Shooting Wire

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (August 28, 2008) - Smith & Wesson Corp., announced that Team Smith & Wesson members earned eight world titles in multiple divisions at the 2009 Steel Challenge World Speed Shooting Championships held Aug 13-15, 2009 in Piru, California. Capturing titles for Team Smith & Wesson were Jerry Miculek, Elliot Aysen, B.J. Norris, Phil Strader, Julie Golob, and junior shooter Molly Smith. In all Team S&W members accounted for eight world titles at the event, three in the Rimfire matches, one in the Production Division and also the coveted Steel Master Title.

Competing in the Open Revolver Division, Jerry Miculek added yet another top finish to his storybook career by finishing 1st overall. In the Iron Sight Revolver Division, Team Smith & Wesson swept the top two spots with Elliot Aysen finishing in first place while fellow teammate John Bagakis finished in 2nd place by less than a half second in overall time. In just her second Steel Challenge and competing for the first time in centerfire at the event, junior shooter Molly Smith earned the women's title edging out fellow teammate Annette Aysen for another one-two sweep.

In the Rimfire competition, Team Smith & Wesson dominated by winning both the Open and Iron Sight Rimfire Divisions at this year's Steel Challenge. B.J. Norris had a commanding performance with a score 4.76 seconds faster than second place finish Dave Sevigny in Open Division using a Smith & Wesson Scandium frame 1911 pistol with a Tactical Solutions conversion kit. Phil Strader competed in the Iron Sight Division and claimed a decisive victory with a stock Smith & Wesson Model 41. Molly Smith once again stood in the winner's circle, earning top honors as High Pre-Teen Female with an impressive score of 105.42.

Team Smith & Wesson Captain Julie Golob dominated in the Production Division using a Smith & Wesson M&P Pro Series pistol. Golob earned the Women's Women's World Title with a score of 116.61 over second place women's competitor Randi Rogers who finished with a score of 127.90. In addition to her women's win, Golob also placed an impressive second place overall behind men's champion Rob Leatham. Golob also competed in the Open Division and placed third behind fellow teammate Kay Miculek.

Rounding out the top place finishes by company shooters was B.J. Norris, who was named the overall winner of the coveted Steel Master Division. Steel Master scores reflect an aggregate of Rimfire, Open, and Limited Division scores. Setting a formidable lead in Rimfire, Norris went on to demonstrate his diverse skills by posting extremely competitive scores in the Open and Limited Divisions where he finished second overall in each. With a total score of 246.52, Norris successfully defended his 2008 World Title in a field of talented competitors. Team Smith & Wesson's Kay Miculek also competed for the Steel Master Women's Title and placed second in Open, Limited, Rimfire and Steel Master Divisions.

The Steel Challenge World Speed Shooting Championships were founded in 1981 with just 70 shooters competing for $20,000 in cash and prizes during the first year. Since then, the match has grown to become one of the premier events of the season with more than 200 of the world's fastest shooters competing for over $390,000 in cash and prizes. Governed by the Steel Challenge Shooting Association (SCSA), the sport of Steel Speed Shooting uses steel targets, arranged in five-target arrays, and an electronic timer to record a competitor's time for each stage of fire.

To learn more about the Steel Challenge Shooting Association and the Steel Challenge visit the website at www.steelchallenge.com.

About Smith & Wesson
Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation, a global leader in safety, security, protection and sport, is parent company to Smith & Wesson Corp., one of the world's largest manufacturers of quality firearms and firearm safety/security products and parent company to Thompson/Center Arms Company, Inc., a premier designer and manufacturer of premium hunting rifles, black powder rifles, interchangeable firearms systems and accessories under the Thompson/Center brand. Smith & Wesson licenses shooter protection, knives, apparel, and other accessory lines. Smith & Wesson is based in Springfield, Massachusetts with manufacturing facilities in Springfield, Houlton, Maine, and Rochester, New Hampshire. The Smith & Wesson Academy is America's longest running firearms training facility for law enforcement, military and security professionals. For more information on Smith & Wesson, call (800) 331-0852 or log on to www.smith-wesson.com. For more information on Thompson/Center Arms, log on to www.tcarms.com