A general slowdown??

[Bob Roller]

I have been a member of the Huntington Rifle and Pistol Club(370 members) for years and am doing well if I get there twice a year for a little session with my personal defense pistols,a Colt 45 auto and a S&W 44Spl that I have had for 52 years. We have a published bulletin as to when meetings will be held and also the range is a nice one with a 300 yard useable area,a dedicated pistol area and Tuesdays are reserved for shotguns. Covered firing line and marked distances as well.
I also have access to Bill Large's old range which is still in good shape and the only restriction is no Sunday shooting because it is directly behind an active church. It also has a covered line and a concrete bench rest that weighs tons.
I was rejected once by the Huntington club because I out shot the club president's 30-06 Winchester M70 with a muzzle loader I had built using one of Bill's 58x34x1-1/8 barrels that I had mounted a full length Malcom scope on. The pretext for the rejection was "that muzzle loader might blow up and hurt somebody". What got hurt was his ego and I was voted in as a "conditional member"or as my friend the late Joe Hollobaugh said,"Don't make the club's president look like a fool again.
I think there was more to it than that because I once made the CP's arrogant son wait while I installed a new tachometer cable in their
Cessna 170 and it was not an easy one to get to
The chief mechanic told him it would be done WHEN it was done and then he would double check it and sign off on it as would I and then he could fly the plane into the side of a bridge if he wanted to. That old mechanic was one of the Navy men that showed Doolittles"guys that a heavy bomber could be bootstrapped off the deck of a carrier but only one time and no go arounds.

Bob Roller

[ehoff]

I see part of the problem as there is no "instant gradification" to be able to compete you have to put in the effort. Too many people don't want to try something if they can't be good at right away. They don't know the satifaction of working towards something and that magic moment when it all clicks and comes together.

[Scout]

I don't know about "whining" but there is a big change in the way our society thinks. I have been a member of a small gun club ( 130 members ) since 1992. I have seen it change many times, good or bad with whomever gets elected to the board. There will always be those in the "click" or "snobbish" types in any club and lets not forget the "experts" who own, or have owned any weapon you care to name or talk about.

 On the subject one thing that bothers me is the way the majority of shooters no longer want to have traditional matches like 3 position miltary/NRA type with iron sights. Everything is shot off a bench, is scoped or has an aimpoint, red dot etc, etc. Any hi tech device they can attach to a firearm. This is not just the younger folks but the older ones too. Everyone wants it easier.
The "fast food, I want it now" mentality has greatly affected interest in the traditional ML, caplock, flintlock style weapons. Who wants to pour powder from a horn when you can slide in a pellet or two, drop in a plastic sabot bullet, push it down the stainless steel barrel, open a bolt, stick on a cap, look thru the nice clear scope and shoot ? Bang ! I'm a ML shooter !
I won't even mention the cleaning of a "real" ML compared to an inline. That in itself I'm sure is a big deterrent to many.
Look at the current number of people compared to the last 30 years who want to learn or strive to learn any sort of craft ie. machinist, plumber, electrician, carpenter, cabinet builder.

It's a sign of the times, a different generation with different interests.
However, there will always be a few that will keep "the faith".
Heck look at all of us......................

Rant over.

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