# ICP Profile: NRL22 Competitor

**Cold Bore Ballistics™ LLC — ScopeDOPE™**
**Classification:** Highly Confidential (04_-_Highly_Confidential/)
**Status:** Active

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## Table of Contents

1. [Profile Summary](#1-profile-summary)
2. [Demographics](#2-demographics)
3. [Equipment Profile](#3-equipment-profile)
4. [Psychographics](#4-psychographics)
5. [Current Ballistic Workflow](#5-current-ballistic-workflow)
6. [Pain Points](#6-pain-points)
7. [Buying Triggers](#7-buying-triggers)
8. [Objections and Counters](#8-objections-and-counters)
9. [Discovery Channels](#9-discovery-channels)
10. [The Right Message for This Profile](#10-the-right-message-for-this-profile)
11. [Competitive Landscape Awareness](#11-competitive-landscape-awareness)
12. [Kestrel Displacement Tier](#12-kestrel-displacement-tier)
13. [References](#13-references)

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## 1. Profile Summary

The NRL22 Competitor is the highest-priority customer for ScopeDOPE at launch. This person competes in organized rimfire precision rifle matches at local and regional clubs, tracks their performance seriously, and spends disproportionate time and money improving their kit. They are data-literate, skeptical of marketing, and make purchasing decisions based on peer recommendation and demonstrated results.

They are not a casual shooter. NRL22 is a timed, scored competition held at hundreds of affiliated clubs across the United States. Competitors are ranked. They care about their numbers. If a tool demonstrably tightens their first-round hit probability at a stage, they will buy it — price is a secondary concern once utility is proven.

This is the profile for which ScopeDOPE's entire core value proposition was built.

---

## 2. Demographics

| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| **Age range** | 30–55 primary; meaningful 20–29 and 55–65 participation |
| **Gender** | Majority male; Ladies division is a growing and distinct segment |
| **Geographic concentration** | Texas, Southeast, Mountain West, Midwest, Pacific Northwest — all 50 states |
| **Income** | Middle to upper-middle. Equipment investment screens out low-income participation. Household income $75K–$150K+ is representative |
| **Occupation** | Engineers, machinists, tradespeople, military veterans, law enforcement — technically-minded professions are overrepresented |
| **Education** | Mixed; advanced degrees common among the engineer subset; skilled trades equally represented |
| **Competition level** | Club-level through regional. Some pursue national leaderboard standing. |

**NRL22 Divisions represented in this ICP:**
- **Open** — no equipment price cap; most data-driven competitors; often multi-season veterans with serious kit
- **Base** — combined rifle+optic capped at seasonal MSRP (~$1,650); budget-constrained but equally serious in approach and sophistication
- **Young Guns** — age 17 and under; growing; purchasing decisions often involve parents; long lead time to convert independently
- **Ladies** — female competitors; same analytical mindset; separate division for scoring only
- **Old Guns (OG)** — 60+; significant discretionary income; strong gear loyalty; high lifetime value

*Note: Base division is a price and equipment class, not a skill or experience class. Base division competitors are often as technically sophisticated as Open shooters — they have simply made a deliberate budget choice or are earlier in their equipment journey. Do not conflate Base division with inexperience.*

---

## 3. Equipment Profile

**Rifle:**

| Tier | Setup | MSRP Range |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | Ruger Precision Rimfire + entry optic | ~$700–$1,000 total |
| Base Division | Ruger Precision Rimfire, CZ 457, Bergara B-14R, or similar; optic within cap | ~$1,200–$1,650 total (cap constrained) |
| Open / Mid | Dedicated build — Vudoo, Kidd, or custom action; Anschutz, Bergara, or Frimec chassis; mid-tier optic | $2,500–$5,000 |
| Open / High | Custom action + match-grade barrel (Krieger, Bartlein, Brux, Criterion) + premium optic | $5,000–$12,000+ |

**Optics (common):** Vortex Viper PST, Nightforce NX8, Element Nexus, Athlon Ares, Arken EP-5, Tract TORIC, Apex Rival. At the high end: ZCO, Kahles, Nightforce ATACR.

**Ammunition:** Lapua Center-X, SK Standard Plus, Eley Match, CCI Standard. $0.10–$0.25/round at match grade. Competitors routinely test multiple lots before a match season and keep lot-level performance notes.

