Editing Practical shooting (section)

==Origins==
[[File:Combat masters A1.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.5|These men are five of the "Combat Masters", the most successful shooters during the competitions held at the South Western Combat Pistol League ("SWCPL") at Big Bear Lake, California, during the late 1950s. Left to right: [[Ray Chapman (marksman)|Ray Chapman]], [[Elden Carl]], [[Thell Reed]], [[Jeff Cooper]], [[Jack Weaver]]. (The sixth "Combat Master", [[John Plahn]], is missing from this photograph.)]]

Practical shooting evolved from experimentation with firearms for [[hunting]] and [[self-defense]]. The researchers of what were to become practical shooting were an international group of private individuals, law enforcement officers, and military people generally operating independently of each other, challenging the then-accepted standards of technique, training practices, and equipment. The work was, for the most part, conducted for their own purposes without official sanction. Even so, what they learned has had a great impact on police and military training forever.

Some consider the previous Olympic event [[100 meter running deer]] as the first practical rifle shooting competition,<ref>{{cite report|title=Shooting at Moving Targets|author=Maddison, R. J. |date=19 April 2011|page=12|url=https://bsrc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Moving-Target-Shooting-R-J-Maddison.pdf|access-date=31 October 2019|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191031063256/https://bsrc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Moving-Target-Shooting-R-J-Maddison.pdf|archive-date=31 October 2019}} "Moving target shooting is the original 'Practical Rifle' discipline."</ref><ref>  Braathen, Erik (1983). ''Skyting & våpen''. A/S Våpenlitteratur, Chr. Schibsted forlag, Oslo. p. 82, ch. 7 Viltmålskyting.</ref> which originated in [[Wimbledon, London]] in 1862. Other notable rifle speed shooting events are [[Stang shooting]] (''stangskyting'') which has been arranged since 1912, and [[Nordic field rapid shooting]] (called ''felthurtig'', ''sekundfält'' and ''sekundskydning'' in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, respectively) which has been a part of the Nordic Fullbore Rifle Championship since 1953.<ref>{{cite web |title=Arbeidets Rett - Roger er klar for nordisk mesterskap |date=18 August 2015 |url=https://www.retten.no/skyting/dfs/roger-nilsen/roger-er-klar-for-nordisk-mesterskap/s/5-44-44129 |access-date=31 October 2019|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009152847/https://www.retten.no/skyting/dfs/roger-nilsen/roger-er-klar-for-nordisk-mesterskap/s/5-44-44129 |archive-date=9 October 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Drammens lag, Viken 1 stridsskyting 1960|publisher=Drammens Skyttersamlag|date=14 August 2018|url=https://dfsgrasrot.no/drammen-skyttersamlag/article/drammens-lag-viken-1-stridsskyting-1960 |access-date=31 October 2019|website=Det frivillige Skyttervesen|language=no|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191031062903/https://dfsgrasrot.no/drammen-skyttersamlag/article/drammens-lag-viken-1-stridsskyting-1960|archive-date=31 October 2019}}</ref> Around 1900, efforts were done to develop more effective uses of handguns in combat shooting, mainly through experiments by two Britons, Captain William E. Fairbairn and Sergeant Eric A. Sykes.<ref name="StavangerSSL">{{cite web|title=Grunnkurs i praktisk skyting og sikkerhetskurs for nybegynnere|language=no|publisher=Stavanger Sportsskytterlag|date=2009|author=Revidert Mars|url=http://www.stavanger-ssl.org/attachments/article/74/NyttGrunnkurs.doc|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103052246/http://www.stavanger-ssl.org/attachments/article/74/NyttGrunnkurs.doc|archive-date=3 November 2018}}</ref> The first known attempts at developing practical shooting as a handgun sport were done in the U.S. before the Second World War, but the attempts resulted in little.<ref name="StavangerSSL"/>

Shortly after the second world war a distinct combat shooting sport for handguns known as ''stridsskyting'' became popular in Norway.<ref name="StavangerSSL"/> This form of shooting had few similarities with the practical pistol sport which would later emerge. During the 10 to 12 years of its existence, what today is known as [[field shooting]] gradually took over as the more popular form of pistol shooting in Norway, and the original ''stridsskyting'' was completely gone as a discipline in the beginning of the 1960s. ''Stridsskyting'' later also was used separately to describe the completely different sport of IPSC-style practical shooting during its infancy in Norway.

