The Rimfire Report: The Summer Olympic Rimfire Sports

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Previously on The Rimfire Report, we briefly went over a shooting sport conducted during the winter Olympics – The Biathlon. However, the summer Olympics has its own set of shooting sports which include both rimfire rifles and pistols. Today we’ll briefly go over some of the rules, equipment, and disciplines involved in the Shooting Sports for the upcoming 2020 Summer Olympics being hosted at the Asaka Shooting range in Japan. Olympic Rimfire sports have a long history dating back to the beginning of the modern games in 1896.

25 Meter Rapid Fire Pistol

As the name implies, this competition involves shooting at a 25-meter distance with a pistol, specifically a rimfire pistol. The 25 Meter Rapid Fire Pistol event is derived from the ISSF (International Sport Shooting Federation). The ISSF also recognizes several other Olympic shooting sports including events involving shotguns.

This 25-meter Rapid Fire Pistol event is always shot with .22 LR pistols. Competitors will use their highly specialized pistols to engage a target with 5 shots. Each set of 5 shots constitutes a string and is graded by accuracy. Each target must be engaged using only one hand, making the shots incredibly difficult to master.

Competitors start from a “low and ready” position that is 45 degrees down from their starting position. There are three different time limits for the series: 8 seconds, 6 seconds, and 4 seconds. A stage consists of two series of each type, and a full course of fire comprises two such stages or a total of 60 shots. Since the targets are divided into concentric score zones with 10 being the most central part, the total maximum score is 600. Iron sights are the only sights that are used in the Olympic 25 Meter Rapid Fire competition.

6 finalists eventually go on to compete in an elimination-style match which includes their cumulative score until the winner is determined after 8 total strings (series) and 40 shots.

25 Meter Rapid Fire Pistol History

25 Meter Rapid Fire Pistol has been a part of the Olympic games as far back as 1896. The Rules changed significantly over time, especially before WWII. Some of the changes came at the expense of performance however as in 2005 new rules were put in place that restricted the types of grips and trigger pull weights that were legal to use. In 1989 the sport also banned the use of .22 Short cartridges under the blanket rule change of limiting the competition to “Sport Pistols” only.

This series of rule changes saw companies like Walther making bids to design completely new pistols to conform to the requirements of the Olympic sport and ISSF. One such pistol – the Walther SSP is an extremely odd-looking pistol. The SSP replaced the OSP which was rendered obsolete by the rule changes in 2005.

The Walther SSP makes use of detachable 5 round magazines, weighs 34 oz, has a 6-inch barrel and features an extremely light 2.2 lb (or 1000 gram) trigger pull. If you’re looking to get into Olympic pistol competitions, one of these pistols will set you back $2,095.00 just to start, and this doesn’t include years of training or magazines – and all that ammo you’ll be practicing with.

50 MEter Rifle Three Positions

This three-position competition involves shooting from a standing, kneeling and prone position during the course of fire. During the event, each competitor must complete the course of fire within a limited time frame of 2 hours and 45 minutes. Naturally, only .22 LR rimfire rifles are used.

The target used is a 6 inch black and white target with several rings used for grading the accuracy of the shooter. The target is placed at a fixed height above the floor of the shooting range at .75 meters or just under 2.5 feet.

Until recently, men and women competed by different standards with women’s competitions tending to be shorter and with shorter courses of fire. Each course of fire follows in the following order: Kneeling – 40 shots, Prone – 40 shots and Standing – 40 shots. This is considered a qualification course of fire. Following the qualification round, the top 8 shooters will fire an additional 10 shots one at a time in the standing position. The winner of the match is the shooter with the highest score from both the qualification and final rounds.

Olympic Rimfire Rifles used in the 50 meter three position

Rifles used in the three-position target match tend to be made by three competing companies. Anschutz makes many rifles used in this competition as well as the Biathlon. Feinwerkbau and Walther also make rifles in the rimfire target category and it goes without saying that all three options cost quite a bit even at their base price.

Where in biathlon competitions you are striving for the lightest rig possible for skiing, in the 50 Meter Three-position weight is not as much of issue whereas accuracy and consistency are. All rifles used in the 50-meter competition are bolt action single shot .22 LR rifles. Materials and trigger tuning will vary greatly depending on the preferences of the shooter with Walnut and synthetic stocks being common sights along with adjustable cheekpieces on the competitor’s stock.

Summer Olympics 2020

The Summer Olympic Games are a great opportunity for all participating countries to showcase their best athletes. I am glad that we live in an age and time that allows for everyone to participate in this sport – even countries that have heavier restrictions on firearms than the United States.

So if you find time this coming Summer, check out the Shooting Sports that are showcased. A couple others not mentioned in this article are the 50 Meter Prone shooting which also uses .22 rimfire rifles. There is also an extremely exciting Olympic Trapshooting competition in addition to the Olympic Rimfire sports.  Thanks again for stopping by to read The Rimfire Report. What are some shooting sports around the world you’re looking forward to? Let us know down in the comments.

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