**Current ballistic tools (most common):**
- Manual DOPE cards — most common at all levels; the dominant workflow in NRL22
- JBM Ballistics (web calculator) — trusted by the technically literate; used for baseline table generation
- Hornady 4DOF — free; math-only; widely used as a starting point, especially at entry level
- Applied Ballistics Mobile — subscription ($19.99/year as of Dec 2024); some adoption among serious Open shooters; see §11
- Kestrel 5700 series — aspirational; ~$560 is a deliberate budget choice many NRL22 competitors have made against

---

## 4. Psychographics

**The optimizer mindset.** This person does not buy gear to satisfy a need. They buy it to close a measurable performance gap. When they spend, they are paying to gain back fractions of an inch at 200 yards. They think in terms of marginal improvement, and they are willing to pay for it — once the marginal value is demonstrated.

**Data-driven.** They already keep records. Range notebooks, DOPE cards, ammo lot logs. ScopeDOPE is not introducing them to a new behavior — it is giving them better infrastructure for a behavior they already practice.

**Skeptical of marketing claims.** This audience has been sold products that promised performance and delivered average. They are immune to superlatives. A validated number — "0.063 mil mean error against field-fired data" — does more work than any adjective.

**Peer-trust dominant.** The highest-value signal for this buyer is a respected competitor recommending the tool in a forum thread or at a match. A barrel maker including an activation code in the box is a peer endorsement by proxy — it carries more weight than any advertising placement.

**Community-invested.** NRL22 competitors are embedded in their local club and online community. They participate in Facebook groups, follow Sniper's Hide threads, and watch YouTube gear reviews. They influence others — both in their local club and online. An NRL22 competitor who becomes a ScopeDOPE advocate has real reach into exactly the right audience.

**Achievement-oriented.** They compete to improve, not just to participate. Content that speaks to measurable outcomes — "first-round hit probability" — resonates more than "intuitive interface." Show the result, not the promise.

**Community-goodwill responsive.** The open `.dope` format — released as a free standard for any tool to implement — signals something this audience respects: confidence, not charity. A company that hands its data format to the competition because it knows the product is in what it does with the data, not the format itself, earns credibility from exactly this audience. Use this angle selectively in technically engaged community spaces (Sniper's Hide, Reddit).

---

## 5. Current Ballistic Workflow

The NRL22 competitor's current workflow is one of the following, from most to least sophisticated:

**Workflow A — Manual DOPE card (most common)**
1. Shoot at known distances (50, 75, 100, 150, 200 yards)
2. Record actual click adjustments in a range notebook
3. Transcribe to a hand-written or printed DOPE card
4. Tape the card to the rifle stock or chassis
5. Before a match, re-verify and update manually if conditions have changed

*Problem:* No atmospheric correction between sessions. Lot changes mean rebuilding from scratch with no guidance. Card management is error-prone and fragile. No way to calculate corrections at distances not yet confirmed.

**Workflow B — Calculator + manual card**
1. Input bullet data into JBM or Applied Ballistics app
2. Generate a theoretical drop table
3. At the range, verify the calculated table against actual impacts
4. Apply manual corrections to the card by hand
5. Re-enter corrections for the next season or lot change — starting over each time

*Problem:* The math doesn't know about their specific rifle, barrel wear, lot variation, or scope mount. Manual corrections are additive, layered on top of a model that was never anchored to their rifle in the first place. Session data lives in a notebook, disconnected from the tool that generated the table.

**Workflow C — Kestrel (aspirational or elite)**
1. Input load data into Kestrel 5700 Elite
2. Read live atmospheric conditions from the Kestrel's built-in sensors
3. Use field calibration feature to add additive corrections after shooting
4. Read solution off the Kestrel display

*Problem:* Kestrel field calibration is additive, not foundational — the underlying physics model is not replaced by real data. No printing capability. Session data lives on one device with no export or portability. At $560, many NRL22 competitors have made a deliberate choice to put that money elsewhere.

**ScopeDOPE's position:** Replaces Workflow A and B entirely — real data foundational from session one. Competes directly with and differentiates from Workflow C on architecture (foundational vs. additive), printing, and price.

---

## 6. Pain Points

**Lot-to-lot variation destroys a season's DOPE.** When a competitor exhausts a tested lot and opens a new one, velocity shifts of 20–50 fps are common. Their DOPE card becomes inaccurate. They have to return to the range and rebuild from scratch. ScopeDOPE tracks lot data explicitly — the solution follows the ammo, not a generic manufacturer average.

**New barrel = starting over.** Installing a new barrel is the single highest-intent moment for this ICP. DOPE resets to zero. Every other ballistic tool treats this as a new input — start from math. ScopeDOPE's workflow is the same whether it's session one or session fifty; the process is identical and the solution improves as data accumulates. This is the moment the app pays for itself fastest.

