SHOOTING

History

Air guns represent the oldest pneumatic technology. The oldest existing mechanical air gun, a bellows air gun dating back to about 1580, is in the Livrustkammaren Museum in Stockholm. This is the timeline most historians peg as the beginning of the modern air gun.
In the 17th century, air guns, in calibers .30 - .51, were used to hunt big game deer and wild boar. These air rifles were charged using a pump to fill an air reservoir and gave velocities from 650-1,000 feet per second. They were also used in warfare; the most famous example is the Girandoni Air Rifle.

At that time, they had compelling advantages over the primitive firearms of the day. For example, air guns could be fired in wet weather and rain (unlike matchlock muskets) and with greater rapidity than At that time, they had compelling advantages over the primitive firearms of the day. For example, air guns could be fired in wet weather and rain (unlike matchlock muskets) and with greater rapidity than muzzle-loading guns. Moreover, they were quieter than a firearm of similar caliber, had no muzzle flash, and were completely smokeless, thus not disclosing the shooter's position. Black powder muskets of the 18th and 19th century produced huge volumes of dense smoke when fired, a disadvantage compared to air rifles.

Although some enthusiasts talk about air guns posing a serious alternative to powder weapons, that was never proved to be the case, as valve leaks and bursting reservoirs were known problems. Air guns also were delicate and crude, and peasant-soldiers, many of whom had never seen any mechanical tools more complex than horse-drawn carriages, could not have operated or maintained them properly. Later improvements in valve designs and reservoir strength either came too late or were too complex for the few air gunsmiths of the day.

But in the hands of skilled soldiers, they gave the military a distinct advantage. France, Austria and other nations had special sniper detachments using air rifles. The Austrian 1780 model was named Windbüchse (literally "wind rifle" in German). The gun was developed in 1778 or 1779 [1] by the Tyrolese watchmaker, mechanic and gunsmith Bartholomäus Girandoni (1744-1799) and is sometimes referred to as the Girandoni Air Rifle or Girandoni air gun in literature (the name is also spelled "Girandony," "Giradoni"[2] or "Girardoni".[3]) The Windbüchse was about 4 ft (1.2 m) long and weighed 10 pounds (4.5 kg), which was about the same size and mass as a conventional musket. The air reservoir was a removable, club-shaped butt. The Windbüchse carried twenty-two .51 in (13 mm) lead balls in a tubular magazine. A skilled shooter could fire off one magazine in about thirty seconds, which was a fearsome rate of fire compared to a muzzle loader. A shot from this air gun could penetrate aone-inch wooden board at a hundred paces, an effect roughly equal to that of a modern 9 mm or .45 ACP caliber pistol.


Around 1820, the Japanese inventor Kunitomo Ikkansai developed various manufacturing methods for guns, and also created an air gun based on the study of Western knowledge ("rangaku") acquired from the Dutch in Dejima.


Air guns appear throughout other periods of history. The celebrated expedition headed by Lewis and Clark (1804) carried a reservoir air gun, later believed to be the Girandoni Military Repeating Air rifle in Dr Robert Beeman's Collection.[citation needed] It held 22 round balls in a tubular magazine mounted on the side ofthe barrel. The butt stock served as the air reservoir and had a working pressure of 800 PSI. The rifle was said to be capable of 22 aimed shots in one minute.
However, that air rifle is measured to have a rifled bore of .452" and a groove diameter 0.462".

During the 1890s, air rifles were used in Birmingham, England, for competitive target shooting. Matches were held in public houses, which sponsored shooting teams. Prizes, such as a leg of mutton for the winning team, were paid for by the losing team. The sport became so popular that just after the turn of the 19th century,[when?] a National Air Rifle Association was created. During this time over 4,000 air rifle clubs and associations existed across Britain, many of them in Birmingham. During this time, the air gun was associated with poaching because it could deliver a shot without a significant report.

Today's modern air guns are typically low-powered because of safety concerns and legal restrictions; however, high-powered designs are still used for hunting.

These air rifles can propel a pellet beyond 1100 ft/s (330 m/s), approximately the speed of sound, and produce a noise similar to a .22 caliber rimfire rifle.

Using lead pellets, some current spring powered .177 pellet guns can break the sound barrier. Most low-powered air guns can be safely fired in a backyard or garden, and even indoors, with a proper backstop.

In some countries, air guns are still classified as firearms, and as such it may be illegal to discharge them in residential areas. Air guns can be highly accurate and are used in target shooting events at the Olympic Games, governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF).

