All About Olympic Shooting - Ready, aim, fire

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A contest of precision and control

While most sports rely heavily on an athlete's fitness, size and speed, shooting is primarily a contest of precision and control.

Although physical conditioning helps on the shooting range, mental preparation is the most important factor for shooters, who must remain calm and focused on their targets, often for an hour or two at a time.

This year's program in Beijing will feature up to 390 athletes competing in 15 shooting events, consisting of rifle, pistol and shotgun competitions. Although the rules and scoring systems vary depending on the discipline and type of gun, the objective remains the same for all: Aim for the bullseye.

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Rules and Scoring 

Each discipline consists of a qualification round and a final round. Each shooter's scores from the two rounds are added together, and the winner is the competitor with the most points at the end of the match.

Although penalties are rare, shooters must adhere to strict rules while competing. Breaking rules can result in either a penalty, which deducts points, or disqualification. Officials on the sidelines keep track of the competition.

 

Breaking Clays

Amazon Price: $23.07 (as of 11/10/2009)Buy Now

Excellent for an introduction to the shotgun sports, and also valuable for more advanced shooters. Great graphics, and enjoyable, easy to read and understand prose, really explain the technique to improve your shooting. Beautifully printed and edited, with just the right amount of info. By far the best of the dozen or so books I've read on this subject. I've given this as gifts to a handful of new shooters, and they've all loved it.

Firearms 

There are two main types of arms used in shooting events: rifles and pistols. "Rifle" can refer to an air rifle, a small-bore rifle or a shotgun. Air rifles are used for the 10m events, and the rifle for the Running Target event is also equipped with a sight. Small-bore rifles are used for the 50m events, while the clay target events are done with shotguns.

A pistol can mean either an air pistol or a small-bore pistol. The air pistol is used for 10m events, while the small-bore pistol is used for 25m and 50m events.

 

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Art of the Rifle: Special Color Edtion

The Art of the Rifle is an outstanding collection of the various facets of riflery, presented by one of the most accomplished and articulate authors in the shooting business. Jeff Cooper presents a number of tips and techniques, not the least of which is the proper use of the shooting sling, for the readers benefit. If the book has a drawback it is this: some of the photographs did not print well and are a little difficult to decipher, particularly if the reader is unfamiliar with the concepts being illustrated. Just the same, this is the only manual I know of that contains this important information.

Amazon Price: $29.67 (as of 11/10/2009) Buy Now

Targets  

Targets have come a long way since the 1900 Paris Olympic Games, where shooters aimed at live animals and birds.

Electronic targets are used for all rifle, pistol and running target events. In the shotgun events, shooters aim for a clay disc or "pigeon" measuring 11 centimetres in diameter, 25-26 millimetres thick, and weighing 105 grams. In trap shooting, discs can reach speeds of 105 km/hr.

 

Shooting of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games promotional video

Shooting of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games promotional video

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Categories of Shooting 

Shooting can be divided in various categories on the basis of the type of targets and firearms used during the competitions. Some most common categories of shooting are-


  • Rifle shooting sports

  • Handgun shooting sports

  • Shotgun shooting sports

  • Action shooting sports

  • 3-gun shooting sports

  • Submachine gun shooting sports


All these major categories of shooting can be further divided in various subcategories.

Running Deer Shooting event at the 1912 Games

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Beijing Olympics 2008 COMPETITION SCHEDULE

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