Silhouette Target

Metallic silhouette shooting is a group of target shooting disciplines that involves shooting at steel targets representing game animals at varying distances, seeking to knock the metal target over. Metallic silhouette is shot with large bore rifles fired freehand without support out to 500 meters, and with large bore handguns from the prone position with only body support out to 200 meters. Competitions are also held with airguns and black-powder firearms. A related genre is shot with bow and arrow, the metal targets being replaced with cardboard or foam. The targets used are rams, turkeys, pigs, and chickens, which are cut to different scales and set at certain distances from the shooter depending on the specific discipline.

History

Metallic silhouette is descended from an old Mexican sport, dating back to the early 1900s, wherein live game animals were staked out at varying distances as targets. By 1948, metal cutouts of the animals were used instead of live animals, birthing "''siluetas metalicas.''" The first metallic silhouette match was held in Mexico City. Because of the sport's Mexican roots, in the United States the silhouettes are often referred to by terms from several varieties of American Spanish, namely ''gallina'' (chicken), ''jabali'' (pig), ''guajalote'' (turkey), and ''borrego'' (ram).

The first silhouette range constructed in the United States was in 1967 at Nogales, Arizona. Growth was steady until 1973, when the NRA became involved in the sport. By the mid-1980s it was the fastest-growing gun sport in the United States. It is a sport that appeals to hunters, plinkers, and serious target shooters without the financial barriers of some other competitive shooting sports. Jim Carmichel called it the "common ground on which to unite."

Governing bodies

The International Metallic Silhouette Shooting Union (IMSSU) is the international federation controlling metallic silhouette competitions for both rifle and pistol. As of 2020, the IMSSU has 26 member regions.IMSSU - MEMBER COUNTRIES
"There are currently 26 member countries.."

North America

There are also two major US-based bodies: The National Rifle Association covers all types of silhouette shooting in the United States, and the International Handgun Metallic Silhouette Association (IHMSA) covers only silhouette pistol shooting. There are some minor differences between the international IMSSU rules and those of the NRA and IHMSA, but it is generally possible to compete in all with the same equipment. NRA is the U.S. representative of the IMSSU.

Silhouette shooting is growing in popularity in Canada. The Silhouette Rifle Association of Canada (SRAC) is the governing body for silhouette rifle shooting and sanctions the Canadian National Rifle Silhouette Championships hosted each year by one of the participating provincial silhouette associations. The Canadian Championship adheres to the U.S. NRA silhouette competition ruleset.

Europe

The ''European Metallic Silhouette Shooting Association'' (AETSM) (French name ''Association Européenne de Tir sur Silhouettes Métalliques'') is the European regional body of the IMSSU. AETSM was founded in 1989IMSSU - History of Metallic Silhouette Shooting
/ref> and was a founding member of IMSSU in 1992, after which it was incorporated into the newer organization. As of 2020, 17 European countries are represented by AETSM.

Course of fire

Targets are set up in groups of five of each kind, with a silhouette's width between targets, laid out at the required distances for the given match. Each group of targets must be shot left to right; if a target is missed then the next shot is taken at the next target. Any target hit out of order is considered a miss. Targets are engaged in order of distance: chickens, pigs, turkeys, rams. The target must be knocked down or pushed off the target stand in order to score a hit; even a shot ricocheting off the ground in front of the target will count if it takes down the correct target. Shooters are allowed to have a spotter with them, who watches where the shots land and advises the shooter on corrections to make.

All disciplines require a minimum of 10 shots at each type of target, for a minimum of 40 shots per match; normal matches are 40, 60, 80, or 120 shots. To score a hit, the target must be knocked off its stand, so each cartridge used must provide sufficient momentum to knock the heavy metal targets over. Scores are recorded as the number of hits per rounds fired, so 30 hits with 40 shots is a score of 30x40=1200.

A tie can be broken in one of two ways: a sudden death shoot-off, used at all national and large regional competitions and for the overall match winner. Master Class and AAA shooters shoot at turkeys, AA Class shoot at rams, A Class shoot at chickens and B Class shoot at pigs. To save time and effort, a reverse animal count can also be used (number of hits on hardest animal to easiest), with whoever hits the most turkeys being the winner. If a tie still exists, whoever hit the most rams is the winner. This continues to chickens and finally pigs.

