I am dedicated to the education, to preserving the integrity, and relaying information in the challenging and beautiful sport of Helice Shooting.
-Michael Sellers
Are targets are made here in the USA and are the most competitive target you will shoot. They get on edge at a higher percentage than other targets on the market.
Welcome to the exciting world of Helice
Have you ever heard of Helice Shooting (ZZ shooting)? Helice Shooting had its origins in Europe in the late 1960s.
The target is plastic with a white body shaped like a clay target,
which fits into a pair of orange wings. Don't feel bad if you haven't, I'll explain.
This game combines the unpredictable nature of bird hunting with Clay Shooting. It's wild fun that will challenge even the most disciplined of skeet and trap shooters. Here is how it's done.
Helice shooting — also known as ZZ and Electrocibles — is a particularly challenging shotgun sport. 12 bore shot-guns are the largest gauge permitted to be used. 28 grams /1 oz is the largest shot charge permitted. The small targets, called ZZ Birds, consist of a central "witness cap" equipped with winged plastic propellers on either side; the wings simulate the erratic, unpredictable flight of a live bird.
During competition, the shooter stands inside a marked space on the shooting stand, with his/her gun held in any position judged safe by the referee, from gun-down to fully mounted.
As soon as the shooter is at the designated mark and loads the gun, the operator will start the machines (launchers).
An oscillating electric motor in the helice launcher spins the target at high revolutions and launches it, either on command, at regular intervals, or randomly.
Typically, the shooter calls "Ready" and the machine operator must reply "Ready".
The shooter then calls for the helice using the call of "Pull" on which command the helice is launched. Once the ZZ bird has been launched, the competitor has two shots to hit the target. The shooter only scores points if the witness cap is dislodged from the propellers and lands within a fenced area (ring).
Target flight times are short and unpredictable, compounding the difficulty, so speed and accuracy are at a premium. Helice rings typically include either five or seven box launchers, which are arranged in a semi-circle in front of the shooter's position.
For five-machine layouts, the machines are positioned between 4.50 meters and 5 meters apart.
Twenty-one meters beyond the launchers is a rigid, semi-circular fence, twenty-four inches high. This fence marks the outside border of the shooting area (into which all scoring targets must fall). The mesh size of the fence must not allow the White Centre Cap of the Helice to pass through. The distance from the Helice Machines to the Barrier should be a maximum of 21 meters.