19-year-old Steven Skowronek from Irwin, PA won the 2005 John C. Garand Match with an impressive score of 292-8x. This set a new National Match record just edging out the pervious high of 292-5x fired by Antonio Samper in 2004.
This is the fourth year Skowronek has attended the John C. Garand Match, but he has never shot higher than the 260’s. “This year I just practiced a lot more, going every other Sunday to the White Oak Gun Club in Pennsylvania to shoot. I also have better equipment than I have had in the past. All this together really helped me improve my performance,” said Skowronek.
The John C. Garand Match saw great participation numbers again this year with 1258 competitors firing and turning in scorecards. This was the eighth year that the CMP has held the John C. Garand Match. This match requires that participants fire an “as-issued” M1 Garand Rifle. CMP Achievement Medals were awarded at the end of the match to those who fired required scores. A score of 260-270 earned Bronze medals, a 271-278 earned Sliver, and a 279 or higher earned Gold.
Skowronek won the John C. Garand Trophy, which was donated by the Garand Collectors Association, for being the overall high competitor. He received the John C. Garand High Junior Plaque, which was donated by the Camp Perry Retired Marines Association, for being the top junior in this year’s match.
All competitors in the John C. Garand Match were eligible to win a special M1 Garand Presentation Rifle that was beautifully crafted by Eric Pierce of the National Match Armory in Rendon, Texas (http://www.nationalmatcharmory.com/). To select the winner of this rifle, three competitors were drawn from each of the ten relays for an inspection of their rifles to determine if they were in compliance with CMP “as-issued” military rifle rules (CMP Rule 6.2.4, see http://www.odcmp.com/Competitions/Rulebook.pdf). Four of the 30 rifles did not pass inspection. The rifle winner was drawn during the Saturday evening National Trophy Matches Festival. Aaron Crist of Sweetser, Indiana, fired a 241-2X in the match to place 883rd overall, but his name was drawn for a rifle inspection and he was ultimately selected as the winner of the M1 Garand Presentation Rifle.
Complete results for the John C. Garand Match and all of the other National Trophy Rifle Matches events can be found at http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=827. Photos from the John C. Garand Match are posted at http://www.odcmp.com/Photos/05/Garand/index.htm. |
