The Shooter blog
Guides for target shooters: choosing and setting up your gun, grip and positions, technique, training at home, reading your groups, licences and competing.
Cleaning and maintaining an air rifle or air pistol
An airgun needs little: wipe it after shooting, clean the barrel from the breech when groups open or on the maker’s interval, oil almost nothing and never with a petroleum oil, take the CO2 capsule out, and treat the PCP cylinder as the manual says.Fitting an air pistol grip: size, angle, putty and the rules
Take the largest grip your hand can use, set its angle so the barrel runs straight into your arm, rasp off wood and fill the gaps, and keep it inside the ISSF drawing: wrist free, no compressible material, the horn no longer than 40 mm.How to sight in an air pistol: clicks, groups and sight width
Shoot a group of five or ten, find its centre, divide the offset by your pistol’s click value from the manual, turn the screws the way the manual says, and shoot another group.How to start shooting 10 m air pistol
Find a club, book a try-out and shoot its pistols for a season before you buy; the first months are groups and sights, the first goal a badge, and in Sweden the air pistol is the first step on the road to a firearm pistol.10 m air pistol equipment: shoes, glasses, blinder and the rules
Besides the pistol, a 10 m shooter needs little: flat low-sided shoes, glasses with a blinder for the other eye, pellets and a box, a trigger weight to check the 500 g, and nothing of the rifle shooter’s clothing.Spring, CO2, PCP, single-stroke and match air pistols
Air pistols are named after what pushes the pellet — a spring, a CO2 capsule, one stroke of a lever, or a cylinder of compressed air — and today’s match pistols are the last of those, built to the ISSF table with a 500 g trigger.Your first air pistol competition
Start with a club or postal match, pack the pistol in its box with the card and a trigger weight, use the 15 minutes of sighters, shoot the 60 shots to the commands, and read the result list before you read your nerves.Match air pistols: choosing your first for 10 m
Shoot the club’s pistol for a season, then buy a compressed-air match pistol built to the ISSF table, new for the warranty and the fit or used with the cylinder’s date, the seals and a test group checked, and never a plinker sold as a target pistol.The pistol disciplines after 10 m air pistol
After the air pistol come the ISSF’s 25 m events — sport, rapid-fire, standard and centre-fire pistol — and 50 m pistol, then each country’s own: Sweden’s precision and fält, Germany’s large-calibre events, France’s 25 m, Britain’s 20 yd and 50 m leagues, America’s bullseye.Sight picture and sight alignment: how to aim with iron sights
Line the sights up with each other first, then put them on the target, with your eye on the front sight: a sight out of line costs more than a wobble.Eye dominance in shooting: which eye to aim with
Find your dominant eye with a quick test and aim with it if you can; if it is on the other side from your shooting hand, screen it, bring it to the sights or switch sides.Natural point of aim: let your body point the gun
Natural point of aim is where the gun points when you settle and relax: find it with your eyes closed, then move your body, never the arm alone, until it sits on your aim.One-handed pistol stance and grip for target shooting
Stand turned well away from the target, feet about shoulder width apart, arm and wrist locked without strain and the free hand parked, and grip the pistol the same way every shot.How to hold a gun steady: the wobble, and why it is normal
No hold is ever still: let bone carry the weight, fire in the first seconds after the hold settles, and train until the wobble is small.Breathing when shooting: when to stop, and for how long
Stop breathing only to aim and fire, at most 8 to 10 seconds for a single shot: a rifle shooter in the relaxed pause after a breath out, a pistol shooter with the breath timed to the lift.Trigger control: pressing the shot without moving the sights
Trigger control is firing without moving the sights: only the finger moves, straight back, with pressure that builds through the steady part of your hold.Follow-through in shooting: hold on, then call the shot
Keep aim, breath, hold and trigger going until the shot has left and the gun has settled, about two seconds for a rifle shot, and call where it went before you look.How to stop flinching when shooting: catch it, then train it out
A flinch is bracing for the bang before the shot has gone: prove it on an empty chamber or a dummy round, then train it out dry, with better ear protection and less recoil.The pistol correction chart: why you shoot low and left
The pistol correction chart for both hands: where it came from, and why a wedge only suggests what to check, while calling your shots and ball and dummy test it.Air rifle and air pistol pellets: 4.5 or 5.5 mm, and which shape
How to choose the calibre, shape, head size and weight of your pellets, and how to test them from a rest until your groups close up.Air rifle and air pistol power: joules, ft-lb and accuracy
