Somewhere on the internet I read that if you buy a new Criterion Barrel at the north store during the National Matches the CMP armorers van will install it for free. So, I hauled my rack grade Winchester with me to the Matches.

I rolled in to Camp Perry late in the afternoon on the Sunday before SAFS. There was not a lot going on in Camp at that time, it was nice to have the place more or less to myself. I stopped by the CMP van and confirmed that the internet was right, then headed over to the CMP store and picked up a barrel.

CMP went above and beyond again. Not only did they install the new barrel for free they tuned the op rod, replaced some small parts and gave me some advice on other parts to replace. All in about a half hour, which was enough time for me to spend too much money on commercial row.

There are some conditions on this. You will need to be a registered participant in the national matches and turn around and ability is based on how busy they are.

Now that this rifle has a nice new barrel I plan to replace the stock and perhaps the gas tube which should give me another nice rifle to use for JCG matches.

While I didn’t think to bring the receiver with me, I also picked up a CBI barrel for my 03A3 which brings me close to completing my 03A3 build.

I met up with Josh from CBI during the Vintage Sniper Match. He was working on a story about some shooters on the line using CBI barrels. We talked a little bit about the matches, CBI’s background, their future plans and firearms in general. I was impressed with their focus on quality and how they have strived to maintain quality during the “panic.” They have some exciting things in the pipeline. I won’t give any spoilers but it’s probably going to end with me spending more money!