TargetTalk

Is there any progress in the making of rules for Paralympic shooting for visually impaired shooting?
And what kind of weapons/aiming systems do they plan to use? I read the IPC wants to have official rules by 2018.
Albert T (The Netherlands)

[quote="Albert T...weapons...?)[/quote]

I can find no reference to 'weapon' in the IPC Shooting rules - are you expecting swords or baseball bats???

as far as I know they want to switch to rifles/pistols working with lasers or infrared and camera built in the barrel...
(eko-aims system)

The Eko-Aims rifle sight works on a passive infra-red imaging principle. The IR source is a small Diode located close to the target. The original sight was used athe IPC demonstration event at Stoke Mandeville approximately 18 months ago. At that time it could be described as "work in progress ". I have had the opportunity to observe the latest model in use for the last 4 months. It has been developed since its initial appearance, and whilst not perfect, it is clearly a credible piece of equipment.

I have observed a blind shooter achieve a score of 552 standing using the sight when shooting on the standard 10 metre Air Rifle target. When you take into account the fact that the 9 ring on the Air Rifle target equates to the Inner 10 on the Air Pistol target normally used for VI competition I think that you will agree that it seems the Eko-Aims sight should be well up to the task.

Rutty

Rutty, thanks for the info.
I understand that the infra-red emitting diode is positioned above the rifle/pistol (EST) target.
Has the IPC set a nominal distance between center target and center LED? If not, any deviation in distance (on different shooting lanes) will cause a deviation in POI and will be a disadvantage for (some of the) shooters when sighting in there weapon during sighting shots.

As I understand it, the aiming principle stays the same, but we are switching from 'normal' light and sighting device to infra-red. In that case we will not need any extra lighting of the targets.

Albert
(The Netherlands)

Albert,

I am unaware of any stipulated location for the diode. However we have been mounting it in the logical position, above the target. It is positioned with the lower edge of the mount in the centre and level with the edge of the aperture of the EST (we use Megalink). The diode itself is approximately 10mm above the edge of the mount. When we first tried the sight we found that it was already set to very close to that configuration. I am sure that the position will be specified for competition.

You are correct in that no additional lamp is necessary, visible light has been replaced with infrared.

The aiming principle is similar, but not the same as the Swarovski system. Whereas the Swarovski was analogue the Eko-Aims is a digital device. This means that you have the means to adjust the output characteristics to suit the user. I shall not try to describe the changes as I am a sighted coach and not a VI shooter, but I believe that there is downloadable software available on the manufacturer's site. Is it better or not? The shooter I work with has used Swarovski for over 10 years and states that he has had to relearn to some extent. However having shot a personal best of 552 (air rifle target) he feels that the sight has some benefits.

We have also used the Viaas sight. This works on a similar principle to the Eko-Aims and is also a digital device. It is smaller and lighter and has some good features, but we feel that it still requires more work to bring it to the same level as its competitor. One interesting option from Viass is a paper target adaptor. This is a holder into which a standard target may be inserted and having a IR diode powered by a button battery fixed to the top of the holder. The holder is the sent up range on a normal target changer. On its present showing we feel that the Viass may have more of a future as a pistol sight than rifle, however with some development it could become a viable option.

Rutty

I have heard that the Polish "Wings Group" have produced a VI sight that works on standard targets without any additional reference system. I presume that it is based upon a digital imaging system similar to that employed by the SCATT MX02. I hope to see one in the near future and will be very interested to see how it performs.

Rutty

Quite a few years later...
The World Shooting Para Sport Rules and Regulations specify the use of an IR LED at 60 mm below the center of the target.
See the downloads you can get from https://www.paralympic.org/shooting/rules.