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It's a shame about the 50m rifle competition. Two Olympics in a row now, he's had an easy gold medal coming down to the last shot, then blew it.

NcongruNt wrote:From what I can tell, the non-airgun/non-shotgun competitions are all .22. I have wondered why there is no classification for high-powered rifles. The first reason to come to mind is that in most parts of the world, firearm ownership and use is very restricted, but the shooting sports have been around quite a bit longer than any [abbreviated profanity deleted] the modern gun control restrictions. While .22 is a standard platform for competition, I don't see why there cannot be other competitions in other calibers, such as .223 or .308.

For one thing, there's the matter of facilities: an indoor 50 meter .22 range is easy, compared to a 600 meter outdoor range.

For another, when it comes to the basics of competitive marksmanship (sight alignment, breath control, trigger control), .22 with worst-edge scoring is all you need. It's hard to get more precise than a .224 diameter bullet that has to land entirely inside a .250 bullseye without touching the ring, in order to score an X.

The international shooting sport I am always most impressed with is the winter biathlon. A highly aerobic sport (cross-country skiing), combined with position shooting (while wearing skis!) at targets and distances that would be difficult for most shooters if they were using a bench rest -- having done nothing more exerting than walk to the firing point.