In order to increase participation at IWLA shooting matches and to stimulate an interest in marksmanship, a “Competitor’s Cup” was conducted for the 2024 season, which recognized the top shooters for the year. Continuing into 2025 and beyond, the intent is to motivate members to come out and use the facility, potentially add more members, while increasing camaraderie and further developing our shooting skills. Details about the program can be found here, which list the monthly shooting events for the year, and explains how points are earned.
Members of IWLA have been competing in organized shooting competitions for many years
now, which have traditionally recognized the top competitors for each monthly match. In order
to increase participation at IWLA competitions, stimulate an interest in marksmanship, and
further develop our shooting skills, a "Competitor's Cup" has been introduced to recognize the
top shooters for the annual competitive shooting season. The Cup essentially combines monthly
standings across various disciplines (listed below) into an overall annual ranking. The following
notes are to serve as guidance in calculating points for the monthly matches, and to determine
overall standings in a fair and balanced manner.
The club hosts various types of matches spread between precision and action style shooting
with both rifle and pistol, which started in 2024 resulting in five (5) separate shooting disciplines.
Current types of matches are repeated throughout the year, those listed below being the five most common
types conducted at IWLA along with their respective frequency:
For Action Rifle: America's Rifle Challenge (ARC) (4x)
For Action Pistol: USPSA / Steel Challenge, to include any "Super Steel" (4x)
For Precision Pistol: CMP Pistol match / Military and Police Service match (2x)
For Precision Rifle: CMP Highpower (HP) Rifle match (1x) and Rimfire Rifle match (1x)
NRL 22 Rimfire match (12x possible, likely 9 or 10x held)
As for shotgun type events, these are being considered for future seasons. While dates may be
subject to change or a match canceled due to extreme weather, below is the proposed 2025
schedule. Check the calendar and home page for updates:
2025 Match Schedule:
Date
Match
Date
Match
4 Jan 25
Americas Rifle Challenge
5 Jul 25
Steel Match
1 Feb 25
CMP Pistol Match
2 Aug 25
CMP Pistol Match
1 Mar 25
Steel Match
6 Sep 25
Americas Rifle Challenge
5 Apr 25
CMP Rifle Match
4 Oct 25
CMP Rifle Match
3 May 25
Steel Match
1 Nov 25
Americas Rifle Challenge
7 Jun 25
D-Day ARC Match
6 Dec 25
Steel Match
There are also monthly matches for NRL22
Before jumping into match specifics, points will be calculated for current IWLA members.
Part of the intent is to incentivize non-members to join. If a non-member competes in a specific
month, great! We encourage others to participate. However, their points towards the Cup only
start to count once they take the next step and join the chapter. No exceptions.
Discipline Details:
Most matches are self-explanatory in whether you shoot Rifle or Pistol. It is really only the
USPSA Steel Challenges that include a multitude of firearms options, along with different
calibers, and categories. More on this later. Listed below are rules set forth in the conduct of each
match type.
For the Action Rifle discipline, we conduct the ARC. A competitor may use irons or optics,
but will all compete in a single category as there are typically not nearly enough competitors to
break it down into two. The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) does not even break this down with hundreds of competitors at
the National Championships. Shoot with what you have as long as it is a centerfire rifle. For most, this is an AR platform. Rimfire
and PCCs will not count for Cup points. ARC matches in general should be easy to calculate.
Ties are broken with the competitor scoring higher at the 100 yard stage. Current Course of Fire (CoF) is 100 rds, ranging from the 100 to 7-yards.
We may expand with other match types in future years, but for the Action Pistol discipline, we
currently conduct either a USPSA Match (sometimes referred to as a "Super Steel"), or a Steel Challenge.
Competitors generally use pistols, rifles, Pistol Caliber Carbines (PCCs) chambered in centerfire or rimfire cartridges.
Withso much variety, the simplest way to make it fair was to separate this discipline into two categories.
Those shooting centerfire pistols (and drawing from a holster) are competing against other pistol
competitors. With the rapid popularity of optical sights, starting in 2025, there will be a Pistol Optics and a Pistol Irons category (vice just pistol),
either of which will count towards the "pistol" requirement described below. Those firing
centerfire rifle or more commonly PCC are competing in the rifle category. Each category is still
applied to the Action Pistol discipline. Also starting in 2025, a competitor may fire PCC in only one match towards their two-match average.
(More on two-match averages explained below). The intent is for the competitor to have to fire a pistol in a match listed under the
Action Pistol discipline. Courses of Fire may vary, but plan to shoot approximately 200 rounds.
As for scoring, these matches are generally "time plus", meaning their total time through each stage plus any penalties or bonuses all added up.
The top competitors will have the lowest times. However, our site is not designed to calculate it as such, so percentages are calculated based off of the top competitor,
who will have the lowest overall time. Yes this needs an explanation. Example: the winner of their category has a total time of 125 seconds through all stages fired.
Their score is simply 100 points for the match. The 2nd place finisher has 138 seconds. We take 125 divided into 138 equals 90.57 %.
We'll round up, so 2nd place will have 91 points for the match. Another competitor finishes in 264 seconds. We use 125 again (the winning time) divided into 264,
which equals 47.34%, and awards 47 points for that competitor.
Rimfire rifles and pistols are a great way for newer competitors to learn and get introduced to
the matches, which is absolutely encouraged. Again, only centerfire firearms will count to earn
Cup points. Those shooting rimfire rifles or pistols have a distinct advantage with less recoil, and
(for pistol) not having to draw from the holster. The one exception to this rule is if the match
director announces that the match is an All Rimfire match, where everyone is then on the same
playing field.
