Best Cartridge for beginning Silhouette?

[Brett]

Whoa there Doc, I was not bashing 4-H.  In fact I think what they do is great and intend to encourage my five year old daughter to get involved when she's a little older.  I'm knocking the @$$#$% lawyers and liberal politicians who are tying the hands of everyone who makes something, sells something or tries to do anything good for someone like the 4-H.

[K2]

HI Bret and DD

The dawg Doc is on the dot on AIR guns,youth and fast learning.  Once they have the skill with an air gun then move them to .22's and once there and doing well then think about mild center fire stuff.  Recoil and Noise are not a teachers friend especially in the early stages.  This method Can't be beat and his AP distances are spot on for their skill level.  14 x 20 is more appealing than 3x40 for the little ones.  IF we keep pushing Dawg Doc,  and can get Kiesov pushing from Texas we might make the Jr. thing happen and get the right distances for them at the same time.  Never quit pushing for what you know works  :wink:  Gotta have a jr. program if we want long term success.  

Bret is on the dot on the .357, which is the most overlooked cartridge in silhouette.  It should be the number one choice for FP and would be had we not gone down the bottle neck road.  Lee makes a darn good product for the $, I have one of their hand presses that is great for loading at the range or anywhere else you don't have a loading bench set up.  Cheap, a lttle slow but makes good ammo.  

I know lots of 4-Hers that are using reloads for Shotgun, can't imagine others are not in some other states.  Might be a state to state thing.  

So the 4-H saying you can load them as long as you don't shoot them doesn't surprise me a bit.

May be, but the 4-H program is the best youth firearms program out there (I teach NRA, 4-H, BSA and hunter ed).  I've graduated 80 some kids out of 4-H handgun in the past 4 years.  95% of the kids out there less than 16 have no business holding on to the back end of anything larger than a .22.  Rifles, fine, but handguns are a whole 'nother ball of wax.   Even .22's develop bad habits real quick if not done right.

That's why we shoot youth air pistol silhouette all the time.  The kids love it, stuff falls over and they develop good, solid shooting skills.  At our match last weekend, we had (out of 20 shots), 6 kids shoot 14 or better.  The range?  chickens and pigs at the chix line and turkeys and rams at the pig line.  That is some fine skill and the age is 8-16.

[Brett]

You guys just reminded me.... I wounder if my older brother still has the BB pistol that I gave to his boys when they were youngsters?  It would be just the ticket for getting my little girl started in shooting.

Hey Doc what materiel do you make your air gun silhouette targets out of? And where can I get hold of some properly scaled templates?

[dawg_doc]

Hey Doc what materiel do you make your air gun silhouette targets out of? And where can I get hold of some properly scaled templates?

oops, didn't mean to come across defensive; although I am a HUGE 4-H fan....

We buy our targets.  They last forever, so I honestly don't remember where I bought them, but I think from Pres Mike out of Texas (Stimson enterprises).  A whole set is cheap as dirt.  I carry a whole range in my trunk (6 guns, three sets of targets and assorted stuff).   Be very careful of BBs, though and stick to pellets.  BBs will ricochet off every substance known to man.

There is no way to get involved in silhouette cheaper and kids love it.

Yeah, yeah, Kelly, I'll get on it.  Put it on the volunteer list.   :grin: