|
| |
One of the appeals of silhouette shooting is the gear: There isn't much of it, and you can choose how much money to spend on it. A good-quality off-the-shelf hunting rifle will get you into the game, enabling you to acquire the fundamental skills of offhand shooting; it will shoot good scores if you do your part. If, later, you want to compete at the top level of the game, you can buy a fine-quality rifle.
Rifles. For smallbore silhouette, you can use most any .22 rifle and standard velocity ammunition. (High velocity ammunition is prohibited because it can damage the targets.) In practice, most people shoot bolt-action rifles with scopes of 16-24 power. However, there is no reason you should not come out with your semi-automatic and 8-power scope, or even iron sights if you can holdover at four different ranges. You'll see how much fun the game is, what the people are like, and what rifles and scopes the veteran shooters are using. If you ask politely, you'll probably be able to shoot any rifle that's there.
To get a little more technical, there are two smallbore rifle classes (for details, buy a copy of the NRA Rifle Silhouette Rules from the NRA):
For air rifle, you can shoot anything up through .22 caliber, though most people shoot .177 because a wider variety of accurate rifles and pellets are available for this caliber than for .20 or .22. But feel free to shoot what you've got. There are three air rifle classes:
- Target class: 10-meter competition rifle, such as FWB P70, 300s, or Anschutz 2002; virtually all shooters use scopes rather than match sights
- Sporter class: Any factory unmodified sporter rifle, 11 lbs. maximum including scope. Among spring guns, the Air Arms TX200 and Weirauch/Beeman HW 97 are popular. Precharged rifles, such as the FX Tarantula and Air Arms S410, are allowed starting in 2005.
- Open class: Any air rifle up to 16 lbs. including scope; generally these are powerful precharged pneumatics such as the Anschutz 2025 or Walther Dominator or 10-meter rifles modified to shoot a heavy pellet at 800-900 feet per second.
Note: From time to time you will be asked to make your rifle safe. This means laying it down on the bench with the muzzle pointing downrange, the breech open, the chamber empty, and the magazine removed or empty. If your air rifle has a magazine, think about how you will demonstrate to the range officer that it is empty or removed.
Scopes. Most people need a scope to shoot silhouette well because the animals are small and there are four distances to shoot at. 16 to 24 power is adequate. Beginners will want to start with a lower power because it makes your wobble (motion of the cross hairs across the target) less apparent and therefore less unnerving. Look for these features in a scope:
- Adjustable objective: You are shooting at four distances, so you want to be able to focus the scope at each distance. For air rifle, the scope must focus down to 20 yards.
- Repeatability: When you change the scope elevation from rams to chickens, you want to be confident that when you do your job right, the bullet or pellet hits the center of a chicken, rather than flying over or under it. You can check repeatability by shooting a "box" on a calm day (or indoors if you an air rifle and space--you need at least 20 yards).
- Resting the rifle for maximum accuracy, shoot five shots at a bull.
- Raise the elevation one revolution; shoot five more rounds at the same bull.
- Move the windage one revolution right; shoot five more rounds at the same bull.
- Lower the elevation one revolution (to your original elevation); shoot five rounds at the same bull.
- Finally, move the windage one revolution left, and shoot a final five rounds at the same bull.
- If the last five rounds hit the same spot as the first five, your scope's repeatability is good.
- Target turrets: You need turrets that are easy to turn with your fingers and are clearly marked. Scopes that have micrometer-style rotation marks (1st revolution, 2nd revolution, etc.) help you see at a glance where the scope is set. 1/4 minute of windage or elevation change per click is good; 1/8 minute clicks will have you turning the turrets more between animals but still works OK.
- Dot or fine duplex or reticle: Light conditions are almost always good, so you won't have trouble seeing the reticle. In fact, a bold reticle can be distracting. More good shooters probably use the target dot (or the Leupold dot, which has tapered crosshairs) than the duplex; but they could all shoot good scores with a duplex. If you start with a duplex, you can sometimes have the reticle changed to a target dot for $50-$100.
- Air rifle rated: If you are shooting a piston (spring or gas strut) rifle, be sure to get a scope that is rated for air rifle shooting; the two-way recoil can break scopes not built for it. Pneumatic and CO2 air rifles can use any scope.
- Variable power (zoom): With a variable power scope, you can increase the magnfication as your hold improves -- and decrease it when it's windy or you are having a bad day.
- Reasonable weight: In some classes, especially smallbore Hunter, the weight limit may force you to use a light weight scope if your rifle is on the heavy side.
Popular scope brands include:
- Inexpensive: Bushnell Trophy, BSA, Tasco, Swift
- Moderate: Weaver V16, Bushnell Elite 4200 8-24, Sightron SII 624x42D (all available with dot reticle)
- Expensive: Leupold 6.5-20 EFR (available with dot reticle)
Ammunition. Both .22s and air rifles are highly individualistic about ammunition. Even two rifles with consecutive serial numbers may not shoot the same ammo well. However, some .22 brands seem to work well in many rifles:
- Inexpensive: Federal 711B, PMC Scoremaster, CCI Standard, Wolf Match Target
- Moderate: RWS Target Rifle, Federal 900B, Lapua Master L
- Expensive: Federal Ultra Match B, Eley Tenex, Lapua Midas
Note: If you are shooting a .22 semi-automatic, you may need to install a weaker recoil spring to get the action to cycle reliably with standard-velocity rounds. Many stock semi-automatics have recoil springs that need the extra power of high-velocity ammo (illegal for silhouette) to operate without jamming.
Some .177 pellets that usually work well are:
- Target and Sporter classes: Crosman Premier 7.9, Beeman Field Target Special, JSB Exact
- Open class: Crosman Premier 10.5, Beeman Kodiak Match, JSB Exact
Domed pellets definitely work better than other shapes because they hold their velocity better at the longer ranges.
Other Gear. You must wear eye and ear protection. Here are some additional items you may find useful:
- Pen or pencil and 6" x 9" clipboard: for scoring
- Countdown timer: to see how much of the 2-1/2 minute shooting period remains
- Three or four magazines: so you don't have to reload between banks
- Shooting vest: the one article of special clothing permitted by the rules; the pockets are handy for holding your gear
- Hiking boots: provide a stable and comfortable platform
|
|
