Here are the results of the 2023 Western Lever Gun Championship held July 4-8 at the Whittington Center in Raton, NM.

This year there were 125 shooters competing. We had our usual shooters' dinner on Friday evening where every competitor received a door prize. At the end, we drew 6 names for rifles donated for the match. Ruger, Marlin, Henry, and SK rifles were given out with one Browning .22 donated by Jim Goodnight. We appreciate all the other people who either donated prizes or $ for the match. MVA donated three $250 certificates for their sights.
And we cannot forget Capstone who gave us SK ammo certificates. Among other things, we received two handmade quilts courtesy of Steel Chickens, a dozen shooting stand covers from Virginia Spurlock & Rhonda Furstenau, and even homemade wine baskets provided by Mark and Paula Jones from Kansas.

We had a great match and a great time. You should join us next year!

Jim Luke

Okay, help the new guy figure out these results and correct me if I'm wrong.

It looks like the rifle class was two 40 shot matches held over 2 days?

And the pistol and smallbore classes were each 60 shot matches, each held on one day?

Thank you.

H. Plummer, you are exactly correct.

Thank you sir!

Is this the schedule at every national match?

This was not a national match. Before this gets out of hand my comment is not a dig. Everything I hear about the match is good.

Lever nationals I have been to are 80 rounds each gun. 2 days of big gun and 1 day each small bore and pistol cartridge.

Hosspower, you probably haven't attended our match at the Whittington Center. Most of the shooters who attend consider it a "National" match.

The reason for the 60 shot match in smallbore and pistol cartridge is the erratic weather conditions we can have in the afternoon here at Whittington.
If you shot here, you would know what I'm talking about.

The other reason for the 60 shots is when we conceived this match, the shooters voted nearly unanimously to have 60 shots instead of 80.

If you have ever held a shooting match, you soon realize shooters won't attend if they don't like the match format. We go out of our way to make every shooter feel welcome and appreciated. We are very proud of the match that we have created. I like to think we are one big family united by a common interest.

Our attendance at the Western Lever Gun Championship match has been the largest of any lever gun silhouette match in the US.

We must be doing something right.

Jim Luke

I could have sworn I shot in the Nationals Match at Ridgway this year???

For clarification for all readers; 2023 NRA National match for Lever gun was held at Ridgeway in PA. The 2023 Western Championship was held at the Whittington Center in NM. The current plan (always subject to change) is for the NRA National match for Lever action to rotate between PA and NM. The Western Lever Gun Championship is and likely always will be held at the Whittington Center and is one of the most pleasant match experiences to be had. If the current schedule holds, 2024 will provide the opportunity to try both matches at the Whittington Center.

Both venues (PA & NM) host spectacular matches. We are lucky that competitors from two parts of the country get the opportunity to shot a National match every other year. Each venue draws shooters that live closer to the hosting facility with a lucky or dedicated handful that get to try them both. We will be even luckier yet to keep finding folks to run these matches. From the Director through all the other staff, it’s a big task they take on. Without them we are dead in the water. When it comes to showing gratitude to all these folks we should go out of our way to do so.

375Short. Thanks!

Jim Luke