The 2026 Southwest Nationals (SWN) have concluded. Held at the impressive Ben Avery range in Arizona, the 2026 SWN was a very successful event with good conditions (for the most part) and impressive scores by shooters in all three divisions: Sling, F-Open, and F-TR. We congratulate the new SWN Grand Agg Champions: Bobby Gill (Sling), Ryan Mitchell (F-Open), and Brad Sauve (F-TR). This was familiar territory for Sauve who has won the SWN F-TR title before.

The SWN has both individual and team competition in all three classes. The winning team in the Sling Division was Team USAMU 2564-124X (Capt.: Jarrod McGaffic / Coach: Verne Conant). The top F-Open team was LOS CHINGONES 2590-153X (Capt.: Dennis Ray / Coach: Brian Bowling). The F-TR team competition was dominated by Team USA F-TR VORTEX 2575-123X (Capt.: Ian Klemm / Coach: Keith Trapp).

The 2026 SWN had very high participation in all classes. Observers said that 2026 may have rivaled the highest total turn-out in many years. Weather-wise, we’re told that conditions were “very manageable” for most of the week until the final day of individual competition. Wind angles and velocities became quite hard to diagnose on that last day. As a result many top shooters dropped multiple points in the last individual relay and this created major shake-ups in the leaderboard, with some very skilled shooters dropping out of the Top 20 after an otherwise impressive week.

A special congrats to our friend Gary Eliseo who actually ended up with the highest Sling Division overall score, 1240-64X. But because he used a scope throughout the match he could not win the Sling Grand Aggregate.* Gary Eliseo reported: “I had a great time at SWN 2026. It was a privilege to catch up with so many friends from around the country, managed to shoot a PB too! My UMRS/6.5 El-Mo did everything it could to make me look good.”

» CLICK HERE for ALL 2026 Southwest Nationals Results

SLING (All Classes) Grand Aggregate Top 10

1. Bobby Gill, 1239-57X, Match Winner
2. Justin Skaret, 1238-65X
3. Phil Hayes, 1237-56X
4. Brandon Green, 1232-63X
5. Nate Guernsey, 1231-67X
6. Oliver Milanovic, 1231-63X
7. Justin Utley, 1223-67X
8. Mike Kelly, 1223-52X
9. Kimberly Rowe, 1223-49X
10. Fazal Mohideen, 1223-47X
Top Score: Gary Eliseo, 1240-64X (Scoped Rifle)

CLICK HERE for Full SWN Sling Division Grand Aggregate Results

SLING TEAM Top 3
Team 44 USAMU HM 2564-124X
Team 49 USNMT VFB MRNAK HM 2564-115X
Team 46 USNRT GILL HM 2562-122X

F-OPEN Grand Aggregate Top 10

1. Ryan Mitchell, 1245-83X, Match Winner
2. Joe Traylor, 1245-74X
3. Tim Vaught, 1245-69X
4. Jason Simes, 1243-73X
5. Gwen Basalla, 1243-66X
6. Brad Johnson, 1242-78X
7. Pat Scully, 1242-74X
8. Erik Cortina, 1242-71X
9. Emil Kovan, 1242-64X
10. Brian Bowling 1241-78X

CLICK HERE for Full SWN F-Open Division Grand Aggregate Results

F-OPEN TEAM Top 3
Team 70 LOS CHINGONES HM 2590-153X
Team 79 VIHTAVIORI HM 2588-142X
Team 63 BULLET CENTRAL HM 2586-146X

F-TR Grand Aggregate Top 10

1. Brad Sauve, 1241-74X, Match Winner
2. Tracy Hogg, 1241-64X
3. Tom Hubbard, 1237-65X
4. Scott Kyle, 1237-59X
5. Keith Trapp, 1237-55X
6. Allen Tampke, 1236-49X
7. Alan Barhart, 1235-65X
8. James Crofts, 1234-59X
9. Oleg Savelyev, 1233-59X
10. Benoit Vautour, 1233-58X

CLICK HERE for Full SWN F-TR Division Grand Aggregate Results

F-TR TEAM Top 3
Team 23 USA F-TR VORTEX HM 2575-123X
Team 21 USA F-TR BERGER HM 2568-118X
Team 13 CREEDMOOR SPORTS GOLD MA 2556-111X

* Scopes help older sling rifle shooters whose eyes are starting to wear out. But, Gary Eliseo explains: “In this event, the match director dictates that a Palma rifle be used on the first day, and if you want to shoot an ‘any rifle’ on Day Two it also must have iron sights with the third day being ‘any sights’ so ‘F-sling’ is a category where ‘any sights’ are allowed to be used on all three days but that makes us ineligible to win the Grand Aggregate.”

The 2024 Southwest Nationals (SWN) concluded Sunday, February 18, 2024. It was a great event this year, with very close competition and some spectacular scores being shot in all divisions. We congratulate the new SWN Long Range Champions: Jay Christopherson (F-Open), Brad Sauve (F-TR), and Philip Crowe (Sling). We also congratulate the talented 600-Yard Champs: Tod Hendricks (F-Open), Tom Hubbard (F-TR), and Jarrod McGaffic (Sling).

This is Jay’s second SWN Long Range Championship — the talented F-Open shooter also won in 2020 (SEE Jay 2020 Report). Jay was on a roll through the competition, not dropping a point until the last day and finishing with 1248-79X, just two points from a 1250 “clean”. F-Open runner-up Tim Vaught finished just one point back at 1247-83X, and Tim had the highest X-count among all F-Open LR competitors.

