Is Lorene going to track the number of entries in this trial category? Also, she should track the entries in Big Bore, Small Bore & Field Pistol. For this, 2010 should be the base. What we need to see is does this category bring in new shooters or simply shift current members into this new category?

As a match director, my main concern is that if this category is approved by the Board, John Fouts cannot update his IHMSAmatch software because he has lost the code.

We need to ensure that the Board makes an informed management decision understanding the impact this will have on already overworked match directors.

Steve W.

Here is my 2cents on this new class... I think its a bad idea.

What shooters are we really going after here? IMO trying to catch hunters & bring them into IHMSA is not the way to do it.
I am a hunter & I have allot of buddies who are hunters. Just because you are a hunter doesnt mean you are a "shooter" too. Many of my buddies are lucky to fire 3 shots sighting in & then another 2-3 all season long & that is it. A box of bullets will last them YEARS! Are these the kinda guys we are trying to draw?

What about the downside to adding a class, in addition to all the overhead as mentioned by Steve but then for shooters you are divvying up an already to small group. We have a problem with not enough shooters in each class at matches already so adding to the classes to draw a non existent group of shooters is foolish.

And with Jim Field's original idea, we would have attracted new shooters and been able to offer more than one class to the older shooters whose eyes have gotten tired...Me included.


Mike

Rodent wrote:And with Jim Field's original idea, we would have attracted new shooters and been able to offer more than one class to the older shooters whose eyes have gotten tired...Me included.


Mike

Mike,

I am not saying don't do it. I'm saying do it only if it makes sense both to the match director & IHMSA. If approved, it is not a "freebie" to IHMSA. New score cards will need to be developed as well as classification cards. There are costs involved. Also, the match director will have additional work as it cannot be added to the current match software. That means I am going to have to manually enter all the scores after I generate the report by the match software.

And, I am still waiting to see how this gets promoted. Are we as match directors going to get help from IHMSA or are we expected to do all the work and invest our time & money?

If we get five new members I am against it. If we get 500 I'm all for it.

Personally, if we are after new members and keeping old ones, I believe we would be money ahead to have clubs start shooting air pistol. We have added new members and gotten old ones back far more reliably here in SW Oregon with AIR than any other venture.

Steve W.

In a discussion with Mr. fields at the 2008 Internationals and some articles written by him. His idea was to add a Production Anysight category. Simple reason was there are a number of shooters that now only shoot Unlimited Anysight because they can't see iron sights any more. His feeling was they still own production guns and don't use them, they lay in the safe. I agree with his assessment. I also see the need to call the trial category Practical Hunter.

I personally like the small number of rules in it, but some may be unenforcable or interpreted differently at different ranges. Any barrel may be ported if shot from a safe position. Shooter A shows up with 6" ported revolver and a 7X scope He can't shoot it in any category legally. Shooter B shows up with a identical revolver and a red dot scope. He can shoot it freestyle in the new category if he can prove he can do it safely. We have never allowed porting or muzzlebrakes on barrels less than 12 inches long including brake. I feel it should not have been done for this category either.

I have set up a gun and got sight settings for this new category. I will shoot it at our first match March 6th in Lawrenceburg Ky.

Let me play devil's advocate here please.

At our club, we let anyone shoot any firearm (handgun or rifle) that does not cause target damage. We have people shoot .22LR rifles and 30-30 lever action rifles. They have a grand time even though these events are not sanctioned.

If someone showed up at our range with a handgun as described under this Practical Hunter class, they could shoot it even if Jim Fields had not made this proposal.

My point is, if you have one of these firearms, why do you feel it necessary to make it an official class? Just shoot it. 99.9% of us profess that we are just shooting against ourselves and trying to better ourselves.

And in my 26 years of shooting this sport I have yet to see anyone show up at a range with one of these handguns. Maybe I'm dense, but I really do not see that this class will add any appreciable new members and it will create a whole bunch of work for the match directors.

Also, I have posted a request on the Talk with the President section asking specifically what process will be used to make a decision on this. I look forward to a detailed answer.

Steve W.

Steve, While I agree with you, I don't see this new category bringing in a bunch of new shooters. I do think the category propsed by Mr. Fields would have given us blind people another category to shoot. More categories for us that are continuing to shoot will bring more money in to IHMSA. The guy that is only shooting UAS categories would have another one to shoot. Giving the host club more entries thus more money. Excitement in shooting silhouette is the only thing that's going to bring new shooters in. Most clubs can hook one or two a year, but we need to hook many more.

Greg,

No one has yet responded to my questions. What statistical analysis is IHMSA going to use to determine if this venture is worthwhile? Is the impact on the overworked match director (me) being considered as we cannot modify John Fouts' software since the code has been lost? What materials is IHMSA going to provide to help promote this trial?

It is one thing to have someone shooting a new discipline. It is quite another to implement it so that it does not cause us to loose a match director which will result in loosing clubs.

I agree, keeping current members is a priority. But I will tell you this. If we do not loose a single member (meaning we old f**ts can't die) it will still take at least 500 new members to be added quickly to keep IHMSA financially viable & stable. This discipline will not do that by itself. Each club is going to have to commit to it, publicize it and each member recruit someone.

Warren promised to publish the financial results of 2010 in the March paper. I anxiously await that as I am trending our finances and it is not good people!

Steve W.

Greg,

I'm not sure if this will help, or hurt IHMSA shooters.

5. A rest such as a bipod or a sandbag supporting the barrel in a prone position may be used by a new unclassified shooter and by shooters in classes A and AA.

It might just stack up a whole lot of folks in AA who won't be able to get up to AAA once they no longer can depend on a bipod or sandbag for support.

Rather then have shooters immediately give up in frustration, it could just delay it until they have to take the bags away.

Steve, While I agree with you, I don't see this new category bringing in a bunch of new shooters. I do think the category propsed by Mr. Fields would have given us blind people another category to shoot. More categories for us that are continuing to shoot will bring more money in to IHMSA. The guy that is only shooting UAS categories would have another one to shoot. Giving the host club more entries thus more money. Excitement in shooting silhouette is the only thing that's going to bring new shooters in. Most clubs can hook one or two a year, but we need to hook many more.
Greg
Ky State Director

That is exactly how I feel. My eyes are getting older and I find that I have to scope more of my pistols. According to the current rules, they all have to be shot in UAS. What is the use? If there would be a Revolver Any Sight and a Production Any Sight as Mr. Firlds suggested, it would mean more shooting for me and more money for IHMSA.
Sorry that I practically repeated what you said Greg.


Mike