Junior High Power Rifle

Junior High Power Rifle

The Junior High Power Rifle program centers on the “Service Rifle” HP Rifle sport which is governed by CMP rules. This sport is classical position shooting: Offhand (Standing), Sitting, and Prone (Lying Down). And shooting a course of fire commonly referred to as “Across The Course”.

This program is structured as a mentoring program and overlays on existing H-P scheduled events.  Juniors compete side-by-side with adult shooters and receive coaching from experienced shooters many of whom have earned the highest classification as a “Distinguished Shooter”. The overall program goal is that the Junior develops into a H-P Rifle shooter as a lifelong interest.

There is an orientation in the first quarter each year to prepare for the next upcoming season which typically begins in March.

Eligibility for the JRHP program and competing at CMP Nationals is ages 12 years through 20 years old and meet CMP rules 2.4 and 2.6.3 a) to participate in the program.  If the Junior is over 20 years he/she will be competing at Nationals as an adult and on an adult team. Per MRPC club rules when the Junior turns 19 yrs he/she must become an adult club member.

The annual goal for the Junior HP Rifle program is to have as many Juniors as interested to attend CMP Nationals at Camp Perry and compete side by side with the best rifle shooters in the world. Below are the matches for this goal:

• Attend either the SAFS Rifle Clinic or USMC Jr. HP Rifle Clinic
• President’s 100 Rifle Match – This is an individual match.
• National Trophy Individual Match – This is an individual match.
• National Trophy Junior Team Match – This is a two (2) person team match.
• National Trophy Team Match – This is an eight (8) members Junior team having six (6) shooting members.

There are three criteria for Junior qualification and ranking for National Team matches that represent MRPC.

• High Power Rifle League  : Attend and shoot a minimum of four (4) 200 yd and four (4) 300/600 league nights which combined provides experience of four 80 rnd XC matches prior to each year’s Nationals.
• Sanctioned  CMP & NRA matches: Attend within the same year as Nationals a minimum of two HP sanctioned CMP and/or NRA matches prior to Nationals.
• Nationals: Attendance at Nationals is set out as a primary goal of this program.

Each Junior must provide his/her own equipment.  There are many paths and help to accomplish this.  This does not have to be a significant investment all at one time but accomplished over time.  It’s been observed that many Juniors feel they really belong to a shooting discipline once they are using their own rifle & equipment and having that equipment for a lifetime of  participation.  For added support contact the person listed above.

To enter this sport the required equipment is:

• Eye & Ear protection
• A Service Rifle that meets the CMP rule 4.1 and specifically rule 4.1.1.  This is an AR platform configuration. There are other rifle configurations that meet the CMP Service Rifle criteria and if you have one your Junior can certainly use it. This program will primarily support rifle configurations that meet this specific rule, i.e. an AR. Heavier bullets than common plinking rounds are used in this sport and a barrel having a 1:8 or 1:7 twist is required along with a float tube to support in position sling shooting.
• ECI – Empty Chamber Indicator
• Five magazines that conform to CMP Service Rifle rules.   A 20 round size is recommended and most common.
• Rifle Sling. Recommend a cotton web sling
• Spotting Scope and stand
• Two 50 round plastic cartridge boxes

Optional or future equipment:

• Shooting mat (this can be a 3ft x 6 ft piece of carpet for starting out)
• Glove for non-trigger hand (this can simply be a heavy work glove for starting out)
• Shooting coat, This can be a heavy Carhartt type coat for starting out, protects sling from chafing the arm and minimizes the sling from sliding down the arm.