“In early 1947, there were hopes that the National Matches would return to the large pre-war scale. However, no appropriations were made for the American classic and Perry was again abbreviated to only the smallbore and pistol championships.”
—NRA’s Tournament News, July 1953
At its April 1947 meeting, the NRA Executive Committee decided to conduct the national smallbore and pistol matches that year at Camp Perry in August, despite Undersecretary of War Kenneth Royall’s statement during the NRA’s Annual Meeting two months earlier that it was “unlikely that we can have the National Matches this year” due to budget and personnel restraints. With big bore shooting still out of the National Match picture, the Executive Committee of the National Board unanimously voted at its May 1947 gathering to hold its individual and team pistol events in conjunction with the NRA, even though no federal funds had been allocated.
In order to conduct the national trophy pistol matches, the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice requested an appropriation transfer of $20,000 that was approved by Royall, while the issue of staffing the National Matches was assumed by the Marine Corps when the War Department could not do so. So, for the first time in National Match history, the Marine Corps supplied all of the personnel needed to administer the match schedule, headed by Executive Officer Col. William Whaling.
More National Match firsts in 1947 included the fact that smallbore and pistol events were not held concurrently this year and a maximum, early entry policy was imposed for both phases. With the smallbore program slated for the week before pistol, 700 slots per match were allocated, while 600 was the cap for handgunners. The required advance entry system included a July deadline and applied only to individual matches, with the exception of the National Trophy Match. When the deadline passed, entries were granted on a space available basis.
As was the case in 1946, no squaw or junior camps were conducted, nor does it appear that a Commercial Row existed either year, though one was recommended at the 1947 National Board meeting. And following National Match policy devised before the war, competitors specified upon entry for NRA matches if they wanted to shoot for cash or medals and trophies only, whereupon an additional entry fee was required to cover the former. The classification setup this year recognized just three categories—Master, Expert and Sharpshooter—and competitors who arrived at Camp Perry ranked Marksman fired in the latter class. Unlike the year before when separate class matches inflated the firing schedule, practice in 1947 reverted to the administration of class awards.
In smallbore, Garrett Wayne Moore became just the second competitor to win consecutive national titles (Bill Woodring was the first from 1936 to 1938), and he accomplished the feat with a come-from-behind effort that resulted in the highest aggregate score (3194x3200) to date. His attendance at Camp Perry came only after it was decided that the United States would not compete at an international competition in Stockholm. Not only was Moore slated to participate overseas, so was Harry Reeves, but Reeves’ performance at Camp Perry fell short of another national pistol title. The Army’s Joe Benner dominated the competition with all three guns, denied Reeves his fourth consecutive crown by a 27-point margin and, like Moore in smallbore, set a new aggregate standard. Benner’s record 2609 out of a 2700 possible earned him his first national title and his place in National Match history as the first to eclipse the 2600 plateau.
Navy CPO John Young became the first victor from his branch of service in 40 years to win the National Trophy Individual Pistol Match. His 279x300 score was fired with a borrowed gun. The Los Angeles Police Department won the National Trophy Team Pistol Match, that for the first time consisted of four firing members, down from the previous requirement of five.
On the women’s side, Adelaide McCord defended her smallbore title and claimed her third such victory, while Rosalind Noble of Dayton, Ohio, won the pistol title.
“Things we’ll remember about Camp Perry 1947 … The delay in starting the first match as a squad of Marines with shovels dismantled a gopher hole in front of the firing line to recover the front sight which toppled in of the rifle of M/Set. Buyrl Battles of Lowry Field, Colorado.”
—The American Rifleman, 1947
1947 National Matches Fact
In 1947, the Harrison Trophy was awarded for the first time for the NRA pistol three-gun championship. From 1935 to 1938, the Williams Trophy was presented. After the Williams Trophy was lost, no trophy was awarded until 1947.
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