ActionAirgun was a commercial

action shooting Practical shooting, also known as dynamic shooting or action shooting, is a set of shooting sports where the competitors try to unite the three principles of precision, power, and speed, by using a firearm of a certain minimum power factor to sco ...

sports game where competitors use

standardized Standardization or standardisation is the process of implementing and developing technical standards based on the consensus of different parties that include firms, users, interest groups, standards organizations and governments. Standardization ...

airsoft Airsoft is a team game in which participants eliminate opposing players by tagging them out of play with spherical plastic projectiles shot with mock air weapons(usually powered by an electronic motor) called airsoft guns. Although similar ...

shooting kits to shoot special courses of fire and keep track of their scores online. It is a trademarked name of ActionAirgun

LLC A limited liability company (LLC for short) is the US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of ...

. As of November 23, 2016, the domain for the sport, actionairgun.com, has expired. The format is modeled after several competitive shooting sports such as

IDPA The International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA), founded in 1996, is an organization based in Bogata, Texas, that has created a shooting sport based on defensive pistol techniques, using equipment including full-charge service ammunition to ...

, IPSC and

Cowboy Action Shooting Cowboy action shooting (CAS, also known as western action shooting, single action shooting, Cowboy 3 Gun, Western 3-gun) is a competitive shooting sport that originated in Southern California in the early 1980s, at the Coto de Caza Shooting R ...

ActionAirgun fills a

niche Niche may refer to: Science *Developmental niche, a concept for understanding the cultural context of child development * Ecological niche, a term describing the relational position of an organism's species *Niche differentiation, in ecology, the ...

as a low cost entry-level action shooting sport, as the equipment used are reproductions of actual

firearms A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...

such as the

M1911 pistol The M1911 (Colt 1911 or Colt Government) is a single-action, recoil-operated, semi-automatic pistol chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. The pistol's formal U.S. military designation as of 1940 was ''Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911'' for t ...

but which use to shoot 6 mm plastic BBs. Individuals compete solo or are a member of a fireteam. Fireteams have up to five members. An individual can compete on both levels during each season. The portable

shooting range A shooting range, firing range, gun range or shooting ground is a specialized facility, venue or field designed specifically for firearm usage qualifications, training, practice or competitions. Some shooting ranges are operated by military ...

is . Spare rooms, garages, meeting rooms, basements, and

gymnasiums A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational in ...

have been used to set up a range. Courses of fire are a set of shooting instructions downloaded from the internet and used during the season to set up targets. Competition is between individuals or fireteam against fireteam. The rules of competition prohibit the modification of equipment. Everyone uses a standardized shooting kit. This sport places emphasis on the shooters skill. Each year there are six seasons and each season is divided into six one-week stages. At the beginning of each stage competitors download courses of fire from the website. Each shooter has all week to practice and then enter their official shooting times before the next stage begins. Final results of the stage are kept secret until the beginning of the next stage. A database allows shooters from all over the world to compare their scores with other participants. During the sixth season the top competitors in the league are invited to a world championship.

History

In Fall of 2001, W. Collins White, an avid shooter and gun enthusiast, came up with the concept of the sport. The idea was to allow for people to compete against each other by recording themselves completing courses set for them, and then uploading their results online. This sport would have been able to be played at one's home, provided there was ample space. This new sport used ‘airsoft’ equipment and be shot on a range that would fit in a spare room. This concept would eventually become into ActionAirgun. As of November 23, 2016, the domain for the sport, actionairgun.com, has expired.

