Want to see some handgun shooting fun on TV tonight? Today Shooting USA television will feature the 2024 IDPA National Championship on the Outdoor Channel.
The International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA) sponsors practical competitions that focus on skills used with concealed handguns. More than 370 competitors gathered at the 2024 IDPA Nationals in Alabama. The event ran August 15-17, 2024 at the CMP Talladega Marksmanship Park in Talladega, Alabama.
The IDPA event airs Wednesday 11/19/25 at 9:00 PM Eastern/Pacific, 8:00 PM Central on the Outdoor Channel. If you miss the broadcast you can view the episode at any time for $0.99 on Vimeo. Or, subscribe to see all Shooting USA shows on Vimeo as often as you wish for $2.99 per month.
NOTE: The 2025 Championship was held in September at the Mission 160 Range in Whitewright, Texas. Here is a video showing highlights from the 2025 IDPA Nationals event:
What More? CLICK HERE for another 2025 IDPA Championship Video with Music.
Basics of IDPA Competition — Equipment and Scoring
Most of our readers are rifle guys, but it’s fun to shoot a pistol match now and then. You don’t need a lot of equipment, and if you shoot IDPA (Int’l Defensive Pistol Assn.) matches, you can really win with a $400 pistol and $25.00 worth of bulk 9mm ammo. That’s a bargain compared to what you’ll spend on a competitive PRS or F-Class rig and custom hand-loads.
If you want to get into the IDPA game, Shooting Sports USA has a good article that explains the basic rules and classifications. IDPA is not your grandad’s bullseye pistol match. There is movement and action. Stages are timed, and competitors engage targets from cover if available. Singled-handed shooting is sometimes required, as is shooting while moving. You can compete with pretty much any handgun suitable for self-defense — but no $4000 Raceguns with fancy optics. The fact that you can be 100% competitive without spending a ton of money is what makes IDPA so popular.
Along with SSP and ESP, there are three other main IDPA classes: Custom Defensive Pistol (CDP) for .45 ACPs (mostly 1911 types), Concealed Carry Pistol (CCP), and Revolver (REV). All classes have a minimum power factor. Scores are based on time and shot placement on the IDPA target.
IDPA Scoring System
The official IDPA Target (right) has multiple scoring zones. If you don’t hit the target’s center mass zone or head zone (both appear green in illustration), you drop one or three points. Here’s the formula: Score (in seconds) = Time + Points Down + Penalties. In IDPA, “points down” (and penalties) are added to your time. If you hit the outer edge of the target, you get 3 points down. Nearer center can be 1 point down. Center hit or head shot is 0 points down. See IDPA Scoring for Dummies.
The October 22, 2025 episode of Shooting USA TV features the Vintage Sniper Rifle match at Talladega Marksmanship Park in Alabama. Vintage Sniper competitions use period correct battle rifles with older-style optics. Teams of two engage targets at three hundred and six hundred yards. “It’s a match that brings … a nostalgic competitor out. You’ll see World War II time-period rifles, sniper-type rifles that were used during World War II, [and] Korean War era,” noted Mark Johnson of the CMP. “The optics are either original optics or current reproduction of old optics.”
Shooting USA Broadcast Times: Wednesday 9:00 PM Eastern and Pacific, 8:00 PM Central on Outdoor Channel. Check your local listings for the Outdoor Channel.
Vintage Sniper Rifle matches have proven popular with competitors of all ages, from 18 to 80. These matches are conducted with two-man teams, using vintage rifles with scopes. Most shooters use bolt-action rifles such as the 1903 Springfield and Swedish Mauser, but there is also a semi-auto class popular with Garand shooters. Along with today’s Shooting USA episode, you can watch a previous Vintage Sniper match on YouTube. Click the arrow below to start the 48-minute show:
Vintage Sniper Rifle Competition at Talladega
The Vintage Sniper Match at the CMP’s Talladega Marksmanship Park is a popular two-man team event, for shooter and spotter, using military rifles in service up to 1953. One added challenge is the time limit. The team has only 20 seconds to complete each shot — That’s 20 seconds for the spotter to read the conditions, and for the shooter to pull the trigger.
Who can identify this vintage European rifle, with its unusual scope mount?
The Shooting Sports USA website includes two excellent articles about the basics of metallic cartridge reloading. These two articles provide an excellent summary of the key procedures. If you are new to reloading, we recommend you read both articles:
Part II is particularly helpful because it explains the entire reloading process step-by-step, with 14 listed steps. The author notes: “In this, the second installment on metallic cartridge reloading, we’ll follow the sequence of steps involved in reloading a rifle cartridge and refining a metallic cartridge load. These steps are based on the use of a single-stage reloading press and a separate priming tool.”
