By Gary Anderson, DCM Emeritus
Rules that will govern CMP Competitions in 2024 have now been posted on the CMP website where competitors and Match Officials may download them in preparation for their 2024 competition seasons. The CMP currently produces seven different competition rulebooks; six of these rulebooks have been revised and are now being released as new rulebooks for 2024. The new CMP rulebooks are:
- 27th Edition 2024 CMP Highpower Rifle Competition Rules.
- 27th Edition 2024 CMP Pistol Competition Rules.
- 11th Edition 2024 CMP Games Rifle and Pistol Competition Rules.
- 6th Edition 2024 CMP Smallbore Rifle Competition Rules.
- 2nd Edition 2024 CMP Air Rifle and Air Pistol Competition Rules.
· 2nd Edition 2024 CMP Action Pistol Competition Rules.
Copies of each of these rulebooks can be downloaded from the CMP “Competition Rulebooks” webpage at https://thecmp.org/competitions/cmp-competitions-rulebooks/.
Links to electronic versions of each 2024 rulebook are posted on this webpage where they may be uploaded onto electronic devices for everyday access, or they can be printed as hard copies to be kept in loose-leaf notebooks. The complete text of each rulebook is posted, together with one-page documents listing the changes in each rulebook. Printed versions of these rulebooks will be published in a couple of months for those who prefer traditional rulebook hard copy formats. However, in case there are any emergency rule changes during the year, the electronic version of the rule that is posted on the website will still be the official version of the rule.
All of the Range Officer scripts that were previously published in the back of the CMP rulebooks have been taken out of this year’s rulebooks. These Range Officer scripts are still readily accessible, however, through the rulebook postings in the CMP website (https://thecmp.org/rulebooks/). Links to the “Range Officer Firing Procedures” for each discipline are posted with the rulebook listing (see illustration). Each Range Officer script can be downloaded in a format that accommodates their use on the range. This will eliminate several dozen pages from the rulebooks while ensuring that Range Officers still have full access to the range procedures and Range Officer instructions that they need.
The seventh competition rulebook produced by the CMP is the National Standard Three-Position Air Rifle Rules, which govern three-position air rifle competitions for school-age juniors. This rulebook is produced in two-year cycles and is not due for revision until the summer of 2024. Copies of the 2022-2024 edition of this rulebook may be downloaded at: https://thecmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/3PARRules.pdf?vers=111722
CMP Shooters’ News published “A Preview of 2024 CMP Competition Rules” in November (that article is posted at https://thecmp.org/a-preview-of-2024-cmp-competition-rules/). This article listed changes that are included in the 2024 rulebooks One of the 2024 rule changes described in this article that attracted much attention was the addition of a new rifle category for the Vintage Sniper Rifle Team Match. This new category will allow two-person teams to compete with sniper rifles that were produced during the Viet Nam era, between 1954 and 1976. In order to answer questions about how rules for this new category will be interpreted, CMP Staff has prepared a document titled, “Guidelines for Preparing Vintage Sniper Rifles that Comply with Class B Viet Nam Era Vintage Sniper Rifle Rules.” These “Guidelines” are posted with the CMP Games Rulebook that contains the rules for the Vintage Sniper Rifle Team Match.
It will be important for competitors to understand why these Guidelines and many other CMP rules and rule interpretations for as-issued military rifles like the Vintage Sniper Rifles have restrictions that require these rifles and sights to be historically authentic. A principle the CMP followed in developing its Vintage Sniper Rifle Team Match has been to maintain the historic credibility of this event by only allowing original or replicas of rifle and optical sight variations that were actually used in military sniper operations. U. S. sniper rifles of this era were based on commonly available rifle platforms that were subsequently used in producing a wide variety of rifle variations. However, to preserve the integrity of the CMP Sniper Rifle Team Match, there will be rules and rule interpretations that will limit the rifle variations that can legally be used in this new category to those that have historic provenance.
Another area where CMP rules continue to be restrictive are the rules that govern the Distinguished Badge program and the National Trophy Matches. Distinguished Badges are supposed to be difficult to earn. National Trophy Matches are prestigious National Championship team and individual events that are intended to be difficult tests of marksmanship skills with Service Rifles or Service Pistols. Every year there are proposals to make it easier to earn Distinguished Badges or gain access to National Trophy Match awards. These proposals are generally not adopted because CMP rule makers want to keep Distinguished Badges as one of the supreme challenges in marksmanship. Other CMP disciplines like the As-Issued Military Rifle and Pistol Matches and Rimfire Sporter Rifle Matches are designed to be more accessible and affordable competition events with more flexible rules.
The 2024 rules will permit M16/AR15-type rifles as well as M14/M1A-type rifles to have shorter 5- and 10-round magazines. Competitors who plan to take advantage of this rule change need to be aware that shorter rifle magazines must have visible, brightly colored strips on the bottom of the magazine so Range Officers can readily see when these magazines are inserted or removed (see illustration).
One of the newer CMP programs is the Distinguished Marksman Program that offers opportunities for competitors with disabilities to use adaptive positions and equipment to complete EIC courses of fire. Each rulebook provides specific rules for how competitors with disabilities or limitations can earn Distinguished Marksman EIC credit points. The CMP expects that the first competitors approved to participate in this program will reach the 30-point threshold to be awarded Distinguished Marksman Badges during 2024. The CMP also urges anyone who knows persons with disabilities who have an interest in the challenges of marksmanship to consider applying to enroll in this program and become another competitor who is striving to earn one of these gold badges. Interested persons should contact Amy Cantu at 888-267-0796 (toll-free) or via email at: acantu@thecmp.org.
Any competitor or match sponsor who has questions or comments about any aspect of CMP competition rules is always encouraged to contact the CMP competitions staff. Contact information for the different shooting disciplines is the front of each rulebook.
The CMP wishes all competitors and match sponsors a rewarding and successful 2024 shooting season.
The Civilian Marksmanship Program is a federally chartered 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation. It is dedicated to firearm safety and marksmanship training and to the promotion of marksmanship competition for citizens of the United States. For more information about the CMP and its programs, log onto www.TheCMP.org.