**Math doesn't account for their rifle.** Every calculator uses published BC values that do not reflect barrel quality, seating depth, chamber dimensions, or suppressor shift. The competitor knows their rifle shoots differently from the spec — they just can't easily capture and carry that knowledge in current tools.

**DOPE card is fragile and error-prone.** Paper gets wet. Tape fails. Sharpie corrections accumulate illegibility. The card on the stock can be unreadable in bright sun. Transcription between sessions introduces errors. A ScopeDOPE-printed sticker is more accurate (zero-error relative to the app), more durable, and requires no transcription step.

**No atmospheric correction without a Kestrel.** Wind, temperature, and altitude at a match venue differ from their home range — sometimes significantly. Without a $560 Kestrel, there is no clean way to apply atmospheric corrections to a session-derived DOPE table in the field. ScopeDOPE with a WeatherFlow Tactical provides the same environmental correction capability for around $130 total (app + sensor).

**Data is siloed and non-portable.** If they get a new phone, want to share a session with a training partner, or archive a season's data, current tools have no answer. The `.dope` file format gives them a portable, shareable, archivable record of every confirmed session — something no existing tool provides.

---

## 7. Buying Triggers

These are the events that create maximum purchase intent for this ICP, listed in approximate order of conversion probability.

**New barrel installation.** The single highest-intent trigger. DOPE resets the day a new barrel arrives. Every competitor asks: "How do I rebuild my firing solution?" ScopeDOPE's answer is the most systematic available. Wisconsin barrel maker bundle partnerships (Krieger, Bartlein, Brux, Criterion) are designed to reach this buyer at exactly this moment. Copy: *"New barrel? Your DOPE starts here."*

**Lot change — starting a new season.** Most NRL22 competitors stock up on a tested lot and shoot it through a season. When they exhaust it, rebuilding DOPE is a known and resented pain. A recommendation to use ScopeDOPE at this transition window is highly relevant and specifically timed.

**Poor first-round performance at a match.** A stage miss at a distance that should be within capability creates an immediate desire to improve the process. This emotional moment drives same-day research. Capture it with app store presence and community availability.

**Peer recommendation at a match or in a community space.** Another competitor demonstrating ScopeDOPE — or credibly recommending it in a Facebook group or forum thread — is the single highest-value acquisition channel. It triggers research within 24 hours and converts at a higher rate than any other channel. Cannot be manufactured, only earned.

**Barrel maker activation code.** A code included in a Krieger, Bartlein, Brux, or Criterion barrel box reaches the buyer at maximum intent with a credible, tactile endorsement. No other competing app can be placed in a barrel box by a Wisconsin barrel maker.

**Upgrading from a manual DOPE card system.** The competitor who has been using hand-written cards for a full season and is tired of the limitations is actively looking for an upgrade. They search "best NRL22 app" or "ballistic app .22 rimfire" and expect to find something. App Store search and SEO capture this trigger.

---

## 8. Objections and Counters

**"I already use JBM / Applied Ballistics."**
Those are calculators. ScopeDOPE is a Ballistic Computer. A calculator tells you what the math predicts. ScopeDOPE learns what your rifle actually does and updates every time you pull the trigger. Your JBM table is the starting point. ScopeDOPE replaces the correction step that currently lives in your range notebook — and keeps it there between sessions.

**"The Kestrel is what the serious shooters use."**
The Kestrel 5700 Elite is the best ballistic calculator on the market. It still does not know what happened downrange. ScopeDOPE's field corrections are foundational, not additive — every confirmed impact anchors the solution to your actual rifle, not a theoretical average. A complete ScopeDOPE setup runs around $225. The Kestrel is $560 and has no printing capability.

**"I don't want to pay $44.99 for an app."** *(Open division framing)*
You chose a Vudoo over a Ruger because that margin matters. $44.99 is the weakest link in your kit and the cheapest fix on your list. A first-round miss at a stage costs you more than that in match performance.

**"I don't want to pay $44.99 for an app."** *(Base division framing)*
You budgeted carefully to be competitive within the cap. $44.99 on top of your kit is the highest-ROI spend left — your rifle and optic are set; what's left is improving the data that drives your corrections. No subscription, no recurring cost.

**"I already have a DOPE card system that works."**
It works until your lot changes, your barrel shifts, or you show up at a venue at different altitude than your home range. ScopeDOPE doesn't replace your range sessions — it gives you a live-updating system that travels with your actual confirmed data and applies atmospheric corrections automatically.

