Back in 2012 when I was just getting started shooting Garand Matches I attended WBRP’s first Garand match. I had been meaning to return for some time and since I had the day free and I was looking for some trigger time (and some redemption from the Talladega match), I loaded up the truck and headed up north early in the morning.
It was a full 10 degrees cooler up in Wilkes-Berre and in the low 70s when firing started. It was just a little bit overcast and by the time we rolled into the last stage the sun was out. They have nice covered firing points with a concrete floor which makes things a little easier.
This was a CMP “National Match Course” walk and paste, which is 50 shots 10 off-hand: 10 rapid sitting, 10 rapid prone, 20 slow prone. The rapid stages start from standing per CMP rules, which makes things interesting.
They allow service rifles and modern military to accommodate as many people as they can. There was even a women there who posted a respectable score with a AK-74. I brought both the Garand and the AR-15A2 with me but on the way up I decided to shoot the A2. I have big plans to shoot some black rifle events at Perry this year and I could use a little time on the trigger of that rifle.
Off Hand
Off Hand went well all things considered. I dropped a 5 then a 7 about half way. I reset my position and things went better from there. However, somewhere during the stage I put a nice shot at six o’clock into the 9 ring… of the hospital target.
Dropping into the sitting position is not something I do often since the High Power Matches we shoot at Kimberton are NRA. That said, I managed to not fall over and dropped into a decent NPA. The first magazine did not feed on the first try. I don’t think I pulled the charging handle all the way. I let this stress me out and rushed the sting more than I should have but in the end I am happy with sitting. I should practice getting into position and not rocking so much when I shoot.
Rapid Fire Sitting
I feel great about my prone. I did well in rapid prone and cleaned one of the two targets for slow prone. After letting a bad prone string at Talladega get in my head I needed a couple good strings laying on the shooting mat.
Prone
I am glad I made it back up to WBRP. It’s a great group of folks to shoot with and they run a nice match. I am going to try to make it back up there again in the fall with my Garand.