Shooting sports is a group of

competitive Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indivi ...

and recreational

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, ...

ing activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms ( firearms and

airgun An air gun or airgun is a gun that fires projectiles pneumatically with compressed air or other gases that are mechanically pressurized ''without'' involving any chemical reactions, in contrast to a firearm, which pressurizes gases ''chem ...

s, in forms such as handguns, rifles and shotguns) and bows/

crossbow A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an elastic launching device consisting of a bow-like assembly called a ''prod'', mounted horizontally on a main frame called a ''tiller'', which is hand-held in a similar fashion to the stock of a long fire ...

s. Shooting sports can be categorized by equipment, shooting distances,

targets ''Targets'' is a 1968 American crime thriller film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, produced by Roger Corman, and written by Polly Platt and Bogdanovich, with cinematography by László Kovács.Stephen Jacobs, ''Boris Karloff: More Than a Monster' ...

time limit A time limit or deadline is a narrow field of time, or a particular point in time, by which an objective or task must be accomplished. Once that time has passed, the item may be considered overdue (e.g., for work projects or school assignments). In ...

s and degrees of athleticism involved. Shooting sports may involve both team and individual competition, and team performance is usually assessed by summing the scores of the individual team members. Due to the noise of shooting and the high (and often lethal) impact energy of the projectiles, shooting sports are typically conducted at either designated permanent shooting ranges or temporary shooting fields in the area away from settlements.

History

Great Britain

Historically, shooting game and target shooting has been limited to the upper-class and the gentry, with severe penalties for poaching. The

National Rifle Association of the United Kingdom The National Rifle Association (NRA) is the governing body for full bore rifle and pistol shooting sports in the United Kingdom. Registered as a United Kingdom charity, its objectives are to "promote and encourage marksmanship throughout the ...

(NRA) was founded in 1860 to raise the funds for an annual national rifle meeting "for the encouragement of Volunteer Rifle Corps and the promotion of Rifle-shooting throughout Great Britain".

United States

Target shooting was a favorite sport in colonial America, with the New England Puritans regularly testing their shooting skills for recreation and at militia training days. The Scotch Irish settlers on the frontier favored shooting matches sponsored by Tavern keepers. Turkey shoots were popular after harvest time. Contestants would pay an entry fee, and everyone who killed a tethered turkey at 110 yards for muskets or 165 yards for rifles could keep the bird. German gunsmiths in Pennsylvania began to manufacture Flintlock rifles in the 1720s, which became especially popular among hunters because of its long-range accuracy. It could be accurate to 200 yards. Along about 1820, percussion caps, and the locks that ignited them, became available, and nearly all new firearms began to be constructed using this ignition system. Many flintlock firearms were also subsequently converted to the percussion system, which was a relatively simple procedure that could be accomplished by local gunsmiths. Although percussion ignition did not add to the accuracy of the firearm, the time between when the firearm firing mechanism (or “lock”) started the sequence that lead to the ignition of the propellant in the barrel, was shortened drastically. This made getting smaller shot groups on the target more attainable as the possibility of the firearm moving off the aiming point after the shooter pressed the trigger was lessened. This shortened ignition time, which is referred to as “lock time” was (and still is) a very important factor in target shooting. The closed design of the percussion system materially improved reliability of the firearm, especially in rainy or damp conditions. The faster “lock time” also made hitting fast-moving aerial targets with a cloud of tiny lead pellets (“shot”) fired from a smooth-bore firearm a real possibility. Practicing for game hunting by shooting at artificial aerial targets launched from spring-powered launching devices (“traps”) became highly popular and led to the development of the modern Trap, Skeet, and Sporting Clays shooting sports. In 1831 a sportsman club in Cincinnati Ohio held a competitive shoot at pigeons and quail released from ground traps. German ethnic communities set up athletic clubs and shooting clubs, especially in the Midwestern states In the 1850–1917. period Breach loading shotguns introduced in the 1860s, and the knowledge of rifles by Civil War soldiers, made trap shooting popular. However, there was human humanitarian opposition to killing live birds—and the passenger pigeon was dying out—so glass or clay targets were used instead. Concerned over poor marksmanship during the American Civil War, veteran Union officers Col. William C. Church and Gen. George Wingate formed the

National Rifle Association of America The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while cont ...

in 1871 for the purpose of promoting and encouraging rifle shooting on a "scientific" basis. In 1872, with financial help from New York state, a site on Long Island, the Creed Farm, was purchased for the purpose of building a rifle range. Named Creedmoor, the range opened in 1872, and became the site of the first National Matches until New York politics forced the NRA to move the matches to

Sea Girt, New Jersey Sea Girt is a borough in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 1,828,Camp Perry. In 1903, the U.S. Congress created the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice (NBPRP), an advisory board to the Secretary of the Army, with a nearly identical charter to the NRA. The NBPRP (now known as the

Civilian Marksmanship Program The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) is a U.S. government-chartered program intended to promote firearm safety training and rifle practice for all qualified U.S. citizens with a specific emphasis on youth. Any U.S. citizen not otherwise legall ...

) also participates in the National Matches at Camp Perry. In 1903, the NRA began to establish rifle clubs at all major colleges, universities, and military academies. By 1906, youth programs were in full swing with more than 200 boys competing in the National Matches. Today, more than one million youth participate in shooting sports events and affiliated programs through groups such as

4-H 4-H is a U.S.-based network of youth organizations whose mission is "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development". Its name is a reference to the occurrence of the initial letter H four times i ...

, the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded ...

, the American Legion, U.S. Jaycees,

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

, The

USA High School Clay Target League The USA Clay Target League of Saint Paul, Minnesota, organizes and runs high school and college clay target shooting programs along with state tournaments and a yearly National Championship It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation and the independe ...

, the Scholastic Clay Target Program, National Guard Bureau, ROTC, and

JROTC The Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC -- commonly pronounced "JAY-rotsee") is a Federal government of the United States, federal program sponsored by the United States Armed Forces in high schools and also in some middle schools acr ...

Olympics

French pistol champion and founder of the modern Olympics,

Pierre de Coubertin Charles Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin (; born Pierre de Frédy; ...

, participated in many of these early competitions. This fact certainly contributed to the inclusion of five shooting events in the

1896 Olympics The 1896 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 1896, Therinoí Olympiakoí Agónes 1896), officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 1ης Ολυμπιάδας, Agónes tis 1is Ol ...

. Over the years, the events have been changed a number of times in order to keep up with technology and social standards. the targets that formerly resembled humans or animals in their shape and size have are now a circular shape in order to avoid associating the sport with any form of violence. At the same time, some events have been dropped and new ones have been added. The 2004 Olympics featured three shooting disciplines (rifle, pistol, and shotgun) where athletes competed for 51 medals in 10 men's and 7 women's events—slightly fewer than the previous Olympic schedule. In the Olympic Games, the shooting sport has always enjoyed the distinction of awarding the first medals of the Games. Internationally, the

International Shooting Sport Federation The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) is the governing body of the Olympic shooting events in rifle, pistol and shotgun ( clay target) disciplines, and of several non-Olympic shooting sport events. ISSF's activities include regulati ...

(ISSF) has oversight of all Olympic shooting events worldwide, while National Governing Bodies (NGBs) administer the sport within each country.

Competition disciplines

Shooting at the Summer Olympics Shooting sports have been included at every Summer Olympic Games since the birth of the modern Olympic movement at the 1896 Summer Olympics except at the 1904 and 1928 games. Summary Events Shooting was one of the nine events at the first mode ...

(at last edition

Tokyo 2020 The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

) includes fifteen medal events, covering seven disciplines. Medal events are evenly distributed between rifle, pistol and shotgun with five events each. Three Mixed Pairs events were introduced to ensure gender equity between men's and women's events. They replaced 50M Prone Rifle, 50M Free Pistol and Double Trap which were all men-only events. ;Rifle *50 meter rifle three positions (individual - men and women) *10 meter air rifle (individual - men and women) *10 meter air rifle (mixed pairs) ;Pistol *25 meter rapid fire pistol (individual - men) *25 meter sport pistol (individual - women) *10 meter air pistol (individual - men and women) *10 meter air pistol (mixed pairs) ;Shotgun *Trap (men and women) *Skeet (individual - men and women) *Skeet (mixed pairs)

Gun shooting sports

Gun shooting sports are shot with either firearms or air guns, which can be handguns, rifles or shotguns. Handguns are handheld small arms designed to be shot off-hand without needing a

shoulder stock A gunstock or often simply stock, the back portion of which is also known as a shoulder stock, a buttstock or simply a butt, is a part of a long gun that provides structural support, to which the barrel, action, and firing mechanism are attach ...

