Our friend (and fellow Californian) Dennis Santiago recently drove across the country, all the way to Ohio. His mission? To attend the CMP National Matches at Camp Perry. This has become an annual pilgrimage for Dennis, who writes: “My goal is to spend time with as many of my friends as possible — the friends I’ve known and hang out with throughout the year, the ones I only see once a year at Camp Perry, and the many I’ve only conversed with on social media and will meet in person for the first time. More than anything, Camp Perry is where I come home to my shooting family. My mission is to celebrate my love of this sport with them.”

Here are some photos of Santiago’s successful journey across the USA to Ohio. He’s done the road-work, now it’s time to buckle down and shoot 10s and Xs across the course.

“Get your kicks on Route 66 — in Manuelito, New Mexico.” — Dennis Santiago

“The heartland is an ocean of corn. It is an amazing thing to see how much food we make.” — Dennis

“Arrived and I’m hungry… at Camp Perry National Rifle Competition, Port Clinton, Ohio.” — Dennis

Advice for First-Time Visitors to Camp Perry

Dennis first competed at Camp Perry in 2016, writing about the experience in his Dennis Talks Guns Blog. Here are some of Santiago’s tips for first-time Perry competitors:

1. Walk the Base. Do not drive around. Get used to walking. Walk from your hut to everything. Walk to the administration buildings. Walk to the ranges. Walk to commercial row. Walk to the CMP North Store. Walk to the CMP or Army trailer to have the triggers of your rifles(s) weighed. Walk. This is your primary mode of transportation while on base.

2. Go Shopping. It’s called Commercial Row. It is the best shopping mall for competitive shooters ever. The sale prices here are Black Friday quality. You stock up on supplies. You can buy elusive powders in quantity with the same lot number. Same with bullets and primers. I stocked up. Everything you need to keep making your pet loads — except brass. This is a service rifle tournament. Pretty much everyone is using LC or WCC cases.

3. Learn about the Perils of Perry. It rains at Camp Perry. Sometimes that rain comes with lightning. When that happens range controls issues an evacuation order. Depending on where you are and how much time you have, you either grab your stuff and make for a sheltered structure or leave your stuff under whatever rain cover you have and leave it there until the storm cell passes.

Coming Soon — The President’s 100 Match
In past years, Dennis has competed in the historic National President’s 100 Match, which takes place on Monday, July 29th this year. This is a huge event — in recent years there were over 1100 ranked competitors from throughout the nation, making this one of the biggest High Power events of the year.

The 2019 CMP National Matches event at Camp Perry commences today, July 8, with the First Shot Ceremony at 10:00 a.m. on Camp Perry’s Rodriguez Range. Firing the ceremonial First Shot will be CMP Vice Chairman E.C. “Chris” Stone. While a West Point Cadet, he shot in the All-Army Matches at Camp Perry. He was commissioned in the Infantry and completed Army Airborne, Ranger, and Jungle Schools. Mr. Stone served in Vietnam and Iran, with awards for service and valor in combat.

The National Trophy Pistol and Rifle Matches have been held at Camp Perry since 1907.

The 2019 First Shot celebration features former U.S. Army Golden Knights skydiver, SFC (R) Dana Bowman. SFC Bowman lost both of his legs in 1994 after an in-air collision that also took the life of one of his Golden Knights teammates. SFC Bowman became the first double amputee to re-enlist in the U.S. Army. He will descend from the sky with a 60-foot American flag in tow. This 2019 Opening Day at Perry will also include free rides in Model T Ford automobiles and a static display of military vehicles.

The National Matches at Camp Perry draw hundreds of competitors. Below is the 2019 CMP National Matches Calendar, plus links to the 2019 National Matches Program and the Online Registration Site.

Click 2019 Calendar for full-screen version.

Year 2019 Camp Perry NM Competition activities begin with NRA/CMP pistol matches on July 8-14, 2019. The CMP Junior Rifle Camp, USAMU SAFS, and Smallbore matches run the next week, with the hugely popular Rimfire Sporter Match on July 21. High Power Rifle events kick off on July 23 with the 4-Man Team Match and rifle events run continuously for the next two and a half weeks.

Here are some key dates for RIFLE events:

July 27 – CMP/USAMU Rifle SAFS
July 29 – President’s 100 Rifle Match
July 30 – National Trophy Individual Rifle Match
July 31 – National Junior Team Match
August 1 – National Trophy Team Match, National Carbine Match
August 2 – National Trophy Infantry Team Match (“Rattle Battle”)
August 3 – M1 Garand Match, Springfield/Vintage Bolt Rifle Match
August 4 – M1A Match, Springfield/Vintage Bolt Rifle Match
August 5 – CMP Vintage Sniper Rifle Match
August 5-8 – CMP Long Range Individual Matches
August 9 – Camp Perry Palma Match

PISTOL Registration | SMALLBORE Registration | RIMFIRE Sporter Registration | HIGH POWER Registration

The Rimfire Sporter Match attracts hundreds of competitors of all age levels.