THE SHARPSHOOTER



THE SHARPSHOOTER

FORT HILL RIFLE & PISTOL CLUB NEWSLETTER

NUMBER 24 ___ June , 2007

63 Year Old Club Goes World Wide

The founding members of the FHRPC back in 1944 never could have imagined that some one in Europe or Asia could stay up to date with the news of our little club. But now thanks to the invention of the INTERNET, that is a reality.

With the help of club member Shannon Peterson, we now have a club website. The address is . The website has contact information (including e-mail addressed) for the officers, league schedules, photos of the ranges, membership applications, want to buy/sell/trade section, club bylaws, newsletters, and more. While true not everyone has access to the internet, this should prove helpful getting the news out to the membership, and attracting some new interest into the competitive sport of marksmanship.

So if you, or someone you know, has access to the internet, add this site to your favorites, and check it out.

Club Officers

FHRPC officers for the year 2007 are (1) President, Bill Lewis, 301-777-8180, (2) Vice-President, Chris Bennett, (3) Treasurer, John Dowell, 301-724-5866, (4) Executive Officer, Dave Thompson, 304-788-1346, (5) Executive Officer, Jim Soulsby, 301-724-0724, and (6) Secretary, Roy Musselwhite, 301-697-4963

The club officers welcome your feedback. If you have any suggestions, comments or concerns please feel free to contact any of your club officers

Dues Notices Mailed Separately with

Great Guns Raffle Questionnaire

In effort to encourage members to pay their dues on time; a letter was mailed to each member invoicing him for $40. Due should be sent to David Thompson by June 30, 2007. Also enclosed with the invoice was a flyer requesting each member to indicate how many tickets he could commit to buying.

This year the Great Guns Raffle tradition may be in jeopardy. The procedure for organizing these raffles is to get bids for the firearms, and then purchase those firearms with club funds, and sell as close to 1000 tickets as possible. We need to sell around 550 tickets at $20 per ticket to break even. If we sell less than that, the club will be participating in a loosing venue. So we are going to base the decision of sponsoring a gun raffle on the feed back from the flyer. Stay posted to the website, or call an officer, to see the status of the raffle.

Key Exchange—Out with the Old in with the New

Many calendars have found a new home in the county landfill since we have switched locks. So this July we will be mailing a new key with membership cards. And for those of you whom attended (and where awake at) the annual meeting, already know about the little present every member gets—a FHRPC sticker to show your pride and loyalty.

Please return your old key. The current cost to replace a key is close to $6. Members will be able to drop off their old keys at the club house at Morningside Drive Rifle Range or mailing them back to David Thompson. The officers will make every effort to replace your new key with the same number as the old version.

CMP Sells Out of M-1 Garands and Inland M-1 Carbines

For many years high-power shooters have taken advantage of the deals on M-1 Garands the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) has offered. Now those deals are gone. In May the CMP announced there are no more Garands. It was rumored that supplies were running low, and those that were left were in pretty ruff shape or the high grade collector quality going for around $1200. A call in to the CMP North store revealed, unofficially, that Marty Harsh is the sixth largest CMP M-1 collector in the nation, and is partly responsible for the sudden sell out. The CMP believes they may have more in October 2007, but no word yet on the neither quantity, quality nor price.

In April the CMP announced the price of Inland M-1 carbines to be $495 plus shipping, and by late May they were sold out. These carbines were imported from Italy as part of the lend-lease act. There are many manufacturers still planning on being sold, including Winchester, Underwood, IMB, Saginaw, Rockola, Quality Hardware, National Postal Meter, Standard Products, and to be auctioned, Irwin Peterson. Prices are yet to be announced, but it is assumed that as the number of total rifles produced goes down, prices goes up. Total production of M-1 carbines number over six million.

The 1903 and 1903A3 is also sold out, and the CMP does not expect to have any available until 2009 or later.

DON’T RENEW YOUR NRA MEMBERSHIP

Without doing it through the club!

You can renew your NRA membership through the FHRPC and save money. A $10 discount is given to renewals, and the NRA gives $5 to the club. Once a month, the club will mail in NRA membership dues. Make your checks payable to FHRPC and include your NRA membership application. Attached is a blank NRA application. Keep a copy for your records.

John Dowell

12920 Gramlich Road

LaVale, MD 21502

Featured League—John C. Garand Matches

With the passing June 6th D-Day, perhaps the classic battle rifle matches would be most suitable for this edition of featured league. General Patton referred to the M1 Garand as “the finest battle implement ever devised”. Firing the powerful 30-06 cartridge, and a gas operated auto loading system with eight round capacity, this was a force to be reckon with.

