Category Archives: John C. Garand

July ’14 Garand Match

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Freshly back from Camp Perry, I went to my club’s monthly Garand Match. I skipped the Service Rifle Match the day before thanks to US Airways delaying my flight the night before. I felt a little weird call off from a match, I felt more guilty than calling off for work. It was warm and a little overcast on Sunday but a good day for shooting. While it’s probably an excuse, my Garand was just stripped down and reassembled after a good soaking at Camp Perry so it may not have been “settled into the wood” just yet. 10527598_741283479254850_4002542591776222371_n

That said, I had a decent match, I dropped some 7s in slow prone, which I am blaming on the freshly reassembled rifle. I did have a miss in off hand, that I beat my self up about a bit. However, I took a look at some of my stats, and I do seem to be making some progress in off hand.  I need to keep working on off hand, more dry firing,  and more time with my 22.   DCIM108GOPRO

Garand and Vintage Military Matches at Camp Perry 2014: Rain Rain Go Away

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During my Pre-dawn drive to Camp Perry for the Garand and Vintage Military Matches I checked the weather 4 times. Each time it was different.

Earlier in the week TWC was calling for a high of 79 and a 10% chance of rain. Somewhere  things took a down hill turn as it was raining as I arrived at Perry.

I shot on Rodriguez for the first time, and it was nice not having to walk so far in the AM. I was lucky enough to get assigned to Rodriguez for JCG in the AM and Vintage in the PM so I didn’t have to take the shooter shuttle between ranges.

I shot first in the Garand Match, it was raining steadily in all 3 strings of fire. It was challenging to keep a good sight picture with everything so wet, I stopped several times in slow prone to blow water out if my rear aperture. I was happy with my shooting under the conditions but I had a miss in off hand which will give me nightmares for the next 12 months.

I had a clip get hung up on the reload in rapid, luckily I had a back up clip ready to go and tossed the bad clip and was able to reload and finish the string with plenty of time. I don’t typically keep an extra clip loaded for rapid but I will from now on.

The rain stopped in time for pit duty, Afterwards, there was a bit of a break while we waited for the Viale crew to wrap up and work their way over to Rodriguez. Leaving plenty of time to squad and get through the t-shirt line. I took the break to try and dry off some of myself and gear.

After the break I shot first again with my 1917. We haven’t always gotten along very well but we put our problems behind us. I was happy with my performance, could have done better in off hand, as always.

I again had trouble on the reload in rapid. I bumbled the loading from the stripper clip, I thought for sure I was going to run out of time, but I recovered and got them all on target even if the last couple did rush their way into the 7 ring.

After that it was off to the pits and home. Unfortunately I had to travel for work Sunday night so I hauled out of the gates of Perry and drove as far as I could keep my eyes open which was Pittsburgh.

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Stripping wet rifles down in an airport hotel room is perfectly normal right?

Despite the rain I had a great time and met some great people. I got to spend some time with the guys from my club, which is always nice, and learned some new things. Next year I want to try and shoot more events,  Springfield with my hopefully soon to be complete 03A3, and more of the “black rifle” events.

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June ’14 JCG and Service Rifle: a Series of Missadventures

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It’s the last month before Camp Perry I shot in both NRA Service Rifle and CMP JCG matches earlier in the month.

For service rifle on a whole I did well but I cross fired on myself in slow prone (9 in one target 11 in the other.) I didn’t pay good enough attention to the right time to switch targets, this was a little frustrating as I would have easily broke into the next classification.

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I did especially well in off hand in this match. I used my timer to maximize my time per shot which helped.

Sunday I shot in a JCG match, I brought a new shooter with me, he did exceptionally well. Unfortunately, my off hand success in service rifle didn’t translated to JCG and, I had a bad off hand string which pulled my over all down. There isn’t much time before Camp Perry so I intend to spend as much time as I can between now and then trying to tighten up off hand with my Garand.

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Memorial Day Service Rifle, Vintage and JCG Matches

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I took the whole rifle family out to the range for Memorial Day weekend. NRA high power then CMP Vintage with my US 1917 wrapped up with a Garand match.

Both days were perfect for shooting, mid 70s and partly cloudy. Just a little wind gust from time to time but not enough to matter.

All 3 matches I struggled in off hand, more practice, more practice, more practice.

Additionally I’m having some issues with my support hand cramping, especially in slow prone, I’m going to try some different grips maybe loosen the sling a little.

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Since I’m been tracking my groups in my data books it appears I have been ignoring a bit of a bad zero with my A2. This weekend I’m going to take it to the bench and adjust the front sight post. I may move back from 6:00 hold to center mass.

I still have some work to do but I still have some time until Perry.

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My leisurely rapid prone with my 1917. Note I jerk the trigger a bit on the last two shots.

First Matches of the 2014 season

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It was a beautiful weekend to kick off the 2014 season. Low 60s, sunny and calm.

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Saturday I took the A2 out for high power. I got a little sloppy in off hand but I was otherwise happy with my performance. I’ve been working on trigger control and breathing that seems to be helping especially in rapid.

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Early Sunday morning I drove across the river to shoot in York Riflemen’s spring Garand match. I spent the first couple relays in the pits.

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After the pit change I shot well in both prone stages. This was my first match with the John Weller sling I picked up at Camp Perry this year. I should have spent more time slinging up with it in my jacket before taking it out, as I had to “de sling” and adjust it a bit longer but since we had a block time (prep and shooting lumped together) I finished with plenty of time.

I made good use of both my timer and my score book in this match. It’s much easier to use a score book with pit service. Trying to find the holes through the scope for our walk and paste matches at KFGA can be frustrating.

Oh off hand, I really need to step up my focus on this stage. After shooting some of the best prone stages I’ve ever shot I the. Proceeded to blow it in off hand. My candid reaction to my off hand scores as recorded by my GoPro.

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