You get one built by Bo Clerke and Ron Long in the Coors era. Ruger had SS and Browning came out with the B78. Not what you could call target rifles but, something you could get your feet wet with. So, you could go into a gun store and by a SS but, NOT a target rifle for BSing.

My first target rifle, in '85, was a Clerke HW. It was extremely accurate and I still have it.

You can still get built to order rifles but, finding something in a gun store, when you need it, is, and was back then, a dream, even in the greater LA area, where I got my first one.

But, like everything else, if the demand is there the supply will follow.

It makes sense to me. Offhand single shot rifle match shooting is alive and well in Virginia not under ASSRA sanction. Look at the match reports it’s a form of competition  that’s nearly extinct under ASSRA management. We used to have strong ASSRA offhand competition in North Carolina,, Virginia Pennsylvania and Maryland.  

It’s my impression that ISSA has an active group of offhand shooters. There are other offhand competitions that are going well too. Sillouette with lever actions and more, bringing offhand back would increase membership and an entire group of new shooters. If it takes merging and adjusting  competition rules its better than slowly shutting down

Boats

let me ask this question:

How will you ever get new members, especially shooters, if no one ever hears about this sport?

You have to have some sort of promotion! And a committed promoter!

I know that there are some YouTube video's How many I don't know but, I don't think there are very many. More of those would help. 

I think in this day, that one or more Pod Cast's would be most beneficial. Get well known people to appear on the Pod Cast and at least appear to be interested in our rifles and how they are shot. Show picture and talk about the "Glory days" including Coors. Talk about how much money there was to be won and pictures of the old clubs and events.

If you can't stay up with the times and you can't or won't promote what your doing, Your doomed to failure.

One other thing, for collectors, if the popularity increases so does the value and I've noticed that the original rifles aren't holding their value like they should.   

Again, you have to know about the rifles to collect them.

These are facts and they have to be dealt with or the sport dies, with or w/o a union of the two groups.

I think any cross over with other shooting organizations would be beneficial. 

The mutual interests and camaraderie is very much a part of the shooting sports.

I've only observed a couple of matches and never competed in one so take whatever I have to say with a grain.

All the folks here at this FORUM are superior, that's one of the reasons that makes ASSRA so successful. 

Whatever the event, match or otherwise,  I think it would be good to set up a Q&A table that gets manned by a rotating number of guys (maybe for 30 minutes each)
that welcomes observers questions about the sport.

I know if I go to the range it can be uncomfortable to strike up a conversation and start asking a lot of questions with a stranger. 
If there were some sort opportunity to comfortably incorporate the exchange of information at the events it might go a long way to promote the shooting sports. 

If it were not for a super friendly and helpful gent, Chris Christensen whom I met at the range one day, and many others like him, I might not have developed a lifelong interest in Single Shots. 

I can recall having gone to the Wittington Center to observe a BPCR even.
One of the participants from New Jersey even let me take a couple shots at the chickens. 

Just an idea..!

Like I said I've only observed a couple of matches so this may already be part of the average shooting event..
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That said I belong to a pilots organization where we have fly-ins and invite the high school students and anyone else with an interest to come to the airport on certain days for Q&A sessions. 

We have tables set up, manned by pilots of all backgrounds, to talk about everything aviation. These opportunities really help generate additional interest.

Oh but arguing is so American.   

Think what you want but IMHO the ISSA is never likely to merge with the ASSRA.  First, as I pointed out above (in a post that somehow disappeared) most of the ISSA is already part of the ASSRA, so there's little to gain there.

Second, as some people have sort of pointed out, there really isn't an ISSA in the same sense as there is an ASSRA.  We are really a few regional matches and the (Inter)National matches in Raton in the summer.  Despite what's above, we do have an active website, just not much activity to put up there aside from match scores.   Anything else that needs to be or can be dealt with online is already on this forum.  

(and, to dispel another rumor from above, the ISSA has not turned away from off-hand shooting.  Some of us just go too old to shoot standing so we started a benchrest only track so those folks would have something to do during the offhand matches.)

I now return you to your discussion of differences.

I have lost count of how many times I have been shooting anything from a Stevens 44 in 25-20 to a 32-40 or 38-55 all with traditional scopes when someone walks by and asks if it is a 45-70. Must seem mildly interested when I explain breech seating.

I want to respond to the comments about rifle availability.  We are constitutionally bound to preserve the single shot rifle style of shooting from the end of the American Civil War to the beginning of World War I.  Even in those days it was uncommon to be able to walk into your local gun shop and buy a top end Schuetzen rifle… Marlin, Stevens, and Winchester made some, but in most cases a shooter had to place an order, either with one of those factories or with one of the custom makers and wait to have one built.  
Currently, if you wish to be competitive in any of the clay target sports, you buy a high dollar gun, then spend more money having it fitted to your needs.

If you want to be competitive at golf, you start with a good (read “expensive”) set of clubs, then constantly spend more money on the next best thing.

Don’t even get me started on racing, where speed and competitiveness are measured in cubic dollars.

The problem we have is that our game just doesn’t have widespread appeal.  We can do what we can to “sell” it, or we can watch it die… how many of you are organizing local shoots?  I have (for the last decade) but try as I might, my participants are fewer and fewer each year, and new shooters are scarce. 
I have no answers, and though I am still interested, I don’t know how we can bring new interest to the associations. 
Charlie Shaeff
Green Frog