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NSSF’s Rimfire Challenge Matches are Fun for Everyone
Posted by Junior Shooters
By Jennifer L.S. Pearsall, NSSF Director, Public Relations
It’s often said that hunters, more often than not, tend to be well-rounded shooters. They spend time on the range practicing their skills, shoot competitively in the off-season and, in general, spend a lot of time behind their guns when they’re not in the field pursuing game.
All this off-season practice sharpens skills, improves performance and provides the chance to enjoy our firearms year round.
Of course, no well-rounded hunter or proficient marksman was born that way. Everyone started somewhere, had their first safety lesson, first introduction to sight alignment, first pull of the trigger and a bevy of other firsts. For many, this list of firsts also included an introduction to some sort of shooting competition.
Competing with your firearm, whatever the sport, can be an intimidating proposition. You’re not familiar with the rules and equipment and you’re surrounded by people who seem to “know it all.” It can be enough to scare a newcomer away.
NSSF seeks to change that “scariness” that can accompany a person’s first competition with its Rimfire Challenge program. Originally created and run by Sturm, Ruger & Co., Ruger sought out NSSF to take over the successful program in 2014.
Rimfire Challenge matches are two-gun matches. Competitors need both a rimfire pistol and a rimfire rifle—and other than hearing and eye protection, that’s just about all a new competitor needs (full details are available at www.nssf.org/rimfire). Why so minimal? The Rimfire Challenge was specifically designed to provide an entry to competition that wasn’t gear-focused, wasn’t expensive to participate in and wasn’t intimidating. In fact, it’s the opposite of all those things. Whole families are encouraged to participate and shoot together—and they do! 
We see brothers helping sisters load magazines, moms shooting alongside their daughters, and families bringing neighbors and other friends to introduce them to the sport.
The formula for these matches—easy entry, easy cost, easy gear and lots of family-oriented fun—has proven to be tremendously successful. This has been especially true for a number of youth shooters, who are now sponsored shooters and proudly wearing shirts with the names of the many firearms industry members helping them continue to compete. Yet those kids, those perfecting their skills and becoming more serious about competing, still shoot right alongside brand new shooters and those younger than them, helping them through their first safety orientation, their first stage, and sometimes their first mis-feed. So even though this is competition—more serious for some than others, but still competition—guns are lent, advice is given and everyone encourages and cheers for everyone else.
NSSF would like to encourage new hunters and new shooters in general to seek out the Rimfire Challenge events in their area. Not only will they find a welcoming atmosphere and the most “non-scary” competition on the planet, by participating in Rimfire Challenge, they’ll do just what their mentors do: sharpen skills, improve performance and have the chance to enjoy their firearm year round.
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Arkansas’ Old Fort Gun Club to Host 2015 Rimfire Challenge World Championship, Registration Now Open
For the second year in a row, veteran shooting match facility Old Fort Gun Club, in Fort Smith, Arkansas, has partnered with NSSF as the hosting range for the 2015 NSSF Rimfire Challenge World Championship, to be held October 9-11, 2015.
With extensive experience hosting competitive shooting events, from local and small to large and national in scope, and across a wide range of shooting sports, Old Fort Gun Club’s staff and facilities are the perfect pairing to host large matches. Past events have included Cowboy Action and ISPC/USPSA matches, as well as 3-Gun Nation and Steel Challenge contests. Old Fort’s hosting of last year’s Rimfire Challenge World Championship was widely praised by spectators and competitors alike.
“Given how smoothly last year’s World Championship went and the professionalism exhibited by Old Fort’s match staff, we are very pleased to have them agree to host the 2015 World Championship,” said Zach Snow, Shooting Promotions Manager with NSSF. “We’re excited to be working with them again and look forward to hosting what will be an even more memorable event experience for all participants.
“The staff at Old Fort Gun Club was asking to host the World Championships in 2015 before the 2014 match was even completed,” said club match director Bill Striplin. “They absolutely love the sport and the competitors. We are very much looking forward to making this one of the top competitions in the nation, and October can’t get here soon enough.”
“I am very much looking forward to the 2015 Rimfire Challenge World Championship,” said Mark Passamaneck, match director for the World Championship. “As I design stages, run matches and compete over the shooting season, one of the highlights of the year is running this match, because this match format provides a low-stress atmosphere for anyone to get involved in competitive shooting, and it brings families together on the range. We hope to see a lot of new faces this year.”
Online competitor registration is available now for the Rimfire Challenge World Championships at https://shootnscoreit.com/nssf/match/220/. Shooter participation is limited to 200, so competitors are urged to sign up now. Additional information about the World Championships is available here (http://www.nssf.org/rimfire/championship/).
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