NRA Moves National High Power Rifle Championships to Indiana
No more High Power Championships at Camp Perry. No, this is NOT an April Fools Day story. The NRA has announced that it is moving the National High Power XTC Rifle Championship, Mid-Range Championship, and Long Range Championship away from Camp Perry, Ohio, starting in 2017. These matches will henceforth be held at Camp Atterbury, Indiana. The CMP Matches will continue to be held at Camp Perry, so we are told. That means if you want to compete in both CMP and NRA rifle matches, you would need to go two different venues, located 280 miles apart, in two different states.
There is a century of tradition at Camp Perry, with the National Matches held there since 1907. It appears that this venue change is going to happen, although one source states that it might be subject to change: “The move was apparently prompted by the director of NRA Competitive Shooting, and will face final approval by the NRA Board of Directors in January 2017. If enough support is garnered among the competition community by then, it could be feasible that it would be reversed, but we doubt that is the case.” Source: The Firearm Blog.
Here is the notice issued by the NRA, as published on Shooting Sports USA.
NRA Moving National High Power Rifle Championships from Camp Perry
In an effort to keep the National High Power Rifle Championships up to the high standards that competitors have enjoyed for over one-hundred years, the NRA will move the Championship from its historic home at Camp Perry, OH, to Camp Atterbury, IN. This change in venue will take effect during the 2017 National Matches, pending approval by the NRA Board of Directors in January 2017.
Dennis Willing, director of NRA Competitive Shooting explained the decision.
“The NRA High Power Rifle Committee met and determined it would be beneficial to all competitors if we moved the Championship from Camp Perry to another site. After much discussion, the range at Camp Atterbury, IN, was selected as the new home of the NRA National High Power Rifle Championships.”
The proposed match schedule (subject to change) is below:
— First Shot Ceremony – July 7
— Welcome BBQ (afternoon) – July 7
— Across the Course – July 8-13
— Mid-Range – July 14-17
— Long-Range – July 18-22Willing added, “I intend to change the face of High Power Rifle as a discipline, and will be presenting matches that are better than competitors have ever seen before.”
Since Across the Course is scheduled to end on July 13th, there will be sufficient time for competitors to attend the CMP National Trophy Matches.
The NRA Smallbore Prone Championship is scheduled to end with sufficient time for competitors to leave Bristol, IN, and come to Camp Atterbury to compete in Mid-Range Prone and Long-Range Prone. The NRA National Pistol Championship will remain at Camp Perry but will be held July 9-14, 2017, following previous year’s practice.
The Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center is administered by the Indiana National Guard, and has just under 35,000 acres of training and maneuver space—plenty of room in case the NRA decides to expand beyond the High Power Rifle Championships. Additionally, Camp Atterbury is home to several active U.S. Army components, including several from the First Army Division East. The site also provides various training and testing sites for military and civilian responders from around the world.
Competitors’ Comments — Pro & Con
Comments on this Venue Change have been both negative and positive.
“Nothing like abandoning over 100 years of tradition. Really stupid idea!” — C.G.
What venue could possibly be better than Camp Perry? It’s not a destination, it’s an experience.” — Stephen B.
“Very disappointing decision. The NRA should have asked shooters for their input instead of decision by committee, and, my bet…some politicians.” — Jeffrey C.
“How about the people that wants to shoot long range and CMP? Keep it Camp Perry or change the dates.” — Kevin G.
“Don’t see how this will help attendance. It doesn’t make sense.” — Alton N.
“It makes beautiful sense! Are you kidding?! Atterbury is a much more modernized facility and is HUGE. The accommodations for sleeping quarters are infinitely better and more extensive than Perry and with Indianapolis only 30 min away or less it will make attendance MUCH easier for so many people. I love Perry but you will see just how superior this facility is when you come. This should have happened a LONG time ago.” — Ron W.
“Atterbury’s ranges are outstanding, and there’s LOTS more housing options available on base if that’s part of the package put together with the base. The carriers are the same as the new ones at Perry (they were installed at Atterbury first).” — W.M.
