According to McCulloch, big things are coming out of NRA's competitive shooting shop in the future. For starters, the primary NRA National Championships (Smallbore, Precision Pistol and High Power) are to be reunited at Camp Atterbury in the summer of 2020. The last time all three were conducted at the same venue was in 2013 at Camp Perry.
"We appreciate all the years at Camp Perry," says McCulloch. "Its certainly not to be lost, but this is a great opportunity to establish a state-of-the-art facility at Camp Atterbury in cooperation with the Indiana National Guard and developed in the same way that Camp Perry was many years ago."
State-of-the-art facility is an understatement. For example, the pistol range will feature a mind-boggling 300 individual points of fire, all of them covered. Best of all, shooters won't have to change position while they are shooting. Camp Atterbury facilities will be upgraded to meet the needs of the NRA, as well as the military.
There will be two 1000-yard high power rifle ranges, which will include the proper pit/target systems and parking that will operate on one area of the base. Pistol and smallbore will be located on a totally separate part of the base, meaning they won't have to split range time. This provides more flexibility for scheduling matches.
The current Camp Atterbury welcome center will be jointly leased by the NRA and the Indiana National Guard, and it will become a training facility where people can learn about different kinds of firearms, as well as housing multiple training simulators that will be open to the public.
Working with the state of Indiana, the new NRA National Marksmanship Competition Center will feature many different types of competition, in addition to the traditional NRA disciplines. Camp Atterbury provides the NRA with a national platform for training and hosting new, modern events such as the Precision Rifle Series, 3-Gun, America's Rifle Challenge and more. The possibilities are limitless.
"We are grateful to the state of Indiana to want us in this way," says McCulloch, adding, "Its a remarkable time in our history. The roots of competitive shooting are in the DNA of the NRA ... I'm honored to be part of that."
Additionally, the new NRA National Marksmanship Competition Center at Camp Atterbury will include a new Military Heritage Museum. The museum will showcase the history of the National Guard, along with the NRA's contributions through the shooting sports and training with the different branches of the military. The museum will have a degree of interactivity.
"Camp Atterbury has been great, and we are just thrilled to be there," concludes McCulloch.
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