Silhouette Shooting-

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  • Last Post 12 March 2010
hunterspistol posted this 24 May 2008

:wcome:

Recently, I've gotten the 32-20 and the .22 hornet loads tested out for the urban hunter's pistol silhouette(bet you thought I got that name from nowhere, huh?)

It's been work but, I'm loving every minute of it.  Any of these guys shooting silhouette in the Midwest or Desert Southwest?

What's your best or most favorite silhouette calibre? {Is mould spelled mold or, calibre spelled caliber? It's just the Old English Script on the page, fellers} Do you like smallbore or big bore?

All I get from most sites is-Gee, that's expensive, it'd be cheaper to throw rocks at 'em!- um, isn't that baseball instead?

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ubetcha posted this 26 May 2008

I,ve been shooting steel since about 1984 and been loving it all the time.I have a TC contender and have several bbl's for it,but the one I like the most is the 14'' 30-30 bbl with a scope.Through the years I,ve been trying different combinations of powder  and bullets but have not settled on a favorite one yet.Although for our first match this year,I just grabbed a box of stuff I had loaded up to try and did not have any sight setting(I don't get to the range as much as I would like to practice and test).To my surprise I shot a 35X40.I,ve been shooting cast bullets from the getgo,but did not have the knowledge as I'am learning on this web sight.These guys are great.

The two bullets i have been using are RBCS 165 gr sil and the Lyman 31141 173 gr.I recently bought the Lyman 314299 mould for my ,06 and loaded a few light load for the contender just to  try.At 50 yrds,I had a group about the size slightly larger that a dollar coin for 5 shots.That was just off hand .Maybe this load has some potential

ubetcha

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ubetcha posted this 30 May 2008

I have to correct myself on the group size.It was a 10 shot group that fits inside a 3 inch circle.shot offhand and no sight settings.My mistake

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gunarea posted this 02 June 2008

Hey Guys

    The urban hunter pistol is a new twist for me. Is it similar to NRA hunter pistol? Please fill me in on this.

     Mould?  calibre?   pfhft!!!   Bullet maker.   Gun hole.

     Favorite size gun hole, .358".  Most first place, .429".

    Shooting isn't expensive. Driving to the range, driving to the store, kids, vacation, boating, hunting, skydiving, antique collecting, eating, horses, eating horses, skiing, biking, bowling, flying, golf, racing of any kind, etc,>> etc>>>. I've done it all, now I'm retired and I still shoot.

                                                                                        Roy

Shoot often, Shoot well

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hunterspistol posted this 05 June 2008

:armyhelmet: Yes sir, that's the one I'm talking about. Originally Silhouette matches were long range, not just 100 meters. NRA Hunter's Pistol is the urban version of the original, as in Lawn Steel-gotta advertise for somebody there.

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6pt-sika posted this 06 June 2008

I don't shoot handgun silhouette !

 

I do however shoot all three versions of NRA Lever action silhouette .

 

The Big Bore is shot out to 200 meters , but the Pistol Cartridge class and the Smallbore class are all shot out to 100 meters .

 

And yes I shoot the Big Bore and Pistol Cartridge classes with home cast bullets !

In the Big Bore I shoot a Marlin 336CB in 30-30 loaded with the Ranch Dog 311-165 bullet . In the Pistol Cartridge class I shoot a Marlin 1894CCL in 32-20 loaded with the Lyman 311316 115 grain bullet . And in the Smallbore class I shoot a Marlin 1897CB loaded with Winchester T22 ammo !

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gunarea posted this 07 June 2008

OK Hunterspistol

    I gotcha. In the Florida state competitions I got gold in big bore, iron sights division two years in a row, 2004 & 2005. Just last month I got my first, ten in a row turkey pin. Turkeys are tough for me. The match I was in, beat me like I was a rented mule, but I got the pin. Both state golds were with home cast 44s. Two Rams had feet knocked off them by me. When the officials saw I was shooting cast lead bullets, they decided the welds must have been marginal. Who was I to argue? At the Hunter pistol games I see a lot of rigs like you have pictured. They hold em funny too! Do you load for each different animal or change elevation for each distance?

   While I did shoot IHMSA for quite a while, it turned into an arms race. An XP100 in 7mm took the challenge away and resulted mostly in shootouts lasting forever.

    My next endeavor in hunter pistol is to use my rolling block pistol chambered in 357 mag. We'll see how that works out. This year in the Florida state Lawnsteel championships, small caliber production, I managed a gold medal with stinky. My rolling block, I call stinky, because it has been a stinker for me to learn how to shoot it.

    Good luck to you, I hope you get your turkey pin quicker than I did.

                                                                                          Roy     

Shoot often, Shoot well

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ubetcha posted this 08 June 2008

In IHMSA ,big bore is shot from 50m to 200m or yrds and field pistol is 25 to 100yrds.

the fact that there are  more accurate handguns out there really doesn't bother me much .I know my T/C is probably more accurate than I can shoot it.I look at it as ,I'm only competing against myself and i,m there to have fun.

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hunterspistol posted this 29 September 2008

 :coffee  I don't load for each different animal, I do load 40 &50 meters a tenth of a grain lower than 75 & 100 meter animals.   I use lead and enjoy it.  I do throw my left hand over the top of the scope too.

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gunarea posted this 30 September 2008

Hey Hunters pistol

    Yup, hands on top is what most of the scope shooters do here too. The little click I am a part of, shoot mainly revolvers. One of our group shoots a 32-20 similar to your picture. It's referred to as the thirty two vicious. We are split as far as adjustments for each target range. While I did change elevation settings at the beginning, four different loads for the same setting has made the difference for me. This year I'm switching from a 44 to a 38, less pounding, I guess it's true you are what you eat.          Tomorrow I shoot at Lawnsteel targets, I love to make people laugh.

