The 2011 Pan American Games are underway in Guadalajara, Mexico, and American shooters have already distinguished themselves. The Games opened on October 14th and will continue through October 30th, though the last day of shooting is Saturday, October 22nd. The Pan American Games, always held the year preceding the Olympic Games, have attracted athletes from 41 North-, Central- and South-American nations. For the latest shooting results and news, visit USAShooting.org.
Americans have already won Gold Medals in the competition. On the first day of competition, Two-time Olympian SFC Daryl Szarenski, a member of the U.S. Army’s World Class Athlete Program, won gold in the 10m Pistol event, setting a Pan American Games record for total points with 681.7 points.
On Monday, Oct. 17, Emily Caruso won the 10m Air Rifle Gold Medal, tying the Pan American record with a 396 score. In the Mens’ 10m Air Rifle, American Matt Rawlings set a new Pan American games record with his 696.7 score in the finals. (He had previously broken his own PanAm Games record in the qualifying round). Team-mate Jonathan Hall took the Silver Medal. Rawlings’ win and Hall’s second-place finish earned the USA two coveted quotas for next year’s Olympics. “I came here for the quota,” Hall said, “and I’m proud to bring it home to my country.”
The Trap and Skeet Shooters will be competing Oct. 18-21. The U.S. Team has high hopes for male Trap shooters Matt Gossett, and Jake Turner. Gossett, the current USA Mean’s National Champion, finished fourth at the 2010 World Championship. Olympic Gold Medalist Kim Rhodes competes in the Skeet event on Oct. 21, while fellow U.S. Olympic Team member Vincent Hancock goes for the gold on Oct. 22. Hancock won the men’s Skeet event at the 2008 Olympics. Also on the 22nd, the final day for shooting matches, Team USA shooters will compete in the Women’s 50m Rifle Three Position and Men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol events. You’ll find complete match results on the official Pan American Games Website. In addition, USAShooting.org features shooter profiles, match reports, and Team USA photos.
For the next week (through September 20, 2011), Pyramyd Air is offering 10% off nearly its entire inventory of airguns and shooting accessories. To get your 10% savings simply enter code “AirgunsSep14-2011″ (without the quotes), during check-out. NOTE: This offer cannot be combined with free shipping offers.
Big Discounts on Close-Out Air Rifles
In addition, Pyramyd Air has deeply discounted some “close-out” air rifles, with prices up to 40% off. Here are some of the best deals:
Air Arms S400 MPR Left-Hand 10m Rifle: Now $795.95, reduced from $1050.00
This gun delivers 7 joules (5.16 ft-lbs) to meet international 10m match rules. The match trigger adjusts for first-stage length and second-stage pull weight, and the trigger shoe can be moved up or down and forward or back. The gun has an adjustable cheekpiece and spacers can be added to increase LOP. The gun comes complete with front and rear match sights.
Hammerli Pneuma PCP Air Rifle: Now $299.95, reduced from $556.30
Very powerful .177 hunting rifle with unique thumbhole stock & removable air tank with built-in pressure gauge. Integrated rail accepts Weaver or 11mm mounts.
Evanix Blizzard S10 Long: Now $599.99, reduced from $850.00
Powerful air rifle for hunting with 320cc air reservoir (2,900 psi). Right-hand or Left-hand stocks available (for same price). Built-in air pressure gauge (manometer). Two-stage trigger adjusts for LOP and position (3 positions). (Scope not included).
Congratulations to all of the 2011 winners and thanks to everyone who made the trip to Camp Perry for the competition this year. We would also like to extend our thanks to the staff, volunteers, and our friends with the Civilian Marksmanship Program and Ohio National Guard for their hard work that made this year such a big success.
2012 Championship Moves to Alabama
Match organizers hope to see everyone again in 2012 when the competition moves to Anniston, Alabama! Below is a slide show from Day 1 of the competition at Camp Perry in late June.
Story by Kerrin Brinkman and photos courtesy the NRA BLOG.
