Student Air Rifle Program released

[SPPcoach]

Student Air Rifle Program (SAR) Ready for Launch
Imperial, MO – After completing a successful pilot in Missouri, the Student Air Rifle Program (SAR) is ready for launch on a national level.

The annual approximate number of youth who are interested in additional shooting sports besides archery after participating in the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP®) is over 1 million. Surveys conducted through NASP® revealed 56% of students expressed an interest in shooting firearms as a result of NASP® participation. SAR is positioned to provide a solid foundation for teachers and students to transition from archery to air riflery with a very familiar framework.

"SAR was inspired by the vast number of students who annually participate in NASP® and have an interest in trying other shooting sports besides archery", explained Jake Hindman, founder of the Student Air Rifle Program (SAR).

"NASP® has paved the way for basic shooting sports instruction in the school system and other areas. We have created SAR to provide a safe, universal, and fun way for students to continue their shooting sports journey started by NASP®. We also hope SAR leads students to the existing structure of excellent youth shooting sports programming available so participants can experience a lifetime of target shooting."

"Like NASP®, we have a strong interest in partnering with existing NASP® coordinating organizations for coordination of SAR at the state level. SAR implementation ideas for any state will be considered and are encouraged for discussion," explained Hindman. Interested schools, potential partners, and organizations can contact the organization at info@studentairrifleprogram.org for more information about becoming involved.

SAR, developed by the Missouri Youth Sport Shooting Alliance (MYSSA™) in 2013, is a 501(c)3 nonprofit. SAR uses school aligned units of study, teacher training, universal whistle commands, positive language, and standardized equipment to facilitate an introduction to the lifetime sport of target shooting to school-aged youth in grades 4 through 12. Follow SAR on Facebook and Instagram by searching "Student Air Rifle Program-SAR".

For more information about the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP®), visit http://www.naspschools.org.
For more information about the Student Air Rifle Program (SAR), visit http://www.studentairrifleprogram.org.

The mission of the Student Air Rifle Program is to facilitate an introduction to the lifetime sport of target shooting to school-aged youth in grades 4 through 12.

http://www.studentairrifleprogram.org/program-overview

This program has potential to expand the reach to tens of thousands of youth in grades 4 thru 12. The equipment that they have chosen is basic, as it should be. From the price of the pellets it looks like they are using a NON-lead pellet to avoid the concerns and range cleaning requirements so that this program can take place in a gym or cafeteria. The Umarex Embark rifles are $80 and the entire start up kit is $1,500 including rifles, rifle cases, curtain backstop, eye protection and pellets.
Best wishes to all those that have come up with this program. Now they need to get the traction in the schools to make this program happen.

[jhmartin]

Hmmm .... looks like an off the bench type shooting.
Also This rifle looks to be the same as the "Ruger Explorer" ... renamed? This is a barrel cock rifle.
Putting a bunch of kids on a line with those would be interesting in terms of safety ... no such thing as muzzle control with those.
And if you cannot teach that first and foremost then you are asking for trouble later down the line with any other rifles and pistols.
Are adults required to cock?
Just not enough info on the site to be helpful.
Grade 4 ... 10 years old(ish).

I have 4-H shooters we shoot off the bench at 8. If they are in our club program (non-4-H) they can be shooting 3-P Air at that age.
My youngest started learning to shoot 3-P air at 8.

The "non-excited" impressions I have are:
1) Cheap guns ... not accurate ... well maybe tin cans
2) "Green" ammo is not accurate ....
3) The barrel cocking is a killer for me ... no muzzle control and if I kid cannot make the cock and lets go of the barrel you have a real safety issue.
We have these in 4-H sometimes and they are just not acceptable on the line in 3-P.
Even the "Old" Crosman Challenger is better with it's 12gram cylinder ...

[SPPcoach]

This is a barrel cock rifle.
Putting a bunch of kids on a line with those would be interesting in terms of safety ... no such thing as muzzle control with those.
3) The barrel cocking is a killer for me ... no muzzle control and if I kid cannot make the cock and lets go of the barrel you have a real safety issue.

