David Tubb Won the Long-Range National Championship today, shoting a perfect 45 for 45 inside the 10-Ring during today’s Individual Palma Trophy Match. Tubb’s impressive performance secured David the 2011 Long Range High Power Rifle Championship, edging out 2010 LR Champion John Whidden. We believe this is David’s seventh individual long-range title. Tubb last won the Long-Range Championship in 2004, when he shot an “perfect” 1450-101X Aggregate, not dropping a point. Tubb has also won the NRA High Power National Championship 11 times.
Tubb Wins Title, Not Yielding to Whidden’s Strong Challenge
As he took his spot in the final round of the Palma Match, Tubb was stationed to the right of last year’s Long Range champ and 2011 runner-up John Whidden. Whidden, donning his favorite red cap, started with two well-placed sighting shots at 1,000 yards before jumping into the scoring phrase of the match. Tubb, waiting for the wind and that instinctive feeling that’s developed over time, took his first sighter after Whidden started scoring tens.
“Ten” shouted Whidden’s spotter. “X” rang out next. The race was on.
Tubb’s spotter echoed his counterpart’s calls with Tens and Xs of his own. But Whidden had the advantage … he was two shots ahead and two points behind. Scoring ten after ten after X, Whidden was applying the pressure to Tubb as he mounted a final charge. There was even a moment when The Pit mistakenly pulled Tubb’s target as he was about to fire. If there was ever an opportunity for a man to feel the pressure — this was it. I don’t know about the shooters, when when Whidden hit his 13th shot inside the ten ring, my heard started to pump a little bit faster.
The spotter’s calls grew louder and louder as the shooters kept firing and firing. Waiting for one to drop a point, slip outside the ten, make that fatal mistake that would allow the other a path to the championship. Ten, Ten, X, Ten … they just kept coming.
After Whidden Cleaned his Target, the Pressure Was On
Whidden finished clean. Tubb still had two shots to go. Whidden and his spotter silently shifted their scope and glasses to Tubb’s target. I inched a little closer. Hearing a noise, I turned to find an RSO peering over my shoulder to check on Tubb’s progress. The 14th shoot was an X. One shot left. A nine or ten meant Tubb would earn his first Long Range title in seven years. An eight meant we’d go to the X count and a seven or less would give the title to Whidden.
Whidden rose when the spotter cried out ten. The match and the championship was over. “Congratulations David. That’s some great shooting.”
Tubb accepted Whidden’s hand, allowed a smile and returned the admiration. Two shooters with almost a decade’s worth of Championships between them. But this one was for David Tubb. The end of a long road back to the title.
David Discusses his Championship-Winning Tubb 2000 Rifle
In the video below, David Tubb discusses his Tubb 2000 Rifle and the many records it has set. Over the past 11 years, Tubb 2000s have been used by 30 of the 33 “Top Three” finishers in the NRA High Power Championships — that’s a remarkable winning record:
David Tubb, 11-time National High Power Champion, won the prestigious Wimbleton Match at Camp Perry earlier this week, and David currently leads the field of competitors for the 2011 Long-Range Championship. John Whidden is close behind, but Tubb has been at the top of his game this year. Tubb credits much of his success to his wind-reading: “Honestly, my wind reading is the best it’s ever been and my prone skills are coming around.” If you want to learn more about David’s wind-reading methods and strategies, watch the video interview below, filmed at the 2010 SHOT show.
David Tubb on Reading the Wind
Tubb Wins Wimbleton Cup Match
David Tubb, shown below, earned his second Wimbledon Cup title after drilling ten shots inside the ten ring for a final shootoff score of 100 points with five Xs. The Wimbledon Cup is one of the oldest of all NRA trophies. First presented to the American rifle team attending the British matches at Wimbledon in 1875, the Cup now is awarded to the top shooter in a two-part, 1000-yard event. The highest scoring competitors from each initial relay are chosen to shoot in a second “shoot-off relay”. Shoot-off competitors fire three sighting shots and 10 record shots. In case of a numerical tie for winner, the winner is determined by a shot-by-shot elimination shoot-off without regard for Xs.
