Beyond the Air Pistol
Traditionally, air pistols were used during the combined event – running & shooting – of The Modern Pentathlon, until 2009 when the International Union of Modern Pentathlon (UIPM) made the progressive decision to discontinue the use of air pistols; instead favouring optical shooting.
But why?
Air pistols are subject to age and legal restrictions and can cause injury if caught in a misfire or impasse, making them complicated to practice with.
Air pistols mostly use small lead pellets. Lead can accumulate in organisms and work its way into entire food chains, acting as a poison and causing a great deal of harm to ecosystems.
Moreover, air pistols use compressed air or gas to fire pellets at any given target. The gas commonly used in air pistols is CO2 – Carbon Dioxide – which can harm our environment.
What is Optical Shooting?
Optical shooting refers to the use of an intense beam of coherent light or other electromagnetic radiation – to hit reflective targets, as opposed to the lead pellets in air pistols. Our Ecoaims and Simpower optical sport shooting equipment is suitable both for practising and competitions.
Benefits of Optical Shooting:
Modern Pentathlon has undergone many changes since its humble beginnings over a century ago. The shift from air pistols to optical shooting is widely regarded as the conclusion of its modernisation, taking the sport truly into the contemporary world.
There are many benefits associated with Optical Shooting. For example, the use of lasers can guarantee absolute safety and have a far smaller environmental impact than lead pellets of previously used Air Rifles. This means that they are suitable for use at all ages – appealing to today’s youth – and former restrictions on venues available to the event are far less.
In conjunction, the attractive LED lighting systems associated with optical shooting – immediately able to show the number of successful shots fired – appeals to the media, helping to raise popularity and awareness of the sport further.
With the use of lasers, cameras can be positioned at previously unsafe angles during competitions. Therefore, the technology allows the capturing of close-up, breath-taking images and footage of the sport in action.
The easily connected, computerised H & M – Hit & Miss – results system can provide the exact location of each shot on the target, ensuring and enhancing accuracy for practising Pentathletes.
Maintaining tradition:
Optical shooting systems support the traditional feel and sounds of pistols, honouring the origins of the sport. Alongside newly created optical only pistols, specific systems have been designed that can easily convert existing pistols too. For example, a container can be mounted onto the barrel without waste or damage.
The new targets associated with Optical Shooting are the same size as with air pistol shooting. The targets and pistols are specifically coded to eliminate any chances of cross-fire to maintain the same skill sets as before.
Optical Shooting is simply the best complement to Modern Pentathlon meeting the demands of future generations.
Ecoaims optical sport shooting equipment is suitable for practice and competition. The core of the product is its software in the circuit board with an integrated laser module. This equipment is compatible with the electronic targets approved by the International Modern Pentathlon Union UIPM. The laser beam includes the 15.6ms pulse code required by UIPM from 2014 through to the Rio Olympics. The 25.2ms pulse is also included to ensure maximum compatibility with UIPM approved competition equipment.
To emulate traditional shooting, the gun has a so called barrel time; the time a bullet would generally take to go through the barrel. This shot delay is 6ms. The shooter should thus take the same factors into account as with a standard pistol when pulling the trigger.
These laser products belong to Laser Class2. The products have been tested by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health to classification method EN 60825-1:2007 (IEC 60825-1:2007) Safety instructions should be read carefully.
