CAMP PERRY

2008 Schedule:

CMP Week

NRA Week

        NRA Long Range   

Camp Perry Basics:

This is a short primer on what it takes to go to Camp Perry and compete. Before we get started I know right off the bat that many of you are thinking that you either can’t afford it or are not good enough to go. Let me state that you are wrong on both counts. It can be done for less money than you think and there are shooters of every skill level competing back there.

We are talking here about the High Power Rifle portion of the National Matches at Camp Perry. They are broken down into two separate weeks of competition, of which you can do either one, or two weeks if you choose. The first week is Civilian Marksmanship Program events and the second is the NRA Championship.

CMP week starts with signing-in on Friday or Saturday morning. There is a practice match Sunday afternoon and while not everyone agrees with me on this, I strongly recommend you shoot the practice match. All the matches during CMP week are service rifle only and there are no sighters in any of the matches.

Monday, you fire the Presidents Hundred Match which consists of 10 shots standing, 10 shots rapid prone, and 10 shots slow prone. There will be at least 6 relays daily all week long and you will be on the range from 7am to probably 5pm. It will be a long day but you will enjoy it!

On Tuesday, the National Trophy Individual Match is fired. This is a 50 shot Leg match.

On Wednesday, the Whistler Boy Match is fired. This match is open to juniors only and is a two man team match. Even though you are not a junior, you will most likely be participating in this match. We need people to pull targets, verify scores, score, and coach. There will be a job for you to do.

Thursday is the NTT or National Trophy Team Match which is the 50 shot national match course of fire, 6 man teams and coaching is allowed.  Teams will be formed based on results of the Presidents 100 and the NTI matches.

Friday is the NTIT or the National Trophy Infantry Team Match, better known as the Rattle Battle. This is a match for 6 shooting team members, however it takes at least 9 people to make up the team (10 or 11 is better). It takes 6 shooters, 2 coaches, 1 or 2 people to pick up brass, and someone to help with the scoring. Let me explain a little about this match. The team gets a total of 384 rounds to shoot the match (64 rounds per shooter). It is fired on a silhouette target. The team starts at 600 yards. Usually each competitor will load 24 rounds at this distance. The competitors get in the prone position (no mats, you will be on the grass, the coach will have binoculars, no spotting scopes allowed). The coach will give his squad a wind call for all shooters to adjust their sights. When the targets pop up you will have 50 seconds to fire 24 rounds at your silhouette. The shots are either a hit or a miss and all hits at this distance are worth 4 points. There is a bonus score if all the targets have at least 6 hits. Obviously the rate of fire is very fast. There is one other thing; while there are 6 shooters there are 8 targets, so the coach will have designated 2 shooters who will “swing” and cover 2 targets each. The targets are pulled into the pits and scored and hits are marked (only the hits are marked on the silhouette, misses on the backer will not be marked). The coach will then look at the groups and give any necessary wind corrections.

While the targets are being pasted up all the squads will be walking to the 500 yard line as a group. The coach will tell all the shooters to put their 500 yd elevation on their sights and will also make a wind call for the team. The last few feet you will run to the 500 yard line get in position, load, and close the bolt. When the targets come up, you have another 50 seconds to put 28 rounds down range. Hits at this distance are worth 3 points each. After scoring, we walk as a group to the 300 yard line. Here you should have 12 rounds left which will be fired from the sitting position. Hits here are worth 2 points each. After the targets go down, the team should have no ammo left. If any ammo is left over it was because of a problem such as a gun malfunction. The coach will divide up any remaining ammo and it will be fired from the standing position at 200 yards. Hits there are worth 1 point each. While the scoring is a little bit tricky, the match is not. There are no alibis in this match. If there is a malfunction, you must try to clear it. The coach needs to divide up remaining ammo, if needed, or have another shooter cover an extra target if needed. This is really a fun and exciting match. You really need to participate if you can. To be able to swap ammo etc., we are planning to have all AR’s firing on the Rattle Battle team.

The next week is the NRA Championships. On Monday, the first event is the Rumbold Team Match. It is a four man team match and we will make up as many teams as we can from our group.

The rest of the week is the Individual Championships. You will shoot three 80-shot matches over the course of 4 days.

NRA week is open to service or match rifle and each match has 2 sighters. Let’s talk about competing there. Many of you think , “I would like to go someday, but I’m not good enough right now.” There are shooters of every skill level back there and you will be paired with people at your level. Relax, they are not going to squad you with David Tubb. The other thing is that the team matches during CMP week all require that one shooting member is a tyro (someone who has not shot that event before), so the team constantly needs new members. It also takes more people than just the shooters to make a team. We need coaches, score keepers and score verifiers. It is a grueling job, but we need pullers. Even though it is a lot of work, it is a lot of fun. You can go there and shoot the individual matches and still be a needed, integral member of the team in a support function. You would really have a good feel for things the next year as a shooting member that way too. You don’t actually have to shoot to be a member of the team we - need you!

(This was written in 2003)  Another thing is cost. I will go over the basics and if you are interested in going, you can email me or talk to me at a match and we can go over the details. It is cheaper than you might think. Right now, you can fly round trip for about $300. If you stay in a hut (kind of rustic, I like it but it’s not for everyone and space is limited) it is about $11 per night. You will need to spend $20 to $25 per day on food. If you rent a car it will cost you as much as your flight and you can probably get by without one. Enough of us will have rented them that we can ride into town together, etc. You do need to get from your airport to the Base though, and that is where the car comes in handy. I do need to warn you though, Commercial Row is tempting and can get expensive. Think of it as a gun show with only target shooting items in it.

This year there is not going to be a team from the CRPA. It looks as though we will be going as a Coalinga Rifle Club team. We are trying to get some team practices going on the Saturdays before our monthly matches there. What it really takes to get on the team is commitment. Decide if you are going and commit to it. Commit to coming to the team practices - that is what it takes to be a good team member.

Remember you CAN do it, you CAN afford it, and the team NEEDS YOU!

Dirk Seeley
 

 

 

 

 

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