Continuing from a deleted thread.

jackie schmidt said:
Rangerat, exactly what is this "status quo" that is not to be disrupted.
Benchrest is brutally simple. You sit down at the Bench, the man says commence fire, you have a certain amount of time to shoot a group. You do this five times, they average the groups, the shooter with the smallest average wins the yardage.
What part of that do you want to "disrupt".
I have heard those who actually shoot Benchrest say that it is Tedious, and Difficult, but I have never heard a shooter who actually participates in Benchrest say it is Boring.
Once again, it seems we get the most criticle critique from those who know very little about Benchrest at the Registered Match Level........jackie
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Jackie,
To answer your question, I have no desire to disrupt benchrest shooting. I shoot several hundred carefully reloaded rounds a week through my rifle and pistols and look forward to each trip to the range to improve my technique and become increasingly accurate. I am at the stage of development to understand the difference between technique and my own talent, or lack thereof. I believe that accurate shooting is 80% mental and the very best shooters are naturals. Unfortunately, I realize I am not a natural and need much practice to achieve my incremental goals. Sadly, reading the posts to this forum I realize I am not a candidate for organized benchrest shooting.
 
Rangerat

Too the contrary,you are probably a perfect candidate to get into Competitive Benchrest.

You state that you are already shooting several hundred carefully loaded rounds now.That shows the type of dedication and desire that it takes to do this. This talent thing is sort of over rated. It seems that the most talented Benchrest Shooters are the ones who are doing what you are already doing, spending a lot of time at the range, shooting, and learning.
I do not know what you are shooting at this time, but if you could ever sit down with a real, honest to godness Benchrest Rifle, in front of a good set of flags, and lay down a couple of sub .200 groups, you would say, "wow".
Granted, there is nothing easy about the Competition. At every Match I go to in our Region, I am going to be shooting against Hall of Famers, World Team Members, NBRSA National Champions, and World Champions. Plus, a whole host of others who are doing there darndest to be on top at the end of the week end.

But that is the beauty of this game. We don't sugar coat anything. To be competitive, it takes the best in equipment, a lot of practice, some luck, and a dedication to perfection that you already poccess.
I say go for it..........jackie
 
Lynn

Thanks for the input. We just got popped with a 5.8 magnitude earthquake. It shook some of our paintings off the walls, and we live a good distance from the origin of the quake.
 
jackie schmidt said:
But that is the beauty of this game. We don't sugar coat anything. To be competitive, it takes the best in equipment, a lot of practice, some luck, and a dedication to perfection that you already poccess.
I say go for it..........jackie
Click to expand...

Thanks for the encouragement Jackie. One of the reasons I have been following this forum is to better understand which caliber and rifle will be my next step. Still pondering.
 
Ranges/Commitment /Economics

I have been on this forum for a very short time Feb. 08( so forgive me in advance).Our local range is setup with 3 yardages 50,100 200.One bench at 50yds. 2 at 100, 2 at 200, We've tried to hold matches from 22.RF to centerfire rifle.Because of the LIMITED # of stations ,shooting a round of say 8-10 shooters(about the # we started with) turned into a real ordeal(setup time ,changing targets etc.)So having a range capable of holding some sense of a match is important.Commitment-with the above scenario you can see why turnout quickley dropt off with complaints of(his-her) conditions were better/worse than mine etc.(luck of the draw determined shooting order) when money is on the line( 60-40 split 1st 2nd place $2.00 entry fee) some people lose all their sportsmanship:( We no longer hold a scheduled set of matches. Economics-Traveling as we all know by now has been a pricey venture, the closest short BR range is over a 100 miles the closest 1000yd BR range is over 200 miles..As it stands now a small group of us gather at a friends farm and and shoot for the fun of it he has 1 bench (wood) but targets at 200,400,600 and 800 yds winner buys the meat (burger-brats) losers the beverages;).....Morale IHMO we need more and closer ranges(good luck trying to get a farmer to put up 600 acres of 3500$ acre land tho:rolleyes): with shooters that are in it for the pleasure of shooting...........Oh yeah forgot the environmental impact study
 
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What

You dont have to be old to shoot BR.And if you read what is written I said kids find it boring.There was no negativity intended just blunt truths.Dont read things into posts read the post.The average age of a BR shooter is?this isn't a sh*t stir just pointing out the truth as I see it.BR is as hard as you want it to be the main competitor we face at the line is ourselves.Mebe try a international Junior postal shoot ?
 
