Silhouette in Washington state

[imholdinout]

I am new to the forum and to silhouette shooting. I reside in northern washington state and would like to find a place to practice. I just picked up a CZ 455, I havent gotten a scope yet (any recommendations would be helpful). The only silhouette range I could find was the seattle pistol and rifle club. Its really close to me HOWEVER they have a 300 member max, and there are currently 70 something people on the list. I dont feel like waiting 3 years to become a member of the seemingly only silhouette range near me just to get out and practice. I WAS incredibly enthusiastic about trying this sport out, but if this is the only place near me, well it pretty much sucks. So where can go in northern washington state to shoot? I dont have access to a 100 yard piece of land I can safely shoot at either.

[kahuna]

You may have to try Tacoma Sportsmen.
They shoot on 1st Saturday pratice,& N.R.A. approved on 2nd sundays.
Seattle rifle & pistol shoot 3rd sunday.
PeEll shoots 4th sundays.
These are all smallbore matches.

[imholdinout]

thanks kahuna, So it doesnt seem like there is a place near arlington where I can take my time and practice at my own pace, do I just have to jump into a competition? Puyallup is a good 2 hours away for just practicing. Pe Ell is even farther. I would go if I were to shoot in a match but it seems like a drive and a half just to practice

[rogersptl]

I assume you have a place that you can shoot. If so get the paper scaled targets and measure off the distances and have at it. Metal swingers are also available, more enjoyable to shoot but you will learn less. Paper holes will show errors and confirm your shot calls. Many are too nervous to jump into a 'competition' without shooting some out behind the barn first; others jump in and give it a try. Silhouette shooter will be a great source of information. The NRA site will supply you with the rules and any that are confusing can be explained by experienced shooters. You have several locations to choose from, my state has only 1 range shooting approved matches and that put me in a 6-8 hour drive to nearest match. You asked for scope suggestions. I have used Tasco to Leupolds, presently have mostly Weaver T series. A variable 6-20 seems to a good start; you need one with repeatable adjustment. That will allow you to adjust between distances and not have to Kentucky. Have fun. Roger

[shakes]

Welcome to the sport imholdinout. What part of northern Washington do you live in? The Third sunday of every month except sept and a couple of other months I cant remember at the moment Machias Gun club in Machias Wa has a smallbore silhouette shoot. They also do cowboy lever action as well. If your south of seattle then Tacoma Sportsman Club In Tacoma has silhouette on the first saturday and second sunday of the every month. And if you just cant get enough also on the third sunday of every month there is silouette down in little rock just south of olympia and if you really like to drive the fourth sunday of every month there is silhouette down in the little hamlet of Pe Ell where the Conard Bernhardt Cup is held every april and competitors from across the nation come to compete. So if you really really gett bitten by the silhouette bug as most of us do you can shoot smallbore silhouette every weekend in Washington state. And if smallbore isnt doing it for ya Pe Ell has Highpower Silhouette on the first sunday starting in Feb march depending on the weather until september when the state match is held. It's good to live in washington if your a silhouette shooter.

[imholdinout]

thanks for all the info! I live in marysville 30 miles north of seattle. machias is no more than a half hour away. can anyone recommend an outdoor range I would be able to practice at? machias' member limit is full and I want to shoot outside and get used to how wind affects the trajectory. currently my place of shooting is an indoor range which is 25 yards max.

[Jerry G]

Practice without bad conditions (wind) is much better than fighting the wind. Practicing in good conditions will show you much more about what YOU are doing. Shooting in the wind just makes you develope bad habits. You can learn more about wind shooting by shooting off the bench in different conditions. The best practice I ever had was shooting an indoor winter league at 50 foot.

[frog5215]

Practice without bad conditions (wind) is much better than fighting the wind. Practicing in good conditions will show you much more about what YOU are doing. Shooting in the wind just makes you develope bad habits. You can learn more about wind shooting by shooting off the bench in different conditions. The best practice I ever had was shooting an indoor winter league at 50 foot.

So how do you learn to deal with wind in matches?
If you can't do it in practice, you probably don't have a prayer at the match.
I consider any match without wind a gift of the gods.
Bench gives little help dealing with the shooter wind, although it can give valuable info on what the wind does to your BULLET.
Natches currently offers the Sightron 6.5-20x42 for $300. The only shortcoming is the 1/8" clicks, so you'll use a bit over a full turn over the course of fire.
You don't need 100M for practice, just for sight settings. Shoot @ 50 M, or yards, for that matter. Even a 50" indoor range will be good practice as long as your scope will focus (some won't focus closer than 50yd).

