Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns anyone here shoot handgun silhouette?

Looking at trying my hand at hangun silhouette, etiher via IHMSA or the NRA whoever has events closest to me. So who here participates in handgun silhouette? What are you shooting, in what category, etc?

Leo

I did until a couple of years ago in IHMSA. I did mainly field pistol and standing smallbore (22) and big bore standing events. All with a TC G2 Contender in 22 LR (match) and 32-20 (30-20) with 1:10" twist. It's a very enjoyable sport.

I shot handgun IHMSA silhouette in the �80s with a DW 744 8�HB and a Wichita International .30-30. The .30-30 is one of the most accurate long range handguns I have ever seen. Just super. The DW744 did very well. I shot a 40 with it one shooting in the Production Class. It was fun, but I got involved with IPSC and later CAS.

Thanks BlackHillsBet ad TomC321.

I currently have a GP100 4" barrel in 357mag. Any good in IHMSA with that gun? Just from researching, it seems like 6" barrel is the shortest barrel length used.

I shot IHMSA for a few years back in the 80's.

I tried out several handguns. I shot revolver class with a variety of Ruger 7.5" .44 magnums, a Seville 7.5" .44 Magnum, and even a 5.5" Superblackhawk with the small grip frame in .44 mag. I also used a Dan Wesson .44 mag with an 8 3/8" barrel.

In production class I shot a 10" Thompson Center Contender in .357 Maximum.

It was just a fun thing for me and I went my own way about it. The Dan Wesson was the most accurate of the revolvers and most used them in the revolver class. I shot AAA in production class with the Contender and put myself in AAA with the scores I shot with the Dan Wesson. But I had much more fun shooting the 5.5" Superblackhawk.

While everybody else was shooting the long barreled DW's and jacketed bullets, I would be shooting the short barreled .44 mag with Elmers load. (Lyman 429421, 22 grains 2400)

I could always count on shooting in the high 20's with it and many times would get into the low 30's.

I would occasionally win a AAA match in production class with the Contender and in revolver class with the Dan Wesson. I never won a match with the 5.5" Blackhawk and Elmer's load, but sometimes I'd be close enough to have the Dan Wesson boys sweating.

I had some good fun playing the IHMSA game,...great bunch of guys for the most part.

Bristoe,

Thank you for the feedback. I thought I'd be at a slight disadvantage with the shorter 4" barrel but from the sound of it even the 6" barrel on the Ruger probably would not improve much as the limitation is more a factor of the revolver, in this case a Ruger vs Dan Wesson. Hell, shooting in the high 20's low 30's is impressive as that means you were hitting consistently those turkeys at 75 yards!! with a revolver! impressive too me at least.

The turkeys are at 150 meters in centerfire IHMSA,..just a bit more than 150 yards.

If you get involved with a group who has been shooting IHMSA for a while, you'll see many people who routinely shoot perfect scores in revolver class.

Your 4" revolver would be fun in field pistol. They are half-size targets at half range with the longest, the ram, being at 100 meter (or yards). Don't worry about score, just have fun and see if you like it. I've seen guys using 1911's on field pistol.

Black Hills Bret,

Ah, yes I forgot to mention that I was interested in competing in the field pistol with my gp100, thus my reference to the turkeys at 75 yards/meters to Bristoe above. But now that its at 150 meters its that much MORE impressive than before!!!

Yes, I was hoping to get more involved for the fun factor of it while improving my handgun shooting with the revolver. Hmm, I'd be lucky to get half of those 25 yards targets.....lol.....big score of 5.

I shot NRA with a TC Contender with a 10" 30 Carbine bull barrel. Great fun trying to get the guys at the club started again. I shot a RCBS 185 Sil lead bullet at about 1500fps. That would give me .357 speed with the ballistics of a .30 caliber bullet.

If you care about your score, a 4" revolver, particularly in .357 is a severe disadvantage. The sight radius is too short, and the bullet too small. If you hit a ram at 200 meters, you have to have enough momentum to put it down. 180 gr. bullets in an 8" gun works, but it is still light.

If you want to really get into silhouette, you will find you need a dedicated gun. When I started, I was shooting my 7 1/2" .44 mag Ruger Redhawk. The best score I ever shot with it was a 36, and a couple of those hits were just lucky hits on strange areas of the target. I got the Dan Wesson and the first time out, I shot a 36 and it only went up from there.