Clay Target Q&A
With Russell Mark, Olympic gold and silver medallist
Questions: russell@corporateshootingstars.com.au
Q I shoot Down the Line at various clubs in New South Wales mainly for fun, but I would like to get better to the point where I could shoot competitions. I guess I average about 20/25 at most clubs. There is one range where I shoot at on the coast and I find it very hard because the targets always appear very low there. I have asked many of the local shooters and they say the height stick is often used to verify that the targets are legal. Is the difference in height just an optical illusion?
Peter Goldsmith, NSW
A Peter, there are a few variables that need to be considered when questioning what becomes a legal target in Down the Line shooting. Let’s assume that both targets will be thrown at the required distance of 46m. There is a tolerance of plus or minus 2m. The rules state that the height stick can be placed at 10m from the trap and a legal target must be thrown at a height of 3m plus or minus 50cm. Alternatively, the height stick can also be placed at a distance of 18m from the trap to a height of 4.5m plus or minus 50cm.
Let’s assume that the club where you shoot well sets its targets using the first method and uses the full legal tolerance of 3.5m in height at 10m and has its trap mounted inside the trap house with the pivot point of the arm at the recommended 25cm above ground level. Further to this, let’s also assume that the club where you shoot poorly uses the second method at the lower tolerance of 4m in height at 18m and has an old-style trap, which may have its pivot point as high as 75cm above ground level. Assuming that the target flies in a straight line for say the first 25m of its flight (which I am sure that it doesn’t, due to the target’s declining speed and gravity), then, at this point, the two different targets will appear in the sky at about 3m apart, with the second target being the lower. The height will vary more if the first club throws its targets to the maximum distance of 48m and the second throws to the minimum of 44m. That is the mathematical answer to how the targets can both be legal and appear different.
For your own peace of mind, see if you can have a look at the trap in question and how differently it is mounted in the trap house compared to the other clubs that you shoot comfortably on. In time, you will learn to make adjustments to your shooting no matter what height, speed or angled targets you are shooting at. From my experience, very few clubs actually throw identical targets to each other, no matter how closely the rules are followed.