Long Range Records Set at Perry and Gustin Wins Wimbleton Cup
Story based on Reports by Lars Dalseide for NRAblog
Clear skies, calm winds, and superior marksmanship combined for a host of record-breaking performances at the NRA Long Range Championship yesterday Monday, 13 August, at Camp Perry. NRABlog editor Lars Delsaide reports: “Today was a day in which records were set. Records so significant that a few competitors requested their targets be brought up from the pits. Not one record. Not two records. But more than a dozen Long Range Rifle records. One small clarification — today’s record-breaking performances resulted in three new National Long Range High Power records. So why did I say that more than a dozen were set? Because the standing records to which I’m referring were broken multiple times today.”
The records started falling in the Doc Aiken match. The previous high Doc Aiken record was 199-8X, set in 1998 by John Jackson. Amazingly, that record was topped by nine shooters before Great Britain’s David Luckman recorded the highest score of all, a 200-13X, which will be the new record.
Luckman ended the day with yet another entry in the record books — the new high mark for the Sierra Trophy. The Sierra Trophy is based on the combined scores of the Doc Aiken Match and the Andrus Memorial Trophy match. The existing Sierra Trophy record was 400-19X set by Robert Gustin a decade ago. On Monday, Norman Anderson topped that with a 400-22X, and then Brit David Luckman raised the bar even higher, setting a new mark of 400-23X. Well done David!
Gustin Wins Wimbleton Cup
The Wimbleton Cup is one of the most prestigious trophies awarded at Camp Perry. Robert Gustin earned redemption this year winning the 2012 Cup, after losing out in 1985 due to a scoring error. Wimbledon is a slow-fire, Any rifle 1000-yard match. The record was established back in 2004 by Michelle Gallagher. Qualifying for the shoot-off with a score of 200-14X, Gustin shot a near-perfect 100-9X in the shoot-off to earn victory in 2012.
Gustin’s win was doubly sweet as the California shooter lost out on the Cup decades ago through bad luck. “Back in 1985, Bob thought he won the Wimbledon Cup,” explained Nancy Tompkins. “But they couldn’t find one of his shots in the shoot off. He was devastated. Later, after everything was finalized, they pulled his target and found an X they missed. My heart just broke watching it happen. So this is great.”
