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November 17th, 2023
Congratulations to Team Lapua-Brux-Borden (“Team Lapua”) winning the F-Open Grand Aggregate Team Award at the 2023 F-Class Long-Range Championships with a superb score of 1593-95X. Team Lapua members are Tod Hendricks, Ted Wedell, Jeremy Smith, David Christian, and Jay Christopherson, with Bob Sebold as coach and Erik Cortina as Team Captain.
In Match 1 of the F-Open Team Championship, Team Lapua also set a new National record of 800-53X, breaking the previous record by 11 Xs (set by Team Long Shots in 2014). In the 2023 Match 1 four Team Lapua members fired 20 rounds for record at 1000 yards, not dropping a single point.
“We noticed in the forecast that the wind conditions were going to be mild, and there was a chance to set a new National record”, commented Team Captain Erik Cortina. “The previous record was an 800-42X, so we knew we all had to shoot perfect scores to claim the record. It felt great when the 80th shot came up an X! We managed to score 800-53X, beating the old record by 11 Xs.”
Additionally, team members Jay Christopherson, David Christian, and Erik Cortina finished in the top 10 of the individual F-Open LR championship. Along with its record-breaking Long Range 2023 win, Team Lapua finished 3rd place overall in the Mid-Range F-Open team championships, adding an exclamation point to Lapua’s dominating results.
The 2023 United States F-Class Long Range National Championships were hosted by the Desert Sharpshooters and held November 1-5, 2023 at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility in Phoenix, Arizona. The Long Range National Team Championship consists of eight (8) 20-shot strings fired at 1000 yards. There are 160 shots total with a max score of 10-1X per shot.
About Lapua
For 100 years, Lapua has been producing superb small caliber cartridges and components for civilian and professional use. Lapua is a part of the Capstone Precision Group, exclusive U.S. distributor for Berger, Lapua, Vihtavuori and SK-Rimfire products. For more information, visit Lapua.com
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November 7th, 2023
We congratulate Ian Klemm (F-TR, left below) and Matthew Basalla (F-Open, right below) — the 2023 NRA F-Class Long Range National Champions! The NRA F-Class championships were held at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility outside Phoenix, Arizona. The 2023 Long Range F-Class Nationals ran November 2-5, following the Mid-Range F-Class Nationals held October 29 through November 1st.
F-Open Long Range Championship
Matt Basalla (1594-101X) earned an impressive victory in F-Open, followed by Peter Johns (Second) and Norm Harrold (Third). Matt only dropped just 6 points across the three days, while Peter dropped 7 and Norm 8. Impressively Matt recorded 101 Xs during the match. Mid-Range winner John Masek told us that this was “Crazy good shooting in some tricky conditions”.
F-Open Individual Results | F-Open Team Results
Team Lapua/Brux/Borden Wins F-Open Team Event
It went down to the wire in the F-Open Team Competition. Team Lapua/Brux/Borden finished first with 1593-95X. Team Long Shots was tied on total points with 1593 but took second on X-Count with 93X. Both those teams had shooters with superb 400-24X scores. Team Lapua also set a Nationals one-phase team record of 800-53X, breaking the previous record of 800-42X set in 2014 by the Long Shots. The top individual performance in the Team match was a 400-29X by Johnny Ingram of Team Bayou Boyz.
Conditions at the Long Range Championships
John Masek, 2023 F-Open Mid-Range Nat’l Champion, told us about the conditions during the Long Range phase of the F-Class Nationals: “Conditions for the Long Range F-Class Nationals were oddly deceiving. We started out Thursday with some mild cross winds that would switch quickly, but if you were patient you could shoot in steady conditions. It was clear that those at the top of the leaderboard had figured that out as there were quite a few shooters who dropped from zero to a just a couple points.
Friday was a pretty close repeat of the previous day and if you had figured out the previous day’s conditions you were in the top half, but there were plenty of people who struggled and dropped quite a few points. The final individual day on Sunday started in totally different conditions with a pretty decent head wind that was quickly moving the flags left to right. If you weren’t paying attention, you could easily get blown out to the left or right in the blink of an eye. The final relay was back to a crosswind with some tricky angle changes. Over the three days there was plenty of wind to help push the top shooters up, leaving no doubt that Matt Basalla was top F-Open shooter, and earned his victory.”