Much important advice is provided as this article runs through the 14 Steps of Reloading. For example, when explaining Step 13, Bullet Seating, the article states:
“Proper seating depth is critical. Too much bullet protrusion and the cartridge may not work through the gun’s magazine, or it may fail to chamber. Too little and the bullet intrudes excessively into the powder chamber, decreasing volume and raising pressure. Neck tension is also important; any bullet that fails to seat with some resistance may be held only loosely by the neck and may be driven back into the case when the round is chambered, especially in semi-automatic arms.”
Important Guide to Detecting Over-Pressure Signs in Brass
As an example of the invaluable advice provided in these two articles, here’s a sample from Part II that explains how to determine if your load is over-pressure. We recommend that EVERY reader read this twice. There are more things to consider than a stiff bolt lift. You need to inspect cartridges very carefully:
Next week a major Airgun event kicks off in Springville, Utah — the Rocky Mountain Airgun Challenge (RMAC). Running June 18-22, 2025, this is a fun and challenging, multi-class tactical-style airgun competition. The RMAC event, hosted by Utah Airguns, is one of the largest outdoor air rifle matches in the country. It combines the low-cost of air rifle shooting with the fun of PRS/NRL-type multi-stage shooting.
RMAC 2025 features 100-yard benchrest, precision-rifle courses, and speed silhouette competitions—all designed to test both shooter skill and equipment durability. Competitors will engage in steel-plate challenges, long-range accuracy tests, and time-trials, pushing rifles and shooters to their limits. RMAC 2025 will be held at the Garth Killpack Shooting Range in Springville, Utah.
The Rocky Mountain Airgun Challenge
Last year’s 2024 Rocky Mountain Airgun Challenge in Utah attracted top shooters with over $100,000 worth of prizes. The stages look like what you’d see at PRS/NRL events, but the targets are smaller, the range is shorter, and the power behind each shot is air. Practical Air-Gun competition has a well-established community that spans the globe, and recently competitors from other shooting disciplines, the powder burners, beginning to take notice. Air-Gun practical competition is fun and inexpensive — you are paying pennies a round vs. a $1.30 or more per round for premium centerfire ammo. The Rocky Mountain Airgun Challenge is leading the way in this interesting air-powered shooting discipline. This multi-day event featured a variety of events on multiple stages.
Modern Tactical-Style Air Rifles
Here are two state-of-the-art tactical air rifles, the BinTac MCAR ($2790.00 from Airgun Tactical) and the FX IMPACT M4 ($2099.99 from Utah Airguns). The BinTac MCAR almost looks like a centerfire rifle at first glance but the air chambers on the buttstock tell the real story.
The 18-lb BinTac M4 features a 38″ barrel which can be easily swapped out to shoot multiple calibers including .457, .50, .51, and .58. There is also a 14-lb hunting version with a 30″ barrel. Max fill pressure is 4500 psi, but there is a 7000-psi upgrade with regulator available.
First introduced in 2015, the original FX IMPACT air rifle represented a major upgrade in field air rifles. The modern IMPACT M4 version offers enhanced performance with a variety of barrel and chassis options.
Precision Rifle fans should watch Shooting USA this week. On Wednesday, April 30, 2025 Shooting USA features the sixth annual Armageddon Gear (AG) Cup Invitational. The 3-day AG Cup posts the biggest cash money match in precision rifle competition. This challenging multi-stage, elimination-format competition took place in December 2024 at the Clinton House Plantation Range in South Carolina. On the final day, the top competitors face ten courses of fire to determine who will claim the Armageddon Gear AG Cup. This is an invitation-only match for America’s top Precision Rifle shooters, with the potential reward of huge cash prizes — $20,000 for the winner plus $1000 for each top scorer on the ten final courses of fire.
This Video Shows Highlights of the Armageddon Cup
Shooting USA runs on the Outdoor Channel Wednesdays 9:00 PM Eastern and Pacific, 8:00 PM Central.
No Outdoor Channel on cable? Then you can subscribe to Stream the Broadcast on the internet.
The AG Cup is the brainchild of Tom Fuller, the owner of Armageddon Gear, and to say it’s a success is a bit of an understatement. This invitation-only match is the richest tactical/precision competition on the planet.
This AG Cup video has good footage of the stages in a previous 2022 AG Cup.
Celebrating the Winners in 2024 AG Cup
This video shows the 2024 AG Cup winners celebration at the Clinton House Plantation Range.
