Pistol | USA Shooting

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Numerous opportunities exist for young people interested in pistol shooting sports. The Olympic events include Men’s and Women’s Air Pistol and Smallbore (.22) Men’s Free and Rapid Fire Pistol events as well as the Women’s Sport Pistol event. The junior event created to lead to these events is called Progressive Position Air Pistol (PPP).

PPP is a great introduction to the sport as the equipment, and particularly the ammunition, are less expensive as well as cleaner and quieter. Temporary ranges can easily be set up in any large area (like a gym) as these guns do not require a permanent back-stop or special ventilation system. USA Shooting and the National Rifle Association both support this event and hold a jointly sponsored National Junior Olympic Progressive Position Air Pistol Championship.

The 2012 PPP National Championships will be held 6-8 July in Anniston, AL at the CMP South Shooting Center.

In partnership with the NRA we are announcing the first PPP national postal program. This PPP national postal is three separate stand alone competitions: Fall, Winter and Spring. More information can be obtained by downloading the PPP Postal Program.

4-H Shooting Sports offers youth programs for pistol shooting. Contact your local chapter to find out if it is offered in your area. Some schools and many local shooting clubs provide youth shooting sports programs as well.

USAS has partnered with the 4-H and created an marksmanship achievement program for rifle, pistol and shotgun events called the Passport program. Click here to learn more about the Passport program. Your 4-H club can order the achievement pins and ‘passports’ directly from the 4-H National website.

USA Shooting (USAS) publishes USA Shooting News, sanctions matches and is the National Governing Body for the Olympic Shooting Sports in the United States. USAS also runs and coordinates Junior Olympic Development Camps here at the Olympic Training Center and around the country at our Certified Training Centers. Our website includes information about match schedules, USAS merchandise sales and competition results.

The NRA has a qualification program, sanctions matches, offers a tremendous variety of materials and has programs for competitions, collegiate shooting, coach education, advanced summer camps, etc. NRA also offers grant programs that provide funding for youth shooting programs.

Growing youth shooting sports in the US is always a focus for USAS. One of the key areas to achieve this is the Coach Education Program in which we partner with the NRA and Civilian Marksmanship Program . Every youth shooting sports program should have at least one certified coach. We currently subsidize Pistol Coach Schools for those clubs that start up or maintain a PPP program. Please contact michael.theimer@usashooting.org for more details.