I am not thrilled with that design either even though I know programs that use this design. I don't want any in our Council for Cub Scouts or Boy Scouts. We are using Daisy 845 for Cubbies and 753's for Boy Scouts. The Daisy 845 retails for $99 and has a rifled barrel. It is certainly a candidate in the price range that they are shopping in.
Personally I don't like the Daisy 499. As a concept, it is illogical to teach youth to not point the gun at anything, but it is "OK" to put your fingers up there to muzzleload the BB gun. Wha?

Just not enough info on the site to be helpful.

I did find a 40 page document on that website that had an AAR that provided a lot of feedback about the equipment, the written program and the curriculum from the test group. It does look like they vetted it thoroughly. It does not look sanitized since there is plenty of negative feedback on some issues.

Grade 4 ... 10 years old(ish).

It lists grades 4 - 12 so that should be 9 to 17 years old. A pretty wide range. If they can get traction in the schools they will have a huge pool of participants which is fantastic to teach safety and help grow the shooting sports and reach a wide audience.

2) "Green" ammo is not accurate ....

Can you quantify this? I hear this often but I don't have any experience with it.
If one of your athletes can shoot consistently in the 9-ring with a new Challenger, what are appropriate performance expectations for green ammo?

The target that they show for their program has 5-bullseyes on an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of paper. Obviously they are not going to be using Orion scoring for this program. The targets are considerably bigger than the targets for Olympic 10 M rifle and I suspect that they increased the scoring rings appropriately so that it compensates for the decreased accuracy potential.

The bonus of this ammunition is that any gym or cafeteria or MPR is available without the risk mangement concerns due to lead contamination.
The action plan for the Olympic Training Center shooting range is entirely unrealistic for ANY school program without a dedicated shooting range building. The HEPA vaccuum alone would add $2500 to the budget, add additional training time to teach 'exposure control' to all the staff and cleaning time that would be required every time the room has to convert back to other activities and the lead issue becomes a program killer. So for their purposes, and to be pragmatic, I understand the decision to go that route. The NASP has been a success. If the SARP achieves the same level of success, then it will be a very good thing for the shooting sports.

[jhmartin]

2) "Green" ammo is not accurate ....

Can you quantify this? I hear this often but I don't have any experience with it.
If one of your athletes can shoot consistently in the 9-ring with a new Challenger, what are appropriate performance expectations for green ammo?

10 ring ...
maybe it's not a big deal if that target is big ... but I want any ammo to shoot consistently. From what I've seen of tests, even with very good precision rifles, it is not consistent. Now again if the rings are big enough???
I want the shooter to be confident that when they do their steps right, they will get the result. I'll admit though, I'm speaking from a competitive coach viewpoint.

The target that they show for their program has 5-bullseyes on an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of paper. Obviously they are not going to be using Orion scoring for this program. The targets are considerably bigger than the targets for Olympic 10 M rifle and I suspect that they increased the scoring rings appropriately so that it compensates for the decreased accuracy potential.

Something like the A-2 or A-5?
http://www.pistoleer.com/shooting-targets/rifle/
yeah, I could see that.

The bonus of this ammunition is that any gym or cafeteria or MPR is available without the risk mangement concerns due to lead contamination.
The action plan for the Olympic Training Center shooting range is entirely unrealistic for ANY school program without a dedicated shooting range building. The HEPA vaccuum alone would add $2500 to the budget, add additional training time to teach 'exposure control' to all the staff and cleaning time that would be required every time the room has to convert back to other activities and the lead issue becomes a program killer. So for their purposes, and to be pragmatic, I understand the decision to go that route. The NASP has been a success. If the SARP achieves the same level of success, then it will be a very good thing for the shooting sports.

The only contamination in air rifle is handling the pellet ... a good trap and cleanup at the targetend with a "Simple Green" type cleaner and washing of hands is sufficient. (Now if the kids are tracking pellets in their soles down the hall then the traps are not working properly.
A protocol that is requiring a HEPA vac is only necessary if you have lead vapor produced ... such as in smallbore where you have the hot gas at the bullet base and lots of fragmentation at the target side .... not there with airgun pellets.
I understand that the issue is a bit over-hyped and misunderstood. (and so yes, I understand the decision but feel it's "death by a thousand little cuts")
NASP is super and I loved the time we spent with you that weekend. Just don't know why it really hasn't taken off here (NM).
I can see this feeding well into the shooting sports "sport for life" concepts ... feeding JROTC programs, Club programs ... 4-H and whatnot, and also by the time they get to 14 or so feeding into the pistol programs.

