Article 2 – 2014

Question: I have heard rumours that “Sporting Clays” is back on the agenda for the ISSF to introduce as a new clay target event at their World Championships and the Olympic Games. Is it true and what stage are they at with this?

Peter Alderton, Mildura VIC

Answer: The International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) had their annual meeting in November 2013 in and it was decided that at this stage there would be no new event introduced onto their calendar in the short term. There was discussion about modifying the existing event of Double Trap and a new event was actually trialed in Cyprus prior to this meeting with over 30 shooters taking part. This new event was only a revamped version of the current Double Trap event and in my honest opinion it looked terrible. The ISSF no doubt are worried about the worldwide decline of the Double Trap event, but are not interested in experimenting with any completely new events that do not incorporate any of the existing target machines that are available on a trap range. This very much limits the introduction of the format of a new event and if a new event is formulated it would not in any way replicate “Sporting Clays”.

If there was a new event introduced it would mean that Double Trap would be deleted from the current program of events, but any additional event would only be a male only event as there is no room for any more shooters to be added to the overall shooting competitors allowed to participate at the Olympic Games. As sexist as that is it will be the way it remains in the foreseeable future. The only way any new event clay target event could be introduced with both female and male athletes would be if a Pistol or Rifle event was sacrificed. Politically that would take some doing. Again this is just my opinion, but I would be willing to wager it is correct. I have said many times that if I owned the ISSF I would delete Double Trap and introduce a “Sporting Clays” five stand type of event that could be superimposed over the top of a Skeet field without actually using the Skeet machines. I would estimate their would be at least half a million potential sporting shooters worldwide just waiting to try an event that could lead them to the Olympic Games. At this stage that is still just a dream.

Question: I notice that the for end on my field gun is different than the one on my trap gun. It is skinnier and has a contoured end. My trap gun has a very thick round for end. Does it make any difference to the way the gun performs?

Errol Patterson, Bendigo VIC

Answer: Errol without actually seeing the for ends it is hard for me to give you an accurate answer, but by what you are describing you have a “beaver tail” for end on your field gun and a standard trap or rounded for end on your trap gum. This is totally normal and the real difference is only cosmetic. Trap shooters tend to like thicker for ends because it lets them grip the gun without having their thumbs touch the barrel, which tends to get very hot after many repetitive shots.