Pistol Silhouette

[cstar]

The club where I shoot field target and bench rest is about to start silhouette events. I used to compete in IHMSA silhouette so getting me hooked with an air gun shouldn’t be too difficult. 

They are looking at NRA type rules with targets at 10 to 18 yards. Excellent, that means I get to buy another air gun! I’ve attempted to research suitable choices but not having much luck. The only blatant example showing up in searches is the Crossman 1701 P. That with the addition of better grips etc. might be the way to go but, I really like the looks of the 10 meter pistols like the Steyr LP50 HP, Hämmerli AP20 Pro, Walther LP500 or even the Alpha Proj Competition. What ever I choose I will need an optical sight which I assume will require a rail or a dove tail for mounting. So that’s another wrinkle.

Searches via the internet don’t reveal much in the way of equipment list or clear indicators of the guns used. If you have experience in this type shooting I would appreciate guidance on which brands and models I should be checking out. 


Corky

 

[oldsparky]

I also completed in silhouette. I dont now because there is not a club close that shoots this. However I have a range set up at my house. I have a 1701P, a 1720, a P-Rod, a PP700 and a FAS Single stroke pneumatic. The FAS is a little weak. But all of the others are plenty accurate. I have Vern Austin grips on the Crosman's. topped with red dot sights. I have Ultradot, Burris and Bushnell little dots and big dots. I really like the Bushnell TRS25. I bought the 1701 first and thought I needed a little more oomph so if I wanted to shoot a bird. So I bought the others. But the 1701 is perfect for knocking over silly wets to 20 yards. I tried pistol scope and rifle scopes. I have a long history with contenders and scopes but as I am older I just dont care for pistol scopes or taco holds anymore. Your milage may vary.

 

[AirNGasman]

Understand that almost any pistol without scope grooves or rail will dictate creative mounting of optics, if possible at all, probably clamped to the barrel itself. Such forward mounting is seldom conducive to rifle scopes, leaving long-eye relief pistol scopes or red-dot sights still an option. Pistol scopes do not work well for NRA (offhand) silhouette competitions, red dots do.

Regardless of optics used, the taco hold is vastly superior to arms-length. The 1701P is perfect, just soup it up a little if too weak for you.

Some photos-

Benelli Kite ten-meter pistol with barrel-mounted Leupold Gilmore red-dot scope. Red-dot sights work fine for taco hold or arms-length.

My 1701P with 6X Burris Mini rifle scope. Taco hold only-

Steyr LP5 with 3-9X Bug Buster rifle scope-

The 1720T is too cumbersome for good offhand work- 

Rifle-scoped Zasadny-modified Steyr LP-1 and Tau MK 08-

Tau MK 08, Brno Chameleon, and Walther CP3 Match. Very few ten-meter pistols are easily scoped.

Beeman P2 SSP-

 

[rich177]

Air pistol silo is great and we shoot it at our club both outdoor and indoor. Not much space needed and the guns are cheap. You don't need to buy really expensive air pistols. Our top shooter(with tons of national records shoots CO2 Crosmans). You also can shoot two different classes, open sights or any sights so no need for optics. Pistols that work and don't break the bank are Crosmans, the old Daisy 747 and/or 777, and many others. The IZH is popular but not readily available anymore. I used to shoot a Beeman P-3 with a cheap red dot and it worked well enough for me to shoot AAA class. I would stay away from any spring powered guns like the Beeman P-1. Power is just not needed. I got my iron sights for my IZH from Daisysights.com.

If you really like expensive stuff you can buy those expensive pistols as they are very nice but not really needed for air silo.

Have fun!

Rick B.

 

[cstar]

AirNGasman, thank you for the information and photos.

I’ve given consideration to a reflex type sight with a small dot. I’m going to have to go back to my notes but one model I looked at had an 11mm rail on the receiver. Otherwise I know I’ll have to use some type of clamp on mount to add a sight. 


In the IHMSA days I used a Browning Buckmark 10in. for creedmore position and a 5 in. Buckmark for standing and added a Tasco ProPoint red dot to the 5in.for Bullseye. Back then I was a pretty good offhand shooter nowadays age and poor eyesight art going to level the playing field. 


Are you aware of a site that might have classifieds for 10 meter guns?

