National Mid-Winter Pistol Championships
Tampa, Florida

Pistol Shooters Arrive Here for National Events

Defending Champion Harry Reeves of the Detroit Police, and Sgt. H. L. Benner of Fort Knox, two of the leading pistol shooters in the world; marksmen from 20 states, Cuba and the District of Columbia are here for the National Mid-Winter Pistol Matches which will start at the Police Range tomorrow.

REEVES AND Benner competed in the Pan-American games last week in Argentina. The Fort Knox expert won the Olympic rapid fire and revolver 60 shots at 50 meters events. Reeves was second in the revolver match and scored two fourths in other events.

More than 300 shooters are expected to take part in the largest program ever staged here. The range has been enlarged and bleachers have been erected behind the stands where spectators can observe the firing. Admission is free.

The Tampa Times, Tampa, Florida, Monday, March 12, 1951, Page 11

Nationa's Crack Pistol Shots Begin Meet

Opening Day Features .22 Calibre Weapon

The nation's crack pistol shots began five days of competition at the Police Pistol Range today in the National Mid-Winter Pistol Championships.

Opening day events feature the use of the .22 caliber weapons. The spotlight focused on Harry Reeves, Detroit policeman, and Sgt. H. L. Benner of Fort Knox, Pan-American marksman, but there was plenty of competition on hand for the eagle-eyed pair.

CUBA WAS WELL represented by Jose Barbeito, Lt. Godofredo Basso, Maj. Tomas Cabanas, Lt. Rafael Cadalso, Rene Diaz de Villegas, Humberto Duyos, Lt. Mariona Gessa, Lt. Luis Jiminez, Eduardo Navarro, Joaquin Pedroso, Col. Cecilio Perez Alfonso, Capt. Julio Valdes Barrera and Erundino Vilea.

A handful ov competitors from the rival sunshine state of California include Inspector John Ahern, Jack Chaney, Sgt. Raymond Freeman, Inspector Edward Preston and Sgt. Karl Schaugaard of San Francisco.

Military bases represented include Eglin Field Air Force Base, Fort Knox, Cherry Point, Camp Gordon, Fort Bragg and MacDill Air Base.

FLORIDA ENTRIES headed the list in numbers and more than 300 marksmen were expected to have toed the firing line before the first day's events were completed.

To take care of the record entry, the local range has been enlarged and for the convenience of spectators, bleachers have been installed behind the firing line.

Shooting fans have been invited with no admission charge and expert information is available for persons desiring to learn about firearms.

The Tampa Times, Tampa, Florida, Tuesday, March 13, 1951, Page 10

Sgt. Benner Still Leading Pistol Shot

Sgt. H. L. Benner, of Fort Knox, Ky., and Harry W. Reeves, Detroit policeman, still ran one-two after the second day's firing in the national Midwinter pistol matches.

Benner was high aggregate in today's cenfire matches for .32 or .38 calibre weapons, just as he was yesterday in the .22 calibre competition. His point total is 1746.

Reeves, Winter champion last year, was fourth in today's firing, but held second lace for all matches to date with 1723 points.

Trailing them are Alfred W. Hemming, another Detroit police officer, 1715, and L. M. Rizzola, Navy sharpshooter from Washington, and Thomas R. Mitchell of the Quantico, Va., Marines, tied at 1709.

Firing for the individual champoinship ends tomorrow with .45 caliber competition. There will be team matches Saturday.

Lucille W. Champliss of Winter Haven won the women's national Midwinter championship with a record breaking 1640 points. The old mark of 1628 was made by Alice Young last year.

The Tampa Tribune, Tampa, Florida, Thursday, March 15, 1951, Page 23

Sgt. Joe Benner Wins Pistol Championship

The annual rivalry between the Kentucky Army sergeant and the Detroit policeman for the National Mid-Winter pistol title ended in favor of the sergeant this year.

SGT. H. L. (JOE) BENNER of Fort Knox swept the aggregate matches for all three types of weapons fired (.22, .38 and.45 caliber) to amass 2613 points.

Harry W. Reeves, the police officer who won the championship last winter, wound up second with 2584 points.

THE SHOOT continues today with team matches at the Police Pistol Range.

The Tampa Times, Tampa, Florida, Friday, March 16, 1951, Page 13

Marine Team Wins Tampa Tribune Cup

The Marines Corps School team of Quantico, Va., won the Tampa Tribune Trophy team match yesterday in the final day's shoot of the National Mid-Winter Pistol Championship at the Tampa Police Pistol Range.

The Marine team, composed of Mitchell, Walsh, Jagoda and Plante posted a score of 1124 in the .45 caliber competition to take top honors by 12 points over the second place Detroit Police team. The Military team of Fort Benning, Ga., was third with 1083.

In the final feature match of the shoot, the Rebels defeated the Yankees team.

The Tampa Police team won the high sharpshooters title in the .38 caliber, center fire, National Match course. The Tampa team had a score of 1081.

The Tampa Tribune, Tampa, Florida, Sunday, March 18, 1951, Page 2B

MCS Team Wins 15 Events In Florida Pistol Matches

Members of the Marine Corps Schools Pistol Team took first place in 15 of the 45 events in the National Mid-Winter Pistol Tournament at Tampa, Florida, from March 13 to 17 and the Miami-Flamingo Open Pistol Tournament at Coral Gables, Florida, from March 20 to 23.

Of the seven team matches in the two tournaments the MCS team took first place in five, second in one and third in the remaining match and in the 38 individual events they won first honors in ten.

Eight Quantico Marines were among the 250 participants in the National Mid-Winter Tournament and the same eight competed with 90 shooters in the Miami-Flamingo Tournament.

