Clay Target Q&A
With Russell Mark, Olympic gold and silver medallist
Questions: russell@corporateshootingstars.com.au
Q I have been shooting Trap and Skeet at several different clubs in Queensland and I have noticed how much variation there is in the speed of the targets. Is there a rule that states exactly how far a clay target must be thrown, no matter what climatic conditions are occurring? I notice some clubs still try and throw the target to the distance marker, no matter how strong the head wind is blowing.
Carl Nelson, Qld
A Yes, Carl, all Trap and Skeet events have pre-determined distances that the target is required to travel in still air. For instance, in DTL, or American Trap as it is often called here, the target is required to travel 46m, plus or minus 2m when the target is measured at 3m above ground level at a distance of 10m from the trap house. All that sounds pretty easy until you turn up at your local club on the morning of a competition and you are faced with a howling head wind. This is where the invention of the radar gun has revolutionised target setting.
By placing the radar gun beside the trap-throwing arm, we know that to get the target to go 46m in still air, the target must be thrown off the trap arm at an initial velocity of 71kph. This can vary slightly from different brands of machines and targets, but once your targets have been verified and calibrated once in still air conditions that they are being thrown the correct and legal distance, you can pretty much expect that this will never change.
Olympic Trap throws the fastest targets in all the clay target events. The fastest target in Olympic Trap, which is a 1.5m-high target at 10m, has an initial velocity off the trap arm of 103kph.
As long as you are consistent in where you measure your targets from, this is a great way to make sure the targets you are shooting at are equitable and legal, but here is the drawback. It is presently illegal to set your targets up using this method only. Under both Australian domestic rules and International rules, it clearly states that a physical check must be made that the targets are being thrown to a set distance marker. However, the same rule books also state that this needs to be done in still weather, which is bad luck if your club shoots over a cliff into the ocean that predominantly has a head wind!
This is an area where we need to move to the next millennium as a sport and take advantage of some of the great technology that is available to us now that wasn’t here when many of these rule books were first written.