Precision Pistol

Objective

Precision Pistol is a shooting sport where athletes using pistols, shoot at targets placed at fixed distances. There are varying time limits and the number of shots fired; ten shots in ten minutes for the slow fire stage, five shot strings in 20 seconds for the timed fire stage and five shot strings in 10 seconds for the rapid fire stage.

History

Bullseye, also known as Precision Pistol, formerly known as Conventional Pistol, is a shooting sport in which participants shoot handguns at paper targets at fixed distances and time limits. Bullseye, in it’s current format began in the 1930’s. A number of organizations, including the NRA and Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) in the United States, have established rules and keep records for these sports. Emphasis is on accuracy and precision. The sport is primarily popular in United States and Canada. Bullseye pistol was the inspiration for the International Shooting Sports Foundation (ISSF) international 25 m Standard Pistol (82 feet) event and like the ISSF pistol events, the development of skills required to shoot one-handed at 5.5-inch (14 cm) and 8-inch (20 cm) bullseye targets at 25 and 50 yards (23 and 46 m), respectively, takes considerable training to achieve proficiency. Pistol shooting has been a sport at the Olympic games since the first modern games in 1896 in Athens.

Equipment

Bullseye specifies three classes of pistol; a .22 caliber rimfire, a centerfire handgun of .32 caliber or greater; and a .45 caliber pistol. Since the format includes a sustained fire stage, a semi-automatic pistol or revolver with a capacity of at least 5 rounds is needed. For NRA competitions, sights can either be iron sights, a red dot type sight, or telescopic. Laser sights are not allowed. For CMP competitions, only iron sights are allowed. All shooters will be required to wearing hearing and eye protection. A spotting scope is useful for the slow fire stages..

The Basics

All firing is done standing in the off-hand (one handed) position with no artificial support. Precision Pistol requires accuracy, stamina, trigger control, and mental preparedness. Precision Pistol matches can have different formats, but the most common is a 900 match consisting of 90 rounds; 30 shots slow fire, 30 shots timed fire and 30 shots rapid fire. The 900 match can be expanded to include a .22 caliber 900, a centerfire 900 and .45 caliber 900 for 270 shots total or a possible 2700 points. Distances vary, but the most common are 50 yards for the slow fire stages and 25 yards for the timed and rapid fire stages in outdoor matches. Indoor matches can be shot from 50 feet to 25 yards depending on how the range is set up. Targets are available to compensate for different range distances; e.g. 20 yard reduced and 50 foot reduced targets. Shooters are classified based on scores, i.e. Marksman (the lowest), Sharpshooter, Expert, Master and High Master. They can also be classified by category, i.e. civilian, service, police, women, senior (60 to 69 years of age), grand senior (70+) and junior.

How To Get Started

Step 1: Join TSRA

Step 2: Contact TSRA Directors below

Odie Hitt
Pistol Director
pistol4@tsra.com