By Gary Anderson, DCM Emeritus
Three-Position Air Rifle (3PAR) is the most popular junior rifle program in the USA. Its massive participation base includes more than 2,000 high school JROTC programs, hundreds of 4-H Shooting Sports clubs and several hundred junior rifle clubs. An estimated 250,000 to 300,000 American youths participate annually in 3PAR marksmanship programs, with many of them engaging in 3PAR competition events. The primary national governing body for this major youth sports program is the National Three-Position Air Rifle Council. The Council governs this discipline through its rulebook, the National Standard Three-Position Air Rifle Rules (3PAR Rules).
3PAR Rules are revised and reissued on a bi-annual basis. The newest version of these rules, the 15th 2024-2026 Edition, has just been released. An electronic version of the new rulebook is posted on the CMP website at https://online.fliphtml5.com/ebacv/egzh/. A “Summary of Changes in the 15th Edition 2024-2026 National Standard Three-Position Air Rifle Rules” can also be downloaded from this webpage. Printed copies of the new rulebooks will be available in a few weeks.
The CMP provides staff support for the National Council’s junior air rifle programs, including the production of the National Standard Rules. Vicki Donoho is the Program Coordinator and acts as the Council Secretary. She can be contacted at 419-635-2141, ext. 702, or via email at 3PAR@TheCMP.org.
The rule change process starts with questions and recommendations that are received from participants in 3PAR championships, as well as from the Staff and volunteers who conduct those competitions. An announcement of the upcoming 3PAR rulebook revision and a call for comments and recommendations was posted in CMP Shooters’ News in late July. Very few comments or recommendations were received, but this probably indicates that these rules have stabilized and that major changes are not needed. After all comments were evaluated. a new rules draft was prepared and distributed to Council members for their review and comment. Council members approved the release of the new rulebook.
There are very few real changes in the new 3PAR Rules. The most significant changes involve the following topics:
ISSF RULE COORDINATION. With many 3PAR precision class athletes also competing in USA Shooting competitions, which essentially follow ISSF rules, and with a few USA juniors even competing in ISSF International Championships, the National Council has consistently concluded that it must keep 3PAR Rules closely aligned with ISSF Rules. The new 3PAR Rules include several paragraphs of new language regarding precision air rifles that are adapted from recently revised ISSF rules. Recent ISSF rule changes regarding sight height, fore-end depth and butt-plate measurements are included. An athlete’s visor can now touch the rear sight if it is made of “flexible material.” An ISSF change to the standing position rule is added.
Precision air rifle athletes and their coaches should note that the ISSF has not yet released its new rules for the next Olympic-cycle. CMP Staff will continue to monitor ISSF rule announcements. If there are significant changes that impact precision air rifles or how competitions are conducted, it may be necessary to update 3PAR Rules accordingly.
POSITION FIRING ORDER. Recent 3PAR Rules offered the option of firing the positions in the original prone-standing-kneeling order or in the newer international standard kneeling-prone-standing order. The overwhelming share of 3PAR match sponsors are already using the kneeling-prone-standing order, so it made sense to bring 3PAR Rules in line with how the rest of the world is shooting three-position rifle competitions. The prone-standing-kneeling firing order has been deleted from the new rules.
The original reason for starting prone was to accommodate teams whose rifles were not properly zeroed. However, we should certainly recognize that no coach should bring a team of juniors to a competition without zeroing their rifles before the match. In the rare instance where circumstances prevent that for one or more participating teams, the new rules give match sponsors the option of scheduling a separate zeroing time before the regular course of fire begins. During that time, athletes can fire prone or even fire their rifles off a rest.
JUNIOR EIC AWARD PROGRAM. This program is one of the most popular features of the entire 3PAR Program. It awards Junior Distinguished Badges and other distinctions to athletes who earn “EIC credit points” in EIC Cup Matches and National Championships. The provision allowing Virtual Cup Matches that could be conducted at multiple sites with electronic connections has been deleted. Virtual EIC Cup Matches were authorized during the covid era when team travel was severely restricted. Now that these restrictions have been lifted, the need for Virtual Cup Matches no longer exists.
