Skeet shooting
Encyclopedia
Skeet shooting is one of the three major types of competitive shotgun
target shooting sports (the others are trap shooting
and sporting clays
). There are several types of skeet, including one with Olympic
status (often called Olympic skeet
or international skeet), and many with only national recognition.
The firearm
of choice for this task is usually a high-quality, double-barreled over and under shotgun
with 28- or 30-inch barrels and very open chokes. Often, shooters will choose an improved cylinder choke
(one with a tighter pattern) or a skeet choke (one with a wider pattern), but this is a matter of preference. Some gun shops refer to this type of shotgun as a skeet gun. Alternatively a sporting gun or a trap gun is sometimes used. These have longer barrels (up to 34 inches) and tighter choke. Many shooters of American skeet and other national versions still use inexpensive semi-automatic
and pump-action
shotguns with great success. The use of clay targets to simulate hunting scenarios is one reason the targets are called clay pigeons.
The event is in part meant to simulate the action of bird hunting
. The shooter shoots from seven positions on a semicircle with a radius of 21 yards (19 m), and an eighth position halfway between stations 1 and 7. There are two houses that hold devices known as "traps" that launch the targets, one at each corner of the semicircle. The traps launch the targets to a point 15 feet above ground and 18 feet outside of station 8. One trap launches targets from 10 feet above the ground ("high" house) and the other launches it from 3 feet above ground ("low" house). At stations 1 and 2 the shooter shoots at single targets launched from the high house and then the low house, then shoots a double where the two targets are launched simultaneously but shooting the high house target first. At stations 3, 4, and 5 the shooter shoots at single targets launched from the high house and then the low house. At stations 6 and 7 the shooter shoots at single targets launched from the high house and then the low house, then shoots a double, shooting the low house target first then the high house target. At station 8 the shooter shoots one high target and one low target. The shooter must re-shoot his first missed target, or if no targets are missed, must shoot his 25th shell at the low house station 8. This 25th shot was once referred to as the shooter's option, as he was able to take it where he preferred. Now, to speed up rounds in competition, the shooter must shoot the low 8 twice for a perfect score.
hunter, in the 1920s as a sport called Clock Shooting. The original course was a circle with a radius of 25 yards with its circumference marked off like the face of a clock and a trap set at the 12 o’clock position. The practice of shooting from all directions had to cease, however, when a chicken farm started next door. The game evolved to its current setup by 1923 when one of the shooters, William Harnden Foster, solved the problem by placing a second trap at the 6 o’clock position and cutting the course in half. Foster quickly noticed the appeal of this kind of competition shooting, and set out to make it a national sport. The game was introduced in the February 1926 issue of National Sportsman and Hunting and Fishing magazines, and a prize of 100 dollars was offered to anyone who could come up with a name for the new sport. The winning entry was "skeet" chosen by Gertrude Hurlbutt. The word "skeet" was said to be derived from the Scandinavian word for "shoot" (skyte). During World War II
, skeet was used in the American military
to teach gunners the principle of leading and timing on a flying target.
. It has had Olympic
status since 1968, and, until 1992, was open to both sexes. After that year, all ISSF events have been open to only one sex, and so females were disallowed to compete in the Olympic skeet competitions. This was controversial because the 1992 Olympic Champion was a woman, Zhang Shan
of China
. However, women had their own World Championships
, and in 2000, a female skeet event was introduced to the Olympic program.
In Olympic skeet, there is a random delay of between 0 to 3 seconds after the shooter has called for the target. Also, the shooter must hold his gun so that the gun butt is at mid-torso level until the target appears.
Another difference with American skeet is that the sequence to complete the 25 targets in a round of Olympic skeet requires shooters to shoot at doubles, not only in stations 1, 2, 6, and 7, as in American skeet, but also on 3, 4, and 5. This includes a reverse double (low house first) on station 4. This last double was introduced in the sequence starting in 2005.
).
A full tournament is typically conducted over the course of five events. These include four events shot as described in the preceding paragraph, each with a different maximum permissible gauge
. In the usual descending order in which the events are shot, these maximum gauges are 12, 20, 28 and .410 bore
. The fifth event, usually shot first in a five event competition, is Doubles, during which a pair of targets is thrown simultaneously at stations 1 through 7, and then from station 6 back through either station 2 or 1, depending on the round. The maximum gauge permitted in Doubles is 12. Each of the five events usually consists of 100 targets (four standard boxes of ammunition). All ties in potential winning scores are broken by shoot offs, usually sudden death by station, and usually shot as doubles, from stations 3, 4 and 5. Tournament management has the right to change the shoot format with respect to the order in which events are conducted, the number of events in a given shoot, and the rules governing shoot offs.
