Whats the difference between sporting and skeet etc

[Evil Elvis]

I went clay busting with Mungler saturday and he spoke a whole new language, whats the difference between all the different types, i have shot down the line, skeet and i think it was sporting at billericay, anyone mind spending 5 minutes to clear this one up for me?

 

i have to say the billericay shoot was the most challenging so far!

[ChrisR]

There you go

 

Down The Line (DTL)

 

Down the line is one of the oldest forms of clay shooting. It is a great discipline for beginners as it gives you many targets to break and also teaches the importance of concentration on the shooting circuit. A round usually consists of 25 targets, which are fired away from the shooter. The shooter stands 16 yards behind the firing house, where they will fire at the rising targets. There are 5 firing positions and even though the targets rise they do so at a constant angle. However, the targets are fired randomly across the horizontal plane; the maximum arc is around 44 degrees. Each competitor must shoot from each of the five firing points and a total of 5 clays will be launched at each of these points. The order of the firing points is so that when the competitor has shot, they would move to the next position on their right. If a shooter is on position 5 they will go to 1. The shooter usually calls for each target with the gun already in their shoulder and has two shots to break the target. Three points are awarded for breaking a target on the first barrel, whilst only two points are awarded for breaking the target with the second barrel. Big competitions can consist of 4 rounds making up 100 targets; a perfect score would see 300 points from 100 targets. It is possible to win a competition by breaking fewer clays than other competitors, as two first barrel kills are the equivalent of three second barrel kills.

 

Sport Trap

 

Sport Trap is a fun idea that allows all the usual targets from English and International sporting to be combined into a competition that can be shot in a small area. Sport Trap is as fascinating to watch as it is to shoot. The targets themselves as single targets are fairly easy but each shooter has to shoot combinations from all traps, and these combinations can be either on report or as pairs together, furthermore after every shooter has shot their allocated 5 targets they all move to the right one place and shoot another different combination of 5 targets. The score is simply formed from how many targets are broken by a shooter.

 

Automatic Ball Trap

 

ABT is a relative newcomer to the clay shooting scene and is a product of modern trap technology. It

is also widely known as just ‘Ball Trap’ (painful as it sounds) and to Americans as ‘Wobble Trap’. It was devised to provide much of the challenge of Olympic Trap without the associated high fixed costs of installing a trench with fifteen permanent traps. Instead it uses just one automatic trap that is constantly varying both the angle and elevation of the target. This gives an enormous variety of targets for the shooters but the one major drawback is that the targets are random, unlike Olympic Trap where all shooters will have faced the same mix of targets by the end of the competition. In theory one shooter could be unlucky enough to receive 100 hard right handers in succession during a competition and it is this inherent unfairness that has perhaps prevented the discipline becoming more popular. Having said that, the low cost and ready availability of ABT has made it an important stepping stone into the international trap scene for many shooters, as well as a specialisation in its own right for many. With national championships and home international team places at stake, the discipline supports a busy competition programme. There is however little international competition outside of the British Isles. Major championships and selection shoots are usually shot over two days and 200 targets.

 

Skeet

 

All the skeet variants share the same basic semi-circular layout. The base chord of the semi-circle is 36.8 metres with two traps, set one at either end. To the left is the ‘high house’ throwing targets from a height of 3.05m; to the right is the ‘low house’ with the trap set so that the targets emerge at a height of 1.07m. The targets are set so that both pass within 45cm of a mark called the Target Crossing Point and in calm conditions they should fly 50- 52 metres. Boundary posts set 40.2m in front of each trap house mark the limits within which targets must be shot to count as fair kills. Around the semi-circle, spaced 8.13m apart, are seven shooting stations, 91x91cm square, number one being closest to the high house.

