2nd Half Of Our TMA Silhouette Season Opened Up Today

[Ohio Joe]

The 2nd half of our TMA Silhouette Season opened up today (August, September, October).  Good luck, and good shooting everyone. You folks who signed up and didn't shoot in the first half of the season ought to give it a try, it's fun and challenging. I think you'd enjoy it. 

[RobD]

after being almost late to the show for this year's postal matches, i got in an early bird yesterday at the layton range with the little .36 rifle. 

yay me!     boo score!       interesting how i gave the ram the power of vision!  hah! 

[Maven]

Shot my August targets the other day as well.  Let's put it this way, the practice targets were marginally better than the record ones.   Shooting offhand is hard enough, but doing so after a session at the gym (upper body only) isn't the brightest idea I've ever had.  Next time, I'll shoot on an "off" day and maybe try a different rifle too. 

[Ohio Joe]

I just got back about 40 minutes ago from shooting my August silhouette targets. Was going to do the smoothie shoot this morning, but we got plenty of rain last night so I opted for the August silhouettes. It's awful humid right now. Surprisingly I didn't do bad, but I still can't seem to make a clean sweep of those silhouettes. That Chicken challenges a person for sure. 

[Ohio Joe]

after being almost late to the show for this year's postal matches, i got in an early bird yesterday at the layton range with the little .36 rifle. 

yay me!     boo score!       interesting how i gave the ram the power of vision!  hah! 

Rob, a much better start for you in this 2nd half.     I see that Chicken didn't want to cooperate which seems to be the case for many of us. It's that darn Pig and Ram that makes us want to kick ourselves. Strangely enough, the Turkey has been pretty forgiving for a'lot of us this year. I kind'a liked that little break we had from Silhouettes in July. It gives us all a chance to regroup. 

[Uncle Russ]

after being almost late to the show for this year's postal matches, i got in an early bird yesterday at the layton range with the little .36 rifle. 

yay me!     boo score!       interesting how i gave the ram the power of vision!  hah! 

Hang in there Ol' Hoss....there ain't no fleas on those targets.
You and that little .36 seem to have this "thang" going, stick with her!

Only got about a dozen sleeps left for me to get my July targets shot....it's getting closer every single day! 

Uncle Russ...

[Winter Hawk]

  I likewise got my August targets shot.  Sort of.  Practice target looked pretty good although 3 of the four shots were clustered about 3" right, with the first shot 6" left.  But when I shot the pig I didn't do so well.  At least I hit the paper on the first shot!  I held left on the second shot and was low but good for windage.

Shooting the turkey I again held way left and managed to get two shots on him.  Loading had become difficult with a real rough spot starting about 8" down from the muzzle for another 12" or so, so I started wiping the bore with a damp patch.  After I shot the turkey the wet patch got totally stuck down the bore.   I ended up tying the ramrod to a post so I could reef on the rifle, and finally got it out.  With the patch came an insane amount of crud and un-burned powder, but the next patch went down and out slick as the proverbial whistle.  Loading was immensely easier also!

So now it was down to the ram.  I held just left of his butt, with the results in the photo.  The chicken was more difficult but I held on a bullet hole in the backboard to the left of the target and at least hit the bird twice.

So it looks like I have another 6 points.  I'm not going to write home about this one, but I'll take it anyway! 

~WH~

[Uncle Russ]

Winter Hawk, when looking at the pictures I broke out laughing! Still can't quit giggling to myself.

Not from your shooting! Not by any means!
But from an image that flashed through my mind from years gone by...

For what it's worth along with a bit of trivia.......... coming from a long time Registered Silhouette Shooter going back to the late 1970's, that "beak" hit on the Chicken, had that been a regulation bird with 4" square foot, sitting on the flat-side of a inverted Railroad Rail, flat side up, that would have indeed been a sight to see.

I have been witness to several such hits, just like that one, and it is downright funny.
Such a shot on the beak does more than just take that little dirty bird down, it puts him in a spin / balance act that will often take down every Chicken left standing on the rail...which, of course, you get no score for, and no chance for a "make-up", or Alibi.

