13 minute read
2017 National Matches
Advertisement
2017
NATIONAL MATCHES
BY JOHN PARKER, Managing Editor, Shooting Sports USA
The nest civilian and military marksmen in the country made the trek to Camp Atterbury, Ind., for 20 days of High Power Ri e competition at the 2017 NRA National Matches. Shooting this summer at Camp Atterbury included the National High Power Championships, the National Mid-Range Championships and the National Long Range Championships. New side matches included the NRA Extreme Long Range One Mile Club.
Indiana rst lady Janet Holcomb helped to kick off the NRA National High Power Ri e Championships during the First Shot Ceremony. Holcomb is a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment, a certi ed NRA pistol instructor and a multi-discipline shooter with experience in pistol, shotgun and ri e. She has led training classes throughout the state of Indiana, and especially enjoys sharing her passion for the shooting sports and personal protection with other women. She and her husband, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, are both NRA Life members.
Match Director Mid Tompkins is no stranger to the NRA High Power Ri e Championships; his rst year was 1954, and he has never missed a year since. Regarding the move from Camp Perry, Ohio, to Camp Atterbury, he said, “The NRA made the right decision moving to Camp Atterbury, this facility is fantastic, and I would know! The surrounding area has more places to eat, more things to do, and the people here on base are very easy to work with. Even better, the airport makes it easy to get here.”
The historic move to Camp Atterbury, although controversial to some, was embraced by competitors who participated at the new venue. One shooter who wanted to share an objective view of both venues had this to say about Camp Atterbury: “I, no doubt, love Camp Perry. I earned all my distinguished points at Perry, made the Presidents 100 there and I have [made] countless memories there. However, as a match ri e shooter, I will undoubtedly be back at Atterbury next year.”
The 2017 Long Range Champion, John Whidden, chimed in regarding the Camp Atterbury experience. “A nice place and a very nice facility, everything was very well-manicured. It was exciting to be at a new venue.”
Camp Atterbury is a training and mobilization facility that supports U.S. military operations throughout the world. The facility has more than 60 ranges—making it an ideal venue for the NRA to hold the National High Power Ri e Championships. And Camp Atterbury has already been selected to host the 2018 National Ri e Matches.
ACROSS THE COURSE AND MID-RANGE
One of the best ri e shooters in the nation, Norman Houle, won the National High Power Ri e Championship over a talented eld of 168 shooters. Houle’s score of 1989-93X made him the 2017 champ. Finishing second overall was Service Ri e shooter U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit Sgt. Ben Cleland, who recorded 1987-116X. Finishing third was Stephen Culpepper with 1986-98X. High Woman honors went to Brooke Culpepper, scoring 1972-63X.
For the Mid-Range Championships, Jeff Bartlett was the 2017 winner with a score of 2394-147X. For Any Ri e, the Army’s SFC Eric Uptagrafft took the title with 2396-172X.
LONG RANGE AND PALMA
For the rst time, NRA’s National High Power Ri e Matches were held at Indiana’s Camp Atterbury. They will be held there in 2018, too. Anette Wachter (above, r.) won the Andrus Trophy Match.
The NRA High Power Ri e Long Range Championships kicked off with the Remington Trophy Match, which consists of 20 slow- re shots, any sights, at 1,000 yds. from the prone position. Shirley McGee posted a score of 98-5X for the win over runner-up Aubrey Brock. In third was Jeff Bartlett.
Looking For More On NRA Competitive Shooting?
For more than 50 years, Shooting Sports USA has provided competitive shooters with how-to articles, rearm reviews, match schedules for 11,000 tournaments each year and expert advice from the pros. For complete match reporting, go to ssusa.org . With a growing library of online back issues, years of Shooting Sports USA are now only a click away. Sign up for your free monthly subscription at ssusa.org or go to the website for daily updates on the action at the NRA National Matches, Bianchi Cup and other NRA events. For more on NRA Competitive Shooting, go to compete.nra.org.
