Special Episode: Participation Comparison 2023 vs 2024

Welcome to our Friday episode, where we take a deep dive into recent stats from major matches in the shooting competition world. We compare participation numbers from 2023 and early 2024 across several categories, including CO, LO, Open, PCC, Limited Production, Single Stack, Revolver, and Limited 10. Intriguingly, we found a significant drop in CO participation by about 12%. However, Limited Optics has soared from just over 7% to nearly 22%—a whopping 287% increase. These two combined now make up more than half of all major match competitors. We also note a rise in PCC, albeit a modest one, from 11.3% to 14.6%. Meanwhile, participation in more traditional divisions like Open and Limited show a drop of 31% and 39% respectively. We observe small changes in Participation in Production and Limited Optics divisions whilst Regretfully, Single Stack saw a significant drop from 272 to 163, a 40% decrease and the Revolver division dipped by 26%. A significant find was that participation in Limited 10 dropped by 29%, making us pose a strong suggestion of its dissolution. As a disclaimer, remember that our analysis is based on only five major matches, so take these preliminary figures with a grain of salt. While the trends here give us an interesting glimpse at the shifting landscape, we'll continue to monitor participation figures throughout the year. Stay tuned for more episodes every three days for the following weeks, where we'll continue sharing insights from the shooting competition world. Have a great weekend and we look forward to catching up next week.