Each event normally constitutes a separate championship. In addition, the scores in the four singles events are combined to crown a High Over All ("HOA") champion for the tournament, a coveted title. On occasion, the scores for all five events are also combined, to determine the High All Around ("HAA") champion.
The requisite use of the small bore shotguns, including the difficult .410, is a major differentiation between the American version of the sport and the International version. Some would argue that it makes the American version at least as difficult as the International version, though perhaps at greater expense, given the necessity of one or more guns capable of shooting in all events. The most popular and effective solution to the multiple gun requirement is a two barrel, over & under shotgun, commonly a 12 gauge with a mechanical trigger, which can accept full length machined tubes or shorter chamber inserts
, which permit the gun to shoot all gauges and the .410 bore.
So effective is the tubed gun solution that perfect scores are often required to win the open title in individual events, and combined scores of 395 to 400 may be required to win the open HOA in a major shoot, depending on the weather (though a perfect score of 400 remains a rare and noteworthy event). For example, the HOA title at the 2007 U.S. Open tournament, shot in Albuquerque, New Mexico
between September 6 and 9, was won in a shoot off between two competitors, each of whom shot a combined score of 399 out of a possible 400.
Recognizing that a high level of perfection is beyond the skill, interest, or time available to most shooters, NSSA competitions are subdivided into several classes, each based on the average score shot over the last 500 targets fired upon, in each of the five events, prior to any given competition. This permits shooters of roughly equal ability at the relevant point in time to compete against each other for the individual and HOA titles in their class.
Other national versions of skeet (e.g. English skeet) typically make similar changes to the rules to make them easier.
US State Associations
US Zone Associations
Shooting Related Sites
Shotgun
A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...
target shooting sports (the others are trap shooting
Trap shooting
Trap shooting is one of the three major forms of competitive clay pigeon shooting . The others are skeet shooting and sporting clays. There are many versions including Olympic trap, Double trap , Down-The-Line, and Nordic trap. American trap is most popular in the United States and Canada...
and sporting clays
Sporting Clays
Sporting clays is a form of clay pigeon shooting, often described as "golf with a shotgun" because a typical course includes from 10 to 15 different shooting stations laid out over natural terrain...
). There are several types of skeet, including one with Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
status (often called Olympic skeet
Olympic Skeet
Skeet is a variant of skeet shooting, and the specific variant used in the Olympic Games. Two throwing machines at different heights launch a series of 25 targets in a specific order, some as singles and some as doubles, with the shooter having a fixed position between them. Men's competitions...
or international skeet), and many with only national recognition.
General principles
Skeet is a recreational and competitive activity where participants attempt to break clay disks flung into the air at high speed from a variety of angles. For the American version of the game, the clay discs are 4 5/16 inches (109.54mm) in diameter, 1 1/8 inches (28.57mm) thick, and fly a distance of 60 yards (+/- 2 yards). The international version of skeet uses a target that is slightly larger in diameter (110mm vs 109.54mm), thinner in cross section (25mm vs. 28.57mm), and has a thicker dome center, making it harder to break. International targets are also thrown a longer distance from similar heights (over 70 yards), resulting in a faster target speed.The firearm
Firearm
A firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...
of choice for this task is usually a high-quality, double-barreled over and under shotgun
Double-barreled shotgun
A double-barreled shotgun is a shotgun or combination gun with two parallel barrels, allowing two shots to be fired in quick succession.-Construction:...
with 28- or 30-inch barrels and very open chokes. Often, shooters will choose an improved cylinder choke
Choke (firearms)
In firearms, a choke is a tapered constriction of the gun barrel's bore at the muzzle end, almost always used with shotguns. The purpose is to decrease the spread of the shot in order to gain better range and accuracy....
(one with a tighter pattern) or a skeet choke (one with a wider pattern), but this is a matter of preference. Some gun shops refer to this type of shotgun as a skeet gun. Alternatively a sporting gun or a trap gun is sometimes used. These have longer barrels (up to 34 inches) and tighter choke. Many shooters of American skeet and other national versions still use inexpensive semi-automatic
Semi-automatic shotgun
A semi-automatic shotgun is a form of shotgun that is able to fire a cartridge after every trigger squeeze, without any manual chambering of another round being required...
and pump-action
Pump-action
A pump-action rifle or shotgun is one in which the handgrip can be pumped back and forth in order to eject a spent round of ammunition and to chamber a fresh one. It is much faster than a bolt-action and somewhat faster than a lever-action, as it does not require the trigger hand to be removed from...
shotguns with great success. The use of clay targets to simulate hunting scenarios is one reason the targets are called clay pigeons.