Pyramyd Air, the nation’s leading source for air pistols and air rifles, is running some great promotions for the Fourth of July Holiday. First of all, Pyramyd is offering FREE Ground Shipping (in lower 48) for all orders of $100.00 or more. Second, as a separate promotion, you can save 10% on your Pyramyd Air purchases by using COUPON CODE “AirgunsJun28-2011″ during check-out in Pyramyd’s web store. The 10% off deal is good through July 11, 2011 (but it cannot be combined with the Free Shipping offer). One last item of interest — if you are a good photographer, you can win a $50.00 Pyramyd Air Gift Card as the “Big Shot of the Week”. To enter, simply upload a photo to Pyramyd’s Facebook Page.
‘Tis the season for Air Rifles at Camp Perry. The NRA National Junior Air Gun Championship at Camp Perry just concluded yesterday, June 25th, 2011. Photos from the event are displayed in the slide show below (courtesy the NRA Blog).
National Junior Olympic 3-Position Air Rifle Championships
Today, June 26th, the National Junior Olympic 3-Position Air Rifle (3PAR) Championships commences. The event will run for six days, finishing July 1st. The Junior Olympic Tournament will be held at the CMP Marksmanship Center (North) at Camp Perry. The CMP will provide special LIVE coverage for the 3PAR Junior Olympic event. Live target images and results will be available on the CMP website at http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=7132.
CMP Joins Facebook
The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) now has an official Facebook Page. There you’ll find news, match reports, photos, plus the latest updates in CMP Programs and Sales. You can also link to events if you have your own personal Facebook page. CLICK HERE to visit the CMP’s new Facebook Page.
The 2011 NRA Intercollegiate Rifle Club Championships, hosted by Clemson University, conclude today. We have final results from the Air Rifle competition which wrapped up earlier. Clayton Peck of Michigan State won the overall air rifle title with a 582 score. Clemson’s Dylan Smith took second with 570, barely edging Tori Kostecki from North Georgia CSU who posted a 569. In team competition, Clemson won gold, Penn State took second, while West Virginia finished third. Below is a slide show with images from the air rifle finals which took place at The Citadel Marksmanship Center.
The 2011 NCAA Rifle Championships is history and two new individual Champions have been crowned. The Univ. of Kentucky’s Ethan Settlemires shoot superbly throughout the smallbore matches to beat West Virginia’s Nicco Campriani by just two points. But Campriani came right back to win the very competitive Air Rifle event, edging out his WV team-mate Petra Zublasing by 2.8 points.
Kentucky Wildcats Finally Win Team Championship
In team competition, the Univ. of Kentucky, lead by Heather Greathouse and Ethan Settlemires, won the overall team national title. This was Kentucky’s first NCAA Rifle team championship, though Kentucky had recorded 16 ‘Top-10′ finishes since 1994. After UK won the smallbore NCAA title on Friday in the first day of competition, the Wildcats held off West Virginia’s charge in air rifle on Saturday to secure the first national championship in program history, finishing with a 4,700 team total score.
You’ll find extensive coverage of both smallbore and air rifle competition on the NCAA sports website, including video highlights. CLICK HERE to visit the NCAA’s Rifle Championship web page.
Eathan Settlemires of Univ. of Kentucky Wins Smallbore Championship
The results for the smallbore portion of the 2011 NCAA Rifle Championship are in. With strong showings from the West Virginia University as well as Memphis and Texas Christian, it was the University of Kentucky’s Ethan Settlemires who came out on top.
Final scores for the top six Smallbore shooters are:
2011 NCAA Rifle Championship – Smallbore
Name
School
Results
Ethan Settlemires
University of Kentucky
691.0
Nicco Campriani
West Virginia University
689.0
Heather Greathouse
University of Kentucky
685.5
Tom Santelli
West Virginia University
683.8
Daniel Hermsmeier
University of Memphis
682.6
Caitlin Morrissey
Texas Christian University
682.1
West Virginia’s Campriani wins 2011 NCAA Air Rifle Individual Title
Nicco Campriani of West Virginia University powered on through relay number three with an astounding score of 599. Though his teammate Petra Zublasing managed a higher score in the final round (105.2 to Campriani’s 102), it was enough to overtake Nicco’s initial run.
