The 2022 Dixie Match was held at the Gateway Rifle and Pistol Club in Jacksonville, Florida from April 8-10. This annual NRA Regional Sniper Pistol Championship continues to be a highlight for many Florida Bullseye shooters and has also been attended by civilian and military competitors from 10 states. Despite heavy rain showers on practice day, windy conditions, sunshine and cooler temperatures prevailed over the three-day match.
Jon Shue (Liberty, NC) scored 2648-139X to earn “Top Gun” honors, the NRA Regional Title and the Dixie Match Championship. In second place in the US Army Marksmanship Unit was Carl Clegg (Columbus, Georgia) with 2639-144X. Joshua Kingery, also of AMU, was third at 2610-98X. The top shooter in the High Master Class (Civilian) was Daniel Kupar (Whitehall, PA) with 2605-107X, and High Master (Service) went to AMU’s Walker Buckman with 2589-77X. The best shooter in the Master Class was Douglas Roe (The Villages, Florida) with 2542-68X. Expert Class (Police) went to Chris Liming (Tampa, Fla.) with 2549-67X, and High Expert Class (Civilian) was Shelly Liu (Cary, NC) with 2481-60X. The top combined competitor in the Sharpshooter and Marksman class was Harrison “Buck” Johnston (Fernandina, Fla.) with 2333-31X. Lake Yoke (Naples, Fla.) won the .22 Caliber Only Aggregate with 2422-44X. Special category awards for the High Civilian, High Veteran and Open divisions went to Jon Shue, and the High Service shooter was Carl Clegg.
The award-winning four-person team of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit.
AMU won the four-way tag team match (combined scores of .22 Rimfire, Center-Fire, and .45 tag team) with 3,449-113X. Team Fleming won the two-man tag team match with 1636-42X. As for the two-man .22 Only tag team match, it was Queen’s Lead with 1640-26X. Additionally, the Florida Sport Shooting Association’s two-person team shot a score of 1526-28X.
AMU’s Jason Gregoire (Columbus, Ga.) won the NRA Distinguished Revolver Match with 269-6X, followed by Randy Erickson (Jacksonville, Fla.) with 267-4X. In third place was Chris Liming (Tampa, Fla.) with 255-4X. The Civilian Marksmanship Program Service Pistol Competition Excellence Match had 26 competitors and first place went to Carl Clegg with 288-11X, followed by Jason Gregoire, 288-8X, and Randy Erickson in third with 282-13X. CMP’s .22 Rimfire Competition Excellence Match had 32 shooters. Topping the leaderboard was Jason Gregoire at 293-14X, followed by Tony Silva (Snowflake, Arizona) at 276-6X and Tom Davis (Evans, Georgia) at 275-6X.
Left: Queen’s Lead was the winning two-person .22 Only team. Right: The Fleming team won the two-man tag team championship.
For the fourth consecutive year, the air pistol was offered as an additional event. The “fun” 20-shot air pistol match and a “closest to center shot” competition both saw strong attendance. The airgun events were shot at Bill Craig’s facility. Proceeds from the match were divided among top competitors and the Florida Sport Shooting Association to aid its junior programs.
The annual Dixie Match remains one of the busiest Bullseye matches in the Southeast and continues to attract more and more shooters. Several first-time Dixie Match shooters have come to Florida from Pennsylvania, North Carolina and other states. Calling a superb line over the three days was Chief Range Officer Larry Watkins, assisted by Range Officers David Poole, Marion Estes, Dennis Faye, Robert Fanucci and Buck Johnston. Dennis and Buck also competed in the air gun competition. Randy Erickson attended as jury president. Sue Carter, Chief Statistics Officer, assisted by Karen Davis, recorded and posted all scores. Competitors received many compliments on Gateway’s excellent Bullseye facilities and friendly, professional and safety-minded staff. [The Match Director was the author, Ted Carter—Ed.]
Many thanks to all the competitors for their support, some traveling hundreds of miles to watch the game. Special thanks to our many sponsors: Magpul, Swab-its, Hornady, Black Rifle Coffee Company, Pyramyd Air, Ransom International, Mission BBQ, Starline Brass, MidwayUSA, Precision Target Pistol Grips, Florida Sport Shooting Association, Clenzoil, Esca Tech Inc ., Pardini USA and Visit Jacksonville for their generous support of our game. Finally, a well-deserved thank you to the Dixie Match staff, Gateway Range officers, office staff and range maintenance staff who made this another great shooting event.
Planning has already begun for the 2023 Dixie Match, and we look forward to another exciting competition. To see more scores and match photos, please click on this link.
