Shooting, the sport of firing at targets of various kinds with rifles, handguns (pistols and revolvers), and

shotguns as an exercise in marksmanship

1.History
Shooting has a long history as a sport. Most sports, in fact, began as things people did to fight wars or to
survive. The javelin throw, boxing, wrestling, fencing, archery, running, many team sports, horseback riding
and shooting are all sports that began as military or survival skills.
The first target shooting was done with slings and bows and arrows. Inscriptions on ancient Egyptian
tombs show target shooting and shooting lessons in which bows and arrows were used. The medals awarded
at the 38th World Shooting Championships in 1962 showed a 3,000-year-old Egyptian target shooting scene

The first target shooting with shoulder arms was done with crossbows during the Middle
Ages. Shooting clubs were first organized among the German peoples in the 12th century. Crossbows were
used in one-shot competitions using specially painted wooden targets. William Tell, here of the Swiss legend,
became famous because of his skill with a crossbow. By the 16th century, firearms with rifled barrels were
used in shooting competitions.
Shooting got its start as a sport in America when frontiersmen came together. Early Americans, with
their Pennsylvania and Kentucky flintlock rifles would “shoot at a mark,” which was usually an X carved in a
slab of wood. These “rifle frolics” or “turkey shoots” often had prizes of beef, turkey or other food items.
The most popular era of shooting in the United States was during the late 1800s. Offhand (standing
position) schuetzen rifle matches attracted hundreds of shooters and thousands of spectators. Two of the
greatest shooters of that time were Dr. Walter Hudson and Harry Pope, also a famous gunsmith.
Trap shooting began in the U.S. in 1825. The first informal matches used live pigeons. The U.S. developed
artificial targets for trap competition—first glass balls containing feathers, then clay targets. Among the greatest
of the 19th century trapshooters were Adam Bogardus, Ira Paine, and Annie Oakley. Once at an exhibition
match Bogardus shot 5,681 glass balls before he missed. Additionally, Oakley once shot an impressive 4,772
of 5,000 glass balls released from 15-yard traps.

Skeet shooting originated in the early 1900s. The sport is meant to simulate upland game shooting. At
first, competitors fired “around the clock” using a complete circle of shooting stations. This format was later
modified to the half-circle still used today. Clay birds are thrown from high and low houses located on either
side of the field.

Many national shooting federations were established during the 19th century. The National Rifle
Association of America was founded in 1871 by Colonel William Church and Captain George Wingate of the
New York National Guard. The U.S. Revolver Association, founded in 1900, actually selected, trained, and
financed Olympic pistol teams through the 1936 Games. Subsequently, the NRA assumed leadership and
developmental responsibilities for pistol, rifle and, beginning in 1960, shotgun shooting. In 1994, USA Shooting
became the U.S. national governing body for Olympic competition.
In 1896, French pistol champion Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the first modern Olympic
Games. The first games had nine sports including shooting. Included on the program were four pistol and two
high power rifle events. Since then, shooting events have been included every year at the Olympics except for
the 1904 and 1928 Games. Individual and team events were also included until they were eliminated in 1948.

U. S. shooters were among the world’s best rifle shooters in the 20th century. In the 1920s, Morris
Fisher won two Olympic gold medals and Walter Stokes won seven world championships. After 1960, Gary

Anderson won two Olympic gold medals and seven world championships. Lones Wigger won two Olympic gold
medals and set 12 individual world records. Other 20th century championship shooters include Lanny
Bassham, John Foster, Margaret Murdock, John Writer, Pat Spurgin, Wanda Jewell, Bob Foth, Launi Meili, and
Nancy Johnson
Pierre de Coubertin is considered the father of the modern Olympic Games. He ensured shooting was included on the first Olympic
program.

