Assuming that shooters cannot be satisfied by steady improvement in their own performance, but have to "win" to keep shooting:
Then it seems to me that we have a 2-part issue: shooter skill and equipment cost/performance. This makes BR shooting more like car racing than golf, I think.
If new shooters feel overwhelmed by shooting against the veterans, then there must be experience classes or a handicap system of some sort, analogous to bracket (drag) racing. The payout is higher to faster bracket cars, because speed costs money, so likewise the payout should be higher in the "open" class than in a 0.250-.500 agg class, or a 245-249 score class. [Personally, though, I'd rather shoot with, learn from, and get whipped (regularly) by the best.]
If equipment costs are a barrier to entry, one of the simplest systems is a "claim" event where the winning rifle can be purchased on the spot (without scope and rings, let's say) for some reasonable figure, like $1000. A careful shopper can pick up used BR rifle for that kind of cash, thus getting a better-than-any-factory rifle to learn with, and anyone who "claims" the winning rifle can no longer gripe that s/he doesn't have a competitive rifle. A really good rifle might change hands at every shoot.
And, if somebody wins with a low-$$ pawn shop special (you know, the ones that shoot 1/4MOA "all day long"), s/he stands to make a bit of extra money if another shooter claims it.
If you want to hold down the ancillary costs of front rests, load-at-the-range equipment, etc. the "claim" class could be required to shoot off a standard-issue bipod with pre-loaded ammo.
The main problem with a "factory" class is that the quality of the rifle is basically luck-of-the-draw. A "claim" rule prevents the lucky from ruling over the skilled. I have an old Rem 700V .222 that has done its share of winning in factory class, and I would think twice before I entered it in a "claim" event!
Toby Bradshaw
baywingdb@comcast.net
