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Paladin wrote: ↑Sat Feb 18, 2023 2:45 pm Received my official "Triple Distinguished Expert" certificate in the mail today. Tried to post, but not working. The award is for Tactical Rifle, Rimfire Rifle, and America's Rifle Challenge.

Think I may do another revolver course next.

Congratulations! What number were you? I'm curious to how many there have been since I did it.

Paladin wrote: ↑Sun Jul 17, 2022 12:45 pm After such a long time contemplating the Tactical Rifle course, I finally did it. Since the minimum round count is almost 450, I decided to save myself a pile of money an shoot it will a .22LR AR-15. Shot it clean through except one stage that I accidentally ran standing, before re-shooting kneeling.

I recommend the course of fire. This stuff is best with an instructor, but if you've had Tactical Rifle training in the past to understand fundamentals of marksmanship and gun handling in all the positions the program is great practice. Honestly reminiscent of some of the Delta Force drills I have copies of. However with NRA Tactical Rifle there is no time standard. Achieving DE on this course is all about executing accuracy from a variety of positions and behind cover. So while it covers more skills than America's Rifle Challenge, I would say it is easier.

Shot it w/ a group of friends and we still talk fondly about that one. Ton of fun. And yes, fairly easy if you've had quality training.

I was thinking about this the other day, wondering if there was going to be anybody left at NRA who remembered it existed.

The group I did the tactical rifle sequence with still talk about how much fun we had! Saw some of them this last weekend at a shoot.

And, Congratulations!

Paladin wrote: ↑Fri Sep 18, 2020 8:33 pm So I got my witness and completed the NRA Pistol and Defensive Pistol 1 Distinguished Expert Courses of fire. Also hit Expert in the NRA Rimfire Rifle Qualification.

Doing these courses of fire is excellent training. The courses give you time to execute correctly, and Perfect practice makes perfect.

Outstanding!

I really miss doing this. Had some great times with great people working on these challenges. If things ever get back to normal, I'm going to finish DE for Trap and Sporting Clays. It's been 2 years since I started those challenges. My shotgun team partner had a stroke in 2019 so we didn't shoot much and 2020 has been 2020. Arrrrrggghhhhh!

Congratulations on another ladder! Keep after it.


That's interesting about the M2.0. I just went through similar myself. My Gen 1 M&P was showing its age, so I started to setup up a M2.0. The stock trigger is definitely better than the gen 1. I also like the stiffer frame and the grip once I got it modified to my tastes.

What I ran into is that you can't really tweak the M2.0 trigger like you can the Gen 1. I could get down to a 5lbs trigger, but any lower and you risk reliability. My Gen 1 has a very consistent 3lbs trigger.

Ended up rebuilding my Gen 1. But am very tempted to keep the M2.0 and try a heart transplant. Gen 1 guts in the M2.0 body, I'm 90% sure it would work. But I'll probably sell it on to a family member for a deep discount.

Decided I'm going to wait on some cooler weather before I finish the Sporting Clay sequence.

I might try bullseye after I figure which pistol I'm going to buy for it.

Need some more of the DFW area crew to give you some competition!

Outstanding!

The more the merrier!

And since everybody likes stuff. Here's an annex of my 'I love me wall' at the shop. That's my triple certificate, and the individual D.E. awards and the nice letter from the NRA on completing the triple (rifle not included w/ the program, looks good though right?).

I'm not really a patches on jacket guy, so I had them put on one of my range bags. Put the D.E. rocker above the one I'm most proud of. 2 years ago I couldn't have hit a crossing clay to save my life. Now I've completed the Skeet cycle, have 6 more rounds to finish D.E. on trap and I'm working my way through the sporting clay sequence.

Those are used in the some of the rifle challenges. Allows them to platform up to the next level without getting too discouraged (I assume).

Just jump right ahead to Marksman 1st Class - and congratulations!

mloamiller wrote:My wife and I completed the DE level for three Pistol CoFs - Pistol, Defensive Pistol 1 and Defensive Pistol 2 (which doesn't appear to be available any longer). We both gained several benefits from it:

• Gave us a reason and purpose for going to the range.
  Required doing more at the range than just shooting paper.
  Made us much more comfortable handling our pistols, including drawing from a holster and moving.
  Gave us something to do together as a couple.

