On the weekend of February 28th , the Southern Indiana Rifle & Pistol club hosted a CMP Sanctioned M1 Garand and Modern Military clinic. Twenty participants of all ages attended the clinic focused on preparing a new competitor for their first as-issued M1 Garand and Modern Military match. The clinic spanned over two days and was taught by several of the club’s most experienced competitors. The first day consisted of a classroom session covering aspects of shooting a match, the CMP’s history, instruction on sling use and shooting positions used in the match along with practice loading dummy clips into the M1 rifle so they never have to fear the dreaded “Garand thumb”. I am happy to report that all participants made it home with all their digits intact!
The second day of the clinic was a CMP sanctioned GSSM match consisting of five sighting shots and 30 shots for record fired in the prone, rapid-fire prone and standing position. This match was held solely for the clinic participants to test their knowledge from the previous day’s instruction. Each competitor prepped with equipment on loan, had a dedicated coach who kept a watchful eye ready to assist the new competitor should they run into problems as well as offering tips and tricks learned over decades of shooting matches. The match was a great showing of sportsmanship and marksmanship with many shooting a Garand and AR-15 rifle for the first time. Namely, the Garand Match winner Jonas B., also a member of the club’s junior sporter air rifle team, who posted a very respectable score of 270-1. Jonas confided that the M1 Rifle was his “dream” rifle and he was excited that his participation in the match and clinic made him eligible to purchase a rifle from the CMP once he was old enough. After the match everyone was excited to participate in the next club match held in March and two participants even applied for membership in the club.
If you think you would like to give a CMP Garand match a try, the club offers loaner rifles and dedicated ammo for purchase to participate in the match. The Garand match is held on the third Saturday of the month at the club’s outdoor range in Borden, IN. For more information visit the club’s website at WWW.SIRAPC.COM
Drew Rudd
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