David Tubb looks downrange after scoring 100-5X in the shoot-off to win the Wimbleton Cup Title. The scoring board in the foreground replicates David’s shots on target. The yellow dots are for three sighters, while the red markers show David’s 10 shots for record.
Iain Harrison of “Top Shot” fame won the inaugural National Defense Match at Camp Perry this weekend. This is a new practical/tactical match designed to mimic real-world training and tactics. Marking a departure from the usual Camp Perry matches, scores are based on both time and accuracy as shooters engage targets positioned at 7, 15, 30, 60, 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 yards. The 5-zone NDM5-120 target is used out to 30 yards, while the NRA D-1 Tomestone target is used at 60 yards and beyond. The event is open to AR15s, FN SCARs and other modern defensive rifles with either iron sights or optics. There are three classes: Tactical Limited, Tactical Optic, and Open. The first two classes are limited to 20″ barrels with 4.5-lb or greater triggers. Open guns may have longer barrels, lighter triggers, bipods, and multiple sighting systems. CLICK HERE for Nat’l Defense Match Guidebook.
Harrison, who now works as marketing manager for Crimson Trace, showed the skills that made him the Season 1 “Top Shot” Champion. In a neck and neck race with Team FNH’s Tommy Thacker, the two shot almost identical times during the first half of the match, until Thacker made a procedural error. That gave Harrison the edge he needed to win. Also joining Harrison for the event was fellow Top Shot finalist and Ohio native Chris Cerino.
Match Director and ex-Navy SEAL Trey Tuggle masterminded the event and brought in Swiss-manufactured electronic targets from Shot Response. Although new technology played an important role in the national match, the course of fire is designed to be adaptable to the club level. “We wanted to remove barriers to people enjoying competitive shooting and get more folks involved in the sport,” said Tuggle. “This match is designed to be challenging, but not so overwhelming that the average guy with an off the shelf semi-auto rifle can’t come out and play. We hope that clubs across the country will adopt the new format as a way of getting new shooters involved in competitions.”
The NRA National Long Range Championship commenced Saturday, August 13 with the Band of Brothers Trophy Match followed by the Mustin Trophy Match. All Long Range matches are shot from the prone position from ranges between 800 and 1,000 yards. The Band of Brothers Match course of fire was twenty shots at 1,000 yards. Saturday’s second event, the Mustin Match, was also shot slow fire in the prone position from 1,000 yards. Mustin competitors have more time than during the High Power Championships, being allotted 30 minutes to get off their 20 shots for record on the Long Range targets.
Whidden Leads LR Championship, Not Dropping a Point So Far
Last year John Whidden won the Mustin Match with a 198-11X and a shoot off score of 100-8X. Whidden won again this year, shooting 200-9X to edge David Tubb by two Xs. With his Mustin win, and his second-place showing in this year’s Band of Brothers Match, Whidden is leading the 2011 Long Range Championship so far, not dropping a point in either event. Listed below are initial results:
Band of Brothers Trophy Match
1. Lance Dement, 200-14X
2. John Whidden, 200-14X
3. Tyrel Cooper, 200-13X
4. Phillip Crowe, 200-12X
5. Justin Skaret, 200-12X
Mustin Trophy Match
1. John Whidden, 200-9X
2. David Tubb, 200-7X
3. Norman Houle, 199-12X
4. Rodrigo Rosa, 199-11X
5. Sherri Gallagher, 199-11X
Ninth High Power Title for Bernosky
Carl Bernosky has won the 2011 NRA National High Power Rifle Championship with a final Aggregate score of 2393-160X. Rodrigo Rosa finished second, just three points behind, but Carl had a huge edge in X-Count, 160X for Carl vs. 132X for Rosa. Over the course of the past week, while amassing his winning Aggregate, Carl won a number of trophy matches without dropping a point, including the Scott Trophy Match (200-15X), Appreciation Cup Match (200-18X), Crescent Cup Match (200-15X), and the Crowell Trophy Match (200-17X).
