Hillsdale College has a reputation as an institution of higher learning that’s focused on promoting the principles of the Constitution, good citizenship, freedom, liberty and patriotism. What you may not know is the school also supports the Second Amendment and the shooting sports through its Halter Shooting Sports Education Center, a large complex built to “expose a new generation to shooting sports, encourage older shooters to return to the sport and to bring the ideas of liberty to life.”
Located about 4½ miles from the Hillsdale College main campus in South Central Michigan, the Halter Shooting Center sits on 113 acres. The facility has five bunker trap fields, eight American trap fields, four skeet fields that are combination international or American, a 23-station sporting clays course, a heated five-stand range and an archery range. Earlier this year, the college added an action-shooting range with five 30-yard pistol bays, a 40-yard pistol bay and a 100-yard rifle bay—more than enough real estate to handle three-gun, USPSA, Steel Challenge and other disciplines.
In September, I traveled to Michigan to visit the Halter Center for the first time. I was there to cover the first-ever Hillsdale USPSA collegiate competition, along with the ACUI-SCTP international team selection match.
Two of my NRA colleagues joined me on the trip, American Rifleman Executive Editor Evan Brune and NRA Media Senior Digital Producer Jake Stocke. All three of us walked away impressed with what the facility has to offer.
As a shooting sports destination, the Halter Shooting Sports Education Center reminded me of other gargantuan competition facilities I’ve visited, like the Cardinal Center in Ohio, the World Shooting and Recreational Complex in Illinois, the National Shooting Complex in Texas, and even the massive, multi-discipline range in Chateauroux, France, where Paris 2024 Olympic shooting events were held.
For Brune, a 2015 Hillsdale graduate and former news editor of the Hillsdale Collegian, the school’s newspaper, it was a homecoming. He was a student when the Halter Center was just getting off the ground, and to come back to see a top-tier shooting facility was a remarkable experience.
“When I was a student here, they had a few trap fields and a couple of dirt berms where we shot .22 rifles and pistols,” Brune said. “At the time, of course, I thought it was great, because who else gets to shoot recreationally at their college? Now, though, Hillsdale has taken the Halter Center to an entirely different level. It truly is world-class.”
Stocke, who has taped segments for “American Rifleman TV” around the world, echoed his sentiments.
“For years, my life has centered around filming at many ranges in the U.S., as well as in other countries. The Halter Center is one of the best range facilities I’ve ever been fortunate enough to step foot on,” Stocke said. “The facility provides a sense of camaraderie and pride in the Second Amendment.”
Shooting Sports Complex
The Hillsdale College John Anthony Halter Shooting Sports Education Center began as an old gravel pit that the school purchased in 2006 with a grant from one of its donors who wanted the college to start a shooting program. Now, nearly two decades later with about $30 million invested, it has grown to become one of the best competitive shooting venues in the country.
Matt Little, the range manager of the Halter Shooting Sports Education Center, has been a competitive shooter for four decades. He highlighted how the center and its many educational programs complement what Hillsdale College prides itself on—developing minds and fostering intelligent patriotism.
“The Second Amendment and the right to bear arms is what we do,” he said. “Our first mission at the Halter Center is to teach, whether it’s pistol, rifle, shotgun, archery, you name it. We offer several classes with coaches as instructors. The students love it. It all folds into the Second Amendment and what we stand for at the college. What we want those kids to learn is to be good citizens first—shooting sports adds to that.”
You couldn’t ask for a finer place to spend a day or two shooting than the Halter Shooting Sports Education Center. While it boasts several different ranges on the property, it’s not so spread out that moving from place to place is difficult. The roads are well maintained and there is plenty of parking. Besides the beautiful ranges, there are amenities. The Halter Center’s AcuSport Lodge is a large meeting space that includes a restaurant. Cottages are also available for lodging visitors that operate like an Airbnb—people can stay for a few days and shoot, with a relaxing place to unwind at the end of the day. Each has four individual bedrooms and adjoining bathrooms, plus private entrances. The cottages are quite popular, and Hillsdale College is building more to satisfy demand.
Key Partnerships
Hillsdale College has forged a connection with USA Shooting through the Halter Shooting Sports Education Center. Since 2019, the facility has served as the home range of the U.S. National Shotgun Team. Not only that—proportionally, there are more Hillsdale student-athletes on USA Shooting’s shotgun team than any other college in the country.
While in France earlier this year at the Paris 2024 Olympics, I asked USA Shooting CEO Kelly Reisdorf about the organization’s partnership with Hillsdale College. She plans to continue working with the school to assist with its competition-shooting focus at the Halter Shooting Sports Education Center.
“Hillsdale is great—they’ve spent [millions of dollars] for a rifle and pistol range where they can host world-class competitions. I’m excited for that,” she said. “Hillsdale is also adding trap and skeet fields to meet international compliance for skeet competitions and things like that. That is going to kind of bring them on the map a bit more. We can have more competitions with Hillsdale and bring in talent from all around the world.”
USA Shooting’s first selection match for the team headed to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games was held at the Halter Center in September.
“Our partnership grows every day with USA Shooting. We work with them on a regular basis,” Little said. “What Hillsdale is doing on the shotgun side, we’ll do on the pistol and rifle side as well, growing those programs.”
Another key supporter of Hillsdale’s shooting sports endeavors is Springfield Armory. The company has outfitted the school’s action-shooting team with more than 100 of its 1911 DS Prodigy and Echelon handguns, as well as funding scholarships and sponsoring events.
Springfield Armory also partnered with Hillsdale for its Modern American Riflery course, donating a dozen SA-16A2 rifles for students to learn basic rifle marksmanship and participate in competition.
“Hillsdale been working with Springfield Armory for several years,” Little said. “They’re hugely supportive of us and what we stand for—life, liberty and the Second Amendment. Their views align with our views—it’s a really good relationship.”
All this support has helped Hillsdale’s competition-shooting teams on the firing line. In March, the Hillsdale College action-shooting team won the Centerfire Optic division title at the 2024 SASP College Nationals. Not long after that, the shotgun team earned its first-ever Division II national title at the 2024 ACUI-SCTP National Championship.
The Future
Right now, Hillsdale College is expanding the Halter Shooting Sports Education Center and is in the process of building an indoor and outdoor pistol and precision air rifle range with a 64,000 square-foot footprint. The new range should be ready to accommodate shooters in June 2025.
Matt Little has his eyes on hosting an ISSF Shotgun World Cup at the Halter Center in 2027, which would be the first such event held in North America since 2018. With the addition of the new building, there’s even the possibility of hosting the first-ever ISSF World Cup with all three Olympic guns—pistol, rifle and shotgun—all in one place.
“My goal 10 years down the road is to maintain the same path that we’re on today, more teaching and growing our relationship with USA Shooting. Not only do I want to have the first ISSF World Cup in North America in many years for shotgun, but I also would like to host the first full World Cup with pistol, rifle and shotgun sports at our facility.”
A lofty goal, but certainly achievable. Learn more about the Halter Shooting Sports Education Center at hillsdale.edu.
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