The National Board continued to face its share of Congressional challenges and in 1976, the year of the country’s bicentennial celebration, a legislator from Illinois successfully lobbied on a technicality to have the NBPRP appropriation stricken from the federal budget. A Senate vote restored the funding and competitors had special cause to revel in the triumph because the National Rifle and Pistol Championships included not only four National Trophy Matches but also the resumption of free service ammunition.
It was after the historic federal withdrawal of funds and manpower from the National Matches back in 1968 that the Secretary of the Army instituted a charge for National Match ammunition; a cost that competitors absorbed as part of the newly established entry fee structure for Board events. In addition to the ammunition provision this year, another semblance of pre-1968 policy returned When the Small Arms Firing School was conducted as a separate full-day course, not the post-match affair that met with competitor disapproval in 1975.
That the firing school was a one-day event, as opposed to the four-day programs of the past, was not the only procedural change this year. The overall focus of the training shifted from required attendance with emphasis on producing instructors to an individualized approach toward M16 operations. To further encourage civilian participation, qualification badges were awarded for the modified National Trophy “Course B” that was fired during the school. All told, more than 800 shooters took part in the training programs at the National Matches as the schools offered included Small Arms Firing, Coach and Instructor (pistol and rifle) and National Police Firearms Instructor.
In 1976, the high power rifle aggregate was upped by 400 points for a 2000-point possible score. The additional 40 shots came when 10 rounds each were added (for 30-shot totals) to the Members’ Trophy, Army Cup, Coast Guard Trophy and Marine Corps Cup Matches. Defending champion Gary Anderson didn’t skip a beat and displayed the trademark stamina he honed on ranges around the world to claim his second consecutive title. Anderson’s 1990-111X included wins in both championship aggregates with his Winchester Model 70, the same gun he fired in 1975.
Of the 689 high power shooters this year, more than half fired service rifles, mostly M14s and M1As with the remainder being M1s. Army Reserve Capt. Boyd Goldsby topped the service shooters with a score of 1981-87X, winning the Members’ Trophy in the process. Perhaps energized after the high power awards ceremony and his DuPont Trophy presentation, Goldsby went out the next day and captured the National Trophy Rifle Championship and the Daniel Boone Trophy.
Marine Cpl. Jamie Trombley, with just six months of competitive shooting experience, was named the women’s champion with a score of 1935-39X. Her performance included an overall victory in the Marine Corps Match and the distinction of being the first woman to claim the honor. Notable among other special award winners was Carl Bernosky, who this year earned the first of his three collegiate titles. But as anyone familiar with National Match history knows, Bernosky had his sights set on something bigger and he would waste no time proving it.
With long histories as 20-shot events, both the Wimbledon and Leech Cup Matches were advertised as 30-shot contests this year, but only one match actually went the extended course. Jim Cloward of Seattle, Washington, won the Wimbledon with a 299, but the Leech was called after its customary 20 shots when measures were taken to save time. Marine CWO Ray Green earned honors in the “shortened” match with 198-10X.
“If that master storyteller Walt Disney ever had employed his talents in spinning a silver screen yarn about prone smallbore rifle shooting, he hardly could have improved upon the story that unfolded during this year’s National Championships at Camp Perry.”
—William F. Parkerson III, The American Rifleman, October 1976
The names Harmon, Weaver, Wigger and Anderson were called out for national title honors this year. Bonnie Harmon and Gary Anderson successfully defended their respective titles in pistol and high power while Lones Wigger, Jr.’s smallbore reputation was well on its way to unprecedented levels. For David Weaver, who finished second to Wigger in the 1975 smallbore prone race, it was his first national championship, but it would not be his last.
