Let's Go Camping at
Shooting Sports Camps!

Story by James Egan

An NRA shooting sports camp is an event sponsored by the NRA. The events are open for anyone to attend, including (even especially) the beginner shooter. Each event starts
with a safety briefing, and every participant learns the basics of firearm safety. Once everybody's familiar with the basics, everyone heads over to the range where a variety of firearms are
set up with a range officer at each station. Shooters can choose between pistol, rifle, trapshooting, archery and even black powder.

The first NRA shooting sports camp that I attended was at the Bristol rifle range in Wisconsin. It was this camp that sparked a serious interest in shooting sports in me. The first time I attended the event I had never shot any firearm before, and was excited to try it. I really didn't know what to try, being a first-time shooter, but there were plenty of people to help me out, and there were some .22 rifles that were the first rifles I shot to get the feel of how to handle a rifle and load one, etc. The range officers were very helpful and made sure everything ran smoothly.

My favorite part about the event was definitely the blackpowder muskets and rifles. Everyone who has a blackpowder firearm can tell you about the history behind it, like whether it was designed for use in war or for hunting. One of my favorites was learning about (and firing) the blackpowder firearms that Columbus used when he came to the Americas.

But the rifles I liked the most were the rifles from the Civil War. Learning how to load and fire them was really fun and it was very interesting learning about the new technologies of the time, such as the percussion cap and mass production of rifles instead of smoothbore muskets—and it is surprising how accurate the rifles are. The demonstration of a Civil War cannon firing round and grapeshot was really cool, and everyone enjoyed that a lot. I liked seeing the crewman show exactly what they were doing and how it affected the cannon before they fired it.

However, by far the best display in my opinion was getting to fire a real Civil War Gatling gun. Seeing it shoot was amazing, but firing it was something I will never forget. Not only do I find blackpowder firearms and the Civil War interesting, but I was fascinated by the Gatling gun because it has hugely influenced the creation of military weapons today. The special demonstrations like the cannon and Gatling gun always turn heads, and I love hearing people (young and old) say that they have to come back next year.

Since that first camp, I have helped out at the event for a couple years—helping set up and take down the targets and set up booths. I was surprised at how many people spend the extra time to set up for the event and was happy to help.

Anyone interested in attending a shooting sports camp should visit www.nrahq.org to find more information about the camps. There is a tool that can locate camps near you and throughout your state. It would also be helpful to contact ranges near you to see if they are hosting a shooting sports camp sometime soon. These events are excellent for learning about firearms and firearm safety and are, of course, very fun.