Standard competitor at the 2013 IPSC Australasian Handgun Championship

The IPSC Handgun World Shoot is the highest level handgun match within the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) which consists of several days and at least 30 separate courses of fire. The Handgun World Shoots are held

triennially An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saint ...

on a rotational cycle with the other two main IPSC disciplines

Rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...

and

Shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small p ...

. World Shoot main matches are held over six days with five days of shooting and one rest day, making the competition a shooting marathon where strategy and mental focus is of critical importance.

History

The first IPSC World Shoot was held in 1975 in Zurich, and the two following were held with one year intervals. After 1977 the World Shoots were held at two year intervals until 1983 when the schedule was changed to the three year intervals used today. Until and including 1991 there were no equipment divisions, but equipment had gradually become more and more specialized with extended front sights, compensators and even optical sights. At the 1991 Handgun World Shoot in Adelaide, Australia, Doug Koenig of USA became the first competitor to win the World Shoot using a red dot sight. In the following 1993 Handgun World Shoot competitors would be divided into divisions based on the equipment, thereof whether the firearm had an optical sight and compensator (Open or Modified division) or iron sights (Standard division). In 1999 the Revolver and Production divisions were introduced, and became recognized divisions from January 2000, making their first appearance in World Level competition at the 2002 Handgun World Shoot. In 2011 the Modified division was retired to make room for the Classic division, in commemoration of the 1911 single stack which historically had been so important for IPSC Handgun and handgun shooting sports in general for many years.

List of Handgun World Shoots

* 1975 Handgun World Shoot in Zürich,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

* 1976 Handgun World Shoot in Salzburg, Austria * 1977 Handgun World Shoot in Salisbury,

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

* 1979 Handgun World Shoot in Roodepoort, Johannesburg, South Africa * 1981 Handgun World Shoot in Johannesburg, South Africa * 1983 Handgun World Shoot in Virginia, United States * 1986 Handgun World Shoot in Florida, United States * 1988 Handgun World Shoot in

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

, Venezuela * 1990 Handgun World Shoot in Adelaide,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

* 1991 Individual Handgun World Championship, Johannesburg, South Africa * 1993 Handgun World Shoot at the

National Shooting Centre at Bisley The National Shooting Centre is the UK's largest shooting sports complex, comprising several shooting ranges as well as the large "Bisley Camp" complex of accommodation, clubhouses and support services. The centre is located near the village of ...

, Bisley, Surrey, England * 1996 Handgun World Shoot in Brasilia, Brazil * 1999 Handgun World Shoot in Cebu, Philippines * 2002 Handgun World Shoot in Pietersburg, South Africa * 2005 Handgun World Shoot in Guayaquil, Ecuador * 2008 Handgun World Shoot in

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

, Indonesia * 2011 Handgun World Shoot in Rhodes, Greece * 2014 Handgun World Shoot in

Frostproof Frostproof is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. The city is located in southern Polk County on the Lake Wales Ridge. The population was 2,992 at the 2010 census. As of 2018, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 3,273 ...

, Florida, United States * 2017 Handgun World Shoot at the National Shooting Center in Châteauroux, France * 2022 Handgun World Shoot in Thailand

Individual Champions

IPSC Handgun World Champion Eric Grauffel at the 2007 IPSC European Handgun Championship

The following is a list of previous and current Handgun World Champions:IPSC History of Champions
, accessed February 11, 2015.

Overall category

Lady category

Ashley Rheuark at the 2017 IPSC Rifle World Shoot

Junior category

Senior category

Super Senior category

Teams

Teams can consist of up to four athletes, with the three highest individual scores counting for the team results.

Overall teams

Lady teams

References

External links

Promo: 2014 IPSC Handgun World Shoot, Florida, United States
{{Main world championships