Im a newbie, so please bare with me.

[RedNeckIndian]

My son has what I think is a fine shooting machine, in the Ruger 77/22 with a BSA 6-18/40. Its only adjustable to the 1/4 versus 1/8, but we have it hitting nicely at 50 yards in a pattern the size of a nickel from a bench rest. He is only 12 yrs of age and making gains, we're wanting to grow into the sport of silhouette shooting.

My question; can this gun perform and compete at an intermediate level long as my son does his part?

Thanks much,

RedNeckIndian
PS,
I look forward in becoming a regular fixture in here.

[jneihouse]

Short answer, assuming the gun makes weight, is yes.....Shoot and have fun. Welcome to a truly maddening sport and a great group of shooters.

Kitty

[Joaquin B]

Any rifle having a good degree of precision will serve your son well as he starts and moves up in classification, so for starters, the Ruger should suit him. HOWEVER, you and your son will eventually discover the Ruger's limitations (long lock time, etc.) and will move on to an action type (bolt) better suited for the game.

Regards,

Joaquin

[sobrbiker883]

Bring it on!!

Joaquin, the 77/22 is the bolt action ruger (I know I see **/22 and my mind inserts 10/22 as well).

The 1/4moa clicks are better than 1/8 for sillywet, as you will be turning them alot. The BSA may or may not like being adjusted 4 times a day and stay repeatable. Make sure you have about 10 minutes of "up" left after zeroing at 40 meters, you'll need most of it to make it to 100 meters.

I'm hoping you and your son will be shooting, we need all the new shooters we can get. Not that its a dying sport, its just young guys like me look at the prevalence of geezers whipping up on us and hope there's more to fill their shoes when they take up shuffleboard instead.....

[jsimmons]

As far as specs on the rifle are concerned, it meets the requirements for Hunter class.

You should get your son off the bench and start making him practice offhand and developing a proper hold. I'm just getting started in silhouette as well, and I shoot 80 practice rounds every weekend, and haven't shot from the bench in about 5 weeks. It's hard to shoot offhand (the rifle starts to get heavy in the hold after about 50 rounds), but I see improvement every week.

I also recommend that you buy a copy of the NRA Rifle Silhouette Rules.

Lastly, if you haven't already, start using decent ammo for practice. It doesn't do you any good to shoot less consistent ammo during practice simply because it's cheaper. All that does is prevents you from accurately guaging your practice. I use Wolf M/T, SK Std+, or RWS Target. Admittedly, it's not top-of-the-line ammo, but it gets pretty good results in matches in most guns.

Matches here in San Antonio starts up in February, and it probably does for most everyone else around the same time frame. You should start your son practicing the right way as soon as possible.

[genphideaux]

RedNeckIndian,

I have a 77/22, albeit not stock, it is a fine silhouette rifle and one of the most knowledgeable gunsmiths on a Ruger is Bobby Pitchford who lives in Waller Texas. Here is his web site http://www.pcgguns.com/

Mine will shot as well as any anschutz I have had or have(which has been a lot). It has been gone over by Bobby and tuned for max performance.

I have sold most of my stock annie's, but this little gun holds a prime spot in my safe, right in the front for easy access.

The BSA may have issue's, but my advice is run it till it fails then have a little cash put back for a new or good used top end scope. By the time it fails you will already know what you want and had plenty of chances at the matches to talk to and use others.

You and your son come on out and join the crowd, this is a great sport for everyone.

Joaquin B,

I have never seen an issue with lock time on mine, and I think I would notice that compared to my 54.18 Pharr guns. As a matter of fact shot the 77/22 last weekend and was wondering why I don't shoot it more. I really enjoy this gun more and more everytime I shoot it.

[tbone49]

Dear Steve E Whippersnapper, bring it on down here to old folks land and We'll kick your ass in shuffleboard, too. BTW, we use shotguns!:lol:

[RedNeckIndian]

I agree,
I need to get him off the bench. 95% of our shooting has been from the bench to date. A huge part of that was for him to see his progress and to ensure him he had the ability to shoot.

He's pretty confident at this stage, but reality is around the corner once we start standing.

We are so excited and I feel he has some ability.

Thanks again, ill stay in touch. I have 1001 questions.

RedNeckIndian