Smallbore Position and Air Rifle Clothing Rule Enforcement Changes

June 9, 2026

Civilian Marksmanship Program▸Rules▸Air Rifle▸Smallbore Position and Air Rifle Clothing Rule Enforcement Changes

Disciplines:  Smallbore Rifle Position, Air Rifle

The 2026 CMP Smallbore Rifle and Air Rifle/Air Pistol rulebooks that were released earlier this year and the 2026 National Match Program both stated that compliance with the 2026 ISSF rifle clothing rules would be required to qualify for National Championship finals and awards in the Smallbore Position and Air Rifle events.  Worldwide experiences with the new ISSF rifle clothing rules during 2026 have shown that they are not successfully achieving their objective of reducing the impacts of performance-enhancing rifle clothing.  There have also been instances of non- or irregular enforcement.  USA Shooting, the Olympic Shooting governing body in the USA recently announced that they will only enforce these rules when team selections are involved.  USAS will not enforce the new clothing rules in other competitions.  Given these circumstances, the CMP has decided that its 2026 rifle clothing rules for Smallbore Position and Air Rifle will not be enforced and that the following procedures will apply for the remainder of 2026: 

• The CMP will not enforce the 2026 ISSF rifle clothing rules during the current year.
• For the 2026 National Matches Smallbore and Air Rifle Championships:
  • Stiffness testing services will be available for advisory purposes only. 
  • Rifle clothing rules published in the 2025 Smallbore Rifle and 2025 Air Rifle and Air Pistol Competition Rules will apply.
  • The requirement that competitors must have 2026 compliant clothing to qualify for finals or win awards is cancelled.  
  • Competitors with 2026-rule compliant clothing or 2025-rule compliant clothing will both be eligible to qualify for finals and win any awards.
  • The CMP will continue to monitor this situation to determine whether new rifle clothing rules will be implemented in 2027