Category: Allies

Garand Collectors Association Creates New Master Marksman Program

Post author By Grumpy
Post date December 8, 2022
No Comments on Garand Collectors Association Creates New Master Marksman Program

To acknowledge those who consistently score well in the John C. Garand Match with As-Issued M1 Rifles at designated Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) competitions, the Garand Collectors Association (GCA) has designed a new GCA Master Marksman Program.

“The GCA is grateful to enjoy a cooperative association with the CMP, whose administrative efforts are essential in making this new award a reality,” the GCA said in a statement.

The GCA Master Marksman program is set to begin in January 2023. Like the CMP’s established Distinguished Badge Program, the new addition will work on an Achievement Award point system, based on performance at designated CMP events.

Points will be awarded based on cut scores and presented as gold (10 pts), silver (8 pts.) and bronze (6 pts) levels. Competitors must reach a total of 40 points overall, with one gold and one additional gold or silver required. All other points may be bronze or greater.

The first points to be awarded will be at the 2023 Western Games, held in Phoenix in March.

Annual events featuring GCA point competitions currently include:

CMP Western Games (Arizona) – March 10-19, 2023
CMP Eastern Games (North Carolina) – April 28-May 7, 2023
CMP D-Day (Alabama) – June 6-11, 2023
CMP National Matches (Ohio) – July 2023
CMP New England Games (Vermont) – Sept. 16-24, 2023
CMP Talladega 600 (Alabama) – November 2023

To participate, a competitor must be a current member of the GCA. Individuals may even join the day of the match through the GCA website in order to be considered a valid member.

Only As-Issued M1 Garands maybe used. Competition Rules for the John C. Garand Match (Course A: 30 rounds) will be followed as defined in the CMP Games Rifle and Pistol Competition Rulebook. Those who fire in re-entry events will only be able to use their highest score as points.

Outside of the Master Marksman Program, the GCA will continue to donate generous funds to the winners of the John C. Garand Matches as well as the semi-auto category of the Vintage Team Sniper Matches at major CMP competitions, regardless of GCA membership.

Questions on the new program? Contact CMP’s Christina Roguski at 419-635-2141 ext. 714 or croguski@thecmp.org.

About the GCA: Since its beginnings in 1986, the GCA and its members have worked diligently to expand knowledge on the M1 Garand, to preserve its history and to encourage and assist others in collecting the historical rifle. The GCA has also worked closely with the CMP since 2000 on sorting/grading M1 Garand rifles and encouraging competitive and recreational firearm safety. Learn more about the organization at https://thegca.org/.

— By Ashley Dugan, CMP Staff Writer

The Civilian Marksmanship Program is a federally chartered 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation. It is dedicated to firearm safety and marksmanship training and to the promotion of marksmanship competition for citizens of the United States. For more information about the CMP and its programs, log onto www.TheCMP.org.

Restricted 18+ in CA in compliance with CA State Assembly Bill 2571 prohibiting the marketing of firearms to minors in the State of CA.

Christine Elder

Civilian Marksmanship Program

Communications Manager

419-635-2141, ext. 711

celder@thecmp.org

www.thecmp.org

All About Guns Allies

Gratuitous Gun Pic: BSA-Martini Cadet by KIM DU TOIT

Post author By Grumpy
Post date December 6, 2022
No Comments on Gratuitous Gun Pic: BSA-Martini Cadet by KIM DU TOIT

Before I talk about the gun, I want to talk a little about something that was once the only option, then fell by the wayside, and now is practiced by only a few hardy people: hunting with a single-shot rifle.

To see that this type of hunting has not disappeared altogether, one only has to see the perpetual fascination for single-shot rifles in sales of guns such as the Ruger #1 (with its derivation of the Farquharson action), and the Winchester / Browning 1885 High Wall (with its “falling block” action).

I cannot describe the satisfaction one gets in working these exquisite actions. Mr. Free Market, after our most recent Schutzenfest, confessed to me that of all the dozen-odd different rifles he fired, the one that gave him the most shooting satisfaction was my 1885 High Wall in .45-70 Govt. Yeah, that one-at-a-time thing feels so cumbersome compared to the slick semi-auto and even bolt-action rifles of today — but there it is: a single rifle is the bee’s knees, and certainly if that’s what you’ve just used to fell a deer, buffalo or bear, your chest swells with pride — and so it should.

So with that said, allow me to present to you the venerable BSA-Martini Cadet rifle:

This is hardly an unknown gun: the old BSA has been used as a training rifle since the Stone Age, and is most commonly found in .22 caliber. (It’s what we used back at St. John’s College for our musketry classes, and was capable of astounding accuracy — far more than I for one could achieve.)

The BSA Martinis were also chambered for the silly .310 Greener (“Rook”) cartridge, which is a decent training caliber, but useful for nothing else except hunting rooks. Luckily, a large percentage of these rifles have been rechambered for other .30 cartridges such as the .32-20 and even the .357 Mag. The action handles the heavier loads with ease, and the rifle’s lighter weight makes carrying in the field less problematic than with its heavier cousins.

