Quigley 2026

Quigley 2026, is basically a copy of the previous year’s doin’s with the same targets and course of fire, as well as many of the usual shooters. However, this year there was a large number of first-time shooters. I don’t have an accurate number of those first-timers, but I did notice that the “first-timers meetings” were generally full, which was very good to see. In addition to that, no two Quigley matches are ever exactly the same.

For one thing, the weather is always extreme. If it is hot, it feels extremely hot. If it rains, it rains extremely hard. When it gets dusty, it gets extremely dusty. Likewise, when the wind blows, it seems extremely windy. What seems even more extreme is that you can experience all of these

conditions on the same day, if not all within the same hour.

Weather-wise, you can forget the forecasts; Quigley makes the decisions. When you camp at Quigley, be prepared and you’ll usually find the weather to be whatever you are the least prepared for. 

This year, the wind was an early factor. While we were getting some practice, Allen took his 45-70 off of the gun cart, leaving my 38-55 High Wall on board. The gun cart has “tricycle landing gear, non-retractable”. A gust of more powerful wind snuck up and blew the gun cart over with my 38-55 on the bottom side. The rifle was not damaged, although it could have been, and our shooting continued.

Of course, the event continued too, with practice days up to Saturday morning and then the regular match being shot on Saturday and Sunday. In addition to the awarded winners, there were several other successes. Some of those more personal “wins” will be our focus in this report for the 2026 Quigley match.

Let me begin by mentioning “Krazy Kelle” Davis. In last year’s report, she was introduced and mentioned for buying a Sharps 45-70 from C. Sharps Arms. She spent the year prior to this match learning how to use that rifle. This year was her first time to shoot at Quigley in competition and she told me ahead of time that she had two main goals; one, to get a score of 15 or more hits, and two, to get at least one hit on the buffalo at 805 yards.

Those goals might seem to be just a little high (I didn’t do that well on my first time) but they were still something to try for. One thing that might work against her was that Kelle and her husband Mark do not reload their own ammunition. This means that they shoot 45-70 ammo with black powder loads using 405-grain bullets (the old Government load) purchased from Buffalo Arms or other sources. In general, we seem to find that ammunition in new unfired cases is not as consistent as ammo that is reloaded in fire-formed cases. My statement is not meant to take anything away from Buffalo Arms or the quality of their loaded black powder cartridges, as that ammo is certainly very good.

Krazy Kelle proved the ammo was good, along with her shooting, because she got 20 hits for a final score and she clobbered the elusive buffalo six times! That is real success in its highest form, especially for a first-time shooter at Quigley. We all applauded Kelle for her good shooting and she is certainly a competitor to watch next year.

Kelle’s husband also had a goal. Mark shot with us at Quigley last year, while Kelle helped out as his spotter, and he got a modest score but no hits on the buffalo. This year he wanted to hit that buffalo and while he also had secondary goals, hitting the buffalo in competition and not just in practice was his major focus. This year Mark finished the match with 23 hits total, and four hits on the buffalo – that made him very happy.

Mark celebrated his success the very next day by purchasing a new rifle from C. Sharps Arms. This new ‘74 Sharps is also a 45-70 but it is a Bridgeport-style with a cheek piece and pistol grip, which will be much more comfortable for shooting at long-range targets. With that new rifle, Mark will very likely have some higher goals for his shooting at next year’s Quigley and we expect to see him being successful again.

In addition to Kelle Davis, there was another first-timer in our group and this young guy deserves a good introduction. His name is Jeremiah Mueller, a grandson of Phil Wiebe. Phil has shot at Quigley a number of times and he is doing well to bring other family members into the sport. Jeremiah did his shooting while borrowing one of Phil’s rifles – a 45-70 caliber Sharps. 

We were in the same group, so I got to watch Jeremiah shoot. He was doing very well, especially for a first-time shooter, although I don’t recall what his total number of hits was. What I do remember was how well he shot at target number three, the “Postage Stamp.” This was the target our group shot at on Sunday morning and Jeremiah earned an eight-straight pin by hitting that target with every shot. His total score was 29 with six offhand hits on the bucket.

Just after Mariska Fulton, our group’s scorekeeper, gave Jeremiah his eight-straight pin, I shook his hand to congratulate him and told him how it took me 10 years to get an eight-straight pin. Shooting that well on his first time at Quigley is certainly a mark of success.

The only one who might have been even more pleased about Jeremiah getting that eight-straight pin was Mike Mueller, Jeremiah’s father. Mike was also shooting with us for his first time at Quigley and, in fact, we had three “Mikes” shooting in the same squad.

While I certainly can’t mention everybody (after all there were over 560 shooters) I will tell you about Pat Dulin and his shooting with the C. Sharps Arms “First Sergeant’s Rifle” No.1 in 45-70 caliber. The First Sergeant’s Rifles copy the description of 1st Sergeant Ryan’s custom Sharps scope-sighted rifle, which he used in the Battle of the Little Big Horn to end the sniping, which was pouring in on the troops from Sharpshooter Ridge. I don’t know the details about the load Pat was using but I can say that he brought his score up to 30 hits for this year.

Pat Dulin, of course, is one of the talented craftsmen at C. Sharps Arms and just about the whole C. Sharps Arms team was there, from the president, Zach Schoffstall, on down. They had a worktable set up for making minor but quick repairs to rifles that might need their attention. That is customer service at its very best.

