Russ Bafford
The January meeting of the Robson Ranch Gun Club featured a new Robson Ranch resident, Dave Brady, as its speaker. Dave has been shooting benchrest competitions since the 1980s. Accuracy is the name of the game for benchrest shooters. How accurate you ask? How about putting ten shots in the same 0.25-inch hole at 200 yards?! And do this while accounting for lateral winds that can move the bullet two to three inches horizontally. Since shooting holes in paper may not be terribly exciting for everyone, try adding a reactive element to the mix in the form of steel varmint silhouettes scaled down in size to make it more challenging. Metallic silhouette shooting has been an organized type of shooting since the 1960s, but it is normally shot from the standing, off-hand position. It is a very challenging sport for younger competitors with excellent vision, great muscle tone, and stamina. Knocking over a metallic silhouette at a distance of 500 yards with a shot from a high-powered rifle requires a steady hold and perfect muscle control. The normal aging process reduces the likelihood a person can successfully hit those targets like they once did 30 years ago. Therefore, creating a new type of competition where the shooter can shoot from a bench, with the rifle on a sturdy table, seemed to be a way to keep people who like to shoot engaged in some competition as they got older. And voila! The concept of varmint benchrest silhouette shooting was born. How big is the steel target? Try hitting a target two inches wide at 200 yards. Then keep track of how you do with ten such targets using ten shots total. You know you hit the target when it goes flying off the rail it was sitting on. The TV show, Shooting USA, filmed an episode where they covered a varmint silhouette benchrest match Dave Brady organized at his club near Coolidge, Texas. The link to this video is www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vhIKe3T_RY.
For more information, visit the Heart of Texas Silhouette Association at hotsa.org. To join the Gun Club email Dave Parker at [email protected]. There are no yearly dues to belong to the club.