Anyone who has earned this prestigious honor is welcome to go on a hunting trip with me. The President’s Hundred recognizes the best of the best in the operation and shooting of both pistols and rifles. Very few have attained this honor in comparison to the United States, and military population, so if you see someone wearing a President’s Hundred Tab, you know they are experts at handling a firearm. In today’s post, I am going to provide you with 10 cool facts on, and about the President’s Hundred Tab.
1: The First President’s Match: The NRA (National Rifle Association) started the original President’s Match in 1878, but it was called The American Military Rifle Championship Match. In 1884, the name was changed to the President’s Match for the Military Rifle Championship. The main idea of these matches was to better the marksmanship levels of Soldiers.
2: Another Award To The Top: In some of the matches over the years, other awards are also presented besides the coveted President’s Hundred Tab. In 1925 and 1927, the top shooter also received a 1921 National Match Springfield 1903. In doing some research, one of the beautiful rifles can be bought for $5000+. In 1977 a National Match M1 Garand was given to the best.
3: A Letter From The President Of The United States: The President’s Match truly became a President’s Match in 1904. President Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt wrote a personal letter to the winner of the match. The tradition has somewhat kept going. Some Presidents have declined this letter because of their stand on gun issues, but a large amount of them have penned letters to the winner of the President’s Match.
4: The First Winner With A Letter: A member of the New Jersey National Guard was the first winner to receive both the letter from President Roosevelt and the President’s Hundred Tab. Private Howard Gensch was attached to the 1st Regiment of Infantry and out shot many other participants at the competition that was held in Sea Girt, New Jersey.
5: Civilians Allowed To Enter: Through 1920, the only people who could enter the President’s Match were military Soldiers. In 1921, the Match was opened to civilian entrants. To this day, civilians are allowed to enter, but the percentage of civilian winners is quite low in comparison to military winners. What was so surprising was the year they opened the competition to civilians, a civilian won…O.B. Emshwiller from Minnesota was the top marksman of 1921.
6: Where And When The President’s Match Is Held: In the early years the matches were held in Sea Girt, New Jersey. During World Wars 1 and 2 the Match was not held for quite a few years. In 1957, the President’s Match was renamed the President’s Hundred and reinstated. The location of the competition would be Camp Perry, Ohio. Camp Perry is on Lake Erie, and it is a National Guard Training site. Camp Perry also has the largest outdoor rifle range throughout the world. The competition is held every year in either July or August.
7: The Pistol 100: The competition is open to pistol shooters. There is a winner of the pistol 100 as well as the rifle. The only pistols allowed are either the M1911-.45 caliber or the M9-9 millimeter. Entrants will use 40 bullets in the competition fired from different situations. The pistol addition to the President’s Hundred was added in 1967.
8: The Rifle 100: The President’s Hundred has always been known as a rifle competition. Entrants can use any rifle made in the United States that was used in military service since the start of the President’s Match. Most shooters choose the M16A2 as their choice. In the rifle competition, a total of 30 bullets are fired by each shooter to achieve their score.
9: The Youngest Winner: In 2004, the award went to a 17 year old shooter from Georgia. Christopher Atkins rang up a fantastic score that was very near a record. Chris learned the rifle quite early in life, as his Father Billy Atkins has an NRA National Championship Trophy named after him.
10: Competition Stages In Both Pistol And Rifle: So do you think you can win? These are the stages in each category:
Pistol
10 bullets from 50 yards within 10 minutes.
From 25 yards, 2 strings of 5 bullets apiece in 20 seconds.
Same 25 yards with 2 strings of 5 bullets apiece in 10 seconds.
Rifle
From 200 yards the shooter fires 10 shots within 10 minutes in a standing position.
From 300 yards the shooter starts standing and moves to a prone position where they have 2 shots fired, change the magazine and fire another 8 shots. All this must be completed in 70 seconds.
From 600 yards the shooter is in a prone position and has 10 minutes to fire 10 shots.
Final Thoughts
The President’s Hundred finds the best shooters in the United States; many of them are in the military. Do you have what it takes? Make the trip to Ohio this year and see if you can earn that coveted President’s Hundred.
If any of you reading this do have this honor, please tell us more in the comments section below.
Chuck Holmes
Former Army Major (resigned)
Publisher, Part-Time-Commander.com
Email: mrchuckholmes@gmail.com
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Hi,
My Name is Bruce D. Montville
Long time ago either 1976 or 1977, I supposedly won the President’s 100 Rifle Match with an M-16. Couldn’t “Miss” that day.
I was proud to be personally congratulated by Lt. General Tackaberry, that day.
Even though the Captain of the NH State Police, came to my parent’s house at 92 Court St., Exeter, NH, and, personally, invited me to try out for the State of NH SWAT team, after I got out in Mar. of 1978 (82nd Airborne), I did Not take the Captain up on his offer. I never received any award (that I know of). Admittedly, I never followed up with any inquiries, and mostly forgot about it. I’m not sure if I received it as I didn’t have any kind of a “permanent address” at the time.
Curious in how to find out more about this as I was very proud of that accomplishment. I would love to have a record of it.
Thanks sincerely, Bruce D. Montville
I was a twenty-one year old cadet from the University of Georgia shooting my rookie year on the 1st Region ROTC team in August of 1977. Rumors were flying that the President’s March was coming back after being dropped in 1968. I shanked my first shot standing scoring a 4 o’clock five just cutting the line saving me from a total miss or zero. Ran the remaining nine shots posting a 90, I routinely shot a 96 or 97. Went on to post respectable scores at the 300 and 600 yard line 96 and a 97 with a left to right 15 mph gusting to 20 mph crosswind. Finished 76th with 283. Often pondered if I had shot my routine 96 my ranking would have been possibly in the top 10% of the field. I memory serves the winning score for the 1977 President’s Match was a 291… and that was with .30 caliber M-14 match rifles!
Wow, great job! Thanks for sharing that with us.
Woe, this is one of the mot interesting posts on here that I have read thus far. Very cool facts! Thanks for sharing.
Yes, this is a cool club to belong to!