Vudoo Shooting Team
Our shooting team is an incredible example of what it means to be hand-picked; not just for what it takes to win behind a rifle, but because each individual on Team Vudoo has shown an ability to skillfully represent the very core of the Vudoo Culture. As we assembled this team, the requirements were wrapped around the desire to extend our World Class Customer Service beyond the limits of the telephone, email, internet forums, etc. So, how do we do this? How do we continue to wrap our arms around a shooting community we hold so dear? We arm our hand-picked team with everything they need and send them out to events and matches to support the shooting community. If you see a Team Vudoo jersey at a match or event, please feel free to connect with them. It doesn’t matter whose rifle you’re using, what matters is you’re there and you’re involved in what we’re incredibly passionate about. Like all of us have done at one time or another, maybe you forgot something or experiencing gear failure. Maybe you don’t have a specific piece of gear, like a tripod, that would make you more successful on that stage or maybe you’re just starting out and have questions about stage strategy or how to dope a particular target. Whatever the case, Team Vudoo will lend a hand to further your experience. This is who we are…
Meet Our Team
Bob Mead
Vudoo Shooting Team
Bob is a commercial photographer who owns Studio M Two Creative in Massachusetts, working closely with clients of all kinds to create the best possible images of their products. While not shooting things with his camera, Bob has spent a lot of time shooting in competitive events within various disciplines; having competed his way to Master class in USPSA, spent time in the IDPA, 3Gun and Silhouette circuits, participated in the Chevy Team Challenge and fought his way to Massachusetts State Champion in Sporting Clays. Bob also contributes as a Match Director but not surprising that he’d remain focused on his love of the Rimfire Shooting Sports. Bob’s acute attention to detail also made him the perfect fit on Vudoo’s small and effective R&D team where he makes valuable contributions by way of testing prototypes and providing protocol-based-feedback that’s been invaluable to what Vudoo does best; create and envision the exceptional. And, on top of all that, he shoots pretty well too, making common appearances at the top of the leaderboards.
Chris Simmons
Vudoo Shooting Team
Born and raised in Western North Carolina, Chris began shooting competitively in 2004 with his High School JROTC Air Rifle Team, bringing home three National Championships. Since then, Chris has fine- tuned his craft, achieving Distinguished Expert in Air Rifle, Smallbore and High-Power disciplines. Fifteen years later, he’s won over 200 matches in Smallbore Silhouette with 29 State Championships under his belt. With the growing popularity of competitive Rimfire, it was no surprise in 2017 that Chris would get involved in the PRS and NRL style Long Range matches and certainly no surprise he’d be bringing home the win at the 2019 Lapua Practical Rimfire Challenge.
Michael Chang
Vudoo Shooting Team
Michael lives in Las Vegas and works in the custom promotional business. While not working, Michael spends a lot of time competing in Rimfire and Centerfire precision rifle competitions, which is how he happened to appear on the Vudoo radar. Michael’s love of competition has him making his way through the circuit on the West Coast and venturing regularly to the Mid-West to apply his shooting skill; especially at the National level. Of the three Vudoo V-22’s he uses, his go-to match rifle wears an 18” barrel in a Manners T5, the very rifle he used to set the current ELR World Record at 440 yards.
Tony Gimmellie
Vudoo Shooting Team
Tony is our class clown and one of two OG Team Vudoo Shooters, joining us in 2017. Ten years in the U.S. Marine Corps prepared Tony for Team Vudoo; seven years as a Scout Sniper, a member of the Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Team (FAST) and a Close Quarters Battle (CQB) Instructor. Upon leaving the Marine Corps, Tony joined the U.S. Secret Service, where’s he’s spent the last 18 years, serving now as a Firearms Instructor. But all this wasn’t enough, so he started shooting competitively in 1995, reaching the classification of Grand Master in USPSA and becoming a top-level competitor in other disciplines such as Precision Rifle Series, Precision Long Range Rimfire, 3Gun and various single gun matches with pistol and PCC. Since 2017, it hasn’t been unusual to see Tony’s name at the top of the match results in Precision Long Range Rimfire and NRL22 matches.
Johnathon Solinsky
Vudoo Shooting Team
Johnathon first started his professional shooting career when he joined the U.S. Marine Corps Infantry in Oct 2011, graduating from Scout Sniper School in August 2014. His introduction to competitive shooting was in the 2016 Marine Corps Division Combat matches, where he was selected as a permanent member of the Marine Corps Shooting Team, being assigned to the Marine Corps Rifle Team in August 2016. Since then, it’s been a whirlwind of competitions in multiple shooting disciplines. Johnathon earned his Marine Corps Distinguished Shield in March 2019 after winning medals at five High Power and Marine Corps competitions. He’s been selected to represent the Marine Corps at the Australian Skills at Arms Meet on two separate occasions, placing third in the 2018 Sniper Competition in the International Category. Between USPSA, M1 Garand, NRA Worlds, M1 Carbine, 1903 Springfield, Long Range, Precision Rifle Series and the Marine Corps Matches, Johnathon has over 80 matches to his credit and became the Head Coach for the Rifle Team in January 2018, serving in this position until end of service in September 2019. Like all our team members, Johnathon developed a particular interest in Rimfire matches having competed in more than a dozen matches over the last two years with several wins and top five finishes.
Stephen Ferguson
Vudoo Shooting Team
Stephen is a fellow Southern Gentleman from Houston. He joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 2000 serving on the Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Team for two years, then on to infantry until 2009. After being introduced to High Power Rifle and National Match Pistol in 2006, he was able to get a few matches under his belt before duty called, being deployed three times to Iraq and Afghanistan, returning to competitive shooting in 2014. Stephen achieved the Marine Corps Distinguished Rifle Marksman and Distinguished Pistol badges in 2015, CMP .22 Pistol Distinguished and NRA Defensive Pistol Badges and the recipient of the Carlos Hathcock Award, all in 2019. The Carlos Hathcock Award is handed to the Marine most willing to teach Marines, Civilian and Junior competitors in various shooting disciplines. Stephen was the CMP National Roosevelt Match Champion in 2017, the National Champion in the Springfield M1A Match in 2019 and was selected for the Presidents 100, five times. One of the notable recollections I have was the part Stephen played, completely unplanned, in Vudoo’s launch to market at the 2017 NRA World Championships where he cleaned six plates at varying distances in eight seconds, off hand with one of the first nine V-22’s built. Pretty amazing how things work out…
Justin Stuck
Vudoo Shooting Team
Justin spends his time during the week as an aerospace CNC Machinist, but while not making cool parts, he’s deeply involved in competing in PRS and NRL22 Competitions. Justin racked up eight match wins in 2018 in NRL22 and multiple PRS and NRL22 wins in 2019. It was no surprise he qualified for the 2019 NRL22 Championship in Las Vegas, placing 16th overall out of 120 shooters and we expect he’ll be making travel plans to Vegas in 2020 as well. Justin will be one to watch in 2020 as he shoots his way to success, achieving lofty goals and helping others achieve theirs. That’s right, outside of stellar match performances, Justin also has a talent for imparting shooting wisdom to up and coming shooters.