Bill Poole's National Match Course Page

At the AZ Highpower rifle championships jan 2000, Larry W. on rt, Bill Poole center, Tom A. scoring.
a view from 300 yds a few years ago.

This page and the attached links try to describe a type of participatory sporting event known as High Power Rifle Shooting. Specifically, the National Match and Regional Match Course disciplines, including Service Rifle.

There are four shooting stages to this match:

For your information, a "National Match Course" is 50 shots. A "Regional Match Course" is 80 shots. (The slow standing is 20 shots instead of 10, and there are two strings of 10 shots for each rapid stage  instead of one string each.) The distance are listed above, although many ranges use reduced targets and shoot only out to 100, 200, 300 or 500 yards.

Basically, the match is shot with a US military type rifle, or commercial equivilent, or a "target" rifle. It is derived from the US military's turn of the century marksmanship training with the 1903 Springfield rifle.

Some time ago, I wrote a brief introduction to National Match Course Shooting specifically to hand out at our monthly match at the Ojai Valley Gun Club. Most of the information is applicable to any club's NMC.

You can probably find a club shooting high power rifle within 2 hours drive almost anywhere in the US. This is the internet, however, if you are Dhahran, Dakar, Dakka or Djakarta, well, you're on your own! You will find all registered matches in the US listed in Shooting Sports USA magazine, one of the publications of the NRA, they should have subscription info at their site, or write: 11250 Waples Mill Rd, Fairfax, VA 22030-9400.

This might help (if you're in AZ):

• Schedule of such Matches at Ben Avery Shooting Facility, see the Desert Sharpshooters website, Phoenix, AZ
• Schedule of such Matches at Rio Salado, Mesa, AZ
• Another page on Highpower Rifle shooting at Rio Salado
• Schedule of such Matches at South Mountain, Phoenix, AZ
• Schedule of such Matches at Payson, AZ
• Schedule of such Matches at Tucson, AZ
• 
  

• Here is a list of items useful in shooting NMC. This also includes addresses of manufacturers and mail-order vendors of gear and reloading supplies.
• Rifles we often use:
 
• The US rifle caliber .30 M1. The M1 Garand
• The M14 copy from Springfield Armory, the M1A, or Fulton Armory, (or another manufacturer's).
• The M16 copy, the Rock River National Match A2 is probably the best right now bu the A4 is permitted too, Armalite or Bushmaster or other vendors make guns ready to go... the Colt is not quite race-ready and needs some gunsmithing.
• Often, no actually its almost exclusively, the rifles used by the serious competitors have been accurized by gunsmiths.
• Here are some thoughts I have about acquiring a rifle if you plan to get serious in high-power rifle competition.
• Here are some thoughts I have about "acquiring" ammo for serious use in high-power rifle competition.
• Here is another good article by Robert Gibson
• Years ago, a friend and I taught a class introducing National Match type shooting to beginning competitors at our club, and I started writing a book based on the course notes specifically directed towards beginners. A partial draft of that book exists, evetually I will make enough progress on it that it could be of use, and when that time comes, it will quite possibly be available via the internet, with a hyper-text link, right here on this very page, check back!
• The CMP, or the Civilian Marksmanship Program  formerly the Army's Director of Civilian Marksmanship. They have a program to encourage rifle practice and it is funded by selling WWII surplus US M1 Garand rifles (under very strict conditions), which are quite will suited for use as a target rifle in this type of match. Fulton Armory has a pretty decent page on the Civilian Marksmanship Program too.
• Here's my page on another type of match called the Palma Match, this is long range, 800, 900 1000 yard slow fire, prone shooting.
• Camp Perry is where the Actual National Matches are held, and some info from NRA too.
• Here's another write up from me
• and here's one from Dave Gowan describing the reduced match at smaller clubs.

Tom K, Typical match at Rio Salado in Mesa, AZ.

I had heard that only US citizens could shoot LEG or CMP team matches. So I asked CMP:
"The CMP has and does allow people from other countries to participate in our matches.  During the Nationals we have had people from Canada and Austraila come to shoot (probably other countries too). At one time it was written in our rules that only US Citizens could participate.  This is no longer the case."  - C.P. CMP competitions.