Service rifle matches in the U.S. and Canada?

[Ar180shooter]

So I am big in to Service Rifle shooting up here in Canada, and am thinking it would be really neat to come down south to the U.S. and enter in to a few competitions. What I'm wondering is, what are Service Rifle competitions in the U.S. like?

Up here, we have two types: Service Rifle and Service CQB.

Service rifle is shot with a rifle or carbine from 500 yards down to 25 yards, and is a mix of deliberates, snap, rapid, movers and rundowns, shot from either the standing, kneeling or prone positions. No sling/rests allowed.

Service CQB is from 35 to 10 yards, is shot with a carbine and pistol from standing only, and incorporates transitions and shooting on the move in addition to deliberates, snaps, rapids, etc.

Service CQB incorporates forced magazine changes. There are no restrictions on the type of rifle or optics you may use, but the same rifle must be used through the match.

So my question really is, what format do service rifle matches in the U.S. take, and what are the restrictions/requirements on equipment?

[knight0334]

The US has CMP - a government originated/supplied program. http://odcmp.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilia...anship_Program

CMP events are typically milsurp firearms like model 1903, M1, M1A, M1 Carbine, AR15, air rifle, and .22cal training rifles. ...all pretty much in factory condition but there are some open/custom events.

And gawd knows how many private groups that hold such things. These vary from purist type firearm builds to unlimited modified.

As for the restrictions - individual state laws will have a bearing. States like NY, IL, NJ, MD, CT, RI, MA, HI, CA, and now CO will likely have a law that may determined some of the features of the gun that are legal to possess on top of the event's rules.

[Brick]

Your best sources of information are the CMP as Knight mentions, but also New York State Rifle and Pistol Association (NYSRPA) and NRA should have a website that will give some useful information, including course of fires. There are other state associations also including Pennsylvania Rifle and Pistol Assn.

What you describe sounds more "tactical gamy" than the "bullseye" based shooting here. The matches are typically shot at 300 yds for the "rapid fire events" and 600 yrds for slow fire. Positions standing, kneeling prone are used and there is some movement from one to another. In some events magazine changes are required.

Some matches are shot at 100 or 200 yards also using reduced size targets.

You can also check out an outfit called the Southern Tier High Power League:
http://www.pronetisp.net/~jkosta/hpleague.html

But before any and all activity happens PLEEEZE make sure you are square with U.S. Customs and any State authority for the import and export of your match rifle! Especially if NY State is involved! And if Ottawa is truly your home turf that means your most direct route is right south on Queens 416 to Prescott Ont., across the river to my old stomping grounds in and around Ogdensburg then south to destination from there.
A word of advice! Whatever information you get from Customs regarding your guns, get it in writing. Be sure you know the name of the agent(s) you spoke to and can identify him my sight, have an uncontaminated sample of his/her/its DNA and hold an unchallengeable title to his/her/its first born child. Just to make sure you can get your match rifle out of Canada, into the US and returned to Canada again without suffering impoundment or arrest!

Almost forgot. The AR 180 does not qualify for since it was never a U.S. Service Rifle.

[Ar180shooter]

Almost forgot. The AR 180 does not qualify for since it was never a U.S. Service Rifle.

Great info, thanks!

I wasn't planning to use an Ar180, but I was going to use a Sig 550, so I assume it would not qualify as to my knowledge it has not been used by the U.S. Military except for the 551/552 by special forces and certain policing agencies?

[Hawk]

The NRA has "High Power" competitions. They consist of two divisions: Service Rifle and Match Rifle. Match Rifle is pretty much any custom build rifle built on a military or commercial action.

Read more here:

http://competitions.nra.org/how-to-g...mpetition.aspx

http://competitions.nra.org/document...R/hpr-book.pdf

[Brick]

Ar180shooter

As Hawk says there are variations on a theme, and you need to know what the differences are and what game you want to play. The High-power Rifle game is a little different than the Service Rifle game since it allows a wider variety of firearms and greater latitude for sights (I believe there's even allowances for optics) and modifications to guns and equipment not allowed in Service Rifle.

You would do well to read the NRA information.

And here a cite for the cmp rulebook. Note, this is strictly U.S. Service Rifle.

http://www.odcmp.com/Competitions/Rulebook.pdf