Mckinnie

I don't suppose anybody would entertain the notion that all of these "young people" might be wrong. This is not a tv sitcom where all of the adults are idiots and baffoons and all of the young people have all of the problems figured out.
Many of the young people I know, (under 30), seem get video games and reality mixed up.........jackie
 
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Hey guys

Since when did this become an old / young thing? I started shooting BR in my 30's. We had a shooter start shooting BR while he was still in college -- mid-20s at best. (I hooked him when I let him shoot my rail gun). It's a matter of contracting the disease and having the means (read time and money) to support the habit.

If you want to do it bad enough, you'll find a way. If you want to spend your youth chasing skirts on Saturday night rather than pre-loading, well, who can blame you.

Another load of crap is the elitist moniker. People think you are an elitist because you have the crazy rests, guns, custom bullets, etc. You "must" be rich to have that stuff, so you "must" be an elitist snob. But, when you go to a match and see the folks there, you are looking at some of the sorriest examples of elists who ever gathered.

Sure, it takes money to shoot BR. But, its a matter of priorities. I sold most of my gun collection to buy my first BR rifle, and its just grown from there. So, how do you lose the elitist moniker? Be an ambassador at the range. Answer people's questions. Show an interest. Look for common ground. Hell, you're both shooters, so start from there. Its really the best way to build the ranks.
 
New blood

When was the last time anyone brought a New person to the range or a compitition? If you have kids of shooting age ask if some of their friends would like to try shooting,or friends of the grandkids. A little time invested in bringing in NEW BLOOD I think would be of great benifit for the whole sport. Remember only about 8-9% of the population shoots, about the same for the anti gun group so that leaves about 82-84% of the public that is on the fence . I think it's up to all of us to be ambassadores to the sport as a whole. I can guarranty with a little time and patience a new person will soon be hooked . Start with a RF or a light recoiling CF (noise is a big factor in flinching to a new person) use some small water balloons to get their attention and work up to group shooting.Keep their best and worst targets to show how much the've improved and let them brag to their friends about what they did (you'll soon get calls from their friends). Start with the basics GET'EM to the RANGE
 
I hate to tell you guys this but benchrest is growing faster than it EVER has, unfortunately it is all outside the US of A. Benchrest now has more shooters than EVER and only the US of A is having a decline in membership. And by the way it is 11.00 a gallon of gas in England. Had NBRSA not screwed around and done NOTHING for the World Championships, NBRSA would have all the foreign benchrest shooters as members. The foriegn countries are mostly older shooters with it seems just the Finnish and Swedish countries having younger shooters. My son just started shooting and he does not find it boring, as he put it, it is boring to watch.

Jim
 
Not surprised.

I have tried to contact the NBRSA on numerous occasions regarding membership, but have not been contacted. Maybe the old guard wants no one new.
 
Butch Lambert

I have tried both contacts. First attempt was a couple emails to Lou Murdica,
and also the email on site to the NBRSA, to include the President. No responses. Pretty disenchanting.
 
OK...I've read through this whole thread...here are some (not necessarily organized) thoughts and observations...

I've never met a nicer group of people...no, you may not like everyone and they may not all like you, but I doubt anyone can tell me of a group where everyone did get along perfectly...

