Last posting 2012. Well this forum surely has me convinced that IHMSA is dead in this part of the country. I was looking at some of my weapons today in my gun safe. I always liked shooting IHMSA matches in Massachusetts and New Hampshire with my Thompson Contender. Then NRA moved in took over Silhouette shooting along with the housing boom closing many ranges back in the early 80's I put two brand new (1 Match) IHMSA guns in the bowels of my gun safe. My Wichita Silhouette pistol, 7mm IHMSA and my S&W Model 29 Silhouette pistol would make a debut once a year for an inspection. The Thompson Contender with changing barrels I continued to shoot from time to time until I got the IDPA/USPSA bug. Its too bad this sport was actually more fun than IDPA and USPSA. Different kind of people at a different pace.

Yes, it is a shame ! We are experiencing the same downturn here in Louisiana and Region 2. Our local matches have been poorly attended as of late, and we have lost several "regulars". My brother is in South Carolina attending the Region 2 Big Bore Championship - they will end the 4 day match today with about 80 entries - TOTAL ! I could not attend because of distance, finances, and lack of usable vacation time. I am sure that there are plenty others in a similar predicament. Check back from time to time - miracles have happened ! -- Philip Braud Sorrento, LA IHMSA # 13794

Same situation here in Ohio. We used to have seven active ranges now we are down to three. Our local club (Logan Handgun Association) used to hold two day matches and had 150+ entries each month. Needed to reserve times before match to be able to shoot! Now we are down to one day matches and about 50 entries. Still have the same core members in the club and will keep shooting as long as other people show up. I talk about the good old glory days of IHMSA but if you weren't there you don't really know what we are missing today. Got cataracts removed last October so can see iron sights again so I feel like I am on my second wind shooting silhouettes. Still having just as much fun now as thirty years ago. Hope IHMSA keeps going for the next generation.

Look at the bright side at least you guys have a match to drive to. I just sold my S&W Model 29 Silhouette pistol two days ago. I still have my Wichita and I hate to part with it because it will close the door on a chapter of my life regarding silhouette shooting. The big flash in the pan these days is IDPA and USPSA even PPC is just about dead around here too. I think the reloading and experimenting is not interesting for the younger generations. I think we need to add cellphones and X Boxes at 200 meters!

I just happened to gather up all of my IHMSA equipment; old score cards, IHMSA Patches, IHMSA Reloading Guide for Handgun Accuracy with reloading data for my Wichita, Silhouette Shooters Digest and a Hornady Silhouette Reloading Data pamphlet with the weapon, ammo and three sets of 7mm IHMSA dies. I placed the stuff on GunBrokers.

I only started looking at this equipment because I had no more room in my gun safes. My next move is to sell three of my five M1 Garands. I been shooting machine guns since the early 80's when I was a Class 3 dealer and have a small collection of full-auto weapons. This will free up some space for more machine guns. This is where the money is. You can shoot the hell out of them and they go up in price, better than the stock market. You can't do that with any other weapon.

Price of the Wichita and loading manual. I feel your pain.

Are there ever going to be any matches in NY again?

Member L6404

This is interesting, I belong to Pelham F&G in NH and we have a sweet 25/50/75/100/200 meter range all set up for silhouettes. We host a week long NRA Cowboy action national event every July. I'll ask some of my clubs higher up's if we ever hosted IHMSA events.

When I first started shooting silhouettes, Region 1 was a haven for matches and yes, Pelham did hold IHMSA sanctioned matches. They even held R1 matches. Spent many shooting weekends up there and met a lot of good people.

Just thought I would update this thread. I'm currently in the process of researching data as to if we can safely execute BPCR shooting at our 600 yd range. Thus far there was really no interest in shooting BPCR , but myself being an active 600 yd range committee member have asked permission to access our range layout and see if our impact berm can safely handle the steep arc of low velocity cast bpcr trajectories. The potential safety concern thus far is the fact that we have a large boulder retaining wall at the base of the berm and if a bullet was to strike the rock it would pose a ricochet hazard to our manned target pullers. I'm currently testing some 45-70 540 gr Money PP loads in my 1874 Sharps and once I have a trusted load i've been given permission to test live fire in un-manned pits by the 600 yd committee. I don't think I can persuade silhouette approval at our 600 yd range as it's not set up to safely handle steel but i'm hoping to at least get BPCR approval and possibly host some midrange bpcr shoots if there is any interest.

Rich K.