SAXONBURG— Like father, like son.

Tommy Ferraro, 10, son of Butler City High-Powered Rifle League president Tom Ferraro of Saxonburg, recently set the junior shooting record at the PALong-Range Regional Championship held at Reade Range.

Reade Range is located in Allemans, 12 miles north of Tyrone.

The younger Ferraro set the record on the F-class open Palma course, which consists of 15 shots from 800 yards, 15 shots from 900 yards and 15 shots from 1,000 yards.

Ferraro won the junior championship, which covers competitors from age 10 to 20.

"I never thought I'd get the record," Ferraro said "There were a lot of people there."

Tommy fired a 144-7X from 800 yards, 140-1X from 900 and 137-0X from 1,000 yards. All record rounds and sighting shots at 900 and 1,000 yards are done with no coaching help.

"Tommy was shooting with a rifle his late grandfather built in 2005, so this meant a lot to him,"his father said.

The younger Ferraro, a fifth grader at Calvary Academy, has been shooting for two years.

His father also is president of the Western Pennsylvania.30-Caliber League, based at Reade Range. His shooting accuracy is 97 percent or better.

"I've been a high-powered shooter since 1990," he said. "The Western Pennsylvania league has been around since 2003. This is still a fairly new sport.

"There is no qualifier for the regional. Anyone can enter."

This was Tommy's first regional competition. He is now preparing for the Pennsylvania State long range championship at Reade Range in September.