TargetTalk

Hello currently at my club in Whitehall,NY we run a junior program on Saturdays from the first weekend in February through the last weekend in March. Right now the program is more of a safety and learning how to shoot a gun instead of a competition type of program. Most of the guns used are extremely old and inaccurate as well as the ammo they use. They also shoot the basic cloth coats and old gloves that are more like a pad and not a glove. The club can't afford to run out and buy all new equipment but if we can get this program headed in the right direction i think they could be convinced to spend the money.However a couple of the people running it want to turn it into a program that can either bring juniors up through to compete in our league(which uses NRA rules) or to potentially have them go to competitions and compete and have a chance to win as well as getting a potential chance as using shooting as a way to help with college expenses. I was wondering if people have any ideas on how to get this program headed in that direction.
Sincerely
Jason Pratt

Jason,

You already have a perfect base to expand your program. You have past students, equipment to start, and folks interested in helping out.

First, apply for Friends of the NRA grants. I don't know about NY, but the program I used to be involved with here in NC receives thousands of dollars a year in our FNRA Grant.

Next, I'd start with the NRA Qualification Program (Distinguished Expert). This gives your shooters small, attainable goals to help them get better. If you buy the pins or stickers that represent the different levels, you can let them show off their progress.

In terms of equipment, I'd buy guns first. Do you plan on doing smallbore, air rifle, or both?

Hi Jason,

For a "Start Up" and starting over is sort of a start up, CMP is your best bet. FoNRA will have some funds to help, but you're going to need much more of what CMP has to offer. Here's your State Director's contact info. If She can't help you, there's another State Director close by.

Best Regards, and Good Luck!

http://www.odcmp.com/Training/SD.htm

NY Jennifer Canfield
507 Palmer St
Jamestown, NY 14701 (716) 487-2487 (H)

Home Email: jcanfield1452@msn.com

GCSInc wrote:Hi Jason,

For a "Start Up" and starting over is sort of a start up, CMP is your best bet. FoNRA will have some funds to help, but you're going to need much more of what CMP has to offer. Here's your State Director's contact info. If She can't help you, there's another State Director close by.

Best Regards, and Good Luck!

http://www.odcmp.com/Training/SD.htm

NY Jennifer Canfield
507 Palmer St
Jamestown, NY 14701 (716) 487-2487 (H)

Home Email: jcanfield1452@msn.com

I agree although the NRA can help you with money. However, the CMP has a package deal of sporter rifles that you can get. The package is setup to get clubs started and it is available through your CMP director. I believe that package is mostly if not entirely paid through a special fund setup for each of the state directors. Just contact your director for the exact details. The rifles I believed are four or five refurbished Daisy Sporter rifles and I can't remember what else is included in the package.

Does any body know the weight of the rifles as a couple of the juniors are small and need a lighter rifle. An i know that some grants you have to be qualified as a non-profit or a not for profit organization in this the case in either the NRA or cmp programs

Jason,

The rifles the folks above are talking about are Daisy pneumatic pump rifles like the 853/753 or 953 series. They are lightweight (less than 7 lbs), inexpensive (no grief chopping the stocks down a bit), and are very accurate. Triggers are a bit heavy (3lbs, but you can work them down to 2 easily). These rifles are/were designed for 3-P air rifle, but they are difficult in the prone position for very young shooters to cock. the Daisy 888/887 series overcome this, but at the expense of a bit more weight (still less than 7.5 lbs) and use CO2 to power them. There are other sporter rifles available, but they are a bit more expensive

Following is an opinion I've formed over the last few years:
1) NRA programs are great for the initial instruction and teaching of both basic rifle pistol skills and competitive programs. But, to shoot in more national level events you'll, by default, progress into:
2) CMP 3-P air rifle programs which offer probably the most of the junior air rifle shooting in the US now as many JROTC programs shoot their matches under this National Governing Body (NGB). CMP has both (as does the NRA) "sporter" and "precision" categories. Under CMP your kids can compete to fire into the 3-P Air Junior Olympics.
3) As you kids move on and possibly into smallbore as well, you will want to affiliate also with USA Shooting to fire in the "International Events" ... i.e. Olympic style shooting. Under this NGB your kids will have the opportunity to compete for invitations to the USAS Junior Olympics.

Most (if not all) junior clubs practice & fire under NRA and CMP rules, while a large percentage of them fire under all three NGBs (NRA, CMP & USAS).

As Soupy44 stated, the NRA Foundation grants are a great way to get started in terms of some equipment ... you do not have to be a 501(c)(3) org, but if not there are a few more hoops to jump thru.

