I spent yesterday afternoon at the National Shooting Center at Bisley, watching the County ABT Championships – then managed to grab a quick go at this discipline for the first time. Iwas surprised at how tricky it is, with targets moving quickly requiring quick, smooth hands and lots of concentration. I didn’t score highly – but I’d definitely do it again as it’s a great learning experience. I thought I’d write up a description of ABT for those interested.
Automatic Ball Trap is one of the popular Trap disciplines in the UK. An ABT squad consists of up to six shooters, only one target is take ay each stand before moving right to the next stand. Two shots are allowed at each target, and each shot counts equally. There are five stands, with a sixth position for the waiting shooter. ABT targets are faster and have a wider range of angles & heights than DTL (Down the Line) – and are thrown on random trajectories from a single trap in front of the center stand.
Shooters need to ensure that guns are broken before moving, and the fifth shooter must break and unload their gun before moving around to the waiting position. A round consists of 25 targets, a typical competition would be four rounds of 25, with a maximum possible score of 100.
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