Metallic Silhouette

Summary

Metallic silhouette shooting is a series of shooting disciplines that involves shooting at steel targets representing animals at varying distances, seeking to knock the metal target over. 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, where live 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), javalina (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.

 Silhouette Disciplines Offered at FTRPA

• International Handgun Metallic Silhouette (IHMSA)
• NRA Lever Action Silhouette
• NRA Air Rifle & Air Pistol Silhouette
• Thursday Night Indoor Silhouette

Course of Fire

• Silhouette is a 40 shot match.
• Animal silhouettes are grouped in banks of 5. There are two banks for each animal.
  
• Banks must be shot left to right, firing one shot at each steel animal.
• If you knock the animal off the rail, it counts as a hit. If you fail to do this, it’s a miss and you move on to the next animal.
• Targets shot out of order count as a miss.
• You will repeat this for each animal until you complete the course of fire, which should take about 30-40 minutes.
• Distances vary depending on discipline.

Target Distances

Match Facts

IHMSA

• Runs 1st Sunday of the month, March through December
• Registration and setup begins at 8AM. Match starts at 9AM and continues until 3PM
• Registration fee is $7 for sanctioned shooters and $5 for non-sanctioned shooters.
• Our club runs Smallbore, Big Bore and Field Pistol.
• Follows IHMSA rules.

NRA Lever Action

• Runs 2nd Sunday of the month, March through October
• Registration and setup starts at 8AM. Match starts at 9:30AM and runs through 2PM
• Registration fee is $5. 16 and under shoot free.
• Current NRA Silhouette Rules will apply.

Air Gun and Air Rifle Silhouette

• Runs on the 3rd Sunday on the 50 yard range April, June, August, & September of each year. The match will not be held if it conflicts with Easter.
• Matches are NRA Approved
• Air Pistol Runs on the Indoor Range 6-9PM on the 1st Monday October through June
• Air Rifle Runs on the Indoor Range 3rd Mondays, 6-9PM October through June
• Matches are open to all shooters, including non-members.
• The fees for the outdoor matches are $8.00 for the first gun, and $14 for two.
• Fees for indoor air pistol matches are $3 for the first gun, and $2 for an additional gun. Air Rifle are $2 per entry.
• Shooters under 20 shoot for free at all air silhouette matches
• 10 in a row pins will be awarded to AAA and Master shooters. 5 and 10 in a row pins will be awarded for AA, A, B and Unclassified shooters. One pin for each animal is the most that will be awarded per match.

Thursday Indoor Silhouette

• Currently suspended due to COVID-19
• Runs as a Fall/Winter League every Thursday from October to March
• Registration and sight-in from 5:30-7PM. Match runs from 7PM-8:30PM
• Registration is $2 per gun
  
• Pins will be awarded

Equipment

IHMSA

• Any handgun capable of firing out to the distances required, and complying with IHMSA rules (see above). Typically competitors use single shot Thompson Center contenders, Anschutz bolt action pistols for small bore. A simple .357 or .44 revolver can be competitive, especially in Field Pistol.

NRA Lever Action

• Smallbore: Any lever action .22LR rifle with a tubular magazine of original manufacture or replica thereof. Smallbore rifle may be a pump. No hyper velocity allowed.
• Rifle Cartridge Rifle: Any lever action with tubular magazine in any rimmed .25 caliber or larger, or 35 Remington.
• Pistol Cartridge Rifle: Any lever action with tubular magazine in a flat nosed pistol caliber, such as 25-20, 32-20, .38 Spc, .357 Mag, 44-40, 45 Colt, 22 Mag.
• Ammunition must not damage the targets.

Air Gun and Air Rifle Silhouette

• Any air rifle or air pistol that complies with NRA Air Gun silhouette rules

Thursday Indoor Silhouette

• Any .22LR rifle or pistol, or .177 or .22 caliber air rifle or air pistol.

Contact

IHMSA

• Contact via email at ihmsa@ftrpa.com

NRA Lever Action

• Contact via email at lever.silhouette@ftrpa.com

Air Gun and Air Rifle Silhouette

• Contact is via the Air Gun Committee at airguns@ftrpa.com

Thursday Indoor Silhouette

• Contact via email at indoor.silhouette@ftrpa.com