1 2020SiberianMatch This February 2020 we gathered again at the Sycamore Sportsmen's Club to conduct the annual Siberian Special Match. James (kneeling on the far right) used his Springfield M1903A3 and I standing on the far right) used my Russian M44 Russian Mosin-Nagant carbine made in 1948 with the folding bayonet. The weather was similar to that of 2009 and 2010.
2 2013 Siberian Special Match Poster January of 2013 was not too different from that of 2007. Hardly any snow had fallen. The Sun would simply melt it the next day. This time we used more explosive target material to really make a big bang. Fifth from the left kneeling is Andrew who has a preference for using my Rock Island M1903 made in 1918. Again, I have my my Russian M44 Russian Mosin-Nagant carbine made in 1948 with the folding bayonet (kneeling, second from the left).
3 2012 Siberian Special Match Poster Once again we gathered at the Sycamore Sportsmen's Club to conduct the annual Siberian Special Match on a 10 deg. F morning. Andrew (standing 4th from the left) used my Rock Island M1903 made in 1918 and I (standing 2nd from the left) used my Russian M44 Russian Mosin-Nagant carbine made in 1948. Andrew's buddy, Sam (kneeling 4th from the left), used my Russian M1891/30 made in 1936.
4 2011 Siberian Special Match Poster At the end of January 2011 we gathered again at the Sycamore Sportsmen's Club to conduct the annual Siberian Special Match. Andrew (kneeling 3rd from the right) used my Rock Island M1903 made in 1918 and I (kneeling 2nd from the right) used my Russian M44 Russian Mosin-Nagant carbine made in 1948. Andrew's buddy, Sam, used my Russian M1891/30 made in 1936.
5 2010 Siberian Special Match Poster At the end of January 2010 we gathered again at the Sycamore Sportsmen's Club to conduct the annual Siberian Special Match. This year Andrew (kneeling on the right with sun glasses) used my Rock Island M1903 made in 1918 and I used my Russian M1891/30 made in 1936.
6 2009 Siberian Special Match Poster In February 2009 we gathered again at the Sycamore Sportsmen's Club to conduct the annual Siberian Special Match. This year Andrew decided to use my Rock Island M1903 (kneeling on the right). This time I used my Russian M44 made in 1948. When I bought it, the rifle appeared to be in unissued condition (me standing on the far right).
7 2007 Siberian Special Match In January 2007 we conducted the Sycamore Sportsmen's Club annual Siberian Special Match. Ideally, we are supposed to use military bolt rifles manufactured by nations whose borders touch the Arctic Circle. Since this was Andrew's first time, he used my AR-15. Note, however, that he was 11 yrs. old at the time and pretty small for any of my military bolt rifles.
8 Andrew Operating My Rock Island M1903 This image was taken during the 2012 Siberian Special Match on January 14. Now at age 16, Andrew is completely comfortable with my Rock Island M1903. His experience with the ISRA Junior Highpower Team has giving him a much higher skill level.
9 Preparing the Explosive Targets One of the organizers bought several jars of Exploding Rifle Targets from Sportsman's Guide. The powder in the little baggie is mixed with the white pellets and creates a percussion explosive. We transferred the mix to smaller plastic medicine jars and taped them to our moving targets and the gasoline bottles.
10 Setting up the Gasoline Bottles At about the 75 yard line we set up a simple stand to hang bottles filled with gasoline over a berm. A couple had the exploding target material in medicine viles. Before the shooting started we lit road flares below and behind the berm. When a bottle is hit, the gas drips on the flare and ignites.
11 Loading the Stripper Clips In preparation for each event, Andrew and I filled up our stripper clips with ammo. The object is to fire as many rounds at the respective team targets (red or blue) until the cease fire command is given.
12 Dad and Andrew Ready for the Match For 2010, I gave Andrew the choice of my Rock Island M1903 rifle in .30-06 Springfield or my Russian M44 short rifle in 7.62mm Russian. He still prefers the M1903. He's now 14 yrs. old and at my height. These days he's experimenting with a variety of rifles, including my M1 Garand.
13 Andrew Firing at the Moving Explosive Targets To make things interesting, we taped medicine bottles to the red and blue plates used for the moving targets. The plates were attached to twine that ran through some pulleys. The object was to have the red and blue teams fire at their respective plates until the vile exploded. Andrew managed to hit the bottle on the first run, blowing a basketball-sized hole through target #2 as the blue plate passed in front of it. It was quite loud!