The U.S. continues to excel in International and Olympic shooting in the 21st century. In 2004, Matt
Emmons won the gold medal in 50 meter rifle prone. Shotgunner Kim Rhode won her first gold medal in double
trap 1996, and now has a total of six Olympic medals. At the 2016 Rio Games, Rhode won the bronze in skeet.
In 2012, Jamie Lynn Gray (now Corkish) won the gold medal in 3-position rifle. At the same London games,
Vincent Hancock picked up a gold medal of his own in the skeet competition. Most recently, collegiate rifle
shooter Ginny Thrasher had a memorable win at the 2016 Rio Games, with a gold medal winning performance
in the 10 meter air rifle event.

Kim Rhode shooting her Beretta DT11 shotgun.

💜 Equipment

 Eye protection is used to protect the marksman’s eyes in the case of ricochet or a pellet fired in the
marksman’s direction by a marksman not following safety regulations.

 A shooting jacket is required to keep the marksman’s upper body stiff to shoot steadily and prevent
shaking.

 A sling goes on the marksman’s forearm and is needed for kneeling and prone positions to keep you
attached to the marksman’s rifle, helping you maintain position.

 A hand-stop is used to connect the sling on the marksman’s arm to the metal track on the bottom the
marksman’s rifle.

 A bipod slides into the same metal track as the hand-stop, and is used to steady the rifle on the ground
so that you’re not laying the rifle on its side. The bipod cannot be in the metal track when the rifle is in
use.

 A glove is necessary to protect the marksman’s non-trigger hand while it holds the rifle.

 A CBI, or Clear barrel indicator, is required to indicate that the rifle is unloaded when the range is “cold”
or the rifle is unloaded and not in use.

 Stiff pants or shooting pants are needed for kneeling and standing positions. They keep the
marksman’s legs stiff and help to maintain the positions.

 Sturdy shoes with closed toes are required for keeping the marksman’s feet in position and protect the
feet. The sturdiness keeps the marksman sturdy and relieves some pain. The closed toes protect the
marksman’s feet from accidentally being shot if an accident occurs.

 The shooting sweater serves as a layer between the marksman’s shirt and shooting jacket, making the
stiff jacket more comfortable.
  Earplugs block out unnecessary sounds and distractions around the marksman, helping them focus on
the target.

 A hair-tie or hat can be used to keep the marksman’s long hair out of their face, allowing them to clearly
see the target.

 Finally, a backtag is required when shooting competitively to indicate the team for which the marksman
is shooting.

Athlete
There was, perhaps, no more naturally talented shooter than Hungary's Karoly Takacs, yet he had to face some huge obstacles
in his career. The first was military rank – despite being a provenly world-class marksman by 1936, he was denied a place in the
team for the 1936 Olympic Games on the basis that he was merely a sergeant, and the team was only open to commissioned
officers. It was a restriction that was lifted after those Games, so Takacs started preparing, so he thought, to compete in the
1940 Olympic Games.

But even before the start of the Second World War, Takacs suffered another setback, this time one that appeared to have ended
his career. During army training in 1938, a faulty grenade exploded and shattered his right hand – the one he used to fire a
pistol.

Undeterred, he taught himself to shoot with his left hand. Having spent a month in hospital after his accident, he then spent
many more months practising in private and then emerged back into the competitive spotlight in 1939 to win the Hungarian
National Pistol Shooting Championship.

Having proved his ability was still intact, he returned to the Hungarian national team that won the World Championship in the
automatic pistol category. By now, there was little doubt that shooting with “the wrong hand” had not impeded his ability.

Karoly Takacs
 Tactical skills-

TRIGGER PULL

Pulling the trigger” is the action the operator performs to discharge a firearm. While very simple in
concept, it creates problems for most shooters, even experienced ones.

Let me give you the basics first:

 Hold the gun firmly with your proper grip

 Align the sights on the target
 Place the center of the first pad of your trigger finger on the trigger
 Begin pressing the trigger rearward, smoothly, without moving anything else (or while moving everything else
as little as possible)
 Once you have created enough pressure on the trigger, it will move (sometimes imperceptibly) until the striker,
firing pin or hammer in the gun is activated and starts the ignition process, firing the gun.

SHOOTING STANCE

To a great degree, how you stand may be dictated by your physical condition and surroundings.