I really have no issue with this other than the rifle used. I've seen many close calls (basically pinching injurys) with a cocker not cocked by someone strong enough to cock the thing.

Bill ... Also, can you pass along the links to the info (40 page document) I'd like to see the details.

[SPPcoach]

The link to the 2015/2016 Pilot Report is on this page.
http://www.studentairrifleprogram.org/program-overview

They show a target. I believe that it is their own design. I think I will have my kids shoot at it just for giggles and see what the results are. I have a tin of Sig 'alloy' pellets. It is time to do a little science project and quantify the performance difference between non-lead and the H&N econ pellets I have on the shelf.

It looks to me that they have done their due diligence. I would have a few things differently but armchair quarterbacking is easy. I don't have any insight into their donors or partnerships. Those two elements are vital to the success of any program and may have been a substantial factor or not.

[jhmartin]

I did not see the target in the report.
Also did not see position ... I kind of implied standing from some of the pellet holder heights mentioned ....

Some things I noted ....
1) A good teaching of the basics of rifle shooting, not focusing on competition, but the safe learning aspect. Still don't know how they can teach muzzle control
2) Student attentiveness overall went up ... always a good thing. Helped attendance and Confidence. Grades some increase, but for most stayed the same, but this does not surprise me as I'm an advocate of parents helping at home w/ homework and motivation ... most don't do that and this is another indicator of that ... the few, truly self motivated individuals improve.
3) Gun .... Hmmm the Ruger fell apart and the Embark was a bit better ... seems like Umarex took the initiative and focused a bit more on qualify control in Spring 2016.
4) Gun ... a 575 fps rated rifle is a bit peppy to be firing at a target (or backstop curtain) at 21 feet. Even faster with green pellets, even w/ 4.8 grain heavy lead free's they have got to be over 625-650fps. Noted a lot of bounce backs ... even off the curtain, that close is a duh.
5) Gun ... did note that it was hard to cock for the younger kids ... also
6) Pellets .... holy cow!!! ... $19 a tin!??? I wonder what brand they are using? Wadcutter or domed? There are much cheaper lead free wadcutters at $10-13 a tin.

Take aways:
A) Very high participation rate, but maybe this followed from a very high percentage that had fired a firearm before. But this was Missouri.
B) I'd like to see what would happen if they took this to an anti-gun state (like CA or IL) that had an archery program ... would there be more participation or student/parent opt outs ... sure cannot hurt to get a shooting program into the schools, if nothing else to teach the safety aspects of the sport. (Or would they even be able to get it in the curriculum?)

[SPPcoach]

Target here.
http://www.studentairrifleprogram.org/s ... t-schedule

One of the things in that report that surprised me is how many schools did not even inform the parents that they were teaching "riflery" in school. That would cause a backlash in some communities. But as you said, 'it's Missouri.'

They changed the air rifle after the experience of the first year. Presumably in response to the feedback in the 2015 report. The 2016 report seems to have a better response from the participants. It is a good thing that they are listening to their audience.

The speed does seem fast for their intended purposes but is under required limits for ISSF. Hmm. Maybe these will start showing up at the OTC. ;-)

[jhmartin]

Max speed is 600fps. A Sporter or Precision gun shooting ~8gr pellets is in the 575 range. Shooting the light "no lead pellets WILL exceed that velocity.

Tournament rules state 10m ... so as long as they are shooting wadcutters the curtain should handle it. If it's the same type that Creedmore uses.

Standing ... with options for "para" shooters too

Looks like the 10 is the size of the normal 10M black ... I'd have to measure the rings, but looks a lot like the BMC target.

Interesting, no mods to the specified rifle ... only paint & stickers and official LOP kit. Pellets are specified as the Journey pellets, period.

