Features Reporter
A bullet fired from an AR-15 rifle travels the length of six football fields and covers 3,200 feet per second as it penetrates a 2-inch bullseye.This is data that CMU freshman and recent national shooting champion Isaac Dow knows all about.
For seven years, Dow has competed at events each week during the summer.
The National Rifle Championships at the National Guard base in Camp Perry, Ohio, featured a two week competition attended by over 1,200 shooters of all ages.
“Every year it’s basically to see who’s best,” Dow said. “Whoever wants to show up can show up, there’s no qualifying for it.”
From August 5 to 15, the event featured many different styles of shooting, both handguns and long-range shooting. Dow won first place overall in the junior (20-years-old and under) long range arena, establishing himself as one of the best junior riflemen in the country. The young shooter pitted himself against some of the best shooters in the world at the competition, including armed forces members.
No rookie to shooting matches, Dow was prepared for the stress of being on the range for 10 to 12 hours during a competition such as the National Rifle Championships.
“I try to calm myself down, but at the national matches it never works,” Dow said. “The first five shots of the day are always the hardest because you get that adrenaline going once you hit the line, or at least I do.”
Dow begins practicing for competitions each spring about once a week.
“At the height of my season I practice twice or three times a week, and one of those would probably be a match,” Dow said.
There is some physical strain from being on the rang for hours at a time, but the sport is much more psychological.
“It’s a huge mental game,” Dow said. “I like to tell people it’s 100 percent mental and ten percent physical, because it’s not a strenuous activity, but when you get done you’re always exhausted because you’re trying to focus so much.”
During a 50 round match, a perfect score would be 500, which comes from hitting 50 bullseyes, this is something that Dow has done before.
“How do you do better than a perfect score?” Dow said. “You do it again.”
At an average of 50 cents a round, shelf price, a 50 round match would cost $25 just in ammunition. That doesn’t include travel costs or practice ammunition.
“It’s definitely expensive,” Dow said. “But reloading your own rounds helps, plus we get certain deals through the junior programs. So it’s a little cheaper than just buying it off the shelf.”
Dow has been shooting for over seven years. His brothers introduced him to the sport. Shooting has since become a huge part of Dow’s life and something he sees himself continuing throughout his life.
“I love it because you always have the ability to do better,” Dow said. “No matter how good you are or how well you’ve shot, you can always do better and get closer to the center of the target.”
Recently, Dow qualified for the Young Eagles, an elite 25-and-under international shooting team that participates in matches all over the world.
“I’m hoping to end up in South Africa with the Young Eagles,” Dow said. “That’s the plan anyway.”
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