Hitting the Target

Although initially each shooter will concentrate at becoming familiar with the weapon, the eventual goal is to hit the target accurately and consistently.

Shooters with the ATC will typically be firing one of the following four practices:

Grouping:	The firer selects a single aiming point on the target and fires a number of rounds at that point.  The aim is for all the rounds to fall as close to the aim point as possible and it is measured as the diameter of a circle encompassing all of the holes in the target. Grouping practice is excellent for concentrating on perfecting your technique. There is no limit to how long the shooter may take when firing groupings.
Deliberate Fire:	This practice is fired at a target with marked, concentric scoring rings. The shooter aims at the centre of the target with the intention of placing the shot as near to the centre as possible.  The shooter's score is marked depending on how near to the centre of the target they manage to get. Common targets for application shooting are a large, single target or a card with 5 or 10 separate targets marked on it. When firing at a card with multiple targets, the shooter will aim to place one or two rounds on each of the targets. The shooter can take as long as they like to make the shots as the goal is optimum accuracy.
Rapid:	All that is required is that the shooter gets the round within the target area. However, they now have a time limit - for instance they may be required to fire 10 rounds in 40 seconds on a No.8 rifle and that really isn't too easy.
Snap:	Again, all the shooter needs to do is get the rounds to fall within the target area. However, the targets only appear for a short time before vanishing again and the shooter must typically hit the target with two rounds whilst it is visible. A snap practice might be for the target to appear and disappear 5 times, each time for 5 seconds. It will appear at random intervals so the shooter cannot anticipate the  target.

 

"Hitting the Target" (2003). Retrieved 05 March 2004 from The Air Cadet organisation Website Web site:
http://www.aircadets.org/hittingtarget.html
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