Ya know I like the program, I think a good first stepd to rifle shooting and they are keeping it very, very limited in terms of equip and ammo.
Option for Home Schoolers. (I like as all my kids were home schooled ... we could have done this if not already in another program)

[SPPcoach]

Interesting, no mods to the specified rifle ... only paint & stickers and official LOP kit.

I think that is smart. Intro programs should not turn into an arms race where better equipment can buy points and create unhealthy rivalries.

Option for Home Schoolers. (I like as all my kids were home schooled ... we could have done this if not already in another program)

It is interesting that they specify that the program has to take place during the regular "school day" for the home schoolers and not as an after school activity in order to qualify for participation. That is a near impossible rule to enforce.

[jhmartin]

It is interesting that they specify that the program has to take place during the regular "school day" for the home schoolers and not as an after school activity in order to qualify for participation. That is a near impossible rule to enforce.

Hard to enforce, ... maybe not. This program looks to be done as a class, like PE during the school day .... not extra-curricular.
They would have to reset up the range after school for homeschoolers.

They are catering to the programs so as not to cause teachers and students to stay after school. Besides, from experience, if a HSer is interested, they probably have the schedule flexibility to come at a time when the SAR program is being run.

That's what was a huge boon to us as homeschoolers ... we could hit events that normal public school kids could not contemplate ... i.e. Hitting Winter Airgun for 3-4 days in December and then taking a week to go up to the OTC in CSPR for Rocky Mtn Championships, then another week in April for JOs. Very easy with a homeschooled student who can get their classwork done in a remote location. A lot of public schooled students could probably do the same thing, but are not allowed to take that much time off out of the classroom.

[SPPcoach]

Hard to enforce, ... maybe not. This program looks to be done as a class, like PE during the school day .... not extra-curricular.

If a HSer is interested, they probably have the schedule flexibility to come at a time when the SAR program is being run.

I see what you are saying.
I was thinking of a scenario where the HS added SAR to their own program at home. It would be difficult / impossible for the program administrators to know if it was schuled during 'classroom' or as an 'extracurricular' activity. The program is designed to be affordable, but even then my expectations would be that HS would join in an existing school program IF it was available. If it is not available from a local school, then I see a piece of plywood being substituted for the pellet curtain and it is very affordable.
Our Council offered as part of its STEM program a shooting day. Trajectory, gravity, air resistance, Boyles law, Newtons laws of physics, are all STEM topics.

[jhmartin]

Good show .... We have lots of projects going into school about ammo testing and such ... the kids really enjoy it. I think some of them pick a topic to irritate a left leaning teacher sometimes.....

[SPPcoach]

Student Air Rifle Program Tournament

Imperial, MO – Over 1,500 shots from Embark air rifles were taken by students participating in the first Missouri state Student Air Rifle Program (SAR) tournament on Saturday, December 3, 2016.

"It was quite a sight to watch students participate in the first ever SAR tournament," noted Jan Morris with SAR. "It was evident by the team and individual scores, students had spent time practicing before coming to the tournament. We were pleasantly surprised by the high overall score of 268 out of 300 possible points."

Helias Catholic High School served as an excellent host for the more than 45 students from various schools who participated. Students shot 5 practice shots followed by 30 scored shots all at a distance of 10 meters.

The results for the 2016 SAR Missouri Tournament are listed below.

Middle School Team Division

1st Place: Clever

2nd Place: Orion

High School Team Division

1st Place: Crane

2nd Place: Liberty

Middle School Individual Division

1st Place: Alexis Henry, South Harrison

2nd Place: Hunter Armstrong, Clever

3rd Place: Cody Britton, Clever

High School Individual Division

1st Place: Shawn Lammert, Liberty

2nd Place: Koy Essary, Crane

3rd Place: Bobbi LeBlanc, Crane

High Overall Female Division

1st Place: Bobbi LeBlanc, Crane

2nd Place: Alexis Henry, South Harrison

3rd Place: Brooke Hultz, Crane

High Overall Male Division

1st Place: Shawn Lammert, Liberty

2nd Place: Koy Essary, Crane

3rd Place: Will Koester, Liberty

Out of State Division

1st Place: Jacob Biddle, Arkansas

2nd Place: Jordan Biddle, Arkansas

SAR extends appreciation to all students, parents, teachers, coaches, and partners who contributed to the success of the first SAR tournament.

