Combined we are stronger and more venues to shoot. 

We just need to work out the details, which I think are minor…. but I know to some may think not. I believe right now the ASSRA is the only one that uses 1/2 in to score the higher (bench) every one else if tangent it scores the higher ring.

My 2 cents

I’m surprised no one mentioned re-entry matches! That’s probably one of the biggest differences. Cf matches Both use center of bullet hole for bench and both use tangent to the line for offhand. RF is the issue for center of the hole vs tangent.

the real issue is the lack of new shooters 
keep loosing old ones to health or worse and no new shooters to replace them  perhaps there could be a sub class for less costly equipment  to make shooting more affordable.  how about rifles with inserts like shilohs or cpa
for 22rf

Smoke wrote on Apr 20^th, 2026 at 10:58am:


I've often wondered if a merge would really change total numbers much? Since as you mentioned many belong to both already.

When I read my new Journal and look at the photos of the matches and review the pricing of rifles and necessary accessories one thing pops right out. I'm sure it must be obvious to you guys too.

The sport is made up generally of old retired financially very comfortable shooters. I'm 78 so fit right in on the retired and age brackets, not as much on the deep pockets and in that regard I'm not saying you need to be rich but comfortable enough to spend thousands and dedicate some time.

A young shooter raising a family, carrying a big housing nut, and a plethora of monthly bills has to find it very difficult to entertain entry into this discipline. I know there are many here that will bend over backwards to help a guy get his feet wet but if he/she is bitten by the bug the downstream participation expenses are still out there looming. Plus there is the unavoidable obstacle of distances and time to attend matches away from home and possible jobs, farms, you get my drift. And fuel costs are another nail you know where. 

In years past many of the clubs I belonged to enticed new shooters by lending out decently accurate and comfortably triggered 22 rifles. The new shooters paid only for his CCI SV ammo. A free lunch on the weekends and older mentors who really wanted to share and care.  Several clubs did similar things with teaching reloading, sighting in, mounting scopes, cleaning, shooting techniques etc. In S NH the insurance companies killed the reloading classes so three of us lost an opportunity teaching. However our Bullseye leagues were alway growing similar to Cowboy shooting. 

So think about this and various opportunities to bait and hook a new shooter. Open BBQ's, free lessons with loaned rifles, endless possibilities without having to cross political red-lines. They can start setting and retrieving targets, helping the range officer just so they feel like they belong. 

Just Spitballing
Rick

bpjack wrote on Apr 20^th, 2026 at 1:13pm:


Could you ever really walk into a gunshop and purchase a suitable rifle? (Even in the Coors days?)

I agree the this is a daunting task....however.....

Promoting a successful match would not take thousands of dollars. There are free ways to accomplish this.

There are plenty of dedicated ranges it is just a matter of promotion and knowing that you will not have Coors level participation. 

For the rimfire match in Phoenix back in January Promotion and prizes were no cost. We had 40+ participants (not bad).

In my part of the country, besides Tommy Mason's private range, the ranges open to the public have to have the rifle range shut down to accommodate a single shot match for a weekend and members complain if not allowed to shoot.  We had to share 1/2 the benches in Tacoma for a few years and lost several of our regular shooters because of this.  Yesterday we discussed for the next Tacoma matches to open up the range to any shooter after 3pm on Saturday and 1 pm on Sunday to help with th complaints.

When I win the next Powerball lottery, I will build a private range like Tommy had and hold weeklong matches any time I want.