The CMP recently launched a series of National Match Air Rifle “Introductory Matches” to be held at selected ranges around the country. The purpose of these matches is to introduce shooters in those areas to this exciting new shooting sports discipline. The first of these matches, the NMAR Season Opener, was completed at the Lakeside Moose Family Center in Richmond, Virginia, on 27-28 February. 75 shooters from five states participated in this endeavor to bring NMAR to the Mid-Atlantic region.
The Lakeside Moose Family Center and the Turkey Creek 4-H Shooting Education Club hosted the match. A large multi-purpose room converted into an excellent 12-firing point air gun range that also serves as a home range for the 4-H club. Adjacent kitchen facilities gave everyone convenient access to snacks and lunches. Several local volunteers headed by 4-H club leader Owen Peters, assisted CMP staff from Camp Perry, Ohio, in conducting the match.
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The Lakeside Moose Family Center in Richmond, Virginia, was transformed into a 12-firing point air gun range that hosted the National Match Air Rifle Season Opener Match for 75 shooters on 27-28 February.
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Six different relays of shooters fired both the NMAR Standing Course and the NMAR 3x20 Full Course. Nathaniel Guernsey from Centreville, Virginia, posted the top score in the 80-shot NMAR aggregate. Guernsey, who earned the last points on his Distinguished Rifleman Badge at the 2009 Eastern CMP Games, used an AiR-15 AR-Clone to shoot 197-7X standing and 200-14X sitting scores on the way to his 780-33X total. Brooke Selmer from North, Virginia, posted the second highest score, a 773-30X, with a match rifle.
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Nathaniel Guernsey, Centreville, Virginia, who earned his Distinguished Rifleman Badge in 2009, fired an AiR-15 air rifle in shooting the top 800 aggregate score of 780-33X at Richmond.
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Participants in the Season Opener Match included a healthy mix of all types of shooters from experienced service rifle competitors to adults and juniors shooting in their first competitions. In fact, over 60 percent of the shooters were shooting in their first organized competition. Since one of the key objectives of the NMAR discipline is to offer new shooters an affordable, accessible shooting game, this was most encouraging.
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Many of the many new shooters in the Richmond match were adults shooting in their first organized competitive shooting events.
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The CMP is also starting a revised series of monthly NMAR Matches at the Camp Perry Marksmanship Training Center that will start on 24 April. The program for this match is posted at
http://www.odcmp.com/NMAR/CampPerry.htm.
Results from the Richmond NMAR Season Opener are posted on the CMP website at
http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=5149. Photographs from the Richmond event at posted at
http://cmp1.zenfolio.com/p427769224.
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Many new shooters were juniors who were getting their initial experiences with position air rifle shooting.
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