HOUSTON, TEXAS – Primary Arms and the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) are celebrating National Shooting Sports Month with a special giveaway: an AR15 gear box valued at over $2,800.

Every August, National Shooting Sports Month calls for American gun-owners to get out and support shooting sports with participation and outreach. Already, 2021 has seen record growth in American gun-ownership, and National Shooting Sports Month is the perfect opportunity to continue that growth by showing the fun, positive atmosphere of shooting sports. Many of the industry’s largest names are turning out to support the effort, including Primary Arms, who is partnering with the National Shooting Sports Foundation for a month-long free rifle giveaway.

The ‘Primary Arms Personal Defense Package’ Gear Box includes everything you need to get started on the range. Combined, the total package is valued at over $2,800 and includes premium components from some of the industry’s leading manufacturers.

The centerpiece of the giveaway is a Geissele Automatics Super Duty 16” AR15 in Gray, which comes equipped with Primary Arms Optics’ SLx® Advanced Rotary Knob Microdot, a Reptilia Corp 1.93” DOT Mount, a SureFire M640DF Scout Light Pro, an Arisaka Defense M-LOK Indexer, and a Blue Force Gear Vickers sling. Primary Arms has also included five DURAMAG Steel 5.56 30-round magazines, plus a Tru-Spec 24/7 Series Original Tactical Pant and Primary Arms Logo T-Shirt.

“National Shooting Sports Month is one of the most important times for the gun community,” says Dina Sanders, Primary Arms’ Brand Marketing Manager. “Outreach is everything, so we partnered with the National Shooting Sports Foundation on a giveaway that can excite new gun-owners and experienced collectors alike.” Read more

USA Shooting ended its impressive Olympic run-on Monday failing to qualify for finals of either the Men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol or the Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions. But they were two of the very few times the team wasn’t in contention for a medal in the 12 days of competition. The team is bringing home the most medals since the 1920 Antwerp games: three gold’s, two silvers and a bronze.

It was a notable display, with patience and grit the key components to an American squad that was full of rookies to Olympic competition. They will all most likely be part of the 2024 squad that competes in the games in Paris.

“This team has bounced amazingly well,” Shotgun Coach Jay Waldron said of the team. “Everything that has come at them with the COVID delay, not knowing and the last-minute changes of everything, how everyone has just learned to bounce and to take things as they come.”

Coming out of the Rio games in 2016, USA Shooting left the Brazilian hot spot with two medals, both in Women’s events, Virginia Thrasher gold in air rifle, and bronze for Kim Rhode in skeet.

It was clearly a letdown and had to make the focus even more acute at the headquarters in Colorado Springs.

For Vincent Hancock, going to Rio as the favorite and then not even making the finals, not only left a bad taste in his mouth having won gold in Beijing and London, so Hancock looked for payback in Tokyo.

“In Rio there were a lot of different things going on that I let get to me and I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind,” Hancock said after capturing the skeet competition and his third gold medal. “Coming into here, I knew that I had the chance to do it, I knew that I could do it and I was enjoying every moment I had.”

Hancock at 32, is the undisputed leader of this team and his efforts to win the skeet competition was inspiring and a catalyst for the rest of the group to build on.

“Vinny has been a huge inspiration for me, as well as a huge asset to our team,” Amber English said of Hancock. “His pieces of advice are good for me. Before the Games we spent a lot of time and could train together.” Read more

Millions of New Gun Owners Will Join in the Fun of National Shooting Sports Month® in August

Whether you’re a first-time gun owner or experienced, here are 10 ways to enjoy the target shooting sports and special events

NEWTOWN, Conn. – America’s millions of first-time firearm owners will find National Shooting Sports Month® in August a great time to enjoy using their new firearms, whether in a training course, competition or simply having fun shooting targets with friends. NSSF® estimates 8.4 million people purchased their first firearm last year, with many of them being non-traditional buyers.

Developed by NSSF, the firearm industry trade association, National Shooting Sports Month encourages newcomers as well as experienced gun owners to spend an exciting day at the range with their handgun, rifle or shotgun enjoying the target-shooting sports, which boast more than 56 million adult and youth participants.

