Plains man to compete in shooting contest

A Plains man is traveling to Helena next week to defend his title at the firing range for the annual Montana Governor's 20 LE Shooting Competition.

Chad Cantrell of Plains was the champion in the County Division last year and hopes to repeat his feat again on Aug. 9. "It's fun. I get to hang out with gunfighters," said Cantrell, who retired from the Sanders County Sheriff's Office as a detective in 2020 and is a member of the Plains Town Council. Cantrell is no stranger to the annual competition and since 2020 has finished in first place three times and second once. He has taken home nearly a dozen trophies in his 10 years of participating in the contest. He's also won the Montana Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association Pistol Shoot in the handgun and rifle division and is a 2007 graduate of the FBI sniper school.

"There's a lot of people there that really know how to shoot," said the 52-year-old Cantrell, who spent 29 years in the sheriff's office and in the Thompson Fall Police Department and was the firearms instructor with the county for over 20 years. He's still a firearms instructor for the Plains Police Department. Cantrell participates in the contest for the challenge and for the camaraderie of being with members of the law enforcement community. He said it also helps him stay weapons proficient. He also helps officiate the event once he's finished competing in his class.

The event dates back to the 1950s, but this is the first time it will be hosted by the Helena Police Department, said Corporal Matthew Lewis of the Helena Police Department, who believes they'll have more than 50 competitors this year. "We still shoot the same targets and historical course of fire that was built around six-shot revolvers," said Lewis. He said the competition encourages officers to get more proficient with their duty weapons. It fluctuates between 20-40 competitors.There are four divisions in the competition, including Cantrell's county division. Everyone that places in the top 20 spots gets the coveted Governor's 20 hat.

Cantrell started practicing for this year's meet at the Plains public shooting range in May, hitting the range nearly every day for more than an hour at a time. With his Smith & Wesson performance center handgun, Cantrell practices with 45-caliber rounds and 22-caliber rounds, chalking up some 4,500 bullets in preparation for the match.

The competitors fire from 7-50 yards in a police combat style range. He looks forward to the contest every year. "It keeps you on top of your shooting," he said. In 2014, he took top honors in the Bianchi Plate Match, which is a set of steel plates spaced about 18" between each one.

"Participants only get six shots to attempt to hit all six plates in a given amount of time," said Lewis. Each distance is shot twice, starting at 10 yards in six seconds. "Time starts with the officer's weapon holstered and they have to draw and engage all six plates quickly but with accuracy," he said.

There's still one accolade at the competition that Cantrell hasn't attained - the grand champion, which he said always seems to go to a U.S. Border Patrol officer. He's come in third place, but the top spot has eluded him. "I've come close, but I'd like to get that," said Cantrell. His highest score was 821 points of the possible maximum 948 points.