5th Western CMP Games took place at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility north of Phoenix, Arizona on 11-14 October. There were 455 event entries in six events fired over four days.

Mike Miller, a 64-year-old Distinguished Rifleman from Downey, California, was the overall “Top Gun” in the Western CMP Games new GSM 3-Gun Aggregate with a total of 823x900 in the Garand, Springfield and Vintage Military Rifle Matches.

The 5th Western CMP Games Matches and the second Western CMP Games to take place at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility north of Phoenix, Arizona concluded this past week. There were three new events on the program as well as new award categories. Shooter entries were more than double 2007 numbers. Winds were bad enough that the Bronze Achievement Medal cut scores had to be adjusted downward, but never as bad as in 2007 when high winds caused the cancellation of one day of shooting. In spite of strong winds, there were lots of excellent shooting highlighted by Californian Mike Miller’s win in a newly introduced GSM Three-Gun Aggregate. Most important of all, the Games trademark value of giving every shooter a great experience was at the forefront during the four days of shooting.

The 5th Western CMP Games Matches now offer competition in all CMP Games recreation-oriented shooting events with John C. Garand, Springfield Rifle, Vintage Military Rifle, M1 Carbine and Rimfire Sporter Matches on the program. There was also an As-Issued M1 Garand Special EIC Match where the high competitor who earned an introductory 4-point Leg won a Bushmaster DCM-XR competition rifle. The matches began on Saturday, 11 October, with a new shooter clinic in the morning and a 30-shot John C. Garand Match course in the afternoon. A record 83 people signed up for the new shooter clinic.

On the second day, Sunday, 12 October, the schedule offered a second 30-shot John C. Garand course in the morning, a barbecue lunch for all competitors and a 60-shot Rimfire Sporter Match in the afternoon. Each day during the Western Games, sales staff members from the CMP Distribution Center in Anniston, Alabama opened a rapidly diminishing truckload of government surplus rifles and ammunition that was available for tagging and purchase.

On the third day, Monday, 13 October, there was a third John C. Garand course in the morning and a new M1 Carbine Match in the afternoon. On Tuesday, 14 October, the Western Games Matches concluded with an As-Issued M1 Garand Special EIC Match where the top ten percent of all competitors who had not previously earned any EIC points earned “introductory” four-point legs. Distinguished Rifleman Mike Miller of Downey, California won that match with a 373-2X. Dave Staggers, Tucson, Arizona, topped all of the competitors who were eligible to earn four-point legs with his 368-1X total. Staggers’ reward for topping the “No EIC Points” list was a Bushmaster DCM XR competition rifle donated by Bushmaster Firearms.

There were two new events on the schedule this year, a Rimfire Sporter Match and an M1 Carbine Match. Both were added to the program as a way to introduce these new CMP events to shooters in the west. 29 competitors fired their first Rimfire Sporter Match and virtually everyone said they not only had lots of fun, but that they wanted to introduce the match at their home clubs. Thomas Fletcher of Florence, Arizona topped the T-Class (scopes) with a 573 total, while Arland Anderson of Las Vegas, Nevada was the high O-Class (open sights) shooter with a 553.

The M1 Carbine Match was fired from the 100-yard firing line on pit-operated targets. Five SR-1 targets were mounted on one target frame. One relay was assigned to the pits where they pulled and marked the ten sighting shots. After that, targets were left up for ten record shots; at 100 yards, shot holes are relatively easy to see with a spotting score. Targets were pulled and removed after each ten shots so competitors in the pits could score them. 54 shooters fired in the first Western Games Carbine Match. Jeff Dedischew from Santa Rosa, California, had the winning score with a 347. Robert Noonan, Scottsdale, Arizona, was second at 345. Strong winds kept scores lower than expected.

The 2008 Western CMP Games program was expanded to offer three John C. Garand courses of fire instead of the two courses offered in previous years. This allowed competitors who wanted to fire all three rifles, the Garand, Springfield and a Vintage Military Rifle to do so. This also made it possible to introduce a new three-gun GSM Top Gun Aggregate that combined scores from all three matches. Competitors who chose to do so also had the option of firing one of the three rifles three times in re-entry matches.

Winners in the three matches were Wesley Shumaker from Las Alamos, New Mexico in the Garand Match with a 281-4X; Arland Anderson in the Springfield Rifle Match with a 279-5X and CWO2 Peter Burns in the Vintage Military Rifle Match with a 276-6X. Shumaker is a retired Naval Officer and Double Distinguished Shooter who now teaches Navy JROTC at Las Alamos High School. Anderson used a M1903A3 in topping the Springfield list. Warrant Officer Burns, who is the OIC of the Marine Corps Rifle Team, fired a M1911 Swiss straight pull rifle with 7.5mm Swiss arsenal ammunition. Maury Krupp of Tucson, Arizona turned in the highest score fired in any of the three courses of fire when he posted a 287-7X in his second Garand re-entry match.

A Western Games highlight was the presentation of the first GSM Top-Gun Aggregate award to the competitor with the highest total score in the three Garand, Springfield and Vintage Military Rifle Matches. In a close contest, Mike Miller of Downey, California totaled 823-11X to Arland Anderson’s 821-9X to take the award. Miller also won the M1 EIC Match and the High Senior award in four of the six matches fired at Phoenix. In addition to his Garand and Springfield rifles, Miller fired a M1917 in the Vintage Military Rifle event.

Strong winds that prevailed throughout the four days of shooting kept all scores well below the norm. As a result, not only were winning scores below those posted in previous Western Games, but the CMP Match Director found it necessary to lower the cut scores for Bronze Achievement Medals in each of the fired events. While this is rare, it was done in this case to bring the final number of Achievement Medals awards up to the normal “40 percent of all competitors” standard. Altogether in three daily award ceremonies, 98 Gold, Silver and Bronze Achievement Medals were presented to Garand Match shooters, 24 medals went to Springfield competitors and 16 to Vintage Military Rifle competitors.

The 455 event entries in four days of Western CMP Games shooting easily topped the 198 event entries in 2007 when the program was shorter. Overall, it was a great event to highlight competition with the fine U. S. and foreign military rifles that are celebrated through the Garand, Springfield, Vintage Military Rifle and Carbine Matches. The 2008 Western Games also provided an excellent venue for introducing the fast-growing Rimfire Sporter Match to western shooters. Thanks for a great event go to the Arizona Fish and Game Department, the Arizona Rifle & Pistol Association, the CMP’s partner in this competition, Creedmoor Sports, and to a major sponsor, Bushmaster Firearms.

Complete detailed results are posted on the CMP website at http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=3773. Photos are posted at http://www.odcmp.com/Photos.htm. The dates for the 2008 Western CMP Games are already set; put 16-19 October 2009 on your calendar and plan to join a growing group of enthusiastic shooters and CMP staff at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility.

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