Have you only shot IDPA in Finland? Or have you been fortunate enough to travel Europe or internationally to shoot competitions as well?
About how many folks shoot IDPA in Finland?
And what handgun is most popular there?
Oh..and welcome!
I have only shot in Finland. I don't have enough to compete actively now.
The Finnish FB IDPA group has over 1300 members.
Maybe you could look up the actual number of Finns on IDPA.com
I would think that the most common pistols are Glock and CZ models. There are many S&W revolvers in Finland and they are inexpensive here.
In Finland, getting a permit for your first pistol or revolver is a lot of work, but not difficult if you really want to.
Before getting a permit for your first pistol or revolver, you must prove that you have been shooting regularly for two years with someone else's guns, the minimum number of practice sessions is 10. Every five years, you must prove to the police that you have an active need for the gun, i.e. prove that you are a shooting enthusiast.
The permit policy makes guns affordable, especially older guns that no one wants to buy.
For example, in the US, a rare S&W model 16 costs EUR 100-300 here.
Every time you want to buy a new firearm, you have to apply for a new permit from the police. The permit costs EUR 150. On top of that is the purchase price of the weapon, so the cheapest weapons unfortunately end up as scrap unless they have some value that would interest gun collectors.
You can apply for permits for several weapons at the same time, with the first one costing EUR 150 and the subsequent ones "only" EUR 50 / piece.
In Finland, one of the most popular shooting hobbies at the moment is Applied Reserve Shooting
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SRA-shooting
If you have ARS status, it is relatively easy to get a permit for a pistol and a rifle that fits the rules of the ARS.
The ARS is practiced everywhere in Finland, there are many shooting clubs where you can easily join and get the training sessions required by the Firearms Act with the club's weapons.
Finland's geographical location, universal conscription and large reserve (over 900,000 reservists) make ARS a popular way to maintain a soldier's shooting skills here. A large part of ARS shooting clubs are reservist organizations.
