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The 2009 Western CMP Games and Creedmoor Cup Matches took place at the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s Ben Avery Shooting Facility north of Phoenix, Arizona.
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PHOENIX, ARIZONA – It’s time to think about highpower rifle shooting - “Western Style” at the 2010 Western CMP Games and Creedmoor Cup Matches at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility North of Phoenix, Arizona, on 16-24 October.
Registration for the 2010 Western CMP Games and Creedmoor Cup Match is now open. The CMP and Creedmoor Sports of Oceanside, California, together with the Arizona State Rifle & Pistol Association, will host the matches and festivities. Sign up today and plan to be a part of this exciting event!
The 2010 Western CMP Games and Creedmoor Cup Matches are the seventh in a series that started at Camp Pendleton, California, when two separate events were fired in 2005. The event was moved to Ben Avery in October 2007, making this year’s matches the fourth Western CMP Games and Creedmoor Cup Matches to be held there.
Together with the Eastern CMP Games and Creedmoor Cup Matches that take place at Camp Butner, North Carolina, these competitions give the nation’s best highpower rifle shooters two prestigious national-level competitions and provide recreation-oriented riflemen in other areas of the country more opportunities to experience the kind of competitions that competitors in the National CMP Games Matches at Camp Perry regard so highly.
The 7th Western CMP Games will kick off with a Garand-Springfield-Military Rifle Clinic on the morning of Saturday, 16 October, led by Gary Anderson, Director of Civilian Marksmanship Emeritus.
Also Saturday morning, a NEW Range Official Certification Program will be offered for the benefit of club and range line, pit and range safety officers. It will also provide experienced officials with a comprehensive range command handbook, alibi situation manual and pit situation manual.
After the clinic and certification program, a 200-yard Garand-Springfield-Vintage Military Rifle Match will be fired in the afternoon. Also NEW this year, Hornady Ammunition will conduct a Basic Hornady Reloading Clinic conducted by David Emary, Chief Ballistics Scientist following the match.
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John Marx, Conifer, Colorado, fired a 371-2X in the M1
Garand Special EIC Match. As the “High Eligible
Competitor” in this match, Marx won a Bushmaster DCM-XR
competition rifle donated by Bushmaster Firearms. Marx
is shown here firing his K-31 Swiss rifle in the Vintage
Military Rifle Match. |
On Sunday, 17 October, there will be a CMP Special As-Issued M1Garand EIC Match in the morning. Shooters who do not have any EIC points can earn introductory “4-point legs.” As a further incentive to participate in this match, Bushmaster will provide a Bushmaster DCM-XR competition service rifle to be awarded to the highest ranking shooter who is eligible to win the 4-point legs (no previous EIC points).
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Lee McKinney, Rio Rico, Arizona, won three High Senior
Awards in the CMP Western Games. He is shown here firing
a Browning T-bolt in the Rimfire Sporter T-Class event. |
Sunday events will continue with a Rimfire Sporter Match held at mid-day. This should give other shooters in the Southwest another opportunity to try the steadily growing Rimfire Sporter game. Remington is donating a M597 for the Best Center Shot in the last standing rapid-fire stage for the O-Class and Savage is donating a MK1 or MK II SVT for the Best Center Shot in the last standing rapid-fire stage for the T-Class. The CMP government-surplus rifle and ammunition sales will open once again, followed by a barbecue for all attendees.
Shooting opportunities on the third day, Monday, 18 October include a second Garand-Springfield-Vintage Military Rifle Match that morning followed by an M1 Carbine Match that afternoon.
The Western CMP Games Matches continue on Tuesday, 19 October, with third Garand-Springfield-Vintage Military Rifle Match. At the conclusion of final three-gun series, the high overall Three-Gun Aggregate winner will be awarded an M1903A4 Sniper Rifle Replica, donated by Gibbs Rifles Company.
NEW this year will be a Vintage Sniper Test Match in the afternoon featuring two-man teams firing 15 rounds at 300 yards and 15 more at 600 yards. All firing will be done from the prone position with both team members occupying a single firing point. One will serve as the shooter while the other serves as spotter. Each team is allowed to fire a maximum of six sighter shots, one set at 300 and the second at 600. The 300 yard highpower target will be used at both 300 and 600 yards. Placement and winners will be determined by score and X-count. A tie breaker will consist of a shoot off at 600 yards until a winner is determined. There are no awards for the test match. For a complete list of rifle requirements and program details, visit the Western CMP Games program at the link following this article.
With three days of Garand-Springfield-Vintage Military Rifle Matches, shooters will be able to fire all three events. Again this year, there will be awards for the top shooters in a special aggregate of all three As-Issued Military Rifle Matches. Special award plaques will also be presented for the top ranking competitors in the Handicap Rankings for the Garand, Springfield and VMR Matches.
The 2010 Western Creedmoor Cup Matches begin with a free highpower rifle clinic on Wednesday, 20 October, conducted by Ken Roxburgh of Team Bushmaster and members of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit Service Rifle Team.
Four days of matches for service rifles and match rifles will follow on 21-24 October. Members of the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps Rifle Teams and Team Bushmaster will be on hand to assist with the clinic and subsequently compete in the matches. The matches include a 50-shot National Match Course practice match on Thursday, a 4-person team match on Friday, the 80-shot Creedmoor Cup Match on Saturday and a 50-shot EIC/Match Rifle course on Sunday.
The Creedmoor Cup Awards Banquet and Barbecue (sponsored by Remington) and prize drawing with many thousands of dollars worth of prizes will be held the evening of Saturday, 23 October.
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Five of the six 2009 Western CMP Games Matches took
place on the Ben Avery Shooting Facility Highpower Rifle
Range. |
The Ben Avery Shooting Facility (formerly Black Canyon Range) is one of the largest and most complete range facilities in the US. It was selected as the venue for the CMP Games and Creedmoor Cup Matches because of its size, location near a major western city and interest in hosting this fast-growing major rifle competition. The Ben Avery Range hosted the 1970 World Shooting Championship and several national championships. It continues to host numerous regional and local competitions in a variety of shooting disciplines every year. The Arizona Game and Fish Department now operates the facility; it is the largest public shooting facility in the country.
Volunteers are needed to help work the matches during the Western CMP Games and Creedmoor Cup Matches. You can sign up to be a volunteer by logging onto
http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/matchInfo.cgi?matchID=6122.
Shooters who want detailed information about the events on the program can log onto
http://www.odcmp.com/Competitions/WesternGames.htm.
On-line registration for both the CMP and Creedmoor Matches is now open. Click on
http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/matchInfo.cgi?matchID=6118 to register.
An extensive collection of photos taken at the 2009 Western CMP Games and Creedmoor Cup Match can be viewed at
http://www.odcmp.com/Photos/09/WesternCMPGames/index.htm and
http://www.odcmp.com/Photos/09/WesternCreedmoor/index.htm.
More information about Creedmoor Sports, Inc. is available from their website at
http://www.creedmoorsports.com/store/home.php.
Information about the Ben Avery Shooting Facility is available at
http://www.azgfd.gov/outdoor_recreation/ben_avery.shtml.
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