2021 Olympics Men's Air Pistol (pics added)

6string · Jul 24, 2021

I know that most folks here have other interests as far a competitive shooting goes, but one of the most prestigious international shooting events is going on right now!

Finals are done for Men's Air Pistol at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Gold: Iran
Silver: Serbia
Bronze: China

Congratulations to them for excellent shooting in a very difficult precision event under tremendous pressure!

Here's the breakdown for the finals:
Shooting - Final Results

Seems odd that in a nation of gun owners (handguns in particular!), the USA couldn't even make the cut for the finals. Whatever happened to the days of American Olympic pistol shooters like Joe Benner or Bill McMillan?

We'll see how things go in the other shooting events....

UPDATE: USA Gold for air rifle, won by William Shaner.
Congratulations!

Scroll the posts for lots of air pistol pictures!

ameridaddy · Jul 24, 2021

Air pistol just isn't manly enough for Americans. I think most American gun guys think of those olympic air pistols as toys for the effete, in spite of the skill needed to do it well.

jake1945 · Jul 25, 2021

Not many folks are enamored with the today's Olympics. What with rules, repugnet dissenters and covid. Too much politiking going on. The Winter Games will be the real disaster via China!

LDM · Jul 25, 2021

I quit caring about the olympics when they made beach volleyball an event. Talk about hitting rock bottom. Nw there's talk of adding break dancing. Total silliness.

SS336 · Jul 25, 2021

William Shaner, 20 year old American won gold in the 10 meter air rifle.
Congratulations to the the young man. Great job in a very tough discipline.

PHS327 · Jul 25, 2021

Please support USA shooting.

USA Shooting Team | USA Shooting

lihpster · Jul 25, 2021

SS336 said:
William Shaner, 20 year old American won gold in the 10 meter air rifle.
Congratulations to the the young man. Great job in a very tough discipline.

He also did it by just over half a point over the Chinese shooter who got the silver. Bronze was 20 points back.

Muss Muggins · Jul 25, 2021

All I know is the USA Dressage Team is still in the hunt for the medal on Tuesday . . .

H Richard · Jul 26, 2021

Don't look down your nose at Air Pistol until you have tried it. It is a very demanding sport, requiring intense training and concentration. I tried it for several years, (at a local/regional level) and one time at a State Championship I came within 30 points of being invited to Colorado Springs for a next level tournament. Needless to say there were several people in between ne and the top shooters. It is a good way to work on concentration. The 10 Meter "X" ring is .2" , quite a bit smaller than the 3" to 6" groups many think are great in USPSA and IDPA.

Rodan · Jul 26, 2021

I set up our Hulu account to record Olympic shooting event coverage so I could watch at my leisure. As of Saturday night, I had a total of 3 minutes of Men's Air Pistol, and 3 minutes of Women's Air Rifle.

Maybe there's not much interest because no-one knows it exists?

Pretty sad, considering the hours of "Olympic Skateboarding" coverage...

Nevada Ed · Jul 26, 2021

I don't watch it that much but I did see the American Lady win Gold in Fencing !!

Sweet.

BE Mike · Jul 26, 2021

6string said:
I know that most folks here have other interests as far a competitive shooting goes, but one of the most prestigious international shooting events is going on right now!

Finals are done for Men's Air Pistol at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Gold: Iran
Silver: Serbia
Bronze: China

Congratulations to them for excellent shooting in a very difficult precision event under tremendous pressure!

Here's the breakdown for the finals:
Shooting - Final Results

Seems odd that in a nation of gun owners (handguns in particular!), the USA couldn't even make the cut for the finals. Whatever happened to the days of American Olympic pistol shooters like Joe Benner or Bill McMillan?

We'll see how things go in the other shooting events....

Other countries place great emphasis on the Olympic shooting sports. America seems to actually find the shooting sports distasteful. Americans have a choice as to what sports they want to compete in. These other countries, not so much. Another factor is that most Americans don't even take the time to learn, to any high degree, how to shoot the guns they own. This is a completely different country than it was in the 50's and 60's when WWII vets were in abundance. Now, most people never consider serving their country.

