The Rockbrook camp riflery program uses official National Rifle Association targets, fires .22 caliber ammunition, and allows the campers to earn rankings like Marksman, and Pro-marksman. Girls love scoring each round and improving their shot.
Camp Rifle Shooting
The riflery activity at camp, target rifle shooting, is something that really grows on you. Once you learn the safety rules at the rifle range, and get used to the basic techniques (not to mention the sound and smell of guns going off!), what can you do to improve your shot at camp?
Well, here are two important tips for shooting well. First, you need to have smooth trigger control. Learn to apply slow, consistent pressure to the trigger of the rifle so you can fire it without jerking. Squeezing the trigger quickly or erratically will definitely throw off your aim and mess up your shot. Next, it’s just as important to control your breathing when shooting, to take deep slow breaths rather than quick or hurried breaths. Here too, breathing too rapidly can make it difficult to aim steadily. Holding you breath just before pulling the trigger can help. Overall the goal here is to hold really still so you can make very small adjustments while aiming your rifle.
Back at camp you’ll have plenty of time to practice your shooting.
Riflery Camp for Girls
Hey what’s your score? When girls select riflery as one of their camp activities, they first learn the basics of shooting. After some practice, camp girls develop their marksmanship skills and begin to shoot more evenly. When they can consistently hit higher scores, they can pass through a series of NRA ratings and earn special “Light Rifle Qualification” awards.
On these official targets, a bullseye earns a score of 10. That means the ordinary round of five bullets can total 50 in all. One “course” is 20 shots (4 rounds of 5 bullets) for a total possible score of 200. So if, from the prone, or lying down, position, you can shoot two courses that score 100, that earns you the “Pro-Marksman” rating. If you improve and can shoot two courses of 125, you earn the “Marksman” rating. And it goes up from there: 3 courses of 150 earns “Marksman First Class,” 4 courses of 165 earns “Sharpshooter,” and 6 courses of 180 earns the “Expert” rating. Wow! That sure would take a lot of practice!
Learn more about these ratings over at the NRA website.
Shooting Guns at Camp? Yikes!
Sometimes parents are a little surprised to learn that the girls at camp learn to shoot rifles. We’ll sometimes hear, “Are those real guns?” They sure are! While our youngest girls will use “youth” rifles, everyone shoots real .22 caliber guns. This means the bullets are small 22/100ths of an inch in diameter. We also use the lowest power .22 ammunition, the “short” rimfire version. These are the perfect choice for target shooting, particularly on our youth range (25 meters or about 27 feet to the target).
Shooting is of course completely controlled and supervised at camp. The guns and ammunition are always locked and stored separately. The riflery sport instructors are trained and NRA certified to operate a rifle range, and all of the campers are taught the proper safety protocols when they choose riflery for one of their activities. So yes, the guns and bullets are real, but we do everything we can to make sure it’s very safe.
Riflery Activity for Girls
Being at summer camp lets you try activities that you can’t do at home. Activity camps for girls are set up to teach these kind of traditional camp things. Take riflery for example. With instruction, some coaching and explanation of how to shoot properly, girls can really learn a lot. It’s fun to shoot, and then to retrieve your target and see your score. At Rockbrook, getting a bullseye automatically puts you in the “bullseye club” and gets your name announced in the dining hall. Riflery is another activity that you can really get into, and soon you’ll find yourself signing up for it everytime.
Kids Camp Riflery
Another fun activity for kids at camp is riflery. It’s one of those traditional camp things to do… to learn how to shoot a rifle and aim very carefully trying to hit a target. At Rockbrook, we shoot .22 caliber rifles, at first from a prone position (lying down, that is!), but later, for the more advanced and experienced, a sitting position. Girls can earn NRA ranks too— Pro-Marksman, Marksman, and so on. Like most things, as you practice a bit, you get better at it, and pretty soon you find you’re enjoying it more and more. Riflery at a kids camp? You bet!
Teen Camp Riflery
Riflery, along with archery, is one of the target sports we offer at camp. It’s exciting to learn to shoot real rifles and to see how much you can improve your shot.
With enough practice, you might even get a bullseye! Are you in the Riflery Bullseye Club?
Between Camp Riflery Activities
On the path to the Alpine Tower after Riflery, a pause in the action for a quick pic, and a chance to show off their riflery targets.
