The 2006 Western CMP Games and Creedmoor Cup Matches will take place on the picturesque Wilcox Range on the U. S. Marine Corps base at Camp Pendleton, California on 4-12 November.

New entries for the 2006 Western CMP Games and Creedmoor Cup Matches at Camp Pendleton, California in early November are coming in at a steady pace now as shooters make final plans to attend this year’s biggest west coast rifle match. Camp Pendleton’s huge highpower rifle range makes plenty of entry spaces available, but shooters who plan to attend, but have not yet entered, are encouraged to get their entries in as soon as possible.

The official match program for the combined Western CMP Games and Creedmoor Cup Matches is posted on the CMP website at http://www.odcmp.com/Competitions/WesternGames.htm. After you check out the program, you can enter on-line at http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/matchInfo.cgi?matchID=1643. Anyone who wants additional information can also call the CMP at 419-635-2141, ext. 1114 (email competitions@odcmp.com) or call Dennis DeMille at Creedmoor Sports, 1-800-273-3366 (email demille@creedmoorsports.com).

Participants in the CMP Cup Matches can fire in their choice of Garand, Springfield and Vintage Military Rifle Matches on 5-6 November and in a special “As-Issued” M1 Garand EIC Match on 7 November.

The combined program offers ten full days of clinics and competition events that offer something for everyone from beginning shooters to national championship contenders. The program begins on Friday, 3 November, with a CMP Garand-Springfield-Military (GSM) Rifle Master Instructor Training Course. This course is designed to teach students how to conduct GSM clinics and matches at their home clubs. There is a 30-student limit for this course and only a few openings remain. If you are interested in becoming a GSM Master Instructor, go to the program and registration form at http://www.odcmp.com/Competitions/GSMClinic.htm.

A five-hour GSM Clinic will be offered to any interested shooters on Saturday afternoon, 4 November. CMP Director Gary Anderson will be the primary instructor, but newly certified GSM Master Instructors will be available to assist clinic students during the dry fire position exercises that are an important part of the clinic. Clinic students will also learn about the John C. Garand course of fire and how to shoot it, how to score and how to pull targets. 70 shooters have already signed up for the Saturday afternoon clinic, but many additional registrations are expected.

All competitors in the Western Games Garand, Springfield and Vintage Military Rifle Matches will be eligible to earn CMP gold, silver and bronze achievement medals.

The Western CMP Games Matches get underway on Sunday, 5 November, when competitors can elect to fire in a Garand, Springfield or Vintage Military Rifle Match. Competitors need to check in by 7:00 AM or so in order to receive scorecards, draw ammo, have their rifles inspected and be squadded for the match that starts promptly at 8:00 AM. All competitors will receive a Western Games T-shirt, ammo for the match and have an opportunity to earn CMP bronze, silver or gold achievement medals.

After the match is over, at approximately 2:00 PM, the CMP rifle sales tables will open for business. A whole truckload of M1 Garand, Kimber M82 and other government surplus rifles will be available for inspection and purchase. M2 ball ammunition will also be available. Any U. S. citizen who is eligible to purchase a CMP rifle is welcome to come to Camp Pendleton’s Wilcox Range for this rifle purchase opportunity, whether or not they are competing in the Western Games Matches. Anyone who plans to do this should, however, sign up as a “non-firing registrant.” To do this, go to the match registration web page at http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/matchInfo.cgi?matchID=1643 and register. There is no fee for this, but it allows the CMP to provide a roster of persons coming to Wilcox Range to Marine Corps officials who control entrance to Camp Pendleton.

The CMP will offer government surplus rifle sales opportunities every afternoon during the Western CMP Games and Creedmoor Cup Matches starting at 2:00 PM on Sunday, 5 November, and lasting as long as rifles are available. Individuals do not have to be competitors in the matches to participate in the sales program, but they need to enter as “non-firing registrants” before coming to Camp Pendleton.

Approximately one hour after the rifle sales get underway, a barbecue lunch will be served for all competitors. That will be followed by daily award presentations.

The second series of Western CMP Games Matches will get underway at 7:00 and 8:00 AM on Monday, 6 November. Competitors will again have the option of firing a Garand, Springfield or Vintage Military Rifle. The CMP rifle sales tables again will open at 2:00 PM and daily awards will be presented at approximately 3:00 PM.

The last day of the Western CMP Games Matches on Tuesday, 7 November, is dedicated to a unique CMP As-Issued M1 Garand EIC Match. The match is open to all competitors regardless of EIC credit point or Distinguished status, but for competitors who have not previously earned any EIC credit points, this match offers a special opportunity. The top 10 percent of these competitors will receive 4-point “introductory” legs. Last year, five shooters went home with their first rifle EIC points.

CMP rifle sales will continue that afternoon as soon as firing is complete. The rifle sales program will also be open each afternoon during the Creedmoor Cup Matches for as long as rifles are available for sale.

A feature of the Creedmoor Cup Matches is the highpower rifle clinic on Wednesday, 8 November, that will be taught by military rifle team shooters and coaches.

The Creedmoor Cup events get underway on Wednesday, 8 November, with a highpower rifle shooting clinic. The USMC Reserve Rifle Team and Creedmoor’s Dennis DeMille, 2005 National Highpower Rifle Champion, will conduct this clinic that also is open to all interested shooters.

The first Creedmoor Cup Match is a Practice Match, fired over the National Match Course, with sighters, on Thursday, 9 November. Friday’s event features an EIC Match that can be fired with either a service rifle or a match rifle. Non-Distinguished service rifle shooters, of course, are eligible to earn EIC credit points.

The Creedmoor Cup Matches include a 50-shot practice match, a 50-shot EIC match, an 80-shot individual Creedmoor Cup match and a 4x50-shot team match.

The major event of the Creedmoor Cup Matches is the Creedmoor Cup, an 80-shot 4X20 event that will be fired on Saturday, 11 November. That will be followed by an awards banquet and the distribution of $15,000 worth of door prizes. Competitors must be entered in the matches to be eligible for these prizes. The matches will conclude on Sunday, 12 November, with a four-person Commanding General’s Team Match.

If you have not made plans to be part of the 2006 Western CMP Games or Creedmoor Cup Matches, there is still plenty of time to submit your entry and make arrangements to travel to Camp Pendleton for the biggest rifle tournament in the Western United States.