Shooting Fun and History at the NRA M1A Springfield Match
Lewis Creek Shooting School 08.05.13
The loudspeaker advised that we would observe colors in just 10 seconds. Every shooter on the line did the mental countdown. Hats were removed, Military went to full salute, and civilians stood facing the flag, right hand over heart. I saw the smoke from the cannon a full two seconds before I heard the boom. It was a ritual I’ve observed hundreds of times in my life and it never fails to move me.
In my mind, I knew the sound of the National Anthem should be playing but I couldn’t hear it. I found the words in my mind and started to recreate the somewhat scratchy, old-sounding version of the most patriotic song in the United States. I thought perhaps there was a problem with the speaker, but while I was thinking, the song continued in my head. The sun was shining bright, the seagulls were flying over the range, the wind was cool and bracing, and I realized I’d experienced this before. The North wind was strong enough to blow the sound away from us on the 300 yard line of Viale, about a thousand yards away from the speakers. The Anthem was playing; we just couldn’t hear it. The music was still ringing in my head and I realized I was still singing the lyrics in my mind. I reached the end of the song and the loudspeaker blared to carry on.
It was the first day of the NRA National High Power Championships and I was about to shoot the Springfield Match. My relay partner on target 45 was a gentleman I had just met. He was an integral part of what we were doing because he was one of the men who was responsible for the existence of the match.
Karl Maunz, who has been shooting at Camp Perry since the mid 50s, was an Army armorer. After he got out of the Army he was working at Toledo University and in the Army Reserve. As a reservist, he was not allowed to possess an M14 because of Army regulations. Using a welded up M1 receiver, he built a rifle that resembled an M14 and used an M14 magazine. He found it couldn’t be used as a service rifle because it was neither an unmodified M1 or an M14. Elmer Balance was the original owner of Springfield Armory and the first commercial versions of the M14 were made in Devine, Texas. About 1,000 of those guns were built by the original company before Bob Reese purchased the company in 1974. Springfield Armory in Genesco, Illinois, is the current manufacturer of the M1A. The year 1974 also marked another significant event for the M1A, as it was approved for use in NRA High Power shooting matches. The M1A and M14 dominated NRA and National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice competition until the Army Marksmanship Unit won the National Trophy Team Match in 1991.
“Springfield Armory decided to sponsor and develop the M1A match because of the history of the M14/M1A because it was the king of the firing line. It replaced the M1 Garand as the service rifle of choice. When the AR 15 became suitable for competition, it began to take over because it’s easier to shoot with less recoil. The M1A then went in the closet. I had the dream to create this match and get those old bones out of the closet. The result was we created a fun competition at Camp Perry,” said Mike Doy, who was awarded a Leadership award by NRA because this match brought in the most new shooters of any NRA match in history.
Indeed, the Springfield M1A Match is a fun match. The shooters run the gamut, from guys who shoot the M1A match as the only match they shoot all year to hardcore service rifle shooters who are dedicated to the M1A/M14 platform.
I observed the variety of shooters who competed, such as juniors and Grand Seniors. I certainly have a love and respect for this rifle because it was the rifle I learned High Power with. I earned my Distinguished Rifleman badge with one in 1991 and it’s just as much a great rifle now as it was then.
Dick Jones is an award winning outdoor writer and a member of the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association Board of Directors. He writes for four North Carolina Newspapers as well as regional and national magazines. He’s hunted and fished most of his life but shooting has been his passion. He’s a former High Master, Distinguished Rifleman, and AAA class pistol shooter. He holds four Dogs of War Medals for Team Marksmanship as shooter, captain and coach. He ran the North Carolina High Power Rifle Team for six years and the junior team two years after that. Within the last year, he’s competed in shotgun, rifle and pistol events including the National Defense Match and the Bianchi Cup. He’ll be shooting the Bianchi, the NDM, the National High Power Rifle Championship, The Rock Castle AR15.com Three Gun Championship and an undetermined sniper match this shooting season.
He lives in High Point, North Carolina with his wife Cherie who’s also an outdoor writer and the 2006 and 2011 Northeast Side by Side Women’s Shotgun Champion. Both Dick and Cherie are NRA pistol, rifle, and shotgun instructors and own Lewis Creek Shooting School.