It will, at times, even come off the rail and "climb" the safety Berm behind it, from flopping on the ground....or, it will even "flop" toward the firing line.

The energy from a .50 Cal round ball, and other calibers, at that distance, is totally amazing at times.
Especially with those steel targets, usually T-10, the targets will do things that you simply can not imagine, if they are hit just right.

But while we are shooting paper we will never get to see those things...go to a "Registered" match and you just might, but I understand two States have "outlawed" the use of steel rails in their Rifle & Pistol matches, and that is Arizona and Utah, as far as I know they are still legal in Texas and New Mexico as they are the "preferred" base by many Silhouette shooters that feel they get far too many "ringers" when the targets are set on the ground...
Overall, in the past, National Averages did run lower when the target was set on the ground, so I think they have a legitimate complaint.

Glad you finally got out to shoot. You, like me, likely appreciate these times when we can get out, as much or more than anybody else can appreciate their shooting time.

Uncle Russ...

[Ohio Joe]

WH, I'm seeing 3 of 3 on the turkey (as per our touch rule) that is considered a hit here still in 2017. Once I get your targets I will confirm that, so for now I will post a pending score. That touch rule has saved many of our scores this year and a touch is a hit.  Me thinks you did better then what you thought at first glance.   

[Winter Hawk]

WH, I'm seeing 3 of 3 on the turkey (as per our touch rule) that is considered a hit here still in 2017.

The targets are in the mail.  When you get it, you will see that it is close, but no prize.  I stay with 2 hits on the turkey!  But thank you for giving the benefit of the doubt.

~WH~

[Uncle Russ]

Winter Hawk, FWIW..........The longer you know Joe, the more you will trust him to do the "right" thing!

As a Founder, Joe introduced the Postal matches to the TMA over 12 years ago and, to the best of my knowledge, there has never been a "contested score"...Joe has a very good eye, if you had a really close look and say it won't make the grade, there's a good chance Joe will end up agreeing with you.

In such close calls, Joe does do something the majority of us never mess around with...he will press the paper from the back of the target to make the hit more exactly defined, along with several other of his little tricks.....something I never do, if it looks like it might be a miss, I just suck it up and move on.
Joe will actually labor over that definition, just to get it right....sometimes the shooter will be  thinking it is a hit when it turns out it wasn't, sometimes it's the other way around, and I personally think that is a good thing.

Personally, I love shooting the "Silly-Wet" targets.
There's days when I'm lucky and right on, but there's a lot more days that I can't seem to be able to hit anything, and as well know....the "harder" you try, the worse it gets.

Any day I find myself chasing that front sight I know, at the end of the day, it's going to be a really bad day, and God only knows how many of those days I've had over the years.
Old age is just not your friend in the shooting game!

And I can tell you that with .9895431% certainty, you ol' math wizard!     

Uncle Russ...
   

[Ohio Joe]

WH, I'm seeing 3 of 3 on the turkey (as per our touch rule) that is considered a hit here still in 2017.

The targets are in the mail.  When you get it, you will see that it is close, but no prize.  I stay with 2 hits on the turkey!  But thank you for giving the benefit of the doubt.

~WH~

Winter Hawk, you touched it by a hair (thickness) but you did in fact nick/touch that Turkey. I'm bound by our 2017 scoring rules - so it is scored a hit.

[Winter Hawk]

Winter Hawk, you touched it by a hair (thickness) but you did in fact nick/touch that Turkey.

I think you just feel sorry for me!  Thank you just the same.

~WH~

[Ohio Joe]

Winter Hawk, you touched it by a hair (thickness) but you did in fact nick/touch that Turkey.

I think you just feel sorry for me!  Thank you just the same.

~WH~

The scoring ring overlay, calipers, and an un'shot target under your target tells the tale...  

[Winter Hawk]

Okay, okay, I'll take it already!   

~WH~