Tag Archives: Small Arms Firing School

The time machine that is Camp Perry

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1908 California rifle team at Camp Perry, Ohio. The site of the National Shoot. 5×7 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection via Shorpy.

When Camp Perry opened, the Krag Jorgensen rifle was still king of the range. It was not until 1908– as shown in the above photo– that enough of the Model 1903 rifles were available that they could be set aside for use in the National Matches.

Of interest in this photo from Perry in 1907 is the use by the shooter in the foreground of a Pope sight micrometer, attached to the rear sight elevation leaf. Harry Pope’s micrometers, unlike most of the several varieties that were made and sold, were intended to be left in place while the rifle was being fired. Photo via American Rifleman

At the 1907 National Matches, the rifle ranges accommodated 160 targets for shooting out to 1,000 yards, while the revolver targets (the M1911 was still a half-decade away from making an appearance at the match) numbered 5 each at distances of 15, 25, 50 and 75 yards.

US Army Rifle Team at the 1911 National Trophy Team Matches. Photo via Springfield Armory National Historic Site

Today the National Matches are a great deal more diverse and draw a slightly larger attendance, but one thing that hasn’t changed in the past 100 years is SAFS.

The Department of Defense first conducted the Small Arms Firing Schools (SAFS) as part of the National Matches at Camp Perry in 1918 and  Federal law continues to require the annual course– which now instruct nearly 1,000 pistol and rifle shooters each year in firearms safety and fundamental marksmanship skills.

The current token entry fee of $45.00 ($30.00 for juniors) provides SAFS shooters with classroom instruction, field training, live fire squadded practice session, entry to the M16 EIC Rifle Match, as well as ammo for the course. The winner gets a plaque. The top four get medals. All get a t-shirt, a lapel pin, and a memory to keep forever as their very own experience in the National Matches.

From CMP:

The Small Arms Firing School (SAFS) is a two-day clinic that includes a safety training and live fire portion (30 rounds) on the first day and an M16 Rifle Excellence In Competition (EIC) match on day two. The course of fire after five sighting rounds for the M16 EIC match consists of 10 shots slow fire prone in 10 minutes, 10 shots rapid-fire prone in 60 seconds, 10 shots rapid-fire sitting in 60 seconds and 10 shots slow fire standing in 10 minutes, all fired from the 200-yard line.

The two-day Small Arms Firing School (SAFS) is a two-day clinic at national matches, which often sees military instructors impart their knowledge to 1,000 or so budding marksmen. (Photo: CMP)

The program is designed for beginning marksmen or those looking to earn their first EIC points, which are earned and applied toward receiving a Distinguished Rifleman Badge.

 

Member of a shooting club? Want CMP to do a Small Arms Firing School there? Done

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From CMP:

The Civilian Marksmanship Program is looking to expand the reach of its Small Arms Firing School beyond its regular schedule, which is held annually at the National Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio, the CMP Travel Games at Oklahoma City Gun Club, Camp Butner – North Carolina, CMP Talladega – Alabama, New England Games at Camp Ethan Allen – Vermont and the Ben Avery Shooting Facility in Phoenix, Arizona.

Currently, the CMP welcomes 400 to 800 attendees each year at the national Small Arms Firing School at Camp Perry as part of the National Matches.  CMP travel games SAFS programs serve between 40 and 100 participants per event. The CMP provides rifles and ammunition for all SAFS programs, home and away.

As a part of our firearms safety and marksmanship mission, with an emphasis on youth, the CMP is looking for a few more qualified sites around the U.S. to host the classroom program of instruction and 200-yard Excellence-In-Competition rifle match to reach those who lack the time or means to travel to a current CMP instruction site. The SAFS EIC rifle match is the only match which allows a beginning competitor to earn four leg points toward a Distinguished Rifleman Badge – the highest honor most marksmen seek to achieve in our sport. Firing the match is not a requirement of the class.

The CMP will provide instructional and administrative staffing to conduct the classroom activities, rifle match staging, squadding, firing, awards, and record-keeping.

SAFS Remote Location Training Course and Match Criteria

Classroom

  • Appropriate seating accommodations for the size of the group your club/range expects to accommodate – minimum 20, maximum 50 participants
  • Overhead lighting and electrical outlet(s) to supply laptop PC and projector
  • Projection screen and 6′ or 8′ demonstration table
  • Attendee accessibility, parking, restroom(s) in the vicinity
  • Participants age 16 and over

Rifle Range

  • CMP Affiliated Club preferred, but not mandatory
  • Minimum 10 firing points
  • Volunteers to assist with range safety, labor, firing line and target line maintenance
  • Porta-johns or restrooms, running water in the vicinity, preferred
  • Responsible range owner-operator/approved range superintendent, insurance coverage
  • Secured, established range fan, safety danger zone identified
  • 200-yard high power range with safety berms, range flags, easily-accessible roads, trails, etc.
  • Well-maintained pit-served targets or easily-accessible walk-up targets to accommodate standard NRA SR 200-yard targets and cardboard backers
  • Raised firing line, grass-covered, concrete or other suitable surface for three-position shooting
  • Range communication system preferred – loudspeakers, chief range officer tower, (or pickup truck bed). Range to pits communication if pit-equipped. (Communications equipment can be provided by CMP if necessary)
  • A medical facility, 911-ready, first-aid, medic in close proximity
  • Housing, hotel/motel/restaurant accommodations in the area for CMP staff and event attendees from out of town, etc.

If your range facility would like to be considered by the CMP to schedule a future Small Arms Firing School and rifle match and your facility meets the criteria listed above, respond via email to CMP special projects coordinator, Amy Cantu, at acantu@thecmp.org, or by phone at 419-635-2141, ext. 602.