[MacPelto]

Hello all,


As some of you may know, THR member MatthewVanitas and I have revived the dormant rifle and pistol club at the University of Texas at Austin. We have also just started an informal pistol match for students. What I need now is a place to buy some inexpensive medals to give out as awards. I can't seem to find them on the NRA website, nor at the champion's choice site. Where alse should I be looking? Any help is appreciated.


Cheers

Mac

[Larry Ashcraft]

Shooting medals are increasingly hard to find. I usually suggest to my customers to use a "victory" style medal.

Here is an online catalog of one of my suppliers: http://www.mytrophycatalog.com

And this is their main site: http://www.trophyparts.com

Ask them for a retailer near you.

Beware some of the cheap medals sold on the internet though. A plastic medal with a paper insert makes a pretty poor award.

[MatthewVanitas]

The "Victory" model is kinda cool, but anything even vauely pistol-related would be outstanding.

What the heck, they have a "Darts" medal, but none for guns?

-MV

[MacPelto]

One of those dog-tag ones with a pistol/rifle would be sweet.


Mac

[Larry Ashcraft]

I'll look around some more. There used to be a company in Long Island, NY named Classic Medallics that had an outstanding line of medallions. I haven't done business with them in years because of their stupid business practices, but you might try googling them. I'm sure they won't sell direct, but you can find a local trophy dealer that uses them, I'm sure.
What the heck, they have a "Darts" medal, but none for guns?
I answer that question a dozen times a week in various forms. Some sports are huge markets for awards, some aren't. The companies naturally go where the money is. And you can't blame them, tooling costs are big, and they have to sell thousands of medals of each design a year to make a profit.

I do have a company that will make custom medals at a fairly reasonable rate, but their minimum quantities start at around 500, I believe. I have the link at the shop, if you're interested.

Edit: MacPelto, the dog tags are pretty new. Let me see what I can find Monday (I'm swamped tomorrow).

[MacPelto]

I appreciate you looking into it for me. This place is an invaluable resource.

Thank you.

Mac

[Newguy1]

You might want to look into one of the companies that make coins for military units. The initial cost for the dies is expensive (I think we paid $350 for the die), but the per unit cost is pretty cheap (around 4-5 USD per unit maybe 2 USD more if you want several colors). You could have the school logo on one side and crossed pistol and rifle on the other with an area to engrave the event date and the score.

Edited to add: I did a quick google search and found www.coinsforanything.com I haven't used this company, but the prices sure have gone down since I had our unit coin made (2003). $99 per side for the dies and ~$3 per coin with unlimited color.

[Larry Ashcraft]

Here's the one I use: http://www.pinfactory.com/ Outstanding and fast service. I've seen them take a pencil drawing and turn it in to a nice casting.

You guys are probably not ready for a custom made medal yet, just food for thought.

The small victory medals (1.25") on the first link I posted, sell for $3.25 at my shop, with neck ribbon. Larger quantities (50 or over) can be discounted.

I suggest you find a local trophy shop to order them for you though. I prefer my customers shop locally, and I would urge you to do the same. Also, feel free to give the link above to your local supplier.

[MatthewVanitas]

Hot dangity, Mac, with that Coinsforanything we could get 100 unit-coin type coins for the club for $310 total. Sell 'em for $5-$6 bucks a pop or so, make our money back after selling out half our stock.

I don't know if we have any practical use for unit coins, but I just didn't realize that they were that cheap. Come to think of it, I did wonder how the battalion managed to sell them for $5 and still raise money for the Birthday Ball.

Are you going to share your brainstorm on this thread, Mac?

-MV

[Hoser]

We dont give out medals, but we do give out prize points for $$$ their next match. Keeps them coming back.

First time shooters shoot for free. If they seem like they might not be coming back and are friendly enough, I give them a free match coupon for their next match.

[MacPelto]

Unfortunately, University policy prevents us from giving out money. Awards are acceptable though.

Mac

[MatthewVanitas]

http://www.dogtagsinc.com/Engraved/chains.htm

Okay, building on Mac's idea. We go with the dog-tags since we can stamp the name of the winning individual for a buck or so at the local mil-surp shop.

For the actual blanks, we could order up a pack from one of these dog-tag wholesalers, anodized aluminum in the color of our choice (no burnt orange available though) and have a pistol and "Pistoleer of the Week" laser-engraved onto the tag.

Then we just need to stamp the name, maybe date, maybe score onto the bottom of the tag and hand them out. $2/tag, plus whatever stamping locally costs. That way they'll be distinctive, will have both the reason for the award and the awardee's name. Plus, some kids might want to actually wear them, so this will be convenient.

I pondered briefly on whether any military folks will find it offensive, but if it doesn't bother Mac or me, that's probably good enough. Can't be any worse than cellphone and liquor companies handing out promotional dog-tags from sidewalk booths.

I'm still tempted to look into the club coin idea. Man, $3 each for coins...

-MV