Well—you made it to this page, and we made it!!! To paraphrase Barack Obama, “This is the web page we’ve been waiting for.” But unlike the political scene, where the more people talk about change, the more it seems like more of the same-old, same-old, our new web page will change.
It won’t be quick, and it won’t be huge, but bit-by-bit we will add a few more things here and there and change a few of the things that are already there.
In my opinion a successful web page should have regions of stability, just as our old page did, illustrating fundamental truths and facts about our club that a new (or old) member would want to know. Thus, information about the types of matches we shoot, directions to the various ranges, the history of the club, and that sort of thing will remain largely as they have been on the old page.
But we must also have regions of the page keep up with current events and changes of the shooting landscape. There are already areas on our web page where you can see the direction these changes will take. For example, in the Newsletters section, it is easy now to add a short report on a match, almost in real time, as I did on the Missouri Regional in May. It is advantageous to have some of these reports as separate titles just in case you can’t remember which newsletter it was that had the description of you getting those leg points or beating Steve Milholland in a Garand match. So, as the year goes on, we’ll try to add a few shorter news items. (If you want to write something up, send your article to Ed Bowles or myself, William Corcoran
Also, some of the tabs on the left-hand side of the page, the major subdivisions or topics that you can click on, will change somewhat as we get a better feel for the type of content we want. For example, I can already see a need for a ‘buy-sell’ area. Rather than running it as a bulletin board, it would be more like classified ads where the buyer and a seller could contact each other using other media such as email or telephone. Too, I would like to refine the presentation of things in the ‘Tips and Techniques’ tab.
So, what I’m trying to say, is that you will want to check the web page periodically to see what has changed. Remember, this is a volunteer operation, so changes won’t be real frequent or too major, but they will all be for the better. And if you have any suggestions for things you’d like to see on the web page, let me know.
right now—in the schedule I have made a few brief notes so you can see how many rounds we will fire in each match and what the entry fee will be (if any). Hope this helps.
The match on Saturday, June 7 is a combined Springfield and Foreign Bolt Rifle Match (also called ‘Vintage’ by the CMP). The organization seems a bit complex, but it’s not. All shooter will shoot the G-S-M course ‘A’, which is the 35 match: 5 sighters, 10 slow prone, 10 rapid prone, and 10 slow standing.
Anyone shooting a Springfield rifle or a M1917 will be issued 35 rounds of .30-06 ammo and charged $15 to cover that cost (do not bring your own).
Shooters using Vintage Foreign bolt rifles must provide their own ammunition, and so there will be no charge to you. No matter which type of rifle you shoot, you will shoot the same course of fire; the only difference will be the score card you turn in.
Springfield shooters will be considered to be firing in one match, and Foreign rifle shooters will be competing in a separate match. The CMP will report this as 2 matches even though it all happens at the same time. We will not segregate based on relay or firing points since you all shoot the same course of fire. Hope this helps.
Once you have shot in a match using the cute green score cards, the CMP has assigned you a competitor number. These competitor numbers are an important part of the CMP record-keeping. It will help me if you would memorize yours and put it in the appropriate space on the score card. If you don’t, I have to go look them up and copy them onto the score cards before I turn them in.
How do you find your number? There are three ways, two of them involving the web and CMP, one involving me. You can go to: ‘Competitions’ on the CMP web site, then find us, and find a match you shot in and your number. Alternatively, you can go to the Osage Orange web site and find your number in the ‘Scores’ section under the appropriate match bulletin for any match you shot in. Finally, you can try to ask me at a match, and I will have some old bulletins with numbers on them, but its better do get it memorized ahead of time.
If you leave the ‘c’ out of score, you describe the point they have become in my life. PLEASE FILL OUT YOUR SCORE CARD COMPLETELY AND ACCURATELY. Yes, your ZIP code is important. I often send hardcopy bulletins (match results) out to shooters I know don’t use the web, need a hardcopy, or only shoot with us once or twice. I figure these shooters would prefer to have it on paper. But it costs money and time to prepare envelopes etc. And it costs me a whole lot more time if you don’t put your competitor number on (I look it up) or don’t put your ZIP code there (I look it up). And if things are too messed up, the CMP calls me and asks me what to do. The usual answer is: send the score card back to me for correction, whereupon I discard it.
