Learn › Track 01 · Foundations
The target: 11.5 mm of truth
Ten metres away is a card a little bigger than your hand. Everything in this sport comes down to where a 4.5 mm pellet lands on it. Before we measure anything, take a guess.
Think first: How wide is the 10 ring on an air pistol target?
Ten rings, 8 mm apart
Each ring is exactly 8 mm wider in radius than the one inside it (16 mm wider in diameter). The black aiming mark is 59.5 mm across and covers rings 7, 8, 9 and 10. Inside the 10 there is a tiny inner ten, 5 mm across. It doesn't score extra points, but it is used to break ties.
| Ring | Diameter | Ring | Diameter |
| 10 | 11.5 mm | 5 | 91.5 mm |
| 9 | 27.5 mm | 4 | 107.5 mm |
| 8 | 43.5 mm | 3 | 123.5 mm |
| 7 | 59.5 mm | 2 | 139.5 mm |
| 6 | 75.5 mm | 1 | 155.5 mm |
Think first: The black aiming mark is much bigger than the 10 ring. Why would the target designers do that?
- To make the target easier to see from 10 m
- So you aim at a clear shape below or on it, instead of trying to see a tiny 10 ring
- It has no purpose; it is tradition
The pellet is almost half the 10 ring
A pellet is 4.5 mm wide. A shot scores the higher ring if any part of the hole touches the line. So a pellet counts as a 10 as long as its centre is within 8.0 mm of the exact middle: the 5.75 mm radius of the ring plus the pellet's 2.25 mm radius.
Think first: Tap the furthest point straight to the right of centre where a pellet can still score 10.
Ring sizes, the inner ten and the card size are in the ISSF Rule Book, rule 6.3.4.6. Ring lines are only 0.1–0.2 mm thick.
- The 10 ring is 11.5 mm. The black aiming mark (rings 7–10) is 59.5 mm.
- Rings step 8 mm in radius. The inner ten (5 mm) breaks ties.
- A hole touching a line scores the higher ring, so a 10 is any pellet centre within 8.0 mm.
- You aim at the big blurred black. The sights are zeroed so the pellet lands in the middle.