Blasting His Way Into The Book

David Miller Busts 3,653 Clays In An Hour To Set Guinness World Record!

Story and photographs by Larry Case

PHOTO 9 DAVE MILLER Shooting

If Dave Miller was a hunting dog, I would want one of his pups. He is that good. Miller has what my hunting buddy, when he rates a pack of new bird dogs, would call “fire in the belly.” I think when Miller wakes up in the morning he leaps out of bed and is immediately turning and burning, whatever his mission. You may shoot a shotgun, I do shoot a shotgun, but nobody shoots a shotgun like David Miller.

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The final confirmed tally. After one hour, Dave miller had successfully shot 3,653 clays. This required four clays to be airborne during any given second for the entire hour. Impressive!

On May 16, 2015, the western Missouri man set the Guinness Book of World Records for the most clay targets shot in one hour. When the final horn blew and the smoke cleared Miller had done it: 3,653 clays broken while shooting a shotgun from the hip, and at night!

When the shooting had started an hour before, the actual world record attempt seemed almost surreal. I stood behind the platform and listened to his shotgun firing, but the rate at which the shots were going off seemed impossible. How could anyone hit anything firing this fast? The crowd watched as the targets streamed into the air and exploded with an almost machine-like consistency. That’s Miller, a shootin’ piece of machinery.

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Miller had to engineer 16 Mayville Engineering Company target throwers to eject the clays at a precise rate to ensure that they weren’t being thrown so fast he couldn’t focus on them, but also that they didn’t operate too slowly and prevent making his goal.

During that hour targets were thrown continuously with absolutely no pauses. In order to achieve this, Miller had to have 30 CZ-USA shotguns fitted with two Nordic Component magazine extensions that held 16 shells total. Each shotgunPHOTO 8 was set up exactly the same way, including Miller’s special leather strap to hold his hand in place. Several gun bearers and loaders stood by with ready-to-shoot shotguns so Miller could just grab and go as the clock ticked down. Miller would blast through all the ammo in one gun, then he would throw it down and reach for the next one that was handed to him. He had to do this throughout the entire hour without ever slowing down, stopping or taking a break. Even with all of the gun-change interruptions, he still shot 83 percent of the total clays thrown. I was there. I saw it and let me tell you, boys and girls, it was a sight to behold. I would be happy with that on any day at the neighborhood skeet range [grin].

PHOTO 6 Mike Hyde (4)
The final numbers from the epic day showed that 5,265 clays were released, Miller fired 4,402 rounds of Federal 2¾-inch Gold Medal Handicap Trap Load with 11/8 ounces of shot – not a light load – and hit 3,653 targets to make the world record. (MIKE HYDE)

How did all this come to pass?

Glad you asked. As it turns out, and somewhat oddly enough, one does not simply call up Guinness and say, “Hey guys, I shot a couple thousand clay targets the other day, put me down for that record, if you would!”

What had to happen was this: Miller and attorneys from CZ-USA (where Miller is the shotgun product manager and exhibition shooter) worked with representatives from Guinness and the National Sporting Clays Association. During the event, Guinness had to have a representative there to confirm the count and actually present Miller with the official award.

But even before that, Miller got the idea by watching a TV show with his girlfriend Kelly Lindley and her two children, Will and Sydney. The program featured people attempting to break world records. Will told Miller that he should attempt a world record with his shotgun. Miller says he didn’t think much about it at the time, but the idea stuck. This was the beginning of months of planning, testing and building to make the idea and the new dream come true.

It wasn’t easy: Miller soon became the lead engineer for what would become a PHOTO 10completely new idea in clay throwers and synchronization.

The target throwers and the rate at which they launched the clays were a major concern. Too fast and Miller could not focus on the flying target; too slow and there would not be enough time to get all of them broken in an hour. It had to be just right. The rate of fire during the attempt was about four- to six-tenths of a second; about every half of a second a target was being thrown for Miller to shoot. This sequence required 16 Mayville Engineering Company target-throwing machines to work in unison. That is putting some serious lead down range.

When the big day came, the atmosphere of the expectant crowd was
similar to a state fair, except with lots of shotguns. It was almost as if they were waiting for Evel Knievel to jump the Grand Canyon. I thought this was better.

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The amount of equipment and personnel needed to complete this monumental task included:

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Thirty CZ shotguns were used to accomplish the world record. They were a mix of CZ 712s and 912s and fitted with two Nordic Component 16-round magazine extensions.

• 30 CZ Model 712 or 912 shotguns;

• 16 MEC target-throwing machines, designed to hold and systematically throw clay targets into the air;

(All of them performed flawlessly during this event.)

• 6,400 clay targets;

• 5,000 shotgun shells;

• 25 to 30 gun bearers and loaders;

• A plethora of volunteers, helpers, friends, family and supporters.


Miller, a more humble guy you may never meet, thanked supporters, friends and family continually during this event.

If I know Miller, he is already working on a new project, and you can bet it involves a shotgun. When you have fire in the belly, you don’t stop when you set a little thing like a world record. ASJ

PHOTO 11 Dave Miller and folks WR
When Miller decided to attempt the world record, he took his idea to Pheasants Forever because he wanted the attempt to be connected to this conservation-based group to help them raise money for their youth shooting programs.
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Author Larry Case with Dave Miller, clay killer.

 

Author’s note: The Heartland Trap and Wobble Skeet Range near Harrisonville, Mo., hosted this epic event and you couldn’t have found a better or friendlier setting than this neighborhood gun-club atmosphere. Owner Steve Sheerer personally made sure the event was a success for everyone. You can visit them at heartlandtrapandskeet.com.