                                                                               Roy

Shoot often, Shoot well

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hunterspistol posted this 12 October 2008

:coffee  This picture is the 7mmTCU that I'm working on-here's why. I originally got the barrel and then ordered a bullet mould. My mistake was getting the fancy 145 grain RCBS mould, it just doesn't like it! So, now I'm starting back with a Lyman 135 grain. I can get the 7mmTCU to 100 meters but, that's all. Seems it wants to destabilize the bullet or something that is just eating me alive here!

     My 32 vicious (32-20WCF) is similar except for the Leupold gold ring it wears. It's pretty much worked out. I have two different loads for it, one using 2400 that I love. I shoot it quite a bit, just fireforming brass. Both bullets that I use work well too. No wonder so many noble Indians got killed in the cowboy days!

    I also shoot the 22 Hornet. A simple Lyman mould #438 and I was in business! That one went like wildfire. Must have been because it was the first I reloaded. I tried jacketed for a while, then went into casting. The extreme number of little hornet bullets that you can get from one afternoon keeps me supplied for any 40 round practice walk-through. It's such a light recoil that a child could shoot this for silhouette. Also means you can love it on days when you don't want to get pushed by recoil- but it's loud from a 10” barrel.

     I've managed a pin for 5 in a row on chickens, that's the hornet. The 32 would do it too.  Since I live close to the range, I'm just having way too much fun.

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gunarea posted this 13 October 2008

Hey H P

    My experience with 7mm was frustrating as well. It seems they are very sensitive to velocity. Under and over optimum velocity, give results showing stability issue. Check your twist rate, you may need to drive it a bit faster. I never did manage to make my cast slugs work real good in 7mm for IHMSA. Keep on plugging though, you may be the one to master it. Keep having fun.

                                                                                              Roy  

Shoot often, Shoot well

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Toot-Sweet posted this 09 March 2010

That which is critical on the 7TCU is the OAL or the distance off the lands to be more precise. The TC has a long throat in most barrels. So set the bullet just off the lands and your misery should end. However, a caution, I have seen barrels with a throat so deep that you could actually drop a 160gr Speer and then a case in the barrel and close the action. You might never get such a barrel to shoot well.

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hunterspistol posted this 09 March 2010

      Thanks for the tip on the 7mmTCU, I'll look into setting the seating die a little closer.  It's been a while since I started this thread and the 32-20 finally got on my mind.  I ran out of brass and powder originally, now I have everything together and started loading for it, while there was snow on the ground here.   It's really amazing at 100 meters and this load has always been exceptional.  So, here's some 32 Vicious photos to brighten your day.

Ron

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tturner53 posted this 10 March 2010

Nice. Good shooting Ron.

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Vassal posted this 10 March 2010

Sweet Vicious!

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Toot-Sweet posted this 10 March 2010

Ron,

I see in your target data the note “sized .311" Slug your barrel, I believe you will find that the 32-20 barrels made by TC are .308 not .311? The modern dies are also all made to size to a 30-20 deminsion. I als believe you will find that all modern single shots, TC, XL, MOA, BF, etc., have 308 barrels.

I believe if you switch to the .308 sized 130 gr Lyman RNFB carbine bullet or the 150gr RCBS FPGC and H-4227 powder and you will cut your groups to sub MOA.

Try 11gr of H-4227 with the 150 RCBS. In my XL gun the load shoots .301 groups at 50 Meters and runs 1256 FPS at 10 ft. The single shot OAL is 1.839 with no crimp except to bring the case back to straight.The max load in my XL was 14 gr with the 150 so at 11gr you have plenty of wiggle room.

Best of luck.

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hunterspistol posted this 10 March 2010

     Well, there's a story behind that .311 size.  TC usually makes them to .309, or originally did. This one, I sized from a recovered bullet and it is .311 groove diameter.  This is an older used barrel, I only dream it was .309 instead.   I'm fairly happy with a 1&1/2” group for silhouettes but, I may give the change in sizing diameter a try.  Still, it's fairly mean to newcomers on the shooting range now, they seem to go home mad sometimes! :dance

Ron

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Toot-Sweet posted this 11 March 2010

If you are talking a recovered bullet from sand or dirt, The bullet obturated upon impact, it was not .311 when it left the bore. Slug your bore.

I have no idea who told you about .309 barrels made by TC for the 32-20 but the data is not correct, All of their 30 cal barrels are made by a jobber, all are ordered as .308 and they are put together and chambered at the plant in Rochester for various chamberings. If you see a .309 barrel, it is out of spec and there are no, and were never any .311 barrels ever put into production for the 32-20 by TC, ever.

I am fairly new to shooting “The Little 30s.” Next year will make just about 20 years with the 32-20 and the 30 carbine.

Oh, “The Little 30s” refers to my four page magazine article about the 32-20 and 30 Carbine as used in silhouette competition, published in 1997. I won my first state championship in 86 and my first 12 state region championship in 87.

I shoot against myself, never leave anyone mad, but I will leave them amazed.:wnk:

 

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JSH posted this 12 March 2010

I have also heard about the .310-.311 TC barrels in 30-20. I have had a few of them and not a single one went over .310. Then that one went down to .308 when you got past TC's forcing cone/throat. IMHO, the 30-20 is about the most versatile IHMSA case out there, with the 357 falling in line next. The 30-20 has a better variety of bullets and molds available that fly better past 100m in my findings than the 35's. I have TC that is my iron sighted FP and BB gun. The BF has a high rise and is my scoped standing gun. It is an early variation and the sight radius is short, 8 3/8". I had been working with some milsurp WC 820, the burning rate was exactly like my AA#9 across the chrono. I am just statrting on some IMR 4227, ran across a good supply.

jeff

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