About PewScore
An ELO-based rating system for competitive shooters — giving every USPSA, PCSL, and IDPA competitor an objective, cross-match skill number that updates after every sanctioned match.
What is PewScore?
PewScore is a rating platform developed by PewScore LLC, a sports-technology company bringing modern data science to the competitive shooting community.
The system is built on ELO — the same mathematical framework used in chess, chess.com, and competitive esports. ELO works by comparing your actual results against each opponent's current rating, then adjusting both ratings accordingly. Beat a higher-rated shooter and you gain more points than if you had beaten a lower-rated one. It's a proven, well-understood approach that rewards genuine competitive performance.
PewScore applies this framework to division-specific match results across USPSA, PCSL, and IDPA — with IPSC coverage in active development. Your rating is calculated from your head-to-head results against other rated shooters, not from a fixed threshold or a single match score.
PewScore is available as a native iOS app — download it free on the App Store to track your rating, run drills, get AI coaching, and find upcoming matches.
How the Rating Works
Your rating is calculated from your head-to-head results across every shooter in your division at every sanctioned match you enter. Here is what the algorithm weighs:
Performance-Based
Your rating is calculated from actual match results against other rated shooters in your division — not from a fixed classification threshold.
Updates After Every Match
Ratings recalculate after each sanctioned match result is processed. Your number reflects your most recent competitive history.
Division-Specific
Each division has its own rating pool. Your Open rating is independent of your Production rating — so comparisons are always apples-to-apples.
What Goes Into Your Rating
Head-to-Head, Not Just Your Score
The system evaluates your performance against every other shooter in your division at every match — not just your overall finish position.
Strength of Opponents Matters
Outperforming a highly-rated shooter moves your rating more than outperforming a newcomer. The ELO model accounts for who you are competing against.
Match Level Matters
Area and national championship results carry more weight than a local club match. The algorithm scales impact by match level.
Dominance Over Volume
Shooting more matches does not automatically raise your rating. Consistently strong results against strong competition is what moves you up.
New Shooters Calibrate Quickly
Your rating adjusts more aggressively in your first matches to find your true skill level, then stabilizes as your competitive history builds.
Floors and Guardrails
The system includes safeguards to prevent outlier match results from causing disproportionate rating swings in either direction.
Data Sources & Update Cadence
Accurate ratings depend on accurate data. Here is how PewScore's data pipeline works.
First-Party Data via Competitive Metrics LLC
Match and competition data is sourced first-party through Competitive Metrics LLC, a data analytics company. PewScore LLC and Competitive Metrics LLC are affiliated entities. The data relationship is disclosed in our privacy policy.
The sports currently covered are USPSA, PCSL, and IDPA. IPSC coverage is in active development. Ratings only reflect sanctioned competitive matches — practice rounds and unofficial events are not included.
Update Cadence
Ratings update after each sanctioned match is processed into the system. Processing typically occurs within days of official results being available. Your rating history in the app reflects each update individually so you can see how each match moved your number.
Our Mission
PewScore was founded by competitive shooters who wanted objective, data-driven performance tracking for the sport. The question that started it all: why doesn't competitive shooting have a modern rating system like chess players have had for decades?
ELO has been used in chess since 1960. It works because it measures relative performance — how you do against who you face — rather than raw scores that vary by course design and stage difficulty. Bringing that same model to competitive shooting gives every competitor a number that travels with them across matches, divisions, and years.
The app pairs ratings with AI-powered coaching, 48 structured practice drills, and match finder tools — built to help shooters at every level understand where they stand and what to work on next.
— The PewScore Team
Rating Tiers
PewScore uses nine tiers to help you understand where you stand. Each tier is a rating bracket — as your rating climbs through your match results, your tier advances with it.
Ready to Find Your Rating?
Download PewScore free on the App Store and see where your match results place you across USPSA, PCSL, and IDPA.
PewScore LLC is an independent organization. PewScore is a proprietary product of PewScore LLC and is not affiliated with any other third-party scoring software or medical scoring systems.