2006 CMP National Matches Plans New M9 Pistol EIC Match Added

By Gary Anderson, DCM

The logo design for the 2006 CMP National Trophy Pistol and Rifle Matches features 2005 winners (clockwise: Steve Reiter, pistol NTI; James Henderson, pistol President’s; Norman Anderson, rifle President’s and NTI; Ron Springsteen, Rimfire Sporter).

The CMP is now finalizing its National Matches Program and CMP Competition Rules for the 2006 competition season. This is the first of a series of announcements to be released during the month of March regarding the 2006 rules and National Trophy Pistol and Rifle Matches programs.

This year’s service pistol rules and National Matches CMP pistol program will be very similar to 2005, except that there is a new pistol event that will be part of the National Trophy Pistol Matches. This summer, a new M9 Pistol EIC Match will be fired in conjunction with the Pistol Small Arms Firing School. The new pistol event is patterned after the very successful M16 Rifle EIC Match that was introduced in 2004.

In another 2006 change, both the M16 Rifle EIC Match and the new M9 Pistol EIC Match will be fired at the conclusion of the Pistol and Rifle Small Arms Firing Schools. In order to fire in either match, shooters must enroll in the Small Arms Firing School. This ensures that competitors in these matches, which are designed especially for new shooters, will first receive safety and marksmanship instruction as well as range firing practice under the tutelage of military marksmanship unit coaches.

A second reason for making the M9 Pistol and M16 Rifle EIC Matches part of the Small Arms Firing Schools is to encourage the many new shooters who attend these outstanding schools to become active in service pistol and service rifle competition and to embark on a quest to earn a prestigious Distinguished Badge. Both of these matches will now be conducted as part of the Small Arms Firing Schools and will take place on the second day of each school. The M9 Pistol and M16 Rifle EIC Matches actually allow shooters in them to compete for 4-point EIC legs.

This year, students in the Pistol Small Arms Firing School at Camp Perry will be able to fire in a new M9 Pistol EIC Match that will be fired at the end of the school. The top 10% of all competitors who have not previously earned any pistol EIC points will receive “introductory” 4-point EIC legs.

The M16 and M9 EIC matches are “introductory leg matches.” The top 10 percent of competitors in these two matches who have not previously earned any EIC points with that firearm will receive four-point legs. Only one four-point leg can be counted towards the awarding of a Distinguished Badge. Distinguished shooters or shooters who have previously earned EIC points can still attend the schools and fire in these matches, but they are not eligible to earn the four-point legs.

Both the M16 and M9 EIC matches will be fired with the M16 service rifles and M9 service pistols that are issued to students in the Small Arms Firing Schools. Competitors may not use their own pistols or rifles in either match. The pistols and rifles must be fired in “as-issued” condition; rifle competitors must use the web slings that come with the rifles. Competitors in the M9 match will be issued Atlanta Arms 9mm ammo loaded with 115 grain round nose bullets. Competitors in the M16 match will fire federal 5.56mm match ammo loaded with 69 grain bullets.

2006 Pistol SAFS registration will take place on Sunday, 9 July. The first day of instruction and range firing is on Monday, 10 July; the First Shot Ceremony will be later that same afternoon after the day’s firing concludes. The new M9 EIC Match will be fired on Tuesday morning, 11 July.

In rifle, the entire 2006 schedule has been moved up one whole day to allow additional time later in the week for two new National Trophy rifle events and to significantly increase range capacity for the popular Springfield and Garand Matches. Registration for the 2006 Rifle SAFS will take place on Friday, 28 July. The first day of instruction and range firing will be on Saturday, 29 July. The M16 EIC Match that took place in the middle of the week in 2005, after most SAFS students had gone home, will now take place on Sunday morning, 30 July. Everyone who participates in the Small Arms Firing Schools will now have a chance to fire in a carefully structured and supervised match before they finish the schools.

The course of fire for the new M9 Pistol Match is directly related to the type of training and firing offered during the Pistol SAFS. All firing will be done at 25 yards on the standard 25 yard pistol target (NRA B-8). Competitors can fire using either a two-handed or one-handed firing position; SAFS instruction teaches new shooters to begin with the two-handed position. The match begins with a 5-shot sighting series, necessitated by the fact that students are using pistols issued on the line. The sighting series is followed by a slow-fire series where competitors have five minutes to fire two five-shot series for a total of ten shots. Next comes the timed fire series where competitors fire two five-shot series in 20-seconds each. The third stage is rapid-fire where competitors fire two five-shot series in 10-seconds each.

The M16 Rifle EIC Match course of fire will remain the same as it was in 2004 and 2005, except, of course, that the match will be fired on Sunday, 30 July, as part of the Rifle SAFS. It begins with a 15 minute slow fire prone stage during which competitors fire 5 sighters and 10 shots for record. This is followed by two rapid-fire series, a 60 second 10-shot prone rapid-fire stage and a 60-second sitting rapid-fire stage. The fourth stage is 10 shots standing slow fire in ten minutes.

Entry fees for both schools will go up $10 this year because they now combine both the Small Arms Firing Schools and the EIC matches that conclude the schools. Junior entry fees will remain at $30. For their entry fees, students will receive SAFS instruction from the U. S. Army Service Pistol and Service Rifle Teams, on-the-line coaching from military shooters, USAMU service pistol or service rifle manuals, ball ammo for the practice day and match ammo for the EIC matches, a SAFS T-shirt and an EIC match pin. Eligible competitors who rank in the top ten percent also receive special M9 or M16 EIC medals.

The official program and entry forms for the 2006 Pistol and Rifle Small Arms Firing Schools will be posted and released this month. On-line registration for the 2006 schools through the CMP web site is scheduled to be turned on by the first of April. With the added opportunity of being able to finish each school with an actual competition where shooters have the possibility of earning their first EIC “leg” points, attendance is likely to be up.

Continue to follow the CMP Shooters News email notices and First Shot On-Line articles during the month of March to learn more about new CMP competition rules and the 2006 National Trophy Pistol and Rifle Matches program.