. The two main subtypes of handguns are pistols and revolvers. They are much more convenient to carry in general, but usually have a shorter effective range and less accuracy compared to

long gun A long gun is a category of firearms with long barrels. In small arms, a ''long gun'' or longarm is generally designed to be held by both hands and braced against the shoulder, in contrast to a handgun, which can be fired being held with a single ...

s such as rifles. In shooting sports, revolvers and semi-automatic pistols are the most commonly used. A rifle is a

with a rifled barrel, and requires the use of both hands to hold and brace against the shoulder via a stock in order to shoot steadily. They generally have a longer range and greater accuracy than handguns, and are popular for hunting. In shooting sports, bolt-action or

semi-automatic rifle A semi-automatic rifle is an autoloading rifle that fires a single cartridge with each pull of the trigger, and uses part of the fired cartridge's energy to eject the case and load another cartridge into the chamber. For comparison, a bolt-a ...

s are the most commonly used. A shotgun is similar to a rifle but often

smoothbore A smoothbore weapon is one that has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars. History Early firearms had smoothly bored barrels that fired projectiles without signi ...

and larger in caliber, and typically fires either a

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

containing many smaller scattering sub-projectiles called shots, or a single large projectile called a slug. In shooting sports, shotguns are more often over/under-type

break action Break action is a type of firearm action in which the barrel or barrels are hinged much like a door and rotate perpendicularly to the bore axis to expose the breech and allow loading and unloading of cartridges. A separate operation may be requir ...

semi-automatic shotgun A semi-automatic shotgun is a repeating shotgun with a semi-automatic action, i.e. capable of automatically chambering a new shell after each firing, but requires individual trigger-pull to manually actuate each shot. Semi-automatic shotguns ...

s, and the majority of shotgun events are included in clay pigeon shooting.

Bullseye shooting

Bullseye shooting Bullseye shooting is a category of shooting sport disciplines where the objective is to score points with carefully placed precision fire by hitting a target as close to its center as possible. The name refers to the target center's nickname — ...

'' is a category of pistol and rifle shooting disciplines where the objective is to achieve as many points as possible by hitting a round shooting target as close to the middle as possible with slow precision fire. These disciplines place a large emphasis on precision and accuracy through sight picture, breath and trigger control. Fixed and relatively long time limits give the competitors time to concentrate for a perfect shot. An example of bullseye shooting is the ISSF pistol and rifle disciplines, but there are also many other national and international disciplines which can be classified as bullseye shooting. The shooting distances are typically given in round numbers, such as 10, 25, 50, 100, 200 or 300 meters depending on firearm type and discipline. Competitions are usually shot from permanent shooting ranges and with the same target arrangement and distance from match to match. Usually the competitors each have their own shooting target and shoot beside each other simultaneously. Because of the relatively simple match format, beginners are often recommended bullseye shooting in order to learn the fundamentals of marksmanship. Bullseye shooting is part of the Summer Olympic Games, and a considerable amount of training is needed to become proficient.

Bullseye shooting with handguns

* There are six

ISSF shooting events The International Shooting Sport Federation recognizes several shooting events, some of which have Olympic status. They are divided into four disciplines: rifle, pistol, shotgun and running target. The main distinctions between different rifle ev ...

with pistols. These include three Olympic events, plus three events not included in the Olympic program but contested at World Championships. Their roots date back to the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, consisting of both precision slow-fire and rapid-fire target shooting from distances of 10, 25, and 50 meters. The pistols are unique in appearance compared to normal guns and each event has its own pistols designed specifically for the job. Shooters must use one hand only to shoot at small "bullseye" target downrange. In the UK (except for Northern Ireland), it is no longer possible to practice for some of the Olympic events following the Firearms (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1997, legislation brought in after the

Dunblane Massacre The Dunblane massacre took place at Dunblane Primary School in Dunblane, near Stirling, Scotland, on 13 March 1996, when Thomas Hamilton shot dead 16 pupils and one teacher, and injured 15 others, before killing himself. It remains the deadlie ...

. * The CISM Rapid Fire match is similar to the ISSF 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event. * NRA Precision Pistol, also called conventional pistol shooting, is a bullseye shooting where up to 3 handguns of differing calibers are used. Its history is almost as old as ISSF events. Shooters must fire the pistol one-handed at 6- and 8-inch bullseye targets placed 25 and 50 yards downrange respectively. * Precision Pistol Competition (PPC), was originally a police shooting program started in 1960 by the

. KOCIS London Korea Jinjongoh Shooting 13 (7683323904).jpg, The Men's

ISSF 10 meter air pistol 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 (or .177) caliber air guns at a distance of 10 m ...

final in the 2012 Summer Olympics. Kokorev Munich07 50m event.jpg, Boris Kokorev from Russia during the

ISSF 50 meter pistol The 50 meter pistol, formerly and unofficially still often called Free Pistol, is one of the ISSF shooting events. It provides the purest precision shooting among the pistol events, and is one of the oldest shooting disciplines, dating back to th ...

2007 World Cup in Munich. Celine Goberville during Air Pistol match at London 2012 Summer Olympic Games.jpg, Women's 10 meter air pistol at the 2012 Summer Olympics

Bullseye shooting with rifles

* The six rifle

(including two Olympic events:

10 meter air rifle 10 metre air rifle (N.B. For "Meter" in this article – read "Metre") is an International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) shooting event, shot at a bullseye target over a distance of using a calibre air rifle with a maximum weight of . It ...

and

50 meter rifle three positions 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on eac ...

) consist of long-time target shooting from distances of . * Fullbore target rifle involves prone shooting with single-shot rifles at distances of 300yds to 1200yds. It is particularly popular in Britain and within the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the ...

(mostly former constituents of the British Empire). * Gallery rifle shooting is popular in the UK, using carbine rifles chambered in pistol calibres. Gallery Rifle was introduced as a substitute for many pistol shooting disciplines following the 1997 handgun ban. * High Power Rifle (also known as "Across the Course" or 'traditional' High power) in the United States is a format that shoots 3-position (standing, kneeling, or sitting, and prone) at 200, 300, and 600 yards. The term "Across the Course" is used because the match format requires the competitors to shoot at different distances to complete the course of fire. * Military

Service Rifle shooting Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a p ...

is a shooting discipline that involves the use of rifles that are used by military forces and law-enforcement agencies, both past and present use. Ex-military rifles, sniper rifles (both past and present) and civilian versions of current use service rifles are commonly used in the Military Service Rifle shooting competitions. It is popular in the United States and culminates each year with the National Matches being held at Camp Perry, Ohio. Some countries have outlawed civilian shooting at human-silhouette targets; silhouette targets are not used in the National Match Course of Fire. Bullseye targets are used. High Power Rifle competition often is held at the same events as Service Rifle, such as the U.S. national championships each year at Camp Perry. High Power competitors generally are civilians using whatever rifles they prefer within the rules, whereas Service Rifle entrants are limited to current or previous U.S. armed forces weapons. Although according to NRA rules only certain matches allow optical sights, normally those conducted at ranges over 600 yards. *

Project Appleseed Project Appleseed is a marksmanship program that focuses on teaching traditional rifle marksmanship from standing, sitting/kneeling, and prone positions over a two-day weekend shooting clinic called an "Appleseed". It is the primary focus of The Re ...

is a rifle marksmanship program by The Revolutionary War Veterans Association that teaches both rifle marksmanship and oral history regarding the American Revolutionary War. It shoots 3-position (standing, sitting, and prone) at 25 meters at reduced scale targets, simulating shooting at 100, 200, 300, and 400 yards. The techniques taught easily apply to transitioning to High Power Rifle. * Full bore and small bore rifle shooting in the United Kingdom. * Three position airgun competitions, popular in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. * Four position small bore is a popular sport in the U.S, which adds Sitting to the Three positions used internationally. Hattie Johnson 2.jpg, The ISSF 10 meter air rifle discipline is part of the Olympics. Jungschütze in einer Praxisübung.jpg, A junior shooter in Switzerland exercising bullseye shooting with a SIG 550. The rifle is equipped with a brass catcher to avoid disturbing other shooters with the ejection. Eric uptagrafft usas larr training 2012.jpg, An ISSF 50 meter rifle prone competition in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, USA in 2012. 300m_shooters_in_two_positions.jpg, Two shooters during an

ISSF 300 meter rifle three positions 300 m rifle three positions (formerly known as one of four free rifle disciplines) is an ISSF shooting event, involving shooting 40 shots each from the Prone position, prone, the Standing position, standing and the Kneeling position, kneeling posit ...

