Mike S
NES Member
Congratulations Kurt and Copicut Rifle Association, great job! link to story
Ten area riflemen won a slew of medals after competing against some of the top shooters in the country at the National High Power Rifle Matches at Camp Perry in Ohio.
Top gun was Kurt Palmer of Westport who set a new national record in the John C. Garand match, shooting a score of 293 out of a possible 300.
Palmer fired an as-issued M1 Garand rifle on an overcast rainy day, using ammunition issued by the match organizers.
He won three gold medals, two silver medals and a bronze medal.
Palmer, a Marine Corps veteran of Desert Storm (1988-93), outshot about 1,200 other competitors in the Garand event.
“I’ve won competitions before, but to win that event, that was unbelievable,” he said. "And to have all my friends there, that was pretty special.”
Palmer was 14 when introduced to the shooting sports by Marty Casey of New Bedford.
“He was sort of my mentor,” said Palmer, who has been shooting competitively for 25 years.
Firing was done in three stages: off-hand (standing), prone and prone rapid fire.
Palmer’s name will be engraved on the national trophy kept at Camp Perry.
The local shooters, representing the Copicut Rifle Association of Fall River and the Rod & Gun Club of New Bedford, won a total of 26 medals, firing at ranges of 200, 300 and 600 yards.
The winning of so many medals by the local riflemen is all the more amazing by the fact that the civilian shooters out-gunned some of the nation’s finest — those in the armed services.
“We shot against the Army, Marines and National Guard,” said Fall River Building Inspector Joseph Biszko, a member of the Copicut Rifle Association. “We competed against not only top guns in the United States, but also from Australia and Europe.”
The 10-day event proved to be more than winning medals and the camaraderie among shooters for Biszko and his son, Marc, of Freetown.
In addition to the father-son team being awarded five bronze medals between them, they got to meet R. Lee Ermey, a character actor known for his military roles and host of the History Channel’s “Mail Call” and “Lock N’Load.”
Ermey was in the Marine Corps for 11 years, rising to the rank of staff sergeant and later bestowed with the honorary rank of gunnery sergeant. He served 14 months in Vietnam and later did two tours in Okinawa, Japan.
“I ended up shooting against him side-by-side with our M14s,” Joseph Biszko said. “He’s a hell of a good shot. I hate to brag, but I beat him.”
Since both men served in Vietnam (Biszko in the Army), they had plenty of stories to share.
“We talked about our time spent in Vietnam,” Biszko said. “We had our pictures taken with him while holding our rifles.”
The local shooters competed for the first time at Camp Perry in 2006.
“We started going to this three years ago,” he said. “We’re going to go every other year from now on.”
John Beaumont of New Bedford won a gold medal and two bronze medals. Casey won a silver and two bronze.
Ray Raposa of Westport won a silver and a bronze. Frank Sciotto of Westport took three bronze medals. Russ Sylvia of Dartmouth earned a bronze.
The father-son team of George Tripp and George Tripp Jr. of Somerset took home three bronze medals.
“It was so much fun to shoot with my son over 10 days,” said Biszko, who competed with Marc as a team in two events. “And George had a great time with his son too.”
Biszko and the others enjoyed the military flavor of the event. They were up at 4 a.m. at their motel to arrive at the Army base two hours later for their orders to report to the range on the edge of Lake Erie at 6:30 a.m.
After the firing of a cannon and the Pledge of Allegiance, the competition began at 7 a.m.
“Some are done early and some could spend up to 12 hours on the range with 50 rounds,” Biszko said. “There can be 150 guys shooting at once on the firing line. It’s great. We had such a good time.”
He said that there were more women than ever before competing in the event.
He hopes that more members of the Copicut Rifle Association will participate in the return trip to Camp Perry.
“We’re trying to foster shooting,” he said. “We have rifles and ammunition and people can shoot M1 Garands right there at Copicut. We have an instructor there to show people how to shoot.”
The Civilian Marksmanship Program matches included the M1 Garand, the M1 carbine, the 1903 Springfield and the Vintage Rifle.
All those matches were fired with as-issued military rifles, meaning they could not be modified in any way for the competition.
The National Rifle Association matches were fired with any iron-sight rifle that met the NRA’s criteria. Most shooters were firing match or AR-15 rifles. There also was a special match for the M1A rifle, which is a civilian version of the M14 military rifle.
