Acceptable silhouette accuracy?

[Freyr_255]

I went to the range today to test ammunition in my new rifle but it was a bit windy out so 100m shooting was a no go(5" of drift when I tried with blazer). I did however get a 4 shot 0.26-ish grouping(fifth was a flyer) at 50m using Eley target which I think is rather impressive given the gusty shooting conditions. Standard plus was right there as well with a 0.4" 4 shot group with the 5th a flyer but I think one of the 4 was drifted a bit expanding the group size almost 0.2".

Ah well..I'm going to have to re-do all of this anyway when conditions are better. At this point it's all speculation. My 100m accuracy will be the tell all whenever I get good enough weather to shoot it.

Anyway I'm just wondering what do you guys consider acceptable rifle accuracy to be competitive in rimfire silhouette?

 

[Grantmac]

1.5" will get you going to start. The way I shoot 2.5" would be just fine...

 

[dryfire]

Rifle silhouette is largely a game of hold and trigger control. The 2 and a half minutes is not sufficient to really refine the hold so being ready on the trigger is critical.1-1.5" groups at 100m is ideal.

 

[bisonhd]

A miss by a bullet width do to the rifle/ammo combo is still a miss. When you get to higher level matches, one point out of 120 can cost you the win.

Experiment a lot. I wouldn't be satisfied until you find something that gets you down to sub 1.5" @ 100m's. Better if you've been at the game for a while.

 

[piratepete]

I agree with the previous posts...
You could measure the largest circular area of the target that can be covered and aim for that; that would be the required accuracy. Can't remember what that size is, and I couldn't find it with a quick Google search.

My patterns seem to be a bit elliptical (I wobble vertically too much, shoot under the pigs and rams...most annoying); so you could replace 'largest circular area' with 'largest ellipse' or whatever. Changing my point of aim based on my pattern helped a bit. I now shoot over the front leg of the pigs, doesn't help with the rams though.

 

[horseman2]

This sport is best described as having to "Stand on you two hind legs and shoot unsupported without a sling". I could have said "Shoot like a Man" but there are a number of ladies that would still oushoot you . . . and me!

As a beginner, get a ram or ram-size target, set at 40 metres and when you can hold on that consistently for a time sim9ilar to having to get the shot off, maybe ten seconds much like shooting a match. Now move it back to 60 . . . then 77 . . . and then at 100.
A lot can be accomplished on dry land without wind and without jumping in with both feet.
Your rifle and ammunition must be properly mated. 1 - 1.5 inches at 100 metres is virtually mandatory otherwise you will create doubts about your rifle and worse yet yourself. What I learned in silhouette served me well more that once while hunting.

 

[dizzy]

You need to shoot at the distance you intend to compete at. Ammo that is good at 50 may not be good at 100 and vice versa. It will shock you. Rimfires really are finicky and not just a little. You cannot assume your 50 groups will give you any indication of what your 100 groups will be like.

 

[Freyr_255]

You need to shoot at the distance you intend to compete at. Ammo that is good at 50 may not be good at 100 and vice versa. It will shock you. Rimfires really are finicky and not just a little. You cannot assume your 50 groups will give you any indication of what your 100 groups will be like.

Ya tell me about it...just did some 100m shooting today and I'm feeling sort of like back at square one. I must admit it was my first time having to pay attention to my heart beat and any slight breeze while shooting. Overall there was still a bit too much wind today to be 100% conclusive.

Looking at my Eley Target groupings it either shoots like s**t or there was some unaccounted for wind. Best 5 shot group was 0.845"(only real group) and the rest are about 1.5-2". I actually think the Blazer shot consistently better at about 1.5". With that last group of Eley at 0.84" I'm suspecting wind came into play a bit.

The Standard plus I thought after a few groups would be the clear winner. Best group was 0.765" with a vertical spread of about 0.25". Overall this ammunition seemed to group a bit 'stringy' making me wonder if it wasn't me or the wind causing groups to spread out. Meaningful group range was 1.5-0.765" and commonly seems to be 1.0-0.8".

