NRA Marksmanship Qualification Program (MQP)

The current (2020) version of the NRA Marksmanship Qualification Program (MQP) is a mess, as highlighted in my 4/11/21 post NRA Marksmanship Program 2020 - Lotsa Questions.
I am in contact with NRA Education & Training staff through the new NRA Training Forum (open to all NRA instructors, coaches, RSOs, and training counselors) where they have acknowledged that the current MQP guide has problems and needs revision.

I am curious how active the MQP actually is. NRA Instructors are required to promote it at the end of every NRA course. However, do you see people actually using it? The VP of our local membership range, an NRA Instructor himself, told me I am the only member of the range using the MQP.

Are you a member of a club, range, youth group, or other organization that uses the MQP? If so, how active is the program?

Is it worth pushing the NRA E&T, and maybe assisting them, to clean up the current MQP guide?

Thanks,

Craig

MedWheeler said:

The poll might run skewed if it's not clear to whom it is directed (to all shooters? only those who have taken formal classes? only instructors, RSO, etc?)

For example, I have neither instructed, nor been instructed, since January of 2020. I am not an instructor.

Do I answer no, or do I abstain?

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The poll is for everyone.
The MQP is designed to be used by anyone, and can be run by a club, range, youth group, or anyone. You do not have to be an NRA member to earn the ratings or run a program for others. It is not part of the NRA formal course program but intended to help anyone develop skills with firearms. NRA instructors are not expected to run an MQP program, but are supposed ot give a copy of the guide book to every student and encourage them to use it for self-development.

For each discipline (pistol rifle, shotgun, air rifle, etc.) in the guide there are four levels of skill rating (pro-marksman, marksman, sharpshooter, and expert) that are earned on self-declared honor system. The top level, Distinguished Expert, has to be witnessed by an NRA member or instructor, but as earlier, you do not have to be a member to earn it.

Even if you do not reply to the poll, I encourage you to look at the guides at the linked site.

Craig

OilCan said:

It looks like Marksman 1st Class has been dropped?

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Yes. In the change from the older Winchester/NRA MQP to the new 202O NRA MQP they dropped Marksman 1st Class and also eliminated the many Sharpshooter Bars from the sequence.

OilCan said:

I'm trying to figure out the 2020 NRA MQP for Pistol. I can't make heads or tails of what exactly is required for Pro-Marksman....

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Pistol Pro-Marksman.
Use any handgun, revolver or semi-auto, any caliber, any sights.
All shots seated using benchrest, two-handed grip.
9" circular target (paper plate) at 15 feet.

Phase 1: "5 shots each at 10 targets."
25 rounds: 5 shots at each of 5 targets. All 5 on each target must hit the plate.

Phase 2: "10 shots strong side and 10 shots weak side. All shots must be within the circle." [note there is no mention of multiple times]
20 shots at one target, in two stages.
Two-hand grip, bench rest.
10 shots in standard 2-hand grip with strong hand trigger finger ("strong side")
10 shots in weak side 2 hand grip, with weak hand as primary grip and trigger finger, and strong side hand as secondary grip (mirror image of your normal grip
All 20 shots must be on the plate.

OilCan said:

I can't make heads or tails of what exactly is required for ... Marksman.

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Pistol Marksman
All shots two hand, standing
Phase 1: "10 shots strong side and 10 shots weak side with 6 minutes to shoot each pair. All shots have to be 1" from the edge of the target. Repeat 4 times."
9" circle target (paper plate) at 15 ft. BUT all shots must be inside 1" margin, so effective target is 7" circle.
100 rounds: 20 shots at each of 5 targets, shooting 10 shots strong side 2-handed and 10 shots weak side 2-handed, all in 6 minutes (so reloading time is included in the 6 minutes. [NOTE: this timing statement is based on the grammar of the guide sentence. In reality I think they may have meant 6 minutes for each 10 shot sequence!] You do not have to pass all 5 targets on the same day, but you do have to shoot the pair of strong-side and weak-side on a target on the same day.
Phase 2: "Repeat on D-1 or D-2 target."
NRA D-2 target at 15 feet OR D-1 target at 30 feet.
100 rounds: Same sequence as above. All shots must be inside or on the line of the outer circle. [Note the confusion of 10 shots in 6 minutes or 20 shots including reloading in 6 minutes.]

OilCan said:

Thank You!
I didn't follow Mr. K.I.S.S. and I didn't realize there are two phases for the Marksman Qualification.

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Yes, the course of fire tables are a holy mess. It took me quite a while to sort it out to my satisfaction. I have talked to the NRA E&T staff who told me the employee who rewrote it from the old Winchester/NRA version did rush job over Christmas period, 2019, and no longer works for NRA.
In the meantime, there is now an active project at NRA E&T to rework the entire book, using NRA Instructors and Training Counselors to advise them on the updates needed. However, do not expect a new product any time soon. Before they publish they have to have the NRA General Counsel (GC) office lawyers review the entire book, and E&T will not submit individual sections to the GC. They insist that the GC staff will only review the entire book at one time.

We are hoping that the updates will also take into consideration the cost of ammunition these days. Note how many rounds are needed just to get through Marksman.
Also, note that reporting of every level through Expert is based on the shooter self-reporting on the Honor System. Only the Distinguished Expert level has to be witnessed.