N-SSA celebrates its 75th Anniversary with History, Competition
By Bruce W. Miller · Originally published January-February 2026 · pp. 10–15
N-SSA celebrates its 75th Anniversary with History, Competition and Camaraderie By Bruce W. Miller
The North-South Skirmish Association (N-SSA) held its 152nd National Competition October 3-5, 2025 at Fort Shenandoah near Winchester, Va. Member units compete in live-fire matches with original or authentic reproduction Civil War period muskets, carbines, breech loading rifles, revolvers, mortars and cannon. It is the largest Civil War event of its kind in the United States.
In celebrating the 75th Anniversary of skirmishing, the N-SSA owes a great debt of gratitude to two remarkable men, without whose perseverance, determination and love of black powder shooting, the sport might never have existed; Jon L. “Jack” Rawles and Ernest W. “Pete” Peterkin. What originally brought them together was a photograph printed in the October 1949 issue of Muzzle Blasts, the official
The 110th Ohio Volunteer Infantry took the gold medal in the rifle musket match. They are a consistent winner of this competition, with their skill, practice, and ability to clear targets quickly. Here, their eight-person team fires at 16 hanging clay pigeons, one of the five events in this company match. (Ericka Curley)
magazine of the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association. One of the illustrations for an article on the opening of the Berwyn (MD) Rod & Gun Club showed Pete wearing a Union shell jacket and kepi while firing his Model 1863 Springfield rifle musket (which he had purchased nine years earlier for $5). That picture caught the eye and sparked the imagination of confirmed Southerner, Jack Rawles. Soon, Jack and Pete began to correspond. They soon learned they were kindred spirits, sharing a love of muskets and American history. Together they planned the first “shoot,” which took place as part of the Berwyn Gun Club’s annual match on May 28, 1950…and what was to be the NorthSouth Skirmish Association was born. Today, the N-SSA is the country’s oldest and largest Civil War shooting sports organization with 3,000 individuals that make up its 200 member units. Each unit represents a Civil War regiment or unit and wears the uniform they wore over 160 years ago.
The 152nd was another great national for the 110th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (OVI) winning three team matches and finishing second in another. They won the musket team match with a terrific time of 379.8 seconds for the fiveevent program. One hundred fifty-four teams participated in this N-SSA signature match of speed and accuracy. The 9th Virginia Cavalry won the carbine team match, besting the 110th OVI by 17.9 seconds. The 110th OVI won with a narrow 7.6 second margin in the smoothbore musket team match, defeating 134 other four-member teams. The 21st Virginia Infantry won another even narrower 4.2 second victory in the revolver match while beating 67 other teams. The 110th OVI took their third gold medal by winning the single-shot breech loading rifle match while the 9th Virginia Cavalry won their second gold medal in the magazine-fed rifle match. The Nansemond Guards defeated 43 other teams in the newly popular single-shot pistol match. On the two and a half days preceding the team match events, members can pre-order paper targets for individual match competition. However, they can only order once per firearm. For example, for smoothbore musket, members can order one target of 25 yards, one of 50 yards and then the aggregate score for the two targets. Keeping track of all the small arms matches that N-SSA individual members participate in is no easy task. This is the work of the national statistics officer, Jeff Knauss, and his staff. Over the twoplus days of competition, they scored over 2,400 individual match targets.
19th CENTURY LIVING HISTORY!
James Country
MERCANTILE
Ladies – Gentlemen Civilian – Military • Books • Music • Buttons • Patterns • Fabrics • Weapons
The home of
HOMESPUN PATTERNS©
Rob Bethke of the 3rd Maryland Artillery fires his .44 caliber, 1858 Remington in the team revolver competition. Muzzle blast and percussion cap fragments necessitate the dividers between each shooter of the four-person revolver teams. Sixtyeight teams competed in four events to clear their breakable targets in the least amount of time. (Niki Bethke)
Everything needed by the Living Historian! Our Clothing is 100% American Made!
