International Air Pistol shooting

[Tackleberry]

I am looking for advice, and some pointers regarding international Air Pistol League shooting. I just shot my first match last week and I really enjoyed it. 60rounds, 5 shots per target in 1 hr and 45 minutes. I know some shooters believe it’s to slow and not outside, and maybe even boring. But when it’s 17 degrees outside it’s nice to be out of the weather. It is also trigger time and great practice for bulls eye pistol.

Some quick background and then my questions. I shoot Bullseyes pistol 2 nights a week, and at least 1 high power match a month (powder burner). I love to shoot, regardless of discipline, I love to compete, I am only out there to beat my score from last week or come up with a better excuse why I didn’t.

I have 2 Crosman Silhouette 1701 pistols, they were identical, but now only one has the red dot still installed. I purchased 2 for the sole purpose of, when having friends over and I ask them if they want to shoot. And we can shoot the exact same gun, and I let them always pick first. So no one thinks one gun is better than the other. I am always trying to get younger people interested in shooting, but I am finding it more difficult every day. (side note: I am 57 years old and I am the youngest member of my Bullseye pistol team, by a few years)

Ok so my questions are does, anyone shoot International Air pistol with a Silhouette 1701.

What pellets do you use?

Do you sort them by weight, or just remove the dented skirts, and use them for practice.

Does any one size the pellets, I have purchased a sizer, and I can do .177, .22 and .25 calibers with 3 sizing dies for each caliber.

Do you lube your pellets and what have you found that works well but doesn’t eat o-rings.

Thank you in advance for your input, I have found this group to be very knowledgeable and eager to answer questions.

I have posted a picture of my pistols below.

Sincerely

Tackleberry

 

[phillip]

Talk about rabbit holes…

The great thing about 10 meter shooting is that one can almost always come up with an area that will allow for the appropriate distance. I think 10 meter shooting easily ranks as one of the most difficult of the shooting disciplines and it takes a great deal of practice to produce decent scores. It is a very pure form of shooting skill.

I think your pistols will be fine for now, but you will soon start looking around for an Olympic style pistol. Pick one and enjoy it as they’re all more accurate than you’ll ever be. Feinwekbau, Morini, Pardini, and Steyr are some of the more well known brands to choose from.

All modern 10 meter pistols are PCP’s, but if you search a bit you may find an older recoilless spring piston gun like the FWB 65/80/90 series, or a Diana 6m. Another option would be a single stroke pneumatic such as the FWB 103 or the Baikal IZH 46M.

Regarding pellets, don’t bother with the high end match pellets. Buy RWS basics, they’re cheap and you’ll almost certainly never reach a level where you would notice the difference. And don’t bother sizing, lubing, or sorting. Again, you’ll never notice the difference.

Definitely use good targets. Kruger seems to be the best brand, and with good reason - pellets cut good, clean holes that are easy to score. Cheap flimsy targets are an exercise in futility.

I’m cheap enough that I shoot 10 pellets per target. I’ve tried 20, but then scoring tends to become more difficult.

 

[Tackleberry]

Talk about rabbit holes…

The great thing about 10 meter shooting is that one can almost always come up with an area that will allow for the appropriate distance. I think 10 meter shooting easily ranks as one of the most difficult of the shooting disciplines and it takes a great deal of practice to produce decent scores. It is a very pure form of shooting skill.

I think your pistols will be fine for now, but you will soon start looking around for an Olympic style pistol. Pick one and enjoy it as they’re all more accurate than you’ll ever be. Feinwekbau, Morini, Pardini, and Steyr are some of the more well known brands to choose from.

All modern 10 meter pistols are PCP’s, but if you search a bit you may find an older recoilless spring piston gun like the FWB 65/80/90 series, or a Diana 6m. Another option would be a single stroke pneumatic such as the FWB 103 or the Baikal IZH 46M.

Regarding pellets, don’t bother with the high end match pellets. Buy RWS basics, they’re cheap and you’ll almost certainly never reach a level where you would notice the difference. And don’t bother sizing, lubing, or sorting. Again, you’ll never notice the difference.

Definitely use good targets. Kruger seems to be the best brand, and with good reason - pellets cut good, clean holes that are easy to score. Cheap flimsy targets are an exercise in futility.

I’m cheap enough that I shoot 10 pellets per target. I’ve tried 20, but then scoring tends to become more difficult.

Thank you very much for your advice. I have been shooting the RWS R-10 match pellets. They do shoot well, when I am practicing I shoot about the same 10 per target. I did try to diy the targets on a copy machine and they suck. I tried to back them up with card board and foam padding, but they still rip. At the match we shot Kruger targets and they made nice clean holes . Do you happen to have a link to the Kruger targets?
I will look into an Olympic gun. I have a Pardini for bullseye, so maybe I’ll find a used one. I will shop around for one of the others as well. Thank you very much
Tackleberry

 

[phillip]

There are a few options for targets.

I found a guy on the target talk forum who sells them, but shipping is astronomical. I don't have a link, but he’s easy enough to find. Neal Stepp at ISS (International Shooter’s Service) has targets that are similar to Kruger, but not marked as such. Also, Krale sells Kruger targets and, interestingly enough, the shipping for 1000 is not unreasonable.

I would also point out that Neil Stepp carries the RWS basic pellets. Seriously, try these, you won’t regret it.

