Field Target Shooting

Field Target Shooting is the sport we all know and love, and in the next few paragraphs I hope to give you some idea what it's all about, in terms of equipment requirements, skill factor, and the rules of the game itself.

The Game

Field target shooting is a sport of shooting at targets, in a field. Or some woods, or a quarry, or anywhere for that matter. one of its attractions being the variety of competition terrain. A competition basically consists of an array of 'Silhouette' targets, all of which should be shot down, preferably in order. There can be any number of targets (usually 20 to 30 in a course), and each one can be any distance away, from 7 to 55 yards.

A silhouette target is basically a piece of steel cut into the shape of a pesky rodent, bothersome bird etc, with a hole in the middle of it (the 'kill zone'). Behind the hole is another steel plate, a contrasting colour, and a mechanical arrangement to pull the entire target down if the plate behind the hole is hit. If any of the outer silhouette is hit the target stays put. Basically then, if the target falls over you score a point, if it doesn't, you don't. A convenient piece of string leads back to the firing line and allows the target to be pulled up again for the next shooter. Some clubs are moving away from animal shaped targets in favour of more abstract shapes, but the principle is the same.

Anybody who has shot an air rifle over a reasonably long distance, ie. above about 30 yards. will know that the pellet drops like a brick and is blown sideways by the slightest breeze. This then is where the skill comes in, guessing the distance to the target (because you're not told), compensating for the expected drop of the pellet, and aiming to the side to account for any wind. If it's gusting there are even more fun and games. And that's not all folks. As if to compound the frustrations of an FT competition, some targets may be compulsory standing shots, kneeling shots, or prone shots, the targets may be up trees, behind clumps of grass, hidden under dark bushes, or just plain too far away.

But its not all bad. Competitions are usually fairly relaxed affairs, being something of a social event. Although increasingly shoots are being timed, mostly one minute per target, this is plenty enough to load aim and fire at will. That then, is what you can roughly expect from an FT shoot. Next is a list of the equipment you might need and what you can expect it to cost, and after that more details of the state of the sport today and some of it's quirks.

The Gear

1) A Gun (!)

If you want to shoot FT, or at all even, you need a gun. An air rifle to be precise, an air rifle with the muzzle energy as close as dammit to the UK legallimit of 12ft.lbs. Although don't get too close because the power is likely to go up and down, like the stock market, and you don't want to get caught with a firearm, besides which you won't be allowed to shoot anyway if your gun is over the limit. Around 11.5ft.lbs. is ideal (higher powers tend to distort the pellet too much to make it accurate anyway).

The best calibre for FT work is .177, the two reasons for this being firstly, the trajectory of the pellet is flatter than a larger calibre and takes away part of the distance guesswork, and secondly, much better quality pellets are available in. 177. This doesn't rule out .22 however, which retains it's energy better and is less affected by wind, but the advent of extra-heavy .177 pellets has reduced these advantages somewhat.

There are basically two sorts of gun, the spring gun, and the precharged pneumatic (a third is the pump-up pneumatic, but these are rarely seen on the FT circuit because of the effort they take to load. puff pant). Spring guns were all you could get 15 years ago, they chuck out the pellet by compressing air behind it with a spring propelled piston. They are reasonably cheap to start off with, and they don't require the additional equipment pneumatics do, although to get a bog standard spring gun to be smooth. consistent. and accurate enough to compete, it'll probably need some customising work doing, adding to the overall cost. An old Weihrauch HW77 is a good starting point, although most manufacturers have competent spring rifles. Aim for a direct loading fixed barrel. Break barrel or tap loading fixed barrel rifles are at an immediate disadvantage because of the inherent inaccuracies of their respective systems. Some rifles (such as the Theoben) actually use compressed gas to drive the piston, but the effect is the same. Spring guns are ideal starter guns because of their low cost, and their ability to instill discipline into the shooter.

Some rifles use the spring-piston system, but contain two pistons travelling In opposite directions, so they do not have the recoil problems associated with most spring guns. They tend to be on the more expensive side.

Pneumatic rifles are a completely different kettle of worms. The air is stored pre-compressed in its own cylinder under the barrel, and every time the gun is fired, a little bit gets let out at a time. The main advantage of this system is the lack of recoil because there are no large heavy moving parts.

Older and cheaper examples work using a small hammer knocking open a valve momenteraly to let some air out. Because the hammer is relatively so much smaller, the triggers can be made much finer and still be safe. A peculiar quirk of these rifles is the 'power band', a range of pressures which gives full power shots. As the air runs out. the power will fall away, but if the gun is overcharged, the power will still go down as the hammer struggles to knock open the valve against the pressure.

