Action Pistol

Action Pistol Shooting employs many parts of various shooting disciplines, Practical Pistol, I.P.S.C., I.D.P.A., Bianchi Cup, it is its own entity in the sport of Pistol Shooting Competition. River Bend Action Pistol is not a sanctioned competition by any of the National Organizations but utilizes many of their safety, stage designs and techniques as well as target types and Pistol classifications. Scoring is done depending on target types, metal targets are to be either just hit or knocked down as specified in the stage description. Time is normally a factor and the shooter starts a stage of fire upon hearing the audible beep of the timer held by the Range Safety Officer running the stage. Total Factor decides the winners, which is their score divided by their elapsed time for each stage and they are totaled for an overall.“Factor”.

Matches are held this year on the Third Saturday of each month but that is subject to change next year so please reference the calendar of the Bulletin or this website for specific match dates.

Sign up: 08:30-09:15
Safety Briefing: 09:15
Match start: 09:30

Click here to see the latest match scores!

Click here to see photos from the match!

The fee is $15 per shooter or $25 for couples, for the match, shooters wishing to shoot 2 guns can do so at a reduced rate for the second gun, see the Range Officer for details on 2 gun shooting.

Required Gear
As far as gear required, all you’ll need is a belt attached holster some ammo & magazine pouches and extra magazines or speed loaders if you are shooting a revolver. For semi-auto’s, I’d recommend at least 4 extra magazines as some stages of fire have up to 36 rounds of fire required. That would be 6 speed loaders for wheel gun aficionados . Shoulder holsters are not allowed since they sometimes point behind the wearer and are not as handy as belt holsters anyway. Pockets don’t work well for holding spare magazines as they usually get dropped while fishing them out.

Who can participate?
Anyone that can safely handle their handgun are welcome to participate, we have a few that may consider themselves “Pros” but these matches are for the fun of it, an occasional plaque and the self satisfaction of having the fortitude to show up and compete against something other than a old soup can in the back yard. We have professionals sometimes that are in Law Enforcement, Security, Military and sometimes even World Class IPSC and IDPA competitors that like to frequent River Bend because of the friendly atmosphere and camaraderie exhibited by our guests and members.

Competitors that fall into one of these categories are allowed to draw their pistol from the holster, others are asked to start from an "at ready" position for safety reasons.
If you have never participated but might like too, come to a match and observe what we do, ask questions, you’ll be surprised at whet you can learn and the next month you’ll be there with your equipment ready to partake of a fun day at the range. Bring at least 150 rounds of ammo, eye and ear protection and plan to spend about a half day. Lunches will be provided after the matches and will consist of Sandwiches or Hot Dogs with chips and Cookies, you may want to bring your favorite soft drinks to go with lunch.

Prizes
Winners receive a plaque, check or cash for their winning position in their classification; these are normally given to “A” class. First, Second and Third place shooters that were in a class that had at least 10 shooters. Should a class contain up to 20 shooters, starting at 11^th place, awards are given to “B” class shooters in First, Second and Third Place.

Classifications of shooters based on their Guns:

Carry:
This class is for carry guns that have barrels 3 ½ inch or shorter and a capacity between 5 and 8 rounds.

22 Rimfire:
This class is for those wanting to shoot a .22 rimfire pistol with 10 round magazine capacity.

Limited:
This class is for pistols that are semi-auto, usually high capacity and sighting can be of any style, Iron, Fiber Optic, Ghost Ring, any that are attached to the slide that do not use magnification such as cross hair or dot scopes or Red Dot, Holographic technology. The magazine capacity is limited only to the competitor’s equipment with no maximum number of loaded rounds (except for certain stage restrictions). Trigger, grip, slide, and hammer modifications are allowed when reliable and safe for the operator.

Open/Unlimited:
This class is for what some refer to “Race guns” these are pistols that do use scopes of any type, usually the Red Dot variety, they also are allowed barrel compensators, high capacity magazines and just about any other modification that can be made to a pistol as long as it is safe to operate.

PP/Production:
This class is considered as “Politically Polite” or correct by today’s (President Clinton’s) restrictions, that is they are limited to a magazine capacity of 10 rounds or less. Sights and other modifications follow the same guidelines, as does the Limited class. All handguns purchased today that were manufactured after the High Capacity Ban are limited to 10 or less. This class was developed to keep the competition fair between shooters. It wouldn’t be fair for someone with a brand new Glock 9MM and its 10 round mag to have to compete against someone with their pre-ban 15 to 19 round magazine.

Ladies:
This class is for the Lady shooters out there and does not include those using pistols that fall into the Open category, but does include those in Limited or PP class.

Revolver:
This classification if for those that prefer to use the trusty wheel gun, the caliber and styles vary but are restricted to calibers no less than 32 and no magnum or rifle calibers due to target damage incurred by the higher velocities. There are many styles available today with capacities up to 8 rounds and moon clips available for faster reloads. A competitor using a single action Ruger Blackhawk for example would be allowed to shoot, provided it was not a magnum load but they would be at a distinct disadvantage when it came to reloading times vs. someone with a 6-8 shot & speed loaders.

Juniors:
This class is for youngsters 16 and under and has no pistol or capacity limitations currently due to the low number of participants.