Silhouette shooting in Louisiana.

[dtrice]

I'm curious about shooting silhouette pistol for fun. Are there are any clubs or matches held around the state? Can be either NRA or IHMSA. Thanks.

 

[bigredcherokee]

Where are you located?

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[highstandard40]

I am the Match Director for Ascension Silhouette. We conduct IHMSA Handgun Silhouette matches in Gonzales, usually on the first Sunday of every month. What type of handguns do you have? IHMSA has disciplines to fit just about any firearm type.

 

[roundabout]

Where can one get more info about your club?
I have a Dan Wesson 41 Mag; don't know if that's the best caliber for the game, but it's just sitting in the safe right now. I know the DW revolvers were common at silhouette matches back in the day.

 

[highstandard40]

For information about IHMSA, you can check out the association website. http://www.ihmsa.org/

As far as our club, we really don't have a club as such. There is no membership roster or anything. To compete for official score you do need to be an IHMSA member but if your only interest is to shoot and have fun we do allow that without a membership in IHMSA. We use the Ascension Parish Sheriffs Office range for our matches. There, we are limited to the 100 yd range so the disciplines we offer at our matches are:

Smallbore (22LR)
Fifth Scale (smaller targets w/22 LR)
Field Pistol (larger targets, centerfire straightwall pistol cartridges)

It is a challenging sport, but if it were easy it wouldn't be interesting. It is a lot of fun to hear the bullets hit steel targets and it's visually much more fun than paper targets.

An effort is underway to build a Big Bore full scale range in the state with full size silhouettes out to 200 meters, maybe later this year.

 

[dtrice]

I'm in New Orleans. I have a ruger super Blackhawk 7.5"; working mans freedom arms

 

[highstandard40]

I'm in New Orleans. I have a ruger super Blackhawk 7.5"; working mans freedom arms

Do you handload your ammo? Full power 44 mag is WAAAY overpowered for the Field Pistol course in Gonzales. You can use the Super Blackhawk with light loads. Consider that you can knock all the targets down with a light loaded 38 Special. When we get the long course range in operation, the 44 Mag would shine.

 

[jcomar1]

The .22 pistol matches are on the first Sunday?
Do you also host the .22 rifle silhouette matches on the fourth Saturday there???
I'm interested in both just trying to figure out exactly when they are.

 

[highstandard40]

The .22 pistol matches are on the first Sunday?
Do you also host the .22 rifle silhouette matches on the fourth Saturday there???
I'm interested in both just trying to figure out exactly when they are.

We are affiliated but have different match directors for the different dates. I host the pistol matches on the first Sunday. But.........on the day of our pistol match, we also host NRA Smallbore and Pistol Cartridge Cowboy Rifle Silhouette. The Smallbore Rifle silhouette can be fired with any tubular fed 22 lr rifle as long as you have just iron sights.

 

[jcomar1]

So wait, I'm sorry but I'm still not quite clear.
For the one you host on the first Sunday, first you do Field Pistol silhouette, which is straight wall pistol cartridges only.
Then after you do .22LR pistol or rifle, but the rifle has to be tube fed and iron sights? Pistol can be magazine fed?

 

[dtrice]

Do you handload your ammo? Full power 44 mag is WAAAY overpowered for the Field Pistol course in Gonzales. You can use the Super Blackhawk with light loads. Consider that you can knock all the targets down with a light loaded 38 Special. When we get the long course range in operation, the 44 Mag would shine.

I guess I could run 44 specials. I may have to break down and buy a 357. What barrel lengths would you say is appropriate?

 

[highstandard40]

So wait, I'm sorry but I'm still not quite clear.
For the one you host on the first Sunday, first you do Field Pistol silhouette, which is straight wall pistol cartridges only.
Then after you do .22LR pistol or rifle, but the rifle has to be tube fed and iron sights? Pistol can be magazine fed?

All of the disciplines are offered at the same time. When a shooter steps to the line to begin an entry, you can decide to shoot any one of the following courses of fire.

