Your IHMSA load for .44 Magnum?

[Nobade]

Leadhead, I still don't understand what happened to handgun silhouette. It is easier for me to form a theory of why cowboy action shooting has fizzled.

At our club anyway, since pistol caliber levergun uses the same course of fire but is way easier to make hits, everybody went to that because making hits is fun. I did both for a long time but finally got tired of shooting by myself with the pistol.

[leadhead]

It's like any shooting game. It's hot for a few years and then people start to get bored.
As far as IHMSA is concerned, It got really hard to get people (kids) to work setting
targets and whatever. Our range used to pay the target setters $20 a day to set.
That was pretty good pay for a kid back in the 80's and early 90's. Now all they want
to do is play on there damn phones. Speaking of phones, have you ever seen anyone
actually talking on one?

[contender1]

I think IHMSA has fizzled because it's NOT an easy game. Many people want to look like they are good shooters, and yet,, when challenged to a serious game where accuracy & power are required,, they just do not want to work to be "better." Just look at a few of the "action" games & all the special equipment they use. They can "look good" by using equipment that compensates for poorer ability.

When I tell people in USPSA that I shoot a handgun at 100-200 yards,, they think I've lost my mind.

[Abert Rim]

Good points, fellas. In this neck of the woods, the shotgun sports -- skeet, trap, clays -- seem to be holding their own. There are quite a few participants in NRL and other rimfire, same for various long-range steel shoots and a few still shooting airgun field target and benchrest. Practical pistol shooters were holding on at my old range in La Luz, NM, but the silhouettes were just rusting inside the gated bone yard along with most of the CAS props. If just one of the handful of aging cowboy shooters was sick, they didn't have a "quorum" for a greatly abbreviated match.

[high standard 40]

As far as lack of interest in IHMSA. In Louisiana I'm on a local forum that is based on the shooting sports. Huge activity on that forum. I asked the question there why isn't handgun silhouette more popular. I got a lot of replies. Universally the answer was it's too boring. Society has changed since IHMSA was formed. The popular shooting sports now cater to high volume semi auto shooting. Action, scenario based shooting games are what today's shooters are attracted to.

[leadhead]

That is a pretty good assumption. Yes, I've seen it with the AR's and the fast shooting handguns.
It seems like the guy that can shoot the fastest is the winner even if he misses all the targets.

[marshall623]

I shot IHMSA for about 10 years , early 2000's . I'm shooting NRA Hunters Pistol and levergun now in Va . where I shoot , it's about 5 of us shoot pistols . I myself enjoy silhouette shooting , and it keeps you sharp when hunting season rolls around too . One thing that has definitely put the hurt on all shooting sports is the cost and availability of components . I haven't heard anything from the IHMSA folks in Va. for well over a year and can't find anything where they are still shooting . I guy who got me interested in IHMSA told me back in the 80's , that you had to sign up a month in advance to get a spot to shoot .

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[stubshaft]

When I competed with the 44 magnum I used IMR 4227 (22.5 grs.) behind the RCBS 240 boolit and the same weight of WW296 for J-word Sierras.

[30calflash]

I used an SBH in the standing class decades back, the load was the Keith bullet, initially purchased and later home cast. Federal brass, CCI LP, 10.0 grains of Unique. Not a hand howler by any stretch but every ram hit went down, every time.

As far as certain games fizzling it seems some newer ones draw shooters from other disciplines, at least for a while. Then maybe later there's a segment of that group that retires, moves on, etc and no new blood gets involved.

The cowboy shooting always looked like fun and I'm sure there are groups that let you run what you brung but if the competition gets too serious it may drive some folks out. Not everyone can purchase the latest, hottest and greatest and sink more$$ to tune and trick things out. Plus reloading has been tough for many the past few with components.

IHMSA was awesome because besides a trigger job and A/M grips you couldn't alter the firearm and further unless in the unlimited class. I think this was a huge draw for most as you probably owned something that could do the job. Like a 6" barrel 357 magnum.

I think we as shooters need to bring folks to the range that want to shoot, not just "would like to" The would like toos never seem to find the time and nothing gets accomplished. Have them shoot on paper and reactive targets to get some sense of satisfaction. Keep the targets close enough for some hits to be made and get a sense of well being from their efforts. Putting the target at 100 yds and getting no hits while you do so easily doesn't foment a desire to go out and try again. JMHO

[fourarmed]

Another problem is availability of appropriate handguns. New TCs, XPs, RPMs, MOAs, and Dan Wessons ain't there no more, and used ones are not cheap. You can buy a Freedom if you've got the $$$, but it's still a single action revolver.

[fecmech]

I shot back in the early 80's with a Ruger SBH,429421 and a heathy dose of 296. Shot locally on a 100yd course using my K38 with a dot sight until a couple years ago. I just couldn't seem to keep that dot from dancing around so much towards the end, so I quit.

[6string]

I shot IHMSA in the 1980s. In fact, it got me back into competitive shooting, having shot smallbore when I was a young kid. I was fascinated by a long range precision game that utilized the power of big bore handguns.
Pretty early on, I switched from my S&W 29 to a T/C Contender, shooting 30-30, 357 Herrett knuckle buster loads.
Then, my brother brought his S&W 25-5 and was knocking down rams in Standing Class, using 8.5 gr Unique or 6 gr Bullseye under a 250 cast SWC. It was amazing, to me, to hear the shot then wait an extended moment for the bullet to connect. A hit ram never failed to go down! And, without all the recoil!
So, I rediscovered my m29 and found it did just as well, using the 429421 or the RCBS silhouette bullet over 8.8 gr. Unique.
Very pleasant and effective.

Yeah, too bad IHMSA has evaporated.

PS: Here’s another “IHMSA era” observation: Back then, we mostly all preferred the long 8 & 3/8” barrels!