Raising the next generation of safe, and responsible rifle shooters.
Message from Dad [Jeff Spalding]: I come from a non-traditional childhood. My Father was deeply involved in the Late 70s through Early 90s Counter Terrorism efforts, and was also a single Parent after my Mother passed away when I was 3. When he wasn’t traveling to God knows where, doing God knows what in a faraway land, He and I would shoot, and shoot, and shoot some more. From the time I was 8 years old, shooting and firearms became all I knew. My life just happened to follow the firearm path. I suppose… Like Father, like Son still holds true.
Jackson has always had a passion for firearms, and when he turned 4 years old I began letting him sit with me while I disassembled, cleaned, and maintained my firearms. We would discuss the parts of the firearms, how they operate, and of course – firearm safety and responsibility. I explained to him that when he turned 8, I would start taking him shooting IF and only IF he could repeat the 4 Rules of Firearms Safety in any order I asked him too, as well as 4 additional safety reminders that I provided him. These rules and reminders where pinned to his wall at age 6, and they remain there today.
Bonding
I can’t begin to explain how important this time spent with my Son has been. With so many distractions in our kid’s lives these days, I feel like I only get to spend time with them at Breakfast, Dinner, and the occasional car ride here and there. When we know we are going to the Range, there is a solid 45 minutes to an hour that he and I spend directly focused on preparing the targets, equipment, and firearms for the morning. Once at the Range we spend the next 2-3 hours working together with no distractions. We find time to talk about everything, shooting, school, friends, likes, dislikes and what the future plans of a 9 year old are. We have certainly become closer thanks to shooting, and our commitment to range time can certainly be credited to NRL22.
Quote I Live By
My Father would always tell me. “You never fail, until you stop trying” I have lived by that motto my entire life. When I was 18 and moved into my own apartment, my Father gave me a plaque that hung in his office that had this motto on it. That plaque has hung in every office I have ever had and is currently the first thing I see every morning when I turn on the lights in my office, and the last thing I see before I leave. Truer words have never been spoken.
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Jackson Spalding
My name is Jackson Spalding, I was born in Las Vegas, NV and now I live in Eagle, ID. I am 9 years old and have a brother named Cash who is 7, and a Dog named Oakley. I play flag football, tennis, parkour, and I like to play video games.
Competitive Shooter Profile
I started shooting .22’s two weeks before my first match when my Dad built my first rifle. I got interested in shooting by watching my Dad do it, and I wanted to shoot with him. My goals for this season is to try to win another match and work on unsupported position shooting.
My Rifle Build
Jackson: My first match I was shooting a CZ455 in a Tacticool stock that has a cheek piece so I can see the scope clearly. It also has a shorter barrel with a suppressor on it and my dad put sling mounts in the stock, and it has a bipod. It also has a bigger bolt handle, a good trigger, and a really awesome scope.
Jeff: The first .22 match rifle I built was a little overboard. It is a CZ455 with a .900 straight taper Lilja 16” barrel and a TacSol suppressor. It is in a Boyds Tacticool stock that I had to work over pretty good to get the fit right and the barrel channel opened. The action has been worked over with just about every DIP product that is available, but the trigger is still a factory CZ trigger. He is using a U.S. Optics LR-17 with the RDP MIL reticle. He primarily uses the Reasor bag or a SAP Run – N – Gun rear bag depending on the stage, and he loves his SAP sling. The ammo we are currently running is the GemTech 42g and the results have been amazing.
After watching his struggles with the LOP and weight, I decided to build a lightweight Ruger 10/22 with a Ruger 16” fluted target barrel and Ruger trigger. This is mounted in a Blackhawk Knoxx Stock with an adjustable LOP and for now, it also has a U.S. Optics LR-17 but I am looking at other, lighter options for the final optic choice.
Favorite Part about the NRL 22 Match
My favorite part of the match was having fun with my Dad because he was a good teacher, and he was very nice & happy to help me. My favorite stage was the Horrifying Cinder Blocks from Hell stage, because It made you run and you had to change positions every time. My favorite part after the match was seeing all the scores from the match, and then watching the other scores from the other young guns at the other matches.
Challenges
My challenges were the unsupported positions. I got through it by moving the butt stock outside my shoulder since the gun was too long and too heavy.
Inspirations and Aspirations
My hero is my Dad because he helps me do the best I can, and he made me a really good shooter. He always helps fix problems, makes us breakfast and dinner sometimes, and always lets us get Gatorade and sour patch kids.
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