F-TR Long Range Championship — Ian Klemm Wins Again
In the F-TR division, Ian Klemm put in a great performance to secure his fifth National F-TR LR Championship finishing with both high score and top X-Count (1580-82X). Ian has previously won in 2021, 2020, 2018, and 2017. To secure FIVE titles in 7 years is mighty impressive. Certainly it can be argued that his FIVE F-TR Long Range Championships earn Ian the “F-TR GOAT” title (greatest of all time). Keith Trapp finished second (1578-74X) while Oleg Savelyev took third place (1575-72X).
F-TR Individual Results | F-TR Team Results
Team Vortex Wins F-TR Team Event
As captain of Team Vortex, Ian Klemm also was part of the winning F-TR squad which scored 1588-76X. Team Vortex member Keith Trapp finished with a 400-19X, not dropping a point. He was the only F-TR shooter to have a 400 in team competition. The Bridgeville Long Range F-TR squad took second place with a 1580-61X score.
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February 17th, 2020
Dominators — that’s what these blue-shirted guys were at the 2020 Berger Southwest Nationals (SWN). For the third straight year, Team Lapua-Brux-Borden won the coveted F-Open Team Grand Aggregate award at the Berger Southwest Nationals, finishing with a score of 2584-160X (out of a possible 2600). And Team Member Jay Christopherson (AccurateShooter’s System Admin) won the F-Open Overall title, while Team Member Tod Hendricks won the 600-yard Mid-Range Event. Mighty impressive…
Team members are Jay Christopherson, David Christian, Tod Hendricks, Pat Scully, and Jeremy Smith (alternate), with Bob Sebold serving as Coach and Erik Cortina as Captain. Remarkably Jay (1247-83X), Pat (1247-72X), and Tod (1245-81X) placed first, second, and third respectively in the F-Open Grand Aggregate individual awards. That’s right, three team-mates secured ALL the podium places. And all three were separated by only two points!
Record-Setting Performances by Team
Notably Team Lapua-Brux-Borden established a new Ben Avery range record along the way to winning the Palma Team Match with a score of 1791-113 (out of a possible 1800). We’re told that the Team’s 793-47X LR score was also a new match record. Jay set a LR Aggregate Record with 799-50X, while Tod set a LR individual relay record of 200-18X.
Photo by Sherri Jo Gallagher.
Team Lapua-Brux-Borden — Winning “Team First” Philosophy
Commentary by Jay Christopherson
For Team Lapua-Borden-Brux, winning gold is the entire focus. To that end, ego is the only enemy. Sure, we all have egos as individual shooters, but as a team, ego is subsumed into that one overriding goal. If you can’t do that, then you can’t shoot on Lapua-Borden-Brux. No matter how good you think your rifle is or how well you are shooting individually, the coach is the only arbiter — no exceptions. Every job on the team is focused towards that single goal of gold and no job is more or less important than another. Our plotter saves points by spotting high or low trends and calling that out, and ensuring we don’t lose points when a scorer misses a shot. Our back-coach saves points by spotting upcoming condition changes or making observations. Our target-puller strives to provide an example of the best possible target service. And our scorer focuses on providing attentive service to the team next to us. A failure in one job is a failure in all and we either win or lose together as a team. That is only possible when each individual understands that there is only one goal.
The Berger Southwest Nationals, hosted by the Desert Sharpshooters Rifle Club, took place February 5-9, 2020 at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility in Phoenix, AZ with a sold-out roster of 400 competitors. America’s biggest rifle match west of the Mississippi, the Southwest Nationals is a “must-attend” event for long-range shooters competing in F-Open, F-TR, and Sling disciplines. Competitors from at least nine different countries were in attendance. The Grand Aggregate is the total score from firing points of 600, 800, 900, and 1,000 yards.
 Praise from Team Captain
“I am very proud of the team”, stated Team Captain, Erik Cortina: “From setting a new range record to placing first in the F-Open Grand Aggregate, our success is directly attributed to Lapua’s premium components.”
About Lapua — Premium Brass, Bullets, and Ammunition
Lapua produces the highest-quality small caliber cartridges and components for civilian and professional use. Lapua is a part of the Capstone Precision Group, exclusive U.S. distributor for Berger, Lapua, Vihtavuori, and SK-Rimfire products. For more information, visit Lapua.com.
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