SAR, developed by the Missouri Youth Sport Shooting Alliance (MYSSA™), is a 501(c)3 nonprofit. SAR uses school aligned units of study, teacher training, universal whistle commands, positive language, and standardized equipment to facilitate an introduction to the lifetime sport of target shooting to school-aged youth in grades 4 through 12. Follow SAR on Facebook and Instagram by searching "Student Air Rifle Program-SAR".

For more information about the Student Air Rifle Program (SAR), visit www.studentairrifleprogram.org.

[SPPcoach]

If you follow the link it has some good pictures!

https://www.ssusa.org/articles/2017/6/2 ... -students/

Public School Students
by SSUSA Staff - Saturday, June 24, 2017

New Program Brings Air Rifle Competition to Missouri Public School Students

Have you heard of the Student Air Rifle Program (SAR) yet? Developed by the Missouri Youth Sport Shooting Alliance, this innovative new program has aligned itself with public schools, offering Olympic-style 10 meter standing air rifle competition for school-aged juniors in grades 4 through 12. The use of standardized equipment makes introducing competitive shooting to the next generation of student-athletes a breeze.

Student air rifle program competitor practicing in a Missouri h.s. gymnasium
SAR participants use the Umarex Embark Youth Air Rifle.

The new program is also introducing students to Olympic shooting sports, without the need for expensive equipment. Mike Thiemer, USA Shooting's coach academy director has been working with Jake Hindman, president of SAR for the last three years.

Firing line at second SAR Missouri state tournament
Forty-five student athletes competed at the second-ever Missouri SAR state tournament this past May.

Thiemer explained to SSUSA: “When Jake told me about his plans to bring an air rifle program into the public school system as a classroom activity, I did not think this would happen with so much anti-gun sentiment in school. Jake and his team of volunteers have put together a great program with teacher instructor training, professional-level training materials, air rifles, targets, pellets, funding support, etc. The program is ready to be delivered in any state and school system. It’s absolutely an incredible success story for the shooting sports.”

Basic Air Rifle Instructor class in Missouri
SAR Basic Air Rifle Instructor training class.

Five new Missouri schools will begin SAR programs in the next few months, and the group hopes to expand nationally in the future. SAR also offers Basic Air Rifle Instructor courses for coaches, parents and teachers interested in conducting matches at their own schools.

For more information visit: http://www.studentairrifleprogram.org.

[SPPcoach]

It looks like this program is growing. If it generates more grass roots enthusiasm in our youth for the shooting sports, then it is a good thing. It is casting the big net and getting lots of youth involved. It would be great if this went nationwide. There are other programs that these young athletes can 'grow into' to continue to refine their precision skills with more expensive equipment later.

SAR Reports 2017/2018 School Year Participation

Imperial, MO – The Student Air Rifle Program (SAR) reports over 2,100 students participated during SAR as part of in-school air rifle lessons during the recently finished 2017/2018 school year.

This past year’s participation brings total SAR student involvement in Missouri schools to over 6,000 students since the program was started”, noted Jake Hindman, President and CEO of SAR. “We thank the nearly 100 certified Basic Air Riflery Instructors (BARI) who facilitate and teach SAR curriculum to students. For additional information regarding SAR participation, check out our brief SARmetrics report by visiting http://www.studentairrifleprogram.org/program-overview.”

With a comprehensive curriculum, training, and universal equipment, SAR brings the fun and safe life skill of air rifle target shooting to students as part of physical education class.

"Upcoming pending partnerships with several fish and game agencies around the country will allow for even more students to experience shooting sports education. “We are looking forward to the upcoming 2018/2019 school year with a number of new states set to join SAR,” added Hindman. To start SAR in your state, school, or community, email us at info@studentairrifleprogram.org.”

About the Student Air Rifle Program (SAR):

SAR, developed by the Missouri Youth Sport Shooting Alliance (MYSSA™), is a 501(c)3 nonprofit. SAR uses school aligned units of study, teacher training, universal whistle commands, positive language, and standardized equipment to facilitate an introduction to the lifetime sport of target shooting to school-aged youth in grades 4 through 12. Follow SAR on Facebook and Instagram by searching “Student Air Rifle Program-SAR”.

