Three National Records for Jason Chapman

Jason Chapman is a young man who grew up around muzzleloaders. His father, Steve, is a fine shot and builds very nice rifles. Steve has been a fixture in the Stones Trace Regulators, our local muzzleloading club. Jason has always enjoyed coming with his dad.

When Jason was eight years old, he showed up at the Trace with his dad, holding a delicate little percussion rifle. This rifle was Jason’s beginning rifle and his start in muzzleloading. As Jason grew, so did his shooting skills. His rifle seemed to grow with him. His father seemed to have a new rifle ready when Jason outgrew the current one. Jason is now shooting his third rifle, and it is with this rifle that he set three National records.

Jason set the records this fall at Friendship on the last Saturday. The Junior Rifle Aggregate G is made of two matches: Match 82 and Match 211. Jason now holds the record in Aggregate G with a 100-6x. He holds the record in Match 82 with a 50-xx and in Match 211 with a 50-xxxx. The record in Match 211 had not been broken or tied since 1985. Jason pretty much owned match 82. He set the record in 2004, bettered it in 2005, and now improved it again in 2006.

Jason wasn’t finished however. He shot in the Junior-Senior Bench Match with Steve Hursey, another fine shooter from our club. They won the match with a 99-xxx.

This is Jason’s last year competing in the Junior class. On his next trip to the Nationals at Friendship, he will compete as an adult. Competition will be tougher, but I think Jason will be ready. He has his order in for his dad to build rifle number 4. For an aging NMLRA member like myself, I look forward to following Jason’s shooting career. Jason and, and I hope, many more like him are the future of the NMLRA. Bring them on!

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