Occasionally, a competitor may opt to fire twice during a Steel Challenge, typically once with
a rifle (or PCC), and the other with a pistol. For points to count, a competitor needs to pick ONE
and declare BEFORE the match starts as to which they want to compete in. "Doubling up" is not
allowed, or else everyone would do it and Steel Challenges would be weighted heavier than other disciplines.
Moving into the Precision Pistol discipline, we conduct the CMP Pistol match, which is
commonly a Military & Police match using service pistols. Only non-matched conditioned pistols between 9mm and .45 cal may be used with barrels 5" or less in length,
a trigger pull of not less than 4.0 lbs, and standard issue non-adjustable iron sights. CoF is 45 rounds (with sighters) at the 25-yard line.
Ties are broken by x-count. Refer to the CMP rulebook for further details.
For the Precision Rifle discipline, , we conduct two types of CMP Rifle matches. Currently,
one will be styled after a Highpower Rifle across-the-course (XTC) match using only centerfire rifles,
while the other is typically a Rimfire Sporter Rifle match with a slightly different course of fire.
Besides NRL22, the latter is the one specific match throughout the season where only rimfire rifles may be used.
For the Highpower Rifle match, standard gear to assist the competitor (shooting jacket, padded glove, mat, stool, spotting scope, etc)
and a match conditioned service rifle may be used. Tied scores are broken by higher overall X count. CoF is 45 to 55 rounds (with sighters) at the 100-yard line.
Refer to the CMP rulebook for further details.
For the Rimfire Sporter Rifle match, while there are different classes of rifles that may be used, the intent is for low-cost,
readily available sporter-type .22 cal rimfire rifles to be used. All rifles need to be 7.5 lbs or less (with any optic), and must have a trigger pull of not less than 3.0 lbs.
Unlike Highpower, shooting jackets, padded gloves, and stools may not be used. Slings, spotting scopes, and mats are still authorized. Tied scores are broken by higher overall X count.
CoF is 65 rounds (with sighters) at the 50 and 25-yard lines. Refer to the CMP rulebook for further details.
Staying with rimfire, the final discipline is NRL22, which matches are conducted nearly every
month. Because there can be a distinct advantage in the quality of rifle and optic used, there will
be two categories to compete within, either Open or Base. Just like the Steel Matches, a
competitor needs to announce which category they are firing within before the match begins.
Check with the match director for clarification. Starting in 2025, the last NRL 22 match for the year will not be held past November.
Because of the holidays, if one is held in December, it will count for the following year.
Competitor Cup points:
Points are determined by taking a competitor's best placement in a match throughout the year,
and applying points earned for that specific discipline. Again, Cup points are for active IWLA
members at the time they competed. Non-members can still compete and earn the separate
medals awarded each month, but for Cup points, we simply skip over a non-member to the next
member.
Beginning in 2025, all disciplines except Precision Rifle and Precision Pistol combined CC points will be based on the average of the two top scores in the discipline.
Also, the Action Pistol required that at least one match be fired with a pistol.
With a minimum of three competitors per category, points are awarded as follows:
Number of Competitors
Points to Winner
2nd Place
3rd Place
4th Place
5th Place
6th+ Place
3+
10
8
6
4
2
1
As shown, every competitor earns at least one point for competing. If there are not enough competitors (less than three),
then those one or two competitors will still receive one point for that match. With five categories and a maximum
of ten points available per discipline, a maximum score of 50 points can be earned during the
season for all disciplines combined. Competitors may increase their points in a discipline if they
place higher at a later match. For example, if a competitor places 4th at one ARC, then 2nd at
another ARC later in the year, the 4 points previously earned changes to 8 points for the Action
Rifle discipline. This is unless they only shoot two matches, which is explained below.
Starting in 2025, for Action Rifle (the ARCs), Action Pistol (the USPSA / Steel matches), and NRL 22 matches,
a competitor's overall points for these disciplines will be the average of two matches throughout the year.
This is mainly because these three are conducted at least 4 times throughout the year. As an example, if they shoot three matches with a 2nd place one month,
8th in another, and 3rd place in another month, earning 8 and 6 points respectively for the highest two placements,
their overall average for that category is a 7 (8 + 6 = 14. 14 divided by 2 = 7). Another example, if they only shoot once during the year and win the match earning 10 points,
their other match that they never shot is defaulted to a zero, giving them an average of a 5 (10 + 0 = 10. 10 divided by 2 = 5).
A table will be calculated, but a member competitors can expect to see their points in a similar format:
Competitor
Action Rifle
Action Pistol
Precision Rifle
Precision Pistol
NRL22
2024 Total
I. Walton
4
2
10
1
6
23
As you can see in this example, our founder is a little better with rifle than with pistol. He has
earned 23 points for the year. His best placement in an ARC was 4th, he was 5th in a Steel
Challenge, he won a Precision Rifle match, placed 9th at a CMP Pistol match, and placed 3rd at
an NRL22 match.
The member competitor with the most points of the five disciplines added together is the year's
IWLA Competitor's Cup Champion. The "Top Ten" competitors will all be recognized, which is
TBD, but expect a patch to proudly display on your range bag or hat and recruit others to join the
fun! In the event of a tie for any of the top three, and those who tie near 10th, a shoot off will be designed and conducted.
Any questions, please ask.
For more information, contact:
Nick Roberge, Match Director
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