someone to post something new! I would love to collect all of the pins for each category. I'm obsessed!
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Re: How did you start in Silhouette?

Post by dhatch »

Well. Many years ago back in the previous century, bout 1970 as I recall, I got bored squirrel hunting with a shotgun and started with a 10/22.
The years went by and I upgraded to an 541S in the 1980’s. About 2010 I was in a local gun shop looking at match grade ammo. The owner noticed and asked what I was wanting it for, squirrels of course.
So he told me about Silhouette and The Southern Nationals in Winnsboro which was only an hour and a half from my house. So I and my oldest son went in 2011. It was instant addiction.
All those years that The S. Nationals was happening that close and I had no idea.
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PAndy
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Re: How did you start in Silhouette?

Post by PAndy »

I want to respond to this, because there is a point to my story.
I was a target shooter as a kid, always interested in silhouette. I shot a couple smallbore scope matches and one year shot bpcr with a friend's rifle. But I was distracted (in a good way) by family and job.
In 2017, one of my boys had a health issue and he was stuck at home all summer bored. He started shooting .22 rifles at gongs, because it was something he could do. We wound up going to some club type matches, and everywhere we went, the people running the matches were helpful. So it wasn't difficult for us to participate. The first actual silhouette match we shot was with Carl Pelino at Black Ash Sportsmen in northwestern PA. There were some guys shooting leverguns, so next time I brought my grandfather's Savage 29 pump with open sights to shoot that category. Shooters told us about other clubs hosting matches. From there, I was able to shoot a lot of weekends with one or both of my sons. It was a great family activity, and we have made a lot of friends since. We like the simplicity of silhouette...not much equipment, just stand up and shoot.

The main point is that everywhere we went, match directors and fellow shooters helped us along and made us feel welcome. We are fortunate to have quite a few clubs hosting silhouette for scoped rifles, leverguns, and handguns in Western PA. PM me if interested in shooting in this part of the world.
hermit5
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Re: How did you start in Silhouette?

Post by hermit5 »

It’s time to bump this topic back to the top.
Surely there are others with their history of beginning in silhouette.
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Re: How did you start in Silhouette?

Post by chickenhater »

As a kid growing up in the 70's I had two hobbies, plinking with my air rifle and riding my dirt bike. The dirt bike was often in some state of broken so I shot a lot. In the late 80's I found a club in Winston Salem that shot air rifle silhouette and thought that sounded like a game I would enjoy. After joining the CAG and attending a match I was hooked. I thoroughly enjoyed the reactive targets and the fact that it was shot offhand. So I researched other silhouette variants and found a couple clubs within a 2 hr drive that shot small bore silhouette. The first match was a run what you brung type of affair and I had two choices, my marlin 39 or an old savage 19 (33) NRA. Both guns had iron sights, as did all of my guns back then, and since the savage had target sights, it got the nod. I sighted in for a low 6 o'clock hold on the chickens and held over on turkeys and rams. I don't recall that first score but it was good enough for the match win. So now I'm hooked on SB and purchase an Anschutz 1710dkl and top it with a nikon scope, but still don't trust myself, or the sight, enough to make corrections for each bank so I use the same technique, and hold over. I shot a few points higher than my first attempt and then looked into other variants and heard of a club in VA that shot BPCR, so I purchased an old Rolling block in 43 Spanish and the necessary loading supplies. Sadly by the time I had my set up sorted out, the club had broken up and no longer hosted matches. As excited as I was about silhouette, I deviated an got into cross country motorcycle racing. Shooting stopped for me and I was consumed with all things motorcycle.
After destroying enough body parts I aged out of motorcycles and took up a less destructive path with MTB racing for a while, then aged out of that and thought I'd go back to shooting. I figured I would be able to resume where I left off and fully expected to shoot a 30 something on my return to the game... I was very wrong. The first match back was demoralizing, funny I can't recall the scores from the matches I won a couple decades earlier, but this one is locked into memory, 10/40 🫨! I shot the return match using and old German falling block with peep sights, as I had sold my anschutz to a friend years ago. I talked my friend into selling the 1710 back to me and then learned to trust making corrections for each bank. This made a considerable improvement, but I was still struggling. The biggest hurdle was a poor hold, I wasn't nearly as steady as in my youth. I made change after change in an attempt to reduce my wobble, but it was still target ++. My left knee had given up on me and had to be replaced, this turned out to be the biggest part of my hold issues, as I was putting more weight on the good leg, so I was imbalanced. After a year of rehab and practice I was shooting much better. I'm still not nearly as steady as in my youth, but tolerable now.
A friend introduces me to HP at a small match in Georgia and I shot it with an old Sako 308 with a hunting scope. I didnt set the world on fire at that first match, i think i shot around 15/40 , but now I've found my favorite variant! Love the HP, despite the fact it's much more difficult than the other disciplines and there's no where close by to shoot it. I still try to make the Sierra classic and nationals in Ridgway every year.
I got into leveraction around the same time as HP and found the feel familiar to plinking as a kid and it gives the marlin 39, I've had since I was a teenager, a purpose. Then PCLA and CLA followed, and I enjoy them even more than the SBLA. Heck all variants of this game are fun and I am thankful I'm able to participate. I've met the nicest people at silhouette matches and made some good friends along the way.
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Re: How did you start in Silhouette?