14 Andrew Operating My Rock Island M1903 I gave Andrew the choice of my Rock Island M1903 rifle in .30-06 Springfield or my Russian M44 short rifle in 7.62mm Russian. He seemed to prefer the M1903. At age 13 he had grown enough (nearly my height) and had no difficulty with the weight of the rifle and recoil.
15 Andrew with Our 2007 SAFS Coaches Our coaches for the 2007 Small Arms Firing School (SAFS) were Sgt. Kristoffer Friend (L) and Capt. S. Kirk Freeman (R). Both of our coaches are members of the USAR Rifle Team. Andrew (center) was extremely pleased to be part of this year's school. At age 11, Andrew was one of the youngest participants to take the course. Because he was under the minimum age requirement, his application had to be approved by the Director of Civilian Marksmanship, Gary Anderson (2-time Olympic Gold Medal Winner and world record holder). Upon completion, Andrew competed in the 2007 National M16 Rifle Excellence-in-Competition (EIC) Match. The M16 Rifle EIC Match is one of a series of annual CMP and NRA national matches held in Ohio at Camp Perry. The matches run for 5 weeks during the months of July and August. Competitors come from all over the world and represent the best-of-the-best marksmen.
Sgt. Friend of Cheshire, Connecticut won the 2007 President's 100 Trophy Rifle Match with a scor...
16 Andrew Waiting for Next Relay to Begin As Relays 1 & 2 head to the target pit to take their turn pulling targets, Andrew waits with score sheet in hand for the Range Officer to announce the beginning of the preparation period. During the preparation period, competitors have 3 minutes to get into position, load their magazines as needed, and dry fire while the targets are up. Once the preparation period ends, the targets are lowered. When the command is given for the match to begin, the targets are raised and competitors have 15 minutes to fire their 5 sighting rounds and fire 10 rounds for record.
17 Andrew Preparing for the M16 EIC Match Here Andrew is preparing firing point #078 for the 2007 M16 Excellence-in-Competition (EIC) Rifle Match. His rifle is a standard issue U.S. Army M16A2 rifle chambered for the 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge with the 3-round burst capability disabled. This causes the rifle to operate only in semi-automatic mode. During the 60-second rapid fire portions of the match, competitors are required to perform a magazine change. The first magazine contains 2 rounds and the second contains 8 rounds. This is representative of firing a WWII M1 Garand, where a 2-round enbloc clip is fired followed by an 8-round enbloc clip.
18 Andrew Scoring for His Partner Typically, there were four relays assigned to each firing point. While Relays 1 & 2 are firing/scoring, Relays 3 & 4 are pulling/marking the target for that firing point. When the first two relays finish, they exchange places with the other two. Andrew was in Relay 3 and scoring for his partner in Relay 4.
19 Andrew Loading His 10-Round Magazine This was taken in November of 2005 at the Sycamore Sportsman's Club and was Andrew's first time participating in a CMP John C. Garand match (8 sighters & 30 rounds for record). Up to this point, he had been firing one of my antique single-shot, .22 cal. Stevens Favorite Boy's Rifles. Once he became proficient with the Stevens and range commands, we decided it was time to try his hand at a CMP match.
The cartridge (.30 Carbine) is a rimless .308 caliber version of the .32 Winchester Self-Loading cartridge of 1906.
20 Andrew Firing His Sighting Rounds With score sheet and chamber flag at his side, Andrew's operating one of the Sycamore Sportsman's Club owned CMP M1 Carbines. It was manufactured by GMC's Inland Mfg. Co. sometime between July and Sept. of 1944, and issued by the military for combat in WWII.
At age 10, Andrew was the youngest competitor that day. He scored 80 points (he had trouble with standing/offhand) and was ranked 19 out of 22 junior competitors. A group of Navy JROTC high school & junior high students from Freeport were at the range (some shooting for the first time ever).
21 Andrew with CMP M1 Carbine This is another WWII vintage M1 Carbine owned by the Sycamore Sportsman's Club as part of their CMP Clinic/Match program. This was taken in May 2006 after Andrew's second John C. Garand Match. He did manage a score of 163-2X, which is not bad for a 10 year old.
During the September 2006 match he scored a 215-1X (Marksman) with my 5.56mm NATO, Fulton Armory AR-15, so I gave him my CMP M1 Carbine rebuilt from an Inland barreled-action by Fulton Armory. This is an ideal rifle for a youngster who wants to get into Highpower competition.
At that point, Andrew was looking forward to attending the 2007 Small Arms Firing School (SAFS) for Rifle at Camp Perry.
