Sam Armstrong has used his shotguns to collect a wide array of prizes.
“You wouldn’t believe the amount of stuff I’ve won,” he said. “I’ve got boxes full of it — trophies, medals, plaques, belt buckles, you name it.”
Armstrong, 45, of Hagerstown, captured his most valuable treasures in October — his first two world titles.
At the 74th annual World Skeet Shooting Championships in San Antonio, Armstrong was champion of the 28-gauge and doubles (two clay targets in the air at the same time) competitions. More than 700 shooters competed in each event.
“I’ve won major tournaments all over the country,” Armstrong said. “But [the world titles] are the biggest ones there are.”
He has competed at the world championships nine times. His previous best showing was second place in the 12-gauge event in 2006. In 2002, he placed third in doubles.
“If you’re not first, second or third,” Armstrong said, “you’re a loser.”
Armstrong has become fairly accustomed to winning.
He has won 17 Maryland state titles, six Pennsylvania state titles and four Zone Two (Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia) championships. He competes in 16 to 20 tournaments a year throughout the United States and has made 11 straight All-American teams. In 2006, he was inducted into the Maryland State Skeet Shooting Hall of Fame.
“Basically, the only goal I have left is to make it into the national hall of fame,” Armstrong said. “I basically just have to have one more good year to meet the qualifications to be nominated.”
Armstrong, a 1982 Boonsboro High School graduate, said he grew up hunting and fishing. He began skeet shooting in the early 1980s.
“I was in the military [in Fort Ord, Calif.], saw them shooting clay targets, asked them about it and tried it,” he said. “I enjoyed it. It was something fun to do.”
Skeet shooting has obviously become much more than just a pastime for Armstrong. His season of competition runs from April to October, and he practices once or twice a week at shooting ranges in the region.
“It’s not easy,” he said. “You’ve got to be able to see the targets and react. It’s eye-hand coordination, that’s for sure. And there’s a lot of body movement, too, because targets are flying 45 to 50 mph.”
Armstrong said he has won “a lot of money” at tournaments, and he has sponsors to provide him with equipment. But even being a world-class shooter doesn’t mean he can quit his day job at Mack Trucks. Each world title earned him $1,000.
“This is not like golf,” Armstrong said. “I wish it was.”
While he said he doesn’t go hunting often anymore, he said that he is still successful when he does.
“I don’t miss very often,” he said.
