ok how do we get more to compete??

I know the SPRA first two or three events are for just that, to Train new shooters LR... and they will set you up with a jacket, glove and sling and you can use their cabet TR rifles in .223 with open sights and they supply the ammo!! Best to call someone in the club (http://www.saskrifle.ca/) first if you plan one of these rifles, it maybe spoken for by someone for that day.


Match Dates for 2007 at SPRA

April 21 Tentative Practice/Training *Weather permitting
April 28 Practice/Training
May 6 Open House

May 19 - 21 Victoria Day Match <-- First match
 
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Kenny said:
people are reluctant to come to shoots because they can not compete on a high enough level.
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I'm not attacking you but new shooters that show up to a competition and honestly expect to be "competitive" with everyone else is seriously kidding themselves. Shooting alone takes dedication, discipline and lots of practice let alone adding scenario based stages into the mix. You will never become competitive if you don't come back.
 
There is a class system in place so competitors shoot against those with the same skill level. A "greenshot" (first year shooter) may be shooting on the same target, at the same time as a Master.
There is a very good chance a Master will win the overall competition. However the green shot can still win his class. Winning your class, to me is just as good as winning the shoot.
As the shooters skill level improves he/she moves up to the next class. You are only allowed to shoot in the greenshot class for one year then you are automaticlly move up to Sharp Shooter. If you are a hot-shot maybe up to Expert. You can stay in any of these classes forever if your scores prove you to be at that skill level. Top of the food chain here is the Masters. If there are no shooters in your class you move up one class for the competition but can never shoot down a class.
 
How do you get more guys out more often??

The same problem exists with trap and skeet tournaments. Some guys will go to thier local club and participate in a tournament but will never travel to another club for a competition. So its the same regular die hards every weekend travelling across the province to shoot. Yet 15 years ago you could easilly run a succesful inter-club shoot every weekend of the year, all with high attendance.

Its just to far to travel to a match (especially to a range capable of hosting a long range shoot) and most guys arent interested in a tourny thats more than a day long. As soon as you introduce the thought of adding accomodations to the cost you loose probably 75% of the people who may have been thinking about it.. A lot of guys used to pull trailers for thier accomodations but with the price of fuel its just not feasible anymore.

There's no easy solution as the trap and skeet world has found out in the last 10 years. Getting the word out is not enough. Discounted targets for newbs isnt enough. Easy access might do it, but adding a 600m range to every other town is not going to be easy.

For me it boils down to: I dont have a place to practice, how iwll I ever bea ble to compete. Just .02 from one of the guys that has "been thinking about trying it" for quite some time.
 
gth,
The cost of travel and accommodations is a factor. If you can split this between 3-4 shooters it is not so hard on the pocketbook. I am one of those guys that drags a trailer to all the matches. Gas and a campsite is cheaper then gas and a motel. Two day matches are easier if you have to travel 4+ hours each way.
You are correct about the usual suspects at every match, yes these are the diehards. I also find the social part of shooting to be almost as enjoyable as squeezing the trigger at a target 1000 yards away and actually hitting the middle.
Getting a place to practice can be anywhere from dry firing on the livingroom floor, to 10m air rifle to 100 yard .22. it just takes committment. Shooting a
.22 at 100 yards will teach you allot about reading wind.
 
Here's been my experience so far:

Years ago, I watched a match where the AB and SASK provincial shooting teams competed up to 1000 yards. From that point on, I've had an interest in trying it out.

Today, I live in the lower mainland, BC and there's just not a lot of ranges past 200 yards around here. My local range goes up to 200 yards, but on some days that facility is just bursting at the seams. The main range is a mixture of pistol/rifle, so you are in close proximity to the next shooter and you usually have to wait for an open spot.

The point is that there's a lack of facilities where I live. I remember the ranges in AB and wish we had something like it near here.

I found out about the BCRA Tactical competition in Chilliwack. It's not that far away, and the course of fire sounds like too much fun!

However I own a T3 Lite hunting rifle, works fine on my local range, but not suitable for anything past 500 yards. So to compete, this now means I have to join the BCRA, travel out to Chilliwack, and get a different rifle.

It all adds up as barriers to entry. I'm fine with selling :( my Tikka one day, and getting something with a heavy target barrel suitable for competition. I'll have to upgrade my optics of course.
 
while i do plan on trying out long range shooting when the warm weather is back, my options are limited as i cannot drive myself around and rely on my wife to drive having 2 young kids t otake care of means the matches i can attend have to be close enough for my wife to drop me off and pick me up later that day. it helps that cannought is a stones throw from my place but they seem to only have civvie shoots once or twice a year there so that leaves me very limited and doesnt really justify the various club fees to be able to shoot once or twice a year especially on a monthly budget so tight a box of ammo every 2 weeks is a stretch
 
