I’ve always been interested in guns and have, at some time or other, used just about every type commonly (and legally) available. My passion always rested with pistols however and pre Dunblane I was an active .22 rimfire shooter with a preference for “Standard Pistol” competitions. I shot at all the Midlands county competitions and (once) at Bisley in the national final of an Eley club postal shoot - I came 5th. Standard Pistol combined precision shooting with rapid fire. Daft as it was, I would usually score higher on the rapid sections than precision!
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At club level I used to shoot precision all the time (it was all they did) but always shot rapid at every opportunity, much to the annoyance of other members - they’d take 10 minutes to shoot 10 rounds, I’d take 8 seconds to shoot 5! Being the Chairman had its advantages.
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Sensing the inevitable following Dunblane I sold up and left the shooting scene. Then, as mentioned in the intro, I picked up an airgun magazine and was amazed to see the range of CO2 pistols available that actually looked like pistols and, best of all, could fire multiple shots before reloading. The odd mention of Practical Pistol hinted at some form of rapid-fire competitions being run too, and my quest for more information started there and then.
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By the way, I’m no spring chicken - wrong side of 50, smoke too much and don’t exercise enough (not at all if I’m honest). The point is that PP is suitable for all - you don’t need to be an athlete. Unfortunately however, the discipline is not suitable for disabled shooters - full mobility is needed to get around a typical course of fire.
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