This lady shooter has finished with her shotgun and dumped it in the can. She is now dealing with the poppers using the FNS 9mm pistol and will finish this stage with the FN SCAR 16, the muzzle of which is just peeking out on the table in front of her.
We rolled in to the Peacemaker National Training Center, near Glengary, WV, just before dark last night. We had just enough daylight left to get the Mule unloaded and the camper parked in a good spot down by the barn. After a quiet night, things were happening early. On this, our first morning at Peacemaker, final preparations and weapons testing for the big match were underway all over the facility. This extensive shooting venue is spread out over 500 acres of a 2,000-acre family farm that is owned and operated by Cole McCuloch. There are ranges at Peacemaker for most every shooting discipline; from trap to 3-Gun, long range rifle to benchrest, bullseye pistol to IPSC and IDPA. The Peacemaker facility can accommodate lots of shooters with varying interests. The variety of facilities found here also makes Peacemaker ideal for this multi-disciplinary, four day match, which will determine the World Champion Shooter. Whoever the overall winner is, the highly skilled and very fortunate shooter, will walk off with a check for $50,000 on Saturday night.
Today is the day for the staff and range officers to shoot through the match in order to fine tune the stages and the guns used in each. All guns and ammo are furnished for this match, so every competitor shoots the same equipment—a level playing field, so to speak. Shooter check-in starts this afternoon and there is a shooter’s meeting with squading taking place at the match hotel this evening at 7PM. It’s going to be an interesting four days as the press has been “squaded in” to shoot with the registered shooters and we are looking forward to participating in this first ever event. I also have a special interest in this World Championship Match as my son Brock and his buddy Matt Pyle are competing in the pro division; it’s their first big time match.
Wednesday 10 Sept. 2014 Day 1
Assigned to squad #2, I had to be up and on the range by 7AM (as did Brock and Matt in squad #6).
The author down in the dirt and empty cases shooting his last stage of the match with a Daniel Defense rifle with a Trijicon optic.
Squad #2 shot the pistol segment this AM and the boys with squad #6, shot the rifle segment. This first morning’s shooting included stages 1 through 6 and two side matches. Some of the disciplines covered in this first day’s shooting are NRA bullseye pistol using Colt Gold Cup 45s, IPSC pistol using FNS 9mm pistols, the Bianchi Cup Mover event and a speed shoot side match sponsored by ArmaLite utilizing their 5.56 rifles with Trijicon optics, one of which will be awarded to the stage winner. There’s also an F-Class rifle stage using FNH .308 bolt guns, and a 3-Gun event sponsored by FNH that involves shooting an FNS pistol, an FN SLP autoloading shotgun and the FN Scar16 carbine in .556. Not to be left out, there is also a .22 rimfire rifle stage using Magnum Research rifles.
Tommy Thacker of ArmaLite leans out to engage the final target on the IPSC pistol stage.
Performance wise, the ArmaLite Challenge side match proved to be our best stage of the day. We shot the five targets, twice each, in just over 10 seconds. For a perspective, Jerry Miculek shot the drill in just over “four seconds” to win the stage. The IPSC pistol stage gave three of us on squad 2 a fit, as we failed to engage a far target that was only visible from the start box. On the command “shooter ready” we silently said to ourselves “don’t forget the long target.” Then, on the start signal, we went on “auto pilot” and completely forgot about it, shot the one close target and continued to shoot the rest of the targets in the stage. All we could do is shrug it off and drive on. This first day’s shooting was challenging and we enjoyed it. The company and camaraderie of the other shooters on squad #2, was also a true plus. Brock and Matt were all smiles at day’s end as they got through the day with little or no trouble.
Thursday 11 Sept. 2014 Day 2
We all went to bed tired last night and were looking forward to today’s after lunch start. On this second day, we will be shooting the segment that Brock and Matt shot yesterday and they will shoot the pistol segment. The weather is calling for rain. Interestingly, last night the NRA Bullseye stage of the match was scrapped because of functioning problems with the Colt Series 80 Gold Cup pistols, mainly due to magazine issues.
Squad 2 shot the Bianchi Mover today with a custom FNS 9mm long slide. This event proved to be very challenging for me (dang those striker fired pistols) and most of the other shooters in the squad. The IDPA side match was a speed event shot on steel with an FNS 9mm Pistol. In the end, one of the fellows on our squad, Eric Katzenberg, placed first in this side match and claimed its $1000 prize. Congrats’ Eric!
