» First Shot Ranges Get Youth Rifles!

First Shot Ranges Get Youth Rifles!

Posted By admin on December 14, 2010

By: NSSF
Photos & Introduction By: Andy Fink

Wow! What an opportunity for ranges to acquire Crickett .22 youth rifles from Keystone Sporting Arms. This opportunity could significantly enhance your range’s capability to provide .22 caliber rifles for youth shooters. Contact your range or shooting club and have them check it out. Up to five rifles!

(Right: A happy kid is a 10-year-old with a brand new Crickett .22.)

To: ALL MEDIA
For immediate release

December 9, 2010

For more information contact:

Bill Brassard Jr.
203-426-1320

What’s in the Package? Keystone Sporting Arms Rifles for NSSF First Shots Ranges

NEWTOWN, Conn.—Shooting range managers, think of it as a holiday gift from your friends at Keystone Sporting Arms.

You don’t even have to write a letter to Santa to receive up to five Crickett youth rifles from Keystone, but you do have to agree to present First Shots seminars at your shooting range. First Shots is the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s program designed to help ranges introduce people of all ages to target shooting. In all, Keystone Sporting Arms will provide 1,000 youth rifles to participating First Shots shooting ranges. (Above: Crickett .22 rifles are not only fun, they are great for training.)

This holiday-spirited offer comes from the Milton, Penn.,-based manufacturer of youth-model firearms, including the Crickett and Chipmunk single shot .22 and .17 caliber rifles, a single-shot hunter pistol and Revolution after-market stocks. The company introduced a new shotgun model this year, too. From a modest beginning in the mid-1990s, Keystone Sporting Arms has grown rapidly and now boasts 70 employees working with state-of-the-art equipment in a 45,000-square-foot plant to meet the nationwide demand for its products.

(Left: One happy kid with his new Crickett.)

"Keystone Sporting Arms believes in firearm safety and getting youth started with the right equipment to ensure the best experience," said Bill McNeal, Keystone’s owner. "NSSF’s First Shots program mirrors our goals and works to build a positive future for shooting and hunting. It makes sense for our company to support the program by getting our youth rifles to the front lines at First Shots ranges, where entire families can get started in our sports by having a safe, fun experience."

This donation by Keystone Sporting Arms allows NSSF to offer 200 ranges a set of five rifles each in return for presenting at least two First Shots seminars in 2011. One of these seminars must be specifically for parents and youth. Ranges hosting First Shots for the first time are eligible to receive advertising funds from NSSF to launch this excellent customer-development program.

(Right: The first day at the range was not too shabby.)

"The generosity of Keystone Sporting Arms will help introduce more youth to the shooting sports and safe firearms handling," said Cindy Dalena, manager of the First Shots program. "Keystone’s dedication to providing a great first experience with fun, safe equipment virtually guarantees that a child will want to return to the range to take aim at even more targets. Their offer makes First Shots a stronger program."

(Right: A close up of the Crickett shows the peep sight it comes with.)

To learn more about First Shots and the full details of the Keystone Sporting Arms offer, shooting range owners and managers should visit www.nssf.org/firstshots/RangeOwners. Questions about the program should be directed to NSSF’s Cindy Dalena at cdalena@nssf.org.

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About NSSF
The National Shooting Sports Foundation is the trade association for the firearms industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of more than 6,000 manufacturers, distributors, firearms retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations and publishers. For more information, log on to www.nssf.org.

NSSF celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2011. Learn about the Foundation’s history here.