Plinking
Plinking is the name for a recreational shooting, mainly practiced in the USA , in which handguns are shot outdoors at target objects - such as tin cans , glass bottles or tin silhouettes of small animals such as rats, birds or gophers . Hunting such animals, motivated as a pastime or pest control, is sometimes referred to as plinking. The term is an onomatopoeia of the sound of a bullet or projectile when it hits a tin can.
Plinking is a variety of firearms, such as rifles , small-bore rifles , shotguns and handguns of all types, sporting pistols and revolvers , muzzle-loaders and semi-automatic weapons practiced.
exercise
There are no set rules and no organized competitions for plinking. As a leisure activity in the field of shooting, it can be found in all age groups. Inexpensive materials are used as targets, the resistance of which is often adapted to the penetration power of the projectiles. In the event of a successful hit, the target objects fall over, are marked with colored balls, punctured or destroyed (glass bottles, balloons filled with water or flour). Plinking targets with the outlines of objects such as bottles and cans are also offered.
Safeguards and Problems
For plinking, remote terrain should be chosen to avoid damage from missed shots and ricochets as well as noise pollution for neighbors. As with all shooting activities, the use of safety glasses and ear protection is recommended. With targets made of glass, there are risks from the flying fragments, which is why we sometimes advise against it.
Some plinkers leave their targets as trash or deliberately cause property damage, for example by shooting at traffic signs. In any case, plinking with lead ammunition causes a corresponding contamination of the site. Hunting small animals can cause lead poisoning in predators and scavengers , which increases the risk of extinction for the California condor, for example . In its California area, the use of lead ammunition for any hunting of animals is therefore prohibited; the actual plinking on objects is expressly not affected.
Web links
- Powerplinker, Firearm User Network
- Garry James: The Zen of Plinking. Guns & Ammo, May 2007, archived from the original on 12 May 2007 ; accessed on June 27, 2014 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Tori Burnett: Lead Poisoning: A Silent Epidemic. (PDF) Retrieved November 22, 2019 .
- ^ Plinking: The American Shooting Sport
- ↑ http://www.myoan.net/shootingart/sm_pist_plink.html
- ↑ SHOOTING - Benefit plinking tomorrow in Schöneck. Freie Presse, October 4, 2013, accessed June 27, 2014 .
- ^ Regulations Prohibit Use of Lead Projectiles for Big Game and Nongame Hunting in the Range of the California Condor. (PDF) California Department of Fish and Wildlife, November 18, 2013, accessed June 27, 2014 .