The Legend of Pancho Villa (1910 – 1924)
There is something very alluring that our silhouette sport has its possible origins in the last days of the Wild West………
Legend has it our Rifle Silhouette sport had its origins with Pancho Villa’s men in Northern Mexico during the 1910-1919 Border War with General Pershing and U.S. Army troops. Bets about who was the best shot among Villa’s men led to live animal shoots at distance to prove who was the real Champion!
After the conflict, Villa’s men returned home and carried these live-animal sporting events with them using their high power hunting rifles. Eventually live animal shoots were replaced with metal cutouts of animals, partly due to public pressure, birthing “Silhuetas Metalicas” (Metallic Silhouette).
Pardon our Construction!
We did not want to delay our launch of NASSA Launch because this page was not finished.
Your NASSA Implementation has been gather tons of information on Rifle Silhouette history and will be updating this webpage in the first half of 2023.
Era of the Live Animal Shoots ( 1925 – 1940)
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Metallic Silhouette Begins (1940 – 1960)
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The Early Years (1960 – 1970)
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Enter the NRA (1970 -1980)
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Title to Be Determined (1980-1990)
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Title to Be Determined (1990-2000)
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Title to Be Determined (2000 -2010)
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Title to Be Determined (2010 -2020)
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Title to Be Determined (2020 -)
A Ewe Silhouette Gift For Ridgway
A special presentation by Daniel Salazar of McAllen, Texas. Daniel did extensive research into the origin of silhouette as a sport, which began with the use of high power rifles. Through his research, he began a dialogue with the Club De Tiro Caza Cananea in Sonora, Mexico, which created the first silhouettes for high power rifle shooting….
Original Silhouette Target Presentation
In addition to the competition, during smallbore there was a special presentation by Daniel Salazar of McAllen, Texas. Daniel did extensive research into the origin of silhouette as a sport, which began with the use of high power rifles. Through his research, he began a dialogue with the Club De Tiro Caza Cananea in Sonora, Mexico, which created the first silhouettes for high power rifle shooting. In the beginning, the shape of an ewe was used as the 500-meter target. This later evolved into the ram silhouette that competitors shoot at today.
Through his conversations with the club in Sonora, Mexico, Salazar discovered that the original ewe targets made in the early 1950s still exist. One of the original ewe targets was brought to the United States and presented to the Ridgway Rifle Club to honor their ongoing efforts to promote rifle silhouette in the United States. The presentation was met with surprise, excitement and tears–as well as an overwhelming sense of appreciation for this piece of competitive shooting history.