A team of five U.S. shooters recently shattered a Guinness World Record by busting the most sporting clay targets by a five-person team in a 12-hour period — eclipsing the former world record of 4,602 clay targets hit by Bob Barrett, David Billingsby, Matt Kendall, Ken Newman and Bernard Walshe at Kent Gun Club, Dartford, Kent, U.K., on March 27, 2005.
The U.S. team — CZ-USA’s Shotgun Product Manager and Pro-shooter David Miller and four junior shooters — broke an incredible 14,176 clays, setting the bar sky high for future attempts. The contest ran from 10:12 a.m. to 10:12 p.m. on Oct. 12 at the Powder Creek Shooting Park outside of Shawnee, Kansas, and the team exclusively shouldered CZ-USA’s new 1012 semi-auto shotgun. That’s a lot of 10-12s!
“I couldn’t be more proud of my team. They are truly amazing,” Miller said shortly after the team broke the world record — only four hours into the competition. “We got there pretty fast, and I’m happy we set the bar high and we’re just going to keep on trucking. These four are absolutely amazing and I am honored to have them on my team.”
Meet the Team
David Miller … Team Leader
For 10 years, David Miller has been the Shotgun Product and Special Event Manager for CZ-USA and he has been on the CZ-USA Clay Shooting Team since 2007. In May 2015, he set a Guinness World Record for the most sporting clay targets shot in one hour — a staggering 3,653. He followed that by taking top honors at the Missouri State Sporting Clays Championship in July using his CZ 612 Trap Pump Shotgun.
All of the $84,000 generated from the world record accomplishment went to Pheasant Forever’s shooting sports program “No Child Left Indoors.”
“I’m really proud to be working with these young people for our record book attempt,” Miller said before the world record event. “They are dedicated shooters with a great deal of energy and enthusiasm, and an amazing work ethic.”
Levi Henrichs/Sibley, Iowa – Age 19
Levi Henrichs is a graduate of Sibley-Ocheyadan High School where he joined the trap shooting team during his freshman year. He, his mom and dad and all four of his siblings are avid trap shooters.
“After one year of successful trap shooting, I decided to get my NRA Level 1 Shotgun coaching certification and started coaching younger kids,” he said. “I have shot in many local shoots and leagues along with Iowa’s State shoot all four years of high school. I also shot in South Dakota’s state shoot and have won a discipline every year whether in doubles, singles or handicap.”
“One of my life goals is to someday shoot professionally. If that doesn’t work out, I will continue my education in the Design Engineer program at Northwest Iowa Community College and strive to remain in competitive shooting sports at leagues and competition or by coaching others. No matter what the future holds, I know my life has been positively impacted by the shooting sports and I hope generations after me will get to experience the same joy that I get every time I pick up my gun.”
Makayla Scott/White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia – Age 16
Makayla Scott had a rough start in life, at age 5 losing her mother to a drug overdose. After years of neglect and abuse, she was removed from her caretaker and brought into a new family when she was 10 years old.
“Even though I now had a family, I always struggled to fit in or find a true place where I felt accepted,” she said. “That was how I felt when I was introduced to the shotgun sports. Up to this point I never felt I could ever believe in myself or trust anyone, but my family never gave up on me! After failing at virtually every sport I tried out for, my father and brother introduced me to the shotgun. I never knew one broken clay could change my life. Shooting sports introduced me to a world I didn’t know existed! I’ve met so many amazing people who have helped me along the way.”
“I want to use my success as a stage to reach others. I feel this is my way to finally get people to listen. I want to show kids, and even adults in my shoes or worse that you don’t have to let your past define you. You can break the chains that hold you back and be the best you’ll ever be. That’s what I want them to know, something I didn’t know when I was in that position. This is the way I know they can hear me.”
Jessica Strasser/Waterford, Wisconsin – Age 17
Jessica Strasser is a highly competitive and accomplished shotgun athlete who has been shooting competitively for five years as a member of the Waterford Wolverine Shooting Team. Her interest in shooting began around age 10 when she started to hunt with her older brother and father.
“I originally got into shooting sports because I’d been hunting with my dad and brother. My high school had a shooting team, so it seemed like a good fit for me,” she said. “The reason I stuck with it is the competition, because you’re always pushing yourself to get better. My family has done everything they can for me, and I will forever be appreciative for that. And beyond the family our whole community is really supportive of our shooting team.
"One thing our team does is hammer in the message to be safe with and have respect for firearms. [Participating in shooting sports] opens your eyes [to the fact that] firearms have a lot of power behind them, and just learning that respect helps you mature. I’m so excited to be here. This is really a once in a lifetime opportunity and I’m really grateful to be part of it.”
Weston Zolck/Herman, Nebraska – Age 19
Weston is from Herman, Nebraska, and started participating in shotgun shooting sports at age 11. He is a sophomore at Iowa Western Community College where he holds a 4.0 GPA. Weston enjoys competing in many different shotgun sports — trap, skeet, sporting clays and small gauge events.
“The first time I wanted to get into shooting clays I was in the 6th grade,” he said. “I got kind of a rough start. I think I broke eight of 25 targets the first time out. And then 7th grade came around and I got a lot better and I really started to like the sport. I started shooting shotguns and got out of shooting a rifle basically. Shooting a shotgun is great because with a rifle you’ve got to be pinpoint accurate and with a shotgun you get a whole lot bigger pattern. It’s a lot more fun for me because watching a target break is a lot cooler than shooting at a paper target with a rifle.”
“Participating in shooting sports helps kids mature tremendously. They can’t just go to a store and buy a shotgun or buy shells, their parents need to buy them for them. I think it teaches them that they need to have respect [for firearms] and act like an adult. And it makes them responsible, especially when their parents make them clean their own guns and treat it like it actually is their responsibility. [Professional shooter] Tom Knapp is one of the guys I really looked up to. He had a couple of different world records so for me this is just like a step to getting closer to being like Tom Knapp and getting my own world record so it’s pretty cool for me.”
Meet the Gun
The next evolution in its semi-auto shotgun line, CZ-USA’s 1012 12-gauge uses a gas-less operating system. Instead of redirecting gas from the barrel to operate the action, the 1012 uses a spring within the bolt to store energy during the shotgun’s recoil, spending this energy a split second later to rotate and unlock the twin lugs from the barrel extension and withdraw the spent shell.
The major advantage of this gas-less system is a less stringent maintenance schedule. During testing, the company pushed 1012s to 5,000 rounds without a drop of oil or cleaning of any sort, while experiencing zero parts breakage or malfunctions.
According to CZ-USA, during normal use, occasional cleaning and oiling should be more than enough to keep the gun running smoothly. Additionally, the gas-less system is tuned to run a wider variety of shotshells — from light-recoiling target loads up to smoking hot 3-inch hunting loads. Weighing in at 6.5 pounds, the 1012 has a 28-inch barrel with an 8mm flat vent rib finished in gloss black chrome, a Turkish walnut stock and a full complement of chokes.
In recent years shooting sports have gained popularity and momentum in schools across the country, with organizations such as The USA High School Clay Target League (USAHSCTL) leading the charge. The USAHSCTL is the largest youth clay target shooting program in the world, with more than 32,000 participants yearly, providing the shooting sports as an extracurricular co-ed activity for students in grades six through 12 who have been firearms safety certified. The organization oversees high school trapshooting and skeet shooting leagues in more than 20 states, the largest of which is Minnesota, where 12,000 students from nearly 450 schools compete.
All teams in USAHSCTL leagues are school-sanctioned as a prerequisite for team/league formation. The League's motto is "Safety, Fun, Marksmanship — in that order."
