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Upcoming CMP Events:
Tuesday & Thursday Night Open Public Shooting
CMP Marksmanship Centers,
Port Clinton, OH
Anniston, AL
Shooters, including aspiring new shooters are invited to take advantage of a new opportunity to do practice shooting.  Both ranges consist of 80-point, 10-meter air gun range and are fully equipped with electronic targets that accommodate air rifle, air pistol or National Match Air Rifle shooting.  Instruction and equipment are also available.  Visit http://www.odcmp.com/MarksmanshipCenters.htm for additional information.

 

CMP iPhone App - CMP is the official app for keeping score at Civilian Marksmanship Program sponsored shooting events. It features an easy to use interface that allows for quick recording of your score after each string. The CMP app calculates your shooting percentages automatically to let you know how you are doing throughout the event. You can also enter notes and record conditions so that you have a permanent record of details of each event.  This application is sponsored and endorsed by the Civilian Marksmanship Program and a portion of the proceeds from the sale of this software are donated to the CMP.  The CMP app is designed for both the iPhone and iPad.  This application is sponsored and endorsed by the Civilian Marksmanship Program and a portion of the proceeds from the sale of this software are donated to the CMP.  Visit http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cmp/
id379873392?mt=8# to view and purchase the CMP app.

 

2010-2011 JROTC Air Rifle Postal Competition Now Open for Registration.  The 2010-2011 JROTC three-position air rifle competition program starts in September with Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force postal competitions. All JROTC units that offer rifle marksmanship training for their cadets are encouraged to shoot in these popular matches. Indeed, a major objective this year is to increase participation by JROTC units and individual cadets. All firers in the open postal competitions will fire a 3x10 air rifle course of fire. The deadline to enter the JROTC Postal Competition is 12 November.  Visit http://www.odcmp.com/3P/JROTC.htm for additional information and on-line registration.
 


CMP North Store Celebrates Appreciation Day and Open House on 2 October - CAMP PERRY, OHIO – Plan to join us at the CMP North store for our Customer Appreciation Day and Open House with complimentary coffee and donuts in the morning and hot dogs and chips in the afternoon on Saturday, 2 October. The store opens at 8:30 a.m. and closes at 4 p.m.


2010 Western CMP Games and Creedmoor Cup Matches Ready for Entries.  It’s time to think about highpower rifle shooting - “Western Style” at the 2010 Western CMP Games and Creedmoor Cup Matches at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility North of Phoenix, Arizona, on 16-24 October. Registration for the 2010 Western CMP Games and Creedmoor Cup Match is now open. The CMP and Creedmoor Sports of Oceanside, California, together with the Arizona State Rifle & Pistol Association, will host the matches and festivities. Sign up today and plan to be a part of this exciting event! Visit http://www.odcmp.com/Competitions/
WesternGames.htm  to read the complete Match Program and register online.


Air Rifle and Air Pistol Marksmanship Competitions - Camp Perry, Ohio and Anniston, Alabama.  The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) invites you and your club rifle team to participate in the CMP’s Monthly Matches. The matches will take place on the above dates at the CMP’s Marksmanship Centers North and South. The competitions will feature a Junior Air Rifle 3x20, 60 Shots Air Rifle Standing, 60 Shots Air Pistol, a 20 shot Novice Prone stage a National Match Air Rifle 20 Shot Standing, Garand Course and 3x20 events.  Monthly Match Dates are 16 October and 20 November.  Visit http://www.odcmp.com/
MarksmanshipCenters.htm to view the CMP Monthly Match Program or to register for the Match. 


 Dixie Double, Anniston, AL.  The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) invites you to participate in its second annual Anniston Marksmanship Center Dixie Double. This match offers 60-shot international air rifle standing and 60-shot air pistol events for open men and women and junior men and women. USA Shooting is sanctioning this match as a PSA/PSI match sanctions; it is also sanctioned as a PTO.  Members of the National Rifle and Pistol Teams will attend.  National Rifle Coach David Johnson will present a coaching clinic for all interested persons on Saturday afternoon, 13 November.  The match is a two-day event where competitors will fire one 60-shot event on each of two days, 13 & 14 November 2010.   Visit http://www.odcmp.com/3P/DixieDouble.htm for additional information.
 


Printable Version

Buy a Lottery Ticket

By Raymond L. Vaughn, GCA member and CMP Volunteer


One of the most common statements I hear in the few pleasant years I’ve worked in the CMP North Store is “All they have is a bunch of junk”. To me, that’s the most ridiculous statement ever. Both the North and South Stores are packed with treasures.
 
Both CMP Stores display rows of rifles, like the picture above. Customers are able to browse through the selections on display and hand pick their purchase.

