The 2024 Southwest Nationals concluded on Sunday, February 18, 2020. This year’s event was great, with some very close competitions and some spectacular scores in all divisions. We congratulate our new SWN Long Range Champs: Jay Christopherson, Brad Sauve, and Philip Crowe. We also congratulate Tod Hendricks, Tom Hubbard, Jarrod McGaffic and the talented 600-Yard Champions: Tod Christopherson (F-Open), Brad Sauve (F-TR), Philip Crowe (Sling). Jay won the SWN Long-Range Championship in both 2020 and 2019. (SEE Jay 2020 report). Jay was on fire throughout the competition. He didn’t drop a point until the final day, and finished with 1248-79X. This is just two points away from a “clean” score of 1250. Tim Vaught, the F-Open runner up, finished one point behind Jay C. at 1247-83X. Tim had the highest X count among all F Open LR competitors. Tod Hendricks won the F-Open competition at 600 yards with a score of 600-52X. Tod is a teammate of Jay C. from Team Lapua-Brux-Borden. The Top Ten F-Open Shooters all shot 600 yards “clean”, so the rankings were determined by X-Count. Brad Sauve, the senior F-TR ace (1245-71X), also shot an excellent Long Range match and finished five points ahead Tom Hubbard (124067X), who was in second place. Sauve also had the highest X Count of all FTR shooters. Brad’s performance was very impressive. We should also note that Tom Hubbard, who won the F-TR600-yard competition earlier in the week with a 599-38X, was the winner of the F-TR600-yard competition. F-Open Champion CommentaryWe had the chance to speak with 2024 SWB F Open Champion Jay Christopherson. Jay Christopherson said that the conditions were excellent for most of his match. Jay also noted the improvement in accuracy for F-Open with each new season. F-Open winner Jay Christopherson’s Wind Wisdom and More… The wind was fairly mild all week. I never held more than four lines of wind on my scope (mostly to the left), and zero wind on my scope. 2. Absolute key was a solid wind zero. I heard and saw many people talk about conditions that didn’t exist. In most cases, I would have said that a bad wind zero was the most likely scenario, which would have left you chasing after your tail or believing that flags or mirages were lying. 3. I’ve never seen such a high number of cleans (i.e. I’ve never seen so many cleans (i.e. E-Targets, in my opinion are the catalysts for this. The data and immediate feedback you receive help to set the bar very high. E-Target makes it much easier to understand what a good loading looks like. 4. I had a plan to deal with the wind that was coming into each relay (usually developed in preparation time). My plan worked well most of the time. However, being able to stop and implement a backup plan when necessary is a valuable skill. It worked for me during the last relay. 5. Even though I won F-Open, I learned a lot from the shooters around. There’s always something to learn if one pays attention. SEB Mini Rest — Good for Silver, Bronze and Gold You don’t need the most expensive or latest equipment to win at Long Range competition. Jay Christopherson won F-Open using an older MINI STANDARD with a standard frontbag. The unit is shown at the right. Jay says that it is easy to transport and works well. Jay has won the SWN match with this rest twice, finishing second in 2017 and third in 2018. Jay sent Sebastian Lambang, the creator of the SEB MINI, a message: “Hi Seb. I thought you might be interested in seeing a picture of the rest which won Silver in 2017, Bronze for 2018, Gold for 2020, and again Gold in 2024. The rest is a little older, has a little more wear, and has a lot more miles, but it still wins when it counts. Thank you for an amazingly reliable bed. I love that the original MINI is still reliable. The fact that the original bag was still used to win the 2024 SWN generated some conversation. I think that my rifle rest setup was by far the easiest to inspect for Matt [Schwartzkopf]’s team. 2024 SWN F-Open, F-TR, Sling Long Range Top 10 F-Open LR Top Ten
Jay Christopherson 1248-79X
Tim Vaught 1247-8X
William Kolodziej 1247-74X
Johnny Ingram 1246-8X
Norman Harrold 1246 – 69X
David Christian 1245-7X
Peter Johns 1245-7X
Erik Cortina 1244-76X
Brandon Zwahr 1244-73X
Jim Murphy 1241-71X F-TR LR Top Ten
Brad Sauve 1245-71X
Tom Hubbard 1240 67X
Alan Barnhart 1237-55X
Brad Traynor 12-34-47X
Eric Bisson 1233 58X
Joaquin Bolsa
Carl Matthews 1231-5X
Robin Retzloff 1231-52X
Robert Garibay 1231 39X
Michael Walters 1230-41X SLING LR Top Ten
Phillip Crowe, 12-43-60X
Justin Skaret 1242-74X
Verne Conant 1241-59X
Nate Guernsey 12-40-66X
Trudie Fay 1240-61X
Jarrod McGaffic 12-39-62X
Oliver Milanovic 1237-75X
Justin Utley 1237 59X
Nicole Rossignol 1236-66X
Benjamin Lucchesi 1236-62X All F-Open Long Range All F-TR Long Range All Sling Long Range
F-TR 1K Results
TEAM Results (All Divisions) 2024 SWN F-Open, F-TR, Sling 600 Yard Top 10 F-OPEN 600 Top Ten
Tod Hendricks 600-52X
Johnny Ingram 60046X
Erick Cortina 600-42X
Ted Wedell 600-42X
Barry Holcomb 60042X
Jim Murphy 600-41X
Dan Di Leva 60-40X
Roger Mayhall 600-40X
Lou Murdica 600-38X
David Christian 600-36X FTR 600 Top Ten
Tom Hubbard 59938X
David Park 599-28X
Mike Sowa 598-39X
Brad Sauve 598-34X
John Moreali 598-25X
Chrstopher Fauloon 597-4X
Oleg Savelyev 597-36X
Jeremy Newell 596-3X
Eric Bisson 596 36X
Brad Traynor Top Ten 596-35X Sling 600
Jarrod McGaffic 60042X
Trudie Fay 600-39X
Nicole Rossignol 600-35X
Tom Whitaker 60028X
Oliver Milanovic 599-45X
Adam Fitzpatrick 599-43X
Zevin Linse 599-39X
Benjamin Lucchesi 599-38X
Kimberly Rowe Model 599-37X
Top F-OPEN team matches Justin Utley, 598-37X, 2024 SWN F, F-TR and Sling
Team Vihtavuori 2589-156X
Bayou Boys 2580 – 155X
Team Grizzly 2677-128X
Team Lapua-Brux-Borden 2576-162X
Team Canada Red 2571-131X F-TR Team Match
USA F-TR KWS 2561-112X
Team Texas 2558 100X
Canadian Gun Runners 2554-126X
USA F-TR Blue 2554-112X
USA F-TR Red 2550-118X Sling Team Match
U.S. Palma MRNAK 2580-150
Brits Abroad 2573-112X
U.S. Palma Gross 2567-128X
Canada Red 2563-127X
USAMU 2554 – 146X
Ben Avery Shooting Facility, Ben Avery, California. Modern F-TR rifle at the range.
Top competitors show concentration and focus in mid-range match, 2022.
The F-Open rifle is a stunning F-Open rifle with SEB Mini Front Rest and Blake Machine accessories.
Berger SWN offers the opportunity to work in the pits. Hundreds of Competitors From the USA and Many Other Countries
The Southwest Nationals brings together top American F-Class shooters and sling-shooters, as well as competitors from around the globe.
Nancy Tompkins’ photo taken in 2022 near Ben Avery Shooting Facility. Nancy wrote: “Thanks to all the sponsors, volunteers and shooters from all over… for making this match so special.” See ya next year! This article Copyright AccurateShooter.com 2024. Any republication of this article on another website is prohibited.
