Southeastern Regional Pistol Matches
Jacksonville, Florida

Marine Pistol Team To Fire Southeastern Matches

BY MSGT. ARTHUR SLOCUMB

The 1955 Marine Corps Pistol Team, working and training from the Island this year, will journey to Jacksonville, Florida July 27 to participate in the 4-day Southeastern Regional Pistol Championship, sponsored by the Jacksonville Police Pistol Club.

The championship shoot will be composed of 14 individual matches, 5 aggregate matches, and three team matches using the .22 caliber, .45 caliber, and any center fire revolver of pistols.

Matches 21 and 22 International Matches fired according to International Shooting Union rules will be fired July 28, the first day of the meet. Match 21, the .22 Caliber Free Pistol Match, will be 60 shots slow fire at 50 meters, using the free pistol and Match 22, the International Rapid Fire Match, will be 60 shots at 25 meters on 5 silhouette targets using any .22 caliber pistol or revolver.

The second day of firing, July 29, will see the winners of the .22 Caliber Individual Matches, Matches 1 through 4; Aggregate Match 5; and the 4-man .22 Caliber Team Championship, Match 6, decided. Using any .22 Caliber pistol or revolver, Match 1 will be 20 shots, slow fire at 50 yards; Match 2 - 20 shots, timed fire, 25 yards; Match 3 - 20 shots rapid fire, 25 yards; Match 4 - the National Match Course, 10 shots slow fire at 50 yards; 10 shots timed fire at 25 yards, and 10 shots rapid fire at 25 yards.

Match 5, the Regional .22 Caliber Championships, will be determined by the aggregate scores of matches 1 through 4 and firing in Match 6 will be composed of the National Match Course.

The Center Fire Individual Matches, Matches 7 through 10, using any center fire pistol or revolver, will ge under way Saturday, July 30, with Match 12, the 4-man Center Fire Team Championship ending the days activities. Matches 7 through 10 will be composed of the same number of shots, same time, and distances as in Matches 1 - 4, respectively. The National Match course will be fired in Match 12.

The Regional Center Fire Championship, an aggregate of Matches 7 through 10, designated Match 11, and the International Aggregate, an aggregate of scores in Matches 1, 3, 7 and 9, designated Match 19 which will also be decided after Saturday's firing is completed.

Sunday, July 31, will wind up the meet with the firing of the .45 Caliber Individuals Matches.

The Parris Island BOOT, Friday, July 22, 1955

Pistoleers Taking Part In Regional Matches

Thirty-six All-Army and 10 Third Army pistoleers are participating in the 1955 Southeastern Regional Pistol Championship Matches at Jacksonville, Fla., today through Sunday.

The pistol firers hope to equal the records set by their brother-riflemen, who pulled off top honors for the Army in the 1955 Southeastern Regional High Power Rifle Championships, held here July 9 - 10.

Expected to continue his championship form in the Jacksonville matches is M-Sgt. Huelet "Joe" Benner of the U. S. Military Academy. Benner took all the high scoring honors in last year's Jacksonville event.

Captain of the All-Army pistol team is Major Leonard R. Robinson of Columbia, S. C. Capt. Sidney R. Hinds of Falls Church, Va., captains of the Third Army pistoleers.

The Jacksonville competition serves as a fitting predecessor to the National Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio, Aug. 28 - Sept. 10.

In Pistol Matches

Five pistol teams quartered in the School Brigade while at Benning are in Jacksonville, Fla. taking part in the Southeastern Pistol Matches this week.

Shooting in the National Rifle Association meet are the All-Army, the Third Army, the European Command, the Austrian Command and the Sixth Army Pistol teams.

The Bayonet, Thursday, July 28, 1955

Marine Team Victorious in Pistol Shoot

Lieut. McMillan Heads Individual Firing; Matches today

Shooters of the Marine Corps Pistol Team made almost a clean sweep of the matches here yesterday in the second day of firing in the Southeastern Regional Pistol Championships, taking top spot in five of the six matches completed.

