Next week, on August 2, 2017, the nation’s top Service Rifle Teams will compete in National Trophy Infantry Team (NTIT) Match at Camp Perry, Ohio. In this match, known informally as the “Rattle Battle”, six-member teams shoot at 200, 300, 500 and 600 yards with time limits — 384 rounds total. To win this match, the six shooters must work like a finely-tuned machine. This is a popular match with spectators as there is plenty of action in a short time span. SEE Camp Perry 2018 NM Schedule.

This video shows the winning 2011 NTIT team at Camp Perry. Six USAMU shooters started with a combined load of 384 rounds to be fired at 8 targets from 600 and 500 yards prone, then 300 yards seated, and finally 200 yards standing.

Last year, the USAMU-Barnhart Team won the title with a score of 1439, with the USMC Team seconed as 1406. The record for this match is 1466, set by the USAMU-Remily Team in 1996. 2017 Team Barnhart members included: SFC Shane Barnhart (coach), SFC Evan Hess (captain), SFC Brandon Green, SFC William Pace, SSG Cody Shields, SGT Joseph Peterson, SPC Lane Ichord, and PVT Forrest Greenwood. (U.S. Army photos by Michelle Lunato/released).

The National Trophy Infantry Team Match (NTIT) was first fired in 1922 and is part of the the CMP’s annual National Rifle Matches at Camp Perry. The NTIT is called the “Rattle Battle” because it emphasizes extremely fast, accurate fire.

Our friend Grant U., who runs the Precision Shooting Journal on Facebook, says the NTIT is a special match, a real “crowd-pleaser: “The National Trophy Infantry Team Match (Rattle Battle)… was always one of my favorite team events. It takes a hell of a lot more planning, practice, and precision than one might expect. You get one shot at it and the entire team had better be running on all cylinders because there are no alibis. Each team of six shooters is allocated 384 rounds and when the teams fire at 600 and 500 yards, it sounds like a war.”

SFC Brandon Green, one of the nation’s finest marksmen, won the 2018 NRA High Power Rifle Championship at Camp Atterbury, Indiana.

The Infantry Match is a unique, rapid-fire team event. 56 teams, each with six firing members, shoot the Infantry Course of Fire. A team coach and team captain are also permitted on the firing line while their team members are firing. Each team is permitted a total of 384 rounds to allocate among their team members. Firing starts at 600 yards in prone for 50 seconds. If teams have ammunition left after the 600, teams proceed to 500 yards (prone, sitting or kneeling in 50 seconds). Teams continue to move forward (300 yards – sitting or kneeling in 50 seconds, and then 200 yards – standing in 50 seconds) until all ammunition is fired. CLICK HERE to see scores and standings when they are tabulated.

Watch Infantry Team Match from Friday Morning, August 3, 2012