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Editor's note: The 2001 NRA National Long Range Championships at Camp Perry saw Michelle Gallagher successfully defend her title. On a roll, this was the third long range title the 20-year old shooting prodigy added to her collection. Here’s our coverage, as published in the November 2001 issue of Shooting Sports USA.
Michelle Gallagher, a Prescott, AZ, native and member of a high power family dynasty, successfully defended her NRA Long Range Rifle Championship against nearly 600 competitors. Her aggregate score of 1436-63X was enough—by a mere three Xs—to best the 1436-60X posted by second-place finisher Norman Crawford, of Fayetteville, NC, and the 1434-79X fired by Gallagher's mother, former NRA High Power Champion Nancy Tompkins-Gallagher. The win gave Gallagher the Tompkins Trophy, which is named for Nancy's husband and former NRA High Power Champion Middleton Tompkins.
"The biggest challenge was that I was shooting my [AR-based] space gun through half of it, so I didn't know how I was going to deal with it," said Gallagher afterward while humbly acknowledging, "I guess it turned out OK."
As expected, members of the U.S. Armed Forces also figured strongly at the 2001 Long Range competition. SFC Kevin McMahon, of the Fort Benning, GA-based U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, posted a score of 1395-40X to earn the title of NRA Long Range Service Rifle Champion.
The Long Range Championship aggregate includes scores for six selected matches—three consisting of 20 shots each at 600 yards, two consisting of 20 shots
Michelle Gallagher, a Prescott, AZ, native and member of a high power family dynasty, successfully defended her NRA Long Range Rifle Championship against nearly 600 competitors. Her aggregate score of 1436-63X was enough—by a mere three Xs—to best the 1436-60X posted by second-place finisher Norman Crawford, of Fayetteville, NC, and the 1434-79X fired by Gallagher's mother, former NRA High Power Champion Nancy Tompkins-Gallagher. The win gave Gallagher the Tompkins Trophy, which is named for Nancy's husband and former NRA High Power Champion Middleton Tompkins.
"The biggest challenge was that I was shooting my [AR-based] space gun through half of it, so I didn't know how I was going to deal with it," said Gallagher afterward while humbly acknowledging, "I guess it turned out OK."
As expected, members of the U.S. Armed Forces also figured strongly at the 2001 Long Range competition. SFC Kevin McMahon, of the Fort Benning, GA-based U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, posted a score of 1395-40X to earn the title of NRA Long Range Service Rifle Champion.
The Long Range Championship aggregate includes scores for six selected matches—three consisting of 20 shots each at 600 yards, two consisting of 20 shots
