Shooters from around Oklahoma volunteer to help with the first Fort Sill Multi-Gun Competition, Sept. 16, 2017. The competition featured timed lanes with each shooter using a shotgun, an automatic rifle and a pistol while moving as quickly as possibl...

A volunteer with the Fort Sill Multi-Gun Competition sights his .223 automatic rifle downrange as he leans over the last obstacle of the Stage 2 lane of Fort Sill's Multi-Gun Competition, Sept. 16, 2017. Volunteers helped set up the course the day be...

Sean Carter, a Lawton, Okla., Police officer and Multi-Gun volunteer, loads the front of his shooting vest with 12-gauge shotgun shells in preparation for his run in Stage 2. Carter tested his skills in Fort Sill's first Multi-Gun Competition, Sept. ...

FORT SILL, Okla., Sept. 21, 2017 -- More than 100 shootists from around the country gathered on Fort Sill's East Range Sept. 16, to test their marksmanship at the first Fort Sill Multi-Gun Competition.

"A multi-gun competition is exactly what it sounds like," said Hew Moon, competition coordinator. "The competitors move through each course using a shotgun, a rifle, and a pistol. The fastest time with the least misses, wins."

Event organizers handed out 27 trophies for first through third place in nine categories at an award ceremony following the competition.

At a Sept. 15 preview for event, volunteers who would be helping during the event the next day tested their firearms accuracy. The competition was good-spirited, but intense.

"I'm happy to be down here helping," said Nikki Holmes, from Broken Arrow, Okla. "But today, I'm happy to be shooting. I wasn't happy with the way I did that last stage, so I'm hoping to pick it up on the next one."

Shooters were timed and moved through the stage shooting, reloading, and shooting again. Red paint on the ground identified where they switched weapons. All of them had belts or vests loaded with magazines for automatic rifles and pistols, and shotgun shells. Sometimes they climbed over walls or laid prone on the ground.

"It's a matter of pride to come back with a heavy belt or vest," Holmes said. "That means you hit all of your targets with fewer rounds."

Contestants fired at paper targets, pinwheels, silhouettes, and poppers that, when hit, would flick a skeet pigeon in the air as a secondary objective. And, all targets had to be reset after each competitor finished.

Moon said the five stages took about two weeks to set up, but the planning for the competition took about eight months.

Another volunteer who helped at the competition and took a turn the day before was Sean Carter, a Lawton Police Officer. He said, he looks forward to the multi-gun competition because it tests his skills.

"I really enjoy it and it's set up really well," Carter said. "It's also a fun way to sharpen my skills as a law enforcement officer."

With this year's turnout, event organizer Moon said he's already thinking about next year's competition.