Guide 4 of 4

The formats, in plain language

Air-rifle target shooting is several small sports sharing one tool. These are the ones a beginner in the US is most likely to meet, with the organizations that run them.

Ten-meter three-position (3PAR)

The youth and beginner backbone of the sport, and the format most 4-H, Scouting, and CMP-affiliated programs teach first. Competitors fire at 10 meters from three positions — prone, standing, and kneeling. The Sporter class is designed for newcomers: budget-capped equipment (.177 caliber, 600 fps or less, single shot) so cost stays low; Precision is the Olympic-style class with specialized rifles. The discipline is run by the National Three-Position Air Rifle Council, whose members include the CMP, 4-H Shooting Sports, the American Legion, and Scouting-related programs. If a club says "10-meter," this is what they mean.

Field target

An outdoor game: a walked course of metal fall-when-hit targets with a circular "kill zone" hole — hit the zone and the target drops. Under AAFTA rules, targets sit anywhere from 10 to 55 yards with kill zones from 3/8" to 2", so estimating distance and holding over correctly is the core skill — it feels like golf with a rifle. Rifles shoot in Piston or PCP (pre-charged pneumatic) classes across Open, Hunter, and WFTF divisions, with a 20 ft-lb energy cap. Matches start with a shooter/safety meeting; a whistle blast signals hot and cold lines. AAFTA member clubs across the US run these matches — several appear in our directory.

Silhouette

Metal silhouettes — 1/10-scale chickens, pigs, turkeys, and rams at 20, 30, 36, and 45 yards — shot standing only, off the feet, with the knock-down counting as the hit. Rules follow the NRA silhouette rulebook with local modifications (4-H programs are typical); .177 caliber is the air-rifle standard here too. Simple rules, very social, and common at rod & gun clubs with airgun programs.

Supported and benchrest shooting

Many clubs also shoot purely for precision from a bench or supported position — rests, sandbags, and paper, chasing the smallest group. We will be straight with you: unlike the three formats above, we found no national US rulebook for air-rifle benchrest on the official pages we checked, so treat it as a club-night pastime rather than a standardized discipline. It is also exactly how beginners spend their first range time — supported shooting is the position you learn first.

CMP programs and competitions

The Civilian Marksmanship Program supports air-rifle shooting nationally: public marksmanship nights on 10-meter electronic-target ranges at its competition centers, and a monthly match program (three-position and 60-shot events) with air provided at the line. CMP-affiliated clubs and state associations extend that structure locally. For a beginner, the practical meaning: structured coaching and real progression paths exist, usually closer than you think.

Format descriptions follow official published rules and pages, fetched 2026-09-19: the 2026 AAFTA Official Field Target Rules and AAFTA education primer (aafta.org), the 2024–2026 National Standard Three-Position Air Rifle Rules and CMP pages (thecmp.org), the Scouting America National Range and Target Activities Manual (scouting.org), and Texas 4-H air-rifle silhouette rules (texas4-h.tamu.edu). These are introductions, not rulebooks — match rules always govern.