targets

Shooters will soon be feeling the trickle-down effects of higher-priced components in clay targets, according to White Flyer Targets, manufacturer of the clay targets used by many clubs across the country. Phil Murray of White Flyer explained the necessity for the cost increase in recent letters to its distributors and gun clubs:

March 13, 2018
Dear White Flyer Distributor,

As many of you are aware the aluminum industry has recently experienced a major revitalization. In the aluminum manufacturing process, pitch plays a significant role in the smelting of the ore. Because of this revitalization, the aluminum industry has now become a much larger consumer of pitch. Consequently, pitch pricing has risen dramatically over the past six months. Although the price has risen significantly White Flyer has long term volume contracts and the amount of pitch available to White Flyer is more than sufficient for our production needs.

As a result of above, White Flyer Targets finds it necessary to announce a price increase for its full line of targets. All orders presently on the White Flyer books as of today March 13 and shipping before April 1 will be at OLD White Flyer pricing. All orders placed today March 13 and beyond will have new White Flyer pricing. We regret any inconvenience that this may cause your gun clubs and customers but this new pricing became absolutely necessary.
The pricing of our Biodegradable Targets has also had a MODERATE increase due to increase in production costs plus the rising cost of raw materials that go into the Bio Target. We trust that you will understand our reasons for these increases being passed on.

Although other target companies announced price increases in early February due to this pitch crisis, White Flyer has tried to hold off as long as possible before implementing these price increases. Unfortunately, we can no longer delay these actions. We certainly appreciate the role our distributors play for White Flyer, your support and input continues to make White Flyer #1. We ask that once you receive this new pricing that you contact each of your customers to let them know the
new pricing.

We sincerely appreciate your consideration and understanding on this issue.

Phil Murray
White Flyer Targets

March 16, 2018
Dear White Flyer Distributor/Gun Club,

Many of you have expressed some concern regarding the recent price increase. We are also concerned that we were forced to increase cost of targets due to raw materials. This isn’t the first time we have seen a spike in pitch prices. In late 2011 one of our suppliers shut down due to a fire drastically reducing the available pitch which drove prices to a record level. At that time we had to take $1.00 per case increase. Months later the prices started dropping and we immediately lowered our pricing by $.40. A year later raw material prices dropped again and we passed on an additional $.45 per case decrease .We haven’t had a price adjustment since the end of 2014.

The reason for the current price increase is tied directly to the aluminum market. Several years ago China flooded the market with cheap aluminum products in Europe and North America. When that happened aluminum plants in these areas where forced to shut down because they could not compete with the lower prices. The aluminum market uses pitch to manufacture the carbon electrodes which are used to smelt the ore.Additionally,the pitch plants either shut down or drastically reduced their productions. Fast forward to today and with our thriving economy the demand for high quality aluminum has created a comeback for the North American and European aluminum industry. The reemerging industry is consuming the same pitch we use in our targets; however the refineries have not scaled up pitch production accordingly. Since Europe is experiencing a similar situation it has forced them to use less than desirable and expensive pitch alternatives in their targets. White Flyer wants to continue to deliver high quality targets to all of our customers and we will not cut corners with cheap raw materials. Raw materials are the largest component in the cost of manufacturing targets and history shows that our pricing tracks with the cost of those raw materials. In addition to the increases White Flyer has also taken four decreases since 2008. If we had not taken those decreases the cost of targets would already be above what was announced on March 13th. If pitch production increases and prices drop, White Flyer as we have done in the past will pass those savings along to the consumer.

For over 125 years White Flyer has done our best to deliver high quality targets that shooters have demanded. We continue to support the shooting world by sponsoring more events and organizations that any other target manufacturer. We sincerely appreciate your consideration and understanding on this issue.

Phil Murray
White Flyer Targets

NSSA regrets to report the death of Howard Confer, one of the association’s longest-serving active members and the person most responsible for the high-quality targets thrown at the World Skeet Championships. He died peacefully at home on October 23, 2016, at the age of 97.

Howard was an ambassador for the game of skeet in his home state of Michigan and the nation. He was inducted into the NSSA Hall of Fame in 1975 as the Ray Boller Award recipient and as a shooter in 1979. He is also in the Michigan Skeet Hall of Fame. Howard attended the World Skeet Championships 54 times, shooting in 52 consecutive World Shoots and winning a world championship in 1954. He served as NSSA president 1976-1978.

Howard Confer’s estate encourages his friends to donate to NSSA’s general fund,
youth shooting initiatives, or NSSA Museum in his memory.

Click here to donate.

As a long-time member of the Detroit Gun Club, Howard was a member of the famed Michigan Wreckers 5-man team that dominated team events in the 1960s and holds a number of team world records. Until the past few months, he was still active in the game and was still coaching at the Detroit Gun Club, as well as remaining busy designing clay target traps and installing sporting clays courses across the U.S.

Although he served his club and NSSA tirelessly in many ways, his greatest contribution was his quest for perfection in the targets thrown at the World Skeet Championships and other events. Howard wanted every target thrown to be perfect, and it especially mattered to him that the World Shoot throw targets worthy of the status of the event. That meant no broken targets from the machine and every target flying the same. To reduce the number of broken targets, he started by having referees count them, then analyzed the reason for the breakage: was it the manufacturing process, the way they were shipped and handled, the way they were loaded into the machine, a problem with the machine, or something else?

“At first he would ride on the back of the truck, watch us unload the boxes, and make sure we were handling targets correctly,” said Barney Brown, a trap expert at the National Shooting Complex and protégé of Howard’s. “He developed an 18-point checklist for every machine. If there were too many broken targets, his common phrase was ‘pull it,’ meaning we had to pull the machine and determine what the problem was.

“Howard was absolutely committed to ensuring quality in each and every target, in each and every machine and event. He certainly helped me become better at serving the industry. He revolutionized quality control and checks and balances in targets. I’m a better man for even meeting him. At first he was a mentor, making sure I was learning and doing what I should, but he evolved into an honest friend and someone I looked up to,” Brown said.

“Howard was a fixture in NSSA for over 55 years,” said Louise Terry, an NSSA past president who served with Howard in many capacities over decades. “His life was dedicated to our sport and he gave willingly of his time to the association. Howard was the primary person who dedicated years of focus to target quality, especially at the World Shoot. Anyone who has attended the World Shoot can attribute the high-quality targets to his work. Nobody loved skeet more than Howard, and this is a great loss to our association.”

Howard is survived by his wife of 71 years, Letitia; children Daniel (Debbie) and Sheri (Steve) Confer; grandchildren Carrie and Cole (Maria) Confer and Hunter and Sara Dzierbicki; and great grandson, Xavier Confer.

Funeral Service will be at Lynch & Sons Funeral Home in Clawson, Michigan, on Monday, October 31 at 11 a.m. Obituary and condolences are at lynchfuneraldirectors.com. A memorial service will be held at Detroit Gun Club on December 23 at 1 p.m.

Howard Confer’s estate wishes to encourage people to give to the NSSA in memory of Howard. At their request, we have set up a donation form for that purpose. Those who wish to remember Howard and his love of skeet shooting can click here to make a tax deductible donation online.

If you prefer to mail a donation, you may send a check to NSSA with the following on the memo line, or provide a separate letter accompanying the check:

In memory of Howard Confer to support (a) the NSSA Skeet Program, (b) NSSA Youth Skeet Shooting or (c) NSSA HOF/Museum.

For your tax records, the Federal Tax ID number of NSSA is 75-0108632.

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