gavindublin wrote: »

Any chance you can talk us bunny bashers thru whats going on in your pic??

Well, that's me after shooting one of the shots in the final of the 50m prone competition. The screen on the right shows my target since the target system I was shooting at is a mesh of laser beams that plots where the bullet passes through. Instant accurate feedback, and good for spectators. I'm glad the photo was taken at that time since I had just shot a 10.9 which is the highest possible score value.

You might have also spotted another screen forward of the firing line. This is a home-made setup in the Isle of Man to allow the competitors to see where they are in relation to each other during the final. It was a bit bodged together, since it was just an Excel spreadsheet and you could see them typing the score in, but it was useful and a hell of a lot cheaper than the rigs used for World Cups.

The way the competition works is that you shoot the qualification round which is 15 minutes for as many sighting shots as you want and then 60 shots in 50 minutes. In bigger competitions there are elimination details run the day before to cut the numbers down so that everyone shoots their qualification at the same time. Once everyone has finished shooting their qualification match, the top 8 go forward to shoot the final and that's a little more complicated.

For the final, it works like this:

• 8 minutes preparation and sighting time
• pause as the commentator introduces all the shooters
• 3 shots in 100 seconds
• 3 shots in 100 seconds
• 1 shot in 30 seconds
• 1 shot in 30 seconds - 8th place is eliminated
• 1 shot in 30 seconds
• 1 shot in 30 seconds - 7th place is eliminated
• 1 shot in 30 seconds
• 1 shot in 30 seconds - 6th place is eliminated
• 1 shot in 30 seconds
• 1 shot in 30 seconds - 5th place is eliminated
• 1 shot in 30 seconds
• 1 shot in 30 seconds - 4th place is eliminated
• 1 shot in 30 seconds
• 1 shot in 30 seconds - bronze medallist is eliminated
• 1 shot in 30 seconds
• 1 shot in 30 seconds - gold and silver medallists are decided

After each 3 shots series or single shot the commentator tells the audience who's doing well and who's in danger of elimination. It can be tough when the commentator is telling you (and everyone else) that you're being caught by someone behind you who is shooting well!

Here's an example of a final being run at the World Cup in Munich last year (with one of our moderators in the audience ):



Unfortunately it's talked over by the ISSF TV commentator who isn't quite as good as the range commentator you can hear in the background.

Anything else you'd like to know? If anyone's interested I'm more than happy to answer questions or find some suitable time to get some gear together for people to try it out.