Strag

It's almost that time of the year again. The 2006 National Matches will begin in a few weeks at Camp Perry, Ohio. Fortunately for me, I live relatively close to Camp Perry, so I'm able to participate in some of the matches fairly conveniently!

National Matches Website


Of particular interest to me this year is the M1 Carbine match. The War Baby hasn't been featured in competition at the National Matches since the 1950s, so it'll be interesting to see how things go. From the 2006 National Matches Program:

DATE-TIME. Thursday, 3 August. Firing begins at 7:30 AM.

COURSE OF FIRE. The M1 Carbine Course of Fire (CMP Rules, Table 9) is used. Competitors will fire 5 sighting and 10 shots for record in slow fire prone, 10 shots prone rapid fire in 60 seconds, 10 shots sitting rapid fire in 60 seconds and 10 shots slow fire standing in 10 minutes. All firing will be at 100 yards on the military “A” target (or the SR target if “A” targets are not readily available).

SQUADDING. The M1 Carbine Match will be fired from the 200 yard line on Rodriguez Range at targets that are placed 100 yards away. A maximum of 160 competitors can fire on one relay. Entries for a maximum of three relays will be accepted. The range capacity for this match is 480 competitors. Relay and firing point assignments will be issued on the range. Competitors will score for each other and will move forward to score and paste or change targets after each firing series.

RIFLES. “As-issued” U. S. Military Carbines that comply with CMP Rule 6.2.6 must be used. Carbines may have a sling that can be no longer than 48 inches from the lift-the-dot closure to the sling tip. If a sling is attached, it may be used in the firing position, but the sling must remain attached at both attachment points at all times.

AMMUNITION. U. S. Military.30 Cal. M1 Carbine ammunition will be issued by the CMP and must be used by all competitors.


I and my Inland M1 Carbine are registered for this match. I'll be taking my camera, so if anyone is interested I'll be happy to share my pictures and my experiences. I'm really looking forward to this one!

CingularDuality

I would love to see some pictures from Perry! I've got so many things I need to do first, but I'll be going to compete in the National Matches in a few years.

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TacticalGamer TX LAN/BBQ Veteran:

Strag

Great! This is the first year I'll have a digital camera up there, so I'll take a bunch. I'll be shooting in a few other matches, so I'll get pictures of those as well.

Trooper

Strag we may need to get together on this, i will be moving to Marysville on Thursday. Would be cool to actually go to this and check it out. I have actually wanted to go to one for a long time, i mean why not, some great shooters at that place.

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that sounds like a good idea trooper.
-Vulcan

perry

Somone want pictures of moi?!

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CingularDuality

Do you shoot service rifle? That's where I want to be...

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TacticalGamer TX LAN/BBQ Veteran:

Strag

Not yet, but that's what I'm working up to. I've been shooting in the "CMP Games" matches for the past few years, which are matches like the Garand match, the Springfield match, the Rimfire Sporter match, and now the new M1 Carbine match. These matches are a great way to get into service rifle shooting, IMO, and they're also a lot of fun.

Another good way to get into service rifle shooting is to enroll in the Small Arms Firing School (SAFS) Rifle, which includes instruction by the Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) as well as range time with an M16A2. This is an inexpensive course held at Camp Perry each year during the National Matches; there is also a corresponding SAFS Pistol. I've been through SAFS Rifle once and really enjoyed it.

JMJ

Eventually I will get there to compete in the bullseye pistol matches......just not this year

Barracuda_Magoo

I just got my M1 from CMP a couple days ago, and I foresee needing lots of practice with it.

My unit used to let us do our AT's at Perry on the range crew, but last year a few guys got us a pretty bad reputation (something about stolen golf carts and drunken skinny dipping). We weren't invited back this year. I missed last year, so I'll probably never get to do it now.

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Strag

What'd they send you? Was it something other than a Springfield?

Barracuda_Magoo

Nope. Service grade Greek. According to the new catolog, the only non-Springfield's they're selling are H&R collector grades.

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Strag

The Rimfire Sporter match was this past weekend. This was the first match I attended as part of the 2006 National Matches. It's probably not of much interest to many since it involves only .22LR rifles, so I took some pictures of the various armored vehicles (Abrams and Sherman tanks, among others) and helicopters (Cobra and Huey) on display on the base, along with some pictures of the match itself. I'll post these soon. Overall, it was a fun day of shooting.

Strag

Okay, some pics of the armor, helicopters, and missile on display at Camp Perry; where applicable, a plaque describing each vehicle follows its picture:

Vehicle Display

M42 Duster
M42 Duster Plaque

M113 APC
M113 APC Plaque

Nike-Hercules SAM
Nike-Hercules SAM Plaque

M551 Sheridan
M551 Sheridan Plaque

AH-1 Cobra
AH-1 Cobra Plaque

UH-1H "Huey"
UH-1H "Huey" Plaque

M4 Sherman
M4 Sherman Plaque

M1 Abrams -- Front
M1 Abrams -- Rear

Abrams & Sherman -- Rear
Abrams & Sherman -- Front

Strag

5th Annual National Rimfire Sporter Match

Here are pics of the 2006 National Rimfire Sporter match. You can read the rules and see the course of fire here. This is a fun, easy match that allows shooters who own "garden variety" .22s a chance to shoot their rifles in a match. I've shot in this match several times now, and have enjoyed it every time. This year I shot with aperture sights instead of open sights.


Commercial Row -- This is the 2006 edition of Commercial Row. In each one of these beige buildings is tons and tons of shooting supplies and other related merchandise. Companies like Champion's Choice, Rock River Arms, Springfield Armory, Bushmaster, DPMS, and many others inhabit these buildings during the Matches. Very tempting for those of us who like to shoot.