(prone, kneeling and standing).

Field shooting

Field-Shooting Field-Shooting or Terrain-Shooting (Danish: ''terrænskydning'', Norwegian: ''feltskyting'', Swedish: ''fältskytte''{{Cite web , url=http://www.sandvikensskyttegille.se/fs_info.php , title=Swedish: Fältskytte gevär förklarat {{! Sandvikens Sk ...

or Terrain-Shooting refer to a set of pistol and rifle shooting disciplines that usually are shot from temporary shooting ranges in outdoor terrain at varying (and sometimes unknown) distances, rather than at permanent shooting ranges at fixed distances.

Field shooting with handguns

* Nordic Handgun Field-Shooting competitions are shot with pistol and revolver in different classes depending on equipment, with classes up from small-bore .22 LR to large-bore .500 S&W Magnum. Matches are held outdoor throughout the year with varied shooting targets and distances, and are arranged by the

Norwegian Shooting Association Norges Skytterforbund (NSF), literally the Norwegian Shooting Association, is a Norwegian umbrella organization for shooting sports, and is internationally affiliated with the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF), Fédération Internatio ...

(NSF), the

Danish Gymnastics and Sports Associations 'DGI'' (DGI, literally ''Danish Gymnastics and Sports Associations'') is a Danish association of sports clubs which includes 6,600 local sports clubs and 1.6 million athletes. DGI was formed in November 1992 as a merger of "De Danske Gymnastik- o ...

(DGI Shooting) and the

Swedish Pistol Shooting Association Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

(SPSF). * Swiss field shooting with handguns is a discipline under the Swiss Shooting Sport Federation arranged under a common Swiss ruleset, and has been part of the annual field shooting championship since 1919 alongside field shooting with rifles, which have been arranged since 1899. APK feltskyting.jpg, Nordic Handgun Field Shooting in Arendal,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

in 2007.

Field shooting with rifles

* Nordic Rifle Field-Shooting are shot with either small-bore .22 LR cartridge at 100 meters, or intermediate (such as

.223 Remington The .223 Remington (designated as the 223 Remington by the SAAMI and 223 Rem by the CIP) is a rimless, bottlenecked rifle cartridge. It was developed in 1957 by Remington Arms and Fairchild Industries for the U.S. Continental Army Command ...

or 6mm BR) or battle rifle cartridges (such as the 6.5×55mm,

.308 Winchester The .308 Winchester is a smokeless powder rimless bottlenecked rifle cartridge widely used for hunting, target shooting, police, military, and personal protection applications globally. It is similar but not identical to the 7.62×51mm NATO ...

or the

.30-06 Springfield The .30-06 Springfield cartridge (pronounced "thirty- aught-six" ), 7.62×63mm in metric notation, and called the .30 Gov't '06 by Winchester, was introduced to the United States Army in 1906 and later standardized; it remained in military use ...

) at distances from 100 to 650 meters. With 200 and 300 meters being ordinary shooting distance in Nordic Bullseye Rifle-Shooting, those targets placed well beyond 300 meters in Rifle Field-Shooting means that the competition format also can be classified as a

long range shooting Long range shooting is a collective term for shooting disciplines where the distance to target is significant enough that shooter has to put effort into calculating various ballistic factors, especially in regards to the deviating effects ...

discipline. Matches are usually held in the winter season with varied targets, and are arranged by the National Rifle Association of Norway (DFS), the

(DGI Shooting) and the

Swedish Shooting Sport Association Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

(SvSF). * Swiss field shooting with rifles is a discipline under the Swiss Shooting Sport Federation arranged under a common Swiss ruleset. The annual Swiss Field Shooting Championship has been held since 1899. From 1919, Swiss field shooting with handguns has also been av part of the Swiss Field Shooting Championship. * Precision rifle competitions, like the Precision Rifle Series (PRS), is both a field and long range shooting discipline where rifles with intermediate or battle rifle cartridges are shot in the terrain at varying distances from about 10 to 1000 meters. * Field Target is an outdoor air gun discipline originating in the United Kingdom, but gaining popularity worldwide. Hunter field target is a variation of field target. Fältskytte.jpg, Nordic Rifle Field Shooting in Sweden during the winter in 2012. NM feltskyting.jpg, The Norwegian Rifle Field Shooting Championship at the 2007

Landsskytterstevnet Landsskytterstevnet it is the Norway, Norwegian national rifle championship for all the disciplines within Det frivillige Skyttervesen, and is one of Norway's largest annual sporting events. Men and women of all ages contend for the title as either ...

. M1 Garand competition.JPEG, Field-like shooting competition in USA using a National Match M1. Re-exposure.JPG, Field target shooting in Germany

Rapid fire

Rapid fire with handguns

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 ...

, a fusion of IPSC (without the "run and gun" element) and bullseye shooting (except shot with two hands and going prone whenever rules allow it) where accuracy under tight time limits in four simulated scenarios, known as the "Event(s)", is the basis of this competition. Shooters must start with gun in the holster on every strings of fire and distances range from 10 to 50 yards. *

Fast draw Fast draw, also known as quick draw, is the ability to quickly draw a handgun and accurately fire it upon a target in the process. This skill was made popular by romanticized depictions of gunslingers in the Western genre, which in turn were insp ...

, also known as quick draw, a form of pistol action shooting from North America, based on the romanticized art of the gunslingers in the American Old West, using traditional single action revolvers. But unlike Cowboy action shooting, Fast Draw is done with special blanks or wax bullets. While some competitions are strictly against the clock, with the fastest time winning, many are set up as head-to-head single or double elimination matches. Sanderson9209 (28322239393).jpg, Keith Sanderson from USA during the ISSF 25 meter rapid fire pistol event at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. John Pride at the 2008 NRA Bianchi Cup.jpg, John Pride at the 2008

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 ...

Rapid fire with rifles

* The CISM Rapid Fire match is a sped-up version of the ISSF 300 m Standard Rifle event. * Felthurtigskyting (literally Field Rapid Shooting) and Stangskyting are a type of variable rapid-fire rifle competitions popular in

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

. Stangskyting1.jpg,

Stang-Shooting Stangskyting, literally Stang-shooting named after Colonel Georg Stang (1858–1907), is a practical shooting, practical rifle competition popular in Norway where dueling shooters have two periods of 25 seconds to get as many hits as possible on ...

at the 2007

in Norway. The nearest targets are placed at 155 meters, the farthest at 221 meters. Felthurtigskyting.jpg, Field-Rapid-Shooting at the 2007

in Norway.

Clay target

Clay pigeon shooting are shotgun disciplines shot at flying clay pigeon targets. * The three Shotgun ISSF/ Olympic shooting events are all are based on quick reaction to clay targets thrown by machines called "Traps". **

Skeet Skeet may refer to: * Skeet shooting, a discipline of competitive clay pigeon shooting ** ISSF Olympic skeet, a variant used at the Olympic Games People * Skeet Childress (born 1979), American guitar player in the band Look What I Did * Skeet Qu ...

: Targets are either thrown in singles or doubles from two throwers called "traps" placed 40 meters apart. ** Trap and Double Trap: Either one (trap) or two targets (double trap) are thrown from 15 meters in front of the shooter. * The Fédération Internationale de Tir aux Armes Sportives de Chasse (FITASC)

Compak Sporting Compak Sporting is a form of clay pigeon shooting, similar to sporting clays but taking place in a smaller area. The name Compak Sporting is a protected, registered trademark with a code of sports rules, owned by FITASC (''Fédération Internati ...

is a type of shotgun sport shooting similar to sporting clays, trap and skeet. * Other shotgun sports with (at least partial) international recognition include Sporting Clays, Down-The-Line/ATA and

Five stand Five Stand is a type of shotgun sport shooting similar to sporting clays, trap and skeet Skeet may refer to: * Skeet shooting, a discipline of competitive clay pigeon shooting ** ISSF Olympic skeet, a variant used at the Olympic Games People * ...

