leg match questions

And here I thought rifle leg matches were hard to come by. How far would you travel (Camp Perry aside) for a leg match before you considered throwing your own? 

Where are there 8-10 point / heavy legs regularly awarded?

I'm lucky and have 3 sets of leg matches within 45min of me each year.  That said, I am considering going up to the Fleet Matches just short of 4 hours north of me.  Thus far I have not convinced myself to go that far for two 30 shot matches.  I have gone 2 hours north of me for a Service Pistol/22 match.

Get on the CMP Competition tracker and sort by State in the results section.  See what is close to you.  You'll also be able to see how many legs and points were awarded.

Anywhere between 250 to 400 miles. Maybe further.

When I was in the hunt I would travel up to 6 hours.  Sleep in my car and shoot.  I knew I only had a few years before heading to Command and the time however short on shore duty was precious.  Few are facing that constraint.  Legged out in just about 3 years thanks to two incredible coaches who not only mentored but provided incredible support (reloading/equipment), being Jon and Rich as primary drivers.  I wanted to do it in 1 year from when I picked up my first 1911 and began shooting my first match, but a couple first leathers delayed that...part of the process.  Need to focus on rifle next but I keep throwing up in my mouth a little at the thought of donning my jacket and laying in the dirt all day again.  Find a mentor.  

For DRevolver looking at 12 hr drives as the matches are tough to find on the west coast once I’m done with sea duty.

Well, I drove 9+ hours to the CA State Match (and got my 8 point EIC 22 leg - yay! Screwed up the Service & DR - boo!)

Then a few weeks later about 6 hours (in two steps) to the WA State Match (shot so bad in the EIC/DR it was embarrassing - boo! But did well in the 2700 - yay!)

But then, even my closest Bullseye venue is 3 hours away! I'm now familiar with every pothole & McDonalds up and down I5 - boo!

Easy, move to Toledo, Ohio

I don’t recall where I got my eight pointers.. I think they were at State and Regional matches between TN and GA. I also shot Talladega to leg out and don’t recall the numbers there.

Plenty of EIC matches here in Arizona, we just had AZ State Championship + EIC and DR matches. The next big one is Desert Midwinter in February and everyone is welcome! And people are coming from all over the country, and even from Canada

We generally have enough for an 8 and 6 point leg at the Texas State Pistol Championship.  The match rotates between Austin, Amarillo, Wichita Falls and in 2020, it will be in Dallas.  The last time I ran it here in Amarillo, we had enough non-distinguished for two legs, but no one (except a couple distinguished shooters) made the 250 cutoff.  We did give out two .22 EIC legs. The tournament in Dallas is set for the first weekend in May.

Quantico is 20 minutes, Fairfax is 45 minutes, 12th Precinct is an hour, Annapolis is 90 minutes, Boyertown PA is 3 hours.  That's my wheelhouse.

I drive 8 hours to nationals once yearly but that is because it's nationals.

For civilians looking for points I highly highly recommend attending Pacific and Atlantic fleet matches, even if they are four hours away or farther.  There are two sets of EIC matches in each of them and a huge field of competitors shooting at 50 yards (or 600 yards for rifle) for the first time.  Many hard legs to be had.

+1 for the fleet matches.

I got 2 legs at Atlantic fleet matches and 2 at Perry.  I shot the fleet matches as a civilian.  At that time (1990ish) Navy regs would not allow them to issue Navy ammo to a civilian.  Those were the days when you were issued 230gr hardball on the line.  So they had bought a case of some no-name brown box stuff for the civilians to shoot.  I don't think it would group on a baseball cap out of anybody's gun.  I somehow managed a 6 point leg.  The next year at that match we brought a case of match hardball issued by the DCM specifically for the civilians.  Lot's of unaccustomed shooters, so lots of legs available.

javaduke wrote:The next big one is Desert Midwinter in February and everyone is welcome!

What dates?  Am planning on shooting the Berger Southwest Nationals at Ben Avery From February 7th to the 9th, may participate in the 4 shooter Team match on the 6th.  Shot the match earlier this year, adding a pistol and 20-50 rounds to rifle gear doesn't add an appreciable amount of weight.

We don't have an exact schedule yet but most likely it will be the second week of February. We should have enough shooters to award two legs.

When and where are the Atlantic fleet matches?

The ones I shot were at a place called Dam Neck, VA in May of 90 and 91.  You need someone much more current than me to tell you when/where they are now.

javaduke wrote:We don't have an exact schedule yet but most likely it will be the second week of February. We should have enough shooters to award two legs.

