TargetTalk

Good morning everyone,
I’m just an ordinary 53 year old guy who wants to get started in some Olympic pistol shooting. I’ve joined USAS & I’m looking for advice on what to do now. Specifically, what pistol & equipment do I need to start? Thanks in advance.

"...guy who wants to get started in some Olympic pistol shooting."

"Some" Olympic shooting is too vague. As a total outsider, which discipline do you think most interests you? You can change your mind later, and if you buy even semi-intelligently what little you lose in the switch will be more than made up for in valuable experience. Remember - experience is the best teacher, but she isn't free.

As for your first purchase, a good-quality standard pistol will be the most versatile. You can shoot Standard and Rapid-Fire with it. You can also use it as an introduction to Free-Pistol. It won't be competitive with the specialized guns, but it will give you an idea if you like the sport.

What other shooting have you done? What clubs / ranges are near you? Friends, family who shoot?

Most important: Read EVERYTHING posted by Rover. Then pay attention to somebody else who hasn't lost his mind.

What is available in your range?
Try to borrow a gun at your range to get started and test different disciplines.

If you care only about precision, then it try air pistol or free pistol (although it is not an Olympic discipline any more). For more movement rapid fire and sport pistol at 25m.

Go to a place where they shoot air pistol, and make friends...... Air pistol guys are like drug dealers, they will hook you on the sport...... Air is expensive to get in and then really reasonable, Trust me, you cant actually make a case on which ones of the modern PCP era is the best because there's so much individual feel involved and all of them will shoot in excess of perfection when pointed at the target correctly

If you want to shoot semi auto 22 pistols. 2 ways to do it. Buy a specialized gun, or cheap your way in with a low end American Target gun...... Both ways work depending on what you want to do..... I cheaped my way into semi auto target pistols and although I LOVE my High Standard that replaced my 22A, the Pardini question lurks out there.

There's also the whole hidden game of free pistol, and while they are an absolute ball to shoot they also gather in your safe like stray cats, I have 4 and am looking for a decent priced Steyr if you find one......

If you shoot pellets, buy whatever you feel like paying for. If you shoot smallbore, remember euroguns like to eat euroammo and CCI sometimes is tight. If you can shoot CCI standard velocity in your gun, its cheap and pretty decent..... Pay a bit more and stay with good ammo because junk cheap bulk stuff has a bad history in higher end guns.....

At 53 you will probably need shooting glasses..... They are not too spendy and your shooting scores will go up as will your nerd score......

There are worse addictions
Hope this helps......

When I started I would post questions about specifics and also used the search function quite a bit. Ended up learning a lot about things I wasn't even looking for! Most people here are helpful, some are somewhat reluctantly helpful, and the rest you can ignore. It's a good forum.

Beware of anything I say. William avidly reads everything I write, and you can easily see how far he has gone off the deep end.
He's even Biden's role model and this site's token Liberal.

If you're venturesome enough to still be reading this, I recommend starting with an air pistol (preferably a SSP) because it is all-around cheap, the basics apply to all shooting, and you can practice almost anywhere.

I agree with William regarding purchasing a Standard .22 pistol for all the reasons he has described.

Try to find out what sort of events you can shoot locally. There's not much point in investing is a standard pistol if nobody holds matches within 500 miles.

At least with air pistol you can shoot postal matches.

Completely agree with GWhite. As much as I want to shoot the Rapid Fire discipline there are no active ranges near me which are set up for Rapid Fire. Air Pistol is the most convenient. You can set up a range at home assuming it is not illegal in your area to do so. Sport Pistol and 50 meter/Free Pistol are heck of a lot of fun, but also not as common as air. Don't let us dissuade you from any particular discipline though. My first love is Free Pistol. Even if I have few opportunities to compete I still enjoy trying to hit a tiny spot 50 meters (or shorter distance on reduced sized targets) away and it makes my day if I can hit that 10 ring.

Of course if you can't decide you can do it all and go crazy and buy equipment for every discipline. Really though, if you can get to a range and try some of the disciplines out it would be a much cheaper way to decide. I did it the expensive way and just started acquiring pistols!

If the OP finds that there are very few or no Clubs/Ranges that actively conduct ISSF or other events then my advice is to look for another sport. Becoming a basement AP hero has limited rewards and no future.

Olympic pistol shooting is virtually dead and buried from an OG perspective but pistol shooting thrives in many forms.

Find the type of events shot locally and join a club that has a strong and supportive membership base which is the core of enjoying any sport.

