Handgun Bullseye shooting is the foundation of our gun club. Winnipeg Revolver & Pistol Association has sponsored Manitoba Provincial championship bullseye matches since 1934. 

NRA conventional pistol competition consists of firing slow, timed, and rapid fire. This is done at 50 and 25 yards outdoors and 20 yards on our indoor range. You can shoot the complete match with two guns, most shooters generally shoot it with three guns. Winnipeg Revolver and Pistol Association has held the three gun match since the 1960s.

This format got its start in America as a way to combine shooting with the civilian's .22, the police officer's .38 revolver and the military man's .45 autoloader. As .45 accuracy improved many shooters began to use the .45 for both center-fire and .45 matches. Some shooters find the .45 difficult to control consistently (usually due to lack of practice) and shoot only the .22 and .38 matches. With the NRA matches you can shoot one, two or all matches. You shoot what you are comfortable with. The nice thing about the NRA matches is that they are the same, the only difference is the gun used. If you do well shooting one match and start shooting another match the only thing new to learn is the different gun.

Generally an outdoor match will consist of the following,

20 shots, slow fire at 50 yards  (2 10-shot strings, 10 minutes per string),
20 shots, timed fire at 25 yards (4 5-shot strings,  20 seconds per string),
20 shots, rapid fire at 25 yards  (4 5-shot strings, 10 seconds per string),

10-shots, slow fire at 50 yards, (10 shots / 10 minutes).
10-shots, timed fire at 25 yards, (5 shots / 20 seconds).
10-shots, rapid fire at 25 yards, (5 shots / 10 seconds).

A full 2700 match requires the use of three guns. Gun one must be a .22 rimfire, gun two must be a centerfire pistol or revolver of .32 caliber or larger, and gun three must be a .45 caliber. The centerfire gun in the second match may also be the same gun as used for the .45 caliber match.

An 1800 aggregate if only the .22 caliber rimfire and centerfire matches are shot. Some shooters may choose to only shoot the rimfire and the centerfire match and avoid the .45 caliber match. The .45 can be frustrating to control.

Slow Fire

The standard 90-shot course of fire begins with 30 shots of slow fire. In the slow-fire stage the target is placed at 50 yards and you have 10 minutes to fire 10 shots. The targets are scored after each string of 10 shots.

The Slow Fire target is the same target as used in the timed fire match. You have a lot of time to fire the shots but since the target is twice as far as in Timed Fire you have a much tougher time to get higher scores. The l0-ring is only 3.3 inches in diameter.

Timed Fire

After the slow-fire course is complete, the targets (same as used in the Slow Fire) are moved to 25 yards for timed fire. Then 30 shots are fired in five-shot strings, 10 shots to a target, with 20 seconds allowed for each five shot string.

As the shooters prepare to fire, only the edge of the target is visible. The target rotates to face the shooter when shooting is to begin. The target rotates away when time has expired.

The target and scoring rings are the same as was used at 50 yards in the Slow Fire match. Although you have a much shorter time to fire your shots you generally have lots of time to get accurate shots off. With the target closer this stage will generally give you the higher scores.

Rapid Fire

The third and final stage is rapid fire. It's identical to timed fire. the Same target at 25 yards with only 10 seconds allowed for each five-shot string.  The target rotates to face the shooter when shooting is to begin. The target rotates away when time has expired.

Although there is sufficient time to get good shots off in this stage you normally get more stressed in this stage. If you are going to do things wrong it will be in this stage. If you don't practice much there will be a noticeable difference between your scores from this stage compared to the two previous.

Standard Pistol
This is the starting point for a lot of new shooters. Typically a new shooter's first gun will be a medium cost gun that shoots .22 lr cartridges. Many of these guns will comply with the rules placed on guns for the Standard Pistol match and provide adequate accuracy to do reasonably well. 

The event is shot at 25 metres on the 50m Precision Target, in three timed sequences of 150 secs for 5 shots, then 20 seconds for 5 shots and finally 10 seconds for 5 shots. The pistols are heavily regulated and elaborate grips and long barrels/sight radius are not allowed. The caliber used is .22 long rifle. 

5-shots in 150 seconds (three times) at 25 meters.
5-shots in 20 seconds.
5-shots in 10 seconds.

This event was introduced in the 70's, partly to meet the needs of USA shooters and partly to regulate the refinement of the pistols being used in the various target disciplines.

Free Pistol
It is called "Free Pistol" because the pistol used is free of restrictions and rules except that it must be of .22  caliber and single shot. 

The event is shot over 50m on the International Precision Target, which has a 50mm (2 inch) ten ring. 
The match consists of 60 shots in 2 hours with a possible score of 600.

60-shots in 2 hours at 50 meters.

This is considered the premier event of the handgun shooting sports and the oldest. It is shot at the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. It is a true test of marksmanship, control and nerve. Even if you don't have a Free Pistol you can benefit by shooting (and practicing) this match. Physical and mental conditioning are as important as the gun in Free Pistol.

Rapid Fire
With only 4 seconds (at the last stage)  to get off 5 shots at 5 target  it is easy to see why this match is called Rapid Fire.
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 It is shot at 25 meters and each shooter has a bank of 5 turning targets at which he must shoot in turn. It is called Rapid Fire because you have a very limited time to shoot those five targets. A segment consists of two series of five shots in 8 seconds, then two series of five shots in 6 seconds and finally, two series of five shots in 4 seconds. The event consists of 60 shots for a possible score of 600.  Two 30 shot segments are shot. The 10 ring on this target is 100 mm in diameter. The "black" of the target measures almost 500 mm.

5-shots at 5 targets at 25 meters in 8 seconds (shot twice). 
5-shots at 5 targets at 25 meters in 6 seconds (shot twice). 
5-shots at 5 targets at 25 meters in 4 seconds (shot twice). 
A second segment repeats the above sequence.

This event is one of the oldest shooting disciplines. It was also shot at the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. It may be an old-timer but it is one of the most exciting shooting events to watch.

The Center Fire Match
The name of this match refers to the method of priming of the cartridge which is used on higher power/ larger caliber cartridges. Center fire pistols used are typically .32 and .38 caliber. These pistols can be either semi-automatic or revolvers.

The match consists of two distinctly different stages. The first involves 30 shots of precision shooting on the 50m International Precision target at a range of 25 meters. Six series of five shot series are fired with a duration of 5 minutes per series. In the second stage, 5 shots are fired at a Rapid Fire target which is exposed for 3 seconds only and faced away for 7 seconds between the five shots. Six series of five shots are fired in this stage. Total score for the match is 600.

shots at 25 meters in 5 minutes
repeated for a total of six series
shots at a targets at 25 meters, target exposed for 3 seconds and turned away for 7 seconds between shots 
repeated for a total of six series

Air Pistol
We don't see much air pistol shooting at the club. One reason for this is that shooting air pistol can be done at home or just about anywhere. You don't need to belong to a gun club to shoot air pistols. 

Air pistol is a great way for young shooters to start a life long love of handgun shooting. We do include Air Pistol in our Annual Manitoba outdoor ISSF & Canadian 2700 championship match held on Labour Day.

The air pistol match consists of 60 shots fired in 105 minutes for men and 40 shots fired in 75 minutes for women. The target used is a scaled down Precision target set at 10m. 

Air pistols can be extremely accurate. Good air pistols can produce groups fractionally larger than the pellet diameter at 10 meters.