The 3-Gun stage we shot today was the fun event of the day’s shooting. This stage was, as mentioned before, sponsored by FNH and required the use of the FNS pistol, the FN SLP 12-gauge shotgun and the SCAR 16S 5.56 carbine. The stage began with all weapons loaded and placed on a table to the shooter’s front. On the start signal the shooter moved forward and could start shooting with either the handgun or the shotgun. There were twelve steel poppers to be engaged with the pistol and eight clay birds on stands to be shot with the shotgun; all were evenly divided to the right and left side of the shooting bay. When finished with the pistol and shotgun targets, the shooter retrieved the loaded SCAR 16 from the table and engaged two flanking paper targets, one on the right and one on the left at almost 90 degrees to the shooter, followed by four other paper targets down range. The latter were shot from the prone position under the table. Everyone who shot this stage ended up covered in tan dust from the shooting box after going prone, but there were smiles all around as this was a really fun stage for both the shooters and spectators. It was another exciting day.
Friday 12 Sept. 2014 Day 3
The author shooting the Alexander Arms ULFBERHT .338 Lapua Magnum rifle in the long range challenge side match which was won by his son Brock.
Today is the shotgun day for our squad. Brock and Matt will shoot the “combined” segment which includes a Cowboy Action stage as well as a few handgun/rifle stages.
Not being big into shotgun sports, I am not really looking forward to today’s shooting and, in fact, almost missed the start of the events, as my alarm clock in the camper mis-fired and I actually awoke to the sound of shotgun fire. The shotgun segment involved shooting a round of double wobble trap, a round of Five Stand, and there was a speed stage utilizing FN P-12 pump shotguns. I felt pretty awkward on the clay bird ranges and was not at all pleased with my performance. However, when I later heard about all the zeros, shot in both the trap and Five Stand events, I didn’t feel too bad. Due to my fused left wrist, which precludes running a pump shotgun with any sort efficiency, I reluctantly passed and took a DNF on the pump gun speed event.
The upside of day 3 was the long range side match. We had to drive to another location to shoot side match #3 which involved engaging three steel targets from 750 out to almost 900 yards. This event was sponsored by Alexander Arms and the rifle used was their ULFBERHT semi-auto chambered for the .338 Lapua Magnum topped with a Vortex Telescope. Ammunition was from Black Hills or Hornady. The event was simple. Each shooter was given five rounds with which to engage the three distant steel targets; fastest time would win. Plates not hit incurred a time penalty. The ULFBERHT .338 rifle (named after an ancient Viking sword) had a good zero on it and I found hitting the three targets wasn’t all that hard. I wasn’t smoking fast on this stage but I had a good time and only one miss on the farthest target that I quickly made up. By the way, this Alexander Arms rifle had the best trigger action of any of the weapons we were required to shoot in the entire match; it was a true joy! As a senior shooter, I was beginning to feel my age catching up with me. After eating dinner with Brock and Matt, I slept well, knowing that squad #2 didn’t start shooting until after lunch tomorrow.
Saturday 13 Sept. 2014 Day 4
This is typical of many of the shooting positions encountered over the four days of the match.
Last day and it’s raining.
We shot the “combined” segment today which includes everything from a Cowboy Action stage to a couple of modern run and gun stages and a suppressed weapons stage. All of these were great fun and we got through them with little trouble except for manipulating the lever gun in the cowboy action stage with my bunged up hand. The rain let up, by the way, providing nice weather for the latter half of the day.
The high point of this last day’s shooting involved Brock and the Long Range side match with the Alexander Arms .338 ULFBERHT rifle. Brock, Matt and I had made a plan the evening before. We decided that the way to shoot the Long Range Challenge was to go for broke firing three shots only and to have the power on the Vortex scope dialed down so that any two of the three targets were always visible in the scope’s field of view. This would allow for a quick transition from one target to another. I was up on another range waiting to shoot my last stage of the match, when I heard the three quick reports of the Alexander Arms .338, and the corresponding clangs of steel, followed by a lot of cheering. I knew that either Matt or Brock had just done really well on the Long Range Challenge. As it turned out, Brock had won the event, and the $1000 prize, with a time of 4.76 seconds for the three successful shots. What a great way to end a shooting match!
