Gun club memories: the Civilian Marksmanship Program is more about the shooting than the guns

Guns Magazine, May, 2007 by Glen Zediker

Like a lot of longtime match shooters, I started out my competitive experience in smallbore rifle at a "gun club." That was 1966 and I'm 47 right now. We shot every Tuesday and Thursday night in the high school gymnasium. Right. We took guns to school. Kept them there, actually.

All the traps, rifles and targets were stored in the coach's office. Us little kids started off shooting prone and, as we got more age on us, went to (then) four-position shooting--standing, sitting, kneeling, prone--still with .22s. We could get involved in NRA High Power Rifle when we were deemed ready, which was (as it should be) entirely subjectified, and unanimously agreed upon, by the elders.

Now, I realize you really don't usually have elders in a gun club, but we did. When Irvin Ihrig said it was OK and my dad and Dee Freeland agreed, then we shot outdoors. I wanted an "Army gun" and so went that direction. It was an M1. I recollect my favorite thing being the clip clanging out on the last round and my least favorite thing was loading them up again. I was 14. We had a (then) DCM-affiliated club, so could shoot all we wanted for near to nuthin'. They even "gave" me a coat and a glove.

Drugstore AR

Back in those days, we could use an AR-15 only to qualify on the "Carbine Course." That was unfair to the course. That special award was intended for those with a .30 M1 Carbine. I recollect cleaning the course with an SP-1 Colt, and I didn't call myself a very good shooter then. That rifle was bought at a drugstore--new--with a Colt clamp on scope, for $320, by the way.

Yes. A drugstore. Skaggs, to be specific. This was Western Colorado. They kept .22 shells by the bubblegum in our local general store--seriously--or we bought them at Letson's gas station. I guess that was my first competition with an AR-15. The course targets were fairly close and fairly circumferentially generous, and we only had to fire 10 rounds each standing, kneeling and prone. I didn't do nearly as well on it with an M1 Carbine.

Then I started racing motocross and quit shooting in competition. It took years for me to get back to (about 10), but I recollected the M1 when the thought struck me to go at it again. The smell of cosmoline was the prevalent memory of childhood shooting, and it's funny because only grunts and jarheads normally say anything about "fond memories of cosmoline."

Lest We Forget

Folks, I'm not just taking a trip down memory lane. This detour is actually necessary to understand High Power Rifle. My memories started in the 1970s, but the sport's go back to 1903. Teddy Roosevelt, bless his soul, urged the formation of the National Board For the Promotion of Rifle Practice (NBPRP). This took an act of Congress. Money was set aside to transport teams from the various service branches to meet at a National Match. The idea was better shooting soldiers. A couple of years later, Congress passed a law allowing the sale of surplus military firearms to qualified shooting clubs.

In 1916 there was a war on. Congress passed the National Defense Act. Part of that was the formation of the Director of Civilian Marksmanship (DCM). Congress set aside a fair amount to promote marksmanship skills amongst the mensch. The idea, again, was better shooting soldiers (to come). Transport funding for civilian teams got them and soldiers together at a National Match. For the record, civilians won both service pistol and rifle the first meeting. We had a very different country then, or at least those running the show were far away from today's mainstream.

Interest Grows

The short course in this study is the DCM continued to expand after WWI when there were virtually limitless surplus rifles and ammo available. Through the post-WWII decade the programs maintained tremendous support from our citizens. Some rifles were selling for less than $2, and even match-conditioned M1s were available to qualified competitive shooters.

In the 1960s most of that stopped and funding took a hard hit, but the DCM persevered, somewhat. DCM withstood Congressional investigations by antigunners and cleared itself mightily. Findings showed it worked, and worked well, in its original intent to better prepare civilians for military service, at least in shooting skills.

Clinton-Era Ends DCM

Well, the no-gunners got their way in 1996 and NBPRP was abolished. Some of our buds in Congress, however, wrangled a way to establish the Corporation for the Promotion of Rifle Practice and Firearms Safety. Ha! So now we call it the "CMP" (Civilian Marksmanship Program) and it's strong and safe. For now at least. Learn more about them and support them. Please.

Folks like these are the best friends we have. They support clubs to teach your kids to shoot--and you too--and also still give you a good deal on an M1. It hain't no two clams no mo', but those days are well past. CMP is a nonprofit and must support itself. You can get a match-ready AR-15 through CMP also--a better deal than any drugstore can give you now. You'll have to get out and shoot a match to qualify to purchase one, but that's the spirit. It's all about shooting, not guns.