Cowboy Silhouette

[Rick H.]

What's the hot ticket for the 200 meter game?  Is there a particular rifle that seems to show up in the money more often than others?  Are optics allowed?  Does any particular caliber and/or chambering offer any advantages?  I've heard that a local range is going to run Cowboy Silhouette matches in 2005 and I'd like to get in on the action, but I don't have any equipment right now.  Any help is appreciated.

[Steelbanger]

Rick,

At any Cowboy Lever Action Silhouette match (50 to 200 Meters) you'll see everything from the 357 & 44 Mags up to the 45-70 Gov. Sometimes the pistol cartridges will leave a ram standing but some folks use them because they can also be used in the Pistol Cartridge matches (40 to 100 Meters). If I were going to get a rifle specifically for the longer range matches, I'd get and recommend to others, a 30-30 rifle, preferably with a 24-26" barrel. This seems to be the caliber of choice for most competitors.

As for sights, no optics are allowed. Open or aperture sights only. There are a few shooters that use the regular open sights but most go with Lyman or Williams aperture rear sights, and a few use Marble tang sights which are also allowed.

I hope this brief message gets you started on the right track.

[Rick H.]

Thanks for the info.  I have .357, .44, and .45 colt revolvers, and I'm already set up to reload those cartridges, so maybe that would be a good way for me to go in a rifle.  Then again, there's always lots of used 30-30 rifles around.  

Do you have to load from the magazine tube or can you single load a 30-30 with a pointed bullet?  (my gut tells me that single loading would be against the spirit of these matches)

Edited to say that I found a few sites with the rules posted, and loading has to be done through the tubular magazine.

Interestingly enough, these sites listing the rules, which seem to be copied from the rule book, mention that the rifle must be .35 caliber or larger.  So how does a 30-30 fit in there?

[tirador]

Interestingly enough, these sites listing the rules, which seem to be copied from the rule book, mention that the rifle must be .35 caliber or larger. So how does a 30-30 fit in there?

Rick, the rule states:(a)  Cowboy lever Action Silhouette-
A.  Any lever action center fire rifle .25 caliber or larger with a tubular magazine of original manufacture or replica thereof. A rimmed case loaded with a round or flat nosed bullet must be used.  Exception: 35 Remington is allowed.

Do you have to load from the magazine tube or can you single load a 30-30 with a pointed bullet? (my gut tells me that single loading would be against the spirit of these matches)

Rule .3.1.3 section 4 states:
Firing period will include a 30 second ready (loading) period, a 2 minutes for 5 shots.  Ammunition must be loaded through the tubular magazine.

For smallbore all shooters I have seen load all five rounds at once through the tubular magazine because if they single loaded their rifles they would end up running out of time. On the center fire rifles since most rifles are loaded from the side of the action some people load one a time through the tubular magazine but as you can see the rules do not allow the use of pointed bullets.
I would also recommend the 30-30 for shooting Cowboy Lever Action Silhouette and the longer and heavier the barrel the better.

[Steelbanger]

Some local clubs will add or delete certain rules, but as tirador states, 25 cal or larger.

I forgot to mention that most shooters use a globe front sight too and the hood is legal but you can only use a post or bead inside the hood, no apertures up front.

[Hornetx60]

NO Optics?? I'll bet you people use Black powder and them funny silver bullets too!!!  I thought those guns went out of production in the early 1900's aren't they hard to find?..........

[Princeton]

Cowboy Silhouette sounds great. Can anyone recommend a good load for a 30-30 Marlin?

[tirador]

Princeton, one of the best loads I have used for a 30-30 is 34gr. of Varget with a 150gr bullet.  If you want to use a 170gr. for tough rams use 33gr of Varget.

[AMB]

I shoot a 336A 30-30 that cost me $225 delivered. I purchased it off the internet, from some shop out in Oregon. The 336A's are the 24", long barreled model.Reasonable shape and shoots real well. I have old Lyman receiver sights and they were $ 50 - 60 bucks, off of EBay, and an old Redfield globe front another $ 20.00. Shoots great and a lot of fun. I shoot, 130 speers at CPT and 170's at Rams. Also you can use plinkers ( we squashed the noses to make them flat nose), or .30 carbine 110 RN for say C's and maybe P's. Finding good sites is usually, about as difficult and expensive as anything.

[anthonyg]

I was told that the lever action silhouette match at central jersey is a go . starting in early 2005 but you must shoot lead bullets
                                                  ANTHONY GARGUILO

[JimInNJ]

Is .30-30 still the best choice if local rules require lead bullets?

Is there anything in the rules against wildcats?

- Jim

[Walt G]

As eluded to in earlier posts, we will be holding three cowboy lever action matches at Central Jersey Rifle & Pistol Club in Jackson, NJ.  The match dates are April 23, July 23, and October 22.  To avoid conflict with other range activities, we will begin the match at 8:30 AM, with a short sight-in period prior to that.  We've been asked by the club's executive board to make sure that the ammunition we use does not damage the available targets.  So, we'll be conducting some tests over the winter to see if we need to restrict our loads to cast lead bullets only or whether lead tipped bullets will be OK.  I'll post the results here.  Match bulletins will be available in February or March.

Walt G.

[K2]

Hi Walt

You will find that the round nose and flat point jacketed bullets are quite soft compared to hard cast lead and will actually be easier on targets.  Hard cast lead is fine as well.  There is no advantage to restricting the jacketed soft points at all.  Best of luck and keep it fun!  It is a wonderful pass time.  

As eluded to in earlier posts, we will be holding three cowboy lever action matches at Central Jersey Rifle & Pistol Club in Jackson, NJ.  The match dates are April 23, July 23, and October 22.  To avoid conflict with other range activities, we will begin the match at 8:30 AM, with a short sight-in period prior to that.  We've been asked by the club's executive board to make sure that the ammunition we use does not damage the available targets.  So, we'll be conducting some tests over the winter to see if we need to restrict our loads to cast lead bullets only or whether lead tipped bullets will be OK.  I'll post the results here.  Match bulletins will be available in February or March.

Walt G.

[K2]

With over a 100 years of production of these two and variants there are plenty to find both new and used.  

NO Optics?? I'll bet you people use Black powder and them funny silver bullets too!!!  I thought those guns went out of production in the early 1900's aren't they hard to find?..........

[tirador]

Hello Walt G, you will find out that if the targets are made of hardened or T1 steel you will not have to worry about the loads used to used to shoot your long range cowboy matches.  Even factory loads are acceptable to use with the 30-30 rifles.  At two of our local silhouette pistol clubs when we use other than Cowboy HP rifles they restrict them to be used with cast lead bullets only and if we want to use jacketed bullets we have to load them under 2000 fps.

A lot of their pistols loads rival speeds we achieve with rifles specially when shooting their 1/2 sized targets that is why I said you won't have any problem with target damage using jacketed bullets as long as the guys do not use the hottest of loads.  I have been running cowboy matches in the L A area for five years and have not had any problems with target damage.

The Cowboy Pistol Cartridge loads will also have to be monitored so that they will not damage your targets because some of the people will want to use the same rifle to shoot the long range matches and the hot .357 and 44mag loads will definitely damage your PC targets specially the ones shot at 40 and 50 meters.

[Rick H.]

Thanks for the update Walt.  Your matches are exactly what I was thinking about when I started this thread.  I didn't shoot a single silhouette match this year and I missed it.  I'm definitely going to shoot a few next year though.

(I gotta see if I can get hooked up with Tony G. and John again....I shot my best scores with them)