In the individual events Master Sgt. T. R. Mitchell placed first in four, Capt. J. M. Jagoda took two events, Lt. Col. W. R. Walsh won two, Master Sergeant Plante copped one and Sergeant McMillan also took one event.

At Tampa Sergeant Mitchell won the .22 cal. slow fire event with a score of 188 out of a possible 200 and the .45 cal. timed fire with 199 out of 200. At Coral Gables he again took the top honors in the .45 cal. timed fire event, this time with 195 out of 200, and he won the .45 cal. aggregate with 844 out of 900.

Captain Jagoda won the .45 cal. National Match Course event at Tampa with 289 out of 300 and at Coral Gables with 284 out of 300. Colonel Walsh won the Baldwin Trophy .22 cal. National Match Course 289 out of 300 and the Tompkins Memorial Trophy .38 cal. National Match Course 288 out of 300, at Coral Gables, Sergeant Plante took .45 cal. rapid fire, 191 out of 200, at Coral Gables and .22 cal. Camp Perry Course Match was won by Sergeant McMillan, 299 out of 300, also at Coral Gables.

In the team matches at Tampa, the MCS team took first honors in the .38 cal National Match Course, 1130 out of 1200, and the .45 cal. National Match Course, 1124 out of 1200. They placed second to the Detroit Police Team with a score of 1173 out of 1200. The MCS men also took third spot in the .22 cal. National Match Course, 1139 out of 1200.

At Coral Gables they took first place in three team matches, .22 cal. National Match Course, 1145 out of 1200; .38 cal. National Match Course, 1123 out of 1200; and .45 cal. National Match Course, 1111 out of 1200. Detroit placed second in all three matches.

Some of the teams that participated and were hampered by windy weather were: Marine Corps Schools, Detroit Police, San Francisco Police, South Bend Police, Cherry Point Marines, 11th Airborne Division, Naval Air Station, Grosse Isle, Michigan; Army shooters from Fort Benning and Camp Gordon, and State Police teams of Indiana and North Carolina.

Quantico Sentry, Thursay, March 29, 1951

MIDWINTER ROUND-UP

Fresh from winning top honors in the Pan American games, Sgt. First Class H. L. Benner, U.S. A. of Ft. Knox, continued his outstanding shooting to win Smitty Brown's Mid-Winter pistol tournament fired in Tampa, Fla. Benner fired a grand aggregate score of 2613 to defeat Harry Reeves by twenty-nine points. Reeves on the Tampa tournament in 1949 with 2606 and repeated in 1950 with 2595.

The two hundred eighty-four competitors had a wonderful week of shooting. There was plenty of entertainment available for the non-shooting members of the families who made the trip south. The prize schedule included new target pistols, spotting scopes, moving picture cameras, tape recorders, wrist watches and other merchandise plus trophies, medals and brassards.

The annual Yankee-Rebel match was fired at NRA bustible targets. This was a ten-man team match at 25 yards with each shooter having five targets to break, and when one shooter had broken all his targets, he was permitted to help his teammate. The Rebels broke all of their targets in four minutes fourteen seconds, which was one second better than the time consumed by the Yankee team. This was the first time in three years that the boys from the south have won the match.

Lucile W. Chambliss of Winter Haven, Fla., won the women's championship with a score of 1640 .22 and center fire aggregates. This was twelve points over the women's record for the Mid-Winter matches which was fired by Alice Young in 1950.

American Rifleman, Vol. 99, No. 5, May 1951

BENNER TAKES TAMPA PISTOL TOURNAMENT

Fresh from winning top honors in the Pan American Games Sgt. first class H. L. Benner, U.S.A. of Ft. Knox continued with the outstanding shooting to win the National Mid-winter pistol tournament fired in Tampa, Fla., March 13 through 17. Benner fired a grand aggregate score Regional pistol course of 2613 to defeat Harry Reeves by twenty-nine points. Reeves won the Tampa tournament in 1949 with 2606 and repeated in 1950 with 2595. In both of these years Benner was a close second eleven points below Reeves in 1949 and eight points down in 1950.

The two hundred eighty-four competitors had a wonderful week of shooting. There was plenty of entertainment available for the non-shooting members of the families who made the trip south. The prize schedule included new target pistols, spotting scopes, moving picture cameras, tape recorders, wrist watches and other merchandise plus trophies, medals and brassards.

The annual Yankee-Rebel match was fired at NRA bustible targets. This was a ten-man team match at 25 yards with each shooter having five targets to break and when one shooter had broken all his targets he was permitted to help his teammate. The Rebels broke all of their targets in four minutes, fourteen seconds which was one second better than the time consumed by the Yankee team. This was the first time in three years that the boys from the south have won the match.

Lucile W. Chambliss of Winter Haven, Fla., won the women's championship with score of 1640 .22 and center fire aggregates. This was twelve points over the women's record for the mid-winter matches which was fired by Alice Young in 1950.

The Marine Corps Schools pistol team composed of Mitchell, Walsh, Jagoda and Plante won the .45 team match National Match Course with 1124 which gave them a twelve point margin over the Detroit Police team. Marine Corps School took the .38 team event with 1130. The team matches were all close races. Some of the teams firing were: Detroit Police, San Francisco Police, West Point Academy, Tampa Police, Floridan Pistol Club, Club de Pistola Havana, St. Petersburg Police, Marine Corps Schools, Fort Bragg, Eleventh Airborne Division, Fort Benning and the Disabled Veterans Headquarters team.

NRA Tournament News, Vol. 1, No. 10, October 1951

Marine Corps Quantico Pistol Team

(Front row, left to right) John M. Jagoda, Thomas R. Mitchell and Olaf C. Nelson
(Back row, left to right) Mark W. Billing, Vito Perna, Walter R. Walsh
William W. McMillan, Jr. and Charles Plante