On June 7, in Marshall Missouri at the Bucksnort Rifle Range is the Missouri High Power Rifle Championship. It is an 88 round match (80 for record plus 2 sighters before each stage of the match). Obviously, this date conflicts with our Springfield/Vintage bolt rifle match, but some of us will go to Marshall instead. That’s a different story. What I want to ask you about is Sunday, June 8 because there will be a team match held that morning, and I would like as many people as possible to attend. Most of you have heard my ranting on this, that this is the best way to get introduced to shooting the full-course match because you will be shooting totally with your Osage Orange team mates who will coach you, and what could be better? There, that’s my sales pitch. And I really mean it—if you’ve ever wondered what it is that we do at Camp Perry or other places, this is the time to find out.
If you can possibly come up to shoot with us, please let me know so we can get our team rosters set up before hand. NO EXPERTISE IS REQUIRED. At the tender age of 46 I took myself to the Championship match (it was a 100 round match then, but things were always tougher in the old days). I had a pawn-shop M1 I bedded with strips of beer can aluminum, carried my stuff in a 5 gallon paint bucket, had a canvas jacket, no idea how to pull a target in the pits, and camped on the range in a tent. I screwed up repeatedly, missed the target completely in every position, and I am sure cost some very good shooters some points by incorrectly marking their targets I REALLY wish now that I had a team to show me the ropes. This is your chance. Come up on Sunday, and all will be easy, every step will be explained, and all you have to do is pull the trigger.
June 28 we will hold a 35 round any-rifle, any-sight match at the Aim-Rite Range in Miller. Note that the start time is 10am. After the match we’ll have a picnic. This will be a very, very informal affair, and everyone’s family and friends are welcome to attend for the match and picnic or either one alone. We should be done shooting by about 12:30, and cooking will commence immediately. There will be no limits on time or activity, so if you want to shoot a bit to try out your new birthday present after the match—have at it, we own the match for the whole day.
The one rule is, please, no alcoholic beverages. We are guests on the range, and the range owner has expressed a couple times to me that he has no prejudice against beer, he just doesn’t see that it goes very well with firearms and rifle ranges. I agree on all points.
As many of you have observed, we have instituted a cross-breed set of rules pertaining to the act of standing up before our rapid fire strings. We will henceforth utilize the NRA Highpower rules instituted in 2008 even though we are a CMP (not NRA) club.
10.1.7 Rapid Fire Loading Procedure – (a) Senior and Grand Seniors (Rules 2.2.1 and 2.2.2) may remain in position after the line has been given the Command “STAND.” After the command “STAND” has been given, and before the targets appear, the bolt must remain open, the rifle must be kept out of the shoulder, the shooter may not look through the spotting scope, and the shooter’s ammunition must remain either on the ground or shooting stool.
(Exception: Shooters firing the M1 Garand may load and chamber when given the command “LOAD”, but must keep the rifle on safe, and must abide by the remainder of the above conditions). After the targets appear, the shooter may then load the rifle and commence fire.
In our matches, anyone 60 years of age or older may elect, without telling anyone, to follow these rules when the command ‘Shooters Stand’ is given prior to a rapid fire string. Shooters younger than 60 may also be given this option by the match director upon request if he believes it will facilitate match safety.
Please understand, my friends, that this rule does not emanate from the CMP. Certainly if you go to Joplin, De Soto, Tulsa, or Bucksnort you will most likely be shooting in NRA-sanctioned matches and this rule will pertain. But if you shoot in a leg match or at Camp Perry during CMP week this rule will not apply!
NRA has the new rule (Changes for 2008), and NRA Rulebook is the index for rule books—you want ‘High Power Rifle’. The CMP rule book can be found under ‘Competitions’ on the CMP web site.
Any questions?? Contact… Bill Corcoran (417) 862-861 or send me an email