August 3, 2026

Arkansas Armory Leveraging National Shooting Sports Month to Boost Range Traffic

By Jade Moldae

It’s August, and that means National Shooting Sports Month^® has returned for its annual monthlong campaign. All throughout the month, hundreds of ranges, retailers and shooting clubs across the U.S. will welcome in customers as they partake in the joy of the shooting sports.

To commemorate America’s 250th anniversary and 10 years of National Shooting Sports Month, this year’s celebration carries the tagline “Let Freedom Plink” — recognizing the traditions of marksmanship, responsibility and freedom that have brought generations of Americans together through the shooting sports.

Nathan House, co-owner of Arkansas Armory in North Little Rock, Ark., is taking a purposeful approach to celebrating National Shooting Sports Month at his facility. The popular #RangeChallenge — which features a patriotic-themed printable target and weekly opportunities for eligible participants to win prizes nationally — is going to be a key driver to create some friendly competition and drive range visits to Arkansas Armory.

“We view National Shooting Sports Month as an opportunity to look at business a little bit differently this August and to draw people in and have an experience at the range,” House said. “We’re going to have the #RangeChallenge target available to all our guests throughout the entire month.”

House shared Arkansas Armory’s local #RangeChallenge participants are competing to win a Stevens 555 Sporting shotgun throughout the month — the competitor with the top score at the range will win it.

Breaking Down Barriers

Ranges have flexibility to determine the course of fire for the #RangeChallenge. House shared official attempts to enter the giveaway at Arkansas Armory will consist of 10 rounds using the .22-caliber GLOCK 44. Participants can have up to two attempts, and the combined score of both targets is what will determine the winner. (House created tiebreakers, just in case.)

House predicts a new shooter-friendly platform will help encourage regular range visitors to bring a friend.

“The contest itself is going to encourage people to bring others, just through word of mouth,” he said. “When someone comes to shoot, their range admission price is all that they’re going to have to pay, and we’re going to give them 10 rounds of ammunition for the GLOCK 44 and let them do their scoring attempt. Everyone who wants to will get two attempts at it. We think a combination of offering the free ammo, free rental with a beginner-friendly handgun will naturally encourage new shooters to come back to the range.”

To further this point, House recounted a conversation with a regular range patron just moments before this interview who was at the range with his wife, who is not an avid shooter.

“I told them about the #RangeChallenge and it’s going to have a .22 pistol. I could just tell that really lowered some barriers for the wife to participate,” he said.

Promotion & Retention

Arkansas Armory’s early promotion of National Shooting Sports Month featured a picture of the #RangeChallenge target with the tease, “August is National Shooting Sports Month, and we’ve got something special cooking …” to spark interest.

A special landing page on the Arkansas Armory website detailing National Shooting Sports Month and the local #RangeChallenge giveaway was also created to inform customers, using assets found in the promotional toolkit.

House is using Patch Retention — software to improve customer retention efforts — to promote this monthlong competition to previous range visitors.

“When people come in to shoot, they can check in and after 10 visits we’ll give them a free range pass,” House said. “In this process Patch allows us to collect email data, so we’re going to use it to send out an email blast to the contacts we have through that platform and let them know about what’s coming up in August.”

To generate further engagement, House shared those who tag Arkansas Armory on their social media channels will receive a free target to use at the range.

“It’s just a little extra incentive to say, ‘Hey, throw us on your socials as well’ — we’d love to get reach associated with this effort, too,” he said.

In addition to hosting a local version of the #RangeChallenge, Arkansas Armory is encouraging its participants to enter NSSF’s national #RangeChallenge. After shooting the #RangeChallenge target, anyone can upload a photo of themselves and/or the target or post a photo or video to their Instagram feed using the hashtag #RangeChallenge for a chance to win one of eight $500 gift cards.

Not Too Late to Get Involved!

While ranges, retailers and shooting clubs play a central role in making National Shooting Sports Month a success, it’s an occasion for the entire industry to come together in celebrating the shooting sports. Participating businesses can sign up to appear on the national host map, access campaign resources and receive a free promotional package while supplies last.

NSSF also encourages firearm manufacturers, shooting sports organizations and other industry partners to promote National Shooting Sports Month, share campaign materials and encourage their audiences to participate throughout August. Promotional resources are available through the National Shooting Sports Month toolkit.

For information about participating businesses, the #RangeChallenge, campaign resources and ways to celebrate, visit ShootingSportsMonth.org.