Walther Cup Returns With New Format, $5,000 On The Line

The Walther Cup has never had trouble getting attention. Five editions in, WVU Rifle and Walther Arms have put together one of the richest 10-meter prize tables in U.S. competition shooting, and for 2026 they have changed what a shooter has to do to reach it.

Registration is open for the Nov. 21-22 match at the Bill McKenzie Rifle Range inside West Virginia University’s Shell Building in Morgantown, West Virginia. Rather than settling things in one day, competitors will shoot both Saturday and Sunday, with the two scores added together to set the finals fields.

Which means a rough relay is no longer something a shooter can shrug off and forget. Top eight in the Open and top eight in the Junior category advance to an ISSF-style final Sunday afternoon, where scores go back to zero and the aggregate that got everyone there stops counting for anything.

A new Walther LG500 ITEC awaits the winner of the Walther Cup’s first junior final, open to high school-age competitors and younger. (Image courtesy of Walther Arms)

Juniors have their own final this year, a first for the Walther Cup, open to high school-age competitors and younger. Before this, a 15-year-old out of a club program was chasing the same eight slots as collegiate athletes with far more match experience. Now there’s a second ladder, and whoever climbs it goes home with a new Walther LG500 ITEC.

Open money starts at $5,000 for the winner. Second place receives a custom Capapie suit, third takes $500, and anyone who reaches the final but lands fourth through eighth picks from a prize table sponsored by Peak Performance Shooting Sports. Junior prizes follow the same shape: the LG500 for first, a Capapie suit for second and rifle equipment still to be announced for third.

The match will feature decimal scoring, and it’s $121.50 to enter, first come, first served and open to anybody who wants in. Relays go off at 8:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m. and noon both days, with finals at 2:00 p.m. Sunday. Those times cover preparation and sighters.

Shooters will find 30 firing points running Megalink 3D electronic targets, and scores go up on large projector screens for anyone who comes to watch. WVU unveiled the Bill McKenzie range during the 2017-18 season as a mobile setup roughly three times the size of the school’s permanent range, which is how a field this big fits under one roof with seats left over.

Register at wvusports.com/walthercup.