One of his most impressive accomplishments this year was tying a National Record for slow fire standing from 200 yards. The record, a 200-15X, was originally set by Gary Anderson in 1971 in the Navy Cup. “When I shot that 200 with 15X standing, that was discipline. I didn’t shoot a bad shot,” Bernosky said. “That was the best target I’ve ever shot, including practice.”
Shooting for Team SOG in 2011, this win marks Bernosky’s Ninth National High Power Championship*. This was a sweet victory for Carl, as last year he finished just one point behind 2010 Champion SGT Sherri Gallagher. As far as we can tell, Carl’s 2393-160X was the second highest National High Power Championship Winning Agg in history, exceeded only by Gallagher’s 2396-161X record set last year. Congratulations to Carl for his impressive victory! Now a nine-time champion, Bernosky has won the High Power Championship in 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1992, 2000, 2007, 2008, and 2011. *In 1981 Carl won the Match Rifle division, but D.I. Boyd, a Service Rifle shooter, had the highest overall Aggregate.
The top five finishers in the 2011 NRA National High Power Rifle Championship were:
1. Carl Bernosky, 2393-160X
2. Rodrigo Rosa, 2390-132X
3. Brandon Green, 2385-126X
4. Sherri Gallagher, 2383-146X
5. Norman Houle, 2381-114X
Watch Bernosky in Action in Video
In this video from the 2011 Crowell Trophy Match segment of the National High Power Championships, Carl Bernosky (in maroon shooting coat) shoots prone with his AR spacegun. Note the minimal recoil after shots.
Bernosky Explains How to Read the Wind
Below is a video interview with Carl Bernosky recorded at the 2010 Shot Show. Carl explains when you need to shoot fast, and when you need to be patient and wait for the conditions.
You can view hundreds of photos from the National Matches at Camp Perry at the CMP’s Zenfolio Image Archive on the web. There are separate collections for each event, with up to 450 images per collection. Once you open a particular collection, you can click through the images individually or select the “slide show” option. For you vintage rifle fans, here are some images from the Springfield & Vintage Military Rifle Match, the John C. Garand Match, and the Vintage Sniper Rifle Match.
By Steve Cooper, CMP Writer
Civilian shooter Konrad Powers, 41, of Carol Stream, IL won the storm-shortened 2011 President’s Rifle Trophy Match at Camp Perry Monday, 1 August, with an aggregate score of 295-8X out of 300 points possible, topping SSG Ty Cooper, 26, U.S. Army and SGT Christopher Atkins, 24, U.S. Army Reserve, who placed second and third, respectively. Powers fired a 98-3X in off-hand shooting at 200 yards, 99-3X in rapid-fire prone at 300 yards and 98-2X in prone slow-fire at 600 yards with his service rifle.
In junior shooting, Tyler Rico, 17, of Tucson, Arizona placed first with an aggregate score of 288-8X in an X-count tiebreaker over James London, 17, of Statesville, North Carolina who finished with a 288-4X. Rico’s score also placed him 38th overall in the match. He fired scores of 95-2X, 99-5X, 94-1X in offhand, rapid prone and slow prone, respectively.
First fired in 1878, the President’s Rifle Match, a National Trophy Rifle Match, was incorporated into the National Match program after the Nationals were established in 1903. The President’s Rifle and Pistol Matches have become especially prestigious because the match winners traditionally receive letters of congratulations from the President of the United States of America. Shooters who place 100th or better in the match are given special recognition as members of the President’s Hundred, a distinction highly prized in both civilian and military circles.
Results are in for some of the early high power and service rifle competitions at Camp Perry. SGT Sherri Gallagher took the Coast Artillery Trophy Match, edging runner-up Rodrigo Rosa in a Shoot-Off by three ‘Xs’. Finishing third was Carl Bernosky. Gallagher, Rosa, and Bernosky all shot identical 200-15X scores in the main match. The Coast Artillery Trophy, pictured on the right, is a lidded silver loving cup with the figure of a uniformed U.S. soldier of the 1920s shooting a rifle from the standing position embossed on the side. The trophy was donated to the NRA by the Coast Artillery Association in 1923 to be awarded to the high-scoring Coast Artilleryman in the President’s Match. The Coast Artillery Match is a rapid fire match shot from 300 yards in the prone position.