As if you needed help to find ways to enjoy National Shooting Sports Month, here are 10 of them: Read more

Beaverton, OR – Catalyst Arms, LLC, a firearms accessory company, has introduced the Apex Bag Rider for the butt stock of the Ruger Precision Rimfire. The Apex Bag Rider dramatically improves the functionality and stability of the butt stock when using a rear support bag.

To help get on target the Apex Bag Rider’s angled shape allows for generous amount of rapid elevation adjustment. Simply slide your rear support bag fore or aft to raise or lower the butt stock. This lets the stock rest on the bag rather than relying on uneven grip pressure to maintain the desired shooting position.

Designed specifically for the Ruger Precision Rimfire, this Apex perfectly matches the lines of the butt stock. It literally only takes a few seconds to install by sliding over the factory bottom Picatinny rail and is secured with a single screw without any modification or disassembly of the rifle. Read more

Whigham, GA – At Trulock Choke Tubes, we understand there is a lot of confusing information regarding chokes tube selection and shot loads for any given scenario, which is why we enjoyed a recent article by the Shotgun Report Technoid, Bruck Buck titled, “The 7 ½ Shot at Sporting.” We reached out to Bruce and received permission to reprint the article to share. It was originally posted on the Shotgun Report on May 24, 2021. This article offers great advice from Bruce Buck, the “Technoid,” on chokes and shot sizes. He is primarily referencing Sporting Clays, but this is also a good starting point for doves or any other small gamebird where distances can vary by a large degree. However, we also recommend patterning your gun with your load(s) and chokes to make sure.

Dear Guru of Gear:

Last weekend my buddies and I did some practicing on a really tough, long-range teal shot on the 5-stand at Sporting Clays. It is a standard target, with the entire top side exposed to the shooter at a range I would guess to be 45 yards. It angles lightly to the right, which makes it deceptive. I was shooting with modified chokes and no. 7 1/2 shot, but a AA shooter was breaking it with IC and no. 8 shot.

I have noticed that some sporting clay shooters use no. 7 1/2 shot at every target that is beyond arm’s length, while others almost never use them. In Gary Phillips’ video, he says he relies chiefly on no. 8, only occasionally using no. 7 1/2. When I checked my “Choke Chooser” for recommendations on chokes and loads for a few selected target presentations, I found that no. 8 shot generally gives better results than no. 7 1/2, even at fairly long range. It appears that the greater number of pellets in a charge of no. 8 gives it an advantage in effective pattern size. Still, there must be some range beyond which the greater retained energy of the larger shot becomes an advantage. Read more

Whitetails Unlimited awarded a $2,500 grant to the Student Air Rifle Program which was developed by the Missouri Youth Sport Shooting Alliance. This brings the total WTU has contributed to SAR to $10,000. The SAR is a national school-based air rifle program that promotes safety, teamwork, focus, self-esteem, and marksmanship.

Since its inception 5 years ago, the program has trained instructors in more than 75 schools reaching more than 11,000 students. It uses school aligned units of study, teacher training, universal whistle commands, positive language, and standardized equipment. Students use .177-claiber pellet rifles, shooting at reactive and paper targets at 10 meters, in front of a safety backstop.

“WTU has been a partner of the SAR program since the start,” said Whitetails Unlimited Program Services Director Russ Austad. “It has been very exciting to see how far the program has come in the past 5 years.” Read more

GENESEO, ILL. – Springfield Armory® is proud to announce the newest addition to its award-winning family of 1911’s—the Emissary. Bridging the gap between duty and custom handguns, the Emissary delivers a bold and capable 1911 pistol with defense-minded features intended for serious use.

The new Emissary blends form and function seamlessly in a firearm built for defense and loaded with custom-grade features. It’s constructed with a forged stainless steel frame and forged carbon steel slide, with a beautiful two-tone finish. The blued carbon steel slide pairs with a stainless steel frame featuring a distinctive squared trigger guard with additional room for ease of operation with a gloved hand.

The slide’s “Tri-Top” cut gives the Emissary custom styling, while a flattened top strap is finished with 40 LPI serrations to diffuse light and reduce glare. On top, the tritium and luminescent front sight on the Emissary pairs with a Tactical Rack U-Dot™ rear sight for easy target acquisition in all lighting conditions.