Harmon got things started with a six-point win over Army teammate Hershel Anderson, who won his own back-to-back titles in 1973 and 1974. This year Anderson won the .22 and Center-Fire Championships in addition to the President’s Match and appeared on his way to another title, but his downfall came in .45 competition when he cross fired near the end of the slow-fire stage. Thus, the .45 Championship, and national title, went to Harmon. Between the two handgunners, the monopoly on titles spilled beyond NRA championships to the National Trophy Individual Match, where over the last three years, honors went to the competitor who did not capture the NRA crown. This year, however, the string was broken when Master Sgt. Emil Heugatter, Jr., earned the Board title. In women’s competition, a new name was called for national honors as U.S. Army Reservist Ruby Fox, who went on to break 2600 for the first time shortly after leaving Camp Perry, received the silver medallion. This year proved to be the first of many walks across the awards stage for Fox and by the end of her illustrious career at the National Matches that spanned three decades, she accumulated 17 national titles, the most of any woman—in any discipline—in National Match history.
A field of 529 of the best prone practitioners made it clear that the eventual winner would have to have the best possible ammunition and rifle combination, nerves and a hold of steel, and a touch of luck to outsmart the Camp Perry winds. The first day was shot through constant light changes and despite quick starts by many old hands, the two-day iron-sight aggregate played out pretty much like the year before. In the lead was Lones Wigger, Jr., who, with a 3198-244X, was looking over his shoulder at Dave Weaver’s 3198-243X. Also in contention was the new women’s metallic-sight champion, Pvt. Mary Stidworthy of the Arizona National Guard, who was no stranger to the winner’s circle.
As had been the case so often before, it was the last 40 shots that determined the champion. The first to stumble were Stidworthy and Wigger. A dropped point slammed the door on Stidworthy’s 3200 and despite drilling 18 Xs, Wigger also dropped a point to give Weaver the lead. The only perfect scope score was turned in by Frank Boyd.
Once the final targets were hung, Weaver watched a wide pattern of 10s and Xs through the crosshairs of his 15X Lyman Super-Targetspot. His first shot in the last bull proved to be the only nine he shot at 100 yards all week. A few firing points away however Wigger, who now had the lead, was having problems. Fourteen minutes into the final stage of the final match, he had fired only two record shots. With just a few minutes left he began piling up Xs, but a shot in the nine-ring threw the lead back to Weaver and suddenly, roles were reversed and the 1975 runner-up became this year’s champion as Weaver finished with 6396-538X to Wigger’s 6395-549X.
Wigger, who had already been disappointed by missing the cut for the 1976 Olympic Team on a tie breaker, was named service champion with his runner-up score while Stidworthy captured her first women’s crown. Joe Steffey, a National Matches fixture, earned the high senior honor in an X-count decision and Tracy Hill edged defending champion Schulyer Helbing by a point, a la Weaver and Wigger, to claim the junior title.
Wigger may have been edged out of an Olympic spot and the prone championship, but his focus and determination were keener than ever. Most of the action in position shooting took place on the extreme right of the firing line this year where Wigger and Lanny Bassham were squadded side by side. Two four-position matches of 80 shots each with iron sights were scheduled for the first day and both Olympians earned victories with Wigger atop the field by a slim two-point lead.
After the first scope match, with 78 of his 80 record shots inside the 10-ring, Wigger extended his lead to seven over second-place Bassham. To beat Wigger a challenger needed to produce a Herculean effort or wait for the leader to self-destruct. And perhaps with the memories of the previous year's rain-shortened match still fresh in their minds, officials canceled the lunch break so shooters could continue firing under the near perfect conditions. Wigger did not win the final match. That honor went to Lt. Ed Etzel of the Army Reserve with a 797-47X while Wigger held his own and finished one point back for second. With his win, Wigger laid claim to his ninth position title in 14 years. Sherri Lewellen joined him on the awards stage by successfully defending her women’s and junior crowns while Robert Makielski stepped up for his third consecutive senior title.
1976 National Matches Fact
In 1976, more than $250,000 was spent on Camp Perry renovations to the mess hall, Squaw Camp, and general road and facility improvements. In addition, the Ohio Adjutant General’s office contributed more in the way of support personnel during the matches. Military Police provided security and manned the gates while a military band played at the various award ceremonies.
