2010 - SMALLBORE SILHOUETTES

Thank you for your interest in PCGC Small-bore Silhouette shooting

    Small-bore silhouettes is a fun, and exciting rifle marksmanship game, using your faithful old .22 rifle, or purpose built silhouette standard rifle in .22 RF. Like chess it is easy to learn, but can take a lifetime to perfect. This page will be dedicated to information, technique, rules, equipment, and ammo use in small-bore silhouette competition, as they relate to members of the Polk County Gun Club.

    My name is Greg Ficklin, and I have agreed to become the new silhouette chairman. My goal is to revive a once fine program started by my friend Harris Putnam. Without Harris, I would have known nothing about this sport, and would not be in the position to bring it back to PCGC. We all have him to thank for starting such a great program, but it's continued success is now in my hands. I sincerely hope that the members of PCGC, and our guests take advantage of these matches, as a form of club participation, and fellowship, with safe and friendly competition. These will be held on the second Saturday of every month.

More on Silhouettes

    Small-bore silhouette is a scaled down version of the original game that originated in Mexico as Siluetas Metalicas  or metallic silhouettes, that used high power sporting rifles at much larger steel targets in the shape of chickens, pigs, turkeys, and rams, at ranges out to 500 yards or more. Small-bore silhouettes uses iron targets 1/5 the size of the high power at 1/5 the distance for each set.  The course of fire is 40 shots at 40 animals. Ten chickens at 40m, ten pigs at 60m, ten turkeys at 77m, and ten rams at 100m.         

    The matches are fired in the offhand position, meaning that no benches,  bags or sticks are used to steady the aim. It is just you, and your rifle in the standing position. Shooting one shot per target left to right, in order is the requirement. Any shot made out of sequence is scored a miss for the intended target and for the one hit out of sequence.

    Each set of ten targets is separated into two groups of 5 targets. At the command to fire, the shooters will be allowed 2 1/2 minutes to fire five shots, then a short break of 2 minutes to reload and or make adjustments before the second 2 1/2 minutes of firing to complete the relay. Non-shooting competitors of the same relay have the responsibility of scoring.  Coaching and spotting with a scope is allowed.

    After the command "Cease Fire", all rifles will be made safe by unloading any saved rounds, and inserting an open bolt indicator, and placed in the rifle racks behind the firing line.

    When the line is determined to be safe by the match director, all shooters will then proceed to walk to their targets to reset and paint, for the next relay. This process is repeated until all shooters have completed the 40 shot course of fire.

    In the event of a tie within a particular class, or for the overall winner, a sudden death shoot-off will determine the winner. The target will be chosen by the match director, and the competitors shoot until one misses. Shoot-offs are very exciting to watch and even more exciting to participate in.

Equipment

    Some of you may think that 100 meters is an awfully long way to shoot a .22RF. let me tell you, that is not true!  Any .22 rifle in good working order is capable of a perfect score of 40/40 if the shooter can do it. The beauty of silhouettes is that almost everyone has everything they need to get started. Iron sites are fine but most use scopes with repeatable adjustments to establish "zeros" for each animal's distance. There will always be two matches on match day, one for the Hunting rifle, and another for what the rules call "Standard rifle".  The Hunting rifle class is restricted to what most of us call "sporters". They range from the very inexpensive, and common Marlin bolt-action repeater, to high-end collectables like the Winchester 52 repeating sporters. The hunting rifle cannot weigh more than 8 1/2 lbs, (including sights), and have a standard contour tapered barrel. It must have a hunting style stock without adjustments, or added features, with a trigger pull of not less than 2lb. Thumbhole stocks are not allowed in this category.  Other rifles in this category include: Ruger 77/22, Ruger 10/22, Clip fed Marlin, and Savage bolt actions, and tube fed lever actions, or tube, or magazine fed semi autos that are very common. Basically the .22 you have had for ages that is gathering dust, while the squirrels eat your pecans, bird feed, or the wires bringing electricity to your home

    The Standard rifle category allows the use of more specialized target competition rigs with fewer limitations. They may weigh up to 10 lb. 2 ounces including sights, with "bull" barrels up to 30". Any trigger not subject to accidental discharge may be used; But "release" triggers or automatic triggers are prohibited. ( I have never seen any of those anyway ) The stocks are usually specifically designed to conform with current rules, and can be  wood, fiberglass, carbon fiber, Kevlar, or laminates. Attachments that do not place the rifle overweight, or extend past the length of the barrel are allowed.  Many shooters that compete in this category are AAA, or Masters in classification, but don't let that discourage you. Any rifle used in the Hunting rifle match can also be use in the Standard rifle match.

Sights

    As stated before, any site may be used as long as your rifle still conforms to the rules. But most sporters that have not been scoped will probably have the old tried and true leaf rear sight, that limits your elevation and windage adjustment. Most will try to establish a zero for the closest target and "hold over" for the rest. This may be fine for a skirmish against a rising hoard of belligerent soda cans, where time is not a factor, and ammo is plentiful, but for silhouettes, it is a major disadvantage.