For IHMSA competition, tie scores are broken by either reverse animal count, or by shootoffs, as determined by the match director, however, for state, regional and international championships, shootoffs are used to determine the winners in all categories and classes. For reverse animal count, scores are compared starting at rams; the shooter with the most rams is the winner. This procedure is used sequentially down through turkeys, pigs and chickens. If a tie still exists, a shootoff is used to determine the winner. Shootoffs are in banks of five targets and can be any type or size, placed at any distance out to the maximum ram distance for the competition. Shooting strings continue until all ties are broken. Sudden death shootoffs are not allowed.

Positions

Rifle silhouette shooters generally shoot from an unsupported standing position, though black-powder rifles may use shooting sticks in some competitions.

Handgunners may be required to shoot from an unsupported standing position (two hands may be used), or from a "freestyle" position. Freestyle includes some unusual positions, such as the Creedmore position, which is shot lying on the back, legs bent and feet flat on the ground, with the pistol resting on the shooter's right leg. In a freestyle position the pistol may only contact the shooter's body, no rests may be used (not even, in the case of the Creedmore position, the top of a boot).

There are informal matches for special classes, like cowboy rifles and pistols and vintage military surplus rifles.

All rifle shooting is done standing, with the firearm unsupported. The exception to this is black-powder rifles; the ranges are the same as large-bore rifles, but only chickens must be shot unsupported; all other targets may be shot from any position, including crossed sticks, a bench may not be used. Pistol shooting, unless in a designated standing event, can be shot from any unsupported position. Like the any-position pistol shooters, standing pistol shooters adopt odd positions in their quest for the most stable possible shooting position. Standing pistol is the most difficult discipline; no one has yet shot a perfect 40x40. Standing big-bore any-sight pistol matches are often tied with perfect scores, and decided by a tiebreaker.

Target layouts

To allow shooting at ranges which may not have space for a full target layout, NRA rules allow the use of reduced scale pigs, turkeys and rams placed at the same distance as chickens. The scale is reduced proportional to the change in distance, so the targets will cover the same angular distance as they would if set up at full range. Reduced scale matches fired at paper targets are also popular for informal competitions, especially for Internet-based matches where the shooters may reside in different countries. These are generally fired with rimfires or airguns.

Targets for large-bore use are thick hardened steel; small bore targets are steel, and airgun targets are steel, although some aluminum targets are produced.

Ranges are measured in meters only. The exception is the new IHMSA air pistol discipline, which is in yards only.

Handgun categories

RemingtonXP-100.jpg, Remington XP-100.
Thompson Center Contender.jpg, Thompson Contender.

Both bolt action and break action pistols are common in metallic silhouette shooting, as well as revolvers. Pistols usually either have a center grip or rear grip, and which is favored depends on shooting position and personal preference. Examples of pistols used for metallic silhouette shooting are the Remington XP-100, Thompson/Center Contender, Savage Striker and Tanfoglio Thor.

Metallic silhouette handguns most often have iron sights, although there are some national divisions where scope sights are used. Handgun scopes are usually rifle scopes with normal eye relief (especially for the standing position), but sometimes extended eye relief (EER) scopes are used (also called "scout" sights), especially when used for a lying position.

All long range handgun metallic silhouette events are fired with targets at the distances 50, 100, 150 and 200 meters.Categories of Handgun Silhouette Shooting at LASC Explained
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International handgun categories

The four international fullbore handgun divisions sanctioned by IMSSU are: Unlimited, Production, Standing, and Revolver.

;IMSSU Unlimited: Iron sighted pistols and revolvers with a maximum barrel length and sight radius of , and a maximum weight of . The sight radius is measured from the rear of the sight blade to the highest portion of the from sight. The overall length of the firearm can no more than . The bullet diameter must be minimum 6 mm (.240"). The shooting position is freestyle, and most opt to shoot lying. The iron sights are usually open, but diopter and hooded sights are also permitted. Muzzle brakes are not permitted. Revolvers are uncommon due to a having a higher degree of difficulty, i.e. longer lock time. Examples of popular handguns for IMSSU Unlimited are the