History of the National Matches at Camp Perry
The National Matches have been held at Camp Perry since 1907. The range is located along the shores of Lake Erie in northern Ohio near Port Clinton. The site was first acquired in 1906, in response to the need for a larger facility for military training and the NRA’s shooting programs. In 1906 Gen. Ammon B. Crichfield, Adjutant General of Ohio, ordered construction of a new shooting facility on the shores of Lake Erie, 45 miles east of Toledo, Ohio. The original land for Camp Perry was purchased in 1906, and the reservation was named after Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, the American naval commander.
On August 19, 1907, Cpl. L. B. Jarrett fired the first shot at the new Camp Perry Training Site. And that year, 1907, Camp Perry held its first National Pistol and Rifle Championship events. This location has hosted the annual NRA National Matches ever since. Today, over 4,000 competitors attend the National Matches each year, making it the most popular shooting competition in the western hemisphere.
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Tags: Camp Atterbury, Camp Perry, high power, Long Range Championships, NRA Championships, Port Clinton, XTC
Posting on Facebook, Creedmoor Sports says the CMP is not aligned with the NRA’s action to leave Perry:
Per Mark Johnson, CMP COO:
“The CMP will not take the blame for the NRA’s indecision. The dates were agreed upon months ago by Ohio National Guard, CMP, and NRA. The NRA is now breaking the deal with the other two partners. This is solely the NRA’s decision and fault.
The CMP will be rolling out its own High Power Ranking Program and will implement CMP High Power Matches, Match Rifle events, and New Pistol Matches at Camp Perry in 2018. The tradition of the National Matches at Camp Perry will continue supported by the CMP and the Ohio National Guard with or without the support of the NRA.”
NOTE: This message is attributed to the CMP, but we have NOT seen an official CMP statement yet.
Ridiculous. They have 50 firing points back to 1000, thats 5-6 relays for long range if the 2016 numbers hold up. Good luck with that.
CMP Announces New Programs for
2018 National Matches
November 17, 2016
The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) is pleased to announce planning is underway for a number of new and exciting programs for the 2018 National Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio.
“In an effort to continue to attract new competitors and to reward the thousands who annually participate in our matches, the CMP will add new pistol, smallbore, high power rifle, and long range rifle matches in 2018,” said Mark Johnson, CMP Chief Operating Officer.
I predict that this is the beginning of the end for the NRA Rifle competitions program. I will not be attending the NRA Smallbore Nationals next year in Bristol, IN as they are a shadow of what was offered at Perry. The Smallbore prone events have dropped 66% in attendance in only 3 years yet the NRA proclaims they are success.
I believe we will see the same with Atterbury as it de-links the long standing relationship between the DCM/CMP week and the NRA matches. It will force shooters to choose between events and spend more money for matches that are not often well run to begin with. Additionally this new facility will not have vendors as they cannot afford to have operations in IN and OH at the same time.
I believe in 5 years that the CMP will own all competitive shooting programs in the US as the NRA has completely mismanaged this program under the current leadership team.
Imagine the coordination that preceded this headline. Like the tip of the iceberg, many angles and considerations of logistics, cost, support, and coordination went into the final decision, which will not be formally approved until the NRA Board approves it.
Couple of corrections on the points above.
Atterbury has 2 1000yd ranges 50pts a piece KDs 3 and 6. That would more than handle the number of shooters that were at Perry last year.
Matches being shot at Perry since 1907 is a falsehood, if you check with Hap Rocketo yes they were first shot at Perry in 1907, but they rotated through many other ranges after that being shot at Perry a couple of times. They didn’t start being consistently shot at Camp Perry until 1953. This is per Hap.
Atterbury does have a much larger footprint, however, the post also has a much larger rotation of Soldiers training through the summer. Don’t get too excited about staying on post, as JUN/JUL/AUG are significant months for military operations there. I’d personally plan on staying in Columbus or Indy.
Have been shooting CMP high power week at Perry the last six years. Was going to stay for NRA week this year but I’m not going to drive another 200+ miles and having to pay for a motel.
Hadn’t seen it mentioned, but Perry has Lake Erie to help cool things off. What’s the average temperature at Atterbury in early August?