A group of Aquinas College students will take on New Zealand's finest shooters in the annual Secondary Schools Air Pistol Competition on Saturday.

Breanna Brooker, Jack Cameron, Nathaniel Sage, Emma Hesqua, Matthew Kennett and Loretta Knights will compete in the McMillan Cup, which is now in its the ninth year, pitching students from around New Zealand against one another.

Tauranga Pistol Club members setting up the shooting area at Aquinas College. Photo: Supplied.

More than 100 competitors are involved in this year's event and it is the first time the Aquinas College students have taken part.

The students got involved in the sport after the Tauranga Pistol Club approached the school, and club member John Peacock says he was surprised by the amount of interest that came from the students.

'When we asked who was interested we got 27 students put their hands up,” says John. 'I must admit I fell off my chair.”

Although they had a great response, the club had to whittle the number down to the current group.

'We had to thin it down logistically with the equipment that we had,” he adds, 'and we had to buy guns, make stands and an area to shoot in. Then there was the time involved to actually work with the kids. We had to take all of that into account.”

John says eventually the club would like to get more students involved in the sport and there is even talk of seeing if it can be included in future AIMS Games.

But he admits he's been impressed by the students' progress.

'I've actually been quite surprised,” he admits. 'They've been performing really well. We've only been working with them for the last 10 weeks, but they are actually starting to perform really well.”

Air pistol shooting isn't as easy as it seems. Competitors have to shoot a target no bigger than a lid from a jam jar from 10m away.

The pistols used must meet the requirement of the International Shooting Sport Federation trigger weight of 500gm and shooting is single handed. A match consists of 40 scoring shots in a time limit of 60 minutes.

John says the McMillan Cup is a starting mark for shooters who wish to go on to compete at the Commonwealth Games or the Olympics.

The Aquinas College students' scores will be tallied and compared with other students taking part around the country and the team with the best score wins the McMillan Cup.

John says the students will be competing at the college from 10am on Saturday, September 19 and the event is open to the public.

For more information on air pistol shooting, click here.