In 1983 I got the local Anheuser-Busch distributor, my employer, to sponsor five of us Massachusetts lads to Coors. The next year I got him to put up $500 for prize money for a Schuetzen shooting match, 100 shots, 10 per German ring target. Prizes $300, $150, $50 as I recall. My goal was to drum up interest. An older Camp Perry Smallbore-shooting, widely experienced competitor asked if 22rf was allowed, causing me to consult with a lot of folks, including Mike Stevens who was the ASSRA Schuetzenmeister at the time. I called Mike three times, before-during-after the match. I told the old fellow that we couldn't allow 22rf to compete in the match. He graciously accepted this Soloman-like decision, shot the match anyhow, had a good time, did very well but would not have won. The reason that I/we didn't allow him to compete with CF shooters boiled down to this: In dead still conditions a rf shooter will beat an equally competent cf shooter at 200 yards on the German target in a 100 shot match. The ease of shooting/no breech seating/no recoil make the rf guy victorious when there's no wind. Now this isn't a fact, it is the distilled opinion of the maybe 6-8 people, including Mike, that I talked to. I had no opinion, never shot offhand well, wasn't a contender. The match winner was/is a 22rf expert who has been to and fired at Camp Perry. During the war the 22rf was used at ranges to 300 yards; there is a Rifleman article about that. 22rf shooting can be deadly accurate, several times we saw a guy at Fairfax, Buddy Sombart?, shooting 200 yard groups that were amazing. Old American Rifleman magazines with the Peters? almost-full-page ads with the guys at local indoor smallbore matches show what it was like when I was a kid-men used to go to matches and shoot, lots of men. I think we commited suicide with the Walthers, ray guns, and 25 cent a shot ammunition. We equipmented ourselves out of existence. I think that 22rf matches should be handicapped by ammo cost-EX: $20 a brick is the standard, 4 cents a shot. 20 cent a shot ammo and you lose 10%? of your score. Also, I'd like to tell you that if you think that you're nasty and vituperative in this thread, you're amateurs. Get $500 for prize money and run a match, then you'll see what nasty and vituperative are all about. It cured me, I'll help but I'll never run another match. joe b.
|