22 LR for NRA Hunter Pistol

[Sixgun]

No one has posted on Handgun Silhouette for a long time so I decided to put something here to see if I could wake anyone  up.

At the club where I shoot Hunter Pistol Silhouette we shoot the hunter pistol smallbore first and then put up the heavy targets for hunter pistol.  We don't have enough shooters who will shoot scoped and metallic sighted so we usually shoot them together at the same time.  Each shooter either shoots scoped or metallic sight but not both. 
 
I have been shooting a 22 Hornet for Scoped Hunter Pistol for about 10 years now and it really works good.  This last summer though, I started shooting metalic sights for Smallbore and I really got a kick out of it and even won a few matches.  In April of this year, I didn't have time to load up some Hornets for the monthly match so I went prepared to shoot my 22LR barrel with open sights.

I did really good on the chickens and pigs, cleaned them, and then went on to get 7 turkeys.  I hit 7 rams also but only 4 fell down so I ended up with a 31 out of 40 and won the match.  That was a master score also.  Since then I have been shooting the LR metalic sighted barrel in all of the Hunters Pistol matches I have shot in.  I got some Aguila 60 gr ammo and use them on the rams and don't ring as many but still ring a few.

There are advantages to shooting a LR 22 in this game.  First, the smallbore match gives you lots of practice and there is no change going to the heavier targets.  Recoil on the Hornet is soft but with the LR it dosen't exhist.  And you don't have to stay up all night the night before the match loading ammo.

The chickens don't know the difference between the Hornet and the LR, they fall to either.  You can ring a pig with a marginal hit but most will fall.  Turkeys go down easy too.  The rams are a different story.  A high hit or a hit on either end will knock them down, real slow, but anything close to the middle won't go down.  The 60 gr Aguilas help but they still ring rams.

Bottom line, do good on the chickens and pigs, hit all the turkeys you can, and anything you get on he rams is extra. 

The guys I shoot with keep asking me if I am going to get a Hornet barrel to shoot metallic sight Hunter Pistol with.  I would if I got a good deal but for now I will keep shooting the LR.

Sixgun

[Steve P]

I did the same thing at first.  Found out I had to hit the rams in the head or in the leg to knock them over.  Usually had a good score until I got out there.  (good for my anyway.) 

We had one match where the smaller targets were full so I was playing at the full size chicken line.  Found out I could hit the full size big bore chicken in the head and knock them off the rail.  I could put 10 shots on a pig and not even wiggle it, but I did have fun knocking over the chickens, and the guys watching didn't even notice I had to hit them in the head to do it.

Steve

[19 Turkeys]

See if the match director will ask the target setters to set the rams on the back of the rail just before they reach their topple point.  That will increase your # of knock downs.

Steve W.

[Graybeard]

I always felt I should get most all the chickens and pigs and as many rams as possible and anything I got on turkeys was extra. It has been a LOOOOONG time so can't remember for sure but I don't think I ever got a pin for turkeys and for sure if I did it was a five not a ten. I got ten pins on all the rest.

I mostly used a S&W 17 with 8-3/8" barrel for the iron sight SBHP matches and a TC 10" for the scoped matches. With my old S&W 29 with 10-5/8" barrel I won the majority of the iron sight matches I shot in. One year I won them all at the range in B'ham where they shot the iron sight matches. Heck I even shot it against the scopes in the last registered match I ever shot and came in third over all for the match shooting against mostly scoped TCs.

[LittleBear]

See if the match director will ask the target setters to set the rams on the back of the rail just before they reach their topple point.  That will increase your # of knock downs.
Steve W.

Steve brought out a good point.  Here is the NRA rule that covers just this very thing:

4.2 Target Setting - To ensure that full-size rams will be knocked down with reasonable loads, they should be
set so that the center of gravity works through a plane intersecting the stands approximately 1 1/4” forward of the
rear edge. This can be accomplished by experimentally moving the target to the rear until it topples, and then
moving it forward 1”. Stands can be designed to incorporate stops to facilitate setting the targets at the proper
topple point. Hunter’s Pistol, Smallbore Hunter’s Pistol and Smallbore Pistol targets are to be set full-foot and flush
with the backs of their stands.

Sure is nice to see people postinig about Silhouette!  Have a great day guys!

[Graybeard]

I have a cousin who used to shoot with me a lot. Back then each shooter went down and reset the targets they had just knocked down. He always volunteered to set the targets for the fellow he was following while setting his own thus he got to set his own if the shooter fell for his ploy. He set them so light that some times they fell off backward before he got back to the firing line.

Some match directors allowed him to do it and some didn't. It wasn't the only way he tried to cheat but was one he tried at every match. It didn't help really as I don't think he ever beat me at any of those shoots. Ya still gotta hit them no matter how lightly set and if you use an adequate round (he didn't) it will take them off. He used either .22LR or .22 Mag in Hunter Pistol rather than a center fire like the rest of us did.

[Sixgun]

I would never get away with setting the targets that I am going to be shooting.  They all know me too good. 

My strategy is that if I can get at least 12 of the Turkeys and Rams then I can miss 2 of the Chickens and Pigs and still get a master score.  It dosen't always happen but I did earn my master rating with my 22LR and there are a few guys who have a hard time with that. 

Sixgun