22 My M1 Garand at Sycamore Sportsman's Club My .30 cal. M1 Garand rifle was manufactured in 1945 at the Springfield National Armory (Springfield, MA). It appears to have been rebuilt at least once and contains mixed parts. I bought it from the CMP in 1999 to use in local CMP matches. I took it to Camp Perry for the 2006 National John C. Garand Match.
23 Andrew & Matt at Camp Grant in 2005 Andrew (top) and Matt (bottom) earned their Cub Scout Jr. USA Shooting patch at AirCamp 2005. The "firing range" was on the former Camp Grant military training grounds. To earn the patch, the boys needed to score 35+ with 10 shots from a .17 cal. Daisy air rifle at 15 feet.
Camp Grant (1917-1945) was named after Gen. Ulysses S. Grant who lived in Galena, IL before the Civil War. Camp Grant served as a medical corps training installation during WWI. It later served as an induction point for WWII and as a POW confinement center.
24 Andrew & Matt in Vintage U.S. Army Transport Vehicle This truck had several handy features that allowed it to be used to haul equipment or personal. The bed had flip-down benches on each side to accommodate passengers.
25 Andrew & Matt in Vintage U.S. Army Light Truck The Scouts at AirCamp 2005 were allowed to climb into a variety of WWII era vehicles.
26 Andrew & Matt in Front of MIG Trainer The aircraft is a vintage Russian MIG trainer. The pilot restored it and maintains it. A plate on the side states that it can use gasolene, alcohol, or vodka as fuel. This image was taken at the Rockford Regional Airport during the Blackhawk Area Council's AirCamp 2005. The Regional Airport is situated on property formerly occupied by Camp Grant.
27 2005 CMP/USAMU SAFS Welcome Sign at Camp Perry Small Arms Firing School (SAFS) participants are greeted with an event sign as the arrive. This is a view of the driveway leading into Camp Perry Military Reservation and Training Site.
Camp Perry is located four miles southwest of Port Clinton, Ohio (between Toledo and Sandusky) on the shores of Lake Erie. The property was purchased by the War Department in 1906 during Theodore Roosevelt's second term in office for the purpose of conducting National Matches and is the world's largest small arms firing range. It is home to the Ohio National Guard, the National Matches Conducted by the NRA, CMP Games, and headquarters for the CMP.
Camp Perry Military Reservation is named after Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, the American naval commander who won the decisive Battle of Put-in-Bay (near Port Clinton) during the War of 1812.
28 USAMU Issue M9 Target Pistol This is the target pistol issued for my firing point on the Rodriguez Range.
The U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) supplies 9mm M9 target pistols (based on the Beretta model 1951) and ammunition for use in the Small Arms Firing School.
Some participants use the course to practice with their personal M1911s in preparation for the National Pistol Matches.
29 My Coach GySGT Zins USMC GySGT Brian H. Zins, is an unprecedented eight-time NRA National Pistol Champion. As the 2005 National Champion, his score was an impressive 2645-111X. This was his fifth consecutive National Pistol Championship, tying him with Bill Blankeship, who held the title from 1960 to 1964.
He is also the 2007 Military Police Corps Trophy winner in the National Matches at Camp Perry. Since then he has retire from the Marine Corps to become the NRA's National Manager for Pistol Competitions.
30 U.S. Army Markmanship Unit Coach and SAFS Range Officer The U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) is coached by a civilian (left). The soldier on the right is the SAFS Range Officer.
31 2004 CMP/USAMU SAFS at Camp Perry This was taken on the second day of the Small Arms Firing School (SAFS) for Rifle at the 300 yard firing line of the Viale Range. I'm operating a standard issue U.S. Army M16A2 rifle chambered for the 5.56mm NATO cartridge.
Participants in the SAFS for rifle are provided with a USAMU coach, ammunition, and an M16 rifle that has been modified by the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit to function in semi-automatic mode only. The 3-round burst capability is disabled for marksmanship training purposes.
32 2011 CMP-Remington Advance Rifle Clinic This is the CMP-Remington Advance Rifle Clinic class of 2011 at the Petrarca Range.
The Petrarca range was named after Frank J. Petrarca from Cleveland, Ohio. Frank was a Private First Class in the army medical detachment, 145 Infantry. He died attempting to bring medical aid to a fellow solder on Horseshoe Hill in the Solomon Islands on July 31, 1943.
33 Dry Fire During CMP-Remington Advance Rifle Clinic Here I am receiving instruction from one of the Remington team members during the sitting dry fire exercise.
