NRA smallbore pistol silhouette -- pretty fun!

[j1132s]

If you have a .22LR pistol, maybe you'd want to try an NRA smallbore pistol silhouette match. IMHO, it's more fun than it looks on paper. I'll describe my first match...

Recently I decided to take up NRA type shooting. But before getting into conventional pistol, I decided to start off with smallbore pistol silhouette. (Mainly because I don't have a 1.5" 50yd .45ACP pistol yet.)

I shoot my first smallbore pistol silhouette match last Sunday. Equipment requirement is pretty low, just a gun, 60 rounds of .22LR ammo, eye/ear protection. Technically, you also need a spotting scope, but each "team" (of 2 people) only needs one, so I didn't need one(although I brought one.)

The match consists of 60 shots; shooting at 4 sets of 15 animal silhouettes set at 40, 60, 77, and 100 meters. You get 1 shot per target and , and receive 1 point for every target knocked over; 0 if it stands. So your score is between 0 and 60 points. The targets are of decent size, but I don't have the dimensions.

You take turns with another shooter to shoot/spot for each other. The spotter, looking thru a spotting scope, tells the shooter where he/she's shoot landed. The shooter can then adjust his/her point of aim for the next target, etc.

The satisfaction of knocking over those steel silhouettes is hard to describe, and if you've not shot steel/pins before, you'll really have to experience it to understand. There wasn't much of an adrinaline rush in this competition, but more of a gradual euphoria and satisfaction.

Coming from action pistol and steel challenge, I find myself shooting too fast. You get 2.5 minutes to shoot 5 silhouette targets; I usually finish shooting in under 1 minute, sometimes under 30 seconds; and I'm trying to shoot slow too. It's a different type of shooting and I need to improve my precision.

I was shooting a S&W Model 41 7" barrel completely stock with iron sights using CCI pistol match ammo. Pretty much everybody else was shooting a TC Contender w/ 10" barrels; many with scopes. But I think if I had my old Buckmark I would've been ok using it.

Before the match, I zero'ed my sights for 40,60,77,and 100 meters. I practiced a bit shooting at paper. I started off the match pretty well, getting 5 chickens in a row (my first animal silhouettes) on the first 5 shots. Unfortunately, my luck didn't last.

This first match I got 31 points, which puts me in the AA class (a middle class). This Sunday, I'm planning to try the NRA smallbore rifle silhouette... unless I'm too tempted to go for an IDPA match :)

[HighVelocity]

That sounds like fun and pretty difficult. 100 meters with an iron sighted 22lr pistol?!?! That's mighty impressive in my book.

[j1132s]

Switching to these NRA non-action pistol matches are a bit of a necessity because I'm in Austin and all the action pistol events have moved out of town...

Fortunately, they seem very interesting in different ways and offer different challenges.