I’d consider watching the Olympics if they spiced up the events like this:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71e_TxmCaxk[/youtube]
At the very least I’d like to see higher caliber guns used, longer distances, and even a “production” rifles event, where modified rifles are not allowed.
Watching someone in spandex shoot 50m with an alien looking .22LR does not interest me even the slightest.
Comments
17 responses to “Wanted – A More Interesting Biathlon”
I watched part of the sprint biathlon the other day and I gotta say, I thought it was pretty cool. I wouldn’t want to try to sprint-ski 2 miles and have 5 shots at 5 targets, ski another 2 miles and shoot 5 more before a final 2 mile sprint! I wonder if changing the shooting portion would really add anything to the event? It would probably make for a slower shooting section, and probably require larger targets (relative to distance). The prone target is only 45mm (works out to about 3.1 MOA, [(arctan(4.5/5000))*60]) and the standing is 115mm (about 7.9 MOA). For the prone that would work out to about a ten and a half inch target at 300 meters.
All that being said, it would be kinda cool if they all used 10/22’s instead of those expensive straight-pull bolt actions. I think the shooting section as is really stresses the fundamentals of accurate shooting though, especially with elevated pulse and breathing!
Go out and do this – the come back and post!
Can’t have the sheep learn to shoot centerfire cartridges. It would scare the other world governments (like England) where their shooting team is already forbidden from practicing on their native soil. Heck I am sure there are already elements within the Olympics who would do away with shooting as a part of the Games.
Wasn’t one of the pistol events already using airguns/BB guns, and now they’ve gotten switched to lasers?
That’s really taking the fun out of it
https://www.everydaynodaysoff.com/2009/11/16/laser-guns-to-replace-pellet-guns-at-the-olympics/
The pentathlon… I am assuming that it is a summer Olympics event.
Yeah, thats what it was, thanks!
Before you pass judgment, consider this.
Primarily, the event is about athletic skill. Time matters, therefore the rifles are as light as possible, within the limits.
Secondly, the rifles are as accurate as possible to make sure a missed target is not the rifle’s fault.
Finally, and this is the kicker, consider how accurately you can shoot after sprinting 400m. A biathlete’s heart rate while skiing is around 180 bpm, higher than most people will typically ever have. From the time they pull into the shooting spot to the time they shoot the first round (takes around 5 seconds), the heart rate will drop to around 90 bpm, which is absolutely phenomenal. Also, 5 shots takes them around 20-25 seconds.
Sure, a 1.8″ group prone and a 4.5″ standing at 50 yards isn’t incredible, but consider the circumstances. These guys are pretty amazing marksmen.
And about the pentathlon, using lasers instead of live rounds – that’s ridiculous, I completely agree. But it does take firearm inaccuracies out of the picture.
I still think it’d be cool to have some larger calibers and longer ranges and such.
You can join any military.
In the Squaw Valley Olympics, the U.S. team was carrying Model 70’s in .243. Up until then, they had been using battle rifles. The shots were at 100, 150, 200, and 250 meters. The link embedded in this post http://randomactsofpatriotism.blogspot.com/2010/02/olympic-biathalon.html has a 1960 Guns Magazine article about it. It used to be a much more interesting and realistic sport.
Neat article! thanks for sharing it. I wish they would do it that way at the Olympics now. .243 Winchester is a heck of a cartridge compared to the .22LR!
For U guys “coolest” would be if they shoot to real people. This is sport not military training.
Riiiiiiiight. Thanks for stopping by troll!
They don’t shoot people in military training. At least not around here.
Where do gun nuts get such a bad name from?
Most likely from the liberal mainstream media.
The real definition of a GUN NUT; this is typicaly some week handicaped lazy fat ass that actualy does need a firearm or a large asortment of bad-ass weapons to make himself believe that he is a real man’