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.
Practical shooting, also known as dynamic shooting or action shooting, is a set of shooting sports in which the competitors try 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 time. While scoring systems vary between organizations, each measures the time in 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 vary between shooters.
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.
Pistol New Zealand (PNZ) is the umbrella sporting federation of handgun shooting sports and clubs in New Zealand. Pistol New Zealand was formerly known as the New Zealand Pistol Association (NZPA). PNZ is affiliated with the following shooting sports:
High Power Rifle, also called XTC from "Across the Course", is a shooting sport using fullbore target rifles which is arranged in the United States by the National Rifle Association of America (NRA). The sport is divided into classes by equipment, and popular types of matches include Service Rifle, Open, Axis and Allies and metallic silhouette. The term High Power Rifle sometimes also includes the international shooting disciplines of Palma and F-Class by the International Confederation of Fullbore Rifle Associations (ICFRA) which are represented by the NRA in the United States.
Black powder cartridge rifle (BPCR) refers to modern shooting sports which employ black powder cartridge rifles. These firearms, often of the type referred to as "buffalo rifles", are single-shot firearms using a fixed metallic cartridge containing black powder, which launch heavy projectiles at relatively low velocities.
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.
Underwater Target Shooting is an underwater sport/shooting sport that tests a competitors’ ability to accurately use a speargun via a set of individual and team events conducted in a swimming pool using freediving or Apnoea technique. The sport was developed in France during the early 1980s and is currently practiced mainly in Europe. It is known as Tir sur cible subaquatique in French and as Tiro al Blanco Subacuático in Spanish.
Shooting Australia is the governing body for shooting sports in Australia. The company is registered as Australian International Shooting Limited, but trades under the Shooting Australia brand.
Norges Skytterforbund (NSF), literally the Norwegian Shooting Association, is a Norwegian umbrella organization for shooting sports, and is internationally affiliated with the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF), Fédération Internationale de Tir aux Armes Sportives de Chasse (FITASC) and Precision Pistol Competition (WA1500). NSF was founded in 1946, and is also organized under the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports.
The Finnish Shooting Sport Federation, FinnishSuomen Ampumaurheiluliitto (SAL), was founded in 1919 and is an umbrella organization for sport shooting in Finland, representing many international shooting sport organizations in Finland.
The Association of Maltese Arms Collectors and Shooters (AMACS) is a Maltese umbrella association for sport shooting and arms collectors.
The French Shooting Federation (FFTir), FrenchFédération Française de Tir, is the umbrella organization for sport shooting in France. It was founded in its current form in 1967, but has roots as far back as 1866.
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.
The Hellenic Shooting Federation is an umbrella organization for sport shooting in Greece.
Dynamic Shooting Sport Federation of Hungary, Hungarian Magyar Dinamikus Lövészsport Szövetség, is the Hungarian association for practical shooting under the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) as well as precision rifle shooting under International Precision Rifle Federation (IPRF) and metallic silhouette shooting under the International Metallic Silhouette Shooting Union (IMSSU).
Shooting competitions for factory and service firearms refer to a set of shooting disciplines, usually called service rifle, service pistol, production, factory, or stock; where the types of permitted firearms are subject to type approval with few aftermarket modifications permitted. The terms often refer to the restrictions on permitted equipment and modifications rather than the type of match format. The names Service Rifle and Service Pistol stem from that the equipment permitted for these types of competitions traditionally were based on standard issue firearms used by one or several armed forces and civilian versions of these, while the terms production, factory and stock often are applied to more modern disciplines with similar restrictions on equipment classes.
The Norwegian Metallic Silhouette Association, NorwegianNorges Metallsilhuettforbund (NMF), is the Norwegian association for metallic silhouette shooting, a shooting sport originating from Mexico. NMF is affiliated internationally with International Metallic Silhouette Shooting Union (IMSSU). The shooting sport entered Norway in 1978, and NMF was established in 1981. Norway was the first country to hold the European Championship in Metallic Shooting at the Løvenskiold Shooting Range in 1986, an event which was repeated in 1988.
Elgin T Gates was an American hunter, adventurer, author, and firearms and ammunition technician. He was responsible for proposing and testing the super magnum cartridge family in the 1970s in collaboration with Dan Wesson, which led to many wildcat designs, as well a few production cartridges such as the .357 Remington Maximum.
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