First Lieutenant William W. McMillan of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, S.C., took top spot in two of the individual matches and also won the Regional .22 Caliber Championship aggregate match. SSgt. Marlin W. Findsen, also of Parris Island, took top spot in the .22 Caliber Timed Fire Match and TSgt. Frederick W. Filkins, MCRDep., San Diego, Calif., won the .22 Caliber Rapid Fire Match.

Match 1, 20 shots slow fire from 50 yards, and Match 4, the National Match Course of 10 shots slow fire at 50 yards, 10 shots timed fire at 25 yards, and 10 shots rapid fire at 25 yards, were both taken by Lt. McMillan with scores of 196 and 296 respectively. Match 5, the Regional .22 Caliber Championship, determined by the aggregate scores of Matches 1 through 4, was also won by Lt. McMillan with a score of 888 out of a possible 900.

Unknown news article, Sunday, July 31, 1955

USMC Shooters Tie Soldiers

The Marine Corps Pistol Team returned Tuesday from Jacksonville, Fla., where they split the wins evenly with Army competitors in the Southeastern Regional Pistol Championships.

Highlight of the 4-day, 22 match event came Sunday during the final matches when Marine MSgt. Alfonso Jurado fired a 199 out of a possible 200 in Match 15, to become a co-holder of the national record for the .45 caliber rapid fire match.

He was congratulated on the spot by one of the record holders, Maj. J. M. Jagoda, a fellow teammate. Harry Reeves of the Detroit Police Dept., is the other hold of the record, making the two Marines the only serviceman ever to have attained this near perfect .45 score.

The Parris Island BOOT, Friday, August 5, 1955

Benner Fires 2613 In Southeastern Pistol Regional

M/Sgt. Huelet L. Benner, of the U.S. All-Army Pistol Team, 'warmed-up' for the National Matches by winning the Southeastern Regional Pistol Championship, July 29-31, 1955, at Jacksonville, Fla. He broke the 2600 mark, which is not uncommon for the world champion, and fired a 2613 grand aggregate score. A close second was Lt. William W. McMillan, Jr., USMC, Parris Island, S.C., who also went over the 2600 mark with a 2607 total. Lt. David C. Miller, USA, of Denver, Colo., was third with 2597.

Benner took third in the .22 cal. aggregate with 881; first in center-fire, 880; and fourth with the 852 in the .45 cal. aggregate. McMillan won the .22 cal. title with an 888 and also the .45 cal. aggregate with an 862 score, but he dropped 23 points behind Benner, in the center-fire division.

One hundred and seventy-seven competitors registered for this Regional, which was sponsored by the Jacksonville Police Pistol Club.

The Army pistol teams completely dominated the team matches when the U.S. Army 'Red' team won the .22 cal. team championship with 1160; the U. S. Army 'Grey' took the center-fire match with 1145 while the U. S. Army 'Blue' team literally walked away with the .45 cal. match when they fired a score of 1146.

NRA Tournament News, Jul-Aug, 1955, Vol. 6, No. 1

ARMY PISTOL TEAMS COP REGIONAL MATCH

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AFPS) - Army pistol shooters, led by M-Sgt. Joe Benner of West Point, N. Y., won 187 out of 265 places and all but one of the team championships in the southeastern regional pistol matches here.

The U.S. Marine Corps won 57 places, while the Cuban army won 13; USAF, five; U.S. Navy, one; and Cuban navy, one. Remaining spots were won by various civilian and police entries.

Benner, perennial army pistol champion, won the four-day grand aggregate championship with a total of 2,613 points. He finished six points ahead of marine 1st Lt. William McMillan of Parris Island, S.C.

1st. Lt. William Burkman, U. S. Army, Europe, scored 2,523 points to win the sharpshooter grand-aggregate match. Sgt Merriweather Jones of Ft. Lewis, Wash., was next with 2,498 points.

The Progress-Index, Petersburg, Va., Thursday, September 29, 1955