Cymbal shooting serves as a subspecies of shooting sports. Competitions are held at an open shooting range. Smooth-bore guns are used, while the cartridges for firing shots must be equipped with a shot having a spherical shape. Even if several grains fall into a target plate made of a mixture of cement and bitumen pitch, which is thrown into the air by a special machine, it will break.
The origin of trap shooting
After the invention of firearms, people appeared in different countries of the world who wanted to learn how to shoot accurately. This was necessary for fighting, hunting, and subsequently for participating in various competitions. Initially, hunting shotguns were used in the competitions, of which competing shot at fast-flying targets. The first competitions of this kind took place in England in 1793: shooting was carried out on pigeons sitting nineteen meters from shooters in special baskets (boxes) called cages. A special person behind the firing squad pulled the string at the command, and threw the bird out of the cage. But to injure or kill a pigeon was not enough, according to the conditions of the competition, he had to fall from the shooter no further than thirty-one meters. This type of shooting was close to hunting, it was called cage shooting, and rifles with heap and sharp fighting were also called cage guns.
First inanimate targets
Animal welfare societies categorically protested against such inhuman sport (now such organizations protest against hunting in principle). As a result, living targets gradually began to be replaced by various objects equipped with special throwing devices. First, glass balls were used , having a diameter of 64 millimeters, filled with bird feathers, smoke, paint and other materials. However, such targets often burst, often grains when the edge of the scree hits the ball ricocheted off a smooth surface. But the inquiring mind of a person finds a way out of any difficult situation. In 1880, in America, in the city of Cincinnati, a shooter by the name of Ligovsky invented a flat-shaped clay target plate (it is still called this day, although the material is now used more durable) and a throwing device - a machine. Such machines began to be installed on platforms called stands, from which the name “shot firing” was born.
Spectacular sport
Such an affordable and cheap sport, compared to bullet shooting, quickly gained popularity not only on the American, but also on the European continent. Shot panning is more emotional and spectacular: spectators and shooters immediately see the result of the shot. If the target is hit, it flashes with an orange-red cloud, if not, the judge in a crimson jacket with a red wristguard raises his hand, announcing a mistake, and athletes in multi-colored original costumes move around the court. Everything happens slowly, decently: here it is considered an indicator of bad taste jumping onto each other and squeezing the winner in his arms or a triumphant cry with a good shot. In a word, shotgun shooting is not football, such emotions as there are out of place, although, of course, athletes experience tremendous tension in tournaments. All decide psychological stability, endurance, the will to win.
Integration
Over time, shooting fans began to unite in clubs, circles and societies, and in 1907 the International Rifle Union (abbreviated as UIT) was organized, which connected different types of bullet shooting. The states where the practice of firing shotguns was cultivated, in 1929 integrated into the International Federation of shooting from hunting rifles (in abbreviated form - FITASK). However, later, in 1947, the subtype of shooting sports we are considering came out of FITASK and joined the UIT. Now all disciplines, both on bench and bullet shooting, are regulated by the International Rifle Union, all official competitions, including the Olympic Games, are held according to the rules approved by him and under his control. I must say that FITASK also exists at present, it regularly organizes cage shooting championships, which are especially popular today in the countries of the Mediterranean basin: Spain, Egypt, Italy, France.
History of Russian trap shooting
The first mention of cage shooting (on pigeons) dates back to 1737. At that time, Anna Ioannovna reigned, known for her skillful ability to shoot not only from a gun, but also from a bow. The empress had one passion: she loved to shoot at flying birds from an open palace window. At her direction, sometimes pigeons were released from a cage under a window. Before the revolution of 1917, such entertainment as target shooting functioned only in Moscow, Kiev, Odessa, Petersburg and Warsaw. There were few fans of such events, because only very wealthy people could afford this fun. And the first information about shooting at artificial targets dates back to 1877. Spouses Denisevich in 1910 organized a skeet shooting circle. It happened near St. Petersburg, in the village of Ligovo.
Achievements of Russian shooters
In 1912, athletes of the Russian Empire first participated in the Olympic Games in Stockholm. Then he dignifiedly held a shooting competition and won bronze, hitting ninety-one plates from a hundred plates, Riga H. Blau. With his success, he paved the way to the heights of world achievements for domestic stands. After 1917, competitions were held according to arbitrary rules from case to case. It was only in 1927 in Ostankino (Moscow) that the first stand with a trench was made, where the first throwing machine was installed for booth shooting. Subsequently, it was modernized, understaffed, and for many years he served Russian athletes. In the 1920s, similar sites appeared in Kiev, Leningrad, Baku and other cities. The first USSR championship was held in 1934, and on the eve of the USSR, the Shotgun Federation was created.
