Summer in New Mexico brings with it some of the year’s largest shooting events at the NRA Whittington Center. If you want to see some of the top marksmen in action, get ready.
July starts off with the King of 2 Miles, an extreme long-range shooting contest. Riflemen are given a set number of rounds to fire at distant targets, and if they score no hits on one target, they’re out of the match. Activities are slated for June 30-July 4. That will be followed by the Fifty Caliber Shooters Ass’n World Championship, July 5-8.
The Southwest Amateur Trapshooting Ass’n (ATA) Zone Shoot will be held July 12-15. The ATA (the largest clay target shooting organization in the world) Zone Shoot will bring together some of the top shooters from the southwestern region to Raton, N.M., and three other sites at the same time.
Next will come a couple of NRA competitions, including the NRA Cowboy Lever Action National Silhouette Championship, July 24-27, and the NRA Black Powder Cartridge Rifle National Silhouette Championship
July 30-Aug. 3. After a break in the competitions for a couple of months, the NRA Black Powder Target Rifle National Championship is set for Oct. 1-7.
But the Whittington Center is about more than competitions. If you want to improve your long-range marksmanship, Gunwerks will hold its Long Range University on Aug. 23-28.
And for a bonding experience, women can check out the NRA Women’s Wilderness Escape (WWE), Oct. 1-5. This yearly event teaches women the safe handling and use of shotguns, rifles and pistols the first three days. The last day will let the shooters get acquainted with 3-Gun shooting, long-range shooting and Henry rifles.
The Whittington Center, a 33,000-acre retreat founded in 1973, is one of the nation’s premier destinations for outdoor recreation. Besides the shooting sports, it offers outdoor adventure camps for children, hiking trails and ample opportunities to see wildlife or go birdwatching.
For more information, go online to nrawc.org.
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