**"Applied Ballistics Mobile is cheaper now — $19.99 a year."**
Applied Ballistics Mobile requires a subscription and an internet connection for some features. ScopeDOPE is a one-time purchase, fully offline, no account required. And Applied Ballistics is a calculator — it starts with math and optionally corrects. ScopeDOPE starts with your confirmed downrange data. The architecture is different and the result at untested distances is different. See §11.

**"I'll wait until it has more reviews."**
The ballistic engine is validated against real-world fired data: 0.063 mil mean error, documented methodology, not marketing language. The app is actively maintained and the development backlog is community-driven. Review count is a lagging indicator; methodology is not.

---

## 9. Discovery Channels

| Channel | Relevance | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| **Sniper's Hide** | Very high | The dominant long-range precision rifle forum. A thread mention by a respected member is highly influential. Organic, not paid — a promotional post is immediately visible as such and reduces credibility. |
| **NRL22 Facebook Groups** | Very high | Match-specific and general NRL22 discussion. Where word-of-mouth spreads fastest in this community. A helpful answer to "what app should I use?" is the most effective format. |
| **Instagram** | High | Gear photos, match results, range sessions. Visual demonstration — printed sticker, live sensor reading — performs well. Captions must maintain brand voice: declarative, no enthusiasm language. |
| **Reddit r/NRL22, r/longrange** | High | Organic participation only. A recommendation from a non-promotional account that answers a genuine question is the effective format. Promotional posts are filtered by the community. |
| **YouTube gear reviews** | Medium-high | Tutorial content and app walkthroughs. Influential during the research phase. A walkthrough that shows the app working with populated real data outperforms any feature-list video. |
| **Barrel maker packing slip / activation code** | Very high (targeted) | Not a general discovery channel — but maximum intent when it lands. Reaches the buyer at the precise moment DOPE resets. Krieger is the tier-one target. |
| **At-range conversation** | Highest | The peer-to-peer recommendation at a match or range session is the single highest-conversion trigger. Cannot be manufactured. Earned through community presence and visible product use. |
| **App Store search** | Medium | "NRL22 app," "ballistic calculator android," "DOPE card app." Organic app store discovery. Title and short description must be keyword-present without sacrificing brand voice. |

---

## 10. The Right Message for This Profile

**Core claim:**
> ScopeDOPE is the only Ballistic Computer on the market. Everything else is a calculator.

**The proof point this profile finds most credible:**
The DOPE-Blend™ architecture — specifically that confirmed impacts are foundational, not additive. This directly addresses the known limitation of every calculator they've already tried, in language they understand and cannot dismiss.

**Supporting messages by context:**

*New barrel trigger:*
> New barrel? Your DOPE starts here.

*Lot change trigger:*
> Your Kestrel doesn't know your lot changed. ScopeDOPE does.

*Social / short form:*
> Three confirmed impacts and ScopeDOPE has a real correction curve. Not math. Your data.

*Price objection pre-empt:*
> A complete ScopeDOPE system — Ballistic Computer, live weather, printed sticker — runs around $225. The Kestrel 5700 Elite is $560 and can't print anything.

*Print feature — unique hook:*
> The only app that prints your scope correction card. No other product on the market can do this.

*Open format community angle (Sniper's Hide, Reddit — use selectively):*
> We open-sourced the .dope format. Competitors can implement it too. We're not worried — the format isn't the product. What ScopeDOPE does with the data is.

**Voice note:** This audience responds to declarative sentences, numbers, and specifics. Write with periods, not exclamation points. Never use "revolutionary," "game-changing," or "take your shooting to the next level." See `SCOPEDOPE_MARKETING_GUIDE.md §4.2` for the full banned phrase list. Adapt price objection counters to division — the Open and Base division framings are not interchangeable.

---

## 11. Competitive Landscape Awareness

**Applied Ballistics Mobile** — The primary software competitor. As of December 2024, AB Mobile dropped its subscription from $29.99/year to $19.99/year. This makes it more accessible to price-sensitive NRL22 competitors and increases head-to-head pressure in this segment. The counter is architectural, not price-based: AB Mobile is a calculator that applies optional corrections on top of physics. ScopeDOPE is a Ballistic Computer whose corrections are foundational. The result at an untested distance is different in kind, not just degree. Do not compete on price against AB Mobile — compete on architecture.