. File:A typical "American" trap shoot scene.jpg, Trap shooting in USA. File:Skeet. William H. Keever, USA.JPEG, Skeet shooting in USA. File:USMC-120414-M-EY704-001.jpg, Clay targets being placed in an automatic throwing machine. File:Trap shooting at WPFG (19279134951).jpg, Trap shooting at the 2015 World Police and Fire Games in USA. File:Skeet.gif, Sketch of a Skeet shooting range.

Running target

Running target shooting Running target shooting refers to a number of target shooting sports and events involving a shooting target—sometimes called a boar, moose, or deer—that is made to move as if it is a running animal. Competitions are shot at known target d ...

refers to a number of disciplines involving a shooting target—sometimes called a

boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

, moose, or

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...

—that is made to move as if it is a running animal. Events of this type include: * ISSF 10 meter running target *

ISSF 10 meter running target mixed 10 meter running target mixed is one of the ISSF shooting events, in which one shoots an airgun at a target that moves sideways. The target is pulled across a two-meter aisle at a range of 10 meters from the firing point. The target is pulled eit ...

ISSF 50 meter running target 50 meter running target or 50 meter running boar is an ISSF shooting event, shot with a .22-calibre rifle at a target depicting a boar moving sideways across a 10-meter wide opening. It was devised as a replacement for 100 meter running deer in the ...

* ISSF 50 meter running target mixed * 100 m running moose, popular in Scandinavia both as a sport and hunting exercise. Competitions in Sweden are held at 80 meters. *

100 meter running deer 100 meter running deer is a discontinued ISSF shooting event, that was part of the Olympic program from 1908 to 1924, in 1952 and 1956, and of the ISSF World Shooting Championships program from 1929 to 1962, when it was replaced by 50 meter runn ...

, also somewhat popular in Scandinavia and Great Britain

Moving target

Shooting at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's moving target small-bore rifle The men's moving target small-bore rifle was one of 15 events on the Shooting at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. Regulation of the equipment used in the event was done through allowing the use of .22 LR The .22 Long Rifle or simply .22& ...

Disappearing target

Shooting at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's disappearing target small-bore rifle

Practical shooting

Practical shooting, also known as action shooting or

dynamic 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 scor ...

, is a generic term applicable to shooting sports where speed is of equal importance as precision. Many of the disciplines involve movement, and when using handguns they are often drawn from a holster. * The

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) is the oldest and largest sanctioning body within practical shooting. IPSC is sometimes considered the "Formula One" of shooting sports, and is shot with handguns, rifles and shotguns. While the

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) is the U.S. regional affiliate of IPSC, many of USPSA's rules differ slightly from those used internationally. IPSC was developed by former police and civilian marksmen and later used as a basis for modern military and police exercises. It is a variation where the shooter often moves during shooting, and hits scored and shooting time are equally important. Stage procedure is generally not dictated (freestyle) and the shooter is allowed to determine the order and manner in which he or she engages the targets. *

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) is an action shooting sport that uses semi-automatic handguns and revolvers with a strong emphasis on concealed shooting. Many aspects of stage engagement are dictated to competitors and penalties are given to competitors whom the safety officer determines attempted to gain a competitive advantage or engaged in a forbidden action with a "guilty mind" - that he knowingly failed to do right. *

Multigun Multigun, Multi Gun or Multi-Gun, often also called 2-Gun or 3-Gun depending on the types of firearms used, are practical shooting events where each of the stages require the competitor to use a combination of handguns, rifles, and/or shotguns Mult ...

are practical shooting events where each of the stages generally require the competitor to use and transition between a combination of rifles, handguns, and/ or shotguns or other types of firearms. 3-Gun has a lot in common with ordinary IPSC/USPSA matches, having courses of fire where the shooter must move through different stages and engage targets in a variety of different positions. *

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 ...

is a speed shooting championship solely about shooting steel targets as fast as possible, and is governed by the Steel Challenge Shooting Association (SCSA). There are eight standardized courses of fire, and a special "stop plate" must be shot last to stop the timer. *

International Confederation of Revolver Enthusiasts The International Confederation of Revolver Enthusiasts (ICORE) is an international community which promotes action shooting competitions with revolvers. ICORE was founded in 1991 by Mike and Sharon Higashi with a vision of revolver-only competitio ...

(ICORE) is an international community which promotes action shooting competitions with revolvers. Founded in 1991, the sport has elements from the Bianchi Cup, IPSC, and the Steel Challenge. *

IPSC Action Air Action Air is an airsoft shooting sport based on practical shooting under the International Practical Shooting Confederation. The sport enjoys popularity in countries and areas such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, and Japan, where civil ...

follows the same principle of IPSC, using airsoft instead of real firearms. The ranges, paper targets and poppers are scaled down to suit airsoft, and the sport enjoys popularity in countries such as

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

, and Japan where civilian ownership of real firearms are either illegal or extremely difficult to obtain. *

Bowling pin shooting Bowling pin shooting is a shooting sport (primarily for handguns) in which the competitors race against one another to knock standard bowling pins from a table in the shortest elapsed time. Pin shooting is often described as one of the most enjoyab ...

(primarily shot with handguns) has the competitors race against one another to knock standard bowling pins from a table in the shortest elapsed time. Open division master class competition shooter.jpg, An Open division practical pistol shooter during a stage. Norwegian Open division competitor at the 2017 IPSC Rifle World Shoot.jpg, A Norwegian practical rifle shooter at the

2017 IPSC Rifle World Shoot The 2017 IPSC Rifle World Shoot I held at the Patriot Park in Kubinka, Moscow, Russia was the first IPSC Rifle World Shoot. The match consisted of 30 stages over 6 days and 591 competitors from 40 nations. Originally the championship was planned ...

in Russia. IPSC Revolver World Champion Ricardo López Tugendhat from Ecuador.jpg, Three times practical revolver world champion

Ricardo López Tugendhat Ricardo López (born 24 May 1977) is a three time IPSC revolver World Champion (2008, 2011, 2014) from Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República d ...

from Ecuador.

Long range

Long range shooting Long range shooting is a collective term for shooting disciplines where the distance to target is significant enough that shooter has to put effort into calculating various ballistic factors, especially in regards to the deviating effects ...

is shooting held at such distances that sight adjustment based from judging atmospherical conditions become critical. * Fullbore target shooting is concerned with shooting at targets at ranges of 300–1200 yards. The sport is internationally governed by ICFRA, and is popular in the UK, US, Germany and Commonwealth countries. Similar disciplines called bullseye and field shooting are popular in Scandinavia, although fired at shorter distances. ** Palma is an ICFRA fullbore competition format that dates from 1876, featuring long-range rifle shooting, out to 1,000 yards. The first Palma match was contested by teams from the U.S., Australia, Canada, Scotland and Ireland (with muzzle loaded rifles at that time). The matches continued to the late 1920s, and the trophy was eventually lost in Washington DC around the outbreak of WW2. The match was revived in the modern era in 1966 in Canada, and continues between teams from around the world. The PALMA bolt-action rifles are 7.62mm NATO caliber (Winchester .308) and fire Match Grade ammunition using a 155 grain bullet using micrometer aperture (iron) sights, or a 5.56mm NATO (.223 Remington) with a max bullet weight of 90 grains, and iron sights. Due to recent bullet technology, an 85.5 grain bullet out of a .223 can out shoot a .308, with the right load. The last two International Long-range Target Rifle Matches were held in Australia in 2011 and the U.S. in 2015, were won by Great Britain. ** F-Class is another ICFRA fullbore competition format shot with Fullbore Target Rifles at ranges up to 1000 yards, the rifles being fitted with telescopic sights and the use of fore-end and butt rests being permitted. This is a fast-growing variant of Fullbore Target Rifle. The 'F' honours George Farquharson, the Canadian inventor of F-Class. * Precision Rifle Competitions, a relatively new long range competition format which seeks to find a balance between speed and precision, often involving movement and shooting from unusual positions with a time limit, at both known and unknown distances. **National Rifle League (NRL) is a 501(c)(3)

