h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Air and 22 rifle shooting - A2392887
Author: topshot - U642023

I shoot for great britain but i get loads of people making stupid comments when i tell them that i shoot. So i just want people to be able to see this before they judge something they don't know anything about. I think it could also help people who want to know a bit about shooting.

Looking good Just a few comments:

"Shooting is considered one of the most popular sports internationally." Really? More popular than football?

"Many people consider it to be the easiest discipline." Why is it the easiest? Is it because the gun is supported by the ground?

"...and the right knee is slightly bent." Is the right knee bent for both left- and right-handed people?

How about mentioning how to get involved in the sport. Are there lots of clubs around the country? Is it expensive to do? Is it a sport where you can get good results straight away, or does it take years of practise?

Hmm, whilst the information you've got in the entry is correct, I'd have thought the subject could do with more in-depth content...

i.e.

Ranges - Indoor 20m, outdoor
Describe the rifle (single shot, adjustments possible, etc.)
Describe the sights used
Describe the ancilliary equipment. (Jacket, Sling, Telescope, Mat, etc)
Describe the targets used and scoring system
Describe the different types of competition (head to head, postal, etc.)
Describe the physical process of shooting... sighting shots, telescope, breathing, etc.
Describe the licencing requirements for a 22 rifle
And finally, have a winge about the demise of 22 pistol


(Just joking on the last one by the way)

Hmm, hope the guy gets back to us on this one... It'd be interesting to see this developed.

I'd disagree with the comments that one position is more difficult than another. Prone is more stable than kneeling, which in turn is more stable than standing, but so winning scores for the different positions vary correspondingly. I assume by difficult you mean harder to achieve maximum scores.

Nicknames such as 'knackering' and 'swaying' are rather negative and do little to encourage anyone to take up the sport.

The rudementary position descriptions leave lots of room for questions, eg prone, why is the leg bent?, what do I do if I am left handed: kneeling, what's a kneeling role? if it is under the ankle is my foot turned on its side? is it under the instep?: standing, my elbow won't reach my hip, can my arm rest on the side of my chest?

More information should be given as to how to get into the sport with contacts: eg. NSRA, NRA, MLAGB. All these have international teams for target rifle shooting.

David

Nevertheless... "knackering" is a pretty good way of describing 3P shoots

Topshot,
I´ll just tickle you with birdshot instead of doing a sniper job - your entry is too good for that. However, a few points if I may.
You have been shooting long enough for to take too much knowledge for granted in laymen (no true hobbyist can believe anybody gets by without knowing about the best fun in the world)...and after the media witchhunt that led to the total arms ban in Britain you need to enter a few very convincing arguments pro competition shooting. Just doodling now...
# Money. Any club (at least here in Germany) will let you use a club-owned rifle until you are good enough to need a tailormade - and that will take some time; with a well kept airgun anything above a millimetre off is your fault, not the rifle´s.
# Money. Buying ammunition from the club means wholesale prices, and that´s incredibly cheap. A box of 500 decent airgun pellets drains your purse to the amount of a pack of cigs.
# Fitness. Once you have bitten the bullet (pun intended) and accepted that your lousy scores are caused by abysmal control of your body you tend to do something about it.
# Fun and friends. I´ve done a bit of interpreting on ranges ("international matches" are started by finding out the phone number of a club in the town you want to visit) and it´s effing incredible how seldom my services were needed.

OK, so this wasn´t a tickle but an artillery barrage - sorry.

Pit (and airgun is spelled "Feinwerkbau"- shoot me for that)

The author has elvised - flea market?

Yes I think so. There are the bones of an entry here, which might just prick someone's imagination.

I dont like the reference to the foreign piece and would like to inform all readers that a British company called Air Arms produces some of the finest and most cost effective air rifles on the market.Of course if you only want to impress people by makeing holes indoors in a piece of card you wont need to know this because you are not concerned with durability in the field because you probably dont have access to any.

I got as far as the prone position 'stance' (my .22 area of skill), and just stopped.

You can't tell someone that this is the way you must be. i have seen many positions used, and they are dependant on the shooters own preference. Some peole find certain positions more stable. The school of thought over positions goes way back - it can't be explained in just one line.

To be honest, I am looking for a more in depth shooting page/forum for the UK, where ammo types, sights and other eqipment can be discussed (I use an Anschutz custom made supermatch with one off custom foresight and extended rear sight. Ammo of preference is Eley Tenex).

There are many one page web pages like this entry, we shooters need a more in depth forum.

Harsh, but true.

Well, no, I haven't elvised. Done a Desiato Hotblack rather (or what was that guy's name who was temporarily dead for tax reasons?).
Ok, to get back on track, or near there: I haven't shot for a very long time - first the job, and now lack of funds and lousy eyesight mean I stay out of it. But I still have buddies in the hobby and it's nice to see that legal weapon owners have taken the law into their own hands.To explain:
In order to forestall "de guvmint" introducing harsher laws that only hit the wrong people (have you ever heard of a bank robber who applied for a gun licence before the deed?)they have a very nice way to shoo away a wannabe Rambo who thinks a club membership will secure him the right to buy the pistol he thinks of as a dick enlarger.
He is given a .44Mag and a single cartridge (ear protection and goggles, too - you don't want that stupid sod even more brain damaged than he already is) and told that a bullseye will guarantee him membership - after they crawl out of the corner the recoil threw them in, often with a trickle of blood from where the front sight gave them a kiss, most of them never come back.
Of those who remain and start with an air pistol, it's quite amazing (well, not to old hands) how many stay with air/smallbore even after qualifying for heavy artillery. The pistol is better than you, so it's out of the equation, so is the ammo; it's only you vs. the target - like that singer in 2006 Cambridge Folk Festival who said "singing solo is the hardest-there's no drummer to blame'.

OK, long rant and mostly OT,sorry.
Pit