For a few years I shot the Rifle version of Lever Action Silhouette, picking up some ideas on what was required ammo wise. I am no longer shooting LAS Rifle, but I do still shoot the Rimfire version. Rifles are a Marlin 336A Rippletop .30-30 and a Marlin 39A.
This seems like a good time to reflect on what I concluded were the ammunition requirements for Rifle LAS. This is at odds with much that I have read, in that I propose much lighter loads for Chickens, Pigs and Turkeys, while still going for heavier bullets and a bit of oomph for Rams.
On Chickens, I found #311008, about 115 gns, loaded to 1050 fps, entirely adequate. Load was 5 gns AP70/Universal, 4.7 gns Unique, or 4.3 gns Red Dot. When playing around in practice, this load would actually knock over Pigs and Turkeys also, though the falls were leisurely.
For Pigs and Turkeys in competition, I used a 163 gn bullet, again at about 1050 fps (5.3 gns Unique). Knockdown was reliable but not violent. These slower loads conserve their velocity well and have less wind drift than higher velocity loads.
Rams require a little more thought. Research by Hornady, reported in The American Rifleman a couple of generations ago, established that momentum, not energy, was what knocked silhouettes over. That puts a premium on bullet weight, since it is conserved over distance. Our group found that 170 gn cast GC bullets at high teens velocities were what was required, provided of course that the targets were light-set as per the rules. Our loads were around 26 gns 2206H/H4895 or 28 gns 2208/Varget.
Most of our group used heavier loads on the first three targets – I don’t think they could quite believe how little it took to knock them over. When it came to Rams however, we were in agreement, having found out pretty quickly that lighter bullets or not enough velocity would leave the targets standing.
For my part, on the first three targets I wanted to stay subsonic so as to avoid any transonic issues. In that regard I have to report that my light Chicken loads still shot proportional groups at 200 meters and were quite handy for paper target Ram “silhouette” practice.
Some of us cast our own bullets while others bought the commercially cast powder coated bullets, applying gas checks as needed with the Lee die.
As an aside, the #311008 subsonics shot really well in .30-30 with 10” twist, but in .32-20 with 20” twist the subsonics were disappointing.
You are only as good as your library.