Corky

 

[Yo]

The 1701P gets another vote here. Also this one too if you can't afford that or don't want to pump it up or don't want to buy fill equipment. You can have Crosman Custom Shop build you one for around $135 like Hapo's who posted about it on his thread which is much cheaper than this around $175 with Crosman 25% discount and almost the same ask for power adjuster.

 

[cstar]

Rich177, I found a listing for one of these in Texas Baikal Model IZH-46M single pump pneumatic. Not too expensive and gets away from filling from a tank with adapters. Any experience with this model other than seeing others use it? I’ve shot iron sights successfully in the past and even I can see 18 yards!

Same old issues if I want to mount a reflex sight, but that’s not really a deal breaker.

if others have experience with the Baikal chime in. 

Corky

 

[Arzrover]

IZH46M is a great pistol for silhouette or 10M. For mine, had to carve on the grips a little as they irritated a bony point of my hand, but not difficult. Accuracy is about as good as any with good sights and trigger. Easy to pump. Be sure to oil the slider with a drop every 500 to 1000 rounds, and the pivots less frequently but don't let them dry. Crosman Pellgun oil is fine.

Others that haven't been mentioned are Tau7 and Falcon FN8 and any Pardini, Steyr, FWB or RWS (DIANA) match pistol. My favorite is my Walther LPM but I've shot a bunch of different kinds with good success as long as it has a good trigger. Others have used some of the Crosman's and , as mentioned, the Daisy 717, 747, and 777 to good effect.

FUN game. Wish there was a convenient match to me now.

Bob

 

[rich177]

I shoot an Izzy with a peep rear and post front and for any sight I shoota Crosman 1701 with a bug buster scope, 3-9X. The IZZY sights I got from daisysights.com and be sure to tell him you want the post front sight if you are shooting NRA silo. The rear aperture is a Merit adjustable.

I reposted to make sure that guys that have not shot pistol silo understand that this is a different type of pistol shooting than most are familiar with. The pistol can be held with both hands and is usually held close to the body therefore almost everyone when using optics shoot rifle scopes because of the relatively short eye relief. You have better support when you hold the pistol up close and with air there is no slide or bolt coming back at you. Those long eye relief pistol scopes are not good because they end up putting the pistol fairly far out in front of you where support becomes a major issue.

This also applies to air pistol field target. The Crosman 1720 is a good gun for that because of the extra power and shooting out to 35 yards.

Rick B.

 

[cstar]

After some online research I see that B Square made a rail mount for the Izzy that has since been discontinued. Probably because the Izzys are on the no import list. That being identified, the listing I found for the Izzy in Texas may be a mirage since the only ones that can be sold new are units imported before the ban. I’ll have to make a call to find out if it’s really available. 


Any ideas on a mount that might work for a reflex sight that is still in production?

Corky

 

[Yo]

https://www.adorama.com/susm7900.html

https://www.joinhoney.com/shop/adorama/?utm_source=semg&utm_medium=sem&utm_campaign=semg_us_us-adorama-tmp-mobile&utm_content=453799976314&utm_term=%2Badorama%20%2Bdiscount%20%2Bcode&type=sem_v1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwp4j6BRCRARIsAGq4yMEQKfKzz9QZhw9Amb0lNYXoLRkGGg9UOZJEb1oKQO5oJlgBjyU24wMaAmA2EALw_wcB&from=r

https://slickdeals.net/landing/adorama?utm_source=googlesem&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=adorama%20discount%20code&utm_content=453350372287&sdxt01=e&utm_campaign=adorama.com-mobile&gclid=Cj0KCQjwp4j6BRCRARIsAGq4yMFjsxT63ADtt5LDYncoDOUXM7QY4kQ9xnrY1dELneJVcs7Q6PMhmYMaAjBIEALw_wcB

First say a prayer then try and use which one works.

 

[cstar]

Yo, thanks for the link. I will use it if the Texas dealer actually has the Izzy. I’m beginning to doubt. The page shows up as in stock located with a Google search for the Izzy but direct search through his web sight doesn’t show it. I’ll call him tomorrow. 

Next “we” may have to search for another source for the Izzy

Corky

 

[SAZ]

I purchased a Sun Optics IZH picatinny rail mount like YO shows above in May 2020 from D&L Airguns in Canada. Great service and would give them a thumb up!

