Airsoft Surgeon European Championships Preview Issue | Page 8

SPEED IS NOT ENOUGH

MARK HURDING, ONE OF THE UK’S TOP IPAS EXPERTS, INTRODUCES US TO THIS RAPIDLY
EVOLVING AND HIGHLY SKILLED DISCIPLINE

IRON PLATE ACTION SHOOTING, or IPAS, was created by Steve Taylor and
Graham Wilkes in the late nineties in response to the handgun ban in the
United Kingdom. Essentially IPAS is speed shooting at steel plates, known in the
USA as “Steel Challenge”.
The sport was developed to test a shooter’s speed and accuracy with a pistol,
the weapon is kept holstered on the hip (no shoulder-holsters or cross-draws
allowed). The starting position is with the competitor facing the targets “square
on”, with his hands in the “surrender position”. The shooter, on the start signal,
engages the targets as fast as possible from a static standing position. Only one
shot on each target is required and the plates can be engaged in any order, as
long as the “stop plate” is engaged last. The total time to engage all the targets
is taken and the fastest time wins. Sounds easy enough? Top competitors can
complete a run of five plates in under 3 seconds and remember, you start with
the pistol holstered and your hands in surrender… Trust me, it takes some doing!
It is a very dynamic and exciting sport to both participate in and also as a
spectator, the adrenalin rush is immediate and of course must be controlled,
(there is no point in fast missing!) but the real world application for this type of
shooting is obvious.
It would not be uncommon for Special Forces Operatives and law enforcement
officers around the world to find themselves in a situation where they may need
to engage multiple targets in a close quarter situation with their handgun, so
practicing the techniques required to become a top level IPAS competitor would
benefit any shooter who relies on his sidearm.
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MARCH 2014