Miracle of Accuracy: Texas Sniper Hit 72,491 Flying Targets in 10 Days—An Unparalleled Record? .m

The Legend of Ad Toepperwein and the Performance That Left the World Breathless
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, 1907—In the history of marksmanship, perhaps no performance has rivaled the feat accomplished by one Texas man. His name was Ad Toepperwein, and from December 13 to 22, 1907, he turned the San Antonio shooting range into a stage for an extraordinary event: a ten-day test of endurance and accuracy with his .22 Winchester rifle.

72,500 Wooden Blocks. 9 Misses.
Imagine: three men repeatedly tossing small wooden blocks, measuring just 2.5 inches by 2.5 inches, into the air. During 68.5 hours of continuous shooting, Ad Toepperwein fired at a total of 72,500 targets.

The incredible result: the great marksman missed only nine times.

That’s right, nine times out of 72,500 shots. This is an almost perfect accuracy rate, defying all laws of reflexes, fatigue, and weapon reliability. He didn’t just hit the target; he achieved a meditative state of perfection. This performance was more than a record; it was a testament to the limits of human concentration and skill to what the human mind can achieve.

The Truth Behind the Legend
If you think the 1907 performance was the pinnacle, look back a year. In 1906, Toepperwein challenged himself with 20,000 blocks of wood and missed only once. The 1907 event was a bold escalation, more than tripling the workload, but with almost no loss of accuracy.

Historic photographs still capture Ad Toepperwein sitting atop a mountain of 72,500 hit blocks of wood—a wooden and powder monument to his unparalleled achievement.

The Great Shooter’s Immortal Legacy
Ad Toepperwein died in San Antonio in 1962 at the age of 92. He was one of Winchester’s most famous icons and a true legend of accuracy.

But perhaps his advice and philosophy of life are the most enduring. On his San Antonio tombstone is a single, succinct inscription, a reminder not just to shooters but to anyone pursuing a goal:

“Keep Your Powder Dry.” (Keep your powder dry.)

This is not just a technical tip, but also a reminder of the preparation, vigilance, and constant readiness that Ad Toepperwein demonstrated with each shot.

Will Toepperwein’s extraordinary technique and concentration ever be broken? To this day, the answer remains unknown. But one thing is certain: in the cold, late days of 1907 in Texas, the world witnessed a moment when perfection almost became a reality.

Do you think that with today’s technology, anyone could ever recreate Ad Toepperwein’s extraordinary feats of endurance and accuracy?