ELEY Set to Open U.S. Testing Range to the Delight of USA Shooting Team
OutdoorHub 12.05.12
USA Shooting’s elite athletes will enjoy a few less overseas trips thanks to the new ELEY Testing Range that will be unveiled before team members later today. As the USA Shooting Team’s smallbore (.22 caliber) ammunition provider, ELEY recognized the need for a testing facility for America’s top Olympic shooters and thus established their third testing range in Winters, Texas.
Since 2000, ELEY has been supplying U.S. rifle and pistol teams with select batches of .22 TENEX, along with testing services to match these batches of ammunition to each athlete’s equipment. ELEY TENEX has been part of five Olympic medal-winning performances for the USA Shooting Team since 2004. With ammunition and target costs associated with each pull of the trigger, shooting is one of the most expensive Olympic sports. USA Shooting Team members fire millions of rounds of ammunition annually. They train year-round for national and international competitions such as World Cups, World and National Championships and various selection matches and team training camps, all in preparation for the Olympic Games.
“This new facility is a testament to the commitment ELEY has to not only the sport of shooting but to the USA Shooting Team,” said Buddy DuVall, Executive Director for the USA Shooting Team Foundation. “They are truly a company that understands the needs of the athletes they support and are dedicated to ensuring the perfection that this sport demands.”
On hand for today’s opening will be Olympians and ELEY shooters Jamie Gray (Lebanon, Pa.), Matt Emmons (Browns Mills, N.J.), Eric Uptagrafft (USAMU/Phenix City, Ala.) andSandra Uptagrafft (Phenix City, Ala.) as well as shooting legend Lones Wigger (Colorado Springs, Colo.), a three-time Olympic medalist. Also joining them will be USA Shooting’s Director of Marketing and Communications Corrie West.
Billed as the Choice of Champions, ELEY demonstrated their success with 14 of 18 Olympic medalists from London shooting their ELEY TENEX ammunition. Those athletes comprised all but one of the gold medalists in the smallbore events including Gray.