PRINTED RULES AND DOWNLOADABLE SUPPORT DOCUMENTS. Previous editions of the 3PAR Rules included a series of support documents that were not part of the rules. For example, the Range Officer scripts are usually downloaded and printed in large print so they can be kept in a loose-leaf notebook. Range Officers don’t normally use the version that was in the rulebook. Range Officer scripts have now been taken out of the rulebook itself and are posted on the CMP website where they can be downloaded and printed in the format Range Officers want. In the new rulebook, the following documents are no longer in the rulebook, but they are available for downloading from the CMP website at:https://thecmp.org/youth/air/national-standard-three-position-air-rifle-rules/. This site offers the following downloadable documents:
· Summary of Rule Changes in the 2024-2026 Rulebook
- Team Entry and Eligibility Declaration Form
- Sanctioning Matches (Instructions and Forms)
- Range Officer Scripts (Firing Procedures and Instructions) for the following:
o 3×10 & 3×20 Courses of Fire
o Standing (60 shot) Course of Fire
o 3×10 & 3×20 Courses on Ranges with automated procedures o Standard Final
o One Position Start-from-Zero Final
o Three-Position Start-from-Zero Final
VISUALLY IMPAIRED PARTICIPANTS. A couple of 3PAR coaches are now working with visually impaired athletes by using adaptive equipment that allows these athletes to shoot at targets with surprising accuracy. 3PAR Rules that provide for conditional participation by WSPS SH2 athletes were expanded to provide for the inclusion of visually impaired athletes under similar conditions. Coaches who work with these athletes are urged to contact the CMP staff to develop conditions for their participation.
THREE-POSITION AIR RIFLE PROGRAM UPDATE. The release of the new 2024-2026 3PAR Rules is also an appropriate time to consider related developments in 3PAR programs. Here is an update on how this popular junior shooting discipline is developing and changing.
Finals Options. The 2024-2026 3PAR Rules continue to offer match sponsors the choice of including either start-from-zero or the older plus ten standard finals in their matches. To properly conduct start from zero finals, it is necessary to have electronic targets, but the rapidly expanding availability of electronic targets means that more 3PAR individual competitions are now being decided with start-from-zero finals. The CMP used start-from-zero three-position finals to decide the individual awards in the 2024 CMP National Three-Position Air Rifle Championship. Responses from athletes, coaches, and spectators were overwhelmingly positive. Any match sponsor that has electronic targets available in their range is urged to conduct start-from-zero finals.
3PAR National Championships. The 3PAR competition schedule for the upcoming competition year (October 2024 – July 2024) will include three major national championships and a larger series of qualifying competitions. American Legion 3-Position Air Rifle National Championshipqualifying begins with postal events this fall and will culminate with the Legion’s National Championship next summer. JROTC postal competition qualifying that starts in October features 7,000 Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force JROTC athletes who compete to advance to JROTC Regional or Service Championship and ultimately to the JROTC National Air Rifle Championship in March 2025. The CMP National Three-Position Air Rifle Championship also begins with postal and Regional Match qualifying. The Sporter Championship will be in June, the Precision Championship in July. The Precision Championship is scheduled to take place just before the National Matches’ Air Rifle (60-shot) Open Championship.
Sporter Class Competition. An original Council goal was to promote competitions with sporter class air rifles that would offer rifle marksmanship competitions to as many schools, junior clubs, and individuals as possible by limiting rifle costs and not allowing expensive equipment (no shooting jackets, etc.). The new rules increase the maximum air rifle cost from $650 to $700, but the Council feels this increase is more than justified by recent inflation. A major 3PAR program advance has been the replacement of thousands of pneumatic, pump air rifles with compressed air sporter class air rifles. The new Crosman CH2021 (CA) now dominates Sporter Class competition.
Target Scoring. Visual Image (VIS, Orion) scoring has almost completely replaced manual scoring. The Council/CMP has sanctioned over 200 Cup/EIC matches so far in 2024; all those matches were either scored with Orion or were conducted on electronic targets. Scoring targets manually has become almost completely obsolete.
Electronic targets are being installed in more and more 3PAR ranges and they are making 3PAR competitions more exciting for participants and far more interesting for spectators. All 3PAR National Championships are now conducted on electronic targets on ranges at Camp Perry, Anniston, the CMP Mobile Range, or the Olympic Training Center. Until four years ago when affordable Athena electronic targets were introduced, only a handful of junior air rifle programs had electronic targets. Scopos Athena targets, which are designed and manufactured in America, have now been installed in 350 10-meter ranges in all parts of the USA. Electronic targets with their instant, accurate display of scores and rankings are the future of junior target shooting.
The changes that are occurring in junior 3-position air rifle shooting are especially important in a sports discipline that appeals to youth. Utilizing technology, doing more to make shooting a spectator sport and keeping abreast of changes that are occurring in the sport worldwide are part of keeping this popular youth sports discipline growing and responding to the interests of today’s young athletes.
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.