Silencer Saturday #411: The CMP Allows (Some) Suppressors

by Daniel Y

Published: December 20th, 2025

silencer saturday 411 the cmp allows some suppressors

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome back to TFB’s Silencer Saturday, brought to you by Yankee Hill Machine, manufacturers of the new YHM R45 Multi-Host Suppressor. The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) released the 2026 rulebooks, and there was a surprise in the highpower rifle rules. Suppressors are going to be allowed! But only in some events. Let’s go through the rules and take a look at which events are about to get quieter.

Silencer Saturday @ TFB:

Each year, the CMP releases updates to the rules for its various competitions. Sometimes the changes are minor, like clarifications to an inartfully worded rule that caused confusion at a match. Other times, the changes are more substantial. One major shift was the 2016 rule revision, which allowed magnified optics on service rifles.

The 2026 rules for some competitions are now out, and the most interesting changes are in the highpower rifle rules. Rifle competition breaks down into two main families: “smallbore” with .22LR rifles and “highpower” events that use centerfire guns. As in other shooting sports like USPSA or IPSC, there are classes within highpower like service rifle (a US military rifle where certain types of accurizing are allowed) or match rifle (basically open class). Rather than stages that are different at each match, standardized courses of fire are used in the event. For example, mid-range matches are often three 20-shot stages fired at 600 yards. “Across the course” matches incorporate standing, sitting, and prone positions, and have “rapid fire” stages fired from a magazine as well as “slow fire” stages where each round is single-loaded into the action.

These competitions skew older in the demographics, and changes tend to come slowly. Shooters still wear bulky shooting jackets that help hold the gun in position. Shooting slings are used in the traditional manner in many competitions.

Service rifle competitor in the President’s Hundred match

Match rifle with iron sights. Note that the shooting sling is supporting the gun rather than a bipod or rest.

But the times are changing, and new technology is entering the sport. Electronic target systems are now the norm. Adjustable stocks and 16-inch barrels are allowed for AR-pattern service rifles. Yes, even that was a major shift when it happened.

The mainstreaming of silencers has finally caught up to the CMP, in part. Silencers will be legal in specific competitions starting in the 2026 season. No, they are not allowed in service rifle matches. Yet. I would guess that we will see them in 2027 or 2028 for that class, depending on how successful the adoption goes in these initial competition types. This could also be another talking point for the “common use” nature of silencers in future litigation.

Matches where suppressors are allowed include:

F-TR (sub-18-pound rifle in .223 or .308 fired from prone from a bipod)
F-Class Open (sub-22-pound rifle fired from a prone rest - think of prone benchrest shooting)
AR Tactical (sub-14-pound AR-pattern rifle with a folding bipod, chambered in 5.56, .308, or anything in between)

These competitions are a good first place to allow silencers. While these matches draw decent attendance, they do not draw crowds the way that big service rifle events do. Competitors in these events are also in more of an “arms race” (pun intended) already, and many are comfortable spending major cash to gain an advantage. All of these events are fired from the prone position, and there are no stages that require shooters to get in or out of position on the clock.

As written, the rules simply state “A suppressor or silencer is allowed.” There are no parameters on size, materials, or attachment method at this time, other than the existing weight rules for each class. This is open for future changes, though, depending on how things go.

All images from the CMP.

For the uninitiated, this is an F-Open rifle sitting in the style of front rests seen in these matches. These guns are impractical for any use other than F-Class.

This year’s rule set added a new F-class variant. The F-Practical class is somewhat like a production class. Unlike the over-the-top setups frequently seen in F-Open, the Practical guns are price-capped at $3,000 for the rifle, bipod, and sighting system. Cartridges may not exceed .30-caliber nor be magnum chamberings. Rifles must also be manually operated or single-shot, and must be a catalog model available (or previously available) for public purchase. Suppressors are not legal in this category, but it could be an opportunity to try your hand at F-class shooting without shelling out for one of the niche setups that dominate the competitions.

Overall, I am excited to see silencers starting to get a foothold in the traditionalist world of the CMP. I will have to wait to run one on my service rifle, but anyone in that game should consider moving to a threaded muzzle if they want to be ready when that rule change hopefully comes. Thanks for joining us, and we will see you back here next week.