The 3rd Eastern CMP Games at Camp Butner, North Carolina on 2-5 May featured a huge increase in entries and five new events that were not on the schedule last year. In another interesting development, the Garand, Springfield and Vintage Military Rifle Matches that have been the mainstay of the Regional CMP Games Matches at Camp Butner and the Ben Avery Range near Phoenix, Arizona were highlighted by an impressive increase in shooters’ scores that can be attributed to obvious shooter improvement, new Hornady .30-06 ammunition and nearly ideal weather.

There has been uncertainly as to how rifle and pistol match attendance will fare in this year’s difficult economic situation. Nevertheless, 2009 Eastern Games attendance suggested that shooters are going to keep going to competitions. There were 577 total event entries in Eastern Games Rifle events; this is up 58 percent from 327 event entries in this competition in 2008. Part of this increase is due to the addition of Carbine and Rimfire Sporter Matches, but even if these additions are discounted, there was a substantial increase in this year’s participation.

The foundation matches of the Eastern and Western CMP Games are the “GSM” As-Issued Military Rifle triad, the Garand, Springfield and Vintage Military Rifle Matches. The first As-Issued match took place on Saturday afternoon, starting right after a New Shooter Clinic that attracted over 60 students this year. The Saturday match turned out to be the biggest Regional CMP Games event ever with all but a handful of the available 192 firing spaces filled.

This competition was the first big test for the Hornady .30-06 ammunition with its loading that was developed especially for firing in M1 Garands. The CMP announced earlier this spring that Hornady .30-06 would be the official ammunition for the 2009 CMP National and CMP Games Garand and Springfield Matches. Greek HXP .30-06 ammunition has been issued during the last two years and it was no surprise that scores were higher this year. In normal firing conditions, about 40 percent of all competitors in these matches fire scores that merit CMP Achievement Medals. In the Garand and Springfield Matches at Camp Butner where competitors fired the new Hornady ammo, 54 percent of all scores merited Achievement Medals. That’s a pretty good indication that this ammo is capable of maximizing the accuracy potential of these rifles.

In one schedule change that substantially boosted attendance, the M1 Garand Special EIC Match, which previously was held on the last day of competition, was moved to Sunday morning so that more weekend shooters could participate in this unique opportunity for shooters who have earned no previous EIC credit points to win “introductory” 4-point legs. 131 shooters fired in the match, with 115 of them eligible to earn 4-point legs. As a result, 11 competitors went home with their first EIC credit points that can start them on the road to earning prestigious Distinguished Badges.

Sean Leighton, a Distinguished Rifleman from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, fired the high score in this match with a 386-7X. Barry Waits from Waxhaw, North Carolina, who has earned no previous EIC points posted the top score among the 115 eligible competitors, a 376-8X. In addition to being one of the 11 shooters who earned EIC points, Waits went home with a new Bushmaster DCM-XR competition rifle that is just the rifle he will need when he tries to earn his next 26 points in regular EIC matches. The rifle was donated by Bushmaster and thanks is extended to Bushmaster for their support of the Eastern CMP Games.

Rimfire Sporter was a new addition to the Eastern Games Program and this new event served to introduce this growing CMP Games event to shooters in that part of the country. Top competitors in the Sunday afternoon Rimfire Sporter event were Jason Ruhalla of Hedgesville, West Virginia in the O-Class (open sighted rifles) with 549-6X and William Flagg, Jr. of Ashland, Virginia in the T-Class (scope sighted rifles) with an excellent 590-33X.

Remington Arms donated a M597 scope-sighted rifle to be awarded as a special prize in this match. It was awarded to the shooter who fired the best center shot (closest to the exact center of the target) in the final rapid-fire standing stage. It was interesting to note that the best two center shots the jury had to evaluate were fired by William Flagg and his brother Judson Flagg, also of Ashland, Virginia, who fired a T-Class silver medal score of 577-23X. Jury measurements determined that Judson Flagg had the best center shot and he went home with the new Remington. The two brothers accomplished quite a bit considering they were both firing in their first matches.

Another new feature that attracted a great response was a series of Sunday afternoon “military pistol” matches. A Pistol Fundamentals Clinic on Sunday morning taught by Double Distinguished shooter Steve Huff from Hardy, Virginia preceded the pistol matches. The first event was a regular Service Pistol EIC match fired over the 30-shot National Match Course. James Colotta from Charlotte, North Carolina won the match with a 265-4X , while Jerry Kittrell from Goldsboro, North Carolina shot a 261-3X to place as the first of three leg winners.

Two experimental As-Issued Military Pistol Matches followed, one for any military-type semi-auto in 9mm caliber or larger and one restricted to As-Issued U. S. military pistols like the M1911 and M92-type pistols. Pistols in these matches had to have fixed sights and could have no special accurizing. These matches were fired at 25 yards, with shooters having the option of firing one or two handed. Steve Huff won the Open Military Pistol Match with an excellent 285-8X score. Robert Noel from Hillsboro, North Carolina topped the U. S. As-Issued Military Pistol Match with a 276-3X. Four shooters won introductory 4-point legs in these matches.

In addition to the many daily Gold, Silver and Bronze Achievement medals that were presented each day after firing concluded, High Overall, High Senior, High Junior and High Handicap awards were presented for each of the four military rifle matches. Winners in these events were:

A 2009 Eastern CMP Games high point was the presentation of a Top-Gun Award to the competitor who had the highest aggregate score in all three As-Issued Military Rifle Matches. The award for this match was an exciting new replica Springfield M1903A4 sniper rifle that was donated by the Gibbs Rifle Company and its President Val Forgett. This turned out to be a close three-way contest between Sean Leighton, Marine Corps Warrant Officer Peter Burns, who won both the Garand and Vintage Military Rifle Matches, and the ultimate winner, David Thompson from Keyser, West Virginia, who won the Springfield Rifle Match. Burns’ 87 x 100 rapid fire prone with his Springfield proved to be his undoing as he totaled 852-26X in the three matches, while Leighton finished with 853-18X and Thompson finished with a 290-9X Springfield win to take the presentation rifle with a 856-22X. Only four points separated the top three in the new Top Gun Aggregate.

The CMP expresses its sincere thanks to the 2009 Eastern CMP Games major awards donors Bushmaster, Remington and Gibbs Rifle Company.

Complete scores for the 2009 Eastern CMP Games rifle events are posted at http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=4147. Complete results for the new Eastern CMP pistol events are posted at http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin-secure/matchInfo.cgi?matchID=4780. Photos taken during the 2009 Eastern CMP Games are posted at http://www.odcmp.com/Photos.htm.

The next Eastern CMP Games will take place at Camp Butner, North Carolina one week later than this year, on 8-11 May 2010. Be sure to place these dates on your calendars now and make plans to attend. Several matches were close to range capacity this year, so plan to enter early next year.

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