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Team USA swept the 2026 IPRF World Championship, and the comments rolled in: no overall winner? Weak field? How does a Factory rifle post the top score of the whole match? Tyler Hughes sits down with Guy DeMarco (@hotgdrod), who was at Gravestone as the IPRF World Championship RO Coordinator, to answer the critics from the line.
On this episode we break down why Worlds crowns divisions and nations instead of an overall champion, what the Texas heat and wind actually did, how Morgun King ended up 7th in Open and 11th combined, how IPRF rules differ from PRS, and what "Factory" really means in Factory division.
ABOUT GUY DEMARCO (@hotgdrod)
- 2022 & 2026 Southeast Regional Series Top Production Shooter
- 2023, 2024 & 2025 PRS RO of the Year
- 2024 & 2026 IPRF World Championship RO Coordinator
Guy has been in the precision rifle community since 2018, starting in rimfire competition before moving to centerfire precision rifle. He is a Max Ordinate Academy alumnus, a competitive shooter, a podcast host, a recently retired service member and an experienced Range Officer who has stayed heavily involved in the growth and running of precision rifle competition. Follow him on Instagram: @hotgdrod
TOPICS
1) No overall winner
IPRF awards division titles and a national-team title, not an overall champion. The divisions shot different stages on different days, so an "overall" would rank shooters who faced different conditions. That's how Keith Rudasill's 192 in Factory, the top score of the match, and Kahl Harmon's 191 in Mil/LEO, the same score as Open champion Austin Buschman, sat outside Open.
2) The weather at Gravestone
The 2026 IPRF Centerfire World Championship was shot September 24 to 27 at Gravestone Precision Shooting in Lipan, Texas. Pre-match guidance called for dry, dusty conditions, highs in the mid-to-upper 80s and wind around 8 to 10 mph. The nearest airport weather station (Mineral Wells Regional, about 20 miles from the range) recorded highs of 93 to 97 degrees, no measurable rain on any competition day, winds averaging about 7 to 8 mph, and gusts to about 18 to 20 mph on Saturday and Sunday.
3) Morgun King: 7th in Open, 11th combined
Morgun King shot 183 of 200 (91.5%) in Open. He was tied for the Open lead at halftime with 95, alongside Austin Buschman and Joe Pask, then shot 88 on day two, including 4 of 10 on Stage 2. He finished 7th in Open and 11th in the combined standings, tied on score with Matthew Caruso and placed behind him on the tie-break.
4) IPRF vs PRS rules
The real differences, from the RO side: IPRF divisions vs PRS categories, Limited vs Tactical, Factory vs Production, the national-team format, and 105-second stages.
5) What "Factory" really means
IPRF defines Factory as a non-custom rifle from a single maker, as configured at the factory. A same-spec rebarrel, bedding and a muzzle device or tuner are allowed; added or swapped parts are not. We found no price cap in the IPRF rules, while PRS Production caps the rifle at $3,000 and the optic at $2,500. Guy gives his own take on whether Factory is really factory.
THE MATCH BY THE NUMBERS
- 278 shooters, 20 stages of 10 rounds (200 possible impacts), 105-second par time, targets out to about 925 yards
- Nations title: United States 743 of 800, ahead of Australia (718) and the United Kingdom (708)
- Americans won all seven individual divisions and 16 of the 21 individual medals
- Open: Austin Buschman (USA) 191, Joe Pask (UK) 189, Luke McKennie (Australia) 185
- Factory: Keith Rudasill (USA) 192, top score of the match
- Mil/LEO: Kahl Harmon (USA) 191
SOURCES
Official results: ImpactScoring, match 8871 (impactscoring.net/match/results?id=8871)
USPRA, 2026 World Championship match details (usprecisionrifle.org)
Weather: Iowa Environmental Mesonet ASOS archive, station KMWL (Mineral Wells Regional)
TRAIN WITH MAX ORDINATE
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Guest: Guy DeMarco, Instagram @hotgdrod
Hosted by Tyler Hughes, Max Ordinate. The Precision Rifle Podcast.
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