Your First Match — Northern Plains Schuetzenfest

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Schuetzen is a quiet, friendly discipline: one shot at a time, offhand, from a single-shot .22 built the way they were before 1917. Nobody expects a new shooter to know the routine. This page walks you through it so the only thing you have to think about on the day is your next shot.

1Before the day

Register online. Go to Register to Compete, create your account, and sign up for the match. You will add your rifle, pick your competition class (Vintage Iron, Vintage Scope at 10× or less, or Open), and enter a bracket estimate: your honest guess at your total score for the day. Closest guesses win the Bracket Match, so there is no advantage in sandbagging.
Read the rules once. The Match Rules page has the course of fire, time limits, the rifle and sight requirements, and pictures of every target. Ten minutes well spent.
Check your rifle qualifies. A single-shot .22 Short or .22 Long Rifle on an action design patented before 1917: an original of any production year or a faithful reproduction (Stevens 44 and 44½, Ballard, Winchester 1885, Aydt, a Sharps with a .22 liner, and the like). Iron sights, or a period-style tube scope with a ¾-inch tube and no internal adjustments. Not sure? Ask us before the day and bring it anyway.
Zero your rifle at the match distance. There is no sight-in period and no sighter shots during the match. Shoot it at 50 feet (indoor) or 100 yards (outdoor) beforehand with the ammunition you will use.
Pick your ammunition. .22 Short or .22 Long Rifle, lead or plated bullets, standard velocity only (1,250 feet per second or less by the maker's rating). Bring the same lot you zeroed with.

2What to bring

Your rifle, in a case
Ammunition, standard velocity .22 (about 60 rounds covers the full course)
Chamber indicator (an empty-chamber flag). Required whenever the rifle is off the line.
Eye and ear protection
Cash for the entry fee and any side bets

Spotting scope or binoculars (optional, handy for the King Match)
Offhand stand or cartridge block if you use one (for loading only; it may not support the rifle while you shoot)
Layers: indoor ranges run cool
Your phone with your registration, in case we need to look something up

Leave at home: shooting coats, gloves, slings or anything else that supports the shooter. Everything is fired offhand, unsupported.

3When you arrive

Check in	Find the registration table, give your name, and pay your entry. If you registered online you are already on the list. The Match Director assigns your relay and firing position.
Rifle stays cased	Until the safety brief is done and you are told to go to the line. Once a rifle comes out of its case it goes to the gun rack on the line with the action open and chamber indicator in, and stays there for the day. To take it off the line or out of the rack, coordinate with the RSO or designee first.
Safety brief	Everyone attends: shooters and spectators. The RSO or designee names the medic, who calls 911, and where the first-aid kit is, and reads the range commands. If you arrive late you are briefed one-on-one before you shoot.
Watch a relay	If you are not on the first relay, stand behind the line and watch one. You will see the whole rhythm once before it is your turn.

4How a relay runs

The RSO or designee runs the line with the standard NRA commands. You do not need to memorize them; listen and do what the command asks. In order:

“Relay ___, bring your rifles to the line.”	Take your rifle from the rack to your position. Keep it unloaded, action open, muzzle downrange.
“Is the line clear? … The line is safe, you may proceed downrange and hang your targets.”	Before you hang a target, print your name and relay/position on it and sign it. An unsigned target is not scored. Hang it, come back, and stay behind the line.
“The line is hot. Remove chamber indicators. Load. Commence fire.”	Load one cartridge at a time. Your time starts at your first shot; the time limit for each match is on the rules page and is read aloud. Fire your rounds at your own pace within the limit.
“Cease fire.” (timer sounds, or called by the RSO or designee)	Stop at once. Finger off the trigger, muzzle downrange, and wait for the next command.
“Is the line clear?”	Answer “Clear” when your rifle is unloaded, action open, indicator in. The RSO or designee walks the line and checks every position.
“Return your rifles to the rack.”	Muzzle vertical, rifle into the rack or stand, never left on the bench. Step back behind the line; nobody goes forward until the next command.
“The line is safe, you may proceed downrange…”	Bring your target back and hand it to the RSO or designee for scoring. Hang the next one, signed.

One loud whistle blast, or anyone calling “CEASE FIRE,” stops everything. Stop in position, finger off the trigger, muzzle downrange, make the rifle safe, and wait for commands. Anyone who sees an injury or an unsafe condition calls it. Only the RSO or designee restarts the line.

If your rifle misfires

Keep the muzzle downrange for 30 seconds, raise your hand, and tell the RSO or designee. A faulty cartridge is the only accepted alibi; you get one minute for the alibi shot.

Crossfire

If you shoot the wrong target, say so at once. The shot counts for the other shooter if it helps them, and as a miss for you. Honesty is the whole sport.

5The targets, in order

Every shooter fires the same course. Indoor (50 ft) and outdoor (100 yd) matches use scaled versions of the same targets; details and pictures are on the rules page.

Honor Match	3 shots on the German Ring target. A warm-up for score.
Schuetzen Match	10 shots for score on the ring target; indoors, two shots on each of five bulls in order. 250 possible. 10 minutes.
Man Match	5 shots on the “Man” target: vertical scoring bands, 20 for the heart.
Silhouette	5 shots each at chicken, pig, turkey and ram. A hit is a hit; edge shots are judged with the scoring overlay.
Know Your Limits (indoor)	Five circles, largest to smallest, 2 points each. After any hit you may stop and bank your points; a miss loses them all. Nerve and honesty.
Bracket Match	No shooting: the three shooters closest to their pre-match estimate of their total score win.
King Match	Last of the day. One shooter on the line at a time, one shot, winner takes the pot. Sign beside your shot in front of the RSO or designee. A center hit earns the cry of “Fünf und Zwanzig!”

6Scoring & payouts

Scores are entered in the NPS scoring app at the range and post live to the website, so friends at home can follow along.
The Schuetzenmeister certifies the scores at the end of the day and settles any question about a shot. The leaded-edge rule decides close ones: a shot scores the higher ring if its edge touches the line.
Prize money is paid in cash the same day. Each scored target and the Bracket pays 50 / 30 / 20 percent to 1st, 2nd and 3rd; the King Match is winner-take-all. At 50-foot matches prizes are pooled within your class; at the 100-yard match everyone is in one pool.
If you are the only shooter in your class at a 50-foot match there is no class pool: you pay only the club fee and the King ante, and still shoot for score and for the King.

7Range manners

Muzzle vertical with the chamber indicator in whenever the rifle is off the line. Rifles are never left uncased or unracked behind the line.
Nobody goes forward of the line until the RSO or designee has made it safe, and nobody touches a rifle while anyone is downrange.
No alcohol on the range. Spectators are welcome in the areas the RSO, Manager or designee sets.
Ask questions. Every shooter on the line was new once and will happily show you how they load, how they stand, and what their sights are set to.
If you see something unsafe, say so. Everyone shares responsibility for the range.
When someone makes a fine shot, the call is “Gut Schuss!” Use it freely.

Gut Schuss und Kameradschaft: a good shot, and good company. That is the whole idea.