Want to get my 16 year old son into competition

[saltwater_therapy]

Any tips on where to start? Any competitions in the Houston /Victoria area?

He has an AR. 16" stag with 1-4× scope
He is getting a pistol soon. Glock by Taran tactical.
Looking for a competition style shotgun still.

Thanks,
M.J.

 

[benenglish]

Any competitions in the Houston /Victoria area?

Plenty. What does he like to shoot?

 

[saltwater_therapy]

He shoots a little bit of everything, never any competition, but he is a heck of a marksman, better shot than me.

 

[bigwheel]

Better plug some fancy reloading equipment into the family budget. The target shooting can burn up a lot of precious ammo most likely.

 

[cajunautoxer]

Check out area 59 range.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[Vaquero]

Plenty. What does he like to shoot?

Listen to Ben.
Answer as completely and honesty as possible.
Soon, you'll understand the background he has.
I wish I'd met him sooner.

 

[benenglish]

He shoots a little bit of everything, never any competition, but he is a heck of a marksman, better shot than me.

That's a bit too general. There are probably 5 shooting contests of some sort within easy driving distance of the center of Houston every single weekend.

• There are rifle contests where you
  • sit at a table and shoot groups smaller than the flies that land on your target,
  • run around given small areas shooting many targets at short range,
  • move more deliberately about even smaller areas shooting fewer targets at much longer range,
    
  • stand still and knock down steel targets at distances from 40 yards to 500 meters, and
  • many more.
• There are pistol contests where you
  • stand still and put bullets as close to the center of a target as you can,
  • sit, lie, or stand still and knock over steel silhouettes at 25 to 200 meters,
  • run around small areas shooting many targets at short to sorta challenging distances,
  • stand still and quickly put a few bullets fairly close to the center of a generously sized target, and
  • many more.
• There are shotgun contests where you
  • move to various known locations and shoot clay birds flying downrange at various known angles,
  • move to various unknown locations and shoot clay birds flying downrange at various unknown angles,
  • run around small areas shooting many close targets made of paper or steel, and
  • many more.

In these contests,

• you begin with gun in hand or at your hip or pointed at the target.
  
• Some are inside and most are outside.
  
• Some use combinations of multiple guns.
  
• Some require you to dress a certain way.
• Some require a revolver, some a very old weapon design, and some encourage you to take out a second mortgage to afford something that looks like alien technology.

Seriously, I've long believed the variety of shooting sports in the USA is more of a drawback than a help. In most of the world, if you're a competitive shooter you're trying to get to the Olympics. Period. That's it. In the USA, you can find something that fits your exact tastes and the exact equipment you own, even if there are only a dozen of you in the world who share the same interest.

So does your son want to shoot fast and fairly accurately? Or does he want to shoot slowly and very accurately? With a rifle or a pistol? Or does he prefer shooting things flying through the air (in which case I'll bow out because I can't hit a barn with a shotgun if I'm standing inside it)?

What's his personality? Tell us about him and perhaps we can recommend something.

 

[Pesater]

Never been in a match b4. How can I practice for these? Only thing I can think of is joining private club which is extremely hard

 

[benenglish]

How can I practice for these? Only thing I can think of is joining private club which is extremely hard

If you're apprehensive about the experience, just go. Don't bring a firearm. Just be a spectator. Introduce yourself to whoever seems to be running the match, say that you're interested but not convinced that this is the sport for you, and you just want to soak in the atmosphere. I've never seen any sort of shooting match that wouldn't welcome you to watch. You'll learn a great deal.

I have definitely gone to matches with this plan in mind, only to have a pistol, holster and mags put on my belt by other competitors who walked me through every step of competition. YMMV and different crowds differ but you'd be surprised how friendly people can be.

The type of shooting sport you like is up to you, though, and there's no accounting for taste. It's a completely personal decision based on factors that no one can fully articulate. You'll observe some matches and just get a gut feeling "Wow, this is pretty pointless." When that happens, you know that isn't for you. I guarantee that if you like shooting in general, though, you'll stumble across some sort of shooting competition where your gut will react with "Hey, that looks like fun!" That's where you start.

Once you find something that seems interesting and fun,

• Read about it wherever you can find info,
• Watch other people competing via YouTube,
• Join the national organizing body for just a few bucks,
• Read their information, especially the rules,
• Go back to YouTube and soak in the "How To" videos for that sport,
  
• Get the minimum, basic equipment (which you probably already have) required to compete,
• Go to wherever you shoot now and make sure you're comfortable with the safe operation of that equipment, and then
  
• Go to a match.

