At the 2024 NRA National Smallbore Rifle Silhouette Championship, Marko Nikko of Finland won the first match of this year’s Lapua Monarch Cup after a thrilling shoot-off. The match was held at Ridgway Rifle Club in Ridgway, Pennsylvania, July 28-30.
With an aggregate score of 107-120X, Nikko defeated Team SK’s Jake Stine, the Lapua Monarch Cup defending champion, in a shoot-off to collect the $1,000 top prize. As for Stine, he brought home $750 for his second place finish.
The Lapua Monarch Cup is a two-leg, multi-national Smallbore Silhouette series with the winner named the North American Champion. Competitor scores are gathered from each match in their respective classification (Master, AAA, AA and A), giving all shooters an opportunity for more than $100,000 in cash and prizes.
Nikko, a Master-class competitor who was shooting Lapua’s Midas + ammunition, earned scores of 33/40 in match one, 36/40 in match two and 38/40 in match three at the 2024 NRA National Smallbore Rifle Silhouette Championship.
Smallbore Silhouette shooting is a challenging shooting discipline with competitors taking aim at steel chickens, pigs, turkeys and rams. Shooters, standing and unsupported, take aim at four banks of silhouettes placed at distances of 40, 60, 77 and 100 meters, shooting 40 targets in all. For every silhouette knocked down, a competitor will earn one point.
The second leg of the 2024 Lapua Monarch Cup will be conducted at Club Saltillo in Mexico, October 26-27.
See the full results of the match at this link.
Learn more about the Lapua Monarch Cup at nassasilhouette.org.
