Match Report – Modified Infantry Trophy Team – 30 APR 2017

Kick off or Count down to the Gunners Cup?

Sunday after the EIC matches, SMGC held its inaugural “MITT” (Modified Infantry Trophy Team) Competition. This was the Individual’s work up towards the “Gunners Cup”.

We had our usual crew of officials: Doctor Child as Medic, Harry Harrison as Match Director, Brad Losey and Dave Ellis as RSO/OIC. We had 13 Marine Combat Marksmanship Instructors from SOI (School of Infantry – West) and their Commanding Officer, Colonel Jeffrey Holt as participants, as well as 4 civilians including the Club’s President and Long Range Director (at least he (I) have a valid excuse for my score).

So with a little bit of a late start, I believe the first shot down range was at 1600. We were running a modified version so all of the participants could get familiar with the general course of fire, sequence and timing. Also the Marines don’t typically shoot from 600 yards so they needed the opportunity to get zero’s for that yard line.

The MITT course basically went like this with 110 shots for record: We started at the 600 Yard line.

600 yards – Prone (echo silhouette): 2 minutes for 5 sighter shots. String 1 – 10 rounds in 50 seconds, String 2 – 10 rounds in 50 seconds for record. Clear rifles and go to condition 4 (Chambers empty, Magazine Removed, bolts forward, ejection port closed and safety on.
Move forward to the 500 yard line.
500 yards – Prone (echo silhouette): 2 minutes for 5 sighter shots. String 1 – 10 rounds in 50 seconds, String 2 – 10 rounds in 50 seconds for record. Clear rifles and go to condition 4.
Move forward to the 300 yard line.
300 yards – Sitting (dog silhouette): 2 minutes for 5 sighter shots. String 1 – 10 rounds in 50 seconds, String 2 – 10 rounds in 50 seconds for record. Clear rifles and go to condition 4.
Move forward to the 300 yard line.
200 yards – Standing (dog silhouette): 2 minutes for 5 sighter shots. String 1 – 10 rounds in 50 seconds, String 2 – 10 rounds in 50 seconds for record. Clear rifles and go to condition 4.
Finished, now head for the pits.

Sounds easy right? You Are Wrong! Harry sped up the evolution as we moved forward and people got the hang of it. It was fun but by the time I got to the 200 yard line I couldn’t hold the rifle on the dog silhouette. The first 10 shots were a ZERO, OUCH! I did put rounds on the silhouette in the second string, but ouch all the same. So each course of fire or relay would take about 30 minutes start to finish when this runs in real time.

The actual “Gunner’s Cup” will be a (4) four man Team competition with (1) Team Leader/Coach. Each team will have a “Bank” of targets, 6 in all to shoot at. Two shooters (Straight Away’s) will shoot onto one target each and the other two shooters (aka: Swings) will have to fire onto two targets at each yard line. There will be NO SIGHTERS in the Match, HITS are the ONLY thing that counts.

So, what did I learn:

Bring ALL your magazines loaded, for each yard line.
Bring a belt and magazine pouches.
Shoot off a bipod at 600 and 500 if allowed. It will make these next stages easier in my opinion.
Be mobile! Skip the spotting scope bring binoculars.
Know your zeros at each yard line.
Your match gun might need the weights removed since you have to drag it across the range.
Thank GOD I didn’t have to shoot at two targets at the same time!
You don’t have to have a semi-auto! Sergeant Pike demonstrated bolt action in use!

Thanks to Colonel Holt for bringing the SOI Marines to the match and opening the armory to accommodate their needs for rifles and ammo. We definitely plan to host another of these training matches within the next few months and again another in the late Summer. Harry wants to target holding the “Gunners Cup” in Late October or Early November. So keep your eyes on the website for more details.

Dinner (ribs, cole slaw and baked beans) )was provided by the Club’s Chef – Duane Fitzgerald, as score were being tabulated by the Assistant Match Director Brad Losey.