Smallbore Rifle
OrganizationsThe International Shooting Union (UIT) had its beginning with an invitation from a shooting club of Lyon, France. In 1897, wishing to celebrate the twenty-fifth year of its founding, the club organized an international rifle match. Austria, Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Holland, Italy, Sweden, Norway, and Switzerland were the nations invited to shoot a 300-meter rifle match in Lyon.
The match was made an annual event. A revolver match was added in 1900 at Satory, Paris. These two matches became the free rifle match and the free pistol match that are the classic events of today's World Shooting Championships.
Each year at the conclusion of these shooting matches, a congress of the shooting delegates from each nation was held at which the rules for the next event were agreed upon.
The UIT was organized at a meeting of delegates from Argentina, Austria, Belgium, France, Greece, Holland, Italy, and Switzerland at Zurich, Switzerland, on July 17, 1907, as the International Union of Federations and National Shooting Associations to take charge of and maintain the international matches which had existed since 1897. The United States joined the organization at the invitation of the Union in 1908.
Membership in the UIT is open to those shooting organizations in each country which are the officially recognized national shooting associations. The national Olympic committee of a country must certify that the association is recognized as the governing body for one or more activities in the shooting sport in that country. Voting in the UIT is by nation, and at last count, there were aproximately 100 member-nations.
The General Assembly is the governing body of the UIT and it meets every four years, as a rule, during the World Shooting Championships and the Olympic Games.
The UIT organizes and supervises, through its member associations, shooting in the Olympic Games and in the various regional games sponsored by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), such as Pan American Games and Asian Games. The UIT authorizes continental matches, such as the Championships of the Americas, in addition to putting on its own World Shooting Championships every four years. Midway between the Olympic Games, these Championships are the big event in shooting, with many more matches and many more shooters attending than at the Olympics. The Championships move from country to country.
The United States Shooting Team (USST) is the national team for the USA for UIT shooting events. The USST is selected by matches held by USA shooting, principally in the annual USA Shooting National Championships.
Members of the USST represent the USA in international competitions, including the Olympic Games, the World Championships, the Pan American Games, and World Cups.
At a certain point, aspiring USA Shooting team members take their passion to the next level, competing in local, sectional, state and regional tournaments. If these matches are sanctioned by USA Shooting as" preliminary tryouts" (PTO), athletes can fire the minimum required scores to earn invitations to the USA Shooting National Championships (USASNC). Fired each summer, USASNC serves as the annual national championship and national team/development team try-out for international-style shooting.
Top USASNC finishers in each international event are selected to the national team or national development team. Additionally, leading performers at the USA Shooting 300-Meter Rifle National Championships, the National Junior Olympics, and other at-large selection matches are given team slots. A petition process is also available for athletes in special situations.
USA Shooting is the governing body for international-style shooting in the USA. USA Shooting is responsible for selection, support, and training of the United States Shooting Team (USST).
In March 1994, the National Rifle Association (NRA) withdrew as the national governing body for international-style shooting. Less than a month later, USA Shooting began operating under the USOC umbrella as the official shooting sports national governing body (NGB).
The United States Shooting Team Foundation (USSTF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation founded in 1978 to raise money to support the US Shooting Team. Contributions to the USSTF are tax deductable to the extent allowed by law.
The National Rifle Association of America is the largest, oldest and most versatile shooting organization in the United States. With over three and a half million members at this time, it can trace its history back over 100 years. With interests in rifle, pistol and shotgun competitive shooting, hunting, conservation, legislation, collection, gunsmithing, and many other related fields, the NRA covers a wide variety of activities.
Despite the lessons of the American Civil War, there was little interest in marksmanship amongh the military with the coming of peace. No ammunition was available to train regular troops and many National Guardsmen went through a whole enlistment without once firing their rifles, although they could run through the manual of arms faultlessly. But a few men had learned from the Civil War and from the Franco-Prussian war, when German marksmen easily defeated the highly touted, well-drilled, non-shooting French army. One was Col. William C. Church, editor of a popular publication for servicemen. His editorials on the subject of marksmanship training roused a group of National Guard officers to action. As a result, the National Rifle Association was formed in 1871, with General A.E. Burnside as the first president. In 1877 the name of the organization was changed to National Rifle Association of America.
The National Rifle Association sponsors all of the conventional smallbore rifle competitions in the United States. Some of the NRA's departments include the Competitions Division , Collegiate and Schools Department , Disabled Shooting Services , Tournament Operations , Qualification Courses, and Training .
The Office of the Director of Civilian Marksmanship was created by Congress in 1916 to promote marksmanship among able-bodied citizens. Recently, the 102nd Congress retructured the program by statute, downsizing it. The program currently focuses on marksmanship training for American youth, aged 10-17. This training includes, in part, 450 Boy Scouts of America summer marksmanship training camps which benefits approximately 450,000 scouts. The cost of the taxpayer for the Boy Scout camps is roughly 50 cents per participant.
