NRA Pistol Nationals Travel To Illinois, Smallbore Nationals Held In Iowa: 1949 National Matches

The experimental limited field National Matches format was abandoned in 1949, with separate locations for NRA’s smallbore rifle and pistol tournaments as a new feature that year.

by
posted on July 25, 2024
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
1949 Nationals 1
The post-war years at the National Matches were marked by a changing of the guard. Older veterans such as Thurman Randle (r.) began to move aside and make way for younger titans like George Whittington (1.). Both men earned legendary status among smallbore shooters and both men served as President of the NRA. Randle dedicated a trophy and international challenge Match (Randle Trophy and team), and Whittington left NRA members the Whittington Center, in northwest New Mexico.
NRA archive photo

“The National Rifle Association is staging the national smallbore rifle and national pistol championships without cost to the government. We do not have the ranges, the personnel or the funds to stage the most important part of the whole program, the national competitions with service type arms.”
—NRA Executive Director C.B. Lister in the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice statement to Congress on June 23, 1949.

The omission of National Match funds from the Army Appropriation Bill continued in 1949 despite repeated arguments by NRA officials that in its decision, Congress ignored Section 113 of the National Defense Act that stipulated annual funding for the event. In the aftermath, however, the Executive Committee of the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice decided to conduct its National Trophy pistol matches in conjunction with the NRA pistol program and approved a transfer of nominal funds from its general account to provide medals for the events.

At first, the NRA announced that both its national pistol and smallbore championship programs would be held at Camp Dodge, Iowa. But by early summer, a split format was in place whereby the smallbore events were scheduled for Camp Dodge, about 15 miles northwest of Des Moines. (The Camp Dodge National Guard facility just outside of Des Moines, Iowa, site of the 1949 national smallbore championships, was named after Civil War hero Maj. Gen. Grenville Dodge, a railroad magnate who also gave his name to Dodge City, Kansas.)

As for the NRA and National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice pistol matches, the competitions were slated for Fort Sheridan, Illinois, located 30 miles north of Chicago on the shore of Lake Michigan. The NRA received help from Army and Marine Corps forces to secure Fort Sheridan through an arrangement that included service personnel to man the ranges, which were capable of handling 400 competitors. At the June meeting of the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice’s Executive Committee, the NRA requested and was granted permission to borrow the knock-down National Match pistol range targets from the Erie Ordnance Depot. The NRA subsequently paid to ship the equipment to and from Fort Sheridan and assumed the cost of all associated repairs and maintenance.

The smallbore matches at Camp Dodge were limited to the range capacity of 250 shooters, and the event marked the first time that a national competition was operated by an NRA civilian club, the Des Moines Rifle and Revolver Club. And while resources were not available for a joint high power program this year, NRA officials were optimistic about a big bore revival in the near future because of the aforementioned role reversal between them and the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice in terms of National Match conduct. A synopsis of the relationship appeared in the 1949 National Pistol Match program and read in part:

“The ‘new look’ so far as the National Matches are concerned is that the arrangements are made on the initiative of the NRA with the co-operation of the Armed Forces and the National Board. In prior years the initiative has laid in the hands of the National Board and the Armed Forces with the NRA in the cooperating role. If this new method of operation becomes the post-war policy it will mean that National Matches can be definitely planned and publicized months earlier than was ever possible when everything hinged on the action of Congress. If the new plan works successfully at Fort Sheridan it will point the way to a renewal of National Matches for Service Rifles in 1950.”

Former NRA President Col. Francis Parker, Jr., (1946-1948) served as Executive Officer for the Fort Sheridan pistol championships, while the duties at Camp Dodge were administered by the Adjutant General of Iowa, Brig. Gen. Charles Grahl, during a smallbore event that produced yet another newcomer to the ranks of national champion. Robert McMains of Dallas, Texas, joined the elite class when he finished atop the standings with a 3189x3200 score amidst windy conditions that hampered 1948 champion Art Cook’s effort to defend as he succumbed to the severe allergic effects of blowing pollen. Conversely, in women’s competition the champion was no stranger—Adelaide McCord continued her consistent ways and secured her fourth title of the decade.

NRA pistol trophy changes this year included the Walker, Clarke and Orton Trophies as awards for the .22, Centerfire and .45 Championships. All were previously awards for single matches of the same name.

The 1949 pistol matchup between Joe Benner and Harry Reeves, the latter encumbered by a ruptured back muscle, still provided the requisite excitement and entertainment that became a trademark of the rivalry. The competition resulted in another title swap, as Benner won the NRA national crown by 13 points. At decade’s end, the title count from the six national pistol championships fired in the 1940s (Reeves with four, Benner with two) proved to be just the mid-point of a classic competition that produced the same number of championships—with a reversal of title counts—in the 1950s.

Marine Sgt. Walter Devine won the National Trophy Individual Pistol Match and was part of a dominant Marine Corps contingent this year that won all three NRA team events and the National Trophy Team Match, while Alice Matthews won the women’s pistol competition to reclaim the title she first won in 1946.

1949 National Matches Fact

This was the first year that the “Mayleigh Cup” was awarded in the international pistol match, where the United States won with a record score. In international smallbore competition, the U.S. Dewar Team also won its postal match in record fashion in 1949.

Latest

CMP Buynow 1
CMP Buynow 1

CMP Streamlines Legacy M1 Garand Sales With Easy ‘Buy Now’ Feature

CMP’s new fixed-price “Buy Now” system makes it easier than ever to own a legacy, non-reclaimed M1 Garand rifle.

Watchtower Firearms, Demolition Ranch Team Up For Limited-Edition DEMOLITIA Blackout 1911

Watchtower Firearms releases limited-edition double-stack 1911 chambered in 9 mm designed with input from Demolition Ranch.

Federal Ammunition Honored With National 4-H Shooting Sports Pioneer Award

Federal Ammunition receives 2025 4-H Shooting Sports Pioneer Award for over 40 years of support for youth programs.

New: Smith & Wesson M&P 15 AXE Rifles

Smith & Wesson launches the M&P 15 AXE lineup of suppressor-ready rifles with reduced gas blowback and modern features.

Review: Savage Arms Mark II & Winchester’s .21 Sharp

As demonstrated in the Savage Mark II FV-SR, Winchester’s .21 Sharp cartridge offers higher velocity and greater precision than .22 Long Rifle rounds.

Marsh Edges Stine In Canadian Showdown To Win Lapua Monarch Cup Opener

Justin Marsh edges Jake Stine by one point to win the Canadian NRA Smallbore Silhouette Nationals and first stage of the 2025 Lapua Monarch Cup.

Interests



Get the best of Shooting Sports USA delivered to your inbox.