Pistol shooter earns recognition

After 11 years of practice, Chris Tilley earns world-class recognition

RALEIGH -- The Triangle has an active shooting sports community that includes local-, state- and national-title holders.

None may be more accomplished than Michael Christopher Tilley.

Tilley, 23, placed ninth out of 790 competitors at the International Practical Shooting Confederation World Shoot XV held in Bali, Indonesia, from Oct. 26 to Nov. 2. In addition to his individual placing, Tilley was a member of the four-man U.S. team that took first place in the Open Division, beating the Philippines, France and Australia.

This came after Tilley won the 2008 U.S. Practical Shooting Association open class national championship in September in Tulsa, Okla.

Tilley started shooting competition at age 12 at the Sir Walter Gun Club in Creedmoor.

"I had a big passion for guns," he said. "I thought they were cool. What boy doesn't like guns? I absolutely loved it. I did well, and I had grown men talking to me, and that's good at that age. I [then] got good equipment and started practicing more."

Tilley has turned that passion and practice into a vocation. He won the U.S. Practical Shooting Association Open Class in 2006.

"That gave me perspective," he said during an interview at Personal Defense & Handgun Safety Center, a gun shop and shooting range owned by his parents in South Raleigh. "You can do anything in life. You'll be happy with your results if you put work into it."

He is largely self-taught.

"I kind of followed Chris. I didn't lead him," his father, Mike Tilley, said. "I never got anywhere near the level of his."

Mike Tilley did cite a former employee, Filmer Castenada, a U.S. Marine Corps captain, and Larry Brown, a firearms coach, as helping get Chris started on the slow process of shooting proficiency.

"In this world of instant gratification, it takes a lot of hard work," Mike Tilley said. "Hours of practice and and dry-firing until his hands would bleed."

Although practical shooting has various levels that start with production pistols, at Chris Tilley's level a competition pistol like sponsor Infinity Firearms' semiautomatic pistol chambered in .38 Super, which holds 32 rounds, can cost more than $5,000.

Practice takes a lot of ammunition, so a sponsor is good. Montana Gold Bullet supplies Tilley with enough ammunition to reload about 100,000 rounds a year, saving Tilley $12,000 to $15,000 annually. To defray costs for the Bali meet, the USPSA chipped in $3,500 for five teams of four shooters to compete.

What did Chris Tilley get for the team win in Bali?

"Nothing, except prestige," he said with a smile and a shrug.

His mother, Carol, said she has enjoyed watching Chris' shooting career emerge, especially in lieu of his earlier pursuits.

"He got hurt on BMX bikes, tore up his knee on a skateboard," she said. "This [shooting] is the safest thing he's ever done."

Tilley considers his next "big meet" to be the world championships in 2011 in Greece.

"After you shoot a world shoot, nothing else really excites you," he said.