In September of 1985 at the NRA Whittington Center outside Raton, New Mexico, the first Black Powder Cartridge Rifle (BPCR) Silhouette match took place. This sport came about due to widespread interest in the rifles that were manufactured from the end of the Civil War to 1896.

BPCR Silhouette requires a hunting or military style single shot rifle (or replica), originally made for black powder cartridge, of manufacture prior to 1896 and typical of the era. The rifle must have an exposed hammer and shoot a traditional black powder cartridge. Cartridges may be loaded with either black powder or with Pyrodexă.

The course of fire involves 10 chickens at 200 meters, from a standing off-hand position; 10 pigs at 300 meters from prone or seated, with sticks; 10 turkeys at 385 meters from prone or seated with sticks; and 10 rams at 500 meters from prone or seated at 500 meters. The targets are arranged in banks of 5 or 10. For the first set of 5, the shooter gets 7 minutes. During this time, the shooter may take some sight-in shots and then shoot 5 for record, one at each target. For the second set of 5, the shooter gets 5 minutes to take one shot at each of the remaining 5 targets. For matches of more than 40, times are extended.

Now that that's out of the way…

I recently went to my first Silhouette match at the Shippensburg Fish and Game Club in Shippensburg, PA. Wow! This is a lot of fun! I started on the chickens. They are very small at 200 meters; actually, they are very small up close too. I had been practicing on a 200 yard gong (about 18 inches across) at a local club and could hit it off hand about 4 out of 5. I thought I would do OK. Boy was I wrong. Out of the first bank of 5, I hit one, and it was out of order so didn't count. By this point my left arm was getting sore from holding up the gun and I was glad for a rest while the targets were reset. On the next bank of 5, I hit the 4th one in order. That was it for the chickens.

On to the pigs. These also look very small out at 300 meters. In reality, they are small. They stand less than knee high on me, and I'm only 5'7". After a few sighters, I hit the first two, missed one, then hit the next two. This was from the prone position shooting off cross-sticks. There was a short break as the targets were reset. On the next bank of five, I missed one, hit one, missed one, hit one, and missed one. That got me a score of 6 on the pigs. Not too bad. I was shooting with Gary Sweitzer and he got all 10 of 'em.

Before I continue on to the turkeys, I want to make a note about the guys that were setting the targets. They were the kids of some of the shooters and did it all day long. It's not easy work, especially when the temperature is over 90. If you participate in a silhouette match, make sure to thank the target setters and a small tip wouldn't be out of order.

Those dang turkeys! They sure had my number. I got one out of 10. I think that these are even harder than the chickens, and I know they are harder than the rams. It really pays to have a good load; I don't think that I did. I was hitting all around them and the one that I did get was just nicked. These targets stand about knee high, but are not very wide. They are very small and difficult to hit.

The rams are my favorites. They stand out there at 500 meters and aren't even waist high. They look like little black dots through the sights. When you pull the trigger on one, there is time to wait for the smoke to clear, then you see it go down, then another second or two later you hear the clang. That sure is something to see! I got three of the rams and felt really good about it. I ended the day with a score of 11.

For this match I was shooting a Pedersoli Rolling Block chambered in 45-70. The load I was using for this match was 68gr of Goex FFg, a wad cut from a milk carton, a 405 gr RNFP bullet, over a Federal large rifle magnum primer. I found that this load isn't stable out past the pigs. The bullets tend to start to wander around and corkscrew. I have a new load ready to try. This one is 64gr of KiK FFg, a poly wad, a 500gr Lyman 457125 bullet sized at .459, and the same Federal large rifle magnum primer. This load worked out much better!

The load is a big part of the game. It is very important that each round be identical to the next. Weigh each charge on a scale and use a drop tube to charge the case. Use a compression die to compress the powder instead of the bullet - the base of the bullet can deform if used to compress the powder. Put a wad between the powder and the bullet to protect the bullet from the heat of the powder. Lastly, use a soft lead bullet that is sized .001 or .002 over your bore diameter. Get a slug kit to find out what your bore size is. Every rifle has a best optimum load and I am still searching for mine. I expect that it will take a few years to nail it down.

If you have a chance to check out a BPCR Silhouette match, I encourage you to do so. This sport is a lot of fun and it is very satisfying to watch those rams go over!

Lastly, I'd really like to thank Gary Sweitzer. Without his help and encouragement I would never have gotten off the ground. Thanks Gary!

Doc Shapiro is the author of: Black Powder Loading for Cowboy Action Shooting. For further information, send him an e-mail at jspublications@mindspring.com or see his web site at: http://jnshapiro.home.mindspring.com/.


Goex
http://www.goexpowder.com
P.O. Box 659
Doyline, Louisiana 71023-0659
Phone: (318) 382-9300

KiK
KiK Black Powder is distributed by Goex.

Davide Pedersoli & Co.
http://www.davide-pedersoli.com/
Via Artigiani
57-25063 Gardone Val Trompia
Brecia, Italy
Phone: 030-8915000 r.a.

Buffalo Arms
http://www.buffaloarms.com/
99 Raven Ridge
Sandpoint, ID 83864
Phone: (208) 263-6953
Lyman
http://www.lymanproducts.com/
475 Smith Street
Middletown, CT 06457
Phone: (800) 225-9626

Hodgdon
http://www.hodgdon.com/
6231 Robinson
Shawnee Mission, KS 66202
Phone: (913) 362-9455