Yesterday was the last time I would use my 1942 M1 Garand in competition this year. Since the Kimberton range does not have target pits, a pair of targets per competitor are stapled to a target backer at the 100 yard line. The first half of the competition is fifteen minutes slow fire. Five sighter shots are fired on the left target. Ten shots for record are fired on the right target. Simple…
My first shot out of a cold clean barrel hits in the “9” ring at 4 o’clock. The next four reward me with three “10”s and an “X”!
The next ten rounds are slow fire prone. I fire my first round then look through the spotting scope. Nothing! No holes in the target. I looked over at the sighter target and there were six holes in it. Talk about a rookie screw up! With only nine rounds left, the best possible score would be a 90-9X. Trying to flush the stupid mistake from my head, I managed to post an 87-2X.
After scoring and repairing the first two targets, we returned to the firing line for the last two stages. Rapid fire prone starts in the standing position with rifles loaded but the chambers empty. Ten rounds for record in eighty seconds. On command we all dropped into the prone position and chambered the first round. I fired my first two rounds and the empty clip ejected itself. With roughly 70 seconds left, I looked through the scope and saw two “10”s! I got sloppy through the last eight though. My final score for the rapid was an 88-0X.
Ok, I’m not doing good. I am down at least a dozen points from where I should be. Standing offhand is all that is left and it is my weak spot. I would have to post a stellar score now to redeem myself.
Uh, no. I got exactly three good trigger breaks out of the ten rounds fired. The rest, I mashed the trigger. My final score for the stage was a lousy 75-0X. The final tally for the year ends up been a dismal 250-2X.
Come on next year!
Myopicvisionary 