The RWS target rifle really surprised me at the end with my best group of the day being 0.605". Range was 0.605-1.325" for groups with the norm being in the 1.0-0.8" range. I thought this ammunition was going to come in behind the standard plus but seems to have almost tied it(or beaten it...).

As I had only bought one box of each I'm thinking I'm going to have to do another full round(or five...) to get more meaningful results. Mosquitoes tonight didn't help a whole hell of a lot either(got a couple right in the scope eye...). Ah well...all part of the fun right?

*edit*

Lately I've been noticing I'm not happy unless my centrefire bullet holes overlap or at least touch each other at 100m. This also seems to have translated over to my new rimfire addiction. Anyone else notice this excessive OCD when it comes to firearm/shooting accuracy? Because when I read what I wrote above I think "damn that sounds good", yet I look at my targets I think "damn those look like ####...".

 

[dryfire]

To help you establish whether it's you or the wind set up wind flags at 25 50 and 75 yds. A foot or so of survey tape can work suspended from a bent coat hanger. These are not legal for silhouette except at the respective target distances but they can help you see the effect of the wind for your group shooting. Typically the close flag will have the most relevance.
Pick a wind condition after watching the flags for a while and release your shots in that condition. Remember you're testing ammo, this isn,t practice.
The best is to test your ammo in the calm - use the flags to help read that condition.
On shooting for practice:
Try this shooting drill advocated by Troy Lawton, a top US silo shooter, former Olympian and shooting coach.
Shoot on circles - shoot at 40m only. Start with a 5" circle and fire 20 shots. If this is easy reduce the circle size by 1/2" each time. When you can place 20 into a 1" circle consistently in his words "you're stout".
If you can do this and transfer the ability to a match you will better over 95% of shooters.
Set realistic training goals and keep a log of your practices and matches.
All the best

 

[Freyr_255]

To help you establish whether it's you or the wind set up wind flags at 25 50 and 75 yds. A foot or so of survey tape can work suspended from a bent coat hanger. These are not legal for silhouette except at the respective target distances but they can help you see the effect of the wind for your group shooting. Typically the close flag will have the most relevance.
Pick a wind condition after watching the flags for a while and release your shots in that condition. Remember you're testing ammo, this isn,t practice.
The best is to test your ammo in the calm - use the flags to help read that condition.
On shooting for practice:
Try this shooting drill advocated by Troy Lawton, a top US silo shooter, former Olympian and shooting coach.
Shoot on circles - shoot at 40m only. Start with a 5" circle and fire 20 shots. If this is easy reduce the circle size by 1/2" each time. When you can place 20 into a 1" circle consistently in his words "you're stout".
If you can do this and transfer the ability to a match you will better over 95% of shooters.
Set realistic training goals and keep a log of your practices and matches.
All the best

Thanks for the tips.

 

[Bigdonkey]

Offhand shooting, especially Silhouette is a discipline of constants. After nearly a year I’ve figured out what ammo my rifle likes the best and for that I can consistently shoot .75”at 100m with it off the bench.
The most frustrating things to get through were first finding a good repeatable optic that will give you the confidence that you need knowing its back to zero every time. The next was to find the ammo that worked the best in the gun. This is more difficult than imagined as you may find an ammo that works excellent at 40, 60 and won’t hold at 77 and 100m. Then when you do find one that’s good enough you can’t find any more in that lot. Once you’ve figured out the scope and ammo things then you have to work on technique. Hold, foot placement, cheek weld breathing and all the rest that goes with a good technique. I do a lot of practicing and still find myself changing things up on occasion in hopes it will help my grouping. I’ve been bit by the bug and it sounds like you have as well. It’s a fun sport.
One of the things I do for practice days is set up paper copies of each animal at the required distances. I do this so I can track my misses. Once you get proficient at analyzing your shots you’ll be able to call your hits and misses before the bullet gets to the target. Really handy for high power. This method helped me recognize what I was doing when I get into position, what I’m doing while acquiring the target and what’s happening when I squeeze the trigger not to mention the follow up. It’s helped with that whole consistency thing. As far as the grouping goes I’m of the opinion that you should have as tight of a group as you think that rifle is capable of and once you figure out what ammo it likes buy as much of that lot number you can get or afford, cause guarantied the next lot will shoot differently.