The top six shooters at the Air Rifle portion of the 2011 NCAA Rifle Championships (held in Columbus State University’s Frank G. Lumpkin Jr. Center) are:
When Olympian Matt Emmons wasn’t on the firing line at the 2010 International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Final in October, the shooting community took note. Emmons was in New York battling thyroid cancer and recovering from a surgery that removed his entire thyroid. After his surgery, Emmons competed in the 2010 USA Shooting Winter Airgun Championship and reached the podium each day in Men’s 10m Air Rifle.
In February, Emmons won the 2011 Rocky Mountain Rifle Overall Championships. With that gutsy performance, Emmons served notice that he is back, and he’s the man to beat. Emmons set a new USA Shooting National Record with 1188 points in Men’s 50m Rifle 3P qualifier. Moreover, Emmons finished the three-position match with a 19.6 point margin over the silver medalist. His final score was 1188 points in day one, 1179 points in day two and 101.6 points in the final for a total of 2468.6 points. He also topped the competition in Men’s 50m Rifle Prone with 1303.6 total points. Emmons also took gold in the Men’s 10m Air Rifle event with 1295.3 total points.
Emmons was named the match’s Overall Champion after winning all three events in the Rocky Mountain Rifle Championships and finishing an impressive 27 points ahead of the next competitor. National Rifle Coach Major Dave Johnson said, “Emmons continues to build towards the spring World Cups; he’s had an incredible tournament and has worked very hard in recovery.” Performances such as Emmons’ deserve to be recognized, which is why Matt Emmons is the ELEY/USA Shooting Athlete of the Month. We congratulate Emmons and wish him continued success as he prepares for his first ISSF World Cup of the season in Sydney, Australia, March 21 to 30.
The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) is seeking college-age counselors for its highly popular Three-Position Air Rifle Summer Camps for high school athletes. Camp Counselor positions are open to collegians who have completed at least one year of college and are members of an NCAA or college club rifle team.
Applicants must be available to work and travel from 24 May through 29 July 2011. Selection will be based on academic performance, shooting experience, coaching and youth leadership experience, and references.
DEADLINE: Applications must be received by 18 March 2011.
Counselors are paid $400-$500 per week (depending on seniority) plus $30 daily per diem. All travel and lodging costs are covered by the CMP once the camps begin, though the counselors must provide their own transport to the training location (Anniston, AL) and back home at the end of the summer. Job duties primarily consist of working with groups of five or more high school athletes at five-day summer camps, following a camp curriculum designed by DCM Emeritus Gary Anderson.
Interested candidates may download an Application from the link below and send it to Sommer Wood, CMP Summer Rifle Camps, P. O. Box 576, Port Clinton, Ohio 43452. Forms may be faxed to Sommer Wood at: (419) 635-2573. Email questions to swood@odcmp.com. Applications must be received by 18 March 2011. Applicant notification will be mailed by 4 April 2011.
Employment will begin on 24 May with a training session at CMP South Headquarters in Anniston, AL. The 2011 camp schedule includes five full-length, three-position air rifle camps, one advanced standing position camp, providing support staff at the Three-Position National Junior Olympics and a three-day air rifle clinic. The staff will have the week of 9-16 July off to compete in the USA Shooting National Championships. A complete 2011 camp schedule is provided below:
Bargain Competition Air Rifle — Model 200 S
The new red and black model 200 S air rifle from CZ-USA is an excellent deal at $429.00 MSRP. Expect to find this at discounters for around $399.00. For that price you get a modern, ergonomic three-position stock, an nice adjustable 2-stage trigger with low pull weight, and a 4x32mm scope. The action also has dovetails to mount iron sights. Offering 16 Joules of energy from its gauge-equipped air cylinder, the 200 S airgun will launch .177 caliber pellets at 800 FPS. As Kelly Bachand explains in the video below, this rifle offers plenty of bang for the buck. Kelly says he has “spent a lot more money for an air rifle with far fewer features.” If you are looking for a training rifle for your club or organization, the CZ 200 S would be a good choice. Kelly feels this air rifle is a real winner for the price.
