Anyone Shoot Competitively?

[Renegade One]

When I was active duty, I was introduced to competitive Navy shooting by my boss at the time, Captain Gordon Nakagawa, USN (A-6 pilot, former VN POW, etc.). At the time, competitive shooting was kinda like a "speakeasy", e.g., "you had to know a guy" to ferret out the many opportunities and "good deals" such as availability of match grade rifles and pistols, free ammo (rifle, pistol and .22LR, etc. I was in DC at the time, and Gordy introduced me to the Naval Ordnance shooting range (and opportunities) which were located at NAVSTA Anacostia at the time. Went on from there to shoot competitively for about the next 10 years...PAC and LANT Fleet matches, All-Navy matches; even got invited to go the the National matches at Camp Perry, but my schedule never permitted that. I never got "distinguished" in either weapon, but picked up a couple of pistol "leg medals".

Just wondering if anyone shoots competitively these days, and get your sense of how the program is doing. It used to be that, in addition to needing a mentor to open doors, the biggest branch of active shooters were all in the Navy Reserves, who seemed to do a heck of a lot of their drill time "on the range".

Any updates appreciated.

 

[Pags]

I don't shoot competitively but I remember the first time I saw a Naval officer with marksmanship devices on his uniform. At first I thought "stolen valor!" but did some research and learned some stuff. That's the only time I ever saw those badges.

 

[mad dog]

Not a competitive shooter but I do know about “booger hook off the bang switch until ready to fire” from my time as a Cincinnati Police Officer. Anyway, I believe that @ChuckMK23 is a competitive shooter and maybe he can chime in.

 

[Hair Warrior]

If there is still a range on NAVSTA Anacostia/ JBAB, I’d love to go shoot there for my Navy rifle and pistol quals.

 

[mad dog]

If there is still a range on NAVSTA Anacostia/ JBAB, I’d love to go shoot there for my Navy rifle and pistol quals.

Don’t forget...“booger hook off the bang switch until ready to fire”.

 

[Hair Warrior]

Don’t forget...“booger hook off the bang switch until ready to fire”.

I’m qual’d... I’m just vain and want to “upgrade”

 

[OscarMyers]

If it was something fun and cost the Navy money, it probably was given to MWR to ruin and eventually cancel it.

 

[ChuckMK23]

When I was active duty, I was introduced to competitive Navy shooting by my boss at the time, Captain Gordon Nakagawa, USN (A-6 pilot, former VN POW, etc.). At the time, competitive shooting was kinda like a "speakeasy", e.g., "you had to know a guy" to ferret out the many opportunities and "good deals" such as availability of match grade rifles and pistols, free ammo (rifle, pistol and .22LR, etc. I was in DC at the time, and Gordy introduced me to the Naval Ordnance shooting range (and opportunities) which were located at NAVSTA Anacostia at the time. Went on from there to shoot competitively for about the next 10 years...PAC and LANT Fleet matches, All-Navy matches; even got invited to go the the National matches at Camp Perry, but my schedule never permitted that. I never got "distinguished" in either weapon, but picked up a couple of pistol "leg medals".

Just wondering if anyone shoots competitively these days, and get your sense of how the program is doing. It used to be that, in addition to needing a mentor to open doors, the biggest branch of active shooters were all in the Navy Reserves, who seemed to do a heck of a lot of their drill time "on the range".

Any updates appreciated.View attachment 30018

Long time USPSA - mostly pistol and a little Three Gun here and there. I usually attend 2-3 national/region matches and I've seen teams from Army Marksmanship Unit and some service academy (USCGA and USAFA) teams competing at a very high level. I hear that Steel Challenge national matches are typically well attended by the .mil teams - same for Bianchi Cup and traditional NRA Bullseye.

The US Navy Marksmanship Team is active, well funded and pretty busy in a variety of disciplines - probably not as prestigious as the Army's AMU - but they seem to keep busy:

US Navy Marksmanship Team

 

[exNavyOffRec]

I don't shoot competitively but I remember the first time I saw a Naval officer with marksmanship devices on his uniform. At first I thought "stolen valor!" but did some research and learned some stuff. That's the only time I ever saw those badges.

On my first sea tour one of the CPO's in the department had a buddy that was a USN range master, the deal was you brought the ammo you could shoot, that was how I was able to get my Expert Pistol, that was before bringing ammo on base was an issue.

 

[Griz882]

Camp Pendleton opens their ranges to civilian shooters just about every weekend. There used to be a shooting club there but I'm not sure it still exists. I recommend heading up to Oceanside, pop off a few rounds, and ask the locals. I'll bet something comes up.

Recreational Shooting

www.mccscp.com

 

[jmcquate]

Camp Pendleton opens their ranges to civilian shooters just about every weekend. There used to be a shooting club there but I'm not sure it still exists. I recommend heading up to Oceanside, pop off a few rounds, and ask the locals. I'll bet something comes up.

Recreational Shooting

www.mccscp.com

Quantico did 10 years ago. not sure about now.

 

[Sam I am]

I lucked out and was the Weapons Officer for my first Ground Job at my first squadron. I was able to get a lot of range time as it was right after 9/11 and we had to qualify our watch standers. A byproduct of that was I qualified expert on pistol. Felt pretty good. I never got a chance to qualify on rifle. Bummed me out.

I'm an avid whitetail hunter now, but have gotten into archery and now enjoy it much more than gun hunting...which is convenient because I can't afford ammo right now for my .300 WIN MAG. Or my .243. Or my .308. Or my...you get the idea.

 

[Gatordev]

Some shots from a 2-gun I shot last weekend with me trying to not miss. One of our squad regulars (and usually the top shooter in the match) has started getting into photography and is snapping pictures of our squad through the stages. It didn't hurt that the weather was fantastic.

 

[ea6bflyr]

I’m qual’d... I’m just vain and want to “upgrade”

You could always do what I did; Go on an IA and enroute go to Ft Jackson and earn your Expert in both Rifle and Pistol.

 

[insanebikerboy]

Shot competitively with pretty decent success rates early on in my career. Later on, it seemed that whenever the west coast matches came up I was either gone for workups or deployed. I might try to get back into it, I was a big fan of Across the Course with my M-1.