Which brings us to today’s rifle, which is chambered for the wonderful and very much underappreciated cartridge, the Winchester .32 Special. Most often compared to the .30-30 (.30 WCF), the .32 Win Spec is perhaps best described as the .30-30 on steroids. One acquaintance told me of a black bear taken with a single shot in Pennsylvania, fired out of a Marlin 94 lever action with a 20″ barrel.

Now take that same bullet and fire it through the BSA-Martini’s 28″ heavy barrel… and I think you can all see where I’m going with this one.

Just practice, and get really good — because you only get one shot.

Allies Hard Nosed Folks Both Good & Bad Soldiering War

Adrian Carton de Wiart: The Most Badass Soldier of All Time and a Real Life Action Hero

Post author By Grumpy
Post date December 3, 2022
No Comments on Adrian Carton de Wiart: The Most Badass Soldier of All Time and a Real Life Action Hero

A Victory! Allies Good News for a change! Hard Nosed Folks Both Good & Bad War

ROBERT MCLAREN: THE LIMITLESS MAN WRITTEN BY WILL DABBS, MD

Post author By Grumpy
Post date December 2, 2022
No Comments on ROBERT MCLAREN: THE LIMITLESS MAN WRITTEN BY WILL DABBS, MD

Robert “Jock” McLaren (center) was one hard-core veterinarian. Australian War Memorial photo.

As a species, we are enthralled with seeing people explore their limits. Sometimes it is in the small things. “Would you rather do this by mouth or take a shot?” I will not infrequently query at work.

Some folks will ask for a shot because they are in a hurry or want to get better faster. Others are not in such a rush and make a reasoned decision to take it slower. Then, there are the beefy 21-year-old college guys who get a little weepy and ask if they can call their moms and talk about it. That’s frankly just pathetic.

Many times when discussing hard medical things to come, I have had patients say, “Oh, I could never do that.” I beg to differ. Oftentimes folks just need to be properly incentivized.

It is amazing what the human animal is capable of if there is simply no alternative. Friday runs at Airborne school, 61 days of institutionalized pain and deprivation during the Ranger course, and the horrors of Hell Week during BUD/S that produces baby Navy SEALs are all designed to explore and define a person’s limits. Each institution is carefully crafted to motivate people to quit. Most commonly, a person’s limitations are defined by their circumstances.

In jump school, it is silly stuff like a funny hat and a shiny pin to put on your uniform. However, if there is a threat to a child, then suddenly, that petite 117-pound mom becomes the tactical equivalent of a raging grizzly bear. As the timeless axiom goes, it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it is rather the size of the fight in the dog. It really does all come down to motivation.

Jock McLaren (left) is shown here in 1945 touring his old POW camp.

The Problem

The vermiform appendix is a most curious organ. Vermiform means “worm-like.” The appendix is a finger-like blind pouch that sprouts off of the cecum at the junction between the small and large intestines. For ages, we thought the appendix was just an afterthought, something that God inadvertently left in there while He was distracted by something else. In recent years we have come to appreciate that the appendix likely serves as a beneficial reservoir for good gut bacteria. It seems God actually never gets distracted.

The problem is that the appendix is bad to get clogged up and infected. Appendicitis is one of the most common indicators of emergency surgery. In 2015, there were 11.6 million cases of appendicitis and 50,100 deaths worldwide. If your appendix gets ripe, that thing has to come out. Now hold that thought.

Surgical procedures are tough enough with the proper tools under controlled
circumstances. Jock McLaren had to make do with slightly less.

The Manliest Man in the World

Born in Scotland, Robert Kerr “Jock” McLaren served as a grunt in Europe during World War I. After the war, Jock immigrated to Queensland, Australia, studied to become a veterinarian, and settled down to make a life for himself. When Australia was dragged into World War II, Dr. McLaren volunteered to go off and do his bit yet again.

During one engagement with the Japanese in 1942, Jock McLaren was captured and remanded to the hellish Changi POW camp in Singapore. The Japanese viewed captured soldiers with particular disdain and typically tried to work and starve them to death. McLaren escaped in short order and, upon his recapture, was transported to another ghastlier camp in Borneo.

Jock escaped yet again along with a Chinese comrade named Johnny Funk and trekked 270 miles across the Pacific, hopping from island to island in a hollowed-out log. Once they arrived on the island of Mindanao, they realized that the Philippines had fallen to the Japanese … and that Jock McLaren had developed appendicitis. With the Japanese actively hunting for them, Jock now had a hard decision to make.

Equipped solely with a razor blade, two spoons, and a hand mirror, Jock McLaren removed his own appendix. He sort of sterilized his equipment by boiling water in a rice pot over a campfire. The operation took four and a half hours without anesthetic. He closed the wound with plant fibers harvested from the surrounding jungle. Two days later, he was on his feet and evading the Japanese yet again. Soon thereafter, McLaren was fighting alongside Philippine guerillas.

Jock McLaren commandeered an antiquated 26-foot whaling boat he christened The Bastard, festooned it with pilfered mortars and machine guns, and used the vessel to terrorize occupying Japanese troops. Despite a hefty bounty on his head, McLaren survived the war. Of his surgical ordeal in the jungle, he later opined, “It was hell, but I came through all right.” I suppose it really all comes down to your motivation.

All About Guns Allies