ihmsa forums

well we could all go out and sell adds for the news paper and make it asset and not a liability like a lot of organization news letter
no forget that that's to much like work us just stay here and keep kicking this dead horse that's lot more fun
right spam daddy

Someone said earlier, why not try shooting Rugers & Contenders? Well, thats pretty much
the way this sport started out! Gates warned us against getting this sport into an equipment
race, and after he passed, we totally went against his advice. That horse has long left the
barn, and I guess we are stuck with what we have. Nobody in his right mind is going to get
into this sport if they have the PERCEPTION that they have to have a 2000 dollar revolver, or
a 2000 dollar production gun to be able to compete and win. I have tried to get friends to
give IHMSA a try, and had em go to matches with me. All of them saw what was winning the
first place slots, and chose to NOT continue, because of the PERCEPTION that the winning
expensive guns were what was required to compete! THIS is a big part of our not being
able to get new blood into our game.

What if for 1 time. Every state or regional director was involved in the Internationals held at any or all ranges,( like a 80 round everyday match). scores compiled by the internet, shoot offs after each gun fired, score compiled each day and posted on the internet,until all winners were declared. That way there would not be no long drive times.very little time
off from work.every one interested could compete. this one time event would generate more entries and money. just a suggestion. Jackie

.

Elgin Gates promoted custom guns in Unlimited only! He most certainly did NOT promote
them for Production and Revolver class. If you think the price of guns in a sport that is
quickly heading for extinction is not a problem, then I dont know what to say to you, because
it IS a problem! And, as for CASS or whatever, I got out of cowboys and indians by the time I
was 12 years and have no interest in doing so again, so I dont really CARE what the guns in
that so-called "sport" actually cost. We are talking about IHMSA, not CASS.

The early success of IHMSA has more to do with it was a new handgun sport when there weren't many handgun sports available. Autoloaders were not as popular back then as they are now so the PPC and IPSC type matches weren't big draws back then. Now days everyone is semi-auto crazy from CCW to race matches, autos are more popular. Back in the early days of IHMSA most everyone had some type of handgun that could be used to at least get started then later as tonedaddy mentioned you could get serious and buy a higher priced gun. TCs were also the mainstay of Production and now you have to hunt for aftermarket 10" barrels to use on your TCs for Production. I remember the big thing about IHMSA in the early days it was just plain flat out FUN. Most, but not all shooters, didn't care if they won or not, it was just fun to be able to hit a noisy, metal target at unheard of distances with a handgun. I have heard a lot of comments about the guns it takes to win now. I don't hear many comments about people having fun of just hitting targets regardless of what gun they are using. I am an example of bringing new guns, new loads, no sight settings and shooting matches just because it is still fun. With the costs of ammo and equipment today it is harder for a newbie to see the fun part of our sport without worrying about the cost to shoot. Used to be multiple ranges in each state and sadly many of those ranges are gone too. We have many issues that are beyond the control of just our organization to get IHMSA to growing again. I know of some clubs who have advertised in local papers to offer new shooters the chance to compete and other club members furnish guns and ammo. Maybe that is something that all clubs should try on an annual basis. If we can't grow our membership, fixing all the other problems won't help much if we don't have a membership base to support "reasonable" operating costs. Too bad the gun magazines almost totally ignore IHMSA articles or cover guns that are used in our matches. Lots of good suggestions here on the forum too but so far no way to implement any of them. My other post just focused on two small areas but if we can't even improve small areas then the big problems will probably never get solved. I can tell many of us will not give up and will fight to the bitter end to keep shooting steel. Heaven forbid we have to conduct local matches without a central organization, if nothing else just to coordinate between matches around the country. Oh well, I have rambled too long.

260, You are certainly right about the early days. It WAS lots of fun back then.
People didnt mind setting targets, etc., but now? You ask some of em now to
help set targets, they look at you like you said something about their momma!
It sure was a different time. I miss that time, too.

Jackie40X40 chimed in earlier about the internationals being held at local ranges where you wouldn't have a long drive. I kind of agree in a way, but, the closest range we have is still 4 hrs. out in any direction. One of the problems still lies with ranges hundred of miles away. What would help is trying to get some of the local ranges to help support our sport, but as mentioned, they are only interested in the Glock and fast action shooters and the young generation wants only to play video games and the such. Video games and cell phones are one of our worst enemies.

Will, why did you delete your post ????? I want to hear what you have to say !!

My feeling on this subject is that the game is basically fine the way it is, with a few exceptions. The only one that comes to mind right now is to allow any safe position for field pistol as it's suppose to reflect a hunting situation. But the main thing I don't see is the promotion of the sport. There should be ad's in most if not all gun and shooting related magazines. The promotion should reflect the importance of the one shot accuracy on a target. Not how fast or the number of rounds sent down range as in other shooting sports. I have been shooting IHMSA since 1984 and is my reason for all the reloading equipment and molds as I shoot cast. I sure hate to see this sport die. Hopefully with good promotion, other clubs could pick up matches even if it's limited to field pistol and small bore as many clubs don't have the room for big bore. Also if room is limited, could it be set up as a 20rd course rather than a 40. I know that that change would require a classification change also, such as the current classifications being group A and a 20 rd classification as group B. What about promoting IHMSA on some of the shooting web sites like the Cast Bullet Assoc and Cast Boolits etc. I know I have noticed many IHMSA shooters on these sites. I have found out that one person on one of these sites has moved into my area and has shot IHMSA before .I have been in touch with him to encourage to shoot again.