Ten area riflemen won a slew of medals after competing against some of the top shooters in the country at the National High Power Rifle Matches at Camp Perry in Ohio.
Top gun was Kurt Palmer of Westport who set a new national record in the John C. Garand match, shooting a score of 293 out of a possible 300.
Palmer fired an as-issued M1 Garand rifle on an overcast rainy day, using ammunition issued by the match organizers.
He won three gold medals, two silver medals and a bronze medal.
Palmer, a Marine Corps veteran of Desert Storm (1988-93), outshot about 1,200 other competitors in the Garand event.
“I’ve won competitions before, but to win that event, that was unbelievable,” he said. "And to have all my friends there, that was pretty special.”
Palmer was 14 when introduced to the shooting sports by Marty Casey of New Bedford.
“He was sort of my mentor,” said Palmer, who has been shooting competitively for 25 years.
Firing was done in three stages: off-hand (standing), prone and prone rapid fire.
Palmer’s name will be engraved on the national trophy kept at Camp Perry.
The local shooters, representing the Copicut Rifle Association of Fall River and the Rod & Gun Club of New Bedford, won a total of 26 medals, firing at ranges of 200, 300 and 600 yards.
The winning of so many medals by the local riflemen is all the more amazing by the fact that the civilian shooters out-gunned some of the nation’s finest — those in the armed services.
“We shot against the Army, Marines and National Guard,” said Fall River Building Inspector Joseph Biszko, a member of the Copicut Rifle Association. “We competed against not only top guns in the United States, but also from Australia and Europe.”
The 10-day event proved to be more than winning medals and the camaraderie among shooters for Biszko and his son, Marc, of Freetown.
In addition to the father-son team being awarded five bronze medals between them, they got to meet R. Lee Ermey, a character actor known for his military roles and host of the History Channel’s “Mail Call” and “Lock N’Load.”
Ermey was in the Marine Corps for 11 years, rising to the rank of staff sergeant and later bestowed with the honorary rank of gunnery sergeant. He served 14 months in Vietnam and later did two tours in Okinawa, Japan.
“I ended up shooting against him side-by-side with our M14s,” Joseph Biszko said. “He’s a hell of a good shot. I hate to brag, but I beat him.”
Since both men served in Vietnam (Biszko in the Army), they had plenty of stories to share.
“We talked about our time spent in Vietnam,” Biszko said. “We had our pictures taken with him while holding our rifles.”
The local shooters competed for the first time at Camp Perry in 2006.
“We started going to this three years ago,” he said. “We’re going to go every other year from now on.”
John Beaumont of New Bedford won a gold medal and two bronze medals. Casey won a silver and two bronze.
Ray Raposa of Westport won a silver and a bronze. Frank Sciotto of Westport took three bronze medals. Russ Sylvia of Dartmouth earned a bronze.
The father-son team of George Tripp and George Tripp Jr. of Somerset took home three bronze medals.
“It was so much fun to shoot with my son over 10 days,” said Biszko, who competed with Marc as a team in two events. “And George had a great time with his son too.”
Biszko and the others enjoyed the military flavor of the event. They were up at 4 a.m. at their motel to arrive at the Army base two hours later for their orders to report to the range on the edge of Lake Erie at 6:30 a.m.
After the firing of a cannon and the Pledge of Allegiance, the competition began at 7 a.m.
“Some are done early and some could spend up to 12 hours on the range with 50 rounds,” Biszko said. “There can be 150 guys shooting at once on the firing line. It’s great. We had such a good time.”
He said that there were more women than ever before competing in the event.
He hopes that more members of the Copicut Rifle Association will participate in the return trip to Camp Perry.
“We’re trying to foster shooting,” he said. “We have rifles and ammunition and people can shoot M1 Garands right there at Copicut. We have an instructor there to show people how to shoot.”
The Civilian Marksmanship Program matches included the M1 Garand, the M1 carbine, the 1903 Springfield and the Vintage Rifle.
All those matches were fired with as-issued military rifles, meaning they could not be modified in any way for the competition.
The National Rifle Association matches were fired with any iron-sight rifle that met the NRA’s criteria. Most shooters were firing match or AR-15 rifles. There also was a special match for the M1A rifle, which is a civilian version of the M14 military rifle.
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