**Hornady 4DOF** — Free. Widely used as a starting point. No DOPE management, no session memory, no printing, no lot tracking. Not a direct competitor for the shooter who has already decided they want a systematic DOPE workflow — it is a stepping stone to ScopeDOPE, not a retention risk.

**Kestrel 5700 Elite** — Hardware competitor. $560. No printing. No session portability. Field calibration is additive. For NRL22 competitors who have evaluated and passed on the Kestrel, ScopeDOPE is a direct answer to the reasons they passed. For those who aspire to one, ScopeDOPE is the tool they use in the meantime — and the data lock-in makes switching less likely over time.

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## 12. Kestrel Displacement Tier

Per `SCOPEDOPE_COMPETITIVE_ANALYSIS.md §7`:

- **Tier 2 (primary for established NRL22 competitors):** The shooter who knows what a Kestrel is, has evaluated it, and has made the deliberate choice to put that $560 elsewhere — match fees, ammo, optic upgrade. ScopeDOPE is the tool they use now. The goal is to be deeply embedded in their workflow — DOPE data already living in the app, session history already accumulated — before they ever revisit the Kestrel question. Many won't bother once ScopeDOPE has their data.

- **Tier 1 (for newer NRL22 competitors in this ICP):** Some in this ICP are early enough in their precision shooting journey that $560 for dedicated hardware isn't on their radar at all. ScopeDOPE is their first and only ballistic tool. See `ICP_NEW_TO_PRECISION.md` for the full profile of this sub-segment.

A subset of serious Open division NRL22 competitors who have acquired a Kestrel map to **Tier 3**. Message for them: *"Your Kestrel tells you where the bullet should go. ScopeDOPE tells you where yours actually goes."*

---

## 13. References

| Document | Relevant Sections |
|---|---|
| `SCOPEDOPE_MARKETING_GUIDE.md` | §1.1 (who they are), §1.2 (the problem), §1.4 (ammo lot), §2.1–2.3 (demographics and divisions), §3.2 (brand voice), §4.2 (hard rules — banned phrases), §6.1–6.4 (system price argument) |
| `SCOPEDOPE_COMPETITIVE_ANALYSIS.md` | §2.1 (DOPE-Blend architecture), §2.2 (printing — unique), §2.3 (price), §2.6 (.dope open format), §2.10 (barrel maker partnerships), §7 (displacement tiers) |
| `MARKETING_ENGINE.md` | §2 (validated accuracy claims — use exact figures), §4 (PRS/competition and general audience messaging) |
| `OPTICS_PARTNERSHIP_TARGETS.md` | §Arken (budget NRL22 dominant), §Apex (growing PRS/NRL22 with Nemesis) — brands most relevant to this ICP's optic choices |
| `ICP_NEW_TO_PRECISION.md` | For the entry-level sub-segment within NRL22 Base division |

---

## Document Control

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| **Document owner** | `jschwefel@coldboreballisticsllc.com` |
| **Classification** | Highly Confidential (04_-_Highly_Confidential/) |
| **Location** | `OneDrive/ScopeDOPE/04_-_Highly_Confidential/Marketing_Guide/ICP/ICP_NRL22_COMPETITOR.md` |
| **Cross-references** | `SCOPEDOPE_MARKETING_GUIDE.md`; `SCOPEDOPE_COMPETITIVE_ANALYSIS.md`; `MARKETING_ENGINE.md`; `OPTICS_PARTNERSHIP_TARGETS.md`; `PERSONA_OVERVIEW.md`; `ICP_NEW_TO_PRECISION.md` |
| **Created** | 2026-06-08 |
| **Last updated** | 2026-06-09 |
| **Next full review due** | 2027-06-08 |

---

## Revision Control Block

| Rev | Date | Changed By | Reviewed By | Approved By | Summary |
|-----|------|------------|-------------|-------------|---------|
| DRAFT | 2026-06-08 | jschwefel | — | — | Initial draft |
| DRAFT 2 | 2026-06-09 | Claude (Opus 4.8) | — | — | Fixed "DOPE-blend"→"DOPE-Blend™" per BRAND_LEGAL_LANGUAGE_GUIDE; applied ™ to first use of ScopeDOPE/Cold Bore Ballistics. |
| DRAFT 2 | 2026-06-08 | jschwefel | — | — | Revised: Tier mapping corrected (Tier 2 primary); Base vs Open price objection split; AB Mobile competitive note added (§11); open .dope format community angle added to §10; TOC updated |
| DRAFT 3 | 2026-06-08 | jschwefel | — | — | "Feature voting board is live" claim removed from §8 (unverifiable software status replaced with stable factual language) |
