10,000 Rounds Fired Over Crosman All-American Field Target Championship Weekend

Airgun Shooting
Crosman All-American Field Target Championship
Crosman
Crosman

BLOOMFIELD, NY –-(Ammoland.com)- To break the stranglehold Greg Sauve and Harold Rushton have had on the WFTF PCP division for the past five years of the Crosman All-American Field Target Championship (CAAFTC), Jeff Paddock knew he had to be nearly perfect.

And he was, taking the top match score by succesfully knocking down 115 of 120 targets over two days, besting Rushton by a single shot. The two-day event saw no repeat winners in any of the nine divisions as 95 rifle and pistol shooters competed June 13-14 2013 at Rochester Brooks Gun Club in Rush, NY.

Among the competitors were Sauve, who is the current WFTF PCP National Champion, four members of Team USA, Team Canada and Andre Gross of Webster, NY, the reigning American Legion Airgun Sporter Class champion.

“It was as strong a field as you will find in this sport plus we had several families including one with an eight-year old who traveled with his brothers and father from Indiana for the event,” said Mark DeBoard, Shooting Services Manager for Crosman.

The championship, now in its sixth year, welcomed shooters from seventeen states and Canada with 75 rifle and 20 pistol competitors. The CAAFTC is sanctioned by the American Airgun Field Target Association and is a featured AAFTA Grand Prix event.

“The Crosman match is the largest of its kind in the U.S. outside of the AAFTA National Championship and it’s a great way for Crosman to support and grow the sport of airgunning,” said DeBoard.

Attendees were treated to a Crosman Factory Tour and a weekend-long on-site store at the event.

“I came home with an extra gun and enough pellets to last me through the rest of the year,” said competitor Don Armstrong of Virginia. “I drove ten hours to get here and will do it again!”

WFTF PCP
World Field Target Federation (WFTF) division competitors utilize rifles producing a maximum of 12 foot pounds of energy and any form of sighting system. Shooters opting for this division have an eye towards world competition and generally shoot the highest scores.

After Day One, Ohio’s Jeff Paddock and Harold Rushton of Tennessee, the 2010 and 2013 winner of this event, were deadlocked at 59 – each shooter missing just a single target. Throughout the final day both shooters remained tied and it came down to the final lane as Paddock was able to knock down one more target than Rushton to add a WFTF PCP title to his 2012 Pistol Division, Open Class CAAFTC title. Greg Sauve of Wisconsin, the defending champion, finished third with a score of 110.

WFTF PCP Scores

  • 1 Jeff Paddock 115
  • 2 Harold Rushton 114
  • 3 Greg Sauve 110
  • 4 Paul Cray 104
  • 5 Tyler Patner 104
  • 6 Tom Holland 102
  • 7 Nathan Thomas 98
  • 8 Joe McDaniel 92
  • 9 Joel Yaddow 89
  • 10 David Bartlett 85
  • 11 Walter Gregory 68
  • 12 Brian Milne 67

WFTF PISTON
Matt Brackett was a last-minute fill-in for another competitor and his trip from his home state of Connecticut was worth the drive as he took home the first place prize with score of 96. Jerry LaRocca Jr. of New York was the defending champion and finished second this year with an 88. Paul Bishop of Connecticut won the 2014 Open Division Piston Class and opted to compete in the WFTF Division in 2015. Arriving at the event as a walk-in after driving through the night, he finished third with an 85.

WFTF Piston Scores

  • 1 Matt Brackett 96
  • 2 Jerry LaRocca Jr. 88
  • 3 Paul Bishop 85
  • 4 Art Deuel 79
  • 5 Ray Apelles 76
  • 6 Hector Medina-Gomez 76
  • 7 Tim MacSweyn 71

HUNTER PCP
Hunter Division allows for rifles shooting up to 20 foot pounds, up to a 12x magnified optic and the use of a seat and shooting sticks.

Always a popular class, this year’s edition featured 37 shooters with Joel Gupta of New Jersey leading the way with a score of 103. Jason Eroh of Massachusetts finished second with a 99 and Maine’s Bill Day, the 2013 event winner, was third with a 97. Brothers Dennis (97) and Thomas Himes (91) of Pennsylvania finished 4th and 5th, respectively.

Hunter PCP Scores

  • 1 Joel Gupta 103
  • 2 John Eroh 99
  • 3 Bill Day 97
  • 4 Dennis Himes 97
  • 5 Thomas Himes 91
  • 6 Susan Tenney 90
  • 7 Glenn Thomas 89
  • 8 Christopher Helm 85
  • 9 John Tyler 84
  • 10 Gregory Pusz 82
  • 11 Daniel Bott 81
  • 12 Justin Heckert 80
  • 13 Harold Schaefer 79
  • 14 Sean McDaniel 77
  • 15 Don Armstrong 75
  • 16 Matthew Himes 75
  • 17 Andre Gross 74
  • 18 Tom Miller 72
  • 19 Douglas Rogers 71
  • 20 Chip Hunnicutt 70
  • 21 Wallace Malheiros 63
  • 22 Rick Rehm 63
  • 23 Grant Ellison 62
  • 24 Robert McIntosh 62
  • 25 Shawn Pragle 60
  • 26 Mark DeBoard 59
  • 27 Garrett Ellison 59
  • 28 Stephen Archer 58
  • 29 Kim Yaddow 55
  • 30 William Duranti 50
  • 31 Levi Rogers 44
  • 32 Andrew McDaniel 36
  • 33 Johnson Kynon 27
  • 34 Ronald Ours 24
  • 35 Ike Ellison 16

HUNTER PISTON
Always a contender, Greg Shirhall of New York took home the hardware with a 78, beating Pennsylvania’s Kevin Kunkle by six shots. Eric Brewer of New York finished third with a 63.

Hunter Piston Scores

  • 1 Greg Shirhall 78
  • 2 Kevin Kunkle 72
  • 3 Eric Brewer 63
  • 4 Paul Manktelow 60
  • 5 James Wilcox 50
  • 6 Peg Brewer 42

OPEN PCP
Rifles capable of up to 20 foot pounds, any sighting system and clothing and minimum seat heights are the rule in this class.

Ron Zeman flew in from Florida and took top honors with an impressive 105 score. Dennis Eden of Canada was a distant second with a score of 94.

Open PCP Scores

  • 1 Ron Zeman 105
  • 2 Dennis Eden 94
  • 3 Mike Harris 81
  • 4 Stan Lipinski 81
  • 5 Richard Bassett 80
  • 6 Noel Tenney 80
  • 7 Albert Otter 78
  • 8 Hans Apelles 70
  • 9 Mark Oehlberg 50

OPEN PISTON
With no competitors in his class, Larry Bowne of Pennsylvania didn’t let off the gas and finished with a score of 65.

PISTOL
The Pistol competition featured three classes based on equipment used and shooters faced a varying course of 45 targets. Joe McDaniel of Maryland won the Hands-Only Class with a score of 14. Bill Day took the Hunter Class with a 37 and Nathan Thomas of New York won the Open Class with a 22.