A full three days of CMP Games Matches now take place at the end of the National Trophy Rifle week during the National Matches. For large numbers of shooters, the John C. Garand, Springfield, Vintage Military Rifle and M1 Carbine Matches are the high point of their shooting year and the experiences they have at Camp Perry while firing in these matches will fuel their enthusiasm for the shooting sports for the whole year to come. The 2007 CMP Games Matches were highlighted by record numbers of competitors in all four of these fast-growing events. The Games Matches also featured lots of fine shooting by competitors who took home record numbers of Gold, Silver and Bronze Achievement Medals.

CMP Games Matches do a lot of special things, they stress camaraderie and recreation over competition and they celebrate the history of military small arms development and the traditions of military marksmanship. To the extent that these matches are competitive, most competitors’ efforts to excel seldom go beyond competition among good friends or family members or with themselves. These matches truly are about combining marksmanship skill development with fun.

The National Trophy Rifle week schedule now offers three days of CMP Games Matches with opportunities to fire four different events. It begins with the M1 Carbine Match that was inaugurated last year. The second day features opportunities to shoot two separate events in one day with AM and PM squadding for the Springfield and Vintage Military Rifle Matches. The third day, Saturday, features a full day of Garand Match shooting.

An extensive collection of colorful, interesting photos taken during the CMP Games and other National Matches events is now posted on the CMP website at http://www.odcmp.com/Photos/05/Index.htm. Webb Wright, a professional photographer who is also a Triple Distinguished shooter, took most of these photos. Take a look at these photos if you want to really want to understand the color and appeal of these matches.

This year’s M1 Carbine Match saw a significant increase in competitors, from 479 in 2006 to 582 this year. A 100-yard 160 firing point range was set up on Camp Perry’s Rodriguez Range. The target boards were reconfigured this year to hold five SR-1 targets so that competitors could fire sighters and all 40 shots for record without leaving the firing line. There were five relays of competitors, each taking about one hour to go through the course of fire. It began with 10 sighting shots followed by 10 record shots in prone with a five-minute time limit. This was followed by two 10-shot rapid-fire series in prone and sitting or kneeling positions. There was a 60 second time limit for rapid fire. The final stage was slow fire standing where ten shots were fired in a maximum time limit of ten minutes.

The top score of the day was a 373-7X total fired by David Chase of Tujunga, California. He was closely followed by Donald Czuhajewski’s 373-2X and 367s fired by past Springfield and Garand Match winners John Friguglietti and Christopher Roberts. The top Junior in the Carbine Match was Eric Curavo of Northwood, Ohio with 356-3X. The top Senior (Age 60 or over) was J. Thomas Galvin of Rochester, New York with 362-5X.

For many shooters in the CMP Games Matches, however, their goal is not to win the match, but to fire a score that wins a Gold, Silver or Bronze Achievement Medal. This year, 30 Carbine Match shooters took home gold medals, 57 won silver medals and 97 earned bronze medals. A complete list of scores for all competitors in the second National Matches M1 Carbine Match are posted at http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=2113.

The combined Springfield and Vintage Military Rifle Matches took place on Friday, 3 August. These matches were filled to capacity in mid-July. The two matches were scheduled on the largest Camp Perry range, Viale Range, where a full nine relays could accommodate 1260 total entries. The CMP staff faced the challenge of managing a large wait-list of competitors who were willing to stand-by for a chance to shoot. In the end, everyone who showed up was squadded on an open firing point, but the range was absolutely filled to capacity. When it was all over, a record 868 competitors recorded scores in the Springfield Match, up from the previous high of 838 in 2006.

James Sinclair of Dover, New Hampshire fired the winning score in the Springfield Match with an excellent 291-4X total, one point ahead of second place Richard Crawford from Kilgore, Texas, who had a 290-6X. 74 shooters fired gold medal scores in this match, 165 had silver medal scores and 172 earned bronze medals. A new Springfield Trophy was donated to the National Trophy Collection to be awarded in this match. Springfield Rifle Match winner James Sinclair added his name to the distinguished list of winners whose names and scores will now be permanently displayed on this impressive new trophy.

