U. S. Marine Corps
1950 All Marine Corps Rifle & Pistol Matches

Many Marine Corps Records Fall As Rifle, Pistol Matches End

By Dick Johnson

The Marine Corps Inter-Division Rifle and Pistol Matches ended Friday with the presentation of awards by high ranking Marine Corps Officers. These are the medals and trophies won in the Marine Corps Rifle and Pistol Matches which have been in progress for the past two weeks.

Marines from all parts of the globe participated in this match which is held here annually. This year saw a number of firing records broken, but the most interesting was that of the M-1 rifle. At the beginning of the matches the record was 570x600; in the next two weeks it was broken by five shooters.

The inter-division matches found the Eastern Division holding first place in both the rifle and pistol meet. Thursday afternoon the Eastern Division Pistol Team, captained by LtCol. Franklin B. Nihart, MCS, with team members CWO Mark W. Billing, Capt. John M. Jagoda, Staff Sgt. Joseph A. Jagiello, Cpl. W. W. McMillan, Cpl. George H. Hurt and MSgt. Thomas R. Mitchell, all of the Marine Corps Schools, took that match with a team aggregate score of 1371x1500.

Friday morning the Eastern Division Rifle Team, also captained by Col. Nihart, took that trophy with a total score of 2822. The Eastern Division was followed closely in both matches by the South-Eastern Division.

The Marines had some ideal weather for the event and took advantage of it.

Captain John M. Jagoda, of the MCS, copped the Lauchheimer Trophy this year with a score of 1116. This trophy is awarded annually to the shooter having the highest aggregate combined score with the rifle and pistol. The Trophy was taken last year by CWO Mark W. Billing, also of the Marine Corps Schools.

CWO Remes E. De LaHunt, from the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, captured the McDougal Trophy by having the highest individual rifle score. The Gunner fired 578 out of a possible 600. This score upset the record of 573 set by MSgt. Thomas R. Mitchell in the early part of the matches. Three other shooters firing with De LaHunt broke Mitchell's record and one other tied it.

This is only a small portion of the impressive statistics compiled this year by Marine shooters. Several of the speakers commented on the great improvement of Marine Corps firing records during the past three years. This firing is a vital part of the Corps, which depends so highly on small arms.

General Clifton B. Cates, Commandant of the Marine Corps, presented the Marine Corps Rifle trophy to LtCol. Franklin B. Nihart, MCS, who accepted it on behalf of the shooters on the Eastern Division team.

Other famed Marine Corps officers presented distinguished pistol and rifle medals to the contestants. Lt. Gen. Julian C. Smith, ret'd, presented the Lauchheimer trophy to Capt. John M. Jagoda; Brig. Gen. William W. Whaling, Assistant Division Commander, Second Marine Division, presented the McDougal trophy to CWO De LaHunt and First Gold to Sgt. J. E. Lawler, MCRD, San Diego; Brig. Gen. George O. Van Orden, ret'd, presented the Marine Corps Pistol Trophy to Cpl. George H. Hurt, MCS; Brig. Gen. Gerald C. Thomas of the Marine Corps Equipment Board, presented the Elliott Trophy to CWO J. A. Scarborugh, MCAS, Quantico, on behalf of the Air Station team; Captain Thomas Joyoce presented the Eastern Division Pistol Competitor medals; Brig. Gen. Dudley S. Brown, deputy commandant, MCS presented the Wirgman trophy to the Marine Barracks, Annapolis, Md.; Maj. Gen. Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr. awarded the distinguished rifle and pistol medals.

Quantico Sentry, June 22, 1950

Big Shoot

MARINE CORPS marksmanship records were clay pigeons for the 131 Marines who journeyed to Quantico this year to shoot it out for the 1950 Who's Who in bulls-eye society. Top men from the Division Matches blasted away and when the scores were tallied CWO Remes De LaHunt of P.I. had fired a 578x600 in the Marine Corps Rifle Match to shatter the existing record by five big points.

But that's only part of the story; three other shooters beat or tied the old record. They were: Second Lieutenant LeMoin Cox, Camp Pendleton, 576; Technical Sergeant Maxim R. Beebe, MB, Norfolk, Va., 574; Sergeant James E. Lawler, Camp Pendleton, 573. These days a shooter can't afford to drop more than two dozen points and hope to stay in the running.

The big individual match was decided at the final 600-yard stage. It was so close that for about four minutes, while De LaHunt and Cox battled it out shot by shot, Max Beebe was the new Marine Corps rifle champ by virtue of having finished up his string first.

Corporal George Hurt from the Marine Corps Schools and Bristol, Va., a newcomer to the competitions, took the Pistol Match with a 553x600. Close behind him and just one point off, were Master Sergeant Thomas R. Mitchell and Captain Thurman E. Barrier with scores of 552 each.

The large bronze Lauchheimer trophy, emblematic of the Marine Corps Rifle and Pistol championship, went to Captain John M. Jagoda. He fired a new record-1116x1200. Capt. Jagoda consistently winds up among the top shooters with either the rifle or pistol. Last year he won the Eastern Division Rifle title.

