A racegun or race gun is a

firearm 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 ...

that has been modified for accuracy, speed, and reliability. Often a

semi-automatic pistol A semi-automatic pistol is a type of repeating single-chamber handgun ( pistol) that automatically cycles its action to insert the subsequent cartridge into the chamber (self-loading), but requires manual actuation of the trigger to actu ...

, raceguns are used primarily in

practical 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 sc ...

competitions and are modified to function best within a certain set of rules, such as weight, size, and capacity requirements.

Use

Raceguns are typically purpose-built for speed, and may be based on common guns. Competitions they may be used in include

The Bianchi Cup The Bianchi Cup is a major action pistol tournament in the United States, usually held over three days in late May. Since 1984 the National Rifle Association of America has designated it their National Action Pistol Championship. It is norma ...

and the

Steel Challenge The Steel Challenge is a speed shooting competition governed by thSteel Challenge Shooting Association(SCSA) that consists of eight standardized stages with steel targets in three sizes; small circular, large circular and rectangular targets. Co ...

, and various events organized by the

International Defensive Pistol Association 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 ...

(IDPA),

International Practical Shooting Confederation The International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) is the world's largest shooting sport association, and the largest and oldest within practical shooting. Founded in 1976, the IPSC nowadays affiliates over 100 regions from Africa, America ...

(IPSC), or

United States Practical Shooting Association The United States Practical Shooting Association (USPSA) is the national governing body of practical shooting in the United States under the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC). Its over 35,000 active members and over 500 affili ...

(USPSA).

Features

Teemu Rintala at the 2017 IPSC Rifle World Shoot

Typical racegun modifications to

semi-automatic firearm A semi-automatic firearm, also called a self-loading or autoloading firearm ( fully automatic and selective fire firearms are also variations on self-loading firearms), is a repeating firearm whose action mechanism ''automatically'' loads a fol ...

s include a match-grade

barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, ...

fitted with a

recoil compensator A muzzle brake or recoil compensator is a device connected to, or a feature integral to the construction of, the muzzle or barrel of a firearm or cannon that is intended to redirect a portion of propellant gases to counter recoil and unwant ...

, electronic

optical sight A sight is an aiming device used to assist in visually aligning ranged weapons, surveying instruments or optical illumination equipments with the intended target. Sights can be a simple set or system of physical markers that have to be aligne ...

, match-grade

hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as wi ...

and

sear The Sahar Elevated Access Road, abbreviated to SEAR, is a dedicated, elevated, express access road in Mumbai that connects the Western Express Highway (WEH) near Hanuman Nagar junction in Vile Parle, with the forecourts of Terminal T2 of the C ...

, a tuned trigger, and cutouts to reduce mass ("skeletonizing"). Depending upon competition requirements, some raceguns are modified with reduced-weight

recoil spring Recoil operation is an operating mechanism used to implement locked breech, autoloading firearms. Recoil operated firearms use the energy of recoil to cycle the action, as opposed to gas operation or blowback operation using the pressure of the p ...

s to allow the use of lightly loaded ammunition that is just powerful enough to cycle the gun's mechanism, in order to minimize recoil and permit a faster rate of accurate fire. Additionally, a typical pistol racegun specifically tailored for The Bianchi Cup open division has a "barricade shroud" that completely encircles the slide with "wings" attached to opposing sides, a "moving target

scope mount Scope mounts are used to attach telescopic sights or other types of sights to firearms. The scope sight itself is usually made for only one of two main types of mounts, which can be classified as ''scopes for ring mounts'' (for example a 30 ...

" with a pivoting base adjustable for predetermined lead depending on the bullet's velocity and speed and direction of the moving target, and a form of grip extension that elevates the gun for better line of sight while shooting in the prone position.

Restrictions

Some sanctioning bodies, such as IPSC and USPSA, require ammunition to meet specific

power factor In electrical engineering, the power factor of an AC power system is defined as the ratio of the ''real power'' absorbed by the load to the '' apparent power'' flowing in the circuit. Real power is the average of the instantaneous product of v ...

s. Other organizing bodies, such as the IDPA and the production division of The Bianchi Cup, ban most or all of the modifications that distinguish raceguns from stock firearms, as they feel that such extensive modifications turn the sport into a technology race rather than a true contest of skill, and thus are not "practical"—that is, applicable to real-life self-defense shooting situations. In the case of The Bianchi Cup, restrictions were put in place to increase participation at the grassroots level, in order to reduce the equipment cost associated with competing in the open division. Cost can run upwards of $3,500 or more on a Bianchi racegun, as compared to $400 to $1,000 for a stock gun.

References

External links

Bianchi Cup
at NRA.org
Steel Challenge
Small arms Sports equipment

Use

Features

Restrictions

See also

References

Further reading

External links