Lee Martin
Hunter
IHMSA Silhouette, early summer 1978. Ray Lones sights on steel with Dan Wesson Arms Model 15 .357 Mag. Load: Lyman 358429 cast 158 SWC Plain Base; 14.5/Hercules 2400; CCI 500 primer
Ray Lones in his hybrid sitting position squeezes a cast bullet from DWA M-15 Vent Heavy 8-inch. Edd "Cookie" Cooke spotting
M-15 .357 recoils at launch of cast 158 SWC. Ray Lones, along with wife Sharon loaded cast for all their silhouette shooting. "Only gas check 7mm and .30," says Ray. "Nothing under 2,000 fps." Asked whether he gas checked bullets for his grade school daughter's XP-100 .221 Fireball, Ray says, "Try to gas check a .22 caliber bullet!!"
Matches sanctioned by the International Handgun Metallic Silhouette Association (IHMSA, a.k.a. "Im-Sah"") spread across the land in 1977-78 like a grass fire. Ranges were built on flats and hillsides, private property and existing clubs. Suddenly there was a discipline for the magnum hand gunner, a game to develop and prove skill. Scoring is country simple: one shot per target. Forty steel targets per match (championships often run 60 or 80). Each bank of five is engaged from left-to-right. A target falls and is scored "X"——one point. A ricochet which topples the correct target (good luck!) is a hit. A hit which fails to topple the target is scored "0"——miss. Thus, 20x40 translates into 20 topples on the 40 round course, etc. Here, Gerry Moulton calls the line at Otter Creek, Vermont, 1977 or 78.
Skip Hird, fine revolver shot out of Massachusetts (with Cherryl half of a romping husband & wife team), shoots his S&W M-29 8-3/8" .44 Mag, probably won at a previous match. Revolver shooters did battle directly against single shots in the Production category until early fall 1980 at the first International Revolver Championship
Charleen Moulton reloads her Python for the last bank of rams, as Susie Dawson as prepares to take the line with her Model 29
Susie Dawson sights her .44 on rams. As shall be seen, Smith & Wesson's flagship revolver played a vital role in the development of handgun silhouette and MAGNUM MARKSMANSHIP. Numerous women chose the big S&W over Ruger'd Super Blackhawk for control——ease of shooting the double action grip frame.
Looking downrange to see bullet splashes on rams as target setters raise the fallen 55 lb. steel sheep. It is one thing to trust your spotter, another to verify his calls and, finally, to see whether a sight adjustment should be made before engaging the second bank of five rams.
Prone, for her second bank of rams, Susie Dawson support hand acts as a buffer between her gun hand and the ground. Edd "Cookie" Cooke spots.
Dawson Newberry on scope
Smith & Wesson's Jim McClelland drove up to Otter Creek to check out the steel shooting
Satisfaction! Susie Newberry
Prone by far the dominant freestyle position for revolvers during the early days. When shooting on hard ground prone buffets competitor with heavy sound waves. Grass and firing in the open substantially reduces concussive effect. Dawson Newberry works Model 29.
The Spirit of IHMSA
Ray Lones in his hybrid sitting position squeezes a cast bullet from DWA M-15 Vent Heavy 8-inch. Edd "Cookie" Cooke spotting
M-15 .357 recoils at launch of cast 158 SWC. Ray Lones, along with wife Sharon loaded cast for all their silhouette shooting. "Only gas check 7mm and .30," says Ray. "Nothing under 2,000 fps." Asked whether he gas checked bullets for his grade school daughter's XP-100 .221 Fireball, Ray says, "Try to gas check a .22 caliber bullet!!"
Matches sanctioned by the International Handgun Metallic Silhouette Association (IHMSA, a.k.a. "Im-Sah"") spread across the land in 1977-78 like a grass fire. Ranges were built on flats and hillsides, private property and existing clubs. Suddenly there was a discipline for the magnum hand gunner, a game to develop and prove skill. Scoring is country simple: one shot per target. Forty steel targets per match (championships often run 60 or 80). Each bank of five is engaged from left-to-right. A target falls and is scored "X"——one point. A ricochet which topples the correct target (good luck!) is a hit. A hit which fails to topple the target is scored "0"——miss. Thus, 20x40 translates into 20 topples on the 40 round course, etc. Here, Gerry Moulton calls the line at Otter Creek, Vermont, 1977 or 78.
Skip Hird, fine revolver shot out of Massachusetts (with Cherryl half of a romping husband & wife team), shoots his S&W M-29 8-3/8" .44 Mag, probably won at a previous match. Revolver shooters did battle directly against single shots in the Production category until early fall 1980 at the first International Revolver Championship
Charleen Moulton reloads her Python for the last bank of rams, as Susie Dawson as prepares to take the line with her Model 29
Susie Dawson sights her .44 on rams. As shall be seen, Smith & Wesson's flagship revolver played a vital role in the development of handgun silhouette and MAGNUM MARKSMANSHIP. Numerous women chose the big S&W over Ruger'd Super Blackhawk for control——ease of shooting the double action grip frame.
Looking downrange to see bullet splashes on rams as target setters raise the fallen 55 lb. steel sheep. It is one thing to trust your spotter, another to verify his calls and, finally, to see whether a sight adjustment should be made before engaging the second bank of five rams.
Prone, for her second bank of rams, Susie Dawson support hand acts as a buffer between her gun hand and the ground. Edd "Cookie" Cooke spots.
Dawson Newberry on scope
Smith & Wesson's Jim McClelland drove up to Otter Creek to check out the steel shooting
Satisfaction! Susie Newberry
Prone by far the dominant freestyle position for revolvers during the early days. When shooting on hard ground prone buffets competitor with heavy sound waves. Grass and firing in the open substantially reduces concussive effect. Dawson Newberry works Model 29.
The Spirit of IHMSA
