Leighton Wins Three-Gun Aggregate and Vintage Sniper Match Debuts at 2011 Eastern CMP Games

CAMP BUTNER, NORTH CAROLINA - The 2011 Eastern CMP Games brought new and old friends to the firing line under four days of sunny North Carolina skies 7-10 May. A few new champions were crowned and many came away with CMP achievement medals, but all took home some great shooting memories and experience in competitive marksmanship.

The fifth Eastern CMP Games were the largest in the series of matches that feature competitions using former military rifles, sporter rifles and more. The Butner event is the spring bookend to the Western CMP Games at Ben Avery Shooting Facility in Phoenix, Arizona fired in October. The events are virtual mirror images of each other with the exception of a pistol competition at Camp Butner.

In addition to the games matches, the CMP offered four clinics during the Games. A Garand & Springfield Match Clinic was taught by retired CMP Director Gary Anderson and J.J. O’Shea, head of M1 for Vets, held a Range Officials Certification Program, both on Saturday morning. In addition, shooters were also given an opportunity to participate in a Vintage Sniper Match Clinic and Hornady Reloading Clinic; both conducted by Dave Emary, chief ballistician at Hornady.

The backbone of the Eastern and Western CMP Games are the “GSM” As-Issued Military Rifle matches. Three different 30-shot Garand, Springfield and Vintage Military Rifle Matches were fired on Saturday afternoon, Monday morning and Tuesday morning so competitors could have an opportunity to fire all three rifles. For shooters who wished to shoot the same gun more than once had the option to re-enter with the same or second gun on Monday and Tuesday. Competition for the High Three-Gun Aggregate (GSM) award also ran high throughout the event.

Val Forgett III, president of Gibbs Rifle Company, left, and match director Dennis DeMille, right, present Sean Leighton a replica 1903A3 Springfield rifle for winning the Three-Gun Aggregate Match at the 2011 Eastern CMP Games. Leighton won the John C. Garand and Springfield matches outright and finished second in the Vintage Rifle Match.

Sean Leighton, of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, won the GSM series (870-15X), capturing the John C. Garand and Springfield rifle matches outright. Leighton was edged out of the three-gun sweep in the Vintage Military Rifle match on center X’s by Glendale “Don” Rutherford, of Tallapoosa, Georgia, (291-10X to 291-3X), who finished second overall in the GSM (862-18X). Barry Waits, of Waxhaw, N. Carolina, scored third place honors in the GSM with an aggregate score of 855-20X. Franco Scarpino, of Pembroke, Massachusetts, and Randy Ent, of Russell, Pennsylvania, followed at fourth and fifth in the aggregate match results, respectively.

Franco Scarpino was the High Senior shooter in both the John C. Garand and Springfield rifle matches. He took home a pair of new Dupage Trading Company rifle stocks for his efforts.

In a tight finish in the Garand match, Leighton’s 289-3X topped Waits (288-11X) by one shot and Waits edged Hornady’s Dave Emary, of St. Paul, Nebraska, (288-9X) in a center shot tiebreaker for second place.

In the Springfield match, Leighton (290-9X) topped Curry Adcock, of nearby Creedmoor, North Carolina, (286-8X) and Richard Bodine, of Frederick, Maryland, (286-4X) who finished second and third, respectively. Leighton’s standing stage of 95-2X was the highest of the 111 entrants and proved the difference in the match. Adcock fired a clean prone stage and tied Leighton in prone rapid with 96, and fell just short.

Don Rutherford rocks with the recoil of his Springfield 1903A3 as Bob Schanen fires an offhand round downrange from his M1 Garand. Rutherford finished second in the Three Gun Aggregate and won the Vintage Military Rifle match the next day with his 6.5mm Swede.

Rutherford and Leighton locked horns in the Vintage Military Match, but the contest was decided by Rutherford’s center shots in the slow fire prone stage. Both cleaned the opening stage and they traded a point in rapid and standing. Rutherford buried seven shots in the X-ring, finishing with five consecutive X’s in slow prone for the win.

Gary Anderson, CMP Director Emeritus, presents Robbie White with an award plaque for highest score for a Non-Distinguished competitor in the As-Issued EIC match. White earned his introductory leg points in the match.