Armaggedon Gear — Tactical Accessories Armageddon Gear, founded by former U.S. Army Ranger Tom Fuller, sells support bags, gun cases, slings, suppressor covers, scope covers, and a wide variety of other accessories popular with the PRS/NRL crowd. Armageddon Gear now provides products to the U.S. Military, Law Enforcement, as well as PRS/NRL competitors.
The Shooting Sports USA website includes two excellent articles about the basics of metallic cartridge reloading. These two articles provide an excellent summary of the key procedures. If you are new to reloading, we recommend you read both articles:
Part II is particularly helpful because it explains the entire reloading process step-by-step, with 14 listed steps. The author notes: “In this, the second installment on metallic cartridge reloading, we’ll follow the sequence of steps involved in reloading a rifle cartridge and refining a metallic cartridge load. These steps are based on the use of a single-stage reloading press and a separate priming tool.”
Much important advice is provided as this article runs through the 14 Steps of Reloading. For example, when explaining Step 13, Bullet Seating, the article states:
“Proper seating depth is critical. Too much bullet protrusion and the cartridge may not work through the gun’s magazine, or it may fail to chamber. Too little and the bullet intrudes excessively into the powder chamber, decreasing volume and raising pressure. Neck tension is also important; any bullet that fails to seat with some resistance may be held only loosely by the neck and may be driven back into the case when the round is chambered, especially in semi-automatic arms.”
Important Guide to Detecting Over-Pressure Signs in Brass
As an example of the invaluable advice provided in these two articles, here’s a sample from Part II that explains how to determine if your load is over-pressure. We recommend that EVERY reader read this twice. There are more things to consider than a stiff bolt lift. You need to inspect cartridges very carefully:
Shooting USA TV has a good show released today. Shooting USA’s Wednesday Night episode features RMAC — the Rocky Mountain Airgun Challenge. This is a fun and challenging, multi-class tactical-style airgun competition.
The RMAC event, hosted by Utah Airguns, is one of the largest outdoor air rifle matches in the country. It combines the low-cost of air rifle shooting with the fun of PRS/NRL-type multi-stage shooting.
Shooting USA SHOW TIMES: This Shooting USA Episode airs Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025 at 9:00 PM Eastern and Pacific; 8:00 PM Central. If you miss the regular broadcast, you can stream the show online at any time on Vimeo for $0.99 per episode.
The Rocky Mountain Airgun Challenge
The 2024 Rocky Mountain Airgun Challenge in Provo, Utah attracted top shooters with over $100,000 worth of prizes. The stages look like what you’d see at PRS/NRL events, but the targets are smaller, the range is shorter, and the power behind each shot is air. Practical Air-Gun competition has a well-established community that spans the globe, and recently competitors from other shooting disciplines, the powder burners, beginning to take notice. Air-Gun practical competition is fun and inexpensive — you are paying pennies a round vs. a $1.30 or more per round for premium centerfire ammo. The Rocky Mountain Airgun Challenge is leading the way in this interesting air-powered shooting discipline. This multi-day event featured a variety of events on multiple stages.
Modern Tactical-Style Air Rifles
Here are two state-of-the-art tactical air rifles, the BinTac MCAR ($2790.00 from Airgun Tactical) and the FX IMPACT M4 ($2099.99 from Utah Airguns). The BinTac MCAR almost looks like a centerfire rifle at first glance but the air chambers on the buttstock tell the real story.
The 18-lb BinTac M4 features a 38″ barrel which can be easily swapped out to shoot multiple calibers including .457, .50, .51, and .58. There is also a 14-lb hunting version with a 30″ barrel. Max fill pressure is 4500 psi, but there is a 7000-psi upgrade with regulator available.
First introduced in 2015, the original FX IMPACT air rifle represented a major upgrade in field air rifles. The modern IMPACT M4 version offers enhanced performance with a variety of barrel and chassis options.
This evening, Shooting USA TV will feature a major U.S. Practical Shooting Association (USPSA) competition — the USPSA Production Class Nationals. Watch the broadcast at 9:00 pm Eastern/Pacific, 8:00 PM Central on the Outdoor Channel. SEE Shooting USA info. This week’s show also features a review of the new ZEISS Conquest HD Binoculars — great for hunters.
The USPSA Production division is easily the most approachable in terms of equipment. These are virtually out of the box guns with minimal enhancements. Even so the national championship chase is highly contested and the level of competition is extremely high.
Broadcast Times: Wednesday 9:00 PM Eastern/Pacific, 8:00 PM Central on Outdoor Channel.
