A SHARED EXPERIENCE
TOP TIP
A crude circle can make a great aim point for practising unsupported stances or shooting with sticks – as you get more proficient, make the circle smaller
I doubt many of us have tried airgun shooting in all its many and varied forms, but I bet most of us have dabbled in a couple of different types of shooting. I’m also prepared to bet that many of us will have established a firm favourite, with our other disciplines being shot less and less, or even not at all. But is there really that much difference between the various genres of airgun shooting, and if not, is there anything we can learn from the others?
The inspiration for this article was the result of an airgun instructor’s course that I recently took, run by the National Small-bore Rifle Association. I was one of four members from my local club who turned up with a mix of guns between us. We shoot mainly hunting and HFT rifles and were looking forward to learning how to instruct other shooters while using our own hardware.
It took far longer than it should for us to realise that instead of a course focusing on generic shooting instruction using our own selection of guns, everything was centred around 10 Metre Rifle and Pistol – two really demanding disciplines of which none of us had much experience. But as the course progressed our initial disquiet and disbelief were transformed into rapport and respect.
Why? Because as highly technical as 10 Metre shooting is, much of the preparation and practical application is similar to, if not the same as, what my buddies and I had already been doing.
SAFETY
Shooting is one of the safest sports around, mainly because we’re a sensible, self-disciplined and responsible group of people who respect our guns and what they’re capable of. Safety is therefore one aspect that touches each and every shooting discipline. And safety begins before a gun has