To a great degree, how you stand may be dictated by your physical condition and surroundings.
However there are a few key points you should try to address when developing your shooting stance.

We feel most comfortable when standing with equal weight on both feet and with our weight more on
the heels than the balls of the feet. This is how our musculature is designed to hold our weight, with
the joints more or less fully extended, or locked. This requires the least amount of muscle to keep us
upright. However, this is NOT the optimal position for controlling and quickly shooting a hand gun.

SIGHT ALIGNMENT

Properly aligning the sights on the target gives you the orientation or exact location / position the gun
will shoot the bullet when fired. Many shooters refer to this a the “sight picture”.

So, how do you create the perfect sight picture?

 Properly grip the gun and hold it at arms length.

 Visually align the front sight post in the rear sight notch.
 The top of the rear and front sights should be on the same plane or level.
 The gap of light between the sides of the front sight and inside vertical edge of the rear notch should be equal.
 Once you have aligned the sights with each other, place the sights on the target where you want the impact of
the bullet to go. You are now ready to shoot!

ADJUSTING THE SIGHTS:

Our guns’ sights are typically regulated so the bullet will impact at the top of the front sight, with
proper sight alignment. Many pistol models come with sights that can be adjusted to change the point
of impact.
 TECHNICAL SKILLS

1. USE OF COVER

Finding and utilizing cover, however, is a deeper subject than it lets on and the self-defense shooter
must be familiar with the various techniques used to assess and make the most out of his or her
surroundings. When shooting, proper hold off for sighting the target, correct pie-ing around corners
(moving in a quarter circle around corners or doorways to progressively reveal what’s behind it), not
crowding cover in daylight and getting up close to cover when using a flashlight in the dark are all
topics and skills one needs to learn and develop through tutelage and physical practice.

2. TACTICAL MOVEMENT

There is no such thing as a threat that holds perfectly still so, accordingly, target shooting at the
range, especially at those distances where most gun battles occur (approximately seven yards and
closer), should not be static. Firefights are dynamic and shooters need to know how to shoot moving
targets, as well as move and shoot, shoot and move and shoot while on the move. Further, moving
tactically directly informs how you negotiate cover: shooters need to recognize cover but then move
to that cover as well as manipulate corners and doorways and move alertly down stairways and halls.

3. GEAR AND CONFIGURATION

the right gear can help you win battles and the best gear often wins the war. When it comes to
choosing gear though, tools in your rig don’t have to be tacti-cool, all they have to do is work—and
you have to be able to work them.

4. COVER OF AND CONTACT WITH THE THREAT

Stay guns out and don’t end up in a cross fire between you and a partner. Make sure the area is clear
from other threats before approaching, and never go hands on (handcuffing and searching) the
suspect with a gun in your hand. All too often bad guys will continue to resist to the very end.

5. MINDSET AND AGGRESSIVENESS

Speed, surprise and aggressive action (or violence of action) is perhaps the secrete ingredient to
winning gunfights. The right attitude may be the most undervalued skill-set in tactical training.

💜 officials

Match officials
The International Range Officers Association (IROA) is a part of IPSC with the responsibility to train
and certify their own dedicated range officials, who are responsible for conducting matches safely, fair
and according to the rules. In addition, each IPSC region have their own National Range Officers
Institute (NROI) under the IROA. In a match range officials from IROA and NROI can work alongside
in the ranks:
 Range Officer (RO) – The Range Officer gives the competitors stage briefings, issue range commands and
follows the competitor through the conduction of the stage to monitor time, scores and safe firearms handling.
 Chief Range Officer (CRO) – In case there are several Range Officers, a Chief Range Officer will be assigned
to have the primary authority over the particular course. Like the RO, the CRO will oversee fair and consistent
application of the rules.
 Range Master (RM) – The Range Master has the overall authority over the entire range during the match,
including all Match Officials and the overall safety.
 Match Director (MD) handles the overall match administration before and during the match, including
registration, squadding, scheduling, range construction and coordination of the staff. The Match Director
doesn't have to be an NROI or IROA Official.
 Stats Officer (SO) is another important role with the responsibility to collect, sort and verify the final results.