The type of event is irrelevant..the social interaction is paramount.

Becoming a reclusive cyber marksman in your basement followed by posting your scores shot in isolation on postal competition websites is ok for those living off the grid and winter bound shooters but the heart and soul of pistol shooting is gained by being part of an active club irrespective of the events shot.

Olympic/ISSF pistol shooting is highly satisfying, and if you're lucky there will be at least a handful of enthusiasts in your area so that you can compete. I'm no expert (unlike others here) but will throw in some thoughts from a relative novice. I shoot ISSF standard pistol and sport pistol matches in a local league with around 20 others. But first I practiced largely on my own for about a year before I felt ready to show up for an ISSF match. Started with a S&W Model 41, then switched to a european pistol. But I didn't spring for a new Pardini or Walther. I bought a used DES Unique 69 for $350, had it serviced by a local gunsmith for another $100, and have been very pleased with it, with better results than from the Model 41. The DES's lower bore axis and grip really makes a difference for me. The DES seems to be the most durable of the older euro pistols that are kicking around, and it'll take CCI SV just fine. I really can't understand the attraction of tactical pistol shooting (IPSIC and so on) which is vastly more popular. Also picked up a TOZ 35 free pistol to keep me humble. Absorbing, but I wouldn't recommend free pistol as a way into the sport.

dsb45acp. There are some good on line courses available on the shooting USA web site. The cost is minimal and they are as good, or better, then any information you will find elsewhere. Plus,by taking them, you can work for your certification. I will second Hamster, the DES69 is a great pistol. Add an IZH 46 and a TOZ 35 and you are ready to go. Good luck.

Thanks for all the replies, everyone. I'm sorry I'm so late responding but some unexpected family issues came up. The disciplines I'm most interested in are standard pistol & rapid fire. My "competition" background is USPSA. I'm a B class shooter in both Limited & Single Stack. I belong to a local range where I can set up 25 meter targets for practice & multiple targets for rapid fire practice. I'll make use of training resources on the USAS website that samg mentioned. The other question I had was a point raised by deadeyedick who said that Olympic shooting is virtually dead. Does that mean it's being eliminated as an Olympic event? Just curious because I'm completely new to this community.

Hi.
I hope I am not hijacking this thread. if I am, please advise and I will start a new one.
I am new to ISSF air pistol (been on this forum for 10 minutes now)and i am ready to purchase my first and hopefully only gun (i am 73 and have no lofty goals)
My plan is to shoot 10 meter, including rapid fire. My goal is always continual improvement.
I have borrowed a friend's LP5 and it fits like a glove. and I believe that if I were to purchase an LP50, I would have a very decent target pistol including rapid, as well as something to practice 2-hand shooting with. My guess is that I would not outgrow this gun.
Make sense?
long or short?
thanks in advance
Herman

Makes a lot of sense imo.

Rapid fire with air pistol is fairly dead, except perhaps in Europe. You could still shoot at home and think of it as practice for .22 rapid should that be/become available in your area. Also, most folks use a custom grip that really only works for one-handed shooting, so you might need an ambidextrous grip to swap in for two-handed. The little details like those, that we take for granted, aren't obvious when you're starting out, so go ahead and ask as many questions as you wish!

Oh, and as for long or short: if you can, try them out before you buy. Some people prefer long for the sight radius, others prefer short for the reduced weight. Precision will be the same for normal humans.

I have an LP50 long to practice timed & rapid fire at home. The balance is very different from a .22. My wife also shoots, and when she wanted to get an LP50 as well, I got her the short version. Loaded up with some weights, it's much close in balance & feel to her Pardini .22.

Hermantkoza sez: "I have borrowed a friend's LP5 and it fits like a glove. and I believe that if I were to purchase an LP50, I would have a very decent target pistol including rapid."

Good thinking. You don't want the grip to "fit like a glove", though. You want the grip to naturally come on target with the sights perfectly aligned.

Thanks for that. I thought that the grip would be adjusted to line everything up after i found the shape and size of grip that felt most natural. Am i wrong on that? or were you just reminding me that a well fitting grip that makes me stand unnaturally to shoot is a bad idea?

Rover is right in that the most important aspect of a grip is that when the pistol is raised it brings the sights into alignment over the aiming area.
However one of the major benefits of a pistol like Steyr is that the grip can be adjusted to make this happen and if it fits like a glove and is adjusted to be aligned then it is a win win.