The Firing Line -- This is a shot looking down the firing line toward the low end. I was target #55, which was the last target on the high end. We had four relays in this match; a "relay" is when a group of shooters goes through the entire course of fire. So, in Relay 1, about 50 shooters went through the entire course of fire. Then, Relay 1 moved off the line, and Relay 2 moved up to the line to go through the entire course of fire, and so on and so forth for Relay 3 and Relay 4. This is typically how a match is conducted when there are more shooters than targets available on a given range.

This match was conducted on Viale Range, which is the 1,000-yard range at Camp Perry. This range was constructed in 1907 (and renovated this year) and is still going strong. FYI, Camp Perry is the largest outdoor rifle range in the world, and is the home of the annual US National Matches.

We fired our prone and sitting stages under the awning, which is actually the 1,000-yard line on Viale Range (the same firing line from which Carlos Hathcock fired his score of 100-17V when he won the 1965 Wimbledon Cup). On the right, you can see our targets on their target stands at a distance of 50 yards from the firing line. Halfway between the firing line and the targets (at 25 yards) is a row of tables, which is the distance from where the offhand (standing) stages were fired. Obviously these distances are fairly short, but we ARE talking about the .22LR cartridge, after all.


My Gear -- This is a shot of my rifle, my range bag, and my shooting mat on the firing line. The rifle is a modified Thompson/Center .22 Classic, and it's actually my Dad's. I normally shoot a modified Ruger 10/22 Carbine in this match, but it was out of commission this year. So, the Old Man lent me his T/C Classic for the match. It's a very nice rifle, and I'll probably have to get one.


Target #55 -- I had target #55, which, as I said, was the last target on the high end. In the far distance, you can see black-and-white numbers. Those numbers are nearly 1,000 yards away, and they're actually about eight feet tall; just behind them is where the targets normally appear on Viale Range during High Power competitions. Though not easily seen, there is also a 200-yard line, a 300-yard line, and a 600-yard line in the distance, all of which are used in High Power competition.


Through the Spotting Scope -- This is a shot of my target looking through my spotting scope, which is set on its lowest magnification of 20x. We use spotting scopes during the slow-fire stages to see where we're hitting. The target's bull is white in the Rimfire Sporter Match so that scope users can see their crosshairs.


Deer! -- Just to the right of the red sawhorse (near the center of the screen), you can see a deer. This deer ran all the way from the pits up to where you see it (around the 900-yard line), and then turned around and ran back to the pits. Then, it turned around AGAIN and ran BACK in our direction, finally exiting the range through a gate on the west side. This episode caused a cease-fire for at least 15 minutes, as firing may not commence when deer, dogs, or bald eagles are downrange. (Even if we HAD been able to shoot at it, I don't know if 50 .22s would have been very effective. ) I've seen plenty of bald eagles at Camp Perry, but this is the first time I've ever seen a deer!


Changing Targets -- Members of our Armed Forces Reserves served as target changers for us again this year. At the end of each stage, these folks would hustle out, change targets, and bring our spent targets back. Many fine folks, from each branch of our Armed Forces, shoot, instruct, and help out at the National Matches -- many thanks to each one of them.


The Offhand Line -- Here is a shot looking down the firing line where we fired our offhand stages. Shooters are waiting while the targets are changed.


Target #55 at 25 Yards -- Here is my target from the offhand line while targets are being pulled. The tables were provided for our spotting scopes and for our gear. You can see my spotting scope, rifle, ammo, and magazines (NOT CLIPS!) sitting on the table. The yellow rectangular thing sticking out of my rifle is an ECI, or Empty Chamber Indicator. This is a piece of plastic that actually fits into the chamber, with a large yellow "flag" attached, and shows everyone else that my rifle has been made safe (it cannot fire since the chamber is obstructed by the ECI). Each rifle on the range must have an ECI in place while out of its case (when it's not being fired), and it must be pointed downrange at all times. As with other shooting competitions, safety is taken very seriously at the National Matches.


Results, Prone Slowfire Stage -- Here I scored a 98-4X, which is a score of 98 with four hits in the "X" (centermost) ring. An "X" counts as ten points, but they can be used as tiebreakers.

Results, Prone Rapidfire Stage -- Here I scored a 93-0X.

Results, Sitting Slowfire Stage -- Here I scored a 95-2X. So far, so good.

Results, Sitting Rapidfire Stage -- Here I scored a 75-0X -- this is where I had my problem. In the Sitting Rapidfire stage, shooters start standing and then must drop down into a sitting (usually "Indian" style) or kneeling position when the "GO" signal is given, from where they fire five shots. All of this must happen in 25 seconds (which is why it's called "rapidfire"), which is normally plenty of time. Then, after five shots are fired, everyone stops, stands up again, and repeats the whole thing, for a total of ten shots.

In the first five-shot string of this stage, my first shot was a misfire. The firing pin struck the primer, but the round did not discharge. Since there are no refires because of rifle or ammunition malfunctions in this match, I lost ten points right there, as this shot automatically counted as a miss. So, I had to manually cycle the bolt to chamber a new round, and by this point I was rushing. I hurried my first shot, which went way high and into the six-ring. The other shots I pulled to the right -- not terribly, but the shot in the seven-ring definitely didn't help things. This string killed me. The second five-shot string was fine, but the damage was already done.

Results, Offhand Slowfire Stage -- Here I scored a 92-2X.

Results, Offhand Rapidfire Stage -- Here I scored a 93-1X.

Complete Match Results

My aggregate score for this match was 546-9X. The misfire killed me, but I still had a great time. Next year I hope to have my rifle back, and I hope to avoid any misfires. I'm sure I can improve.



Enjoy! Coming up after this weekend I should have pics from the SAFS Rifle.

icky

Nobody wants your damn pictures! Let it go man!

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