 

FITASC

 

FITASC Sporting takes its name from the governing body, the Federation Internationale de Tirs aux Armes Sportives de Chasse, based in Paris. FITASC Sporting is the only truly international form of sporting clays, with a following on all five continents. There are two variations in the way FITASC Sporting is shot, usually referred to as ‘old’ and ‘new’ system. Each round, or ‘parcours’, normally consists of 25 targets and in the old system the layout would consist of five traps, with three different shooting positions, the position being marked by a one metre hoop laid on the ground. The squad of usually six shooters would shoot a sequence of targets from Peg one before moving on to numbers two and three. Although loved by the purists, the problem with this is that only one squad of shooters is in action on each layout at any one time. This severely limits the numbers of shooters that can take part during the day. New system takes a slightly different approach. There will still be three (or possibly four) shooting positions per layout, but each will be self contained with its own set of traps. As a result there can be a squad shooting on each peg simultaneously, greatly increasing the number that can be accommodated. The downside of course is that new system requires significantly more traps. Competitions are normally shot as multiples of 25 targets. A standard registered shoot would be 100 targets, with 150 for selection shoots. Major international championships are 200 target events, shot over four days.

 

 

Helice

 

Helice – formerly known as ‘ZZ’ – is a direct off shoot of the sport of live pigeon shooting, long banned in this country but still popular in many parts of Europe and elsewhere. When other countries banned the shooting of captive pigeons the search was on for a realistic simulation of the unpredictable flight of a real bird and Helice was born. It is governed by the Federation Internationale de Tires aux Armes Sportives de Chasse (FITASC) and has developed into a very competitive sport in its own right, with Southern Europe being the main centre. There are only a handful of permanent facilities in Britain, the best known being the Lynch family’s West Kent Shooting School and the Invicta club also in Kent. Helice means ‘helicopter’ in French and the targets consist of a two-winged plastic helicopter into which is clipped a white centre. The object of the game is to hit the target with sufficient force to detach the centre part and drop it within a marked perimeter fence. The layout closely mirrors a traditional live pigeon set up with five target launchers set in an arc 4.5 metres apart and facing the shooter, who stands on a walkway seven metres long. At its nearest point the walkway is 21 metres from the launchers and the shooter moves further back for handicap events. A perimeter fence 60cm (2 feet) high is positioned 21 metres beyond the line of traps. The launchers are small oscillating electric motors that spin the targets at high revolutions. When released the target’s flight is erratic and totally unpredictable.

 

 

English Sporting

 

Sporting Clay targets are the closest thing to actual field shooting of all the shotgun disciplines. The sport dates back to the early 1900s when trap shooting used live pigeons. With the introduction of clay targets, the sport began to take on the popular form known today. But rather than using standardised distances, target angles and target sizes, sporting clays courses are designed to simulate the hunting of ducks, pheasants and even rabbits. Several different types and sizes of clay targets give the participant the experience of actual hunting conditions, so you can see why the sport is so popular with game and rough shooters. Britain’s most popular form of clay target shooting, English Sporting, evolved from the simulated game shooting developed by the Victorian shooting schools. To this day we still use the terminology of those times to describe targets such as ‘springing teal’ and ‘bolting rabbit’. Today, however, English Sporting is an established part of the competitive shooting scene and it is enjoyed at all levels from local club shoots to international championships. English Sporting targets are as varied as the majority of clay target disciplines are fixed and only the imagination of the course builder limits what can be thrown to delight and deceive the shooters. Course designers use the terrain available to present targets as naturally as possible and test the

complete range of skills. To be a successful sporting shot you must master all the different types of target, from incoming to going away, crossing, rising or dropping, high in the air or bouncing along the ground. Any weaknesses will quickly be exposed. A typical sporting course will be made up of a number of different shooting stands, often spread across a wide area of land. Each stand will have a pair of targets, shown as simultaneous or trailing pairs, or pairs ‘on report’ where the second is released after the first shot has been fired. Competitors normally shoot three to five pairs on each stand and a competition can range from say 30 targets at a local club shoot to 100 or more for a major competition. Registered competitions are usually shot over 100 targets. A good course will show a wide variety of target presentations of varying degrees of difficulty.

