If you’ve never been to a competition at Camp Atterbury, as I hadn’t before I took a trip to cover the 2024 NRA National High Power Rifle OTC Championships held August 6-10, you might not understand the sheer endurance aspect of what these world-class shooters are doing. I was there on what seemed to be a milder weather day for Indiana, but it was still hot and humid, and there were a lot of bugs. Mind you, I was being driven around like a princess in a golf cart, wearing normal clothing, while the shooters hauled handcarts back and forth between lines and donned shooting gear for each relay. So, though the shooters can rest between relays, the days are long—in fact, even the short day felt long.
None of them seemed to mind.
“Some of these people, I only see once a year,” Auburn, Georgia, resident Jonathan O’Neal said. He is an Iraq War veteran, the winner of seven of the trophies at this event and runner-up in the national championship aggregate. “They’re great people, and you know, I only see them once a year, though we talk on the internet all the time.”
Brig. Gen. Jack Hagan conducted the NRA High Power Rifle OTC awards ceremony and echoed O’Neal’s thought.
“People come to the National Matches for the experience they have here. Some people come to actually win the national championship; some come to win their classification; some just to shoot their best score. Some come to just pull the trigger and feel the recoil of their rifle. Everyone strives to do better, but they all come for the experience of being here.”
The 2024 NRA National High Power Rifle Champion was Bob C. Gill of Visalia, California, with a score of 2370-104X. O’Neal’s score as runner-up was 2358-95X, followed by Christopher T. Blankenship of Holly Ridge, North Carolina, in third place with 2357-110X.
Besides winning the National High Power Rifle Championship, Gill’s name was atop the rankings for the Crowell Trophy Match, Air Force Cup Match, Marine Gunner D.I. Boyd II Memorial Trophy Match, Clarke Trophy Match, Nevada Trophy Match, Centenary Trophy aggregate and Erdman Trophy Match, as well as the Match Rifle Championship. Plus, he was on the team that captured third place in the NRA Second Amendment Team Match.
O’Neal took the top spot in the National Service Rifle Championship with 2358-95X, with Jim Vaughn of Bloomington, Illinois, in second place with 2351-74X and Greg Krebaum of Hutchinson, Kansas, in third place with 2349-72X.
“It’s a consistency game more than anything,” O’Neal told me. “That’s really all it is.”
One junior competitor, Hunter Blankenship, participated with his father, Christopher T. Blankenship. Hunter’s overall score was 2308- 54X, placing him 13th in the 37-participant NRA National High Power Rifle Championship aggregate.
At the awards ceremony, Brig. Gen. Hagan challenged everyone to return next year and bring a junior. “Competition is a circular kind of thing; it’s a goal,” he said. “The older shooters have to foster and coach and mentor the younger shooters to complete the circle.”
2024 NRA NATIONAL HIGH POWER RIFLE OTC CHAMPIONSHIP LEADERBOARD
You can see the full results of the 2024 NRA National High Power Rifle Championships at the NRA Competitive Shooting Division website.
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