First successes
At the European Championships in 1955, the victory for the Soviet stand was smiled: Nikolai Durnev (round stand) and Yuri Nikanorov (ladder) won gold. In 1958, at the World Championships, Ariy Kaplun won the gold medal in the round stand competitions, and Evgeny Petrov became the Olympic champion of the Games in Mexico City in the same exercise in 1968. Speaking at the round stand competitions of various ranks, among the Soviet athletes, Yuri Tsuranov (three-time world champion in the individual standings, six-time, nine-time European champion in the team standings), Svetlana Demina (21 gold European and world championships), Larisa Tsuranova (the most successful) achieved the greatest success. 24 gold), Elena Rabaya (18 gold medals).
Olympic program
To date, competitions in three disciplines are included in the Olympic program: skit (round stand), gangway (trench stand), double-gangway. We will tell you more about them.
1. Trench stand
This discipline was included in the program of the Games for men in 1900, and for women in 2000. A trap is a platform where five shooting numbers are located in a straight line. Shooting is carried out in succession flying plates from fifteen throwing machines. Cars are installed under the shooting range in the trench, at a distance of fifteen meters from the shooting number. This type of target for target shooting can have a different flight height, it moves away from the shooter to the right, right or left, with a deviation of up to forty-five degrees. Casting range is 75-77 meters. The shooting series consists of twenty-five targets.
2. Round stand
Discipline was included in the program of the Olympics for men in 1968, for women in 2000. Skeet is performed on the site with eight rifle numbers located in a semicircle from the first to the seventh number, and the eighth is located between the booths in the center. Skeet plates for this type of firing are similar to those used for the gangway. However, they are produced by two cars, which are installed in low and high booths located at a distance of forty meters from each other at the extreme points of the semicircle. Before the target appears, the shooter must hold the shotgun with the butt at the belt, and fire a shot at the plate with a weapon to his shoulder. A machine installed in a high booth ejects a target from a height of 3.05 meters, and one that is low, from a height of 1.07 meters.
In addition to plates flying single-handedly, all numbers except the seventh and eighth also produce twin targets (doublets). They fly out of both booths simultaneously in the opposite direction. The flight of plates in the monastery, unlike the gangway, has a constant direction. Targets must fly through a ring with a diameter of 90 cm, installed at the intersection of the flight paths of the plates. The flight range varies between 67-69 meters, while the zone of permissible damage is determined by the boundaries of the site and is forty meters. The shooting series, as in the previous discipline, consists of twenty-five targets.
3. Double trap
Discipline entered the Olympic program (for both men and women) in 1996. A double trap is performed on the site with five shooting numbers by repeating double-shots aimed at hitting two plates at the same time and simultaneously flying, having a fast-moving distance from the shooter and a slightly diverging flight path. The flight range does not exceed 54-56 meters. Throwing machines are located in the same way as in the trench stand, but they use not fifteen, but only three devices installed opposite the third rifle number. Cars stand in a row and are at a certain distance from each other. There are three different schemes (A, B and C) for setting the trajectory of the plates. After the shooter's command, targets fly out of the same place in an unknown pattern to him. The flight path during the shooting series changes, however, the angle of shooting and visibility changes, which depends on the particular shooting number. The series consists of thirty targets (fifteen doublets).
Competition Rules
In all three disciplines there is the same regulation. During the preliminary competitions, the six finalists are determined, of which the winners and the champion are determined in the final. The points of the preliminary and final competitions are summed up. If, according to the results, several athletes gain an equal number of points, they shoot between them until the first miss. In order to increase spectator interest and reduce the likelihood of a refereeing error, in the final, firing is conducted on special plates, when hit into the air a cloud of bright powder (often red, sometimes yellow) is thrown.
Terminology
In skeet shooting, specific terminology is used, the knowledge of which is indispensable. We give the definition of the basic concepts:
- A stealing target is one that flies in the direction from the shooter.
- The oncoming target is the one that flies towards the arrow.
- A torn target is one that collapses when released from a throwing machine.
- The target “into smoke” is the defeat of a plate with a shot, when only “smoke” remains from it - fragments crushed into the smallest dust.
- Timer - delay of the target departure after the shooter's command for up to three seconds.
- Dead zone - the distance that the plate flies from the moment of launch to the first reaction of the shooter to it.
- Target processing - a sequence of actions including target perception, off-guard (in a round stand), leash (barrel movement relative to the saucer’s flight path), lead-out (distance on the trajectory by which the target must be ahead during the shot so that after the shot is shot it will be amazed), a shot while maintaining the angular velocity gained by the gun.
Shotgun in Moscow
Currently, everyone who wants to acquire skills and skills of trap shooting, have such an opportunity. Perhaps in the regions there is a lack of shooting ranges, but in Moscow it will not be difficult to find a club suitable for yourself. Doors for beginner shooters are always open at the Council of Special Purpose Administrative Offenses of the Central Administrative District, Moscow Specialized College of Olympic Reserves No. 1 and No. 2, the Bitsa Equestrian Sports Complex, the Zamoskvorechye Sports and Technical Club and many other institutions.