Horner Catches Garcia on Final Stage, Wins $5K from Stag Arms.
By Chad Adams
COVINGTON, Ga. –-(Ammoland.com)- Horner, Gets Payback, 3GN Pro Series Winat the South River Gun Club here, his second in three events on the 2012 FNH USA 3-Gun Nation Pro Series Tour, presented by Federal Premium.
Just a little more than two and a half months ago, during the first 3GN Pro Series event in St. Augustine, Fla., it was Garcia who laid down a phenomenal run on stage six, putting the pressure on Horner as darkness fell over the range. On that day, Horner came up just a few tenths of a second short, giving Garcia his third 3GN win.
Trailing by less than a second heading into the final stage, Horner destroyed the rifle, was very clean on the pistol, and laid down a solid shotgun run, setting up Garica’s final run. Garcia started hot on the rifle as well, and then had just a few more pick-up shots on the pistol, meaning it was going to be close. But that chance faded away when Garcia had a miss on a shotgun clay, was forced into a port load, before finally breaking the final target and finishing the stage.
In three Pro Series Events this season, Horner has two wins (one Pro Series match, one 3GN Shoot-Off) and one second place, earning a total of $13,000 this season. Garcia cashed his second 3GN check of the season, totaling $8,000 after three events.
In third place for the second time this season was Taran Butler, who was in contention heading into the final stage and shot a very solid match in his own right. Butler, who also finished third in St. Augustine, has won $4,000 on the 3GN Pro Series this season. In all, $26,000 in cash prizes were paid to the field, with $10,000 across first, second and third provided by Stag Arms.
The 3GN Pro Series puts 64 of the game’s top shooters into a one-day, all-Tactical Optics format. All competitors shoot five extremely fast, open stages, where multiple stage strategies are possible, challenging even veteran shooters. The top 10 then make the cut, proceeding to stage 6, where in front of a crowd of onlookers, including the entire field of competitors; scores are posted on the 3GN Scoreboard so that each and every shooter knows what they need when they step to the line.
After stage six, FNH USA’s Greg Jordan jumped to fourth place, followed by Jerry Miculek in fifth. Burton Thompson took sixth, followed by Kalani Laker, Clint Upchurch, Mike Voigt and Rustin Bernskoetter.
Shooters also competed for stage guns, using 3GN’s new stage gun system where sponsor guns are used prior to the stage and do not count against a competitor’s score. However, the top run on each stage wins the stage gun. On stage one, Keith Garcia’s time of 24.62 bested all competitors to win a prototype DoubleStar 3-gun rifle. On stage two, Mike Voigt’s 29.91 earned the veteran shooter an FNH USA PS-90 in 5.7 mm. Daniel Horner’s incredible stage 3, a time of 40.05 that put him back into contention when he absolutely had to have it, was good for a Stag Arms Model 3G Competition. Taran Butler won stage four with a time of 31.31, picking up a Ruger LCR in .357/.38 Spl. And Horner’s blistering stage five run of 25.36 earned the event winner a Samson 3-Gun Competition Upgrade Kit, compete with a Samson Evolution Rail.
But of course the highest drama came on stage 6, where preliminary runs by Clint Upchurch (28.98, fourth best), Jerry Miculek (28.34, third best) and Taran Butler (27.07, top run), set up the final showdown between Garcia and Horner. Stepping to the line immediately after Butler, Horner laid down an impressive 27.22, the second fastest of the day, to put the pressure on Garcia. And while Garcia started well, then got a touch loose on pistol, his final time of 31.27 (seventh fastest) put the final score Horner, 3:04.7, to Garcia’s 3:07.9.
The next event on the FNH USA 3-Gun Nation Pro Series Tour, presented by Federal Premium, takes place in August at the Rockcastle Shooting Center in Park City, Kent., at the second annual AR15.com-Rockcaslte Pro-Am. A 3-Gun Nation Pro Series Shoot-Off will culminate what promises to be the largest 3-gun match of the season, with more than 500 shooters registered in the Pro and Amateur matches combined. 3-Gun Nation Semi-Pro, Amateur, Junior and Lady points will also be on the line in Kentucky.
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