A National Matches Veteran Looks Back 50 Years

This classic article and cartoon were first published in the October 1973 issue of American Rifleman magazine. —Ed.

A Perry Veteran Looks Back 50 Years

Lynn Wallace, of Williamsville, New York, became a Distinguished rifle shot in 1929 and got his Distinguished pistol badge in 1930. He has attended 16 National Matches between 1919 and 1973.

His trip to fire in the pistol phase at Perry this year came 50 years after his first one. His reflections should prove nostalgic for others like him who have come back year after year and may help to explain some of the mystique that Camp Perry holds for so many.

The caption accompanying this October 1973 American Rifleman cartoon: “Shooters of all ages compete at Camp Perry. Age spreads of half a century are common. Here our cartoonist catches the humor of it.”

“My father took me to Perry in the fall of 1923. Previously, as a junior, I had fired smallbore when the matches were held at Caldwell, New Jersey,” Wallace explained.

“We stayed in Squaw Camp, which was then a tent camp with wooden frames, screens, wooden floors and screen doors. We had our meals either in the clubhouse or at a little restaurant on the beach.

“That year I fired only in cal. .30 rifle events. I didn’t do very well, but did manage to fire a 47 at 600 yards in the ‘Members’ Match’ on the old target. The rifles were ‘as-issued’ ‘03 Springfields, and despite the ammunition and the sights, competition was keen. It took real skill to read the wind and light.

“In 1927 I got a place on the New York National Guard Team, which finished sixth and was high guard team that year. I fired on National Guard teams again in 1929 and 1937.

“Prior to World War II, shooting teams consisted of 10 men rather than six as they did later. The courses of fire were similar except in pre-war days we included a 20-shot, 1,000-yard event. That made team matches a two-day affair and a real challenge.

“I fired pistol all through the Depression and in 1936 fired a high score in regional Olympic tryouts, but couldn’t make the finals for financial reasons. When I retired from my military career as Commandant of the Army Reserve School at Buffalo in 1960, I returned to my favorite sport, since my shooting activities had been limited in the intervening years.

“I gave up rifle shooting when I was 62. It was a good time to quit, as I had cleaned the 1,000-yard matches of the Ohio Rifle Association twice and afterwards fired a ‘clean’ in the Leech Cup that year.

“I don’t shoot very high scores with the pistol now, but I have lots of fun and make as much noise as anyone!” —C.E.H.