How to Learn the Rules of Sports Shooting

Sports shooting offers shooting enthusiasts a way to safely compete in target shooting events. Shooting competitions are available for men, women and youth; shotgun, rifle and handgun enthusiasts and special interest shooters. Sports shooting rules provide competition requirements, scoring methods and range, as well as equipment and clothing standards for competitions. Learning the rules for sports shooting will ensure your safety and ability to compete.

Instructions

    • 1

      Contact your local shooting range. Many shooting ranges host sports shooting clubs and may even host small competitive shooting events. The range will have a set of shooting rules on hand for new club members and competitors. The website "Where to Shoot" maintains a list of shooting ranges searchable by state or zip code.

    • 2

      Join a sports shooting club. The "Shooting Sports" website has a list of clubs, associations and organizations. Sports shooting rules for each club can be found on the club's website.

    • 3

      Visit your local college or university. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) schools participate in collegiate rifle associations and other National Rifle Association (NRA) events. Your local school will have a list of rules for rifle sports shooting. You may even be able to arrange a tour of the facilities and watch the team practice.

    • 4

      Attend a sports shooting competition in your area. Not only are the rules for the competition posted for each class and event, you will see the rules in action.

    • 5

      Use the National Sports Shooting Foundation's website to access sports shooting rules for specialized competitions. The foundation provides information on handgun, rifle and shotgun events by gender and age group. You can even learn the shooting rules for muzzleloader, cowboy and other period shooting events.