The Vihtavuori and Applied Ballistics-sponsored duo of Chad Heckler and Francis Colon topped the Precision Marksman field at the 2025 Rocky Mountain Airgun Challenge. Held June 18-22, 2025, this 5-day event at the Garth Killpack Shooting Range drew a big crowd, with competitors from over 19 countries. Heckler with a score of 930 and Colon with a score of 900 placed 1st and 2nd respectively in the Precision Marksman Challenge event. Heckler’s victory earned him a $20,000 prize while Colon took home $10,000. Those are some of the biggest cash prizes in any rifle event.

Precision Marksman match winner Chad Heckler was elated: “Team CHANCIS secures the top two spots at the 2025 Rocky Mountain Airgun Challenge! Winning this event last weekend wasn’t easy, Justin and his Utah Airguns family and friends have created something special with this event. The attention to detail and love that was poured into this match was second to none”, said Heckler. “I feel honored to become the 2025 champ alongside [team-mate] Francis Colon. Congrats buddy.”

“There aren’t many times that I’m happy after taking second place, but earning the top two spots with my best friend is epic…” stated Colon. “Massive thank you to Justin Jacobson and the crew at Utah Airguns! This is not just a match… it is an experience! With 5 days of shooting over four disciplines and custom themes, props, music and food, it makes me excited for 2026!”

Tech Tip: If these rifles don’t look like conventional airguns it is because they employ a new design with a slim diameter air tank wrapped around the barrel. These FX DRS Pro MDT 700 Airguns are “designed with the air tank wrapped around the barrel … lowering the profile of the overall rifle, resulting in a very slim front end and an overall more balanced rifle.”

The Rocky Mountain Airgun Challenge

The Rocky Mountain Airgun Challenge (RMAC) is a challenging, multi-class tactical-style airgun competition. The RMAC event, hosted by Utah Airguns, is one of the biggest outdoor air rifle matches in the country. It combines the low-cost of air rifle shooting with the fun of PRS/NRL-type multi-stage shooting.

RMAC features four distinct events designed to test diverse shooting skills. The 100-Yard Benchrest event focuses on precision and wind-reading — most other airgun BR matches are at 50 yards or 50m max, so this is tough by comparison.

The Precision Marksman Challenge is a physically demanding event that requires shooters to engage reactive steel targets from various positions and obstacles under time pressure, utilizing both slugs and pellets. The Speed Challenge is a high-energy, head-to-head competition where shooters race through diverse courses of fire. Finally, the Big Bore Slug Challenge showcases the power and accuracy of slug-shooting airguns, with competitors engaging steel targets at distances from 100 to 450 yards.

Modern Tactical-Style Air Rifles

Here are two state-of-the-art tactical air rifles, the BinTac MCAR ($2790.00 from Airgun Tactical) and the FX IMPACT M4 ($2099.99 from Utah Airguns). The BinTac MCAR almost looks like a centerfire rifle at first glance but the air chambers on the buttstock tell the real story.

Next week a major Airgun event kicks off in Springville, Utah — the Rocky Mountain Airgun Challenge (RMAC). Running June 18-22, 2025, this is a fun and challenging, multi-class tactical-style airgun competition. The RMAC event, hosted by Utah Airguns, is one of the largest outdoor air rifle matches in the country. It combines the low-cost of air rifle shooting with the fun of PRS/NRL-type multi-stage shooting.

RMAC 2025 features 100-yard benchrest, precision-rifle courses, and speed silhouette competitions—all designed to test both shooter skill and equipment durability. Competitors will engage in steel-plate challenges, long-range accuracy tests, and time-trials, pushing rifles and shooters to their limits. RMAC 2025 will be held at the Garth Killpack Shooting Range in Springville, Utah.

The Rocky Mountain Airgun Challenge

Last year’s 2024 Rocky Mountain Airgun Challenge in Utah attracted top shooters with over $100,000 worth of prizes. The stages look like what you’d see at PRS/NRL events, but the targets are smaller, the range is shorter, and the power behind each shot is air. Practical Air-Gun competition has a well-established community that spans the globe, and recently competitors from other shooting disciplines, the powder burners, beginning to take notice. Air-Gun practical competition is fun and inexpensive — you are paying pennies a round vs. a $1.30 or more per round for premium centerfire ammo. The Rocky Mountain Airgun Challenge is leading the way in this interesting air-powered shooting discipline. This multi-day event featured a variety of events on multiple stages.

Modern Tactical-Style Air Rifles

Here are two state-of-the-art tactical air rifles, the BinTac MCAR ($2790.00 from Airgun Tactical) and the FX IMPACT M4 ($2099.99 from Utah Airguns). The BinTac MCAR almost looks like a centerfire rifle at first glance but the air chambers on the buttstock tell the real story.

The 18-lb BinTac M4 features a 38″ barrel which can be easily swapped out to shoot multiple calibers including .457, .50, .51, and .58. There is also a 14-lb hunting version with a 30″ barrel. Max fill pressure is 4500 psi, but there is a 7000-psi upgrade with regulator available.

First introduced in 2015, the original FX IMPACT air rifle represented a major upgrade in field air rifles. The modern IMPACT M4 version offers enhanced performance with a variety of barrel and chassis options.

Shooting USA TV has a good show released today. Shooting USA’s Wednesday Night episode features RMAC — the Rocky Mountain Airgun Challenge. This is a fun and challenging, multi-class tactical-style airgun competition.

The RMAC event, hosted by Utah Airguns, is one of the largest outdoor air rifle matches in the country. It combines the low-cost of air rifle shooting with the fun of PRS/NRL-type multi-stage shooting.

Shooting USA SHOW TIMES: This Shooting USA Episode airs Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025 at 9:00 PM Eastern and Pacific; 8:00 PM Central. If you miss the regular broadcast, you can stream the show online at any time on Vimeo for $0.99 per episode.

The Rocky Mountain Airgun Challenge

The 2024 Rocky Mountain Airgun Challenge in Provo, Utah attracted top shooters with over $100,000 worth of prizes. The stages look like what you’d see at PRS/NRL events, but the targets are smaller, the range is shorter, and the power behind each shot is air. Practical Air-Gun competition has a well-established community that spans the globe, and recently competitors from other shooting disciplines, the powder burners, beginning to take notice. Air-Gun practical competition is fun and inexpensive — you are paying pennies a round vs. a $1.30 or more per round for premium centerfire ammo. The Rocky Mountain Airgun Challenge is leading the way in this interesting air-powered shooting discipline. This multi-day event featured a variety of events on multiple stages.

Modern Tactical-Style Air Rifles

Here are two state-of-the-art tactical air rifles, the BinTac MCAR ($2790.00 from Airgun Tactical) and the FX IMPACT M4 ($2099.99 from Utah Airguns). The BinTac MCAR almost looks like a centerfire rifle at first glance but the air chambers on the buttstock tell the real story.

The 18-lb BinTac M4 features a 38″ barrel which can be easily swapped out to shoot multiple calibers including .457, .50, .51, and .58. There is also a 14-lb hunting version with a 30″ barrel. Max fill pressure is 4500 psi, but there is a 7000-psi upgrade with regulator available.

First introduced in 2015, the original FX IMPACT air rifle represented a major upgrade in field air rifles. The modern IMPACT M4 version offers enhanced performance with a variety of barrel and chassis options.