The earliest recorded shooting match was held in Eichstatt, Bavaria (now Germany), in 1477; the shooters, probably using matchlocks, competed at 220 yards (200 meters).
Many German museums have wooden targets dating back to the 16th century that were made for weddings and were shot at by the guests and then given to the host as a souvenir.
Shooting at a mark in Russia was recorded in 1737 when the Empress Anna Ivanovna established a target-shooting range at her court. The marks were live birds, and the most proficient marksmen were given gold and diamond studded cups. The royal shooting matches became a tradition.
The English military conducted research on various rifles from 1800, especially emphasizing long-range shooting. The first book in English on target rifle shooting was published eight years later.
The first public shooting range was founded in St. Petersburg in 1834 for rifles or handguns.
By the middle of the 19th century, long-range shooting had become so popular that at the first prize meeting in 1860 of the National Rifle Association, Queen Victoria fired the first shot.
During World War I trench guns were given to US soldiers skilled in trap shooting so they could shoot incoming grenades out of the air.
The young Alexander Fleming had been a private in the London Scottish Regiment of the Volunteer Force and had been a member of the rifle club at the medical school. The captain of the club knew that Fleming was a great shot, and wished to retain him in the team. He worked in the Inoculation Service and he convinced Fleming to join his department in order to join the research department at St Mary's, where he became assistant bacteriologist to Sir Almroth Wright, a pioneer in vaccine therapy and immunology. Fleming would stay at St. Mary's for the rest of his career.
Many German museums have wooden targets dating back to the 16th century that were made for weddings and were shot at by the guests and then given to the host as a souvenir.
Shooting at a mark in Russia was recorded in 1737 when the Empress Anna Ivanovna established a target-shooting range at her court. The marks were live birds, and the most proficient marksmen were given gold and diamond studded cups. The royal shooting matches became a tradition.
The English military conducted research on various rifles from 1800, especially emphasizing long-range shooting. The first book in English on target rifle shooting was published eight years later.
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| Edward Hacker (1813-1905), after Abraham Cooper, RA, (1787–1868) |
The first public shooting range was founded in St. Petersburg in 1834 for rifles or handguns.
By the middle of the 19th century, long-range shooting had become so popular that at the first prize meeting in 1860 of the National Rifle Association, Queen Victoria fired the first shot.
During World War I trench guns were given to US soldiers skilled in trap shooting so they could shoot incoming grenades out of the air.
The young Alexander Fleming had been a private in the London Scottish Regiment of the Volunteer Force and had been a member of the rifle club at the medical school. The captain of the club knew that Fleming was a great shot, and wished to retain him in the team. He worked in the Inoculation Service and he convinced Fleming to join his department in order to join the research department at St Mary's, where he became assistant bacteriologist to Sir Almroth Wright, a pioneer in vaccine therapy and immunology. Fleming would stay at St. Mary's for the rest of his career.
Károly Takács was a Hungarian Army officer and competitive shooter who competed in the rapid-fire pistol event. In 1938, Takács was badly injured when a grenade exploded in his right hand, rendering it unusable. Despite this setback, he decided to continue shooting and switched to using his non-dominant left hand. He went on to win the Hungarian National Pistol Shooting Championship in 1939, and then went on to win gold medals in the rapid-fire pistol event at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London and the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki.
The International Shooting Union (ISSF) barred women from shooting with men in 1993, after Zhang Shan won the gold medal in Skeet Shooting in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. The ISSF claimed that the reason for the ban was to "level the playing field" between men and women. However, many people believe that the ban was actually motivated by sexism.
Zhang Shan's victory in 1992 was a major upset. She was the first Chinese woman to win an Olympic gold medal in shooting, and she did it by beating a field of all-male competitors. Her victory was a watershed moment for women's shooting, and it showed that women were just as capable as men of competing at the highest level.
Alcohol is banned in professional shooting competition as it is considered a performance enhancing drug.
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The term 'sniper' originally referred to hunters skilled enough to shoot Snipe – a small bird said to be difficult to hit.
Source Compton's Encyclopedia
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