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MGM Targets – Companies Supporting You
Posted by Junior Shooters
By: Andy Fink
Junior shooters are important. Those companies that support you, the junior shooter, are also important. We, at Junior Shooters magazine, refer to a junior shooter as a youth between the ages of five and 21. Various shooting organizations have different age regulations for juniors. There are many organizations that actively support, you, the junior, in one way or another. This may be through donations, products provided, shooting camps, or other means. All of these efforts are deeply appreciated as you are the future of our shooting sports, our hunting heritage, and the protection for our 2nd Amendment: the Right To Keep and Bear Arms.
(Wyatt Gibson)
(Travis & Wyatt Gibson)
One of those companies supporting you is MGM Targets owned and operated by Mike and Rhonda Gibson with their son Travis Gibson, daughter-in-law Tracy, and their grandson Wyatt waiting in the wings. All of them are shooters, and darn good ones at that. They shoot mostly United States Practical Shooting Association (USPSA,) Steel Challenge, and modern three-gun competitions. MGM Targets manufactures firearms training equipment for military and law enforcement as well as for competitive shooters and shooting clubs. Most people know MGM Targets for their top quality steel rifle and pistol targets, but they also do much larger projects such as turning target systems, high angle shooting/rappelling towers, and live fire shoot houses. They enjoy an exceptional reputation in the industry for quality products, outstanding customer service, and unsurpassed personal and professional integrity.
(Rhonda & Mike Gibson)
They donate a percentage of the sales from their paper targets to put on a junior shooting camp each year in conjunction with the USPSA and the United States Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU). The first camp was in October 2008 and had 43 kids attend and was a resounding success. You can read about this in the article titled Who-Ra-ClangClang The Mgm/USAMU Junior Camp on our website at:
https://www.juniorshooters.net/2008/12/28/who-ra-clang-clang-the-mgmusamu-junior-camp/. This is a significant effort by the Gibsons helping many kids receive safe training from our Army experts and champions. The dates for 2009 are November 6-8. Check out www.juniorshooterscamp.org.
(Travis, Tracy, and Wyatt Gibson)
(Travis showing his expert shooting style)
Last year they decided to start local Steel Challenge matches out at the Nampa outdoor range. This year they are at the Gem County Rod & Gun Club in Emmett, Idaho, www.gcrc.org. These are essentially sponsored and put on by MGM Targets with Travis, and Wyatt setting them up each week and Tracy doing the scoring. MGM Targets built the steel targets and a steel box to keep them in. 
They also supply all of the two-by-fours. Though there are many people who help set up and take down, Travis, Tracy and Wyatt are the organizers and make sure the matches occur, everyone is safe, and everyone has fun. Start time is 5:00 pm but you can usually get in if you get there by 6:00 or 6:30.
The charge for this is $5 for adults, and juniors and first time shooters are always free. All of the money raised at these matches (Mike Gibson shooting open class with a red dot on his Glock)
goes right back to the Emmett gun club. I asked Travis to tell me why they are doing this and his reply was: The ONLY reason MGM Targets is putting on the weekly Tuesday night steel matches is to try and grow the action shooting sports. Steel Challenge is an excellent avenue to get new shooters and kids involved. 
The stages are easy to figure out and there is very little movement. If the shooter is using a .22 they don’t have to draw from a holster, and it is easy for spectators to see how good a shooter did immediately. They don’t have to go down and look at paper to try and figure out how the shooter did. All of these things combined, make this (Wyatt?s Tactical Solutions .22 PACLITE built on a Ruger Mark III)
sport a lot of fun for both the shooter and the spectator.
MGM Targets also puts on the MGM Ironman each year which I have heard people say, and personally experienced, is the toughest three-gun competition in the country.
Our thanks go out to the Gibsons and all of the people at MGM Targets for taking the time and the money to support juniors, new shooters, and the shooting sports. It is people like this that make the shooting sports so great.
If you are buying targets or target systems check out MGM Targets for they need our support as well. www.mgmtargets.com.
(Sarah Bowers, 16, at the MGM Ironman 2008)
Copyright & Published By: Junior Shooters & Junior Sports Magazines Inc. August 2009
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