My first 22 silhouette match

[JoeInTucson]

I have a question and I know the answer will be a general or average.
I have a lot of normal quality 22 LR cartridges.
I like the Winchester M22s in that type of ammo.
I also have some Federal Target cartridges.
From 50 to 200 yards what -about- would the drop of these rounds be?
I will be using my Ruger 22 RPR with a 2 to 7x Riton 22 RF scope.
Thank You

 

[Jon Leary]

The best way to get zeros for the different distances is to use clay pigeons. Put them in the dirt at the range you are shooting and adjust until you hit.

 

[TC260]

I’d start with what the other shooters are using and go feom there

 

[Krogen]

I shoot 22LR silhouette at 50, 100, 150 and 200 meters. Do be careful with 200 yds vs. 200 meters. There's 12-18" of drop between the two "200's." I use relative sight settings. No zero stop, so look at the differences between settings. For example, if you're zeroed at 50 m, come up 7 MOA for 100 m. These are for Eley Match ammo in a Bergara B-14R.

50 m - 9 MOA
100 m - 16 MOA
150 m - 26 MOA
200 m - 35 MOA

Again, these are my initial sight settings, not drop per se. They get tweaked during matches based on the effects of ambient conditions and shooter idiocy.

One more thought: Depending on the scope's range of elevation adjustment, chances are you'll run out of clicks at 200. I use a 20 MOA rail. 30 mm tubes often have more elevation than 1" tubes. Variables may also be more limiting than fixed power.

 

[dusterdave173]

Have fun at that first match--you will come home knowing a lot more and have a great idea of what it will take next time--so..enjoy this first one before you get too serious about them
folks at the match will be glad to help you

 

[boltman13]

I shoot silhouette at 75 yards for chickens, 100 yards for pigs, 125 yards for turkeys, and 200 yards for rams. My amo is RWS Rifle Match S and my MV is 1205 fps from my rifle. I zero at 100 yards for the pigs. At my Club we shoot all animals from the same bench so when I am at a different bench things may be slightly different, but when I am shooting starting with pigs my come ups or downs are as follows:

chickens Down 3.0 MOA
pigs Zero
turkeys Up 3.5 MOA
rams Up 12.0 MOA
If I start with pigs, I then shoot turkeys then rams then chickens. The come down from rams to chickens is 18.5MOA. Almost always there is a higher temperature for the second string so sight settings and come ups or downs usually change often by +/- 1 MOA, sometimes even more. I can usually compensate on pigs, chickens, and turkeys by holding lower, but rams require an additional come up. My rifle has a 20 MOA Pick. rail and the scope a 8X32 Sightron III with 0.25 MOA clicks so I can still use the cross hairs at all ranges. I keep records on changes in scope settings with different Lots of amo, and conditions, but stick with the 100 yard zero on pigs as my starting point. All our shooting is from the bench with front and rear rests, but shooting off hand would be much harder with different sight settings. Good luck, have fun.

 

[Allen Corneau]

Traditional NRA Silhouette is shot at 40 meters out to 100 meters. If you’re shooting out to 200 yards then you’re doing something else that is specific to your range. Some kind of benchrest I’m guessing?

Standard velocity ammo will generally be more accurate than high velocity ammo. You’ll have to test it in your rifle to see what it likes best.

 

[JoeInTucson]

Well I had some misinformation about the match. It was 40 to 100 yards. The targets were 1/5 size. All the shooting was from standing unsupported. This was the most difficult style of competition that I have tried. Mainly because outside of some runs in multi gun at combat style targets I have not used standing unsupported for rifle shooting or hunting.

I scored 7 out of 60. But the old hands scored 20 or 22. So this is not a terrible start to my way of thinking. One thing I am glad I did was go to the Federal website and use their ballistic calculator to figure out the MOA adjustments for my Winchester M22 ammo. On the rare occasions when the crosshairs went where I wanted them those adjustments were right on. I

I am glad I tried this and I will return to it in the future.

 

[TC260]

Well I had some misinformation about the match. It was 40 to 100 yards. The targets were 1/5 size. All the shooting was from standing unsupported. This was the most difficult style of competition that I have tried. Mainly because outside of some runs in multi gun at combat style targets I have not used standing unsupported for rifle shooting or hunting.