SignGuy,
Once the shooting season starts, there is shooting every Wednesday afternoon at Connaught that starts around 4 O'clock in the afternoon. They also shoot just about every Sunday.
They have a clubhouse that you can hang out in until Mrs. SignGuy decides you have had enough fun for one day.;)
Blow the budget and get some reloading equipment, you will be saving money in a very short time. About 10 boxes of ammo will cover the cost of reloading equipment. Add components only as you need them.
You are running out of excuses, I expect to see you at Connaught this summer:rockOn:
 
maynard said:
SignGuy,
Once the shooting season starts, there is shooting every Wednesday afternoon at Connaught that starts around 4 O'clock in the afternoon. They also shoot just about every Sunday.
They have a clubhouse that you can hang out in until Mrs. SignGuy decides you have had enough fun for one day.;)
Blow the budget and get some reloading equipment, you will be saving money in a very short time. About 10 boxes of ammo will cover the cost of reloading equipment. Add components only as you need them.
You are running out of excuses, I expect to see you at Connaught this summer:rockOn:
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LOL well i might go ahead this spring and by the wife a nice lee aniversary reloading kit for her birthday you know because she wants to get into IPSC
as for cannought if they are out there that often i just might spring the $$ for a membership and spend a bit of time there, gonna have to get one of those 4wheel drive All terrain scooters to get from the line to the butts and back with LOL but eah once i finally get all these bugs sorted out on my stevens 200 i will start coming out there
 
IMHO start with forming a casual small bore silhouette club at your range. It is allot of fun, builds some great skills, and with .22's is cheap to feed. :)
 
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ben hunchak said:
i think the answer is simple...like other shooting disciplines....make it less of an Equipment game!!
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Ben, That is exactly what the F(M) class is all about. Off the shelf factory gun with very few mods. Stock must be factory but can be modified, barrels must be orginal but can be re-crowned, free floated and in the factory offered caliber. Any sights/scope, any rest, handloads or factory ammo.
Will one factory rifle out-shoot the rest? Will a Rem 700P in .308 beat a Tikka T3 in 6.5x55 or a Savage in .223? For this game the rifle is less important, more likely the nut behind the butt that will end up on top.
 
So in other words, the guy with a '94 30/30 can compete against a guy with a Rem xp100 with a $2000 scope, $2000 spotting scope, $1000 bench rest, neck turned cases, etc. I'm not putting down this shooting, but this is what a newcommer sees, and this is what the average Joe sees, the average Joe that usually just hunts deer once a year and would like to shoot a bit more year round. Its the same in all disciplines, Trap, skeet, IPsc, BPCR, etc.
 
How about clubs sponsoring Boy Scout/Girl Scout and Cadet shooting workshops - a badge course for example. An entire day event, new shooters would attend a safety briefing. Following the safety briefing, 2 new shooters would team up with one adult and begin target practice. After lunch, hold a short scope and long range shooting course followed by long range practice. In the last few hours of the day, hold a friendly 100m shooting competition. At the conclusion, offer complimentary membership in a new competition shooting club. (Archery could be offered to those that do not wish to use firearms).

The new shooter club members could then reserve a spot and compete on one morning or afternoon on designated weekends. Some adult range members may wish to mentor shooters who show great interest. Rifles could be borrowed or rented from a club. Those serious about more target practice and competition could possibly upgrade to an associate type membership for those under 21 at a reduced cost without share purchase.
 
ben hunchak said:
So in other words, the guy with a '94 30/30 can compete against a guy with a Rem xp100 with a $2000 scope, $2000 spotting scope, $1000 bench rest, neck turned cases, etc. I'm not putting down this shooting, but this is what a newcommer sees, and this is what the average Joe sees, the average Joe that usually just hunts deer once a year and would like to shoot a bit more year round. Its the same in all disciplines, Trap, skeet, IPsc, BPCR, etc.
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So what? Newcommers to any sport see this all the time. So I take my kid to hockey and see some other kid with a $150.00 hockey stick. You can see it in triathlons too - $200 bikes and $15,000 bikes. Like, yeah, whatever! Its all about having fun, doing what you like to do, learning and seeing your improvement. I love to see the expensive stuff!
 
I suspect anyone interested in rifle target shooting is probably going to own something other than a wobbly action. Many very affordable factory bolt guns are surprizingly accurate. The extra $1000 dollars is spent to make a 1.0 MOA group into a 0.5 MOA group.
 
Good press, if a team visits from another nation, make it known to the public. There is so much bad press on guns, it would be a sweet change. Maybe some backing from the larger sports stores. Sounds like a dream I know, but thats the way it should be. Would certainly open some eyes to a new fun thing to do.
 
ben hunchak said:
So in other words, the guy with a '94 30/30 can compete against a guy with a Rem xp100 with a $2000 scope, $2000 spotting scope, $1000 bench rest, neck turned cases, etc. I'm not putting down this shooting, but this is what a newcommer sees, and this is what the average Joe sees, the average Joe that usually just hunts deer once a year and would like to shoot a bit more year round. Its the same in all disciplines, Trap, skeet, IPsc, BPCR, etc.
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Not a '94, but an out of the Box Savage , Tikka , Ruger , etc, cetainly can with the right scope.
Wind is everything at long range, if you can't dope it, it don't matter what yer shootin'!
But then, you know that if you shoot BPCR, right?:)
Cat
 
Ditch Doc said:
Blackthorne, I think you hit the nail on the head!!! I tried to get involved in long distance type shooting here in Alberta only to give up in frustration after several trips out to a vacant range. It's like a secret society that everyone knows exists but no-one talks about!!
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Why does this sound familiar....
ORA use to have orientation days for newbies. Good way to get introduced without any pressure of competition.
APRA should try the same...
 
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