Distinguished Rifleman?

Status
Not open for further replies.
B

bennadatto

Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2008
Messages
133
Maybe this belongs in competition shooting...I dunno?

Does anyone know where to find the steps required to earn a distinguished rifleman award? I have scoured the CMP website and google, but can't find what the requirements are.
 
I think it's based on a number of points, and the points can only be gained at the Olympics, World Championships, World Cups and Continental Championships,
 
you should be able to find the rules on the cmp web site. sometimes it is tough to find some things.
basicly it goes like this.
#1 you need to aquire 30 points to recieve the distinguised rifleman award.
#2 points are awarded to the high 10% of shooters in any given match. (there is a break down but can not remember it off hand.
#3 you must have a hard leg it that formula. what that means is you must score a 8 or 10 point leg in the total.
#4 you can only shoot in 3 approved leg matches a year. a 4th match is allowed but is the national championship match at camp perry.
#5 the points are like such. 6 shooters will give a award of like 6 points to the winner.
it goes up from there. to get a 8 point leg you will need I believe 25 shooter in a match and it would be given out like 8 for 1st, 6 for 2nd. I believe it is like 35 shooters for a 10 point leg.
#6 all shooters who are not distinguised that shoot count. distinguised shooters do not count in the total shooters count for points.
#7 The match at the nationals gives out 10 points for everyone who finishes in the top 10% of the non distinguised shooters.
#8 at each match with qualifing number of shooters awards are mailed out a few months later. a gold, silver, and bronze are awarded for the top 3 positions in the match no matter if they are distinguised or not.
a special one is given at the nationals along with the others.
#9 when you win the distinguised rifleman badge you will get that also.

It took me 1 year, 1 month and a day or so from my first points to getting the award. my number is 1762. my points were as such 10 points, 8 points, 10 points and finished with 10 points at perry.

Good luck and where are you at?
Thanks jon
 
what Jon said, but I thought you had to have at least 13 shooters to get a 6pt leg, and i thought the "hard leg" was at least one 10pt leg. (8pt won't do)
 
Jon,

I live in NW Georgia, and wow...those rules are complicated!! You should get some sort of medal just for understanding how the program works! Congratulations on achieving your medal. I read somewhere that more people have climbed Mt. Everest than earned the Distinguished Rifleman award.

It's something I really would like to work towards earning. Do you know of any other resources on the web I can investigate?

thanks!
 
bennadatto,

The NRA has nothing to do with Distinguished Rifleman matches or any other CMP matches so going there for info on this is no good. Direct link to CMP rules. However, all the matches you shoot in other than LEG matches will be NRA governed matches so you will have to know both sets of rules. They for the most part are the same. Link to NRA rules. There is very good information on the National Match board you will have to sign up for free but it is worth it.

I'm in Georgia also, down around Columbus. In north Ga. you need to go to River Bend Gun Club. Look under the rifle section for the 100 yard reduced HP & rimfire matches. Ben Franklin runs a good program up there. He will get you started in the right direction.

Another Distinguished Rifleman.
 
My apologies for misdirection. I just figured the NRA would have something to do with it, but the whole CMP program wasn't even in existence when I did any competitive shooting.
 
jon, according to those rules, you're right on both counts. only takes 6 people to award a leg and you can get by with an 8 pt leg. wonder why i thought it was higher.
 
The CMP traces its direct lineage to 1903 when Congress and President Theodore Roosevelt established the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice (NBPRP) and the National Matches. From then until 1996, first the Department of War and later the Department of the Army managed the program that became known as the “civilian marksmanship program.”

The National Matches are mandated by congressional law. It's the CMP that has that mandate not the NRA, they are along for the ride.

History of the Distinguished badges as it partains to civilians and military.

taliv, The rules governing the awarding of LEGs were changed to the present about two years ago. You are correct in thinking that it took 10 shooters to get a 10 point leg, it used to. In an effort to help out less populated areas of the country and to stimulate participation the number of competitors required to LEG was lowered, but they get less points.
 
Last edited:
Just get started and do not worry about the rules as far as points go. Some folks never get points and some take most of their life to make it. Others it comes easier. You get out of the sport what you put into it.

shooting highpower rifle is a great sport and it does not matter if you are 16 year old 80 pound girl or a 60 year old man as I see both go distinguised.

but look at it this way just shoot and get as much experience in as you can and you will get points when your time comes. Work on your game and always strive to improve every match. Never ever give up on any shot. build up a tough mental game and remember most points are won at the 600 yard line where 40% of the points come from in a match.

leg matches are run at state and regional matches and goes like this.
#1 10 shots off hand slow fire at 200 yards
#2 10 shots rapid sitting at 200 yards
#3 10 shots rapid prone at 300 yards
#4 20 shots prone slow fire at either 500 or 600 yards.

