25 meter center-fire pistol is one of the

ISSF shooting events The International Shooting Sport Federation recognizes several shooting events, some of which have Olympic status. They are divided into four disciplines: rifle, pistol, shotgun and running target. The main distinctions between different rifle ev ...

, and is normally a men-only event. Its origin lies in competitions with

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

-style

service pistol A service pistol, also known as a personal weapon or an ordnance weapon, is any handgun issued to regular military personnel or law enforcement officers. Typically, service pistols are revolvers or semi-automatic pistols issued to Officer (armed ...

s, and as such its history dates back to the 19th century.

25 meter pistol 25 meter pistol, formerly and unofficially still often known as sport pistol, is one of the ISSF shooting events. It was devised as a women's event in the 1960s, based upon the rules of 25 meter center-fire pistol but shot with a .22-caliber sp ...

(formerly called ''sport pistol'') is essentially the women's equivalent of this event, the only difference being the smaller rimfire caliber handguns used (often the same models only chambered for the smaller caliber).

Handguns

Caliber

The name ''center-fire'' describes the type of cartridges used distinguishes this event from other ISSF events shot with handguns chambered for small caliber '' rimfire'' cartridges. The rules specify that matches are to be shot with

handgun A handgun is a short- barrelled gun, typically a firearm, that is designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun (i.e. rifle, shotgun or machine gun, etc.), which needs to be held by both hands and also braced ...

of any

caliber In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel Gauge (firearms) , bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the f ...

between 7.62 mm (.30) and 9.65 mm (.38), but the most popular cartridge is the .32 S&W Long

Wadcutter A wadcutter is a special-purpose flat-fronted bullet specifically designed for shooting paper targets, usually at close range and at subsonic velocities typically under approximately 900 ft/s (274 m/s). Wadcutters have also found favor ...

, because it has good performance characteristics. Many countries also have laws restricting civilian ownership of firearms chambered for cartridges also used by military forces which would not apply to the rather obscure .32 S&W Long.

Type

Using a

revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...

is not a disadvantage because the "rapid-fire" stage is not as demanding or fast as the true rapid-fire event of 25 meter rapid fire pistol. The current record is set with a revolver (Toz 49). The most popular handgun choices, however, are larger caliber versions of rimfire

semi-automatic pistol A semi-automatic pistol is a type of repeating single-chamber handgun ( pistol) that automatically cycles its action to insert the subsequent cartridge into the chamber (self-loading), but requires manual actuation of the trigger to actuall ...

s originally designed for 25 meter standard pistol. Many of these pistols can be changed from one caliber to the other by simply changing the barrel and

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

. Examples of such firearms are usually from companies specializing in firearms for ISSF events like

Pardini Arms Pardini Arms is an Italian firearms manufacturer founded in the beginning of the 1980s by Giampiero Pardini, a prominent marksman in Italian target shooting. The company specializes in firearms for competition use, producing air pistols, air r ...

Benelli Benelli may refer to: *Benelli Armi SpA, an Italian firearm manufacturer *Benelli (motorcycles), an Italian motorcycle manufacturer *HSR-Benelli, an Austrian-Italian manufacturer of personal watercraft * Andrea Benelli (born 1960), Italian sports sh ...

Morini The Morini (Gaulish: "sea folk, sailors") were a Belgic coastal tribe dwelling in the modern Pas de Calais region, around present-day Boulogne-sur-Mer, during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name They are mentioned as ''Morini'' by Caesar ( ...

Walther Walther is a masculine given name and a surname. It is a German form of Walter, which is derived from the Old High German ''Walthari'', containing the elements ''wald'' -"power", "brightness" or "forest" and ''hari'' -"warrior". The name was fir ...

and Hämmerli and include: * Hämmerli SP20 *

Pardini HP Pardini is an Italian surname, and may refer to: People Notable people with the surname include: * A. J. Pardini (1932–2011), American politician *Julio César Pardini (born 1984), Mexican footballer * Lou Pardini (born 1952), American singer-son ...

Morini CM32M The Morini (Gaulish: "sea folk, sailors") were a Belgic coastal tribe dwelling in the modern Pas de Calais region, around present-day Boulogne-sur-Mer, during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name They are mentioned as ''Morini'' by Caesar ...

Walther GSP The Walther GSP, ''Gebrauchs Sportpistole'' (Sport Pistol for Standard Use), is a single-action, precision targetshooting pistol made in Germany by Walther Sportwaffen. It has the same technical base as the Walther OSP and thus is almost identi ...

* Benelli MP-90 and Benelli MP-95

Course of fire

25 Meter Precision and 50 Meter Pistol Target

A center-fire match consists of two parts of 30 shots each, both shot at 25 m: * A ''precision stage'' where 5 shots are to be fired during a 5-minute period. * A ''rapid-fire stage'' where, for each shot, the shooter has 3 seconds to raise his arm from a 45 degree angle and fire. * As with all ISSF pistol disciplines, all firing must be done with one hand, unsupported. The score zones of the targets are different for the two stages, but scores are usually similar for the two courses. In the precision stage, the target is the same as in 50 meter pistol (although at half the distance), with a 10-zone of 5 cm diameter, and in the rapid-fire stage, the target is the same as in 25 meter rapid fire pistol, with a 10-zone of 10 cm diameter.

Popularity

The event has not made it into the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

, and so gains little attention. It is part of the

ISSF World Shooting Championships The ISSF World Shooting Championships are governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation. World Shooting Championships began in 1897, after the successful 1896 Summer Olympics, and although the ISSF was not founded until 1907, these early ...

however, as well as the CISM World Championships. It is also notable for being the inspiration for the

event, which is an Olympic event for women.

World Championships, Men

World Championships, Men Team

World Championships, total medals up to 2006

Current world records

World Champions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:25 Metre Center-Fire Pistol ISSF shooting events Handgun shooting sports