The Grand Army of the Frontier (GAF) membership
includes those from various shooting sports, such as Cowboy Action Shooting, the
North-South Skirmish Association, Black Powder Cartridge Rifle, the reenactment and living
history communities, and those with only an interest in the 19th Century American
military. For those members with an interest in testing their marksmanship skills, the GAF
offers several optional and alternative means by which a Marksmanship Award may be earned,
depending on the interests and motivation of the member.
The preferred and recommended method to achieve a Marksmanship Award is to shoot a
specified course of fire that is essentially based on the Army qualifications from the
1880s, but at a reduced-sized target at reduced ranges to accommodate the modern shooter.
This course of fire may be completed either independently at any time convenient to the
member, or through competition in the semiannual GAF postal match, achieving a score of at
least 85% of the total possible score.
A second means of earning the Marksmanship Award is to achieve a score of at least 85% of
the total possible score, while shooting in any GAF, NSSA, BPCR or other Victorian-era
shooting competition and while wearing a military uniform during the match.
A third means, primarily for those members who are in Cowboy Action Shooting, is to have a
clean match with no misses or procedurals for an entire single day event. If a shooter
were to have a clean match of at least 10 stages over two days at a local, state or
regional SASS, NCOWS, or WASA match, this notable achievement would qualify for two
awards. The shooter must wear a military uniform, in accordance with their alias, during
the competition.
There is no limit on the number of Marksmanship Awards that can be earned in the course of
a year and they may be earned with any combination of methods described above, and with
different divisions of firearms.
As seen in the line drawing above, the GAF Marksmanship Award is a simple pin to be worn
on formal clothing, whether a Full Dress Military uniform or not. In accordance with the
Uniform Regulations of the period concerning the wearing of Badges and Insignia of
Military Societies, when not being worn with the GAF Medal, the Marksmanship Award should
be worn with the top of the pin even with the top of the third button down from the neck
opening of the Soldier's blouse. For a Uniform with a single row of buttons, the Award
should be placed 2.5" TO THE WEARER'S LEFT of the third button, while for a Uniform
with a double row of buttons, the Award should be placed 0.5" TO THE WEARER'S RIGHT
of the third button. If the Award is being worn in conjunction with the Medal, then the
Award should be place 0.5" directly above the Medal as worn...
Once a Soldier is Authorized to wear a Marksmanship Award, it should be purchased through S&S Firearms. The cost is $3.00 for
either the Silver Award (S&S Part Number MC18) or the Gold Award (S&S Part Number
02M12). The Silver Award recognizes those Soldiers who have achieved Marksmanship mastery
on 1 to 4 occasions, while the Gold Award recognizes those with 5 or more occurrences
under their belts...
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