Use

Air guns are used for hunting, pest control, recreational shooting (commonly known as plinking), airsoft fights,(in which players fire airsoft guns at each other). and competitive sports, such as the Olympic 10 m Air Rifle and 10 m Air Pistol events. Field Target (FT) is a competitive form of target shooting in which the targets are knock-down metal silhouettes of animals, with a 'kill zone' cut out of the steel plate. Hunter Field Target (HFT) is a variation, using identical equipment, but with differing rules. The distances FT and HFT competitions are shot at range between 10 metres and 50 metres,with varying sizes of 'reducers' being used to increase or decrease the size of the kill zone. In the UK, competition power limits are set at the legal maximum for an unlicensed air rifle, i.e. 12 ft·lbf.


Rifle

• Four position small bore is a popular sport in the U.S.
• The six Rifle ISSF shooting events (including three Olympic events) consist of long-time target shooting from distances of 10, 50 and 300 m.
• The two Running Target ISSF shooting events consist of rapid shooting at a target that moves sideways from distances of 10 and 50 m.
• Biathlon is an Olympic sport combining shooting and cross-country skiing.
• The CISM Rapid Fire match is a speeded version of the ISSF 300 m Standard Rifle event.
• Muzzle loading and Cowboy action shooting are concerned with shooting replica (or antique) guns
• Gallery rifle shooting is popular in the UK and was introduced as a substitute for many pistol shooting disciplines following the 1997 handgun ban.
• Benchrest shooting is concerned with shooting small groups with the rifleman sitting on a chair (bench) and the rifle supported from a table. Of all shooting disciplines, this is the most demanding equipment-wise.
• High Power Rifle (also known as "Across the Course" or 'traditional' High power) in the United States is a format that shoots 3-position (standing, kneeling or sitting, and prone) at 200, 300, and 600 yards. The term "Across the Course" is used because the match format requires the competitors to shoot at different distances to complete the course of fire.
• Fullbore target shooting is concerned with shooting at targets at ranges of 300–1200 yards
• Field Target is an outdoor air gun discipline originating in the United Kingdom, but gaining popularity worldwide.
• There are a vast number of nationally recognized sports, including:
• Full bore and small bore, rifle shooting in the United Kingdom.
• Three position airgun competitions, popular in the United States
• Field shooting, often at very long distances, popular in Scandinavia.
• Running target shooting at 80 m, on a target depicting an elk, popular in Sweden as a hunting exercise
• Summer biathlon, with skiing replaced by running, popular in Germany.

Military Service Rifle is a shooting discipline that involves the use of rifles that are used by military forces and law-enforcement agencies, both past andpresent use. Ex-military rifles, sniper rifles (both past and present) and civilian versions of current use service rifles are commonly used in the Military Service Rifle shooting competitions. It is popular in the United States and culminates each year with the National Matches being held at Camp Perry, Ohio. Some countries have outlawed civilian shooting at human-silhouette targets, though. Silhouette targets are not used in the National Match Course of Fire. Bullseye targets are used. High Power Rifle competition often is held at the same events as Service Rifle, such as the U.S. national championships each year at Camp Perry. High Power competitors generally are civilians using whatever rifles they prefer within the rules, whereasService Rifle entrants are limited to current or previous U.S. armed forces weapons. Although according to NRA rules only certain matches allow optical sights, normally those conducted at ranges over 600 yards.

• Palma competition dates from 1876, featuring long-range rifle shooting, out to 1,000 yards. The first Palma match was contested by teams from the U.S. and Ireland (with muzzle loaded rifles at that time), and continues in various nations today
• One other air rifle event is the 3-position (3P), which consists of the standing, kneeling and prone (lying down) positions.
• Finally, there is a different air rifle class, not yet in the olympics, called the sporter class. This is where you shoot under strict rules, and are not allowed much of the stiff clothing precision shooters use. You can also get sporter 3P events.

Handgun

• The six Pistol ISSF shooting events (including four Olympic events) consist of both precision and rapid-fire target shooting from distances of 10, 25, and 50 metres. In the UK (except for Northern Ireland), it is not possible to practice for some of the Olympic events following the Firearms (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1997.
• Modern pentathlon includes timed shooting with an air pistol as the first of its five parts
• The CISM Rapid Fire match is similar to the ISSF 25 m Rapid Fire Pistol event.
• Practical shooting, developed by civilian marksmen and later used as a basis for military and police exercises, is a variation where the shooter often moves during shooting, and hit scores andshooting time are equally important.
• PPC 1500, also developed into police exercises, is standard precision shooting, as opposed to practical shooting, but somewhat imitating real-life conditions.
• Muzzle loading and Cowboy Action Shooting, as above, also use revolvers.
• Metallic silhouette shooting, developed to loosely simulate hunting, is shooting at heavy animal-shaped steel silhouettes that must be knocked down to score, typically at long range using very powerful pistol.
• ActionAirgun is an indoor action shooting sport using semi-automatic airsoft pistols and courses of fire downloaded from a central hub. Shooters upload shooting times to a website to resolve competitions.
• Here also there are a vast number of nationally recognized sports, including:
• The National Rifle Association (NRA) Conventional Pistol, shot with up to three different handguns, popular in the United States and Canada and also some other countries. This is sometimes termed Bullseye (shooting competition).
• Field shooting, a type of variable rapid-fire competition, popular in Scandinavia.
• The Bianchi Cup One of the most lucrative of all shooting sports championships worldwide
• Airsoft IPSC Follow the same principle of IPSC, however, shooters use airsoft gun instead. The range, paper targets and poppers are scaled down to suit for airsoft pistols
• Other, less formally organized shooting sports include:
• Knocking bowling pins off a table top,
• Steel "reactive" targets,
• and general "plinking" at miscellaneous objects.