The event is in part meant to simulate the action of bird hunting
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
. The shooter shoots from seven positions on a semicircle with a radius of 21 yards (19 m), and an eighth position halfway between stations 1 and 7. There are two houses that hold devices known as "traps" that launch the targets, one at each corner of the semicircle. The traps launch the targets to a point 15 feet above ground and 18 feet outside of station 8. One trap launches targets from 10 feet above the ground ("high" house) and the other launches it from 3 feet above ground ("low" house). At stations 1 and 2 the shooter shoots at single targets launched from the high house and then the low house, then shoots a double where the two targets are launched simultaneously but shooting the high house target first. At stations 3, 4, and 5 the shooter shoots at single targets launched from the high house and then the low house. At stations 6 and 7 the shooter shoots at single targets launched from the high house and then the low house, then shoots a double, shooting the low house target first then the high house target. At station 8 the shooter shoots one high target and one low target. The shooter must re-shoot his first missed target, or if no targets are missed, must shoot his 25th shell at the low house station 8. This 25th shot was once referred to as the shooter's option, as he was able to take it where he preferred. Now, to speed up rounds in competition, the shooter must shoot the low 8 twice for a perfect score.
History
Skeet shooting was invented by Wlliam Harden Foster, an avid grouseGrouse
Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes. They are sometimes considered a family Tetraonidae, though the American Ornithologists' Union and many others include grouse as a subfamily Tetraoninae in the family Phasianidae...
hunter, in the 1920s as a sport called Clock Shooting. The original course was a circle with a radius of 25 yards with its circumference marked off like the face of a clock and a trap set at the 12 o’clock position. The practice of shooting from all directions had to cease, however, when a chicken farm started next door. The game evolved to its current setup by 1923 when one of the shooters, William Harnden Foster, solved the problem by placing a second trap at the 6 o’clock position and cutting the course in half. Foster quickly noticed the appeal of this kind of competition shooting, and set out to make it a national sport. The game was introduced in the February 1926 issue of National Sportsman and Hunting and Fishing magazines, and a prize of 100 dollars was offered to anyone who could come up with a name for the new sport. The winning entry was "skeet" chosen by Gertrude Hurlbutt. The word "skeet" was said to be derived from the Scandinavian word for "shoot" (skyte). During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, skeet was used in the American military
Military of the United States
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
to teach gunners the principle of leading and timing on a flying target.
Olympic skeet
Olympic and international skeet is one of the ISSF shooting eventsISSF shooting events
The International Shooting Sport Federation recognizes several shooting events, some of which have Olympic status. They are divided into four disciplines: rifle, pistol, shotgun and running target....
. It has had Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
status since 1968, and, until 1992, was open to both sexes. After that year, all ISSF events have been open to only one sex, and so females were disallowed to compete in the Olympic skeet competitions. This was controversial because the 1992 Olympic Champion was a woman, Zhang Shan
Zhang Shan
Zhang Shan is a Chinese sports shooter and Olympic Champion. She won the gold medal in the Olympic Skeet Shooting event at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona....
of China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. However, women had their own World Championships
ISSF World Shooting Championships
The ISSF World Shooting Championships are governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation. World Shooting Championships began in 1897, after the successful 1896 Summer Olympics, and although the ISSF was not founded until 1907, these early competitions are still seen by the organization as...
, and in 2000, a female skeet event was introduced to the Olympic program.
In Olympic skeet, there is a random delay of between 0 to 3 seconds after the shooter has called for the target. Also, the shooter must hold his gun so that the gun butt is at mid-torso level until the target appears.
Another difference with American skeet is that the sequence to complete the 25 targets in a round of Olympic skeet requires shooters to shoot at doubles, not only in stations 1, 2, 6, and 7, as in American skeet, but also on 3, 4, and 5. This includes a reverse double (low house first) on station 4. This last double was introduced in the sequence starting in 2005.
Nationally recognized versions: The US and the UK national variants of the sport
American skeet is administered by the National Skeet Shooting Association (NSSA). The targets are shot in a different order and are slower than in Olympic skeet. There is also no delay after the shooter has called for them, and the shooter may do this with the gun held "up", i.e. pre-mounted on the shoulder (as is allowed in trap shootingTrap shooting
Trap shooting is one of the three major forms of competitive clay pigeon shooting . The others are skeet shooting and sporting clays. There are many versions including Olympic trap, Double trap , Down-The-Line, and Nordic trap. American trap is most popular in the United States and Canada...
