Real Shooters Use One Hand
By David Hyatt – VP CSRRA
Well the Summer is over, along with the 2nd annual NWCSA Bullseye 900 Matches.
2023 has been a good year so far. We’ve had shooters from all over the state of Connecticut and a few shooters from Massachusetts and Vermont as well.
We recorded four (4) Civilian Marksmanship Program pistol matches this summer. The scores and a few photos are listed below. Now, we’ll continue into the Fall/Winter pistol shooting season with indoor matches held at the Torrington Gun Club.
Who are we?
We are members of several clubs and pistol shooting leagues. Most of us shoot on the Metropolitan Revolver League or “MET League” for short. We are the oldest bullseye pistol league in the country – over 85 years old! – made up of a dozen clubs in the state of CT.
There are several leagues in this state: the Met League, the New London League, the Naugatuck Valley League, the Bridgeport League and the Cos Cob league to name just a few. The State of CT has a pistol shooting team formed by the CT State Rifle and Revolver Association and they travel to the National Matches at Camp Perry to compete every summer. The National Matches at Camp Perry, OH take place every summer over six days, and attract approximately 2,000 shooters from all over the country. We are very fortunate to have two of the top shooters in the country that are part of this mess of crazy guys and gals here in CT.
What is Bullseye (or NRA Precision) Pistol Shooting?
Bullseye is a discipline founded by the US Army back before WW1 to train soldiers how to shoot a pistol. It is the same format used today by the National Rifle Association (see NRA Competition Resources) and the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP).
All courses of fire are from a standing position using a one-handed grip at two different targets (depending on the distance and type of match).
The slow-fire targets have the 8, 9 & 10 rings inside the bullseye and the rapid fire targets have only the 9, 10 and X rings inside the black. They both follow basically the same rules.
NWCSA and Torrington Gun Club hosted pistol matches are referred to as a “900 match”, meaning 90 rounds are shot at various targets, with a possible perfect score of 900 points.
The course of fire for an outdoor match consists of:
- 2 strings of slow fire. Each string consists of 10 shots at 50 yards at an NRA B6 target. The
bullseye diameter is 8 inches (20 cm) - 1 National Match Course consisting of one 10-shot slow fire string at 50 yards, two 5-shot
strings of timed fire at 25 yards, and two 5-shot strings of rapid fire at 25 yards - 4 strings of timed fire. Each string consists of 5 shots in 20 seconds at 25 yards at an NRA B8
target. The bullseye diameter is 5.5 inches (14 cm). - 4 strings of rapid fire. Each string consists of 5 shots in 10 seconds at 25 yards at an NRA B8
target. The bullseye diameter is 5.5 inches.
Interested in learning more about this sport?
Contact: David Hyatt or Paul Gallo
Visit: Come to the clubs when we are shooting
Resources: Encyclopedia of Bullseye Pistol (John Dreyer), NRA Precision Pistol (Wikipedia), NRA Precision Pistol Rules (PDF)
