2010 NRA Annual Meetings Recap
I love going to the NRA Annual Meetings every year and this year was no different at the meetings held in Charlotte, North Carolina. The SHOT Show which is dealer oriented is a great show also, but the NRA Exhibition Hall lets you relax and interface with other shooters in a very informal manner. Shooters and hunters attending are predominately from the region where the show is held but many attendees come from much further.
The convention was held in the Charlotte Convention Center in downtown Charlotte which is really a beautiful downtown area. The NASCAR Hall of Fame was right next door to the convention center and was visited by many of the attendees. Attending the NRA Annual meetings as an exhibitor requires a long day but an attendee has an equally long day with trying to see all the exhibitors (over 400), attending special seminars, and attending some of the evening festivities.
The Sinclair booth was right up front with some of our neighbors being Lyman, Brownells, and MEC Reloading. Berger Bullets were right down the aisle and Hornady was right around the corner so we had a lot of friends nearby. We had a lot of visitors to our booth with Saturday being the big day as usual. This year we had even more visitors interested in learning about reloading and wanting to know how to get started. The last two years we have setup a demonstration table showing the basic steps of metallic cartridge reloading – sizing, priming, powder dispensing, and bullet seating. People thinking about getting into reloading find it helpful to see the process demonstrated and most of the time we have them go through the steps themselves. The most rewarding time is when we get to show a younger shooter a little about what it takes to make up a loaded round – they always enjoy working the press.
The NRA Annual Meetings are a great way for shooters and hunters to see first hand the guns and gear they have read about in magazines and the internet. In today’s world we rely on catalogs and websites to show us the tools we need for our hobby but there is nothing like getting to pick up the tools and see how they work. Visitors comment that it is one of the most satisfying parts about visiting the NRA Show and the Sinclair booth. They get to handle the firearms that they have been considering buying, try out many of the tools, and talk to many of the people that are legends in the business.
Pete Brownell, the president of Brownells, Inc. (Sinclair is part of the Brownell family of companies), was inducted as a member of the NRA Board of Directors during the week. Congratulations Pete! The NRA Board of Directors have a really long week being there for all of the festivities throughout the week, and then they remain for at least two days after the show for their own business meetings.
All of us at Sinclair will be looking forward to the next NRA Annual Meetings to be held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at the end of April, 2011. The last time we were in Pittsburgh we had a really good crowd and expect the same in 2011. Hope you get a chance to visit the show sometime.
Good Shooting,
Bill Gravatt
President – Sinclair International, Inc.