Revolver for Silhouette?

StreetGlide

StreetGlide

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Hi guys,
I want to shoot silhoutte this winter at my club.
Looking to get a revolver, have looked at S&W 686 and/or Ruger GP100
Which one would you recommend? Have held both and like both, Price takes me to the GP, looks takes me to S&W.
Also, considering .44 mag are there any advantages to this or should I stay with .357 mag
Your thoughts please!

StreetGlide
 
I asume you are talking IMHSA. Chickens at 50m, pigs at 100m, turkeys at 50, and rams at 200.

Use a .44 Mag. You will beat the crap out of a .357 Mag trying to knock them over. I have a S&W Mod 29 with a 10 5/8th barrel I used to use. Never had the need like so many others to wind it right out, and don't recall ringing an animal with it.

If you are intent on the .357, check into what twist rates you need to stabilize the heaviest bullets in that calibre. Also, if I have it right, most everyone trying a .357 Mag, either moved onto .44 or a .357 Maximum.
 
the "typical" silhoette pistol is a 44 mag, with a real LONG varrel- say at least 10 inches, with a scope - ie a s&w 29 in all its varieties, a redhawk, or a super redhawk- come out to a shoot and check out what "most" of the other shooters are using
 
Will be shooting IHMSA. I have been shooting 9mm for a couple of month, I am new to pistols, just thought Silhouette sounded like allot of fun.
Have looked at the Redhawk with a 7 1/2" barrel which comes with really nice wood grips. Should I consider changing to a Hogue rubber grip or leave the wood alone.
Thanks for your help
 
StreetGlide said:
Will be shooting IHMSA. I have been shooting 9mm for a couple of month, I am new to pistols, just thought Silhouette sounded like allot of fun.
Have looked at the Redhawk with a 7 1/2" barrel which comes with really nice wood grips. Should I consider changing to a Hogue rubber grip or leave the wood alone.
Thanks for your help
Click to expand...

1) Skip the .357 and just get a .44 Mag. You can always down load the .44 a bit to start if you find the recoil is too much for you at the beginning.

2) I would suggest a Redhawk, Super Redhawk or Super Blackhawk for this, they are all significantly heavier than an S&W and stand up to heavy loads better. The SBH is cheaper and works fine, since you don't need double action for silhouette. Try to handle them all and see what feels best for your hands, as the grip/frame size and shape varies significantly between them.

3) I have a 5" Redhawk with wood grips and I would definitely be putting rubber grips on if I was planning on shooting a steady diet of heavy loads. A few cylinders full is OK as part of an afternoon, but 60-70 rounds in a day would leave me with sore hands for sure.

4) Contact Ben Hunchak on this forum and order a pile of 245gr Keith SWC bullets. Service is great, the bullets are superb and the price is unbeatable.

5) You DO reload, don't you? If you don't, start now. 44 Mag is a very expensive cartridge to shoot commercial ammo in. My handloads vary from $0.20-$0.25/round for light target loads up to full house magnum loads. Commercial is about $1.00/round.

If it were me, I would be shopping for a long barrel SBH in .44 Mag, but YMMV.

Mark
 
We are not allowed to shoot silhouette anymore

We are not allowed to shoot at metal plates or shoot a pistol more than 25 yards anymore. The silhouette range was converted to rifle only. My club is in Ontario. It seems every time I go some new restrictive law about ranges has come into effect. Not much fun shooting my 7mm TCU contender at 25 yards into paper.
 
I'd say using a 7 1/2" barrel is to invite disaster while shooting in the Creedmore position. I started with a Model 29 that had an 8 3/8" pipe. Very uncomfortable with a few close calls. It was traded off on the 10 5/8" and it was a dream to shoot laying down. The purpose built 4 position front sight helped too.

Yes, knocking over steel silhouettes is fun. Gets in your blood and you can't get it out. When the scene died here many years ago, it really bugged me. Then last year I finally got into BPCR Silhouette... and I was saved! :D
 
It takes momentum to knock down a steel plate, so the heavy bullet weight of the big bores has an advantage over the .36s. If you are a new shooter or have concerns about recoil, simply load your ammo to low-mid velocity with a powder like Unique until you have overcome the recoil bogyman. Handgun shooting and handloading go hand in hand. Not only can you shoot more per dollar, but you can also produce ammo for which there is no commercial equivalent. I'll second the notion that yoyu should get your bullets from Ben.
 