I just went to their website and it is still listed for sale......link is below:

https://dlairgun.com/collections/sun-optics-mounts

I'm currently using the AT3 Tactical RD 50 red dot (with Sun Optics mount) on one of my IZH pistols, iron sights on the other. 2 MOA dot works great; doesn't cover up small silhouettes.

 

[cstar]

OK, searches for the Izzy are not going well. Yes there is one for sale on Guns America for $700 and Gun Broker has a few listings for $750, but that’s about two hundred more than the last two sold for on EBay. I can’t justify paying that much of a premium. I found a page offering one for $600 at Air Gun Warehouse in Texas, but I think that one is a mirage because calling the listed telephone number connected me to some type of insurance poll?

Any ideas or leads available. 

 

[SAZ]

cstar,

I just now did a couple quick searches and here's what I found:

• At airgunwarriors.com I found two for sale. One is $695.00 (with a really cool lookin' laminate style grip) and the other is $550.00 and looks really clean.
• At targettalk.org I found two on page 2 of their listings. One is already sold and the other is a left hand model. A couple pages after that there's a set of unmodified grips (looks like right hand) for sale in case you wanted to buy the lefty pistol and change the grips. There's another pistol on page 4 but I'm not familiar with some of their "lingo" so I can't tell if it's still available or not. 

If you're not in a big rush the IZH pistols come up fairly regularly on both those sights.

Every so often the IZH 46 model pistols show up on the for sale ads on this website too!

Good Luck and hope the info helps out.......

 

[cstar]

SAZ, Now you’ve done it. I found the one with the Corcoran grips and struck a deal. So it looks like I can use the link for the scope mount now!

Thank you,

Corky

 

[SAZ]

Hi Corky,

No problem at all. Welcome to the "Izzy Club". 

I phoned D & L Airgun in Canada to confirm they had the part in stock before I ordered mine and left them a message. A real nice lady called me back on a SUNDAY to confirm that yes, the did indeed, stock that IZH scope adapter and could mail it out the next day.

They are just over the Canada / US border in British Columbia. Just north of Bellingham, Washington, USA.

Another (possible) bonus........their prices are listed in Canadian dollars which, when I purchased my adapter, were valued less than American dollars, so the price I paid in American dollars was less than the price listed on the website. If that all makes sense.

Enjoy,

Larry

 

[cstar]

SAZ, I ordered a scope mount from Adorama. It’s back ordered so who knows when it will be available, but I’m not in that big a hurry. So waiting won’t be that much of an issue. Besides I have used iron sights much more than I’ve used a red dot . I still haven’t been able to find the sight I want either. The Vortex Venom and Burris Fast Fire lll are all out of stock also. 


It never ceases to amaze me how the world of commerce knows I desire something and magically makes sure that it is no longer available. 


Corky

 

[SAZ]

Hi Corky,

For what it's worth,

I am currently using an AT3 Tactical - Model RD50 red dot. It has a 2 moa dot.

What a great little sight. Highly rated........And.........it's only about $75 bucks! Lifetime guarantee if I'm not mistaken

https://www.at3tactical.com/products/at3-rd-50-micro-red-dot-reflex-sight

Also for sale at about the same price on Amazon.

I have a UTG, 2-7X44, 30mm long eye relief scope ordered because my eyesight isn't what it once was and I want to try out shooting the pistol with a scope (for magnification) to see if it will help me focus/see the target any better. Could be just another expensive experiment, but, hey, what the heck? Silhouettes aren't too bad but I have a hard time with paper targets.

The AT3-RD50 dot is great because it doesn't cover up any of the silhouettes like some of the 4 or 6 or larger moa dots. I just have a hard time focusing on small objects; that's why I'm trying a scope.

 

[cstar]

I’ll give D & L a call and see if they have another one. I just saw a new Izzy listed on eBay. I’ll follow that one to see what it goes for. Who knows I may need a backup?

i like the looks of the AT3-RD50. And I really like the idea of the 2 moa dot. I’ve been using a 1 moa dot for years on my Anschutz 1712 for rim fire silhouette. 


Thanks for the ideas. 


Corky