Fisher Wins Overall SAFS/M16 Match as Five Competitors Earn
Four Introductory Leg Points at Western CMP Games

By Steve Cooper, CMP Marketing Manager

PHOENIX, AZ – Johnny Fisher, 38, of N. Hollywood, CA, was the overall winner of the Civilian Marksmanship Program’s Small Arms Firing School M16 Excellence-In-Competition Match at the 2013 Western CMP Games in October. He fired an aggregate score of 378-8X in the four-stage event shot at 200 yards at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility.

Johnny Fisher, of N. Hollywood, CA, was the overall winner of the Civilian Marksmanship Program’s Small Arms Firing School M16 Excellence-In-Competition Match with an aggregate score of 378-8X.

Fisher fired 96-2X in both prone slow and rapid stages, 96-3X in sitting rapid and 90-1X in the standing stage. The Californian previously earned Distinguished Rifle EIC points and thus was not eligible for points in the intro-EIC match.

Five other shooters earned their first four “leg” points, finishing second through sixth place overall. They were: Jason LeCorre, 42, of Sherwood, OR, (375-4X), Morgan Langdon, 14, of Apache Junction, AZ, (374-9X), Eric Pope, 45, of Lake Havasu City, AZ, (370-6X), Clint Langdon, 41, the father of Morgan Langdon, (368-5X) and Theodore Schrader, 45, of Hillsboro, OR (367-3X).

Morgan Langdon, 14, of Apache Junction, AZ, was one of five competitors who earned their first four “leg” points during the Small Arms Firing School M16 EIC Match. It was Langdon’s first highpower match. She is an experienced smallbore and Navy JROTC sporter air rifle competitor. Morgan is pictured with SAFS instructor and Arizona junior highpower director and coach, Tom Kirby.

The top 10 percent of EIC-eligible competitors, ranked by match scores, may earn intro points in intro EIC matches. Of the 50 competitors who fired in the 2013 Western Games SAFS match, 47 were eligible to win intro EIC points.

The match concluded the SAFS/M16 rifle class, attended by 53 students at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility’s activity center and highpower rifle range. The school began with a classroom session which covered rifle safety, range safety, operation of the M16A2 or AR15 sporting rifle, range commands and position work.

CMP SAFS instructors Lee McKinney, left, and Leon Rutherford demonstrate scoring a target during the classroom session of the Small Arms Firing School.

Students also learned how to prepare for a match using standard equipment –shooting mat, spotting scope, web sling, etc. CMP provided rifles and ammunition for the attendees of the school. The class also covered scorekeeping on the firing line and target scoring in the pits.

CMP instructor Don Rutherford demonstrates to the SAFS class how to affix a leather sling to an AR-15 sporting rifle.

Once the classroom session ended, students continued their training on the firing line with instructors who help with position work, safe operation of the rifle and a brief live-fire practice. Students then assumed the roles of scorer and competitor and fired the 40-shot, 400-point match. It was the third SAFS course and match conducted by the CMP at regional events this year. The first two were held at the CMP Eastern Games in N. Carolina and the CMP Games–Oklahoma.

CMP instructor Larry Stonecipher gives a SAFS student some pointers on shooting in the standing or “offhand” position.

For complete match results, log onto CMP’s Competition Tracker at http://ct.thecmp.org/app/v1/index.php?do=match&task=edit&match=10405. To view photos from the Western CMP Games, log onto http://cmp1.zenfolio.com/.