Airgun Expo 2025 UPDATE! and What is IAATS? [2025-05-07]

[GTA-Airgunner]

Good morning Airgunners! Thank you for being part of the GTA!

So I have some GREAT news about AE25.  New England Airgun will be coming out to the event (hopefully) and will be the official vendor for Airgun Expo 2025.  I had a great talk with John last night, and he's providing some awesome airguns for us to demo.  More details on all that are coming later this week. 

Now, I want to talk about IAATS.  What is IAATS?? Well, IAATS stands for "It's All About the Shooter," and it's a fulfillment of a dream I've had for some time.  We are putting together the official rules and will be creating a website in support of the system. More on that shortly.   What I've always wanted to see is a way for "normal" shooters to compete, with a focus on the skill of the shooter and not how much $$ they have to spend on gear.   The core principle behind IAATS is that the event will provide, either privately or via manufacturer's support, the shooting platforms, i.e., gun, optic, and ammo.  Everyone will be shooting the SAME setup!  Nobody will have an advantage based on budget. 

Obviously, this is not going to replace or even put a dent in the big events like RMAC or EBR, but if it helps get more people excited about airgunning in a fun way, that will make me very happy.   We are currently working with Nate Chrony to develop a very simple means of scoring the event electronically.  Not only can folks use this at their own IAATS event (GTA will manage sanctioned matches via the IAATS website), but it should be VERY affordable and accessible for folks to have a system set up in their backyard just for fun.  If all goes well, we'll be showcasing all this at AE25.  If we need more time for the electronic scoring element, then we'll be going the traditional paper target route. THANK YOU, JOHN AT NEA, FOR HELPING US OUT WITH THE OFFICIAL TARGETS!

For the first-ever IAATS, we'll be using a gun and scope from BARRA. It will either be an 1100z or a 250z. We'll be giving away that set-up after the event (the contest form will be posted soon. I'll make sure to get a link out to everyone).

As you can probably tell, I'm very excited to see IAATS get off the ground finally.  This is not about creating yet "another" shooting event for the elite.  This is about creating a structure where everyday folks can easily organize something based on fun and the general enjoyment of airguns.  I could eventually see where folks could use their private guns, provided they met the match configuration without modifications, sort of like the Daisy Nationals, where everyone shoots an Avanti 499. It will really all be up to the individual event organizer.   We could have Gamo events, BSA Events, FX Events, Marauder Events, Pinty Events, Daisy Events, you get the idea.  The point is that the playfield is as even as possible because, in the end, "It's All About the Shooter!"

I look forward to hearing from you all about this idea, and I hope some of you can attend the event. Just reach out if you have questions!

Cheers
Rick

[splitbeing]

I wonder if partnership with CMP or Daisy might end up being part of this.  Daisy seems to be at the forefront of supporting stuff like this. 

I can imagine a P17 IAATS could have legs.  An 880 IAATS.  hmmm... [gears are turning expression]

A sheridan IAATS?!?

[GTA-Airgunner]

Hey there.

I will be talking with Daisy at some he Daisy Nationals.  And yes, it can work with anything. So the opportunity for getting a lot of folks involved should be straightforward. 

Thank you for your comments!

Cheers
Rick