Redemption in the Poconos: Wilkes-Barre Rifle and Pistol Club Service Rifle

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.

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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

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.

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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

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.

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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.

 

Wilkes-Barre Rifle & Pistol Club Match

The last of my “3 matches in 3 weeks” marathon was with the good folks at Wilkes-Barre Rifle & Pistol Club

It’s a long drive for me and when that alarm went off at 5:30 I was very tempted to roll over and go back to bed. I’m glad I did not.

They have a beautiful range way back in the woods. (it’s a little hard to find by GPS)

This was their first as issued match they worked hard to make it a good one and did a very nice job.

We used a single target per person. We walked down to score and paste between each string (including the sighters) the breaks made for a nice leisurely pace with plenty of time to re-focus. There were lots of new shooters there and everyone was very helpful.

I beat my personal best by 1x for a 224/300 3x.

My slow prone was less than stellar. My working excuse is I kept fiddling with the elevation knob and managed to take a shot with it bottomed out. I’ll have to keep an eye on it. I may need to replace some parts if this keeps happening.

On a positive note I think I have finally figured out how to place the scope stand. Which long story short is bring it all the way down and pull it in real close. I quickly learned to tighten everything on the “head” so when I bump it I don’t end up looking at the grass or the woods or New Jersey.

I really felt great in rapid. I practiced dropping to a natural point of aim from standing during the prep period. Which helped me find the a nice position.

Off hand well… is off hand.

This was good enough for me to make third place and they were kind enough to give me a pin. Which made my day!

I will definitely be back. Next month I’m taking the 1917 back to Kimberton to try redeem myself after my poor showing last time I took it out.