Team Ruger's Lauryl Akenhead won the Top Lady title at the 2026 Hornady Precision Rifle Challenge near Evanston, Wyoming, competing against 200 shooters with her Ruger American Rifle Gen II chambered in 6mm Creedmoor. Akenhead praised the rifle's reliability and accuracy, crediting it as a winning competition platform.
Team RAW shooter Aaron Hipp earned third place in the Precision Marksman Challenge at the 2026 Rocky Mountain Airgun Challenge, competing against 94 shooters with his RAW HM1000X. Hipp's podium finish earned him $5,000 from the event purse sponsored by Utah Airguns.
Team Blaser shooter Ed Smith won the 2026 NSSA US Open High Overall Championship with a near-perfect 399/400 score at the satellite shoot held across 18 host clubs. Smith also earned HAA Champion honors and Doubles Runner-up, while teammates Caile Bradham and Rachel Barringer achieved additional podium finishes.
Team Federal won three major sporting clay championships across Oklahoma, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Two-time Olympian Derrick Mein won Oklahoma's Main Event, Cameron Hicks claimed Virginia's title, and Gregg Wolf won Federal's Master Class Cup, with all victories occurring on June 28, 2026.
Berger's new 6mm 120 Grain Long Range Hybrid Target bullet claimed the top three positions at the 2026 Hornady Precision Rifle Challenge near Woodford, Utah. Team Berger's Austin Buschman won first place with a score of 181/202, followed by Mark Le in second and Kahl Harmon in third, demonstrating the bullet's exceptional performance in challenging conditions.
Team USA rifle and pistol athletes delivered outstanding performances at the 2026 ISSF Junior World Championship in Suhl, Germany, securing multiple podium finishes and two World Junior Records. Griffin Lake, Braden Peiser, and Tyler Wee won gold in the Junior Men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions Team event, while Walther Arms USA supported several top-performing athletes including Elizabeth Probst and Marcus Klemp.
Nearly 200 shooters competed in the 2026 Hornady Precision Rifle Challenge near Evanston, Wyoming on June 26-27. Austin Buschman won the Open Division and Overall title, while Lauryl Akenhead claimed Top Lady honors and Clay Blackketter finished fourth overall.
Fiocchi of America Pro Team members Shelby Skaggs and Will Fennell earned championship titles at major national events in June 2026. Skaggs captured five Lady I state titles at the Kansas State Shoot, while Fennell won the M2 FITASC Championship at the Georgia State Sporting Clays Championship and North American FITASC.
Nearly 700 competitors from 42 states participated in the 4-H Shooting Sports National Championships held June 21-26, 2026, at Heartland Public Shooting Park in Grand Island, Nebraska. The event featured nine competitive disciplines including archery, rifle, pistol, shotgun, and airgun competitions. Tom Busch, HPSP Manager, praised the competitors, families, and sponsors for making the event successful and safe.
Shell Shock Technologies sponsored shooter John Vlieger won first place in the Carry Optics Division and second overall at the 2026 Bluegrass USPSA State Championship in Wilmore, Kentucky. Vlieger credited Shell Shock Technologies' NAS³ cases for their consistency, achieving a 5-fps extreme spread across 11 stages with 997.5887 match points out of 91 competitors.
The 2026 SK Lone Star Cup, held June 6–7 at Bayou Rifles Club in Sedalia, MO, featured smallbore silhouette competition with William Harris defending his champion title. The event introduced the North American Silhouette Shooting Association's new "Future Champions" Junior Development Program, with mentorship from Team SK's KG Bourgoyne and Elisabeth Steiger.
Krieghoff International celebrated a successful 2026 Pennsylvania State Shoot with multiple championship wins by Team Krieghoff shooters including Wesley Beaver, Joseph Breck, and Deborah Ohye Neilson. Clare Schaffer won the Krieghoff Challenge and a K-80 Trap Special, becoming only the second woman to win in the event's 22-year history. Don Neilson Jr. and Deborah Ohye Neilson were inducted into the Pennsylvania Trapshooting Hall of Fame.
Kaleb Klein of Team Ruger won multiple titles at the 2026 Area 5 Steel Challenge Championship in Terre Haute, IN, claiming first place in Optical Sight Revolver, Iron Sight Revolver, Rimfire Revolver Optics, and Rimfire Revolver Iron divisions using Ruger's Super GP100 and GP100 revolvers. Abbey Clary, Ruger's Director of Media, Advertising and Public Relations, praised Klein's outstanding performance and highlighted the reliability of Ruger firearms.
Kahl Harmon and Mitch Fitzpatrick won the Team Division at the 11th annual Nightforce Extreme Long Range Steel Challenge using Lapua 300 Norma Magnum cases. The two-day match featured over 40 teams competing across 20 stages at distances up to 2,100 yards in Wyoming's challenging conditions.
Walther athlete Braden Peiser qualified 5th and finished 6th in the Men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions final at the 2026 ISSF World Cup in Munich, marking his first senior World Cup final appearance. The University of Kentucky competitor and 2026 NCAA individual smallbore champion recently joined the Walther World Team.
Kahl Harmon and Mitch Fitzpatrick won the Team Division at the 2026 Nightforce ELR Steel Challenge in Glenrock, WY, outscoring over 40 teams with a score of 245.93. Fitzpatrick credited Berger bullets, Vihtavuori powder, and Lapua brass for their success across 20 stages at distances up to 2,100 yards.
The 2026 Minnesota State High School Clay Target League Trap Shooting Championship is underway in Alexandria, Minnesota, featuring 7,724 student athletes from 340 high school teams competing across nine days. Presented by Alexandria Technical & Community College with sponsors including Do-All Outdoors, Ducks Unlimited, Federal Premium Ammunition, and the NRA Foundation, the event is possibly the world's largest shooting sport competition by participation.
Team Vihtavuori member Kim Rowe earned top honors at the 2026 NRA National High Power Mid-Range Prone Championships and the 2026 NRA National High Power Long Range Championships, capturing the Patriot Minuteman Trophy and multiple podium finishes. Rowe credited her success to premium components including Vihtavuori powder, Berger bullets, and Lapua brass.
Sturm, Ruger & Company congratulates Team Ruger's Lauryl Akenhead on achieving High Lady and finishing fourth overall at the 2026 Colemans Creek Hunter Match in Ellerbe, NC. Competing against 96 shooters across 17 stages, Akenhead used her Ruger American Gen II rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor to score 97 in the Open Heavy division.
Keith Trapp of Team Lapua won the 2026 NSSC NRA Long Range Regional at Camp Butner in North Carolina with a 981-32X aggregate. Competing in the F-T/R category, Trapp topped all divisions using Berger bullets, Vihtavuori powder, and Lapua cases.