A sibling rivalry at the NRA Whittington Center starts Kyle's Top Ten list for 2012

2012 has been quite the year for NRAblog and selecting just 10 stories for my 'Best Of' list was no easy task. Some hard decisions were made on what to include, but from the moment I began conjuring up this list I knew I had to include the Wallinger brothers.

Story #10: The Wallingers at NRA BPTR Championships ...

Black powder league sees jump in scores with Winchester/NRA Marksmanship Qualification Program

Old Bridge, New Jersey - Lance Brunner has run the Black Powder League at the Old Bridge Rifle and Pistol Club in Old Bridge, New Jersey for over 20 years. The group began with a handful of shooters attending its monthly meets and grew to around a dozen in a few years time. In 2008, in an effort to improve their skills, the league took up the Winchester/NRA Marksmanship Qualification Program.

More on how the Marksmanship Qualification Program helped these black powder shooters ...

High Woman, High Senior, the overall champion and more

Raton, New Mexico - Creedmoor is NRA's oldest discipline. Going all the way back to the founding of the National Rifle Association, the name comes from land purchased back in Long Island, New York back in the 1870s — the Creed Farm.

The Long Range Black Powder match between the United States and Ireland at the brand new Creedmoor range drew a significant amount of attention to the shooting sports and eventually drew its name from the NRA's range.

More on the Creedmoor Championship's awards ...

Get a closer look at the beautiful rifle awarded to this year's NRA Creedmoor champion

Raton, New Mexico - You may have noticed NRA Competitive Shooting's new Director, Dennis Willing, holding up a fine rifle as he posed with this year's Creedmoor champion Dave Gullo. Unlike NRA Black Powder Target Rifle's Position Championship trophy, which is a beautiful Sheutzen rifle, this gun was awarded to Gullo for taking first place.

More on the NRA Black Powder Target Rifle's grand prize...

From High Marksman to High Master, the NRA Black Powder Target Rifle's awards

Raton, New Mexico - NRA's Black Powder Target Rifle Championships are made up of three different matches, a Prone Championship, Position Championship and the Creedmoor Championship.

Both the Prone and Position championships are shot from ranges of 200, 300 and 600 yards while Creedmoor is shot from 800, 900 and 1,000. Together, Prone and Position are the mid-range portion and Creedmoor alone is the long range match.

More on the NRA Black Powder Target Rifle Mid-Range award winners...

$40,000 worth of gear given out to NRA competitors in New Mexico

Raton, New Mexico - NRA's Black Powder Target Rifle Championships had a lot of great sponsors and it really showed in the prize table.

But the way black powder does its prizes is a little different. Only the winning team of the Creedmoor Match, the High Shooter and High Spotter, receive a prizes in addition to their awards - a beautiful rifle and Leupold scope respectively.

Learn more about NRA Black Powder's prize table ...

Picking the brain of the top NRA Black Powder Target Rifle shooter

Raton, New Mexico - Dave Gullo loves to shoot, he told me so. Specifically he prefers long ranges and high calibers, but his love affair with firearms began as Boy Scout with something a little smaller.

"I was eleven years old and back then things were a lot less regulated with the scout leaders," Gullo told me. "We were out in the desert and we started shooting .22s and I said 'Well, this is pretty fun.'"

Just like that he was hooked - a common beginning for many lifelong shooters. A few years later Gullo's brother gave him his very own .22 and he has been shooting ever since.

More on Sitting down with Creedmoor champion Dave Gullo ...

Shooter and sponsor wins NRA's oldest discipline for fifth time

Raton, New Mexico - After a two days of tough shooting conditions at the NRA Whittington Center, Dave Gullo received his fifth Castle Trophy after winning the Creedmoor Championship with a score of 533-10x out of a possible 600.

More on Idaho's Dave Gullo wins 2012 NRA Creedmoor Championship ...

Wind at the NRA Whittington Center is unlike anywhere else

Raton, New Mexico - Shooters are on the 1,000 yard firing line for the final leg of this year's 2012 Creedmoor Championships and saying it's windy is putting it lightly.

Surrounded by mountains, the 1,000 yard range at the NRA Whittington Center is known for its extremely windy conditions.

More on Do you think you know how to read wind? ...