Event enhancements coming to National Matches at Camp Perry

CMP Staff Writer

Throughout its century-long history, events within the Civilian Marksmanship Program's (CMP) annual Camp Perry National Matches have evolved to better accommodate competitors and guests. Keeping with that philosophy, the 2023 event calendar has been modified from previous years – allowing overlapping disciplines and new matches to provide further competitive opportunities – along with updates to the ranges themselves to improve the competition experience for athletes on the firing line.
Unlike past years, the National Matches will now begin with Smallbore and Rimfire Sporter Rifle, rather than Pistol. Other changes with Pistol in 2023 include the assembly of target lines at 25 and 50 yards on the range to eliminate moving between strings. Also, an extra category has been added to the GSSF GLOCK National Pistol Challenge. Along with Stock, Unlimited and Rimfire classes, the match will now facilitate a Modular Optic System (MOS) Configuration category.
CMP offers Air Rifle and Air Pistol competitors an opportunity to compete at Camp Perry in the Air Gun National Matches. The National Match Air Gun Events are also available throughout the National Matches and will include a new 3-gun match and team matches for air pistol and air rifle.
In Rifle, the National Smallbore series will utilize electronic targets for the first time in its history, and the CMP Highpower Rifle Championships will now also be fired on electronic targets and includes three 80 shot matches, followed by a 4-Man team event. The CMP National Trophy Rifles will follow and continue to be fired on paper targets.
Additionally, CMP Games rifle events will present several opportunities to fire the Garand/Springfield/Vintage/Modern Military (GSMM) Matches in 2023, with the Springfield M1A match being fired on Sunday morning. During the Long Range rifle phase, a Mid-Range Match 3x600 match with a course of fire of 20 shots slow prone at 600 yards, has been added to the schedule.
Summary of the 2023 National Matches schedule:
• Rimfire Sporter Rifle: July 7-8
• Smallbore Rifle: July 7-16
• Pistol: July 10-16
• National Air Gun Championships: July 13-16
• CMP NM Jr. Rifle Clinic: July 17-21
• National Trophy and Highpower Rifle: July 17-28
• CMP/USMC Highpower Clinic and CMP Advanced Highpower Clinic: July 21-23
• CMP Rifle Games Matches: July 27-31
• Long Range Rifle: July 31-Aug. 5
Registration for the 2023 National Trophy Pistol and Rifle Matches is officially open. Sign up and review all the 2023 National Matches event info on the CMP website at thecmp.org/cmp-national-matches. For more information or help registering, contact CMP Competitions at competitions@thecmp.org.