Camp Perry National Pistol Championships 2011 hosted about 750 bullseye pistol shooters. Celebrating over 100 years of continuity, Perry is sponsored by the NRA and the Civilian Marksmanship Program. Both organizations stage individual and team competitions throughout a week of day-long pistol range operation. All branches of the military, law enforcement agencies and civilian shooters from all over the USA and Canada compete shoulder to shoulder for trophies, award points and bragging rights.

Weather this year was truly outstanding, no rain, not too hot, with manageable winds in the afternoon. Comments by longtime competitors hinted that shooter participation has faded due to a sluggish economy coupled with high gas prices. Regarding that observation my take leans more to the increased emphasis NRA puts on personal protection issues, complemented by the self-defense and action shooting genres. Bullseye shooting, on the other hand, has become a dinosaur among the shooting sports. That said, it was apparent that the shooters who came to Perry this year were there to seriously compete. There may be fewer shooters but I can tell you for sure, the demonstrated marksmanship skills are better now than during the big years.

For the savvy equipment shopper Perry hosts what we fondly refer to as "commercial row", vendors well-known and obscure, display and offer for sale everything from ear plugs to high end competition pistols. Match schedules each day provided shooters with ample time to browse and spend. Yes….the numbers on my card were flat by the end of the week.

Daily team matches were held at 3:00 pm following the days three relays of individual competition. ISRPA fielded two teams each day….22 caliber on Thursday, centerfire on Friday and .45 on Saturday. Our teams competed in the State Association category, expert classification. Kevin Myers, Glenn Ornat, Steve Pardieck and Thomas Jordan competed as the ISRPA Blue Team. Lee Ornat, Jeffery Wehner, Ernie Wilson and Fred Jarvis took the line as the ISRPA Red Team. Mike Kiger coached the Blues, Jerry Wehner coached the Reds. Results: State Association, Expert Class Blue Team Grand Agg Team Championship 2^nd place…3299-75, .22 Team Championship 2^nd place...1105-14, Centerfire Team Championship 1^st place…1108-32, .45 Team Championship 3^rd place...1087-18.

In addition to the success of our teams, we can boast of individual ISRPA shooter's accomplishments. Lee Ornat and Kevin Myers fired in the CMP Presidents' Match on Sunday. Both made the cut to receive the coveted Presidents 100 award which includes a letter from the man himself. That prestigious match consists of 40 shots, fired slow and sustained fire with a 1911 mil spec .45 or an M9 Berretta 9mm service pistol, or a clone there of, using military loads rather than light target loads. Pistols must have iron sights only, no exterior modifications and have a measured trigger pull weight of 4 pound minimum. All of those parameters increase the degree of difficulty of this competition. Congrats to Lee and Kevin.

Michael Kiger earned 10 leg points toward the NRA Distinguished Revolver award. That match is a 30 round .38 special only match fired at 50 yards and 25 yards using 158 grain lead bullets. For those who have not fired timed and rapid fire with a revolver...it's a challenge. Mike is on his way to becoming triple distinguished….rifle, pistol and soon, revolver. Go Michael!

Bob Roskuski placed 3^rd of the top ten in the National Pistol Championship marksman class. With that came a place on the National Team, a jacket, cap and a really cool blazer crest.

After all of our excuses were shared and all of the past match war stories revisited we packed our gear and headed back to Indiana. Another fantastic experience at Perry, we all look forward to 2012.