For the last few years, the GLOCK Annual Shoot and Gunny Challenge has broken records for its number of registered shooters, and this year, once again it surpassed every other action shooting competition in the country, even last year’s GLOCK Annual Shoot. The GLOCK Girls Side Match (won by Andrea Boone) by itself had almost 100
registered entrants.
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In 2015, GLOCK and the GSSF hosted Annual Shoot XXII and Gunny Challenge XI at the Griffin Gun Club in Griffin, Georgia, on September 26 and 27. According to Alan Ramsey, Director of Training and GSSF events, “The match set another all-time GSSF entry record and was a tremendous success due to the extraordinary efforts of the Griffin Gun Club, range officers, GSSF staff and members from all around the country.”
Over the course of the weekend-long event, thousands of people came to watch shooters compete on various GSSF courses, including GLOCK the Plates, 5 to GLOCK and GLOCK’M, as well as the Gunny Challenge, where GLOCK MatchMeisters square off against each other in a competition hosted by the incredible Hollywood star and 12-year spokesman for GLOCK, R. Lee Ermey. Better known as “The Gunny,” he and fellow Marine and Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer spent the weekend meeting GLOCK shooters by the hundreds. Before the match, The Gunny said of his friendly opponent, “Finally, at last, a worthy adversary. He is an accomplished military veteran. A Medal of Honor recipient. I cannot wait. He’s one of my heroes.” But before the head-to-head shootout between the two, the Gunny presided over the MatchMeister Shoot Off, which is open only to GSSF overall match winners, also known as GLOCK MatchMeisters.
This year, the match had shooters competing with the 10mm AUTO G40 Gen4 MOS and 9×19 G43 pistols. The G40 Gen4 in MOS Configuration allows the shooter to either use the exceptionally effective open sights or install a miniature reflex sight. The subcompact, single-stack G43 pistol was used on the exact same course of fire, and it consistently hit steel and knocked down targets, which is remarkable for a small pistol that was made for close-quarters self-defense.
Prize Shooters
While GLOCK MatchMeister Bryan Dover won top honors in several divisions of GLOCK Annual Shoot XXII, Tony Boone mastered the G40 MOS and G43, winning Gunny Challenge XI. Although a longtime GSSF competitor, Boone had just received the coveted “MatchMeister” classification and was shooting the Gunny Challenge for the very first time. Coming in a close second was competitor Jim Montgomery, with Dennis Kirchhoff and Justin Shurley coming in third and fourth place, respectively.
After that, the fun really started with The Gunny and Dakota Meyer. As The Gunny said, “We are going to have a great time today. We have a young man here named Dakota Meyer who thinks he is going to whip up on me, and boy is he in for a great surprise. I am kind of torn on whether I want to beat him real bad or not, as he is a fellow Marine and Medal of Honor recipient. I really respect that, so I have not made up my mind whether I will let him win or not.”
Dakota countered with, “I do respect rank, but there is no way that I am going to be beat by The Gunny. But, more importantly, I am just happy to be able come down here and enjoy the shooting sports and motivate the younger generation by having a great time.”
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The two Leathernecks engaged targets and went shot for shot with the G40 Gen4 MOS and the G43, knocking down plate after plate. They traded hits under the Georgia sun until Dakota was finally declared the winner. All that was left was to award the $3,000 check to Tony Boone, a $2,000 check to Jim Montgomery, a $1,000 check to Dennis Kirchhoff and a GLOCK pistol, one of 64 awarded during the event, to Justin Shirley.
Fun For All
The event was a huge success with 1,401 entrants and over $21,000 in money, pistols and GLOCK merchandise awarded to winners and participants by random drawings. In addition, Griffin, Georgia, was so pleased to host the GLOCK Annual Shoot and Gunny Challenge that the community provided a city proclamation honoring the event.
For more information, visit GSSFonline.com or call 770-437-4718.
This article was published in the GLOCK AUTOPISTOLS 2016 magazine. To see the rest of the issue, please visit Personaldefenseworld.com.
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