You are in an area rich with ideas and organizations that are affiliated with the NGBs and 99% of them can help you out. Try and find them and go visit some of the practices and competitions to get a feel for what is going on in your area.

Currently the club only shoots small-bore rifle and do not have any air rifles the problem with air rifles is most of the gentlemen helping out have no experience with air rifles as well as no experience with international rules. Does anyone know where i can find out where coaching certifications are so we can get a couple of extra guys certified to coach as well
Jason

Contact Marcus Raab at NRA hqtrs.
Marcus is in charge of the NRA/CMP/USAS Rifle coach certification programs.
http://www.nrahq.org/education/training ... /index.asp

pratt2208 wrote:Currently the club only shoots small-bore rifle and do not have any air rifles the problem with air rifles is most of the gentlemen helping out have no experience with air rifles as well as no experience with international rules. Does anyone know where i can find out where coaching certifications are so we can get a couple of extra guys certified to coach as well
Jason

I agree with JHMartin and it sounds like your help dosen't have much coaching experience. Therefore, coaching classes will help and it can help out later on if your looking at getting insured. If you make it a 4H club then the 4H can help alleviate your insurance costs by do the few 4H things, which can be done in conjunction with your regular training programs.

The club will grow larger with the introduction of airguns, which despite the cost of competition airguns they are generally less expensive then a competition smallbore rifle, which will be a factor in getting parents to commit to the sport. Smallbore can be introduced later on as the program grows unless you have some kids already into smallbore rifle.

I agree with what JHMartin has said.

Now you can even bring in CMP to do ITC here is some info:
Camp Riflery programs are among the most popular activities at summer camps where riflery is offered. Camp Riflery offers boys and girls the opportunity to master safe gun handling and marksmanship skills while learning about the exciting Olympic Sport of target shooting. Campers learn to handle rifles safely and how to fire them accurately at targets while developing valuable life skills that will benefit them as they grow and mature.

The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) has developed a Camp Riflery program for youth camps that can assist and support them in offering riflery programs to their campers. Click on any of the following headings for more information.

SOME INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT SHOOTING!

Riflery is one of the safest of all youth sports. In 2003, the CMP implemented new safety standards for all rifle shooting activities. Since those changes, there have been zero gun accidents in all supervised youth shooting sport activities in the USA.
Because of Camp Riflery’s outstanding safety record, Riflery has little or no impact on camp liability insurance costs.
Gender, size, strength, speed, and physical ability are not important factors in determining success in the shooting sports.
Anyone can be a successful shooting sports participant if they are willing to practice.
Shooting sports teach life skills—discipline, responsibility ,the rewards of hard work, self-control and respect for others.
Shooting is an Olympic sport. Shooting is an NCAA college sport. Shooting is a varsity or club sport in many high schools.
It’s Fun!

Instructor Training Courses. The goal of the CMP Camp Riflery Instructor Training Course (ITC) is to train individuals who will work as camp riflery instructors so that they can return to their camps and, with very little assistance, teach rifle marksmanship and operate a camp range safely. The ITC is a demanding course of instruction training over two days. During the course, the potential camp instructor must demonstrate that he or she can run a safe range and teach the fundamentals of rifle marksmanship. The course concludes with a 100 question final exam that must be passed with a score of 80 or better to graduate. Although most ITC instruction and training is done with BB guns, the fundamentals of rifle target shooting are the same for BB gun, air rifle and smallbore rifle. Safety concerns vary for each discipline, but safety and marksmanship skills developed with one type or rifle readily apply to any other type of rifle shooting. more here to setup a course http://www.odcmp.com/Training/CRProgram.htm

Skill awards are an essential part of any developmental sports program. Motivating campers to work to achieve established skill levels and recognizing their achievements are important. Skill awards show parents and friends how they did in camp and remind campers of the fun they had long after camp is over. The awards focus attention on the results of their own personal efforts - not on how they do in competition with other campers. More on this read here http://www.odcmp.com/Training/SkillAwards.html
We use the CMP riflery skill awards and it fit in our budget better than NRA does.
I offer the JROTC Riflery test but I have changed to not saying cadets etc.
Now for NRA you can set your program as NRA Day event for $20.00 and you could get T-shirts and some other supplies for you camp.

We have been doing camps in AZ for 3 years now and I fill our 3PAR 4 day camps each time. Remember there is a lot of home schoolers out there.

We did 2 4 day camps last year for 7-18 year old's we trained 85 kids in the 2 camps. Yes I said 7-11 year old's. Daisy make's a small 2.5 pound rifle CMP let you shoot up to state level only good starter one pump 300 fps we add tire weights near front sight to help with better control.

Daisy sells mentor rifle 2.5 pound with comp sights rear and front for $64.00 ea. We just received 6 more thru AZ Friends of NRA grant.

