“Is your EST system ISSF (International Shooting Sports Federation) certified? “This is a question that often gets asked when a club looks to purchase an Electronic Scoring Target (EST) system for their range. Which begs the question, is ISSF certification really required?

The Short Answer is No

The simple and honest answer is almost always “no,” EST systems in the United States do not need to be ISSF certified.

There is one notable exception. With the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics coming up, if your range is going to be the one to host the Olympics, then yes, ISSF Certification is required.

Not hosting the Olympics? Then you don’t need an ISSF Certified EST system.

What is ISSF Certification?

The ISSF maintains an ad hoc committee to test the accuracy and compatibility of EST systems for use in ISSF competitions, such as World Cups, World Championships, and the Olympic Games. ISSF certification does not certify an EST system, nor speak to its compatibility, for any competitions outside of the ISSF control.

ISSF Certification is Insufficient

The problem with the question, “is your EST ISSF certified?” is that it assumes wrongly that ISSF certification is all-encompassing. It is not. ISSF certification is intended only for ISSF competitions and events; ISSF certification is insufficient to prepare an EST system for American styles of competitions.

Competitions outside of the ISSF’s control (which make up 99.999% of competitions held in the USA) have a wide range of targets, courses of fire, and tie-breaking rules the ISSF simply does not consider in their testing.

A few prominent examples:

• ISSF does not test for the accuracy of either the 50ft smallbore rifle target (USA-50) or the 50ft conventional rifle target (A-17). These two indoor rifle targets, which are not included in ISSF certification, are however used widely by the CMP, USAS, NCAA, and NRA.
• ISSF does not test for compatibility with the three-position air rifle qualification or final courses of fire. They do not test for accuracy using lower velocity sporter air rifles. And they do not test for the mechanical correctness of target lifts necessary for three-position air rifle.
• ISSF does not test for correct tie-breaking rules in use by the National Three-Position Air Rifle Council, CMP, NCAA, NRA, or 4-H. Perhaps this is why at the 2024 NCAA Rifle Championships, the NCAA website embarrassingly listed the wrong Top 8 athletes making the final, despite being shot on an ISSF certified target.

The reality is, an EST could be ISSF certified, yet completely insufficient for almost all American styles of competition.

What Questions Should be Asked Instead?

If the question, “is your EST ISSF certified?” is insufficient, what questions should a club ask when looking to purchase an EST system? The answers to the following questions are the ones that matter most to shooting clubs in the United States.

• How much does your system cost?
  At Scopos, we list our EST prices on our website and are well known for being the most affordable EST system on the market. Our competitors choose to hide their prices; when they do give a quote they are 2, 3, 4, sometimes 5 times more expensive. Further, our competitors are foreign-made and imported into the USA, subjecting them to tariff taxes which get passed on to the clubs purchasing them.
• Does your system support the courses of fire our club hosts?
  Scopos software natively includes support for nearly all the courses of fire listed in the major rulebooks here in the United States, including the National Three-Position Air Rifle Council, USA Shooting, the Civilian Marksmanship Program, and the National Rifle Association.
• How can I verify the accuracy of your EST system?
  Only Athena has a “Validate” button. If the marksman fires a shot and the shot does not align with their call, they can tap the Validate button on their monitor to physically look at it. In the extremely rare case Athena did score a shot wrong, the stat officer is empowered to make a manual change. With our competitors, you are left without any real-time verification at all.
• How difficult is your EST system to use?
  Automation is the hardest part of building an EST system. We know this at Scopos because we have added so much automation into our products. 
  - Athena’s range scripts automate range officer commands, time limits, and course of fire.
  - Athena’s results are available live, on the Internet, with just a single mouse click.
  - Athena’s range clock is 100% integrated; no programming is required.
• Who do I call for support questions?
  Athena systems are backed by Scopos’ American-based support. Available 280 days a year, Monday through Saturday, with real live humans talking with you when they answer the phone.
• Are results available online?
  Athena customers enjoy an industry-leading result list system. Results are automated, available live, on premise, and online, for both desktop and mobile browsers. Results remain available on the Internet in perpetuity. All tie-breaking rules are built in. And athletes can view their scores and score history from their mobile devices.

Conclusion

Purchasing an EST system for your club is an important and big investment. While asking about ISSF certification may seem to be a good question to ask, the reality is ISSF certification does not address the needs of local and regional clubs in the United States. Scopos, an American company, is far more in tune with the needs of American styles of competition and built Athena for those needs.

About the Author

Erik Anderson Ph.D. is the owner and chief architect at Scopos. Prior to inventing Athena, he served on the ISSF’s ad hoc Committee for Electronic Scoring Targets for 15 years. He has firsthand knowledge of the ISSF certification process and goals, having written most of the ISSF’s testing procedures himself.