Small Bore or .22 Long-Rifle Silhouette Competition

Rimfire or .22 LR rifle and Pistol competition is an exciting and challenging sport with a great history, and the best part is that there is very little expense associated with silhouette shooting. A .22LR rifle or pistol allows you to develop and hone your skills at a reduced cost without losing any of the fun.

The objective of the game is to knock down as many of the silhouettes as possible from their pedestals, shooting one round at each silhouette. It is a straightforward competition with straightforward scoring. You score 1 point for knocking a silhouette off its stand and a zero for everything else. Silhouette is an entertaining game to learn, but it is not easy to master. It is shot from a standing position; the animals are relatively small, and the distance is quite considerable.

Silhouette originated in Mexico in the 1940s and spread to the US in 1976. It is now shot around the world.

Rimfire, small-bore, or .22 LR silhouettes are scaled down to 1/5 the size of the high-power rifle versions. Commands to load, fire, and cease fire are often given in Spanish, in part to honor the sport’s heritage.

A match consists of 40 shots at the same number of animals. For small-bore, the animals are 40 (chickens), 60 (Pigs), 77 (Turkeys), and 100 (Rams) yards. You shoot at the silhouettes in two sets of 5, and you get 2-1/2 minutes per set. Toppling a silhouette is a satisfying experience that you want to repeat again and again.