Challenge match idea

[Don McDowell]

"If you build it they will come." I'm sure some would give it a try Don but then others might pass. I'm not too keen on having someone I don't know shoot my rifle with ammo I don't know and worse still letting him clean it. We used to put all the names in a hat and draw for Silhouette teams at our last shoot of the year and call it a 'fun shoot'. Trouble is it weren't no fun trying to do well against the odds. I never let one of those scores go in my NRA book. Then we tried what we called a Hunter Match. Standard Silhouette course of fire but no Spotter and unlimited shots in a 10 minute time limit. It took about two of those and all the smart shooters said, "I think I'll watch." It was like watching a field full of prairie dogs poppin' their heads up. Without a spotter on steel you can't see your shot impact if you stay on the gun for the proper follow through. It was a real good way to learn a bunch of bad habits. Now what Brian is hinting at is basically the way I shot the Quigley this year. As a result of our new young scoring lady messing up her boards I wound up in the 4th relay both days. I was on the line with Pat Taylor and Dick Hansen and Frank Dunks and from the third relay on not one spotter could call one shot. I heard, "Sorry I didn't see it," 48 times from Spot. After the match they took a look and found that 8 of the top 10 were in the first relay and the other 2 were in the second. So the facts as I see them are that you can do whatever you want to make it 'tougher' but the end result will just be a lower score for everyone after you've levelled the playing field. I don't know why someone who has spent $4000 on a rifle and a lot of time and effort developing an accurate load would want to give that advantage to someone who only shoots once or twice a year and call it fun. Thanks for listening.

May you all have a healthy and prosperous New Year.

Paul

Paul it would not be your rifle, and it would not be your ammunition.
The rifles would belong to the "club" the ammunition would be "factory" loaded .
Think of it sort of like the old Camp Perry Service rifle matches , where a person could show up, be issued a rifle and ammunition and go out on the line and compete..