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Left to right:

Front Row: Brad Williamson, Jim Norris, Butch Woolbright

Second Row: Ron Tate, Dr. N.B. Perkins, Richard Farrell

Third Row: Jim Carter, Ron Krelstein, Larry Netter, Ron Zellner

The Distinguished Rifleman Program was administered for many years by the Office of the Director of Civilian Marksmanship (DCM), a branch of the US Army, and now by its successor, the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP). Military or civilian personnel can earn points toward "becoming Distinguished" only by competing in "Excellence in Competition"(E.I.C.) matches in conjunction with State or Regional (Multi-State) Championships or the National Matches. This insures a high turnout of better shooters, raising the bar of competition to a more difficult level. Points are awarded to the top finishers in a rather complicated system. A 1^st place finish is a 10 point "Leg" in a journey of many steps to become distinguished, thus the term "Leg Match". Awards of 8 and 6 points are awarded to lower finishes. A shooter must earn a minimum of 30 points for the presentation of the gold, numbered Distinguished Rifleman’s Badge but there’s a catch. He must have at least one 8 or 10 point leg and cannot earn the award with 6 point wins alone. And these matches are few and far between, often only one per state per year so they draw good shooters from hundreds of miles away in search of the gold. Also competitors must use U.S. Service rifles such as the M1 Garand, M14, M16 or their civilian equivalents, the M1A or AR15. This increases the difficulty since most shooters have a tough time really mastering such rifles and their post front sights as opposed to a fine target rifle with micrometer or telescopic sights. Strict limitations are imposed on modifications or tuning. The course of fire is the standard NRA National Match Course consisting of 10 rounds Slow Fire Standing from 200 yards, a Rapid Fire 10 round string from sitting, a 10 round Rapid Fire string from prone at 300 yards and 20 rounds Slow Fire Prone at 600 yards. There is no coaching, the shooter is on his own. And, there are no sighting or zeroing shots. Thousands of shooters every year are out of contention after only 2 or 3 shots because they didn’t have a good zero or range conditions were totally different than at their home club. Memphis riflemen are always away from home at "Leg Matches" since MSSA range capacity limitations are prohibitive. The quest for the gold Distinguished Badge is spread over many miles and after many years for those that even attempt the challenge. How hard is it? Since its’ inception in 1891(that’s right 1891!), there have been less than 1500 Distinguished Rifleman medals awarded to civilians. Success goes only to the most proficient and persistent.

Memphis Sport Shooting Association is extremely proud of have ten recipients of the Distinguished Rifleman award, a feat fewer than a dozen clubs nationwide have matched. MSSA’s success in turning out these stubborn winners must be credited in large part to past President Jim Norris. For over thirty years, Jim established and ran a program for Memphis area riflemen consisting of competitions in outdoor and indoor Smallbore, and HighPower matches that included regular MSSA matches. He also organized trips to monthly, State, and Regional Championships in Tullahoma, Tennessee as well as neighboring states, Arkansas and Mississippi, and once a year to the National Championships at Camp Perry, Ohio. As the Dean of MSSA Riflemen, Jim imparted his considerable knowledge of competitive marksmanship to his students. He was always there with skillful instruction for basics through helpful hints when fine tuning even the advanced rifleman. When things went sour or stalled with a shooter’s progress and they started considering golf or tennis over shooting, Jim was often successful in prodding them back into the winners circle with knowledgeable analysis of the problem and corrective suggestions. So we owe a debt of thanks to Jim for being the point man in setting up a balance program that produces winners and plenty of fun for all. He teaches by example how to excel, and it spills over in the future. MSSA currently has three more members with leg points chasing the gold. Guess we’ll have to take an updated photo.