Capt.Margaret Murdock (33-year-old), went from being a first place finisher in the Olympic smallbore rifle shooting event, to a tie for first and then to second within a few hours. U.S.team manager Joe Berry would like to restore her to a share of first-and a gold medal along w/teammate Capt. Lanny Bassham, 29.... Berry said he planned to ask the Union Intl. de Tir (UIT-shooting union), to have the rules amended so that Bassham and Murdock each would receive gold medals, and no silver medal would be awarded in the event. If the UIT refuses, Berry said he would ask Murdock to hold the gold medal jointly w/ Bassham at today's award ceremonies. W.Germany will get the bronze. Murdock, the first woman ever to make the U.S. shooting team and 1st woman ever to win an Olympic shooting medal, originally declared the winner by one point, w/a total of 1,162, when the competition ended Wed. Bassham was 2nd w/1,161 points. Then, as customary, judges cross-checked the thousands of scores by all the shooters and a special jury then reviewed the scores of the top 10. The jury was not permitted to change the value of a shot, but checked only for errors or clerical mistakes. The jury found that a mistake had been made on Bassham's scoring. "He had a 10, it had been scored a 10, but when its value was transcribed, it was put down as a 9 and the jury picked it up," explained Jack Foster, assistant U.S. team manager. So Bassham's total score was increased to 1,162 equalling Murdock's. Since shooting rules do not permit ties, the system used to break them is to determine each shooter's best score in the final 10 shots of the last position, kneeling. In that catagory, Bassham had 98 points and Murdock 96 - and a heartbreaking defeat. Both Bassham and Murdock agreed it would be far better to have a shootoff to determine the winner rather than the present method. Mrs. Murdock said that such shootoffs were decided upon this year to break ties in U.S. events. "It makes people much happier" said Murdock. Asked how she would feel if she had to settle for the silver medal, she replied: "It wouldn't look good after you've held the gold for a couple of hours.".....etc. Bassham, a silver medalist in the 1972 Games, had lost to Murdock in the 1975 Pan-Am Games, the only time she has outshot him in the last 4 years.