I started shooting IDPA right after we completed this program, and I did very well from the start, I think in large part because I had completed this program. That's not to say the Winchester/NRA program is anything like IDPA; it isn't, but it does get you used to handling your pistol in different scenarios while being scored/timed.

I highly recommend it to all of my students, even in my non-NRA classes.

That's great!

DP2 is still there, they just have it rolled into the DP1 COF and not listed separatel.

What I didn't cover in my initial post was why it took 2 years to complete.

Pistol: This is where we started. Wasn't too technically challenging but it took time as we were running the NRA Marksmanship program once a month. Really a lot of fun shooting this with a group. Shot the Pistol course of fire with my EDC gun...most apparently shoot a .22 for this one. Then shot Defensive Pistol 1 and Defensive Pistol 2. Haven't tried the Bullseye sequence, but might.

Shotgun: an instructor buddy and I tackled this one as a team. We probably should have started with Trap, but got ambitious and tackled Skeet first. Took exactly a calendar year from having never shot a round to finally completing the Distinguished Expert COF, 22 or better 10x. I took a few private lessons along the way and that really helped.

Shotgun also proved to be the most expensive; 1) it took over 1,400 rounds to complete (I think it's 960 if you run straight thru), and 2) it proved so much fun that we're both hooked.

I've almost finished the Trap COF and we're considering the Sporting Clays sequence.

Rifle: I shot the Tactical Rifle COF over three successive weekends right before the end of the year with a group of other instructors. We had a lot of fun! A couple of guys shot it with their tricked out accuracy ARs and big optics. I shot it with my SBR and a red dot. Equipment flexibility makes the tactical sequence open to a wider audience.

I'm partly through the High Power Rifle sequence but since I knocked out the triple I'm not sure I'll finish it anytime soon.


You can buy patches, rockers, pins, etc, as you progress. The only ones you can't buy are for D.E.

Left to right; tie tack size pin and the D.E. medal. The pins I'll throw on a hat or something like that. The medal, I have no idea what to do with those. Kind of useless. I've got a Pistol, Rifle, and Shotgun bar for it but it's a pain to add them. And again, what the heck would you use it for? Neat never-the-less.

Allow me to proselytize here for a bit about the Winchester/NRA Marksmanship Qualification Program.

It's the booklet that comes in all your NRA instructor and student packs that everybody ignores*. Stop doing that. You're missing out on a great skills challenge and a lot of fun.

Read about it here: https://mqp.nra.org/

If you're an instructor with students, a range with customers, a shooting club, or just an individual - you can participate in this program.

What is it? a marksmanship skills challenge / skills development program.

What kind of shooting? Pistol, Rifle, and Shotgun. Air Rifle and Rimfire are included so it's a great way to get youth shooters involved.

Rewards Earn patches, pins, medals, and a certificate.
http://materials.nrahq.org/qualificationawards.html?p=1

Skill levels

Basic Practical
Pro Marksman
Marksman
Marksman 1st Class
Sharpshooter
Expert
Distinguished Expert

Basic through Expert can be done on your own, but it's more fun do it in a group setting. Distinguished Expert must be witnessed by another NRA member. You cannot skip straight to D.E.

Special equipment needed? Targets. If distance constraints make some courses of fire unworkable, you can use scale targets. Paper plates can even be substituted for some COFs. AMMO - you will burn through some ammo with this program. Probably the most important thing you'll need is a cooperative range to shoot on. You're also going to need a lot of motivation. It really helps to have others doing it with you.

Courses of fire here: https://mqp.nra.org/courses-of-fire/

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My own adventure with the Winchester/NRA Marksmanship challenge started two years ago. Our teaching group was running this program for students and instructors. This last November, I finally completed the triple, having shot Distinguished Expert in the three disciplines; pistol, rifle, and shotgun, I received a nice letter from the NRA informing me that I was the 176th person to achieve that mark since they started the double and triple designation in 1998.

I urge you to accept this challenge. Make Texas the hotbed for the Winchester/NRA Marksmanship Program in this country. You will have fun, improve your shooting skills, and make friends.

If you're in driving distance and want some help setting up or running the courses of fire, let me know. I can drag along some of my fellow NRA instructors and we'll show you the ropes or at least cheerlead.

This is proudly framed and on my "I love me" wall.




* how I know it's ignored. Our coordinator, the brave soul who tracked our progress, received a note saying that our little group had submitted more D.E.s to NRA than any other over the last couple of years for the entire country. This is a great NRA program - get involved.