CAMP PERRY, OH – The name “Swamp Perry” held true again at this year’s National Match Rimfire Sporter Competition, held July 21, 2013 on the soggy Viale Range, left muddied from recent rain that has drowned the Northwest Ohio area. Though veteran National Match goers generally come prepared for the wet mess that is typically expected, not all were prepared for the waterlogged conditions.
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Don Moore of Chattanooga, TN, received the High Senior award in both the O-Class, with a score of 580-23x, as well as the T-Class, firing a 584-22x.
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“I was going to bring my Army boots this year, but I didn’t think I’d need them, so I just brought my tennis shoes. Now I’m wishing I had them,” said Jeffrey Knop, 53, of Brighton, MI, as he stood on the damp range grass during the match.
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Jeff Knop (left) of Brighton, MI, ended the match with soaked feet, thanks to the many puddles of standing water around the range.
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While some ill-prepared shooters spent the day with soaked feet, others improvised.
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CMP staff members left a “warning” sign for shooters in the swamp-like range conditions.
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“This was an act of desperation,” said Till Curry, 73, of Milton, WV, who fashioned his own pair of “rain boots” out of two garbage bags wrapped around his feet. “I had a vision of my wife, who would go into a grocery store when it was raining and buy bags to put on her feet. I thought it would work here.”
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Till Curry (left) of Milton, WV, got crafty with two garbage bags to avoid muddy shoes during the standing phase of the match.
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Though the water dampened their feet, it couldn’t dampen their spirits or their abilities to shoot outstanding scores.
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Ben Cleland of Swanton, OH, won the overall award in the O-Class with an aggregate score of 581-21x.
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Ben Cleland, 20, of Swanton, OH, shot an aggregate score of 581-21x to come out on top of the O-Class. Cleland also managed to snag the High Junior award in the class and receives a Savage rifle donated by Savage Arms. Hanging close in second place was the silver medal in the O-Class, Steven Slee, 49, of Dimondale, MI, with a combined score of 581-19x. Don Moore, 63, of Chattanooga, TN, brought home the bronze, firing a 580-23x.
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Ron Villanueva of Parma Heights, OH, took home the overall awards for both the T-Class and the Tactical Class. Villanueva shot a score of 593-28x in the T-Class and 593-28x in the Tactical Class.
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Leading the T-Class was Ron Villanueva, 68, of Parma Heights, OH, with his score of 593-28x. Robert Ripple, 49, of Newark, OH, secured the second place spot with an aggregate score of 592-33x, while Lucas Boord, 23, of New Stanton, PA, came in third with a combined score of 591-31x. Samuel Payne, 14, of Kingston, GA, was the High Junior and High 4-H Jr Shooter in the T-Class, firing a 586-23x. Samuel will receive a Remington rifle donated by Remington. Samuel was also the High 4-H Jr Shooter in the O-Class.
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Steven Stewart (right) of Troy, MI, received the High Junior award in the Tactical class, with his score of 569-11x. Stewart was handed his award by CMP board member Marsha Beasley.
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Villanueva also earned himself a gold medal in the Tactical Class, coming in ahead of the rest with his score of 595-29x. Peter Yarbro, 38, of Mishawaka, IN, trailed behind in second place with a score of 589-23x, followed by William Flagg, 53, of Ashland, VA, who fired a 587-29x for third. Steven Stewart, 19, of Troy, MI, received the High Junior award with his combined score of 569-11x.
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Natalie Harper of Dublin, GA, received the High Women’s award in the T-Class with her score of 587-20x.
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In Women’s Rankings, Amanda LaBeff, 31, of Saginaw, MI, topped the O-Class with an aggregate score of 549-8x. Natalie Harper, 21, of Dublin, GA, achieved the High Women’s award in the T-Class with her score of 587-20x. Leading the women in the Tactical Class was Denise Miller, 39, of Coshocton, OH, who fired a score of 576-15x.
Don Moore snatched the High Senior award for the O-Class with his score of 580-23x, as well as in the T-Class, firing a 584-22x. Mark Montgomery, 61, of Gibsonburg, OH, was the High Senior in the Tactical Class with his aggregate score of 585-18x.
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Samuel Payne (center) and Zach Payne (right) won the Youth Adult Partner Match in the O-Class with their combined score of 1103-14x.
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The National Rimfire Sporter Match also allows Youth-Adult Partner Teams to compete. The combo brother team from Georgia Zach and Samuel Payne won both the O-Class and T-Class team events firing scores of 1103-14X and 1172-52X. In the Tactical Team Match, Dennis Rodgers and Brandon Lutz from New Brighton, PA, fired a 1062-9X to place first.
Lapua was a sponsor for the National Rimfire Sporter Match donating 50 rounds of smallbore ammunition to each competitor. Thank you Lapua for your continued support.
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Some areas of the range left participants unavoidably stuck in the mud.
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Rimfire Sporter is one of the fastest growing shooting sports in the United States today. The course of fire is designed so veteran and beginner shooters alike are able to understand basic gun safety, marksmanship and target shooting practices. It is meant to be a fun and relaxed shooting experience for all who take part.
The CMP’s Rimfire Sporter Matches are fired with .22 caliber rifles weighing under 7 ½ lbs and can be classified in the T-Class (Telescopic), the O-Class (Open sights) or the Tactical Class. Prone slow-fire, prone rapid, sitting or kneeling slow-fire and sitting or kneeling rapid-fire are fired at 50 yards and standing slow-fire and standing rapid fire are fired at 25 yards. CMP Affiliated Clubs sanctioned Rimfire Sporter Matches around the U.S. Visit
http://www.thecmp.org/Competitions/Rimfire.htm for more information.
For complete results of the National Match Rimfire Sporter competition, log on to its Competition Tracker page at
http://ct.thecmp.org/app/v1/index.php?do=match&task=edit&match=10087. Photos from the 2013 National Rimfire Match may be viewed, downloaded or purchased at
http://cmp1.zenfolio.com/p229572907.
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