Participating in Bullseye as a Newbie

Greetings,
I am new want to be participant in the sport of Bullseye or Precision Pistol. I live in Northern California 30 miles east of San Francisco. I have looked through a lot of the posts on this site but have not found any orientation materials explaining how you join in the sport or match and what is required of you as a participant.

My first thought was I should attend a match and see how it is structured. See what materials each shooter provides i.e. his own targets, stapler, tape and score card. Where do you obtain targets and score cards. Who runs the match and assigns the shooter to a bench position etc.. While I have read the rule book there doesn't seem to be any source that puts it all together in the form of an orientation.

An orientation meeting before each match to acquaint new shooters to the process would be great.

I called the Sunnyvale Gun Club last Saturday to ask if I could attend the match as an observer. The range person I spoke with new nothing of the Labor Day match. I asked if I could attend to observe and he didn't have a clue. His advice was to come down to the club and if the gate was open to come into the parking area and ask people in the parking area for information.

I don't think I will drive 30 miles south to see if the gate is open.  Just sharing my observation as a hopeful novice looking from the outside in. I did purchase Bruce Martindales book which was most informative on technique.

I wish there was a similar tome for sale that would walk a novice through the process. Any suggestions on how to get oriented to the sport would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you and best wishes to all,
Fogbank2

Fogbank2,

Unfortunately, what you are experiencing is the "fog" that exists in so many clubs that are primarily concerned with clay shooting and their cash generating public ranges. I will leave it to others, notably John Bickar, who is a National Champion and the main man behind the Sunnyvale match. You certainly can go and take a look and I am sure that you will be warmly welcomed, Sunnyvale is a great club. But all of the competitors will mostly be pre-occupied except for lunch time - there is usually good food to be had!

There is also the club near Sacramento that holds monthly matches and is also very well run and welcoming. Someone from that club will no doubt chime in shortly. If you do not get a quick response, shout! And I will will PM you relevant contact details for both.

Let the fog clear a bit and all will be revealed!

Welcome.

Welcome to the sport.  I don’t know much about the clubs in your area but Roy gave you some good advice.  At most matches I’ve been to, you will certainly be welcome to observe and learn. The people running the match will be able to answer some questions during the slow fire portion of the match but they will be busy. The competitors that day will be a little more preoccupied while shooting but during lunch you will be able to introduce yourself. It can be intimidating at first but a bullseye match has a pretty easy set of procedures to follow so you should be able to get the hang of things fairly quick.  Good luck and feel free to ask for advice here on the forum.
John

The Sacramento Valley Club matches are run by 

Robert Huddleston 
oldsalt444@sbcglobal.net


This is the flyer for the Sunnyvale matches

Labor Day 9/2/2024
Match setup at 8:30AM, First shot at 9:05AM
We are having NRA approved Precision Pistol matches on
Memorial Day 5/27/2024 and Labor Day 9/2/2024.
Entries are open on a first come first serve basis.
We have room for 26 shooters. Preference is given to shooters
competing in the whole 2700.
The match fee is $25 for the 2700 or
$10 per event for Rimfire, Centerfire, or 45.
Lunch is provided.
For more information, contact bullseyeleague@sgun.org

I have contacted John Bickar and he will no doubt chime in shortly.

I'm your huckleberry.

PM me and I'll send you my email address. We can chat more over email. You're absolutely welcome at our Labor Day match at the Sunnyvale Rod & Gun Club, which (inexplicably) is located in Cupertino, CA.

"30 miles east of San Francisco" means Dublin? Pleasanton? San Ramon?

I'll warn you that if you show up "just to watch" our Labor Day 2700, there will be more than one person that will hand you one of their guns and ammo and says, "c'mon, shoot!", and one of those people just might be me.

But I get that you might just want to dip your toes in the water first, watch the match to learn the "rules and the tools," and that's cool too. Regardless, lunch is top-notch, so come and break bread with us. There is always more than enough chow.

I can say that the best way to learn about Bullseye is by doing, rather than reading. And IMO, the best place to do that in NorCal (and probably anywhere in the US, other than maybe Phoenix Rod & Gun or Canton McKinley, although I'll fight people on that) is the Sunnyvale Rod & Gun Club Bullseye League. We shoot the first and third Wednesdays of every month. There's always an experienced shooter there to show you the ropes. Again, we can chat more over email.

We have a very active Bullseye community here in NorCal, including matches in Cupertino, San Mateo, Redwood City, Richmond, Gonzales, Ione, Sebastopol, and probably some other venues I'm forgetting. I think they even shoot at San Leandro, but I've never been over there. Been meaning to get there. See https://www.califpistolmatches.org/scheduled-matches for a full schedule (thanks, Rudy!)

I agree that best way to learn is to participate.  Here is one of many videos you can watch.......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0ZxCVxR7Co

This link to SSUSA.org will get you to all 6 of the Zins bullseye videos

Series Recap: Precision Pistol Shooting with Brian Zins | An NRA Shooting Sports Journal (ssusa.org)


This link from the CMP will give a good overview of what happens at a match and a basic list of things to take with you.

How to Shoot a Bullseye Pistol Match - Civilian Marksmanship Program (thecmp.org)

Thank you

This sport takes practice, don't get discouraged. Buy a Ruger MKII or 22/45 model (ha) and shoot .22 for a while. You can get a case (5,000 rounds) of Blazer for $325.

Mageepeak is almost spot on! But, I prefer a Ruger 22/45 (which has a close to 1911 grip angle). With a trigger kit. Great gun. My favourite entry level gun.

Wait... what? San Mateo???? 

I never got invited to San Mateo.

Did I?

Got dragged down to Gonzales as 'Leg Meat' ...

Pretty sweet place though. Shot a Swiss rifle match there. Qualification requirement for Swiss citizens living abroad. Nice range ... other than shooting 300 Meters with a K-31 with issue 'ball' ... which is probably as good as anything I can load myself...

At least I have the match sights... the post front and notch rear... ummmm, yeah ......

Maybe when I was in my teens'....

WesG wrote:Wait... what? San Mateo???? 

I never got invited to San Mateo.

Did I?

Got dragged down to Gonzales as 'Leg Meat' ...

Pretty sweet place though. Shot a Swiss rifle match there. Qualification requirement for Swiss citizens living abroad. Nice range ... other than shooting 300 Meters with a K-31 with issue 'ball' ... which is probably as good as anything I can load myself...

At least I have the match sights... the post front and notch rear... ummmm, yeah ......

Maybe when I was in my teens'....

Jon is referring to the Coyote Point police range, which has .22 only matches.