You can also subscribe for $1.99/month to watch broadcasts “on demand” at any time on Vimeo: vimeo.com/ondemand/shootingusa
About the USPSA — Active Sports Group Nationwide
The United States Practical Shooting Association (USPSA) is a leading competitive shooting organization dedicated to promoting safe, fair, and fun practical shooting sports. Members engage in dynamic and challenging courses of fire, where speed, accuracy, and power are equally tested. USPSA shooters of all skill levels can enjoy shooting on the clock at steel and reactive targets. Whether you’re a seasoned shooter or new to the sport, USPSA offers fun and well-run competitions.
Hit Factor Scoring Based on Time AND Accuracy
Scoring is more complicated than fixed time events or steel shooting where your time is your score. In USPSA and IPSC each stage is worth a specific number of points. After a competitor completes a stage, the total score they shoot on the targets is divided by the time it takes to finish the stage. This establishes their hit factor. The competitor with the highest hit factor wins the stage and earns the total number of points available for that specific course of fire. The remaining competitors receive a percentage of the stage points based on their hit factors.
Top photo credit: Paul Erhardt, U.S. Air Force, Public Domain, Wikimedia.org.
The NRL Precision Hunter Challenge features a multi-distance, walk-around shooting course similar in some ways to PRS/NRL, but limitations on weight and cost of equipment make this more affordable and more practical. This relatively new discipline is part of a series of very popular NRL Hunter events held around the nation. There were 24 NRL Hunter matches this year, culminating in the NRL Hunter Grand Slam held August 9-11 in Decorah, Iowa. CLICK HERE for NRL Hunter match information.
Shooting USA SHOW TIMES on Outdoor Channel:
The 2023 Hornady NRL Hunter Challenge is featured this week on Shooting USA television. This Shooting USA Episode airs Wednesday, August 28, 2024 at 9:00 PM Eastern and Pacific; 8:00 PM Central on the Outdoor Channel. If you miss the regular broadcast, you can stream the show online on Vimeo for $0.99 per episode.
121 Shooters from all over the country competed in 23 challenging stages with both animal shapes and conventional square/diamond targets. The course of fire consisted of 160+ rounds with hiking between stages at the North Springs Shooting Complex. The Precision Hunter Challenge featured target distances from 200-850 yards, and angled shots between 0-10°. At the North Springs Shooting Complex, there were natural terrain obstacles and tree stands. Competitors had to navigate the terrain to establish their shooting positions — very much the opposite of a benchrest match.
This event is an opportunity to work on hunting situation shots, where hunters may expect natural terrain obstacles and thick cedars to navigate around and find shooting positions.
“The NRL HUNTER Series is designed to help educate new and seasoned hunters about their skills, gear, and personal limitations. The Hornady Precision Hunter Challenge did just that!” said Travis Ishida, President of the NRL. “With a well-designed course of fire that was both challenging and fun, this match encompassed everything we are looking for…” he added. Along with Hornady, notable sponsors included Kestrel, Magnetospeed, ThunderBeast Arms, SIG Sauer, Leupold, Vortex, Nightforce, Savage, Seekins Precision and many other companies.
This video features highlights from the 2022 Hornady Precision Hunter Challenge:
Armageddon Gear (“AG”) produces outstanding support bags, gun cases, slings, suppressor covers, and personal gear for PRS/NRL shooters. Along with its tactical competition items, Armageddon Gear also offers an extensive line of products for hunters. AG’s Products for Hunters include hunting support bags, rifle cases, chest packs, slings, travel bags, and apparel.
Armageddon Gear hunting products are featured this week on Shooting USA Television. You’ll get a first hand look at the popular hunting products such as chest rigs, travel cases, hats, and more. AG states: “All our products are made from the best domestically sourced materials, crafted to stand the test of time, and designed to keep you more organized and ready when afield.”
Shooting USA SHOW TIMES: This Shooting USA Episode airs Wednesday, July 17, 2024 at 9:00 PM Eastern and Pacific; 8:00 PM Central. If you miss the regular broadcast, you can stream the show online at any time on Vimeo for $0.99 per episode or $1.99/mo for unlimited streaming.
Want to see some handgun shooting fun on TV tonight? Today Shooting USA television will feature the 2024 IDPA National Championship on the Outdoor Channel.
Along with SSP and ESP, there are three other main IDPA classes: Custom Defensive Pistol (CDP) for .45 ACPs (mostly 1911 types), Concealed Carry Pistol (CCP), and Revolver (REV). All classes have a minimum power factor. Scores are based on time and shot placement on the IDPA target.
Shooting USA TV will feature a major U.S. Practical Shooting Association (USPSA) competition — the USPSA Production Class Nationals. Watch the broadcast at 9:00 pm Eastern/Pacific, 8:00 PM Central on the Outdoor Channel. SEE 
