Iron Sight Airgun Silhouette Distances

[TomJ]

I’d like to shoot 1/10 th air gun targets with my FWB 300s using iron sights. What, if any, is the “official” distance for each animal? Hopefully it isn’t the same as when using a scope. Thanks, Tom

[richard]

Official distance is the same but lots of clubs shoot silhouettes at all kinds of different distances using their own club rules.

[TomJ]

Thank you, Richard. I thought that was the case, but wasn’t sure. Tom

[acorneau]

To be clear, NRA Silhouette doesn't have an official "open-sight air rifle" set of rules, so right off the bat you're doing your own thing.

However, if you're trying to mimic the open-sight 22LR sporter game then the equivalent would be 1/5 scale animals at regular air rifle distances. (Technically 20, 25, 37.5, and 45 yards rather than 20, 30, 36, and 45 yards.)

If you want to use 1/10 scale animals to approximate these ratios then cut the distance in half.

When they've run air pistol at the air rifle regionals in Louisiana they've used 1/10 scale animals at half the air rifle distances.

[TomJ]

Thank you for the additional information. Tom

[375Short]

I think you are onto something fun with the open sight airgun. Recently I tried Smallbore Silhouette with a three position .22. I managed to hit 50%. My front appeture was sized for 50 and 100m prone matches, it was way to BIG around the targets. I have also tried exactly what you suggested with air rifle. It is so fun that open sight should be considered its own class. With the 1/10 scale lighting / target contrast can make it enjoyable to nearly impossible. With 1/5 scale targets it is fun on par with levergun and open sight sporter. To make a level playing field 1/5 scale rams need to be scored when hit. They don’t fall reliably with 10m air rifles.

[Hawkeye7br]

IHMSA silhouette offers air pistol silo, not rifle. Velocities are typically from 350-460 fps from the Daisy 747 and IZH 46m handguns. The 1/10 scale targets are at 10, 12.5, 15, and 18 yds. As such, we can use our local clubhouse, pole barn, etc. A club in MN shoots in the unused attic of a local warehouse.

Although not correct distance or target for air rifle, our winter 10m league enjoys an occasional "fun round" with 10m rifles, especially for the youth shooters. At our season ending match last week, the kids had an informal biathlon with their Daisy 853's and some Air Arms T200 rifles. We're just an informal league. For the silo targets, we reduce the timer to 2:30 for the 5 shot strings. Handgun time allowed is 2:00 after the 30 second load command.