JoeDuke
Gold $$ Contributor
Come join us for score shooting fun and test your skills against the best at 2023 NBRSA Short-Range Score Nationals hosted by the Whittington Score Shooters Inc. at the storied Coors Benchrest range at the NRA Whittington center at Raton, New Mexico. History of range reveals that The Coors corporation approached the Whittington Center officials with the idea that Coors might be interested in funding the construction of a Schuetzenfest range at the Center. The NRA Whittington Center officials knew that a similar range concept had been proposed by a prominent bench rest gunsmith and barrel maker, Harold Broughton so they contracted him and as they say, it was a marriage made in Heaven. This range was promoted to the benchrest shooters by Mr. Broughton and Mr. Mike Ballew, who worked for the NRA Whittington Center, and others worked tirelessly during the early 1990’s to bring the range to fruition. Mr. Broughton led an effort for benchrest shooters to donate funds toward building it. Coors donated substantially to the construction of the shooting range, benchrest shooters donated toward the project and the NRA Whittington Center also funded and constructed the facility. With the newly acquired funding from Coors, construction began in earnest and in 1994, the range was well on the way to completion. In 1995 the permanent range with 75 benches on eight foot centers was complete and several matches were held. Notably, there was a benefit match held on July 15 and 16, 1995 to provide additional funding for the loading pavilion. At this match, they shot light varmint for group on one day and Hunter class rifles for score on the other day. Mr. Don Mulhall won both matches with a .3081” group agg and a 488-14x score agg. To complement the range, a loading pavilion measuring 50ft x 300ft was constructed. In 1996, this part of the facility was completed and dedicated to Harold and Juanez Broughton as the Harold Broughton Pavilion. Additionally, another building was constructed to serve at the scoring /stat house and permanent bathrooms. Now a complete world class facility was in place and ready for use. After hosting a few other shoots, in 1997, the NBRSA Score Nationals were hosted there by Harold Broughton. A total of 95 Hunter shooters showed up for the event. The course of fire was 100 yards on Saturday, 200 yards on Sunday, and a 300 yard match was held on Monday. Mr. Jim Hostetler won the 100 / 200 yard agg and the range was off and running. Since that date, the range has hosted numerous benchrest matches both group and score. The last score Nationals held there were in 2006. After a long absence, we are going to be back at the Whittington Coors range for the NBRSA score nationals July 25th through 28th, 2023. This match will be hosted by the Whittington Score Shooters Inc. We hope to see everyone who enjoys shooting to come join us for this event. Score shooters, lets all show up! Group shooters, you are not at a disadvantage shooting your PPC’s. Come on out. Wouldn’t it be great to meet or beat the 95 number of competitors at that first Score Nationals held here! This will be the first time Varmint for Score will be contested at the Whittington Center.
Here is a link to the 2023 NBRSA Score Nationals Registration form:
2023-NBRSA-sr-score-signup.pdf
Hope to see you there.
Joe
Here is a link to the 2023 NBRSA Score Nationals Registration form:
2023-NBRSA-sr-score-signup.pdf
Hope to see you there.
Joe
