Forum Suggestion

[19 Turkeys]

Lynn, I was assuming 600 annual members paying $50. I did not factor in Life members.

Steve W.

[LOCKHART]

In my opinion, we killed tha hell out of IHMSA, when the leadership allowed
all the high dollar guns in! Elgin Gates would never have allowed this, and we
were a burgeoning sport when he was alive, like him or hate him, he got this
sport started for us. He warned against an equipment race, had seen it in pro
off-shore boat racing, and he was RIGHT! I went to a match in late 1980, saw what
was winning, TC contenders, Ruger revolvers, Smith & Wesson revolvers, etc. I had
access to those type of guns. Now, if the first match I had attended had had Freedom
arms revolvers, etc., and thats what it took to compete, I would never have joined this
organization in the first place. Now, having said that, that horse has left the barn! It's
like gettin un-pregnant! What do we do from here on to attract WORKING class folks
to join our sport? Maybe make a new class called STOCK, or BEGINNER class? With totally
PRODUCTION guns? Not something you have to wait 6 to 8 months for? (That isnt production!)
Just some suggestions from a man who also was a match director for 10 years at CTSA in
New Braunfels, Texas. Let the flaming begin!

[high standard 40]

This thread was started to encourage the "powers that be" to add a discussion group here for members only so we could discuss issues without discouraging possible new members.

I was offering a way for us not to "air our dirty laundry"..............and here we are doing just that.

[LOCKHART]

It was just my opinion, as an IHMSA member for 35 years. I guess if we dont
discuss bad things, then they arent really there, huh? And, good luck with
getting new members! I think THAT horse might have left the barn, too!

[260 Striker]

Respectfully, equipment is not an issue. Getting visibility of our sport out to new shooters is imperative if we want to gain new members. Look at the equipment costs for cowboy action shooting, IPSC and three gun events. I don't participate in any of these venues but just watching them on TV and looking at the cost of their equipment doesn't seem to deter them gaining new members. We just need more advertising. To be honest, the majority of complaints about equipment costs in IHMSA come from us old timers and not the potential new shooters. When a new shooter shows up we encourage them to use whatever they currently own and explain how our scoring and classification system doesn't pit new shooters against the more experienced silhouette shooters. If they ask about good starter guns we always mention TCs, Rugers and other entry level handguns. We just need to get new people to the ranges before we need to worry about equipment issues.

[LOCKHART]

RESPECTFULLY, equipment IS an issue! Like I said before, if in 1980, when
I attended my first match ( didnt shoot, just observing what it was about) and
I had seen 2500 dollar revolvers in the winners circle, I would NEVER have joined
IHMSA! C'mon, man, I dont think anyone in this sport could look me in the eye and
say that high equipment prices are NOT an issue! Maybe for some of you it isnt, but
in my household, it damn sure IS! There was a reason Gates didnt want an equipment
race in IHMSA, and now we are seeing WHY!

[LOCKHART]

People, in ANY sport, like to win! I know of no person who says "Boy, i sure like to
LOSE!" Back in 1981, my first year of IHMSA competition, I loved to shoot revolver,
still do, but in those days, if you didnt have more than 3 entries, the three that were
shooting revolver, got lumped into one group! Guess who the other 2 shooters in MY
group were? Bob Thomas and David Bradshaw, both International class shooters! I
almost quit shooting revolver as a result of that. You get tired of coming in 3rd
place all the time. And the old saw "you really only shooting against yourself" is
BS. That may in fact be true, but people just starting out, want to win their class.
That little piece of wood, to a new shooter, is a reminder that they WON! Thats the
kinda thing we need to get this organization back to, bringing in the little guys, the
newcomers.

[high standard 40]

RESPECTFULLY, equipment IS an issue! Like I said before, if in 1980, when
I attended my first match ( didnt shoot, just observing what it was about) and
I had seen 2500 dollar revolvers in the winners circle, I would NEVER have joined
IHMSA! C'mon, man, I dont think anyone in this sport could look me in the eye and
say that high equipment prices are NOT an issue! Maybe for some of you it isnt, but
in my household, it damn sure IS! There was a reason Gates didnt want an equipment
race in IHMSA, and now we are seeing WHY!

I don't know you personally, but with all due respect, we have been over this time and time again and equipment cost is NOT the overriding issue. It may be a small factor, but not the main issue. There was a discussion thread here that started last April and continued through August where all this was batted about. We can all sit in the comfort of our homes and speculate as to this or that being the cause of declining attendance at matches. So I have to ask, is "equipment cost" your opinion or have you actually done some research. You may or may not have.......but you see, I have. I am somewhat active on a different forum that is dedicated to gun ownership and shooting sports. The membership numbers of this particular forum are staggering. I have seen as many as 1000 people logged on at a time. At this very moment, 4:00 PM on a Friday, there are 629 people logged on to that forum. Last year I started a thread on "said" forum and asked for reasons why IHMSA was not popular. To date over 2500 people have viewed my question. That's not an insignificant number of people. The overwhelming response, and I'll paraphrase, ............."Silhouette is boring, the action games are where it's at". So I'll repeat again, equipment costs are not the problem. I remember the "good old days" when IHMSA was run by Elgin,there were only 3 categories, and "Production" meant just that. That was 1980, 35 years ago. We live in a VERY different world now....with very different ideas.

Equipment costs ??????? Go price a full complement of guns and "apparel" for Cowboy Action......or 3 gun, or any of the other "combat" games. Then go price a Contender and get back to me. I'll wait.

[hardtoseeovergut]

So we are Baseball? Yikes!!!

Cost is an issue, so is availability of components!

Kids these days are so ADD, I've watched so many flip thru vines its sad.

For those of you that don't know what a vine is, they are 6 second videos. Kids will flip to the next if they aren't amused in 2 seconds or less.

It's so sad.

[LOCKHART]

And with all due respect to YOU, highstandard40, the 2500 dollar
revolvers I spoke of werent just admitted to competition! Elgin Gates
hadnt been in his grave a YEAR, until they were judged legal for IHMSA
competition. We can argue about this, you have your opinion, I have
mine, and I dont think either one is gonna budge on either's opinion.
I'll just say we are gonna have to agree to disagree, and leave it at that!