With all of the memes of Yusuf from Turkey buzzing around, it piqued my interest in why there wasn’t a single American that podiumed at the Olympics. Where would someone be able to go, apart from private land out in the middle of nowhere, to practice or even compete in ISSF 25m Rapid Fire and 10m Air pistol events?
For those disciplines, a person would need to find a club that does traditional bullseye events/matches. Where I just moved from, no such thing existed within 3 hours. Where I live now, there are two clubs with events within 30 minutes.Originally Posted by spinmove_
So it may largely depend on what is available near you and how far you are willing to drive.
I just checked Practiscore and there's not a filter for ISSF matches, nor are there any matches with "ISSF" in the name.
Interesting that you posted this. I was wondering yesterday and did a Google search for an Olympic pistol club in the Dallas area. Out of all the ranges we have in DFW, only one club popped up for Olympic pistol shooting, at least on the search I ran.
At least unfortunately for an Olympic shooting team, Americans would much rather shoot centerfire handguns and compete in other, more fun, handgun formats.
"Rich," the Old Man said dreamily, "is a little whiskey to drink and some food to eat and a roof over your head and a fish pole and a boat and a gun and a dollar for a box of shells." Robert Ruark
It's been noted that since we can do way more fun shooting stuff with way more fun guns, precision bullseye shooting is kinda dull.
But if that's your only legal way to shoot, then why not?
"You win 100% of the fights you avoid. If you're not there when it happens, you don't lose." - William Aprill
"I've owned a guitar for 31 years and that sure hasn't made me a musician, let alone an expert. It's made me a guy who owns a guitar."- BBI
There are two air pistol clubs about an hour from me that hold monthly ISSF matches. I don't shoot real guns much anymore because there are no worthwhile ranges less than an hour from my house anymore. I had a great range and it got closed down/lost the lease. Competitive air pistol and Olympic rules shooting of any type is such a niche endeavor that it requires a certain population base to sustain it. By my research, there are really only 2 clubs hosting ISSF air pistol matches in the NoVA/DC area.
I've taken to shooting 10M air pistol because my knees and running speed make me non-competitive in the run & gun events. Not that I can't run or go to kneeling, etc., I just don't do it fast anymore. I have also come to enjoy the serenity of air pistol bullseye. The X ring is about the size of a number 2 pencil eraser at 11 yards, so it is quite challenging, if admittedly boring for an audience to watch. Another great benefit is I can shoot in my basement, hours a day if I want. And it really serves to keep up my fundamentals for the real guns.
CMP matches are pretty much confined to Anniston, AL and Camp Perry, OH: https://thecmp.org/competitions/matc...r-gun-matches/
Net Competitor has online postal matches: https://www.netcompetitor.com/
Unfortunately, I have not found a central clearing house that reliably lists all the air pistol matches available in the US. I wish there was one. The two near me, Izaak Walton League in Fairfax and Fairfax Rod & Gun Club are only posted on their club websites. They don't pop up in any kind of Google search or on CMP or NRA or anywhere else. I can only imagine there are many others across the country, but the shooting discipline is so ill-organized they are nearly impossible to find.
The best bet is probably to look for junior air pistol clubs and then see if they have adult matches piggy backing on the kid's club. The Fairfax Rod & Gun Club has a fantastic well-lit indoor air gun range with electronically scored targets. But each target costs around $10,000 (so they told me) and they have about 30 of them. The only way that was gonna happen was through whatever org funds youth air gun programs. The adults get to use the range too and have the occasional match, but it wouldn't exist without the youth program.
For the most part, in the US air gun shooting is viewed as a children's endeavor until they get old enough to "graduate" to real guns.
Last edited by Beast17; 08-05-2024 at 04:17 PM.
I know we are talking about air pistol, but we had an air rifle Olympic medalist in Rio in 2016
https://www.iwla.org/publications/bl...aim-to-inspire
Last edited by DamonL; 08-05-2024 at 07:29 PM.
If wall climbing can make it into the Olympics why not an IPSC-like event: individual/team/mixed team. Maybe in LA (the arm pit of SoCal) in 2028?
We suck at Rapid Fire because the ranges willing to dedicate five 25m lanes to one shooter are basically nonexistent.
As far as air pistol goes, we have very few ranges in the U.S. with quality electronic target and lighting systems. CMP ranges, a couple near DC, and the bigger shooting colleges... that’s about it. Not a lot of air pistol gunsmiths and gripfitters in the U.S. Sport-wise, there are more college programs for air rifle and smallbore rifle than air pistol and sport/rapid pistol.
Plus, we probably have more shooting sports available to shooters than any other country. We have a glut of options coupled with poor infrastructure for the international sports. Even with all that, U.S. pistol and rifle shooters did great this year.
SGT Maddalena from the AMU barely missed podium in 10m air rifle and took silver in 50m smallbore.
Kate Abeln from OSU made the finals in Women’s 25m sport pistol. Finished 8th, but that’s still no small feat. Americans don’t often make finals for the 25m pistol sports.
Also, it’s the Olympics. Biggest shooting event in the world.
Super tough qualification process just to go. Quotas are treated more deliberately in countries… a shooter might get lucky and win a quota at a World Cup, but there will be an internal competition and selection process to send the most consistent shooters in the quota places. In the U.S., quotas are generally awarded to the person, so someone can shoot a big match or two in a hot streak and qualify, making a more consistent and experienced shooter stay home. There’s a reason some countries (South Korea and China in particular) have been so dominant.
The shooters get one practice day and then shoot a match to decide finals attendance. Only the top six or eight (depending on event) shoot the final. Point spread is often only a few points between the top 25. X-count and 10s matter. Luck matters. A 9.9 and a 10.1 can be shot from the same hold—fractions of a millimeter of pure luck—and only the full-value integer will count.
Abeln and Alexis Lagan (her teammate from OSU) both shot in the low-mid 570s at air pistol quals. Great scores. The top 8 were in the low-mid 580s. A little better sleep, a little (or lot) more luck, slightly better zeros given the temperature, humidity, and lighting… who knows. Those girls did great, it just wasn’t the year for a medal.
Well, you may be a man. You may be a leprechaun. Only one thing’s for sure… you’re in the wrong basement.
In most parts of this country, if you want to shoot Olympic Pistol, you're pretty much on your own.
There are so few matches, USA Shooting doesn't bother keeping a list on their website. Netcompetitor.com is probably your best bet.
As for practicing the events themselves, air pistol is the easiest event ever to practice for. Most people can do it in their house or backyard. Maybe even an apartment. Use paper targets. Anybody who tells you that you need a $10G electronic target unit to shoot air pistol is trying to sell you one.
Rapid-fire pistol is the opposite. It is very difficult to find a place where you can shoot that. Most clubs will not allow you to put up 5 targets for just yourself. Many clubs have "speed limits" for shooting. No faster than 1 shot every x number of seconds. If you tell them you're practicing for the Olympics, you'll just get a blank look.
If you don't have place to shoot 5 targets, try doing it on one target. I figure that's the next best thing.
So if you do get the guns, and practice the events, just remember you are doing this for yourself, and not any other reason.
Good luck,
Mark
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