Cmp

[Highlander]

Any of you guys mess with it? Experiences? Thoughts?

[Ringo]

Back when I lived in IA, my brother an I shot CMP Service Rifle competitions. It was great fun, and I highly recommend it. We'd run ARs and M1s -- would get nasty bruises when, spoiled from the lack of recoil of the AR, I'd get sloppy with my fundamentals (cheek weld, strong in the shoulder pocket, etc.) and get royally whacked by Mr. Garand's machine.

I'd like to get back into it, but I've yet to find a match near me in MO.

CMP is also a way to get a Garand for way less than market value. Oh, and the ammo at matches was free if you were shooting .30 calibre -- Lake City surplus. Dunno if it still is.

[Dale Hunter]

Shot CMP Service Rifle through most of my teenage years with an AR. I will say that it was probably the single best thing I could have done to reach the shooting ability I have now. It is all about maximizing the fundamentals and doing everything the sameway all the time. It also taught me to read wind and heat mirage on the fly, something very valuable for precision work.

Like all shooting competitions, take it for what it is; honing your fundamentals and weapon manipulations and not for tactics.

[Terry D.]

I got a couple Garands from the CMP and shot in many of the Garand matches in the 90's and early 00's, including the big one at Camp Perry several times. I can vouch for the free ammo, or included with price of entry fee to be precise. Now they are using commercial Federal cartridges loaded for the Garand I think. It will hold minute of man at 500 yards.

You can argue the value of the matches in real world scenarios, but it's the only organization sanctioned by congress (albeit 100+ years ago) to promote rifle marksmanship for national defense. I've known several people who were introduced to military style rifles and training through the CMP. Kind of like a "gateway" organization. ; )

If you like collecting historical weapons and don't already have one, you need a Garand.

[barnetmill]

NRA highpower is something i would like to get into, but with a .30 cal rifle since if your are shooting long range it should be something with some punch rather than a 5.56mm round. I think there is good training in it for long range shooting with the caveat that even if you can shoot NRA highpower well at 600 hundred yards, in the real world for a lot of reasons it will not be as easy. Many of these activities degenerate into games where everything is to punch holes in paper for score.

[Dr. Keith Seto]

I shot service rifle for a while before medical school. It is good for building up your long range shooting fundamentals. There was a lot of "Pay it Forward" attitude. Everyone I met was more than willing to help new shooters and pass on their knowledge, and I was also given a lot of good gear to use.

I agree with Dale that I learned a lot about medium and long range shooting - developing solid shooting positions, reading the wind, mirage.

And if you have the $$$, go get a CMP Garand for cheap before they disappear.