In the As-issued Garand Excellence-in-Competition (EIC) match on Sunday, Robbie White, of Statesville, North Carolina, led all non-Distinguished rifle shooters and earned his first four “leg” points with an aggregate score of 373-5X. The top 10 percent of all 87 non-Distinguished shooters were eligible to win leg points. The course of fire is 10 shots prone, 10 shots rapid prone, 10 shots rapid sitting and 10 shots standing. The eight other shooters who earned points toward their Distinguished Rifle Badge were:

Nine shooters earned their introductory leg points toward a Distinguished Rifle Shot badge in the As-Issued EIC match at the Eastern Games. From left are Jay Adams, Robbie White, Bill Fairless, Curtis Petchler, Danny Jackson Sr., David Michailof, Joe Thielen and Clint Randles. The awards were presented by Gary Anderson, far right. The ninth winner, Christopher Zwier, appears in the next photo in this story.

Jay Adams, Hickory, NC. - 371-2X
Curtis Petchler, Olmsted Twp, OH - 367-2X
Bill Fairless, Vienna, IL - 367-2X
David Michailof, Riverdale Pk, MD - 361-8X
Joseph Thielen, Grand Island, NE - 361-3X
Clint Randles , Greenville, NC - 360-7X
Christopher Zwier, Snow Camp, NC - 359-8X
Danny Jackson, Sr., Oakland, MD - 359-1X

Rich Baldwin, 69, of Durham, North Carolina, left, and Christopher Zwier, 50, of Snow Camp, North Carolina, are veteran Eastern Games participants. Zwier earned his introductory leg points in the As-Issued EIC Garand match. Both shooters belong to the Durham Pistol and Rifle Club.

The Eastern CMP Games also included three other individual rifle events, a Rimfire Sporter Match fired on Sunday afternoon and an M1 Carbine Match fired on Monday afternoon. The first official Vintage Sniper Match capped off the rifle events in highly-successful fashion with 47 two-person teams.

The Rimfire Sporter event was added to the Eastern Games program in 2009 to introduce shooters in the Mid-Atlantic region to this fast growing discipline. In its third season at the Eastern CMP Games, three relays of shooters participated in, telescopic class (52 shooters), open class (18 shooters) and tactical rifle class (2 shooters).

William Flagg, left, was the overall Rimfire Sporter high shooter, winning the T-Class with a score of 598-44X. It was his third-ever rifle competition. Flagg finished second in 2010 and he won the match in his first match in 2009. His brother Judson, right, has also competed in each of the last three years.

William Flagg, Jr. from Ashland, Virginia, fired a near-perfect 598-44X in his third-ever competition to win the 2011 Eastern Games Rimfire Sporter T-Class. Paul Snider, of Kill Devil Hills, N. Carolina, fired a 597-27X to finish second and perennial challenger Ron Villanueva, of Parma Heights, Ohio, finished third with a score of 593-34X.

William Mayor, of Gibsonville, North Carolina, won the Rimfire Sporter O-Class championship with an aggregate score of 569-18X.

William Mayor, of Gibsonville, N. Carolina, won the O-Class (open sighted rifles) award with an aggregate score of 569-18X. Donald Flanagan, of Marietta, New York, took second place with a total score of 568-11X and Jason Ruhala, of Hedgesville, W. Virginia, placed third with an aggregate score of 566-14X.

William Ellis, of Slough, England, defeated John Kerrigan, of Annapolis, Maryland, in the tactical rifle class with an aggregate score of 571-21X to 557-15X, respectively. The tactical class is in just its second year in the Rimfire Sporter program.

Kenneth Lygren won the 2011 Eastern Games Carbine Match with an aggregate score of 356-1X. CMP Board of Directors member Marsha Beasley presented the award.

Kenneth Lygren, of Crouse, N. Carolina, captured the M1 Carbine match with an aggregate total of 356-1X, edging out Glendale “Don” Rutherford by a point. Rutherford fired a 355-2X for second. Samuel Hartsock, of Mansfield, Ohio, placed third with a 351-4X total. A total of 92 competitors fired the .30 caliber carbine course at 100 yards.

One of the most anticipated events of the four-day 2011 Eastern CMP Games was the inaugural Vintage Sniper Rifle Team Match. The match objective is to test the long-range sniper skills of two-person teams who fire vintage sniper rifles that were deployed during the Korean War, World War II or earlier. Match rules stated that all rifles used must have been issued in 1953 or earlier. Rifle could be equipped with as-issued or replica optics. Any safe ammo was allowed, including handloads.

