shooting

1. The act of one who, or that which, shoots; as, the shooting of an archery club; the shooting of rays of light.

2. A wounding or killing with a firearm; specifically (Sporting), the killing of game; as, a week of shooting.

3. A sensation of darting pain; as, a shooting in one's head.

Shoot·ing
a.

Of or pertaining to shooting; for shooting; darting.

Shooting board (Joinery), a fixture used in planing or shooting the edge of a board, by means of which the plane is guided and the board held true. -- Shooting box, a small house in the country for use in the shooting season. Prof. Wilson. -- Shooting gallery, a range, usually covered, with targets for practice with firearms. -- Shooting iron, a firearm. [Slang, U.S.] -- Shooting star. (a) (Astron.) A starlike, luminous meteor, that, appearing suddenly, darts quickly across some portion of the sky, and then as suddenly disappears, leaving sometimes, for a few seconds, a luminous train, -- called also falling star. Note: Shooting stars are small cosmical bodies which encounter the earth in its annual revolution, and which become visible by coming with planetary velocity into the upper regions of the atmosphere. At certain periods, as on the 13th of November and 10th of August, they appear for a few hours in great numbers, apparently diverging from some point in the heavens, such displays being known as meteoric showers, or star showers. These bodies, before encountering the earth, were moving in orbits closely allied to the orbits of comets. See Leonids, Perseids. (b) (Bot.) The American cowslip (Dodecatheon Meadia). See under Cowslip. -- Shooting stick (Print.), a tapering piece of wood or iron, used by printers to drive up the quoins in the chase. Hansard.

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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: shooting

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Sport of gun marksmanship. It typically involves firing at targets with rifles, pistols, and shotguns. World championship competitions are held for the small-bore rifle, free rifle, centre-fire pistol, free pistol, rapid-fire pistol, air rifle, air pistol, and shotgun. Shooting has been an Olympic sport since the modern games began in 1896; women's events were established in 1984. See also skeet shooting; trapshooting.

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Thesaurus: shooting

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adjective

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British History: shooting

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Shooting, as a sport, may be divided into shooting at animals or birds, or shooting at targets in competition. Pheasant- and grouse-shooting reached its peak in the vast country-house gatherings of Edwardian England: game was rigorously preserved and poaching caused much ill-feeling in rural society. Big-game shooting, largely in Africa and India, was fashionable in the 19th and early 20th cents. Organized target-shooting in Britain dates from the mid-19th cent. The National Rifle Association was founded at Wimbledon in 1860 and transferred in 1880 to Bisley in Surrey.

Architecture: shooting

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The placement of shotcrete.

Columbia Encyclopedia: shooting

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shooting, firing with rifle, shotgun, pistol, or revolver at stationary or moving targets. The term shooting is also used in Great Britain to mean small-game hunting.

In the 19th cent. the sport of rifle shooting became increasingly popular in England and in the United States, where the National Rifle Association (NRA) was formed (1871) to standardize the rules for rifle marksmanship. Matches were arranged and trophies offered. Pistol and revolver events were added in 1900. Shooting events have been included in the Olympic games since 1896; separate men's and women's events were established in 1984.

Among the Olympic events are pistol shooting at 50 m (164 ft), rifle shooting at 300 m (984 ft), trapshooting and skeet, and small-bore rifle shooting. NRA-sponsored tournaments are divided into sections for small-bore rifles, high-power rifles, pistols, and revolvers. In small-bore rifle shooting the targets range in distance from 50 ft to 200 yd (15.24-182.88 m), and in pistol and revolver shooting from 50 ft to 50 yd (15.24-45.72 m). For long-range rifle marksmanship, targets from 200 to 1,000 yd (182.88-914.4 m) are used. A shooting target is made of black-on-white cardboard and is composed of a bullseye (black) and several concentric circles. Competitors shoot from four positions with the rifle-prone, sitting, kneeling, and standing. Matches in which competing teams exchange scores by telegraphic and postal facilities are common.

Trapshooting with shotguns began in England in the 19th cent. To simulate the flight of game birds, "clay pigeons" (originally made of clay but now molded of silt and pitch in the shape of saucers) are hurled from a mechanical contrivance (the trap). The distance between the shooter and the target varies from 16 to 25 yd (14.63-22.86 m); a 12-gauge gun is preferred. Trapshooting was adopted in the United States in the late 19th cent., and in 1900 the American Trapshooting Association was organized. Annual championship matches are held at Vandalia, Ohio.

Skeet, in its early years called "round the clock" shooting, was devised (1910) by C. E. Davies of Andover, Mass. The name, chosen in a magazine contest, is an old Scandinavian form of the word shoot. Two trapshooting devices hurl "pigeons" at and over each other from 40 yd (36.58 m) apart. The marksman shoots at the moving target from different stations on the perimeter of a semicircle connecting the traps. Guns used are 12-, 16-, 20-, and 28-gauge and .410 bore. In skeet matches 25 "pigeons" are thrown, of which 8 are hurled in pairs.

Bibliography

See J. Lugs, A History of Shooting (1968); S. Slahor et al., Shooting Guide for Beginners (1986); W. S. Jarrett, ed., Shooter's Bible (1989).

Word Tutor: shooting

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IN BRIEF: n. - The act of firing a projectile.

When an archer is shooting for nothing, he has all his skill. — Chuang Tzu, Source: Quotations from Chuang Tzu, 19:4, p. 158

Wikipedia: Shooting

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This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2006)

For other uses, see Shooting (disambiguation).

Homesteader shooting hawks with a Krag bolt-action rifle, 1940

Shooting is the act or process of firing rifles, shotguns or other projectile weapons such as bows or crossbows. Even the firing of artillery, rockets and missiles can be called shooting. A person who specializes in shooting is a marksman. Shooting can take place in a shooting range or in the field in hunting, in shooting sports or in combat.

1 Technique and safety considerations
2 Practical uses
3 Competitive shooting
4 See also

Technique and safety considerations

Please help improve this article by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (September 2008)

Shooting technique differs depending on factors like the type of weapon used (from a handgun to a sniper rifle), the distance to and nature of the target, the required precision and the available time. The prone position, the kneeling position and the standing position offer different amounts of support for the shooter.

The utmost consideration for many shooters is gun safety. Like many activities such as mountain climbing, skiing, or sky-diving, there is an element of danger involved. And especially here, this danger demands a sober understanding and respect for firearms and the specific rules for the safe handling of them. This is compounded by the fact that the danger can easily extend beyond the participants – a stray bullet can injure or kill people other than those actually firing or handling the arms involved.

Practical uses

Please help improve this article by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (September 2008)

Shooting is used for hunting upland game birds such as grouse or pheasant, rabbits, culling, deer hunting or other wild game animals, or shooting pest animals. Sometimes "shooting" refers to the hunting activity itself.

Shooting obviously is used in warfare, self-defense, crime, and law enforcement. Duels were sometimes held using guns. Shooting without a target has applications such as celebratory gunfire, 21-gun salute or firing starting pistols, incapable of releasing bullets.

Competitive shooting

Main article: Shooting sports

Marksmanship has inspired competition, and in several countries rifle clubs started to form in the 19th century. Soon international shooting events evolved, including shooting at the Summer Olympics (from 1896) and World Championships (from 1897). The International Shooting Sport Federation still administers Olympic and non-Olympic rifle, pistol, shotgun and running target shooting competitions, although there is also a large number of national and international shooting sports controlled by unrelated organizations.

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shooting

Contents

Technique and safety considerations

Practical uses

Competitive shooting

See also