Category Archives: Civilian Marksmanship Program Matches

2016 D-Day Match at CMP Talladgea Marksmanship Park 

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We had so much fun at the inaugural D-Day match at  Talladega last year we flew back down. This time for both the Garand match and the EIC.

It really is a great range to shoot at. This time around there was less fanfare as the range had been open for a year. The Friday before we were about to check our zeroes and get a little practice on Range 1.

Saturday was the Garand match, I did really well in prone. However that’s where it stopped, as I seem to have forgotten how  to offhand with the Garand.

My  buddy remembered how to do all three stages right and brought himself home a gold medal! Most impressively he shot a 98 in rapid prone after his clip latch gave out and ejected his eight round clip about five rounds too soon.

On the upside I didn’t leave empty-handed as my name was picked to win a nice DuPage stock. I’m going use this for a match grade garand with a heavy barrel.


Sunday was EIC. Which was what we came down to Alabama to shoot.

I was a little soggy office and dropped more points than normal in rapid. However I was able to post one of my better 600 yards scores and beat my personal EIC best by one point. While that was not good enough for points I’m happy with my score, I’m making progress in learning some things.

CMP put on a great event. A games match and an EIC the same weekend really make the trip worthwhile and without pit duty an entire EIC match takes less than an hour. Which leaves lots of time for relaxing afterwards!

Electronic Targets: reliable but not infallible.


There was some drama last year around the KTS targets. It was much less of an issue this year. While there were several challenges, only in one case that I am aware of did the shooter win.

The new rules for electronic targets seem a bit harsh to me. If a shooter challenges and loses they will lose 3 points as opposed to the typical cash fee. I am in the “pro electronic target” camp but let’s be honest they are not infallible and risking 3 points is an awful hard choice to make with no information other then your shot calls.

Personally I’d like to see CMP back off on this one and apply the same challenge rules that have applied to paper targets for years to electronic targets.
PS If anyone from CMP reads this my wife would like me to ask if maybe next year you could sell hotdogs and snacks durring the day 🙂

Movin’ on up: Matches at New Holland, Kimberton and York

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In the run up to the CMP eastern games I shot a series of matches over two weekends.

First the season opener NRA 800 Agg at New Holland.


With the exception of a saved round in sitting due to a round that turned out to have some moisture in it, this turned out to be a great match for me. I shot slightly better than my average which should have been enough to earn an expert card!

Kimberton NRA and Garand Matches.

Back at my home club for the first NRA service rifle match of the year. This was my first match at this club with my new 2016 service rifle. It is a reduced course 100 yard 600 agg on a dark range which really gives the scope an advantage as it’s easier to see. I posted my first master scores and I was most proud of a pair of 99s I posted in slow prone on that tricky MR-31 target.


York Rifleman Spring Garand Match and 500 agg. 

Despite all the travel games I’ve been to York Rifleman’s Garand matches are some of my favorite.

I have been to every garand match at York since 2012 and I’m happy to report I finally made the medal cut. It was a close one due to a bad LC round (At least that’s my excuse) but it felt good to break the York curse!

 



Quick AAR: First Across The Course Match With Optics

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  Took my shiny new, optics equipped service rifle down to Quantico for fleet week to give it a work out.

Some quick observations. I am using the VXR 1-4 with a SPR-G reticle.

1. My zeros were 100% and my windage changes went where I expected.

2. The back berm is where it mattered the most. Today was just me vs the wind. As opposed to me vs my eyes. When the math was right the shot went where it should. Best of all after the string my eyes didn’t hurt.

2. I like the dot. There has been a lot of speculation on the right reticle. At least for me it doesn’t seem to matter. I put the green dot in the middle of the black dot and squeaze.

3. Hold off. There was some crazy shifting wind at 600 today. I was able to hold off when I could see the conditions changing.  In theory this can be done with irons but it seemed much simpler to me with optics. With the light conditions I could just make out some of the scoring rings and was able to slice up the black for windage in a pinch.

4. Seeing the spotter. This one is minor but I’ve been using the rifle scope to see my last shot instead of my Konus. Shoot #1 > load > see shot #1 > make needed changes >take shot #2 > plot shot #1. While a little goofy at first this way, I am able to use the time the target is down to plot my shot in my score book. 

Bottom line: I like it. For me it seems to make a difference and be worth any trade offs at least for now. I posted a 458/500 which is my best EIC so far, even with a Hail Mary in sitting.

Let’s see what I say after tomorrow’s match  as they are calling for rain! 

Pre-Season Practice Match at New Holland: New Personal Best 

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New Holland Rifle and Pistol Club runs a series of monthly matches they call “shoot and scoot” in the off-season. Work had caused me to miss the first couple and the February match was moved inside due to single digit temperatures. But I finally made it out to the last one this weekend.

It was a beautiful March day sunny and in the 50s.


We shot a reduced “SAFS course of fire” which is 10 rounds each stage, slow prone rapid prone, rapid sitting, off-hand. I brought the new Optics equipped A4 service rifle to give it a full work out.

I wasn’t super happy with my rapid prone or my off-hand, but when I got home and did the math, I beat my personal best by 3% which is a statistically  significant difference  from my scores last year. Of course there are a lot of things at play here so it’s not good science to say the rifle is the cause. I have been working with my SCATT trainer in the off-season and i have never shot a reduced match at this range. The lighting and conditions here are just perfect which contributed to a good score.

A little story about off-hand, My first 3 shots were in the white, a pair of 8s and a shameful 7. I took a little break, told my self to put them all in the center of the target shuffled my NPA and then some how didn’t leave the black again. Sometimes all it takes is reminding yourself to shoot the middle of the target.



Last Match of a Great 2015 Season!

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It has been a very long and eventful season.  I’ve burnt up in excess of 3000 rounds, brought my personal best up 30 points, won some medals, shot in matches all over the country and started to get serious about Service Rifle. But all good things must come to an end.

This was the last regular season match at Kimberton Fish and Game, it was a typical summer day, except it was December. It was hazy and warm in the mid to high 60s.

Prone

Prone

Slow prone went well, 97-3, I’m pretty happy with that, especially with the dark conditions and HXP.

That proved to be the bright spot of the match as things went down hill from there. Popped a couple 7’s in rapid prone and a pair of misses in off hand to wrap it up. Can’t win them all I suppose.

DCIM132GOPRO

off hand

Now that the season is over, I’m not going to sit just around. There is a freezer match in January and then some “shoot and scoot” high power format practice matches I plan on attending before the regular season picks back up in April. I am especially excited to get my new 4x scope mounted to my service rifle and try it out!