In the United States of America, owning a firearm is a God given right. Although what you do with that firearm is up to you. Generally, gun owners use a firearm for home or self defense, hunting, or for having fun on the range. Although, a third option is entering a shooting competition. Shooting competitions test your speed and accuracy in one way or another, pushing competitors to be proficient with their tools. These competitions create more responsible gun owners; plus, they are just plain fun. However, if you want to try out a shooting competition yourself, picking out which one to enter into can be intimidating at first; there are so many options!
No matter what type of firearm you want to shoot, or what kind of shooting you want to do with it, there is a competition for it. You will find long range precision matches, and you can also find short range speed-focused matches. Some have moving or flying targets, most shoot stationary steel. There are dozens of rule combinations, but some are more popular than others. Here, I will split competitions up into the type of shooting they do, and hopefully that will make it easy for you to skim to what you are most interested in. Let’s get started with the most common type of matches.
Speed Vs Accuracy Competitions
The majority of shooting competitions focus on speed, accuracy, or both. Some competitions have you stand still and see how fast you can hit large targets, others have you laying prone shooting targets hundreds of yards away as slow as you like. Although the most popular ones are a mix of both, keeping things interesting while requiring a bit of skill. Since they are so popular, there are plenty of competitions to pick from in this category if it interests you.
In competitions like the United States Practical Shooting Association (USPSA) you will be tested on speed, accuracy, and power. The practical part of this competition is that it mixes speed and accuracy; your hits and time both factor into your score. There is some flexibility on how you run the course, which also introduces some strategy to the game. Firearms in this competition are also heavily modified in the open division, but other divisions can add restrictions on what modifications are allowed.
If you are more interested in accuracy, and enjoy pistol competitions, you can try out American Bullseye shooting. These events are slower paced, and shooters stand still. The name of the game is accuracy here, and you will be tested at 25 and 50 yards. While you have more time than other competitions to get your shots off, different events in bullseye shooting give you 10, 20, or 60 seconds per shot. The standard competition here is called 2700 Aggregate, which consists of three 900 point stages (hence the name). One stage requires a .22 LR, the next is a centerfire cartridge somewhere between .32 and .45 caliber, the final stage requires a .45 caliber firearm. So if you want an accuracy challenge with a few different types of pistols, Bullseye shooting may be for you.
If you prefer to use a rifle, you can try out a Precision Rifle Series (PRS) competition. Your accuracy will be tested on targets at various distances (some over 1,000 yards), and from multiple shooting positions. The open division allows for highly modified rifles, and you will see some serious competitors there. The production division focuses on factory rifles, which is certainly more budget friendly, and may be a good place for beginners to start. You should also check out the tactical division, which uses rifles chambered in .308 Winchester and .233 Remington.
Situational Shooting Competitions
Competition shooting in general is not very realistic. Some types of competitions try to counteract this with more immersive matches. One example is USPSA competitions that I mentioned earlier; the P standing for practical. Another example may be the International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA). These types of matches focus on self defense scenarios specifically. To keep it as realistic as possible, there are a few more restrictions on the types of firearms and modifications you can use. You will not see the race guns common to USPSA, instead, you will see service pistols, revolvers, and small backup guns.
IDPA is interesting if you want to become proficient in self-defense scenarios; although, another competition that tries to be more realistic is the National Rifle League (NRL) Hunter division. This competition places life size animal targets at various ranges. As a shooter, you will have to make a kill-shot on multiple targets from various angles and positions. Each stage is crafted to be a unique representation of a possible real world hunting scenario. If most of your firearms experience comes from the hunting world like mine, then this may be a great place for you to start competitive shooting.
Period Specific Competitions
The hardware you use in a shooting competition is just as, if not more, important than how a particular stage is set up. Every competition has its own rules for what type of firearms, ammunition, or modifications are allowed; these rules set the tone for how the competition plays out. So, one fun take on this is to peg the hardware to a certain time period. The most common example of this comes from Cowboy Action Shooting (CAS), which focuses on firearms and ammunition from before 1900.
