g.willikers

Another 2 cents on this. After tying just about every variety of travel to matches and other stuff, the best arrangement was a very light, 13' Scamp, with a 10ft x 6ft living area. It weighed only about 1,000 lbs, was very comfy and didn't harm the tow vehicle or it's mileage much. And, if camping lost it's appeal after arriving at the destination, we stayed in a motel, left it hooked up, and used the trailer for a cargo hauler and a nice place to rest during the day. These are available from many manufacturers and easily fit in any garage.

chp5 says "seasoned shooters." Very tactful. What a nice young feller. EricW says "Make damned sure it runs so nobody's waiting 20 minutes for you to shoot the stage." Isn't the RO supposed to call a dnf if a shooter can't clear and continue pretty quick? If someone is taking way too long with a problem, and holding things up, whatever the equipment, it's the ROs fault for not calling it. DougCarden says "imagining what Col. Cooper is thinking watching this from his lofty perch." We all know what the Colonel thought of this game after about 1983, and it weren't pretty to hear. It's a pity all this conversation can't be enjoyed around a table with some good beer.

Hank Ellis says-"If you are too old and arthritic to handle a 9mm or .40 Minor for a match. Find another shooting sport. IPSC never has and hopefully never will cater to the lowest denominator. I'm too old and my eyes are too shot for NRA High Power but I don't cry over it." Yeah, but there are lots of satisfying substitutes for the highpower game using the same skills and techniques. Games like 100 yd bullseye, silhouette with, (dare I say it), .22s. And even field target for air guns. Eghads! All kinds of stuff, for big boomers to rimfire, readily available around the country, just about anywhere one lives. But what is there to satisfy as a substitute for uspsa games? There's steel challenge, of course, bowling pins, action pistol, all provide a place for rimfire, but try to find one. You would have to be mighty lucky to have a nearby club doing any of them. And none of these have anywhere the same attraction as running around an entertaining field course. It just ain't the same. From the conversations, it's getting clear that the majority would tolerate rimfire for juniors. But for seniors, it's either chuck all one's present gear and try to find some kind of minor power substitute, or hit the road. While switching to a minor 9mm or .38 sounds good on paper, having tried it, it's not all that much of an improvement. And we older guys have lots more time on our hands than most of you. If we returned there would be lots more help and less burnout. We already have the experience and knowhow, don't forget. Considering the number of uspsa members there are these days, in spite of the recent bragging from the home office, the participation is no higher than fifteen years ago. And that makes it quite a bit less in the real world, especially relative to the increase in population and gun ownership since then. Something to consider. In the meantime, for me, it's back to plan A - going to the range during the week, with a few pals and my wife, setting up props on an empty range, and having a very enjoyable day running stages with our trusty .22s. No charge and no waiting. Bye.

Lexor40cal says, "The whole idea here is to get more shooters out, regardless of age, size, ability." Awright! Now, if the guys who run the local matches will agree, betcha' there's plenty of former competitors who will be interested. A dot scoped Ruger 22-45, 'etc, in an open front holster and we semi old timers are back in business. As a side note, it's ok if normally calibrated poppers don't fall with only one hit from a rimfire. It's great fun, and more realistic, to have to hammer away on them with the .22 to make them go down.

Never mind the kiddies. How about .22s for us old guys with sore joints who can't do the .45s anymore. Can we come back or not?

zhunter: I do have a single stack, but every time the mag falls free, it hits me in the big toe and that hurts. Maybe I should spend a little less on ammo and buy some shoes.

We had .22 only side matches at our club and it usually drew about 5 - 10 extra people plus a dozen or so regulars, who joined in after finishing the match stages. There was a lot of reactive targets, plus whatever else we could dream up. The reactive targets were small, lightweight steel that fell easily, strings of clay pigeons on cardboard, knockover wooden stuff, 'etc. There were also poppers, the smaller uspsa version, and swingers to acclimate folks to develop regular match skills. The swingers were hand activated, although .22s will, indeed, knock over lightly set poppers with two or three hits. Sometimes only one is needed if the popper is hit high up. Some of the participants, like my wife, were only interested in .22, but quite a few moved up to the regular matches after getting skilled and confident with their rimfires. It wasn't hard finding someone to RO the rimfire matches, either. The RO, maybe with a helper, stayed with the stage all day and also got a lot of fun rimfire trigger time. When it was my turn to run it, betcha' I did it at least five times during the day. Great fun, too. We charged a small fee of $3 - $5 for adults, depending on what was needed for targets and such, and nothing for juniors. When the next crew took over running the matches and dropped the rimfire match, the general attendance went down a bunch. Guess they didn't care since the .22s were never renewed. But it's definitely a good idea and will bring in new folks. And it's just plain fun.

zhunter: The century is young. Two is one more than I usta' have.

zhunter: No, mine is bigger. It may only hold seven, but I have two. Say, if the cowboys can carry and use two sixguns at their matches........hmm??. Just a thought.

A single stack is a single action six gun that holds seven, hammer down on an empty chamber.

Adding .22s to uspsa matches is a great idea. It will not only allow youngsters to get involved, it will bring back past competitors who gave it up due to age. One obstacle for current shooters bringing their kids to matches is the cost or the effort of supplying them with ammo. .22s solves that problem. Many older guys have given up on the game due to joint and vision problems that greatly reduced their skills and fun. .22s could easily bring them back. No painful recoil, no bending to pick up brass, an inexpensive dot scoped rig to aid fuzzy vision. All to the good. Scoring could be modified to accommodate a .22 division. Kids could be scored the same as everyone else and adults could be scored more realistically, say, only A zones are counted or something similar. The bottom line is that .22s will increase participation, fur sure. Both the Action Pistol and Steel Challenge games include them. My 2 cents.

One of the best reasons for a club to add Steel Challenge is .22s! Rimfire Steel challenge is a great way to increase participation for any uspsa club. Regulars no longer will have a reason to discourage bringing their kids, wives, neighbors due to the cost or effort of supplying everyone with ammo. Old guys, (like me) who lost interest in uspsa and the like, due to failing eyes, sore joints and recoil that now hurts, can come back and do well again with a dot scoped .22. It's about the only entertaining game for .22. Build it and they will come. Me, too.

timers for airguns: www.gunfighter.com/timers/index-airgun.html