Published in 2003.
Still valid?
Still valid?
2024 Olympics 50m Rifle: Cant!
- Thread starter Brians356
- Start date
Brians356
Gold $$ Contributor
Sure. Just because it was published before we were born doesn't make it totally out of date.
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Just because it was published after I retired 
The 50M x 3 scoring sounds strange.
Guess she had some "9's".
I get some 9's
The 50M x 3 scoring sounds strange.
Guess she had some "9's".
I get some 9's
Brians356
Gold $$ Contributor
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Maybe. But I've won as high as States, and some national sparklies with a cant as far as 600 yards, on only a Service Rifle. CAN be done. (ha! pun)
Brians356
Gold $$ Contributor
What I gleaned by watching for a while: Preliminary rounds scoring is simpler - if a shot touches a ring it scores a whole integer like 9 or 10. In the finals, they give fractional credit, roughly: barely touching the 10 ring is 10.0; straddling (centered on the ring) is 10.5; highest possible is 10.9, I assume completely inside the 10 ring. All tenths from x.0 to x.9 may be generated.
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Brians356
Gold $$ Contributor
Nope. The shooting stations are tucked back under the edge of the pavilion's tin roof, but there's grass growing under the open sky between the shooters and the targets. I posted an aerial view earlier. The site you linked to states the 50m range occupies 8400 sq. meters, which is 2 acres.
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It’s not a crutch. It’s a method developed for that specific type of shooting. It just friggin works. If it didn’t, then the folks in the Olympics would not be hammering the middle of the target. There are countless examples of methods in competitive shooting that don’t work in other competitions or in a tactical environment. Look at rifle silhouette. Their scopes are way above the bore, it results in a natural upright head position and it works. F-Class, some shoot with no cheek piece on the rifle and free recoil the gun, same with a lot of BR shooters. Won’t work at all in highpower or PRS but it works for them. The facts are that it just works, and it works for the most discerning of shooters in that game.
To your point, in games that require multiple distances like Highpower (before scopes) or Palma, many shooters that shoot with a cant will use a level or straight edges to make sure their front sight and rear sight are on the same plane. So this allows both sights to be canted to have the sights aligned and have the elevation and windage adjustments move in the correct direction and not diagonally. So the condition you describe was resolved 20+ years ago with sights that do exactly as you describe and have been used for countless thousands of rounds. For that game, it just friggin works.
As a smallbore shooter who cants the rifle, I thought I'd add my twopennyworth. My thoughts are predominantly focussed on prone.
I'll start by saying that yes, canting does theoretically complicate sight adjustment. In practise though you just learn to adjust both turrets at the same time. I will contradict @TZaun slightly, in that not all Olympic shooters use a rotatable rearsight; there have been a lot of medals won in recent years with Centra Spy sights. I'd guess the low-profile outweighs the lack of cant rotation, that or it's just for the looks. Holding the rifle vertically doesn't mean adjustments will always be in one plane anyway. Sighters are unlimited, so the limited changes of distance in non-Olympic matches are not difficult to accomodate.
Historically canting was typically practised to bring the sightline closer to the shooter's eye. Sometimes the shape of the rifle stock (especially the cheekpiece) and the shooter's face allow the rifle to be held upright and aimed with a nice relaxed neck, but sometimes it doesn't, and rather than contort the neck or chop lumps off the rifle, the shooter canted the rifle.
Today, Olympic smallbore rifles are totally adjustable; the butt, cheeckpiece and grip can be moved independently of the stock. In theory it should be possible to adapt the rifle to the shooter without any need to cant. However, for some shooters, canting allows their sling arm to lie in a straighter and more natural position. This is the reason I cant. The buttplate can be rotated agaunst the rifle to meet the shoulder in a vertical orientation, or left canted to better fit the pocket between the shoulder and neck. FYI it's not at all uncommon among European Olympic shooters to see VERY asymmetric shoulders, so a vertical buttplate may not be optimal.
Just as an aside, the photo is of Andre Link of Germany taken during the 2016 Rio Games, not Tokyo.
I'll start by saying that yes, canting does theoretically complicate sight adjustment. In practise though you just learn to adjust both turrets at the same time. I will contradict @TZaun slightly, in that not all Olympic shooters use a rotatable rearsight; there have been a lot of medals won in recent years with Centra Spy sights. I'd guess the low-profile outweighs the lack of cant rotation, that or it's just for the looks. Holding the rifle vertically doesn't mean adjustments will always be in one plane anyway. Sighters are unlimited, so the limited changes of distance in non-Olympic matches are not difficult to accomodate.
Historically canting was typically practised to bring the sightline closer to the shooter's eye. Sometimes the shape of the rifle stock (especially the cheekpiece) and the shooter's face allow the rifle to be held upright and aimed with a nice relaxed neck, but sometimes it doesn't, and rather than contort the neck or chop lumps off the rifle, the shooter canted the rifle.
Today, Olympic smallbore rifles are totally adjustable; the butt, cheeckpiece and grip can be moved independently of the stock. In theory it should be possible to adapt the rifle to the shooter without any need to cant. However, for some shooters, canting allows their sling arm to lie in a straighter and more natural position. This is the reason I cant. The buttplate can be rotated agaunst the rifle to meet the shoulder in a vertical orientation, or left canted to better fit the pocket between the shoulder and neck. FYI it's not at all uncommon among European Olympic shooters to see VERY asymmetric shoulders, so a vertical buttplate may not be optimal.
Just as an aside, the photo is of Andre Link of Germany taken during the 2016 Rio Games, not Tokyo.
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Brians356
Gold $$ Contributor
I grabbed that off a web site which said "Rio Replay" but also stipulated (incorrectly) "2020 Summer Olympics". My initial post said "Rio Games" then I edited it to what you see. ;-(
Great detailed explanation, thanks!
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I intended to reinforce your point, which is why I said “To your point…” and addressed a resolution for the very situation you described. What you’re getting at is an issue, just not necessarily one that smallbore competitors feel the need to address.
jelenko
Gold $$ Contributor
Just to confirm. Are you trying to suggest the shooters who compete in World/Olympic competition need to rethink whether they should cant their rifles?
dgeesaman
Gold $$ Contributor
3P 50M
The preliminary rounds were shot from under cover onto an outdoor range.
The finals were fully indoor.
Brians356
Gold $$ Contributor
No. I said in Post #1 that consistent cant does not affect score.
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Brians356
Gold $$ Contributor
Indoor at that same facility? I don't see a 50-meter indoor space. Even the white mostly-covered space in the foreground has openings in the roof between cross beams. You can see the green grass if you look closely. Is there a retractable cover I don't see?
Edit: You're right! The Chateauroux Shooting Centre's web site says: the centre gained a new “finals” building in 2022, which means it can now accommodate international pistol and rifle finals. This building will host all indoor shooting finals during the Paris 2024 Games.
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