Wanted to pass along this updated information and program for the North American FITASC Grand Prix.  Please disregard the previous post.  From the CNSCA:

IMPORTANT NOTICE: WE REGRET TO INFORM ALL REGISTERED SHOOTERS THAT DUE TO UNFORTUNATE CIRCUMSTANCES THE NORTH AMERICAN GRAND PRIX SCHEDULED TO BE HELD AT SILVER WILLOW SHOOTING GROUNDS IN CARSTAIRS ALBERTA CANADA JULY 5TH,6TH,7TH,AND 8TH 2012 HAS BEEN CANCELLED AND HAS BEEN MOVED TO THE MINNESOTA HORSE & HUNT CLUB TO BE HELD JUNE 15-17, 2012. WE DEEPLY REGRET ANY AND ALL INCONVENIENCE THAT THIS SITUATION HAS CAUSED.

May 14, 2012

The venue for the North American FITASC Grand Prix has been changed. The Canadian National Sporting Clays Association, the NSCA and F.I.T.A.S.C. in Paris announced this venue change today.

Originally scheduled for Silver Willow Sporting Clays near Calgary, Alberta, this World Cup event will now be held at the Minnesota Horse and Hunt Club, in Prior Lake, Minnesota.

The North American FITASC Grand Prix will be held on June 15th – 17th, 2012.

Sanctioned by F.I.T.A.S.C. in Paris, the North American FITASC Grand Prix is a World Cup event, and will also be the finale of the Americas Cup. (The other event in the Americas Cup will be held earlier at Flint Oak in Kansas). Competition in these events allows competitors the opportunity to vie for the coveted Americas Cup (specifically for North America) and for the World Cup, which is awarded annually to the top competitor in each FITASC concurrent at the World Championships.

The North American FITASC Grand Prix will be held in conjunction with the Players Championship at the Minnesota Horse and Hunt Club. The competition will be held over eight old style parcours (200 FITASC targets), attempted over three days of competition. Shooters will attempt 75 targets on Friday, June 15th, an additional 75 targets on Saturday, June 16th, and the final 50 targets on Sunday, June 17th. The award ceremony will follow, with awards for the North American FITASC Grand Prix, and the Americas Cup. Additionally, awards for NSCA Class and Concurrent winners will be given.

In conjunction with the Grand Prix FITASC, the Minnesota Horse and Hunt Club is hosting the Players Championship Sporting Clays event. This 200 target Sporting Clays Championship will consist of 200 targets, attempted 100 on Saturday and the second 100 on Sunday. Scheels Sports has donated $200 certificates for the winners of each NSCA Class and Concurrent for this event.

Blaser is the title sponsor of the event, and has donated a Blaser F3 Sporting Clays gun. Awarded by random drawing, one lucky winner will receive this extraordinary shotgun! Shooters get one entry for the FITASC event, and another entry for the Sporting Clays event – two chances to win!

And, we are hosting the Gun Makers Showdown! Open to all shooters!

If you shoot a Beretta, Blaser, Browning, Perazzi or Krieghoff, you are eligible to compete for the $10,000 cash purse.

These Gun Makers recognize that it is of critical importance to the advancement of our sport – and to make our athletes more visible, and thereby more marketable to mainstream corporate decision makers around the world – that we closely identify our athletes and the guns they use for competition. To that end, the Gun Makers Showdown has been created. It is our intention to create a broad interest in our sport, and make these opportunities so our athletes may make shooting their career, not just their hobby.

When registering, mark the brand of gun you shoot to enter the Gun Makers Showdown and compete in both the FITASC and Sporting Clays events. No extra charge! The four shooters from the gun maker with the top combined score will divide the $10,000 cash purse! You MUST shoot the same brand of gun in BOTH events to qualify.

The Gun Makers Showdown in 2011 was won by Team Blaser. The top four scores competing with Blaser shotguns were posted by Bill McGuire, Diego Duarte, Cory Kruse and Mike Wilgus. They split the $10,000 cash purse – lots of big smiles! Register on www.winscoreonline.com today. Just look for the North American FITASC Grand Prix and Players Championship event. For those shooters that had previously registered on iClays for the event in Calgary – you need to register on winscoreonline for the event to be held at the Minnesota Horse and Hunt Club.

The North American FITASC Grand Prix scheduled to be held in Alberta, Canada on July 6-8 has been moved to Minnesota Horse & Hunt Club in Prior Lake Minnesota on June 15-17. The event will be a 200 target World Cup over 8 old style parcours shot 75 Friday, 75 Saturday & 50 on Sunday.  The existing FITASC event at The Players Championship will become a Grand Prix World Cup event.

EDIT:  Shooters will need to register for the event through WinscoreOnline.com. If you were registered through iClays for the event you need to register again at Winscore.  For more information call or email Minnesota Horse & Hunt Club at phone: 952.447.2272 fax: 952.447.2278 info@horseandhunt.com

More to follow…

Attention:  Always contact the event manager, host club or association directly to find out the event status and any changes in the program.  While I strive to keep this list up to date I do not guarantee any information to be completely accurate.

Though we are not associated with Winchester, this is still a cool thing to pass along.  In addition to the usual rebates on boxes of AA target loads, Winchester is giving away a chance to shoot with Olympian Kim Rhode.  From the Winchester website, "The winner (and one friend) will receive Clay Target Shooting with Kim Rhode and five cases of Winchester AA Shotgun Shells (travel and lodging provided).  Enter online from April 1, 2012 through August 31, 2012 for your chance to win."  Sounds pretty cool to me!

To enter go to Winchester.com or download the details in a .pdf.

This popped up on White Flyer’s Facebook page and I thought it interesting enough to send along. They smoke better, huh?  Anybody shoot at these yet?

