This may seem somewhat tangent to the OP but comes back to address it..
Continued growth in participation is definitely a priority for the success of F Class anywhere.
It sure has come a LONG way from the originally intended design in the development of classes,rules,targets,events etc.I don't believe George could have imagined...
All these changes took time, and a great deal of efforts .
Sometimes we need to revisit what was once tried in the past to see if it would again produce sufficient participation (attendance) ,
regularly to warrant official sanctioning.
When it comes to rules ,their application and flexibility... venue must be considered .
Individual PRA's at practices,minor club matches and even Provincial Championships have a greater degree of flexibility in
adding classes,bending some rules ,but still at a certain point, a uniformity needs to be maintained across PRA,Regional and National levels of competition.
Clearly defined "rules" are helpful to anyone at any level of participation in competition. Increasing the level of competition,increases the need for
ever clearer,more encompassing definitions and rules.
I believe in the past there was the F (M) ...Factory Class in F Class for competitors. It had it's set of rules and if I recall, at least Provincially ,had a number
of shooters attend matches.There were some difficulties that arose and I'm not sure if they ever were resolved.
There needed to be a minimum number of participants in that class to be recognized otherwise the Factory shooters were then lumped into the FTR and FO classes.
Entrants needed to know this ahead of time so no misunderstanding would occur.
If there were sufficient factory shooters to establish a class,calibers were not segregated ,which meant a 223 was competing against a 6.5/284...
In most cases I recall, insufficient participants to establish a Factory Class was the main issue.
Like the development of F Class itself, initially a few,but then growing numbers would surely establish a position for Factory Class in F Class.
Scott,I know you have your hands full getting this Regional Match organized and run. Perhaps you may want to consider passing
on the issue of Factory Class and rules to the National F Committee for clarification/establishment/implementation. If doable,this class could again be
added and developed at Provincial level matches and if participation and interest is there, consider it for Regional and National levels of competition.
I truly think that once a Factory Class shooter participates at practices, local matches and even a Provincial Championship,
they may have progressed to a point of entertaining FTR or FO .
In summary,for this years Regional Championships, if the F Class Committee can establish the parameters (rules) and PRA's can develop
a sufficient group of Factory Class shooters from practices to Provincials,then I would suggest the Factory Class be added to the Regionals.
my morning coffee FWIW typing spree
Regards
Gord
