ihmsa forums

Hi guys. This is my first post and not to start heading off topic but its a pleasure to join and hopefully I will be able to learn a thing or two from yall . I have never shot at steel targets much less in any IHMSA format before. I do hunt and I have 18 years of firearm experience and I do have knowledge of most of the production and quite a few wildcat calibers, as well as the basic principles of reloading. I would love to get into the IHMSA world. I stumbled onto this scene by looking up videos on xp-100 pistols which I handled for the first time in person a couple months ago. Truely I would love suggestions on how to get started. I would obviously need a gun that meets standards first and perhaps we could start there. I am not equipped for this kind of shooting excluding a super blackhawk but it is unmodified and I dont know how well that would work. I hear things about different guns that seem to keep popping up on IHMSA videos. The problem is I hear things on both sides of the fence for the "big three" that I keep seeing in IHMSA videos. Those big three would be the Striker, xp-100's, and Encore/Contenders. I would like to know which one yall think I should get. Truthfully I would love an encore due to the modularity of it which would allow me to participate in small bore, big bore, and field pistol. I could also put scopes and globe sights on to cover sight categories. It also lets me expand into muzzleloading and several other areas of interest that I am eyeballing. My clinch is that I hear terrible stories about accuracy issues. I am aware of pin fixes and reloading mistakes that cause some of the problems people have. I just dont know how much is their fault and how much is the platform's fault. I also hear great stories about accuracy that end with the owner admitting that the cost was substantial. With that in mind, I am finishing up my BA and entering med school soon. This means that I am impressively poor and thus money will be a limiting factor to how much fun I can have. This differs from the striker and xp-100 in that I dont really hear complaints about accuracy and I do see folks shooting at 500 meters seem to use those systems primarily. Moreover, picking one of those would lock me into only one or two categories and since I have never shot in any category I would like to have something that lets me test the waters more completely so to speak. Cost could again be a limiting factor. Pistol work at these ranges seems like a challenge. I know I have a steady hand and I am looking forward to that challenge. Thanks for the advice everybody.

Do not discount the Super Blackhawk. Dave Whitman (still shooting after all these years!) shot the first ever Revolver perfect score with one.

I would suggest you shoot the Blackhawk until you feel that you have outgrown its capabilities. Why? Because you can shoot it in Revolver, Production, Unlimited, Standing & Field Pistol. If you want to shoot against the scoped guns for more practice, you could also shoot it in Unlimited Any Sight & Unlimited Standing.

Jump right in. The water's warm!

Steve W.

That sounds like a spectacular idea. Now I guess my next move would be to find a range. As I am in Georgia I really only have 2 options for shooting further than 100 yards. Gunsite hills north of athens georgia has a 800 yard rifle range with targets every 100 yards out to 800. The other option has me going to elbert county gun club which has a 400 yard rifle range and a 1,000 yard rifle range down the road at a member's farm. Unfortunately there are no locations sponsoring IHMSA that I know of. I had a look in the regional folder under Georgia's section and saw bupkis. it still cracks me up that Goergia is so progressive in our gun laws but we still have crap for range facilities while California seems to have gun facilities straight out of my dreams. That being said I know I could practice without the steel targets if I got accurate sized templates and traced them onto paper. I could then set them up at appropriate distances. I will research what the minimum kinetic energy to produce a knockdown is ( I understand it to be that this number reflects a given calibers efficacity at producing a knockdown at a given range) and I can then have a look on my ballistic calculator to see what ranges my blackhawk will be effective at. I am sure it will do swimmingly to atleast 100 yards and givne my lack of experience I would probably be hard pressed to do well much further than that.

YoungBlut, Welcome to the greatest shooting sport ever. Be prepared to meet the greatest people in the shooting world. I concur with 19Turkeys. Use your Ruger to get started. Check out the IHMSA website and find some local matches. Don't be afraid to ask questions but be prepared for thousands of answers. If you are interested in expanding your gun inventory, by all means talk to a shooter that owns a gun you are interested in buying. You will probably be offered the use of the gun and some ammo to at least try it out or even to shoot an entry at a match. In the early days before the TC Encore, the Contender was the gun to have since you could use it for everything but Revolver. The new G2s are good guns but just don't have the better triggers like the early Contenders. The options of switching barrels realy makes the TCs good for anything you would care to try, except for Revolver and you already have that covered. Shooting at long distances can be a little intimidating at the beginning but when you hit that first turkey at 150 meters and the rams at 200 meters you will be firmly hooked on silhouettes. The small bore, field pistol and other categories just give you more challenges to master in the future. Follow 19Turkey's advice and jump in, you won't regret it.

Find a match in your area, shoot what ya got, and have fun. If you reload it makes it even more fun, developing the best load for your particular firearm. Once you get settled in, then see what other guns/classes you may be interested in shooting and go from there. It is addicting

Thanks guys. This sounds very encouraging. I hope I can see yall out there.

Like the others have said,don't discount you revolver.You can have just as much fun and shoot just as good of score with it as any other gun.All it takes is practice and the desire to shoot the best you can with what you have. Learning to reload and developing a load that your Ruger likes is part of the fun and challenge.Going to matches will make a huge difference in what you will learn.Many people are more than willing to help you.Just ask questions.Your super blackhawk should do well with the mentioned pratice and load developing
Welcome to the sport and the I.H.M.S.A. web site

grab anything you've got, and get started, and then go from there. There is an incredible learning curve, so the best way is to just get started.