We have trained 150 kids in the last 3 years in 3par.
Sense we have done this AZ now has a 3par sporter club division. We now hold about 4 extra tournaments year here in AZ and 3 of them are cup matches. We now have our sights set to open the first inner city open to public 10 meter 3par 20 lane airgun range for kids and adults.

We are starting the CMP NATIONAL MATCH AIR RIFLE Program this year and we received 5 of the MAR177 AR Clone Airrifle uppers. We now are doing clinics for this.

Sorry I forgot we use the Daisy 853 from CMP http://www.odcmp.com/Sales/airrifles.htm $100 ea. for the bigger kids and 845 mentor (from daisy) for the smaller kids nothing else. We do not have them use any offhand or scope stands. Reason for this is that we make them learn to brake their position get back in their position.

We end each camp with a tournament, we use this as our finial for the camp shooters. Now you can invite other local clubs to come a shoot in the tournament and use this as away to help raise money thru tournament fee to other club not camp kids sense this is still part of camp.

We have a vender sell hamburgers and hotdogs and they give us $1.00 donation per $5.00 food plate (with chips and water) they sell.

Now we use the CMP teaching guides

NLU# 747 Guide to Lead Management for Air Gun Shooting
A 20-page booklet produced jointly by USA Shooting and the CMP
that summarizes test data and recommendations for best practices
regarding lead management for air gun ranges. FREE

NLU # 748 Teaching Rifle Positions to New Junior Shooters A
12-page pamphlet detailing with text and photos the newest methods
for teaching the standing, prone and kneeling positions to new
shooters. Published by the CMP. FREE

NLU # 701 Air Rifle Range Safety Rules Poster This 11x17
poster is made for display on ranges and in club rooms. The
poster shows basic safety rules that focus on muzzle, action and
trigger, plus eight important, additional rules that must be
followed on all air gun ranges. FREE

NLU # 741 A Junior Shooter’s Guide to Air Rifle Safety A 20-page
booklet; written for junior air rifle shooters, but it provides safety rules,
procedures and guidelines that can be used by youth or adult shooters
in any range firing situation. FREE

NLU # 718 Air Rifle Marksmanship For Youth Brochure This
document provides comprehensive, factual information for youth
organization leaders and school administrators to consider when
deciding whether to establish or approve rifle marksmanship
programs. This document may also be used by youth and their
parents to learn more about air rifle marksmanship. FREE

order form http://www.odcmp.com/Forms/Publications.pdf

When kids start adv teach them how to use this:
NLU # 703 Shooter’s Journal An 48-page shooter’s journal suitable
for use as a shooters diary to record information about personal
scores and training or competition activities. FREE

Remember you have to pay shipping

Hope this helps.

I recommend starting new shooters off with the air rifle, then progressing to small bore after they have a really good feel for position shooting. I agree about what was said earlier about the pump guns...they force the shooter to get out of position. Starting with a PCP air rifle is going to be better for the shooter. More important than that, though, is getting as many youngsters involved in our sport!!!!!

Best of luck to you!!!!

-Doug

CMP Does have good price for 853's rebuilt $100 Plus S/H
This will help keep your cost down. Now the 853 are good for kids 12 and up. For kids 7-11 you want use the mentor 845 contact Daisy they are 65.00 Plus S/H.

Denise Johnson
National Account Manager
Special Market Programs
Daisy Outdoor Products
479-621-4317
djohnso@daisy.com

co2 and PCP CMP approved rifles cost to much for one co2 you can buy 3 853's or one PCP that's 5 853's. keep basic and simple and if you don't have a big budget best way to start. Our Jr club never owned one PCP OR CO2 for a year. Suggestion call and ask some local JROTC units to see if they have extra 853's they can give up. Yes some do I have received in one years time 20 853's just by calling them and going to there JO shoot. You would want to do this any way your kids would be shooting in the JO shoot some time down the line. Sense we started doing this 3 years ago we have added a new shooting division to our state for Jr shooting.

someone said to contact your CMP state contact, find out if he or she run any of the shoots. You would be in club division. Most of your kids may just want to target shoot this is great a pool of kids just for club membership, some may change their minds later. Now A few will want to shoot tournament. See if JROTC is running a JMIC course this has better tools than the NRA Coach course. This will come with a power point cd that you can change and personalize it to your club plus it comes with a test. If you ever need a test for you program that is the same test as the JROTC uses but I changed verbiage to be civilian 25 qt's pass by 80% JROTC kids have to pass 100%.

email me info@shootrightaz.org anytime I'm Arizona Rifle Pistol Association Airgun Jr & Adult State director.