The President's Match

The President's Match, high power rifle competition using the Service Rifle, was initiated in 1894 to determine the individual Military Rifle Champion of the United States. Entry was limited to Reserve Components and the State(s) Militia.

The winner originally received a gold medal and $50.00. Starting in 1904, a congratulatory letter from the President of the United States was presented to the winner. Since 1919, each competitor who placed in the top 100 competitors was given a distinctive metallic brassard, designating him/her as a member of the "President's Hundred."

In 1921, the President's Match was opened to any citizen of the United States. In 1951 the criteria was changed to permit use of either the manually operated bolt action or the semi-automatic Service Rifle. Presidential letters were sent to the highest scoring competitor for each type rifle. Competitors were ranked, however, in order of excellence regardless of which rifle was used. Thus the President's Hundred was a mixture of both types of rifle competitors.

In 1977, the National Rifle Association asked the National Board for the Promotion of the Rifle Practice to sponsor the President's Match. It was then designated a "National Trophy" event, limited to the service rifle only.

The popularity of the President's Matches was increased over the years: in 1940, there were 1625 entries and by 1962, 2511 competitors fired the Match.