IPSC Handgun World Shoots
The IPSC Handgun World Shoot is the highest level handgun match within the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) which consists of several days and at least 30 separate courses of fire. The Handgun World Shoots are held triennially on a rotational cycle with the other two main IPSC disciplines Rifle and Shotgun. World Shoot main matches are held over six days with five days of shooting and one rest day, making the competition a shooting marathon where strategy and mental focus is of critical importance. History. The first IPSC World Shoot was held in 1975 in  Zurich, and the two following were held with one year intervals. After 1977 the World Shoots were held at two year intervals until 1983 when the schedule was changed to the three year intervals used today. Until and including 1991 there were no equipment divisions, but equipment had gradually become more and more specialized with extended front sights, compensators and even optical sights. At the 1991 Handgun World Shoot in Adelaide, Australia, Doug Koenig of USA became the first competitor to win the World Shoot using a red dot sight. In the following 1993 Handgun World Shoot competitors would be  divided into divisions based on the equipment, thereof whether the firearm had an optical sight and compensator (Open or Modified division) or iron sights (Standard division). In 1999 the Revolver and Production divisions were introduced, and became recognized divisions from January 2000, making their first appearance in World Level competition at the 2002 Handgun World Shoot. In 2011 the Modified division was retired to make room for the Classic division, in commemoration of the 1911 single stack which historically had been so important for IPSC Handgun and handgun shooting sports in general for many years. Individual Champions. The following is  a list of previous and current Handgun World Champions: Teams. Teams can consist of up to four athletes, with the three highest individual scores counting for the team results.