I scored 7 out of 60. But the old hands scored 20 or 22. So this is not a terrible start to my way of thinking. One thing I am glad I did was go to the Federal website and use their ballistic calculator to figure out the MOA adjustments for my Winchester M22 ammo. On the rare occasions when the crosshairs went where I wanted them those adjustments were right on. I

I am glad I tried this and I will return to it in the future.

Silhouette shooting is hard, that's for sure. Glad to hear you liked it and ready to try it again. I shoot more handgun silhouette than rifle but it's all a great group of people and always willing to help out the new shooters.

 

[kevin nevius]

I didn't use a RF beyond 100 yards in competition, but would at home on the occasional woodchuck! LOL

Attached is a trajectory chart developed for a few bullet configurations at several different velocities.

You should be able to extrapolate something from it (it has been good for me in the past)

All the very best,

kev

 

[HalfCZ]

I am somewhat new to Silhouette also. At my club they shoot 50 yd off hand chickens-10 shots.
Then from a bench -100 Yard Pigs, 150 yards Turkeys, 200 yards Rams all shot with bipods but no rear rests.
The people who win get 5-7 of the ten off hand chickens. Plenty get none. We have 10 minutes per animal which seems plenty of time for sighting in your scope. Sounds like your event is all offhand?

 

[1Merlin]

I am somewhat new to Silhouette also. At my club they shoot 50 yd off hand chickens-10 shots.
Then from a bench -100 Yard Pigs, 150 yards Turkeys, 200 yards Rams all shot with bipods but no rear rests.
The people who win get 5-7 of the ten off hand chickens. Plenty get none. We have 10 minutes per animal which seems plenty of time for sighting in your scope. Sounds like your event is all offhand?

All 1/5 scale? Sounds like fun...

 

[dhagerty40]

Well I had some misinformation about the match. It was 40 to 100 yards. The targets were 1/5 size. All the shooting was from standing unsupported. This was the most difficult style of competition that I have tried. Mainly because outside of some runs in multi gun at combat style targets I have not used standing unsupported for rifle shooting or hunting.

I scored 7 out of 60. But the old hands scored 20 or 22. So this is not a terrible start to my way of thinking. One thing I am glad I did was go to the Federal website and use their ballistic calculator to figure out the MOA adjustments for my Winchester M22 ammo. On the rare occasions when the crosshairs went where I wanted them those adjustments were right on. I

I am glad I tried this and I will return to it in the future.

First, I have to ask, Was your match shot at the three points shooting Facility? Only asking as this range is in Meters and not yards. A meter is slightly longer than a yard and the only target I can remember is the ram at 100 meters which comes out slightly more than 107 yards. So your settings may have been slightly off.

The course you described is known as 'Smallbore rifle silhouette' shot at 1/5 scale targets and this is the normal course:
chickens at 40 meters
pigs at 60 meters
turkeys at 77 meters
Rams at 100 meters

NRA does allow the range to be in yards but you are not eligible for certain awards that NRA offers.

This is also (for me) is the hardest of all the types of silhouette to shoot. if you can do well in this, you will do well in all the silhouette courses!

only going to add these:

your scope is a little under powered for this. A lot of old shooters will shoot a scope up to 24x and I personally shoot mine between 12-16x.

The other is if you were shooting at three Points, The 500 meter range is the first and oldest Range in the USA. Lot of history for that range!

 

[blades]

Offhand takes a lot of practice. If you have apx 33 ft in yard or basement get a medium priced breakbarrel or side lever air rifle .177 or .22. these can be shot indoors with minimal back stop same for out doors . Very little noise. typical velocity for 177 for this would be around 575 fps or a bit slower. old match rifles make a great purchase as the triggers are decent. this is muscle development and muscle memory attainment. A Trap need be nothing more than a box stuffed with wadded up newspaper. Even though pellet prices have risen (what hasn't) it is still dirt cheap practice. Standard sillywet match is 40 shots, so that is a good daily or semi daily practice session. The number one mistake is rushing the shot, second is holding to long ( your eyes get tired and then you wander) ya,I know 1 and 2 sounds contradictory, third jerking the trigger. have fun.

 

[Will Henry]

I started shooting silhouette late in life (68) and I will agree, it is the most difficult shooting I have done. I had hoped to be hitting at 75% but eight years later, still haven't made it. There is a psychological challenge as well as a physical one. WH

 

[TAJ45]

Offhand pistol or rifle shooting is 68% mental - the rest is in your head...... honest.