BLAKELY, GEORGIA – With 3,000 acres of former cotton and peanut fields, it might seem impossible to fill them all with shooting ranges, but the newly-opened American International Marksmanship Academy is finding ways to do it. The complex contains rifle, pistol and sporting clay ranges, plus a host of military and law enforcement specialty ranges and facilities.
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The city of Blakely, Georgia, is home to the American International Marksmanship Academy which offers 3,000 acres of facilities, including a 2,400-yard unknown distance target range used by the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit and U.S. Marine Corps snipers.
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The AIM Academy played host to CMP’s first-ever Georgia CMP Games 26-29 April and shooters from as far as south Florida and Wisconsin were treated to four days of clinics, rifle sales, CMP games matches and warm, sunny weather.
Though the timing of the event placed the Georgia CMP Games back-to-back weeks with the CMP Eastern Games and Creedmoor Cup matches a week later, just 500 miles up the road at Camp Butner, North Carolina, CMP planners grabbed the best open date available to get an opportunity to experience the AIM facility, which opened less than one year ago.
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The Shaw 1,000-yard highpower range was the location for nearly all of the events at the 2012 Georgia
CMP Games at American International Marksmanship Academy in Blakely, GA.
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“We anticipated a light turn-out, but we were pleased that the shooters who participated really enjoyed our programs, clinics and the environment,” said Christie Sewell, CMP Programs General Manager. “The event brought in several new shooters and many familiar faces too, which gave us a good mix,” she said.
CMP ran its featured three-gun GSM program - the John C. Garand, Springfield and Vintage Military matches - plus an M1 Carbine Match, an As-Issued Garand EIC Match and the highly-successful Vintage Sniper Rifle Team Match. Except for the M1 Carbine Match, all other matches were fired at 200, 300 and 600 yards on AIM’s 1,000-yard Shaw Rifle Range, named for Georgia 300-meter service rifle champion George F. Shaw.
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Don Rutherford shows an offhand shooting technique during the CMP’s new shooter clinic at the Georgia
CMP Games. Rutherford also demonstrated his skills on the range, winning the Garand and Springfield matches and amassing enough points to win the three-gun aggregate championship.
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Glendale “Don” Rutherford, 60, of Tallapoosa, Georgia, continued his success, winning the John C. Garand and Springfield matches. With a total score of 850-20X, the Georgian won the three-gun aggregate. Troy Beatty, 72, of Auburn, AL, finished second with 836-10X, followed by Kenneth Lore, 55 of Hickory, NC, with 804-11X.
In the Garand match, Rutherford fired an aggregate of 288-6X (99, 95 and 94) to lead all shooters and was the high senior. George Wilson, 63, of Roswell, GA, won second place with a 286-5X and Beatty captured third place with a 277-6X. Gabe Rampy, 14, of Bremen, GA, was the high junior in the match with a 258-2X.
Rutherford edged Lore in the Springfield match with an aggregate of 284-8X to Lore’s 282-5X. Beatty again won third place with a 281-1X. Brandon Trentman, 17, of Loxahatchee, FL, was the high junior in the Springfield competition.
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Shane Adamson won the Vintage Military rifle match with a score of 284-6X.
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Timothy “Shane” Adamson, 39, of Hueytown, AL, won the Vintage Military match with a total score of 284-6X. Adamson used his Swiss K31 bolt gun for the win, including a 99-3X rapid sitting stage. Rutherford, the high senior, finished second with an X-ring tiebreaker over Troy Beatty 278-6X to 278-3X.
In the Vintage Sniper Rifle Team Match, Rutherford was on the winning end again but this time was bailed out by his teammate, CMP board vice chairman, Cris Stone, 69, of Birmingham, AL. Stone fired a 95 at 300 yards and 88 at 600 yards for an aggregate score of 355. Rutherford began well with a 97 at 300 but an equipment problem contributed to a 75 at 600.
Shane Adamson and U.S. Marine SSgt Jason Dupree, 37, placed second with an aggregate score of 352 in a tie-breaker over George Morris, 51, of Montgomery, AL, and Troy Beatty, (tie-breaker: 172 to 159 at 600 yards, respectively).
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George Wilson won the overall As-Issued M1 Garand EIC Match with a score of 362-5X. He was also the high senior in the match.
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George Wilson was the overall As-Issued M1 Garand Match winner and was also the high senior, with a score of 362-5X. Gabe Rampy was the high junior shooter in the match (360-6X).
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Russell Parrish, Jr., 55, of Greenville, AL, won the M1 Carbine Match with an aggregate score of 312-0X.
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Russell Parrish, Jr., 55, of Greenville, AL, won the M1 Carbine Match with an aggregate score of 312-0X. Frank Evica, 64, of Oak Creek, WI, placed second with a 308-0X and Capt Richard Martinez, USMC, 27, placed third with a total score of 302-2X.
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Chief Range Officer, Dick Whiting, congratulates CMP board vice chairman Cris Stone and Don Rutherford for winning the Georgia
CMP Games Vintage Sniper Rifle Match at American International Marksmanship Academy.
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In the Unlimited Garand competition, Richard Brune, 68, of Newnan, GA, fired a 272-2X and SSGT Dupree shot a 255-2X as the only two entries in that classification.
For complete results of rifle events at 2012 Georgia CMP Games, log onto
http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=7997. To view, download and order photographic prints from the event, log onto
http://cmp1.zenfolio.com/. NEXT ARTICLE
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