Match Director Dennis DeMille, left, presented Blain Clowdis, center, and Douglas Armstrong winners’ plaques for capturing the inaugural Vintage Sniper Match championship with a team aggregate score of 382-8X. The match received rave reviews from match participants immediately following the competition. A total of 47 two-person teams fired the first official match on Tuesday, 10 May at Camp Butner.

Team Armstrong-Clowdis, comprised of Douglas Armstrong, of Lexington, N. Carolina, and Blair Clowdis, of Randleman, N. Carolina, won the inaugural 2011 Vintage Sniper Match with an aggregate score of 382-8X on a warm, partly cloudy day with light to no-wind conditions.

Armstrong fired a 99-4X at 300 and 95-2X at 600 yards while Clowdis followed with a 93-0X and 95-2X, respectively. Armstrong-Clowdis topped Two Guys and a Gun, Dale Martin, of Circleville, Ohio, and Sean Leighton by five points (377-8X) and third place finishers, Team Hornady (Dave Emary and Joe Thielen), who fired a 371-6X.

The inaugural match also included an unlikely team of two girls from Virginia, Jessica Hudson, 12, of Halifax and Beth Hodges, 14, of Nathalie. The pony-tailed tandem finished 40th out of 47 teams in a match loaded with grizzled military veterans.

The inaugural match also included an unlikely team of two girls from Virginia, Jessica Hudson, 12, of Halifax and Beth Hodges, 14, of Nathalie. The pony-tailed tandem finished 40th out of 47 teams in a match loaded with grizzled military veterans.

During the Eastern CMP Games, several sponsors provided awards to individual event winners. Those awards include a Bushmaster AR-15 rifle to Robbie White (M1 Garand EIC Non-Distinguished High Shooter), three Dupage Trading Company rifle stocks - one to Michael Rhodes Jr., of Grantsville, Maryland, (High Senior Vintage Military Shooter), and two to Franco Scarpino (High Senior in Springfield and Garand matches).

A Criterion rifle barrel was awarded to Sean Leighton (High M1 Garand Shooter) and a Gibbs 1903A3 replica rifle to Leighton as the Three-Gun Aggregate winner. Savage Arms donated a .22 caliber target rifle, which was awarded to Cameron Covington, of Winston-Salem, N. Carolina, for the best center shot in the Rimfire Sporter O-Class. Remington provided a Model 597 .22 caliber sporter rifle, which was awarded to Robert Crumb, of Tecumseh, Ontario, Canada, who fired the best center shot in the Rimfire Sporter T-Class.

In addition to the many Gold, Silver and Bronze Achievement medals that were presented each day after firing concluded, several additional categories of awards were presented for each of the rifle matches.

Winners in these events were:

M1 Garand Match High Overall - Sean Leighton 289-3X
High Senior - Franco Scarpino 287-5X
High Junior - Robert Hudson II 268-3X
High Handicap - Barry Waits -11

Vintage Military Rifle Match High Overall - Don Rutherford 291-10X
High Senior - Michael Rhodes Jr. 282-4X
High Junior - Robert Hudson II 266-5X
High Handicap - Don Rutherford -10

Carbine Match High Overall - Kenneth Lygren 356-1X
High Senior - Kenneth Lygren 356-1X
High Junior Gabe - Rampy 334-6X

Rimfire Sporter Match, T-Class High Overall - William Flagg, Jr. 598-44X
High Senior - Phil Randall 592-30X
High Junior - Robert Hudson II 585-26X
High Woman - Jessica Hudson 573-16X

Rimfire Sporter Match, O-Class High Overall - William Mayor 569-18X
High Senior - William Mayor 569-18X
High Junior - Cameron Covington 550-8X
High Woman - Aline Akelis 556-11X

Rimfire Tactical Rifle Class - William Ellis 571-21X

Complete scores for the 2011 Eastern CMP Games rifle events are posted at http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=6477.  Complete results for the new Eastern CMP pistol events are posted at http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=7304. Photos taken during the 2011 Eastern CMP Games are posted at http://cmp1.zenfolio.com.

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