Re: Corporate shooting teams?
Battle Ax:
FNH has a small "team" of sponsored shooters in the long range tactical sport. Our major trust has been in the Three-Gun arena with huge sponsorships of matches and prizes. We have a very large Three-Gun Team and they do pretty good at all the events they shoot in. Recently, I have been tasked with a smaller, but similar program in the long range tactical arena.
For my small long-range precision team (LRP), we are just starting out. It is a way to get our product in front of other shooters in this market that otherwise would not see them. I am the only full-time employee of FNH on the team, so it is one of my job responsibilities (being paid to shoot is a really nice job to have). The other members are shooters from our three-gun team that also have interest in long range tactical shooting. Two others are former Marine snipers that do this for me on the side as well.
Hornady, like was mentioned, sponsors shooters, as does Leupold, to some extent. There are probably others as well. FNH requires our long range shooters to shoot our products in competition (of course) and not shoot other manufacturers' rifles in these specific comps. We supply the rifle, match fees, travel, etc. Our shooters can be co-sponsored by other manufacturers such as optics or ammo companies, as long as they don't make long range precision rifles. We do not supply ammo or optics, generally. We also do not pay "consulting fees" to shoot for our company.
FNH does not require the shooters to "win" every event. The goal is to shoot well enough to draw attention to the rifle (these are factory rigs). The shooter should be approachable and knowledgeable enough about the rifle to "sell" the rifle's features and benefits and the idea of shooting an FN in competition to other competitors. Shooters can keep any winnings and prizes, unless it is an FNH product.
One of the other things the team does for FNH is gets us into the market place to see what others are shooting. It allows us to put our finger on the pulse of the market and find out what features shooters want and need in a long range precision rifle. One of the best ways to do this is to talk to the best and most knowledgeable shooters in the business. These shooters are generally found at shooting venues like Rifles Only, Tac-Pro, NorCal and ASC.
The third thing the LRP team does for FNH is test prototype features that may be coming to the market soon. These competitions can be very gruelling for the rifle, so what better place to test in the real world than in competition? (if you are not hell-bent on winning because they may not be perfect yet)
FNH is not currently looking for new shooters on the LRP team. I am always looking to talk to shooters about their ideas and what they want in a rifle. If you see me or any FNH team member, please tell us what you think. I hope to see you on a range somewhere. Hope this helps.
Semper Fidelis,
