TargetTalk

Not been to any air pistol competitions yet but seriously considering .....

If I fly I will empty the compressed air, unload the gun, and transport in a pistol case.

Do tournaments usually have tanks available for competitors to fill up or do I need to find a place on my own after landing?

Do tournaments provide practice targets or do I need to bring some?

Do Mfg. and vendors usually attend national events?

Does any one have a tournament "check list" that they would like to share with me?

What sort of tools and backup equipment do you bring (I only have one gun)?

What time do large "national" competitions usually end? If the tournament is Sat and Sun, do you usually leave on Sun evening or Mon morning? What time did the nationals end this year?

Do kids get together in the evening and do some fun activities (movie, pizza, swimming, etc.) or go their separate ways? Do national organizers organize gathering for all of the kids?

If you have any lessons learned please pass along the good advice.

JB Smith

If I fly I will empty the compressed air, unload the gun, and transport in a pistol case.

The pistol has to be in a lockable hard case and make sure the cylinder is completely empty as a kid during the NRA 3P Nationals had his $150 rifle cylinder confiscated by the Delta Supervisor because it had a few squirts of air left in the cylinder.

Do tournaments usually have tanks available for competitors to fill up or do I need to find a place on my own after landing?

Usually most places that hold competitions have air available, but you can get a hold of the match program and contact the person in charge of the match to find out.

Do tournaments provide practice targets or do I need to bring some?

Practice or sight-in targets are usually provided with the target pack for regular sanctioned matches. Contact the match director for more information.

Do Mfg. and vendors usually attend national events?

During most of the big National matches there is usually a few vendors that attend. Camp Perry's big national match in August usually has the biggest number of vendors.

Does any one have a tournament "check list" that they would like to share with me?

You can usually find a Match program for the big National matches on a CMP, NRA, or USA Shooting website. For the smaller local matches you can probably check on the three website as to who is running the local matches and contact them for a program.

What sort of tools and backup equipment do you bring (I only have one gun)?

Whatever tools that usually come with the gun are probably all that you need unless you are well versed in how to take apart and reassembling your gun let a competent gunsmith take care of the more serious problems. A gunsmith is sometimes available at the big National matches.

What time do large "national" competitions usually end? If the tournament is Sat and Sun, do you usually leave on Sun evening or Mon morning? What time did the nationals end this year?

The Camp Perry Match is usually the last big national match for the year in July and most of August. Nationals can be run during the week days and weekends.

Do kids get together in the evening and do some fun activities (movie, pizza, swimming, etc.) or go their separate ways? Do national organizers organize gathering for all of the kids?

The NRA 3P air and Camp Perry Nationals usually have get together events such as lunch or dinners.


If you have any lessons learned please pass along the good advice.

The biggest problem that most shooters have when shooters and coaches attend these matches is that aren't familiar with the basic rules. They can have their whole experience ruined because they aren't familiar with the rules, so take some time and get a rule book and read the rules for your discipline. If you do that it will eventually save you some heart ache and maybe gain you a few points.

Other then that if you have been training as hard as you can just don't take it to seriously and enjoy yourself.

If you can, get yourself to some smaller matches before diving into a big one.