HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHAT HANDICAP BY DISTANCE IS ALL ABOUT?

The East Midlands CPSA is going to stage as far as I know its first ever Handicap by Distance Championship at Nottingham on the 7^th of June 2009.

If like me you would like to know a bit about how to shoot it and what it involves you would go an ask someone in the know, so that’s what I have done and here it is for you,I hope those of you that have never given this variation of DTL a try will support us by coming along and giving it ago.

 

A GUIDE TO SHOOTING HANDICAP-BY-DISTANCE DTL

 

This DTL variant is undoubtedly the least widespread in Great Britain, appearing only in County, Regional, & National Championships. It is a mutant form of DTL designed to even out the difference in the classes by placing those in the lowest class nearest to the trap, with each class being placed successively 2 yards further away until the highest class (AA) is standing at the maximum distance 23 yards behind the trap. Whether or not the technique works as a leveller is open to doubt, as the younger A & AA top shooters invariably come through as usual; it does, however, create a degree of interest and can be an enjoyable change to the normal DTL discipline.

 

The dividing lines between the classes compared to the normal DTL distance of 16 yards behind the trap for all classes are as follows:

 

Class AA: 23 yards behind the trap,    Class A: 21 yards behind the trap,   Class B:   19 yards behind the trap,    Class C:  17 yards behind the trap.

 

Unclassified competitors shoot their first 50 targets from the 21 yard mark, and are then reclassified on the club computer and shoot their final 50 targets from the distance of their newly allocated class

 

Obviously classes are squadded together, so there is no chance of dangerous mayhem being created by the mixing of the classes within squads. Techniques are very similar to those in standard DTL, with the class C shooter scarcely noticing any difference. However, when the shooter gets out to the class A or AA distances, the targets become progressively more demanding with a need for greater concentration and awareness. Even the quickest shooter is going to find himself confronted with a target in the order of 40 plus yards for the first shot, while the wider angles will become noticeably different. The extra ranges encountered by the upper-class shooters effectively discourage the use of the smaller number 8 shot size, and most shooters will be well advised to stick to the larger 7 or 7.1/2 shot size once they have graduated to the 21 and 23 yards distances. It may also be advisable for competitors in the AA class who have trap guns with interchangeable chokes to screw in the tightest chokes in their box, the scoring is the same as normal DTL 3 points for a first barrel, 2 points or a second barrel, and 0 for a loss,this is a challenging variation to DTL.