Marauder Semi Auto Wins Speed Silhouette Open Class At 2023 EBR
Speed Silhouette is a particularly exciting part of any Extreme Benchrest competition. But for 2023 EBR, a .22 caliber Marauder Semi Auto wins the Open Class with a time of just 18.81 seconds!
The shooter was Ethan Butterfield, a Design Engineer with Velocity Outdoor in Bloomfield, New York. So not only does Ethan design Benjamin and Crosman airguns for a living, he can also shoot them really, really well.
In fact, Ethan’s time of 18.81 seconds to demolish the 20 tiny silhouette targets was also an all-time record for Speed Silhouette at EBR.
He was not only 5.59 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Lauren Parsons, but 3.24 seconds faster than the previous fastest – Alex Hatfield in 2019. In an event where hundredths of a second count, these are HUGE margins. Great shooting, Ethan!
As a reminder, Speed Silhouette Open Class is where “anything goes”. Magazines are loaded and installed before firing commences. Semi-autos are included, too.
But the shooter still needs skill, accuracy, consistency plus nerves of steel to win “against the clock”. One missed target could be all it takes to loose a place.
Perhaps surprisingly, this was the first time ever that the Speed Silhouette Open Class has been won by a semi-auto. Previous winners have all used sidelever actions. (As did the second and third place competitors in 2023).
But there’s more to this win that you might be aware…
In fact, Ethan was one of four members of Team Benjamin at EBR 2023. While Tom Beecher (above) is Director of Sales and New Business for Benjamin and Crosman, the others – like Ethan – are Design Engineers. They were John Solpietro and Ed Schultz (below).
The whole team shot in most of the EBR competitions. But Ethan and John both made the finals of the Speed Silhouette Open Class.
John (above) was shooting a Benjamin Armada Semi Auto. Both were shooting pre-production .22 caliber Benjamin Match Grade pellets and using prototype high-capacity magazines from Mid West Elite Airguns. That’s a huge win for the Benjamin engineers!
In fact, John Solpietro is the designer of both the Marauder and Armada Semi Auto models. So he’s obviously an outstanding airgun designer as well as an enthusiastic shooter. Unfortunately a jam in the magazine put him into the “DNF list” in the finals.
So, the Marauder Semi Auto wins with Ethan shooting John’s gun, using Benjamin Match Grade pellets that Ed is instrumental in developing. (The .22 caliber version will be available soon). That’s a great team effort and shows that Benjamin Airguns are really producing some outstanding products.
Congratulations to all!!!
PS. The EBR 2023 Speed Silhouette competition was sponsored by Umarex USA. So Ethan won a .50 caliber Umarex Hammer big bore air rifle as part of his prize. But I doubt he’ll be able to make 20 hits in 18.81 seconds with that gun :-)