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

dedicated to the growth and education of precision rifle shooting in the United States. Their match format allows any caliber between .224 to .308 and not to exceed , involving at least 50 shooters with each firing minimum 140 rounds in at least 12 individual stages, over the course of at least two days. Since its debut in 2017, currently 11 clubs from eight states are involved in the league. **National Rifle League 22 (NRL22) is a sub-league under the National Rifle League dedicated to

.22 Long Rifle The .22 Long Rifle or simply .22 LR or 22 (metric designation: 5.6×15mmR) is a long-established variety of .22 caliber rimfire ammunition originating from the United States. It is used in a wide range of rifles, pistols, revolvers, smo ...

rimfire rifles. It was established to address the fact that most localities do not have access to 1000 yard ranges, but nearly all localities have 100-yard ranges and most shooters own .22 rifles. Their championship match consist of minimum 170 rounds fired in at least 15 individual stages. Currently 68 clubs from 31 states in the US participate in NRL22 matches, with addition to two overseas clubs from UK and Australia. * T-Class Shooting Sport Competitions. Practical sniping with precision rifle systems is a shooting sport, which gains tremendous popularity worldwide over a short period of time. It concentrates on shooting onto static or dynamic targets of various distances (known and unknown), from different positions, under artificially created, but realistic stressful circumstances. It proves to be extremely interesting both for implementation and observation, due to its demanding level of difficulty
The International T-Class Confederation
(ITCC) is a non-profit organization, which is founded in 2014 for the purpose of promotion of the T-Class shooting sport internationally, with headquarters residing in Bulgaria. It offers a Set of Rules for designing and managing T-Class Competitions. Connaught Cadets.JPG, Palma shooting in Canada in 2011. BCM Europearms F-Class OPEN.jpg, An ICFRA F-Class rifle equipped with a scope and bipod.

Benchrest

Benchrest shooting is concerned with shooting small groups with the rifleman sitting on a chair (bench) and the rifle supported from a table. Of all shooting disciplines, this is the most demanding equipment-wise. Depending on equipment class, international benchrest competitions are governed by either the

World Benchrest Shooting Federation The World Benchrest Shooting Federation (WBSF) is the international governing body for benchrest shooting, with disciplines for both centerfire and rimfire ammunition. WBSF was formed in 2001. Disciplines Rimfire * 50 m or * Teams (3 sho ...

or World Rimfire and Air Rifle Benchrest Federation. JGA1903-BR50.jpg, An Anschütz 1903 rifle in caliber .22 LR used for benchrest shooting at 50 meters. BCM Europearms BARREL BLOCK.jpg, A BCM Europearms single shot benchrest rifle.

Metallic silhouette

Metallic silhouette Metallic silhouette shooting is a group of target shooting disciplines that involves shooting at steel targets representing game animals at varying distances, seeking to knock the metal target over. Metallic silhouette is shot with large bore ri ...

competitors shoot at animal-shaped steel silhouettes (chickens, pigs, turkeys and rams) that must be knocked down to score. Banks of 5 targets are placed at up to 500 meters, with distance and size of target determined by firearm class. Classes include Handguns, Small Bore Rifle (Hunter, Silhouette), High Power Rifle (Hunter, Silhouette), air rifle and black powder rifle. Handguns used in the Unlimited Categories are rifle-like in appearance;

Thompson Contender The Thompson/Center Contender is a break-action single-shot pistol or rifle that was introduced in 1967 by Thompson/Center Arms. It can be chambered in cartridges from .22 Long Rifle to .45-70 Government. History Warren Center, working in his bas ...

Remington XP-100 The Remington XP-100 (from eXperimental Pistol number 100) is a bolt-action pistol produced by Remington Arms from 1963 to 1998. The XP-100 was one of the first handguns designed for long-range shooting, and introduced the .221 Fireball and 6×4 ...

, and other pistols are chambered in rifle calibers with the power,

aerodynamic Aerodynamics, from grc, ἀήρ ''aero'' (air) + grc, δυναμική (dynamics), is the study of the motion of air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dyn ...

efficiency, and

external ballistics External ballistics or exterior ballistics is the part of ballistics that deals with the behavior of a projectile in flight. The projectile may be powered or un-powered, guided or unguided, spin or fin stabilized, flying through an atmosphere o ...

required for precise shooting at 200 meters. There are silhouette categories appropriate for virtually all types of adjustable sight pistols and rifles, only excluding high-velocity armor-piercing rounds that would damage targets. Targets for open sighted guns are placed between 25 and 200 meters, and are designed to provide a usable size of the hit zone of about 1.5

milliradian A milliradian ( SI-symbol mrad, sometimes also abbreviated mil) is an SI derived unit for angular measurement which is defined as a thousandth of a radian (0.001 radian). Milliradians are used in adjustment of firearm sights by adjusting t ...

s (or 5

minutes of arc A minute of arc, arcminute (arcmin), arc minute, or minute arc, denoted by the symbol , is a unit of angular measurement equal to of one degree. Since one degree is of a turn (or complete rotation), one minute of arc is of a turn. The n ...

). IHMSA silhouetten bogenscheiben.jpg, Cut cardboard targets of the same shape and sizes which are used for IHMSA metal targets in metallic silhouette shooting. Metallic silhouettes.jpg, Chicken, pig, turkey, and ram. The different targets are placed at different distances, and in this image the targets are scaled to how they would appear to the shooter in angular sizes ( mil or

moa Moa are extinct giant flightless birds native to New Zealand. The term has also come to be used for chicken in many Polynesian cultures and is found in the names of many chicken recipes, such as Kale moa and Moa Samoa. Moa or MOA may also refe ...

Western

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 ...

(CAS), almost identical to USPSA and IDPA stage design but with Western cowboy themed props, shot with long guns and revolvers of the same era. Mere act of shooting itself is not enough. Competitors must choose and go by a cowboy nickname or alias and are required to look the part by donning authentic cowboy and cowgirl garments. * Cowboy mounted shooting, also called Western Mounted Shooting or simply Mounted Shooting, is a competitive equestrian sport involving the riding of a

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

to negotiate a shooting pattern. Rule sets vary between shooting sport organizations, it can be based on the

historical reenactment Historical reenactment (or re-enactment) is an educational or entertainment activity in which mainly amateur hobbyists and history enthusiasts dress in historic uniforms or costumes and follow a plan to recreate aspects of a historical event or ...

of historic shooting events held at Wild West shows in the late 19th century. Modern events use

blank ammunition A blank is a firearm cartridge that, when fired, does not shoot a projectile like a bullet or pellet, but generates a muzzle flash and an explosive sound ( muzzle report) like a normal gunshot would. Firearms may need to be modified to allow a bl ...

instead of live rounds, certified to break a target balloon within twenty feet. Cowboy Action Shooting.JPG, A Cowboy action shooter firing a lever action rifle at

steel target Steel targets are shooting targets made out of hardened steel, hardened (martensite, martensitic) steel, and are used in firearm and airgun sports such as silhouette shooting, cowboy action shooting, practical shooting, practical/dynamic shootin ...

s. The Range Officer to the left is holding a shooting timer to measure the time. Cowboy Action Shooting stage.JPG, Scenery in a

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

scenario. Cowboy Action Shooting - stage targets.JPG, The shooter uses different firearms during a stage. In this stage revolvers were used at the close range blue targets and a lever action at the red targets furthest away. Mounted Shooting Champion Chad Little by Western Shooting Horse.jpg, Cowboy mounted shooting at the 2012 AQHA Mounted Shooting World Championship.

Muzzleloading

Muzzleloading Muzzleloading is the shooting sport of firing muzzleloading guns. Muzzleloading guns, both antique and reproduction, are used for target shooting, hunting, historical re-enactment and historical research. The sport originated in the United States ...

are concerned with shooting replica (or antique) guns. Shooting laying on back at the 2015 MLAIC Long Range World Championship.jpg, Competitor shooting at 1000 yards (914.4 meters) laying on back Norwegian competitor at the 2015 MLAIC Long Range World Championship.jpg, Competitor from Team Norway shooting at 1000 yards (914.4 meters) A replica Rigby rifle at the 2015 MLAIC Long Range World Championship 2.jpg, Replica Rigby rifle used at the 2015 MLAIC Muzzleloading Long Range Championship A member of Team USA loading his blackpowder rifle at the 2015 MLAIC Long Range Championship.jpg, A member of Team USA loading his blackpowder rifle

Para shooting

Paralympic shooting Paralympic shooting, also known as shooting Para sport, is an adaptation of shooting sports for competitors with disabilities. Shooting is a test of accuracy and control, in which competitors use pistols or rifles to fire a series of shots at a s ...