The nearest score to Jagoda's was Marine Corps Schools' Staff Sergeant Joseph A. Jagiello's aggregate of 1112, in third place was Technical Sergeant Alfonzo Jurado. Cherry Point, with 1111. In the vanguard were 17 other competitors whose aggregate scores of 1100×1200 and better, beat the old Lauchheimer match record.

Biggest upset of the 1950 competitions came when the Elliott trophy match was fired. The Elliott trophy is awarded to the best East Coast team. Here's the way it happened:

The Marine Corps Schools, Quantico, had requested and obtained permission to enter three teams in the Elliott trophy match. After the personnel for the three Schools teams had been picked, the team captain of the Marine Corps Air Station, Quantico requested permission to enter an additional team in the Elliott match because none of the Air Station shooters had been selected for any of the berths on the MCS teams. Permission was granted for the team's entry by the executive officer of the Marine Corps matches, Lieutenant Colonel Walter R. Walsh, with the concurrence of Headquarters, Marine Corps.

This team of "slighted airmen", led by CWO Edward S. Norris, not only won the match by five points but they set a new M1 record score of 1132×1200. The chuckles coming from around the airfield could be heard all the way to the main gate.

Eastern Division shooters retained their ascendency over the other two divisions for the second straight year in the Inter-Division Matches. The ten-man rifle team, captained by Lieutenant Colonel F. B. Nihart, set a new record "With a total of 2822, almost 150 points better than last years' score. The Western Division followed with a 2803 combination while the Southeastern Division finished with a 2777. All scores surpassed last years' record.

Two of the big reasons for the superior scores this year, in comparison with '49, were the excellent weather and the wise choice of ammunition. Master Sergeant Waldo Phinney, coach of the Marine Corps rifle team in the National Matches this year and veteran of many Marine Corps Matches, said it was consistently the best weather he'd ever seen for firing. Practically all the match days were clear and bright with very light winds. The ammunition for the matches was selected by Capt. Barrier, head of the Target Division, Headquarters, Marine Corps.

Col. Nihart, captain of the Eastern Division Pistol Team, brought in another winning squad in the Inter Division match. The score was 1371. Southeastern was second with 1328. The Western Division: 1316.

The team from the Marine Barracks, Annapolis, led by First Lieutenant A. W. Burri, took the Wirgman trophy and set a new score of 1106. Just one point out was the Depot of Supplies, Philadelphia, 1105, and two points lagging behind the DofS came Marine Barracks, Boston.

In the Division matches, buildup to the Marine Corps matches, the competition was just as rough. The Western Division got away to an early start in mid-April. Technical Sergeant Francis F. Poodry of the First Division, took the rifle match with a score of 565x600. Sergeant Charles Knapp won the pistol match, scoring 559x600. In the San Diego Trophy match, the First Division's Number 2 Team, with a record of 1111x1200, came out on top. Weather conditions during the firing were a long way from being ideal.

The Southeastern Division Matches kicked off May 15th. There were 174 shooters in the field. They were aiming for the three gold, 12 silver and 14 bronze badges. Technical Sergeant Walter L. Devine of the Weapons Training Battalion, Parris Island, beat out the aspirants for the rifle championship by firing a 567x600. Capt. Barrier, whose skill with handguns is nationally known, took the pistol match with a 557x600. Technical Sergeant John A. Fowler placed second, firing 550.

A new four-man team match, the Camp Lejeune Trophy Match, sponsored by Brig. Gen. W. J. Whaling, was fired upon completion of the Southeastern Division shooting. The Second Division Team Number 1 won the event scoring 1120x1200. Although they had the advantage of Waldo Phinney's expert coaching, they barely nosed out a strong Cherry Point team. One point was the deciding factor. The outcome of the spirited match hinged on the last shot fired by Captain George Kross. He shot a four. If he had shot a five the Cherry Point Number One Team would have tied and outranked the Second Division's Team One.

Last of the Divisions to start firing was the Eastern group. They commenced May 30. Master Sergeant Thomas R. Mitchell, winner of the big Lauchheimer oval in '48, established a short-lived Marine Corps rifle record. He fired a 573x600. His next closest competition among the 132 shooters was Second Lieutenant R. L. Barrie, Marine Corps Schools, firing a 568.

Major Philip C. Roettinger, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, won the Eastern Pistol title with a record-equaling score of 562x600.

One thing was clearly established this year-the M1, while it will never equal the '03 as a target rifle, can perform effectively in the hands of men who have had four or five years experience with the weapon. With the carefully selected standard, 167 grain, armor-piercing ammo used this year, previous records fell like hailstones. The men who fire the weapon in competition are getting Garand know-how down to a fine point.

This month, with the National Matches in the offing, Marines will get their first chance in nine years to fire against big time outside competition. If the completed records on the '50 matches are a criterion, those outside experts will need plenty of backyard snapping-in because those Marine riflemen they're going to meet have a higher reputation to defend.

Leatherneck, September 1950