A military rifle shoot was held today on CRGC's 100 yard range - the first such competition in several years at CRGC. Bob Ray, CRGC's range chairman, was responsible for the event. There were 14 shooters who fired the Civilian Marksmanship Program's As-Issued Military Rifle Match Course A. This consists of 3 stages and a total of 30 rounds (totalling 300 points), not counting up to 5 sighting shots. The first stage (prone) takes at most 15 minutes. Stage 2 (standing to prone) is 80 seconds, and stage 3 (standing) is at most 10 minutes. The course of fire uses the NRA SR-1 targets. (The NRA SR target is a 200 yard target, and the SR-1 is a 50% smaller target for use at 100 yards.) See pages 24 to 27 of http://www.odcmp.com/competitions/rulebook.pdf for a description of "as-issued" rifles, and Table 7 on page 53 for the description of Course A.
There were a variety of rifles used in the shooting, and all of them used "iron sights". (While we would have allowed optical sights, there were none used.) We had one or more of each of the following rifles at the match: M-1 Garand, M-14 or Springfield M-1A (the civilian equivalent of the M-14), M1903A3 Springfield, M-1 carbine, SKS, and Mauser K98. Anyone who shot .30-06, .308 (7.62mm), or .223 (5.56mm) caliber rifles was required to use ammunition purchased from CRGC at wholesale cost. Those who fired other calibers of ammunition were required to use military ammunition appropriate to their firearm. No hand loads were allowed. In addition to the cost of the ammunition, there was a $2.00 fee per course of fire, and an optional $6.00 charge for lunch from Cutsforth's deli in Canby.
Non-member Tim Delgrosso cleaned up, shooting three different rifles, and he could have won with any of his scores. The top four shooters were:
| Shooter | Rifle | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Tim Delgrosso | M-1 Garand | 271 |
| Richard Phaneuf | M-14 / M-1A | 256 |
| Doug Phaneuf | M-1 Garand | 253 |
| Tim Hulse | M-1 Garand | 223 |
We are planning to hold another match this Fall, but may shoot the CMP Course B for a little variation. For those who would like to try their hand at shooting a Course A practice, we have the NRA SR-1 targets in the range shed, and they cost $0.35 each. Either 3 or 4 targets will be needed, depending upon whether you plan on shooting sighting shots before starting the course of fire.
CRGC members supported the shoot. Cal Barrett worked the pits (putting up and taking down targets, and doing preliminary scoring). Rick Gibbs and Paul Montecucco helping move ammunition, table, chairs, water, and other paraphernalia before and after the shoot, and Al Kitzmiller got the lunch for the shooters. Richard Phaneuf helped as relief range officer, and provided the stage timer on his laptop computer.