Owasso's Strader Takes 2nd At Regional Shoot

NewsOn6.com

SEDRO-WOOLEY, Wash. -- Team Smith & Wesson member Phil Strader of Owasso finished second in the Production division at the U.S. Practical Shooting Association's 2010 TechWear USA Area 8 Regional Handgun Championship this past weekend at the Fredericksburg Rod and Gun Club in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Strader, who is ranked a Grand Master within the division, the highest skill level in the sport of practical shooting, won three of the 10 stages and finished with a final score of 1008.1491 match points, putting him more than 95 points behind the first place shooter Team Glock's Dave Sevigny of Smyrna, Ga.

The TechWear USA Area 8 Championship drew 278 top competition shooters. It is one of the eight USPSA shooting regions in the country and is made up of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

The run-and-gun sport of practical shooting was formally established in 1976 but traces its roots back to the 1950's and the quick draw "leather slap" competitions that grew out of America's love affair with the TV westerns of that era.

Today the sport represents the upper echelon of the shooting sports with many of its top shooters actively training law enforcement and military units on shooting techniques and equipment developed in competition.

The next major pistol competition on the USPSA calendar is the 2010 USPSA Handgun National Championships scheduled for October 8 through 16 in Las Vegas, Nev. For more information visit www.USPSA.org.