Coaches and instructors

The International Shooting Safety Instructors Association (ISSIA) is a part of IPSC with the
responsibility to train and certify their own dedicated safety instructors and coaches, [30][31] providing
supervision and training for both team and individual players. Safety instructors conduct mandatory
safety training programs, while coaches are involved in administration, athletic and shooting training,
competition coaching as well as representation of practical shooting teams and players.

💜scoring system

Accuracy and speed is reflected by the comstock scoring method, while power is reflected by the
minimum power factor requirement. Competitors fire the stages one at a time, and the scoring system is based
on achieving most possible points in the shortest time.
The scoring method allows for a precise gradation of performances across the match, but requires a computer
and software to do in a timely fashion. Matches can either be scored on paper and manually transferred to the
official IPSC Match Scoring System (WinMSS), or can be scored directly on electronic devices
like smartphones and tablets with the WinMSS Electronic Score Sheet (ESS) app or third party scoring
systems like Shoot'n Score It or PractiScore.

Matches
Walls and Fault Lines on the ground are used to define the boundary of the shooting area used during the Course of Fire.

A match consists of a mix between short courses (lowest number of targets), medium and long courses
(highest number of targets). The approved balance for a match is a ratio of 3 short courses to 2 medium
courses and 1 long course (i.e. 6 short, 4 medium and 2 long courses for a level 3 match). Since the number of
targets dictate the available points for that stage, and therefore Long courses potentially can have a have great
impact on the overall standings. Short courses have fewer points available, and tend not to be as critical for the
overall standings. Short courses are often more technical, offer many different stage solutions, or include
challenging elements such as "empty chamber" or "empty magazine well" starts, or "non-freestyle shooting"
elements such as strong or weak hand only. Medium courses are something in between, while long courses
will have the highest round count. Long courses tend to be more freestyle and straightforward as far as
different stage solutions. The shooting challenges may still not necessarily be easy, and a match can be lost or
won at a long course since there are so many points available.
 Short Medium Long
Discipline
Course Course Course

Handgun,
can require
12 rounds 24 rounds 32 rounds
up to
minimum

Rifle, can 10 rounds 20 rounds 40 rounds

require up to (5 for (10 for (20 for
minimum Manual) Manual) Manual)

Shotgun, 8 rounds, 16 rounds, 28 rounds,

can require maximum maximum maximum
up to 12 scoring 24 scoring 32 scoring
minimum hits hits hits

Match etiquettes
Walkthrough refers to being inside the fault lines of a stage when not shooting, and is usually done by
competitors for finalizing stage plans. Walkthroughs are restricted for equity reasons. Competitors are
not allowed to enter or walk on the stages on their own initiative, but must be invited to do so by the
Range Officer first after having received the stage briefing. After the stage brief, the squad as a whole
is normally given between 3 and 5 minutes to walk the particular stage collectively. Afterwards, the
command Time's up is given, upon which the first shooter is asked to load and make ready.
On-deck refers to the competitor first in line waiting to shoot. The shooter second in line is referred to
as being in-the-hole. During scoring of the preceding shooter, the shooter on deck is usually allowed
to take a final walkthrough.
So as not to disturb, spectators and other competitors should be still and remain silent while a
competitor is preparing to shoot as well as during shooting.

After a competitor has performed well on a stage it is common to receive soft applause. Such quiet
clapping is the preferred form of applause for shooters; louder forms of applause are discouraged so
as not to disturb other shooters who may be in the process of attempting a stage. Shoot-Off's are an
exception to this.

After having completed a stage and received scores it is common for the competitor to thank and
shake hands with the Range Officer.

Competitors are divided into Squads which rotate between the Courses of Fire. A Super Squad refers
to a Squad of elite and top seeded competitors who are among the favorites to win a match. They
often consist of two or more national teams who are handpicked by their respective national sport
directors. Match favorites are required to be placed in Super Squads so that they get the most similar
conditions.