In the early 1950s, practical handgun competitions as we know them today emerged in the USA. Competitions begun with the ''leather slap'' [[Fast Draw|quick draw]] events, which had grown out of America's love affair with the [[TV Western|TV westerns]] of that era. However, many wished for a forum that would more directly test the results of the experimentation in [[modern technique (shooting)|modern technique]] that had been going on at the Bear Valley Gunslingers<ref>[http://myweb.cebridge.net/mkeithr/Jeff/jeff7_4.html Bear Valley Gunslingers]</ref> at [[Big Bear Lake]], [[California]]{{citation needed|date=June 2016}} and other places. Competitions were set up to test what had been learned, and they soon grew into a distinct sport, requiring competitors to deal with constantly changing scenarios. The first public competition was at the Big Bear Lake in 1957. In 1969, the South-West-Pistol-League was formed by individual shooters and clubs from California, which to this day is one of the oldest clubs for practical shooting.

The first IPSC World Shoot was held [[1975 IPSC Handgun World Shoot|in 1975 in Zurich]], about two years before IPSC was formally founded. [[Ray Chapman (marksman)|Ray Chapman]] from the U.S. became the first ever world class practical pistol champion. The next year, the [[1976 IPSC Handgun World Shoot]] followed with Jan Foss from Norway taking gold. On 24 May 1976 the [[International Practical Shooting Confederation]] was formally founded at the Columbia conference in [[Columbia, Missouri]], with representation in fourteen nations.<ref>[https://www.ipsc.org/ipsc/columbiaconference.php IPSC :: Columbia Conference]</ref> [[Jeff Cooper]] was unanimously chosen as the first president. Between 1974 and 1979, ''stridsskytterligaen'' (literally the Combat Shooting League) had been the forerunner of IPSC shooting in Norway, until the [[Dynamic Sports Shooting Norway|Norwegian Association for Practical Shooting]] took over and was incorporated into IPSC in 1979.

Finland pioneered IPSC Rifle in Scandinavia in the beginning of the 1980s,<ref name="triggerfreeze">[https://web.archive.org/web/20160121051600/http://www.triggerfreeze.com/docs/2006/IPSC_Rifle_norway.htm TriggerFreeze.com - IPSC Rifle Norway]</ref> and the discipline soon spread to Norway where the first competitions were held in [[Stavanger]] February 1984.<ref name="StavangerSSL"/> In 1987 the first official [[IPSC Norwegian Rifle Championship|Norwegian Rifle Championship]] was held,<ref name="triggerfreeze"/> and the championship has been held annually since. South Africa has held IPSC Rifle and Shotgun matches since 1983, and IPSC multigun matches since 1984.{{citation needed|date=November 2018}}

The United Kingdom Practical Shooting Association (UKPSA) was founded in 1977,<ref>[http://www.ukpsa.co.uk/disciplines/ United Kingdom Practical Shooting Association website]</ref> and initially focused on practical handgun competitions. In the 1980s, practical shotgun competitions were held both by UKPSA as well as another organisation known as the Combat Shotgun Society. UKPSA also held IPSC practical rifle competitions, while the [[National Rifle Association of the United Kingdom|NRA UK]] has held a separate discipline known as NRA Practical Rifle competitions with courses usually including physical elements.<ref>[https://nra.org.uk/learn-to-shoot/csr-pr/ NRA » Civilian Service Rifle & Practical Rifle - NRA]</ref> Today, the NRA UK also holds Practical Shotgun competitions (PSG) alongside the IPSC Shotgun of UKPSA.<ref>[http://www.practical-shotgun.com/clives-psg-journey-ipsc Clive's PSG Journey into IPSC - Practical-Shotgun.com]</ref>