NRA National Matches, Bianchi Cup and other
SCORE SHEETS | REVIEW: STI DVC STEEL | COMING EVENTS OCTOBER 2017 | VOL. 30 NO. 10
NRA’S COMPETITIVE SHOOTING JOURNAL
INAUGURAL NRA NATIONAL HIGH POWER RIFLE CHAMPIONSHIPS AT CAMP ATTERBURY POWER RIFLE
John Whidden Wins Long Range Championship Wins Long Range
The Mustin Trophy match is nearly identical to the Remington except only metallic sights are allowed. John Whidden won with a score of 199-13X. High Service Rifle Champion was Joseph Sopko, scoring 187-4X. Kent Reeve won High Palma Ri e with 198-10X. High Woman was Nancy Tompkins, who nished with a score of 199-10X.
The Leech Cup is a metallic-sights-only match with 20 slow- re shots prone at 1,000 yds. The Porter Trophy and Andrus Trophy Matches are both red concurrently with the Leech Cup. The Porter Match is red with service ri es. The course of re for the Andrus Match is for Palma ri es. Jim Sokolowski was the Leech Cup winner, nishing the shoot-off with a score of 98-4X. For the Andrus Trophy Matches, Anette Wachter won the shoot-off with a score of 142-3X. Her score was a single point ahead of second-place nisher Keith Hoverstad, who also won High Senior. In third place was Daniel Altman.
John Whidden’s 2017 performance crushed his previous score by six points—1246-91X—securing the Long Range Championship. For the any-ri e matches he used a .243 Win., and for Palma he used a .308 Win. Both ri es were built in his namesake custom shop, Whidden Gunworks. In second place was Phillip Crowe, with a score of 1245-68X. Finishing third was the 2015 champion, Nancy Tompkins, with 1244-65X.
EXTREME LONG RANGE
Camp Atterbury’s Range 3 has a ring point at 1,760 yds., which NRA put to good use, with the debut of the NRA One Mile Club. Extreme Long Range is generally thought of as precision ri e shooting beyond 1,500 yds. The One Mile Club Match uses 36" square AR500 steel targets at distances of 1,400, 1,575 and 1,788 yds. Only after a con rmed impact are competitors allowed to continue to the next distance. Shooters that hit the 1,788-yd. target were awarded the NRA One-Mile Certi cate and club pin. To break a tie between Corbin Shell and Mitchell Fitzpatrick, an NRA LR (1,000-yd.) target was attached to a backer at 1,988 yds. (1.13 miles). Amazingly, Fitzpatrick continued his perfect streak of hits, becoming the very rst NRA One-Mile ELR Champion. “This is only the beginning of what we can do at Camp Atterbury,” said Match Director Sheri Judd. “Having a venue with this kind of Extreme Long Range capability is the just tip of the iceberg.”
2017 NRA NATIONAL HIGH POWER RIFLE CHAMPIONSHIPS
NATIONAL CHAMPION NORMAN HOULE 1989-93X
SECOND THIRD
SGT. BEN CLELAND, USAMU 1987-116X
STEPHEN CULPEPPER 1986-98X
MID-RANGE CHAMPIONSHIP
NATIONAL CHAMPION JEFF BARTLETT 2394-147X ANY RIFLE SFC ERIC UPTAGRAFFT, USAMU 2396-172X
PALMA RIFLE KENT REEVE 2396-146X
NRA LONG RANGE CHAMPIONSHIP
NATIONAL CHAMPION JOHN WHIDDEN REMINGTON TROPHY SHIRLEY MCGEE 1246-91X 98-5X
MUSTIN TROPHY JOHN WHIDDEN LEECH CUP JIM SOKOLOWSKI 199-13X 98-4X
ANDRUS TROPHY ANETTE WACHTER 142-3X PORTER TROPHY S/SGT. SEAN MORRIS, USAR 94-1X
PALMA INDIVIDUAL JOHN WHIDDEN 450-28X
EXTREME LONG RANGE CHAMPIONSHIP
NATIONAL CHAMPION MITCHELL FITZPATRICK
BY HAP ROCKETTO
CONVENTIONAL PRONE CHAMPIONSHIP
There was virtually no wind in the Meter Match, which was won by Mark Del Cotto’s near perfect 400-39X. Del Cotto’s victory came on a tiebreaker with Michele Makucevich. Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) teammates Mike McPhail and Kevin Nguyen both shot 400-38Xs, with McPhail besting his fellow soldier for third place.