The main disadvantage of a pneumatic is that the gun needs some sort of air cylinder (diving bottle) and a filling gauge to carry around your store of compressed air, and these usually aren't included in the price. Depending on a particular gun, one charge will last from 40 to 150 shots, the total number of charges depending on the size of the bottle, which could be from 2 to 15 litres.

Cost wise, pneumatics are generally more expensive than spring guns, costing anywhere between £300 and £1300 for a complete outfit. The cheapest are a little rough and ready, but still streets ahead of most spring guns in terms of accuracy. Middle of the range guns such as the Air Arms and Daystate ranges are very common and excellent field target weapons, and are fairly easy to pick up cheaply second hand. The Elite shooting machines come from the likes of Sportsmatch and Ripley, and usually feature much more consistent regulated valves (which work at a much wider range of pressures), as opposed to the knock-open type.

What type of stock a gun has on it is a matter of personal preference, particular features being advantageous to particular people. Almost essential is a high and comfortable cheekpiece, high enough to enable you to rest your head on the butt and see through the sight without strain. An adjustable buttplate is also an advantage but can be added to any stock later at little cost. Priority number three is a nice wide fore-end to Improve lateral stability (?), avoid unusually thin fore-ends In this respect.

2) A Sight

This enables you to point the gun in the direction of the target with un-erring accuracy time after time. Or does it? Open sights are utterly useless and should be discarded immediately, and you don't get them with most field target guns anyway. Some sort of telescopic sight is In order.

The general rule here is to go for a Scope with high magnification and adjustable parallax. Parallax errors are the effect where if you move your eye a slight amount in relation to the crosshairs. the target moves too. Adjustable parallax cancels this error for different target distances, but coupled with high magnification, also has the added bonus of putting the target out of focus if the distance isn't right. This enables you to alter the parallax without knowing the distance of the target until it's in focus, and then you just read the distance off the parallex ring. No better way of rangefinging the target has been discovered yet, so the choice of scope is vitally important.

In practice the parallax distances marked on a scope when new are usually wrong, so the first priority Is to set some targets up at known distances and calibrate it yourself.

Second highest on the priority list is a good, reliable elevation adjustment (windage adjustment is not usually advisable, set it once to go in a straight line and leave it). As the pellet drops over distance, it becomes necessary to aim higher and higher above the target to hit it. Adjusting the elevation of the crosshairs will compensate for this, allowing you to keep aiming straight at the target. Again, you will have to calibrate the necessary adjustment yourself for your particular combination, and remember it will change for different pellet weights. Some top of the range scopes have a grid of lines instead of a single crosshair which eliminates the need to use the elevation turret.

A good scope can set you back anywhere between £100 and £1000. makes to look out for are Bauch and Lomb, Bushnell, Leupold and Tasco Custom Shop. The cheaper scopes tend to be difficult to parralax in low light conditions.

A good set of solid scope mounts are also vitally important, although less so with pneumatics because of no recoil. A range of brands are available at reasonable prices.

3) A Case

Field target gear comes in for some pretty rough treatment, being carted around woods, through muddy car parks, and being stamped on after a particularly poor shoot. A decent case is therefore a must, preferably a hard one with lots of padding. Soft cases are OK if they are plenty large enough and also have thick padding (eggshell foam is the best, as fur tends to collect grit). Avoid simple 'gun slips' at all costs. Don't keep the gun in it's case all the time, as this has some odd effects on woodwork. Let it breath when it's at home (use a proper gun rack if possible), and give it a polish with a silicon cloth after every use to keep it shining.

4) Some Pellets

A gun is no use without any ammunition, and still no use with poor ammunition. There are no hard and fast rules here, as different guns like different pellets, and the key is to experiment with different brands over a good distance (40-50 yds.) until an accurate pellet is found. Even then, batches of the same brand can vary wildly, so it pays to buy a large supply of pellets from the same batch if possible. Brands to look out for are H+N Field target and Barracuda or Crossman Accupel, all of which vary in performance from batch to batch. H+N Barracuda Match are slightly more expensive but they are selected for size (and therefore. theoretically, weight), and the improved consistency shows. Look out for new and better brands appearing monthly, as pellet inaccuracy is still the biggest stumbling block on the way to Field Target nirvanah.