Overall the West Virginia boys did well. Matt placed 47th and got a Colt Gold Cup pistol for his efforts and Brock came in 86th overall (one disaster stage killed his score) picking up a Kestrel 4500 off the prize table plus the $1k for the Long Range event. Although a bit beat up, I survived the Trijicon World Shooting Championship, had a great time, and did not place last! Next year, I think I’ll join Brock and Matt in practicing for this match.
Personal Observations
Left to right, Brock Markwell, the author, and Matt Pyle at the First Trijicon World Championship Match.
All three of us greatly enjoyed our entire four days of shooting in the Trijicon World Shooting Championship Match. I struggled a bit due to my arthritic hands and wrists but it was a great experience attending a first time event like this with our son, Brock and his buddy, Matt. I’d like to think that some of my input, based on 35+ years of competition, was of some help to them and not just an annoyance.
The issuing of all weapons for this match was a great idea which, for the most part, worked out well. It certainly leveled the playing field. However, we personally would have given a lot to have been allowed to shoot one of our 1911s throughout the match instead of all those danged striker fired pistols. Also, we think it would have been nice if the trap guns had had an adjustment for length of pull. Other than these two personal wishes, we think the guns used throughout the match were great, appropriate for the stages and, for the most part, functioned well.
If this match has an Achilles heel, it is the dependence on the reliability of all the furnished firearms used and their compatibility with the issued ammunition. All the firearms used in the Trijicon World Championship match were provided by the manufacturers (many of whom also sponsored stages with cash). Trijicon deserves a special mention as they put up $150,000 to be the main sponsor of this event. Trijicon also provided all of the optics required for the event and the company deserves kudos and support from all shooters for stepping up in such a huge way. But back to the guns; with a lot of cash and a “World Title” on the line, all the guns had to work for this event, and for the World Champion title to be credible. Before the match even started, one group of shotguns was pulled due to reliability issues. This was a good sign that the organizers of the event were not going to fool around just to try to satisfy sponsors. Those companies who provided weapons and equipment for this competition not only invested dollars, they also put their products and reputations on the line for all to see.
Left to right, Daniel Horner, US Army Marksmanship Unit, match winner and recipient of the $50,000 first prize; Jeff Mosher, Trijicon Director Domestic Business Development; Cole McCulloch, owner of Peacemaker, and John Rupp, Trijicon VP of Business Development.
A match of this scale could not happen without industry sponsorship. We would like to encourage readers to look at the list of industry sponsors who stepped up with money, manpower, and product (especially Trijicon), to make this event a great success. So, the next time you are spending your hard earned dollars on shooting gear, you might consider supporting these companies. These businesses deserve the support of the entire shooting fraternity, as does the NRA for their role in helping coordinate many details of the match and providing staff to help man the many stages.
An interesting twist that we had not encountered before was the issuance of a “mulligan” card to each shooter. This card could be presented to any range officer for a reshoot of any single stage, should the competitor feel he could better his score on that portion of the match. The mulligan had to be used immediately and could only be used for re-shooting one stage. I used my mulligan on the last stage I shot and knocked considerable time off my first attempt. This was a great idea that eliminated considerable grumbling by the competitors.
Finally, I would like to thank all the folks on squad #2 for a very pleasant four days. Daniel, Brian, Aaron, Mitch, Chris, Dennis, Ed, and Eric; I greatly appreciated your support and encouragement throughout the Match. It was a pleasure!
The culmination of the first World Shooting Championship, was the awards banquet Saturday night. This was a great social event and Daniel Horner of the Army Marksmanship Unit was declared the World Champion Shooter. He claimed the $50,000 check with a big smile. Lena Miculek took the high lady award, placing 28th overall. And, being there to see Brock claim his $1k check was the kind of thing dads live for. To view the complete course of fire, results and the list of sponsors, we refer you to the Peacemaker National Training Center’s website at: peacemakernational.com. As this is written, there are already a bunch of Youtube videos of the match on the Internet for those who would like to see some of the action from Peacemaker. And finally, for those of you interested in shooting next year’s Trijicon World Shooting Championship Match, the date has already been set for Oct. 14-17, 2015. Hopefully we’ll see you there. Good shooting.