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996 has changed the status of the Civilian Marksmanship Program and the Office of the Director of Civilian Marksmanship effective October 1, 1996.
The National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice (NBPRP), an advisory board to the Secretary of the Army was disestablished by this law and replaced by the Corporation for the Promotion of Rifle Practice and Firearms Safety. This Corporation will be a non-governmental, tax exempt organization governed by a Board of Directors. The initial board will be appointed by the Secretary of the Army and will be responsible to develop all policies and procedures for the implementation of all aspects of the CMP. The Director will conduct all operations and is responsible to the Board for the actions of the Corporation.
No federally appropriated funds may be used by the Corporation to conduct operations. All funds must be generated by the Corporation through authorized sales and fees charged. The Corporation may solicit, accept and retain funds and services from donations, bequests or gifts.
The law authorizes the Corporation to continue to sell M1 Garand rifles and gives further authority to sell any surplus caliber .30 (excluding the M14 rifle) as well as caliber .22 rimfire rifles. These sales may be to individuals or clubs and associations which are affiliated with the CMP. The Corporation is also authorized to sell surplus caliber .30 and caliber .22 rimfire ammunition to qualified individuals and affiliated organizations. Additionally, the Corporation may sell repair parts for all surplus caliber .30 rifles and caliber .22 rimfire rifles.
The Corporation may charge fees for all competitive events authorized by the CMP. The events will continue to include all Excellence in Competition (LEG) matches and the National Rifle and Pistol Trophy Matches. The law authorizes the National Matches to continue to be conducted at Camp Perry, Ohio.
All funds collected by the Corporation shall be used only to conduct the official functions of the Civilian Marksmanship Program.
The CMP is authorized to provide support and encouragement to clubs and state associations with emphasis on strong junior programs. These programs will include instruction in the basics of marksmanship, firearms and range safety, competitive marksmanship and any subjects related to rifle safety.
The Corporation is authorized to provide rifles, ammunition, targets and other supplies to affiliated organizations in support of programs. These rifles may be either loaned, sold or leased to clubs and associations. Ammunition will be authorized based on junior members participation in an organization's activities. Funds collected from the sale or lease of any items in support of affiliated clubs may be used only to cover direct and indirect costs of the CMP operation.
The Corporation will assume the responsibility for the Distinguished Rifle and Pistol programs from the NBPRP. This responsibility entails all files and records and the award of Distinguished badges to civilian competitors in both categories. The Corporation will provide suitable awards to affiliated clubs and associations for junior participation in various marksmanship programs.
The Civilian Marksmanship Program will continue to support marksmanship activities oriented toward the young men and women of the United States. Marksmanship and firearms safety are every shooter's responsibility. What better gift is there than a concerned adult who will give something of such solid value to help a youngster? This new Corporation stands ready to help as the youth of this great nation receive quality instruction, in marksmanship and rifle safety which will allow them to take their place with other responsible citizens and sportsmen.
The U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit was formed reception battalion, and a headquarters and service March 1, 1956 by direction of President Dwight D. Eisenhower to raise overall marksmanship proficiency within the Army. USA MU was also tasked to train expert marksmen to compete in and win interservice, national, Olympic, and world-level shooting competition.
It has the mission to improve marksmanship in the United States and the US Army by:
The unit selects and develops the Army's top marksmen to compete and serve as representatives of the U.S. Army shooting teams. USAMU is composed of seven competitive shooting teams and a unit support staff. Service Pistol, Service Rifle, Shotgun, International Pistol, International Rifle, Rurming Target, and Action Shooting comprise the shooting sections. Support is provided by administrative branches, operations, supply and a custom gun shop.
The USAMU renders technical and advisatory assistance in the development of military and match-type small arms, equipment and ammunition. The unit makes or customizes its own weapons and much of its own ammunition. The unit's Custom Firearm Shop builds top quality competition-grade rifles and pistols for the teams as well as the Army Sniper School and Special Reaction Teams throughout the Army.
This is the only organization of its kind in the Army today. It represents "America's Finest" military rifle and pistol shooters. It is an organization dedicated to promoting marksmanship throughout the Army and has gained worldwide recognition and respect for its high standards of conduct, professional ethics and good sportsmanship its members manifest in each and every phase of competition.
Since 1956, members of the USAMU have won hundreds of individual and team national titles with more than 40 world championships and 19 Olympic medals. Such accomplishments are why USAMU is called the Home of Champions.
The Florida Sport Shooting Association (FSSA) is the state association for Florida.
The goals of the FSSA are to: