What attracted you to rifle silhouette competition?

[Gringo Grizzly]

Since we've seen quite a bit of material on this site relating to bringng new shooters to the game, I thought it might be interesting to find out why many of us started doing this, and when!

Could provide info that we could use to attract new shooters.

Here in SE Pa, we're getting pretty strong turnouts, and in the March match we had 5 NEW shooters show up, and having seen CSCAl's note on matches in NE Pa, maybe our problem isn't all that difficult,
Regardless, it will be fun finding out what attracted us in the first place.

I started in '74 while living in Houston.  I was a serious deer hunter and very serious about loads for my rifle and shooting it.  
Sometime that year, I rec'd an "American Rifleman" magazine with picture of some guy on the cover - dressed in full Mexican outfit - shooting silhouettes near Tuscon.  The related article found the magazine called it "A Target Sport for Hunters".

Shortly after that, Bob Brister, a writer at the time for the Houston Chronicle, covered one of early Natl championships - that really hooked me.  He mentioned a Houston Club - "Bayou Rifles" that was hosting events in the area.

I showed up for my first match sometime that year and haven't stopped since.  I finally had an outlet for shooting that didn't restrict me to two or three shots per year that "counted".  
So for me, it was truly the "target sport for hunters" that attracted me.

Gringo

[ajj]

I like to shoot old military rifles. You get one, clean it up, get the dies and bullets, go to the range three or four times finding a good load. So now it's shooting good. What's next? I'm out at the range about eight years ago and they start setting up the silhouette animals. I had heard of the sport but gee! Those things are SMALL. Good luck, fellas. As it happens, one of my old friends can actually hit more than half of them. I'm very impressed.
I like to handload and shoot so next month I'm out there with a short Swedish Mauser, complete with issue sights and Timney trigger. I didn't hit any targets but some of the misses were really close and I got to burn up about sixty rounds of ammunition. Next match I got nine with the same rig. I am well and truly hooked.
What was it the guy said a few years ago on the old Shooters board? Something like: "Welcome to the great sport of silhouette. Now you can start spending all your time and money on it just like the rest of us, and may God help you."

[Feez]

Gringo Grizzly,
 SE PA, 5 new shooters in March??  I think we brushed elbows.  In fact, you might have been mentioned in http://www.graybeardoutdoors.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=30929&sid=d95bc72f530fad0d0df821d2f3426412that's my story over there.  Bran new shooter.  Never thought it was possible till I tried it.

[stsbuyer]

Well I started with Highpower in Corpus Christi in 1978, shot my first full match in October of that year. Went to New Braunfels TX for 2 day match that November, ended up winning my class and a Remington 700 .308, major HOOKED. I have shot some sort of silhouette ever since. But I think the people are what keep me coming back. I don't think I have ever been to a match were most anyone there will do everything in there power to help you do the best you can.  I am proud to say that most of my friends are from the silhouette community, and I don't believe that any other activity could have given my the fun and fellowship that I have received form this sport.

Paul

[nomad]

I moved into Texas from northern Maine. Up there I'd shot a little BR but had sold my LR, ATC and smallbore stuff and mostly gotten out of competition -- always plenty of field shooting to occupy the time in that country, then, and I didn't need to travel far for it. (Moose in my front yard, deer all around, rabbits and partridge everywhere and bears in my apples in those days. Coyotes were just moving in and becoming troublesome. If you got tired of shooting you could take the canoe and go for trout.)
When I got to the metroplex I needed something I could shoot that might interest the new woman in my life and thought about silhouette.
Next thing I know she's shooting better than I am, all our travelling is to matches, all our socializing is with silhouette shooters and we're spending the vacation money on silhouette gear.
All downhill from there...