StreetGlide said:
Will be shooting IHMSA. I have been shooting 9mm for a couple of month, I am new to pistols, just thought Silhouette sounded like allot of fun.
Have looked at the Redhawk with a 7 1/2" barrel which comes with really nice wood grips. Should I consider changing to a Hogue rubber grip or leave the wood alone.
Thanks for your help
Click to expand...

depends on how well you shoot with the wood ones- personally, i find them skinny and hard on the hands- i got my 7.5 inch redhawk first, and the first thing i did was to put a set of hogues on them- they're only about 30 bucks or so and mount in seconds, and, boy do they help with the recoil- the only downside is that they're rubber, and that can get slippery with a sweaty hand now both my 5.5 and 7/5 inch have houges
 
The revolver to use for silhouette is the Dan Wesson .357 SuperMag for silhouette if you can find one. It has the knockdown power and accuracy for this sport. Second choice is a revolver in .44 or .41 mag.
As much as I like my Rugers and the Ruger Redhawk, it is not suitable IMO for silhouette shooting. I tried it yeas ago and the trigger is just too heavy for silhouette. At that time you couldn't do anything about the trigger. I don't know if that has changed. If you can get a decent trigger on it, it might work.
The barrel length is very important as someone has mentioned because you will be shooting in the Creedmore position and don't want to blow holes in your pant or your leg which you will find is easy to do with a short barrel. 10" S & W Model 29's were used a lot when I competed.

I would try and find someone who is presently active in IHMSA and try out their revolvers if they will let you. Also talk to them about loads and calibres. Definitely the .357 is not suitable- don't even think about a 9mm.
 
Just so you know you don't need a thumper of a load, my silhouette load was 18 grains of 2400, 429421 Lyman bullets - wheelweights, water quenched - Winchester primer in a Federal case. When I was having a good day, I was able to knock chickens from the turkey rail. But when the clock was on, for some reason, I would start to fall apart. The guys would laugh at how long it would take to topple a ram, but it would take them. That load would really run out of steam past 150m.
 
357 is not a good choice for silhouette. The 357 Max works well, let's you move the 180 gr bullets at enough speed to topple rams. 41 Mag, 44 Mag, 45 Win Mag, 454 Casull, all good choices for silhouette. Newer S+W revolvers have improved lock works to withstand the pounding required by this sport. Originals didn't fair that well. Ruger, Dan Wesson and Casull revolvers pretty much ruled the roost until IHMSA ruled Casull out of the game. Least expensive way to get in it would be to buy a 44 Mag SuperBlackhawk and have at it. FWIW - dan
 
S+W makes a silhouette sight - essentially a neat little gadget that lets you preset four different ranges so you just rotate the correct front post into place. Theyare sure slick for silhouette. If you see one of these on a long barrel 44 you won't go wrong.
 
every once in a whilel a colt python target 8" barrel appears in EE with the original scope, try it otherwise 44 mag may serve you better
 
I have won more trophies and regionals with a 357 mag. Why? Accuracy and shot placement. I used the Manurhin 357 mag, the Worlds most accurate revolvers! Win 680 and 180 gr bullets got me Region 1 non-resident in Revolver, Stock and Standing with a borrowed Manurhin! Hit the Ram in the ass and it falls over. I could do 3/4 inch open sight groups at 100 M with it before the eyesight gave way! I still have several 10 3/4 inch Manrhin 357 mag that I use to hunt with! There are two for sale and Chapuis does not make the silhouette model anymore!

I started Silhoette with a 44 Mag. Dah, too much recoil and reverse twist! One of the best Silhouette revolvers for a decent price was the USA Seville in 357 Super Mag, much more accurate than a Dan Wesson (several times bust) now family owned. Rugers vary in quality! I sold my TCU barrel to a Frenchman as we cannot shoot steel in Quebec. But, I do have a SSK 45-70 barrel to hunt with and also my XP in 7-08. I also have a very accurate falling block in 357 Super Mag. It was developed by Elgin Gates best friend and is a super shooter. I might sell it though as I have too many hunting pistols!

Regards,
Henry;)
X Canadian director for Canada IHMSA
 
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