Watson, Moots Take Inaugural He-Man Championship

Nordic Components' Ken Anderson, wearing required prop overalls, runs his shotgun during the He-Man.

3GN Report (photos by Libbie Miller)

RATON, N.M. – DSG Arms’ Kuan Watson and DPMS’ Tate Moots bested 40 other competitors to pick up division wins in the inaugural He-Man National Championship here recently.

Watson topped the field in the Irons division, while Moots took home the title in Scoped. Each division was pure Rocky Mountain-style He-Man, requiring the use of a .308 rifle, .45 pistol and 12-gauge pump-action shotgun. The Scoped division allowed the use of a magnified optic on the rifle.

Watson and Moots also added their names to Rocky Mountain’s famed Law Trophy, now named for the late Eddie Rhodes, a Pueblo, New Mexico police officer who is universally considered the father of He-Man (also known as Heavy Metal elsewhere) in 3-gun competition.

Competitors from as far away as Massachusetts traveled to NRA’s scenic Whittington Center, the backdrop for one of the top matches in 3-gun, the JP Rocky Mountain 3-Gun. Match directors JJ and Denise Johnson, strong proponents of the more limited divisions, sought to put on a major match designed specifically for He-Man equipment. Billed as the “national championship” for heavy shooters, approximately 40 competitors shot the big bores while another 14 shooters competed in “Wee-Man,” a Tactical Optics-type division.

Like RM3G, the He-Man Championship utilized the scenic natural terrain of NRA's Whittington Center.

The competitors were challenged with seven Rocky Mountain-type stages, utilizing natural terrain and rifle targets at extended ranges. Two 3-gun stages, one all-shotgun stage, one all-rifle stage and two-gun stages tested all skill sets.

“They were all smiling the whole time,” D. Johnson said. “They seemed less stressed than at RM3G, but the stages were very similar! Some of them have already tried to sign up again. It was very well received, and since it was small, the R.O.s and everyone were pretty laid back!”

New Mexico’s Jared Millinazzo topped the Wee-Man division before advancing to a unique shoot-off format where he topped Moots in the finals. The shoot-off required competitors to fire 20 rounds in 15 seconds to hit as many of five high power silhouette targets as possible. Two range officers, Mike Payne and Mike Griswold, qualified for the shoot-off, while Nordic Components' Ken Anderson and Jarmo Kumpula battled to the delight of the crowd.

Full results: http://home.earthlink.net/~johnson3gun/id12.html

Tate Moots (l.) and Kuan Watson took home division and Law Enforcement wins at He-Man.

(Eds. Note: RM3G/He-Man Match Director Denise Johnson contributed to this report.)

Posted on 7/12/2012