Looking forward to it - may coincide w/ Berger match.  If so, will plan to attend on the 6th.  Will shoot centerfire pistol Leg match only, planning on being "statistical support" for Leg hunters.  

adminbot1911 wrote:... I highly highly recommend attending Pacific and Atlantic fleet matches, even if they are four hours away or farther...

It looks like I'm at the mid point, just 1,300 miles from either one!

mpolans wrote:When and where are the Atlantic fleet matches?

This year was on Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, 10 to 19 May. 

You can see the registration details and look at the results scores here:

https://ct.thecmp.org/app/v1/index.php?do=match&task=edit&match=18243

This thread prompted me to look into the annual Pacific Fleet & All Navy (West) Rifle and Pistol Championships. I looked at the CMP site - no help - but then got to the US Navy Markmanship Training site - http://usnmt.org

I emailed the contact persons listed and got an instant and extremely courteous response. I'm sure that they are happy for me to share it on this forum:-
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We are starting the planning phase now for the 2020 USNMT PACFLEET and All Navy Matches.  The tentative dates are 24 April – 3 May and the event is open to Active Military, Reserve Military, Retired Military and Civilians (in that order in case we have to limit the entries, but that is very unlikely).  Once we have confirmed the dates the USNMT website will be updated and the Navy message will go out.  Look for it in about December or January.  The registration forms will be on the site.

Typically we hold the pistol matches the first and last weekend of the 10 days, so they would be held on 25-26 April and 2-3 May (tentatively).  During the week (Mon – Fri) we typically hold the rifle matches.  This is all subject to change of course until the program is finalized.

CDR Jesse Currier
USNMT West

Hope it's at Quantico again.  That's just 20 miles down the road from me!

james r chapman wrote:Easy, move to Toledo, Ohio

Jim,
Port Clinton area would be even better. Canton-McKinley 130 mi Regional & State, Bristol IN 170 mi both nearly all IS driving. And of course Perry. I was fortunate to leg at all 3.

Good shooting !!
Ron Habegger

mpolans,

When I lived in Northern VA and was an active shooter in the 80's and 90's, there was a "gun club" on Quantico associated with the USMC marksmanship unit there.  The "club" held a registered 2700 monthly which was open to civilians and well attended.  Of course the marine teams all participated in those shoots and won most everything, but were very gracious to the civilians.  I'm still shooting 45 brass I picked up at some of those matches.  Then 911 happened and it became impossible to let armed civilians on the base.  I don't know what the current status is, but you might want to check for open 2700's there on Quantico now.

Ohio in general is a fairly good place for EIC matches and bullseye matches in general. Outside of the big matches (Perry, Cardinal and Canton), several other good opportunities for EIC's are available, The State Service Pistol match, Governors Cup Match, and State Outdoor Match are good matches. The trick for leg points is having enough people shooting it, If you plan to make the drive to a match try and bring someone else with you to shoot it.

Dr.Don wrote:mpolans,

When I lived in Northern VA and was an active shooter in the 80's and 90's, there was a "gun club" on Quantico associated with the USMC marksmanship unit there.  The "club" held a registered 2700 monthly which was open to civilians and well attended.  Of course the marine teams all participated in those shoots and won most everything, but were very gracious to the civilians.  I'm still shooting 45 brass I picked up at some of those matches.  Then 911 happened and it became impossible to let armed civilians on the base.  I don't know what the current status is, but you might want to check for open 2700's there on Quantico now.

I'm not involved in the process but I understand there are machinations underway to begin doing 2700s at the Quantico Shooting Club again.  Hopefully this will manifest this year.

Unfortunately there are still some very stringent requirements for bringing weapons and ammunition onto Quantico as was indicated by the Remember the Brave match in May.  2 week lead time, or something like that.  Didn't need a DNA test and stool sample, but it felt like that's what they were asking.  

It's odd because the Pac fleet matches on Camp Pendleton had no such restriction that I know of.  Folks told me they told the gate guard they were coming on base with guns and ammo to shoot matches and were waved right in.

Asa Yam wrote:

javaduke wrote:The next big one is Desert Midwinter in February and everyone is welcome!

What dates?  Am planning on shooting the Berger Southwest Nationals at Ben Avery From February 7th to the 9th, may participate in the 4 shooter Team match on the 6th.  Shot the match earlier this year, adding a pistol and 20-50 rounds to rifle gear doesn't add an appreciable amount of weight.

Asa,
By all means haul all your short guns along.

I got an email from Tony Silva on the Midwinter.
It's going to be Feb 12- Feb 16th this year. The EIC matches are held throughout the match, but usually in the afternoon.
It's addictive. My 3rd year gong down & this year bringing 10 more Bullseye shooters who are tired of the -20 degree days & colder nights.

Allen