[heads]

This is probably stating the obvious but being able to compete with low energy rifles is a must for inclusivity in the sport. Gas rifles are legal and available everywhere.

The limit in the UK is 12 foot pounds for an air rifle. Oddly, comparing that with a bow (draw weight of 40 pounds firing a 30” arrow) makes archery seem pretty lethal.

[dmoy]

Yup this is exactly it. As more countries limit civilian gun ownership, the ISSF has followed to keep participation at the international level broader. At some point I imagine 50m 3p will get replaced by 3p air - 50m prone is already gone from Olympics.

There are a few places where 300m ISSF is still done, like Switzerland, but it's dwindling. Even in the US, high power bullseye is much less common than smallbore/air, because there's no terminal college or international goal.

From a precision standpoint, the air rifles are also much more exact for cheaper. 10m air rifle is insanely difficult.

And also let's be honest, bullseye is a weird mental game that most people don't like anyways. So anyone in the US doing gun-competition-for-fun is doing USPSA or similar.

If you want to do high power bullseye, there's still a handful of people left doing it.