 

[Tackleberry]

There are a few options for targets.

I found a guy on the target talk forum who sells them, but shipping is astronomical. I don't have a link, but he’s easy enough to find. Neal Stepp at ISS (International Shooter’s Service) has targets that are similar to Kruger, but not marked as such. Also, Krale sells Kruger targets and, interestingly enough, the shipping for 1000 is not unreasonable.

I would also point out that Neil Stepp carries the RWS basic pellets. Seriously, try these, you won’t regret it.

Awesome, thank you again. I will check out both the targets and pellets.
I did look up the cost of the Olympic pistols, I have to say I got sticker shock. I have a RAW rifle built by Martin and I know air rifles and pistols are expensive, but I still had sticker shock. So I need to save my money, and keep looking.

 

[cavedweller]

I am looking for advice, and some pointers regarding international Air Pistol League shooting. I just shot my first match last week and I really enjoyed it. 60rounds, 5 shots per target in 1 hr and 45 minutes. I know some shooters believe it’s to slow and not outside, and maybe even boring. But when it’s 17 degrees outside it’s nice to be out of the weather. It is also trigger time and great practice for bulls eye pistol.

Some quick background and then my questions. I shoot Bullseyes pistol 2 nights a week, and at least 1 high power match a month (powder burner). I love to shoot, regardless of discipline, I love to compete, I am only out there to beat my score from last week or come up with a better excuse why I didn’t.

I have 2 Crosman Silhouette 1701 pistols, they were identical, but now only one has the red dot still installed. I purchased 2 for the sole purpose of, when having friends over and I ask them if they want to shoot. And we can shoot the exact same gun, and I let them always pick first. So no one thinks one gun is better than the other. I am always trying to get younger people interested in shooting, but I am finding it more difficult every day. (side note: I am 57 years old and I am the youngest member of my Bullseye pistol team, by a few years)

Ok so my questions are does, anyone shoot International Air pistol with a Silhouette 1701.

What pellets do you use?

Do you sort them by weight, or just remove the dented skirts, and use them for practice.

Does any one size the pellets, I have purchased a sizer, and I can do .177, .22 and .25 calibers with 3 sizing dies for each caliber.

Do you lube your pellets and what have you found that works well but doesn’t eat o-rings.

Thank you in advance for your input, I have found this group to be very knowledgeable and eager to answer questions.

I have posted a picture of my pistols below.

Sincerely

Tackleberry

View attachment 438282

Pistol Targets 10m

The online shop of Krüger targets.

best-targets.com

 

[dv8eod]

Targets can be found here

Home - Civilian Marksmanship Program

TweetSharePin8Share1K1K Shares

thecmp.org

Along with a lot of other resources.

 

[Ydunn.223]

The R-10s are hard to beat there made well and shoot great also I like to shoot Vogel pellets
https://vogelusa.com/pellets.html there a excellent company and very active in junior shooting
leagues so give them a try.

 

[Lazarus Long]

Kruger targets are available in the US...

Kruger Premium Targets

www.krugerpremiumtargets.com

Buy the best pellets you can afford and do not worry about testing, or anything else. (No sizing, no lube, nothing.) Just shoot and work on technique. RWS R10 are a good bet, on almost any day.

Digital targets are a great deal of fun. You can build your own, for home use.

freETarget

E Targets for the rest of us

free-e-target.com

When you are ready, used 10 meter air pistols can be found for sale on targettalk. You will spend between $1000, and $1500 for an older, "top of the line pistol." But, you will never regret the purchase.

Buy, Sell, Trade - TargetTalk

 

[Kim]

"Regarding pellets, don’t bother with the high end match pellets. Buy RWS basics, they’re cheap and you’ll almost certainly never reach a level where you would notice the difference. And don’t bother sizing, lubing, or sorting. Again, you’ll never notice the difference."

This is very true. One of the reasons I switched from benchrest to precision pistol is that ammo is almost completely irrelevant to target pistol accuracy. OTOH with benchrest ammo / barrel compatibility is critical and you go nuts testing lots of ammo - most of which is uncompetitive.

You can search and find tests of different pellets with air pistols clamped in a vice, and the accuracy differences are mostly in the X-ring. This testing may help if you need convincing:

Unless you shoot in major competitions RWS Basic or similar are fine. I use these in my FWB P44, and the combination is more accurate than I'll ever be (and also works well at 20yd, FWIW).

I second Neal Stepp / ISS for pellets, guns, and parts: http://www.iss-internationalshootersservice.com/

Neal is better to work with by phone than email

 

[Tackleberry]

This is very true. One of the reasons I switched from benchrest to precision pistol is that ammo is almost completely irrelevant to target pistol accuracy. OTOH with benchrest ammo / barrel compatibility is critical and you go nuts testing lots of ammo - most of which is uncompetitive.

You can search and find tests of different pellets with air pistols clamped in a vice, and the accuracy differences are mostly in the X-ring. This testing may help if you need convincing:

Unless you shoot in major competitions RWS Basic or similar are fine. I use these in my FWB P44, and the combination is more accurate than I'll ever be (and also works well at 20yd, FWIW).

I second Neal Stepp / ISS for pellets, guns, and parts: http://www.iss-internationalshootersservice.com/

Neal is better to work with by phone than email

Wow! Thank you Kim. Very informative video.