Tod Hendricks, a team-mate of Jay C. on Team Lapua-Brux-Borden, won the F-Open 600-yard competition with 600-52X. Notably, the Top Ten F-Open Shooters at 600 all finished “clean” with 600 points, so the rankings were decided on X-Count.

Senior F-TR ace Brad Sauve (1245-71X) also shot a brilliant Long Range match, finishing a full five points ahead of second place Tom Hubbard (1240-67X). Sauve also notched the highest X-Count among all F-TR shooters. Very impressive performance by Brad this year. And we should note that Tom Hubbard won the F-TR 600-yard competition held earlier in the week, nailing an excellent 599-38X.

F-Open Champion Commentary
We had a chance to talk with 2024 SWB F-Open Champion Jay Christopherson. Jay stated that, for most of the match, conditions were very good. But Jay also noted that the general level of accuracy for F-Open improves with each season.

Observations by F-Open Winner Jay Christopherson — Wind Wisdom and More…

1. The wind was pretty mild all week. I personally never held more than 4 lines of wind (mostly on the left), with zero wind dialed on my scope.

2. A solid wind zero was absolutely key. I saw and heard plenty of people talking about conditions that just didn’t exist. In most cases, my guess would have been a bad wind zero, which would have had you chasing your tail or thinking that the mirage or flags were lying.

3. I’ve never seen so many cleans (i.e. no dropped points, all ten scores) at long range in my life. In my opinion, E-Targets are the catalyst for this. The data and instant feedback you get help set the bar extremely high. It’s much easier to really understand what a good load looks like using an E-Target.

4. I had a plan for the wind coming in to each relay (usually developed during prep time). Most of the time, my plan worked out pretty well, but being ready to stop and execute a backup plan is a really useful skill to develop. It worked out for me on the last relay.

5. Even though I won the F-Open class, I still learned a few things watching the shooters around me — there’s always something nifty to learn if you are paying attention.

Great Performance by 2024 F-TR Champion Brad Sauve
Brad Sauve shot superbly to secure the overall F-TR Aggregate win at the 2024 SWN. Brad dropped only one point during the Palma match, was clean during the first day of the LR Aggregate, and finished with a 1245-71X, setting at least three new National Records in the process (one a 200-18X at 1000 yards). We commend Brad on his remarkable 2024 performance.

SEB MINI Rest — Good for Gold (Twice), Silver, and Bronze

You don’t necessarily need the newest or most expensive equipment to succeed in Long Range competition. Jay Christopherson won the F-Open division using an older MINI STANDARD rest with a standard front bag. See the unit at right. Jay says it works great, and is easier to transport that some of the very large heavy, benchrest-style front rests. Jay has now won the SWN match twice with this rest, finished second in 2017, and third in 2018.

Jay sent a message to Sebastian Lambang, creator of the SEB MINI: “Hi Seb, I thought you might like to see a picture of the rest that took Silver in 2017, Bronze in 2018, Gold in 2020, and Gold again in 2024. A little older, a little more wear and a lot more mileage, but still winning when it counts. Thank you for such an amazingly reliable rest. I always enjoy the fact that the original MINI still gets it done. Winning the 2024 SWN still using the original one-piece bag generated a bit of a conversation on the line. I think my rifle rest setup was the easiest one to inspect by far for Matt [Schwartzkopf] and his team.

Modern F-TR rifle looking down-range at Ben Avery Shooting Facility.

Top competitors show focus and concentration in mid-range match 2022.

Stunning F-Open rifle with SEB Mini front rest with Blake Machine accessories.

Working in the pits is part of the Berger SWN experience.

Hundreds of Competitors from the USA and Many Other Countries
Along with top American F-Class and sling shooters, the Southwest Nationals attracts competitors from around the world.

Photo by Nancy Tompkins near Ben Avery Shooting Facility in 2022. Nancy posted: “Thank you to all of the sponsors, volunteers, and shooters who have traveled from all over… to make this match so special.”

See you next year!

This article Copyright 2024 AccurateShooter.com. Any republication on a different website is unauthorized.

Boasting the highest attendance of any F-Class Nationals, the 2012 competition was made up of dual 1,000-yard matches, with 800 possible points per match. Team Sinclair scored 1561-48X to win the F-TR championship, finishing ahead of second-place North State X-Men (1542-39X) and third-place Team Savage (1541-47X). Team Sinclair’s Day 1 score of 790-31X topped all other F-TR teams and set a new (pending) U.S. F-TR National record for 1,000-yard F-Class competition.

“We’re grateful for Sinclair International’s support,” said the team in a joint statement. “All of us use Sinclair’s precision shooting components and reloading supplies when preparing for these events. We need products of the highest quality and consistency for us to succeed. We’ve never been defeated, and that’s a testament to Sinclair International.”

CLICK HERE for Complete 2012 F-Class Nationals TEAM RESULTS.

Sinclair’s F-TR Team has been competing since 2007. The newest member, Jeff Rorer, joined the team in 2009. Team Sinclair Int’l remains undefeated in F-TR National Championships. Here’s an interesting factoid about the Team Sinclair shooters. One or more members of the current Sinclair squad have been on the winning F-TR team at every U.S. F-Class National Championships since they were first held in 2004, except for 2010 when Sinclair did not field a team. Brad Sauve has been on the winning F-TR team every year except 2010: Great Lakes Express (2004, 2005 winning team); Team Green (2006 winner); Team Sinclair (2007, 2008, 2009, 2011 winner). Ray Gross and Paul Phillips were also on most of those winning squads.