Bell Target Shooting.

[zooma]

One of our club members is attempting to make a couple of Bell Targets for us and we think this will be good fun and a nice altenative to paper punching.

We live in an area where there is no active Bell Target shooting so a bit of advice from any regular Bell Target shooters would be welcomed.

We know the target is shot at either 6 yards or 7 yards, and we think each shooter has either 5 or 6 shots - but but that is just about all the knowledge we have!

Can anyone let us have a bit more info please?

We are guessing each shooter completes their 5 or 6 shots and then the next competitor has a go?

How many times does each shooter get to take these shots in a typical match?

How many shooters are in each team?

Anything else we need to know?

Thanks in advance for any help - and if anyone has a good Bell Target we can see or copy it would help us a fair bit - even a broken one would be helpful.

[tufty]

Check out the bell target shooting on the BBC thread,should give you a good idea of what you need

[Jimlad]

Hi

I suppose that there are variations on the rules throughout the Bell Target Leagues, but in The Bridgend & District air Rifle League, six teams based in South Wales we compete as follows,

League Teams shoot on a home and away basis

League teams consist of ten members, to allow the introduction of novice or new members we score the top seven scores for the result. This also allows teams that are not so strong in numbers to field a team of 7 or more.

Shooters shoot 8 shots alternately, ie ( just like a darts match only one dart at a time) at a distance of seven yards, from a free standing position with out the aid of palm grips, slings, or magnified sights, the first shot doe’s not count (sighter). Eyesight correctional lenses are permitted.

The Target is a 5 inch steel disc with a 3/8th of an inch hole drilled in the centre, ( bell behind) and rings engraved at distances of one inch from the centre, the target is painted white with a mixture of Titanium white artist oil paint and a little 3 in 1 oil to stop it from drying out during the match. If a shot imprint cuts the line or the edge of the hole we score up, if a shot goes through the hole with out leaving a mark, ringing the bell we add a further .1 of a mark to the shooters score. Hence the maximum score obtainable is 35.7. a shot between the hole and the next line = 4, and the next = 3 etc. The target is painted out after every shot leaving the next shooter with a clean target.

The rifles in use at present are
Fienwerkbau 300s, 600 series, 70, 700. Original 75, Walther LGR to the present day models and various models of Anschutz, for the youngsters we use AA 200 target models and AA MPR400s.
All low powered target rifles.

The League also runs knockout cup matches pairs matches and individual competitions throughout the season.

All League members are fully insured for personal and third party insurance.

Hope this helps

Jim

[zooma]

Thanks Jim,

That is a great help.

Please check to see if I have understood correctly:-

So.... we have a team of 10, the first shooter takes one shot, and then the first shooter from the rival team takes one shot - followed by the second member of the first team and so on alternating until every member of both teams has had 8 shots - right?

Then at the end of the match the top 7 scores from each team is added to find the total for each team? The lowest 3 scores from each team on the night are not counted.

The complete match is shot on just the one bell target?

I am guesing you have a score book with 10 scores beside every shooter at each match. Are these scores recorded by the teams themselves, or do you have a referee?

Is there such a thing as a postal league so those of us that have no close neighbours to shoot against can still have some sort of competition - other than individual or pairs mathes between our own club members?

[zooma]

Check out the bell target shooting on the BBC thread,should give you a good idea of what you need

Thanks Tufty,

I will check - but this was not shown in our region, so I may not be able to see it.

[markmac]

Interesting post.

Bell target shooting looks like a very good opportunity to hone your shooting skills during the winter period (Doesn't rain indoors and no chilling wind )

What rifles / sights etc.. do you use?

[Jimlad]

Hi Zooma

No not quite, each team has a first man they sit either side of a table near the ocky, they toss a coin to see who goe's first, then the first shooter takes a shot ( sighter) then the opposition shooter takes their sighter, the they each alternatively take their remaining shots until both shooters have shot seven counting shots. then the second members of each team carries on the same, and so on until the match has finished,
each member of the team shoots shot for shot with a member of the opposition.

Match scoring is done by one member from each team, if they cannot agree the captain from each team is called up if they cannot agree the shot is called up. In Cup finals we usually have a neutral scorer and range where possible. The sights we use are tunnel foresights with a clear plastic iris, and the rear sights are open dioptre, (All rifles are .177 low powered match rifles)

Link to website although a little out of date as our website manager emigrated to New Zealand :~ www.badarl.co.uk
Jim

Here is a cross section of the rifles we use :~

[zooma]

OK - now I get it.