The rifle does not have a detachable box magazine like today’s military firearms, and even hunting rifles, but an eight shot en bloc clip. With the bolt locked to the rear, the loaded clip is pushed down from the top of the receiver until fully seated and the bolt closes to battery. After the last round is fired, the bolt stayed locked to the rear and the clip flies out with a distinctive ping, ready for the next charge.

Many highpower shooters started out using an M1 Garand, and learned to adjust the sights, sling tight, learn sight alignment and sight picture, and load while trying to avoid the feared M1 thumb (a action where as the thumb is caught in the receiver when the bolt flies forward, most likely to happen when single loading). But when competing against national match quality black rifles, the user of the M1 may feel a bit “out gunned”. Even some Garand die hards’ will trick out their rifle with national match quality barrels, triggers, bedding, and sights. Although the M1 shoots well, with surplus ammo, a rack grade Garand will just hold the black.

The John C. Grand match levels the playing field. The rules dictate that the rifle must be as issued condition (no glass bedding, national match sights, ect) and everyone must use the same ammo, and in most matches the ammo is issued by the range officer. Current prices for M-2 ball (150 grain FMJ flat base) is around 25 cents a shot.

The match is fired from the 200 yard line and the course of fire is as follows:

5 sighter shots

10 shots prone (slow fire, 10 minutes)

10 shots prone (rapid fire, 70 seconds)

10 shots offhand (slow fire, 10 minutes)

If you noticed, the rapid fire consist of 10 shots in only 70 seconds, and you start from the standing position. Remember the rifle only can hold eight shots, so when the command to load is given, shooter load 2 shots first, then get into position when the targets come out of the pits, fire their 2 rounds, and load a 8 shot en block clip. This sounds like a lot to do in just a little over a minute, but after a little practice, most shooters find themselves mentally saying, “you have plenty of time, squeeeeezeeee the trigger”.

This is a really fun match and the purpose was to certify people to be able to purchase a rifle from the CMP. Now that the CMP is about out of rifles (just for now let’s hope) I think the matches are just for enjoyment and to have an excuse to get out that old “closet queen”. There are medals awarded for shooters that score moderately well. At Camp Perry, this match fills up quick and people get pretty serious about it.

If you don’t have an M1, you can use a 1903, 1903A3, Johnson, or a carbine and still be within class. There is also 1903 matches, and vintage rifle matches that are ran in the same fashion, but allows the use of foreign military firearms. If you don’t think that a little carbine can compete at 200 yards with the big M1’s, just ask John Eastham. (step back a few paces when you bring it up)

Odds are with the CMP sold out of rifles, you have, or know someone who has, a rifle that is just begging to see some range time. Come out and give it a try. The matches at our club are less formal than most, and there is plenty of help for anyone not familiar with the workings of the finest battle implement ever devised.

RANGE CLOSURES

The Morningside Drive Range will be closed October 28, 2007 for FHRPC Hunter Education Team. The range at Warrior Mountain will be available for the general membership. If you have any questions or would like to help please call Roy Musselwhite.

WANTED TO BUY, SELL OR TRADE

This section of the FHRPC newsletter is reserved for membership advertising. You can advertise your surplus sporting gear for sale (WTS, want to sell) or trade (WTT, want to trade). Likewise, if you are looking for something to buy (WTB, want to buy), you can advertise here. Sporting gear can be any type of shooting, archery, hunting, fishing, or camping equipment. Examples include firearms, ammo, reloading equipment and components, scopes, bows, boots, portable tree stands, and tents. Forward your advertisements to Roy Musselwhite 898 State Park Road, Swanton MD 21561.

UPDATED LIST

The FHRPC is not responsible for any sales, lack thereof, or compliance with any federal, ATF, state, or local regulations.

WTS; Ruger Mini 30 SS, 2.5 wide range Leopold scope and ammo, only fired 15 rounds. Dan Moore 301-724-0151.

1. WTS; About 100 pounds of Soft Lead, $20. Two 5 round AR-15 magazines, $8 each. Jim Gift 301-359-3639.

2. WTB Winchester Model 70 Long Action Pre-64 .270, or 30-06, 0r 25-06 Call with price Pete Walsh 301-724-0841

3. WTB 30-40 Krag VGC to be used for CMP Vintage Rifle Competition, must be in good condition. Jay Cochran 301-724-4710

4. WTS Smith and Wesson Model 67 Combat Masterpiece Stainless, Call with offer, Bill Murphy 301-334-8550

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