Bullseye Pistol Program
(Conventional Pistol)
Today the NRA has 42,000
classified bullseye shooters nationwide, and that's
not counting the thousands of competitors who compete in unsanctioned matches.
An NRA-sanctioned bullseye match is a three-gun affair
that requires you to shoot identical 90 shot courses of fire with each gun. Gun
one must be a .22 rimfire pistol or revolver, gun two
must be a centerfire pistol or revolver of .32
caliber or larger, and gun three must be a .45 caliber pistol or revolver. Most
competitors use two guns for an entire match: a .22 rimfire
semiautomatic pistol and a 1911-style .45 ACP. Using two guns instead of three
saves the expense of a third match-grade pistol, and it requires the shooter to
accustom himself to the recoil, grip, and trigger pull
of only two guns. Even so, a Smith & Wesson Model 52 in .38 Special or a
Walther in .32 S&W Long is occasionally seen on the centerfire
line. Also, optical sights are allowed, including conventional scopes and red
dot sights, although many shooters still use open sights.
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're given 10 minutes to
fire 10 shots. The targets are scored and repaired after each string of 10
shots.
The slow-fire course gives shooters fits. It places more stress on shooter and
gun than the other two courses and is often the deciding factor in a match. At
50 yards the l0-ring-only 3.3 inches in diameter-seems minuscule. Inside of the
3.3-inch l0-ring is a 1.7-inch X-ring used to break ties. The mental fortitude
required to concentrate on the sight and trigger squeeze while at the same time
holding the gun steady with one hand is substantial. Most shooters worry more
about their slow-fire scores than any other part of the match.
Having a gun that can keep 10 shots out of 10 in a three-inch group at 50 yards
is necessary too. Conventional wisdom says that your gun and ammunition
combination should be able to hold the X-ring at 50 yards from a machine rest.
That's a 1.7-inch group, remember. Bull-barreled target .22s manufactured by
Smith & Wesson, Ruger, Browning, High Standard,
and many of the European makers are capable of this level of accuracy right out
of the box, assuming the shooter has done his homework with respect to
ammunition. The 1.7-inch group with the 1911 .45 is much more elusive; it
requires the skills of an above-average pistolsmith
and solid load development.
Ammunition used for the .22 stage ranges from standard-velocity target fodder
to expensive imported match grade stuff. Most shooters find what works in their
gun from an accuracy and reliability standpoint and then stick with it, almost
to a fault. We've all read time and time again how ammunition, powder, and
primers can differ from lot to lot. If you are looking for match accuracy of
1.7 inches at 50 yards, then you must be prepared to test each lot of ammo.
For the .45, most competitors shoot 200-grain cast-lead SWCs
purchased from a commercial bulletmaker over Hercules
Bullseye powder and a standard Large Pistol primer.
While Bullseye is the powder of choice and has been
since FDR was President, my personal favorite is Winchester WST. WST possesses
all the best attributes of Bullseye, but it burns
cleaner. W231, Solo 1000, and HP38 are also used on the bullseye
line. The key to match-accurate ammunition is to launch the bullet at 730 to
780 fps. If you don't have access to a chronograph, try 3.6 to 4.3 grains of Bullseye or WST and vary your charges by .1 grain. Odds are
you'll hit a good load.
While this isn't intended to be a loading clinic, one final thought is in
order: Top shooters weigh their cast bullets, whether homemade or commercially
cast. Unseen air bubbles can cause more grief and bad scores at 50 yards than
you can imagine. I weigh my slow-fire bullets to .5 grain, but other shooters
vary theirs by up to as much as one full grain. The key ingredient is to weed
out the really bad bullets that could be two to three grains off the average.
Yes, all this emphasis on accuracy is necessary to score well. The best
shooters will "clean" slow-fire targets occasionally, and even an
average shooter can see the difference between an 8-ring gun and an X-ring gun.
If your gun and ammunition can't hold the X- or l0-ring, you don't have a
prayer of ever shooting a perfect slow-fire target. Even if you're not capable
of shooting a perfect score, you will still score better with topnotch iron and
ammo.
Timed Fire
After the slow-fire course is complete, the targets 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.
Unlike other handgun sports that use a handheld timer, in bullseye
each target rotates to and from the shooter to regulate the timing. 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.
Timed fire is considered the easiest stage of the match. The target is the same
one used for slow fire, except only the 9- and l0-rings are black instead of
the 8-, 9-, and 10-rings, and it's at half the distance. And 20 seconds to fire
five shots is plenty of time. As a friend of mine says, timed fire is sustained
slow fire. Top shooters shoot perfect 100's and 99's every time, and even
average shooters will clean a timed-fire target on occasion.
Rapid Fire
The third and final stage is rapid fire. It's identical to timed fire: same
target at 25 yards with only 10 seconds allowed for each five-shot string.
There is nothing like standing on the line with your .45 in hand and shooting
alongside 30 or 40 shooters during a rapid-fire string. The noise, the smoke, the adrenaline- you just have to be there to appreciate it.
The top shooters shoot 98s, 99s, and perfect 100's every time in rapid fire.
But for the beginner the .45 rapid-fire course is the
most challenging. A .45 held in one hand-even with light target-load
ammunition-is a handful, and a lapse in concentration during rapid fire is
readily apparent on the target (or rather all over the target).
Take The Challenge - You'll
Have Fun
You may be saying “I’ve never shot a pistol with one hand and probably never
will, I’ll never practice with target loads that don't approximate the recoil
of full-power ammo, and only hunters and silhouette shooters with steady rests
shoot at 50 yards or more with a handgun and actually expect to hit the target.
The point is bullseye is like Indy car racing. Practical? Maybe not. Fun and challenging? Definitely.
It's so much fun that there are nearly 14 times more classified bullseye shooters than action pistol shooters. As for
challenging, consider that no one has ever fired a perfect 900 out of 900 let
alone 2700 out of 2700.
To get started in bullseye, check to see if your
local club has a league, or contact the VSSA Pistol Chairman, Joe Fisher. You can also contact the NRA's competition
department at 800-672-3888 and ask for a bullseye
rule book and a sample copy of Shooting Sports USA. Shooting Sports is the
NRA's monthly publication dedicated to target shooting. The last 10 pages or so
of each issue are dedicated to listing all the NRA-sanctioned events across the
country in each discipline. Shooting Sports is a "must have" for the bullseye shooter.