Pistol Division

The Central Empire State Rifle & Pistol League objectives are the encouragement and promotion of organized handgun shooting and to develop and encourage those American ideals of good sportsmanship and fair play which have been our heritage. The League is centered around the Central Leatherstocking and Catskill regions of New York State. The League consists of six Teams centered around the communities of Delhi, Oneonta, Rockdale, Sidney, Stamford-Richmondville and Walton.

Each year the League promotes marksmanship by coordinating a 20 match indoor bullseye pistol (conventional pistol) season from October through March. On Friday nights these matches are fired one-handed at indoor 50 foot ranges and following the National Match Course of fire. The NMC course consists of:

• Slow Fire - 10 shots in 10 minutes (NRA B-2 Target)

• Timed Fire - two 5 shot strings in 20 seconds (NRA B-3 Target)

• Rapid Fire - two 5 shot strings in 10 seconds (NRA B-3 Target)

Handguns used for competition are 22 caliber rimfires. The overwhelming majority of shooters choose a semi-automatic pistol for competition. A score of 300-20x would represent a perfect individual score. The league record score is 297-12x fired by Harry Wyckoff during the 1987-1988 season.

A team score is computed by taking the top 4 individual scores fired at a match and combined to come up with a team score. Teams may field as many shooters as their club may have. During the 2010-2011 season a total of 85 different shooters participated. A perfect team score would be 1200-80x. The League record team score is 1160-23x fired by Delhi in the 1994-1995 season.

In 2010-2011 a junior program was started for those age 12 to 20. For more information, see our junior program page.

If you are interested in all the aspects of Bullseye Pistol Shooting, both indoor and outdoor, a great reference is John Dreyer's Bullseyepistol.com.