An Overview of the Olympic DOUBLE TRAP Event and The Required
Facility
An excerpt from a white paper prepared by USA Shooting for the Congressional
Sportsman’s Foundation - 7 March 2002 |
| Olympic Shotgun Events and Equipment |
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In general, the Olympic shotgun events are intended to be far more
difficult than their domestic counterparts. The clay targets used in
the Olympic events are flatter and of a more durable construction,
making breakage much more difficult. The targets are thrown at far
greater speeds, over much wider arcs and angles, and to a much greater
distance than those in our domestic events. Firearms allowed include
any 12-gauge shotgun holding two rounds. Over-and-under designs
predominate due to their reliability and durability, having to
withstand many tens-of-thousands of rounds fired in practice and
competition each year. 12-gauge ammunition used in Olympic events is
restricted to a lighter load of lead pellets to further increase the
shotgun events’ difficulty. |
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| Double Trap |
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Double Trap has been a part of the Olympics since 1996. Squads of six shooters fire in rotation in rounds of 40 targets for women and 50 targets for men. Each shooter is presented with the same set of targets during the round. Targets emerge in pairs upon the shooter’s call from an underground bunker containing 15 throwing machines, the center of which are used in this event. One shot may be fired at each target. Men fire a 150 target qualifying round in one day, while women fire a 120 target course in one day. The top six shooters from the qualifying round proceed to the medals final round, firing an additional 40 target round for women or 50 target round for men, with the final score added to the qualifying score to determine the medallists.
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International Double Trap Field |
An International Trap field is quite a bit different than the American trap field. As described above, there is a trap bunker which has 3 machines in front of each of 5 shooting stations. There is a sixth station that is used as a holding station as a full "squad" consists of 6 shooters.
Only the machines at station 3 are used in Double Trap if an International Trap field is being used..
Shooters fire from approximately 16 yard line from the center traps. Shooters will see doubles with up to a 1 second delay from their call. Only one shot is allowed at each target. After each double, shooters rotate stations from L to R. The 110mm targets are thrown faster and farther than their American (108mm) counterparts ( ~60 yards compared to 50 yards), but not as far as the International Trap targets. Also, International Trap loads are normally restricted to 24.5grams (~7/8oz) of shot.
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Views of an International Trap range. Located at the Los Alamos Sportsmans Club in Los Alamos, NM-USA.
International Trap ranges can be used for Double Trap by only using the center 3 traps
USA Shooting Shotgun Events Rules
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