One of the first 3-Gun matches to be held in the United States was the Soldier of Fortune matches held in 1979 in Missouri,<ref name="jamesmorris">{{cite book|publisher=Authorhouse (self-published)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U6tgR03c01EC|title=The 3 Gun, Multi-Gun Report|author=Morris, James R. |date=2011|page=1|isbn=978-1-456-75798-4}} "Kurt Miller [..] about the origin of 3-Gun: As far as I know the first of its kind was the S.O.F. World Championship 3-Gun Tactical Match. It started in 1979 and the first couple of matches were held at Freedom Missouri."</ref> but these matches were neither associated with USPSA nor IPSC. The first [[USPSA Multigun Championship]] was held in 1990 at Pike-Adams Sportsmen's Alliance (PASA) in [[Barry, Illinois]],<ref name="pasahistory">{{cite web|title=The Pike-Adams Sportsmen's Alliance: A Brief History|website=PASA Park|url=http://www.pasapark.com/pasa/overview/pasa-history/|access-date=31 October 2019|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190211212016/http://www.pasapark.com/pasa/overview/pasa-history/|archive-date=11 February 2019}} "PASA has for 29 years also been home to a wide variety of national and international championship shooting sports events, including [... the] inaugural USPSA National 3-Gun Championship (1990)"</ref> but USPSA did not take on multigun full-time until around 2000.<ref name="jamesmorris"/> In Finland multigun matches have been held since around 1992.{{citation needed|date=November 2018}}

Australia held a Rifle and Shotgun Championship in September 1987,<ref>''Newsletter'' International Practical Shooting Confederation. 1 April 1987</ref> and the first [[IPSC European Shotgun Championship]] was held in October 1987 at the [[National Shooting Centre]] in [[Bisley, Surrey|Bisley]], [[England]], a couple of days before the seventh [[IPSC European Handgun Championship]] at the same shooting range.

In the beginning IPSC Shotgun and Rifle competitions were run using the IPSC Handgun Competition Rules<ref>"IPSC Rules for Practical Pistol Competition", 1st edition. International Practical Shooting Confederation and the American Pistol Institute. June 1978</ref> with small adjustments. Adjustments were later formalized in supplementary rulebooks, e.g. UKPSA published a supplementary Rifle and Shotgun rulebook in 1989.<ref>First supplementary rulebooks: "International Practical Shooting Confederation Rifle and Shotgun Rules", UK Edition 1.1. UKPSA. July 1989.</ref> Since 1996 IPSC Shotgun and Rifle rules have been published in standalone rulebooks separate from the IPSC Handgun rules.<ref>''IPSC Rifle Rules'', 3rd Edition. International Practical Shooting Confederation. October 1996.</ref>

===Organizations===
In 1976, an international group of enthusiasts, interested in what had become known as "practical shooting", met in [[Columbia, Missouri]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Columbia Conference Minutes |url=http://www.ipsc.org/ipsc/columbiaconference.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715172429/http://www.ipsc.org/ipsc/columbiaconference.php |archive-date=15 July 2019}}</ref> From that meeting came the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC). In 1984, the United States Practical Shooting Association (USPSA) was incorporated as the US Region of IPSC. After many years of established IPSC competition, some shooters, including some of the original founders, became dissatisfied with IPSC, as more specialized equipment was allegedly required to remain competitive. The International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA) was formed in 1996 with the aim of returning to the defensive pistol roots of practical shooting. Soon after this split, the USPSA devised a series of competition "divisions" with varying limits on type and modification of equipment, including a "Production" division with rules similar to the IDPA's regulations. Today USPSA and IDPA matches are two of the most popular forums of practical handgun shooting in the United States, with more than 25,000 and 11,000 members respectively.{{cn|date=May 2023}}

In 1977 the UKPSA was formed to promote and regulate practical pistol shooting in the [[United Kingdom|UK]], and became England's regional affiliate of the IPSC. The association proved very popular, gaining international respect within the practical shooting community, and hosted many National, European and International competitions. Despite the [[Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997|1997 Firearms Amendment Act]] in the UK, worldwide practical shooting is currently the second most popular international target shooting discipline<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sapsa.co.za/Right_Introduction.htm|title=Introduction to SAPSA|publisher=South African Practical Shooting Association|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110215080621/http://www.sapsa.co.za/Right_Introduction.htm|archive-date=2011-02-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukpsa.co.uk/disciplines/|title=Disciplines|publisher=UKPSA}}</ref> and now the fastest growing.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ipscact.org.au/|title=Welcome to IPSCACT.org.au|publisher=IPSC ACT}}</ref> Most pistol shooting in the UK suffered severely after the handgun ban, which wiped out many shooting disciplines by removing the ability to participate. Practical shotgun has gained much popularity since the handgun ban, with numerous graded matches each year, and large entries to the European Practical Shotgun Championships.