Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms and bows/crossbows.
International Rifle events that occur in three positions are conducted with an equal number of shots fired from the Kneeling, Prone and Standing positions, although the order has changed over the years. Each of the three positions shot during the match has a fixed time limit that the shooter is able to shoot unlimited numbers of sighting shots and 10 or 20 shots for record.
A marksman is a person who is skilled in precision shooting. In modern military usage this typically refers to the use of projectile weapons such as an accurized scoped long gun such as designated marksman rifle to shoot at high-value targets at longer-than-usual ranges.
In the United States (U.S.), a marksmanship badge is a U.S. military badge or a civilian badge which is awarded to personnel upon successful completion of a weapons qualification course or high achievement in an official marksmanship competition. The U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps are the only military services that award marksmanship qualification badges. However, marksmanship medals and/or marksmanship ribbons are awarded by the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, and U.S. Air Force for weapons qualifications. For non-military personnel, different U.S. law enforcement organizations and the National Rifle Association (NRA) award marksmanship qualification badges to those involved in law enforcement. Additionally, the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) and the NRA award marksmanship qualification badges to U.S. civilians. Most of these organizations and the U.S. National Guard award marksmanship competition badges to the people they support who succeed in official competitions.
Metallic silhouette shooting is a group of target shooting disciplines that involves shooting at steel targets representing game animals at varying distances, seeking to knock the metal target over. Metallic silhouette is shot with large bore rifles fired freehand without support out to 500 meters, and with large bore handguns from the prone position with only body support out to 200 meters. Competitions are also held with airguns and black-powder firearms. A related genre is shot with bow and arrow, the metal targets being replaced with cardboard or foam. The targets used are rams, turkeys, pigs, and chickens, which are cut to different scales and set at certain distances from the shooter depending on the specific discipline.
The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) is a national organization dedicated to training and educating U.S. citizens in responsible uses of firearms and airguns through gun safety training, marksmanship training, and competitions. The CMP is a federally chartered 501(c)(3) corporation that places a priority on serving youth through gun safety and marksmanship activities that encourage personal growth and build life skills.
Prone position is a body position in which the person lies flat with the chest down and the back up. In anatomical terms of location, the dorsal side is up, and the ventral side is down. The supine position is the 180° contrast.
Fullbore Target Rifle (TR) is a precision rifle shooting sport discipline governed by the International Confederation of Fullbore Rifle Associations (ICFRA). The sport evolved as a distinct British and Commonwealth of Nations discipline from Service rifle (SR) shooting in the late 1960s. Its development was heavily influenced by the British National Rifle Association (NRA). Due to this history, it is usually contested amongst the shooting events at the Commonwealth Games, although not at the Olympics. World Championships are held on a four-year cycle. The annual NRA Imperial Meeting at Bisley in the UK is globally recognised as a historic annual meeting for the discipline.
The National Small-bore Rifle Association (NSRA) is the national governing body for all small-bore rifle and pistol target shooting in the United Kingdom, including airgun and match crossbow shooting.
The President's Hundred Tab/Brassard is a badge awarded by the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) to the 100 top-scoring military and civilian shooters in the President's Pistol and President's Rifle Matches.
The ANZAC Rifle Range is a rifle range located on the Malabar Headland, Malabar, in the City of Randwick local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It is headquarters to the New South Wales Rifle Association, and hosts the annual NSW Queen's Prize shooting competitions. The range is located on land owned by the Commonwealth of Australia.
The Nebraska Cornhuskers rifle team represents the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the Patriot Rifle Conference. Rifle became an official sport at the university in 1998 and competed as an independent for six years before joining the Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) in 2004. NU left the GARC for the Patriot Rifle Conference in 2021. The team practices and hosts meets at the ten-point indoor firing range located in NU's Military and Naval Sciences Building (ROTC). The team has been coached by Mindy Miles since 2021.
Lones Wesley Wigger Jr. was an American sports shooter. Wigger was a member of the United States Olympic team on three occasions, winning two Olympic Gold Medals. He also served in the U.S. Army as a lieutenant colonel.
Smallbore rifle shooting, sometimes known as miniature rifle shooting, is a set of disciplines of shooting sports. Smallbore shooting uses smaller-calibre rifles, typically chambered in .22 Long Rifle, at ranges generally of 100 yards (91 m) or shorter. Depending on the range, it can either be conducted indoors or outdoors.
Danielle Fong is an American rifle shooter who represented the United States at the 2008 Summer Paralympics. She is a holder of two USA Shooting national records and four NRA national records.
Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Charles Jackson was an American competitive sport shooter. In his international career, he won numerous medals across three Summer Olympic Games, three ISSF World Shooting Championships, and two editions of the Pan American Games. He began shooting in the seventh grade and joined the rifle team at Brooklyn Technical High School in 1934. He competed in local and regional tournaments prior to World War II, during which he worked at the Sperry Corporation and later served as a bombardier in the Pacific Theater of Operations. His first international tournament was the 1948 Summer Olympics and his last was the 1956 edition, at which point he began a career in public service with the Central Intelligence Agency in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. He stopped competing at the international level in 1957 and retired from the CIA at the end of 1974. After several years as an instructor and coach, he continued participating in smaller tournaments through the 1990s.
Shooting sports in Canada are practised across the country at recreational and competitive levels, including internationally and at the Olympics. Each province has its own organizations that govern the various disciplines. Many of the disciplines are connected nationally and some are part of larger international organizations.
Charles Maitland Yorke Trotter was a British sports shooter and photographer who represented Guernsey and Kenya in both fullbore and smallbore disciplines. Trotter's achievements in rifle shooting made him one Guernsey's most decorated sportsmen.
The NRA Whittington Center is one of the largest and most comprehensive shooting facilities in the United States. Owned and operated by the National Rifle Association of America (NRA), the centre is located in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of Colfax County, New Mexico. Ten percent of the 33,300-acre (13,500 ha) site has been developed to include twenty-three shooting ranges, an administration building, a cafeteria, a museum, a library, classrooms, and full-service hookups for 175 recreational vehicles. The remainder of the site provides wildlife habitat at elevations above 6,300 feet (1,900 m) with primitive camp-grounds and remote back-country cabins for hunting, bird watching, wildlife viewing, photography, hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding.
Cameron Adam Snowden Pirouet is a Jersey born British sport shooter. He has represented Jersey at both the Island Games–at which he holds four games records–and the Commonwealth Games; his best result is a fourth-place finish in the Men's Smallbore Rifle event in 2018.
