I do shooting competitions from time to time, and I agree that Olympic target shooting has too much strange equipment. Most great shooters don't even bother with it because it's so boring and equipment-specific. Instead they do stuff like USPSA, IPSC, and IDPA. All of those competitions depend more on movement and speed, not slow fire accuracy and special equipment. (Though USPSA does tend to have ridiculous looking guns in its unlimited division.)
With any of the practical shooting competitions, a skilled shooter can be competitive with an unmodified handgun. Also, the skills required have a lot of overlap with real world defensive handgun use. Oh, and it's way more fun.
I did smallbore 3-position (Olympic-style rifle) in high school, and I've shot a handful of USPSA/IPSC matches. I think they're both fun to do, but only the latter is fun to watch. IPSC would be a better Olympic sport than the current precision shooting sports.
With any of the practical shooting competitions, a skilled shooter can be competitive with an unmodified handgun. Also, the skills required have a lot of overlap with real world defensive handgun use. Oh, and it's way more fun.