Resources

Four Things You Can Do With a Rifle (Besides Hunt)

Barbara is more of a hunter than I am and, in this issue of First Shots News, she tells you how to get started in hunting. While I hunt a little bit, mostly ducks and geese, she’s hardcore and chases down ill-tempered wild boars with flint knives—at least that’s what I’ve heard, and I’m sticking by that story.

The Road to Rio

Sometimes it takes a second chance to make the right impression.

It was just such a second chance that allowed, Rome, New York, native Tammy Delano to move to the Olympic Training Center as a resident athlete, win a gold medal at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Cup in Poland, and earn the right to compete in R2 and R3 for the USA Shooting Team at the IPC World Championships in Suhl, Germany.

How to travel with a firearm

“Have gun, will travel,” is not as simple as it sounds.

Whether you’re planning to attend a competition, going on a distant hunt, or just want to take along a firearm for your own personal-defense when you travel away from home, you absolutely need to know the rules of how to legally travel with your gun.

Finding the Right Competition for Your Pistol Skills

There are so many opportunities to compete with your pistol. From air pistols to full-power handguns, there is something for every type of pistol shooter in this roundup below.

Try Competitions To Become A More Effective Shooter

There’s a big difference between good and effective.

If you are involved in shooting purely for recreation and the joy of punching holes in paper or tin cans, then being a good shooter is, well, good enough.

If you intend to use your gun for self or home defense, then you need to think about how to become a more effective shooter.

Target Shooters are Friendly and Supportive

As a new shooter, you should have three objectives: Be safe, strive to be better and have fun. Shooting in competitions is a great way to accomplish each of these goals.

Why You Might Like Sporting Clays

If you like to play golf, or even mini-golf, and you like to shoot skeet or trap, you’re going to love sporting clays. Or if you want more of a challenge than shooting at airborne clay targets, you’ll appreciate the change-up when a “rabbit” target zigzags across the field in front of you. Barbara Baird provides a look at sporting clays, commonly referred to as “golf with a shotgun.”

Meet the Shotgun

Let’s take a look at what makes a shotgun a shotgun. If you rely on Hollywood for your information, a shotgun can never miss and is capable of knocking a 1970 Pontiac GTO clear across Hazzard County. In reality, they’re not quite like that, but a shotgun is one very versatile gun. Competition, recreation, hunting and home defense — a shotgun can do it all. Tom McHale provides a look at the types of shotguns and other things you should know.

Jamie Gray, 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist — From First Shots to Golden Shots

Competing as an Olympic athlete and earning an Olympic gold medal in London has provided rifle shooter Jamie Gray (Lebanon, Pa.) with unmatched perspective in terms of what the shooting sports has provided her. What began as a way to connect with her older brother, has now turned into a life-long love affair with a game that demands perfection, mental fortitude and the incessant need to educate the masses about a sport limited by its exposure but yet driven by a passionate following. We introduce you to one of the sport’s best in hopes it can help motivate the hesitant or drive the unwilling to learn more about the sport and fire the First Shots toward a lifetime of fun, opportunity and reward. Read More.