In airgun silhouette, the shooter is firing at small animal figures, made of steel, which emit a satisfying "clank" when hit and fall down.  There are four different animals set at different distances.  Chickens, the smallest, are set at 10 yards.  Pigs are at 12.5 yards, turkeys at 15 yards, and rams at 18 yards.

 

A match is fired in 4 stages.  Shooters start out at chickens--the closest.  He/she has 2 minutes to fire 5 shots to try and knock 5 chickens down.  The targets are reset (by pulling on a string), and he/she gets an additional 2 minutes to knock the same five animals down a second time.  You get one point for each animal knocked down.  It is rare to hit an animal and not knock it down.

 

The shooter then moves on to the next stage to fire at pigs, and so on.  A total of 40 points are possible.  Perfect scores are rare.  A relay consists of 40 shots and takes about 30 minutes.  Most participants fire more than one relay, varying the gun they use and their shooting position.  Serious competitors own several guns, some with scopes, some with iron sights.  The shooters are separated into classes by skill levels and the type of gun/sights they fire.  Anybody can be competitive at some level.

 

Just about any air pistol, and lower velocity air rifles (less than 700 feet per second) can be used--with and without scopes.  The matches are sanctioned by IHMSA (the International Handgun Metallic Silhouette Association).  You do not have to be a member to shoot in a match, but IHMSA membership is encouraged.

 

It is a lot of fun. Come out and see what goes on--you could get hooked!