Backyard Marksmanship

This should get your heart beating. I’ve always said that one of the best things about shooting is that it’s a very laid-back sport, with not much physical exercise involved. This match is an exception. By the time it’s over you’ll have run about 200m - but don’t stop reading, because it’s in four relatively easy 50m stages.

The firing line is 5m from the target. The stopwatch is somewhere handy at the firing line - on a table, or taped to a wall, whatever. Your pellet trap is set up as usual, but with no target. All 5 skittles are somewhere close to the pellet trap, but not actually in the firing line - when I tried the match out I had all 5 skittles lined up on top of the trap, ready to pick up. I also suggest you have some kind of platform set up a couple of inches in front of the pellet trap, to put the skittles on - I used an empty cereal packet. This is partly to give you a safety margin if you shoot a bit low, and partly so that the skittles can fall down the back out of the way when you shoot them.

As I said, when you start the match there are no skittles set up - the target zone is empty. Your gun is somewhere close by, but not in your hands - it can be holstered, on the floor, on a table, stuffed down your belt, or whatever you’re comfortable with. When you’re ready, start the stopwatch with your shooting hand. Proceed to the pellet trap as fast as possible - for most people, I suggest the “running” technique, as used in some other sports. Grab one of the skittles and set it up on the platform in front of the pellet trap. Get back to the firing line as fast as possible, turn and shoot at the skittle. As soon as you’ve hit it (it’s not necessary to knock it over, just as long as you’re sure you’ve hit it) rush downrange to the pellet trap and replace the skittle with another one, then return to the firing line and shoot again. Repeat this process until you’ve shot all five skittles. As soon as you’ve hit the last skittle, stop the stopwatch with your shooting hand, having first put your gun down or transferred it to your non-shooting hand. You’ve just shot your first frame. Take a breather, write down the time shown on your stopwatch, reload your gun and set things up the way they were at the start. Shoot another three frames just like the first one, taking note of the time it takes to complete each one. You must complete all four frames within an hour of starting the first one.

Click on the links below to go to the score submission guestbook for this postal match.

The skittles that we're using for this match are the same type of "BYM Standard Skittles" as we used for the recent Airgun Bowling match. Get some of those cardboard tubes from used toilet rolls and stuff the bottom half of each one with paper, for added stability. Toilet roll tubes seem to be more or less the same size whatever brand you use. You might want to seal the bottom with tape or something to prevent the paper from falling out at an awkward moment.

If you’re going to be running up and down the range with a gun in your hand, please remember to act safely. Keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to shoot, and keep your gun pointed in a safe direction at all times (Note: When Stuart first ran this match, I the best method for me was by holding the gun, muzzle down, in my left hand while I was in front of the firing line; if you have a good fast holster, that would work just as well). If you shoot this match at home, I strongly recommend you make sure any pets or family members are kept out of the way - because you don’t want to hurt your pets or look stupid in front of your family ;-)

Although this is technically an air pistol match, feel free to try your luck with anything else you’ve got - air rifles, cartridge firing pistols or whatever. This match is open to anything from catapults to assault rifles - as long as you’re sure you can shoot whatever you’ve got safely!