, also known as "shooting Para sport", is an adaptation of shooting sports for competitors with disabilities. Paralympic shooting first appeared in the Summer Paralympics at the 1976 Toronto Games. Para shooting is internationally governed by the International Paralympic Committee. To help establish fair competition, a shooting classification called

Para-shooting classification Paralympic Shooting classification is the shooting classification in place for the Paralympic Games to help establish fair competition. Classification is governed by the International Paralympic Committee's IPC Shooting. While there are currently t ...

is in place for the Paralympic Games. The events mirror to some extent the shooting events at the Olympic Games. Air Pistol is typically shot from a seated position with the pistol unsupported. The amount of back-support permitted is determined by the athlete's level of disability. The Air Rifle events include Rifle "Standing", which is shot seated like Air Pistol, with variable levels of back support. "Prone" Rifle uses the basic prone shooting position utilising a sling for the supporting arm, but is shot rested on a table with the athlete seated either in a chair or wheelchair. Schiessen-koerperbehinderung.jpg, Para shooting with a rifle sitting in a wheelchair. Defense.gov photo essay 110517-F-QE915-898.jpg Defense.gov photo essay 110517-M-XXXXK-007.jpg Locomotive_mechanic_competes_in_Army_Trials_150330-A-ZU617-055.jpg, Para "Prone" modifies the basic prone shooting position to be shot from a table.

Competitions using factory and service firearms

Shooting competitions for factory and service firearms Shooting competitions for factory and service firearms refer to a set of shooting sport, shooting disciplines, usually called service rifle, service pistol, production, factory, or stock; where the types of permitted firearms are subject to type ap ...

, usually called Service Rifle, Service Pistol, Production, Factory or Stock, describe a set of disciplines or equipment classes where the types of permitted firearms are subject to

type approval Type approval or certificate of conformity is granted to a product that meets a minimum set of regulatory, technical and safety requirements. Generally, type approval is required before a product is allowed to be sold in a particular country, so ...

and few aftermarket modifications are permitted. Thus the terms refer to permitted equipment and modifications rather than the type of shooting format itself. The names Service Rifle and Service Pistol stem from that the equipment permitted for these types of competitions traditionally were based on standard issue firearms used by one or several armed forces and civilian versions of these, while the terms Production, Factory and Stock often are applied to more modern disciplines with similar restrictions on equipment classes. Factory and service classes are often ''restrictive'' in nature, and the types of firearms permitted are usually rugged, versatile and affordable. In comparison, more expensive custom competition equipment are popular in more ''permissive'' equipment classes. Both types of equipment classes can be found within many disciplines, such as

bullseye Bullseye or Bull's Eye may refer to: Symbols * ◎ (Unicode U+25CE BULLSEYE), in the Geometric Shapes Unicode block * (Unicode U+0298 LATIN LETTER BILABIAL CLICK), the phonetic symbol for bilabial click Animals and plants * Bull's Eye, '' Eury ...

, field, practical and

. Merjenje z M48.jpg, Service rifle shooting in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

with the Zastava M48 rifle. US Navy 070712-N-6832D-055 Senior Chief Machinist's Mate Curtis Norris peers down the sight of his service rifle.jpg, Service rifle shooting in

with an M16/ AR-15 style rifle.

Plinking

Plinking Plinking refers to informal target shooting done for pleasure, typically at non-standard targets such as tin cans, logs, bottles, or any other homemade or naturally occurring target. Practice In contrast to shooting done at established targe ...

refers to informal target shooting done for pleasure or practice typically at non-standard targets such as

tin can A steel can, tin can, tin (especially in British English, Australian English, Canadian English and South African English), steel packaging, or can is a container for the distribution or storage of goods, made of thin metal. Many cans ...

s, logs,

carton A carton is a box or container usually made of liquid packaging board, paperboard and sometimes of corrugated fiberboard. Many types of cartons are used in packaging. Sometimes a carton is also called a box. Types of cartons Folding carto ...

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

s, or any other homemade or naturally occurring objects like rocks (however, it is unsafe to shoot at rocks) or tree branches. The primary appeals of plinking as a sport are the broad variety of easily available locations, minimal costs, freedom in practice styles, and more relaxing and less restrictive shooting experience. The flexibility of target choice is also why plinking is popular. A small, three-dimensional target in an outdoors setting is much more akin to a real-world

hunting Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, ...

and varminting scenario, presenting a better simulated opportunity to practice shooting skills. A plinking target will also often react much more positively to a hit than a

paper target Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distribute ...

used in formal competitions, either audibly with a sharp impact sound (hence the name "plink") or visually by bouncing, splattering or falling over.

Steel target Steel targets are shooting targets made out of hardened steel, hardened (martensite, martensitic) steel, and are used in firearm and airgun sports such as silhouette shooting, cowboy action shooting, practical shooting, practical/dynamic shootin ...

s used for formal

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

and

competitions are also popular for plinking due to the ease of setting up and confirming good hits. Having Fun in Alaska.jpg, A woman plinking with a Hi-Point pistol in .40 S&W in Alaska. Burro Canyon fun shoot - 8444999291.jpg, Plinking with a Ruger 10/22 rifle in Burro Canyon, Arizona, US. NO LOADED GUNS IN RACK.jpg, Plinking on a Saturday in Burro Canyon, Arizona, US. On this range firearms must be kept unloaded in the rack, except when on the firing line.

Athletic shooting sports

Athletic shooting sports are hybrid events of normally stationary shooting sport competitions and the sport of athletics or other physically demanding non-shooting sports. Many were borne from military exercises and emphasize physical endurance. * IBU Biathlon is a Winter Olympic sport combining cross-country skiing (normally freestyle skate skiing) and shooting with .22 LR rifles. In Scandinavia the discipline is simply known as "Ski Shooting" (Swedish: ''skidskytte'', Danish: ''skiskydning'', Norwegian: ''skiskyting''). *

Bike biathlon A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bi ...

or ''velo biathlon'' (Russian ''Велобиатлон'') combines

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from t ...

(

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

or mountain bike) and shooting ( handgun or rifle). *

ISSF Target Sprint The Target Sprint is a summer shooting sport discipline that combines running and air rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants running 3 x 400 meters with two rifle shooting sessions in between. The shooting rounds are not timed pe ...

combines medium-range run (3 × 400 m) and

shooting. * Modern pentathlon is a Summer Olympic

includes a combined event called

Laser-run Laser-run (also known as laser run) is a multisport competition consisting of running and shooting. It is a sport in its own right and the last event of the modern pentathlon where it was formerly known as combined. Distance and format Laser-ru ...

that consists of 4 laps of 800 metres combined with 4 rounds of timed shooting with a laser air pistol as one of its original five parts. * Nordic Ski Field Shooting (Norwegian: ''skifeltskyting'', Swedish: ''skidfältskytte'') is a Nordic discipline organised by the National Rifle Association of Norway and the

which is based on the origins of modern biathlon. It is normally held using classic (in-track) skiing, but competitions can also be held in a freestyle skate skiing format. Furthermore, shooting is done with fullbore calibers and usually in the field from temporary shooting ranges. The discipline is considered as a near precursor to modern biathlon. * Nordic shooting with cross-country running (Norwegian: ''skogsløp'', Swedish: ''springfältskytte'') is a Nordic discipline arranged by the National Rifle Association of Norway and the

which combines running with shooting. It is considered the summer edition of Ski Field Shooting. Running distances are usually between 2 and 3 kilometers with 2 to 3 shooting series. *

Military patrol Military patrol was a team winter sport in which athletes competed in cross-country skiing, ski mountaineering and rifle shooting. It was usually contested between countries or military units. The military patrol competition encompassed 25 ki ...

was a team

winter sport Winter sports or winter activities are competitive sports or non-competitive recreational activities which are played on snow or ice. Most are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally, such games were only played in cold are ...

in which athletes competed in cross-country skiing,

ski mountaineering Ski mountaineering (abbreviated to skimo) is a skiing discipline that involves climbing mountains either on skis or carrying them, depending on the steepness of the ascent, and then descending on skis. There are two major categories of equipmen ...

and rifle shooting. It was usually contested between countries or military units. * Moose biathon (Finnish ''Hirvenhiihto'') is a variation of biathlon comprising cross-country skiing, range estimation and rifle shooting at paper targets of moose.

