Competitions

  The club hosts a variety of rifle, handgun, air rifle and air handgun competitions.  The club regularly holds International Sport Shooting Federation (ISSF) and/or National Rifle Association (NRA) registered matches.  Here is a brief synopsis* of what some of the competitions are all about (individual competitions may vary).

Free Pistol

  Free Pistol is one of the longest established pistol competitions; with the Olympic Rapid Fire Pistol, it has been included in the Olympic program from the very outset.  It is the ultimate in precision pistol shooting, demanding a high degree of technical skill and considerable powers of endurance.

• Target Distance:  50m
• Number of Shots:  60 shots, ten per target; unlimited sighting shots may only be fired before record shots.
• Time Limit:  2.5 hours including sighting shots.
• Firearm:  Any .22 calibre rimfire pistol.  Only open sights are allowed.  Corrective lenses and/or filters may not be attached to the firearm and no part of the firearm may be extended or constructed to give support beyond the wrist.

Rapid Fire Pistol

  The competitor must wait for the appearance of targets in the ready position, with the arm holding the pistol pointed downward at an angle no more than 45 degrees from the vertical.  The targets are on edge and the shot series starts the moment they face the shooter and ends the moment they turn away.

• Target Distance:  25m
• Number of Shots:  60 shots divided into two series of 30 shots
  Each 30 shot course is subdivided as follows:
    two series of five shots in eight seconds 
    two series of five shots in six seconds 
    two series of five shots in four seconds
• Time Limit:  as per above
• Firearm:  Any .22 calibre rimfire pistol.  The weight of the pistol, including balancing weights and unloaded magazine, may not exceed 1260g.  Its overall dimensions must allow it to be enclosed in a rectangular box with inside measurements 300 x 150 x 50mm.  The central line of the bore must pass above the upper part of the hand.  The height of the barrel including foresight and all accessories must not exceed 40mm.

Centrefire Pistol

  This competition combines the elements of slow- and rapid-fire shooting, and so offer a different challenge from the Free Pistol and Olympic Rapid Fire Matches.  The event is divided into a precision course and a dueling course

• Target Distance:  25m
• Number of Shots:  60 shots, 30 in each course of fire
    precision course:  six series of five shots with six minutes for each series
    dueling course:  six series of five shots with three seconds allowed per shot
• Time Limit:  as per above
• Firearm:   Any centrefire pistol or revolver may be used with the exception of single-shot pistols, as long as its calibre is between 7.62mm and 9.65mm.  The weight of the pistol must not exceed 1400g.  The length of the barrel must not exceed 153mm and the sightbase must be no longer than 220mm.  The trigger pull must be at least 1360g.  No part of the grip may encircle the hand.  The palm and thumbrest may be at right angles to the grip only.  The rear projection of the frame or grip that rests on top of the hand may not exceed 30mm.

Standard Pistol

  The Standard Pistol Match is shot using the International Precision Target.  It includes elements of both slow- and rapid-fire shooting.  It requires little equipment and is shot on stationary targets

• Target Distance:  25m
• Number of Shots:  60 shots in three 20 shot courses
   1st course:  four series of five shots, 150 seconds for each series
   2nd course:  four series of five shots, 20 seconds for each series
   3rd course:  four series of five shots, 10 seconds for each series
• Time Limit:  as per above
• Firearm:  Any .22 calibre pistol or revolver may be used with the exception of single-shot pistols.  The weight of the pistol must not exceed 1400g.  The length of the barrel must not exceed 153mm and the sightbase must be no longer than 220mm.  The trigger pull must be at least 1000g.  No part of the grip may encircle the hand.  The palm and thumbrest may be at right angles to the grip only.  The rear projection of the frame or grip that rests on top of the hand may not exceed 30mm

Air Pistol

  The air pistol differs from all other pistols in that it uses compressed air or gas as the propellant.  Air pistol competitions are normally shot indoors so it is a natural winter event

• Target Distance:  10m
• Number of Shots:  60 competition shots for open class with unlimited sighting shots fired before record shots
  40 shots for ladies & juniors with unlimited sighting shots fired before competition shots
• Time Limit  2 hours 15 minutes for open class including any sighting shots
  One hour 45 minutes for ladies & juniors including any sighting shots
• Firearm:  Any .177 calibre air pistol may be used.  Weight with all accessories must not exceed 1500g.  The trigger pull must be at least 500g.  No part of the grip may encircle the hand.  The palm and thumbrest may be at right angles to the grip only.  The rear projection of the frame or grip that rests on top of the hand may not exceed 30mm.  Its overall dimensions must allow it to be enclosed in a rectangular box with inside measurements 420 x 200 x 50mm.

Police Pistol Combat

  The police pistol combat competition is designed to test the skills required for law enforcement.  This competition involves drawing a loaded firearm from a holster at the start of each stage and reloading the firearm during the timed stages

• Target Distance:  various
• Number of Shots:  60 in four stages
  1st stage:  12 shots in 20 seconds at 21 feet, fired double action, standing with no support
  2nd stage:  18 shots in 90 seconds at 50 feet, fired double action, six shots kneeling position, six shots left-handed using a barricade, six shots right-handed using a barricade
  3rd stage:  6 shots in 12 seconds at 50 feet, fired double action, standing with no support
  4th stage:  24 shots in 165 seconds at 50 feet, fired single or double action, six shots fired sitting, six shots fired prone, six shots fired left-handed barricade, six shots right-handed barricade
• Time Limit:  as per above
• Firearm:  A revolver of .32 caliber or larger, or a semi-automatic pistol of .35 calibre or larger.  A strong-side holster, 3 speedloaders and belt mounted speedloader holders are also required.  Optical sights, ports or compensators, and barrels over 6 inches are disallowed

Free Rifle

  Free Rifle was first shot in the 1908 London Olympics, and has been included in most subsequent Olympic shooting programs.  This event is a slow-fire discipline fired from the prone position at a distance of 50 meters.  The bull's eye target has a tiny ten ring that measures only 0.48 inches

• Target Distance:  50m
• Number of Shots:  60
• Time Limit:  1 hour 45 minutes
• Firearm:  Free Rifle .22 caliber

Three Position Rifle

  Three Position Rifle, which consists of shooting from standing, kneeling and prone positions, was one of the matches included in the 1896 Olympics.  The match was based on military training programs, and was shot at 300 meters with big-bore centrefire rifles.  After World War II a similar match using .22 rifles and shot at a range of 50 meters was included in the 1948 Games.

• Target Distance:  50m
• Number of Shots:  40 shots prone in 1 hour 15 minutes
  40 shots standing in 1 hour 45 minutes
  40 shots kneeling in 1 hour 30 minutes
• Time Limit:  as per above
• Firearm:  Match Rifle .22 caliber

Air Rifle

  The Air Rifle discipline made its debut at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.  Competitions with both air rifles and air pistols are popular in other parts of the world, where private ownership of firearms is restricted by local law or geography.  Because of this, more airgun matches have been included in Olympic and International shooting programs in recent years

• Target Distance:  10m
• Number of Shots:  60
• Time Limit:  2 hours
• Firearm:  Air rifle .177 caliber

* Taken from "Competitive Pistol Shooting" by Dr. Laslo Antal, British National Coach, EP Publishing Limited, 1983 and "Olympic Shooting '96", Guns & Ammo, August 1996, Vol. 40, No.8.

---