The Journey to Camp Perry — A Marksman’s Pilgrimage
All Camp Perry photos courtesy Dennis Santiago.
Some seasons back, before COVID, our friend (and fellow Californian) Dennis Santiago drove across the country, all the way to Ohio. His mission? To attend the CMP National Matches at Camp Perry. For many years, this journey had been an annual pilgrimage for Dennis, who writes: “My goal [was] 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 from Santiago’s successful journey across the USA to Ohio some years ago. After the long cross-country drive, he then headed to the Camp Perry rifle range, with the goal of shooting 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 24th 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 National Rifle Association’s President’s Match was instituted in 1878, as the American Military Rifle Championship Match. In 1884, the name was changed to the President’s Match for the Military Rifle Championship of the United States. It was fired at Creedmoor, New York until 1891. In 1895, it was reintroduced at Sea Girt, New Jersey. Today, the match is held at Camp Perry, Ohio.
