In addition to the National Firearms Museum's dazzling display of guns, NRA's booth at Safari Club International's Convention in Vegas holds a message of thanks. Two actually. One to MidwayUSA and another to Blaser.

MidwayUSA (suppliers of Just About Everything℠ for Shooting, Reloading, Gunsmithing and Hunting) supports a number of NRA programs and events. Everything from the Bianchi Cup to the Youth Hunter Education Challenge to the Friends of NRA tv show.

Hunting rifle heavyweight Blaser donated 100 R93 rifles to the Friends of NRA program last year. That donation alone helped raise a considerable amount of funds for the Friends and all their good work.

And what better place to say thanks than SCI.

NRA Bianchi Cup achieves 15% growth in 2011

The National Action Pistol Championship, known to most as the MidwayUSA & NRA Bianchi Cup, is the most prestigious and richest shooting tournament in the world. But this year, the Bianchi Cup has one more accolade to add: the NRA President’s Trophy.

The President’s Trophy is a coveted award given each year to the NRA National Championship with the highest percentage of growth. The 2011 NRA Bianchi Cup earned this distinction after experiencing an incredible 15% increase in competitors.

At last month's NRA Board of Directors Meeting, the President’s Trophy was presented to Dwight Van Horn, the Chairman of the NRA Action Pistol Committee. A second award was also presented to the NRA Bianchi Cup match staff for their hard work and dedication.

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Kentucky Wildcats and TCU Horned Frogs rifle teams vie for the regular season's top spot

The 2012 NCAA Rifle Championships are approaching quickly, and with it the close of Rifle's regular season. On January 21, the then-ranked #1 Kentucky Wildcats and #2 Texas Christian University Horned Frogs, the team national champions from 2011 and 2010 respectively, went head-to-head in a match that saw its fair share of exemplary shooting.

Posting a 2,341 in smallbore, and creating a 14-point lead, the Frogs had excellent performences by their shooters, including a personal record of 590 from Sarah Beard.

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HQ Moody, National Rifle Manager here at the NRA, wrote this bit on the upcoming 2012 NRA National Metric Championships, which will be held at its regular location this summer at the Wa-Ke-De Range in Bristol, Indiana.

The dates for the 2012 NRA National Metric Championship have been established.

The Championships will be held on the Wa-Ke-‘Da Rifle Range, Bristol IN, in July, just prior to the National Conventional Championships at Camp Perry.

Championship dates for the Metric Prone Championship are planned to end one day prior to the first position practice, thus, giving interested shooters time to register for the Conventional National Championships. Camp Perry is just about a three hour drive from the Wa-Ke-De Range.

The dates are as follows: More...

Many people go for broke in Las Vegas, but last week, Tommy Thacker raised the stakes and walked away with $50,000 - one of the biggest payouts in the history of competitive shooting. Phil Schreier brought you some initial coverage of the 3-Gun Nation Championship Finale Shoot-Off, but here's the whole story from 3-Gun Nation's Chad Adams.  

Photo courtesy of Tim Walsh www.seanchaicom.com

LAS VEGAS - Before the largest crowd ever to watch a 3-gun match, and with the largest payday in the history of the sport on the line, eight of the country’s top 3-gunners stepped to the firing line at the Clark County Range here January 18. With the famous Las Vegas strip illuminating the desert sky as the backdrop, the sport of 3-gun formally announced its arrival to the shooting industry, major media outlets and a national television audience.

And then one team stole the show.

Team FNH USA’s Tommy Thacker defeated teammate Mark Hanish in the final round of the 3-Gun Nation Championship Finale, sponsored by Brownells, to become the 2012 3-Gun Nation Champion, winning an unprecedented $50,000 from Leupold Tactical Optics and NBC Sports Network.

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3-Gun Nation's Rumble on Range highlights top multi-gun competitors in Las Vegas, Nevada

Special to NRABlog by Philip Schreier, Senior Curator, National Firearms Museum
Clark County Shooting Range, Las Vegas, NV

One of the great things about any shooting match, or shooting industry events like the SHOT Show, are the side-matches or side events. The SHOT Show is no exception and Wednesday evening at the Clark County Shooting Range, 3 Gun Nation held their "Rumble on the Range" National Championship. The $50,000 Championship was the shoot-off between 8 nationally ranked 3 Gun champions and was quite the exciting event well attended by over 450 spectators. The venue, The Clark County Shooting Range is considered to be one of the newest and finest ranges ever built in the country and offers platforms for nearly every conceivable shooting event from Sporting Clays, Cowboy Action Shooting, Mounted Cowboy Shooting and numerous others. The facility also has numerous classrooms, a cafe and a pro shop. Lights provide a well lighted range so shooting can take place well after the sun sets in the Nevada mountains. The combination of artificial light, Nevada desert and concrete berms gave the event an aura of taking place on the moon.

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American Air Gun manufacturer Crosman has an addition to your high powered rifle that lets you shoot pellets instead of bullets

Crosman's MAR177 is probably one of the coolest things I've run across here at the 2012 SHOT Show in Vegas. Why you ask? Because it converts your AR into an air rifle. How's that for cool?

"It's cold out, it's raining out and you want to do some shooting without going to the range," started Crosman representative Mark Deboard. "With the MAR, modular adaptive rifle, you can take your AR upper off, replace it with the Crosman Modular and go to your basement or garage to shoot .177 pellets."

Now you might be thinking there's an arduous task aligned with turning your AR into an air rifle. According to Mark, there's a simple three step procedure involved:

1. Remove your upper.
2. Attach the Crosman MAR177
3. Fire down range.

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Our Women’s Programs Department just added an exciting new event to their agenda that helps women discover the fun of the shooting sports and the outdoors - the Women's Outdoor Adventure! Scheduled for April 30-May 7, 2012 at the Rockcastle Shooting Center in Park City, Kentucky, the inaugural Women’s Outdoor Adventure is an eight-day shooting and outdoor event aimed at introducing women to a variety of firearms, exciting outdoor activities, and fun, relaxing social events.

“The Women’s Outdoor Adventure is an opportunity for ladies to foster their interest in shooting and the outdoors, all while enjoying the camaraderie of like-minded women,” said Bill Poole, Director of NRA’s Education & Training Division. “We want the attendees to leave with a well-rounded knowledge of firearms and the desire to continue participating in the shooting sports.”

Attendees will enjoy the thrill of learning to shoot on the world-class ranges of the Rockcastle Shooting Center while receiving instruction from the country’s top female shooters and firearms instructors. From trying their hand at shooting rifles, pistols, and shotguns during exciting multi-gun competition, to the fun of sporting clays, attendees will have the opportunity to explore a wide variety of shooting disciplines in a supportive, encouraging setting.

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Next week, thousands of people from the shooting sports industry will descend upon Las Vegas for the 2012 SHOT Show, but one of the most exciting events of the week isn't taking place in the convention center - it's going to be on the range. Sanctioned by NRA Sports, the 3-Gun Nation Championship Shoot-Off Finale is scheduled for the evening of Wednesday, January 18th at the Clark County Shooting Range in Las vegas.

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