Super Noob!

[Notspart]

My wife and I have been shooting recreationally for years. A friend of ours has persuaded us to come out to the gun club and try some competitive shooting. Silhouette shooting just started, so that's what we're going to give a try.

My big question is this: I'm reasonably accurate with a mostly stock Ruger 10/22 and a 4x30 Bushnell scope. What sort of results can I expect from this setup? I don't have any heartache about doing the usual 10/22 modifications, but am I going to be happy with what I've got, at least for the time being?

Tomorrow's the big day!

[Innocent]

Welcome to a family addicition. A score is whatever you shoot. Keep the 10/22 as you have it and have fun, if in the long run you feel the desire to travel and play with the Big Dogs!!! then you will probably end up with an Annie or some other high end anyway. I still have my fun guns, remarkably accurate for what they are.
This weekend is a great match in PeEll Washington...The CBC, I'm looking forward to shooting and even kind of looking forward to the long flight diagonally across the US for it.

Mary

[Fick_2141]

If tricking out the Ruger is something you want to do,.. go for it, but it will land in the standard ( Heavy) catigory. If left as is, it can be used in both matches. For both Hunter and Standard class, the Annies are the top of the heap in out of the box performers. The truth is... posting great scores in silhouettes is all shooter ability and the aplication of fundamentals offhand marksmanship. You will know when you want something else.
I see many new shooters with the 10/22. The scores are low because this is all new to them. Go to a match and watch the posture and hold of the more accomplished shooters against the new shooters. You can see just from a new shooters posture if most of their experience in shooting has been with a shotgun. Actually holding a rifle when firing it is very uncommon to almost all newcomers, whereas no one thinks of shooting a shotgun from a bench. Too often new shooters leave the game with a shattered ego and think that their rifle is more to blame than it really is.
People with years of involvment in silhouettes have really nice rifles. But it is because they have the experience to appreciate what they like in their favorite competition rig.
Like golfers on the PGA tour that have really nice clubs, they could wax you with a set of Wilsons from Wal-Mart on any course in the world. It is the same way with silhouettes.
If you can hit the targets from a bench at all the distances during the sight in period, then your rifle is plenty good enough to start with. You really don't need a tack driver. But if you are a AAA shooter chasing a master class, then a tack driver really helps.
Jump on in and have a ball. get all your friends in too. This is a very social community.

[Notspart]

Thanks for the advice! We're really looking forward to this evening's shooting and your comments are a big morale booster. I'll let you know tomorrow how things went.

Fick, that's a great point about the rifle's accuracy from the bench. My 10/22 is pretty accurate at 100 yards (from the bench) and I already know that pretty much all the fault for a miss lies behind the gun

I'm not all angsty about missing the shot - I just want to have some fun and it sounds like having fun is what most everybody is after in these matches.

[Notspart]

Well, the match was a hoot. We had a great time. There were only seven people there, but it's quality, not quantity, right?

Since they were shooting both pistol and rifle, I let my wife pick which she'd rather shoot and she chose the rifle. Good for her, not so good for me. She hit 16 targets, including two turkeys. Me? I hit one chicken. Bad news, I forgot to check the batteries on the red dot scope on the pistol, so I had to use the open sights...my eyes are way to old for that!

But the scoring didn't matter, we had a great time and we'll be back next week for more fun!

[Jetmugg]

A lot of us started with 10/22's, and many still shoot them.

Take the time to get your scope settings figured out. That will be more important than the inherent accuracy of the rifle.

A scope with target turrets is a big help with getting your settings right, but it's also possible with the "hunting" style turrets.

Practice at the different ranges to get your scope settings right for the ammo you will be shooting (remember, no Stingers or hyper velocity ammo is allowed), and then knock down some steel.

SteveM.

[dwl]

Noob;

Glad you had fun. Next time you and the wife have to figure out how to share and then the fun will be even greater. Put a scope on that 10/22 that you can change settings on and it will get better. One of our shooters bought the Simmons Whitetail Classic and it worked for him. Shoot and have a good time. Don't worry about scores. I did until I found out that even champions will treat beginners with respect. In fact probably more respect than they treat their friends! Just got back from the Conart Bernhart Cup and I got beat by a teenager by five targets. I shook his hand and congratulated him. Me feel bad. Not at all. I had my best match ever so I had some thing to be happy about. I understand it was his first big match and he traveled a long ways from White Horse, Yukon. He too went home happy. The match director made sure that the winners in the lower classes got awards and everyone counted it a good time. Go, shoot and enjoy, don't worry about the gun.