Practical shooting, also known as dynamic shooting or action shooting, is a set of shooting sports where the competitors are trying to unite the three principles of precision, power and speed, by using a firearm of a certain minimum power factor to score as many points as possible during the shortest amount of time. While scoring systems vary between organizations, each measures the time of which the course is completed, with penalties for inaccurate shooting. The courses are called "stages", and are shot individually by the shooters. Usually the shooter must move and shoot from several positions, fire under or over obstacles and in other unfamiliar positions. There are no standard exercises or set arrangement of the targets, and the courses are often designed so that the shooter must be inventive, and therefore the solutions of exercises sometimes varies between shooters.
The International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) is the world's second largest shooting sport association and the largest and oldest within practical shooting. Founded in 1976, the IPSC nowadays affiliates over 100 regions from Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania. Competitions are held with pistol, revolver, rifle and shotgun, and competitors are divided into different divisions based on firearm and equipment features. While everyone in a division competes in the Overall category, there are also own separate awards for the categories Lady, Super Junior, Junior, Senior and Super Senior.
The United States Practical Shooting Association(USPSA) is the national governing body of practical shooting in the United States under the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC). Its over 30,000 active members and over 450 affiliated clubs make USPSA the largest practical shooting organization in the United States and the second largest region within IPSC after the Russian Federation of Practical Shooting. USPSA publishes a member magazine called Front Sight six times a year.
The Steel Challenge is a speed shooting competition governed by the Steel Challenge Shooting Association (SCSA) that consists of eight standardized stages with steel targets in three sizes; small circular, large circular and square targets. Competitors are scored solely by the time it takes them to complete each stage, and the match winner is the competitor with the lowest overall time.
Tori M. Nonaka is an American sport shooter with two IPSC Handgun World Shoot silver medals in the Standard division Lady category. She was one of three members of Team GLOCK. She grew up in Woodbridge, Virginia, where she began shooting at age 3. At age 12, Tori attended the US Shooting Academy, which sparked her interest in becoming a professional shooter and led her to begin shooting competitively. On March 2, 2011, GLOCK, Inc announced that 15-year-old Tori would be a member of Team GLOCK Shooting Squad. In March 2017 Tori went independent and left Team Glock. She was replaced by Ashley Rheuark.
Michael Christopher "Chris" Tilley is a professional shooter and USPSA Grand Master. He is also known for competing in the second season of History Channel's marksmen competition Top Shot.
Athena Lee is a competition shooter and USPSA Master. She is also known for competing in the second season of History Channel's marksmen competition Top Shot.
Cliff Walsh is a competitive shooter, ICORE World Revolver Champion and USPSA National Revolver Champion. He is also known for competing in the third season of History Channel's marksmen competition Top Shot.
The IPSC Handgun World Shoot is the highest level handgun match within the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) which consists of several days and at least 30 separate courses of fire. The Handgun World Shoots are held triennially on a rotational cycle with the other two main IPSC disciplines Rifle and Shotgun.
Multigun, Multi Gun or Multi-Gun, often also called 2-Gun or 3-Gun depending on the types of firearms used, are practical shooting events where each of the stages require the competitor to use a combination of rifles, handguns, and/ or shotguns Multigun has a lot in common with ordinary IPSC/ USPSA single gun matches, and matches generally have courses of fire where the shooter must move through different stages and engage targets in a variety of different positions.
KC Eusebio is an IPSC/ USPSA and Steel Challenge action shooting competitor from the US featured on the Hot Shots TV-series.
Maxient John Jr. Michel is an action shooting competitor from the US. He became IPSC Handgun World Champion in the Open division in 2014. He is also the only seven-time winner of the Steel Challenge World Speed Shooting Championships and the only competitor to win it 4 times in a row. Max began shooting when he was just 5 years old, and has served in the U.S. Army for 10 years as a shooter and trainer. He is also featured on the Hot Shots TV series, and is sponsored by SIG Sauer. Max uses a highly modified Sig Sauer P320 tuned specifically for him by The Sig Armorer.
Benjamin Thomas Stoeger is an American competition shooter and firearms instructor who started competing actively in 2005. He placed first in the 2017 IPSC Handgun World Shoot, second behind Bob Vogel in the 2011 IPSC Handgun World Shoot, and placed third in the 2014 IPSC Handgun World Shoot behind Eric Grauffel and Simon "JJ" Racaza. He is also three time IPSC US Handgun Production Champion, seven time USPSA Handgun Production Champion.
The USPSA Handgun Championships are yearly championships held by the United States Practical Shooting Association (USPSA) run under USPSA-rules. Sometimes, all of the pistol nationals are held at the same time, other years, they have been broken up between different ranges. In order to attend one of the pistol nationals, a competitor usually has to win a "slot", usually by placing well enough at various regional and Area Championship matches held throughout the year.
The USPSA Multigun Championship, formerly called the 3-Gun Nationals, are yearly multigun championships held by the United States Practical Shooting Association (USPSA). The Multigun Championship is always held at a separate range and date from the pistol nationals USPSA Handgun Championship and IPSC US Handgun Championship. Currently, anyone can participate in the Multigun Championship on a first-come, first-served basis.
The 1988 IPSC Handgun World Shoot VIII held in Caracas, Venezuela was the eighth IPSC Handgun World Shoot, and was won by Ross Seyfried of the United States.
The 1993 IPSC Handgun World Shoot X held in Bisley, England was the 10th IPSC Handgun World Shoot, and consisted of 5 days with 34 stages, teams from over 27 countries and a lot of rain. The competition had been divided into the Open, Standard and Modified divisions. The Standard division was won by Ted Bonnet of United States, the Modified division by Robert Buntschu of Switzerland and the Open division by Matthew McLearn of United States. Born in Nova Scotia, Mclearn had moved to the U.S. five years prior the world championship to pursue gunsmithing training and advance in the competitive arena. Right before winning the World Shoot he also placed first in the U.S. IPSC Handgun Nationals.
The 1996 IPSC Handgun World Shoot XI held in Brasilia, Brazil was the 11th IPSC Handgun World Shoot. The match had 609 competitors, teams from 31 nations and consisted of 35 stages. The Open division was won by Todd Jarrett, while the Standard division once again was won by Ted Bonnet of USA. Todd Jarret from Virginia had established himself as a major player before the event, having placed in the top four of the US Nationals every year since 1990 except one. According to himself he had trained well before the World Shoot in Brazil, and was quoted saying "It's really amazing, the harder I work, the luckier I get."
Ronald E. Avery was an American sport shooter and firearms instructor who took bronze in the Standard division at the 2002 IPSC Handgun World Shoot and bronze in the Standard division Senior category at the 2014 IPSC Handgun World Shoot. He also took the Standard division title in the 2013 IPSC US Handgun Championship and the Limited-10 division title at the 2000 USPSA Handgun Nationals.
