Service Rifle Optic Sight

[remus]

I think that the military armorers are the originators of the present national match rifle. They are the ones who put on special natl match sights, float tubes, heavy barrels, tiriggers, adinfinitum. The civilian shooters had to adapt their stuff to be somewhat competitive with these people. The rules committees said that these improvements were allowed as long as the service rifle looked like a service rifle. I remember being on an army team in the 1960's my military issue m14 had a match trigger, match sights, glass bedded action and match barrel. I am sure that the old 03's and m1's were modified by the military armorers to shoot better too.

I don't see that the civilian NRA had much to do with initiating these modifications, all they did was allow civilians to use the same modifications that the military was putting into their "service" rifles for competition.

I am a distinguished shooter and the only thing that I hope is that the CMP which is now ministering that program does not bastardise the rules on rifles in a way that will cheapen that award. Standing to sitting, standing to prone, I hope it remains part of the course of fire. I don't think acog type sights will be a benefit to anyone shooting in a EIC match and hope they aren't permitted in the future.

Iron sights rule. I

[PhillipM]

At 42 I'm new to competition shooting and all I have is an "as issued" M1 built by JohnF from this board. My parents both shot skeet pro in the NSSA when I was in diapers. Skeet are all fine and dandy but I really fell in love with old service rifles. Until Jouster popped on the scene around 1998 I never knew anything about Perry or National Matches nor what either meant.

I'm a dedicated civilian, but my best friend, same age as me, joined the Mississippi National Guard in 1987. He has been in law enforcement his whole life since we graduated high school in 1986 and has no more a clue about national matches than I, other than what I've told him. He is a serious shooter and knows I am too, he won't take bets against me. The point is here we are, one with a life long military career, he's up for E-9!, and me a lifelong enthusiast, never knew National Matches or Camp Perry even existed till we were middle aged. Now we are old fat guys and I just wonder what I could have done had I known. (don't worry, I'm on track now I know the path!)

A few weeks ago I finalized a deal on a low number 03 by phone and as it wound up he was near the seller's home in his travels he picked it up for me. When I picked it up after a bit I assumed a standing position and he told me how wrong that position was. He said the most stable position is hunched forward square with the target! I demonstrated the standing position and showed the bone on bone structure to which he said how old is my information, and I told him it goes back about 1900. He then asked if anything new had been done in the last few years and took my 03 and showed me a squared up hunched stance that resembled something off the cover of a video game. In relationship to football he pushed me in standing position related to his position and told me how unstable standing position was.

In short, a decorated combat veteran up for E-9 thinks standing position is dumb and current training is best. The only thing I could defend my position with was "This is how the Army Marksmanship Unit does it" and that gave him pause. I figure the pause was for he'd never heard of the Army Marksmanship Unit and that messed him up. His blank stare (hard to get from an E-8 not to mention a cop) was proof he had never heard of the AMU.

...I just talked with a vet about 30 years old that knew there were marksmanship matches but not the path to get there.

I've a friend,my age, Nathan Mathern, that went to Marine scout sniper school that knows NOTHING about the national matches. He spends his off time riding four wheelers (quads) in the mud. He knows there are matches but not how to get in or what the prize is. What a waste of talent!!!!

Of my friends I'm the only one that will jump in and shoot any match, probably because I've never been in the military. I don't care, I'm not scared to make an idiot of myself, I just want to know.

I'm new so take my advice with a huge grain of salt, but if you want some excellent shooters to join the ranks, spend as much time PROMOTING THE SPORT as you do griping about minutia!!!! As a new guy I don't have any weight but I think the guys from the M14 days should recruit kids as often as they decry black rifles. A stupid Wii is the the sport of choice because olders have not passed down traditions.

When can we start shooting targets in the comfort of our living room on a screen while wearing 3D goggles? Electronic targets are getting us there PDQ!