Campbelltown, NSW · Established mid-1950s
An international and Olympic sport where age is not a barrier.
ISSF pistol shooting is an international precision sport with disciplines contested all the way to the Olympic Games. At Campbelltown Liverpool District Pistol Club, juniors, adults and older shooters train and compete side by side across five purpose-built ranges. Whether you have never held a pistol or you are chasing state selection, you start in the same place.
Recruiting juniors from 12 — discounted membership, and we pay their match entry fees. How it works
An ISSF discipline club first — members also shoot Service Pistol, WA1500 and rifle matches.
The sport
What ISSF pistol shooting actually is
One hand. No support. Open sights. A ten-ring smaller than the head of a drawing pin, and sixty chances to put a pellet or a bullet through it.
ISSF — the International Sport Shooting Federation — writes the rules for target shooting worldwide, which is why the same match shot on a Wednesday night at CLDPC is the match shot at the Olympic Games. Shooting has been on the Olympic programme since the first modern Games in 1896, and pistol events have been part of it almost throughout.
Success isn’t determined by size, strength or speed. A match is won by whoever can hold a pistol still enough, release the trigger cleanly enough, and repeat that under pressure without their concentration drifting. The pistol does not move; the shooter does. Everything in the sport is about reducing that movement — stance, breathing, grip, sight picture and the point where the shot breaks.
That is what makes pistol shooting such an unusual sport. Teenagers and shooters in their seventies can compete side by side. Men and women shoot alongside each other in most matches at club and state level. What matters most is technique, consistency and concentration — skills that can be learned at almost any age.
Juniors
We are recruiting junior shooters
Membership is discounted for juniors from 12 years up, and CLDPC pays the match entry fee for every junior shooting a competition at the Campbelltown range — ours and visitors alike, whichever club they come from.
Pistol is one of the very few sports where a twelve-year-old and a seventy-year-old compete on genuinely level terms. It rewards stillness, patience and concentration rather than size, strength or reach, and a junior who works at it can be competitive against adults within a season.
Juniors start on the air pistol range under supervision, with the club supplying the pistol, pellets and safety equipment. A parent or guardian comes along and stays with them — and we encourage parents to have a go too. Unlike many junior sports, this doesn’t have to be something Mum or Dad watches from the sideline. It is a sport a family can take up and enjoy together.
From there, a junior can simply enjoy club shooting or follow the competitive pathway through club, state and national competition. We pay junior match entry fees at competitions held at Campbelltown because we would rather the cost of entering were never the reason a young shooter stopped competing.
10m
Air pistol distance, indoors. The ten-ring is 11.5mm across — and at that distance it looks about the size of a full stop.
25m & 50m
The outdoor distances. At 25m the ten-ring is 50mm; at 50m, still 50mm, shot one-handed and unsupported.
60 shots
The standard course of fire in most ISSF matches, shot over roughly 75 minutes to two hours.
500g
Minimum trigger weight for an air pistol — about the weight of a full soft drink can, released without disturbing the sights.
How a match works
Three rhythms, one skill
Every ISSF pistol match is built from the same three patterns. What changes is how much time you are given, and how much that pressure costs you.
Precision
Five shots, five minutes. There is no clock pressure worth speaking of, which removes every excuse: the score is a straight measure of how well you can hold and release. Free Pistol at 50 metres is the purest form of it, and the hardest.
Duel — turning targets
The target faces you for 3 seconds and turns away for 7. One shot per exposure, arm lowered to 45° in between. You have time to aim, but not to hesitate, and the arm comes up again whether you are ready or not.
Rapid fire
Five targets side by side. Five shots, one at each, in 8 seconds — then 6, then 4. A shot fired a fraction late scores zero. This is the discipline that made Rapid Fire Pistol an Olympic event.
What to expect
Quieter than you are imagining
Most people arrive expecting noise and adrenaline. An ISSF match is closer to archery or golf: a long, quiet, disciplined afternoon where the hard part is entirely between your ears. The air pistol range is indoors, air-conditioned, and silent enough to hold a conversation in.
Everything happens under range commands, on a marked firing line, with a range officer in charge and firearms cased whenever they are not on the line. Nothing is handled casually, and no one is left to work it out for themselves — new shooters are supervised one to one.
You do not need to own a pistol, hold a licence, or know anything at all to start. The club supplies the pistol, the pellets, the targets and the protective equipment for your first session.
Where to start
Three ways in
Most people arrive through a friend who already shoots. You don’t need one — and you don’t need a licence to have your first go.
Never fired a pistol
Book an introductory air pistol session on a Wednesday evening. We supply the pistol, the pellets, the targets and the eye and ear protection — you bring photo ID.
Check your eligibility →
Ready to join
Full membership for Category H licence holders, target-shooting membership for A/B licence holders, and collector membership. Pay once a year — after that you buy ammunition and target patches, nothing else.
The licensing pathway →
Already shooting
We are an ISSF club: air pistol, standard, centrefire, 25m, 50m free pistol and rapid fire, on ranges built for them. Club competitions draw shooters from across the state and feed state and national team selection.
All eight matches →
The range
Four live-fire ranges and a climate-controlled air range
Range 1 is an 18-bay outdoor range with removable turning targets at 25m and fixed targets at 50m, so it can run at either distance or both at once across different sections. Ranges 2 and 3 are 10-bay ranges with turning targets at 25m.
Range 4 is a 5-bay range with a relocatable target trolley and three removable barricades, so targets can be set at any distance up to 25m. The air pistol range is a 10-bay indoor range with an SQ10 electronic target system, fully air-conditioned.
The clubhouse has kitchen and catering facilities, lounge seating for around 40 people, and a safe area for firearm maintenance.
When we shoot
Range hours
Air pistol Hours
- Wednesday8:30am – 12:30pm
5:45pm – 7:00pm - Friday8:30am – 12:30pm
- Saturday & Sunday8:30am – 12:30pm
Live fire Hours
- Wednesday & Friday8:30am – 12:30pm
- Saturday & Sunday8:30am – 12:30pm
What’s on
Coming up at CLDPC
Club training nights, sanctioned matches and the memorial competitions that have run here for decades.
-
23Sep
Air Pistol Training
Open to all CLDPC members — our regular Wednesday night session.
5:45 – 7:00pm -
26Sep
HPC Range Use
Ranges 1, 3 and 4 in use for HPC members. CLDPC members use Range 2.
From 12:30pm -
30Sep
Air Pistol Training
Open to all CLDPC members — our regular Wednesday night session.
5:45 – 7:00pm -
13Feb
Major Peter Badcoe VC Memorial Team Shoot
Centrefire teams event, run annually since 1969 — the longest running of its type in Australia.
2027
Disciplines
Six ISSF matches, from Olympic air pistol to free pistol
The International Sport Shooting Federation programme is what this club is built around, and what our ranges are set up to run.
Air Pistol
60 shots at 10m indoors, on a 12mm ten-ring. The best teacher of handgun fundamentals there is.
Rapid Fire Pistol
Five targets, five shots, 8 seconds down to 4. One shot late scores a miss.
Centrefire Pistol
Two 30-shot stages at 25m — precision, then turning targets. Still one of the most popular events.
50m Pistol (Free Pistol)
Sixty shots, offhand, at 50 metres. The oldest match on the programme and the hardest to score well in.
Never be afraid to try something new
Come and see what the sport is actually like
Anyone is welcome to visit. Contact the club, check the eligibility questions, and book a Wednesday evening introduction on the air pistol range.