In the Scott Trophy match, Harry Harrison finished first, winning by tie-breaker over Carl Bernosky. Both Harry and Carl shot identical 200-15X scores. The Scott Trophy match is shot rapid fire in two strings of ten shots — each string lasting only 70 seconds. Competitors have the option to kneel or sit when shooting, although most opt to sit.
The Members Trophy Match is a a slow fire match of 20 shots from 200 yards while standing. First shot (and won by William F. Leushner of New York) in 1901, the original competition called for annual NRA members to shoot five shots at 200 yards while standing and five shots prone at 500 yards.
Coast Artillery Trophy Match*
1. Sherri Gallagher 200-15X (100-10X)
2. Rodrigo Rosa 200-15X (100-7X)
3. Carl Bernosky 200-15X
4. Jack Jones 200-13X
5. David Kerin 200-12X
5. David Tubb 200-12X
5. Harry Harrison 200-12X
Scott Trophy Match
1. Harry Harrison 200-15X
2. Carl Bernosky 200-15X
3. Samuel Freeman 200-14X
4. Kevin Bangen 200-13X
5. John Holliger 200-13X
Members Trophy Match
1. Rodrigo Rosa 199-7X
2. Joseph Hendricks 198-5X
3. Norman Houle 197-11X
4. Carl Bernosky 197-11X
5. Sherri Gallagher 197-8X
*In the Coast Artillery Trophy Match, SGT Gallagher and Rosa fired a shoot-off, as they had an unbreakable tie in the match. In the shoot off, Rosa had a 100-7x, and Gallagher had a perfect 100-10x to win the Coast Artillery Trophy.
The 2011 NRA National High Power Rifle Championships kicked off Sunday August 7th, with the first series of Team matches including the Whistler Boy High Power Team Match and the NRA 2nd Amendment Team Match. Initial Team results are posted below. Sunday was a great day for the young CA Grizzlies– junior shooters from California. One Grizzlies squad won the Whistler Boy match, and a second Grizzlies crew placed fourth. Way to go Grizzlies! Following the Team Matches, the individual competition begins. As results are posted throughout the week, we shall see if last year’s overall champion, Sherri Gallagher, can repeat her winning performance from last year.
High Power Team Match Results (Pending Certification)
Whistler Boy High Power Team Match
1. CA Grizzlies Mother Lode – 965-24X
2. ASRP Gold – 963-24X
3. NCRPA Gold – 959-20X
4. CA Grizzlies Richmond – 957-27X
5. WLCSINC – 952-23X
NRA 2nd Amendment Team Match
1. Sierra Gold – 991-57X
2. Sierra Dave & Ron – 990-47X
3. Richard Associates Frenzl – 989-44X
4. AMU Match Rife – 987-56X
5. Remington Bushmaster – 986-44X
NRA-Springfield M1A Match
1. Bill Bowers – 483-13X
2. William Walter – 480-13X
3. Shawn McKenna – 480-13X
4. Jeremy Castle – 475-5X
5. Sara Rozanski – 474-11X
Last month, Vortex Optics sponsored a new kind of rifle competition that tested competitors’ fitness along with their marksmanship skills. The inaugural Vortex “Extreme Invitational” was held July 16, at the Spirit Ridge Rifle Golf facility near Tremonton, Utah. At most traditional long-range rifle matches, the only hiking required of the shooters is from their vehicles to the firing line, and to the pits if target-pulling duties are required. Vortex has created a new game. At the Extreme Invitational, participants walked, jogged, and sometimes ran over a six-mile course –- all the while knowing a portion of their score was based on how quickly they finished. Strong legs and lungs were a big asset. The event tested long range shooting skills, but it was also was physically challenging (and hot).
Competitors at the start of the match. Christensen Arms Team #1 (top left) ran most of the course.
