Members of the Oklahoma Rifle Team usually pause to shoot a Civilian Marksmanship Program Excellence-In-Competition "Leg" Match at the Milan, Illinois Rifle Club on the way to the National Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio. This year my friend and fellow traveling companion, Dan Arnold, were the only Oklahomans to participate. My fellow team member's convinced me later that it wasn't the level of competition that prevented them from being present. This has to be one of the toughest leg matches in the country. I truly enjoyed telling my friends at the Nationals that I shot a 489-15X at this match and didn't even medal. Watching their jaws drop was entertaining.
I shot over my head at this match but conditions were as perfect as I'd ever seen. Overcast, not a breath of wind and a light occasional sprinkle to keep the temperature down. Obviously other people thought conditions were good too because Jared Perry, a non-distinguished shooter, fired a 495-21X to win the match. Bob Gill took second place with a 490-9X and Dan Arnold beat me at the 600 yard line to take the bronze with a 489-15X. The bottom leg went for 487-8X and was enough for Tim Klauer to earn his Distinguished Rifleman's Badge. I wouldn't suggest shooting at this match looking for easy leg points. Scores always seem to be high. Dan won this match last year with another 495.
The match is always well run and the range is always immaculate and a verdant green in every direction you look. This is truly an "across the course" range. Competition begins with shooters firing south from the 200 yard line at targets in the first set of pits. After the 200 yard stage is complete, shooters move forward and slightly to the right to occupy the 300 yard firing line where they'll be firing at a new set of targets to their east. The 200 yard pit is secured and the pit crew moves to the new pit that's used for the 300 yard and 600 yard competition. All of this is simpler than it sounds and appears to be necessary because of a creek that runs across the range.
A couple of the M14 Enhanced Battle Rifles that I wrote about in my previous article showed up at the awards assembly for the shooters to inspect. After the awards, Dan and I packed our gear away and started the next leg of our trip to Camp Perry. More about that in articles to come.
While we chose to shoot only the leg, there's also a very competitive Regional fired at Milan on Saturday. Billy Besgrove won this with a 790-32X. Keep this Regional in mind if you're looking for some good competition.
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