Junior Erick Hazelton shot a 400-38X to win the Any Sights Dewar—a course of re consisting of 20 shots at 50 yds. and 20 shots at 100 yds. Joe Graf and Cameron Keating both scored 400-38X, good for second and third, respectively.
As the nal 100-yd. match began, the sky darkened ominously. McPhail and Hank Gray dueled for the win, with McPhail prevailing when his 400-37X outranged Gray’s. Pat Sunderman made it a sweep for the Army, taking third when he posted a 400-36X.
No sooner had the last shot been red then a slight drizzle turned into a hard rain. Considering weather reports, the match director postponed the team matches until the next day when they were red prior to the Mentor Match.
Gray went clean on the day, one
SFC M IKE M C P HAIL , USAMU
INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONS
IRON MAN SFC MCPHAIL 9504-711X
CONV. PRONE SFC GRAY 4799-419X
of eleven 1200 scores, with a 1200-108X for the win. Dan Pempel and Del Cotto added still another tie to the day when they found themselves knotted at 1200-106X. The NRA rules dictated that Pempel was second and Del Cotto third.
Gray—the newly minted 2017 Metallic Sight Champion—did not falter during the second two days and took the Any Sight Aggregate with a 2400-218X. Del Cotto and Eric Uptagrafft tied in both number of points and Xs with a pair of 1400-106X scores. Del Cotto won the tiebreaker, earning the second step on the podium.
Hank Gray’s Metallic and Any Sight championships paved the way for his overall Conventional Prone victory. A superb four-day effort saw him shoot 419 Xs, sixty 10s and one 9 for a 4799-419X. He was hotly pursued by second-place nisher Mike McPhail, 4797-438X, and George Norton, 4797-397X, who earned the bronze.
CONVENTIONAL POSITION NATIONAL SMALLBORE RIFLE CHAMPIONSHIP
The AMU’s Patrick Sunderman opened the 2017 NRA National Smallbore Conventional Position Ri e Championship with a 400-38X in prone. Moving into standing, young Malori Brown shot a 397-18X while Mike McPhail shot a 400-30X, to win the kneeling match. Sunderman won the National Smallbore Conventional Position Metallic Sight Championship with a score of 1596-114X. McPhail was second at 1595-124X.
While both shot a 400-37X, Emporia State University’s Megan Hilbish outshot McPhail for the win in the opening prone match of the Any Sight National Championship. George Norton’s 398-25X gave him the standing match victory. Hilbish came back strong and posted the only 400 kneeling score.
Winning two of the three Any Sight matches delivered the Any Sight and High Collegiate titles, as well as the D.I. Boyd Trophy, to Hilbish, 1195-86X. Sunderman’s consistency paid off. His 2391-167X aggregate score earned him the Conventional Position title. McPhail came within a point of winning
IRON SIGHTS PRONE SFC GRAY 2399-201X ANY SIGHTS PRONE SFC GRAY 2400-218X 3-POSITION SFC MCPHAIL 4707-273X CONV. 3-POSITION SPC. SUNDERMAN 2394-167X CONV. IRON SIGHTS SPC. SUNDERMAN 1196-84X CONV. ANY SIGHTS MEGAN HILBISH 1195-86X METRIC 3-POSITION SFC MCPHAIL 2317-105X METRIC IRON SIGHTS SFC MCPHAIL 1158-54X METRIC ANY SIGHTS S/SGT. NORTON 1160-48X the title—had he tied Sunderman on points, his 168Xs would have carried him over his teammate. Norton rounded out the top three, shooting a 2388-169X.
METRIC POSITION NATIONAL
SMALLBORE RIFLE CHAMPIONSHIP
The Metric Position Championship was held on the penultimate day of the championships. George Norton led off with a 396-24X prone victory.