Demanding Course of Fire Required Position Shooting Skills and Mastery of Angled Shots
At the Extreme Invitational, two-man industry teams vied for honors on a challenging mountain course. Final scores were based on course time and how well each two-man team shot. Shots ranged from 200 to 1200 yards. Each station featured a tough standing, sitting, kneeling or prone shot (no shots from benches). Even highly experienced shooters found the course quite humbling. There were a variety of firearms on the course. Some participants favored the lightest weight rigs possible, while others toted fairly heavy tactical-style rifles with stout barrel contours.
“The goal of the event was to bring industry leaders together for a day of hard-core shooting in a new format that tested physical fitness, long rage marksmanship, team communication and strategy,” said Mark Boardman, Vortex Optics marketing manager. Scenarios mimicked many of the same pressures faced when that big game trophy steps out and you only have precious seconds to find the target, get a range, dial elevation, dope wind and execute a shot — often times with an increased heart rate and breathing heavily. No easy task.”
Wasatch Arms Team Finishes First
In this game, like golf, the lower the score (which factored both time and hits), the higher the finishing position. Wasatch Arms’ team of Kevin Norman and Landon Gines finished in first place with a 39 score. In second place, with a 55 score, was the G7 duo of Todd Sholly and Tyler Scoffield. The Christensen Arms #2 Team (Courtney Crane, Andy Christiansen) scored 62 to finished third . According to Vortex’s Mark Boardman, “Andy Christiansen from Christensen Arms was using one of our new Viper HS LR riflescopes and finished in the top three. He’s a heck of shooter and climbed those hills like a billy goat.”
Starting up the “Hog’s Back”. The course was very challenging, given the hot conditions.
To view more event photos, CLICK HERE to access the Vortex Facebook Photo Album.
David Tubb Won the Long-Range National Championship today, shoting a perfect 45 for 45 inside the 10-Ring during today’s Individual Palma Trophy Match. Tubb’s impressive performance secured David the 2011 Long Range High Power Rifle Championship, edging out 2010 LR Champion John Whidden. We believe this is David’s seventh individual long-range title. Tubb last won the Long-Range Championship in 2004, when he shot an “perfect” 1450-101X Aggregate, not dropping a point. Tubb has also won the NRA High Power National Championship 11 times. 
Ninth High Power Title for Bernosky
The top five finishers in the 2011 NRA National High Power Rifle Championship were:
First fired in 1878, the President’s Rifle Match, a National Trophy Rifle Match, was incorporated into the National Match program after the Nationals were established in 1903. The President’s Rifle and Pistol Matches have become especially prestigious because the match winners traditionally receive letters of congratulations from the President of the United States of America. Shooters who place 100th or better in the match are given special recognition as members of the President’s Hundred, a distinction highly prized in both civilian and military circles.
Results are in for some of the early high power and service rifle competitions at Camp Perry. SGT Sherri Gallagher took the Coast Artillery Trophy Match, edging runner-up Rodrigo Rosa in a Shoot-Off by three ‘Xs’. Finishing third was Carl Bernosky. Gallagher, Rosa, and Bernosky all shot identical 200-15X scores in the main match. The Coast Artillery Trophy, pictured on the right, is a lidded silver loving cup with the figure of a uniformed U.S. soldier of the 1920s shooting a rifle from the standing position embossed on the side. The trophy was donated to the NRA by the Coast Artillery Association in 1923 to be awarded to the high-scoring Coast Artilleryman in the President’s Match. The Coast Artillery Match is a rapid fire match shot from 300 yards in the prone position.
The 2011 NRA National High Power Rifle Championships kicked off Sunday August 7th, with the first series of Team matches including the Whistler Boy High Power Team Match and the NRA 2nd Amendment Team Match. Initial Team results are posted below. Sunday was a great day for the young CA Grizzlies– junior shooters from California. One Grizzlies squad won the Whistler Boy match, and a second Grizzlies crew placed fourth. Way to go Grizzlies! Following the Team Matches, the individual competition begins. As results are posted throughout the week, we shall see if last year’s overall champion, Sherri Gallagher, can repeat her winning performance from last year.