[imholdinout]

thank you all for the info. I have used my buddies nikon and its really nice and I have experience shooting with nice leupolds. Im kinda undecided at this moment, I really wanna get out there and start practicing, however, I want to take my time and not spend money on something that I will need to end up spending more on later down the road.

[Steve Tapp]

Hi imholdinout, I shot a IHMSA smallbore match in 95 ( between National championships ) at Marysville Rifle Club. I hope it is still there. The thing I will always remember is the Match Dir. shot 1/2 size rams @ 200M with his 22LR 14" contender and knocked them over. Good Luck with your new found addiction, Steve

[Jerry G]

Being able to shoot in the wind is being able to read the wind and know what it does to your bullet. Having the wind blow you around while you are trying to shoot doesn't teach you anything except the wind is not your friend.

Practice in offhand shooting is learning to hold a very small MOA and NOT jerking your trigger. It is NOT learning to JERK your trigger when the animal zooms by in your scope. Some of the best practice you can do is dry firing at large circles and as you are able to hold on them, making the circles smaller and smaller. A center hit is worth about 2 minutes of wind on any of the animals in their smallest direction.

There is an adaptor that attaches to your objective lense that allows you to focus your scope at 50 foot. It does work even if you have to tape it to your scope with duct tape.

A full revolution on an 1/8 minute per click should just about get you from chickens to rams. My ram setting is +8 minutes and a full rev on most 1/8 scopes is 7 1/2 min. You should be able to keep track of more than one rev by checking your focal distance on the front ring.

The above is just my opinion. You can take it or leave it and it will not insult me even a little.

[lone ringer]

Being able to shoot in the wind is being able to read the wind and know what it does to your bullet. Having the wind blow you around while you are trying to shoot doesn't teach you anything except the wind is not your friend.

Practice in offhand shooting is learning to hold a very small MOA and NOT jerking your trigger. It is NOT learning to JERK your trigger when the animal zooms by in your scope. Some of the best practice you can do is dry firing at large circles and as you are able to hold on them, making the circles smaller and smaller. A center hit is worth about 2 minutes of wind on any of the animals in their smallest direction.

There is an adaptor that attaches to your objective lense that allows you to focus your scope at 50 foot. It does work even if you have to tape it to your scope with duct tape.

A full revolution on an 1/8 minute per click should just about get you from chickens to rams. My ram setting is +8 minutes and a full rev on most 1/8 scopes is 7 1/2 min. You should be able to keep track of more than one rev by checking your focal distance on the front ring.

The above is just my opinion. You can take it or leave it and it will not insult me even a little.

This is very good advice Jerry is giving you guys, would be a good idea to write it down and refer to it from time to time.
After you get your shooting technique down path and are able to stay well inside the 3 minute circles and have had a taste of what competition is, you should then start working on the mental aspect of the game which is what Champions use to win matches.

[Jerry G]

Thanks Tony. Your great big smile is showing thru.

[imholdinout]

Thanks for the info I will try that out. As for scopes, I am interested in the weaver grand slam 6-20x or the weaver t24. Any thoughts on those two or something similar. $600+ is a little steep for me at the moment.

[Innocent]

imholdinout, Go with Sightron for the money. My first choice is Leupold, but if you want to spend less Sightron has a lifetime warranty and they do honor it. NIkon is nice glass but not as dependable mechanics for adjusments. Weaver T series probably has best record for mechanical problems but I do not care for the glass as much, too dark for my liking.

As for jumping into competition, silhouete shooters are a great bunch, and while they may pick on each other a wee tad, when it comes to a new shooter they will do everything to help, encourage and promote you to this fine addiction, whether it be air rifle, smallbore or high power.

Jerry gave some great advice on shooting in the wind (and also about learning to hold in tight groups), which BTW you guys do not have a lot of in Washington! Try Raton, El Paso, Tuscon, Phoenix, and even a bit in Ridgway for wind. I suspect Wyoming and Montana can be rough also, though I have not shot there yet.

As for distance to a range, I understand your concern when you live so close to one, my recommendationthere is get on the list anyway...3 years will fly by and being able to shoot close to home is great. I have lost two ranges in the less than 20 mile distance from my house and now have to drive 50 on way to get to one, there are three at that distance and all of them are going through constant threat of being closed down.

I look forward to meeting you ar CBC in PeEll in 2011, if not before then at some other match.

Mary