Team Dobish-Stare Wins Vintage Sniper Rifle Team Match and
Spurrier Wins Garand Match at CMP-GCA Wyoming Games

By Steve Cooper, CMP Marketing Manager

Heart Mountain, located north of Cody, Wyoming, made a beautiful backdrop for the CMP-GCA Wyoming Games on 5-6 September.

CODY, WYOMING – Under mostly sunny skies, a variable breeze, a few light sprinkles and the backdrop of Heart Mountain in the distance, the Vintage Sniper Rifle Match team of Brian Dobish and John Stare emerged victorious, firing a team score of 372-7X.

Dobish, 38, of Oshkosh, WI, and Stare, 63, of York, PA, were one of 23 vintage sniper rifle teams who participated in the Civilian Marksmanship Program – Garand Collectors Association Wyoming Games at the Cody Shooting Complex on 5 September. The event, held in conjunction with the GCA’s national convention, also included a 100-yard reduced John C. Garand rifle match fired the next morning.

The Vintage Sniper Rifle Match team of John Stare, center left, and Brian Dobish, center right, won the CMP-GCA Vintage Sniper Rifle Team Match with a score of 372-7X. They are congratulated by CMP board members Cris Stone, left and Dr. Carolyn Hines.

Recording a 98-2X and 96-3X at 300 and 600 yards, respectively, Dobish led all shooters individually with an aggregate score of 194-5X. Stare fired a 93-1X and 85-1X, compiling a 178-2X total. Dobish-Stare edged Team SPG&D, comprised of Steve P. Garbe and George Dillman, who took second place with a team total 370-9X. Dillman, 63, of Cody, WY, fired a 98-2X and 90 (188-2X) and Garbe, 56, also of Cody, carded an 88-4X and 94-3X at 300 and 600 yards, respectively.

Steve P. Garbe, center left, and George Dillman, center right, earned second place in the Vintage Sniper Rifle Team Match with an aggregate score of 370-9X. Garbe and Dillman, both of Cody, are members of the Cody Shooting Complex. CMP board members Cris Stone, left and Dr. Carolyn Hines congratulate them.

William Fairless, 59, of Vienna, IL, and Charles Boyer, Sr., 62, of Alvarado, TX, placed third in the Vintage Sniper Rifle Team Match with a total score of 361-9X. Fairless turned in the second-highest individual score of 192.

The Vintage Sniper Rifle Team Match pits two-person teams against each other using vintage military sniper rifles and scopes, or suitable replicas, from 1953 and earlier. Teammates shoot at both distances – one acts as shooter and the other as coach for 10 shots, then switch positions for a total of 40 shots (400 points) overall.

Charles Boyer, Sr., center left and William Fairless, center right, placed third in the Vintage Sniper Rifle Team Match with a total score of 361-9X. Fairless turned in the second-highest individual score of 192. They are flanked by CMP board members, Cris Stone, left and Dr. Carolyn Hines.

Rounding out the top five teams were Big Sioux in fourth, comprised of Billy Beck, 46, of Lennox, SD, and Anton Haga, 68, of Edgerton, MN, with a team aggregate of 357-9X. Team Late Arrivers, manned by Andrew Hall, 50, of Nashville, TN, and Larry Priest, 63, of Cobb, CA, scored a team total of 357-7X, narrowly missing fourth in an X-count tiebreaker to Big Sioux.

On Friday, 6 September, 57 competitors lined up for the John C. Garand Match fired on 100-yard reduced fixed targets at the Cody 100-yard pistol range under ideal weather conditions.  Competitors fired at a pair of adjacent targets, beginning with a five-shot sighting target and prone slow-fire target. Scorers recorded and changed targets and competitors resumed firing their rapid-fire prone and offhand stages.  With 30 firing points, shooting was complete in two relays.

Robert Spurrier, 52, of Lakewood, CO, captured first place in the Garand match, scoring a 285-5X with book-end high-90s scores in prone slow-fire (97-2X) and offhand (96-3X) and a second stage rapid-fire prone of 92.

William Fairless, the second-highest individual scorer in the Vintage Sniper match, placed second in the Garand match with a 281-8X.  John Stare, a member of the winning Vintage Sniper team, placed third with an aggregate score of 279-1X.

Robert Spurrier captured first place in the John C. Garand Match, scoring a 285-5X aggregate. In this photo Spurrier was on his way to firing a 96-3X in his standing stage.

Rounding out the top five in the John C. Garand Match were Andrew Hall (277-5X) and Charles Deilke, 44, of Spokane, WA, (274-1X).

Darin Barnes, 40, of Monte Vista, CO and his wife Tiffani, made the trip to the GCA convention and decided to make the Garand Match their first competitive experience.

“Oh my God, I’ll do it again. Bring it on!” Tiffani said following the match.  The Barnes couple has been shooting recreationally since 2001. Darin said he’s a long-time hunter and pistol shooter and thought the CMP-GCA event was a great opportunity to enter their first match.

“I had a ball,” Darin said.

Darin Barnes, and his wife Tiffani said they had a great time at the Wyoming Games John C. Garand Match participating in their first-ever rifle competition.

Alan McBride, 56, and his son Sean, 22, an Army reservist, of Loveland, CO, also competed in their first match together with their recently-purchased M1 Garand rifle.

“This was a great experience,” Alan said. “I’d like to thank the great coaching by Leon and Don Rutherford – it was very helpful. Getting to spend three days with my son here has been nice.”

Joseph Scholl III, 73, of Carmen, ID, a long-time GCA member and recreational shooter, participated in his first competition while attending GCA activities in Cody.

“Great people and a great experience,” Scholl said after the Garand match. “I bought a rifle and decided to compete with it and the rifle held up its end of the bargain!”

Alan McBride, left, spots a sighter round for his son Sean while competing in their first match together with their recently-purchased M1 Garand rifle.

Becky Beach and her husband, CPT Daniel A. Beach, U.S. Army, 51, of Kansas City, MO, also made the trip to Cody for the GCA convention and CMP event. It was Becky’s first match experience.

“I was nervous, but I thought it went pretty well,” she said.

Becky Beach, coached by her husband, CPT Daniel A. Beach, U.S. Army, of Kansas City, MO, during the John C. Garand Match offhand stage.  Becky said she was a “little nervous” but her coach said she did just fine.

The matches were an entertaining addition to the GCA annual convention and banquet, held at the firearms museum of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody.

For complete match results, log onto CMP’s Competition Tracker at http://ct.thecmp.org/app/v1/index.php?do=match&task=edit&tab=results&match=10518. To view photos from the Wyoming Games, log onto http://cmp1.zenfolio.com/.

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