).
A full tournament is typically conducted over the course of five events. These include four events shot as described in the preceding paragraph, each with a different maximum permissible gauge
Gauge (bore diameter)
The gauge of a firearm is a unit of measurement used to express the diameter of the barrel. Gauge is determined from the weight of a solid sphere of lead that will fit the bore of the firearm, and is expressed as the multiplicative inverse of the sphere's weight as a fraction of a pound . Thus...
. In the usual descending order in which the events are shot, these maximum gauges are 12, 20, 28 and .410 bore
.410 bore
.410 bore, commonly misnamed the .410 gauge, is the smallest gauge of shotgun shell commonly available. It has similar base dimensions to the .45 Colt revolver cartridge, though the .410 is significantly longer, up to , allowing many single-shot firearms and some revolvers chambered in that...
. The fifth event, usually shot first in a five event competition, is Doubles, during which a pair of targets is thrown simultaneously at stations 1 through 7, and then from station 6 back through either station 2 or 1, depending on the round. The maximum gauge permitted in Doubles is 12. Each of the five events usually consists of 100 targets (four standard boxes of ammunition). All ties in potential winning scores are broken by shoot offs, usually sudden death by station, and usually shot as doubles, from stations 3, 4 and 5. Tournament management has the right to change the shoot format with respect to the order in which events are conducted, the number of events in a given shoot, and the rules governing shoot offs.
Each event normally constitutes a separate championship. In addition, the scores in the four singles events are combined to crown a High Over All ("HOA") champion for the tournament, a coveted title. On occasion, the scores for all five events are also combined, to determine the High All Around ("HAA") champion.
The requisite use of the small bore shotguns, including the difficult .410, is a major differentiation between the American version of the sport and the International version. Some would argue that it makes the American version at least as difficult as the International version, though perhaps at greater expense, given the necessity of one or more guns capable of shooting in all events. The most popular and effective solution to the multiple gun requirement is a two barrel, over & under shotgun, commonly a 12 gauge with a mechanical trigger, which can accept full length machined tubes or shorter chamber inserts
Caliber conversion sleeve
A caliber conversion sleeve is a device which can be used to non-permanently alter a firearm to allow it to fire a different cartridge than the one it was originally designed to...
, which permit the gun to shoot all gauges and the .410 bore.
So effective is the tubed gun solution that perfect scores are often required to win the open title in individual events, and combined scores of 395 to 400 may be required to win the open HOA in a major shoot, depending on the weather (though a perfect score of 400 remains a rare and noteworthy event). For example, the HOA title at the 2007 U.S. Open tournament, shot in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...
between September 6 and 9, was won in a shoot off between two competitors, each of whom shot a combined score of 399 out of a possible 400.
Recognizing that a high level of perfection is beyond the skill, interest, or time available to most shooters, NSSA competitions are subdivided into several classes, each based on the average score shot over the last 500 targets fired upon, in each of the five events, prior to any given competition. This permits shooters of roughly equal ability at the relevant point in time to compete against each other for the individual and HOA titles in their class.
Other national versions of skeet (e.g. English skeet) typically make similar changes to the rules to make them easier.
See also
- Clay pigeon shootingClay pigeon shootingClay pigeon shooting, also known as clay target shooting, and formally known as Inanimate Bird Shooting, is the art of shooting at special flying targets, known as clay pigeons or clay targets, with a shotgun or any type of firearm....
- U.S. intercollegiate skeet championships.
External links
National Associations- National Skeet Shooting Association (US)
- Clay Pigeon Shooting Association (UK)
- New Zealand Clay Target Association
- Australian Clay Target Association
US State Associations
- North Carolina Skeet Shooting Association (US)
- Mississippi Skeet Shooting Association (US)
- New Jersey Skeet Shooting Association (US)
US Zone Associations
Shooting Related Sites
- Downloadable Video Shooting Tips
- Find Skeet Clubs near you
- Get answers to your Skeet questions from the Pros
- Latest Skeet Competitions, Scores and Results
- ClaySportsOnline: shooting forum
- TrapSites: Club and shooter listings with forum
- Sporting clays on a Skeet field
- Skeet, trap, and sporting clay club locator (U.S.)
- ShootingWiki.org (International)
- Chilean skeet club
- skeet site and forum
- NLMCTC Skeet club