The Vintage Military Rifle Match had a record 334 competitors, although this number could have been even higher except for the fact that range capacity limits restricted the number of entries that could be accepted. Shooters in this match use a fascinating variety of military rifles. The match winner, Mark Looney, fired a M1896 Swedish Mauser 6.5x55mm. The second place competitor, John Triol from Lake Ariel, Pennsylvania, fired a U. S. Krag rifle while the High Senior, David Lantz, Saginaw, Michigan, used a M1917 U. S. Enfield .30-06. Popular foreign military rifles included the Swedish Mauser, Swiss K31, Finnish and Russian Moisin-Nagants, British Enfields and even an occasional Japanese Arisaka. Much of the enjoyment of this match is seeing the scores that can be fired with these different rifles.

Mark Looney, from Springfield, Ohio, totaled an impressive 291-11X in winning the Vintage Military Rifle Match. This eclipsed the National Matches Record of 290-8X that Looney previously held jointly with the 2006 winner of this match, Jeffrey Knop. Looney has now won the Vintage Military Rifle four of the six years it has been held. Lantz fired a 280-4X in winning the High Senior Plaque. 15-year-old Jim Minturn from Temecula, California fired a 261 with a M1917 U. S. Enfield to win the High Junior award.

It took a score of 275 or better to win a Gold Achievement Medal in this match and 32 shooters took home gold medals. 42 competitors won silver medals while an additional 82 earned bronze medals. A complete list of scores of all competitors in the Springfield Match are posted at http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=2113.

As part of an effort to assure that competitors rifles comply with CMP Competition Rules requirements for as-issued military rifles, all competitors who fired scores of 285 or higher plus five shooters who were drawn by lot from each relay were required to present their rifles for inspection. The name of every shooter whose rifle passed the inspection by CMP armorers was placed in a drawing for a presentation grade Springfield rifle that was prepared for the National Matches by Erich Pierce of National Match Armory in Rendon, Texas (http://www.nationalmatcharmory.com/). Rodney Wells, East Hartford, Connecticut, fired a 244-4X in the Springfield Match and a bronze medal 253-1X in the Vintage Military Rifle Match, but he ended as the winner of the biggest prize in the match when his rifle passed inspection and he was selected to receive the presentation Springfield.

With the John C. Garand Match now taking place on both Camp Perry ranges, Viale and Rodriguez, range capacity is no longer an issue. 2007 was the tenth year for the Garand Match and the biggest one ever. Over 1,400 competitors were squadded by CMP staff on the line on the morning of the match.

Jeff Banz from Davenport, Iowa, fired a 290-4X total to win the match and place his name on the Garand Collectors Association John C. Garand Trophy. 42 different competitors fired scores of 279 or higher to win Gold John C. Garand Achievement Medals. 101 shooters earned silver medals and a whopping 260 competitors won bronze medals. 18-year-old Gallager Bobseine from Cattaraugus, New York was the top Junior with a 280-5X score. His twin brother Ike Bobseine was second on the Junior list with a 272-4X. David Lantz, Saginaw, Michigan, topped the Garand Match Senior ranking with his 282-7X total.

The biggest prize in the John C. Garand Match was a presentation M1 Garand gunsmithed by Erich Pierce of National Match Armory. In keeping with the objectives of the CMP Games Matches that stress participation over winning, this rifle goes not to the match winner, but to a representative of all Garand competitors who complete the match course of fire. Five from each relay were drawn for rifle inspections. Hans Zimmer, Alexandria, Virginia, fired a 235-1X in the match, but when his M1 Garand passed inspection, he was drawn as the winner of the presentation M1.

Complete Garand Match results can be found on the CMP website at http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=2113.

After there were several disqualifications for M1s that did not comply with as-issued rule requirements during the 2006 matches, the CMP stepped up enforcement efforts for this year’s CMP Games Matches. Scorers were required to certify that their competitors used issue ammunition as mandated by the match program. CMP armorers spot-checked equipment on the line. Competitors who fired 285 or higher plus five competitors drawn by lot from each relay were required to have their rifles checked after they fired. Disqualifications were down this year so this may be an indication that stricter rule enforcement is required to assure that all competitors use as-issued USGI rifles and fire issue ammunition.

The 2007 CMP Games Matches ended with a Saturday evening reception that featured a band concert by the 122nd Army Band Combo and an Ohio National Guard Special Forces parachute jump. Three days of competitions with the M1 Carbine, M1903 Springfield, an array of Vintage Military Rifles and the M1 Garand ended with the presentation of awards and the drawing for the presentation rifles.