How to work out muzzle energy from a pellet’s weight and speed, convert joules, ft-lb, grains and fps, and why a more powerful rifle is not a more accurate one.Training at home with an air rifle or air pistol
Dry fire and hold where your gun’s maker allows it; shoot live only where the law allows, into a rated trap with safety glasses on; log what you trained.Spring, gas ram, PCP, CO2 and match air rifles
How each kind of air rifle makes its shot, how it feels and repeats, and which suits the garden, field target or the 10 m range.How to start shooting 10 m air rifle
Start at a club on borrowed equipment, learn on the bench and then standing, and spend money only once you know you will stay.Choosing your first air rifle
Decide what you will shoot before you buy, try a club’s rifle first, and check a used rifle’s cylinder date, seals, barrel and fit.Standing, kneeling, prone: air rifle positions and technique
Build a position that points at the target by itself and rests on bone, then fire every shot the same way: breath, trigger, follow-through.Air rifle equipment beyond the rifle
Borrow what can be shared, buy a glove first, and leave the jacket, trousers, shooting shoes and your own rifle until you know you will stay.Your first air rifle competition
Start with a club or postal match, learn the commands and the kit check before the day, and treat nerves and the result as part of your training.Reading your shot groups
Measure a group’s size before its place, move the sights only for a tight group off the centre, and judge progress over weeks, not one card.Gun licence for sport shooting in Australia
A handgun licence for target shooting in Australia needs an approved club, about six months before a first handgun, and a minimum of club matches every year, set by each state and territory.Gun licence for sport shooting in Belgium
To shoot firearms, a Belgian sport shooter needs a Community sport-shooter licence, kept with 12 sessions a year, and a governor’s permit for one subject to authorisation outside the sport-gun list.Gun licence for sport shooting in Brazil
A sport shooter in Brazil needs a CAC registration from the Polícia Federal and eight club trainings or competitions a year with each type of gun; owning firearms starts at 25.Gun licence for sport shooting in Canada
A Canadian sport shooter needs a PAL after the safety course, restricted privileges after a second course, and an ATT to an approved range; since 21 October 2022 handguns are frozen, with exemptions.Gun licence for sport shooting in Denmark
A pistol in Denmark needs age 20 and two years as an active shooting member of a club, confirmed by the chairman; the police’s consent to the club’s endorsement lasts five years.Gun licence for sport shooting in France
A catégorie B sport gun in France needs an FFTir licence, three controlled sessions for the FFTir’s avis préalable, and a five-year authorisation from the préfet.Gun licence for sport shooting in Germany
A German sport shooter needs a Waffenbesitzkarte and a Bedürfnis certified by a recognised association after 12 months of regular club shooting, and the need is checked again every five years.Gun licence for sport shooting in Italy
Italy sets no activity requirement for sport shooters: the five-year sport licence needs a medical certificate and proof of handling skill, and you may hold three common and twelve sport guns.Gun licence for sport shooting in the Netherlands
A Dutch verlof for sport shooting needs a year in a certified club and 18 shooting sessions in 12 months; it lasts a year and is extended on the same 18.Gun licence for sport shooting in New Zealand
A New Zealand firearms licence needs vetting and inspected storage; pistols also need a pistol target shooting endorsement and at least 10 club shooting days a year.Gun licence for sport shooting in Norway
A pistol licence in Norway needs six months in an approved shooting organisation, its safety course and 10 organised trainings or competitions in the six months before each application.Gun licence for sport shooting in Sweden
A new handgun licence in Sweden needs six months’ club activity averaging twice a month and a skill badge; since 1 June 2026, new licences are not time-limited.Gun licence for sport shooting in Switzerland
Acquiring most guns needs a Waffenerwerbsschein or a contract; a centre-fire semi-automatic with a large magazine needs an Ausnahmebewilligung, kept with proof of shooting after 5 and 10 years.Gun licence for sport shooting in Türkiye
A sport firearm in Türkiye is held on a five-year bulundurma ruhsatı (possession licence) from age 21; at ranges, matches and training it may be used only with a valid amateur athlete’s licence.Gun licence for sport shooting in the United Kingdom
In Great Britain a target rifle needs a firearm certificate and approved-club membership, and pistols under 30 cm barrel or 60 cm overall are banned; Northern Ireland still licenses target pistols.Gun licence for sport shooting in the United States
The United States has no federal gun licence: a dealer runs a NICS check on every sale, and 14 states and the District of Columbia add a licence, permit or certificate of their own.