TOM KNAPP
Profile: Team Benelli World Record Holder - Tom Knapp
Tom Knapp is one of the world’s foremost professional exhibition shooters, performing worldwide to thrill audiences of all ages with his amazing shooting skills. His extraordinary demonstrations always offer an exciting experience and are enjoyed by hard-core gun enthusiasts as well as folks who have never seen a shotgun close up. Whether he’s shooting something out of the air—his own ejected shotgun shells, a handful of eggs or fast moving clay targets—Tom Knapp undeniably puts on a show that you don’t want to miss.
Recognized as the greatest exhibition shooter of modern times, Tom presents shooting exhibitions throughout the United States and Europe, delighting countless spectators with seemingly impossible feats with shotguns. He has appeared on national television to recreate some of the extraordinary shooting feats of the great trick shooters of the Old West.
Knapp holds several distinctive world records. Already the holder of two world records for hand-thrown clay targets—9 clays with a Benelli M1 Super 90 in 1993 and 8 clays with a Benelli Nova Pump in 2000—Tom set out to do it again on October 20, 2004, and achieved the unbelievable, shooting 10 clay targets out of the air in 2.2 seconds with a ComforTech™-fitted Benelli M2 Field. He broke each target with a single shot. In 2007, Tom donated his Benelli M1 Super 90 to the Buffalo Bill Historic Center in Cody, Wyoming, where it will join the guns of other great exhibition shooters like Herb Parsons and Annie Oakley on permanent display. (Tom’s Super 90 wasn’t worn out, by the way; despite firing more than half a million rounds, it was still going strong.)
Today, Tom and sharpshooter Tim Bradley make up Benelli’s super exhibition team and were recently featured in a mini-show series that appeared on ESPN2 Outdoors. Each two-and-a-half minute show, produced and filmed in-house by Benelli Multimedia, showcased Knapp’s shooting talents with an array of his exceptional techniques.
As always, a great craftsman needs the right tools and, of course, the shotguns that Tom uses to make his amazing shots are made by Benelli. Hard work and commitment are vital, Tom maintains but adds, “Without the right equipment, I could never do it. That’s why I shoot Benellis.” During one of his shoots he quipped, “The Benelli is so easy to fire it almost performs without me!”
Stephen McKelvain, Benelli USA’s VP of Marketing & Communications, sees Tom Knapp as a true asset for Benelli. “We consider ourselves really fortunate to have an exhibition shooter of Tom’s experience and extraordinary talent representing Benelli” he remarked. “His performances show that Benelli shotguns can handle any extreme shooting challenge that Tom puts them through.”
To request a show at your function, contact:
Keryn Bausch
Benelli USA
17603 Indian Head Highway
Accokeek, MD 20607
Tel. (301) 283-6981
Fax (301) 283-6988
E-mail:
Find a Tom Knapp appearance near you.
World Record No. 1
Tom joined Benelli in 1993 when he set the world record with his Benelli M1 Super 90 by throwing nine standard clay targets and breaking them with individual shots in 2.0 seconds!
World Record No. 2
On July 19, 2000, Tom Knapp, with his Benelli Nova pump in one hand, threw eight clay targets in the air with his other hand and broke every one of them with individual shots in an amazing 1.87 seconds.
World Record No. 3
In Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on October 20th, 2004, Tom Knapp set out to make history again. With his 12-ga. Benelli M2 fitted with a ComforTech stock and extended magazine tube, Tom launched ten clay targets into the air with one hand and shot all ten with individual shots in an unbelievable 2.0 seconds.
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