 

Phew clear as mud really

 

Chris

[roadkill]

There you go

 

Down The Line (DTL)

 

Down the line is one of the oldest forms of clay shooting. It is a great discipline for beginners as it gives you many targets to break and also teaches the importance of concentration on the shooting circuit. A round usually consists of 25 targets, which are fired away from the shooter. The shooter stands 16 yards behind the firing house, where they will fire at the rising targets. There are 5 firing positions and even though the targets rise they do so at a constant angle. However, the targets are fired randomly across the horizontal plane; the maximum arc is around 44 degrees. Each competitor must shoot from each of the five firing points and a total of 5 clays will be launched at each of these points. The order of the firing points is so that when the competitor has shot, they would move to the next position on their right. If a shooter is on position 5 they will go to 1. The shooter usually calls for each target with the gun already in their shoulder and has two shots to break the target. Three points are awarded for breaking a target on the first barrel, whilst only two points are awarded for breaking the target with the second barrel. Big competitions can consist of 4 rounds making up 100 targets; a perfect score would see 300 points from 100 targets. It is possible to win a competition by breaking fewer clays than other competitors, as two first barrel kills are the equivalent of three second barrel kills.

 

Sport Trap

 

Sport Trap is a fun idea that allows all the usual targets from English and International sporting to be combined into a competition that can be shot in a small area. Sport Trap is as fascinating to watch as it is to shoot. The targets themselves as single targets are fairly easy but each shooter has to shoot combinations from all traps, and these combinations can be either on report or as pairs together, furthermore after every shooter has shot their allocated 5 targets they all move to the right one place and shoot another different combination of 5 targets. The score is simply formed from how many targets are broken by a shooter.

 

Automatic Ball Trap

 

ABT is a relative newcomer to the clay shooting scene and is a product of modern trap technology. It

is also widely known as just ‘Ball Trap’ (painful as it sounds) and to Americans as ‘Wobble Trap’. It was devised to provide much of the challenge of Olympic Trap without the associated high fixed costs of installing a trench with fifteen permanent traps. Instead it uses just one automatic trap that is constantly varying both the angle and elevation of the target. This gives an enormous variety of targets for the shooters but the one major drawback is that the targets are random, unlike Olympic Trap where all shooters will have faced the same mix of targets by the end of the competition. In theory one shooter could be unlucky enough to receive 100 hard right handers in succession during a competition and it is this inherent unfairness that has perhaps prevented the discipline becoming more popular. Having said that, the low cost and ready availability of ABT has made it an important stepping stone into the international trap scene for many shooters, as well as a specialisation in its own right for many. With national championships and home international team places at stake, the discipline supports a busy competition programme. There is however little international competition outside of the British Isles. Major championships and selection shoots are usually shot over two days and 200 targets.

 

Skeet

 

All the skeet variants share the same basic semi-circular layout. The base chord of the semi-circle is 36.8 metres with two traps, set one at either end. To the left is the ‘high house’ throwing targets from a height of 3.05m; to the right is the ‘low house’ with the trap set so that the targets emerge at a height of 1.07m. The targets are set so that both pass within 45cm of a mark called the Target Crossing Point and in calm conditions they should fly 50- 52 metres. Boundary posts set 40.2m in front of each trap house mark the limits within which targets must be shot to count as fair kills. Around the semi-circle, spaced 8.13m apart, are seven shooting stations, 91x91cm square, number one being closest to the high house.

 

FITASC

 

FITASC Sporting takes its name from the governing body, the Federation Internationale de Tirs aux Armes Sportives de Chasse, based in Paris. FITASC Sporting is the only truly international form of sporting clays, with a following on all five continents. There are two variations in the way FITASC Sporting is shot, usually referred to as ‘old’ and ‘new’ system. Each round, or ‘parcours’, normally consists of 25 targets and in the old system the layout would consist of five traps, with three different shooting positions, the position being marked by a one metre hoop laid on the ground. The squad of usually six shooters would shoot a sequence of targets from Peg one before moving on to numbers two and three. Although loved by the purists, the problem with this is that only one squad of shooters is in action on each layout at any one time. This severely limits the numbers of shooters that can take part during the day. New system takes a slightly different approach. There will still be three (or possibly four) shooting positions per layout, but each will be self contained with its own set of traps. As a result there can be a squad shooting on each peg simultaneously, greatly increasing the number that can be accommodated. The downside of course is that new system requires significantly more traps. Competitions are normally shot as multiples of 25 targets. A standard registered shoot would be 100 targets, with 150 for selection shoots. Major international championships are 200 target events, shot over four days.

