First NRA match at 200 300 and 600 fired today

[dzelenka]

Phillip was at Palo Alto this past weekend for the LA State Championship and leg match. He was trooping along with his M1 and looked like he was having a good time. I am interested to get his impressions, especially on his first leg match.

Dan

[PhillipM]

Phillip was at Palo Alto this past weekend for the LA State Championship and leg match. He was trooping along with his M1 and looked like he was having a good time. I am interested to get his impressions, especially on his first leg match.

Dan

I loved it! I haven't had time to really write up all I learned but suffice to say it is a very well run match. I liked the way everything was so well organized and especially how all the targets and scoring materials were laid out in the pits.

During scoring I really wasn't expecting to deal with alibi's but it happened three times!

As far as the M-1 goes, I had fun with my "war club" as Lee called it. It really concerned the line judge and the match director that I was shooting left handed but I've been shooting a Garand for about 25 years so it was no problem for me. My goal was to break 400 although I fell short at 386, it was just due to my dumb mistakes. The worst rookie dumb mistake I made was leaving a round long in the clip during the 300 yard rapid. I couldn't bang it down so I had to strip the clip, reload it and fire extra double quick rapid! I fired every time the front sight came back down in the black from recoil!

Dan, congratulations on your victory Saturday and your silver medal Sunday!

[Maury Krupp]

I loved it!

...The worst rookie dumb mistake I made was leaving a round long in the clip during the 300 yard rapid. I couldn't bang it down so I had to strip the clip, reload it and fire extra double quick rapid!

Besides checking your clips when you lay out your gear in pre-prep, you should *ALWAYS* have a spare clip and a couple loose rounds laying on your mat. If something goes wrong with your primary, you drop it or it slips out of your hand to forward of the firing line, or the clip pukes out early all you have to do is go to your backups. No muss no fuss no panic

Maury

[PhillipM]

Sir, you should write a book! I used 175's with 4064 at 600 and just held the seven ring. Is that the best an as issued Garand can do?

[dzelenka]

He cleared the problem, shot the remainder of the clip and calmly put the last round in and fired it with time to spare.

[dzelenka]

I loved it! I haven't had time to really write up all I learned but suffice to say it is a very well run match. I liked the way everything was so well organized and especially how all the targets and scoring materials were laid out in the pits.

Dan, congratulations on your victory Saturday and your silver medal Sunday!

Thanks for the kind words. We put a lot into the organization of the range and the matches. Don't be a stranger. We shoot across the course on the 3rd Saturday of every month. I look forward to shooting with you again.

Dan

[Maury Krupp]

...I used 175's with 4064 at 600 and just held the seven ring. Is that the best an as issued Garand can do?

I wouldn't say "the best" but it's probably pretty close on average.

Theoretically, if the rifle will mostly hold the 3.5MOA SR 10-ring at 200yd (as most As Issued M1s will) then it should hold somewhere close to the 3MOA 9-ring at 600yd.

That's in theory; reality is usually quite different thanks not only to the gun but the conditions and shooter as well. Much frustration can come from not knowing which of those caused that errant shot

Short-range (100 & 200yd) practice can help identify shooter issues. More full course experience will help you recognize and deal with conditions and their changes.

But having a gun that puts the bullets where you point them is pretty important too. That's one of the reasons why ratgunz are so popular; they usually shoot to call out of the box. An M1 can be made to shoot that way as well but it's more work.

While there's some thinking involved, highpower rifle is mostly an acquired motor skill. It takes practice, repetition, and refinement. So for now if an As Issued M1 is the rifle you've got then that's the rifle you shoot

Real improvement only happens at the range with the true tests coming at matches. It sounds like you've got a good place to shoot and good people to shoot with so take advantage of it every chance you get.

Maury