American Airgun Field Target Association (AAFTA)

Field target originated in the United Kingdom on September 7, 1980, when the National Air Rifle and Pistol Association held an informal event on land behind the Red Lion pub in Magham Down, Sussex. The format spread quickly through British airgun clubs during the early 1980s, picking up the knockdown steel target format that defines the sport today.

Timeline of field target sport development from UK origins to international competition

American Adoption

By the mid-1980s, a handful of American clubs had adopted the sport. As participation grew, those clubs needed a national structure to standardize rules, sanction competitions, and coordinate with the UK. AAFTA was founded in 1987 to fill that role. The timing wasn't arbitrary -- 1987 was also roughly when pre-charged pneumatic (PCP) rifles and high-magnification scopes started making serious inroads into FT competition, which changed how the sport was played on both sides of the Atlantic.

US rules developed somewhat independently from the British version and retain some differences to this day, though both fall under the umbrella of the World Field Target Federation (WFTF) for international competition purposes. The first formal Field Target World Championship took place in the early 1990s, with the US and UK as the two founding participants.