2019 Georgia Conventional Prone And F-Class State Championship

There were sixteen shooters, nine shooting Conventional Prone and seven shooting F-Class, in attendance at the annual Georgia State Smallbore Championship, held at the River Bend Gun Club on September 28-29.

Schudel, McNash, Hardin and Whitley on the firing line.

NRA Postal Match

The NRA sponsors a postal match contested by state teams that are chosen at state championships. Each state fires its match and then mails the results to the NRA. Each team consists of the four state-resident competitors who fire the highest scores in the iron sight Dewar match (20 shots at 50 yards and 20 shots at 100 yards). This year’s Georgia state team was comprised of Larry Sollars (400-34X), Doug McNash (400-24X), Steve Hardin (398-29X) and Jacob Day (398-29X). Georgia won the 2013 and 2018 postal matches—we are hoping for a repeat this year.

Conventional Prone Championship

The sling shooters battled it out all weekend. When the dust settled, first place and third place were separated by only two points.

River Bend’s Steve Hardin fired a 3193-242X to place third. Steve was the winner of the Sam Bond Trophy for High Senior at this year’s NRA National Championships, and routinely turns in high scores. Fourteen-year-old Jacob Day finished second with a 3194-217X. That would be a great score for anyone at any age or level of experience, but for a 14-year-old it is nothing short of phenomenal. Jacob was accompanied by his grandfather (and coach), Mr. Jack Writer, a former member of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit and medal-winner at the 1968 and 1972 Olympics. Additionally, River Bend’s Larry Sollars finished first in sling class with a 3195-250X, making him the 2019 Georgia State Conventional Prone Champion. This is the second consecutive year he has won the State Prone Championship.

F-Class Championship

River Bend’s Simon Bailey, the 2018 Georgia State F-Class Champion, placed third this year in F-Class with a 3149-182X. North Carolina’s Bill Grubbs finished second with a score of 3150-164X. Georgia resident Shane Collier fired an exceptional 3178-219X to take first place in F-Class, and earned the title of 2019 Georgia State F-Class Smallbore Champion.