36th World Shooting Championships
By Arthur C. Jackson and Philip C. Roettinger

Sinful taxi drivers don't go to hell when they die; they go to Caracas, Venezuela, where blowing an automobile horn brings a snappy hundred buck fine! The reward for godly shooters, however, is eternity in that wonderful city firing on one of the world's finest ranges with a superb rifle and an unlimited supply of ammunition.

To the members of the U.S. International Shooting Team, the 36th World Shooting Championships consisted of a series of events, amusing and tragic, most of which are not reflected in the match bulletins or the newspaper accounts. From the time the team stepped from the big MATS plane after landing Maiquetia airfield on the coast of Venezuela, to be welcomed by Lt. Col. Gerry Armitage and Lt. Col. Jim Daly of the American group on duty there, these events took place rapidly.

First came a wild ride up the famous autopista (turnpike to you) through the city of Caracas in a bus driven by a man who would undoubtedly make short shrift of the Grand Prix racing circuits of Europe paced by an equally efficient motorcycle escort. The team arrived at the Hotel Tamanaco, the showplace of Latin America which had been selected as headquarters by Team Captain Frank Parsons.

In the meetings which followed, Frank explained how the team should act in this foreign country, what it should eat and drink in order to keep in top condition, and generally what the shooting procedure would be. In an attempt to prevent the common tourist ailment of Latin America, know to some as the 'green apple quick-step', Frank had provided bottled distilled water for the team consumption. The waitresses of the hotel dining room never quite figured this out, raising their eyebrows and shrugging their shoulders at the crazy gringos, but out of the whole team only pistol shooter Offut Pinion became a casualty, which is indeed a record of some sort.

A boom city

After recovering from the first impressions of the fabulous boom city of Caracas, with its ultra-modern construction and fantastic prices, the team reported to the range for practice. Each team had a military bus assigned to it for transportation to and from the range. In our case it was a six-mile trip from the hotel into the 'military valley' in which was located the military school, the $9,000,000 officers' club, and the shooting range designed by Swiss rifleman, Otto Horber.

Each team was provided with a small cabin in which to congregate and store weapons and ammunition. Around the area of these huts were located the various ranges: rifle; big-bore and small-bore - skeet and trap - silhouette pistol - and running deer. All ranges had spectator stands and all but the skeet and trap had covered firing points. The construction of the ranges and buildings was in keeping with the ultra-modern trend of Venezuela, and apparently money was lavishly expended.

Features of the range

During the first rifle practice two things were noted in connection with the range: first, in locating the range (shooting into the side of a mountain) facing south, very even lighting had been provided. Never was there any glare on the targets. Second, by reason of being in the head of the valley, very tricky wind conditions prevailed nearly all the time with the wind approaching from the rear of the range buildings, whipping up, over, and around to cause difficult turbulence. The 300-meter big bore, 50- and 100-meter small bore, and 50-meter pistol events were all fired on the same main range. The rapid-fire pistol range was unique in that it employed pit-operated silhouette targets and marble topped scorers' stands.

Well-trained opposition

Perhaps the most interesting if disturbing feature of the whole match was the performance of the well-trained and well-equipped Russian team. From the first practice sessions it became evident that this team was deadly serious and prepared to win. The team was composed of 50-odd men, 35 of whom were shooters, the rest being "team officials, interpreters, and coaches." Their team performance was sparked by the showing of perhaps the finest rifleman in the world, A. Bogdanov, a short blond husky 28-year-old shooter. Bogdanov won four rifle matches, three with new World's Records; 50-meter kneeling, 396 (old record 393); 50-meter three-position aggregate, 1174 (old record 1164); and 300-meter three-position aggregate, 1133 (old record 1124).

After winning the rapid-fire pistol individual and team competition, it was obvious that Russian pistol shooting was somewhat similar to their rifle skill, but our hopes were high for the center-fire pistol match. The Russians had appeared for practice with ancient Nagant revolvers, with which they seemed to be doing only fair. Center-fire revolver firing is old stuff to U.S. shooters and we felt superior with our better equipment. What a surprise was in store for us on the day of the match when the Russians showed up with brand news Smith & Wesson K-38's and Winchester Match ammunition . . . to beat us again!

Victory for Ullman

They failed to win the individual center-fire competition, however, but so did we. T. Ullman, the old master from Sweden, won it after shooting a 297 in the slow-fire stage at 25 meters. Out of 30 shots, he scored only one nine and one eight! The target used for this stage is roughly the dimensions of a 100-yard small bore target. For this, nearly all countries used the S&W K-38 with midrange wadcutter ammunition, as did Ullman, the winner.

Second to Bogdanov in the rifle matches was V. Borisov, whose scores were usually just a point behind the former. Borisov fired a new record in the 300-meter standing event with a 368, beating the old record of Elo of Finland (364), made in 1949.

A startling comparison of scores can be made by relating that the low man on the Russian team exceeded the American record held by Arthur Jackson in the 300-meter three-position aggregate.

U.S. won English Match

The Russians didn't steal the show completely, as the U.S. Team won the English Match (small bore, 30 shots at 50 meters, 30 shots at 100 meters, prone) with G. Boa, well-known Canadian shooter taking first place with a new record of 398 (old record 396, Jackson 1952). Joe Benner won the 50-meter free-pistol event with a 553, beating Ullman of Sweden by one point, and Bill McMillan won the Venezuelan Pistol Match, with a good lead over Scheptarski of Russia. Our skeet triumphed with Crites and Pendergrass winning first and second individually.