Shotgun

• The three Shotgun ISSF shooting events (presently all Olympic) are based on quick reaction to clay targets thrown by a machine.
• Other shotgun sports with (at least partial) international recognition include Sporting Clays, providing more variation than the standard ISSF events, and Down-The-Line. Five stand is also a shotgun shooting sport similar to skeet, but with more target variety. There are five stations, or stands. At each station there is normally a card that lets the shooter know the sequence of birds he or she will be shooting at.
• Cowboy Action Shooting also may involve shotguns.
• Practical Shooting uses high capacity shotguns (usually pump or semi-automatic). It has emerged particularly in countries where handguns have been banned.

Shooting range:type

Indoor

• Stationary target practice

Indoor ranges usually have a back wall with a sloped earthen berm or bank, with reinforced baffles additionally situated along the roof and side walls. Ranges with proper ventilation pull smoke and lead particles away from the shooting line and discharge them from the building to reduce potential lead poisoning.When ranges lack proper ventilation, employees and users are exposed to lead dust from bullets or cartridge primers. It can be inhaled or can settle on skin or clothing.[2] Additionally, discharge of firearms in indoor ranges can produce noise levels of over 140 dB sound pressure level.[3] To combat this, it is commonly recommended to "double up" ear protection by using both earplugs and over the head earmuffs. To protect range bystanders from sound exposure, many modern ranges have an air-locked corridor for sound-proofing, with two doors at opposite ends of the egress corridor. Most indoor ranges restrict the use of certain powerful calibers, rifles or the use of fully-automatic weapons. In many shooting ranges 50 caliber or higher bullets are not allowed.

Outdoor

Outdoor shooting ranges are often required for longer distance shooting sometimes exceeding 1,000 metres (1,094 yd). Training might also specifically require exposure to the elements such as wind or rain.

Outdoor shooting ranges usually are backed by a high retaining wall, earth mound, sandbag barrier or specially-designed funnel-shaped traps to prevent the ricochet of bullets or shots going outside the bounds of the shooting range. Most outdoor ranges additionally restrict the maximum caliber size, or have separate ranges devoted to use for higher-powered firearms.

Air rifle

Outdoor air rifle ranges are usually for the practice of the sport of Field Target shooting where metal targets are placed in natural surroundings at various ranges and elevations.

Small-bore rifle

Small-bore (.22 Long Rifle caliber) rifle ranges are typically 50 metres (55 yd) to accommodate the Olympic 50 m Rifle event, but they can extend to 200 metres (219 yd). These ranges are found around the world as part of various cadet shooting programs sometimes reduced to 25 metres (27 yd).

Full-Bore Rifle

site “ZerRange for large calibre rifles are seldom shorter than 100 metres (109 yd) except in the case of “Zero” ranges (for setting or checking a rifle and telescopic o”). Military ranges are typically at least 600 metres (656 yd) — 1,000 metres (1,094 yd) to safely accommodate the range of most assault rifles (up to 600 metres (656 yd)). Public ranges can be as long as and typically accommodate hunters and sportsman participating in sports such as 300 m Standard Rifle, metallic silhouette or benchrest shooting (ranges up to 2,000 yards (1,829 m)).

Shotgun

Specialist ranges cater for various clay pigeon shooting events and require special layouts and equipment.

Firing point

The firing point will normally be at a defined point on the ground, and on a civilian range will usually be level and flat. Outdoor ranges without a covered firing point are usually grass, often on a slightly raised, flattened mound. Outdoor ranges with a covered firing point are usually concrete or tarmacadam. Outdoor military range firing points are not usually covered and may have other configurations, e.g. sloping, a gravel base or hole in the ground.

The firing point cover can be as simple as a tent, to a frame with only a roof (to keep off rain or sunshine) to a substantial building with appropriate apertures to shoot through.

Title for work: Air gun. Information found from:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_gun.(26/03/10)

DONE BY: Joey ling 1E2 (11) =D