IHMSA PRESIDENTS COLUMN JULY 2011

[high standard 40]

I doubt any AA shooter is going to take the time and expense to travel hundreds or thousands of miles to attend the Internationals knowing he has little or no chance of winning because he has to shoot in International class. Therefore, it would be an impediment. Very simple.

[35isit]

I can agree that the two gun rule should go away. But that is not the only reason attendance is down at the Internationals. If I remember correctly it cost me $105.00 to shoot two guns. That's all I could afford to shoot after paying all the fees. I did get back $30.00 from working my three hours, but still $35.00 per gun is still at the brink of too much. We shoot at the same place for years so there is no excitement about going to a new place. Except for Sierra Bullets there is virtually no commercial row anymore. I bet there will be a good turnout for OKC in 2012 because it is new and somewhere we haven't been before.

[Knife Handler]

I doubt any AA shooter is going to take the time and expense to travel hundreds or thousands of miles to attend the Internationals knowing he has little or no chance of winning because he has to shoot in International class. Therefore, it would be an impediment. Very simple.

The suggestion about letting someone that didn't meet the two gun rule shoot in the International class was so they could shoot and not be turned away. As noted, we need participation. I would like to see the rule go away. Then all this would be moot. As posted, due to someone's personal problems, (financial, time, work or distance) they may not get the required scores shot, but would still like to compete in the Internationals. I really don't think that demanding you go shoot two guns before you can compete is the way to go. Just my 2 cents.

[Justin Cider]

For a person who only has one range within a reasonable driving distance, which probably includes a large portion of the population out there, it would be hard to get even two entries in if you were wanting to shoot 8-10 guns. Figure if you have one monthly match, and it you shoot 3-4 guns in a typical match, and there are 5-6 regular montly matches per year at your range, then it would be pretty tough to meet this quota.

And besides, the person who has shot less is only at a disadvantage to those who have shot more. So I would say this rule could actually damper some participation in some cases--and I don't think there are many people that go to a regular match just to meet this quota. If you like to shoot, you will be there when possible.

[braud357]

Justin - FYI, you only need 3 entries PER DISCIPLINE - for example, 3 in Big Bore (regardless of category), 3 in Smallbore, 3 in Field Pistol, 3, in Half-Scale, etc., etc. But I do agree with you - the match requirement needs to go away. Personally, I have to drive 175 miles to the nearest Big Bore range, the nearest ones after that are 200 and 260 miles away. In today's economy, that is an expensive trip !!