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Old May 28, 2011, 07:33 PM   #1
capflyboy05
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Silhouette targets at long ranges. (100+ yds)

I hope this doesnt scare anybody too much.
I have a Mosin Nagant M91/30 and bought a couple silhouette targets.
Does anybody find it wrong to shoot silhouette targets at greater distances?
I just like to challenge myself and see what the snipers guys had to aim at.
And to see how I possibly matched up to a Soviet sniper.
I'm not doing it to cause harm to other people, or any other sick twisted game.
I feel like I could get judged quite a bit by doing this.
I just wanted some opinions.
What do you all think?
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Old May 29, 2011, 10:35 AM   #2
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Why would it scare anybody, I shoot at regular silhouette targets at 100-150-200 yards with my 1911A1 45cal pistol, 357 Dan Wesson Revolver and S&W M41 22 pistol. Any closer than 100 yards seems kind of silly to me.

With my rifles I shoot the reduced silhouette targets. Practice is practice and if it upsets the ninnies that is their problem, not yours.
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Old May 29, 2011, 11:08 AM   #3
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Thats how I feel.
Thanks.
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Old May 29, 2011, 02:31 PM   #4
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Why do you even mention it?
If it is safe and legal, go for it.
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Old May 30, 2011, 11:08 AM   #5
chadstrickland
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Oh my..that's just..so wrong I mean come on..your just sick and twisted for shooting at human shaped targets...:barf:.....hahahaha just kidding..go for it bud I do it all the time..not with a nagat but with whatever I have at the time..just fun and idk maybe I hang around to mnay cops and military guys but its just something fun to do..we kinda play a competitive game with them..and you almost always learn something new when you go shooting..atleast I do
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Old May 30, 2011, 11:52 AM   #6
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It's only wrong if you have an actual human holding it for you. That could be an issue!
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Old May 30, 2011, 01:23 PM   #7
Old Grump
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Quote:
It's only wrong if you have an actual human holding it for you. That could be an issue!
It's only wrong if the target holder is not an anti-gun-knee jerk-PC liberal.

Oh oh, is my bias showing?
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Old May 30, 2011, 02:40 PM   #8
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Hahahaha, I should have my libertarian liberal govt teacher hold it. :P :P :P
She's beyond terrible.

Apparently (according to her) ALL guns are bad.
But then she goes on telling us we have the right to overthrow our govt.

I then proceeded to ask her how we would do such a thing without guns.

(Dirty look.......................... then silence.....................) hahahaha
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Old May 30, 2011, 02:54 PM   #9
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hahahaha gotta love people like that:barf:
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Old May 30, 2011, 10:17 PM   #10
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Hmm now I'm oddly tempted to print out some silhouettes for my trip to the range tomorrow. I doubt many snipers use a .22 anyways!
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Old May 30, 2011, 10:57 PM   #11
capflyboy05
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Lol, I took mine to the range today.
I enjoyed it.
If I had to chose a weapon for close sniping.
Honestly, it would be a .22.
Light, quiet, and lethal with a good shot. :P
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Old May 30, 2011, 11:05 PM   #12
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And cheap. Very cheap.

Also, it's not lethal if your target's wearing a helmet. Just sayin'. Actually, a friend of mine who used to work in the ER once saw a guy who accidentally shot himself IN THE HEAD with a .22 and was sent not to trauma or ICU but to a regular hospital room. The round had apparently flattened against his skull and the doc literally nudged it and it fell out. Some people lol...

How large were your silhouettes and what range? I'll probably print out letter-sized (8.5x11) ones for 100 yards.
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Old May 31, 2011, 09:42 AM   #13
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I was at a Jacksonville area range with a friend this weekend and had a good number of my beautiful near-life-sized 11x17 (x 2 sheets) silhouette targets with me... and... no human form targets of any kind allowed.

I wish I would have asked them why, but it was my first (and likely only) time there. Is there a belief that somehow shooting silhouette targets makes a shooter more likely to want to shoot humans? I don't get it.



Last edited by spacecoast; May 31, 2011 at 09:49 AM.
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Old May 31, 2011, 12:03 PM   #14
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Oh it makes perfect sense. Just like how an inanimate object causes people to randomly become murderers.

Yet military and police use silhouette targets almost exclusively....
[/sarcasm]

That being said, I heavily respect M&P people and always do my best to support them. But it's silly to assume they are somehow less like to be murderers than the rest of us.

End of self-righteousness tangent.


Unfortunately my printer only fits letter-sized, not legal, and I doubt it'd be kosher to print out human silhouette targets at the local Kinko's... Ideas?
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Old May 31, 2011, 12:28 PM   #15
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I don't agree with the fears but they are not at all uncommon. I was briefly a member of an indoor range that would terminate memberships INSTANTLY if you were caught using ANY type of target resembling a human form. Didn't matter if it was a miniature silhouette or Bin Ladens face. It was Insta-Ban.

I see no particular advantage to using silhouette targets for the vast majority of shooters. A similar sized piece if cardboard would be no less useful.

On the other hand, I also see no reason why someone shouldn't use them if they want to.
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Old May 31, 2011, 01:11 PM   #16
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So what was the reasoning given that was behind banning members for using a shilloette target?
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Old May 31, 2011, 01:24 PM   #17
aarondhgraham
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Political correctness gone rampant,,,

Just another example of how a political correctness interferes with legitimate activities.

It's not rational and therefore has no real explanation.

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Old May 31, 2011, 01:49 PM   #18
Brian Pfleuger
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Skadoosh
So what was the reasoning given that was behind banning members for using a shilloette target?
In my case, the only reason ever given, implied actually not "given", was that the club was originally created for rimfire and airgun matches and lanes for high(er) power centerfire rounds were only added (much) later at the request of newer members. As such, practice for SD scenarios was not and is not the purpose of the club. It's not so much that they were necessarily directly opposed to it, though I got the impression that the club president who conducted my membership class was, but that they simply wish to serve a relatively singular purpose.

Frankly, I think there are those in the club who believe it's "wrong" to practice on human-like targets and there are those who don't want the "and he practiced regularly at...) type of publicity in the event of a defensive, or even criminal, shooting. Between the two opinions, they have no trouble controlling the rules.

In some ways I can understand the second concern. There was some negative attention given to the range where the shooter practiced who committed the shooting at the Civic/Immigration Center in Binghamton.
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Old May 31, 2011, 02:28 PM   #19
spacecoast
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Quote:
I see no particular advantage to using silhouette targets for the vast majority of shooters
Peetza -

I wouldn't call it an "advantage", but the silhouette (and animal) targets are definitely more interesting for many if not most shooters, and for SD practice I wouldn't completely discount the value of shooting a target COM, or seeing for oneself how hard it is to make consistent head shots, especially rapid fire. Those concepts come across better on more realistic targets.

I've also been to ranges where just about "anything" was allowed for targets (like huge picture posters of vicious muggers holding knives to the throats of their helpless female victims), and I don't care much for those, but I think it's more fun for kids and adults alike to vary targets and target forms, just like it's more fun to play various shooting games with reactive targets.
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Old May 31, 2011, 03:23 PM   #20
Brian Pfleuger
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I see the utility, I just dispute the necessity. A rectangular piece of cardboard is no less effective. A paper plate stapled to the cardboard makes a fine "head".

I see why, I dispute necessity, I believe in freedom.
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