The perspective depends on what you are looking for, a tack driver, a beautiful stock, or a correct grade rifle. It is not unusual to find a ME of -1 or a crisp, sharp WWII cartouche on a rifle nestled among the field and service grade selections on any given day. Countless times, the late George Ball, would sit on his stool, shake his head and wisely remind me, “You can’t get ‘em all”. Many times, I’ve watched excellent pieces walk out the door under someone’s arm and wish I had found it first. And contrary to established belief, we don’t get to scour the gun racks and save the beauties for ourselves. During the National Matches, we are hard pressed to unload the crates from Anniston and restock the gun racks so that customers have an ample selection to browse through.

Our greatest joys are seeing a customer’s smiling face when he finds that rifle he never thought he’d find, among the field grade and service grade rifles in the store. One such happy occasion occurred on August 3, 2010 and the lucky guy was Mr. Bruce Folger, a customer and shooter from just down the road, in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.

He’s a Specialist E4 in the Ohio Military Reserve, 6th Brigade, a component of the Ohio National Guard. He was at Camp Perry to participate in his 2nd Garand Match and stopped by to purchase some 30-06 ammo. While he was here, he decided to look through the rifles and see if anything caught his eye.

In the store only about 10 minutes and he’d settled on two service grade Springfield Garands, noticing the nice condition of the wood. He took the time, at the counter, to have us check the muzzles and throats of both guns, finding a ME of 1 and 1 ½ and throats that gauged at 2 on each. Satisfied, with the rifles, Bruce decided to do the paperwork. He had his choices and was ready to buy.

It was then discovered that he had found consecutive serial number rifles in the rack, sitting side by side. He had no idea of the significance of his find until the guy standing next to him at the counter offered him $1000 over his purchase price to buy them from him. He had serial numbers 5,xxx,282 and 5,xxx,283 in his hands. The entire store gasped. The rifles checked out as being produced in 3/55, and had 3/55 and 4/55 barrels. And they were packed with HRA parts, bolts, trigger groups, Springfield and HRA operating rods, excellent hard to find parts throughout. Of course, Bruce turned down the $1000 offer, finally realizing the remarkable treasure he’d found.

The amazing thing is that no one, customer or employee had run across these two rifles. Apparently they came in different crates, on different manifests and different days and were not noted during the unpacking, verification and shelving process. Stan & I probably unpacked them, writing down the numbers, as quickly as possible to avoid Mike Conrad’s “You guys finished yet” since that was our job that week.

Notorious members of the GCA, like Jim Adell and Gus, from Armalite, who are known to meticulously scour the racks for specific serial numbers and oddities, missed the find. I have been lucky enough to have Jim point out an especially historic rifle, he’d noted in his searches. (Thanks for the tip on the 0-66, Jim.) He’s Mr. Eagle Eye and a historian of renown, in his own right. So are Leon Rutherford, a CMP Anniston Armorer, and Bob, Frank, Jim, Steve and Joe, the store full-time employees. No one caught the coincidence of sequential serial numbers sitting side by side. If Mike Conrad, the store manager had found those rifles, they would have never hit the shelves but been pulled and put up for auction on the CMP auction site, as they should have been.

Consider the enormous odds that after 55 years, these two guns would again sit, side by side, on the same shelf, waiting for a new life and a new shooter. Reunited again after traveling all over the globe, in so many possible countries, bases, units and hands. Did I carry one in Marine Corps ITR at Camp Geiger? Did they serve together in military parades or in an Army unit, on a mountain, in Greece? Maybe they ate sand at 29 Palms or breathed salt air on a Caribbean cruise with the fleet? Were they returned from Denmark, Argentina or Germany? We will never know. What we do know is the CMP Store, Building 2500 is alive and still breathing. For the price of a single gun show M1, Bruce had picked up two pieces that could easily go for $4000 to $8000 in auctions. As long CMP has the guns to sell, the hidden treasures will be there, waiting for the right buyer, if he takes the time to look. To those who lament the poor selection in the racks, I say “Look closely”. To Mr. Folger, I say, “Buy a lottery ticket”. Get bold, buy two, you never know.

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TO CONTACT THE CMP
PROGRAMS:  For marksmanship training, competitions, National Matches, safety information and youth marksmanship.

Email:  info@odcmp.com

Camp Perry Program Center
Phone: (419) 635-2141      Fax: (419) 635-2802

Mail & Shipping:
Civilian Marksmanship Program
P.O. Box 576 (mail)
Camp Perry Training Site, Bldg #3 (shipping)
Port Clinton, Ohio 43452
SALES:  For government surplus rifles and ammunition, CMP products and CMP memorabilia. 

Email:  custserve@odcmp.com

Anniston Distribution Center
Phone: (256) 835-8455     Fax:  (256) 835-3527

Mail & Shipping:
Civilian Marksmanship Program
1401 Commerce Blvd
Anniston, Alabama 36207
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