[chunter]

I was introduced to the sport at a very young age.  An elderly gentleman invited me to come and try this sport he used to shoot when he lived back east.
 We drove to Jackson Hole, Wy and there I was able to witness the and participate in my first SB silhouette match. I was warmly accepted by all the shooters and made to feel like I had a new family. Here I was able to witness a perfect 40 and many long runs. I was also able to rub shoulders with many of the silhouette older timers and glean from them a glutton of knowledge.

However, after about 4 years shooting in Jackson Hole our sport was shutdown by the many pistol and shotgun shooters who felt that the range was better used by their sport.

[shootingpaul]

I always liked to shoot offhand, at one time a friend come over and pushed me into competing, so it stayed like that for a few years, time passed by and I was getting hooked more and more and more every day,
I also shoot some air rifle, but the whole competition procedure is totally different and not as much sociable as in silhouette.
so there it is, shoot hard all day and then have some beers and bullcrap  about it :wink:

[eroyd]

What caught my eye was an add on TV several years ago. "Remington . . . accurate right out of the box", or something like that was the line. Anyways it showed a shooter(?)  knocking down two rams with a close-up of the hits.

I've never liked shooting paper that much so when our local club took up small bore silhouette I jumped to it.

[Arizona Jake]

I got bored shooting IHMSA pistol. One has to fire a perfect score, then keep going and going and going....ad nauseam on shoot-offs.

[CB]

Sierra load manual had write-up in front on differant shooting sports. Article by Schnarre on silhouette lit a fire unlike any other shooting sport I had heard of. Mucho asking around and found a match 225 miles to the north in Paris,MO.
 Loaded up 100rds or so .308 700BDL w/4.5x14 Leo HEAVY Duplex (in case it got dark before match ended) extra quarters for scope adjustment, and off we went. Managed to keep most shots in the berm, hit a few, met awesome riflemen who continue to mentor me to this day.
 I still compete in other things from time to time but HP Silhouette to me is the ultimate riflemans game.

[GeoNLR]

I joined a local gun club b/c they were having a CCW course. The course got canceled after I had paid my $ to join. Reading the rules I was allowed 1 free match in each dicpline. I called the match dir of SM silhouette and he invited me out and told me I could shoot his gun and he would even supply the ammo. Humm...Free match, free ammo, not a very hard decision at all. Went and shot a 3 or 4/40 and quit golf and everything else shortly after to get more involved. ajj from here did basicaly the same thing to intorduce me to the HP game and I got my rig set up for that last year.

[bob259]

In one word or sound... CLINK  :grin:

[Fivepigs]

I was shooting Highpower Rifle (across-the-course) when somebody told me about a silhouettes match.  I tried shooting it with my M1A just to get some offhand practice.  Then I tried it with a scope and I was hooked.  I shot both HP Silhouettes and HP Rifle for a while, but then I tried smallbore silhouettes, and later on air rifle silhouettes, and -- well, I haven't had time to shoot a HP Rifle match in probably 3 years.  That little white spotter disk stuck in a paper target just can't compare with knocking over steel animals!

[cdngolfnut]

I got started in rifle silhouette because the "shooting arcade" similarity beaconed me, I had shot many other types of competition, and mostly because a great silhouette competitor mentored me. He really made it painless for me to learn (although I would make mistakes just to challenge him...).  :oops: I always found myself admitting that he had been right. I think it's just the natural rebel in me...

I don't think any of us can underestimate the power of helping a new shooter. Thanks Henry, wherever you are!

Cheers, Jack

[sureshot]

Two things:   BANG and CLANG

[22Silhouette]

I saw a write-up in a reloading manual in the 80's and thought about it then.  I didn't seriously look into it until 2 years aga and I am hooked for life.  I have always liked a challange in shooting and I take on Rifle Silhouette as an excellent personal challange.  It has a serious difficulty factor, and the better you get, the harder it is to get better.  So no matter what skill level you are shooting at, it can be enjoyable if you lilke a challange in shooting.    And you cant get away from the aspect that you know the results right after you shoot, its either a hit, or a miss.