I'll weigh in here. 
First as to the appetite for unification, This waxes and wains with the make up of the various boards. In recent years it is not a question of voting for the best man for the job but a question of who will step up and take the job. This can, and has, resulted in some one with a particular axe to grind taking a board position to further his own personal agenda. In the past, I will admit, some ASSRA board members focus has not gone beyond Etna Green but the same may be said of the ISSA's singular focus on Ratone. Lets face it, both venues have a "home field" advantage for one group or the other and neither is centrally located. 
I found the idea that has merit is the concept of four regionals with a invitation only match for the top 10 shooters from each regional at a central location. My vote would be for St Louis or Kansas City.  My proposal would work this way. The ASSRA would sponsor the an eastern and a mid east regional. The ISSA would sponsor a mid west and a western regional. Each sponsoring association's regionals would be fired under their rules. The finals would be shot under WSU rules in the old style on four full size targets with a judge scoring your ticket just like in the old days. A one day Hudson match just like the Election Day matches. Bench rest could be shot on the next day from seperate benches, but shoulder to shoulder score target and group target fired in three relays each best target wins. 
  I'm not sure how willing any organisation would be to giving up control or how the shooters will respond to getting out of their comfort zones. There is also the expense, something that no one has addressed. This takes money! It takes money for facilitys to shoot, money for vendor tents, portajohns, targets, and to pay the expenses for officials. When Coors footed the bill everything was top notch it must be so again or media will not get behind it. We need a corperate sponser to make this thing work.

40 Rod

40 Rod,
I like that idea, although, I'm not sure that restricting the "final" to BP only is a good idea. The 100 shot match started in 1893 and by that time, many were using duplex loads. There are other problems such as, what really constitutes original BP and how you would insure that someone wasn't using duplex loads.

It would also give a East/West rivalry that you need for competition and to search for optimum loads and equipment as they did in the original era.

The ASSRA was founded for these guns to shoot again and if the popularity just gets back to the Coors days, it would increase the value a lot for the people that are just collectors. Look what happened in the mid 20's to the mid 40's with the value of these guns. I've read of $15 schuetzen rigs being bought in those days (about $450-500 in today's money). These rifles deserve respect and the honor they brought when this country built the best right here on our shores!

As far as the officials getting paid to do there job, I would put that off until much later. The shooters aren't going to be paid for making the event possible and it costs them as much or more to attend. That could happen after the top 10 shooters were well rewarded and the rest got something to take home.

The offhand aspect of our shooting is HARD, few can do well at it, not even if they have the best equipment or the most accurate load that can be assembled. I would like to see that part come to the forefront but, all be rewarded well that make it to a true National Championship Match.

Yes, I know that I'm dreaming but, wouldn't it be nice......... money, prizes, national media reconition and the honor of being able to say that you own such a rifle.

Frank

Frank, 

  There’s nothing wrong with dreaming... that's how my projects get moved from thoughts to paper and then to the machinery. We all gotta start somewhere.    

40_Rod, 

    Good points made, and in principle, I do like your concept and your proposal. 
    I don’t think an umbrella organization establishing unification of the associations is needed at this time, but could come along later if felt necessary. NOT having one might alleviate some initial concerns about any one clubs loss of control.
    For a present day national invitational challenge, cooperation among representatives of the associations would be required, and perhaps one or two representatives from each participating group would be sufficient to form an interim board for the first challenge. Then see what develops and is needed from there. 

    The following part of a post on this forum some time back by Steve Garbe makes me think the WSU might just be interested in participating...
Quote:

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    If the ISSA or another organization chose not to officially participate, but a large number of it's members entered independently shooting under ASSRA or WSU rules, and the challenge proved to be a success, the ISSA board might eventually come along at a subsequent challenge. There's a lot of "ifs" involved, but that's always the case with anything new. 

    There's been a lot of good input from all of the posts on this thread, and for my two cents, I think it's a good idea that should be kept simmering. 

    Regards to all,
         BP


Note: Edited link to get to the correct post on the page.

One problem with the above proposals. The idea of an 'invitational' or 'qualifying' matches is antithetical to growing/expanding the sport. Both or either would limit participation by members who would like to shoot but have not been invited or have not qualified. Any national match should be open to all who may wish to shoot. Why would a vendor want to show up and rent a tent if the number of folks who would show up is 'limited'? Same with any coverage in the media, corporate sponsorship, etc. Regional/qualifying matches are a good idea for only one reason, and that is to put folks into the proper class based on their performance (Master, AAA, etc.) and not to limit their participation. And, regional matches should be open to all, as well.