Using firearms and ammunition modeled after this period gives you a totally different experience than what you would get from competitions with modern firearms. You will also see competitors dress in period appropriate costumes too, completing the look and feel of the period.
In a CAS, you will be restricted to single action revolvers, lever action rifles chambered in pistol calibers, and lever or break barrel shotguns. Your ammo is also restricted. You can only use cartridges that were designed before 1900, and the bullet itself has to be made solely of lead; no modern bullets or cartridges will be allowed. Finding the ammunition for a CAS can be difficult for a beginner, so if you think you would like to try out Cowboy Action Shooting, check out this article that we wrote about CAS ammunition.
Shotgun Specific Shooting Competitions
Shotguns are used in a variety of shooting competitions. The first thing you find about shotguns and competitions will likely be in the context of a three gun match. You use a handgun, pistol, and shotgun in a three gun match; we are very creative with naming these things. These competitions are fun in their own right, but if you want to focus specifically on shotguns, you may want to check out trap shooting.
Trap shooting focuses on shooting flying clay “pigeons”. Most people have heard of or participated in some sort of clay shooting before, but trap shooting is a bit more structured. When you go to a trap shooting competition, commonly hosted by the Amateur Trapshooting Association (ATA), you will rotate through five stations. The field is flat, but the clay shooting machine changes its angles at each station. This provides some uniqueness to each station, but they are not terribly different from one another.
Trap shooters normally use some kind of double barrel shotgun, be it an over-under or side-by-side. However, you can also find trap competitions that allow semi-automatic shotguns. If you really want to get into modifying your shotgun and making it as fast as possible, you should check out three gun matches. There, you can build race guns however you like; those guns are usually a bit fancier than the over-unders common to trap shooting.
Airgun / Olympic Shooting Competitions
You will also see competitive shooting in the Olympics! These competitions are shot entirely with air rifles, so they are not exactly a firearms competition. Still, this is one way the world compares shooters. I am sure that the fact that this competition uses airguns is tied to the fact that most other countries that compete in the Olympics do not allow their citizens regular access to firearms. It is a little different, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun.
These types of competitions are put on by the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF). You will do your shooting with a 4.5 mm / .177 caliber air rifle at 10 meters. Most shooters will also be using a lot of head gear and have super strict form that is tailored to accuracy. This is another competition that is not realistic in the slightest, but the challenge of it all can be exciting. I would compare this to competitive archery, which many hunters and shooters also take part in.
Novelty / Specialty Shooting Competitions
All the shooting competitions I have talked about to this point are fairly serious events. Although you can also take part in some novelty competitions focused more on fun than performance. You still get a score, and there is always a winner, but the game is a bit different when you are shooting zombie heads or bowling pins instead of steel silhouettes. You can also take part in head to head matches like dueling trees, or the Texas star; this will test your speed and accuracy and apply more pressure with a direct competitor.
Another example of this is Cowboy Action side matches; in these matches you can have derringer duels, trick shots, and even compete from horseback. You can also find specialty matches for particular types of firearms or ammunition, like black powder matches in a pirate themed or Cowboy Action competition. There is a competition out there for just about anything, the only limit is your imagination.
Test Out The Waters
No matter what your experience level is, or what kind of firearm you prefer to use, there is a shooting competition out there for you. You can choose to test out your speed, precision, or both in a variety of matches. You can even use period-specific firearms like the cowboys, seriously shoot thousands of yards away, or have a fun weekend dressed as a pirate and shooting black powder; the choice is yours.
No matter what you decide to try, it is important to test the waters. Buying gear to compete with can be very expensive, but attending these competitions (without entering them) is usually free excepting the parking. Head to a local competition and I promise, the guys there will be more than happy to answer any of your questions. This sport comes with a community that loves to talk about and debate firearms, strategy, and anything else you can think of. So, start looking for local competitions and start competing!
