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Ihmsa Case Study

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distance totaling 60 possible targets for those matches. The Internationals, or world championship match, was always double the standard course of fire, or 80 targets. Since many people traveled long distances, 5 preparation sight-in shots were also allowed at most matches. In the case of a tie, shoot-off targets, usually chickens placed at 200 meters, were shot in banks of 5 to determine a winner.

IHMSA competitions were family friendly. Wives and children were encouraged to participate as shooters, spotters, or scorekeepers. Each shooter was permitted one spotter to advise about shot placement, to keep score, coach and to assist with time management. Although it was common at the larger shoots to award separate trophies for subclasses such …show more content…

I did not own the proper handgun to participate. The rules and classes made it possible to compete with almost any production handgun, but some did not have the inherent characteristics to shoot high scores at long distances. My obscenely competitive nature would prohibit me from tolerating any such limitation. I had decided that my first purchase would be a longer barreled revolver with a good adjustable sight in a big caliber that was capable of knocking down those 50 pound steel rams at 200 meters. That meant that my seven and one-half inch barreled, Ruger Super Blackhawk with its shorter sight radius and limited ability to be effective at 200 meters, would be traded in at a loss for a new Ruger Super Black with a 10 inch barrel. This “silhouette” model revolver would be made of stainless steel and designed for the purpose of shooting targets at long distances. There is a law of diminishing returns associated with trading in guns before they have aged enough to appreciate in value. Needless to say, my quest for the ultimate production long range revolver began a repetitive cycle of losing money to upgrade my equipment, a model that the computer and cell phone industries have adopted to take advantage of our insatiable desire to stay …show more content…

Each has specific characteristics that may affect the accuracy of loaded ammunition. Reloading methods vary from dumping fired cases into a hopper and letting the machine do all the work: manipulating them back into shape, priming, charging with powder, and finally seating and crimping a bullet into place. Automated reloading processes limit what can be done to monitor consistency which ultimately could affect long range accuracy. (Please keep in mind that I am referring to reloading ammunition and not to what ammunition manufacturers are capable of given their new components and their level of technology.) The automated reloading processes are more suited to small pistol cartridges intended for close range, where tiny differences in manufacturing will have little or no effect on the results. Ammunition for silhouette competitions had to be prepared more akin to ammunition used for long range rifle (bench rest) competitions. Everything that could possibly affect accuracy had to be precisely monitored and painstakingly held to the tightest tolerances. After all, the goal of a bench rest rifle shooter is to place all of his bullets into a single hole at inordinate distances. Even the tiniest differences from cartridge to cartridge may potentially move the point of impact, and in silhouette shooting that would be magnified by the relatively short sight radius which could result in missed targets, in other words

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