ISSF

Pistol shooting is a popular sport nowadays, it has been well developed since 1896, when it first became a part of the modern Olympic Games in Athens. During these Olympics, 39 shooters from seven nations were competed in three pistol and two rifle events.

In the 2016 Olympic Games held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, there were 390 athletes from 97 nations competed in five pistol, seven rifle and three shotgun events.

These forms of shooting events in the Olympic, Commonwealth Games as well as the ISSF World Cups, are governed and regulated by I S S F ( International Shooting Sport Federation ).

I S S F is a worldwide organisation established in Switzerland in 1907 which aims to organise and promote the sport of pistol, rifle and shotgun shooting.

In Australia, PA ( Pistol Australia ) is the national body which is affiliated with I S S F and responsible for arranging the I S S F pistol shooting activities around the country from state to national levels.

As a member of the NSWAPA ( New South Wales Amateur Pistol Association ), the Coffs Harbour Pistol Club is affiliated with PA ( Pistol Australia ) and has been participating in various I S S F pistol shooting disciplines since 1970.

Organised matches such as the 25m sport pistol, 25m centre fire, 25m rapid fire, 25m Standard pistol, 50m free pistol and the 10m men and women air pistol are conducted on the club ranges at Mt. Brown road on a monthly basis.

The forms of I S S F pistol shooting require good physical coordination, constant visual focus and the maintenance of a positive frame of mind to achieve a good score. They are challenging as well as fun.

Pistol shooting is a safe and inexpensive family sport which is open to women, men, juniors ( over 12, accompanied by guardian ) as well as people with disabilities.

MORE ABOUT ISSF

Air Pistol match, Standard Pistol match, Rapid Fire match, Free Pistol match, Centre Fire match and Sport Pistol match are types of ISSF matches which we conduct at our club range.

The Air Pistol match is a 40-shot (Women) or 60-shot (men & women) match with a stationary target of 155mm in diameter set at 10 metres that has to be shot with an air pistol of .177 calibre.

The Standard Pistol match (men) has a course of fire separated into 3 different timed series, being 150 seconds, 20 seconds and 10 seconds. Shooters are required to use a .22 calibre pistol to engage targets at 25 metres’ distance, with 4 parts of 5 shots each in one series to be shot for a total of 60 shots.

The Rapid Fire match (men) requires a .22 calibre pistol to be used to shoot a course of fire which is divided into 3 timed series of 8 seconds, 6 seconds and 4 seconds. A shooter has to fire on 5 turning targets in each timed series, with targets being exposed for the set time. It is a 60-shot match, being shot at 25 metres’ distance.

The Free Pistol match (men) is a 60-shot match in which targets are set at 50 metres’ distance. Shooters are required to use a single shot pistol of .22 calibre.

Both Centre Fire (men) & Sport Pistol (women) matches have the same course of fire which is set at 25 metres’ distance. The course of fire is separated into 2 parts of 30 required shots each. The first 30 shots are to be fired on stationary targets and the second on turning targets.
For Centre Fire matches, a pistol or revolver in the calibre up to .38 can be used. For Sport Pistol matches, only firearms of .22 calibre can be used.

All of the above matches are very challenging pistol events; they are either being shot in the Olympic and Commonwealth Games or the ISSF world cups. As club level events, both men and women shooters, as well as juniors, are permitted to participate in all of the ISSF matches.