Distinguished requirements

Hi guys,

Haven't been here in a while, but nice to read some of the posts again.  I have had an on and off motivation to go shoot the hardball gun for the distinguished badge.  I am primarily a rifle shooter just starting a new season here in PA, but just have to make the move to go and shoot a pistol match to get started.
Here is my question; 
During a leg match, is there a requirement for both hardball and rimfire guns?

Thanks in advance!

JS

No rimfire in service pistol, it is 9mm or .45 only. 30 rounds, pick your poison.

CMP Rules (same rulebook for HP as for pistol)

You're missing an "s" in your sig

Ok, cool, thanks.  For some reason, I though there was a rimfire requirement for service pistol as well.
My primary goal is to get the badge, so is there any advantage to shooting a rimfire gun other than the cost advantage?

ps, I just fixed the signature.  Never noticed.

JS

Standard course of fire for NRA matches is 90 rounds .22, 90 rounds "center fire" (.32 - .45 cal), and 90 rounds .45, for a total of 270 rounds (a "2700").

National match course is 30 rounds; a leg match is a NMC with a service pistol (9mm or .45, as defined by CMP rules).

Think of it like this: if you could shoot a lot more (like 3x as much) HP in one day, and you shot an 800 XTC course of fire with .22LR, one with anything from .223 to .30 cal, and one with .30 cal only (match rifles allowed in all 3 phases).

Then the leg match is a reduced course of fire, with either .223 or .30 cal, plus there are additional restrictions on what constitutes a "service rifle".

We don't have to walk so far to paste targets, so we can do all this in one day

Yep, less real estate to cover means a shorter day for sure.  I really want to make a move for pistol, but every time there is a rifle match, I just gotta go.  I also know that if I really want to progress in pistol, I have to invest some exclusive time to it.

JS

I have been dabbling in HP, trying to get Distinguished. I'm not very good. It's a challenge to cross over, for sure.

Don't know much about crossing over the other way; all I can tell you is that trigger control is way, way, way more critical in pistol than it is in rifle.

As a rifle shooter now shooting pistol, John is exactly right. Trigger control is critical. Sight alignment is next. Everything else is way, way less important.

jscandale wrote:My primary goal is to get the badge, so is there any advantage to shooting a rimfire gun other than the cost advantage?

Oh, I missed this on first reading.

Yes, the advantage is for training, both cost and effectiveness. Get a .22 and learn to shoot it. If you are going for Distinguished Pistol, get a .22 conversion unit (one of the Marvel/Advantage/Nelson line) on a 1911 lower, and learn to shoot pistol. Learn to shoot iron sights.

The recoil of a service pistol masks a lot of bad behaviors. That, and a .22 is generally going to be a bit more accurate, allowing you to learn to call your shots more precisely.

I firmly believe that most pistol shooters seeking Distinguished Pistol would be best served by shooting exclusively iron sights in 2700s until they achieve their goal. If you can shoot Master scores with iron sights in a 2700, Distinguished is going to be a by-product.

If you can regularly shoot 280s - 290s in an NMC with an iron-sight .22, you should have the raw technical tools to be able to go Distinguished in pistol. If you can regularly shoot 270+ with a service pistol in a leg match, that should get you points more often than not. There are other..."interesting" factors that come into play in leg matches, as I'm sure you realize

john bickar wrote:
If you can regularly shoot 280s - 290s in an NMC with an iron-sight .22, you should have the raw technical tools to be able to go Distinguished in pistol. If you can regularly shoot 270+ with a service pistol in a leg match, that should get you points more often than not. There are other..."interesting" factors that come into play in leg matches, as I'm sure you realize

If you can shoot 270+ then you will likely win some matches overall. If you can shoot 270+ your state pistol director will want to talk to you about being a burn shooter for their hardball team.

When you say 270, is that out of 300?

JS

jscandale wrote:When you say 270, is that out of 300?

JS

Yes.

Sounds good.  Like I said before, I an primarily a rifle shooter, distinguished HM and have shot on the All Guard rifle team when I was in the guard in my past life.  I had some friends at the MTU that were heavy pistol shooters and took the time to give me some lessons.  I know that it's very difficult to progress at.
I built a pre series 70 Gold Cup .45 Hardball gun that is capable of match winning accuracy, and also bought a Nighthawk Custom .22 conversion unit and permanently fixed it on a Gold Cup frame to duplicate the feel.  Now all I have to do is actually build some skill, cause right now, I am starting from the ground level.

JS

sixftunda wrote:If you can shoot 270+ then you will likely win some matches overall. If you can shoot 270+ your state pistol director will want to talk to you about being a burn shooter for their hardball team.

Yes, and if you can do it at 15, you get to talk to the nice men and women in the black hats about coming to work for your Uncle

jscandale wrote:Now all I have to do is actually build some skill, cause right now, I am starting from the ground level.

Godspeed. Dry fire is your (somewhat boring, but wholly dependable) friend.

What's a "burn shooter"?

LongSlide wrote:What's a "burn shooter"?

Every year, four person service pistol teams must have one shooter on the team who has never participated on a service pistol team. It keeps teams from stacking the same four people every year in the team. So teams are always looking for an up and coming shooter who is shooting well. Many times they have several people and use the shooter who had the best score in the NTI and Presidents Match that morning for the team matches in the afternoon. 
They are called burn shooters because they can only be used once. After that you would have to try out for one of the other three spots on the team.