    The obvious upgrade to your sporter is a decent scope. By decent I mean a scope that can reliably focus, adjust, and repeat for each of the known distances required. It should be rugged, and capable of doing this for every match. Most optics chosen for 22 rifle duty are usually not suitable for silhouettes because they lack the features of Adj objective lens (Focus),  target knobs, and have low magnification.  When choosing a scope for your favorite 22, think of it as buying a nice scope. Don't let the fact that is going on your 22 limit you to only the cheapest optics. With that being said, I wouldn't suggest that you plop down $600 bucks on a Leupold silhouette scope if you are new to all of this. There are reasonably priced optics with the afore mentioned features that can be had for much less.  Give some a try, you may find one that works beautifully, and if it doesn't... well, you haven't lost too much.  I have chosen a Weaver T-24 for my Win 52b. I know from its reputation that it will be a great scope . Other scopes with great reputations among SB silhouette shooters include: Bushnell   4200, and 3200, Burris, Leupold, and Weaver target scopes . Tasco target scopes are very low priced, but may be a good choice. I have never had one so I can't really attest to their suitability.

Ammo

    Small-bore shooters today have the widest array of choices available for ammo than anyone in history . Today we have subsonic, standard, and hyper velocity ammo, by more manufacturers than you can shake a stick at. But for our silhouette matches we will only use .22 cal long rifle standard velocity ammunition. ****You may not use 17M2, 17HRM, or any other 17 rim-fire ammo****.  I wish we could , but the velocity of these bullets are so high that damage to the targets, and risk of ricochet, prohibit their use.

Long Range Smallbore Silhouette

    After my two NRA approved matches this month, I will be starting up my first run of Long Range Silhouettes. I wanted to offer a monthly event to fill up my day at the range that lets shooters hit the silhouettes from more stable positions with the challenge of twice the distance for each stage.

Long range course of fire:

•  10 Chickens @ 80 M sitting
•  10 Pigs @ 120M sitting
•  10 Turkeys @ 154M prone
•  10 Rams @ 200M prone

Rules:

•  Any sight will be allowed with overall winners in scoped, and non scoped categories.
•  No bi-pods will be allowed. The rifle must be supported by the shooter. The use of a sling is allowed and encouraged.
•  Spotter/scorers may call shots and coach, with spotting scopes.
•  The weight limit on rifles will be 15 lb..
•  Triggers shall not be prone to accidental discharge. No minimum weight requirement.
•  Only .22 rimfire will be allowed. No FMJ rounds.
•  All matches open to the public.

Awards: Overall winners in scoped and non scope categories receive 100 rds of CMP ammo.

Other awards: These awards will not be based on classification since there aren't any, but a system of cash prizes in the form of "Jugs" (like carp fishing) will be used. Half of the match fee of $10 will go toward mandatory Jug pots to be awarded to qualified shooters or rolled over to following matches increasing the size of the pots if not awarded.

Mandatory jugs:

•  All Chickens $1
•  All Pigs $1
•  All Turkeys $1
•  All Rams $1
•  All 40 hits $1

Voluntary jugs:

•  1st target on each stage $1
•  Last target on each stage $1
•  1st and last target on each stage $1
•  50% or more hits $1
•  35 hits or more $1

    Only one jug per competitor per match will be awarded. If a shooter qualifies for more than one pot with a single score the highest value pot will be awarded. If more than one competitor qualifies for the same pot, a shoot-off will determine the winner of the pot.

    I think this may take off and be something fun and rewarding for all that participate. It will not be easy. I hope that this will lure some hard holders to our club's matches especially if a jug or two gets up to some serious money. The skills needed also dovetail nicely into NRA High Power/service rifle disciplines. Anyone familiar with position shooting with a capable rifle/ammo combination will score well, but a perfect score will be elusive to all but the best of marksmen. I call it "Small Bore Saturday" All match fees and jug pots come to $25 for a full day of shooting. If you are good enough you could walk away with some cash, some ammo, and a real sense of accomplishment.

Match Information

Match dates: Jan 9, Feb 13, Mar 13, Apr 10, May 8, Jun 12, July 10, Aug 14, Sept 11.

Second Saturday of each month with NRA aproved matches begining April 10, and ending Sep 11.
Match fee will remain at $5 per match + a once per year NRA scorebook fee of $12.
 
Practice and zeroing 11:00 am
Matches begin at 12:00pm with smallbore hunting rifle and smallbore standard rifle following the completion of the first match.
 
Jan, Feb, and Mar, will be scheduled for silhouettes for informal training and PCGC member education about the game. There will be
no match fees for these months. Members and non members are welcomed to attend. If there are insuficiant numbers of shooters to hold the matches, the match will be cancelled but we will use the range time to further educate and sell the program to interested shooters.

Time: Registration on match day will begin at 9 a.m. The Hunting rifle match beginning at 10 a.m.

Rules: All NRA small bore silhouette rules apply, as with all safety rules of PCGC, and commands from match director. NRA rulebooks are available from  http://www.nrahq.org/compete/dept-silh.asp

Contact Match Director: Greg Ficklin (864) 415-9561 or dgfick@msn.com

    That's about it for now. For more info, and forum discussions pertaining to silhouette competition go to http://www.steelchickens.com This is a great resource for online discussion, with very knowledgeable, and friendly members.

    So dust off that squirrel slayer, and put it to good use in  fun, exciting, and very challenging Small-Bore silhouette matches. Come out and give it try, once you hear that "clang" of a well aimed round, and see that target disappear, you just might get bit. I sincerely hope you do