Vall I was basically saying I totally agree with what you had to say and I agree with you 100%! It might have come across wrong as I was also trying to share my thoughts of what was posted prior too. I should not have tried to address everything at the same time I can see where the confusion might have come from.

Anyone shooting schuetzen or long range matches IS bringing back the past today! We wont ever reach the levels of participation by shooters or spectators that there was in the late 1800's, or early 1900's because things just aren't the same today.
Too many other sporting events. Too many other styles of guns and shooting. Too many distractions in general to water down the interest. But I do believe that the sheer number of people still interested in shooting these old guns, or new guns built in the same style, certainly proves the idea is worth pursuing.
The issue today isn't just distractions, or other guns. It's promotion, and exposure. Without being promoted, it wont get the exposure. How many guys (myself included) didn't know about schuetzen or these types of guns before the Coors event? That match got a lot of miles by being written up in gun magazines. The guns got a new interest from people seeing them pictured in magazines, and wondering what they were, or how they were used.
I know I had a passing interest in single shots back then, but became so intrigued with schuetzen rifles that I found myself selling off over 100 pre WWII era Marlin lever actions I'd collected over the years. For me the allure of the schuetzen rifles was, and still is inspired by the coverage I saw of the Coors matches. And it has remained just as strong for over 3 decades now.

Yes, BP, theoretically they are; after all, if people don't learn from the past, someone said, they are doomed to repeat it.

However, the people who are "doomed" are less us and very much more those who come next.  And while we can try to point out what we could've done differently or better or otherwise help or enlighten them, it will still be more and more up to them with their years still ahead of them to make the changes.

To come at this another way, as an appraiser of antiques and collectibles, one of my professional rules of thumb is that if the average age of a collector, user, or whatever group reaches 55, that group is well on the way to dying and likely that which binds it together is too.

Are we one of those groups?  I greatly fear that we may well be.  And if so, the time to save our "peculiar" shooting sport and all its wonderful tangents may be rapidly, maybe even too rapidly, getting away from us.

Therefore, to put it even more strongly than before, what must we do to not not just build but save our future?

Bill Lawrence

There are 6390 registered users here and a new one just recently joined. Some of those newer folks reading this would think we are already doomed. So why would they want to spend the money at this point in time and also want to get involved. The real truth of it all is we are actually doing quite well and the number of registered users also points it out. The decline hasn't been from a lack of interest but by those who have since passed on. I can name at least  ten off the top of my head who used to shoot with our own group how many in your group have you lost. And then there are also those who just can longer get out due to their age, health or limited income. With all of this talk about one more grand Schuetzen Event as being our saving grace. How many do you actually think could even make it to such a grand event when they can barely make it out to their own home club's events. Or to even make it to the current ongoing national events that have also been on a decline. It all has to start at home good folks and Frank no longer even participates with his own club he left it quite some time back. So they are now down minus two as his wife also used to shoot with the group. And if one goes back to look at their scores they typically topped with only having five so where might he have room to complain about the sports decline. The youngest now I believe in our group is fifty eight and the oldest in his eighties. Our average is probably in the high sixties now with several now in their seventies. If we all don't start worrying more about our own club's participation instead of some grand event the concerns about the health and welfare of both the ASSRA and ISSA could then become very real. But we are along ways from ever getting there so grab all of your shooting gear and take a young man or lady out to your range and show them a wonderful time. If you happen to have another setup he or she can borrow until they can get their own encourage them to also start shooting your local match events. An individual who became a  top competitor came down just to watch a match to see what it was all about. I convinced him not leave and to hang out until after the match as I wanted him to shoot my gun. I hung up some targets showed him how to breech seat and load and let him shoot until his trigger finger felt like it was going to fall off. His name is Rick MacHale whom some of you know and have competed with. He also become a very dear friend you all can do the same.

By leaving and no longer supporting your group instead of worry about myself and others it would be better to go back to doing your own part. Sewing discord amoung this group is extremely harmful and it does not provide any help. If we can't even get along and show mutual respect for each other how could we ever hope to accomplish growing the sport?

JL,
Of those 6392 forum members listed on the Members page that you referred to, some are R.I.P.
Of those 6392 who still draw breath, how many have actually made a post within the last month?
How many haven't made a post within the last month, the last 6 months, the last year?
What are the actual numbers of active participants, and what is the form of their participation?
Do those numbers actually translate into active shooters that pull a trigger during the matches at Etna Green?

If you were to equate the ASSRA with a small non-profit "business" seeking to grow and enlarge its "market share", what percentage of the potentially available "customers" are even aware of its existence?
When you walk up to ANY shooter that you happened to encounter and then ask them 1) if they have ever heard of the ASSRA, and 2) what does the ASSRA "Primarily" do, what answers do you receive?
What "Name Brand Recognition" does the ASSRA actually possess?
What is the level of the ASSRA's "market exposure" with the general shooting public, and what is the level of interest expressed?

BP I don't think anyone could up with a totally correct answer to any of those questions.