SILHOUETTE SHOOTING -- GENERAL INFORMATION

The sport of metallic silhouette is a visually interesting shooting sport in that the targets must be knocked off stands, providing instant feedback to the shooter and/or spectator. No need to wait to see where a hole in paper is, or what the scoring value is. The factor common to each of the silhouette categories is the target layout and the scoring. Targets are metal cutouts (silhouettes) of four animals; chickens, pigs, turkeys, and rams (sheep), which are placed on stands (or rails) in banks of five. During competition, five shots are taken, one shot at each of the five targets, in sequence - shot 1 at target 1, shot 2 at target 2, etc. Scoring is brutally simple: If the target is falls off the stand as a result of your shot, it’s a hit and an ‘X’ is scored. If it remains on the stand, even if hit, it’s a miss and a ‘0’ is marked on the score card.

Target sizes differ as follows: Smallbore Rifle and Smallbore Hunting Rifle targets are roughly one fifth life size (the ram will fit in the palm of your hand); Hunter’s Pistol, Smallbore Hunter’s Pistol, and Smallbore Cowboy Rifle targets are roughly one half size. The one fifth target distances are: Chickens are 40 meters distant, Pigs are 60 meters distant, Turkeys are at 77 meters, and Rams are 100 at meters. The half size target distances are: Chickens at 40 yards, Pigs at 50 yards, Turkeys at 75 yards, and Rams at 100 yards. At DCWC, the distances are as above, but NRA rules allow for a range to be set in either yards or meters, as long as ALLtargets are set at meters or yards.

Most “Club” matches consist of 40 shots, ten shots at each of the target banks.