Quote:Perhaps U.S. Schuetzen shooters never used bolt actions? I'm not that familiar with the history of Schuetzen in the U.S.
We are. They didn't.
I'm going to invoke an experience of my youth here. My moniker refers to my last racing number in the United States Classic Racing Association. An organization devoted to the preservation and use of road racing motorcycles up to about 1967. I was club champion in 250cc class in 1988. I also raced a BSA DBD34 Goldstar that I built myself, (on a tight budget), to good effect. That's my credentials. Now, this sport was big in Europe, too. A large mistake was made in Europe. It is a fact that there was ONE Norton Manx built in the early '60s that had an automotive type plain-bearing crankshaft. It was raced by none other than Mike Hailwood and cost a
mint of money. The mistake that was made in the '80s was to permit replicas of ANY make of engine to use a plain bearing crank, citing the Hailwood special as precedent. So we started to see Goldstars and G50s with these cranks, and they had 25%+ horsepower advantage. Trouble was, they
still cost a mint of money, so the whole class became totally dominated by fat wallets. (And I will tell you that the cheating that went on, due to these big money players insisting in winning at all costs, was pervasive.) The ordinary sportsman owner/rider was completely shut out of the top placings.
The ASSRA can deal with this unique bolt action that's been shown up in one of two ways. We can do like VSCCA in the USA, and permit ONLY documented originals, or we could permit replicas the way the vintage motorcycle clubs did. Either way, the existing enthusiast of limited means will get shut out. Documented originals cost the earth. If we allow replica bolt actions, based on ONE historical example, the bolts will take over the class and leave all the present enthusiasts shut out. That will destroy the spirit of the club. Q.E.D.