by TheGunMag Staff
The months of July and August are big in the shooting sports with major competitive shoots in various disciplines, most of which also attract shooters from other countries as well as flocks of interested spectators. But while thousands of shooters will be traveling to Camp Perry, OH, and the World Shooting and Recreational Center in Sparta, IL, tens of thousands of others will be participating in local and regional shoots in almost every imaginable discipline.
And while ammunition seems to be in shorter supply than normal across the country, most serious competitors will manage to obtain enough to continue to enjoy their favorite handgun, rifle and shotgun shooting sports.
The National Matches conducted on the Ohio National Guard camp near the shores of Lake Erie are already in full swing as this issue of TGM goes to press. (See the report of the National Pistol Championship results elsewhere in this issue.) The pistol competitions were followed in July by the smallbore rifle three-position matches and smallbore prone events conducted by the National Rifle Association and the Civilian Marksmanship Program as this issue went to press.
Before the high power rifle, midrange and long range competitions get into full swing in the first half of August, there are a series of special competitions, including the Whistler Boy, Springfield, Garand and Vintage rifle competitions. TGM will report on the rifle competitions in our next issue.
Many trap shooters will also be busy, spending a couple of weeks in early August at the Amateur Trapshooting Association’s Grand American in Sparta, which begins with the AIM Youth Shooting Games Aug. 3-4, and the AIM Grand Championship Aug. 4- 6, which this year will include registered doubles, handicap events and a high all around award.
While the ATA’s AIM (Academics – Integrity – Marksmanship) program is specifically focused on young shooters, there is nothing to prevent the youngsters with the right shotgunning skill from competing against the veteran men and women shooters in the Grand American’s preliminary events scheduled to run from Aug. 7-11, or the Grand American week itself, which runs from Aug. 12-17. In fact, some teenaged shooters have turned in distinguished performances at many of the previous Grand American competitions.
Three-Gun shooters will also be busy in August, and even more so in September.
The 3-Gun nation lists the Rocky Mountain 3 Gun event at the NRA Whittington Center in Raton, NM, Aug.
9-11 and the 2nd Annual AR15.com Rockcastle Pro Am 3-Gun Championships in Park City, KY, Aug. 24-26.
Major 3-Gun competitions that are set for September include: the Arkansas Section Multi Gun Championship, at Ft.
Smith, AR, Sept. 28-29, the California Action Shotgun Challenge, Richmond, CA, and the 5 Michigan 3-Gun on Sept. 30.
The National Skeet and Sporting Clays championships will be held a little later, in September and October, but just about every imaginable type of organized shooting activity will be offered on a state or regional basis during the late summer.
