Just Shot My First Match

[OldMike]

After wanting to shoot Cowboy Lever Action for a couple of years (and being sidelined for a long time), I finally was able to shoot my first match ever, yesterday at Haltom City Rifle and Pistol Club. I originally thought that my wife had to work Saturday, but Friday night she mentioned that she only needed to go in on Sunday. So Saturday morning I packed my things and headed out to Haltom City RPC. The match started at 9:30am, with setup and practice starting at 8am. Unfortunately, I couldn't get there until shortly before the match began so I missed the opportunity to take any practice shots.

I was real worried because the rifle I brought with me was my bargain basement Henry lever action 22lr with an 18" barrel. When I got there and saw everyone else's setups, the nerves flared up even a little more. I did install a set of marble rear sights on it a couple of years ago (before my back problems which prevented me from ever actually shooting any cowboy silhouette), but it still had the less than ideal plastic big block sights up front. I hadn't even fired the rifle in about two years - and I had no idea of where it was even sighted in. Missing the chance to practice had me even more worried about shooting the match.

Once I got there everyone was so nice and supportive, I couldn't believe it. I was real nervous and hoping that I wouldn't score a 0 on my first match! Dave paired me up with two great shooters, Ron and Rick, who were super helpful, and helped me settle in, which did a lot to calm the nerves. I was also really impressed with the layout of the range. It was a great, professional setup - I was really amazed. I really liked the way the silhouettes were reset by rope.

On the first match I missed a few shots as I tried to adjust where my Marbles tang sight was sighted in for. We shot pigs first - which I was thankful for, since they looked to be easiest. When we were ready to head for the turkeys, I was informed that my sight should probably be adjusted so that I could still aim at the same spot. I was under the assumption that 22lr would be ok with one setting up to 100 yards (which I later realized wasn't so!). I started to stress a little again, since I had no idea how many clicks I should adjust the Marbles for each of the distances. So I took a guess, which although will probably be fine tuned over time, seemed to work for me ok.

For my first match ever, in Cowboy Lever Action Smallbore, I shot a 40 out of 60. I was real happy with that and even was able to get 5 in a row on the pigs and chickens. Much better than the 0/60 that I was truly hoping to avoid.

Since I only brought the 22lr Henry with me, I decided to shoot the Pistol caliber class with it. I had so much fun in the morning I wasn't about to go home and miss out on all the fun. I didn't shoot as well in the afternoon, and the 22lr failed to drop some Rams, as a result I scored 33/60.

I was impressed with my cheap Henry 22 rifle (though I am sure it didn't impress anyone else!). I don't consider myself a great shooter by any means. But even with the combination of big plastic front sights, short 18" barrel and cheap Winchester Wildcat 22 rounds, I was able to score better than I thought. My first time out I was able to qualify AA in both smallbore and pistol caliber, with that cheap rifle. Going into this I thought I was going to have to immediately upgrade rifles - but I am going to stick with it until I start missing when I think they should be hits. Right now, every miss I had I knew was a miss immediately after I shot - so I know it is me and not the rifle for now (I even lucked out and knocked two down when I was sure I had taken a bad shot!).

I want to thank everyone at Haltom City RPC, and here at Steel Chickens for all the help and info I have received. I have been wanting to shoot Cowboy silhouette for so long, and then having been sidelined with 2 back surgeries - I didn't know if I was ever going to have the chance to try it out. I have been on this forum a lot over the last couple of years reading and trying to learn. Even if I couldn't shoot while I was injured, I passed the time with trying to learn as much as I could. I had so much fun, I think I am definitely hooked for life. I can't remember that last time I had so much fun shooting, and had such great company doing it!

Thanks a lot everyone!

[timbertoes]

Nutting wrong with a henry sheesh some of them are out of my price range!

Your 40/60 worries me thought. we shoot the same class...
maybe I should sneak some super glue on your tang sight adjuster... j/k
sign up for the State Match. 1st match I ever shot was a state match..its all the same just costs a little more, dont be nervous about it.

[Shandy]

Well shot! Ain't nothing wrong with that score, especially without sight settings. Sounds like you weren't having that much trouble at all. Glad you enjoyed it.

Definitely don't worry about what gun you are shooting. No one will be judging you and most are more curious as to what you are shooting and how it is going and the honest thing is that most silhouette shooters are just glad to have new people come along and participate. The more the merrier. Can't really say I've experienced equipment snobbery at silhouette. The nice thing with silhouette is its an equipment leveler. We aren't talking bench rest so as long as it shoots half decent then the rest lies in the hands of the shooter. You'll learn soon enough to never think cause someone has a clapped out old gun or cheap gear that you've got him beat. If you know your gear and you've done the practice you can run with anyone in this game.

Anyway, glad you had fun and will be coming back.

Cheers.