Oh yeah almost forgot NO sighting shots during the match so every shot counts.

the leg matches are done only a few times a year so enjoy them as its a great experience.
 
Also remember to bring extra ammo!! I shot in the match in Anchorage Alaska and ran out of ammo. The guy that was scoring graciously gave me the 5 bullets I needed to complete the 600 yard slow fire. I score 4 ten's and 1 nine using them.

Truth is, I stopped at the gun shop and had bought Portguese FMJ surplus 7.62 ammo to use in the match. I came in third master unclassified (I think that was the category and legged 10 points). Sadly, the army went from marksmanship to sports and quit running the rifle matches at the division level. Now 15 years later marksmanship is still lacking.
 
I came in third master unclassified (I think that was the category and legged 10 points)
Click to expand...

MASTER-UNCLASSIFIED is an NRA classification, which the CMP does not use. Not sure how you won a class award and a gold leg in the same match :confused:

Amen to bringing extra ammo though. Always bring at least 10/20 extra rounds in case of an alibi/re-fire.
 
For the record: The NRA does, or did, have a Distinguished Marksman Program. Attached is a picture of the MRA DE Badge I earned many years ago. These could be earned in NRA Bullseye competitions in rifle and pistol categories, indoor and outdoor. I would not be surprised if the NRA program has been dropped because points were tough to win and also because of the strict record keeping the NRA required of clubs and tournament sponsors.
 

Attachments

  • NRADE.JPG
    NRADE.JPG
    46.5 KB · Views: 24
the cmp web site has the places and dates of future leg matches and also the results of past matches. you can see the scores of the folks who shot and who won and quilified for points.
What it does not show is the conditions the match was shot in. It might of been in a rain storm, high winds like areas of the west or very hot and humid like back east.

you might consider signing up for the small arms school at the national matches. at the conclusion of the course you are allowed to shoot one of their rifles in a leg match for folks with no points and get a chance to earn 4 points. a day or two later the nit match (leg) is held with a chance to earn 10 more points.
 
One of my fellow shooters legged out in 4 months with 3 golds. He bested the highest score I ever shot in an EIC match of 485 with a 491. With 10 shooters first leather got nothing but a silver medal and no points (thanks Bob). I went out in the next 4 consecutive matches over nine months. Another club member Troy Lawton has decided to get his DR this year. Troy is an ex-Olympic shooter, a multiple silhouette national champion and AMU hall of famer. I've seen him shoot a perfect 800 with his SR on a 300 yard reduced course and he rarely shoots less than 788 on the full course. I hope he wins the Alice Bull trophy (high civilian)this year. Troy also holds the record of the only perfect 800 shot in a registered match(Perry 2006 I think).

Congratulations to anyone that Leggs out. There are less than 2000 civilians since 1884to make it.
 
I heard the term LEG match for years and I know a few Distinguished Riflemen - not me. But, I never ran into anyone that knew what LEG stood for. Does anyone know if LEG stands for anything?
 
I heard the term LEG match for years and I know a few Distinguished Riflemen - not me. But, I never ran into anyone that knew what LEG stood for. Does anyone know if LEG stands for anything?
Click to expand...

No one knows for sure but the generally accepted explaination is that it takes three legs for a milk stool to stand on it's own. The term comes from 1887 so its no stretch that they were familiar with such as milk stools back in the day.
 
hey Howard and Jon, you be at perry for cmp week this year?

edit: if you are, maybe we should put together a little THR get together thread
 
Basically, you have to make the cut and pile on 30pts including one hard leg.

...still chasing legs here. Got my first one in 2006. 4 more points to go. M1A all the way!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

C
  • Locked
'Distinguished Rifleman' listing?
Replies
2
Views
524
rhubarb
R
M
  • Locked
DCM competition marksmanship training
Replies
15
Views
1K
nbkky71
N
B
  • Locked
Circuit Judge Carbine!
Replies
2
Views
584
Critical J
C
I
  • Locked
Leupold Rifleman scopes
Replies
3
Views
515
dakotasin
D
R
  • Locked
Remington 700 m40 stock
Replies
10
Views
968
Detritus
Detritus
Back
Top