IHMSA Smallbore Handgun (22LR - categories for iron sights or optics and all action types)
IHMSA Field Pistol (Centerfire straightwall pistol cartridge - iron sights or optics)
NRA Smallbore Cowboy Silhouette (22LR - tubular fed - iron sights)
NRA Cowboy Rifle Silhouette (Lever Action Centerfire Pistol Cartridge or 22 Rimfire - iron sights)

You will begin on the 25 yard line (all handgun entries) or 40 meter line (all rifle entries) and progress through the rest of the firing positions firing at 10 targets at each distance. We start 2 new shooters about every 15 minutes. When you finish one entry in any discipline(takes about an hour - maybe a little less), you can take the next available slot and fire another entry in any other discipline you care to. We have a target setter who stands all the targets so all you have to do is shoot and enjoy. The IHMSA website I linked above has all the rules posted online. You may find it a little confusing but I would suggest coming to a match, bring your favorite guns and some ammo and we'll walk you through it. It's really pretty easy to grasp and is a lot of fun. It is at it's base an accuracy game. It's not a fast paced action game (only 40 shots in a little less than an hour). Come check it out. Contact me when you plan to come and arrive a little early if you can so you can get an idea of the layout before we start shooting at 9:00 am on match day.

 

[dtrice]

I know a lot of people use the tc single shots now. The smith 29s were popular then the redhawks and then, I think, the freedom arms were popular with silhouette. Is there a particular advantage to a single action vs double? Thanks.

 

[highstandard40]

The TC Contender was, and remains to be a good choice. They are no longer produced but can be found used if you know where to look. The Smith 29 and Redhawk were never really seen in widespread use. The Smith wouldn't hold up to a stready diet of full house loads and the Redhawk just never caught on. Availability of suitable sights for the Redhawk was an issue. The first widely used revolvers were the Ruger Super Blackhawks, then Dan Wesson, then the Freedom Arms came later. The accuracy advantage of the Contender over the revolvers prompted a Production category seperation early in the history of the sport.......one category for closed breech, and one for revolvers. This revolver/Contender discussion applies mostly to the big-bore game. In smallbore the top choices are again the Contender and Freedom Arms. No other 22LR revolver can keep pace with the Freedom Arms. It really is in a class by itself. If you can afford one......... I can't.

 

[dtrice]

So the accuracy is why the the super blawhawk was chosen over the super redhawk? Is 44 mag still a popular caliber for the big bore? I've read that 357 needs to be loaded hot. 357 is also cheaper for factory ammo. Basically what calibers would be suitable ?

 

[highstandard40]

So the accuracy is why the the super blawhawk was chosen over the super redhawk? Is 44 mag still a popular caliber for the big bore? I've read that 357 needs to be loaded hot. 357 is also cheaper for factory ammo. Basically what calibers would be suitable ?

The only double action revolver that was commonly seen was the Dan Wesson.....very few of any other make. The 44 has traditionally been the most popular, mostly because it is just about 100% reliable as far as knocking down rams. The 357 mag will work most of the time but answer is not "hot" loads, it's heavy bullets. It's pretty much a "handloads only" situation. I use 210 grain bullets in my 357 mag.

 

[dtrice]

The only double action revolver that was commonly seen was the Dan Wesson.....very few of any other make. The 44 has traditionally been the most popular, mostly because it is just about 100% reliable as far as knocking down rams. The 357 mag will work most of the time but answer is not "hot" loads, it's heavy bullets. It's pretty much a "handloads only" situation. I use 210 grain bullets in my 357 mag.

So 41 mag, 44 special, and 45 colt could also work because they can all deal with 240+ grain pills. Would "cowboy" level loads be sufficient? Why deal with more recoil than necessary? Ever have issues with too-hot of reloads denting the steel? I don't have any, but any problems with the big bores (454,475,480, 500) on the targets?

 

[highstandard40]

Would "cowboy" level loads be equivalent? Why deal with more recoil than necessary?
The problem with too light of a load would be trajectory arc and the need for excessive sight adjustment as distance increases.

Ever have issues with too-hot of reloads denting the steel? I don't have any, but any problems with the big bores (454,475,480, 500) on the targets?
All targets are made of hardened steel plate and can stand up to more velocity than can be achieved with a revolver. Nobody would want to shoot 40 rounds with those much heavier than needed uber magnums anyway.

 

[dtrice]

It's good to know that such a wide range of calibers are acceptable. Do you do any rifle silhouette besides 22lr?

 

[highstandard40]

In Gonzales we offer NRA Cowboy Pistol Cartridge Rifle Silhouette. This is lever action rifles chambered for straightwall pistol cartridges 357 mag, 44 mag, 45 long Colt. This is iron sights only. Work is underway on a high power rifle silhouette range. It's not complete yet.