2700 Indoor
Pistol Tournament

24 Pistol Records Eclipsed

McMillan Leads Parade

A total of 24 national records were set in the Quantico 2700 Aggregate Indoor Pistol Tournament held here last weekend.

The two-day match was held Saturday and Sunday at Weapons Training Battalion's range and sponsored by the Marine Corps Base Rifle and Pistol Club.

The 85 competitors included members of the Marine Corps Pistol Team, the Marine Corps Reserve Pistol Team, the Marine Corps Development and Education Command Pistol Team, Army, Navy and Air Force personnel, police officers, and civilians, including four women.

They competed in 19 different matches in the major open category and three divisions - service, reserve and civilian. Each shooter competed in his individual division and the general open category for the top honors. The open competition included all division with the highest person from all three divisions winning the open.

Warrant Officer Francis A. Higginson won the big one, capturing the grand aggregate with a score of 2667-95. His score was a national open and service record.

WO Higginson set the old record of 2662-103 on Dec. 21, 1969 in another pistol match here.

Higginson's 2667 aggregate total was out of a possible 2700. His 95 indicated the number of times he hit a small center target. The winner is determined by the highest score and in the case of a tie, the shooter with the most shots in the center is awarded the match.

WO Higginson is attached to the Marksmanship Training Unit (MTU) at Weapons Training Battalion (WTBn) here. He is from Pollock Pines, Calif.

During the match, WO Higginson set two other records and won three additional events taking a total of six first places. He was a member of the Marine Corps Red Team set two records.

Staff Sergeant D. R. Oxford began the record-breaking festivities by setting a record in the first event. He fired a 198 of a possible 200 in the .22 slow-fire establishing a national open and service record. SSgt. Oxford is attached to MTU here and is from Akron, Ohio.

Three Marine reservists set a national reserve record in the same event. S. D. D'Andelet, of Silver Springs, Md., D. O. Hileman of Vienna, Va., and J. C. Vargo of Lorain, Ohio all fired a 192 in their division.

Gunnery Sergeant B. R. Taggart won the open and service .22 national match course. He fired a 297-12 of a possible 300. GySgt. Taggart is attached to MTU and is from Fort Worth, Texas.

D. O. Hileman set a national reserve record in the same event firing a 295-13.

Lieutenant Colonel William W. McMillan won the service and open .22 time-fire match with a 200-15 of a possible 200. Lt. Col. McMillan is the commanding officer of WTBn. and is from Turtle Creek, Pa.

Lt. Col. McMillan has been shooting for the Marine Corps for 22 years. Among the many awards he has won is a gold medal in the 1960 Olympics in the international rapid-fire pistol event.

J. R. Dorsey set a record in the .22 time-fire reserve division firing a 200-15. Dorsey came to the tournament from Spokane, Wash.

LtCol. McMillan won the open and service .22 rapid fire. He scored 200-10 of a possible 200.

He was also open and service winner of the .22 aggregate which is a combination of scores from all four caliber .22 events. LtCol. McMillan's total was 890-40 of a possible 900.

In the reserve aggregate division, Dorsey won with a total of 883-34, establishing a reserve record in the process.

WO Higginson set his first record of the tourney in the center-fire, slow-fire event. Center-fire events permit the shooter to choose between the .38 and .45 pistols. WO Higginson fired a 198 of a possible 200 for the national open and service record.

Vargo set a reserve record in the center-fire, slow-fire match firing a 191.

Captain William E. Eubank set a national open and service records in the center-fire national match course. He fired a 298-14 of a possible 300. Capt. Eubank is attached to MTU and is from Newport News, Va.

A. R. Schindler of Camarillo, Calif. set a reserve record in the same event firing a 293-6.

GySgt. Taggart won the service and open division in the center-fire, time-fire matches. He fired a 200-12 of a possible 200.

T. C. Akins of Prairie Village, Kan. won the reserve division of the same event and established a national reserve record firing a 199-11.

Dorsey set a reserve record in the center-fire, rapid-fire event. He fired a 198-13 of a possible 200 and also won the open contest.

WO Higginson won the open and service center-fire aggregate contests. His total for the four center-fire events was 887-31 of a possible 900 points.

WO Higginson also won the next event in the open and the service division, firing a 197 of a possible 200. The event was the .45 slow-fire.

LtCol. McMillan set national and service records in the .45 national match course. He fired a 298-13 of a possible 300.

A national record was also set in the reserve division of this same event. C. T. Kissinger of Fresh Meadows, N.Y. fired a 291-10.

GySgt. Taggart is a co-holder of the .45 timed-fire national service and open records. He fired a 200-15 of a possible 200 in this event.

Dorsey fired a 199-10 in this event to establish a national reserve record.

WO Higginson won the open and service contests in the .45 rapid-fire event firing a 199-10 of a possible 200.

He set national open and service records for the .45 aggregate with a total of 890-31 of a possible 900 for the .45 events.

Dorsey and P. H. Harrington, who is from Shreveport, La., tied for the national reserve record in the .45 total. Each fired an 871-25.

Dorsey also set a national reserve grand aggregate score amassing a total of 2620-94 of the possible 2700 points.

Mr. T. M. Gathright, Jr., of Afton, Va. was the grand aggregate winner in the civilian division with a total of 2624-90.

Nine teams competed in the team matches. These include: the Marine Corps Blue, Gold and Red teams, the Marine Corps Reserve Gold and Red teams, the Fleet Marine Force Atlantic team, the Marine Corps Development and Education Command Gold team, the Headquarters Command U.S. Air Force team and the Army team.

The Marine Corps Red team set national open and service records in two events. The four man team consisted of: WO Higginson, GySgt. Taggart, SSgt. Oxford and SSgt. L. E. Morrone.

The team established a record in the center-fire team match with a total of 1166-42 of a possible 1200. Their second record was in the .45 team match, firing a 1170-40 of a possible 1200.

The Marine Corps Red team set three reserve records. The team consisted of: Atkins, Vargo, Harrington, and W. L. Dickens of Decatur, Ala.

Their records were: 1153-38 in the .22 team match, 1145-24 in the center-fire team match and 1144-25 in the .45 team match.

The next match at the range will be the Indoor Virginia State Championship slated for March 7-8.

Quantico Sentry, Friday, February 13, 1970