 

 

Helice

 

Helice – formerly known as ‘ZZ’ – is a direct off shoot of the sport of live pigeon shooting, long banned in this country but still popular in many parts of Europe and elsewhere. When other countries banned the shooting of captive pigeons the search was on for a realistic simulation of the unpredictable flight of a real bird and Helice was born. It is governed by the Federation Internationale de Tires aux Armes Sportives de Chasse (FITASC) and has developed into a very competitive sport in its own right, with Southern Europe being the main centre. There are only a handful of permanent facilities in Britain, the best known being the Lynch family’s West Kent Shooting School and the Invicta club also in Kent. Helice means ‘helicopter’ in French and the targets consist of a two-winged plastic helicopter into which is clipped a white centre. The object of the game is to hit the target with sufficient force to detach the centre part and drop it within a marked perimeter fence. The layout closely mirrors a traditional live pigeon set up with five target launchers set in an arc 4.5 metres apart and facing the shooter, who stands on a walkway seven metres long. At its nearest point the walkway is 21 metres from the launchers and the shooter moves further back for handicap events. A perimeter fence 60cm (2 feet) high is positioned 21 metres beyond the line of traps. The launchers are small oscillating electric motors that spin the targets at high revolutions. When released the target’s flight is erratic and totally unpredictable.

 

 

English Sporting

 

Sporting Clay targets are the closest thing to actual field shooting of all the shotgun disciplines. The sport dates back to the early 1900s when trap shooting used live pigeons. With the introduction of clay targets, the sport began to take on the popular form known today. But rather than using standardised distances, target angles and target sizes, sporting clays courses are designed to simulate the hunting of ducks, pheasants and even rabbits. Several different types and sizes of clay targets give the participant the experience of actual hunting conditions, so you can see why the sport is so popular with game and rough shooters. Britain’s most popular form of clay target shooting, English Sporting, evolved from the simulated game shooting developed by the Victorian shooting schools. To this day we still use the terminology of those times to describe targets such as ‘springing teal’ and ‘bolting rabbit’. Today, however, English Sporting is an established part of the competitive shooting scene and it is enjoyed at all levels from local club shoots to international championships. English Sporting targets are as varied as the majority of clay target disciplines are fixed and only the imagination of the course builder limits what can be thrown to delight and deceive the shooters. Course designers use the terrain available to present targets as naturally as possible and test the

complete range of skills. To be a successful sporting shot you must master all the different types of target, from incoming to going away, crossing, rising or dropping, high in the air or bouncing along the ground. Any weaknesses will quickly be exposed. A typical sporting course will be made up of a number of different shooting stands, often spread across a wide area of land. Each stand will have a pair of targets, shown as simultaneous or trailing pairs, or pairs ‘on report’ where the second is released after the first shot has been fired. Competitors normally shoot three to five pairs on each stand and a competition can range from say 30 targets at a local club shoot to 100 or more for a major competition. Registered competitions are usually shot over 100 targets. A good course will show a wide variety of target presentations of varying degrees of difficulty.

 

Phew clear as mud really

 

Chris

 

 

very good read there mate , i now know that when i go on sundays its sporting we do... about 50 targets

[naddan28]

brilliant write up! Saved me asking the question too!

 

Perhaps get the mods to pin this?

 

thanks,

Dan

[Evil Elvis]

Thanks Chris, I am fairly new to clays and didnt want to embarass myself too much now I wont have to, thanks for taking the time.

Baz

[the last engineer]

got to love cut copy and paste eh writers cramp on that one

[ChrisR]

got to love cut copy and paste eh writers cramp on that one

 

 

 

Take the easy option every time, you of all people should know that!!