Tony Boyer Wins Kelbly’s Super Shoot Two-Gun Title

Adding yet another big win to his unrivaled list of major Benchrest shooting accomplishments, legendary benchrest competitor Tony Boyer won the Two-Gun title at the 2018 Kelbly’s Super Shoot. Tony won the Two-Gun with an astounding 0.1885 Two-Gun combined Aggregate. We’re told this is Boyer’s seventh Super Shoot win. As James Mock says: “He is a phenomenon who seems to gets better with age.”

Boyer, who has three times as many Hall-of-Fame points as his closest rival, was in top form this past week in Ohio, winning the Two-Gun with a very strong performance. This was a tough field, with over 200 seasoned shooters including many talented foreigners. Finishing second in the Two-Gun was Jeff Summers (0.2075), followed by Christian Dippolito (0.2200). Summers also won the 3-Gun (0.2408), which includes the Unlimited (Railgun) Class.

2018 Super Shoot Complete Match Results | Super Shoot Top 20 Equipment List

Here are words of praise for Tony:

“This is what ‘1/4 minute all day long if I do my part’ really looks like!” — DamonCali

“Actually, that is what 3/16 all WEEK long looks like…” — Geo.Ul.

“As amazing as an 0.188 something Grand Agg is, having shot it at the [challenging] Kelbly’s range is even more so. Tough place to shoot small. Awesome job!” — Tim S.

“I heard someone at the Super Shoot ask Tony a couple years ago: ‘If you went over to the pond, could you walk on water?’ [Consider that] some of the best shooters who ever competed have just one-fourth the Hall-of-Fame points Tony has.” — Webster

CLICK Image for Top 10 Equipment list, 10.5-lb Class.

Super Shoot — A World-Class Event

May is Super Shoot Time at the Kelbly’s Rifle Range in North Lawrence, Ohio. This annual event, held May 21-26 this year, draws some of the best 100-yard and 200-yard benchrest shooters in the world. Recent Super Shoots have drawn 200+ competitors from the USA and more than a dozen other countries (about 15% of the competitors come from overseas).

Past Super Shoot Highlights Video (Watch This — It’s Very Well Done!)

If you’ve never attended the Super Shoot before, and don’t know what to expect, Capstone Precision Group President Bill Gravatt offers some insights into this great event:

Super Shoot — What It’s All About

The excitement and anticipation leading up to a Super Shoot can be hard to explain to those who haven’t been to one. Every year, some shooters arrive at the Super Shoot a week early to dial in their rifles, learn wind conditions for the range, and enjoy the camaraderie of their fellow shooters. As the match draws closer, campers and RVs fill the area behind the range, and shooters stake out turf all over the property with their reloading and cleaning equipment setups.

Many shooters choose to load cartridges in the main barn directly behind the 60-bench firing line, while others decide to work in pop-ups, campers and other outbuildings around the facility. Benchrest shooters tend to load in small batches, and some most load cartridges between each match. Many shooters clean their rifles after each match, while others sometimes go two or three matches between cleanings, depending on the number of rounds they fire.

Another part of high-level benchrest competition that will amaze first-time attendees is the quality and amount of equipment benchrest shooters use. Just in front of the shooting benches and the targets, range flags of all kinds sprout up, from the typical “daisy wheel” flags to very sophisticated velocity indicators that show varying wind intensity. Shooters adjust their flags to align with the particular target in front of a specific bench, just slightly below the path of the bullet but still partially visible in the high-powered scopes.

The rifles represent a variety of actions, usually custom, with heavy benchrest barrels by various barrel makers. The most popular cartridge used is the 6mm PPC, but occasionally you will run into someone using a 6mm BR or a slightly modified 6mm BR, and as well as a few other cartridges. Rifle rests used are typically heavy tripods or plate rests. You see a lot of Sinclair rests, Farley rests, and a variety of others, including a few homemade rests. Bags are typically Edgewood or Protektor.

Super Shoot — Runners, Pickers and the Pursuit of Perfection
The techniques vary between shooters, and they are interesting to observe. Some shooters “run” their targets and will shoot a quick sighter and then run all 5 shots as fast as they can before conditions change. Others are “pickers” and shoot each shot carefully, going back and forth between the record target and the sighter target to verify wind conditions and bullet drift. These guys will sometimes shoot up to 10 sighters and use the full seven minutes. Both styles of shooting work and many shooters use both techniques depending on the match conditions[.]

Anyone who attends the Super Shoot will come away with a greater appreciation of precision benchrest shooting. Experienced benchresters already know there will be windy days that drive them crazy, and less experienced shooters can get completely lost when… holding off a shot in the wind. But the reward is worth it. It’s very satisfying to hold off a full inch at 100 yards because the wind changes during your string and drop your fifth shot into a sub 0.100″ group with only seconds remaining on the clock. And that’s what the Super Shoot is all about.