| We want your feedback! Please let us know what you think about TFS. Do you have an interesting story or article that you would like to share? If so, please let us know!
|
Reader Comments:
Dear TFS,
We think your on line magazine is wonderful. I especially loved the July 4th article on the Junior Olympic Precision Championship Heats up in Corvette City. Those 2 young men Joseph and Jonathan Hall are our beloved grandsons. You have given these proud Grandparents, Betty and James Blankenship, down here in Conroe, Texas , an Article in full color to crow about for many years to come. Thank you for the wonderful job you do. We appreciate all the hard work it takes to make the Magazine so enjoyable for us to read. May you have many years of continued success. I’m sure you will be seeing the Hall guys for many years to come, since there are 4 of them. They are all great young men. We are the parents of their Mother, Creaestia Hall.
Thank you,
Betty and James Blankenship
Thanks for the last issue! Here I sit in N. Michigan reading all about the different actiities I culd be a part of if I was only about 10 years younger. Even at 80 I could have been one ofm your most enthusiastic comptitors , both in Rimfire and/or 1903's--maybe even B B Guns ("Air Rifles ' to you up-to-daters).I still have a Daisy Lever Action that my folks bought me when I was about 10 and can remember it was more powerful then the RED RYDER that my buddy's folks got him so we could shoot together!
So, at 82 the extent of my participation is what I glean from the newsletter.
Sincerely,
P.M. Gardner
Thanks so much for this Site. I am Retired from the Marine Corps, Was an RTE Armorer in the Marine Corps before Retirement, I have been retired for almost 40 years. Looking at your site brought back so many memories and let me think about the Marine Corps Matches and the people I have known. Going back is Fun even though I couldn't get into any position to shoot with the exceptions of Prone and Offhand.
Thanks again.
F. Rousseau
Just a short note to say Thanks for all of the work you folks do. I look forward to your email updates and enjoy reading what is happening at CMP.
Keep it up!
M.C., Oak Ridge, TN
In reference to your article "Sniper School Comes To Iraq", the 173rd Airborne Brigade operated a sniper school in Bihn Dihn Province, Viet Nam, as late as 1970.
W. Bunch
We received several comments, like the one above, regarding the Sniper story that we posted. We have revised it thanks to your comments.
Enjoy it very much. Especially happy to hear about the improvements at Camp Perry. They are long over due.
J. Nelson
|
|
|
 |
Even High Winds Can’t Keep Shooters from Rimfire Sporter Success!
By Dale Miles, CMP Staff Writer
|
 |
| 20-30 mph nor’easter winds made the 3rd National Rimfire Sporter Match at Camp Perry especially challenging to all 143 competitors.
|
For shooters new to the competition world, coming to Camp Perry can be daunting. Many think that you have to be a potential national champion to compete there. However, nothing could be farther from the truth. To foster more smallbore rifle shooting and to encourage new participants in the National Matches, the CMP created the Rimfire Sporter Match in 2002. The 3rd National Rimfire Sporter Match took place on July 24th. 143 participants experienced just why Camp Perry is considered one of the most challenging places to shoot in the United States – wind!
With a 20 to 30 miles per hour nor’easter coming in from Lake Erie, competition began with the hopes that as the day progressed and warmed, the wind would die. This was not to be. Shooters resigned themselves to the fact that the wind was there to stay and settled in to shoot.
 |
| Two Rimfire Sporter competitors fire in the standing position. The shooter on the left is firing an open-sighted rifle in the O-Class. The second shooter is firing a scope sighted rifle, which placed him in the T-Class.
|
One of the interesting aspects of this ever-growing match is the variety of rifles found on the firing line. Shooters brought everything from semi-custom rifles by Kimber and Cooper, to the ever popular Ruger 10-22 and Marlin Model 60 to the Romanian military surplus .22s now being imported into this country. There also were several CZ 452s and even a couple of Marlin Model 39A lever actions. It is this wide variety of commonly-owned rifles that can be successfully used in this match that makes it attractive to new shooters. They truly can shoot the old squirrel rifle that was stored in the closet.
 |
| Ron Springsteen from Otsego, Michigan fired the high score in the 2004 Rimfire Sporter Match. He compiled his 583 total while shooting with a Thompson-Center 22 Classic.
|
Once scores began to come in after the first relay, it was evident to Match Director and Director of Civilian Marksmanship, Gary Anderson, that the wind was having a significant effect on the scores. To compensate for the lower scores being fired, Anderson made the decision to lower medal cutoff scores to reflect the difficulty the shooters were having. Still, at day’s end there were some outstanding scores fired – scores that would have been excellent on a calm day! Ronald Springsteen of Otsego, Michigan sat high atop the leader board in the telescopic sight class with his score of 583. Mr. Springsteen placed second in the Rimfire Sporter Match here at Camp Perry last year and was one of the first two shooters to shoot a score higher than 590 in the match. In the open sight category of the match, Robert Elka of Willis, Michigan fired a 567 to better the next highest score by 22 points. In the junior divisions, Clint Sejkora of Burchard, Nebraska was the top junior firing a scoped rifle with a score of 561. In the O-Class junior competition, Nicholas Meekins of Lusby, Maryland fired a 533 to best all other juniors with open sights.
It is encouraging to see such scores on a day that was more suited to kite flying than to firing a rifle match. It was more encouraging still to see the number of participants that turned out for the event. In 2002 when the inaugural Rimfire Sporter Match was held during the National Matches, 43 shooters participated. In 2003, that number reached 100. This year’s event continued this trend of growth with 143 competitors trying their hand at this fun and challenging event. For more information on the Rimfire Sporter Matches, or to find out how to hold a Rimfire Sporter Match, download the CMP Guide to Rimfire Sporter Shooting at http://www.odcmp.com/Competitions/rimfire.pdf. To see complete results of this year’s National Rimfire Sporter Match at Camp Perry, go to http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=273.
|
|
| A
full relay of Rimfire Sporter competitors fires at 50 yard targets in the
prone position on the vast Camp Perry ranges. |
|
|
|
|
| CMP Armorer
Scott Woody and Range Officer John Hoffman tape a variable power scope to
restrict magnification to no more than 6X as part of the pre-match rifle
inspection. Triggers are weighed and must lift three pounds. |
|
Safe gun
handling is stressed in all CMP competition events. Rifle actions must
be open at all times except during actual firing on the line. Open
bolt indicators must be inserted to demonstrate that the action is open and
the chamber empty. Shooters always carry rifles on the range with
muzzles up. |
|
|
|
|
| 34 Juniors
participated in the 2004 National Rimfire Sporter Match. |
|
Rimfire
Sporter competitors fire a rapid fire series in the sitting position.
Shooters can elect to fire in either sitting or kneeling, but most choose
the sitting position. |
|
|
|
| Rimfire
Sporter shooters move up to the 25 yard line to fire standing slow and rapid
fire stages. |
After
Rimfire Sporter T-shirts and achievement medals were passed out, the match
ended with a bratwurst and hotdog cook-out for everyone. |
|
|
|
