Did Ya Know?

Jim Beckley · Post by **Jim Beckley** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 12:15 am

Tonight I was looking up an old .308 load that a new shooter ask me about that I pulled out of the Metallic Sihouette Shooting book by Elgin Gates. There are alot of new shooters to this site, so maybe some trivia. This game didn't start in New York City, it came up from Mexico, live animals was actually used at first (I'm told that you can still attend live animal shoots on the other side of the line, but I've never been to one). The first real match on this side was at the Tucson Three Points Rifle Range. When silhouette first came over there were only 3 animals, pigs were added later. The sheep were at first ewes. No horns and no package. Those were added I"m told by the insistance of one Roy Dunlap. So the next time your lucky enough to catch one in the dinger you can thank Roy! At either the first or second nationals the NRA took a stance and said no alcohol at the match. I'm told that there was so many car doors and trunks being slammed shut with people loading up ready to leave that the NRA decided that no visible alcohol would be better. Tony T. help me out here if there is any thing that is not correct.

sobrbiker883 · Post by **sobrbiker883** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 8:38 pm

Nice smattering of history Jim!

Now you need to share that load with this (kinda) new 308 shooter........hoewever you probably already did and I lost the paper I wrote it on when I had you on the phone!

Jim Beckley · Post by **Jim Beckley** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 11:40 pm

Here's the load for C,P, T .308 Win 150gr Sierra MK 38.5gr IMR 3031 for Rams 175 Sierra MK 41.5 IMR 4320. This load was taken from the above mentioned book. It was a load used by Tom Gatewood. I know very little about him. He was from New Mexico and he had the #1 Grand Slam Pin for HP Rifle Silhouette. I have talked to a couple of people that did know him and everyone said that he was a real nice guy. I was at a match a few years ago in El Paso, Tx, Teresa Everheart announced that he had passed the day before. As a side note Tom used a 168 and a 200gr bullet for his load, but I used it with a lighter load in my gun, however you might not want to start without cutting back a grain or two to make sure it is safe in your gun.

Jim Beckley · Post by **Jim Beckley** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 10:57 pm

More Trivia. When silhouette first started, you didn't have to load down for the first three animals. You could use what ever gun you wanted to and then switch to another. In other words you could shoot your 06 on C.P.T and then bust out your 7 Mag on the Rams as long as they made weight. There were also leagues that shooters belonged to. They would travel around hit the different ranges in Southern Az on one weekend and then shoot in Mexico on another weekend. I have heard that there was no paperwork to contend with, you just greased the guys palm at the border with a couple of bucks and off you went on your merry way. I was talking to Milt Hood on the first Sunday of this month in Tucson, he said years ago if you had the bucks, you could have towed a 105 across the border. It is not that way anymore though. I'm told the way it works now if you get caught with something that your not supposed to have, you get thrown in the can and then the key is tied to a jackrabbit, if the rabbit comes back you get out, if it don't, oh well.