It was one for the record books at the Gun River Skeet & Trap Club on June 10.
The member-owned club in Gun Plain Township hosted a new kind of event on that sunny weekend: four rounds of 100 for 28-gauge shotguns only. They dubbed it “The Great 28” and it drew former and current world champions in the sport from all over the state and Midwest.
Of the 30 shooters in the competition, Bruce Christian of Fort Wayne, Ind., shot a 391 to claim a new world record as the overall event winner.
Shooting for decades, he said he enjoys coming to the Plainwell-area club. Last October, Christian also claimed the 28-gauge world championship title in the National Skeet Shooting Association, the sanctioning organization for these events.
Local club president Craig Maclaine said normally a shooting event includes rounds for four gauges—.410, 28, 20 and 12. Competitors shoot in squads of five at 100 clay targets each.
Since the NSSA had decided to recognize record holders for events that offered more than one round for a particular gauge, the club decided to be the first to offer an event like this. The 30 shooters competed in two rounds on Saturday and another two rounds on Sunday.
Maclaine said skeet shooting is a unique game.
“There are so many clubs in the area, too,” he said. “There are probably six or eight within 30 miles—Allegan, Bloomington, Fennville, Monterey. A lot of us reload our own shells, too. That’s a hobby in and of itself.”
Local club vice president Jason Johnson said, “It’s a social activity. I mean, we like to win, but—for example, there is a gang of us here with motor homes and we’ll take trips where we’ll travel in the summer to other clubs all over. We camp, cook, shoot. It’s just fun.”
The club was formed in 1952 and continues to be supported by local members. It offers regular hours during the week for members and non-members alike to shoot. Current membership numbers around 140. More than 16,000 compete worldwide in the NSSA in sport clay.
David Schiebel, of Mattawan, is both a local member as well as the president of the Michigan Skeet Association. He had the top scores to win the event’s first and third rounds.
“It’s a great game,” he said. “Everyone’s seeking that elusive 100”—IE having hit all 100 targets in a round. “It’s also something for all ages. Michigan has about 380 scholarships for clay target shooters in high school and younger. It’s a good family activity. I’ve been here since this club started.”
Bob Dubridge of Wayland had the best score of the second round; Tom Pavlack of Otsego won the fourth round.
Pavlak has been a member at the Gun River club for 18 years and also serves on the executive committee for the NSSA.
“I’ve been all over to see all kinds of clubs,” he said. “What makes it is its members. We take real pride here in our club.”
Al Magyar is a past NSSA president and former world champ.
“I’ve been shooting for 45 years,” Magyar said. “It’s all about the people. I mean, sure, early on, I was focused a lot on winning. Now it’s more about meeting people. It’s like a family reunion every weekend.”
The club is open on Sundays for skeet and trap and five-stand; Wednesdays for skeet and trap; and Saturdays for events. The club is surrounded by forest and has three skeet fields, a sporting clays course with 14 stations, five-stand, three trap fields and one wobble trap
Contact Ryan Lewis at rmlewis@allegannews.com or (269) 673-5534.
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