Mens, Ladies and Children’s • Civilian Clothing • Military Clothing • Military Accessories • Accoutrements
111 N. Main Liberty, MO 64068 816-781-9473 • FAX 816-781-1470
The 9th Virginia Cavalry won 1st place in both the breechloader and carbine team matches. Here, the brass flies as they shoot their Henry repeating rifles in the breechloader match. Henry shooters start with a full magazine, which they empty very quickly. After that, they must single load for the rest of the relay. (Ericka Curley)
The muzzle blast from this competitor’s rifle musket and smoke from the hammer hitting the percussion cap demonstrate the importance of wearing eye protection when shooting, especially with black powder, percussion firearms. In this signature event of the N-SSA National, 148 rifle musket teams competed for the cumulatively best time to clear all of their targets in five vents. (Niki Bethke)
Smoothbore musket shooting is a great test of skill, as these firearms are inherently less accurate than rifled muskets. At the 152nd National, 135 teams participated in the smoothbore competition, clearing targets at 25 and 50 yards, including the 110th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, who won 1st place in both the smoothbore and rifled musket company matches. (Ericka Curley)
The 1st Maryland Cavalry won first place in the rifled howitzer class with their pack Parrott and a score of 49-4V. Here, Rich Mosley, the number 4 crewman, fires this portable, accurate, and very loud rifled howitzer. (Ericka Curley)
Even relatively small cannons generate a great amount of energy, as demonstrated by the significant vent and muzzle flame blazing from Mike Klinepeter’s 2.25-inch Tredegar Confederate mountain rifle as his granddaughter, Isna Hollinshead, fires the gun. (Ericka Curley)
A large blast of fire sends the projectile down range from Dixie Artillery’s 24-pounder Austrian field howitzer. Seven originals of this large model of howitzer, cast of bronze in 1858 and 1859, were imported by the Confederacy. Of these, four survivors are known, which are owned by the National Park Service and are located at the Gettysburg National Military Park. (Ericka Curley)
The spectacular Shenandoah Valley weather brought out 38 guns to compete in the field artillery match. Each gun crew fired 12 projectiles at paper targets mounted on drywall backers at a range of 200 yards for rifled and smoothbore guns and 100 yards for howitzers. Rifled cannon, rifled howitzer, and smoothbore gun crews fired at their two targets, a bull’s-eye and a counter battery target, which is a picture of a cannon that represents opposing artillery. Each howitzer crew fired at a single bull’s-eye target. Bull’s-eye targets also score a “V” for each shot in the center ring of the target. Company G, 23rd North Carolina State Troops won first place in the rifled cannon class with a perfect score of 50-5V. Hardaway’s Alabama Battery took first place in the smoothbore gun class, scoring 49-4V. Rowan Artillery and their Model 1841 mountain howitzer won the howitzer class by scoring an impressive 50-4V. The 1st Maryland Cavalry, CSA, took the gold medal in the rifled howitzer class, scoring 49-4V with their pack Parrott. The mortar match included 48 guns, each firing seven shots at their target stake 100 yards down range. The five best shots closest to the stake are measured for cumulative distance, and the team with the lowest score wins. The 15th Battery, Ohio Light Artillery won the gold medal with a score of 20 feet, 11 inches; over five feet better than the second place team. Also, the NRA sponsors the Young and Senior Skirmisher Awards for the best aggregate rifle musket score. The Young Skirmisher Award (19 years of age or less) went to Nathaniel Latakos of the 2nd U.S. Infantry with a score of 170-1X. The Senior Skirmisher (over 65) went to Tom Magno of the 29th Wisconsin Infantry with a score of 1762X. The 153rd National Competition will be held May 15-17, 2026, at the Association’s home range, Fort Shenandoah, near Winchester, Va. For more information, please visit www.n-ssa.org.
Ethan Mahoney of 3rd Maryland Artillery’s Number 3 crew, captained by Dan Bethke, fires their 24-pounder mortar. Forty-eight mortar crews competed by firing seven projectiles each at their target stakes placed 100 yards from the firing line, for the lowest cumulative distance of the five best shots. (Ericka Curley)
Many generations of skirmishers have grown up in this sport. Emilee Walsh, a thirdgeneration skirmisher with the 2nd Maryland, Baltimore Light Artillery, CSA, shoots her Sharps carbine. She began developing her marksmanship skills as a young child, competing in the N-SSA “Tenderfoot” BB gun matches. (Niki Bethke)
Subscribe Today! Only $34.95 /year for 6 issues or
ACE p yro
llc
Located in Saline • MI Toll-free: (877) 223-3552 Shop: AcePyro.com
ders w o P g n i Fg Sport Available Now
Located in Munson • PA Phone: (814) 765-5918 Shop: FireArtCorp.com
$59.95 for 2 years
Black Powder
Subscribe and join our thousands of readers at https://tinyurl. com/277vpke9
1Fa•2Fa•3Fa•4Fa•7Fa 1Fg•2Fg•3Fg•4Fg
Fort Fisher items wanted ust!
eaM Provenanc
Contact Mike at: 910-617-0333 • mike@admci.com
The N-SSA is America’s oldest and largest Civil War shooting sports organization. Competitors shoot original or approved reproduction muskets, carbines and revolvers at breakable targets in a timed match. Some units even compete with cannons and mortars. Each team represents a specific Civil War regiment or unit and wears the uniform they wore over 160 years ago. Dedicated to preserving our history, period firearms competition and the camaraderie of team sports with friends and family, the N-SSA may be just right for you.
For more information visit us online at www.n-ssa.org.
Photographs from the Original Article
Captions and credits appear in the article text as originally printed.