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Olympic Pistol Shooting

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Ammunition Selection

Naturally, you will want the most accurate ammo you can put your hands on. Special rimfire ammunition is manufactured to tight specifications for competition use. Rimfire ammunition is not at all practical to load yourself, so you will need to buy loaded ammo. Because the USAS pistol rules don't disallow it, it appears that you may choose to handload your own ammo for centerfire use.

For 25m centerfire pistol, the caliber may fall between 7.62mm and 9.65mm (.30" and .38"). Rules specify that "high power type 'Magnum' ammunition is not allowed." I'm not sure just what defines "magnum" ammo in their book. I found no definition in the USAS pistol rules.

For 50m pistol and 25m rimfire pistol, 22 long rifle ammo is called for. Rules say that for Rapid Fire Pistol the minimum bullet weight is 2.53g (39 grains), and minimum velocity is 250 m/sec (820 fps).

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