The governing body of IPSC practical shooting in Great Britain is the United Kingdom Practical Shooting Association, (UKPSA) which administers the sport, sanctions graded and championship competitions, selects the National Teams, organises training and maintains discipline and rules within the sport. The UKPSA represents Practical Shooting on the British Shooting Sports Council and maintains close liaison with other shooting organisations, representing the interests of the sport and of its members to all authorities. Founded in 1977, the UKPSA grew steadily reaching over 1400 members and 53 affiliated clubs before the 1997 Act came into force. A Council consisting of five executive officers, Chairman, Regional Director, Secretary, Treasurer and Public Relations Officer together with approximately 12 Regional Organisers and specific discipline Secretaries and co-opted members governs the UKPSA. All active practical shooters join the UKPSA which in turn makes them members of the IPSC allowing them to shoot in any Practical match in any discipline anywhere in the world. Members receive the Association's regular digital journal "eDVC" and UKPSA members also have automatic insurance cover for third party liability, £2M, for shooting related accidents at any time, personal accident cover for £5,000 capital sums and £50 weekly benefits, £5,000 of all risks shooting equipment cover and £25,000 of legal expenses for FAC related problems.
Members may speak, vote, and stand for office at the annual general meetings of the Association. They have the right to consult the minutes of the Association and to attend Council meetings as observers. They may qualify for classification awards, hold titles and trophies and be selected to the National Squads or to UKPSA teams at overseas competitions. Members have the experience and expertise of the Association to call upon in case advice or support is needed. Indeed the UKPSA welcomes novice shooters and equally represents shooters of all ages and abilities, and specifically recognises junior, lady, and senior classes and supports National teams for men and women.
The UKPSA is committed to maintaining the highest standards of training, firmly believing that ensuring that all shooters are trained to a common syllabus reinforces its excellent safety record. It is not a requirement to be a UKPSA member to attend training courses but unless you do so you will not be able to compete in any UKPSA sanctioned event. The UKPSA two day training course has become known as the 'basic' course, but this title does not do justice to the structure or importance of the training syllabus. The course is intensive and many people have been amazed by their own achievements by the end of the fourteen hours of instruction. A typical course will start with lectures covering an introduction to the sport, safety, equipment and techniques. This will lead to the various shooting exercises, which start with the absolute basics of safe gun handling and move forward steadily to include pre-match preparation and eventually a qualification exercise.
The emphasis on the course at all times is SAFETY. Simply attending the course is no guarantee of passing; indeed many students pass the course but are not, in the instructors view completely ready for competition. They can return, when they have achieved further shooting experience to qualify to competition ready. A course pass to competition ready standard is a prerequisite for entry into any UKPSA approved competition.
There are many people that have attended training courses during the past years that have decided for whatever reason not to continue with the sport of practical shooting. However just about all would agree that the course was beneficial in some way or other. Many have expressed the view that the training, with the heavy emphasis towards safe gun handling, can be applied to all other shooting disciplines regardless of whether a rifle, shotgun, full bore pistol or gas powered pistol is involved.
Today the UKPSA fully supports Practical Shotgun, a demanding, testing and very rewarding discipline, as well as Mini-Rifle (.22 rifle), Long Barrel Revolver (LBR), Handgun, Gas Powered Pistol (GPP) which includes Airsoft and Rifle. The competition season for shotgun now consists of several graded matches, some of which are at International level, and a major championship, the British Open. The venues continue to provide fresh challenges and new ideas and a special thanks must go to the range and build crews for their untiring efforts. I am looking forward to the exciting competitions and shooting to come and to seeing you on the circuit.
So what is 'practical' shooting? The idea is simple. The
shooter
tackles competitive 'stages' requiring
varying numbers of rounds and using different shooting positions,
against
the clock. The appeal
of the sport lies in the diversity of the courses of fire available to
the shooter - they are different for every match.. Targets vary in
size, shape, position and material - metal, paper or frangible
-
from a variety of distances (usually from 3
to 60 yards).
Matches are open to all UKPSA members, for further details of the matches visit the members' Bulletin Board/Forum- there is a Calendar. We also have a help line manned by Alan Phillips. Alan may not have answers to all of your queries instantly, but promises to make his best endeavours to steer you in the right direction. The Hotline number is: 07010 703845 (note that this a premium rate number). Or you can email Alan Phillips or even ask the membership at large by posting a message on the Bulletin Board. Click the links for a little more general info about Practical Shotgun and PSG competitions in PDF.
Safe Shooting,
Ken Trail
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