A few points:
Joe, the sport appreciates your hard work and effort over the years. You are one of the gentlemen and stewards of our sport. Your sincere efforts over the years to keep this together is felt nation-wide.
Thank you for your offer on how to use a plug. We are well versed and highly skilled in this archaic ability. However, with advances in technology over the years, we have moved well beyond the limitations of this system. Computer and scanning technology has replaced the metal vs hanging chad method. Now, I understand that this is a paradigm shift for many that are set in their ways. But, we are FULLY confident in the system we are using to score and provide world-class results. Keep in mind, no system is perfect, but the key is to identify it's faults and address them head-on, and not hide behind outdated methodology. I will be more than happy to reciprocate, and show you how to use this scoring system. That includes blowing up the pellet hole to about a foot wide on the TV monitor and counting the lead-stained fibers. We chatted about what the World rules require: ...that the protest must be re-scored manually. That is exactly what the program allows, and what we'll do, but with superb ability.
Dick,
Thank you for your kind words.
Orion has unfortunately stopped allocating resources to airgun benchrest for one simple reason. The clubs and individual shooters in this sport did not invest in the system. Frankly, most benchrest clubs are only a handful of shooters in size and don't need to invest in a scoring system of this caliber. It takes a tremendous amount of resources, time, and money to create AND maintain updates. Considering that we host events on a monthly basis that rival even regionals or nationals in size- combined, we need a system that can meet these demands. The system works great, the problem was keeping it updated with new operating systems. There is still no benchrest scoring system that exceeds the capabilities of this program. We will continue to use it. We are looking for other systems that can meet or surpass this devices' capability. We are already exploring the next generation... paperless systems. (boy now that will rock some of the pluggers' world, lol. Yes, did you feel the earth stand still for a moment?)
Kim,
You are more than welcome to come on out and check out our range. There are no issues "reaching" 25 Meters. The only issue is one's ability to manage the wind that pushes your pellet out that far! Open Grove is a great range, the hosts have their hearts in the right places. It is however limited on benches, and other minor issues and consistencies.
We are ready, willing, and able to host the next championship. Waiting too long, at this busy, popular range, we will loose that window for reserving the real estate. It is now almost February, and still no answer. WE don't want to see benchrest fade away. Again, I am certain that there folks out there that agree, as your many private emails of support attest. The luxury of procrastination does not exist if you want to put on a grand event.
It. Is. Time. We are prepared and will be moving forward to make this happen.
We will host The 2018 National Championship in October.
Garrett