Blair Clowdis and Douglas Armstrong Set the Bar for the New Vintage Sniper Rifle Team Match at Camp Butner

CAMP BUTNER, N. CAROLINA – It was a couple of years in the making, but the CMP Vintage Sniper Rifle Team Match was worth the wait based on comments made during an after-event gathering in the awards tent following the first official match on 10 May.

Eastern CMP Games match director, Dennis DeMille, addresses shooters immediately following the first official Vintage Sniper Rifle Team Match at Camp Butner. Shooters collectively applauded the success of the first match which was test-fired at both the Eastern and Western CMP Games last year.

When match director Dennis DeMille addressed the group and asked the question, “What did you think of our first Vintage Sniper Rifle Team Match?” competitors gave him a rousing, positive reply.

“We still have a few bugs to get worked out, but I think it was a big success,” DeMille told the group. The match was tested at the Eastern CMP Games last year and again at the Western CMP Games at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility in Phoenix in October.

Shooters of the inaugural Vintage Sniper Rifle Team Match were briefed on the match in a clinic conducted by Hornady’s chief ballistician, Dave Emary on 9 May. Emary covered the match course of fire and addressed questions during the clinic.

Dave Emary, chief ballistician at Hornady Manufacturing, and a key player in the development of the new match, conducted a sniper rifle match clinic the day before the match.

“I thought the match went extremely well at Camp Butner. We had about 50 teams shoot the match and had a number of different types of rifles, although most were 1903A4's or 1941 A1's,” Emary said.

“The course of fire worked well although at Camp Perry we will only be able to run two relays because of time constraints. I think the future of this match is quite bright – it’s challenging and a lot of fun to shoot. The format also allows basically anybody of any skill level or physical ability to participate.

“This match also gives folks a reason to research and put together another gun, which as you know it's always a good thing to have a really good reason to get another gun,” he added.

Dennis DeMille, Eastern CMP Games match director, left, congratulates Blair Clowdis, center, and Douglas Armstrong as winners of the 2011 Vintage Sniper Rifle Team Match during the awards ceremony following the match.

Blair Clowdis, 64, of Randleman, N. Carolina, and fellow Carolinian Douglas Armstrong, 51, of Lexington, won the inaugural 2011 Vintage Sniper Rifle Team Match with an aggregate score of 382-8X on an 82-degree, partly cloudy day with a light intermittent breeze.

Armstrong fired a 99-4X at 300 and 95-2X at 600 yards while Clowdis followed with a 93-0X and 95-2X, respectively. Armstrong-Clowdis topped Two Guys and a Gun, Dale Martin, of Circleville, Ohio, and Sean Leighton by five points (377-8X) and third place finishers, Team Hornady (Dave Emary and Joe Thielen), who fired a 371-6X.

The 1903A4 was a common sight at the Vintage Sniper Rifle Team Match at Camp Butner. The demand for original equipment and faithful reproductions of pre-1953 rifles and qualifying scopes is on the rise thanks to the popular new match.

“It felt pretty good to be the first winners of the first official Vintage Sniper Rifle Team Match but it wasn't without its moments,” Clowdis said.

“We had set up an "approximate" 600 yard range at Doug’s boss's (Richard Childress) farm and tried to get rifles sighted in the week before the match.

“Doug got squared away pretty easily but I still needed work when match day arrived. My 300 zero wasn't very good and I struggled, dropping seven points while Doug only dropped one. We went back to 600 yards feeling like I had lost the match for us. It got even worse when my first shot at 600 went over the target and the target stayed down for about a minute while the pit crew looked for a shot that wasn't there!

Clear, concise communication and accurate assessment of changing conditions are of paramount importance in long range matches. The Vintage Sniper Rifle Team Match provides ample challenges to shooters who must call wind and mirage changes to their partners.

“I guess these barrels are so thin that my zero, that I thought I had gotten with a sling, wasn't very good at all when resting the rifle on bags and taking the tension off the barrel. So while I was firing I was moving the elevation and windage jack screws on the ZF39 scope to try to get somewhere close to the 10 ring.

“Hmm, exactly how much is 10 minutes on a ZF39? But we pulled it together and ended up dropping five points each at the 600 yard line. Doug was shooting his Swede with an Ajack scope and I used my '98 Mauser with the ZF39 scope. We both used Sierra MatchKings© and Doug used Varget powder and I used H4350,” he added.

The Garand M1D with an M84 scope is a popular rifle with Vintage Sniper shooters. The newly-created match will be introduced for the first time at the National Matches at Camp Perry this summer.

“Neither of us thought we shot that well and were surprised to find out that we won. Butner has humbled some pretty good shooters with its quirky mirage and quick direction changes and I think that's what happened during this match. It'll keep you in the 9 ring all day if you don't read it correctly.

“But we thoroughly enjoyed shooting in this match and we'll both be back next year, with better zeroes I assure you. Maybe some better equipment too so we can up the score we shot. We both feel there were plenty of points left on the range that day,” Clowdis said.

Sunny skies, warm temperatures and a variable breeze made for nearly ideal conditions at Camp Butner at the 2011 Eastern Games. Shooters unfamiliar with calling the wind were fortunate to have fair weather for the inaugural match.

For complete results of the Vintage Sniper Rifle Team Match and the rest of the Eastern CMP Games matches, log onto http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=6477. To view photos from the Eastern Games, log onto http://cmp1.zenfolio.com.

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