Horner, Butler Top 3GN Pro Series

Garcia Holds Outside Chance at Winning Top Slot for 3GN Rumble

Daniel Horner sits in a familiar place atop the 3GN Pro Series, already locking up a first-round bye in Vegas.

By Chad Adams

With his second 3GN Pro Series win of the season, U.S. AMU’s Daniel Horner maintained his spot atop the 3GN Pro Series leader board, taking another step toward solidifying the top seed for January’s Rumble on the Range in Las Vegas. The top two overall seeds will receive a first-round bye in the 30-man, single elimination Shoot-Off, with the winner crowned the title of 2012-2013 3-Gun Nation Champion, taking home the grand prize of $50,000 from Leupold Tactical Optics and NBC Sports Network.

Taran Butler, who finished third at South River, kept a hold on the all-important second slot, keeping about an eight-point lead on Keith Garcia, who has one win on the FNH USA 3GN Pro Series Tour, presented by Federal Premium, already this season.

Taran Butler is off to a solid 3GN Pro Series and currently holds the second of two first-round byes in Vegas.

Butler trails Horner 299.89-295.78; more importantly, Horner has two match wins and a 99.89. Butler’s top score of 99.84, which is .05 less than Horner’s lowest score, means even with two match wins Butler can’t overtake the top seed. However, Garcia, who picked up 100 points for his win at St. Augustine in March, is still alive. If Garcia can win Pro-Am and FNH USA 3-Gun—a tall order to be sure—he’ll own the pole position heading into Las Vegas.

Kalani Laker jumped one spot to fourth, as did Greg Jordan to fifth place. Rounding out the top 10 are Clint Upchurch, Burton Thompson, Matt Burkett, Patrick Kelley and Adam Popplewell.

Holding on to the 30^thand final spot for the 3GN Championship Shoot-Off is FNH USA’s Larry Houck, with Cameron Thompson, Scott McGregor, and defending champion Tommy Thacker all within striking distance. However, looming down the leader board with only two scores tallied sit such heavyweights as James Casanova, Mike Voigt, Jerry Miculek, Tony Holmes and Jeff Cramblit. Meanwhile, AMU’s Tyler Payne should see his first action after deployment to Afghanistan soon, meaning slots 25-30 (Andrew Daun, Bryan Ray, Stefan Wiggins, Ting Sun, Chris Patty and Houck) likely have more work to do in order to hold on to one of the final slots for the season-ending Rumble on the Range.

Defending 3GN Champ Tommy Thacker is currently on the bubble, with work to do in order to defend his title.

3-Gun Nation Pro Series points will next be on the line in August at the AR15.com-Rockcastle Pro-Am, the largest 3-gun event in the country with more than 500 shooters expected in the Pro and Amateur matches. A 3-Gun Nation Pro Series Shoot-Off will conclude the action, with $10,000 in cash prizes on the line from SureFire.

Posted on 7/3/2012