The 2006 10th Edition of the CMP Competition Rules has now been approved by the CMP Rules Committee and is posted on the CMP web site. The new rules contain very few changes concerning traditional service pistol and service rifle shooting, but they provide rules for new events that will be included in the 2006 National Matches and one new event that is in the CMP Western Games program.

The new rules are posted on the CMP website at http://www.odcmp.com/Competitions/

Rulebook.pdf. The rules are posted as a *.PDF file that can either be read or downloaded and printed. Printed versions of the new rules will be available for purchase for $3.00 each from the CMP later in April. To order printed rulebooks, contact the CMP Competitions Department at competitions@odcmp.com or write them at P. O. Box 576, Port Clinton OH 43452.

One new event, an M1 Carbine Match, is classified as a “CMP Games” event. It will be fired as a new match in the 2006 National Matches, on Thursday, 3 August, just ahead of the Springfield and Military Rifle Matches on August 4th and the Garand Match on August 5th. Two of the new matches, the M9 Pistol EIC Match and an “As-Issued” M1 Garand EIC Match are classified as “Special EIC Matches” that award 4-point “introductory” legs. The fourth event, the “Hearst Doubles Match,” is a new National Trophy Rifle event that will be fired in the matches on 2 August. All four of these new events are being developed by the CMP to foster interest and growth in both traditional service rifle and pistol shooting and the fast-growing CMP Games recreational shooting events.

CMP Competition Rules serve as the governing document for service pistol and service rifle competitions that are fired in the National Matches and EIC matches. The firer is SSG James Henderson, USAR, winner of the 2005 President’s Pistol Match.

The new rules also make minor changes in the awarding of EIC credit points that count towards the earning of Distinguished Pistol Shot and Distinguished Rifleman Badges. For as many years as anyone can remember, Army Regulations governing the awarding of Distinguished Badges and the CMP rules that succeeded them stated that EIC points awarded to the top ten percent of Non-Distinguished competitors in an EIC match are distributed according to a formula where the top one-sixth receive gold or 10-point legs, the next two-sixths receive silver or 8-point legs and the remaining one-half receive bronze or 6-point legs. Fractions of 0.6 or higher are to be rounded up.

This rulebook formula apparently has always been correctly applied in large matches where there were 36 or more Non-Distinguished competitors. In smaller EIC matches, however, the formula was not applied as written, at least by the CMP. In a leg match with ten to fifteen competitors the first leg awarded has been a 10-point leg. When the competitor total reached 16, gold and silver legs were awarded. The first bronze leg was not awarded until there were 26 or more competitors. This created an obviously unfair situation where a Non-Distinguished competitor only had to beat nine other shooters in a small match to win a gold leg, while a shooter in a larger EIC match had to outscore at least 35 other competitors to get a gold leg.

Rules for a new M1 Carbine Match are in the 2006 edition of the CMP Competition Rules.

This anomaly left the CMP Rules Committee with the choice of either correcting the procedures for awarding EIC credit points in small matches to conform to the rules or to write an exception to the rules for small EIC matches. The decision was made to follow the rules without further exceptions in all EIC matches. This means that starting on 1 May 2006, the 1/6, 2/6, ½ distribution with 0.6 rounding will be applied in all EIC matches regardless of size. In one further change the requirement to have ten Non-Distinguished shooters in an EIC match was dropped so that the rounding rule will also apply there.

These changes mean that starting on the 1st of May, EIC matches with six to 15 Non-Distinguished competitors will award one 6-point leg, matches with 16 to 25 competitors will award one 6-point and one-8-point legs, matches with 26 to 35 competitors will award two 6-point and one 8-point legs, matches with 36 to 45 competitors will award two 6-point, one 8-point and one 10-point legs, etc.. A chart depicting the precise new distribution system is in the new rulebook.

Here is a description of the new events in the 2006 CMP Competition Rules:

• Hearst Trophy Doubles Match. This will be a two-person team match where both competitors fire the President’s Match course with 10 shots standing at 200 yards, 10 rapid fire prone at 300 yards and 10 prone slow fire at 600. Teams will pair fire the standing and slow fire prone series. They can coach each other, but other coaches are not permitted. The Hearst Doubles Match is a National Trophy Rifle Matches event where the winners, based on their combined scores, will receive the Hearst Trophy, a national trophy that has not been awarded for several years. The new rules also describe an “experimental” handicap system that will be used to provide a second set of awards for competitors in this match. Handicaps for competitors will be calculated on the basis of scores fired in the President’s Rifle and National Trophy Individual Matches that take place on the preceding two days. This new handicap awards system is a test to determine whether handicaps that are so popular in sports like golf, bowling and trap shooting can be developed and used in shooting.
  
  

• M1 Carbine Match. The new M1 Carbine Match is part of the CMP Games program that already includes Garand, Springfield and Vintage Military Rifle Matches. “As-issued” U. S. Military M1 Carbines will be fired over a 45 shot course of fire at 100 yards on either the old military “A” target (or the SR target, if A targets prove to be too difficult to obtain). The course includes 5 sighters and 10 shots for record prone slow fire in 15 minutes, a 10-shot rapid fire prone series in 60 seconds, a 10-shot rapid fire sitting series in 60 seconds and 10 shots slow fire standing in 10 minutes. An M1 Carbine Match was fired during the National Matches in the early 1950s. This year it will be back on the National Matches schedule. As a CMP Games event, it also can now be conducted as a CMP-sanctioned competition.
  