Junior Antonio Gross posted a 378-9X standing. Olympian Bill Beard was top gun in kneeling with a 385-14X. Army Marksmanship Unit shooters swept the Metallic Sight Championship.
In descending order, it was Norton, 1149-39X, McPhail, 1148-54X, and Erin
McNeil, 1147-43X, who won out in the X count over Gross, 1147-43X, for third. McPhail opened the Any Sight
Championship with a winning prone score of 399-30X. Standing saw
Hilbish win with a commanding score of 384-16X. The nal 40 shots of nine days of competition would be kneeling, and Sunderman came through with a 388-19X for the win. Norton, 1160-48X, won the day, a slim point ahead of McPhail, 1159-51X.
Sunderman slid into third with an 1154-55X. When the two days were totaled, McPhail took the Metric title ahead of Norton, 4708-256X to 4707-273X. Sunderman rounded out the top three with a 4685-259X. The nal prone match (40 shots on the metric target with any sights) was the deciding factor in the Iron Man competition, and McPhail beat Norton by four points. Over the eight-day match, McPhail shot a 9504-711X,
Norton a 9501-655X and Sunderman a 9478-640X.
Because every family tradition
NEEDS THE PERFECT STARTING POINT
IT ONLY TAKES ONE SHOT TO GET THE BALL ROLLING. Only a Bergara feels and shoots like a Bergara. And that is a feeling that must be shared. Now, and forever.
SHOOT ONE, YOU’LL OWN ONE.
BERGARARIFLES.COM
2017 NRA National Pistol Championships
BY JOHN PARKER, Managing Editor, Shooting Sports USA
The 2017 NRA National Precision Pistol Championships, held at Camp Perry, Ohio, had 500 competitors, and the match determines the NRA National Pistol Champion. NRA Precision Pistol (also known as Bullseye) is one of the most popular pistol shooting disciplines.
Jonathan Shue is 2017’s champion, nishing with a score of 2638-126X. A retired Marine, Shue’s score also netted him high civilian honors. Additionally, he won the Cabot Guns/ NRA Center re Championship. For center re and .45, he was shooting a Cabot Guns 1911 Black Diamond Deluxe Bullseye, which he said was “speci cally designed for this type of shooting.” His ammunition was a factory match 185-gr. JHP load from ASYM Ammunition. A member of Team Cabot, Shue added that Cabot “uses this gun as a base for all of their team’s guns.” For rim re, Shue was shooting a Marvel Precision .22 Conversion on a BlackMass Custom 1911 frame.
In second place overall was the AMU’s SFC Adam Sokowloski. His score of 2636-124X also earned him the High Service award. Earlier this year, Sokolowski red the rst perfect score with iron sights at the NRA Bianchi Cup. His AMU teammate S/Sgt. Greg Markowski nished in third with a score of 2633-130X.
Last year’s champion, Philip Hemphill, earned two nods, High Police and High Senior. He nished the match with a score of 2618-108X. High Woman was Kimberly HobartFleming with a score of 2536-78X. Juan Pena-Velasquez won High Junior, scoring 2460-57X.
JONATHAN SHUE
2017 NRA NATIONAL PISTOL CHAMPIONSHIPS
NATIONAL CHAMPION JONATHAN SHUE 2638-126X
SECOND THIRD .22-CAL. CHAMPIONSHIP
SFC ADAM SOKOLOWSKI, USAMU 2636-124X S/SGT. GREG MARKOWSKI, USAMU 2633-130X
CHAMPION
SFC JAMES HENDERSON, USAMU 890-45X
CABOT GUNS/NRA CENTERFIRE CHAMPIONSHIP CHAMPION
JONATHAN SHUE 875-42X
A.T. WALL METALFORM/NRA .45 CHAMPIONSHIP CHAMPION
SFC ADAM SOKOLOWSKI, USAMU 885-40X
HARRY REEVES REVOLVER MATCH CHAMPION
DAVID LANGE
NRA DISTINGUISHED REVOLVER
289-11X
