Organization
N-SSA matches, known as Skirmishes, are not re-enactments of specific Civil War battles. Rather, the N-SSA is concerned with promoting the accurate shooting of the firearms of the era. Matches are devoted to authentic firearms accuracy, with a secondary, but still important, devotion to historical accuracy in uniforms and equipment.
Unlike most American Civil War reenactments, skirmish events are composed of individuals and teams that fire live ammunition at paper and breakable targets. Competitors can shoot firearms that are either original (e.g., date from 1861–65) or are N-SSA approved reproductions of firearms issued to soldiers from that period. Individual events are usually composed of paper bullseye targets at varying ranges, with five or ten shots for score.
The core of N-SSA shooting is the 8-man musket team match. Uniformed Union and Confederate teams compete in timed, rapid-fire events, shooting at breakable targets such as clay pigeons, ceramic tiles, and clay flower pots at ranges of 50 and 100 yards (91 m). The team with the lowest time wins.
The N-SSA is a team-based organization rather than individual-based; one belongs to a team first and then to the larger N-SSA organization. But it is the N-SSA which issues membership cards to individual competitors.
Teams are grouped into thirteen Regions. Each Region has roughly ten to fifteen teams, and is responsible for holding a Regional Championship at least annually. Geographically, many of the Regions overlap each other, as the N-SSA organizes new Regions to accommodate the creation of new teams.
Read more about this topic: North-South Skirmish Association
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