  

• M9 Pistol EIC Match. After the M16 Rifle EIC Match proved to be so popular with rifle shooters who aspired to win their first “legs,” pistol shooters began to ask about having the same opportunity. The M16 match was a special EIC match that allowed only shooters who had no EIC points to earn “introductory” 4-point legs on a one-time only basis. The match was modeled after the combat leg matches that the military has used for many years to award introductory 4-point legs. The new M9 Pistol EIC Match will be fired at the conclusion of the Pistol Small Arms Firing School during the 2006 National Matches. Firing will be done at 25 yards with one or two-handed stances. The course of fire starts with five sighters, then includes 10 slow fire shots in five minutes, two five-shot 20 second timed fire series and two five-shot 10 second rapid fire series.
  
  

• “As-Issued” M1 Garand EIC Match. The fourth new match was developed for inclusion in the CMP Regional Games program and will not be part of the National Matches. It was successfully introduced during the 2005 Western CMP Games at Camp Pendleton, California where five competitors won introductory 4-point legs. This match must be fired with “as-issued” M1 Garands like those legal in the John C. Garand Match. The course of fire is the same as the John C. Garand Course A, except that a 10-shot sitting rapid fire series is added. This event is scheduled to be fired again during the 3rd Western CMP Games on 7 November 2006. It will also be part of the Eastern CMP Games program when the first of those matches are fired in May 2007.

CMP rules govern the conduct of all CMP events in the National Matches, CMP Regional Games, EIC matches and other CMP-sanctioned competitions. Here is a summary of significant changes that are in the 2006 CMP Competition Rules:

• National Matches Entries and Cancellations. The new rules require that all entries in the National Matches must be accompanied by appropriate entry fees before they will be recorded as entered. The rules also establish a new cancellation policy for National Matches entries. Cancellations made at least 30 days in advance will be refunded in full, less a $10.00 cancellation fee. Cancellations after that will incur penalties. These rule changes were necessitated because there have been large numbers of “no show” competitors in some National Matches events. The CMP tries to be very accommodating in facilitating entries and cancellations, but when there are waiting lists for many CMP matches, no shows prevent waitlisted shooters from being able to participate.
  
  

• EIC Match Reporting. The time period for EIC match sponsors to return competitors’ scorecards and match reports to the CMP is shortened to five days. The CMP no longer requires match sponsors to prepare a bulletin before returning scorecards and it provides sponsors with a prepaid Express Mail envelope for returning scorecards. The immediate return of EIC scorecards allows the CMP to post EIC match results, with leg winners identified, within a few days after the match. In the past, late returns of EIC match scorecards often delayed the awarding of EIC points and Distinguished Badges by six months or more. The CMP is committed to changing this with a goal of being able to recognize new Distinguished shooters immediately after the National Trophy Individual Matches.
  
  

• Competitor Responsibilities. The new rules clarify that the responsibilities, which must be fulfilled by all competitors, include being knowledgeable of the rules, being able to safely complete the course of fire, acting as scorers when assigned to do so and, in highpower rifle matches, pulling targets. Shooters with medical conditions that limit their ability to pull targets also are responsible for target pulling duty, but the rules authorize them to provide capable substitutes.
  
  

• Safety Procedures. Safety procedures were updated to mandate the use of ECIs (empty chamber indicators) in rifle shooting and to provide for uniform procedures for handling firearms on the firing line. The NRA and CMP are coordinating safety rules.
  
  

• M16 A4 Rifles. Standards for M16 A4 or commercial-equivalent service rifles that are used in service rifle competitions are incorporated in the new rules.
  
  

• M1 Carbines. Rules for M1 Carbines that can be used in the new M1 Carbine match are given. It is recognized that these rules may need to be adjusted after experience with Carbine matches is gained.
  
  

• Service Pistol Modifications. A chart listing approved and disapproved modifications to M1911 and M9 pistols and commercial-equivalent service pistols, which has been used by National Match gunsmiths and NRA referees for several years, is now incorporated in the rulebook.
  
  

• Scoring Excessive/Insufficient Hits in CMP Games Events. The Garand, Springfield, Military Rifle, M1 Carbine and M16 EIC matches are all no alibi matches. This means that NRA rules for refires when competitors receive crossfires cannot be applied with fairness. The DCM previously issued interpretations that competitors receiving crossfires in these matches should be credited with the scores of the highest value shots equal to the number of shots a competitor fires. This interpretation is in the new CMP rulebook. This ruling also reinforces how important it is for competitors who score highpower rifle matches to accurately count the number of rounds fired by the shooters they score.
  
  

• Achievement Award Scores. The cut scores for earning CMP gold, silver and bronze achievement medals in Garand, Springfield and Military Rifle Matches are updated based on 2005 results. Garand and Springfield scores are up slightly, while Vintage Military scores are down.

The 2006 10th edition of the CMP Competition Rules are posted at http://www.odcmp.com/Competitions/Rulebook.pdf. You can check all the details on new CMP match events and competition rules there. If you have comments or questions, please contact competitions@odcmp.com or call 419-635-2141, ext. 1112.