How about a Vintage Class?

Pete Wass

Pete Wass

Well-known member
Our range is about to expand from 10 benches to 16 so I am wondering if there is any interest in folks shooting in a Vintage class along with us? Only older Target rifles or modern factory rifles, perhaps, would qualify to be shot and all would have to be factory original or if a custom position rifle, in that sort of configuration.

If there are a few people interested let's converse, set some guidelines and see if we can get er done.

pete
 
Pete

I would participate as time allows given the distance. Sounds like a good idea!
 
Maybe on a club level??

Hi Pete,
In your area you might make it work on a club level as far as IR 50/50
it was tried with special targets and all.
We had 3 shooters come once, one even shot a 250, they never came back?!
We asked they just didn't want to do it was the only answer we got??
Good Luck, hope you get allot of shooters!!
 
I only had one respond

There is a group of guys over here who shoot long distance Rimfire and I wondered if some of them might want to shoot more often. There are also a few guys who have CMP rifles, H&R, Kimbers, 40 xes, etc. They sometimes show up and shoot with us but they tend to not want to spend on ammo, the way we do.

I guess, all and all, we are a unique bunch who really like what we do and are willing to spend what we have must to do it. I don't like to look of the diminishing participants and venues we all face. I just thought if I could get another 3 or 4 people to show up and shoot, the club might benefit a bit is all. For me, the less that show up, the easier it is on me but I know the club won't want to commit the range for very long, for little revenue. The Club membership continuers to grow and demand to use the range along with it. I think we are in a very spooky place, attendance wise, as well as venue wise and I am concerned about our future.

Pete
 
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Shooting

Sorry to hear the lack of interest Pete. We have the same problem down in South Mississippi at our Club. We had 10 to 12 shooters a few years back, but age and people moving away has reduced us to about 5 or 6 shooters. The big reason is the cost of ammo, not many people like us are willing to spend the money it takes to buy it. It isn't the fee we charge, cause we only charge $10 a match and $15 for the state match.:(
 
Pete

I don't expect crowds of vintage rimfire shooters, but 4-6 would be a good start. The target does need to address their less than modern day BR rifle accuracy. A good one is the old IBS target with a more generous 10 ring. it is a challenge but 250's are more common than the IR50/50 target. Keep me posted.
 
Pete,

That's part of the reason why I stopped holding matches at Pinnacle Mountain. Back in '95 when I started it wasn't uncommon to see 15 or 20 shooters at a match with half of those being Club members. Then about 10 years after I was one of only two Club members coming to the matches, so was lucky to get 6 or 8 for regular shoots, and 12 to 15 for State Shoots. And then the other Club member changed jobs and only showed up once or twice a year. And the numbers fell once again. There was even one State shoot where a total of 4 show up, including me, where you needed 10 or more to make it Official. So that was a lot of work for nothin'. And as luck would have it, I shot 2 of my best targets ever, but only got bragging rights out of having done so where the match wasn't Official.

During the off-season I even started offering different disciplines of shooting: anything from shooting a target or two from a different organization, to changing the distance out as far as 100Y. But, to no avail. I remember even Helen and Milt Cook added a 100Y Class with a special target to see if they could trigger some more interest Nationwide. But, here again, to no avail.

It became too much work to see a shoot go south because of lack of interest, and never being sure if the required 4 shooters would show up for a match. Plus, I wasn't getting any younger.

Good luck with your quest.

Dave
 
It seems to be the same all over

Life gets in the way quite often. This Sport seems to attract older folks because of it's cost and older folks tend to not last forever. Health problems seems to be a big contributor to shooters dropping out or just getting too old to be able to continue, we have had our share of them, as other sports do.

I've been at this since the middle 90's and have tried a number of things to keep it going but ultimately the numbers have fallen. I spent a number of years in IBS Score and the same was true there. What always surprises me is when a new club will pop up and with it a dozen or more new shooters, fully equipped. So, that must mean that there are still folks out there who still have the will and wherewithal to participate. They do tend to be in pockets and often scattered out, a la the Air Gun folks.

I guess all we can do is keep trying, eh?

Pete
 
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