First-timers are almost universally welcomed and helped. You'll be off on a fun journey with good people.

As for practicing and joining a club, those are a couple of different things.

Commercial ranges provide plenty of opportunity to practice the basic marksmanship and safe gun handling required to show up to a match and score some points. Dry fire practice at home will give you the ability to do much or most of the practice needed to fill in the gaps. Actually shooting matches is practice, too. You'd be surprised how many mid-tier competitive shooters have a good time and don't embarrass themselves simply by shooting lots of matches and treating those matches as extended training sessions.

As for joining a club being hard, that varies. Some have waiting lists that are years long and require two separate recommendations from current members. Some have open enrollment and will take your money and issue you a membership card as soon as you attend one of the monthly orientation meetings.

Since you seem to be near Houston, look at this thread, decide which clubs are near you and might have facilities you would use, and post back here. I'm sure there are members of that club who will give you the low down on joining. In most cases, joining isn't "extremely hard" by any stretch. Mostly it just takes time.

And, btw, you can use almost all the facilities at almost all private clubs just by showing up and shooting matches there. Clubs are almost all open to everyone on match day.

 

[baboon]

Seems to me becoming a member to a gun club that holds competitions would be a good place to start.

 

[benenglish]

Seems to me becoming a member to a gun club that holds competitions would be a good place to start.

That's only true if the club holds the sorts of competitions in which you're interested. Examples? If you want to shoot shotguns, you wouldn't join the Tomball Gun Club. If you aren't interested in shotguns at all, then you wouldn't join the Greater Houston Sports Club (formerly the Greater Houston Gun Club).

I think deciding what competitions hold your interest should be done before joining a club. That will narrow down the list of clubs to those that will better meet your needs.

 

[baboon]

That's only true if the club holds the sorts of competitions in which you're interested. Examples? If you want to shoot shotguns, you wouldn't join the Tomball Gun Club. If you aren't interested in shotguns at all, then you wouldn't join the Greater Houston Sports Club (formerly the Greater Houston Gun Club).

I think deciding what competitions hold your interest should be done before joining a club. That will narrow down the list of clubs to those that will better meet your needs.

I guess I belong to a do all club.
https://greenwoodgunclub.org/competitions

 

[Mowingmaniac 24/7]

"Only thing I can think of is joining private club which is extremely hard"

Not 'extremely'.

Get on the list to join the Pearland Shooting Club.

Yes, you may wait as long a year, but it'll happen and they have tons of different kinds of competitions.

Plus, it's not expensive, a few hundred bucks a year.

In this day and age, a few hundred buck is equivalent to $20.00 when I was a kid.......

 

[benenglish]

I guess I belong to a do all club.
https://greenwoodgunclub.org/competitions

That is a great club. If I lived near there, I'd definitely join.

 

[benenglish]

Get on the list to join the Pearland Shooting Club.

PSC is great. I was a member for years and from all I can see, it's only gotten better since I left.

 

[Mowingmaniac 24/7]

benenglish,

It has and they are always upgrading. Maintenance is top notch too.

I was a member way back when, let my membership slip for some years, then got on the waiting list, 6 months or so elapsed and got to rejoin.

 

[baboon]

That is a great club. If I lived near there, I'd definitely join.

It's an hour drive for me. I became a member when they still allowed .50 bmg's, that they shortly afterwards banned as to destructive to the berms.

 

[saltwater_therapy]

Thank you so much for all the responses, links, and info. I'm going to talk to him about it soon. The boy stays very busy, makes good grades, he is very outgoing and has a great sense of humor. He loves fishing, hunting, sports, camping, shooting, and of course like every teenage boy is very preoccupied with the ladies. He plays Football, Baseball, Runs Track, Golf.

I think he might be interested in the bench rest rifle shooting, but with him being a very active athletic kid he might like the multi gun matches. I will ask him about it at dinner tonight.

 

[toddnjoyce]

Thank you so much for all the responses, links, and info. I'm going to talk to him about it soon. The boy stays very busy, makes good grades, he is very outgoing and has a great sense of humor. He loves fishing, hunting, sports, camping, shooting, and of course like every teenage boy is very preoccupied with the ladies. He plays Football, Baseball, Runs Track, Golf.

I think he might be interested in the bench rest rifle shooting, but with him being a very active athletic kid he might like the multi gun matches. I will ask him about it at dinner tonight.

There’s also 4H shooting sports, which is where my son started with Trap & Skeet.

 

[baboon]

One thing you might want to consider is his age. No sense in getting him started & spending money on something that one the testosterone kicks in nothing else matters. I seen & heard many a friend tell me what great kids they have until nature runs it's cross.