Category Archives: Civilian Marksmanship Program Matches

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

Posted on by

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.

20140701-204944.jpg

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.

20140701-205050.jpg

Rimfire Practice

Posted on by

It was a perfect weekend here in SEPA, sunny mid 70s just a light breeze.

I managed to sneak away from my yard work for a hour or two with my rimfire A2.

20140603-210051.jpg

The high power range was crowded, due to the nice weather, but I had the rimfire range more or less to myself, which was relaxing. I had a couple of things to work on.

First I’ve been having some problems with my hand cramping/fatiguing in slow prone. I theorized I had a bit too much “downward pressure” so I brought my sling out another notch which seemed to help. Of course now I’m getting awful close to running out of sling.

20140603-210225.jpg

Second, I needed to work on off hand. While I’ll never be done practicing, I came to some interesting revelations. The High Power range must be angled up hill because my NPA is awful high. This isn’t so much a problem but explains why my position varies from range to range. Additionally, I pulled up and left, just like I did at the matches the weekend before. After reviewing the video on my GoPro it looks like I am flinching a little in anticipation, even with my 22. So some more dry fire and rimfire practice are in order.

Unrelated to practice, I enjoyed spending some time with my 22. The range was quite, shaded and peaceful. It was a nice change, I am going to try to spend some more time shooting 22.

Memorial Day Service Rifle, Vintage and JCG Matches

Posted on by

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.

20140528-194658.jpg

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.

20140528-200543.jpg

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

Posted on by

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

20140428-075612.jpg

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.

20140428-080411.jpg

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.

20140428-080720.jpg

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.

20140428-081418.jpg

Clinic at York Riflemen

Posted on by

I took a trip out to York Riiflemen for an informal Service Rifle clinic. It was really perfect timing for me, as I’ve only shot 6 Service Rifle matches with my A2, and frankly, I haven’t spent a lot of time practicing with it.

It was a beautiful sunny and warm (50s) day with almost a foot of lingering snow on the range and lots of mud.

20140310-211148.jpg

One of the coaches went over a some tips on off hand. Take your time, and remember to focus on trigger pull, be consistent, avoid target panic.

We had a 20 minute block of time to work on off hand, I took a few shots prone to get a 200 yard zero (+6 1/4.) I tried out a change to my off hand position, resting the mag in my palm. I got some good advice from the coaches and feel a bit better about off hand.

After off hand we did a couple of strings of rapid sitting, which was great, because I have neglected practicing this position. I have some things to work on there too. You’ll see some of them in this video.

I’m going to keep recording my shooting and watching it afterwards. It’s been enlightening to see what I’m really doing compared to what I think I’m doing.

I picked up a few things to work on.

1. Stop dancing around in off hand (still)
2. Remember to breath
3. Always stage the trigger even in off hand

Additionally I’ll try and step up the dry firing off hand in my shooting jacket, I’ve been getting a little lazy keeping my elbow on my side.

It was a great clinic and should give me a good base to build on for the season. I’ll be back in April for their Garand match.

The view from the pit during rapid sitting:

20140310-211302.jpg