I'm raising a family with 2 boys all over the place playing baseball for most of the year...I seldom get out to the range to practice and folks around here will tell you that I miss alot of matches...Yes, my score generally reflects it too! But I'm still shooting and learning and participating as often as I can...

It does take money and it does take more money to compete with the best equipment...I shot for the first 8 months with a factory .223 because that is what I could do...some said it was silly for me to do it, but I learned and I stayed and I'm now shooting a 30BR...

I want to shoot and compete at the highest level and I expect to do that as I get older and have less baseball games to attend...that doesn't mean I can't do MY best to compete against THE best now...I will be that much further ahead when I'm really able to dedicate some real time to it...

Both of my boys have competed in matches and both enjoyed the matches. They both purchased used rifles (with mostly their own funds) and I've supported them as much as I could. My older son, now in high school, hasn't shot in awhile and he probably won't for awhile, but I expect he'll get back into it at some point. My younger son still shoots when he can and seems to love the sport (not as much as baseball though!)...

I know many club matches and some registered matches include a Factory Class. I do not think I would have started down this road if I couldn't have started in Factory. I do think that Factory and possibly modified factory should be put in as real and valid classes by both IBS and NBRSA and that clubs / IBS / NBRSA need to do a better job of letting people know that is an option...

The Juniors program needs to be improved. Hal Drake and others have started a Juniors fund for juniors who compete at the Fairfax IBS matches and some other clubs have recognized Juniors. It doesn't have to be much and in my opinion it should NOT be an "every kid gets a trophy" thing, but some recognition for the Juniors will go a long way to getting them hooked on the sport. I posted on the IBS Nationals, but at the risk of duplication:

The IBS Score Nationals recognize Junior shooters, my youngest won both the 100 and 200 last year. But, this year's Nationals are scheduled in September when the kids are in school. My boys would have to miss at least a day of school and possibly two to be able to attend. It sure would be nice if they were held at a better time for them...and for parents who might want to attend but are limited with kids in school...

Many years ago someone sent me a quote about baseball - I have no idea who said it:

“Grip a baseball when you're young and it holds you the rest of your life.”

I'm thinking that would help Benchrest as well...Enough of my soap box...

Tom
 
TBonz said:
OK...I've read through this whole thread...here are some (not necessarily organized) thoughts and observations...

I've never met a nicer group of people...no, you may not like everyone and they may not all like you, but I doubt anyone can tell me of a group where everyone did get along perfectly...

Tom
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Mr. T.Bonz, ladies and gentleman, for once and for all we all need to understand that the BR is no different to any other sport, service or product.

The BR needs to be advertised, promoted and sold just like any other sport, service or product.

It's that bit harder, as the BR hasn't have the following or perhaps the money to do so. If this is the case,,,,,,,,,,,,

The BR members need to do the advertising, promoting and selling by themselfs if they don't wanna commission it out to the professional know how marketing organizations.

There was another thread on this subject deleted yesterday and one wonders why?

Gentleman, was it because we all know about advertising, promoting and selling the BR so much that we don't need to learn any more, or was it because some fiery gentleman went out of self control and started calling other forum members with inappropriate names as they became desperate and couldn't stand the heat in the kitchen?

Con
 
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Deleted thread...

...was deleted by the thread initiator. I believe the comment was "It ran out of useful dialog."

Can't say that I disagree...

They must be puttin' something mor in the water these days. I think in the summer they add more chlorine. Any studies on chlorine causing irritability?
 
I'm going to compose a decent response to this thread later today ('cause I have to go to work soon)

BUT...

I'll add a viewpoint that this thread is missing. I'm just going to preface it by saying that I only started BR shooting in the beginning of this summer and enjoy it quite a bit. Oh, yeah, I'm 19 too.
 
Wilbur may be right here :eek: It seems almost everyone I know has gotten divorced within hte last couple of years. Chlorine???? A few years ago...everyone I knew was having kids....I thought it was something in the air...mainly feet..:D:D


Hovis
 
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