[Innocent]

OldMike, glad you got to try it. My first CLA was at the nationals last year in Raton. I am seasoned enough to know that the silhouette shooters will make you feel relaxed in any match with whatever you have. Sounds like you started out with a great match, and are a lot better than you thought. Wilth a little practice with the Henry you will have it figured out and be helping some new comer soon!

Mary

[toad]

hi all
it may have been mary's first cowboy shoot at raton but you could tell by the way she shot. mary has been around guns a long time.
time is getting close for the shoot in little river mary do we need to take a extra tent and sleeping gear.??? would be good to see you down under.

regards toad

[Innocent]

toad...glad to see you are still croaking! I'll be home for easter, maybe but other than that this month is full, HP next week, Ga States-smallbore then CBC the week after easter. Mothers day pistol match local, but I'm helping host that one. Worked a gun show this weekend, next to a chap from Darwin, he admires the ramslammers badge and between us we sucessfully irritated one 'dealer' that was trying to work me out of a fine Ruger #1 for a POS very modern Henry in 44 mag. Too many Yanks cant figure out how to deal with the down under sense of humor when we get going.
Besides it should be starting to get a bit nippy there, and I've seen enough winter for a while.
What ya got going at Christmas?

Innocent

[toad]

hi mary
still going ok i will check out the shooting for around then and get back to you. there is some shoot's on at canberra
around that time.
the fat chairman will know and as soon as he see's this he will post the shoot's. hope to give you the good news soon about
the other business . waiting on the dealer numbers ect and a ship date.have been stocking up with federal 50gr .22mag
bullets have 2000 so far at $15.50 per box of fifty.

regards toad

[Tlee]

Mike -

I have to agree with timbertoes... 40/60 is an excellent score for most, beginner or not. I've been shooting silhouettes for 5-6 years now and most of the time its a struggle for me to shoot that well. You definitely need to get entered in the TSRA state match being held at Haltom City May 14-15th... Regardless of how well you shoot, I guarantee you'll have a great time. Here's some pics from last year's state match:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10417929@N ... 48/detail/

Concerning your Henry, you just showed what most of us KNOW, but are too often forgetting... That it's "the indian, NOT the arrow" in this game. In addition to three Marlins, I also own 3 Henrys (2-H001T and 1-H001TM Frontier Models), and I can tell you that the Henrys are just as accurate as any of the Marlins, and their customer service is fantastic (something Marlin/Remington should strive to match).

Congrats again on a fine score. Hope to see you in Haltom City at the state match in May. BTW, in case no one at the club mentioned it, there won't be a regular "1st weekend" May levergun club match at Haltom City because that's the date of the NRA Hunter Pistol Silhouette state match.

-Tim

[OldMike]

Mike -

I have to agree with timbertoes... 40/60 is an excellent score for most, beginner or not. I've been shooting silhouettes for 5-6 years now and most of the time its a struggle for me to shoot that well. You definitely need to get entered in the TSRA state match being held at Haltom City May 14-15th... Regardless of how well you shoot, I guarantee you'll have a great time. Here's some pics from last year's state match:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10417929@N ... 48/detail/

Concerning your Henry, you just showed what most of us KNOW, but are too often forgetting... That it's "the indian, NOT the arrow" in this game. In addition to three Marlins, I also own 3 Henrys (2-H001T and 1-H001TM Frontier Models), and I can tell you that the Henrys are just as accurate as any of the Marlins, and their customer service is fantastic (something Marlin/Remington should strive to match).

Congrats again on a fine score. Hope to see you in Haltom City at the state match in May. BTW, in case no one at the club mentioned it, there won't be a regular "1st weekend" May levergun club match at Haltom City because that's the date of the NRA Hunter Pistol Silhouette state match.

-Tim

Tim, thanks for the kind words. I am going to sign up for the TSRA match, I had so much fun my first time out, that I don't think I would miss it for anything. The pictures looked great, and I had to laugh when I saw the Sushi t-shirt (I'd love to get one for myself!).

I'm a little bit confused on the rules if anyone can help me out. For smallbore I was shooting the regular winchester 22lr. If I end up needing to use my 22lr for the pistol cartridge match, like last time, is it legal to use something like Aguila .22LR Interceptor rounds for Rams?. They are somewhere between 22lr and 22 mag. I know that on the smallbore match they are not legal - but would they be legal on the pistol cartridge match? Obviously some Rams did not go down with the 22lr (but a few actually did to my surprise!), so I'm hoping I might get a couple more to go down if I used a hotter 22lr round in the pistol cartridge match.

Thanks again everyone!

[RockRidge]

Old Mike:

Congratulations on a fine score, and on your first time actually shooting!
Don't let the other guns fool you.... Your Henry is every bit as competetive as theirs.
Match Winner at our recent Pistol Cartridge match on March 27, 2011 was won with an "out of the box" Henry H001M 22mag and open sights. Shot 32/40 + 1 shootoff target!


The addiction begins!

