Chuck wrote:well located for who exactly........not for anyone north of the border for sure...a bit more central??
Well Chuck - build one North of the border.
Of course, in order to do so, you will need the land, planning consent and a customer base oh and a bottomless pit of money too - ah I can hear you shouting now - there is a huge customer base. Well if you build it in the borders, those further North will moan it is too far South. Build it in the North and you will get the opposite. In order to make a business successful you are going to need a good customer base. Look at some of the private ranges - how busy are they actually? The answer is, they are not busy enough to stand on their own feet and survive.
Mike
(sorry for going of on a tangent - but just responding.............)
John25 wrote:
Is it time to make more space for 'F' class stand alone and/or 'any ammo' competitions at the Imperial main meeting?
There's loads of space - problem is not enough F Class competitors yet. There's at least a butt or two available alongside all the usual comps plus at least two mornings and other times where an F Class only competition could be held.
If we had all the guys who were here at the Europeans at the Imperial there would be plenty of space for them but noones pushing them to come.
Come up with some ideas and send them to Shooting Committee ASAP and I am sure something will happen
Love
Karen
I spent ten years offering up ideas and trying to improve the image of Bisley.
I met with intransigence from both my employers and some members of the 'public'
Now it is someone elses turn.
Yes there is room in July for more competitors but it will never be filled with TR shooters which is why I opened this debate in the first place. By 'more space' I meant in the realms of equal recognition, support and encouragement for 'non TR' disciplines.
If shooting is to grow as a sport in the UK we would do well to look overseas at the US and understand that practical/tactical/IDPA type shooting is the fastest growing area within the sport. It is the area winning a higher and higher share of sponsorship, of price money and the cost to get into this area of the sport is comparatively low. It places much more emphasis on technique & skill and less on what equipment you have. It also moves away from shooting on square ranges where the only real improvement you can make is on your accuracy.
A shooting sport that ecompasses speed, accuracy, safety, decision-making, fitness and above all a variety of targets / scenarios is what is driving the sport in the US. It isn't for everyone but I do think it will always bring in more people to our sport than pure F-Class which to many outside of our world looks dull & expensive.
TJC wrote:If shooting is to grow as a sport in the UK we would do well to look overseas at the US and understand that practical/tactical/IDPA type shooting is the fastest growing area within the sport. It is the area winning a higher and higher share of sponsorship, of price money and the cost to get into this area of the sport is comparatively low. It places much more emphasis on technique & skill and less on what equipment you have. It also moves away from shooting on square ranges where the only real improvement you can make is on your accuracy.
A shooting sport that ecompasses speed, accuracy, safety, decision-making, fitness and above all a variety of targets / scenarios is what is driving the sport in the US. It isn't for everyone but I do think it will always bring in more people to our sport than pure F-Class which to many outside of our world looks dull & expensive.
'Practical' is a swear word at Bisley. Despite the eforts of a number of people over a very long period, it remains so.
There is new management in the house...they just need to look at the opportunity & be open-minded. It is actually one of the things I like about having a CEO who isn't a shooter...he is just looking to be successful and to grow the sport. If he is and if he looks outside of what we have at the moment then hopefully he will see the upside.
TJC wrote:If shooting is to grow as a sport in the UK we would do well to look overseas at the US and understand that practical/tactical/IDPA type shooting is the fastest growing area within the sport. It is the area winning a higher and higher share of sponsorship, of price money and the cost to get into this area of the sport is comparatively low. It places much more emphasis on technique & skill and less on what equipment you have. It also moves away from shooting on square ranges where the only real improvement you can make is on your accuracy.
A shooting sport that ecompasses speed, accuracy, safety, decision-making, fitness and above all a variety of targets / scenarios is what is driving the sport in the US. It isn't for everyone but I do think it will always bring in more people to our sport than pure F-Class which to many outside of our world looks dull & expensive.
Totally agree with you there. As well as everything you have mentioned, it's also damn good fun and the people are generally great!
Yes, you can spend thousands on kit like in F-Class, but you can be competitive with cheaper equipment. It's very simple (and relatively cheap) to get into, and once you have learnt the basics you get as much out of it as you put in. I shoot with some people who are very competitive and others who just do it for the fun of it (I'm in the middle somewhere!). There's something for everyone in the practical disciplines, and I'd encourage everyone to try it out if they haven't already...
TJC wrote:If shooting is to grow as a sport in the UK we would do well to look overseas at the US and understand that practical/tactical/IDPA type shooting is the fastest growing area within the sport. It is the area winning a higher and higher share of sponsorship, of price money and the cost to get into this area of the sport is comparatively low. It places much more emphasis on technique & skill and less on what equipment you have. It also moves away from shooting on square ranges where the only real improvement you can make is on your accuracy.
A shooting sport that ecompasses speed, accuracy, safety, decision-making, fitness and above all a variety of targets / scenarios is what is driving the sport in the US. It isn't for everyone but I do think it will always bring in more people to our sport than pure F-Class which to many outside of our world looks dull & expensive.
Wow - this man speaks some sense! More disciplines equals more shooters! NRA 'new blood' please note and follow up.
Also, the US has different classes for 'sling' shooters - using other calibres and optics. This is why the Americans were initially slow to pick up on F Class.
The 'issued ammo' thing has imposed an un-necessary restriction - both cost and shooting-wise and maybe this is now beginning to show in reduced TR entries.
TJC wrote:If shooting is to grow as a sport in the UK we would do well to look overseas at the US and understand that practical/tactical/IDPA type shooting is the fastest growing area within the sport. It is the area winning a higher and higher share of sponsorship, of price money and the cost to get into this area of the sport is comparatively low. It places much more emphasis on technique & skill and less on what equipment you have. It also moves away from shooting on square ranges where the only real improvement you can make is on your accuracy.
A shooting sport that ecompasses speed, accuracy, safety, decision-making, fitness and above all a variety of targets / scenarios is what is driving the sport in the US. It isn't for everyone but I do think it will always bring in more people to our sport than pure F-Class which to many outside of our world looks dull & expensive.
Sounds good to me, apart perhaps from the fitness bit!
Something I've notice over the years, particularly in the .22 world, .22TR is dying, my primary rifle club in Somerset is now predominately .22 Benchrest or Sporting/gallery rifle. The shooting society at the University of Kent is entirely Sport/Gallery rifle, with some clay shooting, and looking to some service rifle shooting at Bisley and Hythe
