A History of the United States National Outdoor Smallbore ... - Results

Moore experienced serious difficulties in the 50 meter match; an event which
often times becomes a stumbling block because of its small ten ring. Shooters often try
so hard on this target that the focus drifts from the target to concentration, and when
one is concentrating on concentration one is not concentrating on the task as hand. As
a result there are wide shots that would not normally occur, whether or not this was the
case with Moore remains unknown. What is known is that he slid further back by
shooting a 395 to Cook’s 398. The duo tied in the Dewar match. With 40 shots at 100
yards left in the championship it was still not in the bag for Cook. A four point lead could
easily evaporate a long range. Moore won the match but his one point margin was
simply not enough to erase Cook’s lead.
It was a hard fought match and Cook’s
winning score of 3150 shows just how trying the conditions were. Moore totaled a 3147
and Perkins settled for third with a 3146.
The duel between Cook and Moore pitted two Washington residents against
each other; Moore was from Washington, Pennsylvania and Cook from Washington,
D.C. The 1948 National Smallbore Rifle Championship was the smallest ever held and
it was won by the youngest rifleman to hold the title. Cook, who also became the first
NRA All American to win a national outdoor championship, was just 20 years with a long
and fruitful shooting career in his future.
1949
The NRA was able to secure the Iowa National Guard facility at Camp Dodge,
just outside of Des Moines, Iowa, for the 1949 National Smallbore Championships. The
facility was named after Iowa Civil War hero Major General Grenville Dodge, a railroad
magnate who also gave his name to Dodge City, Kansas. The camp had sufficient
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