For more information about the Student Air Rifle Program (SAR), visit http://www.studentairrifleprogram.org.

For more information contact info@studentairrifleprogram.org

[jhmartin]

My only comment here is that if this grassroots program wants to allow the kids to move on, they should think outside the archery mindset and not use whistle commands.
Use the voice commands that NRA, CMP & USAS/ISSF use.

The more consistent they are with other programs the better.

[SPPcoach]

The more consistent they are with other programs the better.

Agreed. We have this same issue in our program. I am a big believer in our program as a "feeder sport" to many other shooting programs. As such, we should keep commands and procedures in line with other programs we are feeding. There are always those that feel compelled to deviate because their way is more right because . . .

[jhmartin]

I don't think they are in that mindset .... hope not.
It's probably the only way they know .... just maybe a lack of research.

I'd hate for these kid to catch grief on the line at a "normal" event because they are waiting to respond to whistles and don't know what to do via voice commands .... although those are pretty self evident.

Probably more likely is one of the CMP/NRA/USAS shooters going into a whistle driven event and doing something deemed unsafe.

Confusion is never good

[SPPcoach]

on the line at a "normal" event

Ugh, come on. The definition of 'normal' is driven by our own bias and ego and usually towards a positive outcome but in reality rarely comes close to that.
What is 'normal' by my experience is;
Confusion (which event do I shoot next, what discipline is it, what bay are we on, what time do we start, where is my . . .).
Losing (out of 1187 entries at our event last month only 6 teams=24 athletes won 1st place). That is the nature of most sports.
Parents/coaches litigating for their athletes.

Probably more likely is one of the CMP/NRA/USAS shooters going into a whistle driven event . . .

You are a funny guy. I don't think that is likely at all! :-p I am trying to imagine the look on a precision shooters face when they are handed a https://www.pyramydair.com/s/m/Ruger_Explorer/2016 :-)


One of the things I teach in Coach class is that we have to be self-aware of dogma. It is stagnating. I will flash thru the slides I have of gun safety rules. Remington, Cooper, NRA, USA Shooting, BSA, 4H all have their own set of rules or commandments. They are all good! Use them all with your athletes. They all have justifiable reasons for doing things a certain way and they each come from a different perspective which is a good thing when assessing risk management.
Student Air Rifle is doing it differently than I would have done it. That is OK. They are opening a opportunity to shooting sports to youth that are otherwise out of reach. Awesome for them, and very good for the rest of the shooting community. Hopefully it leads them into other shooting sports, but we know for many, it won't. They still learned about discipline, sportsmanship, and safety.
That's good!

[SPPcoach]

I'd hate for these kid to catch grief on the line at a "normal" event because

Agreed. Here is my rant. I took two girls to the PPP Nationals last year. The referee on the line told them that the shirt that they were wearing during the practice session was illegal because it was camo.

It was pink, and it was purchased in the USA Shooting store upstairs. We had it embroidered with their names and team name and NOW, the day before the event we are told it is not legal. Irritated but fixable at the store that night.
The day of the event the same referee tells one of the girls her shorts are not legal because they are too short, so she cannot shoot. I ask where this is stated. He says "it is in the rules." I pull out the PPP rulebook I have with me (as all coaches should) and ask him to show me where this is listed. He responds that it is in the ISSF rulebook. I state that this is NOT an ISSF event and NOWHERE does it state in the event program or PPP rulebook that those apply. He won't budge. I ask him, "it is :30 minutes to the hotel, :10 minutes changing, :30 minutes back. What happens when we return in :70 minutes and she has missed her relay. My second athlete is using the same FBW in her relay so they can't shoot simultaneously" Blank stare from the official.
Another team mom overhears and offered a ridiculously oversized pair of pants. I thanked her graciously and she shot the event.

This is what will KILL youth enthusiasm for ANY sport. An overbearing adult fixated on rules that were not published in the event guide.
That is NOT how you create an event that welcomes youth participation.
Lets see. How many youth showed up at the JO Nationals for pistol this year?