Another shooter who will be mentioned specifically is Allen Cunniff, my partner at Quigley. Allen and I have shot every Quigley since 2014, and we don’t feel like quitting just yet. One goal Allen had was to get 30 hits with his favorite 45-70 and he beat his own goal by one extra hit, getting a final score of 31. It has always been hard for me to keep up with Allen in shooting and now this makes it even harder.

Our little group, which we call the “Black River Buffalo Runners” from Washington State, had 11 in number, which filled two shooting squads with one vacancy. To fill that vacancy, Maxine Heckmaster from Minnesota joined us, shooting her 40-65 High Wall. She got a fair score but promised to do better next year. 

In addition to having Maxine on our squad, her husband Vern was our group’s RSO. Both Vern and Maxine were very good to have with us. One time, I had gone back to the tent during a waiting time and I was almost late getting back to the firing line. Vern, on his four-wheeler came to get me, saying “Hop on!” and away we went. Actually, I believe I would have barely made it without his help, but that ride was highly appreciated, for sure.

My own shooting was okay but my scores or hits did not bring me the success I had hoped for. The 22 hits that I got with my heavy Sharps Bridgeport by C. Sharps Arms in 45-90, show that I was trying but maybe not hard enough. However, I did have some little successes on Vendors’ Row. After all, the “Quigley experience” involves a lot more than just the shooting.

From Mike Buchholz I got some highly needed .38-40 brass, as well as a copy of Mike Venturino’s Shooting Six-Guns of the Old West, a new bullet mould for my good old 44-90 from Steve Brooks, new shirts from Sagebrush and Caroline’s Embroidery, cleaning patches from Buffalo Arms and I also bought a couple of pounds of the old Hodgdon black powder. Hodgdon didn’t make that powder, they imported it from Scotland and that was some of the last black powder made by Curtis & Harvey, which was famous and very desirable during the buffalo hunting days. I’ll use that powder for sure, perhaps with some good notes.

Another good success was our group’s annual burger feed, held on Friday evening. In the previous years we have enjoyed antelope burgers with the meat supplied by Scott Sibley. Scott didn’t join us this year, so Larry Litten made sure we had plenty of elk burgers to fry on a cast iron grill and we certainly did have a good feed. Once again, the ornery cook was me, and I tried to cook those meat patties four at a time to keep the dinner rolling.

The greatest successes, of course, go to the top shooters. The High Overall competitor for this year was Shane Kraft. This is Shane’s third time to win the big plaque at Quigley and he deserves a lot of credit. He is also a member of the working staff from the Forsyth Rifle & Pistol Club that puts on the Quigley Matches. To Shane I will say, “Good doin’s, I hope to follow in your footsteps!”

Christy Derenburger was the top scoring lady again this year. She also won that title last year and she certainly knows how to handle the High Wall she shoots. Actually, I believe Christy has won the top lady plaque three times in a row.

Shiloh Rifle Manufacturing this year, as they have for every Quigley match, donated a $2,000 gift certificate to be drawn for from the shooters. This year Dan Burgess, an 11-year-old shooter who turned in an overall score 27/48, winning the Small Fry category and also winning the Shiloh gift certificate drawing, which is a great turn of events. To add to this, Dan also won the pellet rifle donated by the Forsyth Rifle & Pistol Club! You can bet that this young man will be shooting for many years and probably with the Shiloh-Sharps rifle he won at Quigley. There’s no better way to introduce young shooters into the black powder cartridge game and keep them shooting. I’d also like to point out that Dan’s score of 27/48 finished him 183rd out of 562 shooters; an outstanding achievement for an 11-year old.

The Forsyth Rifle & Pistol Club also donated a new Henry .22 rifle for the Junior and Small Fry shooters, as well as gift certificates from the Italian Firearms Group. This is another example of encouraging our young shooters to stay involved in competitive shooting and this sort of support from those in the industry is greatly appreciated by all shooters. Another outstanding award, again, was this year’s Youth rifle; a collaborative donation from C. Sharps Arms, Montana Vintage Arms, Treebone Carving and Ken Womak. This was an 1885 Low Wall from the C. Sharps Arms shop in 22 Long Rifle caliber, complete with a B5 scope in No. 2 mounts from Montana Vintage Arms. As Allen Cunniff has said, that is another meaningful award from the Quigley matches because the winner might not already have a rifle and it is “aimed” at the age group we need to concentrate on the very most. The winner of that rifle was Taya Hoaglund who turned in an overall score of 20/48; we can be sure that Low Wall 22 will see a lot more action.

One more success must be mentioned and that is the tremendous success of the Forsyth Rifle & Pistol Club has in putting on this match. Those club members and others who help out certainly do a good job. I could try to name them, like I did last year, but this year I didn’t get their names listed so I don’t know if anyone was added to the crew, or if anyone dropped out. But that crew certainly needs to be thanked and given credit for the fine jobs that they do. Likewise, the scorekeepers should be mentioned, their task is a tough one and the shooting days can be long, especially Saturday. All of the crew members, including the target painting crew, the RSOs, and the administration staff worked well together to make this match a true success.

While all of my comments must be in general, I urge you to visit the Quigley Match website for the scores and other details at quigleymatch.com/scores. 

Top 20 Shooters 

Six gongs, 350-805 yards, 48 possible points, ties broken on 350 yards and 805 yards, Quigley rules.