Post by 375Short »

I grew up in El Paso spending much of my leisure time reading Outdoor Life and any gun magazines or reloading manuals I could find. I was dreaming of being a Hunter and shooter but reality was a dad slowly dying of cancer and a mom consumed with all that entails. My dad passed away (1979) the summer before my freshman year and I entered High School guiding my own life and fretting about my future. I joined ROTC and learned they had a rifle team. I poured myself into those programs.

My competitive shooting started with the ROTC program which shot 3P air rifle. The team excelled and we won state and national championships those years of High School. I also shot with an Explorer Boy Scout program during that time and a few times we shot Silhouette at Ft. Bliss. Silhouette never left my head as a desire to do later.

I graduated early and joined the Coast Guard.I had never laid eyes on an ocean and could barely swim, that changed. After that enlistment, I worked for Florida then NM state Parks as an officer then settled into Los Alamos NM until I retired from the Police department in 2010. In all that time I had never stopped thinking about the desire to shoot silhouette but did not have the time or money.

I settled in SE New Mexico, married Elaine and discovered silhouette shooting was happing in Carlsbad and a short time later discovered it was also happening in Hobbs ,a 2 hour drive for us. Later had finally arrived.

Like with others many friends and great mentors followed. We are still learning and try to recruit and help others any time we can. A couple of unforgettable experiences have nothing to do with how we shoot but who we shoot with. One of the first big matches we attended was the AZ State Championship. At the conclusion of the match a man came from the crowd and asked if I was Wayne Byers from El Paso? Followed by “ I have spent my entire life hating you “. After all the years in Law Enforcement I could only guess something was about to not go well. The man was Tony Lopez, we had been competitors from different schools during high school. It was a great reunion and I felt like I was 16 again, briefly. Then I noticed his father with the distinctive signature hat he always wears, instant memory of seeing that same man standing in the back of the range watching every match Tony and I competed together in. I remember thinking then, that lucky kid. The other event was at the last Nationals in Raton. A family by the last name of Stein had showed up in Hobbs at the High Lonesome Silhouette Club to tryout silhouette. Man that family can shoot. In the first few seasons I could offer Jake some guidance, then it was all I could do the keep up, followed by it was rare to get close. Things come full circle. I struggled through Nationals but couldn’t put my finger on what the issue was. The first clue came from a photo a fellow competitor took while I was shooting. She shared the photo and part of the problem was in full color and obvious. At the end of the match Elaine and I attended the clinic provided by many of the top shooters. I drew Jake as my coach. It took about 30 seconds for him to spot my problem, it was easy to fix and it was game on again. That moment made me feel great having the Kidd that I was able to help a little now as a young man help me a lot.

If you are sitting on the fence trying to decide to take up this sport or struggling with staying at it, remember it’s not how you shoot but who you are shooting with that matters most.
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