Perfect Fit — the CZ550 FS Mannlicher
As this website’s Editor, I see hundreds of rifles at SHOT Show. If there was one rifle I wanted to purchase and take home from this year’s Show, it was the CZ 550 FS (see video above). A 7.2-lb Mannlicher-stocked field rifle, with 20.5″ barrel, this gun fit me like a dream. Equipped with safari-style iron sights, the rifle mounted and indexed perfectly. The sights seem to align themselves. The instant I shouldered the rifle with my cheek on the rounded Euro-style comb, the front bead-tipped blade indexed perfectly in the rear v-notch. I could literally mount this rifle to my shoulder with my eyes closed, then open my eye and find the safari sights were perfectly aligned both vertically and horizontally. That’s remarkable. Watch the above video — the CZ 550 is covered in the second half.
The action is very smooth — much better than most domestic factory guns, and noticeably smoother than a Tikka T3. The top of the action has a 19mm dovetail for secure, low-profile mounting of scope rings. The 550 FS comes with a handsome Turkish walnut stock, fitted with proper sling swivels. This rifle has been very popular with owners, and I can understand why — it’s light, easy to handle, and it is one of the best-pointing hunting rifles I’ve ever shouldered. The model 550 FS is offered in a variety of calibers: .243 Win, 6.5×55, .270 Win, .308 Win, 30-06, and 9.3x62mm. Note, for 2011, CZ is offering a Mannlicher-stocked rimfire rifle chambered in .17 HMR, the CZ model 452 FS, priced at $514.00 MSRP. That would be a great carry-around varminter for squirrels and small game.
The 2011 Pan American Games are underway in Guadalajara, Mexico, and American shooters have already distinguished themselves. The Games opened on October 14th and will continue through October 30th, though the last day of shooting is Saturday, October 22nd. The Pan American Games, always held the year preceding the Olympic Games, have attracted athletes from 41 North-, Central- and South-American nations. For the latest shooting results and news, visit USAShooting.org. 
On Monday, Oct. 17, Emily Caruso won the 10m Air Rifle Gold Medal, tying the Pan American record with a 396 score. In the Mens’ 10m Air Rifle, American Matt Rawlings set a new Pan American games record with his 696.7 score in the finals. (He had previously broken his own PanAm Games record in the qualifying round). Team-mate Jonathan Hall took the Silver Medal. Rawlings’ win and Hall’s second-place finish earned the USA two coveted quotas for next year’s Olympics. “I came here for the quota,” Hall said, “and I’m proud to bring it home to my country.”
The complete, official Results Bulletin from the 
National Junior Olympic 3-Position Air Rifle Championships
The 2011 NRA Intercollegiate Rifle Club Championships, hosted by Clemson University, conclude today. We have final results from the Air Rifle competition which wrapped up earlier. Clayton Peck of Michigan State won the overall air rifle title with a 582 score. Clemson’s Dylan Smith took second with 570, barely edging Tori Kostecki from North Georgia CSU who posted a 569. In team competition, Clemson won gold, Penn State took second, while West Virginia finished third. Below is a slide show with images from the air rifle finals which took place at The Citadel Marksmanship Center.
When Olympian Matt Emmons wasn’t on the firing line at the 2010 International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Final in October, the shooting community took note. Emmons was in New York battling thyroid cancer and recovering from a surgery that removed his entire thyroid. After his surgery, Emmons competed in the 2010 USA Shooting Winter Airgun Championship and reached the podium each day in Men’s 10m Air Rifle.
The 
