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.
Sport in Ireland plays an important role in Irish society. The many sports played and followed in Ireland include Gaelic games, association football, horse racing, show jumping, greyhound racing, basketball, fishing, handball, motorsport, boxing, tennis, hockey, golf, rowing, cricket, and rugby union.
The 10 meter air pistol is an Olympic shooting event governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF). It is similar to 10 meter air rifle in that it is shot with 4.5 mm caliber air guns at a distance of 10 metres (11 yards), and that the match consists of a qualification round of 60 competition shots within 75 minutes. If an Electronic Scoring System (EST) is not available, 15 minutes are added to the time limit. Competitors are allowed to shoot an unlimited amount of shots during the 15 minutes preparation and sighting time. Along with the 50 meter pistol, it is considered a precision shooting event. Thus, numerous shooters compete in both events.
The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) is the governing body of the Olympic shooting events. It also regulates several non-Olympic shooting sport events. The Federation's activities include regulation of the sport, managing Olympic qualification events and quota places, as well as organization of international competitions such as the ISSF World Cup series and ISSF World Championships.
The ISSF World Shooting Championships are governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation. World Shooting Championships began in 1897, after the successful 1896 Summer Olympics, and although the ISSF was not founded until 1907, these early competitions are still seen by the organization as the beginning of a continuous row of championships. By this logic, the 2006 competition in Zagreb was called the 49th ISSF World Shooting Championships. These championships, including all ISSF shooting events, are held every four years since 1954. For the shotgun events only, there is an additional World Championship competition in odd-numbered years. These extra competitions are not numbered. In running target, there will be World Championships in Olympic years.
The National Small-bore Rifle Association, the 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.
Malcolm Douglas Cooper, MBE, was a British sport shooter and founder of Accuracy International. Competing in ISSF 50metre and 300metre rifle events, he dominated his events for several years, becoming the first shooter to win the Olympic 50metre 3-Position rifle event twice. He held or shared 5 World Records in 300metre rifle events.
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.
Shooting sports have been contested at the Commonwealth Games at every games since 1966 with the exception of the 1970 and 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Shooting competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro took place from 6 to 14 August at the National Shooting Center in Deodoro. A maximum of 390 athletes were able to compete in the fifteen events across these Games. The event format was similar to 2012, although there were significant changes to the rules and guidelines of the competition.
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.
Electronic scoring systems or electronic targets are automated scoring systems used for sport shooting where the shot placement and score is automatically calculated using electronics and presented on screens to the organizer and shooters. The score may also be shown on a big screen for audience at the shooting range, and this has in many ways revolutionized the shooting sport.
Natalie Ellen Rooney is a New Zealand sport shooter, competing primarily in trap shooting events.
Seonaid McIntosh is a British sports shooter who became the World Champion at the 2018 ISSF World Shooting Championships in the 50m Prone Rifle event. In 2019 she became Britain's most successful female rifle shooter of all time, winning three World Cup medals. She also became the first British Woman to rank World #1 for the 50m Rifle Three Position event and became European Champion in the 300m Rifle Prone event with an equal World Record score.
South African Shooting Sport Confederation (SASSCo) formerly known as South African Shooting Sport Federation (SASSF) is the governing body for shooting sports in South Africa. SASSCo is the highest body responsible for the development and promotion of target shooting sports in South Africa. SASSCo is registered with both SASCOC and Sport and Recreation South Africa (SRSA) as the officially recognised overall federation for shooting sports in South Africa, and is also affiliated to the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) and the African Shooting Sport Federation (ASSF).
British Shooting is the national governing body for ISSF shooting sport disciplines in the United Kingdom. The organisation serves as a single shooting body to receive public funding from UK Sport and Sport England, administer high performance squads and talent pathways as well as serve as the member body for shooting sports with organisations such as the British Olympic Association and ISSF.
The National Rifle Association of New Zealand (NRA) is the national governing body for Fullbore rifle shooting in New Zealand.
The New Zealand Shooting Federation (NZSF) is the governing body for Target Shooting Sports in New Zealand. It holds responsibility for selecting and developing national teams for World Championships, as well as the Olympic and Commonwealth Games.
Shooting competitions have been confirmed for the 2026 Commonwealth Games programme in Victoria, Australia. The Games have been scheduled to take place from the 17 to 29 March 2026.
