X Differences between Competitive Shooting and Combat Shooting

Competitive shooting and combat shooting are two very different scenarios with a few parallels of course! Gun owners can find themselves in either of the scenarios competitive or combat but the former can be fun and recreational while the latter can be a matter of life and death.

Nonetheless, all gun owners I feel should be prepared for both the cases if they want to put their firearm to the correct use. The number thing that is required for any scenario is that the gun owner is familiar and comfortable with the weapon. If you have a California legal AR15 but you don’t have much practice with it then you won’t be able to enjoy it fully nor will you be able to use it when need arrives.

Coming back to the two situations at hand, competitive and combat both play an important part in making the shooter more confident, vigilant and quick to access things. Both of them keep the shooter at their toes, making sure that each time it’s a bull’s eye! San Diego gun stores can offer you guns that are great for either of the scenarios.

These are a few of the similarities but the differences between the two are far more. In this article I will try to touch base with as many differences as I can in order for you to understand each in a detailed manner. So let’s get started.

Competitive Shooting VS Combat Shooting

Before starting, a brief synopsis of each, the competitive shooting is exactly what it says, a competition. This is a way to assess the accuracy, speed, reaction time and knowledge about the firearm. It’s a great experience for the shooters and one must take part in this competition to feel confident about his/her skill set. It is also a way to partly train you for the real world shoot out.

Combat shooting on the other hand is a much more serious thing. It’s basically a self-defense situation where if the target is not shot down it can be a matter of life and death. After this brief insight of both the scenarios let’s dive right into their major differences.

1.Different Playing Fields

For both the circumstances the playing field is quite contrasting and conflicting, while the competitive shooting is done in a safe environment of the target range with people and medical help at your disposal the combat shooting can happen almost anywhere, even at your own home or property.

For competitive shooting you’re very much familiar with the whole outlay of the scenes but in case of combat shooting everything is unpredictable and nothing is under your control. So preparing for them is quite difficult as the stakes one combat shooting are much higher.

2.Single Shots for Targets

 In competitive shooting, the training is all about a single chance to hit the target with accuracy. There are no second chances given, once the shooter is told to shoot the time click and if you miss the shot for that target you have to move on.

But this approach is not good in the real world, in fact it can be pretty detrimental. When in combat shooting, you might have to shoot on a single target multiple times in order to take him down. The threat can be a group of people, the target can be obstructed or the target is moving around so a one shot approach is not viable.

3.Speed or Accuracy

The competitive shooting is all about hitting the target in the given time frame with accuracy and precision. The most important aspect of competitive shooting is speed because there is a timer to judge your speed, reaction time and how fast you were ready for the next shot.

Although accuracy does give you points, it’s the speed that is put on a real test. But in combat shooting situations, the speed takes the back seat and accuracy takes the front row. If you’re shooting at your target with speed but the shots are not hitting the target then it’s a moot point right? Your life depends on the fact that you hit the target with accuracy in order to take him/her down.

4.No Immediate need to find Cover

We know that in competitive shooting there is no one shooting back at us, the targets can be moving but certainly for firing back, so there is no danger of life.  But in combat shooting you don’t just have to fire with accuracy and speed but also make sure that you’re not hit.

Also, in competitive shooting even if you are having a very good program and the targets are in fact shooting back at you, the cover positions are laid right in front of you but in the real world shooting sometimes the cover is far, sometimes it’s not even a cover so it is very different.

Wrapping up the Things

Competitive shooting and combat shooting are both great for your experience not saying that competitive shooting prepares you for the combat one is not necessarily true. Competitive shooting helps you get full command on your weapon like California legal AR15 which can in turn help you in the combat shooting.