Shooting sports is becoming more popular. And for beginners it is sometimes difficult to immediately figure out what's what. They have many questions that we will try to answer now.
Types of sports shooting
Nowadays, the Olympic sport is shooting at a moving target. In this case, a smoothbore gun with a charge of shot is used. Sporting is a very popular variety of this sport now. It is him in the philistine environment called skeet. The athlete must hit the flying target, which, as a rule, is an orange clay plate.
The second popular form: bullet shooting. This is sports shooting from airguns, usually rifled. From a large-caliber or small-caliber rifle, air rifle or pistol, the athlete must hit a static or moving target in the dash. Similar exercises are also present in the program of the Olympic Games.
Another type of sport shooting has recently appeared: warming. It originated in the USA. Used rifled weapons with powerful optics and a heavy barrel designed to minimize vibration. The shooter's task is to hit a target at a long distance.
Weapon requirements
The weapons used are subject to various requirements, which also depend on the type of stand used (round or trench). Basically, fire is fired at a distance of 20 m, but the distance can reach 25-27 m. Therefore, when firing at target targets, any well-shot hunting weapon with a caliber of 12 to 20 or even less can be used. Accuracy of shooting is considered sufficient if at least half of the pellets hits a circle with a diameter of 75 cm, while firing is conducted from a distance of 35 m, and the dispersion is more or less uniform. Excessive accuracy can only interfere, since the slightest mistake when aiming can lead to a miss.
Hunter weapon
Thus, for sport shooting a hunting rifle manufactured by the Tula Arms Plant can be used , for example, a double-barreled 16-caliber horizontally paired and 12-caliber with vertically paired trunks. Shooting smoothbore sports will benefit hunters who want to improve their skills in the offseason.
As a rule, a 12-caliber rifle is used on a trench stand, since the first shot must be fired at a sufficiently large distance (about 30 m). At the same time, sufficient dispersion of the fraction also plays a role, which hides the mistakes made by the shooter in aiming.
Of great importance when choosing a weapon is its weight. Shotguns weighing less than three kilograms are of little use, because with constant shooting after several tens of shots, recoil becomes very sensitive for an athlete. Due to discomfort, this leads to increased fatigue and even fear of a shot. This can severely worsen firing results.
Shooting Weapons
The issue of choosing a weapon invariably baffles any novice shooter. Practice shows that even if an experienced athlete helps in choosing a shotgun, only in rare cases is the option ideal. Even a very good and expensive gun may not be suitable due to the structural features of the body. The number of shots made during training can reach several hundred, which in itself is tiring, so the weapon should ideally fit the anatomical features of the athlete. In the first few months of training, no matter how expensive the purchased gun was, you have to customize it, grind the butt with a planer, which, of course, changes the look of the weapon for the worse.
The first weapon for sports shooting should not be from the highest price category, but not the cheapest - experienced shooters agree on this opinion. To begin with, it is worth taking a gun in the range of 2-4 thousand euros. It may become a model of one of the European companies: Beretta, Fabarma, Browning, Antonio Zoli, Caesar Guerini. They are quite ergonomic and have a long service life. Both rifled and smooth-bore Benelli guns for sports shooting are also ideal, because this company specializes exclusively in sports models.
Among the budget category, IZh-39, IZh-27m, IZh-27 Sporting modification and a number of others are most suitable for beginners. However, since the price of even budgetary weapons is still not 2-3 thousand rubles, experienced shooters advise to train on a rented gun. In shooting clubs you can try different models and choose the most suitable option, and in general get acquainted with the difficulties of training and decide whether you really want to go further.
Guns
Since ergonomics is one of the most important indicators for sports weapons, choosing a gun is no less difficult than choosing a gun. Sports shooting from airguns is often accompanied by microtrauma of the hands (corns and wounds caused by the protruding parts of the gun), since at first the shooter can use not quite suitable models, such as the Viking (pneumatic model of the Yarygin pistol) and other budget options from pneumatic copies of firearms.
Weapons for sports shooting (including pistols) have an ergonomic wooden handle (or butt), which reduces the load on the hands and the likelihood of injuries. In addition, wood can be processed in case of any inconsistencies with anatomical features, but polymers cannot. But the sports sight is not an indicator, it can be put on any weapon. Also, a sports pistol over conventional pneumatics has another significant advantage: the trigger device (trigger mechanism), which provides for the adjustment of the trigger.
Sports pistols have one thing in common that also distinguishes them from conventional pneumatic pistols: their appearance, which can be described as something steampunk-pirate. And, of course, it is worth remembering the price, which is an order of magnitude higher.
What to choose a beginner?
Despite the fact that high-class athletes prefer weapons of European companies (Feinwerkba, Steyr, Walther), domestic sports pistols also deserve attention, such as, for example, IL-46, produced since 1988 and used both in training and in competitions, or its updated version is MP-672. It is also considered suitable MR-651K-23 - a modification of the "Cornet" for sports shooting.
Hunting and sporting weapons - what's the difference?
Although hunting rifles can be used for trap shooting, they have significant differences with sporting ones. This is due to the narrow specialization of the latter. Rifled firearms for sports shooting are similar to a hunter’s weapons only in their system. The sports rifle is always 12 gauge, it has more weight, reinforced chokes, and the handle is orthopedic. All this is due to the fact that the weapon has a different purpose. However, to say that a hunting rifle is not suitable for booth shooting is the same as saying that an ordinary car will not be able to drive along a racetrack. If a person is a hunter, and his goal is training and improving results (again, for hunting), then it makes no sense to buy special sports weapons.
About Documents
It should be remembered that rifled weapons for sports shooting can be purchased only with the appropriate documents. This is required by law. It limits the number of persons entitled to bear arms. Short-barreled rifles for shooting sports (pistols) also fall into this category. To purchase it (both short-barrel and long-barrel), you will need to submit documents. Papers should indicate that the buyer is a high-class athlete with a certificate for the particular sport where this weapon will be used. Also, those who previously owned smooth-bore firearms have the opportunity to purchase.
Weapon Care
Frequent shooting on the stand may adversely affect the condition of the weapon. If the light gun is charged with enhanced or even medium charges, it quickly loosens at the place where the barrels are attached with the block. Weapons for sports shooting are made of high quality metal. High-quality assembly and fitting of parts will give a good service life even under heavy loads. If you keep the weapon in order, clean and lubricate it, as well as promptly eliminate the slightest malfunctions in the mechanism, the gun will last a long time.