Thanks for clarifying the small details for me Jim - now we know how to do it!

[edbear2]

Have a read...

http://www.belltarget.com/

Our league uses full power recoiling (springer) rifles.....open (iron) sights only, think HW97 / TX200 / etc. no aids of any sort, no full match type stocks, etc. etc. 90% of the guns are "out of the box" but there is a league template for shape, so small mods are allowed, this is my comp gun, a early Mk3 TX with stock add on, Adj. butt plate, and home made sights plus rowan set back and lazerglide internals. It is fairly representative of about as far as you can go to personalise a gun within the rules.

The white sticker on the back is the legality mark...all guns are presented pre season to the league officials for both serial registration, shape legality, and for chrono testing to ensure sub 12 ft pounds (normally max is insisted on around 11.4 for a good margin of safety). the is a league standard pellet which all must use (AA field) which of course is a domed pellet.....flat heads are out of the question as they do not leave the required central strike mark which is necessary for accurate marking.

Our targets are "tight" at 8mm, and we only get 5 shots (you are allowed two sighters before the ones that score). teams are ten shooters with reserves.....The reserves come into play if people cannot make it, or score badly as the reserves shoot at the end of a match and their scores are recorded.

What has not been mentioned is the stress encountered by the people shooting at the end of a match, as with alternating teams shooting, the scores slowly build up, and the "last man in" (normally the captain), very often has the match at stake!......often matches are won / lost with the last shot, and winning / losing by one point, or draws are not uncommon, as are "possibles"........ie. 5 bulls in competition conditions.....and we are talking often crowded, dark and noisy small village pubs, where there are distractions not many 6 meter match people could cope with......every team venue is different!

I like to think that our rules are as close to the original concept and spirit as you can get, without using gas lit targets and vintage pre 1914 guns.......something we have done in the past on special occasions!

[zooma]

Thanks Edbear,

It is very interesting to find out about the variations in the rules between the different leagues and this adds to the interest as the rules can be "adapted" to local requirements.

The thought did cross my mind that it would be good to have some sort of ruling to seperate the springers or early type SSP from the full match PCP rifles as they would seem to give a clear advantage over the "basic" ( non match PCP) rifle.

I am sure a good shooter with a" basic" or early type target rifle can score higher than a poor shooter with a top match rifle - but most are neither a top shot or a bad shot and so a clear advantage over 6 yards ( or 7 yards) would seem to be in favour of the competitor with the better equipment.

My first priority is to get a bell target, and to promote the idea to encourage as many people as possible to have a go in our area, but once it is established and we have some experience to refer to I would like to look at any advantages that may be seen between the types of rifle used and see if there is any support to sub-divide or even ban certain types.

To start with I think I need to allow any .177 rifle that is within the legal power limit and see how we get on. I never considered the type of pellet - I just assumed the regular flat nosed target pellets would be the natural choice.

The thought of having a "vintage" match is very appealing and may be something we can look foward to in the future.

[tufty]

Thanks Tufty,

I will check - but this was not shown in our region, so I may not be able to see it.

There's a you tube video link with the thread,very interesting

[markmac]

Hi Guys - Instead of buying a whole new rifle set up to have a bash at bell target,would it be possible to use an existing 12ftlb rifle and as I have no aperture sights - are red dot/non magnifying sights allowed????

Purely to give the sport a bash before buying a proper outfit

[defblade]

I am sure a good shooter with a" basic" or early type target rifle can score higher than a poor shooter with a top match rifle - but most are neither a top shot or a bad shot and so a clear advantage over 6 yards ( or 7 yards) would seem to be in favour of the competitor with the better equipment.

Not strictly bell target, but recently I've been shooting better with my BSA meteor on iron sights than with my FWB 603 on dioptre, so who knows?

[pegasus]

Hi there, Red Bob on here is your man for a bell target,he makes them,I got one of his,first class workmanship,good price,mine also takes a paper target in front so you have two options,bell or paper I would recomend him atb John

[edbear2]

Ring My Bell is 100% Essential reading!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://frankspittle.com/