Moose shooting with cross-country running The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult male ...

(Finnish ''Hirvenjuoksu'') is a summer variant where the skiing part is replaced with running. * Orienteering shooting (Finnish ''ampumasuunnistus'') combines shooting with orienteering, and competitions are organised in Denmark by DMSA, in Sweden by the civilian Swedish Multisport Association and in Finland by the FRSF. *

Pistol shooting with cross-country running A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, an ...

(''maastokilpailu''), organized in Finland by the FRSF. * Pistol skiing (Norwegian ''pistollangren'', Swedish ''pistolskidskytte'', Finnish ''pistooliammuntahiihto'') is biathlon with pistols and revolvers, and is organised in Norway by NROF, in Sweden by SPSA and in Finland by the FRSF. *

Summer biathlon The IBU Summer Biathlon is a sporting event organized by the International Biathlon Union (IBU) which combines trail running or roller skiing and rifle shooting, or sometimes trail running and rifle shooting. It is modeled after the IBU (winte ...

, with skiing replaced by either running or rollerskis, is popular in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. * Ski Archery is a variation of biathlon combining archery marksmanship with cross country skiing. *

Underwater target shooting Underwater Target Shooting is an underwater sport/shooting sport that tests a competitors’ ability to accurately use a speargun via a set of individual and team events conducted in a swimming pool using freediving or Apnoea technique. The spor ...

is a combined underwater and shooting sport that tests a competitors’ ability to accurately use a

speargun A speargun is a ranged underwater fishing device designed to launch a tethered spear or harpoon to impale fish or other marine animals and targets. Spearguns are used in sport fishing and underwater target shooting. The two basic types are ''pn ...

via a set of individual and team events conducted in a swimming pool using

free diving Freediving, free-diving, free diving, breath-hold diving, or skin diving is a form of underwater diving that relies on breath-holding until resurfacing rather than the use of breathing apparatus such as scuba gear. Besides the limits of breath- ...

or Apnoea technique. Bundesarchiv Bild 102-12927, Riesengebirge, Reichswehrübung.jpg, German

military patrol Military patrol was a team winter sport in which athletes competed in cross-country skiing, ski mountaineering and rifle shooting. It was usually contested between countries or military units. The military patrol competition encompassed 25 ki ...

in Giant Mountains in 1932. Bjorndalen-Trondheim09.jpg, Ole Einar Bjørndalen in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

during the 2009 Biathlon World Cup. Bike Pistol Biathlon.jpg, Bike biathlon competition using handguns.

Bow shooting sports

Archery

Modern competitive archery Modern competitive archery involves shooting arrows at a target for accuracy and precision from a set distance or distances. This is the most popular form of competitive archery worldwide and is called target archery. A form particularly popular ...

involves shooting arrows at a target for accuracy from a set distance or distances. A person who participates in archery is typically called an archer or a bowman, and a person who is fond of or an expert at archery is sometimes called a toxophilite. The most popular competitions worldwide are called target archery. Another form, particularly popular in Europe and America, is field archery, which generally is shot at targets set at various distances in a wooded setting. 3D archery, which differs from field archery in that the targets are animal models, is also quite popular in the same regions. There are also several other lesser-known and historical forms, as well as archery novelty games. Note that the tournament rules vary from organization to organization.

World Archery Federation The World Archery Federation (WA, also and formerly known as FITA from the French ''Fédération Internationale de Tir à l'Arc'') is the governing body of the sport of archery. It is based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is composed of 156 nationa ...

rules are often considered normative, but large non-WA-affiliated archery organizations do exist with different rules. Competitive archery in the United States is governed by USA Archery and National Field Archery Association (NFAA), which also certifies instructors.

Run archery Run archery is a shooting discipline connecting archery with running. It is similar to the sport of biathlon. History Run archery was developed during the 1990s by European archery associations. Since 2000, some countries in other areas like Ru ...

is a shooting discipline connecting archery with running. WA target shot with a compound bow (Devizes Bowmen).jpg, Target shooting with a

recurve bow In archery, a recurve bow is one of the main shapes a bow can take, with limbs that curve away from the archer when unstrung. A recurve bow stores more energy and delivers energy more efficiently than the equivalent straight-limbed bow, giving ...

. ArcheryGermanyEarly1980s-2.jpg, Archery competition in

Mönchengladbach Mönchengladbach (, li, Jlabbach ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Dutch border. Geography Municipal subdivisions Since 2009, the territory of Mönchengladbac ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, June 1983.

Crossbow

The

International Crossbow Shooting Union Match crossbow is a target shooting sport using crossbows. Unlike field crossbow, match crossbow is quite similar to the Olympic rifle. The International Crossbow Shooting Union (Internationale Armbrustschutzen Union-IAU) is the world gove ...

(''Internationale Armbrustschützen Union'' or IAU) was founded in Landshut,

on June 24, 1956, as the world governing body for

target shooting. The IAU supervises World, Continental and International crossbow shooting championships in 3 disciplines; 30 m Match-crossbow, 10 m Match-crossbow and Field-crossbow shooting. IAU World Championships take place every two years with Continental Championships on intervening years. Other International and IAU-Cup events take place annually. World Crossbow Shooting Association (WCSA) organises competitions in 7 disciplines: Target, Target match play, Forest, Forest match play, 3D, Bench & prone target and Indoor target. IAU 10m match xbow.jpg, Anna Sushko of Russia, 2006 Junior World Champion, holding an ICU 10 m Match Crossbow IAU match xbow.jpg, A competitor at the 30 meter event at the 2008 ICU Match-Crossbow World Championships in Sulgen, Switzerland.

Dart shooting sports

Sport blowgun

There are several competition styles of sport blowgun practised around the world. A standardization of competition style is based upon fukiya, and governed by the International Fukiyado Association. It is a 10-metre target shooting, using a standardized barrel caliber and length, and a standardized dart length and weight as outlined by IFA. There are two more styles, both based upon the Cherokee Annual Gathering Blowgun Competition. The Field Style competition is similar to the winter Biathlon, where the shooter runs from a starting line to a target lane, shoots and retrieves the darts, and continues to the next station. The course length varies from 400 to 800 m with from 9 to 16 targets at various heights and shooting distances. The final style is the Long Distance target shoot. The target is a circle of 24 cm diameter, and the firing line is 20 m away. Three darts are fired by each shooter, at least one of which must stick in the target. All successful shooters move to the next round, moving back 2 m each time.

Confrontational shooting sports

Confrontational shooting sports is a set of relatively new team sports using non-lethal ranged weapons that are safe enough to shoot at other people. Previously such games were not possible due to safety concerns since bows and guns are generally too lethal and dangerous for human targets, but the development of newer

and

infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...

technologies allowed for the development of safe confrontational disciplines. While initially only for sport and recreations, professional sport competitions are now held. These type of games are also used for tactical gunfight training by military and law enforcement agencies to some extent.

Olympic dueling

Olympic dueling is an archaic individual sport that sought to safely emulate the deadly practice of pistol duelling, akin to

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, ...

emulating sword fighting. It involved the use of specially built primer-fired pistols to propel

wax bullet A wax bullet is a non-lethal projectile made of wax material — often paraffin wax or some mixture of waxes and other substances that produce the desired consistency — that mimics the external ballistics but not the terminal effects of real bu ...

s. Two versions of the sport were demonstration events at the 1906 Olympics and 1908 Olympics. It was also a popular sport in France. 1908_Olympics_wax_duel_field.png, A duel at the 1908 Olympics. 1908_Olympics_wax_duel_portrait.png, Portrait shots of Olympic duelists, showing their safety equipment and modified guns.

