The Polish Sports Shooting Federation (PZSS) has decided to include the Precision Rifle Series in the shooting sport taken under its supervision. Thanks to this, competitors aiming to excel in this discipline will have the opportunity to represent Poland at international competitions, such as the World and European Championships.
PRS is a "long-range precision shooting discipline done in a dynamic format." It is represented in Poland by the PRS Poland Series, headed by its director, Mariusz Szydłowski, with whom we had the opportunity to talk about PRS during the Delta Long Range Weekend on May 13-14, 2023. Formal information has already appeared in the collection of PZSS regulations for competitions not covered by ISSF regulations, putting it as equal to dynamic shooting according to IPSC, IDPA and other rules.
What is the Precision Rifle Series in practice? Referring to the words of the director of the PRS Poland Series, it is a long range type of practical shooting, which checks, among other things, participants' flexibility and speed. This discipline uses center fire rifles in caliber of up to .308 Winchester, rimfire .22LR, but also airsoftgun replicas (a variety of the PRASS - Precision Rifle AirSoft Series). Under time pressure (a single stage usually lasts 40 to 90 seconds), competitors must shoot at several gongs located at different long ranges. Shooting at targets takes place in a specific order and requires to shoot from various, often difficult stances (e.g. using a tank trap as a support).
The task is not made easier by the fact that gongs used during shooting are small (e.g. 10-15 centimeters in diameter), and depending on the type of weapon, they can be deployed at ranges of up to several hundred meters away. For example, during the recent Delta Long Range Weekend event there were two shooting stations for the PRS discipline, where center fire weapons fired at targets at a range of 300 to 750 meters, and rimfire weapons fired at targets of up to 200 meters.
Although PRS already has a five-figure number of players in the United States, and hundreds of events are organized annually, this discipline is just beginning to develop in Poland. This year, the 1st edition of the PRS Poland Series started, which consists of four rounds. The finals will have the status of the Polish Championships, and from the entire competition an official, Polish National Team will be selected, which will have the opportunity to represent our country during the European and World Championships competitions.
Naturally, shooters taking part in PRS competitions included in the PZSS calendar are required to have a professional association's license, and participation in competitions may be presented when applying for its extension for the next year.
Photo by: Medard Starzycki