USBP SW · Jul 26, 2021

A half a lifetime ago, when my eyesight and everything else worked better I shot air pistol competition. I did quite well, placing in the top five in the state competition. I qualified to shoot on the state team and we went on to win the national postal competition. I was invited to shoot in the nationals in Arizona but went to a foreign university and could not attend. One of our team members, won the nationals and took the gold medal at the Olympics in South Korea. Air pistol is by no means a child's toy. It takes tremendous concentration and discipline to shoot an air pistol well, particularly trigger control and follow through. Barrel time seems to be your worst enemy if you screw up. However, all of your shooting skills will improve as a result of the lessons you learn shooting the air pistol.

lihpster · Jul 26, 2021

And the U.S. took home gold in both men's and women's skeet!

6string · Jul 26, 2021

USBP SW said:
. It takes tremendous concentration and discipline to shoot an air pistol well, particularly trigger control and follow through. Barrel time seems to be your worst enemy if you screw up. However, all of your shooting skills will improve as a result of the lessons you learn shooting the air pistol.

Yes. Remove the distractions of muzzle blast and recoil, and any flaws in your shooting technique are abundantly clear.
Air pistol is a great sport and a great training aid for all pistol shooters.

Pictured is my old Pardini K58, a single stroke pneumatic air pistol.

H Richard · Jul 27, 2021

Your Pardini has the same lines as my IZH46M Russian) single stroke pneumatic. It is typical Russian as it is roughly finished on the outside, but is built pretty well and superbly accurate. Not in the same quality class as the Pardini, but will shoot along side it. Of course they all use Precharged air now, so no extra effort to cock the guns each shot.

BE Mike · Jul 27, 2021

I too used to compete in International Air Pistol. It is certainly not everyone's cup of tea. It takes someone who enjoys a big challenge, gets a lot of pleasure in putting shots in the middle of a target and has a dogged determination to control one's mind and body while trying to hit that small ten ring at 10 meters. I never was that good, but enjoyed it immensely. 60 shots slow fire gets quite taxing.

USBP SW · Jul 27, 2021

The air pistols have certainly come a long way since my competition days. I used a second hand Walther LP3 Match, a single stroke pneumatic that required tremendous effort to charge. It has a system that uses a piston to compress the air in a chamber, which is released by a trigger activated release valve. After back to back matches in the state championship and subsequent postal matches, I couldn't figure out how my hand was so sore, until the bruise appeared. A few years later, a friend let me shoot his pre-charged FWB. What a difference!

6string · Jul 27, 2021

USBP SW said:
The air pistols have certainly come a long way since my competition days. I used a second hand Walther LP3 Match, a single stroke pneumatic that required tremendous effort to charge. It has a system that uses a piston to compress the air in a chamber, which is released by a trigger activated release valve. After back to back matches in the state championship and subsequent postal matches, I couldn't figure out how my hand was so sore, until the bruise appeared. A few years later, a friend let me shoot his pre-charged FWB. What a difference!

The Morini that BE Mike has pictured above is amongst the most current advanced designs. It uses compressed air in a detachable cylinder under the barrel. It's good for about 100-150 shots usually. Then, you refill it. Takes just a couple minutes.
You may notice the little switch and LED on the grip. That's for the electronic trigger. Very fast lock time and very clean trigger break (widely adjustable, of course!)

Qc Pistolero · Jul 27, 2021

In the '90 I used to shoot air pistol.While far from olympic scores,I was pretty proud to shoot in the high 540s or low 550s/600.Couldn't repeat that today but I've done it for a few years enough to know that the concentration it needs is exhausting.
I've seen guys(olympic participants)who could shoot in the 560s on a regular basis and one guy who could break regularly the 570;he was a guy who had evaded the iron curtain a few years before and was a trainer for the olympic athletes on the red(communist) team.Needless to say we always were gathered around him trying to get a''free consultation''for improving our scores!

2021 Olympics Men's Air Pistol (pics added)

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