TargetTalk

CMP (and me!) held an unofficial, unsanctioned Target Sprint event at Perry this year. It was a ton of fun for everyone, and really easy to coordinate with the help of the CMP.

Results are available - congratulations to the winners!

How Does ISSF TARGET SPRINT Work?

ISSF Target Sprint participants begin each event with a mass start and a fixed distance run. At the end of the first run, normally 600 meters, they stop at a 10-meter air rifle range where they must pick up their rifles and shoot at and hit five knockdown targets from standing position. More than five shots are often required to hit all five targets, but that adds to the shooting time. There are no penalties, but the sooner you finish shooting, the sooner you can start running your next lap. At the end of the second run, participants must shoot another five targets before beginning the third and final running stage. The final rankings are clear and easy to understand. The athlete who completes the three running stages and two shooting stages and who is the first at the finish line is the winner.

ISSF TARGET SPRINT - A NEW SPORT FOR ALL EVENT
FIRST ISSF TARGET SPRINT EVENT CONDUCTED AT THE ISSF WC IN MUNICH

We used the CMP's Anschutz NMAR airguns on Megalink electronic targets. We couldn't figure out if there was a biathlon hit/miss mode for the targets, so we just cut a corner and counted any shot scoring 5.0 or better (on the 10m air rifle target) as a "hit". The 400m running course looped the CMP parking lot. Spectators even had bleachers and could watch the shooting stage scores roll in! We had to run in three waves due to having only 10 firing points available at a time, to prevent conflicts. We called the waves "relays", in the spirit of rifle competition!

We learned that, although it is necessary to be a fast middle-distance runner to be really "elite", the strongest driver of individual times was the shooting component. Shooters requiring more than 10 shots to successfully hit five 5.0's-or-better were really hurting to run a good time, whereas at least one shooter who jogged the entire course but shot very well finished strongly in the middle of the pack.

I really encourage anyone who has any interest in this whatsoever to try holding a Target Sprint alongside another air rifle (or maybe even smallbore!) match. Juniors, adults and seniors alike all had a fantastic time - some for the competition, but most for the personal challenge. I have no idea how to sanction an "actual" ISSF event, but a just-for-fun event is great for garnering interest and, well, having fun! Official rules will be available soon through the ISSF website.


Tell me what you think - is there enough interest to hold a dedicated event sometime? Also, Hi everyone, I'm new to the forums here.

I plate part in this Target Sprint and enjoyed it very much, I must say though it would have been nice to have a few sighting shots prior to starting :p

This is Cameron just So ya know.

Also with our times being in the 10's an 11's we were not too far off from 6-7 mins considering how long it took is to sight in after the first lap.

Yeah, that was a big lesson learned - give the shooters a few warmup and zeroing shots with the same rifle they'll be shooting, so they have no excuses for missing!

Regarding the times, I suspect it will be very difficult to compare times from events on different tracks and ranges. There isn't a standard distance (in fact, the ISSF has said the distance may vary with each event), and the range procedure dictates a lot of it. Do you run right to your firing point, or do you run to the range and walk in? Et cetera.

Oh, and hi Cameron. I'd seen you drop your name and location in another post, I kind of figured as much.

I wish the runs were longer, like a couple of miles each. This sounds like fun and I would like to try it sometime.

Is that USAF Cameron or a different Cameron?

Joel

joel wrote:I wish the runs were longer, like a couple of miles each. This sounds like fun and I would like to try it sometime.

Is that USAF Cameron or a different Cameron?

Joel

lol
same Cameron,

perhaps i could see about hosting a fun one at LARR? we have the wittier narrows to run around, and i could build a set of metal targets...

just to be clear with LARR location in mind the chance of ricochet would not be desireable "to our neighbors" no matter how minimal. We would have to use Air Rifles. dont go thinking about using a 22lr for this, least at our range...

Tick off a model plane, soccer player or BMX rider or something...

I could do without the model planes buzzing about :) Air rifles would be fun.

Joel

Why bother with metal targets? The Sius targets can be used for air, and then we won't have to reset them.

I'll bring my BT-99 for the planes next time, Joel :-)

I wish had known about this event at Perry.
I would be interested in sponsoring such an event, using either the NMAR clone rifles or 10 meter guns.

The latest rules have been issued today.

David Levene wrote:The latest rules have been issued today.

Thanks David! Some highlighted differences from before, for those too busy to click:

• - 400m "approximate" running distance
  - 5-bull, 35mm knock-down targets
  - Prone position for ages 10-13
  - Age categories U14, U17, U21, U46, U61, "Senior II"; Men & Women
  - Team competition options
  - Sight-in time in prone position
  - Athletes may use their own rifles (that fall into 3 classes (Sport I/II, Precision)
  - National Federations recognized by the ISSF (i.e. USAS) can promote, sanction and supervise all Target Sprint competitions.