Rules and regulations

The object of the sport is to shoot courses of fire as fast as possible. Based on outdoor shooting sports such as IPSC,

and

, ActionAirgun competitions are held year round on indoor ranges. Using

pistols, competitors download 3 courses of fire each week. During the week competitors practice and then upload their three best times to the website. At the conclusion of a week of shooting, competing members can review their scores and the scores of other competitors participating in the event. This weekly cycle continues for the duration of each 12-week season. Annual competition consists of three 12-week seasons and concludes with an invitational championship to determine the fastest shooter in the world. Courses of fire are described as a set of shooting instructions. Each course of fire specifies how the

will be configured. A typical course of fire includes, where the shooter stands and how they move, the number of targets and the order of fire, the arrangement of target stands, where the airgun will be located and with how many BBs. Some courses of fire may require the use of a second magazine of ammunition depending on the number of targets. In addition special items can be used such as, chairs, tables, boxes, other props. Participants shot three courses of fire each week, shooting for the fastest times. The three best times were uploaded to the website where they are compiled. Scores for the week were kept secret until the end of the shooting week. Competitors then logged on to the website to view the rankings. Penalties result in the addition of time to the base shooting score. Flagrant safety violations, modification of equipment or not following officials’ instructions can result in disqualification. Each shooting year began in January. There are six 6-week seasons during the shooting year with approximately two-week breaks in between. Shooter's who performed well during the regular seasons could qualify for the championship. At the end of the regular shooting, top shooters would have been invited to compete in the ActionAirgun Championship Cup which was a live competition. Ten

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targets measuring are used as ‘shoot’ and ‘no-shoot’ targets. One side of the target is colored gold and represents a ‘shoot’ target. The other side of the target is colored red and represents a ‘no-shoot’ target. Targets are placed on one or two target stands. Target stands are (LxWxH). The top surface of each

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target stand contains 68

hexagonal In geometry, a hexagon (from Greek , , meaning "six", and , , meaning "corner, angle") is a six-sided polygon. The total of the internal angles of any simple (non-self-intersecting) hexagon is 720°. Regular hexagon A '' regular hexagon'' has ...

target positions with 25 hexagonal target positions on each end. Targets are placed in various patterns and the target stands can be configured in a large number of different ways. The range is wide and long with a fabric backstop placed behind the target stands to stop BBs. At the up range end are three shooter boxes measuring deep and wide..

Equipment

The pistol used is an airsoft replica, patterned after the Colt

M1911 The M1911 (Colt 1911 or Colt Government) is a single-action, recoil-operated, semi-automatic pistol chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. The pistol's formal U.S. military designation as of 1940 was ''Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911'' for th ...

-A1. Unlike other real-steel and airsoft practical shooting sports which use highly customized

handguns A handgun is a short-barrelled gun, typically a firearm, that is designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun (i.e. rifle, shotgun or machine gun, etc.), which needs to be held by both hands and also braced a ...

, modification of the airgun is against the rules. The pistol is powered by , and uses spherical 6mm BBs, with a weight of 0.20 grams. Separate magazines may be used, and take 26 BBs and contain a 12 gram charger. In addition to the pistol, a

ballistic nylon Ballistic nylon is a thick, tough, nylon fabric with several uses. Ballistic nylon was developed by the DuPont corporation as a material for flak jackets to be worn by World War II airmen. The term ''ballistic nylon'' originates in the fabric's ...

holster A handgun holster is a device used to hold or restrict the undesired movement of a handgun, most commonly in a location where it can be easily withdrawn for immediate use. Holsters are often attached to a belt or waistband, but they may be at ...

is worn by competitors. A shot

clock A clock or a timepiece is a device used to measure and indicate time. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month and ...

timer A timer is a specialized type of clock used for measuring specific time intervals. Timers can be categorized into two main types. The word "timer" is usually reserved for devices that counts down from a specified time interval, while devices th ...

is worn on the wrist or held by a fellow shooter. The shot timer has buttons which start, review and reset the display. When activated, the timer will record the number of shots fired, the time between shots and elapsed time.

Safety

ActionAirgun aimed to reinforce safe firearm practices, good shooting technique and encouraged participation in competitive shooting.

Community

Competitors communicated with other members using an

internet forum An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are often longer than one line of text, and are at least tempora ...

. There, shooters could organize events, provide tips and check up on the performance of competitors. Courses of fire were downloaded and official scores were uploaded to the database. As this was a

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sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

, provision was made on the database for participants to compare their shooting with other shooters on a search able

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases ...

of everyone else in the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

External links