Carrying about tins of loose pellets is usually a bad idea, they usually get kicked over, and most FT shooters either carry lust enough for a competition in a small pouch, or make up a storage case with an individual hole cut in sponge for each pellet. Whether or not you want to wash, size or lubricate your pellets is really entirely up to you, the difference in performance is usually negligeable, If the pellets are badly made In the first place, they usually stay badly made.

5) A Seat

The seat is for you to sit on. Or rather a seat is to stop your jacksy getting cold and wet when you sit on the floor, because a seat is only allowed to be three inches high. Sitting is the preferred shooting position for just about everybody because it enables the steadiest aim to be achieved, and a good seat can improve steadiness enormously. The best and cheapest type is a canvas tool bag or sports bag full of polystyrene beads, as it adjusts to give support on virtually any surface. As long as the seat is 3" high when you sit on it, it can be as fat as you like any other time. Several purpose made FT seats are available and most are excellent for the purpose. but can be relatively expensive. Practice the 'seat kick' when you can, it is the universally accepted method of expressing dissaproval at a poor shot.

6) A Chronograph

Not absolutely essential, as most clubs will have one of these for its members to use, but still a pretty useful object for not much money. In it simplest form, it consists of two infra red beams a short distance apart. which see the pellet crossing them and time it over the distance. From this time you then have to work out the velocity and thus the power. Nowadays, most chrono's go a step further and tell you the velocity ('direct-readout' chrono's), but you still have to get the old calculator out for the power, as this also depends on pellet weight. If you've got a money-growing tree, there are chrono's with built in computers that do everything for you (except lend you a fag when your desperate).

The Gen

Here,s pretty much what to expect if you go to a field target competition.

1) Get there as early as you can after, or just before the official start time. Sometimes parking is limited and punctuality guarantees a space, also large queues can develop for booking in for big shoots quite early on.

2) Most competitions are now run on a 'squadding' system, which means you will be given a number when you book in, and numbers to go and shoot will be called out throughout the day. If you book in too early and end up in the first squad, it will leave you little time to prepare, try to find out what number the booking-ins are up to and decide whether to book in straight away or leave it a few minutes.

3) Book in and pay the competition fee as required. You will be given a score card with your name, club, squad number, and class. Shooters are either O (open), B, or C class depending on their previous performance, and prizes are awarded for the top three in each class if you have never shot in a competition before you are put in O class (which just happens to have all the best shooters in it!), which may not give you much of a chance, but you will soon be put in your proper class after a couple of scores have been submitted.

4) There is usually a 'plinking' range set up to have a practice on before you shoot the main course, usually consisting of sheets of card a set distances and various other targets. In addition. there will normally be an array of 'side shoots', or novelty shoots, which usually cost around a quid or two, but have 1-2-3 prizes for the best on each.

5) If your number is called, make sure you are fully prepared and go to the main course. At this point you may be required to have your gun chronographed, but usually It is a small random sample to avoid holdups. The shoot itself will be made up of a number of 'lanes', with a quantity of targets in each, which are shot all at once, and then you move to the next lane. A Marshall (or your partner) on that lane will take your card and mark your score. Any compulsory standing or kneeling targets will be signposted. The marshall will also time you if it is a timed shoot.

6) After shooting the main course, you will probably required to do some marshalling yourself when you hand in.your card. You will be told which lane to marshall, and will in turn be relieved when all the lanes have cycled around.

7) And that's it. If you are a lucky (or even skillful) winner, the trophies are presented at the end of the day when all shooters have finished.

Here are some important bits of advice, obscure rules and things to look out for when going to your first field target competition:

1) No separate rangefinding devices apart from those built into your scope are allowed (so no autofocus cameras, ultrasonic tapemeasures or tank gun sights).

2) Expect to pay around £3-£10 to take part in the main shoot (the largest competitions being the most expensive).

3) Sharing guns between two or more competitors in usually frowned upon as it quite effectively holds up the competitors behind.

4) Take some food, it might be available at the shoot and it might not. If it is, it s usually dodgyburgers and gutrotdogs.

5) Kneeling shots are a bit sensitive, and some people go ape if your position is slightly wrong. Ask for advice about the correct position at the paying in booth or from the lane marshall.

6) Shoots are often not very well signposted, so make sure you know exactly where it is before venturing out (shoots are always advertised with a phone number where directions can be obtained).

7) Use lead-only pellets, not hard alloy like Titan or Prometheus, as they can bounce straight back at you off the steel targets.

8) Find Out if the targets in each lane are to be shot in sequence. If they are numbered individually they usually are. Shooting a target out of sequence counts as a miss at best, two misses at worst (the target you hit and the one you were supposed to be shooting at).