Inside the slide, a bushingless heavy stainless steel bull barrel delivers maximum accuracy while reducing felt recoil and muzzle flip. In addition, the Emissary’s skeletonized hammer delivers ultra-fast lock times and combines with a solid-body, flat-faced trigger for top-end performance.

The forged stainless frame’s front strap and mainspring housing are wrapped in a grenade-pattern texture for firm engagement in adverse conditions, which are matched with slim line grip panels by VZ Grips® machined from G10. At the front, a Picatinny accessory rail is integrated into the steel of the frame and is ready to accept a light, laser or combo of your choice.

Each pistol comes with two top-quality 8-round stainless steel magazines with base pads. MSRP is $1,279. Read more

NEWINGTON, N.H., (July 27, 2021) – National Shooting Sports Month begins in August and SIG SAUER, Inc. is pleased to announce support for the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s (NSSF) annual initiative to celebrate the shooting sports. Beginning August 1st – 31st, SIG SAUER, in conjunction with the NSSF, is offering an exclusive SIG SAUER Shooting Sports Gear Box.

The SIG SAUER Shooting Sports Gear Box includes a SIG SAUER CROSS Bolt-Action Rifle, a SIG SAUER Electro-Optics SIERRA3 BDX combo kit including rangefinder and riflescope, SIG SAUER Elite Hunter ammunition, and exclusive SIG SAUER Hunt Like A Warrior Gear. To enter for a chance to win the SIG SAUER Gear Box visit letsgoshooting.org.

“SIG SAUER is proud to support NSSF and all of their safety, shooting, and hunting initiatives during National Shooting Sports Month, and throughout the year, to raise awareness and participation in the shooting sports,” said Tom Taylor, Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President, Commercial Sales, SIG SAUER,Inc. “With a record number of Americans becoming firearm owners, active participation across the industry in National Shooting Sports Month, and all of the important NSSF initiatives, is essential to ensuring that the shooting sports, and our 2nd Amendment rights are protected and enjoyed for generations to come.” Read more

The National Anthem was played twice from the Asaka Shooting Range on Monday as American’s Vincent Hancock and Amber English captured gold in the Women’s and Men’s Skeet competition.

By far one of the most profitable days in USA Shooting Olympic history, both Hancock and English took different approaches in the two days of competition to win Hancock’s third gold medal, having won in 2008 Beijing and 2012 London and English’s first.

“I’ve just been so excited to get here, knowing that I’m capable of doing what I just did,” The 32-year-old Hancock said after winning in go away fashion in the finals. “I felt so good throughout this entire competition, so happy that I was able to come out on top again and whether it ended up being a gold medal or just being here, I’m just happy right now.”

Hancock was perfect, hitting all 75 targets in day one of qualifying and started the second day of competition just as hot hitting all 25 targets in the fourth session.  Sitting all 100 for 100, Hancock was on the verge of tying the world record of 125 set by Italian Valerio Luchini in Beijing in 2019. Read more

NSSF has learned of a recent ATF internal memorandum that we wanted to share with our members:

“On June 23, 2021, President Biden and Attorney General Garland announced the Administration’s Comprehensive Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gun Crime and Ensure Public Safety. ATF’s role in the Strategy is essential, and includes refocusing our FFL inspection and administrative action policies. As we have previously discussed, to ensure ATF effectively executes our role in the Strategy, effective immediately, all Field Divisions shall implement the following:

1) Field divisions shall in all instances utilize Crime Gun Intelligence Analytics (CGIA) and other data driven tools in determining prioritization of inspection resources. The factors that shall be considered include, but are not limited to, the following:
a. The extent to which firearms sold by the dealer are later used in criminal activity:
b. The time between the sale of a firearm and its use in a crime;
c. The number of recoveries associated with shootings, domestic violence, and other violent offenses; and
d. Additional information developed by local law enforcement partners.

2) Absent extraordinary circumstances, an inspection that results in a finding that an FFL has willfully committed any of the following violations shall result in a revocation recommendation:
a. The transfer of a firearm to a prohibited person;
b. Failing to conduct a required background check;
c. Falsification of records, such as a firearms transaction form;
d. Failing to respond to an ATF tracing request;
e. Refusing to permit ATF to conduct an inspection in violation of the law. Read more