TargetTalk

I can buy silhouettes for air in either 1/8 or 3/16 both are the same price. $65/set of 20 (ebay). I'm guessing the 3/16 will hold up longer but since we will be using them for pistol I'm afraid they may not fall as reliably as the 1/8. Can anyone who shot both offer an opinion?
They offer spinners as well but they would not line up right for the spacing between banks does anyone know of a good set up for ones that can be reset without going down range?
thanx
ken

Send the kids downrange to reset them ... if they go to nationals, they'll have to do that anyway.

Air Silhouettes: I tie about 18" of pink mason line to the foot of each chicken and dangle it over the back of the stand. That way when they go flying, they don't go quite as far and they are easier to find.

Thickness ... rules state 1/8" thickness. If you are shooting 10m airguns at them (<600fps) you should have no problems with breakage. Now, since you are 4-H, you'll probably have kids show up with 1000 fps rifles, and those WILL break your animals .... chickens especially. We do not allow them to shoot the fast rifles on silhouettes. Your pistols should be OK as well

I'm sure the kids won't mind setting their targets but stopping the line that often for something that can be mechanized bothers me deeply.

ken

Somedays I feel your pain, but that's part of the game.
In air it's not too bad, in smallbore that 100m walk out to the rams gives you time to think and plan.

When we practice silhouette, air or smallbore, we shoot a lot of paper. The kids really enjoy the metal, but shooting on paper with their scope next to them is a great teaching tool. I can give them 30 minutes in each position and have a great practice where they can gain confidence that they can hit those silly beasts.
They tend to enjoy the days we shoot metal all that much more.

We've got a team going to 4-H Nationals in air and I won't even break out the metal for another 2 weeks. We can get so much more done with good feedback on paper

thats a really good idea, trying to spot while shooting at metals doesn't seem like the way to go. Did you find a supplier of paper 1/10 scale silhouettes or did you trace them?
I found one set on line but couldn't get them to open. Practice was canceled tomorrow it's been raining all day and the outdoor area we use is unusable and the indoor is booked for another function.
Good luck at Nationals none of the VA teams made it this year they all had either trouble with coaches or getting enough kids together. I really think they need to qualify for two years out so they have time to get everything together especially since we don't have any clubs doing the full sets of nationals ie no rapid fire pistol matches at the state level. Well that's part of the reason I'm headed off to instructor class next week. Have fun in TX
ken

not sure who makes them, but the local club uses air rifle silhouettes mounted on a frame with hinges. the silhouettes are spring loaded, so when hit, they fall over and don't go flying. a string is attached to the hinge and used to reset the silhouettes into an upright position. Pretty slick -- no downrange time, no searchig for flyig chickens.

e-mail me if you are interested, and I'll find out who makes them.

topclass2017@comcast.net

Ken
The ones that I have are 3/16 so that they can be used for rifle or pistol. They are the resetable ones used at the Skelton Match in March. If you use 1/8" on a resetable frame they won't last. The only way that 1/8" inch can survice is for them to be free standing. Have you tried the Croosman targets, they are probably cheaper and will do fine for air pistol.
I have a backer design that I develped for the 2006 Air Pistol Team that I took to SD NI that works well and will hold paper targets as well as the metal animals and seems to control the chickens flight as well.
A deep box design works well too. This gives you a backing plate that will allow yours spotters to better see what is going on. Silhouette is intended to be a team event, shooter and spotter working together. I agree that paper targets are very usefull for training postion and getting standing zeros. I have a wide variety of paper targets for air pistol silhouette including ones designed to be shot at 10 meters. I know that all of this has been stripped from our state training but I am still willing to share.
Owen