LETTER FROM PHIL MURRAY:

To: White Flyer Distributors
Gun Club Managers/ Personnel
From: White Flyer Targets
Subject: New White Flyer Targets

Hi All:

Recently you may have noticed receiving orders from White Flyer/ Webb City in which a memo was attached to each pallet stating “Tooling Change was made on these targets and readjustment of the splitter or knife may be necessary”. What basically occurred was that the first step of the target was lowered by about fifteen-thousandths. In talking to gun clubs in the Midwest that have received these ‘newer’ targets, adjustments have been minimal, but the shooters have remarked that these ‘newer’ targets are different in that they ‘smoke’ better than the ‘older’ WF targets! Rumors started that WF mixed bio ingredients into this target and this is why it ‘smokes’ a light, grayish color. Other rumors were that the dimensions, plus weights, have been changed and it is a completely new target. Quite frankly, a lot of misinformation is going on out there and we felt it necessary to contact you and ask you to please pass this memo onto your customers & gun clubs.

First and foremost, this ‘newer’ target is different in only two areas, the height of the first step and its composition. They still undergo a 27-step process of quality control to measure weights and concentricity, the specs which are weight mandated by the ATA and other organizations have NOT changed. The main difference and the thing that shooters are commenting about is the fact that when centered, instead of the ‘black sootball’, you get a whitish, gray picture of the smoked target. This is where the only change has been made to this target- a different style of pitch is now being used that is lighter in color and therefore causes the target to ‘smoke’ whitish, gray. Outside of this pitch change, no other aspect, other than the very first step, are any different. Extensive testing has been done on these ‘newer’ targets and in our testing, we found that they actually break/ smoke better that their older AA pitch counterpart. There is no question that when smoked, against a dark background, they could be mistaken for our biodegradable target that smokes a whitish color. It will take a bit of getting used to with this lighter smoke, but overall we feel this is a better target.

At the current time, this ‘newer’ target will only be produced at our Webb City, Missouri, target plant. Hence, many shoots in the Midwestern US will receive these targets over the next few months. We wanted to dispel any of the rumors out there that they were suddenly shooting a totally new WF target because they weren’t.

Hopefully this clears up the misconceptions about what you will be using and what to expect. Should you and your gun clubs have any questions, please feel free to call me directly at our Houston office @ 713-626-1843.

The European COMPAK Sporting Championship will take place later this month in Budapest, Hungary. The event will be held May 24-27 at Sarlospuszta Shooting Complex and will be shot over 200 targets.  The World COMPAK Championship is set to take place later this year on September 14-16 in Nicosia, Cyprus.  For more information see the FITASC Website or the event website at http://sarlospuszta2012.eu.

If you haven’t heard by now the Delta Challenge Series has been canceled. As of now the remaining events except for the Delta Classic in September will not take place.  An email from the Delta was sent out on April 25 announcing the series cancellation. The format and payouts for the Delta Classic in September have not been announced.

Delta Center
Tillar, Arkansas

4/25/2012

Effective Immediately:
$1,000,000 Delta Challenge Cancelled

With great expectations, I entered into the 2012 Season with a vision to create great shoots with great returns for sporting clay shooters everywhere. This concept of offering big-money payouts to all classes has unfortunately fallen short of the support we anticipated. In order to continue offering a viable and sustainable sporting clays product, we will modify our future events based on what we’ve learned from shooters over the past year. I also realize that this cancellation will cause inconveniences, and for this I apologize.

Our commitment to sporting clays has not changed. Instead, I believe we will move forward with a greater knowledge of the expectations of the shooting community. As for now, we look forward to having you join us in the future at a Delta event.

For reimbursement details, please contact Rhonda Barfield at rhonda@deltaconferencecenter.com

Thank you from all of us at the Delta,
Gary Gibbs

We will publish updates as we get them.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation has announced a free iPhone app based on their popular Where2Shoot.org website.  The app contains a comprehensive database of shooting ranges throughout North America.  You can search for ranges nearby or search by zip code and state.  The app provides information for each range such as the type of shooting activity offered, accessibility and contact information.  As well as the database the app includes news, video tips and safety information for shooters.  The NSSF has stated that an Android version is in the works and will be released this summer.

Download the app here or scan the QR code above with your device.

Northbrook Sports Club has announced an easy way to arrange for shuttle services at the 2012 World FITASC Championship.  Shuttles are available from the airports to the hotels and from the hotels to the club.  Pre-arranged shuttles to the club are $18.00 per shuttle if reserved before July 31st.  After July 31st it will be $25 per shuttle.  Please see the Northbrook Sports Club World FITASC page for more information..

Entries for the 2012 World English Sporting Championship are now open on the CPSA website.  The Championship and other events will be held August 1-5 at a greenfield site in the Cotswolds area of the UK.  You can enter online at the link below or use the optional .pdf entry form.

2012 World English Championship Entries

2012 World English Championship Information

Well looks like we broke the meter on this one.  An email from FITASC headquarters shows a record number of registrations were received in the first 24 hours for the 2012 World FITASC Championship.  They have just opened a new batch of places.  You better get in quick do not wait on this one!

"Record broken : 452 entrants within 24h  !!!!

On 9th January 2012 at 10am, the FITASC opened on its site the entries to the World Sporting Championship, that will take place as from next 16th August in the USA.

On 10th January 2012 at 10am, so within 24 hours, 452 shooters have signed in yet and paid their entry fees. Well done to all entrants  !

I wish to draw the attention of the National federations, as far as the booking for their teams is concerned, as the world championship is most likely to  be full very soon. Besides I thank you for informing your shooters of the situation.

Jean-François PALINKAS

Fitasc President"