The Main Rules of Shooting: Everything About This Dangerous Kind of Sport

Sporting shooting is a kind of sport in which athletes compete in shooting to hit various kinds of targets using different kinds of weapons. This article is going to present the most important information on this sporting activity and its rules.

Shooting Kinds

In the modern world, there are a few shooting kinds that differ depending on the type of weapon and the target used.

Rifle and Pistol Shooting

In this shooting variation, athletes use air (pneumatic), small-bore, and large-bore rifles and pistols. It is an Olympic kind of sport. By the way, the official Olympic program includes five rifle shooting and five pistol shooting events. In this kind, various weapons can be used, which, consequently, results in various disciplines. Thus, the weapons are as follows:

  1. Air rifle;
  2. Small-bore rifle;
  3. Standard large-bore rifle;
  4. Free large-bore rifle;
  5. Air pistol;
  6. Small-bore pistol;
  7. Revolver pistol.

Shooting athlete

As has been mentioned previously, the different kinds of weapons lead to various disciplines that will be described further:

  • Small-bore rifle 5 – 50-meter-distance shooting; athletes should make 20 shots in each of the lying, standing, and kneeling positions.
  • Air rifle 4 – 40 shots from a standing position for 1 hour 15 minutes; athletes are allowed to fire an unlimited number of probation shots before a qualification round.
  • Small-bore rifle (free small-bore rifle) 6 – 50-meter-distance shooting in the following order: 40 shots in a lying position (1 hour), 40 shots in a standing position (1 hour 30 minutes), and 40 shots in a kneeling position (1 hour 15 minutes). In each position, athletes are allowed to fire an unlimited number of probation shots before a qualification round. A winner is determined according to the sum of points scored in the three positions.
  • Small-bore rifle (free small-bore rifle) 9 – 50-meter-distance shooting in the following order: 20 shots in a lying position, 20 shots in a standing position, 20 shots in a kneeling position. Athletes are given 2 hours 30 minutes to fire all the shots. In each position, athletes are allowed to fire an unlimited number of probation shots before a qualification round.
  • Air rifle 6 – 60 shots in a standing position from a 10-meter distance. Athletes are given 1 hour 45 minutes to fire all the shots. Again, athletes are allowed to fire an unlimited number of probation shots before a qualification round.
  • Small-bore pistol – a 25-meter-distance shooting event that consists of two parts: 30 stable target shots and 30 disappearing target shots. Shooting is represented by 5-shot series in a single target.
  • Air pistol 2 – 40 shots from a 10-meter distance.

Pistol shooting

  • Air pistol 3 – 60 shots from a 10-meter distance. Athletes are given 1 hour 45 minutes. Athletes are allowed to fire an unlimited number of probation shots before a qualification round.
  • Small-bore pistol 6 – 60 shots from a 50-meter distance. Athletes are given 2 hours to cope with it. Athletes are allowed to fire an unlimited number of probation shots before a qualification round.
  • Small-bore pistol (rapid-fire pistol) 8 – 25-meter-distance shooting toward 5 disappearing targets. Athletes should fire 60 shots in a serious of 5 shots in each of them. Thus, athletes should try to hit each of the targets with only one shot. This discipline consists of two halves. In each of these halves, athletes should hit the targets in 8, 6, and 4 seconds. The qualification round is preceded by probation serious of 8 seconds. No athlete may proceed to the second half unless all of them have completed the first one.

All those numbers used denote the numerical order of disciplines when it comes to the national classification of sports shooting.

Trap Shooting

In this case, athletes perform outdoors, usually, it refers to open fields and shooting ranges. Athletes use smoothbore rifles to hit special targets – plates.

The Olympic Games witness three trapshooting events:

  1. Skeet shooting – athletes try to hit plates proceeding from any shooting point to another (8 points in total) and changing an angle concerning the trajectory of the flying targets.
  2. Trench shooting – athletes should hit the plates that are thrown out from trenches in a random direction.
  3. Double trap – it is the same as trench shooting but the plates are thrown out in pairs.

Trap shooting

Practical Shooting

This shooting variation focuses on mastering and applying skills and abilities that perfectly represent the real-life situations when people can use firearms. Shooting skills and abilities are evaluated according to three essential components:

  • Accuracy – a particular number of points is given for hitting targets.
  • Speed – athletes’ performance is assessed according to how much it takes for an athlete to fire all the shots beginning from a starting signal.
  • Power – the successful using of more powerful weapons results in a higher number of points being given for hitting the target.

In this discipline, there are particular requirements as to the smallest bore allowed and a minimum factor of power. Athletes’ results are represented by a sum of points that are given for successful hitting targets, including penalties, and these results should be divided by the time.

International Competitions

The following shooting events are held in the modern world:

  1. The Olympic Games.
  2. World Championships – rifle and shooting events take place every four years, while trap shooting ones are held every two years.
  3. World Cup – these competitions take place four times a year but they only involve Olympic disciplines.
  4. European Championships – these competitions among the best shooters take place every two years.
  5. Pan American Games – this term refers to large international events involving summer kinds of sport that are held every four years.

These events are supervised by the International Shooting Sport Federation because they can witness world records in the given kind of sport.

Shooting at the Olympics

History

Shooting sport is said to be one of the most ancient applied kinds of sport. In fact, it appeared when people could use only a bow and arrows or crossbows as only weapons. In the 14th century, those primitive weapons gave birth to firearms, and that fact resulted at the beginning of shooting as a separate discipline. It was in France in 1449 when the first communities of firearm shooters were created. Later on, such an establishment appeared in England and the United States.

In 1896, rifle and pistol competitions were included in the program of the first Olympic Games. In addition to that, it was in 1897 when the first shooting World Championships took place. Since then, those events have been taking place on a regular basis.

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