Paintball

Paintball Paintball is a competitive team shooting sport in which players eliminate opponents from play by hitting them with spherical dye-filled gelatin capsules called paintballs that break upon impact. Paintballs are usually shot using low-energy a ...

is a competitive sport in which players from opposing teams eliminate opponents out of play by hitting them with round, breakable, dye-filled

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

and gelatin pellets ("paintballs"), shot from

HPA HPA may refer to: Organizations * Harry Potter Alliance, a charity * Halifax Port Authority, Canada * Hamburg Port Authority, Germany * Hawaii Preparatory Academy, a school in Hawaii, US * Health Protection Agency, UK * Heerespersonalamt, the Ger ...

/ -powered air guns called

paintball marker A paintball marker, also known as a paintball gun, paint gun, or simply marker, is an air gun used in the shooting sport of paintball, and the main piece of paintball equipment. Paintball markers use compressed gas, such as carbon dioxide (CO ...

s. It can be played on indoor or outdoor fields scattered with natural or artificial terrain, which players use for tactical cover. Paintball game types vary, but can include

capture the flag Capture the flag (CTF) is a traditional outdoor sport where two or more teams each have a flag (or other markers) and the objective is to capture the other team's flag, located at the team's "base", and bring it safely back to their own base. ...

, elimination, ammunition limits, defending or attacking a particular point or area, or capturing objects of interest hidden in the playing area. Depending on the variant played, games can last from seconds to hours, or even days in scenario play. The game was developed in the 1980s and is now regularly played at a formal sporting level with organized competition involving major tournaments, professional teams and players. *

National Xball League National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

is the

' professional paintball circuit. The league consists of a Professional Division, consisting of the best players the sport has to offer, that extends down to the beginner ranks of "Division 5" for those newer to the tournament atmosphere. The league hosts five national events across the country in places such as

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, Nashville,

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Atlantic City and

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

throughout the year, starting in March and ending their season in early November. The league's largest event each year is the season finale known as the World Cup, with the 2016 World Cup hosted 3,554 players from 35 countries. * NCPA (paintball), National Collegiate Paintball Association is an all-volunteer,

created by United States college players. The goal of the NCPA is to promote the positive aspects of the sport in an intercollegiate manner. The NCPA consists of two distinct classes which competes separately — Class AA is an open-class division where any college may enter and compete in regional and national tournaments. Class A is a closed-class division where only certain colleges may compete after securing a bid in the previous season, and represents the best talent of college paintball and includes universities such as Drexel University, University of Maryland, Illinois State University, Purdue University, University of Connecticut, Penn State University and 10 other teams across three conferences all fighting for a national title. The association's 2007 playoff tournament was aired on Fox Sports Net's digital cable college sports network, Fox College Sports. SupAir Player.jpg, Players next to an inflatable Sup'Air bunker. Speedball game.jpg, View of a course during a Speedball (paintball), speedball game in progress.

Airsoft

Airsoft is a competitive sport similar in concept to paintball, in which participants from opposing teams eliminate opponents by hitting each other with airsoft pellet, solid round plastic pellets launched from low-powered

air guns called airsoft guns. It is different to paintball in that airsoft pellets do not visibly mark the targets like paintballs, and thus the sport relies heavily on an honor system where a hit player has the ethical duty to call himself out of play, regardless of whether anyone else sees it happen. Most airsoft guns are also magazine-fed (unlike the commonly top-mounting pellet loader of paintball markers) with mounting platforms compatible with real firearm accessories, and tend to more closely resemble real guns in appearance, making them more popular for MilSim, military simulation and

s. The greater toughness of airsoft pellets also allows the use of better powerplants and apparatus such as hop-up (airsoft), hop-up device for improved

, making the gameplay more accurately resemble real gunfights. They are also much cheaper for casual players to participate than paintball. Airsoft gameplay varies in style and composition just like paintball and is played in both indoor and outdoor courses. Situations on the field frequently involve the use of real-life military tactics to achieve objectives, and it is not uncommon for participants to emulate the uniforms and equipment of real military and police organizations for a sense of realism. Games are normally supervised (and sometimes umpired) by trained on-site administrators, and players' airsoft guns are usually checked through a chronograph to enforce power output restrictions. There are currently no formal national or international Sports governing body, governing bodies for the airsoft sport. Competitive tournaments are usually organized by private clubs or among enthusiasts and professional/semi-professional teams (often referred to as "clans"), with rules and restrictions varying from event to event. Three airsoft players defending an area.jpg, Three airsoft team members defending an area during an indoor CQB game. RPGers Airsoft Arène.jpg, From an outdoor airsoft game. Partida de airsoft.jpg, Three airsoft team members during a field game.

Laser tag

Laser tag (despite the name, laser is actually not used due to laser safety, safety concerns) is a tag (game), tag game played with

light guns and passive infrared sensor, sensors worn on the body of the players. Since its birth in 1979, laser tag has evolved in both indoor and outdoor games, each with gameplay styles such as annihilation,

, domination, VIP protection, (usually sci-fi) role playing, etc. When compared to paintball and airsoft, laser tag is painless and very safe because it involves no projectile impacts, and indoor games may be considered less physically demanding because most indoor venues prohibit running or roughhousing. * Zone Laser Tag World Championships were international tournaments among professional/semi-professional teams from North American, Europe and Australia, hosted every few years since 2003. * Bi-lateral international championships have included USA vs. Australia and Australia vs. South Africa. * National tournaments in various countries including Australia, US, Sweden, Finland, UK, etc. * Private club-level events such as TagCon (annual in UK and US), Tagfest (annual in US), Dropzone (annual in UK), LaserStorm (annual in Australia), etc. More sophisticated forms of laser tag, such as Multiple integrated laser engagement system, MILES, are used (in conjunction with Blank (cartridge), blanks) by militaries to allow for non-lethal combat training. Long Beach Comic & Horror Con 2011 - Party Xtreme Laser Tag (6301174661).jpg, An indoor laser tag competition at Long Beach, California in 2011. Soldat français au CENZUB.jpg, Soldiers equipped with laser tag training equipment

Archery Tag

Archery Tag is a form of combat archery sport where participants shoot one another using a bow with arrows with large foam tips. The game's rules closely resemble dodgeball. The game begins with a number of arrows in the center of the arena. At the whistle, players race to collect them, before firing them at one another across the playing field. A player is eliminated if struck by an arrow, and a player can bring an eliminated teammate back into play by catching an arrow. To avoid injury, participants wear Protective masks, protective facemasks and use bows with less than draw weight. It was invented in 2011 by John Jackson of Ashley, Indiana, and experienced a boost in popularity from the ''Hunger Games'' books and The Hunger Games (film series), film series, which feature a bow-wielding protagonist Katniss Everdeen. Jackson staged Archery Tag games at local premieres of the films. By 2014, Jackson had licensed the game to 170 locations, mostly in the

, but also in Russia, Peru and Saudi Arabia. Battle gaming variants of Archery Tag also exist, such as Dagorhir, Amtgard, Belegarth and Darkon Wargaming Club, Darkon, where archers are pitted among melee players welding foam weapons to simulate medieval battles. Archery Tag.jpg, A game of archery tag in Toronto

eSports

eSports is the competitive playing of video games, often referring to play at the professional level. While the term eSports includes many types of video games unrelated to shooting sports, a major subset of eSports are the Shooter game, shooters, namely first-person shooters and third-person shooters. Matches of these games can take a variety of forms but traditionally take formats similar to paintball, involving teams of players whose objective is to eliminate the opposing team in simulated combat, often while also focusing other key objectives. Major games of these styles currently in professional play include (among others) ''Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'', ''Overwatch (video game), Overwatch'', ''Team Fortress 2'', and ''PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds''. Organized play is done both Online game, online or in-person. While there has been serious interest to eSports#Olympic Games recognition, include eSports in the Olympics and similar events, the inclusion of shooters has been less welcomed due to their often violent visual content. Goście Intel Extreme Masters (8465481816).jpg, Casual players playing a shooter at the 2013 Intel Extreme Masters in Katowice, Poland. MLG_Columbus_-_Luminosity_vs_Navi.jpg, A live professional ''Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, CS:GO'' match in 2016.

References

External links

Get Inspired: How to get into Shooting - BBC Sport

How to get into shooting - Shooting UK

How To Get Started , NRA Explore

Get the Best Sports Air Rifle & Pistols From Precihole Sports

Everything You Need To Know About Paintball Games
{{Authority control Shooting sports, Summer Olympic sports Marksmanship Projectile weapons Precision sports Competition Combat sports Sports by type