IPSC World Shoot 2014 

Shooting USA – IPSC World Shoot 

It’s the handgun world championship that begins with the Parade of Nations, as the IPSC World Shoot returns to the U.S. after more than 25 years. The best in the world are competing in the sport, with the modern technique Jeff Cooper created more than 40 years ago. Plus, the breechloader that would change gun-making forever, the Hall Carbine is one of History’s Guns.

IPSC World Shoot XVII

The Universal Shooting Academy in Lakeland, Florida, is the honored host of the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) World Shoot, where the title of “World Champion” is at stake for hundreds of international shooters and Team USA. Over the course of five days, competitors will take on 30 unique courses of fire at the Universal Shooting Academy in Frostproof, Florida.

Richard Alexander and his family brought a Florida theme to the props of each stage of fire and committed hundreds of hours of work to impress and delight the international competitors. “Each section has a theme. We tried to keep it local and so across the way we have manatees and some fantasy things like mermaids and that sort of thing,” says Alexander. “We wanted to make this the best World Shoot ever.”

International shooting enthusiasts headed by the “father of modern pistol shooting,” Jeff Cooper, created the International Practical Shooting Confederation in the 1970s to test handgun proficiency in a worldwide, universal format. That’s why targets in IPSC are the diamond-shaped, classic targets instead of the humanoid targets more commonly seen in US competition. Every three years, the World Shoot is held in a member nation, and each championship begins with the Parade of Nations Teams, with the elaborate pageantry of the Olympics.

Related Links:

More About IPSC World Competition

History’s Guns - Hall Carbine   

Of the dozens of 19th Century breechloaders invented, none was more important than the Hall Carbine, created by John Hancock Hall. It was the first percussion firearm in the U.S. Service, which saw extensive action in the Second Indian War. The Hall Carbine was also the first breechloader built with interchangeable parts, eliminating the use of gunsmiths on the battlefield to repair broken firearms.

“This is the state of the art at the time.” says Firearms Historian Garry James.  “When I think of all the other carbines that were issued around the world, they were all muzzle loaders, practically. This is certainly top of the line.”

Cross country skiing combined with high accuracy rifle shooting is not an easy sport, but three-time Olympic biathletes Tracy and Lanny Barnes proved it could be done with the support of American audiences and fans around the world. The twin sisters from Colorado constantly seek new challenges and, since they’ve retired from the Olympics, the women now focus on 3-gun full time. 

“I think coming from biathlon, where you have to almost go three miles before you fire your first shot, this is fun,” says Tracy Barnes. “This is just real short bursts of some physical activity and then a lot shooting and I’m loving it.”

Both Lanny and Tracy compete in multi-gun matches across the nation, including the Rocky Mountain 3-Gun at the Whittington Center in New Mexico. The twins have also opened a new shooting clinic, T.O.P. Shooting Institute, where they train people how to shoot while controlling their elevated heart rate.

Related Link:

T.O.P Shooting Institute  

John Paul of JP Rifles, Inc., has created a new series of rifles that are technically ARs, but they are much more improved. The LRP-07 (Long Range Precision), chambered in .308 has a self-folding, left side handle to cycle the bolt, so the shooter does not have to break from position. The low-mass bolt and operating system reduces the recoil, and the LRP-07 is fit with the Armageddon Gear roller trigger that prevents any side pull during the squeeze. Base price, before options are selected is $3,400.

If you prefer high accuracy in .223, the JP PSC-11 has the 14.5-inch barrel with pinned and welded comp, making it 16 inches overall, and not classified as a short-barreled rifle. The JP PSC-11 employs the left side charge handle, as well as a traditional charge handle, plus the JP Enterprises low mass operating system. Base price for the PSC-11 is $2,600. 

Related Links:

JP LRP-07 

JP PSC-11 

Mounting a scope on a rifle is more critical than you may think. Just eyeballing it can make your gun wildly inaccurate. John Paul of JP Enterprises shows us how to true your scope, before mounting it on the rifle, producing greater accuracy from the effort.

VIEW THE PRO TIP

BUY THE SHOW DVD!!

NRA Membership Offer:  Jim Pays $10 when you join the NRA through the Shooting USA website.