Of interest to most shooters is the equipment used by the U.S. Squad:

300-meter big bore rifle

Sandager - Special single-shot action made in Finland, Schultz & Larsen 6.5 x 55 barrel, thumbhole stock made in Minnesota after Schultz & Larsen pattern

Franzen - Same as Sandager except for short 6.5 cartridge handloaded

Jackson - Winchester Model 70 action, Canjar trigger, Douglas .30-'06 barrel, free-rifle stock, Frankford Arsenal International Match ammo

Westergaard - Schultz & Larsen 6.5 x 55

Wright - Same

Smith - Same

Luke - Haemmerlli 6.5 x 55

50-meter small bore rifle

Swanson - Finnish Lion rifle, special stock patterned after Schultz & Larsen

Jackson - Winchester 52, Johnson barrel, special stock, for standing and kneeling; Remington 37 for prone

Wright - Remington 37 with Dunlap stock

Cook - Morgan-Johnson with Humphrey stock

Westergaard - Benny action, Johnson barrel, for standing and kneeling; Winchester 52 for prone

McAuliffe - Winchester 52

Smith - Same

50-meter pistol

All competitors used Haemmerli .22 free-pistol

25-meter silhouette rapid-fire pistol

Benner, Forman, Roettinger - Haemmerli Walther long barrel, .22 short

McMillan, Mitchell, Jagoda - Hi Standard 6 3/4-inch barrel, .22 short

Center-fire pistol

Benner, McMillan, Jagoda - Colt Officers' Model

Reeves - Smith & Wesson K-38

Practice sessions preceded the opening ceremonies and following that, practice took the form of 'badge competitons', which correspond to out 'skiddoo' matches at Camp Perry, in which the competitor shoots against score.

Match procedure is quite different from that in our domestic competitions, particularly in small bore firing. Pit service is utilized, with the value of each shot signaled to the line. A scorer is behind each shooter and a running score is posted on a large board as the shooter fires. This is an unofficial score as all targets are later taken into what is called 'Control', where the official score is counted. Spectators can walk up and down the line and watch the scores of the favorites, but the exasperating feature is that the final official score may be a point or two different from the one on the board. In one case Augie Westergaard was adjudged to be the winner in one rifle match on the basis of the signaled score, only to find that he lost a point in 'Control', thus moving him down several places. Another difficulty was the time involved in obtaining the final score, amounting to as much as six hours after the match.

Presentation ceremonies

Daily presentations of awards won the previous day were scheduled, but in many cases these were postponed, due sometimes to failure to complete the scoring or to the delayed decision on some protest. The presentations took the usual Olympic form of raising the flag of the winner's country and the playing of his country's anthem.

The team had an ardent supporter in roy Dunlap, the gunsmith from Arizona, who appeared in Caracas several days after our arrival. He had come down on his own to observe International shooting and spent all of his time cheering the team on.

Of the many things that happened, some less important ones stick in our memories . . . like the night the skeet team threw Crites and Pendergrass into the lovely pool at the Tamanaco fully dressed . . . of the demonstration Harry Reeves gave of hip shooting, this time hip shooting with an candid camera at the strip teasers in the Teatro Caracas . . . of the weighing of triggers by an official who attached the lead seal indicating approval to the removable weight on a Hi-Standard . . . big 240-pound pistol shooter Ralph Anthony eating everything in sight and complaining of losing weight . . . the four Russians who came to the cocktail party only drink nothing but orange juice . . . the party given by the U.S. Military Mission with girls from the embassy, to which a Norwegian girl was invited because she could look Roettinger straight in the eyes (at least six feet four!) . . . dinner at the Circulo Militar (the officers' club), at which we would all like to become accustomed . . . the closing ceremonies during which fireworks were supposed to be set off electrically but which finally had to be lighted with plain old-fashioned matches . . . and many, many others.

The Russian team

As to observations concerning future competitions of this type, it must be said that if American shooting continues in its present trend we will never be able to compete successfully with the Russians. They have a team organization on a permanent basis, much like a professional ball club. By their own admissions they are subsidized by the government and it is doubtful if any of the team has to worry about making a living. A European shooter, who has competed with them in Europe, claims that each team member has a halftime job and is accorded many privileges that other Russians do not have. He states that each team member is given a month's vacation upon his return to Russia. Although it seems hardly possible, he claims that each member averages about 75,000 rounds of practice ammunition a year. Their equipment is team equipment, selected not by the shooter but by experienced coaches and team officials. They all use the same type of heavy leather shooting coat and apparently its selection has been made after careful study. For some reason the pistol shooters use the same heavy black leather coat even in hot weather.

In contrast to our shooters, who never have time to get together and become a real team and who shoot mostly as individuals, the Russians are a clicking machine. It is doubtful if our teams will ever be of that type, as our people are unwilling to sponsor and to finance such a venture, or to submit to the anonymity of being a cog in such a machine. One thing we can do is to incorporate into our shooting programs the three-position shooting which is necessary for International competition. It is absolutely necessary to gain match experience in this difficult form of firing to compete with those who do nothing else.

American performances

The entire American team shot fully up to what could properly be expected of them and the American people whose donations made the trip possible can proud of them.

The pistol teams made a fine showing with three second-place teams, two individual firsts, two seconds and a third place. There is sound reason to believe that if the same group of men shot together for a protracted period, much as our Service teams do in preparation for the National Matches, it would permit a marked improvement. Whether we must do this to prove anything is an entirely different matter.

Facing facts, our rifle teams, with the exception of the prone teams, rank no better than fifth or sixth in the world. It is no source of shame that they were outshot over the three-position course of fire by such shooters as the Finns, Norwegians, Russians, Swedes, and Swiss. This situation won't be changed materially unless or until this type of shooting becomes more popular in this country and we have a much greater number of experienced shooters from which to select and train a team. Our riflemen shot fully up to their present capabilities.

American Rifleman, Vol. 103, No. 1, January 1955