low shooter turnout

[pinshootrs]

anyone else notice a drop in shooters, still have the old diehards, but not much more.

 

[slow1911s]

I haven't at any of the matches I've been to. Friday night steel is still seeing 50+ entries. The USPSA matches I've been to are still getting 30-40+ per match, which is on par for as long as I've been shooting. Lot's of new faces, too.

I'd, if anything, expect participation to go up. Hell, everyone and their mother is buying guns and ammo and it has to go somewhere.

 

[cox7215]

sounds like no one can find ammo???

 

[HICKMAN]

I'm mostly affected by little league and work. It's also fishing season too

 

[singlestacksig]

anyone else notice a drop in shooters, still have the old diehards, but not much more.

April IDPA had 30 shooters, May had 37.. about normal or even above..
I don't think we have a drop in shooters..

 

[jason conley]

Lets see what it is like in one year.

 

[Archbishop]

I don't know if you meant at the range in general or at more organized deals. I was at Pops a couple of weeks ago on a Saturday and walked right in that was first in awhile I wonder if it's the price of ammo, and availability?

 

[sloughfoot]

NRA Highpower is dying. Declining numbers every year. Fully documented.

Pretty sad for freedom and liberty.

Project Appleseed is the only bright spot in the picture.

Lots of women and juniors at every Appleseed shoot.

Consider that for yourself and your family and your legacy.

 

[BillD]

Highpower may just be the most boring shooting sport there is. That might have something to do with it.

 

[wtfd661]

I'll admit I don't go to the range nearly as much anymore due to the cost & ammo availability. It sucks, but what are you going to do . Just waiting on availability to come back more than cost to come down.

 

[ML ll THUMBHOLE]

I'LL be there on Sat to check things out. Pin shooting sounds like a blast. I'm bringing my brother also. I'll most probably just watch the first time out just to see how it's being done, what to do and when. I dont mind being a rookie, just not a dumbass rookie.

 

[Disposable Heart]

Our numbers at Eagle Creek have dropped a bit, but we are selling more 10 visit passes than before. Folks are gearing up (range pass wise) for ammo to loosen up. ALOT more first time shooters than before. Ammo seems to be the main reason. .22s are all the rage right now.

One of the things I am seeing right now is more and more "strange calibers" like 5.7 and .32s than before. Seems to be the only thing that people can get ammo for. ALOT more .40 and all the .38s I see are being fed by ammo from boxes older than I. Seems to be that folks are ripping out their old ammo reserves and plinking a bit more. Not much more in the target shooters either, a marked rise in "defensive" shooters and sillouette targets.

When ammo loosens up a bit, we are going to be swamped!

 

[BillD]

Since I have had 12K primers on backorder for 8 weeks, I've cut down on my practicing. Still shoot the matches though. I save enough for that.

 

[rvb]

NRA Highpower is dying. Declining numbers every year. Fully documented.

The NRA Highpower service-gun game and CMP shooting will continue to decline every year until it dies when all the current participants are no longer around or interested.

It has nothing to do with the game itself or being "boring." It has to do with equipment and expanding a customer base. If your potential customer base is not interested in 20" iron-sighted rifles and cannot be allowed to compete with what they own, they won't come out and play. If these games would stop being so full of themselves and interested in preserving some antiquated fallacy of what defines a service rifle, the firing lines would be packed... they are not offering a product customers want.

Look at the # of ARs sold and the percentage of those that are carbines, have rails, etc. That's your customer base. People go buy an AR for fun/defense/whatever and want to learn to shoot... they then find out just to play the game they need a 20" free-floated gun that "looks correct" [cough]AWB[/caugh] and to try to be competative they need to reload, invest in a ton of gear, etc.

A good model is USPSA. They were starting to get in trouble as they had a bad rap for needing specialized equipment. They created the Production and Single Stack divisions so anyone could bring out their toys and play and business is booming. If highpower created a carbine division where M4-type guns could play, limited it to 200-300 yards, and ruled it in such a way that the average shooter could show up with the gear is his closet, they might survive. That might include allowing optics/dots (yea, I can hear the purists' heads popping).

They are now competing with 3-gun events now where the average guy CAN shoot what's in his closet. They enjoyed a long time with little/no competition. New competition in the market means the business providing what the customers want will survive.

-rvb

 

[singlestacksig]

I saw High power as requiring to much special equipment.. I have the correct service rifle, but not the mat, coat , spotting scope........
and all the other stuff ..
plus it seemed a bit boring..

time of day of the matches may have some to do with it also..

 

[rhino]

NRA Highpower is dying. Declining numbers every year. Fully documented.

Most if not all of the shooting sports governed by NRA are dying or effectively dead. Look at bullseye pistol, PPC, and NRA Action Pistol. In some cases, it seems like NRA is actively trying to kill the sports with foolish rule changes (which was the situation with Action Pistol just a few years ago). They do very little to promote the sports and in some cases stupidly restict participation to only special groups (like only cops can shoot PPC according to NRA rules).

All of the shooting sports under the umbrella of NRA would be better off if they were . . . not under the auspices of NRA.

 

[Lt. Commander]

I haven't shot a single round since the election. All my ammo is being saved for the end of the world...

Oh wait, I forgot. Al my guns where lost in that tragic boating accident so I couldn't shoot anything anyway....

Scott

 

[singlestacksig]

Most if not all of the shooting sports governed by NRA are dying or effectively dead. Look at bullseye pistol, PPC, and NRA Action Pistol. In some cases, it seems like NRA is actively trying to kill the sports with foolish rule changes (which was the situation with Action Pistol just a few years ago). They do very little to promote the sports and in some cases stupidly restict participation to only special groups (like only cops can shoot PPC according to NRA rules).

All of the shooting sports under the umbrella of NRA would be better off if they were . . . not under the auspices of NRA.

what changes did they try to make to action pistol?

I was not a fan of action pistol because it was not very friendly to a new shooter..
PAR timed stages just suck..

 

[rhino]

what changes did they try to make to action pistol?

I was not a fan of action pistol because it was not very friendly to a new shooter..
PAR timed stages just suck..

They arbitrarily changed who could go prone and when, which was one of the big things that cause an uprising among the small body of loyal participants. There were some others that escape my memory right now.

Another factor is that participants in the NRA sports do very little to promote their own games. I don't know if they're all shy, or if they want to keep their pond small so they can win the blue ribbon in 4-H or what. Most USPSA, IDPA, and similar shooters do everything they can to encourage new people to try their games. I've never once been approached or contacted by someone promoting bullseye, PPC, high power when I've been at a match or a range shooting. The only reason I learned about Action Pistol is because one of my USPSA shooting buddies discovered it, then got me hooked. He continues to be one of the few who actively promotes the game.

 

[BillD]

Highpower: All day at a match and you shoot 60 rounds. I like to shoot too much for a match like that.