Course of fire questions

I'm new to bullseye and I've only shot in a couple sanctioned NRA matches so far.  I'm trying to understand the design and thought behind the course of fire.

If you break down each 900 segment, the course of fire is (and tell me if I'm mistaken) the following, with the BOLDED considered the "National Match" portion...

Stage Distance    # rounds
Slow         50 Yds 10
Slow         50 Yds 10
Slow 50 Yds  10
Timed 25 Yds  5 (x2)
Rapid 25 Yds  5 (x2)
Timed 25 Yds 5 (x2)
Timed 25 Yds 5 (x2)
Rapid 25 Yds 5 (x2)
Rapid 25 Yds 5 (x2)


So my question is... why even differentiate the "National Match" part of the course of fire?  Is there a reason that is done?  Wouldn't it make more sense to just shoot 3 stages Slow, 3 stages Timed, and 3 stages Rapid in that order?

I guess it doesn't really matter but it just seems odd to me and not intuitive.  

My other question, is this the same course of fire shot in CMP matches?  Is the difference in CMP and NRA matches mostly to do with ammo and equipment?

I am reading the rule books for each but there's just a lot to take in.

Because, each section is its own match.

SF 200 pts
NMC 300 pts
TF 200 pts
RF 200 pts

RF,CF,.45 matches 900 pts each
Aggregate 2700 pts
Yes, basically the same rules with minor tweaks

Also, in bigger events there may be team matches. Sometimes they're fired matches, sometimes they use your NMC score.

From a different perspective...IN THE OLD DAYS, the order of firing the stages may have been determined by how far you had to hall your gear.  If you have to move the firing point instead of moving the targets from 50 to 25 yds, shooting all the slow fire first & getting it out of the way.  Like at the nationals.
If you have the option of 2 target points then it doesn't make much sense other than keeping every thing the same for ALL the events.

Or I may be wrong again.
SCS

It’s set up this way as it is all based on the “National Match Course”.  This is 10 shots slow fire at 50 yards, 10 shots timed fire at 25 yards, finally 10 shots rapid fire at 25 yards.  A “900” is a “Double NMC” with an NMC as a bridge between the two yardages.   This is done for logistics (only 1 range change) and it allows shooters to rezero (if necessary) with minimal impact if they get it wrong.

james r chapman wrote:Because, each section is its own match.

SF 200 pts
NMC 300 pts
TF 200 pts
RF 200 pts

RF,CF,.45 matches 900 pts each
Aggregate 2700 pts
Yes, basically the same rules with minor tweaks

Ok, I think this helps me get there.  I was thinking of a "match" as  ONLY 1) RF, 2) CF, 3) .45 and 4) 2700 aggregate.  But it sounds like those can then be further broken down into the SF, NMC, TF, and RF matches too?  The placement of the NM then makes sense in order to allow for efficient logistics.  I guess each of those matches would have their records and so forth?

I remember from my reading (may be mistaken but) that way back in the distant past one iteration (there have been several) of the national pistol tournament (match back then) consisted of the National Match Course only (Slow - 50, Timed and Rapid - 25), 30 shots total.  Early pictures show no benches, just a post for your position, etc.  There are other hold overs in the list of approved matches, like the Camp Perry Course. 

With the expansion of the tournaments, the Slow Fire, Timed Fire and Rapid Fire matches were added, along with combinations of .22, CF and .45 aggregates to finally reach the current 2700 total tournament. 

The usual order of firing (Slow Fire Match, National Match Course, Timed Fire Match and Rapid Fire Match for a 900 Aggregate Match) makes it easier from a range operations standpoint.  By firing all the Slow Fire strings at 50, then moving (line or targets) to the 25 yard line for the rest of the tournament range set up and competitor positioning only changes one time per aggregate.  

And by keeping the individual matches together, comparisons could be made from records.  For example, the National Match Course would continue to be scored and recorded as a separate match and you could compare scores back to when it was the only one.

The NRA Trophies records only go back so far and are related to NRA sanctioned tournaments (mostly).  Respectively, the CMP maintained separate records for the National Matches, and the name for the course of fire stuck (National Match Course).

(Note, NRA holds the NRA Pistol Championship for NRA sanctions tournaments / matches and the CMP holds the National Pistol Match.  The CMP has only recently added 2700 Aggregate type matches to their tournament list.  And the most notable National Match Course is the CMP National Trophy Individual Pistol Match.)  

CR

Thanks everyone for your posts.

Does anyone know what year bullseye (or the closest form of it) first began?

mutley wrote:Thanks everyone for your posts.

Does anyone know what year bullseye (or the closest form of it) first began?

NRA 1907

Jim was there for the inaugural match!!

I’m not sure if it true or not but I was told the reasoning behind the .22, CF, and .45 900s.
The .22 enticed the civilians, CF (back in the day mostly ..38 special revolver) for the police, and the .45 was the Military part.