Ed

[Tlee]

...(snip) I had to laugh when I saw the Sushi t-shirt (I'd love to get one for myself!).

I'm a little bit confused on the rules if anyone can help me out. For smallbore I was shooting the regular winchester 22lr. If I end up needing to use my 22lr for the pistol cartridge match, like last time, is it legal to use something like Aguila .22LR Interceptor rounds for Rams?. They are somewhere between 22lr and 22 mag. I know that on the smallbore match they are not legal - but would they be legal on the pistol cartridge match? Obviously some Rams did not go down with the 22lr (but a few actually did to my surprise!), so I'm hoping I might get a couple more to go down if I used a hotter 22lr round in the pistol cartridge match.

Thanks again everyone!

Mike -

That T-shirt is kinda typical of the humour you'll find in the Levergun Silhouette ranks.... the wearer was Jerry Boydstun, who is the match director for the TSRA event last year as well as this year. You'll probably recognize a lot of the folks in the pics from last year's match cause quite a few of them are Haltom City regulars.

Related to that, after spending some time on the east coast and then later California, I concluded us Texans' often have a rather slanted/warped sense of humor... until I met the group from OZ (down under)at Raton:

They're all sorta like your crazy 2nd cousin (or goofy uncle in the case of Toad) that you know speaks english, but you only understand about every 3rd or 4th sentence!

Concerning ammo... Quite honestly, when I read your 1st post, I was shocked and even wondered if someone was "pulling our collective legs" when I saw you'd posted that good of scores using Wildcat 22 ammo.... I've tried it in every 22LR gun or T/C barrel I own and cannot get it to shoot acceptably accurate beyond 50 yards. I've probably 7-8 bricks of it I bought when 22LR got scarce that I pretty much now only use when plinking or shooting bullseye pistol at 25 yards. For the "cheaper" ammo I lean towards either the Federal 510 Champion from Academy or the AutoMatch in the bulk "milk carton" from WalMart. All my Henrys shoot it as well as even the more expensive ammo that I've tested. I've found that in all but my Ruger 77/22 bolt rifle and one of my Contender barrels they both shoot very well. I also use quite a bit of Eley Sport standard velocity (primarily out of Contenders), and then Fiocchi 40g solids (one of my Henrys likes it only slightly better than the Federal ammo).

Concerning the Aguila Intercepters, they are allowed in Pistol Cartridge and will take rams down slightly better than the Federal Champion 510s (but you will still leave a PC ram standing with them, particularly if it's a dead center hit). I found them to be just as accurate as the Federals AS LONG AS it is the 40gr solid bullet version. The reason I say that is Aguila also sells a 36 or 38gr version which I believe is a hollow point, and I've yet to find ANY gun that will shoot them into better than an 8-10" group at 50 yards (I'm not sure, but I THINK they call them SuperMaxs). I still have most of a brick of those that I'd love to swap to someone who's gun will shoot them better than any of mine.

BTW, if you want to get in another match before the Haltom City state match next month, the Austin Rifle Club near Manor TX has a match this coming Sunday (on the 10th), and then CTSA at New Braunfels has a match every 4th Sunday (24th this month). PM me if you want details on those matches.

-Tim

[Innocent]

Now Tim, there is nothing warped about the Oz sense of humor, and they speak the Kings (or is that Queens) english. Most Texans just don't understand a fine clear accent.

Innocent

[Tlee]

Mary -

Except for a certain cockney twang (sp?) from one bloke, I never really noticed an accent amongst them. I've worked with some guys with some pretty thick Brooklyn, Jersey, Bahstin Mass, and other. "foreign (non-southern states) accents" but never really noticed much of one from MOST of the Oz crew. Beyond the obvious "barbie and sheila" references, their slang and terms of endearment are very entertaining, once I "get it", LOL!
It helped me immensely when I had you available as an interpreter last year.

-Tim

[Ramslammer]

G'Day All
Old Mike, if you ever want to come down to Aus let me know. Because I'll give up shooting lol, seriously they were great scores and it's always a pleasing thing to hear of a new shooter. I reckon you'll stay hooked to cowboy, as Dooga Dave say's "It's the most fun you can have with your clothes on" . Anyway welcome to the fold and I hope you stick at it.

Mary
January we will have the early Australia Day matches. Next year Dooga is talking about having "AIR" on the friday, R/F saturday and C/F sunday. 80 shots of each. We have had Air on sat night in the past but now with increased numbers it has become un managable. Don't forget that monday is the Ramslammer Challenge High power silhouette with a lever operated rifle with open sights. Same specs as cowboy but lever operated single shots are allowed. As you may of noticed I snatched the crown off the Pom this year.
Hope you can come over and bring some others. We can between us organise some gear for you. I can organise letters of invitation etc but I'll need some notice.
Juddy

[Tlee]

Mary-

Now there's a great example... I understood everythin Juddy said above "just fine". Now if Ex-Pom was speakin, THAT's when I need the translator!

-Tim