You gotta love a 6.5 Swede– especially in the hands of a Marine
At the 2023 Western Fall Classic, Julia Carlson, 47, of Lehi, UT, reached a Vintage Military Match event record with her remarkable score of 293-3X. The new score beats out the previous record set in 2010 by just one point. Along with claiming the Vintage Military Match win, Carlson also overtook the Carbine Rifle Match with a score of 353-5X. Though not an event record, her performance was more than 10 points above the second-place competitor – tightly securing a victory.
Of course, Carlson isn’t just your average competitor.
A retired Marine MSgt-– whose service included Officer in Charge of the Female Engagement Team under the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade while in Helmand, Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010– and the 2014 individual National Service Rifle Champion, Carlson reportedly shot the match with Patrick McAllister’s “Mac” rifle.
Carlson’s marksmanship highlights include over 15 Interservice titles, five International titles of which two were Combat Precision against all militaries in the world, over 40 National titles that include four history-making championships by being the first woman to win since the induction of the competition in 1902. She was named Female Athlete of the Year for the Marine Corps in 1998. Carlson earned her Distinguished Rifleman Badge in 1997 and Distinguished Pistol Shot in 2014, and she is one of four known female Marines to become double distinguished.