ORA Competition Director, Curtis Bohlman, Photography: Robert Green
High Power prone rifle shooters from 14 states and one other country descended on the Oklahoma City Gun Club last month seeking a national title. It was the US Mid-Range Championship’s Minute Man Patriot Trophy they sought. Some of central Oklahoma’s coolest June temperatures and lightest winds were sure to make this match enjoyable and memorable for those in attendance.
Mid-Range High Power Rifle is a discipline shot from the prone position with only the support of a sling and shooting jacket, no rests of any kind. Rifles allowed must be less than 35 caliber and may not have muzzle breaks. Some shooters prefer modern optics, but others stick with open sights.
The matches drew top competitors from throughout the country, perhaps the most accomplished being retired Army Marksmanship Unit Sergeant First Class Brandon Green. In the past several years, Green has won every NRA Long Range trophy there is, most multiple times, but had yet to win the Mid-Range Minute Man. To make that happen, he brought a scoped Nesika bolt action rifle with Kreiger barrel chambered in 6GT and shot Berger 109gr Hybrids.
The course of fire was four 600 point aggregates shot over a 3 day period: two aggregates of 300, 500, and 600yd matches, and two aggregates of 3x600yd matches for a total of 2400 points. Here’s how it shook out:
After the first 600-point aggregate, one point separated ten of our competitors, to no one’s surprise, Brandon Green in the lead, posting a perfect 600-52x. The Second aggregate narrowed the field of leaders to only five competitors just one or two points down, but Green had some problems, dropping four points to most of the leader’s one. By the end of the third aggregate, it was apparent that OKCGC’s own Tanner Burrows was there to win, shooting a perfect 600-44x, the only “clean” that day, but Green held his own with a 599-47x – the match clearly wasn’t over. In the final day of shooting Burrows posted his lowest aggregate of the match, a 598-42x, but Green’s 600-49x wasn’t enough to catch him. Green’s Grand aggregate score of 2395-189x was second to Burrows’ 2396-172x, with Chuck Rowe in third with a 2395-143x.
Tanner Burrows, who started shooting competitively only six years ago, had already shot on the US Palma Team in 2024, and training insatiably, has established himself as a lead competitor. He shot a TUBB ATR rifle, with open sights, sporting a Bartlein barrel chambered in 6BRA.
Though Green did not achieve his main goal, he did topple 3 national records, all Military Veteran records: one for a single 300yd match,
a 200-19x; one for an aggregate match, a 600-52x and then the Grand Aggerate, with his 2395-189x.
Burrows’ victory was sweetened with a national record as well. In registered competition, when a competitor completes a string of fire shooting all X’s, all center bullseyes, he continues to fire until something other than an X is recorded. After Burrows’ twentieth X in a row he continued firing, shooting five more X’s before he leaked one out into the 10 ring, this was at 600yds. His score for the statistics office was a 200-20x, but his score for the record books was a 200-20x +5. Before this the closest score ever recorded in a registered match was a 200-20x +2. Because he was shooting open or “Iron” sights he broke both the “Iron Sights” record and the “Any Sight” (Optics) record.
But we weren’t done with records for the week. The day following the individual matches, five mid-range teams locked horns to decide the 2025 championship team. Dominating the team match was USNRT Rowe, led by Chuck Rowe as Captain and Coach, and with shooters Kim Rowe, Joe Wawrzaszek, Larry Sollars, and Johnathon O’Neal. All shooters shot in the Any Rifle/Any Sight category. The course of fire was 20 shots for record at the 300, 500, and 600 yard lines. When the last round was downrange, USNRT Rowe had dropped only one point for a 2399-179x, a new national record.
The first NRA National match held at the OKCGC was an overwhelming success. It brought top shooters together with their wealth of knowledge, and provided plenty of time to discuss the finer points of the sport with those less accomplished. Competitors left knowing that the staff of just under 50 club volunteers ran a great match and that the facility was outstanding. Many of them have already vowed to return next year, perhaps with a friend or two, for another run at the Minute Man Patriot.
