PRINCETON, Louisiana – Taran Butler, Bruce Piatt and Jerry Miculek all walked away with national titles from the U.S. Practical Shooting Association MultiGun Championships held October 3-5 at the Shootout Range here. The match drew nearly 120 competitors from 28 states and included some of the very best shooters in the world.
In the Tactical Division, Butler, of Simi Valley, California, dominated the match winning five of the 12 stages and leading in overall points on eight. In the end his overall score of 1279.9417 outpaced second place shooter and fellow Golden State resident Keith Garcia of San Ramon by almost 77 points. Butler previously won the Tactical Division in 2006.
Rounding out the top five were Garcia in second with 1203.0133, Phil Strader of Owasso, Oklahoma in third shooting 1198.7144 and Chad Lofton of Smithdale, Mississippi and Robert Romero of Hoschton, Georgia placed fourth and fifth with 1112.8110 and 1110.8013 respectively.
Team Smith & Wesson member Miculek, shooting on his home range, defended his 2007 win by again taking the Open Division title, this time by more than 24 points with a final score of 1278.0090. Chris Tilley of Raleigh, North Carolina and Tony Holmes of Tippecanoe, Indiana each took their turn in the lead but could not hold off Miculek who won five of the 12 stages and led the field over nine of them.
Tilley finished second in the Open Division with a score of 1253.6155 edging out the 2006 champion Michael Voigt of Chino, California by just over two points. Voigt’s 1251.4725 put him in third while Tony Holmes claimed fourth with a score of 1191.0445. Fifth place went to Don Bednorz of Alamogordo, New Mexico who shot 1135.3266.
The Limited Division title went to Bruce Piatt of Montvale, New Jersey, who won by more than 41 points with a final score of 1302.0291. Piatt held the lead on eight stages winning three of them. Second place finisher Kelly Neal led the match at two points early on, but despite winning five stages could not overtake Piatt. Neal finished with a score of 1260.8254.
Claiming third in the Limited Division was two-time defending champion Ted Puente whose 1234.8632 left him short of the three-peat. Rounding out the top five were Staff Sgt. Robby Johnson of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit out of Fort Benning, Georgia in fourth shooting an 1197.6974 and Mark Richman of Milwaukee, Wisconsin in fifth with 1084.7384.
In USPSA MultiGun competition, shooters negotiate courses of fire, or stages, utilizing a pistol, a rifle or a shotgun to engage a variety of targets including paper, steel and moving targets. Matches often require competitors to use all three types of firearms on a single stage.
