As you might notice from my "Diary of a silhouette newbie..." post, I just recently got my Grand Slam pin for smallbore hunter rifle. I was a little shocked that I was #122 to get it, as I expected the number to be much higher than that. How long has the NRA been giving Grand Slam pins? If you have yours for any silhouette class, when did you get it and what number was it?

Jason, I don

So do we really have so few competitors in silhouette that no one else is surprised that a smallbore hunter Grand Slam pin from 2007 only has #122 on it?

As for my other Grand Slams, I only have turkeys in smallbore standard rifle but at least the hardest one's out of the way. I only need rams in PC cowboy rifle, and I think I only have pigs in smallbore cowboy. I've only shot the centerfire cowboy rifle once and had nothing but full power hunting loads for my 30-30. They took the rams down well, but they beat the snot out of me on the other animals before I got to rams.

Jason, with the exception of Black Powder Cartridge and Cowboy Lever Action the other entire silhouette shooting sports in many states are struggling to stay alive, so I am upset but not surprised to know that there are not that many people shooting silhouettes with scoped rifles any more.

Last Sunday I went to a HP match at a location where they have six banks of HP targets and there were four of us attending the match, there have been other times when I was the only one there. On the other hand they had Cowboy Lever Action matches for .22s and PC the day before and they had 32 shooters some of which used to shoot SB and HP with scoped rifles.

To your credit you should know that there have been probably more than a couple thousand people that have shot SB with light or Hunting rifles since the sport started in the mid 1980's and since you have pin #122 that gives you an idea of how challenging the game can be for most shooters.

Okay, I've only shot one match and I know this is a stupid question but...What the heck is a GRAND SLAM in smallbore silhouette ?

When you get 10-in-a-row of an animal in an NRA-sanctioned match, you get to fill out a little form to send in to the NRA and they send you a nice little letter congratulating you. Once you send in all four animals for a specific rifle class (smallbore standard, smallbore hunter, smallbore cowboy, etc.) they send you a nicer letter and a Grand Slam pin engraved on the back with the rifle class, a unique number, and your name.

I earned my PC Cowboy Grand Slam last year and it is # 50. Al Foust

Jason, now you know why there are so few people shooting our sport. Nobody wants to admit they are a bad shot. Look at all the shotgun shooters and how many have a 25 or a 50 patch. People like to brag and it's tough to do when you are shooting silhouette with little targets and big wobbles.

my grand slam number is 500 if you dont believe me just wait 20 years when I actually get it. I choke at 4 in a row everytime.

Kevin

My Hunter Grand slam is 120. C. 4-10-2005, P. 7-2-2005, T. 9-25-2005 & R. 8-12-2006. Still trying to figger out how to pin it my Vest.

I'm not sure the sport is all THAT esoteric and smallbore seems to be growing. It's just a pretty good feat to pull off. I've been at it ten years. While I'm no threat to win the Nationals I am ranked master in SB Hunter and AAA in SB Standard and both HP guns, and proud of it, as you can see. I clean the SB chickens and pigs now and then, not "often" but just enough that it's not an enormous surprise. I've never hit 10 rams or ten turkeys. You see the real Champion-level shooters do it now and then but not all that often.
A friend recently sent me some info on the grand slam that was pretty interesting. Up until a couple of years ago David Tubb held the ONLY pin in HP Hunter. No doubt Mr. Sanchez, Ringer's young student, has one by now and Greenaway probably does but that number helps put things in perspective, I think.
Jason, be proud of that pin!
Edit: That should read: "I clean the SB chickens OR pigs..."