Old Soldier wrote on Oct 8^th, 2020 at 12:43pm:

When it's this cold, I rarely have rushed shots. I don't shoot a .308, but I usually have my ammo inside my coat and I usually can afford the couple or few seconds to load a round and get lined up. I have one rifle that uses a clip, that one goes quicker to pop in the clip and close the bolt, quietly as possible. I'm thinking the ocassional coyote at longish range.

On an open sight single shot, I hold my gloved left hand over the chamber to keep it at a little warmer. It's usually plenty quick to slip a round in and close the action. I've done these things for a while out of habit as I believe I get the cold first shot in more reliably. Just my thoughts.

Cbashooter a group match with moving backers or was it a score match instead of. Most folks don't realize just how difficult a CBA match is to shoot. 10 minutes for a score target does not allow one to wait for a condition to return if using the same case in the plainbase class.

I shot every monthy CBA match from 1998 to 2009 when they were no longer being held at our club. We would have at least one regional event a year and sometimes two. One day for score and the next day for the group events with moving backers at both 100 and 200 yards. Monthly matches were always just for score setting up the moving backers was quite a chore. It used to be one of our bigger events at the time with up 30 competitors showing up at times. As you say we would also have to move from 100 to 200 yards for each match. And we also had a target and scoring crew on hand so all we had to do was to show up and shoot. Lunch was also included in our match fee and we would take our lunch break when having to move from 100 to 200 or just the opposite depending on where we would start. Sure do miss those days and the variety of the competitors that included heavy class, production and of course plainbase and what I shot. Over the years we have had four CBA national champions and one Grand national champion from our group and some still hold national records the last time I looked on the CBA web site so not sure if they still do.

It is very sad indeed how many show up for the CBA matches that you shoot. I didn't get started until I was around 42 and now going on 70 so I too am becoming one of those old folks myself. But I was also lucky in that it lasted for some 11 years of being highly attended before it was finally gone for good. Our monthly ASSRA and once yearly ISSA Regional events were also highly attended at the time. Now we are down to just a handful of us older folks that are still around and any hopes for future growth has not been looking very good.

Nope it involves taking out young folks to introduce them to just how fun and self challenging our sport really is. To continually condem them for shooting black rifles and all they know right now only turns them all off and its the absolutely wrong approach coming from us adults.

I have taken several of my granddaughters high school friends out in the past. Most memorable time was taking an exchange student from Germany out to the range. He really enjoyed the time and I gave him some mementos to take back home including several of my ASSRA Journals to look at.

What was interesting about the student from Germany is the personal status and wealth one has to have to be involved in such a shooting sport. That is if I correcly understood his explanation of what it would take for him to be able to get involved. Prior to his stop here he lived with a  family in the south during the time he was going to school. They taught him how to use a shotgun, a rifle and a bow and he was able to take game with all three. Prior to that time he had never handled any of the three and one could only imagine the personal enjoyment of the time he spent here in the states.